Five books that challenge our notions of normal time

Shelley Wood is the author of The Leap Year Gene of Kit McKinley. Her short fiction, creative non-fiction, columns, and travel-writing have appeared in a range of literary magazines and mainstream media, and her work as a medical journalist has won a range of international prizes. Her debut novel, The Quintland Sisters, about the world’s first identical quintuplets, was a #1 bestseller in Canada.

At The Nerd Daily Wood tagged five favorite "books that directly challenge or subvert our notions of regular time as a central theme or plot device." One title on the list:

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

I had been working for 10 months on The Leap Year Gene of Kit McKinley, about a little girl who ages one year for every four, when Haig’s novel was published, about a slow-ageing, 439-year-old man whose one rule is to never fall in love. I was crushed. Determined not to be unduly influenced, I waited until my own novel was finished, sold, and heading to the printers before delving into this book. To my relief, Haig’s tale proved very different from my own, even as it grappled with some similar themes: the fragile ties that bind, the dangers of being different, the risks we take in forming lasting connection. But Haig’s book steers mostly clear of medical explanations and follows a unified and propulsive plot arc that makes for a fast, fun read. I especially loved the situational comedy woven into the drama, provided largely through Tom’s sardonic perspective on mod-cons, his second-hand distrust of science, and some of his bumbled interactions with celebrated historical figures, including everyone from Shakespeare to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Read about the other entries on the list.

How to Stop Time is among Martha Greengrass's top ten books for fans of Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten animal books

The Zoomer Book Club's Nathalie Atkinson tagged ten "tales about our furry and feathered friends [that] give new meaning to creature comforts and prove the animal-human bond is mutually beneficial." One title on the list:

Pearly Everlasting by Tammy Armstrong

In this vivid and lyrical novel set in Depression-era New Brunswick, the Nova Scotia-based poet follows 15-year-old Pearly, a girl who was raised alongside an orphaned bear cub named Bruno, and considers him a sibling. When the local lumber camp boss sells Bruno to an animal trader, Pearly traverses the Canadian wilderness to rescue him.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine thrillers & suspense titles that turn on a hallmark event

Jen Marie Wiggins's first book, the gifty nonfiction title Married AF: A Funny Guide for the Newlywed or Bride, was published in 2022. She has a background in advertising and public relations, and her writing has appeared in Southern Coastal Weddings, Savannah Magazine, Savannah Homes, and elsewhere.

Wiggins's new novel is The Good Bride.

[My Book, The Movie: The Good Bride; Q&A with Jen Marie Wiggins]

At CrimeReads the author tagged nine psychological thrillers and suspense books in which the plot turns on a hallmark event. One title on the list:

Her Dark Lies, J.T. Ellison

Clare Hunter is thrilled to be marrying Jack Compton at his family estate in Isle Isola off the stunning italian coast. . . that is until a literal skeleton in his closet becomes just the first sinister occurrence to plague their nuptials. From a decimated wedding dress to a raging storm, Claire must untangle the mystery of Jack’s first wife before it catches up to them all.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Her Dark Lies is among Anna Snoekstra's eight top taut thrillers set over three days or fewer and Amanda Jayatissa's seven best thrillers set at weddings.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight gripping novels based on actual murders

Midge Raymond is the author of the novels Floreana and My Last Continent, the short-story collection Forgetting English, and, with coauthor John Yunker, the mystery novel Devils Island. Her writing has appeared in TriQuarterly, Bellevue Literary Review, the Los Angeles Times magazine, Chicago Tribune, Poets & Writers, and many other publications. She has taught at Boston University, Boston’s Grub Street Writers, Seattle’s Hugo House, and San Diego Writers, Ink. Raymond lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she is co-founder of the boutique publisher Ashland Creek Press.

[The Page 69 Test: My Last Continent; Writers Read: Midge Raymond (June 2016); The Page 69 Test: Floreana; Q&A with Midge Raymond]

At Electric Lit the author tagged eight novels "based on real murders, and, as fiction allows us to do, the books go beyond the tragic events to explore issues that often don’t make it into the news headlines: deeper insights into the lives of the victims, the survivors, and even the perpetrators." One title on the list:

The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani, translated by Sam Taylor

First published in France as Chanson douce, Moroccan-born French author Leïla Slimani’s novel is both haunting and harrowing. Set in Paris, the novel evokes the real-life case of the New York Krim family, whose children were murdered by their nanny, who afterward attempted suicide. Translated from the French by Sam Taylor, the stark, austere prose makes Slimani’s novel all the more gripping—and unsettling—from the very first page.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

The Perfect Nanny is among Lisa Harding's six out-of-control characters in literary fiction and Elle Marr's five great diverse crime novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top books from the children of celebrities

Charley Burlock is the Associate Books Editor at Oprah Daily where she writes, edits, and assigns stories on all things literary. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from NYU, where she also taught undergraduate creative writing. Her work has been featured in the Atlantic, the Los Angeles Review, Agni, and on the Apple News Today podcast. She is currently completing an MFA in creative nonfiction at NYU and working on a book about the intersection of grief, landscape, and urban design.

At Oprah Daily Burlock tagged five "books that make us see our celebrity heroes—and their gilded lives—from a totally new perspective." One title on the list:

Also a Poet: Frank O'Hara, My Father, and Me by Ada Calhoun

While the premise of this memoir— a daughter’s doomed quest to win her father’s attention by finishing his failed memoir of the legendary poet Frank O’Hara—may sound academic, the result is anything but: a hilarious and aching story about the impossibility of filling a parent’s oversized shoes, and the necessity of trying to walk a mile in them.

The name “Peter Schjeldahl” may not be the first one to pop into your mind when you think of A-listers, but the acclaimed poet and critic was undoubtedly a superstar in the circles of Manhattan’s literati—and in the wide eyes of his only daughter, who spent her childhood and adult writing career trying desperately and doomfully to impress him.. Writing is the beginning and end of Ada’s connection to her father: She is a workhorse journalist and dedicated mother; he is the tortured artist who unabashedly admits that writing is his first (and arguably, only) priority. But when Ada finds a collection of old interview tapes from her father’s attempt, in the 1970s, to write a biography of their mutual hero, Frank O’Hara she sees an opportunity: the book “seemed like a time when he’d failed at something that I was pretty sure I could have nailed.” If she indeed pulls it off, he might finally seem comprehensible to her, and she interesting to him. Spoiler alert: Ada does not get exactly what she wants from the process, but she gets what she needs—and we get immersed into the complexities of her father-daughter bond and into the hallucinatory haze of New York bohemia in the 1960s and 70s.

We recommend listening to the audiobook, which features the actual forty-year-old recordings from Schjeldahl’s interviews with artists like Willem de Kooning and Edward Gorey, as well as his bedtime banter with his then-toddler daughter. You won’t make it through with dry eyes.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Steve Donoghue's best mystery books of 2024

Steve Donoghue is a writer and critic who shares his opinions and insights on books of various genres and topics.

One of his top ten mysteries of the year:

Death by Misadventure by Tasha Alexander

Equally reliable is Alexander's series of the globe-trotting sleuthing adventures of Lady Emily and her husband Colin, who here find themselves in the Bavarian Alps of 1906, embroiled in murderous complications that reverberate from the days of notorious King Ludwig half a century earlier.

Read about the other mysteries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven thrillers with couples who don’t get (or deserve) a happy ending

Darby Kane is the pseudonym for a former divorce lawyer and #1 international bestselling author of domestic suspense. Her books have been optioned for television and featured in numerous venues, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Cosmopolitan.

Kane's new novel is What the Wife Knew.

At CrimeReads she tagged seven thrillers on dysfunctional couples who lose control. Two titles on the list:

There are a lot of thrillers about couples where a missing husband maybe isn’t what he seemed. This could be its own category. Her are two good ones from 2024: The Honeymoon by Shalini Boland (Stella’s new husband goes missing on their honeymoon—the same husband her father told her not to marry) and Just The Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica (two couples, one missing husband, so many secrets).

Read about the other entries on the list at CrimeReads.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine titles that capture the complexity of sisters

Lilli Sutton writes contemporary adult fiction. She holds a BA in English from Shepherd University. From Maryland, she now lives in Colorado. She draws inspiration for her writing from the natural world and the intricacies of human relationships.

When she's not writing, she's usually cooking, hiking, or trying to keep up with her ever-growing TBR list.

Sutton's new novel is Running Out of Air.

[Q&A with Lilli Sutton]

At Electric Lit Sutton tagged "nine books [that] ask their own questions about sisterhood, depict the many kinds of conflict that arise between siblings, and reflect the compassion extended by family, even in extreme circumstances." One title on the list:

Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee

Miranda and Lucia, the Chinese-American sisters at the heart of Everything Here is Beautiful, have strikingly different personalities. Miranda is older and more controlled; Lucia is wild and headstrong, brilliant at her best but affected by chronic mental illness. Miranda longs to help her younger sister, but Lucia resists treatment, insisting that she isn’t sick; this is simply her reality. The question of family loyalty arises when Miranda moves to Switzerland with her husband, and Lucia to Ecuador, putting both physical and emotional distance between them. How much must Miranda sacrifice to protect Lucia?

Covering many years and told through alternating perspectives, including both sisters and Lucia’s partners, Mira T. Lee draws a fully-realized portrait of the sweeping effects of mental illness, both on the afflicted person and their loved ones.

Read about the other entries on the list at Electric Lit.

Everything Here is Beautiful is among Amy Feltman's six top books featuring unconventional families, Lisa Braxton's seven novels that show the range and depth of gentrification fiction, Lynda Cohen Loigman's eight compelling books of sisterly friction.

My Book, The Movie: Everything Here Is Beautiful.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six novels featuring women and their art

At B&N Reads Isabelle McConville tagged six "novels chronicling the lives of college students, visual artists, painters, performance artists and more," tales that supply a "peek into the creative mind." One title on the list:

The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner

While we’ve been obsessed with Rachel Kushner’s latest novel Creation Lake for the past few months, we love revisiting her 2013 publication The Flamethrowers. A whirlwind journey through sex, drugs and rock and roll, this novel follows Reno’s recent move to New York. She’s intent on poring over her favorite things in life while she’s there: art, pleasure, and motorcycles. A novel that feels like exploring NYC and Italy alongside its iconic stars like Patti Smith or Julia Fox through a literary style reminiscent of Joan Didion, you’ll race through this critically acclaimed novel about art, speed and social class.

Read about the other titles on the list.

The Flamethrowers is among the Christian Science Monitor's ten best 2013 books for 10 different kinds of book-reading mom.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five horse girl books for adults

Katy James writes contemporary romance books that get to the heart of falling in love while finding one’s place in today’s world. When not writing, she works as an archivist and rare book librarian. Her free time is spent being a single mom, wrangling an ever-fluctuating number of pets, fixing up her old house, reading, knitting, cooking, gardening and generally making all kinds of stuff.

James's new novel is The Grump Whisperer.

At The Nerd Daily she tagged five favorite books that feature "an immersive equestrian experience" the way horse girl children’s books do, but "include adult characters, themes, romance, and perspectives." One title on her list:

Ambition by Natalie Keller Reinert

Reinert’s Eventing Series was originally published from 2014 forward, but starting in December of this year the entire series is being reedited and released with new covers. The books follow eventer Jules and her rider boyfriend Pete as they try to survive and thrive in the tough world of competing and making a living with horses. If you want extremely accurate, immersive, and delightful horse world content in a whole series, this is for you!

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

The 13 most essential Los Angeles books of mystery or crime

The L.A. Times asked writers with deep ties to the city to name their favorite Los Angeles books. One of their top titles of mystery or crime:

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha, 2019

In this magnificent novel, Cha overturns all the conventions of crime fiction, even as she employs them to broader ends. Inspired by the 1991 murder of Latasha Harlins, the book moves from the 1992 uprising nearly to the present, tracing the effects of that killing on two families (one Black and one Korean). Cha is a deft stylist and a vivid creator of character, and she understands that there are no glib solutions in a situation such as this. “Some might call this a crime novel — and of course it is,” notes Tod Goldberg. “But it’s also the most profound look at modern Los Angeles I’ve read in recent memory.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

Your House Will Pay is among Jordan Harper's three top novels in the new L.A. crime canon, Erin E. Adams's seven titles that use mystery to examine race, María Amparo Escandón's eight books about living in Los Angeles, Alyssa Cole's five top crime novels that explore social issues, Sara Sligar's seven California crime novels with a nuanced take on race, class, gender & community, and Karen Dietrich's eight top red herrings in contemporary crime fiction.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Vulture" — top ten comedy books, 2024

At Vulture Brian Boone tagged "the ten best, most delightful, thought-provoking, and just all in all funny comedy books of 2024." One title on the list:

A Paper Orchestra, by Michael Jamin

Jamin has written for television for nearly 30 years, for gag-oriented stuff like Tacoma FD and character-driven, empathetic projects like King of the Hill. Well versed in finding the nuance in how people behave in everyday situations, Jamin reflects on himself in his essay-thinkpiece collection that loosely coalesces into a memoir. His very funny and touching stories about his own tender childhood segue into pieces about his regrets, anxieties, and triumphs as a father. I read this book right when my son was turning 18 and graduating, and good lord, how it made me feel happy, sad, and connected all at once. A Paper Orchestra isn’t always funny, but if one defines comedy as making sense of life and getting a visceral reaction out of its reader, it’s a triumph.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue