Five books about imaginary religions

Michael W. Clune is a professor of English at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of the scholarly books American Literature in the Free Market and Writing Against Time, and the memoirs titled White Out: The Secret Life of Heroin and Gamelife.

One of his five favorite books about imaginary religions, as shared at Tor.com:

Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

Ok, this religion is only partly imaginary. Atwood’s dystopian future society does worship Jesus. But the land of Gilead mixes its Christianity with a proto-steampunk fetish for Victorian times, a patriarchal communism (“from each according to her ability, to each according to his needs”), and a completely unhinged attitude towards sex. When it’s impregnation time, for example, the wife holds the handmaiden’s hands as the latter’s field is plowed by the elderly master on a giant canopy bed. While this novel clearly takes aim at the Evangelical movement of the nineteen eighties, the weird touches Atwood adds to her imaginary religion betray that fascination with religion’s uncanny logic that partially seduces even the sternest critic of faith.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Handmaid's Tale made Jeff Somers's top six list of often misunderstood SF/F novels, Jason Sizemore's top five list of books that will entertain and drop you into the depths of despair, S.J. Watson's list of four books that changed him, Shaun Byron Fitzpatrick's list of eight of the most badass ladies in all of banned literature, Guy Lodge's list of ten of the best dystopias in fiction, art, film, and television, Bethan Roberts's top ten list of novels about childbirth, Rachel Cantor's list of the ten worst jobs in books, Charlie Jane Anders and Kelly Faircloth's list of the best and worst childbirth scenes in science fiction and fantasy, Lisa Tuttle's critic's chart of the top Arthur C. Clarke Award winners, and PopCrunch's list of the sixteen best dystopian books of all time.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten books about gender identity

Lisa Williamson is the author of The Art of Being Normal.

One of her top ten books about gender identity, as shared at the Guardian:

Every Day by David Levithan

What would it be like to not be defined by our bodies? This is the question at the centre of David Levithan’s Every Day. It’s narrated by A, who wakes up every morning in a different body, living a different life. Having always endeavoured to leave as little trace as possible, A does not anticipate falling in love with Rhiannon. A companion novel, Another Day, tells the story from the point of view of Rhiannon and raises more interesting questions about gender identity and the nature of attraction.

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Peter May's six best books

Glaswegian by birth, Peter May is a bestselling crime novelist. One of his six best books, as shared at The Daily Express:

A MOVEABLE FEAST by Ernest Hemingway

An autobiography of Hemingway’s early impoverished years in Paris which made me realise how you had to learn your craft and use the things around you. There was something alluring about 1920s Paris and it became a bible for everything that I wanted to be and do.

Read about the other books on the list.

A Moveable Feast made Jenny Shank's list of five fabulous food-focused works, Olivia Laing's ten best list of books and stories on drinking and booze, Katherine Monasterio's top five list of incredible tales of Paris’s past and present, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on Americans in Paris, Neil Pearson's six best books list, Diana Souhami's top ten list of "books about Paris and London lesbians in the early 20th century", Laura Landro's five best list of books about travel; it is a book to which Russell Banks always returns.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten clerics in fiction

Joanna Cannon is the author of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep. One of her top ten clerics in fiction, as shared at the Guardian:

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Through his nameless “whisky priest”, Greene asks us to decide between virtue and vice in this 1953 novel. A drunk and a sinner, the clergyman picks his way through Mexico, ministering God’s will as best he can, while fighting self-condemnation and overpowering guilt. Chased by the Lieutenant, who believes the church to be fundamentally corrupt, the priest is eventually trapped by his own compassion. The novel caused controversy when first published, but in 1965 Greene was told by Pope Paul VI: “Mr Greene, some aspects of your books are certain to offend some Catholics, but you should pay no attention to that.”

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Power and the Glory also appears among Michael Arditti's top ten novels about priests, and on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best nameless protagonists and ten of the best episodes of drunkenness in literature. It is one of seven books that made a difference to Colin Firth.

Also see: Top ten novels about priests; Top ten wicked priests in fiction.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five YA novels for "Sherlock" fans

At the B & N Teen Blog, Shaun Byron Fitzpatrick tagged five top YA novels for fans of Sherlock (starring Benedict Cumberbatch), including:

The Clockwork Scarab, by Colleen Gleason

If you’ve ever wondered if the Holmes family and the Stoker family would get along, Colleen Gleason has you covered. Evaline Stoker is the younger sister of Bram Stoker, and a vampire hunter. Alvermina (Mina) Holmes is the daughter of Mycroft Holmes and, yes, the niece of the famous Sherlock. The two don’t get along too well, and really would prefer not to work together. But when socialites begin going missing around London, Irene Adler (yes, THAT Irene Adler) recruits the two to get to the bottom of the disappearances before more girls are taken. Think steampunk-crossover fanfiction featuring Egyptian cults and a mysterious time traveler. Yes, there’s a lot going on in this novel, but does any of that NOT sound awesome?

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Helen Dunmore's six best books

Helen Dunmore's books include the Orange prize-winning novel The Siege and the new novel, Exposure. One of her six best books, as shared at the Daily Express:

TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf

You can hear the sea in this haunting novel – something that has always been central to my life and writing. It’s a wonderful portrait of the parent-child relationship but it’s also about the search for liberty and the acknowledgement of limitations.

Read about the other books on the list.

To the Lighthouse appears among Annie Baker's six favorite books, Meg Wolitzer's five favorite books by women writers, Laura Frost's top 10 best modernist books, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five unforgettable fathers from fiction, Margaret Drabble's top ten literary landscapes, the American Book Review's 100 best last lines from novels, Amity Gaige's best books, and Adam Langer's best books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten squirrels in literature

Elizabeth McKenzie's new novel is The Portable Veblen.

One of the author's ten top squirrels in literature, as shared at the Guardian:

This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff

A squirrel who is an innocent bystander serves as a scapegoat. In this classic memoir, young Mr Wolff (Jack) has obtained a rifle, and, in the lonely hours after school, pretends to assassinate hapless neighbours from his window. Angry that the fools are failing to recognise the danger they’re in, he instead shoots a squirrel off the telephone wire. Later, concealing from his tender mother that he is the killer (“Poor little thing,” she says), Jack identifies with his victim in helpless sobs.

Read about the other entries on the list.

This Boy’s Life is among Tom Perrotta's ten favorite books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten funny first-person narrators

Lance Rubin is the Brooklyn-based author of the YA novel, Denton Little’s Deathdate.

One of Rubin's top ten books with a funny first-person narrator, as shared at the Guardian:

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

I finally read this last year, and I’m sorry I waited so long. Margaret Simon is such a relatable character - smart, honest, neurotic - and her experience of entering adolescence is as awkward as anybody’s, which is comforting. Not to mention funny. One of my favorite lines is Margaret’s description of her current crush: “It’s not so much that I like him as a person, God, but as a boy he’s very handsome.” A super read for girls and boys alike.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret is among Jim Smith's top ten funny books for kids and Gabriel Weston's five notable books about the body.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five novels based on bonkers things that actually happened

Jeff Somers is the author of Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books, Chum from Tyrus Books, and We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well. One of Somers's five top novels based on incredible, unbelievable things that actually happened, as shared at B & N Reads:

Psycho, by Robert Bloch

Although Hitchcock’s film adaptation has eclipsed Bloch’s novel, the book remains a tense psychological thriller. If you think the idea of a disturbed man murdering people and keeping the mummified corpse of his mother seated in his house, where he frequently has conversations with her, to be a bit out there, consider the real-life serial killer the story is based on: Ed Gein, who made “clothing” out of human skin taken from his victims in order to create a “woman suit” he could wear so he could pretend to be his own mother. Bloch claims he wasn’t aware of Gein until the novel was almost completed, but the details are so similar it seems like too strong a coincidence.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten books about the Cold War

Francesca Kay is the author of three novels: An Equal Stillness (2009), The Translation of the Bones (2011), which was longlisted for the Orange Prize, and The Long Room (2016). One of her ten top books about the Cold War, as shared at the Guardian:

The Book of Daniel by EL Doctorow

An extraordinary novel. Utterly unsparing, brutal and compelling, it fictionalises the Rosenbergs, the couple executed in 1953 for conspiring to pass US atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Seen through the eyes of their son, it gives a view from another side of the cold war – that of the committed American left. But it is no polemic; instead, it enters completely into the heart of a damaged man and asks important questions about loyalty, betrayal, and political engagement.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Also see: Five top books on The Cold War, Five best forgotten Cold War thrillers, Five best windows on the Cold War, Five best books about Cold War culture, and Five best Cold War classics.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven YA novels set in the American West

Rachel Paxton-Gillilan is a freelance writer and semi-professional nerd.

At the B & N Teen Blog she tagged seven young adult novels set in the American West, including:

Montana: The Miseducation of Cameron Post, by Emily M. Danforth

Cameron’s story is not only enjoyable to read, it’s also incredibly important and powerful. The death of her parents mean they will never learn her secret—that she’s gay. Racked with guilt and relief, Cameron moves in with her conservative grandmother and aunt in rural Montana. Soon she falls in love with a beautiful cowgirl who wants to experiment, but when the two girls are caught, it’s off to religious conversion camp for Cameron. As she struggles with her feelings of guilt, she meets other gay teens and finally begins to find herself with help from her loving friends.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight top true crime books

Jeff Somers is the author of Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books, Chum from Tyrus Books, and We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well. One of Somers's eight top true crime books, as shared at B & N Reads:

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, by John Grisham

Grisham’s first work of non-fiction is perfect for fans of Making a Murderer: In 1988, Ron Williamson, former major league baseball prospect suffering from depression and alcoholism, was convicted of raping and murdering a local cocktail waitress—but as Grisham documents, the incompetent local police and prosecutors more or less constructed the flimsy case against him using every tool of bad police work and overly-agressive prosecution available. Williamson was released in 1999 after—you guessed it—DNA evidence proved his innocence. This book will challenge your faith that everyone in this country is innocent until proven guilty.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue