A note: Like many of you, I'm greatly disturbed by the terrorist act that was committed at a historical African American church in Charleston this Wednesday. If you haven't heard about this yet, please read about it here. If you would like to help the families of the victims, please please please consider donating here. Obviously nothing can undo this act of hate, but we can at least support each other in its wake. Thank you, and thanks to Shaina for bringing the donation page to my attention.
Publisher: Doubleday. March 2015.
Genre: Literary Fiction
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I didn't talk about this book much when it came out, just because everyone in the bookternet kind of had it covered. But, 100%, this book made me cry more than any other book ever. Normally books more than 300 pages scare the shit out of me and are avoided, but these 700+ pages are more of an experience than a book. As you read, you'll grow to care very, very deeply for Jude, a man who is abused throughout his life. You won't ever forget these characters. I really don't know how Yanagihara did it.
Publisher: Knopf. August 2011.
Genre: Literary Fiction
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If you want a small book that pack an enormous punch, this is the book for you. It's a measly 144 pages and I still ugly cried like no other. The stories of "picture brides" brought from Japan to San Francisco are told nearly in verse and are referred to as "we." They have big hopes for their lives in America and are mostly disappointed when they arrive. They struggle with culture shock, horrible work conditions, horrible marriages, childbirth, and racism. And then the war begins. Stunning.
Publisher: Liveright. January 2015.
Genre: Literary fiction
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A remote Canadian island community is falling apart, because the government is trying to give them monetary compensation to move elsewhere. In order to receive the money, everyone has to agree to leave. Everyone is willing to take the money to leave, except for one man holding them back. Moses Sweetland, the curmudgeon in question, is so attached to the history of his home that he can't bear to leave. So he decides to stay on the island all by himself without telling anybody. As this old man struggles to stay alive on his own, the past of the island and his memories haunts him. I didn't expect this book to get to me, but it did. I loved it.
Publisher: Plume. 1970.
Genre: Literary fiction
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Pecola, a young black girl in 1940s Ohio, leads a devastatingly sad existence due to pressures and mistreatment in society and within her own family. She desperately wants blue eyes, so she can be beautiful like white girls. She's lonely. She's a victim to a violent act. This book is painful, beautiful, and so important. Toni Morrison is amazing at words.
Publisher: FSG. September 2014.
Genre: Literary Fiction
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Sean, a lonely and disfigured man, creates a mail in roleplaying game as a teenager. It's sprawling and complicated; all thanks to Sean's incredible imagination. Two high school students get too invested in the game and take it into real life, and something horrible happens. This novel is told reverse chronologically, with little details of the event being learned as the reader gets closer and closer to seeing it. Incredibly written, this is a quiet and powerful book that won't leave you any time soon after reading it. I'm still thinking about it.
Publisher: Penguin Press. January 2014.
Genre: Literary Fiction
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A high school girl named Lydia is found dead. Nobody expected it and nobody knows how it happened. As the story continues, what seems like a solid family with a perfect child begins to unravel. The mother, a white woman, and the father, a Chinese American, experience incredibly strain being the only interracial marriage in their 1970s Ohio town. Secrets come out, and I WON'T spoil them. It's intense and crushing and the conclusion made me break down in tears.
Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat. January 2014.
Genre: Literary Fiction
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This is a tough book to write about. And it's a tough book to read. Mirielle, a Haitian American, gets kidnapped and held for ransom when she visits her wealthy father in Haiti with her family. Her father, on principle, does not intend to pay the ransom. So Mirielle is left to do everything in her power to survive the horrible acts that are are committed to her by her kidnappers. This is a novel about corruption, suffering, survival, and hope. Roxane Gay is amazing.
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc. 1940.
Genre: Picture Book
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Life may often be painful, but there's beauty worth fighting for.