Ann Patchett: Commonwealth
Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth might be my favorite of her books that I’ve read so far.
2016
Sayaka Murata: Convenience Store Woman
Paul reviews Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori and recently longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award.
Sjón: CoDex 1962
Paul reviews Sjón’s CoDex 1962, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb. This novel was recently placed on this year’s Best Translated Book Award longlist.
Ian McEwan: Nutshell
In anticipation of Ian McEwan’s forthcoming Machines Like Me, I look at his 2016 Nutshell, a book with a premise that once put me off but which, it turns out, I loved.
Ryan O’Neill: Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers
Paul reviews Ryan O’Neill’s Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers.
Javier Cercas: The Blind Spot: An Essay on the Novel
Paul reviews Javier Cercas’s The Blind Spot: An Essay on the Novel, translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean.
Han Kang: The White Book
Paul reviews Han Kang’s The White Book, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith. This book was recently shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker International Prize.
Orhan Pamuk: The Red-Haired Woman
Paul reviews Orhan Pamuk’s most 2016 novel, The Red-Haired Woman, translated from the Turkish by Ekin Oklap.
Mike McCormack: Solar Bones
Lee reviews Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones, the book that won last year’s Goldsmiths Prize, set up to “celebrate qualities of creative daring” and to “reward fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form.” The book is also a contender for this year’s Man Booker Prize.
Zadie Smith: Swing Time
Lee reviews Zadie Smith’s Swing Time, which was recently longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.