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Reads
I’m always on the hunt for books that grab me by the heart and won’t let go.
Here are some of my recommendations. Most of what I love is dark, taking me on a journey deep inside desire, shame, failure, and making me face our collective need for compassion. They are stories about what it means to be human. Stories about how to survive.
Susan Edsall
Oct 10, 20241 min read
Buen Camino - My Walk Through 540 Miles of Rain, Resentment, and Redemption
Buen Camino My Walk Through 540 Miles of Rain, Resentment, and Redemption Susan has a perfect life, a perfect love, and perfect...
Susan Edsall
Mar 18, 20245 min read
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
Fugitive Pieces by Canadian poet and novelist Anne Michaels might be the best book I’ve ever read in my life. I’ve had it for 25 years,...
Susan Edsall
Mar 10, 20245 min read
Signs Preceding The End Of The World by Yuri Herrera
Signs Preceding the End of the World by Mexican author Yuri Herrera is a slim (107 pages) novel that gets inside the psyche and myth of...
Susan Edsall
Jan 31, 20245 min read
Brood by Jackie Polzin
When Brood by Jackie Polzin came my way, a friend of mine worried that I wouldn’t like it. “Not depressing enough for you,” she said....
Susan Edsall
Jan 5, 20245 min read
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas is a rare pleasure that I long for with every book I read, but rarely experience. The pleasure and beauty of the...
Susan Edsall
Jun 22, 20235 min read
Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
Well, the Irish. As writers, they don’t disappoint. Last week I was at one of those moments in life when I simply needed the comfort of...
Susan Edsall
May 26, 20236 min read
If You Kept A Record Of Sins, a novel by Andrea Bajani
Nothing much happens in Andrea Bajani’s book If You Kept a Record of Sins—and in that inconsequential story lies everything. It’s a...
Susan Edsall
Apr 13, 20235 min read
Breakfast On Pluto by Patrick McCabe
Years ago I was sitting in the bar of a Holiday Inn right off the freeway in Boston. It wasn’t exactly a dive, but it was a chain hotel...
Susan Edsall
Mar 11, 20234 min read
Doomi Golo: The Hidden Notebooks
Doomi Golo: The Hidden Notebooks by Boubacar Boris Diop is the first novel to be translated from Wolof, the most widely spoken language...
Susan Edsall
Feb 23, 20234 min read
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li
The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li shook me up. It affected me like a slow poison. By the time I figured out what was going on, my heart was...
Susan Edsall
Jan 31, 20234 min read
Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman
What hole have I been living in that I have never read the work of John Edgar Wideman until now? I stayed up half the night to finish his...
Susan Edsall
May 20, 20225 min read
The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe
I was having rather a dry spell of reading—kept putting book after book aside. So I figured it was time to turn, again, to the Irish....
Susan Edsall
Apr 9, 20225 min read
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams
It’s no secret that I like depressing books—well written depressing books. I like books that get to the heart of the human matter—how we...
Susan Edsall
Mar 17, 20226 min read
Wolf In White Van by John Darnielle
I came to Wolf In White Van by John Darnielle reluctantly. Probably because it’s heavy on pop culture and involves a role-playing game...
Susan Edsall
Mar 8, 20226 min read
Lampedusa by Steven Price
Lampedusa by Steven Price, published in 2019, is the fictional account of Giuseppe di Lampedusa, the author of the acclaimed novel The...
Craig Hausman
Feb 21, 20226 min read
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (no, not that Elizabeth Taylor) was first published in 1971. It might be the saddest...
Susan Edsall
Jan 30, 20225 min read
The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers by Delia Falconer
The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers by the Australian writer Delia Falconer is an unusual book. It’s narrated by Captain Frederick Benteen, a...
Susan Edsall
Jan 12, 20227 min read
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
I search like a madwoman for book recommendations that I would not otherwise come across. It’s why I subscribe to four book services...
Susan Edsall
Dec 29, 20217 min read
Solar Bones by Mike McCormack
There are a few things I am glad I didn’t know before I picked up this book, the foremost being that it is one sentence long (and 217...
Susan Edsall
Dec 21, 20215 min read
Daddy’s Gone A-Hunting by Penelope Mortimer
I am so devoted to my hunt for good books, that I have enlisted the help of quite a few book services in the last couple of years—people...
Susan Edsall
Dec 15, 20216 min read
The Outward Room by Millen Brand
I dig and dig to find book recommendations. Every morning I go to lithub.com and dig through there. I follow all kinds of rabbit trails...
Susan Edsall
Dec 3, 20216 min read
The Wild Laughter by Caoilinn Hughes
The Wild Laughter is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I read it in two sittings and cried at the end. I couldn’t go to sleep for...
Susan Edsall
Nov 22, 20215 min read
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
I read Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss in one sitting. It's only 132 pages so the length wasn't a hurdle. It was so well-written it would have...
Susan Edsall
Oct 4, 20214 min read
History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund
I came across a note on my desk that said “History Of Wolves—BRILLIANT!” It was a book I’d read four years ago and, although I evidently...
Susan Edsall
Sep 11, 20214 min read
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase was published in 1983. I had no idea. That's probably just as well because I am far...
Susan Edsall
Aug 18, 20214 min read
The Seas by Samantha Hunt
I am pretty much done with falling for books with reviews boasting “Magnificent!” “Dazzling!” “Brilliant!” only to find them “Meh!”...
Susan Edsall
Jul 18, 20213 min read
Independent People by Halldór Laxness
Independent People by Halldór Laxness It took me 100 pages to commit to Independent People by Icelandic author Halldór Laxness--and then...
Susan Edsall
Jun 28, 20214 min read
The End by Salvatore Scibona
The End by Salvatore Scibona I just finished The End by Salvatore Scibona and am having the same experience I had when I finished...
Susan Edsall
May 17, 20213 min read
The Opposites Game by Brendan Constantine
My friend Stephen sent me this link to this amazing animated poem by his friend Brendan Constantine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO65...
Susan Edsall
Apr 12, 20213 min read
Schroder by Amity Gaige
Schroder by Amity Gaige Several weeks ago I posted an article by Amity Gaige about the research she did for her book Sea Wife. The...
Susan Edsall
Mar 8, 20213 min read
The Innocents by Michael Crummey
The Innocents by Michael Crummey It is both thrilling and disconcerting to come across an author whose writing and imagination are so...
Susan Edsall
Feb 7, 20214 min read
Telephone by Percival Everett
Telephone by Percival Everett Telephone by Percival Everett is the third book by Everett that I've read. I can't believe I hadn't heard...
Susan Edsall
Dec 28, 20203 min read
Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson
Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson I have read Jeanette Winterson's Lighthousekeeping many, many times. Every time I come to it...
Susan Edsall
Nov 15, 20203 min read
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell This book is on my Sacred Texts shelf. The basic plot: In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of...
Susan Edsall
Sep 28, 20204 min read
Erasure by Percival Everett
Erasure by Percival Everett When I lived in Vermont the bulb catalogues would arrive in the mail when you were at your weakest—in the...
Susan Edsall
Aug 17, 20204 min read
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien by Tim O'Brien I just finished reading The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. I think it's the...
Susan Edsall
Jul 19, 20203 min read
A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan
A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan is on my Sacred Texts shelf. Wow what a book. Set just...
Susan Edsall
Jun 22, 20202 min read
Fire Sermon by Jamie Quatro
Fire Sermon by Jamie Quatro I am not sure what to say about this book except: it possessed me. And it landed directly on my Sacred Texts...
Susan Edsall
May 6, 20203 min read
Leaning Towards Infinity by Sue Woolfe
Leaning Towards Infinity Sue Woolfe Sometimes, just to be able to manage the wealth of good writing in a bookstore, I limit myself to a...
Susan Edsall
Apr 15, 20203 min read
A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
A Complicated Kindness Miriam Toews Miriam Toews is a brilliant writer. She's getting well-deserved press for her latest book Women...
Susan Edsall
Mar 21, 20202 min read
Weather by Jenny Offill
Weather Jenny Offill Weather is as good as Jenny Offill's previous book Dept. of Speculation. She has mastered an unusual story structure...
Susan Edsall
Mar 9, 20202 min read
All The News I Need by Joan Frank
All I Need Is The News Joan Frank I have no idea how I managed not to know about this book the minute it came out. I finished it a few...
Susan Edsall
Feb 8, 20202 min read
Subtle Bodies by Norman Rush
Subtle Bodies Norman Rush I love this book. It's about friendship, love, idealism, disappointment, and longing. It's gorgeously written...
Susan Edsall
Feb 1, 20202 min read
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel by Amy Hempel
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel Amy Hempel Amy Hempel's way of seeing inspires me. She conveys all that is going on inside someone's...
Susan Edsall
Dec 27, 20192 min read
Recommendation: Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter
Grief Is The Thing With Feathers Max Porter | Read by Jot Davies I would gladly read through a hundred books—a thousand--if only to...
Susan Edsall
Dec 3, 20191 min read
Recommendation: The Passion - by Jeanette Winterson
The Passion - by Jeanette Winterson Another book on my Sacred Texts Shelf. Running throughout the book is this phrase: “You play you win....
Susan Edsall
Dec 3, 20192 min read
Recommendation: Florida - by Christine Schutt
Florida - by Christine Schutt I have a tiny shelf of books I've named my Sacred Texts Shelf. These are books that are so exquisite that I...
Susan Edsall
Dec 3, 20191 min read
Recommendation: This Won't Take But A Minute Honey - by Steve Almond.
This Won't Take But A Minute Honey - by Steve Almond. If you want a fantastic tiny book about writing (it measures 6 1/2” x 4 1/2” x...
Susan Edsall
Dec 3, 20191 min read
Recommendation: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston (read by Ruby Dee)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston (read by Ruby Dee) Nothing short of exquisite. The story is magnificent and Ruby Dee's...
Susan Edsall
Dec 3, 20192 min read
Recommendation: Angels - a novel by Denis Johnson
Angels - a novel by Denis Johnson After I read Angels I thought If I could write this well after having written 50 books I'd be thrilled....
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