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.

The Gist of It All

Mom rarely dared to disagree—the cost was too high.

Susan Edsall

May 225 min read

Some Of What Can Be Done…

Being curious about someone’s story isn’t all that can be done, but it’s some of what can be done.

Susan Edsall

Mar 212 min read

Keep Flying The Plane

I’m scared unlike I’ve ever been scared in my life. That’s simply true. What helps me is to remember my one job: Keep flying the plane.

Susan Edsall

Mar 113 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

Oct 10, 20241 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 19, 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

Mar 11, 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 31, 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

Jan 5, 20245 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

Jun 22, 20235 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

May 26, 20236 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

Apr 13, 20235 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

Mar 11, 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

Feb 23, 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

Jan 31, 20234 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

May 20, 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

Apr 9, 20225 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 17, 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...

Susan Edsall

Mar 8, 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...

Craig Hausman

Feb 21, 20226 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 30, 20225 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

Jan 12, 20227 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 29, 20217 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 21, 20215 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 15, 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

Dec 3, 20216 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

Nov 22, 20215 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

Oct 4, 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

Sep 11, 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

Aug 18, 20214 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

Jul 18, 20213 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

Jun 28, 20214 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

May 17, 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

Apr 12, 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

Mar 8, 20213 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

Feb 7, 20214 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

Dec 28, 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

Nov 15, 20203 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

Sep 28, 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

Aug 17, 20204 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

Jul 19, 20203 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

Jun 23, 20202 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

May 6, 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

Apr 15, 20203 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 22, 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

Mar 9, 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 8, 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

Feb 1, 20202 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 27, 20192 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, 20191 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, 20192 min read