Six Great Australian Reads Fridays are for highlighting books I've loved, and I have a thing for books set in Australia (this is illustrated by my demonstrated Jane Harper obsession alone; two of her books are listed here and I stand by this wholeheartedly). Side note: Am I using "fair dinkum" correctly? I have a feeling someone will correct me if I'm wildly off base here. If you've read any of the books mentioned here, I'd love to hear what you think! Do you have any favorit

Desai's first novel in decades is a 688-page tale that meanders through India, New York, family and romantic relationships, and career false starts, with missteps, mysterious, powerful magical realism elements, and an undercurrent of darkness and despair. The messy resolutions felt appropriately hard-fought after the characters' extended struggles. Sonia is living away from her Indian family while she studies writing in Vermont, and after growing up used to having multiple fa

I can't stop thinking about this fascinating near-future climate-change story of desperation, loyalty, and determination in Kolkata, India, and how a tiny bit of empathy might have unraveled the increasingly devastating whirlwind of conflict between the two main protagonists, who are each both hero and villain. It was her duty, as a guardian, to put into action the beautiful ideal of hope. Ma thought harshly: This was what it looked like. Hope for the future was no shy bloom

Kauffman's story about childhood friends brought together by a tragedy in their circle inspires each of them to consider the past, their secrets, and their bonds to each other. Kauffman deftly shapes what could have been a treacly story about old friends reliving the past and coming back together after many years, inspired to be together by a tragedy in their group. As we witness memories from childhood and adulthood, each character considers how they might have remained more

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Sara Holland's upcoming fantasy novel Break Wide the Sea ; I'm reading Seth Haddon's debut fiction novel Volatile Memory ; and I'm reading Bruce Holsinger's novel Culpability . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 Break Wide the Sea (Break Wide the Sea #1) by Sara Holland The people of Kirkrell have always hunted magical whales--it's the only way to protect themselves from the water fae who threaten their people and sink their ships. Anni

Aren't young adult books just the best? I was recently speaking to a group about publishing and books, and they asked for some young adult book recommendations. Which brings me to revisiting this post from a few years ago. I could have listed so many fantastic young adult titles here, but I picked these varied, wonderful six. Young adult is one of my favorite genres to read for fun and to edit. The main protagonists are often figuring out the world, their place in it, and who

Green's book is about tuberculosis, but it's also a view of our deep global interconnectedness, gross healthcare inequalities, the TB devastation that is still prevalent, and the possibility of both simple and comprehensive approaches that could eradicate the disease. The world we share is a product of all the worlds we used to share. For me at least, the history and present of tubercuosis reveal the folly an brilliance and cruelty and compassion of humans. Is it strange that

Immaculate Conception explores art and inspiration; how trauma shapes us; the fraught prospect of altering memories; and the blessing and curse of wealth, power, and necessary compromises in this tale of ambition, love, and deep envy spiraling into an out-of-control collective force. In an imagined near-future world, Enka is from a fringe family, with little exposure to ideas, art, creativity, or opportunity. Yet she secures herself a position at an art school, where she str

Grossman's reimagined Arthurian legend gives center stage to a ragtag band of misfits, celebrates diversity, and builds a patchwork of adventures, discovery, and widened horizons culminating in a satisfying new, reimagined path forward. Collum is an instinctually gifted, strong knight who has literally fought for sword training as a lowly ward; his family has little use for him; and his heart is set upon joining King Arthur's court. But when he finally makes his way to the Ro

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Meghan Majumdar's novel A Guardian and a Thief ; I'm reading Ling Ling Huang's speculative fiction novel Immaculate Conception ; and I'm listening to Kiran Desai's novel The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar In a near-future Kolkata, India, Ma is the manager of a food pantry for those in need. She's days away from bringing her daughter and father to meet her husba

Bossy Favorites of the Month In October I read a number of books that I liked but didn't love. Luckily, a few of my reads during the second half of the month were standouts. Here are my six favorite reads of October. What were some of your favorite reads this month? 01 Katabasis by R. F. Kuang I loved the dark--and often darkly funny--journey of Cambridge postgraduate magick students Alice and Peter to hell, a quest they undertake because their advisor has died and they reall

Gould's memoir of her life as a paramedic is frank, captivating, often revolting, and disarmingly honest. She takes the reader on ride-alongs so vividly described, it's as though we're in the ambulance. She shares her pride in caring for patients, her deep frustrations, and she is open about her mental health struggles. Sally Gould's memoir is named after a darkly humorous term of affection for paramedics in Australia (frog, because everything a paramedic touches croaks). Gou

The Everlasting involves jaunts through multiple versions of the same story, as our fantastic main protagonists shift and change, bravely outsmart those who would control them, dare to hope for a future together, and fight dark forces until the bitter end. This is adventure-heavy, sometimes tender, and always intriguing. I loved it. Sir Una Everlasting was a legendary knight in the kingdom of Dominion, an orphan who rose to greatness and died in service to her queen. Her bra

This faerie-centric reimagining of Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities offered a compelling story of redemption and self-sacrifice with a significant fantasy undercurrent that is key to the plot. I felt bogged down by the explanations of the workings of the faerie system, its punishments, and its policies. I feared this was the best of times; I hoped it could not get any worse. H. G. Parry's novel A Far Better Thing  is a twist on Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities , and Parr

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Sally Gould's memoir about being a paramedic, Frog ; I'm reading H. G. Parry's reimagining of A Tale of Two Cities as a dark, faery-controlled world with the French Revolution as a backdrop, A Far Better Thing ; and I'm reading a King Arthur novel by Lev Grossman, The Bright Sword . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 Frog: The Secret Diary of a Paramedic by Sally Gould Sally Gould grew up in Australia the daughter of a paramedic, and s

Tough women, secrets and smarts, and sneaky spying! I love a peek at a secret world and books about spies specifically. My first Greedy Reading List on this topic was Six Books about Brave Female Spies . If you like stories about brave women during wartime, you might also like the titles I listed on the recent Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II . 01 Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees Rees does an excellent job of taking us t

The fifth in Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious young adult mystery series showcases Stevie Bell's instincts, doggedness, and ability to uncover the truth, this time in London while she and her friends visit Stevie's long-distance boyfriend David and investigate a decades-old double murder in a group of Cambridge friends. In the fifth in Maureen Johnson's Truly Devious series, skilled amateur high school sleuth Stevie Bell is in denial about her senior-year to-do list. She is ov

Woolever's experiences working for Mario Batali and Tony Bourdain are fascinating--and, in the case of Batali, often disturbing. The food-focused writing and restaurant workings are the highlights; the author also recounts the implosion of her personal life, addiction, and extramarital affairs as well as shaping a new normal for herself. Laurie Woolever is fresh from culinary school and realizing that she doesn't want to be a chef when she stumbles into a position as an assis

I'm drawn to stories that explore issues around memory. In Ma's science fiction novel, China is the sole global superpower, and citizens' memories are valuable, dangerous, manipulated, and mined. Recollections serve as currency and as fodder for a government seeking to prosecute any subversive citizens. In a future land ruled by the Qin Empire, citizens all wear MindBanks, contraptions that record, monitor, and transfer memories and thoughts. Memories can be manipulated, unac

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading the wonderful Alix E. Harrow's upcoming novel The Everlasting ; I'm listening to Yiming Ma's exploration of a future in which memories are valuable but dangerous, These Memories Do Not Belong to Us ; and I'm listening to Laurie Woolever's foodie memoir centering around being an assistant to Mario Batali and Tony Bourdain, Care and Feeding . What are you reading, bookworms? 01 The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow Sir Una Everlasting was a le