With Summer just around the corner and Spring nearing a close, here are my top 5 favorite books I’ve read since March
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow By Gabrielle Zevin – “In this exhilarating novel, two friends–often in love, but never lovers–come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.”
This book is well worth the recognition that it’s received since its debut in 2022. Within the first year of release, the book has won the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction, the Book of the Month Club’s Book of the Year, Amazon’s #1 Book of the Year, Time Magazine’s #1 Book of the Year, and was an NYT Notable Book. The writing is brilliant in a way for which I lack the words, but warning: you will cry just as hard as you laugh.
A Secret History By Donna Tartt – “Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last—inexorably—into evil.”
This incredible work of dark fiction was published in 1992, but I only just finished reading it this year. This book differs from the others in this list, as it is one of the darkest books I’ve ever read. While works of fiction by Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, and Bram Stoker rule the world of horror fiction, (in my opinion) Donna Tartt writes psychological thrillers like none other. A Secret History disgusted and delighted me in a similar way to Fitz-Gerald’s The Great Gatsby, and I am amazed by Tartt’s ability to critique and villainize the pursuit of aesthetic and wealth in such a well-paced and beautiful novel. I finished this book in March, but I still think about it almost daily.
Why Fish Don’t Exist By Lulu Miller – “Part biography, part memoir, part scientific adventure, Why Fish Don’t Exist reads like a fable about how to persevere in a world where chaos will always prevail.”
This unexpectedly delightful book follows the story of taxonomist David Starr Jordan as Miller delves into Jordan’s history, including his climb to power and the sins he committed in order to retain it. This sobering book works to not only arm us against the inevitability of chaos but find beauty in it. Not only is this book a life-changing narrative, but it’s also a reminder that we will never find true, unshakable order and that fish don’t, in fact, exist. If you’re feeling especially lost in your search to find meaning, read this book. It’s a great reminder that success and failure are equally temporary.
The Anthropocene Reviewed By John Green – Unlike the others, a quote about this book doesn’t do it any justice; so here is a quote from the book: “For me anyway, to fall in love with the world is to look up at the night sky and feel your mind swim before the beauty and the distance of the stars. It is to hold your children while they cry and watch the sycamore trees leaf out in June. When my breastbone starts to hurt, and my throat tightens and tears well in my eyes, I want to look away from feeling. I want to deflect with irony or anything else that will keep me from feeling directly. We all know how loving ends. But I want to fall in love with the world anyway, to let it crack me open. I want to feel what there is to feel while I am here.”
Yes, it’s a long quote, but it shines a small light on John’s intention throughout this book. Part memoir, part history, part collection of beautiful literary references, this book feels like a first step to loving the world. On days when things are especially hard, this book makes loving the world easy. John Green’s work has an unmatched ability to shift one’s view of the human-centered world. I give The Anthropocene Reviewed five stars.
Nothing To See Here – By Kevin Wilson – “Kevin Wilson’s best book yet—a moving and uproarious novel about a woman who finds meaning in her life when she begins caring for two children with remarkable and disturbing abilities.”
I never thought that I would feel so many warm and fuzzy feelings towards a book about spontaneous combustion, but here we are. Wilson has a knack for imaginative genius. His books are odd, yes, but delightfully so, and unlike most fiction you’ll have ever read. From start to finish, this book’s witty and strange nature will keep you on your toes and make you feel incredibly guilty for complaining about the heat. The ending was surprising in the most spectacularly smug way. I recommend reading it by the pool just in case you, like our young protagonists, find yourselves aflame.
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