It is that time again.
Recommend to me — us, because a whole lot of folks are reading this blog — a book.
It can be a book that’s been out.
Or a book that’s coming out soon.
Any genre. Any variant of publishing.
Tell us what it is, who it’s by, and why you recommend it.
Just. One. Book.
Not yours.
Not ten books.
A book.
Now, before I dart off, I’ll make a recommendation to you.
THE THREE, by Sarah Lotz.
“Lotz is a ferociously imaginative storyteller whose twisty plots will kick the stairs out from under you. She’s a talent to watch.”—Lauren Beukes, author of The Shining Girls
“The Three is really wonderful, a mix of Michael Crichton and Shirley Jackson. Hard to put down and vastly entertaining.”—Stephen King
Four plane crashes happen simultaneously around the world. Appearing to have different causes entirely. And yet, in three of those accidents — and maybe, just maybe in the fourth, too — one child survived the devastation. I really don’t want to give away too much more than that, but from there unfolds one of the finest, freakiest horror novels put to paper. It’s told as artifacts — documents compiled and found — and offers a world real enough (and fragile enough) to feel like our own. That’s in fact what makes this book so terrifying, to me: the fact that you can read it and despite hints of the supernatural, it feels like oh, shit, if this happened, this is how it would unfold. All of life, a big-ass Jenga tower waiting to come down.
See, for me, the best horror isn’t just about the scares. It isn’t really about the horror.
It’s about the dread that follows in its wake. And this has that ten times over.
It also has one of the more harrowing descriptions of a plane crash.
Which I read while sitting on a plane, soooooo. Oops.
(And come to think of it, I hop on a plane tonight, too. MAYBE I’LL RE-READ IT.)
My only small issue with the book — and it’s a non-issue, mostly, in that it remains effective, if jarring — is the shift for the last part of the book away from the artifacts and into straight prose. The prose there is excellent and does the job it needs to do, but after over 3/4 of the book being told in one fashion, the hard shift is keenly felt.
Either way.
Go.
Get it.
This will be a huge bestseller, I predict.
Amazon | B&N | Indiebound
TheAnsible says:
I’m literally thirty pages away from finishing Pat Conroy’s The Lord of Discipline, and I absolutely loved it. I’m not a fan of wordy descriptions, but Conroy has this magnetic way with words. And he’s the first author to write something so vividly disgusting that I got physically sick while reading it. By today’s standards, I suppose it’s NA–the MC is a cadet at a military college very similar to the Citadel.
May 19, 2014 — 4:42 PM
ardenrr says:
I’m a huge Conroy fan. Don’t know how much you’ve read of him but I highly recommend the Lords of Discipline.
Sir Wendig!! Do not misconstrue this as my book recommendation! I’m just elaborating on a great recommendation. 🙂
May 19, 2014 — 6:32 PM
ardenrr says:
Holy crap. I hate when I do that. I meant Prince of Tides. 🙂
May 19, 2014 — 6:40 PM
Lindsey says:
Shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. All those that consider themselves book lovers should read this beautifully crafted novel. It is a work for all those in love with books and a great mystery too.
May 19, 2014 — 5:00 PM
Laurie Evans says:
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. A historical romance. Because I still want Chuck to try at least one romance! I love romance but read mostly contemporary. However, I kept seeing this book on top 50, top 100, etc romance novels “of all time” lists. I thought ok, I’ll try it. Now I see why!
VERY flawed hero. Strong, non-simpering heroine. Story that kept my eyes glued to the pages. I could not put it down. I talk about this book to everyone. Even people who “don’t read romance.” I’ve bought this book for people to increase the chances that they’ll read it.
May 19, 2014 — 5:01 PM
Jane Bryony Rawson says:
Rupetta, by Nike Sulway
The blurb says: “Four hundred years ago, in a small town in rural France, a young woman creates the future in the shape of Rupetta. Part mechanical, part human, Rupetta’s consciousness is tied to the women who wind her. In the years that follow she is bought and sold, borrowed, forgotten and revered. By the twentieth century, the Rupettan four-fold law rules everyone’s lives, but Rupetta—the immortal being on whose existence and history those laws are based—is the keeper of a secret that will tear apart the world her followers have built in her name.”
I reckon: I have such a bundle of feelings about this book. As others have said, some of the writing is liquidly delicious; descriptions of feelings and thoughts, in particular, are like pieces of glass tumbled by the ocean, precious and beautiful to touch. The idea is ambitious and grand, and the world Sulway creates is brilliantly imagined and purely itself.
There are a lot of ideas and a lot of people in this book: perhaps too many. One option, of course, would be to have fewer, but honestly I’d rather the book was longer, a real epic that gave me time to spend with each of the Wynders, to really understand Rupetta and the Oikos and the Salt Lane Witches and the Penitents and Henri’s lecturer.
Really, there’s no reason not to read this. You won’t regret it.
May 19, 2014 — 5:22 PM
Promi says:
I recommend The Heartland Trilogy, because you totally haven’t heard of that before.
ha ha ha no
In all seriousness, I recommend the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. I have no idea why, but I remember thinking it was good when I read it a few years ago.
Because ages old impressions are what you should always go by, right?
May 19, 2014 — 6:19 PM
mad monk says:
The Complete Filmmaker’s Guide to Film Festivals by Rona Edwards and Monika Skerbelis. A great tool for the screenwriter who really wants to see his/her movie actually made…and actually seen by somebody!
May 19, 2014 — 6:24 PM
ardenrr says:
Okay, my official recommendation is Doctor Sleep by Stephen King. I just finished it and I could not put it down. It’s King at his best. You get to see what happened to little Doc Torrance. King manages to stick the landing in this one too so that’s always good! Though I recommend reading The Shining as well because of it’s sheer awesomeness, you don’t necessarily have to, especially if you’ve seen the movie.
Heeeeeere’s Johnny!
May 19, 2014 — 6:39 PM
Pat says:
Reading it now. I agree…Great story and wonderful writing. It will be a birthday gift to L’il Sis this summer.
May 20, 2014 — 1:27 PM
decayingorbits says:
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. One of the best books I have ever read.
May 19, 2014 — 6:53 PM
Kveldman says:
LeGuin is awesome.
May 19, 2014 — 10:53 PM
Kimberley Gaal says:
Fairytales for Wilde Girlds by Allyse Near. Alyse is a young Australian author who has blown everyone’s proverbial socks off with her first novel. It’s quite dark, very unique and beautifully written. Not perfect but a really good read.
May 19, 2014 — 7:02 PM
Jane Bryony Rawson says:
Good call!
May 19, 2014 — 10:08 PM
Melinda Davis says:
Oscar and Lucinda. It’s been out a while. I’m reading it now. It’s about compulsive gamblers, obsession, and the improbable yet entirely mundane events that bring people together. It’s brilliantly written, and I love it.
May 19, 2014 — 7:12 PM
Nikki says:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. “The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.”
It’s beautifully written, intricate and dreamlike, and features one of the most amazing relationships between two people who are unwitting competitors and yet barely share the page.
May 19, 2014 — 7:41 PM
Pat says:
Agreed! Favorite hands-down for imaginative storytelling. I want that clock – in reality.
May 20, 2014 — 1:30 PM
Amy T Schubert says:
Yep. Great book! I think I have recommended it to a ton of people in the 6 months since I read it!
May 21, 2014 — 6:06 PM
TC says:
Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb is still probably my favorite novel. The movie is one of the great adaptations of a novel, too.
May 19, 2014 — 8:42 PM
thelizwithzombies says:
Shelter by Susan Palwick. I love all of Palwick’s work, but this book takes the cake. Near future science fiction that tackles familiar tropes such as the nature of what is human with hologram people and AI, as well as what binds a family together…but at it’s heart, like all of my favorite books, it explores the deeply flawed protagonists as they struggle to make sense of their world.
May 19, 2014 — 9:45 PM
richardsturgis says:
Brian Evenson, Last Days
A detective and amputation cults. Do I need to say more?
May 19, 2014 — 10:36 PM
lpstribling says:
Ready Player One
http://lpstribling.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/ready-player-one-a-flash-book-review/
May 19, 2014 — 10:39 PM
Lindsey says:
Love this book! I’ve given it to oodles of friends to read.
May 27, 2014 — 5:18 PM
Rio says:
The Drowned Cities. One of the most brutal and gut-wrenching books I’ve ever read. And it’s supposed to be YA. I swear, Stephen King would probably get squeamish reading some of the shit in this book, and it’s absolutely amazing.
May 19, 2014 — 11:14 PM
Melissa Clare Wright says:
First off, thank you SO MUCH for this list. I’m always looking for the next thing to read (and I read fast, which I don’t see as a good thing – nothing lasts). I’ve seen about ten books at least that now I want to go check out.
My suggestion? Really anything by Tana French, but I’m going to suggest Broken Harbour, her latest. She writes police procedurals, but several of them have that hint of the supernatural (really, just a hint) and they definitely taste gothic. Broken Harbour is atmospheric, creepy… And she writes great characters.
May 19, 2014 — 11:30 PM
Mia says:
I an definitely looking forward to reading ‘The Three’.
For my part, I’d like to make a case for RESURRECTION MAN by Sean Stewart. It is intriguing, subtle, profound. It begins with Dante seeing his own dead body, not a vision or illusion but his actual corporeal dead body. And he has to autopsy it to figure out the underlying mystery. Beyond this very fascinating and horrifying detail, it is an exploration of basic human relationships, of the development of one’s identity, and the difference between how a person sees himself and how others see him. Oh, and the ending is amazingly beautiful.
May 19, 2014 — 11:49 PM
Randall Hauk (@odroku) says:
The world hardly needs another person recommending “Tenth of December: Stories” by George Saunders, but I can hardly think of a better book to simply recommend at point-blank range to someone without knowing much what makes their readerly nipples go stiff.
With all the hype, I was prepared to be dazzled by a relatively straightforward set of lit-fic stories about regular ol’ upper-middle class white folk doing conflicty things that seems to often be the stuff of high praise, but when Saunders wanders through such neighborhoods, it’s on some alternate plane that looks familiar enough until you really look around, when you start to wonder, “what the fish?!”
Even once you get a grasp on how Saunders isn’t just mining familiar territory in a new way, it’s virtually impossible to get a lock on where he’s going next. There’s sneaky funny bits interwoven with incredibly human observations all packaged in stories that can and should appeal to fans of genre writing.
Bonus: it’s a short story collection. You don’t like it by 30 pages in, you don’t even have to proceed. But if you don’t get a charge out of the first story, I don’t want to know you as a reader or otherwise. Yeah, I’m judge-y.
May 20, 2014 — 12:29 AM
Emily Craven says:
One of my favourites from last year is Twinmaker from Sean Williams – It’s a YA/dystopian book, awesome action adventure with AI’s and d-mat/transporters. As well as being action filled and full of suspense and unexpected twists it is also a thought provoking that examines the apathy and resistance of society when something they take for granted is shown to be damaging and shameful.
May 20, 2014 — 1:09 AM
Jan S says:
Jeez, this is a tough one. The one I just finished is highly recommendable, but the book that keeps pulling me back into its pages is Forty Thousand in Gehenna by CJ Cherryh. It’s an SFnal examination of what could happen when two “governments” (Union and Alliance) go to war with each other, and one of them slips a lotta clones onto a planet in their enemy’s section of space. That’s a vague description, but to get into details would get me into spoiler territory. Tragedy, change, fear, alien beings, and new ways of speaking are all in it, along with the social breakdown stemming from no resupply ships showing up. Powerful stuff. I’ve been reading Cherryh since 1977, and 40KiG is still my go-to when I want to fall into a good read. And I still want a caliban. 😉
May 20, 2014 — 3:38 AM
Don Robishaw says:
I took the Jack Kerouac approach to my first attempt at a novel. I’m a pantzer. After finishing 95% of the story I discovered writing self-help books on line and purchased about million of them. …fixing up my novel based on what they had to offer and decided I would try another story soon using a structured approach, then I discovered this book a few days ago. I’m only about 25 pages in, but I like it a lot. “STORY TRUMPS STRUCTURE”. …sounds like a bible for pantzers. Now I’m really fucken confused.
May 20, 2014 — 6:22 AM
Jamie Maltman says:
Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker
Fantasy in a steampunk era with a funny and quirky leading lady (sorry, not foul-mouthed for Miriam fans). Halfway done and enjoying it immensely.
May 20, 2014 — 8:24 AM
Linda C Jaeger says:
I just finished Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older. As the title suggests, the idea behind the anthology is to tell stories from points of view that haven’t been centred before, and the main characters are all marginalised in one or more ways, be it as a Chinese rail-road worker in North America or as a young girl completely covered in fur, put on display for money. The stories all have an element of the fantastic – from alien assassins to mischievous tree spirits:)
May 20, 2014 — 9:16 AM
Dan Dan The Art Man says:
Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan. I just finished it this morning. It was an instant Sci-Fi classic that really makes you think. It deals with a ton of issues in a really moving and exciting and interesting story. It’s a time travel story, in the tradition of The Time Machine, but it’s a book with so much more than the cool Sci-Fi tech and locales the characters explore.
May 20, 2014 — 10:10 AM
Christa says:
Threats of Sky and Sea by Jennifer Ellision – a self pub high fantasy novel (out today!) It’s got a sassy barmaid, elemental powers and amazing prose. Go read it!
May 20, 2014 — 11:04 AM
epbeaumont says:
Somebody stole my first-choice rec (Long Hidden) so here’s the other one: Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond. This is THE book that got me excited about reading and writing short stories — every single one is a capital-T Trip to Somewhere Else with Someone Else and I swear I am going back through to review each and every tale, because wow.
Which, in a strange kinda roundabout way, brought me here to the flash fiction challenge: a chance to play this game too.
May 20, 2014 — 12:25 PM
kelmelang says:
Untamed by Will Harlan. It is a biography about the “Wildest Woman in America” Carol Ruckdeshel and how she waged a one person war on saving the sea turtles nesting on Cumberland Island GA. She is a pretty amazing person, and it is a very interesting read.
May 20, 2014 — 12:27 PM
david simon says:
My suggestion is Cruddy by Lynda Barry. Barry is primarily a cartoonist, but this is mostly a prose novel with cartoon interludes. It’s the gutwrenching, horrifying story of a 16 year old girl named Roberta Rohbeson, who live in “the cruddy top bedroom of a cruddy rental house on a very cruddy mud road”. There are drugs and insane violence, and a roadhouse slaughter, and Roberta’s story is harrowing and laugh-out-loud funny by turns.
May 20, 2014 — 2:28 PM
it's still raw says:
Cosigned. I felt awe all the way through this book.
May 21, 2014 — 5:58 AM
J. Sander says:
I am obsessed with hardboiled fiction these days and reading all of Raymond Chandlers novels. Currently working on The Long Goodbye.
Highly reccommend is books, they are a must read.
May 20, 2014 — 2:54 PM
curiouskermit says:
I recomment “The Last Days of Summer” by Steve Kluger. It’s a story of a boy and the baseball player he hero-worships. It’s set just before World War 2, in Brooklyn. The story is told through letters, telegrams, newspaper clippings, etc. I laughed out loud many times, and cried a little bit too. It’s just fantastic.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/113773.Last_Days_of_Summer
May 20, 2014 — 3:17 PM
William Grit says:
http://williamgrit.com/2014/05/20/lung-collapsing-funny/
May 20, 2014 — 4:17 PM
Nancy says:
A short story collection by a new writer I found named Chad West called “Capes: Six Uncanny Tales” on Amazon. It’s six stories with a superhero motif. It was well-written, exciting and made me laugh too. I liked it a lot. Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KCU0C2O
May 20, 2014 — 9:45 PM
angelacavanaugh says:
Just one book? That’s the toughest part. I can recommend the book that I’m currently reading. It’s “Influx” by Daniel Suarez. It’s about a guy who get’s taken and tortured by the off the rails Bureau of Technology Control, who abducts ground breaking scientist in an attempt to maintain social order.
So far, so good. Nearing the end. I’m really into future technology right now, and I like the vision the author has. He has a convincing scientific basis for most things (although, maybe a few things go into too deep of detail). It’s neat to see how future tech would seem like magic and be nearly unstoppable to us now. And he takes the idea of being able to reverse gravity in small fields and expands it into places I wouldn’t have thought of.
Audible has been suggesting it to me for a while. But I was always like “figures out a way to manipulate gravity. Why is that interesting?” But I”m glad I gave it a chance.
May 21, 2014 — 3:14 AM
it's still raw says:
Just finished the Ben Aaronovitch “Rivers of London” series. The Brits in my life are now fully 47% more comprehensible by me, and it was a very pleasurable experience. Urban fantasy, great police procedural, London geography, and (#4) architecture.
May 21, 2014 — 6:05 AM
A.J. Colby says:
I’d have to recommend “Wool” by Hugh Howey. That man is a story crafting genius and a thoroughly evil bastard. He dispatches characters with a ruthlessness similar to George R.R. Martin, and has a talent for plot twists that leaves you crying in adoration of his mastery and hatred because dammit, how could you kill off X. A truly addictive read, I spent many sleepless nights reading just.one.more.page.
May 21, 2014 — 11:57 AM
KiaraLyn says:
A Star Shall Fall by Marie Brennan. It’s a big book and takes concentration, but the story is so compelling and well-thought out. It is complex and original in its imagination.
May 21, 2014 — 1:50 PM
Jamie says:
The Kill Order by James Dashner, prequel to The Maze Runner series
May 21, 2014 — 1:55 PM
Amy T Schubert says:
I loved Code Name: Verity by Elizabeth Wein. YA WW2 historical fiction, female British spy/pilot finds herself in German-occupied France.
Great premise, great characters, great story. Easy read.
May 21, 2014 — 6:05 PM
Hank Nielsen says:
I highly recommend The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall. It’s a great read on life in a polygamist family.
May 21, 2014 — 10:19 PM
dangerdean says:
As others have said, it’s difficult to pick just one. However…
The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust is a book that I’ve been recommending, and buying for people, for the last ten years. Oddly enough I don’t have a copy of my own, as I read a store copy when I was managing a bookstore. I’ve bought four or five copies to give as gifts, though. It’s a great ride, where a couple of believable Edmonton geeks are thrust into an unexpected situation.
Here’s part of what the Asimov’s review said:
“The primary characters are two Afro-Canadian fanboys, living in their own fantasy world of comics, videos, games, and books. Hamza and Yehat hold down marginal jobs (one washing dishes, the other clerking in a video store). Bright, articulate, and unworldly, they inhabit a bachelor pad in Edmonton where they devote all their energy to mastering trivia, building strange artifacts, reading SF, and trying to figure out why they don’t have any real luck with the opposite sex.
Then a beautiful woman comes into Hamza’s life: Velma, an African princess who has what appear to be superpowers. Hamza falls instantly in love, although Yehat tries to warn him not to get his hopes up. But Velma and Hamza seem to hit it off, and even Hamza’s father approves of the match. Then, just as the love plot is beginning to warm up, weird things begin to happen.”
This fits in with a group of books (including Anubis Gates and Blackbirds) that I read and thought “Crap! I want to write a book like that!”
May 21, 2014 — 10:48 PM
Melissa Clare Wright says:
Never heard of this, but now I MUST buy it for my scifi/fantasy loving sister who now lives in Edmonton…
May 22, 2014 — 12:21 PM
AJ Snook says:
“Fierce Invalids from Hot Climates” by Tom Robbins is the book I just finished. I recommend it to anyone who likes “out-there” theories of religion/spirituality. On top of that, the character, Switters, is a hilarious guy. A bohemian CIA agent who describes his service as a counterbalance to the straight-laced ex-military type “cowboys”, he is a hero without a home, a man with an open mind to the mysteries of the universe. Very cool read even if you get the drift that Robbins likes to show off a bit with his vocabulary (which I don’t particularly mind, but others might).
May 21, 2014 — 10:55 PM
David Gearing says:
Haven’t seen it recommended yet, so I’ll pitch Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. His latest books have gotten a bit weak and preachy, but this one (written before Fight Club) has so many twisted turns and selfish characters that you barely see the ending coming at you. Fast read, fascinating examination of power, and dark twisted humor.
Besides, who wouldn’t want to read about a jawless ex-model who roadtrips with her vice cop ex boyfriend and transgendered man/woman best friend? Yes, it’s as horrific as it sounds.
May 22, 2014 — 12:21 AM
mhmoore says:
The Black Rose, Thomas B. Costain. Of all the books I have read, I read a couple of hundred a year, this is my go to, “I have nothing to read” book. Over the last 40 years or so I have worn out at least 3 hard bound copies to where the pages fall out. It is my favorite time in history, though I would not want to live there. It sent me to explore other things in that time frame. It’s mushy, its historical, its violent and I love it.
May 22, 2014 — 10:49 AM
hannahgivens says:
My very favoritest book that I read last year was Jack Glass: The Story of a Murderer by Adam Roberts. It’s a retro sci-fi novel and retro noirish mystery at the same time, and I loved every bit of it!
May 22, 2014 — 11:55 AM
Jon Stoffel says:
Most recently, I am enjoying THE LIVES OF TAO by Wes Chu. He takes a weird concept (ancient symbiotic alien entities in a war using human hosts) and owns it. All the cool stuff that it entails, and all the strange and uncomfortable aspects, are covered. Admission: I’m only halfway through the book, but that was enough for me to invest in its sequel: THE DEATHS OF TAO.
http://angryrobotbooks.com/books/the-lives-of-tao-by-wesley-chu/
May 22, 2014 — 3:01 PM
oezlum says:
“The Eagle of the Ninth” by Rosemary Sutcliff. It’s a good, old fashioned adventure romp about a Roman officer named Marcus who ventures into the untamed north of ancient Britain to try and find out what happened to his father’s legion, which seemingly vanished into thin air when Marcus was just a boy. If you haven’t read it yet, you really need to.
Word of warning, though: It was adapted into a movie in 2011 that was just called “The Eagle”, and it kind of sucked. They took everything fun out of the story and turned it into a dreary angst-fest with lots of moping and very few fight scenes. So if you saw the movie and didn’t like it, I strongly urge you to look past that and give the book a chance. And if you haven’t seen the movie, don’t. Read the book instead.
The main character ha a pet wollllf *dangles prospect of adorable/awesome animal companion in front of your nose*
May 22, 2014 — 6:16 PM
curiouskermit says:
I haven’t read this yet, but I am going to have to just because of the title: “The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil”, by Stephen Collins
May 22, 2014 — 11:32 PM
curiouskermit says:
I already recommended a book, but I wanted Chuck to see this title. 🙂
May 22, 2014 — 11:34 PM
Paul B says:
I’m gonna say Save Yourself by Kelly Braffett. It focuses on two characters – Patrick Cusimano, who because of his family is stuck in a rut, unable to get out of it, even though he wants to and Lalya Elshere, who is bullied at school because of her deeply religious family. They both kind of go through the book trying to fix themselves, but in doing so get deeper and deeper into the wrong decisions. Braffett’s prose is absolutely wonderful and the way she links the main characters stories is brilliant. I’d recommend to anyone, regardless of the genre you’re into, as it kind of crosses between three or four.
May 23, 2014 — 12:58 PM
Bryanna says:
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. In general Murakami has a writing style that simultaneously puts you at ease and gives the reader an impression of something being just slightly off in some way. This particular novel leads in a meandering sort of way but requires some close attention. It follows two characters, Aomame and Tengo, who relate their pretty extraordinary realities. There’s an overarching sci-fi kind of aspect to the story but it feels a bit like magical realism at times. If you’re adverse to the more uncomfortable sides of life (suicide, rape, depression/mental illness) then I would refrain from reading, but it would be a shame because all of these are integrated beautifully and are contextually relevant to the story.
May 24, 2014 — 5:45 PM