Here are 14 books that In This Ravishing World fans have personally recommended if you like
In This Ravishing World.
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I met Sasha Vasilyuk, the author of the family memoir Your Presence is Mandatory, just after she found her agent and was shopping her book to publishers. I'm so glad that unlike so many of its characters, this book found a home! This painful story of a family alternately rooted and uprooted in Ukraine, Germany, and Russia during and after World War II, and of a patriarch harboring dark secrets in an effort to spare those he loves, helped me to understand a great deal about today's conflict. How did Ukrainians who were occupied or captured by the German Army survive? Why did Stalin imprison them in work camps rather than decorate them after the war? Why does Vladimir Putin, even today, refer to Ukrainians as Nazis? You can find the answers here. This tale of a complex and troubled Ukrainian Jew and the resilient family he creates emerges fromā¦
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
A riveting debut novel, based on real events, about a World War II veteran with a secret that could land him in the Gulag, and his family who are forced to live in the shadow of all he has not told them.
Ukraine, 2007. Yefim Shulman, husband, grandfather and war veteran, was beloved by his family and his coworkers. But in the days after his death, his widow Nina finds a letter to the KGB in his briefcase. Yefim had a lifelong secret, and his confession forces them to reassess theā¦
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa storiesāall reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argueā¦
This is a special perc I get - getting to read and trumpet a book that won't come out until December 1! My friend Adam Strassberg has finished his long-awaited novella, just in time for Christmas.
Lost on the urban December streets, homeless Joshua navigates the boundary between the intransigence of his own religious fervor and capitalist disdain for what he has become, all the while suffering a mental health crisis that is alternately a blessing and a curse. In this āwhat ifā parable for the present day, our tortured hero lands once again in a psychiatric ward known only as 5C4. But this time, he meets toymaker Nick. And together, they make choices that surprise the reader at every turn. On all fronts, author and retired psychiatrist Adam Strassberg knows whereof he speaks. December on 5C4 is a compelling read, sure to spur discussion well beyond the Christmas season!
The magic of Christmas meets magical realism in this modern remix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories, all retold together in an urban psychiatric hospital.
On the streets, Josh is a visionary who hears the voice of God, but on locked ward 5C4, he is just one more homeless patient with auditory hallucinations. On his tenth involuntary admission, Josh confronts fellow patient Nick, a jolly toy executive in red pajamas.
Itās Jesus versus Santa! Or is it?
The two agree on an alliance and plan a daring escape from the unit. Are they becoming more psychotic by refusing their medications? Or more magical as the realā¦
What I really loved about this book in addition to what I learned about China post Tiananmen Square, was the way the characters were always surprising me. The family members in My Good Son do not always make the best decisions, which makes them more real.
Nautilus Award Gold Winner IPPY Awards Gold Winner IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards Gold Winners Lambda Literary Awards Finalist Winner of the University of New Orleans Publishing Lab Prize
"As with her previous books, 'Living Treasures' and 'My Old Faithful,' Huang's latest explores the generational push-pull of family life in post-Tiananmen China . . . Mr. Cai remains front and center, always compelling, a man doing everything for his boy, the way a good fatherāsupposedlyāshould." āLysley Tenorio, The New York Times Book Review
"A poignant meditation on fathers and sons, American and Chinese cultures and traditions in the face of modernity,ā¦
Stealing technology from parallel Earths was supposed to make Declan rich. Instead, it might destroy everything.
Declan is a self-proclaimed interdimensional interloper, travelling to parallel Earths to retrieve futuristic cutting-edge technology for his employer. It's profitable work, and he doesn't ask questions. But when he befriends an amazing humanoid robot,ā¦
The subject matter is extremely difficult and yet the writing is so engaging I had trouble putting this book down. I had to know what happened to this very troubled family.
I'll kill the first person who comes through this door.' My father grips a baseball bat in his meaty hands. It is 1962 and Diane is three years old when her violent father moves their family - her, her pregnant mother, and her six siblings - to a remote farm in Upstate New York. There, she grabs the reader by the hand and takes them to the broken-down barns, barren fields, and rows of bunk beds in her rat-infested attic bedroom as she questions all that feels wrong about her new world. She watches her ever-pregnant mother grow emotionally colderā¦
Pet birds are not my thing. But Mabel the hawk ripped out my heart. So powerful. So in tune with her mistress. The lessons that Macdonald learned from Mabel are the lessons that I learned too. Such a stunning synchronicity between the wilds of the air and the wilds of human.
One of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year
ON MORE THAN 25 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR LISTS: including TIME (#1 Nonfiction Book), NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine (10 Favorite Books), Vogue (Top 10), Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle (Top 10), Miami Herald, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Minneapolis Star Tribune (Top 10), Library Journal (Top 10), Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Slate, Shelf Awareness, Book Riot, Amazon (Top 20)
The instant New York Times bestseller and award-winning sensation, Helen Macdonald's story of adopting and raising one ofā¦
Such a fresh and quirky take on life in the modern world. I loved how the protagonist switched the perspective and instead of feeling bad about not conforming to society's expectations from her, examined the expectations themselves as something strange and peculiar and, essentially, unhealthy. A quick and very enjoyable read.
Nature writer Sharman Apt Russell tells stories of her experiences tracking wildlifeāmostly mammals, from mountain lions to pocket miceānear her home in New Mexico, with lessons that hold true across North America. She guides readers through the basics of identifying tracks and signs, revealing a landscape filled with the marksā¦
With DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Olga Tokarczuk returns with a subversive, entertaining noir novel. In a remote Polish village, Janina Duszejko, an eccentric woman in her sixties, recounts the events surrounding the disappearance of her two dogs. She is reclusive, preferring the company of animals to people; she's unconventional, believing in the stars; and she is fond of the poetry of William Blake, from whose work the title of the book is taken. When members of a local hunting club are found murdered, Duszejko becomes involved in the investigation. Byā¦
Iām a British author who has always had a fascination with magical realism and novels that blend the serious with the strange. For that reason, though I write literary fiction for adults, I take so much of my inspiration from childrenās literature. Thereās something so simple about how kidsā books stitch the extraordinary into the every day without having to overexplain things. I now live not far from the forest that inspired A. A. Milneās Hundred Acre Wood, and my latest novel is set in and inspired by this part of rural Englandāwith all the mystery and magic that a trip into the woods entails.
In this claustrophobic modern classic, a grieving father and Ted Hughes scholar finds himself haunted by an oily, unnerving, anthropomorphic crow.
Iām a fan of anything Porter writes, but his debut is deserving of the indelible mark itās made upon the modern literary landscape. The crow is a character like no other, and Porterās poetry brings this strange and beautiful bird to life.
A SUNDAY TIMES TOP 100 NOVEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Winner of the 2016 International Dylan Thomas Prize and the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year award and shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize.
In a London flat, two young boys face the unbearable sadness of their mother's sudden death. Their father, a Ted Hughes scholar and scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness.
In this moment of despair they are visited by Crow - antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This sentimental bird is drawn to the grieving familyā¦
I have long been fascinated by how personal and singular the experience of grief is. There is something soothing and relatable about reading othersā experiencesāthe more strange, nonsensical, or even supernatural the better. My own novel, The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn, is a retelling of The Secret Garden, but with an adult protagonist moving through grief over the death of her complicated mother, striving to see a bright ray of hope on the other side. Each of the books on my list about unusual manifestations of grief tackles this same concept in new and surprising ways, and I hope they touch you as they have touched me.
Donāt let the YA tag dissuade you if you donāt generally read books for that audience; Watch Over Me has definite appeal for an adult crowd.
The main character is an 18-year-old young woman who has aged out of foster care and is searching for her place in the world. A ghost-story-that-isnāt-a-ghost-story, Watch Over Me is a book about confronting our own ghostsāliterally and figuratively.
La Courās arresting prose seamlessly inserts the speculative elements into an exploration of recovery from guilt and grief in a way I found breathtaking.Ā
A modern ghost story about trauma and survival, Watch Over Me is the much-anticipated new novel from the Printz Award-winning author of We Are Okay
"Gripping; an emotion-packed must-read." -Kirkus, starred review "A painfully compelling gem from a masterful creator." -Booklist, starred review "Moving, unsettling, and full of atmospheric beauty." -SLJ, starred review
Mila is used to being alone.
Maybe that's why she said yes. Yes to a second chance in this remote place, among the flowers and the fog and the crash of waves far below.
The Bridge provides a compassionate and well researched window into the worlds of linear and circular thinking. A core pattern to the inner workings of these two thinking styles is revealed, and most importantly, insight into how to cross the distance between them. Some fascinating features emerged such as, circularā¦
I am passionate about this topic because patriarchy has generally told us that raising babies and kids is a mundane, even vilified, topic thatās hardly worthy of artistic attention, which is ridiculous. It is the richest of topics, underlines the mysteries of being alive, and so many wonderful books that explore it are either overlooked, unwritten, or admired for how they address something else. I have a hard time saying āBestā of anything, but these are great books that contribute to the respect and reverence that the experience deserves.
Iām recommending this book because it brilliantly captures the overwhelm and mania of a woman whose husband of fifteen years has left her for a younger woman. This novel likewise brilliantly captures the overwhelm and mania of being responsible for children and living within the flimsy identity of being a wife and mother.Ā
What I like best about this book is its darkness and strangeness. Raising children is full of paranoia, fear, and threats of danger at every turn, and a motherās state of mind trickles down to all aspects of childrearing. It is refreshing to read such well-rendered (even darkly funny) desperation of a mom.Ā
From the New York Timesābestselling author of My Brilliant Friend, this novel of a deserted wifeās descent into despairāand rageāis āa masterpieceā (The Philadelphia Inquirer).
The Days of Abandonment is the gripping story of an Italian womanās experiences after being suddenly left by her husband after fifteen years of marriage. With two young children to care for, Olga finds it more and more difficult to do the things she used to: keep a spotless house, cook meals with creativity and passion, refrain from using obscenities. After running into her husband with his much-younger new lover in public, she cannot evenā¦
