Jane Dystel recommends:
One of my all time favorite books, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde is the story of a man’s wish to stay young forever. Dorian Gray is beautiful and irresistible, and when his friend Basil Hallward paints his portrait, Gray expresses his wish to stay young forever. The wish comes true.
Attracted by his depraved friend Henry Wotton, Gray jumps into a life of sin, but every time he sins, his portrait gets older, while Gray remains young and healthy. His life turns into a mixture of sex, lies crime and murder and he hides the portrait which becomes increasingly horrifying in an upstairs room, sometimes going to stare at it and take pleasure in the fact that it and not he bears the stains of his behavior. In time he begins to fear that the painting and his secret will be discovered; he lives like this for eighteen years but finally sees himself as he really is and curses the portrait blaming its magic for his miserable life.
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY is a wonderful novel which serves as well as a morality play of sorts. I read it when I was in my teens and have never forgotten the details of the novel or its message. In fact I can say that about only a handful of books I have read over the years.
Miriam Goderich recommends:
At an NJRW conference last fall, I saw the lovely and talented Anne Stuart do a panel on romantic suspense and the importance of the “dark hero.” Krissie (as we call Ms. Stuart around here) was charming, smart, and provocative, as always, but what I took away from that workshop was a recommendation that I pass on to you here (you’re welcome!). NINE COACHES WAITING by Mary Stewart is now one of my favorite books in this category. With a brooding narrative that calls to mind Jane Eyre and Rebecca, the novel features a no-nonsense English governess whose customary sangfroid is challenged by a cast of exotic and erratic characters, in particular the rakishly handsome, vaguely sinister Raoul de Valmy. The writing is gorgeous, the atmosphere full of delicious foreboding, the sexual tension palpable, and the French countryside that serves as the backdrop for the action seductive. This is a ridiculously compelling page-turner and I suggest that you not pick it up unless you’re willing to read straight through until you reach the very satisfying end.
Michael Bourret recommends:
If you’re looking for the kind of book that sticks with you long after you’ve finished, Andrew Smith’s THE MARBURY LENS will be right up your alley. This stellar YA novel is dark, twisted, violent, brutal, terrifying, but also smart, brave, hopeful, tender and unforgettable. The story begins badly enough: Jack gets drunk at a party and winds up kidnapped and nearly…well, it’s not good. He escapes, and that’s when things really get bad. I don’t want to say much more about the book, though reviews will give away plenty if you care to read them. Rather, I want to discuss this book with anyone who reads it. So what are you waiting for? Go get a copy and then let’s talk! And, if you want a taste, you can find an excerpt here. After that, you’ll be reaching for the book with the same need that Jack reaches for the Marbury Lens…
Stacey Glick recommends:
My pick this time is a book I wish I’d sold. It’s Alice Ozma‘s THE READING PROMISE, and it’s just the sweetest memoir by a young woman about the promise her single librarian dad made to read to her every day for 100 nights when she was 8 years old. Those 100 nights turned into the rest of her childhood and continued until she went to college. This isn’t a flashy book, but it’s so thoughtful and honest, and teaches us about the simple things in life which often turn out to be the most important. If you want to have your heart melt, just read the foreword, written by the author’s dad. In a few short pages, he sums up what it means to be a good parent. It’s beautiful, and a book that should be read, savored, and passed on to others. In a world that moves way too fast, we can all learn something from its simple, but profound, lessons.
Jim McCarthy recommends:
People often ask what I mean by saying I want to see “unusual and unexpected” material. The perfect example: GEEK LOVE by Katherine Dunn—a soulful, humorous, magical story about a family of carnival freaks and the incredibly strange relationships between them. Besides the astonishing prose, Dunn manages to imbue a mythic quality to the characters while simultaneously keeping them grounded and relateable. An oldie but a goodie. I love this book.
Jessica Papin recommends:
Following the recommendation of Jane and the 2010-2011 Pulitzer Prize board, I’m reading THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES. In this “biography” of cancer, Columbia University Professor of Medicine Siddhartha Mukherjee takes a sprawling and terrifying subject and finds a fascinating narrative that is at once sweeping in scope and human in scale. As most of us know, cancer is a wily and implacable foe, and our efforts to understand it, much less eradicate it (as Nixon’s “War on Cancer” once promised to do) have been thwarted. Joining a venerable and august tradition of physician/authors, Mukherjee writes with clarity, compassion, and a remarkable sense of pace—this work of popular science is a riveting page-turner.
Lauren Abramo recommends:
I heartily recommend Don Winslow’s SAVAGES. It’s like the love child of Weeds and The Wire as written by Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, with narration so smug all the writers in Brooklyn must be seething with jealousy. That might not sound like a ringing endorsement, but trust me, give it a shot. You’ll be saying, “Oh, please, get over yourself,” from the second page, but before you even know it you’ll have turned the last one. The pace is breakneck and the voice sublimely compelling, so the book ran out of words well before I had a chance to run out of patience for the gimmick, which I never would have bet on. I love a book that challenges you to hate it, but pulls it off so well that you finish up knowing ten people you’d like to lend it to.
John Rudolph recommends:
THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X by Keigo Higashino totally blew my mind this past spring. What appears at first to be a simple cover-up for a crime of passion quickly turns into an epic battle of wits between hunter and hunted, and the plot twists will make your head spin—what an ending! Like the Millennium Trilogy, it’s very exciting to see a thriller that bridges a cultural gap while providing a view into an unfamiliar world. And major kudos to the translator, who artfully renders the story in simple, declarative prose that keeps the plot moving at all times. If this is the Japanese version of a “thrill ride,” then I’m sure glad I had a ticket!
Stephanie DeVita recommends:
CHILD OF MY HEART by Alice McDermott is a book that I read several years ago, but has nonetheless managed to stay at the top of my favorites list. Set in East Hampton, Long Island–the summer playground of New York City’s richest–the novel follows fifteen year old narrator, Theresa, a beautiful and exceptionally perceptive character who thoughtfully and yet introspectively recounts her summer caring for several local children and pets along with her favorite cousin, eight-year-old Daisy. Her discovery of a tragic secret of Daisy’s home life lends a melancholy and pensive tone to the narrative, and throughout the novel, Theresa offers half-innocent, half-ironic comments on the vanities and nonsensical lives of her employers. The book is evocative, gently humorous, and imparts a fabulous and touching story of a youthful and sentimental summer.
Rachel Stout recommends:
“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” Captivating and charming from the very first line, I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith is one of a rare class of books that can be read and reread many times over. Cassandra Mortmain, the hyper-aware young girl whose diary serves as the book’s text is one of those narrators whose precociousness and naïveté are endearing rather than off-putting. The Mortmains, an eccentric, secluded and pitifully destitute English family living in an abandoned castle have a host of obstacles to overcome. When a pair of wealthy American brothers takes control as landlords, the lives of the Mortmains are forever changed. Bright and witty, Cassandra’s observations of the crumbling and rebuilding of the restrictive world she once found familiar and comforting are tragic, beautiful, humorous and insightful all at the same time. For the imagery and characterization, if not for the story itself, I CAPTURE THE CASTLE is a timeless and wholly enjoyable read.
