When it comes to seeking a book recommendation, you can’t go wrong asking an author. The most well-read people I know are successful writers who make it their business to stay up-to-date on current titles. With that in mind, I queried local authors on their favorite books of 2020. Their suggestions were so good, I’ve added a few to my Christmas wish list.
New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson has a new book coming out in April, another domestic suspense thriller called “Mother May I.” She jumped at the chance to extol the pleasures of “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, about a spunky debutante who is beckoned by her imperiled newly-wed cousin to the High Place, a foreboding mansion in the countryside where dark secrets reside. The book is under development as a drama series for Hulu.
“I’ve now bought multiple copies of this book to mail all across the country to both my smartest and my weirdest friends,” says Jackson. “It’s propulsive and wildly entertaining — just an absolute, nail-biting pleasure — but all the action is deeply rooted in character.”
The book has all the elements of a perfect gothic tale, she says: “lovely young protagonist, creepy house, even creepier denizens, suspect love interest.” But it also explores substantive themes. “It’s deeply feminist and crafted to start conversations about colonialism without ever devolving into preachiness, much less pausing the action.”
Thomas Mullen’s third and final book in the Dark Town series, “Midnight Atlanta,” comes out in July. He struggled to pick just one favorite book this year, but he narrowed it down to James McBride’s “Deacon King Kong,” a sprawling, humorous tale about a church deacon who shoots a drug dealer in a Brooklyn housing project in 1969, setting off a far-reaching ripple effect through the community.
“It’s everything I want a novel to be: big-hearted, ingeniously plotted and stuffed with a huge cast of charming, flawed, hopeful, profane, romantic, devout and very human characters,” says Mullen. “I’m so impressed by how McBride writes about big issues like race, housing, class, crime and religion with such a great sense of humor and boundless humanity.”
It’s a wonder Kevin Young, a poet and poetry editor for the New Yorker, even had time to read this year. In September, he was named executive director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and in October, the Library of America published his 1,170-page anthology “African American Poetry: 25 Years of Struggle and Song.” But he, too, struggled to select just one favorite.
“It is hard to pick among the strong field of poetry published this year,” he says, citing such standouts as Lucille Clifton’s “How to Carry Water: Selected Poems” and “Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America’s Poets Respond to the Pandemic,” edited by Alice Quinn. “But if I had to pick a single volume it would be Natalie Diaz’s “Postcolonial Love Poem.” A finalist for the National Book Award, this book by the Native poet takes in everything from Beyoncé to ‘American Arithmetic,’ grief to the ‘Beloved’ to the ‘Top Ten Reasons Why Indians Are Good at Basketball.’ How it sings.”
“Never Turn Back” author Christopher Swann singles out S.A. Cosby’s “Blacktop Wasteland,” about a former getaway driver sucked back in to a life of crime for a big jewelry heist, as a “must-read for 2020.”
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Swann says it has “an imperfect hero to root for with everything at stake; a propulsive plot centered around one last job; a cast of characters who are larger than life yet utterly believable; a noirish style that is the blueprint for a literary thriller; and a lot to say about race, poverty, family, rural America and redemption”
“Invisible As Air” author Zoe Fishman selected “Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi, also a top pick of the year by AJC book critics. It’s about a scientist named Gifty who’s trying to discover what makes her tragic family tick and what role faith plays in their lives. “I was especially moved by the relationship between Gifty and her mother, and the way in which her mother’s depression shapes it,” says Fishman. “Gifty’s struggle with God after the death of her brother is also thoughtfully rendered in this beautifully written book.”
Susan Rebecca White, author of “We Are All Good People Here,” didn’t hesitate when asked for her favorite book of the year.
“I read a lot of good books this year,” she says, “but Lily King’s novel, “Writers & Lovers,” was my favorite in terms of pure, literary pleasure.” She credits Frank Reiss, owner of A Cappella Books, for the recommendation.
“‘Writers & Lovers’ is about being a youngish woman doggedly dedicated to writing her novel in the face of grief for her recently deceased mother, and in spite of a series of distracting relationships with hilariously narcissistic men. It’s beautifully written, it made me laugh, and it reminded me once again of why it’s so crucial to put my head down and get to work on my own art.”
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. suzanne.vanatten@ajc.com
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