The Season's Hottest Books & Some Readalikes
There are a some books that set the world on fire when the come out, and our collections team does their best to satisfy, but sometimes we need to put our patrons in a holds queue. However, there is no need for anyone to leave the library empty-handed. Here are some of the season's hottest books and some titles with similar appeal to give them while they wait.
The Mars Roomby Rachel Kushner
Romy Hall is serving two consecutive life sentences at the Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility in central California. From prison she narrates her gritty past and present.
More prison stories:
The Graybar Hotel: Stories by Curtis Dawkins [ebook]
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Hag-seed: The Tempest Retold by Margaret Atwood [ebook]
God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright [ebook]
An exploration of Texas history, politics, culture, and stereotypes.
More onTexas:
Best State Ever: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland by Dave Barry [ebook]
In a Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas by Larry McMurtry
Half Broke Horses: A True-life Novel by Jeannette Walls [ebook]
Kudos by Rachel Cusk
The final work in the Outline Trilogy follows our protagonist, Faye, to a literary festival in Europe.
More stream-of-consciousness:
Autumn by Ali Smith
Autumn by Karl Ove Knausgaard
What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons [ebook]
Wade in the Waterby Tracy K. Smith
An examination of race in America, past and present, political and personal.
More critical self-reflection via poetry:
Ordinary Beast: Poems by Nicole Sealy [ebook]
Don’t Call Us Dead: Poems by Danez Smith [ebook]
There There by Tommy Orange
An ensemble cast of Native Americans come together for the Big Oakland Powwow.
More Native American voices:
The Round House by Louise Erdrich [ebook]
Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese marie Mailhot [ebook]
Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson [ebook]
Calypso by David Sedaris
A collection of darkly funny essays on middle age and mortality.
More sardonic humor-writing please:
New Ways To Kill Your Mother: Writers On Their Familiesby Colm Tóibín
The Uncollected David Rakoff by David Rakoff [ebook]
The Hard Way On Purpose by David Giffels
The Outsider by Stephen King
A supernatural horror novel wrapped in a police procedural. A small town detective arrests a popular little league coach for the murder of a young boy and the case turns into something much more sinister than it appears on the surface.
For more evil transformations:
Mr. X by Peter Straub [ebook]
Sweet by Emmy Laybourne
Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!