Books I Don't Want You to Miss, Even If I Miss Them Myself

One thing never changes. 

No matter how many books I read in any given month, I can't help but wonder how many better ones are slipping through the cracks. You probably know that feeling yourself because I expect it is one that all avid readers experience to one degree or another. 

Back in the old days, before the internet was in every home and before publishers used it as their main marketing tool, I actually remember finishing a book with no idea what I would be reading next. I may even have finished a book on a Monday or Tuesday and had to wait until the weekend before I could get my hands on something new at the library or, if I had a few dollars to spare, at a local bookstore. I used to look forward to the Sunday Houston Chronicle book section because I usually spotted at least one or two books that I wanted to read that way, especially books that were finally going into paperback editions. I had no idea what a TBR list was because even if I had had one, it would have been very short. 

And then my reading world exploded with the advent of the internet. Flash forward a few years later, and I'm getting at least half a dozen emails a day telling me about new books and offering me deals on them. I keep multiple TBR lists that probably total 300 books or more, even knowing that only a small percentage of them are likely to ever be read. But I add to the TBRs constantly anyway. And that's the thing that never changes. 

That's why I'm going to start spotlighting a few books every week that have caught my eye, books I haven't read for myself and can't fully vouch for in quality or content. I'm going to do this in hopes that some of you will find something that interests you enough to read it - or that you've already read - so you can tell me what you think of it. That will help me choose the ones that I really can't afford to miss. 

Here's this week's offerings (with minimal comment on my part):

I'm curious about this one because of its author and how much I enjoyed (finally) her Station Eleven. This one seems to be more a look at unusual aspects of contemporary society. It was published on March 24, 2020.

This is one by an author whose nonfiction work I've read and enjoyed. I've even heard him speak a time or two at book festivals and he never fails to impress. Wright is, after all, a Pulitzer Prize winner. This one is billed as a medical thriller about - a virus pandemic - that decimates the world population. It was published on April 28, 2020.

Here's a debut novel that some pretty influential people have been raving about forever. It's a pre-pandemic look at contemporary society through the eyes of four sisters who remain rivals even after their parents have been happily married for 40 years. Lombardo's writing is compared to Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Strout, and Jonathon Franzen, among others. It was published on June 25, 2019.

And, finally, this one is from an author whose previous book, The Good Lord Bird, is still one of my favorites. This one takes place in a NYC black neighborhood and involves a church deacon who decides it's time to shoot the local drug dealer - so he does it himself. It was published on March 3, 2020.

There you have it, four books that I've recently added to my always-out-of-control TBR. Have you read any of these or have them on your own TBR? Let me know in either case what you think of them.