
The Weight of Heaven, by Thrity Umrigar
There is a bit of a sadist in me, especially when it comes to reading material. I can be drawn to the darkest stories, if

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
When Death tells you a story, you have to listen. Especially when Death is also a poet and stuck in a dead-end job from which

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon
Any book that opens with fork-stabbed poodle-death is story that must be read, if only to give the author the chance to redeem himself, which

Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott
Telling the truth as a writer is one of the toughest goals we can set, and this is where Lamott begins. With each chapter, from

Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks
Having lived through a plague (“lived”? Past tense? Please?) you’d think delving into the world of 1666 London during a wave of the Black Death

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin
I was hooked on this book by the third page, and it’s because of this exchange: “You’ll notice I didn’t call you right away, Amelia,”

Living by Fiction by Annie Dillard
If you’re looking for a book that explores everything you love about the written word, this is the book for you, something Ms. Dillard sums

The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood
It’s a terrible thing to admit that so far, the best thing about this book is that I got a signed copy of it after

Case Histories: A Novel (Jackson Brodie, 1), by Kate Atkinson
You know something is about to go horribly wrong from the first line of this crime fiction book, even though the line reads innocuously enough—“How

A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
This is one of those friend group books, where you meet one person, and they introduce you to a bunch of other cool people you’re

Interred with their Bones, by Jennifer Lee Carrell
Okay, so I teach Hamlet (check out David Tennant’s Hamlet, if you haven’t yet!) and couldn’t help but try out this book, which is basically