Book Category: Essential
-
Lanny by Max Porter
Max Porter’s second book is a stunner — a quick read that I immediately re-read most of once I was finished.
-
Rise and Kill First by Ronen Bergman
Bergman’s history of extrajudicial killings by Israel’s government is essential, gripping and alarming.
-
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
Coetzee won his second Booker Prize with this in 1999. It’s short, but rich and memorable.
-
Denison Avenue by Christina Wong, Illustrated by Daniel Innes
Moving and beautiful. It belongs in the Toronto Starter Kit. It’s one of the best things I’ve read in years.
-
Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee
Cotezee’s best-regarded book is a slim volume with sharp teeth and resonance more than 40 years after its publication.
-
When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut
Early contender for best read of 2024. A slim, readable and unforgettable thing.
-
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Breakfast of Champions is the perfect Vonnegut gateway drug. It’s an easy read, it’s bizarre, cynical, angry, vulgar, hilarious and certainly not for everyone.
-
The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
The comparisons to Franzen are fair. It sure didn’t feel like 600+ pages. I could not get enough of this book.
-
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Lynch’s book details a modern Ireland’s quick slide into a nightmare dystopia. It sees the world through the eyes of a mother trying to figure out how to keep her family together. It’s easily one of the top five fiction books I’ve read this year.
-
A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney
I must confess I now find it difficult to truly and fully relax around people who haven’t had some significant tragedy and pain in their lives. Just another one of the many things that make me a fun hang. This is so relatable. My wife and I have had more than our share of very…