My favorites from the late spring were Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (devastating and poetic), The Wanderers by Meg Howrey (philosophical and provocative), and Less by Andrew Sean Greer (funny and relatable, also Pulitzer-prize winning).
Most recently I've read some trashy crime/mystery but none good enough to recommend. I did enjoy The Fact of a Body by Alexandra Marzano-Lesnevich, sort of a true-crime investigation/memoir about, among other things, the long-term effects of trauma. Moving and harrowing, mostly well-written.
On my list are books from two members of the Obama Administration, Ben Rhodes and Dan Pfeiffer, as well as Salvage the Bones (Jesmyn Ward), Kitchen Confidential (Anthony Bourdain), Florida (Lauren Groff), and Flights (Olga Tokarczuk, winner of the 2018 International Man Booker prize).
Lisa, it was interesting to read your thoughts about what Canadians read vs what Americans read. I read as much as I can and try not to limit my choices by genre or place of origin. But looking back at my reading list I'm actually saddened by the dominance of North American voices. I need to work harder at reading books written elsewhere. For me, one of the real gifts of good writing is that it exposes me to other cultures, lives, and histories.
Thanks for the great suggestions here, ladies! Will use them to keep adding to my list.
