Isabelle Allende 443 pages Vintage Español (2011)
Read this if you like: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Chilean history, genre-blurring coming-of-age novels
tl;dr summary: Teenager on the LAM finds refuge in a small village in Chile and learns about both herself and her family’s history in the process.
Anthony Veasna So 260 pages Ecco (2021)
Read this if you like: Karen Russell, Jennifer Egan, Alan Heathcock
Tl;dr summary: Various views of the day-to-day lives of Cambodian refugees in California.
Ann Leckie 407 pages Orbit Books (2019)
Read this if you like: Kerstin Hall’s Star Eater, N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy, fantasy with unique voice & POVs
tl;dr summary: Fantasy-mystery-thriller narrated by an ancient god who shares highlights from his very, very long life along the way.
Hilary Hauck 387 pages Olive Rose Press (2023)
Read this if you like: historical fiction, unique POVs, intrigue-driven plots
tl;dr summary: Jilted British woman travels to Italy to find her suddenly departed lover, instead finds lies (and herself, natch)
Gustavo Bondoni 281 pages Guardbridge Books (2017)
tl;dr summary: Intergalactic expats return to Earth to find its humans now live entirely in a simulation.
Read this if you like: The Matrix, Vernor Vinge, Ann Leckie
Joanna Acevedo 196 pages Flexible Press (2021)
Read this if you like: Jennifer Wortman, Susan Minot, Alice Munroe
tl;dr summary: Glimpses in the lives of thirteen people who are all very bad at love each in their own unique way.
Matthew Cheney 270 pages Third Man Books (2023)
tl;dr summary: Genre-spanning and blurring collection that is a study in crafting voice and balancing realism against absurdity.
Read this if you like: Juan Villoro, David Foster Wallace, literary horror
Christine Stroud 58 pages Disorder Press (2017)
Read this if you like: hybrid stories, fragmented narratives, grief and loss narratives
tl;dr summary: Twin grieves and remembers her sister in the aftermath of her suicide
See the book on Disorder Press’ website
Jason DeYoung 44 pages The Cupboard Pamphlet (Volume 42, 2020)
Read this if you like: Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, Carmen Maria Machado, character-driven apocalyptic horror
tl;dr summary: Three people survive together during a quiet apocalypse
See the book on The Cupboard’s website
Brandon O’Brien 64 pages Interstellar Flight Press (2021)
Tl;dr summary: Eldritch horror meets pop culture meets Blackness meets black humor, all mixed together and with line breaks
Read this if you like: Elwin Cotman, speculative poetry, hip hop culture
