Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny (2015)

It's been a while since a collection of short stories has grabbed me as much as this collection did.  

Fabulous characters and really interesting meditations on the nature of love and infidelity and unrequited love and inappropriate relationships. Amazingly insightful and funny to boot.

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King (2011)

I am really starting to love A.S. King's work for young adults. I love how she adds the slightest bit of magical realism to her otherwise realistic novels that make them utterly original.

In this novel, Lucky is being bullied by a guy at his high school, and obsessed with finding out what happened to his grandfather who is a POW/MIA in Vietnam.  He dreams vividly about his grandfather which struggling with everyday life and his relationship with his parents. 

In an era when every other young adult novel is the first in a yet-to-be-written trilogy, I love a book that ends REALLY well, and this one does.

Girl Walks Into a Bar by Rachel Dratch (2012)

Subtitled: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle.

I have a love-hate relationship with memoirs/humorous essay books written by comedians. However, I was surprised to find that I rather liked this one. (I should have been able to tell by the excellent subtitle alliteration.)

The beginning is a bit of inside dish on being a non-traditional looking actress in Hollywood who rather publicly got replaced on a major television show (30 Rock). The next part is about dating in New York, which is deliciously traumatizing, and the third is about finding herself unexpectedly pregnant in her early forties. Through the entire book, and all of her memoirs, she is wonderfully self-aware, and the book is well-organized and funny. Good stuff!

March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (2013)

Okay, so you should know: Don't read this without having the second one close at hand. It leaves off on a total cliffhanger. And you will just need to know what is going to happen. 

This graphic novel follows the life of John Lewis, from young sharecropper child living in segregated Alabama to studying to be a preacher to getting involved with Dr. King and SNCC. Set with a poignant framing device of him getting ready (as a congressman) for the inauguration of Barack Obama, it looks back in full detail at his past. 

It's incredibly sweet and heart-rending--brought me to tears and made me really want to learn more about his work, the civil rights movement, and visit Atlanta's many civil rights museums. Fascinating and incredibly emotional.  Followed by a second volume, which will make you long for the yet-to-be released third.

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King (2014)

Fascinatingly weird and marvelously, utterly original young adult novel about a girl graduating from high school who drinks a petrified bat (what?) with her best friend who lives on the commune across the street and finds that she can see people's future. And a big war is coming.

Really well told and very chilling, and in the midst of all this strangeness, King creates interesting and realistic relationships between friends and family members.

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine (2014)

Amazingly thought-provoking book that explores the everyday interactions of race, in lovely, spare, poetic writing. 

Chilling and effective, with interesting illustrations (and helpful notes about them in the back). It feels like a book you should read slowly and thoughtfully, which is not something I do very often. Wonderful discussion starter. 

Here's a tip: listen to Claudia Rankine read her work. It helps to have her voice in your head as you read. I particularly love the vignette on page 131 that starts: "On the Train."

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (2015)

Getting lots of buzz as this year's Gone Girl, I have to say, it's a pretty darn good thriller. 

Lonely, alcoholic Rachel rides the train every day, pretending to go to the job that she lost. She gazes out the window and into the windows of the houses she passes on her way, making up stories about the people who live there. But one day she sees something very mysterious and gets involved with a murder investigation.

Told by various characters, this was an interesting, well-written, great characterized novel. Plus, and not insignificantly, a fascinating look at alcoholism. Also, the end is so suspenseful that I kept putting it down, not wanting it to be over.

The Dolls by Kiki Sullivan (2014)

Eveny Cheval just moved back to Carrefour, Louisiana from Brooklyn with her aunt. Many secrets await, including the cliquey new group to which her family has mysterious ties.  

Long story short: Eveny is a voodoo queen, possibly the most powerful one of all! And the super handsome guy she likes? Generations of his family have protected hers so they can never be together! And her mother's suicide?  Possibly not a suicide! 

That said, it was great mythology and a fun read that, despite the fact that it's no doubt the first in a trilogy, stood alone just fine on its own.

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon (2014)

The story of a young black man, shot dead on a busy street by a white man. Told through the viewpoints of his friends, his family, his friends' families, bystanders and shopkeepers in the area.  

Beautifully evokes so many people's stories through this one event. Fabulous book. Read voraciously in one night. Excellent book for thoughtful discussions.

Saga: Volume One by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (2012)

Unbelievably absorbing graphic novel about two cultures at war and two people from those cultures who have fallen in love and had a baby. Begins very much in media res.

Fabulous world creation, super dreamy lead guy (despite the horns), kick ass lead girl, and wonderfully vivid supporting characters.  Plus, mucho diversity. Absolutely fabulous.

Followed by three more volumes ... so far!