This summer there's no excuse for not reading. We've found so many books to admire that we had a hard time keeping it to just 20. We hope you find this to be the most diverse — possibly even THE BEST — list of Turnrow 20 recommendations that we've ever compiled. Among the crop of recent releases, here are the most epic, entertaining, shocking and insightful books we've been reading:
All That Is by James Salter
This elegantly crafted novel follows a man from his youth in the Navy during World War II through a career in New York publishing, a string of romances, exquisite travels, setbacks and rallies, all of it etched with curious diversions and casual brilliance by a first-rate novelist. A modern masterpiece on par with Hemingway.
Cooked by Michael Pollan
Few writers so skillfully meld history, how-to, storytelling and philosophy. Pollan, still our go-to guy when it comes to food writing, explores the four classical elements used in cooking -- fire, water, air and earth -– and how doing for ourselves can enrich our lives. We took to the kitchen with renewed enthusiasm after reading this. Signed copies available.
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada
Ever in search of a great lost classic, we investigated the recent and celebrated reissuing of this sprawling novel set in 1940s Berlin and found it completely enthralling. Unique among Nazi-era literature, it describes how average German citizens resisted and surrendered to the surreal pressures of life under oppression. As compulsively readable and transporting as any fiction you're likely to encounter this year.
Flora by Gail Godwin
From the wisdom and remorse of old age, a writer recalls herself as a precocious ten-year-old, recently bereft of her mother and grandmother, and the summer she spends with her older cousin from Alabama. The character dynamics and lush writing are irresistible, and we felt that great joy of reading significant literature while enjoying it like a guilty pleasure. Signed copies available.
Here is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History by Andrew Carroll
For anyone who enjoys exploring the forgotten crevices of U.S. history, this travelogue through our nation's patchwork past is riveting. Preservationist Andrew Carroll finds dozens of unmarked sites of historical significance, which have been forgotten or unmemorialized, and relates their stories, many deserving of their own books.
If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano and Erin Stead
It seems like a simple story of a boy who wants to see a whale, but really it's about learning to see the impossible. You'll need patience, imagination and a sharp eye. We're inspired to think this new children's picture book will one day be a classic.
Junius and Albert's Adventures in the Confederacy by Peter Carlson
Two Yankee reporters are captured by the Confederates at Vicksburg, sent to a Virginia prison, engage in fruitless attempts to be extradited before a treacherous escape through the mountains. This lively historic account, so filled with humor and colorful characters and off-kilter asides, could be a Coen Brothers film. Any Southern history buff willing to take a share of good-natured Rebel potshots will find an entertaining account of how the two sides interacted during the Civil War.
The Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace
Wallace (Big Fish) once again revives folkloric storytelling with his charming new novel about two sisters — one blind and beautiful, the other ugly and deceitful — and their lives in a remote forest village raised by silk weavers. The blind sister runs away from home, only to find the world not at all as it was described to her. Readers will be similarly enchanted by the rich history and legacies Wallace has imagined. Signed copies available.
Long Division by Kiese Laymon
A fourteen-year-old city kid causes a disturbance at a national grammar contest and is sent to live with his grandmother in the Mississippi countryside, where even more trouble awaits. This searing satire from a Mississippi native introduces a considerable new voice — a hilarious cross between a modern-day Huckleberry Finn and Native Son.
Minotaur by Benjamin Tammuz
Relaunched this summer for Europa's World Noir series, this little-known gem is like no other spy novel you're ever read. Readers who pick it up for its cover will be rewarded by a sensuous, braided story told from four perspectives, each one adding new information to the story of an Israeli secret agent and his clandestine pursuit to win the affections of a beautiful young Englishwoman.
Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell
Master craftsman Morrell borrows from history to weave a fascinating whodunnit involving writer Thomas De Quincey and true murders from early 1800s London. This novel imagines a copycat crime some 40 years later in which the famous "opium-eater" is implicated, and an enterprising detective uses the elderly writer's counsel to clear his name and catch the true killer whose elaborate and heinous crimes have gaslit London in fear. A masterful blend of historical fact and murder mystery with a modern pace.
The Panopticon by Jennie Fagan
This surprising Scottish black comedy opens with our young heroine headed toward a home for wayward girls. She has put a local cop in the hospital and her clothes are covered in blood, but she has no memory of committing a crime. A terrifying story, laced with the humor of a girl trying to find her way when everything seems to be against her.
Paperboy by Vince Vawter
Set in 1959 Memphis, this is the story of an 11-year-old boy who takes his friend's paper route for the summer. What should be an easy job turns complicated when a run-in with a local junk man leaves the "Little Man" and everyone in his family in harm's way. A fantastic adventure story for all readers, especially mature middle graders.
The Resurrectionist by Matthew Guinn
In this clever debut by a Mississippi novelist we're given two compelling storylines: the first, wrapped in Grisham-style procedural intrigue, concerns a Southern med school resident assigned to head off a potential scandal involving the discovery of a slave boneyard on school grounds, and the second a Civil War-era narrative about the school's founder and his slave, an instructor and procurer of cadavers for anatomy training. Intriguing parallels and century-old mysteries unite these narratives for a fast-moving, entertaining debut. Signed copies.
Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee
When this book arrived, the staff spent an hour oohing and aahing over the recipes with such poetic names as "Lime Beef Salad" and "Collards and Kimchi." Lee, a Korean-Kentuckian, has created a fusion of world flavors and Southern classics that has every intrepid cook we know adopting this cookbook as their summer kitchen project. Signed copies.
Some Kinds of Love by Steve Yates
In a season of great works by Mississippians comes a collection of stories by a prized Jackson writer. This diverse sampling, set in various locales and times, are similar in their clever humor and lively prose. Signed copies available.
The Son by Philipp Meyer
This is a rousing epic of the Big West, featuring five generations of a Texas oil family. It's tempting to compare this to Cormac McCarthy for its violence and searing prose, but this is vastly different, unique yet familiar, and wholly unforgettable. It's rare these days to be so thoroughly entertained and swept away for a mere thirty bucks.
Tampa by Alissa Nutting
Love it or hate it, but this jaw-dropper is the book everyone will be talking about this summer. Nutting pulls an astounding reversal of Lolita, getting inside the sadistic head of her lascivious female junior high teacher. Be warned, you'll either throw it across the room or read it in a single sitting. Signed copies.
The Unwinding by George Packer
Essential reading for anyone curious to know how America found itself in a perfect storm of economic, social and political crisis. By bundling this enormously complex story in a series of small, brilliantly executed biographies of both ordinary people (working-class single mom, fledgling politician) and modern-day icons (Oprah Winfrey, Newt Gingrich), New Yorker writer Packer illuminates the sources of our undoing while offering a riveting depiction of a nation composed of individuals with plenty of fight and ingenuity still left.
Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
A sassy young girl in 1963 Mississippi runs away from her grandmother's home, bound for Nashville to find her mother, a famous singer. She accumulates unlikely companions along the way and finds enough shades of menace to keep readers turning the pages. The whole story is kept aloft on the lively, hopeful voice of the nine-year-old protagonist. Signed copies available.
