If you want a good book recommendation, ask a writer. As a rule, no one is more up-to-date on current releases than a working author. With that in mind, I asked five local authors what was on top of their to-be-read piles, and they had no shortage of good answers.
Atlanta author Christopher Swann, whose third novel, “A Fire in the Night,” comes out next week, is eagerly anticipating Wiley Cash’s latest, “When Ghosts Come Home,” which comes out Sept. 21.
“Wiley is one of those authors who can write a thrilling story about crime that transcends the genre, with characters that engage us and writing that sings off the page,” said Swann. “‘When Ghosts Come Home,’ about a sheriff’s murder investigation that upends his community while he struggles to confront his daughter and his own past, is right up my alley.”
Anjali Enjeti of Johns Creek made her literary debut earlier this year with two powerful books. Her novel, “The Parted Earth,” spans generations, continents and decades to tell the story of love, loss and family set in 1947 India and modern-day Atlanta. “Southbound” is a collection of essays that explores identity and social injustice.
“There has been an explosion of literature by South Asians as of late, and I’ve been paying particular attention to small press South Asian books being published in 2021,” said Enjeti. “The next three on my to-be-read list include two books by Georgia authors — Aruni Kashyap’s collection of poems from FutureCycle Press, ‘There Is No Time for Bad News,’ and Gayatri Sethi’s debut young adult nonfiction book from Mango and Marigold Press, ‘Unbelonging.’ I’m also about to start Rajiv Mohabir’s memoir, ‘Antiman,’ winner of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing.
“Kashyap is a prolific writer of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, and all of his writing provides an incisive critique of both Indian and U.S. society. Sethi, a Tanzanian-born Punjabi former academic, and Mohabir, a queer Indo-Guyanese poet, both write about their layered and multi-faceted identities, while also pushing the limits of genre. I can’t wait to delve in.”
The author of three crime thrillers set in the North Georgia mountains, Augusta author Brian Panowich’s latest novel “Hard Cash Valley” came out last year.
“There are always a few books piled up there, eyeballing me at night and asking me to start them, but ‘Another Kind of Eden’ by the legendary James Lee Burke jumped right to the top of that pile for a few reasons,” he said. “Mr. Burke is one of the biggest inspirations I had for getting into the writing game myself, and the man himself asked me to interview him on his virtual book tour of the novel. Now, that is nothing short of a dream come true.
“But by far the most exciting reason to jump into this book is that it’s the latest in the Holland Family Saga. This series isn’t as well-known as his long-running Dave Robicheaux series, but it definitely should be. The story is a sprawling, immersive epic that features a different member of the Holland Family with each book. And every addition to the series adds more pieces to the puzzle and more layers to the rich tapestry of the family’s history. It’s a world so intense and mind-blowing that only J.L.B. is capable of pulling off something so grand in scope. He’s the best in the business and ‘Another Kind of Eden’ is bound to solidify that. I have no doubt.”
Named one of the best books of 2019 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Susan Rebecca White’s latest novel, “We Are All Good People Here,” tells the story of a friendship between two women whose lives remain intertwined despite the dramatically different paths they’ve chosen. At the top of her to-be-read pile is “Family Law” by Gin Phillips.
“I adored Gin Phillips’ 2017 novel, ‘Fierce Kingdom,’ and so am really looking forward to reading her latest, ‘Family Law,’” said White. “Taking place in the early 1980s in Montgomery, Alabama, it follows trailblazing feminist attorney, Lucia Gilbert, and the young woman who looks up to her, Rachel Morris. Set in a world of strictly enforced gender norms, not to mention white supremacist ideology, Phillips’ book promises to explore both the danger and the liberation that results from breaking out of the roles we have always been told we must play.”
Last month, Decatur author Thomas Mullen released “Midnight Atlanta,” the latest in his Darktown series of Jim Crow-era crime thrillers based in Atlanta. He says he has three books on his bedside table competing for attention right now.
“For fiction, ‘Lives Laid Away’ by Stephen Mack Jones, because his first novel felt like the start of a great detective series set in modern Detroit, and I’m eager to continue it,” he said. “For nonfiction, ‘American Dreams: Lost and Found’ by Studs Terkel, because I’ve read some of the great oral historian’s other books and they are goldmines of character studies and plot ideas for a novelist. And lastly, ‘Decoding Boys: The New Science Behind the Subtle Art of Raising Sons’ by Cara Natterson, because I’m the father of two boys.”
At the top of my reading stack is “Matrix,” about a woman banished to a medieval abbey in 12th century England, written by Lauren Groff, author of the wildly popular 2015 novel “Fates and Furies.” What’s at the top of your to-be-read stack? Email me at svanatten@ajc.com and tell me why.
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor for The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Contact her at svanatten@ajc.com and follow her on Twitter at @svanatten.
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