Don’t let’s stick with the same authors in the same genre every day. Adding some non-fiction, biography and short fiction to our reading lists this month could give a kick to our imagination and to our writing. Here are some I recommend (plus two very good new novels):
Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty by Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton has been a voice and a face for quirky women since her break-through appearances in the seventies. Now, she writes about this very phenomenon in her memoirs, this one being a collection of pieces of wisdom and anecdotes from show business, inspiring the reader to keep on avoiding the beauty-pressure of Hollywood.
Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston
The new novel from the author of Corpus Christi: Stories follows the aftermath of a Texas tragedy. Justin Campbell disappeared four years ago and is assumed dead, until he returns… This story mixes thriller and the deep difficulty of family and has already had some pretty superlative reviews.
Hanns and Rudolf by Thomas Harding
This is the true story of Lieutenant Hanns Alexander, a Jewish investigator tasked with bringing Nazi officials to justice in the aftermath of the Second World War, and Rudolf Hoss, infamous leader of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Revealing this incredible pursuit for the first time, Thomas Harding takes us back to the terrifying reality of Nazi Germany.
Palo Alto: Stories by James Franco
This is the first set of stories published by movie star James Franco, following a bunch of teenagers all troubled and standing at extreme moments in their lives. Having received some criticism for unoriginality and questions over whether these stories would have been published without the movie star name behind them, the collection is worth a view to see for yourself and Franco certainly brings an interesting set of experiences to the table.
The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
With that brand of magical and disturbing reserved for circuses and freak shows, The Museum of Extraordinary Things tells the love story of Coralie Sardie, daughter of the strange proprietor of the Museum, a freak show on Coney Island, and Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant, set in the tumultuous circus of New York in the early twentieth century.
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