Fourteen books you won't find on BookTok
A step outside of the literary trend cycle
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I’m writing this sitting on the floor (as I am wont to do), facing my blessedly giant bookshelf. The bookshelf is the first thing you see when you walk into our apartment, and, without fail, every time someone walks in, they ask if we’ve read every book. The answer feels like an obvious “no” to me; though it is beautiful, my bookshelf is not a carefully curated monument to the books I’ve read. Its primary function is utility. When I’ve finished a book, as with any good library, I should be able to head over to the shelves and pull out another I might be interested in reading.
Thing is, as with everything these days, books are part of a trend cycle. I love talking about books, and, like anyone else who does, I can get easily swept up in the “book of the moment” cycle, neglecting the more specifically-to-my-taste picks that sit on my shelves year-round. I’ve come to plenty of great books by way of wanting to be involved in the current cultural conversation: Brat and Evenings & Weekends last summer; Scaffolding and the extraordinary Caledonian Road last winter; Exciting Times and The Happy Couple; Asako Yuzuki’s Butter, Luster by Raven Leilani; Trust by Hernan Diaz (fun fact: this book plays a pivotal role in Dua Lipa and Callum Turner’s love story); and Dolly Alderton’s canon1, but I do feel a pang of guilt every time I purchase a new book2, what with every volume patiently awaiting me at home.
So, today, I’ve decided to run through a list - and a bit of analysis - as to the books that have been languishing, why I think that is, how and when they came to me in the first place, and what my plan is for giving them the attention they deserve.
We Run the Tides, Vendela Vida
The gist: Two teenagers, Maria and Eulabee, growing up in San Francisco, Maria more magnetic, Eulabee her foil, grow up running around the city and attending a posh private school. On a walk one day, they witness something horrible—but they can’t agree on what happened. Shortly after, Maria disappears, exposing truths about life in the Northern California town before it exploded into a tech hub. Reminds me of The Dinner, which I read in 2014 and still think about. Read if you haven’t.
Bookshelf origin story: I bought this book in the summer of 2023, after reading and reviewing The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty on my book blog back in September 2015. I’ll spare myself linking the post in its entirety, but here’s what I said about Diver’s at the time:
This is the best book I’ve read in a long time. Written entirely in the second person, this book describes a nameless narrator who, in an attempt to escape a depressing home situation—one which isn’t revealed until the very end of the book, but is worth waiting for—travels alone to Casablanca. Upon arrival, her backpack, which holds all of her forms of identification and all of her money, is stolen. She goes to the police station to retrieve her things, they give her the wrong backpack, and ignore her when she tries to protest. Instead of clearing up the situation at the embassy, she decides to assume the woman’s identity. She’s unsure of how she’ll ever rectify the situation, until she meets a famous American actress shooting a film at a nearby Casablanca hotel—her stand-in has to leave for personal reasons, and, as she is a height match, she is fortuitously selected as her replacement. This book sounds weird, but it is honestly amazing—and not particularly long. If you read one book this fall, make it this one.
You’d think that after such a glowing review, I’d be overjoyed to randomly encounter another book by Vida in a bookstore nearly a decade after falling in love with her work. Thing is: I purchased We Run The Tides right after my honeymoon, at Litt Home and Book in Calicoon, NY (incredibly curated), while doing a post-wedding cleanse (ProLon - it was my second time doing it, but, really, never again after that). I needed a book to well and truly distract me from the miserable, miserably expensive choice I had made, so I also picked up a Paula Hawkins thriller, A Slow Fire Burning, which I did fly through. I loaned We Run the Tides to my sister shortly after, who read and adored it. And yet! I still haven’t picked it up. It might be time.
Violeta, Isabel Allende
The gist: Violeta is the story of a long life; Violeta is born in 1920, and lives for a hundred years. She is born in the wake of the Spanish Flu and the Great War, and when the Great Depression hits, her family is forced to retreat into a remote area of an unnamed country (readers speculate it’s Chile or Argentina). The story is told in the form of a letter to someone Violeta loves, and takes the reader all the way to the 2020 covid pandemic, tracking Violeta’s personal triumphs and heartbreaks in parallel with the world’s.
Bookshelf origin story: I got Violeta in a Heywood Hill curated gift box, a fantastic and very generous 30th birthday gift from my Aunt Leslie. Heywood Hill send you a questionnaire about both your book tastes and perceived literary blind spots, and send you a box of twelve books, designed to suit your needs and fill in some gaps. I’ve discovered some incredible books from the curated selection I received, chief among them Babel by R.F. Kuang (she also wrote the 2023-viral Yellowface) and The New Life by Tom Crewe. It’s a fairly slim volume, so when I look at the shelves, it never sticks out. Now I know!
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi
The gist: Homegoing follows the lives of two half-sisters, born in different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. One sister gets captured and sold into slavery; the other marries an Englishman and moves into a castle. The story follows the parallel but vastly different life paths of each sister, and the eight generations that follow.
The bookshelf origin story: Okay, I don’t know that Homegoing is ‘under-appreciated,’ per this newsletter’s title, but I do know that it is under-appreciated by ME. Yaa Gyasi’s other book, Transcendent Kingdom, is an all-timer for me. You’d think I would’ve jumped on Homegoing, but, no, I actually sold the hardcover copy I had at The Strand in 2017 when I needed money (if I had to guess, I’d say I netted a grand total of $0.36). I bought it again last summer (I think I’ve written about this before), but, as with its hardcover sibling before I released it into the resold books void, it’s been…sitting on my shelf. I need to get going on this one, and I’m promising myself I’ll do it this summer.
The Ten-Year Nap, Meg Wolitzer
The gist: A group of friends find themselves exclusively focused on marriage and motherhood—having abandoned their careers—after growing up thinking they’d be different than their own mothers. As they reflect on how they’ve gotten to where they are, something that happens to shake them into a new reality.
The bookshelf origin story: I used to regularly cite Meg Wolitzer as my favorite author. The day the High Low (my former favorite podcast) released an author special with Wolitzer, I basically experienced nirvana (just put it on for a random re-listen). The Interestings is still one of my favorite books to recommend (and favorite books full stop), and I loved The Female Persuasion3. I believe I bought The Ten Year Nap from the dearly departed 86th Street Barnes & Noble, alongside The Female Persuasion, I think. I sort of forgot about it until I just noticed it on my shelf, but now that I’m up-to-speed on the plot, I’m all in.
I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death, Maggie O’Farrell
The gist: This is a non-fiction account of all of author Maggie O’Farrell’s near-death experiences, from encounters with threatening figures to childhood illnesses to the heartbreaking reality of working to protect her daughter every day, due to a condition that leaves her with frequent and severe allergic reactions. It sounds depressing, but I’ve heard it’s life-affirming.
The bookshelf origin story: This was the second Maggie O’Farrell I ever bought, after The Hand That First Held Mine, which I purchased as a senior in high school and is probably somewhere on my childhood bookshelf (yes, also giant). The first Maggie O’Farrell I read was Hamnet, which I liked, but my second O’Farrell, The Marriage Portrait, is the one that really blew me away, and is now an all-time favorite. I’ve had it forever, but it sounds sad! I’m not sure this is a summer read, but certainly one I’d pick up to bring on a cold winter weekend trip.
Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy, Tracy Borman
The gist: Starts with William the Conqueror, ends with Queen Elizabeth II—that’s a history of England from 1066 to 2021. 955 years worth of knowledge, and seemingly a character study of a number of individual monarchs throughout that time period. I don’t naturally gravitate to non-fiction, but this is RIGHT up my alley.
The bookshelf origin story: My mother-in-law, who clearly knows my tastes extremely well, purchased this for me last Christmas or the one prior, and I’ve wanted to read it ever since. I simply haven’t gotten around to it because…the book is quite physically heavy. It’s not one you cart around on a summer weekend or on a trip (or even in your work bag, quite frankly), so I need to find an extended period of home time where I can really lock in.
Priestdaddy, Patricia Lockwood
The gist: Author Patricia Lockwood grew up with an eccentric Priest for a father, before leaving the Church to pursue poetry. When a crisis forces her and her husband home into her father’s rectory, she faces the world she grew up in with fresh eyes. Hailed as tender, funny, and sharp (triple threat!)
The bookshelf origin story: I bought this when the paperback came out because I liked the cover. That’s the whole story, really. This feels like a good one to tear through on a plane.
Silver Sparrow, Tayari Jones
The gist: Two daughters are born to the same man, who has a public-facing marriage with one of their mothers, and a secret marriage with the other. When the girls meet and become friends, only one of them is aware of their connection.
The bookshelf origin story: I loved An American Marriage, so when Dolly Alderton recommended this on an episode of The High Low (pretty sure at LEAST 70% of my adult personality was formed by being an avid High Low listener from age 25-29, no regrets), I bought it immediately. Also seems like one I could fly through, so I will be picking this up again ASAP.
Metamorphosis: A Life in Pieces, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
The gist: Robert Douglas-Fairhurst is a Professor of English Literature at Oxford, whose life changes overnight when he’s diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. The diagnosis leaves him meditating on his place in the world—from how to share the news with loved ones to using the literature that has shaped his life to understand his condition, from Peter Pan to Kafka to Joyce. The reviews are excellent, and there are a few particularly moving ones from people living with MS themselves. The one person who didn’t rate it well said it referenced too many other books, lol.
The bookshelf origin story: My mom bought this for me after reading about it in our mutual obsession, the FT Weekend (though I have quite a backlog piling up this summer, I must say…)
All That Man Is, David Szalay
The gist: This is a book of nine interconnected short stories about men living across Europe, heavier on character studies than it is on plot.
The bookshelf origin story: A Pandora Sykes endorsement, of course. She posted about it years ago, and then reviewed it on her podcast Book Chat (since migrated to her Substack, it’s a pod co-hosted by author Bobby Palmer, about books that are more than two years old, LOVE IT) a couple years later. I haven’t listened yet, because I want to read it first.
For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain, Victoria Mackenzie
The gist: It’s 1413 in Norwich, England, (if you know, you know I’m already sold at this point). Margery, accused as a heretic after claiming she has visions of Christ, leaves for a pilgrimage. She meets Julian, confined to a small cell for 23 years, has visions of her own—but she’s kept them secret—until she meets Margery. Based on the true stories of Julian of Norwich (whose writings are the earliest surviving English-language works attributed to a woman - !!!!) and Margery Kempe (a mystic who wrote what’s considered one of the first-ever English language autobiographies). Two absolute ICONS I had never heard of until writing this very paragraph!
The bookshelf origin story: Another Heywood Hill pick, and, quite frankly, I just didn’t know what this one was about, because my husband placed it on the top shelf (which I can’t reach) one day when he UNCEREMONIOUSLY rearranged the bookshelf. Most of his work was duly undone, but this was a casualty. I will be reading this immediately, anyone who knows me knows it’s right up my alley.
Matrix, Lauren Groff
The gist: Seventeen-year-old Marie is cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine (do you ever feel like you’re encountering a friend when you come across a historical figure you’re familiar with in a novel? Just me? Never mind!) and sent to an impoverished abbey in England to serve as the prioress. Undeterred by the state of the place, Marie sets to work transforming it into something divine—and finds particular strength in the bond she shares with the abbey’s sisters.
The bookshelf origin story: There isn’t one, really, but it’s been sitting there for years. I loved Fates & Furies (who didn’t?!), and Delicate Edible Birds was great too. I think I grabbed this off of my mom, who I know isn’t going to read it. But…once I finish the book above…I will! (Especially as Lauren Groff has a forthcoming short story collection called Brawler, out in September).
LESS, Andrew Sean Greer
The gist: Okay, I don’t know if this one is on BookTook, but it’s not exactly an unsung hero…it DID win the Pulitzer Prize. Failed novelist Arthur gets invited to his ex’s wedding. He doesn’t want to reject the invite (who wants to go to their ex’s wedding?!), but fears he’d be admitting defeat if he rejects it. Instead, he changes his entire life in order to make an excuse: he decides to travel the world, avoiding the wedding and ringing in his fiftieth year between Berlin, Paris, the Sahara desert, and beyond.
The bookshelf origin story: Another one I stole from my mom’s bookshelf. She didn’t love it, and I grabbed it to read immediately, then proceeded to…not read it for six years, lol. There’s even a sequel now! I’m inspired to revisit.
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, Anthony Marra
The gist: When Russian soldiers arrive in Chechnya to raze homes and abduct Chechens, eight-year-old Havaa watches them take her father, but manages to escape. Her neighbor, Akhmed, finds her and brings her to the refugee hospital, where they are reluctantly received by a doctor named Sonja. Over the course of five days together, Havaa, Sonja, and Akhmed examine their pasts and discover that the three of them are connected in ways they never imagined. (This is what I’ve gathered from various synopses, but the reviews seem to imply it’s much deeper than this, with multiple narrative threads).
The bookshelf origin story: If any member of the Cummings family is reading this: I’M SORRY! My dear family friends have implored me to read this book for years and, while I did finally purchase it last year, I still haven’t gotten around to it. THIS IS THE SUMMER, I PROMISE!
That’s all for today! FROM ME, that is. I want to know what’s stuck on YOUR shelf, why you haven’t picked it up, and whether you will now.
And yes, not to derail the entire mission of this particular newsletter, but do add these all to your list
Not least because I also have a library card, but I may or may not be addicted to buying books. Not the worst thing?!
You know when you have a random memory that somehow becomes cemented as a moment of perfect happiness? One night in 2018, I went out literally all night for my friend Julia’s birthday, and spent the following afternoon reading The Female Persuasion in a pedicure chair at Jin Soon while drinking Genmaicha tea. I then went home and went to sleep at 5:30pm. BLISSFUL. So, thank you, Meg, for your contribution there.
Love the carpet the books are on!