ADULT FICTION
To our patrons who have requested more and newer books: We hear you. Our expanded and newly updated Adult Fiction collection features up-to-date works by some of the most acclaimed writers in contemporary literature.
BOOKS
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The best american short stories 2018 (The best american series) (2018). (R. Gay & H. Pitlor, Eds.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
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This politically intense volume of was edited by Roxane Gay, a critically acclaimed author who was recently named the judge for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Among the themes explored in the collection are grief, racism, immigration, and sexual violence.
Ma, L. (2018). Severance : A novel (First ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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In this debut novel, Ma paints a haunting picture of a human-automaton existence that calls into question the meaning of life and work. This book won the 2018 Kirkus Prize and was a finalist for the 2019 PEN/Hemingway Award.
From Los Angeles Review of Books:
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“In an era in which we are waterlogged by the everyday spillage of the political swamplands, what can we write to counteract the chaos? The answer, according to Best American Short Stories 2018, is simple: we write about our lives. The 20 striking stories chosen by Roxane Gay unearth the political in personal moments of revelation and growth.”
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From Kirkus review:
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"She (the author) knows her craft, and it shows. Candace is great, a wonderful mix of vulnerability, wry humor, and steely strength. She’s sufficiently self-aware to see the parallels between her life before the End and the pathology of Shen Fever. Ma also offers lovely meditations on memory and the immigrant experience...
Smart, funny, humane, and superbly well-written."
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Article in Chicago Review of Books
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Cash, W. (2017). The last ballad (First ed.). New York, NY: William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins.
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In this fictional account of real-world labor organizing in a textile town, Wiley celebrates the life and work of African- American activist Ella May Wiggins and the efforts of the many who fought alongside her in the struggle for workers' rights. This book won the 2017 Weatherford Award for "the best books about Appalachia" (Jordan, 2018) and the 2018 Southern Book Book Prize.
From Kirkus review:
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"It’s refreshing that Cash highlights the struggles of often forgotten heroes and shows how crucial women and African-Americans were in the fight for workers’ rights. A heartbreaking and beautifully written look at the real people involved in the labor movement."
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Jones, T. (2018). An American marriage: A novel. New York: Algonquin Books.
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In this unsettling account of racial injustice, Jones tells the story of an African American couple whose lives are upended when the husband is falsely accused of rape. This Oprah’s Book Club pick won the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction (UK) and the 2019 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work of Fiction.
​From Kirkus review:
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“This is, at its heart, a love story, but a love story warped by racial injustice. And, in it, Jones suggests that racial injustice haunts the African-American story. Subtle, well-crafted, and powerful.”
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Tremblay, P. (2019). The cabin at the end of the world: A novel. New York: William Morrow.
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A vacation in the woods takes a terrifying turn when a family encounters a group of strangers who claim they are trying to “save the world.” This horror thriller won Tremblay the 2019 Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel.
From Publishers Weekly review:
“Tremblay (Disappearance at Devil’s Rock) skillfully seeds his tale with uncertainties, including news reports of portentous world catastrophes, that suggest the invaders’ vision is genuine, and he introduces enough doubt into the beliefs and behaviors of all the parties to keep them and the reader off-balance.”
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Washington Independent Review of Books article
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Orange, T. (2018). There there (First ed.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
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Through a complex portrait of urban life and personal struggle, Orange details the separate emotional journeys of 12 Native Americans who ultimately come together at a powpow in Oakland, California. This book won the 2019 PEN/Hemingway Award, as well as the 2018 National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize and was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize.
From The National Book Review:
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“The many ‘Urban Indians’ who live [in Oakland] hold the history in memories they don’t remember, or are remembered for them in lives of degradation, shame, rage, self-loathing and compromised attempts at reviving a common past. Orange presents these fixed city dwellers as having been rendered invisible. There There makes sure, powerfully, that they are seen.”
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McCormack, M. (2017). Solar bones. New York, NY: Soho Press.
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This one-sentence, stream of consciousness novel takes the reader into the mind of a civil engineer who has returned from the dead and is now thinking back on his life. This book made the American Library Association’s 2018 Notable Books List and won the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award.
From Library Journal review:
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"McCormack's third novel (after Notes from a Coma, shortlisted for the Irish Book of the Year Award) exhibits his startling imagination and humor as well as a measured narrative style that departs from the more rapid delivery characteristic of his earlier prose....Widely praised, this book is a brilliant tour de force." - John Matthews
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Kowal, M. (2018). The calculating stars (First ed., Lady astronaut). New York, NY: Tor, a Tom Doherty Associates book.
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This science fiction novel set in a 1950’s meteor-struck Earth tells the story of a woman mathematician (Elma) who fights discrimination while trying to create an inclusive space program that can plan a humanity-saving journey to Mars. This book won the 2019 Nebula Award for Best Novel and was a finalist for the 2019 Hugo Award.
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“Elma’s struggles with her own prejudices and relationships, including her relationship with herself, provide a captivating human center to the apocalyptic background. Readers will thrill to the story of this “lady astronaut” and eagerly anticipate the promised sequels.”
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Urrea, L. A. (2018). The house of broken angels. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
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In a story that begins with a mother’s burial, former Pulitzer Prize finalist Urrea celebrates the enduring love that binds a family together through conflicts and death. This book made the American Library Association’s 2018 Notable Books List and was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
From Kirkus review:
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“There is tragedy here and danger; these are real people, living in the real world. Still, even when that world intrudes, it only heightens the strength, the resilience, of the family…Even in death, Urrea shows, we never lose our connection to one another, which is the point of this deft and moving book.”
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San Francisco Chronicle review
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Makkai, R. (2018). The great believers. New York, New York: Viking.
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Through the intense, interwoven stories of characters living in different time periods, Makkai recounts the pain of the AIDS epidemic, the depths of friendship, and the complicated bond between mother and daughter. Winner of two awards from the American Library Association, this book was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 2018.
From Library Journal review:
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"Makkai's sweeping fourth novel (after Music for Wartime) shows the compassion of chosen families and the tension and distance that can exist in our birth ones. This should strike a chord with the Gen Xers who came of age, and then aged, in these tumultuous years." - Jennifer Stidham
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Whitehead, C. (2016). The underground railroad : A novel. New York: Doubleday.
Whitehead’s chilling fictional portrayal of a group of enslaved people’s unrelenting quest for freedom details the terrors of plantation life, the intricacies of abolitionist escape strategies, and the nightmare of eugenics, while conveying the overwhelming weight of love and history uniting oppressed generations in life and in death. The book won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 2016.
From Los Angeles Times Book review:
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"Whitehead's latest novel is, in its way, a slave narrative; it follows Cora, a young slave girl, and her escape from the Randall plantation in Georgia...But it is also a fiercely salient reckoning of what it means, has meant and continues to mean to be black in America." - Rebecca Carroll
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Review from "Muster," the blog of the Journal of the Civil War Era
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Owens, D. (2018). Where the crawdads sing. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
In this mystery set on North Carolina’s coast, Owens tells the remarkable story of a young woman whose life is turned upside down by childhood abandonment and an act of murder. This book has spent months on the 2019 New York Times Best Sellers list and was a finalist for the 2019 Southern Book Prize from the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.
From Publishers Weekly review:
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"Kya makes for an unforgettable heroine. Owens memorably depicts the small-town drama and courtroom theatrics, but perhaps best of all is her vivid portrayal of the singular North Carolina setting."
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Library Journal review (UNCG login required)
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DOCUMENTARY
WORLDS OF URSULA K. LE GUIN
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This film explores the life, work, and ideas of award-winning and groundbreaking science fiction/fantasy writer and feminist Ursula K. Le Guin through interviews, commentary, and dramatizations of scenes from her books. It has garnered numerous honors, including the "Best of Fest" award at both the 2019 D.C. Independent Film Festival and the 2019 Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival.
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PODCAST
THE NEW YORKER FICTION PODCAST
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During this podcast, writers whose works have been featured in The New Yorker take to the mic to read literature and share their thoughts. The program has featured such world-famous writers as Junot Diaz and Edwidge Danticat.
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Article in Afro-Hispanic Review
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WEBSITES
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Drawing from multiple sources and publishers, this website features short stories and novel excerpts from a range of writers, as well as literary criticism, poems, a radio program called “fiction/non/fiction,” and a robust news and culture section.
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John Maher’s review in Publishers Weekly
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Described by The Missouri Review as a “literary super-blog,” this website provides fiction book recommendations, literary commentary, and interviews with novelists.
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Article in the New York magazine section, Vulture
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Interview with "The Millions" editor in The Missouri Review
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JOURNALS
THE SOUTHERN REVIEW
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This acclaimed literary journal published by Louisiana State University has featured some of America’s most famous writers, including Pulitzer Prize winners Eudora Welty and Peter Taylor.
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GRANTA
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This London literary journal features provocative works of literature and art. Among the renowned authors featured over the years are Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Joyce Carol Oates. Its “best of” lists of young novelists have been featured in Library Journal, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.
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Writer's Digest review (UNCG login required)
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DATABASES
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NoveList Plus
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This database provides print and audio book recommendations for all ages of readers seeking fiction or nonfiction titles. It includes book reviews and “best of” recommendations.
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Library Quarterly review (UNCG login required)
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Connecticut Library Consortium referral
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Fiction Core Collection
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This database features over 11,000 fiction reading recommendations from librarians working at large public libraries throughout the United States.
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REFERENCES
“2018 Bram Stoker Award winners & nominees.” (n.d.) Retrieved from http://horror.org/2018-bram-stoker-award-winners-nominees/
“2018 Notable Books List: Year’s best in fiction, nonfiction and poetry announced.” (2019, January 27). American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2019/01/2018-notable-books-list-year-s-best-fiction-nonfiction-and-poetry-announced
“2019 PEN/Hemingway award finalists announced.” (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.hemingwaysociety.org/2019-penhemingway-award-finalists-announced
About. (n.d.) The Southern Review. Retrieved from https://thesouthernreview.org/about
An American Marriage: Kirkus review.” (2018, February 6). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tayari-jones/an-american-marriage/
“Announcing the finalists for the 2019 Southern book prize.” (2018, November 1). Retrieved from https://sibaweb.site-ym.com/blogpost/1287218/312307/Announcing-the-Finalists-for-the-2019-Southern-Book-Prize
Battersby, E. (2016, April 23). Granta: New Irish writing review: Cutting edge to elder statesmen. The Irish Times. Retrieved from https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/granta-new-irish-writing-review-cutting-edge-to-elder-statesmen-1.2620795
Bausells, M. (2015, April 8). Literary hub aims to be ‘go to website for literary culture.’” The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/apr/08/literary-hub-launches-with-aim-to-become-go-to-website-for-literary-culture
Beer, T. (2019, February 26). 31 books in 30 days: Tom Beer on Luis Alberto Urrea’s ‘The House of Broken Angels.’ Critical Mass (The blog of the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors). Retrieved from http://www.bookcritics.org/blog/archive/31-books-in-30-days-tom-beer-on-luis-alberto-urreas-the-house-of-broken-ang
The Best American Short Stories 2018: Kirkus review. (2018, October 2). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/roxane-gay/the-best-american-short-stories-2018/
Boshier, R. (2019, January 30). Writing the political: Lessons from Best American Short Stories 2018. Los Angeles Review of Books (blog). Retrieved from https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/reviews/writing-political-lessons-best-american-short-stories-2018/
Bostrom, A. (n.d.) Booklist review: The great believers. Booklist online. Retrieved from https://www.booklistonline.com/The-Great-Believers-Rebecca-Makkai/pid=9389001
Burling, A. (2018, March 8). ‘The House of Broken Angels,’ by Luis Alberto Urrea. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.sfchronicle.com/books/article/The-House-of-Broken-Angels-by-Luis-Alberto-12738481.php?psid=cyH64
The Cabin at the End of the World. (2018). Publishers Weekly, 265(16).
The Calculating Stars. (n.d.) Nebula Awards. Retrieved from https://nebulas.sfwa.org/nominated-work/the-calculating-stars/
The Calculating Stars: A Lady Astronaut Novel. (2018). Publishers Weekly, 265(21), 54. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.uncg.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=129761565&site=ehost-live
Carriger, S. (n.d.). Granta 140: The Mind. (n.d.) San Francisco Book Review. Retrieved from https://sanfranciscobookreview.com/product/granta-140-the-mind/
Carroll, R. (2016). Book review, Critics at large: The 'railroad' we have yet to exit: Remarkable and painful to read, Colson Whitehead's new novel tackles not just slavery but what it means to be Black in America. Los Angeles Times, F.1, 1. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.uncg.edu/docview/1814432567
Castro, A. (2013). Caribbean Collusion: Junot Díaz, Edwidge Danticat and the "New Yorker" Fiction Podcast. Afro-Hispanic Review, 32(2), 11-26. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.uncg.edu/stable/24585140
Charles (no last name given). (2018, July 6). Wiley Cash wins 2018 Southern Book Prize. Retrieved from https://www.ncwriters.org/whitecross/2018/07/06/cash-siba/
Cheryl (no last name given). (2019, April 2). 2019 Hugo Award & 1944 Retro Hugo Award finalists. The Hugo Awards. Retrieved from http://www.thehugoawards.org/2019/04/2019-hugo-award-1944-retro-hugo-award-finalists/
Charles, R. (2018, May 29). What does it mean to be a Native American? A new novel offers a bracing answer. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/what-does-it-mean-to-be-native-american-a-new-novel-offers-a-bracing-answer/2018/05/29/a508d0ba-6289-11e8-a768-ed043e33f1dc_story.html?utm_term=.601fb02cc7a4
Clark, A. (2019, July 2). An American Marriage by Tayari Jones review – packed with ideas and emotion. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/02/an-american-marriage-tayari-jones-review
Clink, K. (2010). Fiction core collection (16th edition). Reference Reviews, 24(7), 29. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09504121011077237
Cox Media Group National Content Desk. (2019, March 31). 2019 NAACP Image Awards: Here’s the complete winners list. AJC. Retrieved from https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/naacp-image-awards-2019-here-the-complete-winners-list/vIRgzJsLrS4zIbBmZW9HCI/
“The Pulitzer Prizes: Fiction.” (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/219
Garfield, S. (2007, December 30). From student rag to literary riches. The Guardian (The Observer, Books). Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/dec/30/culture.features
Hendriksen, E. (2018, September 14). Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin review: A thoughtful, reverent portrait of Portland’s greatest writer. Portland Mercury. Retrieved from https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2018/09/14/22889047/worlds-of-ursula-k-le-guin-review-a-thoughtful-reverent-portrait-of-portlands-greatest-writer
The House of Broken Angels: Kirkus review. (2018, March 6). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/luis-alberto-urrea/the-house-of-broken-angels/
Hunter, A. (2018, June 10). “’Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin’: Sheffield Review.’ ScreenDaily. Retrieved from https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/worlds-of-ursula-k-le-guin-sheffield-review/5129928.article
Jensen, C. (2019). Where the crawdads sing. Library Journal, 144(1).
Jordan, T. (2018, March 26). Weatherford Awards for best Appalachian books announced. Retrieved https://www.berea.edu/news/weatherford-awards-for-best-appalachian-books-announced/
Landweber, M. (2018, June 19). The cabin at the end of the world: A novel. Washington Independent Review of Books. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/the-cabin-at-the-end-of-the-world-a-novel
The Last Ballad: Kirkus review. (2017, October 3). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/wiley-cash/the-last-ballad-cash/
Lowe, S. (2016, November 7). Words in your ears: The 10 best books podcasts. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/nov/07/words-in-your-ears-the-10-best-books-podcasts
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Maher, J. (2018). New lit hub project aims to make critics vital again. Publishers Weekly, 265(25), 4-4.
Martini, A. (2018, July 10). Adrienne Martini reviews ‘The Calculating Stars’ by Mary Robinette Kowal. Locus. Retrieved from https://locusmag.com/2018/07/adrienne-martini-reviews-the-calculating-stars-by-mary-robinette-kowal/
Matthews, J. G. (2017). Solar Bones. Library Journal, 142(12), 72. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.uncg.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=123953423&site=ehost-live
McCormack, J.W. (2017, August 14). 10 literary blogs you should be reading. Culture Trip. Retrieved from https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/10-literary-blogs-you-should-be-reading/
McGee, C. (n.d.). Review: A spectacular new novel that wants Native Americans to be seen. The National Book Review. Retrieved from https://www.thenationalbookreview.com/features/2018/6/1/review-a-novel-that-wants-native-americans-to-be-seen
“Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones is the winner of the 2018 award!” (2018, June 19). Retrieved from https://www.dublinliteraryaward.ie/news/mike-mc-cormacks-solar-bones-is-the-winner-of-the-2018-award/
Morgan, A. (2018, August 14). In ‘Severance,’ Ling Ma destroys New York City: A conversation with the Chicago author of a sudden apocalypse. Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved from https://chireviewofbooks.com/2018/08/14/severance-ling-ma-interview/
“The National Book Critics Circle Award: John Leonard Prize.” (n.d.). Retrieved from http://bookcritics.org/awards
NoveList. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ctlibrarians.org/page/Ebscopub
O'Brien, S. (2009). Reader's advisor online and NoveList plus databases. Library Quarterly, 79(2).
Rosenfield, K. (2019, January 9). The Millions will live one, but the indie book blog is dead. New York (Vulture). Retrieved from https://www.vulture.com/2019/01/the-millions-was-the-last-great-indie-book-blog.html
Rowland, A. (2017, November 17). A novelist revisits a deadly textile union strike from 1929. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/books/review/wiley-cash-last-ballad.html
Samson, I. (2016, June 4). Solar Bones by Mike McCormack review – an extraordinary hymn to small-town Ireland. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/04/solar-bones-by-mike-mccormack-review
Sinha, M. (2016, November 29). The underground railroad in art and history: A review of Colson Whitehead’s novel. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/2016/11/underground-railroad-art-history-review-colson-whiteheads-novel/
“Sitting down with our literary crush, The Millions.” (n.d.). The Missouri Review. Retrieved from https://www.missourireview.com/tag/the-millions/
Solar Bones: Kirkus Review. (2017, September 19). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mike-mccormack/solar-bones/
Stidham, J. (2018). The great believers. Library Journal, 143(9). Retrieved from https://login.libproxy.uncg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=129461906&site=ehost-live
“The 10 best books of 2018.” (2018, November 29). The New York Times (online). Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/books/review/best-books.html
Toibin, C. (2018, June 19). Yes, Tommy Orange’s new novel really is that good. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/books/review/tommy-orange-there-there.html
“Tommy Orange wins PEN/Hemingway award for debut novel.” (2019, March 19). Retrieved from https://www.apnews.com/18ea3956fa1e4397a5c878aab4f7aa31
UGA Press. (2019, January 22) Roxane Gay is the new judge for the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Retrieved from https://ugapress.wordpress.com/2019/01/22/roxane-gay-is-the-new-judge-for-the-flannery-oconnor-award-for-short-fiction/
Where the Crawdads Sing. (2018). Publishers Weekly, 265(25).
Wieland, V. (2010). 7 Granta (literary journal spotlight). Writer's Digest, 90(6), 67. Communications and Mass Media Collections, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A284221348/PPCM?u=gree35277&sid=PPCM&xid=5252ec96
Wieland, V. 10 The Southern Review. Writer's Digest, 90(6), p. 67. Biography in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A284221351/GPS?u=gree35277&sid=GPS&xid=a371f931
“Winners of the 2018 Kirkus Prize.” (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/lists/winners-2018-kirkus-prize/severance-ma/
“Winner! 2018 Kirkus Prize: Severance.” (2018, August 14). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ling-ma/severance-ma/
Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://worldsofukl.com/
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