What a fantastic year it’s been for our speakers! As we rapidly approach the end of 2018, we’d like to commend some of this year’s acclaimed books from authors we are proud to represent. From astonishing debuts to New York Times-bestsellers and National Book Award finalists, these books are a true reflection of the power and persuasion of words.
Best Books of the Year
Florida - Lauren Groff
Finalist for the 2018 National Book Award, Kirkus Reviews Best Short Fiction of 2018, Kirkus Prize Finalist, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, Refinery29‘s Best Books of 2018
“Something untameable lurks restlessly beneath the surface of this book. Groff’s incomparable prose pulsates with peril; its beauty, like that of the titular state itself, lies in a certain wild lushness.” – Financial Times
There There - Tommy Orange
New York Times Bestseller, Kirkus Reviews Best Debut Fiction of 2018, Kirkus Reviews Best Up-to-the-Minute Fiction of 2018, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, Esquire’s Best Books of 2018, Thrillist Entertainment’s Best Books of 2018, a Powell’s Best Books of 2018, The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018, The Washington Post‘s Best Books of 2018, The New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2018
“A gripping deep dive into urban Indigenous community in California: an astonishing literary debut!”—Margaret Atwood, via Twitter
The Line Becomes a River - Francisco Cantú
Shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Award Medal of Excellence, Named a Best Book of 2018 by Publishers Weekly and Bookpage, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, The Washington Post‘s Best Books of 2018
“Exquisitely nuanced…explains the conflicted journey of a border crosser with an impressive level of compassion, self-reflection, and conviction.” —NBC News
My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh
New York Times Bestseller, Kirkus Reviews Best Up-to-the-Minute Fiction of 2018, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018
“You’ll emerge from this darkly hilarious novel not necessarily rested or relaxed but more finely attuned to how delicately fraught the human condition can be.” —Marie Claire
Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
#1 New York Times Bestseller, A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018
“Heart-wrenching…A fresh exploration of isolation and nature from a female perspective along with a compelling love story.”—Entertainment Weekly
- Curtis Sittenfeld
Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, Thrillist Entertainment’s Best Books of 2018, Refinery29‘s Best Books of 2018
“Cathartic fun . . . Sittenfeld here confirms an ability to mine the casual cruelties and quiet furies of the elite for comic gold.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
- Lawrence Wright
National Bestseller, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2018, NPR’s Greatest Reads of 2018
“A love letter to a place . . . Wright writes about Texas with the fervor, knowledge, and ambivalence that comes from deep-seated familiarity.” —Willard Spiegelman, The Wall Street Journal
How Democracies Die - Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
New York Times bestseller, New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2018, Time Best Nonfiction Book of 2018, Newsweek 50 Best Books of the Year
“Cool and persuasive…How Democracies Die comes at exactly the right moment.” — The Washington Post
Directorate S - Steve Coll
Longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Nonfiction, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018
“[A]journalistic masterpiece…Coll succeeds on all levels…Coll is masterful at plumbing the depths of agencies and sects within both Afghanistan and Pakistan…In this era of fake news, Coll remains above it all, this time delivering an impeccably researched history of “diplomacy at the highest levels of government in Washington, Islamabad, and Kabul.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)
- Clemantine Wamariya
New York Times Bestseller, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, Library Journal’s Best Books of 2018, Real Simple’s Best Books of 2018
“This book is not a conventional story about war and its aftermath; it’s a powerful coming-of-age story in which a girl explores her identity in the wake of a brutal war that destroyed her family and home. Wamariya is an exceptional narrator and her story is unforgettable.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
There Will Be No Miracles Here - Casey Gerald
Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, one of The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018
“Gerald pulls no punches in telling his extraordinary story, which he relates with unsparing truth, no small amount of feeling, and a complete lack of sentimentality. Painful lessons dart in and pummel his unsuspecting self, and scenes of startling intensity are often pierced—and pieced back together—by light and humor…Richly layered writing on poverty, progress, race, belief, and the actual American Dream.” –Booklist (starred)
- Paula McLain
New York Times Bestseller, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018
“[The] scenes of professional rivalry and seesawing imbalance are some of McLain’s best. . . . McLain’s legions of fans will relish the inspiration of a gutsy woman who discovers she doesn’t need a man at her side, after all.”—The Boston Globe
- Gary Shteyngart
Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, one of Kirkus Reviews Best Up-to-the-Minute Fiction of 2018, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, one of Esquire’s Best Books of 2018, one of The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018
“[A] spectacular, sprawling new novel . . . Throughout his career, Shteyngart has proven himself a cheeky comic daredevil, but never more so than in this novel. . . . An artistic tour de force.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR
She Has Her Mother's Laugh - Carl Zimmer
Publishers Weekly’s Top Ten Books of 2018, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, Amazon’s Best Science Books of the Year, one of Thrillist Entertainment’s Best Books of 2018, New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018, The Sunday Times Best Books of 2018, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2018, shortlisted for the Baille-Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, and New Scientist’s Best Books of 2018.
“Zimmer is careful and well-informed… Acquired traits can be inherited. Biological time can turn backward. And monsters are real.” —Wall Street Journal
The Female Persuasion - Meg Wolitzer
New York Times Bestseller, Amazon’s Best Books of 2018, Refinery29‘s Best Books of 2018, The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018
“Wolitzer is one of those rare writers who creates droll and entertaining novels of ideas.” —Fresh Air, NPR
The Art of Gathering - Priya Parker
Esquire’s Best Books of 2018
“Enthusiastically delivered formulas for better get-togethers… useful to those whose job it is to plan meetings, conferences, and the like and a worthy survival manual for consumers of the same.” —Kirkus Reviews
Winners Take All - Anand Giridharadas
Esquire’s Best Books of 2018, The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018, The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction
“Provocative and passionate . . . This damning portrait of contemporary American philanthropy is a must-read for anyone interested in ‘changing the world.’” —Publishers Weekly (boxed and starred review)
American Dialogue - Joseph J. Ellis
The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018
“Ellis is not concerned with quiet insights or reassurance. He means to mark out where we have strayed from, and how we have betrayed, America’s founding ideals.”—The Washington Post
- Deborah Blum
The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018
“Riveting. . . . Blum isn’t just telling one scientist’s story but a broader one about the relationship between science and society. . . . [A] timely tale about how scientists and citizens can work together on meaningful consumer protections.”—Science magazine
What the Eyes Don't See - Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
The New York Times‘s 100 Notable Books of 2018
“Personal and emotional. . . She vividly describes the effects of lead poisoning on her young patients. . . . She is at her best when recounting the detective work she undertook after a tip-off about lead levels from a friend. . . . ‛Flint will not be defined by this crisis,’ vows Ms. Hanna-Attisha.”—The Economist
Gun Love - Jennifer Clement
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Best Books of 2018, Longlisted for the National Book Awards, Time’s 10 Best Fiction Books of 2018, Library Journal’s Best Books of 2018
“Dreamy…as if to suggest the self-delusion of the real-life actors involved….the writing is crisp and the images sharp.” — New York Times Book Review