McNevin's Picks:
Okorafor is a master of brevity who portrays rich, immersive worlds and characters with spare, head-spinning strokes. In a future Nigeria populated by tribes – many bearing animosities, suspicions, and resentments, as well as advanced technical and digital technologies – lives a woman named AO (for Artificial Organism) who is physically half cyborg. Forced to flee after an act of violent self-defense, she meets and teams up with a nomadic herdsman, also on the run. Together they race across the Nigerian desert with the hope to hide in the center of a massive permanent whirlwind of sand, an eco-disaster called the Red Eye, with a massive mega-corporation in pursuit – and in the process they disrupt the world. Breath-taking and rich in heart and insight, Okorafor’s novel also manages to be reflective and even meditative. ~McNevin
We believe John Crowley to be one of the finest SFF writers, and one of the best overall regardless of genre. In Flint and Mirror, he brings us a historical novel powerfully laced with high fantasy. It recounts the mostly true life of Hugh O’Neill, Lord of the North, dubbed earl of Tyrone by the Queen. He is divided, yoked to the Queen by an obsidian mirror he cannot discard. At the same time, via a chip of flint, he is bound to the ancient supernatural people of Ireland who dwell underground, and who regard him as their champion. Crowley is subtle yet dazzling, and his writing sublime. ~McNevin & Rafe
This is a fun and whimsical tale about language, identity, lost history, and connection, amidst confusion and the mysterious inner lives of others. Hiroku is Japanese, but Japan has disappeared into legend, and she now speaks a made-up language of her own. But she longs for a fellow “native speaker” from the country of her past, and on her quest for that accumulates a serendipitous band of international companions who travel with her through Europe. Each chapter takes us inside one of the characters, their hopes and fears, their secrets, their misconceptions and quirks, and their perceptions of one another. This is a book of constant surprises. It is the first of a trilogy (and I am so glad there will be more!) ~McNevin
Jennifer Egan expands the concept of social media into a society wherein one can upload their memories and share them in exchange for access to the memories of others. She takes us through the linked lives of multiple characters, chapter by chapter and via a variety of narrative styles, all brilliantly executed. Egan’s empathy, humor, and clarity are dazzling. We experience her characters’ deep humanity amid their struggles for authenticity, personal identity, and longings for love, connection, and redemption. The Candy House is moving and thought provoking as well as incredibly entertaining. ~McNevin
An important book in these trying times, The Book of Hope is told through stories from the remarkable career of the world’s most famous naturalist. Vital issues are explored, including: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? And of course, is hope even realistic in the face of the overwhelming issues facing us now? Filled with engaging dialogue and pictures from Jane’s storied career, The Book of Hope is a deeply personal conversation with one of the most beloved figures in today’s world. For the first time, Jane tells the story of how she became a messenger of hope: from living through World War II, to her years in Gombe, to realizing she had to leave the forest to advocate for environmental justice. This book is in some ways a balm, but also an urgent manifesto for action. ~McNevin
These amazing and entertaining essays by the author of The Flamethrowers and The Mars Room cover autobiographical and cultural topics that include her feral childhood, music, literature and art, classic cars, prison reform, and social justice. A couple of stand-outs include the San Francisco music scene of her youth and the tale of her participation in an ill-fated motorcycle race from Southern California south through Mexico, a 1,080 mile run called the Cabo 1000. That last one alone is worth owning this book! ~McNevin
Harrow is weird, dark, utterly baffling, and yet whimsical and even hilarious. It follows the journey of a teenage girl who may or may not have died and resurrected as an infant—her mother says yes—across a bleak, post-post-apocalyptic and disintegrating landscape. Reality itself seems to be collapsing along with the environment. It is peopled with characters who are not exactly survivors, including a precocious young boy dedicated to his studies of law, and seniors who plot to destroy whatever is left of civilization with grandiose ambition. This one won’t be for everybody—but fans of Kafka and David Lynch will love it. ~McNevin
Told entirely via posts in the assorted channels of a small PR firm's office network, this hilarious, utterly bizarre yet strangely relatable novel takes us through the crisis of an employee whose consciousness seems to have mysteriously uploaded into the network itself; a romance that devolves into communication via emojis; a client's urgent need to restore its image in the wake of Pomeranians who seem to have been poisoned by their product; plus the everyday struggles, flirtations, rivalries and squabbles amongst the staff. And an increasingly idiosyncratic and less-than-helpful automated computer help bot. Give yourself a break from your own stress with this up-to-the-moment cutting-edge social-satiric lark. ~McNevin
Told hilariously in breathless, dizzying, fragmented stream of consciousness, this novel depicts a young woman whose job is to lecture about the internet (or ‘portal’) to which she is addicted. She is incredibly smart, self-aware, feminist--and perhaps on the verge of losing herself. Then reality strikes in the form of a family tragedy. This is a wholly unique voice, filled with poetry, insight, absurdity, humor, the profane, and deep heartfelt empathy. I read this one straight through twice and am sure I will again. ~ McNevin
Ministry of the Future is an unconventional novel, and an important one. Told through a combination of various first-person accounts – plus internal meeting notes and brief essays – it follows a small handful of characters across decades as they struggle to save citizens of the future from the destruction of the ecosphere. The story shies away from nothing – indeed, it starts with a vividly described climate disaster that results in the death of millions – yet it is not a story about a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but of hope and struggle. It is about a future already upon us, and in which we must just overcome extraordinary challenges. ~McNevin
In a disorienting blend of autobiography and fiction, Claire Vaye Watkins creates a story about a woman named Claire Vaye Watkins, who is a writer, and, also like her, the daughter of a drug addicted mother and member of an infamous, murderous cult. Enroute to deliver a lecture in Reno, the fictional Claire, suffering post-partum depression, spirals away from the loving husband and infant child she left at home, and into the damage from her own past. This is a riveting, raw, wholly unique tale of disasters, traps, and failures, told with insight and a surprising amount of humor. ~McNevin
Whimsical and uproarious, as well as contemplative, philosophical and poignant, this novel tells of when the Devil and his entourage – which includes a talking cat with a taste for chess and vodka – arrive in Moscow, establish a theater, and wreak havoc. Their Faustian story interweaves with the tale of Pontius Pilate, as written by the Master – in a novel within the novel – and for which the Master has been confined to a lunatic asylum. Meanwhile, his lover, Margarita, falls in with the devil and his friends, and proves herself willing to go quite literally to Hell itself in her effort to rescue and reunite with the Master. Filled with energy and wit, fantastical images and unforgettable characters, this satire of Stalinist Russia was banned from the time of its completion in the 30s, and was only available underground. This beautifully translated edition is the first to contain Bulgakov’s complete text. ~ McNevin
This first novel begins the epic adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and his ship’s physician, naturalist, and unlikely international spy, Stephen Maturin, during the Napoleonic Wars. The series is astonishingly rich in character development, history, thrilling adventure, humor, high drama, romance, and the details of a life at sea in military service. The surprises and pleasures throughout are constant. I’ve read all twenty in the series, and look forward to reading them all again! ~ McNevin
This is a collection of fragments and micro-stories uncovered by Kafka biographer Reiner Stach, and translated into English by renowned poet Michael Hofmann. Some stories are a few pages; some a few paragraphs; and some are only a few lines in length. Each is powerful, fascinating, as well as revelatory and mysterious. None feel incomplete, and all ring with the resonance of the most powerful dreams. This is Kafka at his hilarious, insightful, anxiety-ridden, reality-bending best. I feel transformed by this thin volume. I can barely express how grateful I am for the existence of this book.
I reread paragraphs and entire chapters of this novel immediately after finishing them for their sheer beauty and surprise. But how to explain this novel? It feels like living inside a labyrinthine myth. It follows a boy who is transported to another realm in which he has been transformed into an adult man, enchanted, and assigned a quest. The story is told in the form of an endless letter from that boy after he has disappeared from our world. As the story progresses a single line of description or dialogue will change one's entire sense of what is transpiring. Mysteries transform into still greater mysteries—and into dazzling revelations—with masterful finesse. And brief recognitions will reframe the book's universe. Heroic, beautiful, and haunting. ~ McNevin
In this brilliant classic of African-futurism, Binti - a young Himba woman who is a brilliant mathematician and skilled with mysterious alien technology - is chosen to leave her little village for attendance at a prestigious university. On the interstellar flight, her ship is attacked and the crew killed by a jellyfish-like race of warriors, the Medusae. Binti is left to fend not just for herself, but to find a means to broker peace between complex warring races. Sweeping in scope but anchored by the deep humanity of Binti, her story is fresh and fascinating and wholly original. Told in three novellas, collected here in one volume with an added short story. ~ McNevin
This nonfiction narrative moves backwards and forwards through time, relating in distinctly human terms the complexities, the passions, the convictions, and the terrifying human cost of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The author’s empathy, his ability to bring key players to life in high resolution, with all of their strengths and flaws, their intelligence and their blind spots, makes this a compelling and urgent read, informative and intense. ~McNevin
Hilarious and often frightening. In Northern Ireland, nothing is safe and you can’t hide, though you can try to live. Names are dangerous. Suspicion is constant. The novel is told from the point of view of “middle sister,” whose life is utterly disrupted by the appearance of The Milkman, who insinuates himself into her life, bringing danger she has spent her life trying to avoid. The language and cadence in this one need to be experienced! ~ McNevin
Kurt Andersen found himself, like many of us, trying to understand how we ended up, as a nation, in a time of post-truth, alternative-facts political reality. The more he dug, the more he found that, hey, we’ve always been this way. Tracing American history back to the Protestant Reformation and through until today (or at least last year) he carries us through story after fascinating story of our American ability to believe whatever takes our fancy, even when we’ve made it up our very own selves. Stimulating, hilarious and frightening, but always illuminating, this one is well worth your time. ~ McNevin
A frequently-lauded best book of 2017, this memoir had me bursting into laughter throughout. It recounts the author’s upbringing as the daughter of a rogue and eccentric Catholic priest and her enabling mother; her escape; and then her return home to live in a time of dire financial straits. Lockwood’s gifts of insight and language combine organically with the outrageous nature of her personal history. It is not a surprise that she is a poet with a highly original voice. Everything about this book is a treat!
Cartoonist Roz Chast, in this nakedly uncomfortable confessional memoir, takes us through the process of caring for her aging, ailing parents. Perhaps you know Roz Chast from her New Yorker cartoons. If so, you will not be surprised by the laugh-out-loud humor in her story, though you might also be moved by how deeply touching it is. For all her parent’s idiosyncrasies, as well as her own, this is a universal story of something many of us have lived through, or will. As an added bonus, if you were to tell me you do not connect with graphic novels, this is the one I would tell you to read. ~ McNevin
In this truly stupendous novel, the urbane, self-aware narrator is an unnamed half-French, half-Vietnamese bastard who, in his own words, is a man of two minds. He is a communist spy among the forces of the resistance, sent to America as a deeply embedded mole—and as such is the perfect figure to reveal the Vietnamese experience of the war from both sides, as well as that of an evacuee to the US. Nguyen is masterful; his skill and charm are as brilliant as Nabokov’s, and his observations both savagely hilarious and deeply trenchant. (There are descriptions of the atrocities of war, including torture and sexual assault, that warrant a trigger warning.)
One of my very favorite science fiction stories ever begins here. Ancillary Justice is told in first person, by Breq—an AI robot. that began as the intelligence network of a massive imperial starship and its crew of ancillaries, and then morphed into a lone soldier on a daring mission. With both the thrills of a solid space opera and the deep intelligence of the smartest science fiction, the Imperial Radch trilogy rewards reading and rereading. ~ McNevin
Ishiguro’s dystopian sci fi novel was short listed for the 2005 Booker Prize. It is a beautiful, poignant, and haunting novel of innocence, growing awareness, and loss. Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are childhood friends and eventually lovers as they come of age in their protected, mysterious, and insular world. When they reconnect as adults, they begin to understand the hidden truths that have governed their joined fate. Ishiguro’s sensitivity and compassion pulled me in and never let go. I suspect his other readers may have a similar reaction to his exquisite story telling prowess. ~McNevin
A friend recommended this classic as possibly the best novel he’s ever read. I wholeheartedly agree on its excellence. George Eliot’s clarity of perception and deep empathy, even for characters with pronounced unsympathetic traits; the suspense she builds over the fate of all characters; her ability to weave an entire social tapestry in an enlightening and inspiring way; and the way she drops an aphorism on just about every page—all are reasons to love this book. Also, she’s really funny. ~ McNevin
In a Tokyo suburb, a young man searches for his wife’s missing cat—and soon, for her as well, through a mysterious netherworld of shifting realities. He encounters a psychic prostitute; his brother-in-law, who is a malevolent but mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old-girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria. Mesmerizing, surreal, strangely touching and darkly funny, with a distinct touch of David Lynch at his best. ~ McNevin