The sun is shining, the birds are singing, people who shouldn’t wear sandals are wearing sandals again. It’s time to shed your furry topcoat and lay in the sun for hours at your local patch of grass, book in hand, burning off all your crusty winter skin to make room for that first crispy sunburn of the year.
Perhaps you want to wallow in your feelings? Escape your dull 9-to-7 with an elaborate heist or by reading about people whose jobs are worse than yours by miles? Pretend to be a Boulder mom so deeply invested in her child’s future you’d go to any length to secure them a spot in the gifted school? Fall for a grifting scammer a la Inventing Anna and We Crashed and The Dropout? Thank god you didn’t pursue a career in academia? Read two books I worked on at my old job?!
Fantastic. Check out these books:
A Very Nice Girl by Imogen Crimp
If you haven’t dipped your toes into the Sad Girl Genre (see authors: Sally Rooney, Naoise Dolan, Meg Mason, Ottessa Moshfegh), consider trying A Very Nice Girl, about a young opera student in London who begins a relationship with an older, Possibly Married man.
The Very Nice Box by Eva Gleichman and Laura Blackett
Suspenseful and funny, about a woman who beings a strange relationship with her boss that spirals into a twisty ending, A Very Nice Box will make you wonder (if you don’t already) what really happens behind the scenes at Ikea.
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou
A young PhD student discovers something shocking about the Chinese poet she’d spent years studying that completely unravels her entire life and everyone else’s; Disorientation is a hilarious and biting satire of academia that will make you glad you didn’t pursue that obscure master’s degree.
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
A novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art disappearing from Western museums, and the (fictional) Harvard student who is tapped to join a heist stealing them all back.
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian
We all love a good psychopath story. This one’s really good—a secret program brings psychopathic students to a university in DC, where they are taught how to function in society; until one of them starts murdering them one by one.
The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
A juicy, propulsive drama about several families that live in the Boulder area, and what happens when a school for gifted children comes to town, and the lengths parents will go to ensure their pre-teen is set up for college, life, and beyond. Don’t miss the shocking twist at the end that ties the families even closer together than they thought.
The One Who Loves You the Most by medina
I had the opportunity to work with medina on this wonderful middle grade novel about belonging and finding community. It’s funny, heartfelt, and a great way to empathize with how younger generations figure out who they are with all of the technology and social pressure going on. Pre-order it now to support medina!!
Cover Story by Susan Rigetti
I also had the opportunity to work with Susan on Cover Story, which is a delightful grifter story told through different documents, emails, diary entries and text messages that will pull you into a literary world of scamming, ghostwriting, and fooling the FBI.
PS: if you buy the books from the links here you support local bookstores through Bookshop and I get an affiliate percentage :’). But please buy/rent/borrow books wherever is easiest!