bestsellers worth reading

I love an unpopular opinion.

I enjoy reading underrated books, I appreciate low Goodreads ratings, and above all I am suspicious of the universally adored / BookTok recommended / multiweek NYT bestselling novel of the summer.

The Correspondent didn’t click for me, I dread reading Yesteryear like it’s self-assigned homework, I am yet to find an example of “romantasy” I can tolerate.

When a book is beloved across the board, I am actually less likely to join the fanfare. I don’t know why. Probably a fundamental flaw in my personality.

Regardless. What I’m saying is, I should be the deciding vote. If I think a book is worth the hype it should mean something in this country.

Here are 20 recentish bestsellers that deserve their popularity.

500K Goodreads ratings

Given that I recommended this book in the actual last post I shared, I’m going to go ahead and call it as worth the hype.

This is a deceptively literary and complicated book that I suspect snuck (sneaked?) its way into broad appeal by virtue of being very short and Irish. One of the best things a book can be these days is Irish.

I’m happy about this book’s success as well as that of the Irish authorship at large.

580K Goodreads ratings

I am an Adventures of Huckleberry Finn hater — this for many reasons, with the most shocking being that I think Tom Sawyer is better.

The more dominant emotion is just that Huck Finn does not contain the courage that the vagueness of centuries can cast upon it. Writing a somewhat anti-slavery book 21 years after the Emancipation Proclamation is not the flex we may think it is. This book is doing something fresh and exciting, a claim I may not be able to make for Twain.

590K Goodreads ratings

This book has extreme Reese’s Book Club energy, which is to say it’s an exploration of race that mostly centers around moms and mom figures in situations ranging from mildly uncomfortable to fight or flight inducing.

Still, I like it — it’s set in Philly and there are elements that felt very true and refreshingly positioned to me. Reid’s sophomore novel is a bit more edgy and interesting, which makes sense as it is both less read and less well-liked.

590K Goodreads ratings

I love me some Ann Patchett. Myself and the aforementioned Philly-area moms and maternal icons attending her Whistler tour happily lined up to listen to her make friendly jokes and book recommendations and exactly one respectfully snide decline-to-comment about exactly one memoir. Ask me the title and I’ll tell you:

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Each of us loved it.

Her last releases have been filled with a realistic and pleasant happiness, but this one has a darkness. I love that about it, and I want the cover framed on my wall.