Reliable Recs 01

Welcome back to Reliable Narrator! I had every intention of sitting down to write this yesterday. Friday, I decided, was a good day for new books and dishy long-form profiles and a Best Dressed Author superlative to start the weekend. But when I got home from a field trip to The Corner Bookstore, I got distracted by an excuse this audience will appreciate: I picked up a book after work last night and I simply could not put it down.

This was not the book I had just purchased. (That honor goes to Katabasis.) It’s one I picked up with my friend and RN subscriber Catalina (hi!!) almost a month ago. I was feeling that guilt unique to people who buy six books for every one they crack open, and I figured I should pick something out of my TBR before digging into that new purchase.

I told myself I would read a chapter and then write. When three chapters went by, I said I’d read through dinner, and then I would write. By 12:15 AM, I had ten of 300-odd pages left, and I was changed by this book. I do not often shed actual tears when a story tugs at my heartstrings, but this one Got Me. When I’d sniffle, Dolly would whip her head over her shoulder from the foot of my bed and give me a side-eye that silently said, Please gain some composure, woman. It is past my bedtime. You are behaving like a child.

But this book was so electric, I needed a pulpit to sing its praises. So I finished right at the buzzer to deliver to you all in Reliable Recs, the monthly snapshot of my reading diet. Yesterday, one of my coworkers said my book recommendations have never steered her wrong. I hope that means as these sends stack up, you’ll also find a book you love. Together, we can beat the allegations that Americans don’t read for fun anymore, starting with this one really, truly phenomenal novel.