Photo: Peter Ardito
One Colorado family, 12 children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia: Takethat,Job. In Kolker’s hands, the Galvins' story — interwoven with the science their genes helped advance — is a stunning testament to human resilience.
Buy It!Hidden Valley Road,$29.95;amazon.com
Knopf
In prose so sensuous you can almost smell the River Thames, O’Farrell reimagines a defining event of Shakespeare’s life: the death of his 11-year-old son Hamnet (sounds like …), perhaps from the bubonic plague. A captivating achievement.
Buy It!Hamnet,$26.95;amazon.com
Showcasing his signature blend of sober self-scrutiny and laid-back charm, the first volume of the former President’s memoirs is illuminating on many levels. Most revealing: his thoughts on family — and the toll the office took on his marriage.
Buy It!A Promised Land,$24;amazon.com
A dying friend asks the narrator to see her through her last weeks, a request that becomes the backdrop for musings on aging, climate change and the underrated gift of attention. It could be grim, but it’s transporting.
Buy It!What Are You Going Through,$26;amazon.com
Sexually assaulted as a teen at an elite New Hampshire boarding school, the author buried the trauma and tried to live her life. Decades later other incidents at the school prompted this brave, searing and unputdownable reckoning.
Buy It!Notes on a Silencing,$28;amazon.com
If you think rigid caste systems exist only in India, think again. Combining sociological analysis and individual stories, Pulitzer winner Wilkerson paints a revelatory picture of the hidden power hierarchies that shape — and stunt — American lives.
Buy It!Caste, $32;amazon.com
A young waitress mourning her mother’s death struggles to find her path as a writer while juggling two very different men. In the hellscape that was 2020, this thoughtful literary novel felt as delightfully escapist as a beach book.
Buy It!Writers & Lovers,$27;amazon.com
When the larger-than-life husband she adores dies suddenly, middle- aged Annie is set adrift. Then she learns he wasn’t quite the man she thought he was. Filled with insights into the comforts and compromises of enduring marriages.
Buy It!Monogamy,$28.99;amazon.com
Buy It!The Vanishing Half,$27;amazon.com
After Giovanna’s father says she is turning ugly like his estranged, less cultured sister, she sets off to meet the woman, and her life is upended. Another spellbinding coming-of-age tale from a master.
Buy It!The Lying Life of Adults,$26;amazon.com
source: people.com
