Featuring authors Colson Whitehead, David Szalay, and more
Being up to date on all things health and wellness is social and cultural currency these days. And while quick-hit news bites are great, in-depth reads are still a worthy pursuit. Though the Furthermore book club is generally limited to non-fiction, in honor of summer’s arrival, we’ve curated five fiction picks released this month.
The book: The Need
By: Helen Phillips
The Gist: Molly, a young mother and paleobotanist, is alone with her children when she hears mysterious footsteps in the other room. In this fifth title by acclaimed writer Helen Phillips, a masked intruder who seems to know Molly’s every thought and move upends her life. What follows is a subversive, mind-bending thriller that also explores modern parenthood.
The book: The Nickel Boys
By: Colson Whitehead
The Gist: In his Pulitzer Prize winner, The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead probed the unique terrors of the antebellum South. Here, Whitehead turns his narrative focus to a reform school in the Jim Crow era. The result is a powerful examination of the dark history and injustices of another painful chapter of American history.
The book: Very Nice: A Novel
By: Marcy Dermansky
The Gist: This witty, addictive novel follows the colliding lives of Becca, a wealthy Connecticut divorcée, her college-age daughter, Rachel, and Zahid, a famous writer. Told in different points of view, the social comedy takes on issues of money, sex, and race.
The book: Turbulence
By: David Szalay
The Gist: From David Szalay, the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author of All That Man Is, comes this book about 12 strangers whose varying interactions create a ripple effect around the globe. The chapters, which are named after flights (YYZ-SEA, BUD-LGW), are quick slice-of-life vignettes that create a cohesive whole.
The book: Famous People
By: Justin Kuritzkes
The Gist: “Something I’ve been thinking about a lot is what it would be like to read this book if you’d never heard of me before,” muses the ultra-famous 22-year-old narrator in Justin Kuritzkes’s debut novel. Written in the style of a celebrity memoir, and delivered as one rambling monologue, it’s an entertaining, unexpected journey through the inner and outer workings of fame.
Photography by Jarren Vink