Nichole Bernier – author of The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. – shares a list of books that remind us you never really know the hearts and minds of others.
“Books that reveal that things are not what they seem have always fascinated me,” says Nichole Bernier. “Here are some of my favorites that show the hidden pains and motivations roiling beneath the surface of us all.”
Nichole Bernier includes classics like Crossing to Safety, recent bestsellers like Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and book club favorites like A Pilot’s Wife. Check out her list and tell us about a book you think should make the list!
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Our live video chat with bestselling authors Nichole Bernier, Jenna Blum, and J. Courtney Sullivan has been POSTPONED. We’ll let you know when it’s rescheduled so you can save the date!
Three talented novelists, together live on video to talk with you about their books, their writing process, and their literary friendship.
Don’t miss this special opportunity! Perfect for book club members – and all voracious readers of fiction – who want to connect with bestselling authors. Think of it as a big virtual book signing. Hope to see you there!
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Gary Krist, author of City of Scoundrels, shares a (highly opinionated) bibliography of Chicago novels, including classics like Sister Carrie and Native Son as well as some little-known gems.
“Chicago has been the inspiration for so many of the great American novels of the early twentieth century,” says Gary Krist. “Gritty realism, after all, was the prevailing aesthetic of that era, and no place lent itself better to gritty realism than the Megalopolis of the Prairie. Here are a few personal favorites that I feel best convey the essence of the city around the time at which City of Scoundrels takes place.”
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I’m always on the lookout in my research for things like memoirs, personal letters, court testimony, or diaries, where the participants in a historical event actually report what was said and done at a particular time and place.
“Newspaper articles are also very useful for this, especially when reporters on the scene write about what they experienced firsthand,” says Gary Krist, author of City of Scoundrels. “Are these eyewitness reports always accurate? Not by a long shot. Memory is notoriously unreliable, and people often color the truth – or even lie outright – in ways that serve their own personal agendas. A historian therefore has to look at such eyewitness testimony with a skeptical eye.”
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I knew in my heart that if I was going to stay sober, if I was going to be a loving dad, I would have to open the psychic suitcase I’d been dragging around with me.
“With mere words we are driven to paint the portrait of a man,” says Colin Broderick. “By placing one simple character after another we attempt to transcribe the universe. And somewhere amid the line breaks and punctuation marks that we have chosen to use we try to mold for the reader the very essence of an emotional existence. That’s That is my meager attempt at rendering a recognizable portrait of my own childhood.”
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“Chris Pavone’s ability to channel the inner dialogue of a career-woman-turned-homemaker is perfect,” says Gina N. of Houston
“In this thriller, Chris Pavone transported us to the tiny country of Luxembourg to explore the diverse relationships that we form as adults,” Gina says of her book club meeting for The Expats. “Relationships were a main point of contention throughout this story, both personal and professional.”
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