Choosing books to recommend is never something to look forward to doing. Book-reading, like eating, comes down to individual tastes. Yours are not entirely like mine, and vice versa.
But there are always some flavors that appeal to a larger circle of friends rather than a select few — and that’s what we tried to offer here.
Keep in mind that these are only suggestions, but in most cases, the books listed here have been well received — for various reasons — by a wide variety of readers. There should be something here for the readers on your gift list.
“Away,” by Amy Bloom, $23.95. Bloom’s fifth novel centers on Lillian Leyb, a young woman who travels to the U.S. after her family is killed in a Russian pogrom. When she learns that her daughter may still be alive, she takes off on an epic journey from the Yiddish theater in New York to Seattle and on to Alaska.
“Bridge of Sighs,” by Richard Russo, $26.95. Russo won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2002 novel, “Empire Falls.” He’s back with a sequel of sorts, which follows the life of Louis (Lucy) Charles Lynch. Lucy and Sara, his wife of 40 years, are preparing for a trip to Italy to visit his oldest friend, a painter who is living in self-enforced exile. Lucy is also writing a history of his hometown and family, and all the divisions found in both.
“Cheating at Canasta,” by William Trevor, $24.95. Trevor is a fine novelist, but his heart is in the short story, and he shows why in this collection. It’s full of the regular Trevor ingredients — loss, loneliness, death and just getting by. As always, this collection is all about how we connect with one another.
“Exit Ghost,” by Philip Roth, $26. Roth, one of America’s most prominent fiction authors, wraps up his saga of Nathan Zuckerman — the subject of nine Roth novels — with a story of a man who tries to go home again. Nathan heads back to New York after an 11-year absence and quickly makes three connections that are certain to intrude on his much-beloved solitude. These connections bring Nathan back in touch with emotions he thought he’d left behind long ago.
“A Free Life,” by Ha Jin, $26. Ha Jin won the National Book Award in 1999 for his novel “Waiting,” and now with his seventh novel, he speaks to the immigrant experience in America. Centering on Nan Wu, a man who dropped out of the revolt at Tiananmen Square to become a graduate student in Boston, it’s the story of his efforts to live a life of honor in a foreign land.
“The Maytrees,” by Annie Dillard, $24.95. Dillard is best-known for her nonfiction, and this is only her second novel. It seems like a simple tale of a man and woman who meet, fall in love and marry, and later separate. But Dillard adds a twist when the two get back together later in life. Dillard, who has been compared with Thoreau in her love of nature and in her nonfiction writing, of course continues that thrust.
“The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” by Mohsin Hamid, $22. Here’s a story of a Pakistani man who is doing well in his adopted land of America. He’s living the dream, at the top of his class at Princeton. Then comes 9/11. Suddenly he’s no longer welcome, and the life he was so careful to construct comes tumbling down.
“Run,” by Ann Patchett, $25.95. As with her hugely successful first novel, “Bel Canto,” Patchett explores how an unexpected incident can affect a group of characters who seem to have little else in common. In this one, two very different families come together with a traffic accident on a snowy evening in Boston.
“Tree of Smoke,” by Denis Johnson, $27. The first novel from Johnson in almost 10 years has been compared with the best fiction to come out of the Vietnam War, like Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” and others. It also recently won the National Book Award.
It’s a long and complex story dealing with spies, a nurse and a pair of brothers who are GIs serving in the war.
“World Without End,” by Ken Follett, $35. In the late ’80s, Follett had a big hit on his hand with “Pillars of the Earth,” a medieval novel centered on the building of a giant cathedral. These many years later, Follett returns to Kingsbridge, England, with another story revolving around the same cathedral many years later. It’s a wonderfully entertaining story of feudal life, complete with dastardly villains, young lovers, knights and stewards, and plenty of political wrangling within the Catholic Church.
Books editor Tom Walker: 303-954-1624 or twalker@denverpost.com
