Six Novels Laurie Frankel Won’t Shut Up About!

Do I love every single one of Naomi Alderman’s novels? I do. Were my expectations on page one of her new book therefore very, very high? They were. Did she surpass them by a mile anyway? She did. This novel blew me away.

This novel of the Warsaw Ghetto is nonetheless full of love and light and life and hope. Beautifully written, perfectly constructed, this was my favorite read of 2023.

This is my number-one book club recommendation and the novel I reread every time I forget how to write one. Read it without reading anything about it, without reading the back of the book, without even looking at the cover if you can help it – you want to go into this book cold.

Percival Everett has written so many great novels, all of them different from one another, all of them different from anything else you’ve ever read. This one broke my heart and broke my brain in the very best ways.

This is Ruth Ozeki’s first novel and my first read of hers, and though all her others are also wonderful, this one has a special place in my heart.

David Mitchell is best known for writing labyrinthine novels full of loops and pyrotechnics, and I love them all, but this one is simple, quiet, straightforward, and my very favorite.