Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23 Book Recommendations & Book Mentions

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

A mixed-media satire told with style and verve...Benedict Nguyễn’s sharp, funny-yet-serious debut explores the constant pressure to present identity ‘correctly,’ especially when that identity is under equally constant threat.

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

if you’ve read megha majumdar’s A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF, you know what i’m talking about.

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

Aptly described as “zeitgeisty” for its setting amongst an old-money family of Brooklyn one-percenters, Knopf Vice President Jenny Jackson’s Pineapple Street is a witty, easy-to-devour story of wealth and love’s never-ending war in the modern age.

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

Even if you’re not familiar with Schulman’s unique talent for capturing Hollywood madness, you’re sure to find something of intrigue in Oscar Wars.

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

Adriana Trigiani’s heroine is stuck in Lake Como, New Jersey, her childhood home, where she’s fled after a recent divorce...Effervescent and big-hearted, The View from Lake Como is an ideal vacation read.

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

Within the first few pages of Hal Ebbott’s debut novel Among Friends, I knew I needed to go scrounge up a highlighter. There are so many of Ebbott’s lines that sing...Among Friends is utterly engrossing; I’m already begging my friends to read it so we can discuss the ending.

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

Simmering tensions, sibling rivalries, and undeniable attraction fuel MacLean’s excellent foray into contemporary romance-slash-drama. This one’s a treat.

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

A Marriage at Sea was such an emotionally vivid portrait of a couple in isolation that I was shocked it wasn’t fiction. How could a writer get so deeply into the minds of two real people in such extraordinary circumstances?

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

A monumental feat of melodic prose and astute observation, Hanna Pylväinen’s historical fiction novel The End of Drum-Time transports readers to the otherworldly tundra of Scandinavia... the resulting adventure is one as powerful and profound as the book’s awe-inspiring setting.

Lauren Puckett-Pope 🔜 #TIFF23

With Brown's signature dry wit and keen eye, The Palace Papers is an essential primer for anyone with even a passing interest in what's going on across the pond—and, more importantly, why it matters.