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Tayari Jones's Reading List

The author of “An American Marriage” likes to bring hardcover books with her when she flies: “I accepted a gig in Dubai just for 18 hours of luxurious reading time.”

By the Book: Tayari Jones (2018)

NYT By the Book column (2018-02-06).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro · 2005 · Buy on Amazon

"I read it last year and I was so smitten that I changed my syllabus so that I could require my grad students to read it and talk about it as much as I wanted."

The Darkest Child

Delores Phillips · Buy on Amazon

"It's a heartbreaker — there has never been a more problematic mother-daughter relationship in all of literature. But it's also a heart-healer."

Heads of the Colored People

Nafissa Thompson-Spires · Buy on Amazon

"We need a new word for this story collection. Dark humor isn't quite it. But it's close. It's dark; it's funny; but it's kind, too."

White Houses

Amy Bloom · Buy on Amazon

"At the center of this great American novel is the great American love story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok."

Cutting School

Noliwe Rooks · Buy on Amazon

"This is an important work; hopefully it will make people mad enough to act."

Our Lady of the Artichokes

Katherine Vaz · Buy on Amazon

"Katherine Vaz is the sort of fiction writer who makes me wonder why the rest of us even bother. My favorite book of Vaz's is "Our Lady of the Artichokes.""

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Unknown · Buy on Amazon

""Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" was my favorite novel"

The Overstory

Richard Powers · 2018 · Buy on Amazon

""The Overstory," by Richard Powers. He's brilliant."

My Struggle

Karl Ove Knausgaard · Buy on Amazon

"It's written with verve and so much honesty and is so powerful; it's quite intimidating because of just how much he sees."

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