favorite recent books

favorite books of all time

This was a hard list to come up with. "Of all time" is along time. Here's what I have so far:

• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (also A Thousand Splendid Suns)
• Snow Falling on Cedar, by David Guterson (10 years to write, so there's still hope for me!)
• The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah
Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett
Orphan Train, by Cristina Baker Kline
Natchez Burning, by Greg Iles

some authors I love (in no particular order)

Mystery Writers
Henning Mankell
Jo Nesbo
Patricia Cornwell
Greg Iles
Tana French

Literary Fiction
Louise Erdrich
​Barbara Kingsolver
Amy Tan
Other
Pat Conroy
Alexander McCall Smith
​Chris Bohjalian

Some new African writers not to miss

There has been a burgeoning of fiction coming out of African nations in recent years. I try to avoid the overused word "awesome," so let's just say these writers rock!
​Some writers I have enjoyed include:

• Chimananda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria): Half of a Yellow Sun; Purple Hibiscus, Americanah
• NoViolet Bulawayo Zimbabwe) , We Need New Names
• ​Yaa Gyasi (Ghanaian-American), Homegoing 
• Imbolo Mbue (Cameroon), Behold the Dreamers (an Oprah pick)
• Dinaw Mengestu (Ethiopian-American), All Our names

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