by Jay Wilburn
One of my favorite things is giving book recommendations. It helps the readers, it helps the authors, and maybe makes the world a better place. Looking over the last month, I did a non-scientific survey of all the books I shared on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, in private messages, through e-mail, by text, in person, and everywhere else. From that, I organized the ten books I recommended the most regardless of genre.
This is not to say other books weren’t as good or that these authors don’t have more books just as good or better than these. As I tried to match readers’ interests to a recommendation, these are the books that came up the most often in the past month. A different set of readers will probably create different recommendations in the coming month.
These books appealed to a number of readers for different reasons and as such, I think you might like them, too.
If you are looking for a particular type of book, contact me directly and let me know what you are looking for.
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10
Savage Mountain by John Quick
Some unsuspecting protagonists just want to do a little whitewater rafting. What could go wrong? Well, this time it is cartels. John Quick does an excellent job of creating a survival tale that hits all the right beats and gives a great, fresh story.
9
I Found Strength in my Struggles by Tressa Devonne
A lot of people have been looking for books to help them deal with mental, emotional, personal, and professional challenges in their lives. This book tells of Devonne’s various explorations of rock bottom. She finds her way out of each one and gives a nice roadmap for finding your own way out of your struggles with more strength than you knew you had.
8
Atomic Number Sixty by Dave Johnston
This book is a gimmick. It is a “sixty minute read.” We dive right in with a character strapped to a bomb with the timer ticking down. Each chapter covers a minute as the character struggles to get free. Johnston fully embraces the gimmick and leaves nothing unexplored. He is not “cute” with it, though. This book is played to the hilt for what it is. A great, fast, crazy story.
7
Dirty Deeds by Armand Rosamilia
This is really a recommendation of the whole series which is up to book 8 as of the time I’m writing this. I’m up to book 7 in my reading and love the series. It is crime fiction. Each book is shorter than some of the unwieldy tomes you get in crime fiction and thrillers these days. Rosamilia has a pulp writer’s style and mentality which works perfectly for these stories, characters, and genre. The first book starts out like it is going to be really dark, but then there is a twist right at the beginning that turns the entire book and series into something else — something unique.
6
We Need to do Something by Max Booth III
Max Booth III is one of my favorite authors and certainly one who has impressed me the most in our current time. This book is a single location/ bottle story novel about a family trapped in a bathroom during and after a tornado. Booth may be the best at telling a story where characters aren’t allowed to walk out of the room to end the scene or conversation. This book is brutal. The characters go through hell. It is one of the rawest stories Booth has ever told. I wrote a longer review here. I recently interviewed Booth about his life, this book, his other works, and his writing style on my podcast here.
5
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne
The full title is Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. This is a really interesting history of a time and culture in American history that a lot of people don’t know about. The details are layered, complex, and surprising.
4
LBJ’s 1968 by Kyle Longley
The full title is LBJ’s 1968: Power, Politics, and the Presidency in America’s Year of Upheaval. This biography and history is great in its tight focus on one pivotal year. This allows for more detail and a deeper exploration of people, events, choices, and immediate consequences.
3
Allison by Jeff Strand
Is it possible to find a bad Jeff Strand book? I’ve tried my best, but have not yet succeeded in finding one I didn’t like. He gives his own take on this horror trope of a broken woman with great power. As usual, Strand elevates the concept and delivers a book I feel confident in recommending to horror readers.
2
The Triangle of Belief by Brian Keene
This book includes material that did not quite fit comfortably in The End of the Road by the same author. It explores ideas of religion, science fiction, the supernatural, our perceptions of reality, and the nature of belief in the religious, the secular, and in other contexts. No matter what you believe or doubt, the ideas and notions discussed in this book won’t contradict your system. It shows the development of our personal beliefs, doubts, and reevaluations over the course of a lifetime. I recently interviewed Brian Keene about this book in detail and his life, his work, and his career on my podcast here.
1
The Magpie Coffin by Wile E Young
This is a great novel from an author demonstrating his skills as a storyteller early in his publishing career. It is a splattery Western that leans into the genre of Wild West shoot-‘em-ups and the unflinching but bombastic dance of really well-written extreme horror and splatterpunk. It is a great Western, a great supernatural novel, and great horror. Wile E Young creates characters that have dimensions in a world with grit that can’t be real though all our senses tell us it must be. No moment in this story is wasted and no potential found along the trail is left unfulfilled.
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