There was no shortage of big books to talk about at this year’s BookExpo America. From art heists to mysterious islands, from the Cold War to the Iraq War, these are the 10 books that drew lots of attention at this year’s show.
In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner (Simon & Schuster, Aug. 7)
A young girl comes of age under the Khmer Rouge terror (as did this debut author).
City of Women by David R. Gillham (Putnam/Einhorn, Aug.)
War torn Berlin in 1943 a city of secrets, emptied of men off fighting a war.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Random House, Aug.)
A long-married man goes to mail a letter to a dying woman he hasn’t seen in years and instead walks the English countryside to deliver it in person.
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers (Little, Brown, Sept. 11)
Debut novel about men and war from an Iraqi veteran.
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz (Riverhead, Sept 11)
You might not want to date Díaz, but you won’t forget his voice in this searing collection on how love ends.
The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen (Norton, Sept. 17)
A small snow-covered island, a disappeared mother, and a dead boy washed up on shore. Irresistible.
John Saturnall’s Feast by Lawrence Norfolk (Grove, Sept.)
A 17th-century English orphan becomes a master chef in this sensual novel about food and love.
The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro (Algonquin, Oct. 23)
Clever and fascinating, this novel centers around the largest art heist in history, still unsolved after 21 years.
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper, Nov. 6)
Perennial favorite Kingsolver creates suspense and magic in contemporary Appalachia.
Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan (Doubleday/Talese, Nov. 13)
M15 is looking to infiltrate literary circles in 1972 England, code name: “sweet tooth.”
