The most recent book I finished from this list published by the Huffington Post is Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi.
(Image from amazon.com)
The story begins in the 1950s with the story of Boy Novak, a young woman brutally abused by her father. She leaves home and gets married to a man who has a beautiful daughter.
When her own daughter with her new husband is born, Boy sends the beautiful daughter away. Here we delve into the race relations of the 1960s and the relationship (through letters) between two half-sisters: Boy’s stepdaughter and her biological daughter.
The book is split into three sections: Boy’s story, her biological daughter’s story, and a final section that returns to Boy’s point-of-view and wraps up the story. Without giving too much away, I will say, I was completely shocked by the ending, when Boy discovers the truth about her father. My jaw is still hanging open as I write this, and I wish the author would have elaborated more on the shocking twist.
This was an engaging read. Oyeyemi’s style offers a look inside the mind of her interesting characters. She knows how to surprise a reader, too, and I like that.
Here’s an updated list. The first five books on this list are the ones I had read prior to discovering the list:
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Yes, Please by Amy Poehler
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Drink by Ann Dowsett Johnston
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
Her by Christa Parravani
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
NW by Zadie Smith
Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
A HOUSE WITH CHARACTER 