Ann Patchett (born December 2, 1963) is an American author. She received the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2002 for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, and The Magician's Assistant, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and received the Nashville Banner Tennessee Writer of the Year Award in 1994.
John of John (2026) Douglas Stuart "To read John of John is to move to the Isle of Harris and take up residence in the family croft. The novel is so immersive, so all-encompassing, that I felt like I was living in it. Douglas Stuart has written something brilliant and rare."
American Fantasy (2026) Emma Straub "I can hardly remember the last time I read anything that brought me such pure joy. I was up too late reading, then got up too early to go back to reading. All I wanted was American Fantasy. It brims with truth and humanity and insight, and it made me snort like a pig. I loved it. I think the entire country will love it."
Kin (2026) Tayari Jones "Kin is the kind of all-encompassing reading experience I'm always hoping to find: smart and funny and deftly profound. This is Tayari Jones's very best work."
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny (2025) Kiran Desai "The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is a spectacular literary achievement. I wanted to pack a little suitcase and stay inside this book forever."
Until Alison (2025) Kate Russo "Kate Russo reminds us, both perfectly and painfully, of the angst, jealousy, and self-doubt of youth. The strength of Until Alison lies in her ability to bring fury and compassion to both the bullied and the bullies."
The Satisfaction Cafe (2025) Kathy Wang "The Satisfaction Cafe is both deep and wide, tracing the arc of a single life and then showing how that life ripples out across family, friends, and time. At every turn Joan proves to be more insightful and more necessary than people believed her to be, the result of which is this insightful, necessary, and beautiful novel."
Endling (2025) Maria Reva "In Maria Reva's all-around brilliant novel Endling, the fate of some snails serves as a harbinger for the fate of Ukraine. The book is funny and smart, full of science, longing and adventure, all the while reminding us what the world stands to lose, and what it has already lost. This is essential reading."
Sleep (2025) Honor Jones "A haunting and beautiful novel about a desperate attempt to live in the present despite the tidal pull of the past...Incredibly moving."
The Correspondent (2025) Virginia Evans "Subtly told and finely made, The Correspondent is a portrait of a small life expanding. Virginia Evans shows how one woman changes at a point when change had seemed impossible. That change, like this novel, turns out to be a cause for celebration."
33 Place Brugmann (2025) Alice Austen "The world of 33 Place Brugmann is spacious and intricately connected, filled with both horror and brilliant light. Alice Austen uses her considerable gifts to remind us that the past and the present are more connected than we wish to believe, and that vigilance, loyalty and art hold the key to survival. This is a beautiful and deeply engaging novel."
Mothers and Sons (2025) Adam Haslett "Mothers and Sons is both moving and deeply compelling, a story about the search for our own humanity, and the lengths we will go to maintain it. A new book by Adam Haslett is always cause for celebration. He is one of our very best writers."
Sipsworth (2024) Simon Van Booy "Loaded with charm, resilience, and the deep desire for connection that all mammals share. I loved it."
James (2024) Percival Everett "James is funny and horrifying, brilliant and riveting. In telling the story of Jim instead of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett delivers a powerful, necessary corrective to both literature and history. I found myself cheering both the writer and his hero. Who should read this book? Every single person in the country."
Absolution (2023) Alice McDermott "Alice McDermott has always been one of our greatest writers but here she exceeds every expectation. Absolution is one of the finest contemporary novels I've read. It is a moral masterpiece."
Do Tell (2023) Lindsay Lynch "A wonderful, provocative novel about the way time changes how we see the world. Edie O'Dare is a failed Hollywood actress who reinvents herself as a gossip columnist in order to keep a roof over her head, only to discover that this is the job she's good at. Like our intrepid narrator, Do Tell manages to be both funny and substantive, breezy and wise. I stepped into the stream of the narrative and didn't look up until I came to the last page."
Such Kindness (2023) Andre Dubus III "Such Kindness charts a remarkable rebirth, not from poverty to wealth but from bitter helplessness to the knowledge of self-worth. The result is a gripping and transformational journey toward kindness, in a tremendously moving novel."
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece (2023) Tom Hanks "It's its own universe, complete with a sun, a cast of circling planets, and a limitless number of stars. Its gravity pulls you in and its far reaching, multi-layered, rollicking exuberance holds you in place. I would have been happy to live inside this book forever."
The Sun Walks Down (2022) Fiona McFarlane "The Sun Walks Down is the book I'm always longing to find: brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable. It is marvellous. I loved it from start to finish."
If I Survive You (2022) Jonathan Escoffery "If I Survive You is a collection of connected short stories that reads like a novel, that reads like real life, that reads like fiction written at the highest level."
Four Treasures of the Sky (2022) Jenny Tinghui Zhang "An engulfing, bighearted and heartbreaking novel. Illuminates shocking injustices, and makes us stop and consider how many survive to this day."
Groundskeeping (2022) Lee Cole "An extraordinary debut about the ties that bind families together and tear them apart across generations--this is a fierce, tender, and wholly unforgettable work from a hugely gifted writer."
Cress Watercress (2022) Gregory Maguire "Who knew that rabbits and squirrels had so much to teach us about both the hard and tender times of life? Gregory Maguire, that's who. Cress Watercress is a clear-eyed lesson in picking up and moving forward, living with unanswered questions, and making new friends. I will recommend this beautifully written (and perfectly illustrated!) book to everyone."
Five Tuesdays in Winter (2021) Lily King "Five Tuesdays in Winter moved me, inspired me, thrilled me. It filled up every chamber of my heart. I loved this book."
Virtue (2021) Hermione Hoby "A writer of extreme intelligence, insight, style and beauty."
Secrets of Happiness (2021) Joan Silber "Secrets of Happiness unfolds across families and lovers, across time and expectations, across the country and across the world, and the bigger it gets, the more it shows how deeply connected we are. Joan Silber writes with a frankness and freshness that draws the reader closer with every page. It would be impossible to overstate just how good this book is."
Revival Season (2021) Monica West "Tender and wise, Revival Season explores a girl's faith in both her family and in God. Monica West's formidable talent is matched by her generosity of spirit, making the most winning combination a reader could wish for."
Who Is Maud Dixon? (2021) Alexandra Andrews "Who is Maud Dixon? is clever, cunning, and diabolical in the best possible way. Anyone longing for a good old-fashioned thrill need look no further."
Sorrow and Bliss (2020) Meg Mason "Sorrow and Bliss is a brilliantly faceted and extremely funny book about depression that engulfed me in the way I'm always hoping to be to be engulfed by novels. While I was reading it, I was making a list of all the people I wanted to send it to, until I realized that I wanted to send it to everyone I know."
Atomic Love (2020) Jennie Fields "A novel of science, love, espionage, beautiful writing, and a heroine who carves a strong path in the world of men. As far as I'm concerned there is nothing left to want."
Valentine (2020) Elizabeth Wetmore "Fierce and complex, VALENTINE is a novel of moral urgency and breathtaking prose. This is the very definition of a stunning debut."
The Resisters (2020) Gish Jen "The Resisters is palpably loving, smart, funny, and desperately unsettling. The novel should be required reading for the country both as a cautionary tale and because it is a stone-cold masterpiece. This is Gish Jen's moment. She has pitched a perfect game."
The Falconer (2019) Dana Czapnik "The Falconer is a novel of huge heart and fierce intelligence. It has restored my faith in pretty much everything."
His Favorites (2018) Kate Walbert "His Favorites is exactly the book for our times. That Kate Walbert has managed to write a novel that is riveting, terrifying, and yet always charmingly buoyant, speaks volumes to how well she understands women. If you’re trying to figure out what’s going on, how these things happen, read this book."
Early Work (2018) Andrew Martin "Early Work by Andrew Martin . . . is really dirty . . . It's a book about young graduate students who drink a lot, read a lot, have a lot of sex, and somehow, it's just mesmerizing . . . terrific."
Florida (2018) Lauren Groff "Don’t tell yourself you don’t like short stories, because these are not to be missed. The book is deep and dark and resonant. Every story plays in some way on the others and in the end the total is worth even more than the sum of its beautiful parts."
Love and Ruin (2018) Paula McLain "Paula McLain is considered the new star of historical fiction, and for good reason."
Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017) (Bois Sauvage, book 2) Jesmyn Ward "The connection between the injustices of the past and the desperation of present are clearly drawn in Sing, Unburied, Sing, a book that charts the lines between the living and the dead, the loving and the broken. I am a huge fan of Jesmyn Ward's work, and this book proves that she is one of the most important writers in America today."
The Leavers (2017) Lisa Ko "There was a time I would have called Lisa Ko’s novel beautifully written, ambitious, and moving, and all of that is true, but it’s more than that now: if you want to understand a forgotten and essential part of the world we live in, The Leavers is required reading."
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley (2017) Hannah Tinti "The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is one part Quentin Tarantino, one part Scheherazade , and twelve parts wild innovation. Hannah Tinti proves herself to be an old fashioned storyteller of the highest order."
The Song of Achilles (2011) Madeline Miller "The Song of Achilles is at once a scholar's homage to The Iliad and startlingly original work of art by an incredibly talented new novelist. Madeline Miller has given us her own fresh take on the Trojan war and its heroes. The result is a book I could not put down."
The Typist (2010) Michael Knight "Michael Knight tells the story of generals, war, and occupation through the eyes of a typist who proves himself to be the calm at the center of the storm. The result is this elegant, thoughtful, and resonant novel."
(b.1963)
