Figuring out what to read next is a task that can cause a tremendous amount of anxiety: Should I finally read the book my mom bought me for my birthday? Or the novel my friend lent me? Or maybe that one I saw on Reese Witherspoon's Instagram? That's why I created this list of the best new literary fiction books to make your decision a little easier. Be sure to check back for updates to the list throughout the year.

Every Tuesday, a treasure trove is unlocked with dozens — if not hundreds — of new books inside. It can be tough to sort through what's worth the read, and what's not. The literary fiction books below represent the best of what publishing has to offer — stories that shake the foundation of your being, spark conversation, and inspire radical thought.

In the last few weeks of 2019, readers have been treated to new books by beloved authors like Margaret Atwood, Angie Cruz, Ann Patchett, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Zadie Smith, Elizabeth Strout, and Jacqueline Woodson, as well as first novels from breakout stars like Lara Prescott. Find their novels — and more — below, on this selection of the best literary fiction novels out right now:

All This Could Be Yoursby Jami Attenberg (Oct. 22)

I'm a huge fan of Jami Attenberg, and her latest novel is her most ambitious yet. All This Could Be Yours is the story of an abusive patriarch and all the people who orbit him: his loyal wife, his absent son, his lonely daughter-in-law, his weary daughter, and his precocious grandchild. Finally free from his grip, they must all reckon with his influence and forge a new path for themselves — a task that proves more difficult than they imagined.

Audio Collections of Ethiopian Writings; Books. Type: Fiction. Time covered: Published Year: Names Mentioned: Ras Araya, Leul Ras Mekonen Welde Michael, Fitawirary Habte Giyorgis Dinegide, Dejazmach Balcha Safo, Ras Bitweded Mekonin Endalkachew. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Blog at WordPress.com. Here are three books on the country's culture and history. Ethiopia is a landlocked country in Africa with one of the fastest growing economies.

The Man Who Saw Everythingby Deborah Levy (Oct. 15)

Deborah Levy's topsy-turvy new novel begins in 1988, when young Saul Adler, a historian working on an essay about the German Democratic Republic, is hit by a car while crossing Abbey Road. Over the course of the next few weeks, he sees things — ghosts of the past, and visions of the future. Only halfway through the novel does the reader become aware of what those visions actually mean.

Olive Againby Elizabeth Strout (Oct. 15)

It's been 10 years since Elizabeth Strout released Olive Kitteridge, a book which would earn her a Pulitzer Prize and go on to be adapted into an Emmy Award-winning miniseries. Strout returns to her beloved, crotchety heroine in a novel that begins just after the events of the first. You don't have to read Olive Kitteridge to enjoy this book — but you certainly will enjoy both.

Grand Unionby Zadie Smith (Oct. 8)

Zadie Smith shows off her diverse talents in this short story collection, her first, with a little something for every kind of reader. Eleven of these 19 stories are brand new, and if you're looking for an introduction into the works of one of our greatest living writers, this is perfect.

Frankisssteinby Jeanette Winterson (Oct. 1)

In this imaginative reimagining of Frankenstein, Jeannette Winterson pulls readers between the 1800s, when Mary Shelley wrote what would become a classic of the science fiction genre, and the present day, where Dr. Ry Shelley and tech visionary Victor Frank are working on a series of experiments that challenge the boundaries of artificial intelligence and new life. This book will certainly lead to conversations about A.I., queer love, and the meaning of life.

The Dutch Houseby Ann Patchett (Sept. 24)

In her latest novel, the celebrated author of Bel Canto, Ann Patchett, turns her attention to two siblings facing down a harsh new reality. After their mother disappears and their father dies, their stepmother boots them from the luxurious Dutch House. Over the course of 30 years, the siblings move through adulthood with no anchor, other than each other and the domestic staff of the house.

The Shadow Kingby Maaza Mengiste (Sept. 24)

In The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste explores the evolution a young woman, Hiram, from servant to soldier during the Benito Mussolini-led Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s. It's an honest accounting of war, but also of womanhood, of sexism, of friendship, of pain, and of courage.

The Water Dancerby Ta-Nehisi Coates (Sept. 24)

In September, acclaimed nonfiction writer Ta-Nehisi Coates made his fiction debut with The Water Dancer, and it's already been named the new selection for Oprah's Book Club. Described by Oprah as 'beautiful as it is tragic,' the book follows Hiram, an enslaved young man with a mysterious power that grants him — and others — the freedom to escape bondage.

Red at the Boneby Jacqueline Woodson (Sept. 17)

Jacqueline Woodson is at the top of her game in Red at the Bone, a stunning story about queer love, family, and generational trauma. The book begins with Melody, 16 years old, wearing the dress her mother would have worn on this same birthday, had she not been pregnant. What follows is an account of one family and how they each arrived at this moment, with all their history and pain and love and fear and hope and worry and loss.

The Testamentsby Margaret Atwood (Sept. 10)

By now you've heard that Margaret Atwood released a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, set 15 years after the events of that novel. If you still need to be convinced to pick it up, read Siobhan Adcock's essay on maternal mortality in the book, Mara Dolan's story about how the book addresses climate change, or Charlotte Ahlin's examination of its gripping epilogue.

Dominicanaby Angie Cruz (Sept. 3)

Growing up is hard, even more so when you've just moved from the Dominican Republican to New York City with your new husband, who is twice your age. When 15-year-old Ana arrives in America, she hopes for vibrancy; instead, she gets locked inside her apartment. When her husband goes back to the island to settle family business, she finally experiences the New York City of her dreams. But when he returns, she stares down a tough decision.

Cantorasby Carolina de Robertis (Sept. 3)

In Uruguay in 1977, the rights of everyday people are under attack by a domineering government that crushes any and all political and social dissent. Homosexuality is forbidden, but five women find each other anyway and discover a safe haven — a desolate cape they return to again and again over the course of three decades.

The Secrets We Keptby Lara Prescott (Sept. 3)

The September selection for Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine book club, The Secrets We Keptis one of the books of autumn you simply cannot miss. The novel, based on a true story, juxtaposes two different tales: In one, a CIA secretary-turned-spy attempts to smuggle the novel Doctor Zhivago out of Soviet Russia, where it cannot be published; in the second story, the novel's author Boris Pasternak grapples with his decades-long affair with the woman who inspired his novel and is later sent to the Gulag.

For more reading recommendations, head over to Bustle's list of the best books of October 2019, so you can start adding things to your TBR pile for fall.

Dinaw Mengestu (born 30 June 1978) is an Ethiopian-American novelist and writer. In addition to three novels, he has written for Rolling Stone on the war in Darfur, and for Jane Magazine on the conflict in northern Uganda.^[1] His writing has also appeared in Harper's, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other publications. He is the Program Director of Written Arts at Bard College.^[2] In 2007 the National Book Foundation named him a '5 under 35' honoree. Since his first book was published in 2007, he has received numerous literary awards, and was selected as a MacArthur Fellow in 2012.^[3]

Early life[edit]

Dinaw Mengestu was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 1978, during a period of political repression that became known as the Red Terror, his father, who was an executive with Ethiopian Airlines, applied for political asylum while on a business trip in Italy; Mengestu's mother was pregnant with him at the time. Two years later, when Mengestu was a toddler, he, his mother and his sister were reunited with his father in the United States.^[4] The family settled in Peoria, Illinois, where Mengestu's father at first worked as a factory laborer, before rising to a management position.^[4] Later the family moved to the Chicago area, where Mengestu graduated from Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois.^[5]

Mengestu received his B.A. in English from Georgetown University, and his MFA in writing from Columbia University in 2005.^[6]

Career[edit]

Mengestu's début novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, was published in the United States in March 2007 by Penguin Riverhead. It was published in the United Kingdom as Children of the Revolution,^[7] issued in May 2007 by Jonathan Cape. It tells the story of Sepha Stephanos, who fled the warfare of the Ethiopian Revolution 17 years before and immigrated to the United States. He owns and runs a failing grocery store in Logan Circle, then a poor African-American section of Washington, D.C. that is becoming gentrified. He and two fellow African immigrants, all of them single, deal with feelings of isolation and nostalgia for home. Stephanos becomes involved with a white woman and her daughter, who move into a renovated house in the neighborhood.

Paul dan Olson Jerry C. Arikunto pdf.

Mengestu's second novel, How to Read the Air, was published in October 2010.^[8] Part of the novel was excerpted in the July 12, 2010, issue of The New Yorker, after Mengestu was selected as one of their '20 under 40' writers of 2010.^[9] This novel was also the winner of the 2011 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. This literary award was established in 2007 by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.^[10]

Mengestu's first two novels have been translated into more than a dozen languages.^[7]

In 2014, he was selected for the Hay Festival's Africa39 project as one of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with the potential and the talent to define the trends of the region.^[11]

Awards and honors[edit]

• New York Times Notable Book 2007
• Lannan Fiction Fellowship, 2007
• National Book Award Foundation, 5 Under 35 Award, 2007
• Guardian First Book Award, 2007
• Prix Femina étranger, Finalist, 2007
• Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle, Finalist 2007
• Prix du Premier Meilleur Roman Etranger, 2007
• Dylan Thomas Prize, Finalist 2008
• New York Public Library Young Lions Award Finalist 2008
• Los Angeles Times Book Prize, 2008
• The New Yorker '20 Under 40', 2010^[12]
• Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature, 2011^[13]
• MacArthur Foundation Fellow, 2012
• 2012 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary ExcellenceWendland, Tegan.^[14]

Bibliography[edit]

• The beautiful things that heaven bears. New York: Riverhead Books. 2007.^[15]
• 'Big money'. Granta (108): 135–149. Autumn 2009.
• How to Read the Air, Penguin, 2010, ISBN9781594487705
• All Our Names (Knopf, 2014)

References[edit]

1. ^Mengestu, Dinaw (7 September 2006). 'The Tragedy of Darfur'. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
2. ^'Acclaimed Writer to Teach Students at Georgetown'. Georgetown University. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
3. ^'2012 MacArthur Foundation 'Genius Grant' Winners'. AP. 1 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
4. ^ ^ab'Dinaw Mengestu.' Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 66. Gale, 2008. Retrieved via Gale In Context: Biography database, 17 August 2019.
5. ^Thomas, Mike (October 20, 2012). 'Writer's long road to 'genius' is a story of overcoming racism'. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
6. ^'Dinaw Mengestu' (alumnus profile). Columbia University School of the Arts. arts.columbia.edu. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
7. ^ ^ab'Dinaw Mengestu'. Hodder & Stoughton. hodder.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
8. ^'Two Riverhead Authors: Dinaw Mengestu and Salvatore Scibona Make the New Yorker's 20 under 40 Fiction Writers to Watch'Archived 2010-06-19 at the Wayback Machine, Riverhead Books
9. ^'The New Yorker Excerpts Dinaw Mengestu's Forthcoming Novel 'How to Read the Air'Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, Riverhead Books
10. ^Hatley, James. 'Making Gaines'Archived 2014-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, '225', Louisiana, 22 May 2012.
11. ^Africa39, Hay Festival.
12. ^Jennifer L. Knox, '20 under 40: Q. & A. Dinaw Mengestu', The New Yorker, 14 & 21 June 2010.
13. ^'The Vilcek Foundation -'. www.vilcek.org. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
14. ^'Dinaw Mengestu Wins Ernest Gaines Literary Award', WRKF.org89.3, Louisiana, 25 January 2012.
15. ^Published in the UK as Children of the revolution (2008).

External links[edit]

• Linda Kulman, 'Dinaw Mengestu Captures Immigrant Life', NPR, 19 February 2008.
• Sarah Crown, 'Ethiopian-American wins Guardian First Book Award', The Guardian, 5 December 2007
• 'Dinaw Mengestu', culturebase.net