Melinda's Top Ten Pick Best Reads for the First Half of the Year

The following list in alphabetical order by author and is a mix of fiction, non-fiction, memoirs & short story collection from international writers (American writers where not indicated):


1.   James Brinkley short story collection "A Lucky Man" - Nat'l Book Award '18

2.   Anna Burns, Belfast-UK, "MILKMAN" Man Booker Prize 2019

3.   Nathan Englander's novel "Kaddish"

4.    Father Gregory Boyle's memoir "Tattoos on the Heart"

5.    Hisham Matar, Libyan-British "The Return". Pulitzer Prizer 2017

6.    Sy Montgomery's "The Soul of an Octopus" Nat'l Book Award for Non-Fiction 2015

7.    Tommy Orange's "There, There" short-listed for Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2019

8.    ZZ Packer's short story collection "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" PEN/Faulkner Finalist 2013

9.    Sally Rooney, Irish "Normal People"

10 .  Yoko Tawada - Japanese-German "The Emissary" Nat'l Book Award 2018