On the Shelf: What to Read This March

by Natasha Wolff | March 3, 2016 2:50 pm

“Shelter” by Jung Yun

Shelter[1]
By Jung Yun 

In this anticipated debut novel from Tin House alum Jung Yun, a young father finds himself once again sharing a home with his estranged parents. This troubling, moving work from Yun explores what it means to be part of a family, even if it’s nothing close to the one you might choose for yourself. 

“What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours” by Helen Oyeyemi

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours[2]
By Helen Oyeyemi 

Oyeyemi is one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists as well as the author of last year’s reimagined fairytale, Boy, Snow, Bird. Her latest release is a collection of nine short stories that work with the idea of keys—real and symbolic—and masterfully displays the smart, creative and spirited style that’s made Oyeyemi a rising star.

“Innocents and Others” by Diana Spiotta

Innocents and Others[3]
By Diana Spiotta

They say it’s necessary for an artist to put distance between themselves and their subjects, but can certain types of distance yield unnecessary cruelty? The heroine (for lack of a better word) of Spiotta’s fourth novel is a filmmaker[4] named Meadow who begins documenting the life of a forlorn woman named Jelly, who has managed to seduce a selection of high profile Hollywood figures into intimate telephone relationships. As Meadow and Jelly’s relationship unfolds, we watch the chilly progression of an artist whittling away at the humanity she set out to represent. 

“Burning Down the House” by Jane Mendelsohn

Burning Down the House[5]
By Jane Mendelsohn

A family drama that thunders toward its demise with the inevitability of Greek tragedy, Burning Down the House tells the story of two young girls annexed into a wealthy New York family[6]. One was adopted, the other sold into the sex trade in Russia, but as the girls get older, the dark secrets of the family unravel to shocking and cinematic effect.

“All The Single Ladies” by Rebecca Traister

All The Single Ladies[7]
By Rebecca Traister

An encore to her first book, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Traister’s much-anticipated All The Single Ladies is a deep dive into just what it means that women are marrying nearly a decade later than any time in history before—if they marry at all. Looking to the past for insight and to the future for the ways this phenomenon will alter the social fabric of our society, Traister says, “The revelation is in the expansion of options.”

Source URL: https://dujour.com/culture/best-books-march-2016/