Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera

In an atmosphere both languid and tense, a story unfolds of a young man searching for the truth of his grandfather’s death. Daniel Galera is a Brazilian writer who sought to fuse an experimental, postmodern writing style with a murder mystery. The novel wouldn’t succeed so well without its setting, a Brazilian town on the Atlantic Ocean known for its surfing and fishing—but beneath the community’s sleepy surface lie violent secrets.

The David Foster Wallace Reader by David Foster Wallace

Six years after his suicide, David Foster Wallace’s work is gathered in this intriguing collection. A dozen writers and critics selected the offerings, which run the gamut from excerpts of his novels Infinite Jest and The Pale King to his first published story—and his reading lists for students. What comes through clearly in the reader is not just his originality and gorgeous prose but also Wallace’s humor.

Find Me by Laura van den Berg

The debut novel from short-story-collection veteran van den Berg follows the ironically named Joy—a grocery store clerk with a cough-syrup addiction—as she finds her way to the center of a deadly national epidemic. An unforgettable group of supporting characters are introduced, giving the book a sprawling, offbeat ensemble feel and begging the question: Why does it sometimes take death for us to realize life is worth living?

Her by Harriet Lane

In her sophomore novel, Lane continues to channel Alfred Hitchcock by way of Bridget Jones. Two women—Emma, a dowdy young mother, and Nina, a wealthy, cultured artist—split apart by a painful secret are thrown back together against the backdrop of contemporary London and the pitfalls, heartache and class envy that come along with it. Expect to turn pages at a rapid pace and compile a comprehensive list of anyone you might have wronged.

West of Sunset by Stewart O’Nan

This fictionalized account of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s later years isn’t the first time the author of The Great Gatsby has himself been used as a literary device, but it has to be one of the most enjoyable. Award-winning novelist O’Nan charts Fitzgerald’s misadventures in 1930s Hollywood, as he dates gossip columnist Sheilah Graham and attempts to rebuild his fortune, while his wife, Zelda, deteriorates in a North Carolina asylum.