These are just quick first passes at novels I've read, not polished reviews. I also have ranked all of the novels I've read since 2017, because I have a weird brain.
March 2026 · Rating: 7
A sex worker assassinates a rising nazi politician. The premise is brilliant and Act 1 is flawless — a kick-ass literary page-turner. The rest is merely quite good.
Read more →March 2026 · Rating: 6
A funny family road trip novel with a high body count. Light-hearted comedy and white-knuckle ride in one. Also: there is an alligator scene.
Read more →September 2025 · Rating: 6
Melville's autobiographical account of jumping ship in Tahiti, living among alleged cannibals, and wondering the whole time what they're going to do with him.
Read more →July 2024 · Rating: 8
Berlin in the run-up to the Nazis seizing power. Complex, colorful, funny, pathetic characters. The politics play out on the margins, until they don't.
Read more →February 2024 · Rating: 7.5
Remarkable observations about why damaged people say the things they say and do the things they do. Some sentences were "I could never hope to write that" good.
Read more →October 2023 · Rating: 8
Had not ever read this novel. Went in with low expectations. There were passages where the caliber of writing was beyond what I'm capable of. The bastard.
Read more →August 2019 · Rating: 8.5
Refreshing to read a novel that won a National Book Award that actually deserved to win a National Book Award. Poignant, sharp, moving, warm, funny, profound.
Read more →July 2022 · Rating: 8
At least as good as The Unbearable Lightness of Being, most likely better. Frequently funny, moving, crammed with great writing. The book sparkles.
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