ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
TOP SUMMER READS 2023
Yellowface , Rebecca F Kuang
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars : same year at Yale , same debut year in publishing . But Athena ' s a cross-genre literary darling , and June didn ' t even get a paperback release . So , when June witnesses Athena ' s death in a freak accident , she acts on impulse : she steals Athena ' s justfinished masterpiece . But June can ' t get away from Athena ' s shadow , and emerging evidence threatens to bring June ' s ( stolen ) success down around her . As June races to protect her secret , she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves .
With its totally immersive first-person voice , Yellowface takes on questions of diversity , racism , and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society .
You Be Mother , Meg Mason
What do you do , when you find the perfect family , and it ' s not yours ? A charming , funny and irresistible novel about families , friendship and tiny little white lies .
The only thing Abi ever wanted was a proper family . So when she falls pregnant by an Australian exchange student in London , she cannot pack up her old life in Croydon fast enough to start all over in Sydney and make her own family . It is not until she arrives , with three-week-old Jude in tow , that Abi realises Stu is not quite ready to be a father after all . And he is the only person she knows in this hot , dazzling , confusing city , where the job of making friends is turning out to be harder than she thought . That is until she meets Phyllida , her wealthy , charming , imperious older neighbour , and they become almost like mother and daughter . If only Abi had not told Phil that teeny tiny small lie the very first day they met … really good , actually , Monica Heisy
The List , Yomi Adegoke
Ola Olajide , a celebrated journalist at Womxxxn magazine , is set to marry the love of her life in one month ’ s time . Young , beautiful , and successful , she and her fiancé Michael are considered the ‘ couple goals ’ of their social network and seem to have it all . That is until one morning when they both wake up to the same message : ‘ Oh my god , have you seen The List ?’
It began as a crowdsourced collection of names and somehow morphed into an anonymous account posting allegations on social media . Ola would usually be the first to support such a list – she ’ d retweet it , call for the men to be fired , write article after article . Except this time , Michael ’ s name is on it .
Compulsively readable , wildly entertaining , and filled with sharp social insight , The List is a piercing and dazzlingly clear-sighted debut about secrets , lies and the internet – a searing portrait of these modern times and our morally complicated online culture .
Maggie is fine . She ’ s doing really good , actually . Sure , she ’ s broke , her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere , and her marriage only lasted 608 days , but at the ripe old age of 29 , Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™ .
Now she has time to take up nine hobbies , eat hamburgers at 4 am , and ‘ get back out there ’ sexwise . With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor , Merris ; her newly divorced friend , Amy ; and her group chat ( naturally ), Maggie barrels through her first year of single life , intermittently dating , occasionally waking up on the floor , and asking herself tough questions along the way .
The Seven Moons of Maali , Shehan Karunatilaka
Colombo , 1990 . Maali Almeida – war photographer , gambler , and closet queen – has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office . His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him . In a country where scores are settled by death squads , suicide bombers , and hired goons , the list of suspects is depressingly long , as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest . But even in the afterlife , time is running out for Maali . He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka .
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