Award-Winning Books You Need to Read

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Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

The co-winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction—and the 98th selection of Oprah’s Book Club—introduces us to the story of Demon, a young boy born to a teenage mother in Virginia who falls victim to a scourge of opioid addiction spreading throughout Appalachia. Kingsolver’s latest book “grabbed me from its opening lines,” said Oprah. “I so admire the way Barbara has taken the plight of a young boy and invited us on his journey through loss, the foster system, addiction, and so much more. The novel speaks to so many of our country’s relevant issues, but most importantly, it’s absolutely riveting.” An instant American classic. —Wadzanai Mhute

Trust, by Hernan Diaz

Set in New York in the Roaring Twenties, the other co-winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction brings to life the spectacular fall of the 1929 Wall Street crash. Author Diaz masterfully incorporates four different voices: Benjamin Rask, a financier who makes a fortune from the collapse; Andrew Bevel, a Wall Street tycoon; the writer Ida Partenza, and Bevel’s wife. Each viewpoint challenges the reader’s understanding of the truth, creating a world that seems more real than fiction, exposing the wealthy classes and interweaving narratives. —Wadzanai Mhute

Himawari House, by Harmony Becker

This graphic novel about three foreign exchange students who befriend one another while living in Japan was awarded the Kirkus Reviews’s 2022 Young Readers’ Literature Prize. But there is so much for adults to love about Becker’s tender, exquisitely illustrated story. During a gap year, Nao travels to Tokyo to explore her Japanese identity, about which she felt considerable angst growing up in the Midwest, only to find that she feels out of place in Japan, too. She meets Tina, from Singapore, and Hyejung, from Korea, who are each on illuminating, occasionally painful journeys to gain their independence and find their purpose. Be prepared to root for these young women as they learn a foreign language, fall in love and heal from heartbreak, and forge indelible bonds of friendship. —Naomi Jackson

When We Were Sisters, by Fatimah Asghar

The winner of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction—an inaugural $150,000 award celebrating excellence in English-language fiction by an American or Canadian woman or non-binary writer—is When We Were Sisters. This stunning novel follows three Muslim American siblings who are forced to raise each other after their parents’ unexpected deaths. Asghar, a poet and filmmaker, reveals an intimate knowledge of the love and cruelty shared by sisters bonded by grief. The youngest, Kausar (also known at “Crybaby”) questions her gender and sexuality. Middle sister Aisha struggle to forge an identity outside their tight-knit trio. And the eldest, Noreen, is charged with caring for her siblings, even as she tries come into her own as a young woman. Lyrical and unforgettable. —Naomi Jackson

Bliss Montage, by Ling Ma

Winner of the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, Ling Ma’s story collection, Bliss Montage, approaches the familiar themes of love, loss, friendship, and motherhood in entirely new ways. In “Los Angeles,” a woman lives in a house with all her ex-boyfriends. “Office Hours” follows a woman shaping her scholarly life in the image of a beloved professor who finds a secret passageway to an alternate universe. Readers hooked by Ma’s distinctive style will also want to read her debut novel, Severance, which presciently imagines the societal and personal impact of a global pandemic. —Naomi Jackson

The Rabbit Hutch, by Tess Gunty

This impressive debut novel—and winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction—documents the destruction of a small Midwestern town and its inhabitants while also tackling loftier questions about mysticism, inequality, and sexuality. Gunty has an incredible gift for characterization, especially when it comes to Tiffany Watkins, a teenage girl aging out of the foster care system. While Tiffany flails about, unsure of what to do with the rage she feels at the adults, institutions, and community that have failed her, the other beleaguered residents of her rundown apartment building try to make the most of their diminished circumstances. Yes, The Rabbit Hutch is a page-turner that careens toward a violent ending. But in the process, it open ups questions about young women’s lives and bodies, development in American cities, and the dangerous consequences of loneliness, mental illness, and poor health. —Naomi Jackson

Seven Empty Houses, by Samantha Schweblin

Awarded the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature, Seven Empty Houses is a moving meditation on the disconnected, fragmented nature of contemporary life. The spare, surprising stories in this collection were expertly translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell. Each documents people and families trying to move on in the wake of immense grief or courting death or navigating the shortcomings and eccentricities of their loved ones. Previous works by Schweblin, who is originally from Buenos Aires, were longlisted and a finalist for the esteemed International Booker Prize. —Naomi Jackson

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