Had to include because it’s one of my all time favorites. The story of William Stoner’s life and his inability to escape the chosen and unchosen paths of his life, how the paths of least resistance can lead to dark places, and how the fights we choose are usually the wrong ones, the ones of little consequence in the end. This book shook me to my core.

Depression-era Los Angeles, a destitute writer named Arturo Bandini in pursuit of a Mexican waitress, and a narrative that is beautifully and naturally rambling, observations that are acute and breathtaking, and ultimately heartbreakingly honest.

A 1975 National Book Award winner, then somewhat lost, at least in my circles and never talked about. But the book is amazingly crafted and masterfully written. It’s a novel-within-a-novel. The narrator is a middle-aged professor who rides a motorcycle, holds together the delicate balance of his marriage and family and friendships all while writing a novel, the story of a young GI returned from WWII finding his way through college life with a hairpiece and fracturing friendship, and all of it is completely absorbing and depressingly true.

A suggestion from one paragrapher about a work from another former paragrapher. Patrick Ryan’s writing style is subtle and addicting. The characters are all flawed in the best ways. The picture he paints of Cape Canaveral is authentic, while also feeling universal if that is even possible. There’s something fascinating about American suburbs that I am always a sucker for and Ryan uncovers characters that defied my expectations. Favorites in this collection are “The Dream Life of Astronauts,” “The Way She Handles,” and “Miss America.”

The ending of “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Was Buried” gets me every time. It’s so emotional and real to me. There is something magical about her writing that’s really hard to explain or put my finger on. It flows, and it is so natural, subconscious, difficult in the best way, and hard to dissect. I like to pick up this edition and even just flip to a random story in the middle and read it. Most of the stories are short and bite sized, but address really large themes. ‘m always amazed at how quickly I am drawn into her stories. Usually within a sentence or two, sometimes even earlier.