HORSE by Geraldine Brooks

A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic and the greatest racehorse in American history: Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks paints a sweeping story of spirit, obsession and injustice across American history. Horse will stay with me longer than most books I read this year. I raced faster than any thoroughbred to get to the end, but now wish I would have savored every page, every word, a bit more. The art, the research, the history, the horses, the characters based on real historical figures, that ending! Should I start placing bets on another Pulitzer?

Join me in conversation with Geraldine Brooks on Thursday, August 18, at 6 p.m. at the Nantucket Atheneum as part of my “Tim Talks Books” Summer Series. Free event. Seating is first come, first served.

ACTS OF VIOLET by Margarita Montimore

Something magical occurs when an author creates a fictional celebrity who feels so real that you dash to the computer to research their life. Think Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or Daisy Jones & The Six. Acts of Violet is the story of world-famous magician Violet Volk, who disappears, leaving her sister and avid fans to figure out what happened. This novel has so many tricks up its sleeve, and I was dazzled by every page turn. It’s just the perfect summer beach read!

THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY by Sulari Gentill

Murder mysteries are one of my favorite genres, and while the best mysteries obviously have twists, this one has twists within its twists. The setting is the Boston Public Library where four strangers meet, and yes, you guessed it, one is a murderer. However, this novel is also an exploration on the creative writing process, so you’re not only guessing “whodunit,” but also who is real and who is a figment of someone’s imagination. It’s a unique novel that felt like the game of Clue in a very “meta” way. No Colonel Mustard or candlesticks in these pages, but it is in a library and “shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.”

TRUST by Hernan Diaz

Trust me. This book is worth your time just for the writing alone. Mitchell’s Book Corner manager Cristina Macchiavelli put this one on my radar this spring, and I finally got around to reading it this summer. This is one of those thinking person’s works of fiction. It’s a layered story, described as an “onion of a novel” where each turn of the page peels back another layer to discover something new and exciting. Divided into four parts, it’s four books for the price of one. You get a novel, an unfinished manuscript, a memoir and a diary, and through these sections, you experience a world of wealth, privilege and truth.

SIX WALKS: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HENRY DAVID THOREAU by Ben Shattuck

I had the privilege of meeting Ben Shattuck at his event for Nantucket Book Festival this past June. Together with local historian Nathaniel Philbrick, the two authors discussed their journeys, research and perspective on two legendary figures: George Washington in Philbrick’s Travels with George and Henry David Thoreau in Six Walks. This little green book compiles years of following Thoreau (the American naturalist, philosopher and author of Walden) and grants Shattuck new insights about family, love, friendship and fatherhood, all while understanding more deeply the lessons nature and walking can inspire in us all. You may never take a walk the same way again.

THE RABBIT HUTCH by Tess Gunty

Debut novels like this one only come around every few years. This August, I hope everyone falls under the spell of The Rabbit Hutch. You’ll meet four teenagers—recently aged out of the state foster-care system—living together in an apartment building in the post-industrial Midwest, all of them exploring and searching, longing and healing, in a quest for transcendence.

THE SUMMER PLACE by Jennifer Weiner

Also, don’t miss me in conversation with the hilarious Jennifer Weiner, bestselling author of one of my favorite summer reads of the year, The Summer Place, on Tuesday, August 23, at 6 p.m. at the Nantucket Atheneum as part of my “Tim Talks Books” Summer Series. The event is free and seating is first come, first served.