№ 01
“This is just such a terrific novel. It goes from the First World War through Vietnam, showing the effects of war and love.” source
Author and bookseller
Ann Patchett
Ann Patchett is the author of Bel Canto, The Dutch House, and Tom Lake, and co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville. As a working bookseller she recommends titles constantly in interviews, cover blurbs, and PBS NewsHour's summer reading segment. Picks below come from her own words.
24
Recommendations
2025
Most recent list
Literary Fiction
Most-recommended
On the record
All Ann Patchett book recommendations.
№ 02
“It is a sweeping epic about two young people who are both from the same small town in India.” source
№ 03
“This is the story about her relationship with her brilliant and difficult mother, Mary Roy.” source
№ 04
“She has wonderful, wonderful, tough love, direct, and very funny advice on how to be the writer you want to be.” source
№ 05
“We cannot keep this book in the store.” source
№ 06
“A really beautiful, beautiful book, a debut.” source
№ 07
“A very quiet, funny, smart book... Think Anne Tyler, just beautifully written, quiet, simple, and very, very smart, very entertaining.” source
№ 08
“I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. One, it is a pure pleasure to read.” source
№ 09
“John Green, our most famous young adult author, is obsessed with tuberculosis, tuberculosis in history, but also tuberculosis here and now.” source
№ 10
“Zadie Smith, our greatest writer, has written about a weird little guinea pig in a judo suit. It is such a strange, terrific book. Love it. Love it.” source
№ 11
“It's a book about showing up and practicing and doing the work.” source
№ 12
“I am such a fan of Niall Williams!” source
№ 13
“I loved it!” source
№ 14
“I am very excited about Sandwich by Catherine Newman. If you want a book that has you from hello, this is the one.” source
№ 15
“Hanif Abdurraqib is one of my favorite writers and just someone I learned from every time I read one of his books. Brilliant.” source
№ 16
“It is her looking back on her life and thinking, it was a happy marriage, but, knowing what I know now, maybe there was something a little wrong about that.” source
№ 17
“It's a story about a happy family. Call me crazy, my favorite.” source
№ 18
“James is funny and horrifying, brilliant and riveting. In telling the story of Jim instead of Huckleberry Finn, Percival Everett delivers a powerful, necessary corrective to both literature and history. Who should read this book? Every single person in the country.” source
№ 19
“She means to save us by telling us stories. She comes closer than anyone else I know.” source
№ 20
“This is my very favorite of her books. It's a novel based on her grandfather's story about helping Native American people hold onto their land.” source
№ 21
“It's a book of essays. He writes for Elle, writes a lot of political things, but these are just really laugh-out-loud funny.” source
№ 22
“A book about climate change that is calm and kind of lays it out in a way that makes us feel more manageable.” source
№ 23
“My very favorite is The Magician's Elephant. She, of course, wrote Because of Winn-Dixie.” source
№ 24
“Writers & Lovers made me happy. Even as the narrator grieves the loss of her mother and struggles to make art and keep a roof over her head, the novel is suffused with hopefulness and kindness. Lily King writes with a great generosity of spirit.” source
Readers with overlapping taste
