What to read next: ‘Dune,’ the new Tommy Orange, and more
Wondering what to read next? This week, the Amazon Editors serve up a wide range of books—from new ones just hitting shelves (or your doorstep) to classics that are soon to be appearing on the big screen. Here are the books we recommend you check out this week, but as always be sure to check out more on the Amazon Book Review and our Best of the Month pages to discover great new reads.
As the nonfiction and history editor, I rarely dip into sci-fi and fantasy. That all changes this week, when I plan to pick up Dune, as inspired by the stunning red carpet photos of the stars of Dune: Part Two, which opens in movie theaters nationwide on March 1. The book was released in 1965, and has been called “undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.” Ok, sign me up! The story follows an aristocratic boy named Paul Atreides, who was born to lead the barren dessert planet of Arrakis—but finds himself on an adventure to “bring to fruition mankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.” I can’t wait to dive into the six-book series, and then head to the theater to watch Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Florence Pugh in the epic film. Perfect reading (and viewing) ahead of the Oscars on March 10. —Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor
I was reading Carys Davies' latest over the weekend (Clear, April 2), and it reminded me of this gem, one of our favorite novels of 2020—Kiran Millwood Hargrave's The Mercies. There isn’t much that is not unforgiving when it comes to the far-flung and frigid town of Vardø, Norway, including the sea that surrounds it, which swallows the majority of its male population in an epic storm while they’re fishing. Accusations of witchcraft quickly infect this grieving but resourceful community, threatening what hard-won normalcy they’ve regained. The Mercies is infuriating, baleful, but full of stubborn hope. —Erin Kodicek, Amazon Editor
There, There, Tommy Orange's debut, was a finalist for the Pulitzer, a best-seller, winner of the American Book Award, the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, and a host of other accolades. Unflinching and irresistible, it thrummed with the powerful voices of Native Americans living in modern-day Oakland. In this much-anticipated sophomore effort (out now), Orange mines the history of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, to weave a generational story of family and identity. Like his first, it's a gut punch, but also full of sections that you'll underline like crazy as he describes everything from the passing down of generational trauma, to the lure of booze, to the heartbeat of what it means to live. A stunner, and it’s absolutely what you should read next! —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor
Rebecca Serle's newest book, Expiration Dates, comes out next month (it's fantastic). In preparation, we wanted to share another one of her books that we loved. In Five Years is a love story, just not the one you think. After years of hard work and planning, Type A Dannie Kohan finally has it all: she’s aced a job interview at her dream law firm and her boyfriend just proposed to her. She goes to sleep that night and has an extremely vivid (wink, wink) dream set five years in the future involving a strange man she appears to be married to. When she wakes up, she can’t shake the dream, and is further disturbed when she meets her best friend’s new boyfriend, only to discover he’s the mystery man from the dream. Dannie spends the next five years in a bit of a race against the clock, trying to get away from this dream scenario she fears is her destiny. While this may sound like the set up for a romantic comedy, it’s anything but. What readers will find is a thoughtful, poignant and yes, sometimes heartbreaking look at destiny, friendship, and our purpose on this planet. This is a book you’ll want to read in one sitting. Then you will want to immediately share it with a friend. —Sarah Gelman, Amazon Editor
I'm anybody's for a good, standing-up-to-evil story. Lucky then, that Damien Lewis’ book is a top-notch account of how, aware that the Nazis were fighting dirty, Winston Churchill created a “task force” if you will, that was so successful it became what we now know as Special Forces. Afraid that victory was slipping from Allied hands, the selection criterion for this group of “freelance pirates” had more to do with daring than anything else. They were a renegade crew whose mission was to “sabotage, murder, plunder, and steal” behind enemy lines without ever doing anything that could be laid at Churchill's door (i.e. open him up to charges of ignoring the rules of war). And they were to do all of this in the certain knowledge that torture and death would follow should they fail. Lewis' fascinating, rousing account of their insane blend of stone-cold bravery and kamikaze nerve will have you cheering, so read it now, because the book is also the basis for a new Guy Ritchie movie coming out in April. —Vannessa Cronin, Amazon Editor
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