Putting together this list of standout fiction published so far this year wasn’t an easy task, mostly because it could just as easily have been twice as long. It’s been a very good year for fiction, whether your tastes head more towards classical storytelling, or narrative innovation, or incisive societal observations. What follows is a list of some of the books published in the first half of 2016 that have impressed us the most.
Morning Bites: Natalie Eilbert Poetry, Baileys Prize Winner, Young Lions, Amber Sparks’s Latest, and More
In our morning reading: poetry from Natalie Eilbert, notes on books by Amber Sparks and Peter Plate, and more.
Morning Bites: Francine Prose on “The Night of the Hunter,” Amber Sparks, Samuel R. Delany’s Journals, and More
In our morning reading: new nonfiction from Amber Sparks and Francine Prose, Emma Straub talks books, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Lydia Millet Interviewed, Kid Congo Powers’s Latest, Amber Sparks on Craft, and More
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Lydia Millet, thoughts on new albums by Chance the Rapper and Kid Congo Powers, and much more.
Afternoon Bites: Amber Sparks Fiction, Steven Soderbergh on Narratives, Helen Phillips, Joan Aiken Revisited, and More
In our afternoon reading: fiction from Amber Sparks and Helen Phillips, an interview with the director of “Green Room,” and more.
Small Objects in a Grand Universe: A Conversation with Amber Sparks
Amber Sparks is the author of two collections of stories—The Unfinished World, which came out earlier this year, and May We Shed These Human Bodies—along with a chapbook, A Great Dark Sleep, which appeared as part of a criminally underrated anthology published by Roxane Gay’s Tiny Hardcore Press, Shut Up/Look Pretty. I’ve been a fan of Amber’s work for years, ever since coming across her work in places like PANK and >kill author. The stories in her most recent collection […]
Afternoon Bites: Amber Sparks on Instagram, Leanne Shapton Interviewed, and More
In our afternoon reading; new writing from Amber Sparks and Nicole Chung, Pilot Viruet interviewed Stone Cold Steve Austin, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Amber Sparks Interviewed, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Leah Umansky’s Latest, “Buffy” and Storytelling, and More
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Amber Sparks, thoughts on Kristine Ong Muslim’s new collection, checking in with Andrew F. Sullivan, and more.