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The Millions Top Ten: August 2018

We spend plenty of time here on The Millions telling all of you what we’ve been reading, but we are also quite interested in hearing about what you’ve been reading. By looking at our Amazon stats, we can see what books Millions readers have been buying, and we decided it would be fun to use those stats to find out what books have been most popular with our readers in recent months. Below you’ll find our Millions Top Ten list for August.

Looking for additional book recommendations? One of the benefits of subscribing to The Millions is access to our exclusive monthly newsletter in which our venerable staffers let you know what they’re reading right now. Learn more here.

This Month Last Month Title On List
1. 1. cover Less
 4 months
2. 3. cover Lost Empress
 4 months
3. 6. cover The Ensemble
 2 months
4. 5. cover Frankenstein in Baghdad
 5 months
5. 7. cover The Overstory
 3 months
6. 4. cover The Recovering: Intoxication and its Aftermath
 5 months
7. – cover The Incendiaries
 1 month
8. 9. cover There There
 2 months
9. 10. cover Warlight
 2 months
10. – cover The Mars Room
 1 month

 

“I have to watch I don’t get arrogant,” said Andrew Sean Greer after a Guardian reporter asked him how he’s changed since winning the Pulitzer for his latest novel, Less. Will he be able to stave off arrogance now that he’s held first position in our Top Ten for two months, though? Bet smart.

So, we bid farewell to two titles ascending to our Hall of Fame this month – The Immortalists and My Favorite Thing is Monsters – and we welcome two newcomers in their place – The Incendiaries and The Mars Room.

Much praise has been heaped upon The Incendiaries, not least of all Celeste Ng’s compliment on R.O. Kwon’s “dazzlingly acrobatic prose.” That admiration might be topped only by Michael Lindgren’s review of The Mars Room in which he called Rachel Kushner “the most vital and interesting American novelist working today.” The point is obvious. Golden rules are hard to find these days, but maybe it’s enough to say that Millions readers always have good taste.

State of California native Tommy Orange’s There There earned a place on the 7-title shortlist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize this month, and the debut also moved up a spot from ninth to eight on our list. Will that momentum carry it up again next month? Be sure to check back and find out in October. On and on we go.

Next to Orange’s novel on our list in ninth position is Michael Ondaatje’s Warlight, which earned Man Booker longlist recognition last July. Month’s end is when we’ll see if it makes the next round of cuts. List long or short, Ondaatje’s no stranger to any kind.

This month’s near misses included: Severance, Circe, What We Were Promised, An American Marriage, and Some Trick. See Also: Last month’s list.

The post The Millions Top Ten: August 2018 appeared first on The Millions.



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