Our Favorite Books of 2017
What astonishes us about this year's best books is their audacity, their inventiveness, and their ability to delight and devastate in equal measure. In a field rich with powerful voices, these spoke to us most urgently.
By Natalie Beach, Hamilton Cain, Leigh Haber, Claire Luchette
5 of 11
Goodbye, Vitamin
By Rachel Khong
208 pages;
Henry Holt and Co.
Ruth,
the rudderless 30-year-old of this food-obsessed diaristic novel, would make an
excellent dinner companion. She'd choose perfect SoCal cheap eats, "put
too much sake into [her] body," and give mordant voice to what ails her,
from the stress of caring for her Alzheimer's-stricken father to the
humiliation of being dumped by her fiancé. Khong's fiction debut comes as close
to a meal with a friend as a book can—intimate, conspiratorial, good to the
last morsel.
Published 11/10/2017
