National Book Awards

Red Ants

Kimberly Blaeser

The Disappearers

Marlon James

Marlon James's return to Jamaica after his fantasy trilogy: a big, many-voiced novel that begins with a group of gay men rehearsing a play in late-1980s Kingston and follows what violence and silence do to them over decades.

Python's Kiss

Louise Erdrich

The Renovation

Kenan Orhan

Limpid, wistful prose

Only Son

Kevin Moffett

The Wilderness

Angela Flournoy

The Sisters

Jonas Hassen Khemiri

The Pelican Child

Joy Williams

Lean, elegant prose

Flashlight

Susan Choi

A family drama that begins with a girl found half-dead on a Japanese beach and her father vanished, then unspools across decades and three countries. Good for readers who like layered, character-led mysteries.