Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Donate your vehicle during the month of April or May and you'll be entered into a $500 Visa gift card drawing!

The Best Overlooked Books Of 2013

Dan Klimke via flickr Creative Commons

Well, the holidays are upon us and there’s nothing quite like a well-told story for seeking refuge from the chaos or a little too much quality time with family. A lot of big-name authors had terrific new titles out this year, but we have a fondness for books that don’t get full page ads or window displays – call it the literary equivalent of the island of misfit toys – great books waiting for a good home; you just have to know that they are there. 

With us today are two seasoned purveyors of overlooked books. Michele Filgate is a writer and critic as well as the events coordinator at community bookstore in Brooklyn. Liberty Hardy is events coordinator at Riverrun bookstore in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She’s also contributing editor for Book Riot.

Here is a list of the books discussed in the segment:

The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane

In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods by Matt Bell

White Girls by Hilton Als

Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail by Kelly Luce

Unmastered: A Book on Desire, Most Difficult to Tell by Katherine Angel

Save Yourself by Kelly Braffet

Instructions for a Heat Wave by Maggie O'Farrell

Reality Boy by A.S. King

Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

Duplex by Kathryn Davis

Submergence by JM Ledgard

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.