THE BOOKS THAT WOWED US

READING ROOM

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Blow me away. That's what we want from each and every book we pick up. And these authors' works did just that. Their latest offerings rose above the noise, shook us up, and evinced wonder, marvel, even mind-bending perspective shifts. We invite our fellow book nerds to unite around our awe of such authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Ian McEwan, Kate Atkinson, Barbara Kingsolver, Mohsin Hamid, George Saunders, Elizabeth Strout, and so many others who have noteworthy new works to absorb and delight us this season. Among the standout newcomers: Jonathan Escoffery's highly anticipated Miami-based debut story collection, If I Survive You, and Laura Warrell's sensuous ode to bad-boy musicians and the women who love them, Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm. If writers are your rock stars, let the music begin!

This Boy's Life

A fiction master explores the effects of childhood trauma amid global turmoil.

BY HAMILTON CAIN

A writer's writer par excellence, Ian McEwan has long been lauded for his fearless imagination and exquisitely calibrated sentences. He mines current affairs the here and now, the rear-view mirror, and the just-over-the-horizon-steering readers through crises from the Blitz to 9/11 to the war in Iraq. His most famous work, Atonement (which was made into a feature film starring Keira Knightley and Saoirse Ronan), plays tricks with readers' expectations. As with Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries or Ali Smith's seasonal quartet series, quotidian lives reflect the sweep and drama of history.