In this order:
Books (fiction) Books (nonfiction) Children's books (fiction and nonfiction)
BOOKS (FICTION) in alphabetical order by title:
• Burntcoat by Sarah Hall (“A slim, tense page-turner . . . I gulped The Fell down in one sitting.”―Emma Donoghue, author of The Pull of the Stars)
• COVID Chronicles: A Comics Anthology ed. by Kendra Boileau and Rich Johnson ("As the pandemic lengthened and deepened, the response across the comics community intensified-first online, where many went viral, a turn of phrase that tinged a few shades darker in light of the virus....In a diverse, impassioned book, these quick responders illustrate the impact of the pandemic with work of lasting value."~ Kirkus)
• The Fell by Sarah Moss ("Explores the way individual freedom conflicts with collective responsibility . . . [It] crystalizes our shared moment of global danger and allows us to observe its different facets.” ―Hannah Joyner, Star Tribune
• 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard (a pandemic murder mystery by an Irish writer)
• French Braid by Anne Tyler (“The wonder of French Braid is the easygoing fluidity with which Tyler jumps and floats between characters and decades to create what in the end is a deftly crafted family portrait that spans some 70 years . . . We read in fascination.” —Christian Science Monitor)
• Life Without Children stories by Roddy Doyle (“There is an immediacy in the stories in Life Without Children, an emotional charge that comes with writing in real time, and an optimism too.")
• Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart ([Shteyngart’s] usual humor and absurdity, but it’s deepened by a new empathy.”—Los Angeles Times)
• The Sentence by Louise Erdrich ("A novel that reckons with ghosts—of both specific people but also the shadows resulting from America’s violent, dark habits."~Kirkus Reviews)
• Together, Apart by Auriane Desombre, Erin A. Craig, et al. (A collection of love stories by young adult writers, set in pandemic lockdown. "Romantic, realistic, sweet and uplifting.") For young adults ages 14-25.
• Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult (“Stealthily surprising and very moving . . . absolutely a must-read.”—Booklist, starred review)
BOOKS: NONFICTION
• Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 anthology ed. by Jennifer Haupt ("...showcases the human desire to grieve, explore, comfort, connect, and simply sit with the world as it weathers the pandemic. Jennifer Haupt's timely and moving anthology also benefits the Book Industry Charitable Foundation, making it a project that is noble in both word and deed." ~ Ann Patchett)
• And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars Again: Writers from Around the World on the Covid-19 Pandemic, a collection of essays, ed. by Ilan Stavans. Title from the last line of "Dante's Inferno." (“Mexican American writer and educator Stavans has gleaned powerful responses to the pandemic from 52 contributors who share their experiences in deftly crafted essays, poems, photographs, and artwork. . . . The impressive cast of contributors―Jhumpa Lahiri, Mario Vargas Llosa, Claire Messud, Ariel Dorfman, Rivka Galchen, Daniel Alarcón, and others―reveal feelings of fear, loneliness, and, for some, a surprising sense of connection. . . . Although many look optimistically to the future, for others, the pandemic has laid bare a long plague of inequality and hatreds. Stirring reflections to illuminate dark times.”~ Kirkus Reviews)
• The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet essays by 'young adult' author John Green. ("... loved The Anthropocene Reviewed podcast, and the book has a similar delightfully engaging, emotional, funny, and thoughtful take on the human experience.")
• Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live by Nicholas A. Christakis (“Provocative…Astutely shows how pandemics are as much about our societies, values, and leaders as they are about pathogens.”―Samuel V. Scarpino, Science)
• Covid By Numbers: Making Sense of the Pandemic with Data by by Anthony Masters and David Spiegelhalter ("A concise, humane, data-driven guide to all the big covid questions of the day in a series of crisp chapters."~Tim Harford)
• How We Live Now: Scenes from the Pandemic by Bill Hayes ("...a living, breathing diary of the city in one of its darkest times―and a celebration of New York’s grit, its people." ~ Afar)
• Intimations by Zadie Smith (six powerful essays about the lockdown)
• The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid by Lawrence Wright. (“By far the best book yet on COVID-19 . . . [An] exemplary chronicle [with] countless examples of hope, sacrifice, and heroic feats. Wright’s interviews with experts in virology, economics, public health, history, politics, and medicine are enlightening . . . Wright is at his finest here in frontline research, expert analysis, and lucid writing.” —Tony Miksanek, Booklist)
• The Premonition by Michael Lewis. ("Frightening and honest, this book looks at the many ways governing systems were not prepared to respond to a pandemic of this size."~Business Insider, and "I would read an 800-page history of the stapler if he wrote it."― John Williams, New York Times Book Review)
• The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread -- And Why They Stop by Adam Kucharski (explains "the principles of contagion, which, Kucharski argues, can be applied to everything from folk stories and financial crises to itching and loneliness, are suddenly of pressing interest to all of us."―Sunday Times, UK)
• Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy by Adam Tooze ("Economic historian Tooze examines the unprecedented decision of governments around the world to shutter their economies in the face of pandemic . . . As the pandemic hopefully continues to fade, other crises remain....a valuable forecast of future problems."—Kirkus Reviews)
• Spike by Anjana Ahuja ("an excoriating insider account of how the UK mishandled the early months of the pandemic."~Tim Harford)
• The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why by Amanda Ripley (“The thinking person’s manual for getting out alive.” ~NPR’s “Book Tour”)
• Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine and the Race Against the Virus by Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
• Coronavirus: A Book for Children about Covid-19 by Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson, Nia Roberts (ages 5-10, illustrated by Axel Scheffler) ("I have explained the COVID situation to my son, but this book made me realize I left out many things. I also have probably not acknowledged his feelings enough. This book goes through everything and explains what is happening, why it is happening, and why we need to take the extreme steps."~ John Diggs)
• Lucy's Mask by Lisa Sirkis Thompson, illust. by John Thompson ("It takes just a few words from her mother to convince Lucy that she will be playing a much more important role than an ordinary superhero when she wears a mask that covers her mouth instead of her eyes. That is a kind of everyday heroism we can all emulate..." ~Cotsen Children's Library, Princeton University)
• Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham (ages 3 to 6) (“This authentic, important book will mean a great deal to many kids.” --School Library Journal)
• Paula and the Pandemic by Dorothea Laurence ("A sweet book for helping kids cope with a hard situation." ~Mark Zweigenthal and "The illustrations make this book" ~Micah Harris)
• What is Social Distancing?: A Children's Guide & Activity Book by Lindsey Coker Luckey
BROAD RECOMMENDATIONS and ROUNDUP REVIEWS:
• The best books about the pandemic (Tim Harford, 12-13-21)
• How Covid Breaks All the Rules of Human Narrative (Frederick Kaufman, Opinion, NY Times, 4-23-22) "The plague version of the Covid plot may also help to explain why some evangelicals were suspicious of human interventions to prevent the virus’s spread, such as vaccines and social distancing. But as death rates decrease and masks come off — and both apocalypse and rapture have, once again, been postponed — the vengeance-of-God narrative may be harder to sustain."
• The Problem With the Pandemic Plot (Alexandra Alter, NY Times, 2-20-22) Literary novelists are struggling with whether, and how, to incorporate Covid into their fiction.
• These are the first books about the COVID-19 pandemic to have been published in the midst of it (Katherine Fiorillo, Business Insider, 1-25-22)
Let me know if I've missed any good books.