 Good morning Hank, it's Tuesday. My new book, Turtles All the Way Down, comes out in exactly one week in a related story. The sound my anxiety makes is Beep Beep Beep Beep But today I want to talk about other books I read this year and want to recommend to you. Let's do this by genre. Okay, we'll start with YA fiction since that's what I write. Aside from the hate you give, which as I said in my blurb, I truly believe will be remembered as a classic of our time, there are a few books I want to recommend, all of which made me cry. Although, to be fair, I am a bit teary of late. First, the inexplicable logic of my life by Benjamin O'Leary Signs, whose books are always so tender and generous to the reader. As you'll know, if you've read Aristotle and Dante, discover the secrets of the universe. But this one might be my favorite. Secondly, We Are Okay by Nina Lacour, a poetic meditation on loss that took me right back to those last days of adolescence with lines like We were nostalgic for a time that wasn't over yet. And then there's Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson, a book that genuinely changed the way I think about the role art plays in human life. I read this book in two days and I have been thinking about it for six months. Okay, moving on to regular grown-up literary fiction. My favorite 2017 book in that genre has to be Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, which is just brilliant. I mean, I know lots of people are talking about it, but with good reason, it's amazing. I really think we should be talking about Celeste Ng's books in the context of other great chroniclers of American suburban fiction like John Updike. Secondly, The King is Always Above the People by Daniel Alricone. Full disclosure, I went to high school with Daniel where he beat me out for the Creative Writing Award three years in a row. And it must be said with good reason. His story is still astonish me with their precision and their power. It is no wonder that this book is a finalist for the National Book Award. Okay, poetry. I don't know why, but I've read a lot of poetry this year and it's been a tremendous consolation to me. Instead of like summarizing these books, I think I'm just gonna quote from them. First, Nicole Seely's Ordinary Beasts. You look just like your mother, he says, who looks just like a fire of suspicious origin. Then there's Covey Akbar's Brilliant Calling a Wolf a Wolf. Time will break what doesn't bend. Even time. Even you. And lastly, Clint Smith's Counting Descent. I have always used words to try to convince the world that I am worth something. Some nonfiction I enjoyed this year. First City of Light, City of Poison. A history book that reads like a thriller about the first police chief of Paris investigating a series of poisonings that may have involved aristocrats close to Louis XIV. It is bonkers and I especially enjoyed the portrayals of what life was like for regular people in 17th century Paris. I also loved City of Thorns by Ben Rollins, which follows a handful of refugees over the course of many years living in Dadaab refugee camp, which once was home to over 500,000 people. It's a difficult book that doesn't offer easy answers, but it shows us that refugee stories are human stories. Speaking of important topics, The Water Will Come, a book about climate change and the future of humanity. Hank, I like science books, but I don't usually find them like Page Turni. This one really is. It's a thriller in which the hero in peril is us. I also loved The Man Who Couldn't Stop by David Adam. Some readers of Turtles All the Way Down may want to learn more about obsessive-compulsive disorder, and this is a good place to start. I also want to say I'm looking forward to a few books that come out this month that I haven't read yet, including Nettio Kaurafor's A Caught a Warrior, E. Lockhart's Genuine Fraud, and Maggie Steeve honors all the crooked saints. So my tour reading is sorted, I think. I am interested in finding out what you're reading and enjoying in the comments section below. Hank, in one week, Turtles All the Way Down will be out in the world, and we will be on tour. Nerdfighters, you can find out more about both those things at TurtlesAllTheWayDownBook.com, link in the doobly-doo below. I really, really hope you enjoy the book. Thank you for reading and DFTBA. Hank, I will see you on Friday.