Why am I passionate about this?

My first novel, The Dogs of Babel, grew out of a couple of intersecting ideas. I was interested in the deep connection that people have with their pets and wondered what the range and limits of human communication with animals might be. In addition, I was interested in exploring the lengths to which a grief-stricken character might go in order to find answers about their loss. In addition to being a fundamental human experience, I think that grief can serve as an interesting plot element: in the depths of loss, a character might consider actions that would seem impossible under normal circumstances.


I wrote

Book cover of The Dogs of Babel

What is my book about?

A poignant and beautiful debut novel explores a man's quest to unravel the mystery of his wife's death with the…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Lincoln in the Bardo

Carolyn Parkhurst Why did I love this book?

George Saunders is the kind of author who makes his readers believe that anything is possible, and I would follow him anywhere. This strange and lyrical novel grew out of a small kernel of historical fact: in 1862, while Abraham Lincoln was in the White House and the country was in the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln lost his 11-year-old son Willie to typhoid fever, and he was so devastated that he visited the cemetery where the boy had been laid to rest, to hold the child in his arms one last time. The story is told in bits and pieces, from a chorus of narrators, including (most prominently) a number of ghosts who have lingered in the cemetery, unable to move on to whatever comes next.

By George Saunders,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked Lincoln in the Bardo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 A STORY OF LOVE AFTER DEATH 'A masterpiece' Zadie Smith 'Extraordinary' Daily Mail 'Breathtaking' Observer 'A tour de force' The Sunday Times The extraordinary first novel by the bestselling, Folio Prize-winning, National Book Award-shortlisted George Saunders, about Abraham Lincoln and the death of his eleven year old son, Willie, at the dawn of the Civil War The American Civil War rages while President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son lies gravely ill. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns…


Book cover of The Immortalists

Carolyn Parkhurst Why did I love this book?

This is a novel that approaches grief from a different direction: what if you were told the exact date you were going to die and had to live the rest of your life with that knowledge? In 1969 New York, four siblings visit a traveling psychic who gives each of them this information. The rest of the novel unfolds from that moment, as they try to figure out how to move on from there. A lyrical and sprawling novel, spun from a question that most of us have considered, but few of us would really want answered.

By Chloe Benjamin,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Immortalists as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Boundlessly moving' Observer

'Immersive and impressive' The Sunday Times

'Benjamin writes with verve and charm' Guardian

The NEW YORK TIMES Top Ten Bestseller

It's 1969, and holed up in a grimy tenement building in New York's Lower East Side is a travelling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the date they will die. The four Gold children, too young for what they're about to hear, sneak out to learn their fortunes.

Such prophecies could be dismissed as trickery and nonsense, yet the Golds bury theirs deep. Over the years that follow they attempt to ignore, embrace, cheat…


Book cover of The Virgin Suicides

Carolyn Parkhurst Why did I love this book?

This book has been on my list of all-time favorites since it was first published in 1993. The premise can be a tough sell; it’s the story of a family with five daughters, all of whom commit suicide over the course of a year. But the book’s greatest strength lies in the way the story is told: narrated by the collective voice of the neighborhood boys, who admired and wondered about the Lisbon girls from afar, the novel has one of the most unusual and compelling narrative voices of any book I know.

By Jeffrey Eugenides,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Virgin Suicides as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come.

That girl didn't want to die. She just wanted out of that house. She wanted out of that decorating scheme.

The five Lisbon sisters - beautiful, eccentric and, now, gone - had always been a point of obsession for the entire neighbourhood.

Although the boys that once loved them from afar have grown up, they remain determined to understand a tragedy that has defied explanation. The…


Book cover of The Friend

Carolyn Parkhurst Why did I love this book?

This short, beautiful novel is about a woman whose life changes in two major ways as the result of one event: her closest friend dies, and she inherits the enormous dog he has left behind. She doesn’t want the dog, and his presence raises a number of problems for her; in addition, both dog and human are reeling with the fallout of sudden grief and their mutual change of circumstances. But as time goes on, and she struggles to make sense of what has happened, she begins to find solace in the unexpected companionship. The book is at once moving and funny, lyrical, and heart-rending.

By Sigrid Nunez,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Friend as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.

WINNER OF THE 2018 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD

'A true delight: I genuinely fear I won't read a better novel this year' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Loved this. A funny, moving examination of love, grief, and the uniqueness of dogs' GRAHAM NORTON

'Delicious' SUNDAY TIMES 100 BEST SUMMER READS

When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has…


Book cover of We Were Liars

Carolyn Parkhurst Why did I love this book?

I picked up this slim YA novel, which one of my kids had brought into the house, without knowing anything about it, and that may be the best way to read it. It’s about a teenage girl named Cadence who spends her summers on her family’s private island with a close-knit group of friends and cousins. But during the summer when she’s fifteen, Cadence is involved in a catastrophic event that remains hazy and fragmented in her mind. A riveting book, beautifully written and utterly compelling.

By E. Lockhart,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked We Were Liars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

The TikTok phenomenon and #1 New York Times bestseller.

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends-the Liars-whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honouree E. Lockhart.

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Don't miss FAMILY OF LIARS, the thrilling prequel to We Were Liars, published in May 2022.


Explore my book 😀

Book cover of The Dogs of Babel

What is my book about?

A poignant and beautiful debut novel explores a man's quest to unravel the mystery of his wife's death with the help of the only witness -- their Rhodesian ridgeback, Lorelei.

Book cover of Lincoln in the Bardo
Book cover of The Immortalists
Book cover of The Virgin Suicides

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Grief 91 books
Amnesia 57 books
Michigan 69 books