What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Margaret Atwood’s Book of Lives, Sarah Hall’s Helm, and Anthony Hopkins’ We Did Ok, Kid all feature among the best reviewed books of the week.

Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews.

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Fiction

1. Helm by Sarah Hall
(Mariner)

6 Rave • 1 Positive • 1 Mixed

“Virtuosic … Most poignant are the chapters from the perspective of Janni, a mid-20th-century girl who undergoes electroconvulsive therapy, and whose tender, almost romantic bond with Helm is moving and well drawn. Readers will be swept away by Hall’s ambitious and formally daring narrative.”

–Publishers Weekly

2. Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
(Doubleday)

4 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed

“Captivating … Braithwaite bravely embraces Nigerian superstitions, including those considered taboo, and writes with such warmth that readers will root for every woman in the book, flaws and all. Once again, Braithwaite has created a tale that lingers in the mind long after the novel is read.”

–Enobong Tommelleo (Booklist)

3. Palavar by Bryan Washington
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

4 Rave • 3 Positive

“Permeated by a deep affection for the city of Tokyo, its cuisine, its mass transit, its look and feel … And the food! The unpretentious way Washington writes about food is a throughline in his work … Not much happens in Palaver, though by the mother’s departure, we see that things will be a little less arctic in the son’s family of origin going forward. It’s enough, at least enough for the reader who appreciates texture and delicacy, queer authenticity, and a well-placed crisped oyster.”

–Marion Winik (The Boston Globe)

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Nonfiction

1. Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood
(Doubleday)

10 Rave • 1 Positive • 2 Mixed

“[A] tour-de-force … Might as well be one of Atwood’s novels (with the addition of photos and illustrations). It’s a remarkable read. She makes space for everyone. Her engaging voice is populated by a large cast of beguiling characters, settings are enriched with vivid details, all of it grounded by a compelling story line.”

–Robert Allen Papinchak (The Los Angeles Times)

2. Indignity: A Life Reimagined by Lea Ypi
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

6 Rave • 3 Positive

“Leman led a life so rich in incident that only a novel could do justice to its complexities, and a novel, of sorts, is exactly what Ypi has written … An inward-looking rumination but a desperate attempt to conjure a bygone milieu—and a fitting rejoinder to the tendencies it wishes to contradict … Ypi displays a certain audacity as she sets about reconstructing a world she never witnessed, but she is no more presumptuous than the files she is working from … Remarkable and ambitious.”

–Becca Rothfeld (The Washington Post)

3. We Did Ok, Kid by Anthony Hopkins
(Summit Books)

3 Rave • 2 Positive • 2 Mixed

“Like some of his most memorable characters: quiet and restrained but with some darker stuff going on underneath … There’s minimal name-dropping and only sporadic celebrity gossip but significant honesty and thoughtful reminiscence, resulting in a rich, satisfying read.”

–Kathleen McBroom (Booklist)