If you read any of the Booker Prize nominees, then make it this one

— All of Them Dogs by Djamel White (John Murray)
— John of John by Douglas Stuart (Picador)
— Switzy by Emma Cline (Chatto & Windus)
— The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams (Fourth Estate)
— The Disappearers by Marlon James (Hamish Hamilton) 
— May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry (Granta)
— The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley (Picador)
— Black Bag by Luke Kennard (John Murray Press)
— The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis (Chatto & Windus) 
— The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (Random House) 
— The Renovation by Kenan Orhan (Hamish Hamilton)
— The End of Everything by M. John Harrison (Serpent’s Tail)

This is a strikingly stunning story about losing yourself in a capsizing world, and a book everyone will benefit from reading.

Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive.

But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his head. How is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?

And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.

Buy The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout here.

Buy the Kindle version here.