#87. "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

On its surface, Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake" is a very underwhelming book. The whole story exists to explore the importance of a name. For a Bengali man named Gogol, it's the reality that he's named after a Russian author that his father loved. It's a comical situation, if just because he never got a true name, forcing himself to make his own identity as he navigated the world. As he discusses the first 40 years of his life, he discovers the wonders of the world both through his personal identity and the American one that he comes to adopt. The results may feel a bit muted, but help to explain the small ways that individuals evolve, mixing cultures and finding a new personal identity. It's heartwarming in small ways that elevate it to a perplexing treasure. 

#86. "The Leftovers" by Tom Perrotta

When one thinks of the rapture, it's usually in such a religious event. Those who have been faithful will ascend to heaven while the rest of the "sinners" will be left on Earth to wallow in the misery. It's a fairly hacky premise, but one that inspired Tom Perrotta to do the most ingenious thing. Instead of focusing on the religious aspect, he decides to create a powerful and secular story of grieving, of wondering what life would be like if major components were changed. What makes the book an engaging read is not that it has a deeply moving portrait of the grieving process, but that even in this there is something that everyone forgets. It's the need to move on, to prove that the world isn't over. While the emptiness may never be filled, something can hopefully distract from it, making the world a better place. This book is about trying to find that optimism and doing so with such inventive power.