7 Fantastic Under-the-Radar Books You Need to Read Now

The Buddhist on Death Row: How One Man Found Light in the Darkest Place by David Sheff​ (2018) ​

Jarvis Jay Masters, now 61, arrived at San Quentin State Prison a rage-filled 19-year-old, sentenced for armed robbery; after he was set up and convicted for the murder of a guard, he would spend more than two decades in solitary confinement. Then, with the help of some devoted teachers, he discovered Buddhism. After a painful period when he allowed himself to fully feel all his pent-up doubt, fury, fear and frustration, he focused on Buddhist principles such as sacrifice, patience and forgiveness to free his mind from destructive thinking and eventually found meaning, strength and hope despite his grim circumstances. Sheff, the author of Beautiful Boy, writes with admiration and compassion about the transformation of Masters, who remains on death row despite his many supporters’ efforts toward his release.​

​My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson (2021)​

A finalist for the Kirkus Prize, this debut collection of short stories that Colson Whitehead has called “electrifying” tackles issues of racial identity and racism in different settings and contexts. The titular novella features two modern-day descendants of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, a woman and her grandmother, who join a group of Charlottesville neighbors seeking refuge at Monticello to hide from violence fomented at a Unite the Right rally. In “Control Negro,” a story that was included in The Best American Short Stories 2018, a university professor distances himself from his son from birth — an experiment to see how his son might develop if he grows up unaware of his Black father. The audiobook is read by a full cast, including the actors LeVar Burton and Aja Naomi King. ​

Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan (2021)​

The setting for this mesmerizing novel is a quiet suburban street whose center literally and figuratively falls away during a brutally hot summer when a sinkhole opens up, spewing a smelly black sludge. After a girl falls in, a troubled woman starts pointing fingers at one family (they never did fit in), and the nastiness escalates on Maple Street — Langan’s witty reference to “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” the famous Twilight Zone episode about scapegoating turned deadly. It offers both page-turning suspense and brilliant social commentary.​

​​The Lemon by S.E. Boyd (2022)​

I devoured this cynical, funny novel when it came out last year. The creation of three writers — journalists Kevin Alexander and Joe Keohane, and editor Alessandra Lusardi — it’s packed with dark humor (despite its grim-sounding premise) and hilariously self-centered characters out to make a buck and find their 15 minutes of fame. Their paths cross after celebrity chef John Doe, a troubled Anthony Bourdain-like traveling foodie, dies in a particularly embarrassing way that needs to be covered up to protect his brand.​​