Haven't posted in like a month or so and just want to flag the good stuff:
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks. A literary take on one the Old Testament's weirdest characters: David. Had zero inclination to pick this up, but I really liked Brooks's Year of Wonders. Fuck me, but this was even better. This is probably "bad historical fiction" given that all the characters are psychologically "modern" but it "works" on its own terms. Rating: If you liked Citizen Kane and are vaguely interested in the Hebrew Bible, you will probably like this. Rating: Didn't like 2 Samuel, but did like this.
If On A Winter's Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino. The rare occasion when reddit is right about something, I really loved this. It's basically the first chapters of ~a dozen different books and, against all odds, they are all great. The frame story, on the other hand, felt a little tired and lot derivative (cf. Pynchon, Beckett). Rating: Are we allowed to "rate" postmodern novels? Fine: 4.75/5.
I happened to get an ARC of Robin Wasserman's Girls On Fire and it was outstanding. I read this is one all-night sitting. Anyone who regards getting their first pair of Doc Martens as a major life milestone will really dig this. Probably the best book about being young and punk rock I've read since Don Degrazia's American Skin, but from female perspective. I suspect this will ultimately be marketed as (sigh) "the next Gone Girl", but it's a good deal more interesting and introspective than the above -- more like a Meg Abbott novel but without the ironic distance. Rating: 5/5 high-school misbegotten hero-worships.