Quick Lit October 2026 Archives

Sula

by Toni Morrison

From the publisher: "Nel and Sula's devotion is fierce enough to withstand bullies and the burden of a dreadful secret. It endures even after Nel has grown up to be a pillar of the black community and Sula has become a pariah. But their friendship ends in an unforgivable betrayal—or does it end? Terrifying, comic, ribald and tragic, Sula is a work that overflows with life."

Stoner

by John Williams

Many people consider this 1965 historical work set at the turn of the twentieth century to be a modern classic. Born to a poor Missouri farming family, William Stoner is caught between two worlds when his father sends him to University of Missouri to study agronomy and discover the future of farming. He becomes an English literature major instead but nothing goes according to plan. He marries the “wrong” woman, he’s not suited for the politics of academia, his parents don’t fit in with his new life, and so on. In many ways, his is an unremarkable life but that is what allows the prose to shine.

Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand

by Jeff Chu

When Jeff Chu was in his late 30s, he left his job as a magazine writer in NYC and became a student at Princeton Theological Seminary. While there, he encounters the "Farminary," a 21-acre working farm where students work the land and ponder life’s toughest questions. This memoir was borne out of his experiences at the farm. It’s a midlife reflection and evolution about what it takes to create good soil, both literally and metaphorically, his identity as a first-generation Chinese American, and what he learns about harvesting food. This felt like a thoughtful, tender conversation with a trusted friend and would be a great companion for those pondering a more meaningful life.

Hollywood, Ending

by John Green

From the publisher: "For rising talents Kai Laramie and Juniper Castillo, being cast in the buzzy biopic Andy Warhol Never Gets Old is the opportunity they’ve both been waiting for. They’re on the verge of breaking out, and maybe even falling in love. Soon, the movie is blowing up, and so are their lives—in exciting, but also terrifying, ways. John Green artfully blends a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story with an unflinching examination of the insatiable attention economy. Told through dual points of view, the novel brilliantly juxtaposes the on-screen study of Warhol’s life at the dawn of celebrity culture with the intimate struggles of two young people figuring out who they are, both together and alone."

Suite Française

by Irene Nemirovsky

This 2004 novel's backstory is fascinating and heartbreaking: novelist Irène Némirovsky, a French-Ukrainian, was arrested in 1942; her crime was being Jewish. The manuscript survived, unread and hidden in an old suitcase, even after she was captured and killed at Auschwitz. Her daughters had the manuscript for years, not knowing what they possessed, but in 1998 finally opened the manuscript, not finding the journals they expected, but the novellas that became Suite Français. This is possibly the earliest work of fiction about World War II. Translated by Sandra Smith.

Quick Lit October 2026

Sula

Stoner

Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand

Hollywood, Ending

Suite Française

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