Here are four novels that flew under this reader’s radar in 2015.

All these and more are available at your nearest North Olympic Library System location.

“The Sympathizer” by Viet Thanh Nguyen

In “The Sympathizer,” Viet Thanh Nguyen “fills a void in the literature, giving voice to the previously voiceless while compelling the rest of us to look at the events of 40 years ago in a new light,” writes Philip Caputo.

Nguyen, born in Vietnam and raised in the U.S., deploys sharp humor to describe the life of a Vietnamese spy in the U.S. after the fall of Saigon.

Caputo compares Nguyen’s skill to that of Conrad, Greene and le Carré.

“The Fishermen”  by Chigozie Obioma

Chigozie Obioma’s debut novel tells the story of four young brothers living in the small Nigerian town of Akure in the mid-1990s. Fiammetta Rocco writes, “When their father is transferred to another town, leaving their mother in charge not only of the four boys and their baby sister but of a food stall in the local market, the boys do what boys everywhere do when they realize they’re not supervised: They begin to play truant.”

Variously described as mythological, folkloric, allegorical and biblical in style, this writer is drawing comparisons to Chinua Achebe for his mastery.

“Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse” by Faith Sullivan

“Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse” won rave reviews from the Wall Street Journal: “The simple, restorative joy of reading could scarcely get a more heartfelt love letter than this gentle and winningly intelligent novel about a widow in small-town Minnesota who challenges and then overcomes the limits of her surroundings through the books she reads and loves.”

“The Turner House” by Angela Flournoy

National Book Award finalist “The Turner House” by Angela Flournoy chronicles multiple generations of the Turner family over nearly 75 years of life in Detroit.

The reader comes to deeply know the people and the city. The National Book Foundation calls it “Masterful, evocative, deftly rendered; it reminds us of the bonds, familial or otherwise, that link us all.”

More information

Looking to start the new year with some fresh reads? Visit www.nols.org to explore the library catalog or reach out to your friendly library staff by calling the Sequim Library at 683-1161 or stopping-in for a visit at 630 N. Sequim Ave.

Mary Coté is a customer service specialist at the Sequim and Port Angeles libraries.