I fell behind on my summer reviews. Briefly, from what I can remember:
Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding. Reread this one (first read it 35 or so years ago in high school). The writing holds up, but the premise – even civilized boys can become “savages” – isn’t exactly earth-shattering anymore.
Kolyma Tales (2018 translation, written in 1950s-60s) by Varlam Shalamov. 700+ pages, autobiographical stories of the author’s years in Stalin’s gulags. Sometimes repetitive, always depressing (took me weeks to read, every other book listed here took me 1-2 days), but worth it for the understated poetry and philosophical digressions. Recommended to me by a Russian guy I know slightly (father of my son's classmate) who insisted Shalamov's better than Solzhenitsyn. I think he's right!
Good Trouble (2018) by Joseph O’Neill. Short stories. Clever enough but lacking spark, or soul, or something. Reminiscent of Martin Amis.
The Feud (1983) by Thomas Berger. Brilliant, one of his best novels. Hilarious dialogue, big cast of characters who are all well-drawn, and a couple of them (rare for the misanthrope Berger) even sympathetic.
The Houseguest (1988) by Thomas Berger. Similar to his great novel Neighbors in style and tone, but not quite as good.
Changing the Past (1989) by Thomas Berger. Hokey “three wishes” scenario wherein the main character gets three chances to relive his life as a different person, one of them as an obnoxious Don Rickles-with-a-touch-of-Lenny Bruce standup comic. Meanders around, never quite comes to life.
A Horse Walks into a Bar (2014, translated 2017) by David Grossman. Won a lot of awards, got rave reviews, and I can’t see why. The writing is competent, sometimes (especially near the end) even very good, but the story and two main characters (one of them an obnoxious Lenny Bruce-with-a-touch-of-Don Rickles standup comic) are unpleasant and uninteresting.
So, Kolyma Tales if you're looking for a weighty read, The Feud if you want a fun quickie.