Stuff We Love: Reader's Choice

by Amy Shearn

Even if you haven't seen the inside of a classroom for years, don't you somehow just get that back-to-school feeling each fall? This year, before you unpack your sweaters and rediscover hot cocoa, load up on these delicious new reads. They'll make your brain feel, uh, gooder.

Hurts So Good

Sometimes you just don't want to see another self-designated "chick lit" book jacket covered with stilettos and martini glasses. Right? For a unique and clear-eyed look at the pains and pleasures of womanhood, try The First Hurt (Open City, $13), a slender volume of stories by Rachel Sherman. The characters are at once quirky and completely relatable: an awkward high school student who revels in the sexually explicit letters she receives from a soldier; new parents coming to terms with the birth of their brain-damaged twins; a family unsettled by the presence of a sexy au pair. Sherman combines sparse language with unforgettable imagery and dark humor to create tales that ache like a crush you can't get over. Think Flannery O'Connor with a strong dose of Dave Eggers. You'll be begging for more.

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