New England-born writer Ian Pisarcik has a debut novel out now entitled Before Familiar Woods, which has received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist and was listed as one of Apple Books’ Top 10 Debuts of 2020. Before Familiar Woods is a dark, haunting mystery set in northern Vermont that tackles addiction, toxic masculinity, and otherness. It’s a page-turner like all good mysteries, but it’s also filled with really beautiful writing about the natural world. This is a character-driven novel and these characters will burn brightly in your mind.

Unfortunately, Ian missed out on his book tour due to the pandemic, so we asked him if he’d like to create a reading list for us. He sent back a stunner. As you’ll soon find out, he has great taste in books. And of course, we think Ian’s novel, Before Familiar Woods, would make a great summer read (and would help you check off a Bingo square in the process)!

Enjoy!

Remote Reads: Ten Rural Books to Read During a Pandemic

I spent most of my youth in New Hartford, Connecticut (population 6,000) and Maidstone, Vermont (population 100). It wasn’t until I moved to the city to attend college that I realized how much those places shaped me. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by people and rural communities and how the two influence each other. This fascination steered me toward books that spoke honestly about small towns—the beauty and brutality within them.

Here are ten of my favorites:

Where You Once Belonged, by Kent Haruf

Kent Haruf is like a fragile quilt—well worn and comforting. He understands small-town gossip, jealousy, and legend, but, more than that, he understands the small acts of kindness so common in these communities. His spare prose fits the desolate setting of his books. Though Plainsong is his most popular book, the devastating Where You Once Belonged is criminally underrated.

Where Rivers Change Direction, by Mark Spragg

The protagonist here is Wyoming—and, with that, the wind, dust, and isolation. Mark Spragg was Kent Haruf’s closest friend and it’s easy to see why. In Where Rivers Change Direction, Spragg writes beautifully and simply about land, family, love, and loneliness.

Hell’s Bottom, Colorado, by Laura Pritchett

In this collection of visceral short stories, Laura Pritchett writes about ranch life and the way it shapes those connected to it. I’m a huge fan of Annie Proulx’s Wyoming series and this book fits squarely beside those collections.

Winter in the Blood, by James Welch

The first novel by native American writer James Welch tells the story of a nameless man living on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Central Montana and his sometimes comic but always poetic struggle to find his place in the world.

The Meadow, by James Galvin

There’s a quote from The Meadow that I return to often:

“The Meadow . . . Only one of them succeeded in making a life here, for almost fifty years. He weathered. Before a backdrop of natural beauty, he lived a life from which everything was taken but a place. He lived so close to the real world it almost let him in.”

Told in brief vignettes, James Galvin depicts the hundred-year history of a small ranch on the Colorado-Wyoming border and the people who have called it home.

Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

Marilynne Robinson is one of those writers whose writing is ambitious without every seeming ambitious, which is just about the highest compliment I can think to give a writer. She’s also one of those writers who is so wise that I wonder how she manages to walk around the world with the rest of us dolts.

An important note: As an atheist, I put off reading Marilynne Robinson for a long time because I worried her books would be too preachy. These concerns were unwarranted and I point this out for those who might have similar concerns.

Heart Spring Mountain, by Robin MacArthur

You can pretty much taste the silt when reading this poetic and haunting novel about three generations of women shaped by a single mountain in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene.

Independent People, by Halldór Laxness

This is one of those novels that just might change your life. The book’s curmudgeon protagonist is a sheep farmer who spent years in servitude and is now determined to achieve complete independence. Of course, we’re all dependent on the land, as the protagonist soon learns.

For a Little While, by Rick Bass

I keep trying to find reasons why Rick Bass isn’t the greatest short story writer to put pen to paper. That honor must belong to Alice Munro or Ernest Hemingway or Flannery O’Connor, right? Well, I don’t know if he’s the greatest, but he’s probably my favorite. For a Little While is a collection of mostly previously published short stories; however, there are a few new stories here, including “The Blue Tree,” which alone are worth the price of the book.

Postcards, by Annie Proulx

Annie Proulx inspires me as much as she makes me want to quit writing altogether. How can anyone expect to call their sentences “sentences,” when placed next to hers? Her first novel tells the story of Loyal Blood (now that’s a name), a Vermont farmer who kills his wife and flees west.

And a few bonus reads:

• Birds of a Lesser Paradise, by Megan Mayhew Bergman

• Black River, by S.M. Hulse

• The Collected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1957-1982, by Wendell Berry

• The Dark Corner by Mark Powell

• The Mountains and the Fathers, by Joe Wilkins

• Wintering, by Peter Geye

Ian Pisarcik was born and raised in rural New England. His stories and poems have appeared in the Roanoke Review, Lullwater Review, Maine Review, and the Flyway Journal of Writing and Environment. He currently lives in Washington State with his wife, newborn daughter, and Labrador retriever. Before Familiar Woods is his first novel.