Short story collections, personal essays, memoirs and historical fiction often move at a pace that allows for quiet contemplation.
短篇故事集、個人散文、回憶錄和歷史小說的行文總是能讓讀者安靜沉思。

1. Honeydew by Edith Pearlman
伊迪絲·皮爾曼的《蜜露》

Pearlman writes quiet stories about the blips of tumult . She's been writing short stories -- and only short stories -- for decades, chronicling the lives of earnest blue collar workers and whimsical academics. Most of the stories are set in her native Massachusetts; all of them reveal something tender and universal about everyday life.
皮爾曼安安靜靜的筆調下有些許動蕩和喧囂。她一直就在寫短篇小說，而且數十年來只寫短篇小說，記錄著熱忱勤勉的藍領工人還有異想天開的學者們的生活。大部分的故事背景都設置在她的故土馬薩諸塞州，每一則故事都展現了日常生活細小而普遍的一面。

2. Fools by Joan Silber
瓊·西爾珀的《傻瓜》

Each story in Fools confronts the question: What makes an action foolish, as opposed to brave? And when is it better to be foolish, as opposed to steadfast in our established beliefs?
《傻瓜》中每一則故事都面臨這樣一個問題：比之勇敢，怎樣的行為才算愚昧？與我們深信不疑的信念相對，何時做個傻瓜才是更好的選擇？

3. Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny
凱瑟琳·海尼的《單身、隨性、成熟》

Katherine Heiny writes stories that quietly highlight the dramas of dating life, from teenagehood through adulthood. Heiny writes about both lovers growing estranged through social media, and young girls learning about the power of their own sexualities, with wry humor.
凱瑟琳·海尼的故事不動聲色地突出了約會的戲劇色彩，從豆蔻年華到成年時期，不一而足。海尼不單單寫因社交媒體而逐漸疏離的情侶，也寫年輕女孩認識到其聲色的威力，筆調不乏揶揄嘲諷。

4. When I Was a Child I Read Books by Marilynne Robinson
瑪麗蓮·羅賓遜《小時候，我讀書》

Marilynne In When I Was a Child I Read Books, Robinson fluidly contemplates significance of community and the power of the individual. You don't have to be a religious thinker to find beauty in Robinson's poetic musings.
《小時候，我讀書》一書中，羅賓遜行文流暢，深思社區的重要性和個體的力量。讀者即便不信奉宗教，也能發現羅賓遜富有詩意的哲思之美。

5. The Double Life of Liliane by Lily Tuck
莉莉·塔克《莉蓮的雙重生活》

Lily Tuck's latest novel isn't exactly a memoir, but it sits somewhere between novel and autobiography, blurring the lines between related memory and imagined possible scenarios. Like Tuck, heroine Liliane's parents divorced when she was young, wreaking personal havoc that mirrored the tragedies unfolding in Europe at the same time.
莉莉·塔克的最新小說確切說來不是回憶錄，介于小說和自傳間，模糊了記憶和想象場景的界限。和莉莉·塔克小時候一樣，女主人翁莉蓮年少父母離異，深受重創， 也映照出同期歐洲的悲劇。

6. Neverhome by Laird Hunt
拉瑞德·亨特《不歸》

Hunt tells his story about a woman disguised as a male solider through letters. The story is loosely based on a bundle of letters Hunt stumbled upon written by a real undercover female soldier and is a smart work of historical fiction that encourages contemplation.
亨特通過書信形式講述了一個女子偽裝成男軍人的故事。亨特偶然間撞見一捆信件，是一個真實的臥底女軍人所寫的，亨特的歷史小說稍稍以此為參照，引人深思，是部智慧的作品。

7. Infinite Home by Kathleen Alcott
凱思琳·奧爾科特《無限的家園》

Protagonist Edith has built a happy family of her own among her tenants -- until she gets slammed with potential eviction as her mind begins to worsen. The unsteady state of their home and their landlady forges an even closer bond between the housemates in this lyrical meditation on what really makes up a family.
主人公伊蒂絲與其房客們建立了一個幸福的家庭，然而，隨著記性變差，她或將被驅逐。家庭不穩定，女房東與房客們的關系更緊密了。這部抒情的沉思錄引人思考究竟何為組成家庭的要素。

8. Here by Richard McGuire
里查德·麥奎爾《這兒》

This book is a heartwarming time capsule, and fluid look at the way our interior lives have evolved, and how they've remained the same.
這本書是溫暖人心的時空膠囊，以溫婉的視角看我們的內心演變以及又如何初心不變。

9. The Folded Clock by Heidi Julavits
海蒂·朱拉薇姿《折疊的時鐘》

The Folded Clock is a Diary, a collection of musings written offhandedly each day by its author. It's been scrubbed of identifying details, but otherwise remains a deeply personal collection of thoughts about motherhood, language, and what success really means.
《折疊的時鐘》是部日記，是作者每日隨手寫就的遐思集。書中隱去了透露身份的信息，但仍是身為人母的感想、對語言的思考和闡述成功之道的個人思想集。

10. Can't and Won't by Lydia Davis
莉迪婭·戴維斯《"不行"與"不能"》

Davis' stories are quick, dreamy snapshots of a mood or a sentiment, and they take the shape of the idle thoughts that make up most of our days. Davis's spare language is comforting and digestible, but leaves ample room for contemplation and imagination, too.
戴維斯的故事輕松宜人、直擊人心。故事取材于我們日常生活七零八碎的心思想法。戴維斯平實簡練的語言安撫人心、易于理解，但有給讀者足夠想象和沉思的空間。

（來源：滬江英語 編輯：丁一）