You should be reading modern lit legend Lauren Groff. Here's where to start

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On the Shelf If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.Across five novels and three story collections, Lauren Groff has merged wide-screen history with intimate stories about women seeking and confronting power, including in her latest spirited — and triumphant — release “Brawler.” Along the way, Groff has become the rare literary-fiction author who’s a mainstay on the bestseller lists, and a three-time National Book Award finalist as well.On Tuesday, she’ll discuss her work at a Vroman’s Bookstore event at Pasadena Presbyterian Church with Danzy Senna, acclaimed author of “Colored Television” and other novels.

If you’re new to her work, here is where to start with Groff’s sprawling canon, which spans from steamy Florida swamps to medieval abbeys with a gift for the unexpected.“The Monsters of Templeton” (2008): Groff’s debut novel pays tribute to her hometown of Cooperstown, N.Y., featuring baseball lore, a strange aquatic creature and a young woman investigating her family history.It’s overstuffed but establishes some of her key themes: broken families, mythology and everyday misogyny.“Delicate Edible Birds” (2009): Groff’s first story collection includes “L.

DeBard and Aliette,” an off-kilter love story set during the 1918 flu pandemic that caught the attention of her longtime agent, Bill Clegg.Groff’s skill at historical detail is on fine display here, shifting from the World Wars to the present day, with particular sensitivity to the ways characters evolve over decades.“Arcadia” (2012): Groff’s breakthrough novel features a lead character, Bit, facing two forms of pressure: First, a New York ’60s hippies commune that slowly fails to live up to its values, then a near-future America ravaged by climate change.

Deftly written, funny and s...