- December 13, 2018
All That Man Is (2016)
David Szalay
I shouldn’t have loved this book; it is, after all, just about men, being an exploration of the male ego through the arc of a lifespan.
In a series of subtly interconnected stories, different male protagonists each represent an “age of man,” from youth through old age. The book’s title ...
Read more… - December 13, 2018
We Are Okay (2017)
Nina LaCour
I had high expectations of this (dare I say ugly?) little book, because it was this year’s Printz Award winner. The Michael J. Printz Award is awarded by the American Library Association to the “best book for teens” in its publishing year (more information can be found by clicking here). ...
Read more… - December 13, 2018
After the Eclipse: A Mother’s Murder, A Daughter’s Search (2017)
Sarah Perry
In May 1994, Crystal Perry was brutally raped and murdered in the dead of night in her home in Bridgton, Maine. Sarah Perry, her only child, was twelve years old and in the house at the time. After the Eclipse is Sarah’s ...
Read more… - December 12, 2018
The Baker’s Secret (2017)
Stephen P. Kiernan
Set in a small town in Normandy, France in the time before the D-Day Invasion, The Baker’s Secret is a little gem of a novel about courage and resiliency.
Emma has lived in Vergers all her life and has suffered under the Nazis for the last two years. Phillippe, the young ...
Read more… - December 12, 2018
Home Fire (2017)
Kamila Shamsie
Home Fire is riveting. Devastating. An ode to the devotion and terrible decisions made in the names of love and justice. Isma, Aneeka, and Parvaiz Pasha are three British siblings born and raised in the Islamic faith; when all of their relatives pass away, Isma is 12 years old when she’s left ...
Read more… - December 11, 2018
The Rules of Magic (2017)
by Alice Hoffman
Finally, a book about love and magic that is as real and true as it is inventive. In The Rules of Magic, Alice Hoffman has created a beautiful portrayal of family devotion and connection, a novel that captures the exhilaration and trepidation of true love. In this prequel to ...
Read more… - December 11, 2018
Invincible Iron Man: Ironheart. Vol. 2: Choices (2018)
Brian Michael Bendis
Riri Williams’ Ironheart joins Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel and the new Thor in the continued re-imagining of superheroes in the Marvel universe, resulting in an increasingly female-superhero-heavy lineup. It’s interesting to compare her character and arcs to other women superheroes in the current pantheon.
Like Kamala Khan ...
Read more… - December 11, 2018
The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race (2016)
Jessmyn Ward, editor
If you are thinking about participating in the “Now Read This” book group, you may also want to read this collection of essays compiled and edited by Jesmyn Ward, the author of Sing, Unburied, Sing (which is the book club selection for January). ...
Read more… - December 11, 2018
A Long Way Down (2017)
Jason Reynolds
But if the blood
inside you is on the inside
of someone else,
you never want to
see it on the outside
of them.
Will’s older brother Shawn was shot and killed the day before yesterday. Now 15-year-old Will is following “the rules” of the neighborhood: do not cry, do not snitch, but get revenge. With ...
Read more… - December 11, 2018
The Essex Serpent (2017)
Sarah Perry
In Essex, England, during the winter of 1893, there is anxious speculation regarding persons and animals reported missing in the swirling waters of the River Blackwater. Some locals are certain it’s the return of a monstrous, legendary sea beast, but amateur naturalist Cora Seaborne believes it to be a “living fossil” ...
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