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library book suggestion lists~ 2022
I’m already waiting for Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure—Rinker Buck and am now adding Shadowlands: A Journey Through Britain's Lost Cities and Vanished Villages—Matthew Green to that list. Lost British towns? Who can resist? Not I!Thanks for this list, Alias.
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------ Ghost Eaters
by Clay McLeod Chapman
How it begins: When her ex-boyfriend, Silas, dies from an overdose, Erin discovers he was using a drug called "Ghost," which allowed him to see the dead.
What happens next: Hoping to find closure with Silas, Erin takes Ghost and is quickly plunged into a nightmarish world of gruesome psychedelic horrors.
Try this next: Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo.
------ Shutter
by Ramona Emerson
Introducing: Diné forensic photographer Rita Todacheene, who works for the Albuquerque police and is gifted at what she does, partly because she can see and hear ghosts.
What happens: Interspersed with flashbacks to Rita's misfit early years on the rez with her grandmother, the contemporary story follows her as she tries to calm the angry ghost of a murder victim by finding her killers.
Read it for: a gory combination of horror and crime novel.
------ The Women Could Fly
by Megan Giddings
In a world... where women must either marry a male "keeper" or submit to constant monitoring through a government-mandated registry, Josephine Thomas, a bisexual, biracial Black woman, has lived under a cloud of suspicion ever since her unconventional mother disappeared amid rumors of witchcraft.
Why you might like it: This dystopian novel by the author of Lakewood explores themes of race, gender, and oppression that will appeal to fans of Alexis Henderson's The Year of the Witching.
------ The Devil Takes You Home
by Gabino Iglesias
The premise: Down-on-his-luck hitman Mario agrees to "one last job" to help make ends meet. His assignment? Rob a Mexican drug cartel.
What happens next: En route to Mexico, Mario grapples with disturbing and unexplained phenomena that make him question his aptitude for the job -- and his chances of coming home alive.
Is it for you? Rising author Gabino Iglesias' nail-biting latest offers an unflinching blend of paranormal thriller and barrio noir that doesn't shy away from the violence and brutality its characters face.
------ Daphne
by Josh Malerman
Welcome to... small-town Samhattan, Michigan, where the local legend of murderous seven-foot-tall Daphne looms large.
Where you'll meet: high school basketball player Kit Lamb, whose teammates are being murdered one by one. Is the legend of Daphne real?
Why you might like it: Relatable would-be final girl Kit navigates debilitating anxiety in her quest to stay alive and put a stop to Daphne's vengeful rampage.
------ Small Angels
by Lauren Owen
Then: Teenage Kate befriended the reclusive Gonne sisters, who were tasked with protecting their small British village from the dark presence lurking in Mockbeggar Woods.
Now: In town for her brother's wedding, Kate confronts the horrors of her past as new threats emerge, forcing her to reconnect with the Gonnes. Meanwhile, bride-to-be Chloe learns the terrible truth about Mockbeggar Woods and finds herself drawn to the fight.
Read it for: a slow-burn tale that updates gothic ghost story tropes.
------- Old Country
by Matt Query & Harrison Query
Home sweet home: Seeking a respite from corporate life, urbanites Harry and Sasha buy the home of their dreams in rural Idaho. But shortly after they arrive, their neighbors warn them of a menacing spirit that haunts the valley.
Buyer's remorse: Harry and Sasha must learn to face the escalating supernatural horrors if they want to survive.
Book buzz: Old Country is adapted from the Reddit sensation "My Wife and I Bought a Ranch" and has been optioned for film by Netflix.
------- The Wild Hunt
by Emma Seckel
1940s Scotland: In the aftermath of World War II, Leigh returns to her childhood home and finds the island overrun by barbarous sluagh, crow-like creatures who host the souls of the dead.
For fans of: The Birds, folk horror, and magical realism.
Reviewers say: "[Emma] Seckel keenly captures a tone that echoes the eerie moor scenery of the island: hazy, haunting, and teeming with misgivings" (Kirkus Reviews).
Recent Releases
------- The Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II
by Buzz Bissinger
Christmas Eve, 1944: Seeking respite from their duties in the Pacific Theater, the 4th and 29th United States Marine Regiments played a game of football to determine which team had the better players.
Read it for: a richly detailed chronicle of military life on the eve of the Battle of Okinawa.
Author alert: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger is the bestselling author of Friday Night Lights.
------ All the Living and the Dead: From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People...
by Hayley Campbell
What it is: an incisive blend of history and reportage exploring the Western death industry and the people who work in it.
What's inside: illuminating interviews with morticians, embalmers, detectives, crime scene cleaners, gravediggers, and more.
For fans of: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty; Last Rites by Todd Harra.
------ The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World
by Max Fisher
What it's about: the destabilizing impact of social media-driven misinformation and extremism.
Topics include: Gamergate; Russian interference in American elections; anti-vaccine conspiracies; ethnic violence in South Asia.
Try this next: Digital Madness: How Social Media is Driving Our Mental Health Crisis -- And How to Restore Our Sanity by Nicholas Kardaras.
----- Formidable: American Women and the Fight for Equality: 1920-2020
by Elisabeth Griffith
What it is: an inclusive look at a century of women's achievements and setbacks since the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Don't miss: profiles of women whose contributions to the fight for equality have been forgotten or overlooked, including Dakota activist Zitkala-Sa and Mexican American labor organizer Dolores Huerta.
Reviewers say: "an impassioned and inspiring introduction to how far the women's movement has come, and where it still needs to go" (Publishers Weekly).
----- Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America's Overdose Crisis
by Beth Macy
What it is: journalist and Carnegie Medal finalist Beth Macy's sobering and richly detailed follow-up to her award-winning Dopesick.
What sets it apart: Raising Lazarus focuses on frontline workers and communities tirelessly fighting to help those afflicted by opioid addiction.
Food for thought: "They say we're going to lose a generation if we don't do something. I say we've already lost that generation."
------ American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper
by Daniel Stashower
What it's about: famed lawman Eliot Ness' thwarted attempts to identify the Cleveland Torso Murderer, who killed and dismembered 12 known victims in the 1930s and was never apprehended.
Read it for: a nuanced portrait of Ness that illuminates his personal and professional flaws.
Author alert: Cleveland-born Edgar Award winner Daniel Stashower brings an insider's knowledge to this evocative true crime tale.
------ Sinkable: Obsession, the Deep Sea, and the Shipwreck of the Titanic
by Daniel Stone
What it's about: the aftermath of the RMS Titanic's sinking in 1912.
Reviewers say: "will compel even readers who think they already know too much about the Titanic to take a plunge into this fresh narrative" (Booklist).
Did you know? There are an estimated three million shipwrecks scattered across the world's ocean floors.
------ Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew
by Michael W. Twitty
What it is: a thought-provoking combination of memoir, cookbook, and exploration of African Jewish cooking.
Recipes include: Koshersoul Spring Rolls, Black-Eyed Pea Hummus, Matzo Meal Fried Chicken, Berbere Brisket, Okra Gumbo, Yam Kugel.
Series alert: Koshersoul is the 2nd in a planned trilogy focusing on the intersection of food and identity; it follows 2018's James Beard Book of the Year Award winner The Cooking Gene.
American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper—Daniel Stashower sounds good. I’ve not heard of these crimes. Thanks for the entire list, Alias.
------- Sirens & Muses
by Antonia Angress
What happens: In 2011, Louisa, Karina, and Preston meet while students at a prestigious art college, where Robert (a faded star of NYC's elite art scene) now teaches. Their complex desires shadow their lives long after graduation.
Reviewers say: "A highly recommended novel of art and heart that viscerally represents the act of creation while balancing multiple themes to perfection" (Library Journal).
Try this next: Age of Consent by Amanda Brainerd.
------ If I Survive You
by Jonathan Escoffery
Starring: Trelawny, the American-born son of Jamaican immigrants, cast adrift in muddled assumptions about who he is or ought to be.
What it is: linked short stories about Trelawny's multi-ethnic and multi-cultural explorations of self: as the token Black intellectual at an east-coast college; as an unwelcome American interloper in Jamaica; and as an ongoing disappointment to his hard-nosed father.
Read this next: Oscar Hokeah's Calling for a Blanket Dance.
------- The Marsh Queen
by Virginia Hartman
What happens: Loni couldn't wait to escape the backwater Florida community where her father tragically died when she was 12. Years later, Loni reluctantly returns to clear the family home and uncovers town secrets that hint her father's death wasn't an accident.
Why you'll love it: Loni's cat-and-mouse search for a potential killer is spiced up by an unexpected romance and plays out against an atmospheric swampland setting.
Read this next: The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain.
------ Nightcrawling
by Leila Mottley
Meet: Kiara, a young Black woman devoted to her younger brother and determined to keep him off the rough streets of Oakland, California.
What happens: Caught between escalating housing costs and corrupt law enforcement, Kiara is forced into sex work to survive. When the dirty cops are exposed, she becomes the object of public victim blaming and class shaming.
Reviewers say: "Mottley's novel understands that sometimes a happy ending just means surviving" (Library Journal).
------ Carrie Soto Is Back
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Game... Before being sidelined by a knee injury, Carrie Soto attained GOAT status as a world-famous record-setting tennis champ.
Set... An up-and-comer threatens Carrie's legacy, drawing her back to the courts at age 37.
Match... Carrie's single-minded determination is a blessing and a curse. Can she embrace her vulnerabilites at last -- and level-up her relationship with former fling, Bowe Huntley?
Read this next: The Second Season by Emily Adrian.
------ Big Girl
by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
Body positivity... is decades away in 1990s Harlem, where Malaya comes of age as a Black, plus-sized young woman. White classmates at her prep school for the gifted taunt her by day; her family (and society at large) send mixed messages about food and identity the rest of the time.
What happens: Malaya rises to the challenge, discovering -- and celebrating -- her true self.
For fans of: Precious, from Push by Sapphire; Queenie, star of Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams; or Ana, from Angie Cruz's Dominicana.
----- Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm
by Laura Warrell
Starring: Circus, a 40-something, love-them-and-leave-them jazz trumpeter, whose one true love (probably) has just revealed she's pregnant with his child.
Read it for: a soulful, real-talk story -- told from multiple perspectives -- about the effects of confusing duty, love, desire, and passion for one another.
Sample it: "On the other side of the pool, a woman glanced up... He was used to being watched with Maggie. They were loud and beautiful together."
------ The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream
by Jeannie Zusy
Meet: Bets, the eldest sister, living her best life in Southern California; Maggie, the youngest, now shouldering care for middle sister Ginny, a willful 57-year-old with type II diabetes who nearly OD's on Jell-O.
Now what? Bets's perfect life... isn't. Maggie's marriage founders, her adult sons won't grow up, and Ginny's sugar addiction feels like it could be the death of them all. Plus, an aged dog's life hangs in the balance.
Reviewers say: "Amid the chaos and the fear, there is always love" (Booklist).
What a variety of situations and families to explore in the above novels. None call to me, except for the last one listed, The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream--Jeannie Zusy. You shared a good list for us, thanks.
You're welcome, deb. I do hope people find the lists helpful.
Nature and Science
----- Birds and Us: A 12,000-Year History from Cave Art to Conservation
by Tim Birkhead
What it's about: the human-avian relationship from the Paleolithic period to the present.
Learn about: the cave paintings of El Tajo de las Figuras in Andalusia, Spain; the bird mummies of ancient Egypt; medieval falconry; the actual appearance of the dodo; eccentric Victorians; and much more.
About the author: Ornithologist Tim Birkhead is the author of Bird Sense and The Most Perfect Thing.
------ The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves
by Alexandra Horowitz
What it is: a week-by-week, pup's-eye-view of a dog's first year, from birth through adolescence.
Starring: Quiddity (Quid" for short), the lively mixed-breed puppy that author and canine behavior expert Alexandra Horowitz and her family adopted during the pandemic.
About the author: Cognitive scientist Horowitz, head of Barnard College's Dog Cognition Lab, is the author of Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know.
----- Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions
by Sabine Hossenfelder
What it does: explores, in nine provocatively titled chapters (including "Do Copies of Us Exist?" and "Has Physics Ruled Out Free Will?"), what our current understanding of physics can tell us about ourselves.
About the author: Theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder (Lost in Math), a research fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, also created the YouTube channel Science Without the Gobbledygook.
Further reading: David Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations that Transform the World.
------ Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women who Programmed the World's First...
by Kathy Kleiman
What it is: a collective biography of the women mathematicians who worked on ENIAC, the first programmable electronic general purpose computer, during World War II.
Why you might like it: Internet governance scholar Kathy Kleiman, founder of the ENIAC Programmers Project, draws on extensive research and interviews with the women to reveal their contributions to computer science, as well as their post-ENIAC careers.
For fans of: Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures, Liza Mundy's Code Girls, or Nathalia Holt's Rise of the Rocket Girls.
----- The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy
by Moiya McTier; illustrated by Annamarie Salai
What it is: a tell-all memoir by Milky Way, in which the galaxy dishes the dirt on the Large Magellanic Cloud (aka "Larry"), recounts its friendship with the Andromeda galaxy, and reflects on the black hole at its center.
What sets it apart: Astrophysicist and folklorist Moiya McTier's entertaining autobiography of our galaxy presents the science in a voice that's "authoritative, funny, and moving" (Publishers Weekly).
Want a taste? "Do you understand how lucky you are to be learning this kind of vital information directly from me, an actual galaxy?"
----- The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours
by Chantel Prat, PhD
The big idea: "Every brain really is unique," explains cognitive neuroscientist Chantel Prat as she sets out to demonstrate how the idea of "normal" is overrated, and maybe even harmful, when it comes to our brains.
Why you might like it: This accessible introduction to neuroscience includes quizzes to help you understand how your brain works, while providing insight into a variety of minds, some very unlike your own.
Further reading: Lisa Barrett Feldman's 7 1/2 Lessons About the Brain; Patrick House's Nineteen Ways of Looking at Consciousness.
----- The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide
by Steven W. Thrasher; foreword by
What it's about: Journalist Steven Thrasher examines two pandemics -- HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 -- to reveal the ways in which structural inequalities force marginalized groups to bear the brunt of public health crises.
What sets it apart: Arguing that biology is a minor player in disease outcomes, Thrasher identifies 12 "social vectors" that contribute to the creation of a "viral underclass," including racism, capitalism, austerity measures, policing, ableism, and shame.
------ Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization
by Neil deGrasse Tyson
What it does: "unabashedly wades into the political and cultural fray, using a 'cosmic perspective'" (Booklist) to advocate for evidence-based, scientific approaches to controversial topics.
About the author: Neil deGrasse Tyson (Astrophysics for People in a Hurry) is the director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium.
Alias Reader wrote: "Nature and Science
----- Birds and Us: A 12,000-Year History from Cave Art to Conservation
by Tim Birkhead
What it's about: the human-avian relationship from the Paleolithic period to the presen..."
When it comes to cave art, i’m all in. Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History, from Cave Art to Conservation—Tim Birkhead. Thanks!
From the list, I am already on my libraries wait list for Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization --Neil deGrasse Tyson
----- Midnight on the Marne
by Sarah Adlakha
What it is: an intricately plotted love story set during an alternate history version of World War I that invites readers to ponder the weight our choices carry for the world around us.
The setup: French nurse (and erstwhile spy for Britain) Marcelle Marchand has a chance encounter with American soldier George Mountcastle and the two fall in love. But when Marcelle's latest mission goes wrong, Germany gains the upper hand and occupy France, which threatens any future she and George might have had together.
For fans of: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.
------ The Ghetto Within
by Santiago H. Amigorena
Starring: Polish Jew Vicente Rosenburg, who moved to Buenos Aires in 1928 to start his now-thriving furniture business; his mother Gustawa, whose letters from Poland grow increasingly infrequent once she is forced into the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940.
Read it for: introspective Vicente's lyrical reflections on his heartbreaking situation and overwhelming feelings of powerlessness.
Inspired by: the life of author Santiago H. Amigorena's grandfather.
----- Big Red
by Jerome Charyn
What it's about: Underemployed wannabe gossip columnist Rusty Redburn takes a public relations job at Columbia Pictures, where her knack for keeping tabs on stars gets her noticed by company president Harry Cohn, who decides to offer her a new assignment.
The mission: work as a personal secretary for high-profile couple Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, all the while reporting back to Cohn on his company's two biggest stars, whose public and private behavior has been growing increasingly volatile.
Reviewers say: Big Red is "an intimate, fly-on-the-wall look at a legendary, tumultuous romance" (Booklist).
------ The Last of the Seven
by Steven Hartov
What it is: an atmospheric and well-researched story of survival and revenge, inspired by the true story of the Special Interrogation Group (SIG), a British army unit composed of German-speaking Jewish volunteers sent on sabotage missions behind Nazi lines.
How it opens: Dragging a gangrenous broken leg and wearing a Nazi uniform, George Henry Lane, the sole survivor of an SIG detachment, stumbles out of the desert and turns himself in to a the British military.
Read it for: the visceral, stirring descriptions of the physical challenges the characters endure and the welcome moments of gallows humor.
----- Benevolence
by Julie Janson
What it's about: Born just as the British Empire was expanding into Australia, Darug girl Muraging's well-meaning father agreed to send her to the Parramatta Native School, where she would endure years of abuse and efforts to erase her cultural identity.
Is it for you? Benevolence doesn't shy away from the dark realities of colonialism and the violence Muraging has to endure, including sexual abuse.
About the author: Indigenous Australian writer Julie Janson is a playwright and novelist whose previous work includes Black Mary Gunjies and The Light Horse Ghost.
------ Bronze Drum
by Phong Nguyen
Who it's about: Vietnamese national heroines Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, who led their people in rebellion against Han Chinese domination until they were defeated and executed in 43 CE.
Why you might like it: Though the Trung sisters are near-legendary figures in the Vietnamese cultural imagination, author Phong Ngyuen breathes life into Trac and Nhi, turning them into real, flesh-and-blood people.
Reviewers say: "Though the path to victory is riddled with obstacles, the Trung sisters’ determination and skill earn their place in history. Gripping historical adventure" (Booklist).
----- The Manhattan Girls
by Gill Paul
What it is: an atmospheric, character-driven look at the inner lives of a remarkable group of women who live and work in 1920s Manhattan.
Featuring: Broadway star Winifred Lenihan; Jane Grant, co-founder of The New Yorker; Pulitzer and Bancroft prize-winning history writer and novelist Peggy Leech; the one and only Dorothy Parker.
Read it for: the unsurprisingly witty narration, which alternates between each character; a more nuanced portrayal of Dorothy Parker than readers might be used to, which sheds light on her insecurities and fragile ego.
----- Moth
by Melody Razak
What it's about: In this gritty, character-driven debut, the Partition of India tears society apart while the clash between new and old ideas tears one high-caste Hindu family apart.
How it starts: Though worldly university professors Bappu and Ma think that 14 would normally be too young to marry, they arrange a marriage for their daughter Alma hoping it will protect her during the anticipated Partition upheaval. When the wedding is later called off, questions of honor and obligation start dividing the family against itself.
Reviewers say: "An exceptional novel that is historical fiction at its finest" (Kirkus Reviews).
----- The Soviet Sisters
by Anika Scott
What it is: an intricately plotted, atmospheric spy thriller sisters, secrets, and Cold War paranoia.
Starring: Marya, who has spent 9 years in a gulag after being convicted for espionage; Marya's sister Vera, a state attorney who finally gets the courage to officially reopen her sister's case.
For fans of: the novels of Kate Quinn, especially recent titles like The Rose Code and The Alice Network.
----- The Wild Hunt
by Emma Seckel
The setting: a rugged little island off the coast of Scotland, just after World War II.
The premise: Leigh Welles has lived on the mainland for years but decides to return home after her father's sudden death.
The problem: When Leigh arrives she's surprised at the cool detachment her brother treats her with, and in the wake of wartime losses, the other islanders are turning increasingly superstitious and distrustful of outsiders and each other.
Bronze Drum: A Novel of Sisters and War--Phong Nguyen sounds like a wonderful way to learn some history of Vietnam. Good list, overall, too. Thanks.
------ The Medici Murders
by David Hewson
The first in a brand-new mystery series from the acclaimed author of The Killing and Devil’s Fjord.
Eden's Children
by V. C. Andrews
Mother doesn’t always know best in this atmospheric and twisty novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic series and Landry series
------ The Shards
by Bret Easton Ellis
A sensational new novel from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and American Psycho that tracks a group of privileged Los Angeles high school friends as a serial killer strikes across the city.
------ The Devil's Ransom
by Brad Taylor
In the latest explosive thriller from New York Times bestselling author and former special forces officer Brad Taylor, Pike Logan races to stop an insidious attack orchestrated by a man who knows America’s most treasured secrets.
----- Victory city : a novel
by Salman Rushdie
In the wake of an insignificant battle between two long-forgotten kingdoms in fourteenth-century southern India, a nine-year-old girl has a divine encounter that will change the course of history.
------ Little Paula
by V. C. Andrews
Nothing can come between a mother and her child in this haunting sequel to Eden’s Children
------ More than meets the eye
by Iris Johansen
Serial killer James Michael Barrett says he'll reveal the location of his last victim's body in exchange for the D.A. taking the death penalty off the table. They swing the shovels down and a terrific explosion rocks the woods, killing Barrett and most of the officers instantly. Kendra Michaels. must figure out how the killer did it.
------ Unnatural history : an Alex Delaware novel
by Jonathan Kellerman
The most enduring detectives in American crime fiction are back in this electrifying thriller of art and brutality from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.
------- Encore in Death : An Eve Dallas Novel
by J. D. Robb
The homicide cop with a passion for justice returns in the captivating crime thriller series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.
------- The Cradle of Ice
by James Rollins
The second book in the New York Times bestselling Moon Fall series from thriller-master James Rollins, The Cradle of Ice is a page-turning tale of action, adventure, betrayal, ambition, and the struggle for survival in a harsh world that hangs by a thread
------- Death of a Traitor
by M. C. Beaton
Sergeant Hamish Macbeth—Scotland's most quick witted but unambitious policeman—is back to investigate the disappearance of a local woman who is more than she seems
------- The Last Orphan : An Orphan X Novel
by Gregg Hurwitz
Evan Smoak returns in The Last Orphan, the latest New York Times bestselling Orphan X thriller--when everything changes and everything is at risk.
------ 3 Days to Live
by James Patterson
The people closest to you can be your most dangerous enemies -- in this heart-pounding collection of 3 brand-new thrillers from the master of suspense.
------ A Calder at Heart
by Janet Dailey
Janet Dailey returns to 1900s Montana and the challenges war and Prohibition brought to the frontier.
------ Lying beside you : a novel
by Michael Robotham
Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac return in Robotham's latest page-turning, psychological thriller in this "gripping and eerie" (Karin Slaughter) series, reaffirming why Stephen King has proclaimed this author "an absolute master.
Big names listed above—‘it’s the season! Thanks for sharing this healthy list, Alias.
-----Young Skins
Barrett, Colin
Enter the small, rural town of Glanbeigh, a place whose fate took a downturn with the Celtic Tiger, a desolate spot where buffoonery and tension simmer and erupt, and booze-sodden boredom fills the corners of every pub and nightclub. Here and in the towns beyond, the young live hard and wear the scars. Amongst them, there's jilted Jimmy, whose best friend, Tug, is the terror of the town and Jimmy's sole company in his search for the missing Clancy kid; Bat, a lovesick soul with a face like "a bowl of mashed-up spuds" even before Nubbin Tansey's boot kicked it in; and Arm, a young and desperate criminal whose fate is shaped when he and his partner, Dympna, fail to carry out a job. In each story, a local voice delineates the grittiness of post-boom Irish society. These are unforgettable characters rendered through silence, humor, and violence.
-----Either/Or
Batuman, Elif
From the acclaimed and bestselling author of The Idiot, the continuation of beloved protagonist Selin's quest for self-knowledge, as she travels abroad and tests the limits of her newfound adulthood Selin is the luckiest person in her family: the only one who was born in America and got to go to Harvard. Now it's sophomore year, 1996, and Selin knows she has to make it count. The first order of business: to figure out the meaning of everything that happened over the summer. Why did Selin's elusive crush, Ivan, find her that job in the Hungarian countryside? What was up with all those other people in the Hungarian countryside? Why is Ivan's weird ex-girlfriend now trying to get in touch with Selin? On the plus side, it feels like the plot of an exciting novel. On the other hand, why do so many novels have crazy abandoned women in them? How does one live a life as interesting as a novel-a life worthy of becoming a novel-without becoming a crazy abandoned woman oneself? Guided by her literature syllabus and by her more worldly and confident peers, Selin reaches certain conclusions about the universal importance of parties, alcohol, and sex, and resolves to execute them in practice-no matter what the cost. Next on the list: international travel.
------The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World
Black, Riley
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs by Riley Black tells the story of the extinction of these prehistoric creatures and the beginning of our world as we know it today.
-----Trio: A Novel
Boyd, William
From the award-winning, best-selling author comes a rollicking novel with a dark undertow, set around three unforgettable individuals and a doomed movie set. A producer. A novelist. An actress. It's summer 1968--a time of war and assassinations, protests and riots. While the world is reeling, our trio is involved in making a disaster-plagued, Swingin' Sixties British movie in sunny Brighton. All are leading secret lives. As the movie shoot zigs and zags, these layers of secrets become increasingly more untenable. Pressures build inexorably. The FBI and CIA get involved. Someone is going to crack--or maybe they all will. From one of Britain's best loved writers comes an exhilarating, tender novel--by turns hilarious and heartbreaking--that asks the vital questions: What makes life worth living? And what do you do if you find it isn't?
------Dawn
Butler, Octavia E.
Lilith Iyapo has just lost her husband and son when atomic fire consumes Earth—the last stage of the planet’s final war. Hundreds of years later Lilith awakes, deep in the hold of a massive alien spacecraft piloted by the Oankali—who arrived just in time to save humanity from extinction. They have kept Lilith and other survivors asleep for centuries, as they learned whatever they could about Earth. Now it is time for Lilith to lead them back to her home world, but life among the Oankali on the newly resettled planet will be nothing like it was before.
-----The Night Shift
Finlay, Alex
From the author of the breakout thriller Every Last Fear, comes the electrifying new novel about a pair of small-town murders fifteen years apart-and the ties that bind them. "The night was expected to bring tragedy." So begins one of the most highly-anticipated thrillers of 2022. It's New Year's Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in New Jersey, four teenagers working late at the store are attacked. Only one inexplicably survives. Police quickly identify a suspect, the boyfriend of one of the victims, who flees and is never seen again.
------ Just Like Home
Gailey, Sarah
Just Like Home is a darkly gothic thriller from nationally bestselling author Sarah Gailey, perfect for fans of Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House as well as HBO's true crime masterpiece I'll Be Gone in the Dark. "Come home." Vera's mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories - she's come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there, beneath the house he'd built for his family. Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren't alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back and is slowly stripping Vera's childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn't the one leaving notes around the house in her father's handwriting... but who else could it possibly be? There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.
------Hokuloa Road
Hand, Elizabeth
On a whim, Grady Kendall applies to work as a live-in caretaker for a luxury property in Hawaii, as far from his small-town Maine life as he can imagine. Within days he's flying out to an estate on remote Hokuloa Road, where he quickly uncovers a dark side to the island's idyllic reputation: It has long been a place where people vanish without a trace. When a young woman named Jessie from his flight becomes the next to disappear, Grady is determined - and soon desperate - to figure out what happened to her, and to all those staring out of the island's 'missing' posters. But working with Raina, Jessie's fiercely protective best friend, to uncover the truth is anything but easy, and with an inexplicable and sinister presence stalking his every step, Grady can only hope he'll find the answer before it's too late.
------Just Like Mother
Heltzel, Anne
Spine-chilling and sharp, Just Like Mother is a modern gothic from a fresh new voice in horror, and "is set to be one of the year's most talked-about books" (Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author). A girl would be such a blessing... The last time Maeve saw her cousin was the night she escaped the cult they were raised in. For the past two decades, Maeve has worked hard to build a normal life in New York City, where she keeps everything-and everyone-at a safe distance. When Andrea suddenly reappears, Maeve regains the only true friend she's ever had. Soon she's spending more time at Andrea's remote Catskills estate than in her own cramped apartment. Maeve doesn't even mind that her cousin's wealthy work friends clearly disapprove of her single lifestyle. After all, Andrea has made her fortune in the fertility industry-baby fever comes with the territory. The more Maeve immerses herself in Andrea's world, the more disconnected she feels from her life back in the city; and the cousins' increasing attachment triggers memories Maeve has fought hard to bury. But confronting the terrors of her childhood may be the only way for Maeve to transcend the nightmare still to come.
-------Instinct: A Novel
Hough, Jason M.
Welcome to Silvertown, Washington. Population: 602. (For now.) Officer Mary Whittaker is the lone cop in a small, bizarre mountain town that has yet to fully welcome her. With the chief of police on leave, she is left to uncover the truth behind a sudden spate of abnormal incidents. An exemplary, beloved teenager has died tragically after eating wild mushrooms from his lawn. A hiker was found dead on a trail, smiling serenely after being mauled by a bear. And other residents seem to have lost all sense of self-preservation as they walk out in front of her moving cruiser or sit placidly in the middle of a sharp bend in a mountain road. As she witnesses increasingly odd behavior and more bodies are discovered in baffling-and completely avoidable-circumstances, Officer Whittaker is dismayed to find no two cases are the same, except in their bizarreness. Though every possible explanation and conspiracy theory is considered, from mental breakdowns to aliens, it turns out to be something much more unsettling. The townsfolk are all losing their instincts, one by one. As the town descends into panic, and Mary's own instincts begin to fail, she must figure out what is happening, who is behind it, and how to prevent the quirky mountain village from turning into a ghost town.
------Silver Sparrow: A Novel
Jones, Tayari
Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon’s families– the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich and flawed characters, she also reveals the joy, and the destruction, they brought to each other’s lives.
------True Biz: A Novel
Nović, Sara
True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history final, and have doctors, politicians, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they'll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both at the same time. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another-and changed forever. This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, cochlear implants and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, this is an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.
-----The Last Time I Lied: A Novel
Sager, Riley
Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale ... The last [Emma]--or anyone--saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips. Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings ... [which] catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to find out what really happened to her friends. Yet it's immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale.
-----The Island of Sea Women: A Novel
See, Lisa
A new novel from Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island. Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village's all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook's mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger. Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook's differences are impossible to ignore. The Island of Sea Women is an epoch set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association.
------Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies
Zimmerman, Vicky
After a major life upheaval on the eve of her 40th birthday, Kate Parker finds herself volunteering at Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. There she meets 97-year-old Cecily Finn. Cecily's tongue is as sharp as her mind but she has lost her spark, simply resigning herself to the Imminent End. Having no patience with Kate's plight, Cecily prescribes her a self-help book with a difference - it's a 1957 cookbook, featuring menus for anything life can throw at "the easily dismayed." So begins an unlikely friendship between two lonely and stubborn souls - one at the end of her life, one stuck in the middle - who discover one big life lesson: never be ashamed to ask for more.
-------The Lowering Days: A Novel
Brown, Gregory
David Almerin Ames and his brothers, Link and Simon, believed the wild patch of Maine where they lived along the Penobscot River belonged to them. Their affinity for the natural world derives from their parents: Arnoux, a romantic artist and Vietnam War deserter who builds boats by hand, and Falon, an activist journalist who runs The Lowering Days, a community newspaper which gives equal voice to indigenous and white issues. Then a bankrupt paper mill, once the Penobscot Valley's largest employer, is burned to the ground on the eve of reopening. Falon receives a letter from a Penobscot Nation teenager confessing to the crime - an act of justice for a sacred river under centuries of assault from toxic waste. The divide within the community widens, ending in a cycle of violence.
------Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin
Cushway, Philip and Michael Warr (editors/compilers)
Included in this extraordinary volume are the poems of 43 of America’s most talented African American wordsmiths, including Pulitzer Prize–winning poets Rita Dove, Natasha Tretheway, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Tracy K. Smith, as well as the work of other luminaries such as Elizabeth Alexander, Ishmael Reed, and Sonia Sanchez.
------ Send a Runner: A Navajo Honors the Long Walk
Eskeets, Edison
The Navajo tribe the Diné are the largest tribe in the United States and live across the American Southwest. But over a century ago, they were nearly wiped out by the Long Walk, a forced removal of most of the Diné people to a military-controlled reservation in New Mexico. The summer of 2018 marked the 150th anniversary of the Navajos' return to their homelands. One Navajo family and their community decided to honor that return: Edison Eskeets and his family organized a ceremonial run from Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, to Santa Fé, New Mexico, in order to deliver a message and to honor the survivors
------Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home: A Memoir
Goldberg, Natalie
When longtime Zen practitioner and world-renowned writing teacher Natalie Goldberg learns that she has a life-threatening illness, she is plunged into the challenging realm of hospitals, physicians, unfamiliar medical treatments, and the intense reality of her own impermanence. In navigating this foreign landscape, Natalie illuminates a pathway through illness that is grounded in the fierce commitment to embrace the suffering directly. In the middle of this, her partner discovers that she too has cancer. The cancer twins, as Natalie calls them, must together and apart grapple with survival, love, and the rawness of human connection.
------ Camino Winds
Grisham, John
Just as Bruce Cable's Bay Books is preparing for the return of bestselling author Mercer Mann, Hurricane Leo veers from its predicted course and heads straight for the island ... The hurricane is devastating: homes and condos are leveled, hotels and storefronts ruined, streets flooded, and a dozen people lose their lives. One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce's and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson's injuries suggests that the storm wasn't the cause of his death: he has suffered several suspicious blows to the head.
-----The Proposal
Guillory, Jasmine
When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn't come as a surprise--or happen in front of 45,000 people. When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn't the hard part--they've only been dating for five months, and he can't even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans... At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik's rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He's even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik's social media blows up--in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can't be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes.
------Behold the Dreamers: A Novel
Mbue, Imbolo
Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.
-----Corinne: A Novel
Morrow, Rebecca
Cast out of the fundamentalist church she was raised in and cut off from her family, Corinne builds a new life for herself. A good one. But she never stops missing the life-and the love- she's left behind. It's Enoch Miller who ruins everything for her. It was always Enoch Miller. She'll never get him out from under her skin. Set over fifteen years and told with astonishing intimacy, Rebecca Morrow's Corinne is the story of a woman who risks everything she's built for the one man she can never have.
-----I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Murphy, Mannie
What begins as an affectionate reminiscence of Mannie Murphy's 1990s teenage infatuation with the late actor River Phoenix -- specifically his role in Gus Van Sant's classic film, My Own Private Idaho -- slowly transforms into a remarkable, sprawling account of the city of Portland and state of Oregon's long and shameful history of white nationalism. Told in the style of an illustrated diary, with wet, blue ink washes, the form reveals the author to be the other protagonist in this story as a genderqueer kid discovering a complicated history.
------ Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting
Pooley, Clare
Every day Iona Iverson, a ... magazine advice columnist, rides the train to work with her dog, Lulu. Every day she sees the same people, whom she knows only by nickname ... Of course, they never speak. Seasoned commuters never do. Then one morning, the man she calls Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader chokes on a grape right in front of her. He'd have died were it not for the ... intervention of Sanjay, a nurse, who gives him the Heimlich maneuver. This single event starts a chain reaction, and an eclectic group of people discovers that talking to strangers can teach you quite a bit about the world around you--and even more about yourself.
-----Under Prairie Skies: The Plants and Native Peoples of the Northern Plains
Shay, C. Thomas
Writer and anthropologist C. Thomas Shay traces the key roles of plants since humans arrived in the Northern Plains at the end of the Ice Age and began to hunt the region's woodlands, fish its waters, and gather its flora.
------The dressmakers of Auschwitz : the true story of the women who sewed to survive
Adlington, Lucy, 1970- author.
Drawing on a vast array of sources, including interviews with the last surviving seamstress, this powerful book tells the story of the brave women who used their sewing skills to survive the Holocaust, exposing the greed, cruelty and hypocrisy of the Third Reich.
------The man who ate too much : the life of James Beard
Birdsall, John, author.
"The definitive biography of America's best-known and least understood food personality, and the modern culinary landscape he shaped. After World War II, a newly affluent United States reached for its own gourmet culture, one at ease with the French international style of Escoffier, but also distinctly American. Enter James Beard, authority on cooking and eating, his larger-than-life presence and collection of whimsical bow ties synonymous with the nation's food for decades, even after his death in 1985. In the first biography of Beard in twenty-five years, acclaimed writer John Birdsall argues that Beard's struggles as a closeted gay man directly influenced his creation of an American cuisine. Starting in the 1920s, Beard escaped loneliness and banishment by traveling abroad to places where people ate for pleasure, not utility, and found acceptance at home by crafting an American ethos of food likewise built on passion and delight. Informed by never-before-tapped correspondence and lush with details of a golden age of home cooking, The Man Who Ate Too Much is a commanding portrait of a towering figure who still represents the best in food"-- Provided by publisher.
What good lists of books, Alias. The graphics for each list are great! Calling to me are the following:True Biz—Sara Nović, about which i will also send an email reminder to a retired friend who spent her entire working career educating deaf students.
Instinct: A Novel—Jason M. Hough. The first line of the GR blurb hooked me—Twin Peaks and a Blake Crouch novel? I’m in.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden-Mannie Murphy sounds good, mostly because it’s about Portland when our family lived here together. I’ll email my daughter about it, too, because she really liked River Phoenix, too.
Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies—Vicky Zimmerman, mostly because it sounds pleasurable.
Thanks for the comment about the graphics. For some reason I do spend a lot of time trying to find good ones. Also happy you enjoyed the list.
I had to read,I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Teachers' Guide by Joanne Greenberg back in I think it was either junior high or high school. I think I may reread it. I don't really recall the plot anymore.
Tru Biz also is one I noted.
I recall Greenberg’s book being quite popular long ago but i didn’t read it. What i liked about the Murphy title is that Portland’s known as “City of Roses” here, which includes a month long celebration (including a “fleet week”). So, technically i think Portlanders were promised a rose garden. :-)
----- The Book Haters' Book Club
by Gretchen Anthony
Meet: Indie bookstore owner Irma. Disheartened by the death of the store's beloved co-owner Elliot, Irma plans to close up shop for good.
Plot twist! Neither Elliot's romantic partner Thom nor Irma's two daughters are willing to let the dream die. They plot to save the store and boost Irma's spirits (with a little ghostly help from Elliot himself).
Read on: The book-loving author sprinkles this heartwarming novel with reading recommendations, from her own favorites to those provided by family, friends, and librarians.
------ Less is Lost
by Andrew Sean Greer
What it's about: An old lover's death plunges modestly successful novelist Arthur Less into emotional and financial distress. A madcap tour of paid speaking gigs quickly descends into hilarious chaos.
Ever wonder... how one might (accidentally, of course) flood a commune? If it's that terrifying to ride a donkey down into a steep canyon? Less is Lost holds the answers you didn't know you needed.
Series alert: Narrated by Arthur's witty boyfriend Freddy, this is the 2nd in the Arthur Less novels. If you want more, start with the 1st: Less (2017).
------ History
by Miles Jupp
Meet: Clive Hapgood, a disillusioned private school teacher up to his eyeballs in middle-aged angst.
What happens: An incident at the school could solve all Clive's problems -- or wreck everything for good. It's hard to know but that (probably?) won't stop Clive.
Read it for: a humorous story with a stoic "everyman" English protagonist.
------ Jacqueline in Paris
by Ann Mah
Before Jackie O: Vassar college girl Jacqueline Bouvier spent a year abroad in post-WWII Paris, mingling with aristocratic French families and communist student activists alike.
Read it for: a vividly rendered portrait of the savvy future First Lady, and of European citizens struggling to rebuild trust among one another.
Try this next: Louis Bayard's Jackie & Me.
------ The Hero of this Book
by Elizabeth McCracken
An unnamed narrator pays homage to her late mother: a woman of formidable intellect, famed as the beloved editor at a prestigious Boston publication, and ruthless in her demand for privacy.
For fans of: writers, the purpose of writing, and the stories of highly intelligent, demanding, difficult -- that's code for "confident" -- women who write.
Reviewers say: "Transcending categories, McCracken's novel-as-eulogy...is mischievous, funny, canny, and deeply affecting" (Booklist).
------ The Furrows
by Namwali Serpell
What it's about: At age 12, Cee witnesses her little brother Wayne's drowning; his body is never found. As Cee grows to adulthood, she imagines seeing him in everyday places and eventually meets a mysterious, strangely familiar man...named Wayne.
Read it for: an imaginative own voices story of loss and grief, with unexpected plot twists that will leave readers thinking.
What to read next: Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli.
----- Best of Friends
by Kamila Shamsie
BFFs(?) As childhood friends in 1980s Karachi, Maryam Khan and Zahra Ali get into a stranger's car with another classmate. What happens next changes their lives.
Still friends: In 2019 and living in London, the two remain close. Secrets of the past emerge, evoking memories of the political upheaval they escaped and what Maryam and Zahra faced on that fateful night.
Try this next: Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen Ho.
----- Daughters of the New Year
by E. M. Tran
New Orleans, 2016: Former Vietnamese refugee Xuan Trung tells her three Americanized adult daughters' fortunes, a practice which they find embarrassingly archaic.
Time and again: Harkening back to Xuan's escape during fall of Saigon, the novel moves ever backward in time to explore recurring themes of hope, identity, and generational trauma.
For fans of: Min Jin Lee's Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing.
----- A place to stand : the making of a poet
Baca, Jimmy Santiago
Jimmy Santiago Baca's harrowing, brilliant memoir of his life before, during, and immediately after the years he spent in a maximum-security prison garnered tremendous critical acclaim and went on to win the prestigious 2001 International Prize. Long considered one of the best poets in America today, Baca was illiterate at the age of twenty-one and facing five to ten years behind bars for selling drugs. A Place to Stand is the remarkable tale of how he emerged after his years in the penitentiary -- much of it spent in isolation -- with the ability to read and a passion for writing poetry.
------ Corrections in ink : a memoir
Blakinger, Keri
An elite, competitive figure skater growing up, Keri Blakinger poured herself into the sport, even competing at nationals. But when her skating partnership ended abruptly, her world shattered. With all the intensity she saved for the ice, she dove into self-destruction. From her first taste of heroin, the next nine years would be a blur-living on the streets, digging for a vein, selling drugs and sex, eventually plunging off a bridge when it all became too much, all while trying to hold herself together enough to finish her degree at Cornell. Then, on a cold day during Keri's senior year, the police stopped her. Caught with a Tupperware container full of heroin, she was arrested and ushered into a holding cell, a county jail, and finally into state prison. There, in the cruel "upside down," Keri witnessed callous conditions and encountered women from all walks of life-women who would change Keri forever. Two years later, Keri walked out of prison sober and determined to make the most of the second chance she was given-an opportunity impacted by her privilege as a white woman. She scored a local reporting job and eventually moved to Texas, where she started covering nothing other than: prisons. Now, over her career as an award-winning journalist, she has dedicated herself to exposing the broken system as only an insider could. Not just a story about getting out and getting off drugs, this rich memoir is about finding redemption within yourself, as well as from the outside world, and the power of second chances.
----Bending the arc : my journey from prison to politics
Haynes, Keeda J.
Just weeks after graduating from the Dean's List from Tennessee State University, Keeda Haynes became an inmate at Alderson Federal Prison Camp, all for a crime she didn't commit. This was never meant to be her story. Her childhood was spent in church, band practice, and Girl Scouts meetings, and when she enrolled at TSU, the path ahead had seemed bright. Then one day her boyfriend had asked for a simple favor, to sign to receive some FedEx packages-packages she did not know were filled with marijuana. Suddenly she found herself in court and sentenced to seven years in prison-the same sentence she'd would have been handed if she had dealt the drugs herself. The experience of this injustice led her to question the foundations of her faith, and to confront a criminal justice system filled with race and class inequities-but instead of succumbing to despair and becoming yet another victim of our failed national "War on Drugs," she decided to dedicate her life toward making our justice system truly just. Even after she was released, she knew there was still so much freedom left to fight for. Haynes attended law school at night and became a public defender. She went on to become a criminal justice reform advocate supporting formerly incarcerated women, and in 2020 she became a candidate hoping to become the first Black woman to represent Tennessee in Congress. When she fights against mandatory minimum sentencing laws, advocates for successful transitions for those who have served their time, and seeks alternative sentencing for parents to help keep families together, she draws from her own personal experiences with how our unequal justice system treats the most vulnerable. Through her unique perspective and passionate activism, she now tells her story to help us reshape our communities into a true second chance culture. What she's learned firsthand-slowly, painfully-is that our future does not have to be defined by our past. And she knows that we're all ready for the long fight towards justice.
------ The sun does shine : how I found life and freedom on death row
Hinton, Anthony Ray
In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only twenty-nine years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free.
But with no money and a different system of justice for a poor black man in the South, Hinton was sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent his first three years on Death Row at Holman State Prison in agonizing silence--full of despair and anger toward all those who had sent an innocent man to his death. But as Hinton realized and accepted his fate, he resolved not only to survive, but find a way to live on Death Row. For the next twenty-seven years he was a beacon--transforming not only his own spirit, but those of his fellow inmates, fifty-four of whom were executed mere feet from his cell. With the help of civil rights attorney and bestselling author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, Hinton won his release in 2015.
------ Blood in my eye
Jackson, George
Blood In My Eye was completed only days before it's author was killed. George Jackson died on August 21, 1971 at the hands of San Quentin prison guards during an alleged escape attempt. At eighteen, George Jackson was convicted of stealing seventy dollars from a gas station and was sentenced from one year to life. He was to spent the rest of his life -- eleven years-- in the California prison system, seven in solidary confinement. In prison he read widely and transformed himself into an activist and political theoretician who defined himself as a revolutionary.
My time will come : a memoir of crime, punishment, hope, and redemption
Manuel, Ian
The story of a fourteen-year-old sentenced to life in prison, of the extraordinary relationship that developed between him and the woman he shot, and of his release after twenty-six years of imprisonment through the efforts of legal activist Bryan Stevenson
----- Prison writings : my life is my sun dance
Peltier, Leonard
In September of 2022, twenty-five years after Leonard Peltier received a life sentence for the murder of two FBI agents, the DNC unanimously passed a resolution urging President Joe Biden to release him. Peltier has affirmed his innocence ever since his sentencing in 1977--his case was made fully and famously in Peter Matthiessen's bestselling In the Spirit of Crazy Horse--and many remain convinced he was wrongly convicted.
Prison Writings is a wise and unsettling book, both memoir and manifesto, chronicling his life in Leavenworth Prison in Kansas. Invoking the Sun Dance, in which pain leads one to a transcendent reality, Peltier explores his suffering and the insights it has borne him. He also locates his experience within the history of the American Indian peoples and their struggles to overcome the federal government's injustices.
----- Assata : an autobiography
Shakur, Assata
On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Chesimard) lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state, and federal police attempted to question her about the shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike that had claimed the life of a white state trooper. Long a target of J. Edgar Hoover's campaign to defame, infiltrate, and criminalize Black nationalist organizations and their leaders, Shakur was incarcerated for four years prior to her conviction on flimsy evidence in 1977 as an accomplice to murder. This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou. Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides.
----- Trejo : my life of crime, redemption, and Hollywood
Trejo, Danny
For the first time, the full, fascinating, and inspirational true story of Danny Trejo's journey from crime, prison, addiction, and loss to unexpected fame as Hollywood's favorite bad guy with a heart of gold.
----- Solitary : unbroken by four decades in solitary confinement : my story of transformation and hope
Woodfox, Albert
Solitary is the unforgettable life story of a man who served more than four decades in solitary confinement--in a 6-foot by 9-foot cell, 23 hours a day, in notorious Angola prison in Louisiana--all for a crime he did not commit. That Albert Woodfox survived was, in itself, a feat of extraordinary endurance against the violence and deprivation he faced daily. That he was able to emerge whole from his odyssey within America's prison and judicial systems is a triumph of the human spirit, and makes his book a clarion call to reform the inhumanity of solitary confinement in the U.S. and around the world.
---- The autobiography of Malcolm X
X, Malcolm
The Black leader discusses his political philosophy and reveals details of his life, shedding light on the ideas that enabled him to gain the allegiance of a still growing percentage of the Black population.
Alias Reader wrote: "----- A place to stand : the making of a poet
Baca, Jimmy Santiago
Jimmy Santiago Baca's harrowing, brilliant memoir of his life before, during, and immediately after the years he spent in a max..."
I enjoyed Trejo's book!!
I don’t know how i missed these posts but i did. The batch about prisoners intrigued, particularly Assata: An Autobiography—Assata Shakur. I’m not familiar with her name but her story sounds good. And thanks for including The Autobiography of Malcolm X, mentioned in the recap & my own favorite autobiography.A Place to Stand—Jimmy Santiago Baca also sounds different. And Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance—Leonard Peltier would be interesting to me.
The Book Haters' Book Club—Gretchen Anthony sounded good until mention of a spirit. I’ll pass on that.I’m not sure what to think of Jacqueline in Paris—Ann Mah. Anyone here read or plan to read this?
Thanks for these, Alias.
Julie wrote: "I enjoyed Trejo's book!!
."
Good to know. I'll check it out.
madrano wrote: "for including The Autobiography of Malcolm X, mentioned in the recap & my own favorite autobiography."It is also one of my all time favorite autobiographies. Not many people change over their lifetime in any fundamental way. He did. You can really see the arc of his life. I also thought the book gives one a great feel for that period in history. 5 star book for me and probably in the top 5 of my all time best non fiction reads.
It’s fairly high up in my best list, too.
----- Blue Moon Haven
by Janet Dailey
A woman who puts down new roots in a small Alabama town finds love unexpectedly blooming.
------ A death in Tokyo : a mystery
by Keigo Higashino
Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga investigates the murder of a man whose stabbed body was moved onto the Nihonbashi bridge and tries to uncover why the victim's wallet was found at the sight of a car accident.
---- Murder Book
by Thomas Perry
An ex-cop takes on a widespread criminal organization targeting midwestern towns.
----- The last kingdom
by Steve Berry
Cotton Malone's protoge, Luke Daniels searches for King Ludwig II of Bavaria's mysterious new kingdom, one separate, apart, and in lieu of Bavaria. A place he could retreat into and rule as he wished. But a question remains: did he succeed?
----- Storm Watch
by C. J. Box
Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett investigates a mysterious death at a secret remote high-tech facility in this riveting new novel from #1 New York Times bestseller C.J. Box.
---- The Maltese Iguana : a novel
by Tim Dorsey
"Serge A. Storms is back on the road in the latest zany Florida caper from the "wickedly funny" (Entertainment Weekly) Tim Dorsey"
----- Worthy opponents : a novel
by Danielle Steel
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel comes a powerful novel about a woman running her family's luxury department store and the wealthy investor who threatens to take it over.
----- Collateral Damage
by Judith A. Jance
In the next thrilling installment in J.A. Jance’s New York Times bestselling series, Ali Reynolds and High Noon Enterprises faces the dangerous consequences of one man’s desperate search for revenge.
----- Old Babes in the Wood : Stories
by Margaret Eleanor Atwood
A dazzling collection of short stories from the internationally acclaimed, award-winning author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, stories that look deeply into the heart of family relationships, marriage, loss and memory, and what it means to spend a life together
----- Lemon curd killer
by Laura Childs
"High tea and high fashion turn deadly in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series. Tea shop entrepreneur Theodosia Browning has been tapped to host a fancy Limón Tea in a genuine lemon orchard , but the murder of a fashion designer puts the squeeze on things.
----- Night flight to Paris
by Cara Black
October 1942: it's been two years since Kate Rees was sent to Paris on a British Secret Service mission to assassinate Hitler. Since then, she has left spycraft behind to take a training job as a sharpshooting instructor in the Scottish Highlands. But her quiet life is violently disrupted when Colonel Stepney, her former handler, drags her back into the fray for a dangerous three-pronged mission in Paris.
----- I Will Find You
by Harlan Coben
An innocent father serving a life sentence for the murder of his own son must break out of prison to uncover the truth in #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben’s latest breathtaking thriller.
----- So shall you reap
by Donna Leon
In the thirty-second installment of Donna Leon's bestselling series, a connection to Guido Brunetti's own youthful past helps solve a mysterious murder.
----- 48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister
by Joyce Carol Oates
When a woman mysteriously vanishes, her sister must tally up the clues to discover her fate.
------ Good dog, bad cop
by David Rosenfelt
For the K Team, playing "good dog", "bad cop" is all fun and games... until there's a body on the scene, in the next K Team Novel by bestselling author David Rosenfelt.
------ The House of Wolves
by James Patterson
Jenny Wolfs murdered father has left her in charge of a multi-billion-dollar empirea newspaper, a football team, a holding company ... and a dysfunctional family that knows no bounds.
------ Earth's the Right Place for Love
by Elizabeth Berg
This beautiful new novel by the beloved author of Open House and Talk Before Sleep tells the story of two young people growing up in Mason, Missouri, and how Arthur Moses, a shy young man, becomes the wise and compassionate person readers loved in The Story of Arthur Truluv.
----- Two Wars and a Wedding
by Lauren Willig
Filled with vivid details, shocking truths, and two sly, strong women who bring panache and humor to every scene. I’m simply in awe of the masterful, magical way Lauren Willig makes history come alive.
------ On the Line
by Fern Michaels
The masterful storytelling and nail-biting suspense that are trademarks of beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels combine in this thrilling standalone novel in the tradition of Nora Roberts and Rachel Caine .
----- Loyalty
by Lisa Scottoline
#1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline presents Loyalty, an emotional, action-packed epic of love and justice, set during the rise of the Mafia in Sicily.
----- Cold Enough for Snow
Au, Jessica
A mother and daughter travel from abroad to meet in Tokyo: they walk along the canals through the autumn evenings, escape the typhoon rains, share meals in small cafes and restaurants, and visit galleries to see some of the city's most radical modern art. All the while, they talk: about the weather, horoscopes, clothes, and objects, about family, distance, and memory. But uncertainties abound. Who is really speaking here-is it only the daughter? And what is the real reason behind this elliptical, perhaps even spectral journey? At once a careful reckoning and an elegy, Cold Enough for Snow questions whether any of us speak a common language, which dimensions can contain love, and what claim we have to truly know another's inner world.
---- The Haunting Season: Eight Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights
Collins, Bridget, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Andrew Michael Hurley, Jess Kidd, Elizabeth Macneal, Natasha Pulley, and Laura Purcell
Long before Charles Dickens and Henry James popularized the tradition of supernatural horror, the shadowy nights of winter have been a time for people to gather together by the flicker of candlelight and experience the intoxicating thrill of a spooky tale. Now eight bestselling, award-winning authors--all of them master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre--bring the tradition to vivid life in a spellbinding new collection of original spine-tingling tales. Taking you from the frosty fens of the English countryside, to the snow-covered grounds of a haunted estate, to a bustling London Christmas market, these mesmerizing stories will capture your imagination and serve as your indispensable companion to cold, dark nights. So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the ghostly spell of winters past . . .
------ The Snow Queen
Cunningham, Michael
Michael Cunningham's luminous novel begins with a vision. It's November 2004. Barrett Meeks, having lost love yet again, is walking through Central Park when he is inspired to look up at the sky; there he sees a pale, translucent light that seems to regard him in a distinctly godlike way. Barrett doesn't believe in visions -- or in God -- but he can't deny what he's seen.
------ Long Overdue at the Lakeside Library
Danvers, Holly
A glowing wood stove, a cozy log cabin, and shelves full of books are all Rain Wilmot needs to ride out the Wisconsin winter, now that she's made her family's Lofty Pines library her year-round home. But the warm-hearted librarian's blood runs cold when a local man, Wallace Benson, is found dead during the annual Ice Fishing Jamboree. After Benson's body is found in his ice shanty, Rain recalls that she recently saw the victim in her library, borrowing a few cookbooks to prepare for the fishing tournament's communal "chili dump." She later finds the same books returned to the library's drop box with an enigmatic not from Benson to Rain. As Rain seeks to understand the message, the prim suspect becomes Rain's friend Nick, who was the last person to see Wallace alive and who returned to the jamboree with a nasty cut on his hand. The knife found in his tackle box only makes Nick's troubles worse. but Rain keeps fishing for other suspects. Was the killer Danny, who lost his arm to a logging accident involving Wallace? Or Danny's bitter father, whose dreams of retirement were dashed by his son's accident? With the help of her friends Julia and Jace, Rain sets out to hook the real culprit and clear Nick's name. But can her sleuthing skills protect her from a killer who'd like to take her out of circulation?
------You're a Mean One, Matthew Prince
Janovsky, Timothy
Young, rich, and thoroughly spoiled, Matthew has no intention of being shipped off to some small town in New England to stay with his grandmother for Christmas...or to play nice with the attractive young man he meets there. Find a little "Joy to the World"? Not today, Santa. But when the two are forced to work together to make a charity gala go off without a hitch, Matthew may find the home he's been missing all along.
------Mind of Winter
Kasischke, Laura
On a snowy Christmas morning, Holly Judge awakens, the fragments of a nightmare--something she must write down--floating on the edge of her consciousness. Something followed them from Russia. On another Christmas morning thirteen years ago, she and her husband Eric were in Siberia to meet the sweet, dark-haired Rapunzel they desperately wanted. How they laughed at the nurses of Pokrovka Orphanage #2 with their garlic and their superstitions, and ignored their gentle warnings. After all, their fairy princess Tatiana--baby Tatty--was perfect. As the snow falls, enveloping the world in its white silence, Holly senses that something is not right, has not been right in the years since they brought their daughter--now a dangerously beautiful, petulant, sometimes erratic teenager--home. There is something evil inside this house. Inside themselves. How else to explain the accidents, the seemingly random and banal misfortunes. Trixie, the cat. The growth on Eric's hand. Sally the hen, their favorite, how the other chickens turned on her. The housekeeper, that ice, a bad fall. The CDs scratched, every one. But Holly must not think of these things. She and Tatiana are all alone. Eric is stuck on the roads and none of their guests will be able to make it through the snow. With each passing hour, the blizzard rages and Tatiana's mood darkens, her behavior becoming increasingly disturbing and frightening. Until, in every mother's worst nightmare, Holly finds she no longer recognizes her daughter.
------The Holiday Detour
Kolven, Jane
Sometimes it takes everything going wrong to make you see how right things are. Dana Gottfried is a stressed-out Jewish lesbian who's just quit her job and wants to get home to see her grandmother. When her car breaks down in Indiana on Christmas Eve, Dana is stranded--until she's rescued by Charlie, a pig farmer who doesn't identify as male or female. Although they come from different worlds, Dana is intrigued by Charlie's sense of humor and kindness. Despite her better judgment, Dana says yes when Charlie offers a ride. But the journey home is paved with detours. From car accidents to scheming ex-girlfriends to a snowy and deserted Chicago Loop, everything that could go wrong on their road trip does, but it leads Dana on a path of self-discovery that just might end in love.
------The Matzah Ball
Meltzer, Jean
When her publisher insists that she write a Hanukkah romance, Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt, a Jewish woman with a secret career as a Christmas romance novelist, unexpectedly finds inspiration when she encounters a childhood acquaintance at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah.
-----The House on Vesper Sands
O'Donnell, Paraic
London, 1893: high up in a house on a dark, snowy night, a lone seamstress stands by a window. So begins the swirling, serpentine world of Paraic O'Donnell's Victorian-inspired mystery, the story of a city cloaked in shadow, but burning with questions: why does the seamstress jump from the window? Why is a cryptic message stitched into her skin? And how is she connected to a rash of missing girls, all of whom seem to have disappeared under similar circumstances? On the case is Inspector Cutter, a detective as sharp and committed to his work as he is wryly hilarious. Gideon Bliss, a Cambridge dropout in love with one of the missing girls, stumbles into a role as Cutter's sidekick. And clever young journalist Octavia Hillingdon sees the case as a chance to tell a story that matters-despite her employer's preference that she stick to a women's society column. As Inspector Cutter peels back the mystery layer by layer, he leads them all, at last, to the secrets that lie hidden at the house on Vesper Sands.
-----Winter Counts: A Novel
Weiden, David Heska Wanbli
Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that's hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil's nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop. They follow a lead to Denver and find that drug cartels are rapidly expanding and forming new and terrifying alliances. And back on the reservation, a new tribal council initiative raises uncomfortable questions about money and power. As Virgil starts to link the pieces together, he must face his own demons and reclaim his Native identity. He realizes that being a Native American in the twenty-first century comes at an incredible cost.
Two great lists! I found several neat-sounding mysteries from the first group. The second, full of snow and cold was pure joy! Except the last. David Heska Wanbli Weiden’s Winter Counts was well written but the topic was sad, due to the genuine reporting of the way life on some Reservations can be. Regardless, there’s good reading to be had from culling those lists. Thank you!
------ The Circus Train
by Amita Parikh
"Lena is a polio survivor whose father is an illusionist with a traveling circus. One day she rescues Jewish stowaway Alexandre. Growing to be more than friends with WWII looming, the two are torn apart when disaster strikes. A beautiful story mirroring the horrors of war with the innocence of young love, this is for fans of historical fiction and circus tales like Water for Elephants."
Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX
NoveList read-alike: The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff
----- A Dash of Salt and Pepper
by Kosoko Jackson
"Moving back to his parent's house after getting fired and dumped feels like failure to MBA graduate Xavier. He believes it is just a matter of time until he rebounds and gets his old life back. Then he meets Logan; chef, musician, father, utterly irresistible, and finds himself having to choose between love and his career dreams. You won't be able to put down this charming small town romance."
Alicia Ahlvers, Henrico County Public Library, Henrico, VA
NoveList read-alike: Chef's Kiss by T.J. Alexander
------ The Ingenue: A Novel
by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
"Former piano prodigy Saskia returns home after her mother's death to find her family home has been bequeathed to someone else. Saskia is a believable and tragic figure as she searches for answers to questions that have been years in the making. What makes an ingénue and what destroys her? For fans of My Dark Vanessa."
Courtenay Reece, Millville Public Library, Millville, NJ
NoveList read-alike: The Turnout by Megan Abbott
------ The Light Pirate
by Lily Brooks-Dalton
"As the effects of climate change begin to overwhelm America, we meet Wanda, a girl born during and named after a devastating hurricane. With civilization faltering in the face of mounting challenges, she must learn to live differently. The depiction of climate change and its effects here are bone-chilling, but Wanda's resilience is inspiring. For fans of Station Eleven."
James Ludy, New Canaan Library, New Canaan, CT
NoveList read-alike: Above the Ether by Eric Barnes
------ Ms. Demeanor: A Novel
by Elinor Lipman
"After a neighbor's complaint, Jane finds herself with her law license suspended and wearing an ankle monitor for six months. Her sister persuades her to try food blogging and soon Jane's cooking for another house-arrested tenant while trying to discover the identity of her accuser. This is a breezy fun read with a dash of romance and mystery for fans of Tom Perrotta and Jennifer Weiner."
Sharon Hutchinson, Keytesville Library, Keytesville, MO
NoveList read-alike: The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel
------ Queen of Myth and Monsters
by Scarlett St. Clair
"Vampire King Adrian and his beloved Queen Isolde return in this searing erotic romance in which peril hides at every turn. St. Clair takes the reader on another high-stakes thrill ride as the couple works to establish their reign in a dark fantasy realm of mortals and immortals. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Guild Hunters."
Donna Rasmussen, Librarian-at-Large, Northern NJ Libraries
NoveList read-alike: Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost
------ Someone Had to Do It: A Novel
by Amber and Danielle Brown
"An ambitious intern and a conniving rich girl clash in this riveting dual POV thriller set in the world of big New York fashion houses. A fun, fast-paced read with a villain who's a ton of fun to root against! For fans of All Her Little Secrets."
Mara Bandy Fass, Champaign Public Library, Champaign, Il
NoveList read-alike: The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris
------- The Sunshine Girls: A Novel
by Molly Fader
"Clara and Abbie are mourning the loss of their mother, BettyKay, when a stranger named Kitty shows up. They attended nursing school, and through diaries and flashbacks, the reader learns about their loves, friendships, and secrets. Well developed characters made this an enjoyable story!"
Debbie Lease, Hillsdale Public Library, Hillsdale, NJ
NoveList read-alike: The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin
------ The Widowmaker: A Black Harbor Novel
by Hannah Morrissey
"As the case of Clive Reynolds's disappearance 20 years ago unfolds, Detective Ryan Hudson discovers a link to his partner's murder. Skillfully woven together, the characters draw readers into a web of lies and deceitful actions that will keep them guessing who is the threat until the end."
Janet Makoujy, New City Library, New City, NY
NoveList read-alike: When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McClain
-------- Witcha Gonna Do?
by Avery Flynn
"This is a very light magical romance. When a witch with no powers curses her witch family, she must work with her hot nemesis to save her family -- and the world from domination."
Lou Ann Shoultz, Mattoon Public Library, Mattoon, IL
NoveList read-alike: Go Hex Yourself by Jessica Clare
------Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today
Bertinelli, Valerie
Valerie Bertinelli shares an inspiring blueprint that offers women in midlife support and hope. She shares personal stories that many women will relate to from her past decade: hitting her fifties, taking care of her dying mother, the evolving relationship with her husband, a career change, her relationship with food, and the battle to believe in herself as she is.
------ The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free
Bren, Paulina
The Barbizon tells the story of New York's most glamorous women-only hotel, and the women -- both famous and ordinary -- who passed through its doors. World War I had liberated women from home and hearth, setting them on the path to political enfranchisement and gainful employment. Arriving in New York to work in the dazzling new skyscrapers, they did not want to stay in uncomfortable boarding houses; they wanted what men already had: exclusive residential hotels that catered to their needs, with daily maid service, cultural programs, workout rooms, and private dining. The Barbizon would become the most famous residential hotel of them all, welcoming everyone from aspiring actresses, dancers, and fashion models to seamstresses, secretaries, and nurses. The Barbizon's residents read like a who's who: Titanic survivor Molly Brown; actresses Rita Hayworth, Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, Tippi Hedron, Liza Minelli, Ali McGraw, Jaclyn Smith, and Phylicia Rashad; writers Sylvia Plath, Joan Didion, Diane Johnson, Gael Greene, and Meg Wolitzer; and so many more. But before they were household names, they were among the young women arriving at the Barbizon with a suitcase, and hope. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, The Barbizon weaves together a tale that has, until now, never been told. It is an epic story of women's ambition in the 20th century. The Barbizon Hotel offered its residents a room of their own and air to breathe, unfettered from family obligations and expectations. It gave women a chance to remake themselves however they pleased. No place had existed like it before, or has since.
-----Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
Brina, Elizabeth Miki
A searing, deeply candid memoir about a young woman's journey to understanding her complicated parents--her father a Vietnam veteran, her mother an Okinawan war bride--and her own, fraught cultural heritage.
------The Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found
Bruni, Frank
From New York Times columnist and bestselling author Frank Bruni comes a wise and moving memoir about aging, affliction, and optimism after partially losing his eyesight. One morning in late 2017, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni woke up with strangely blurred vision. He wondered at first if some goo or gunk had worked its way into his right eye. But this was no fleeting annoyance, no fixable inconvenience. Overnight, a rare stroke had cut off blood to one of his optic nerves, rendering him functionally blind in that eye--forever. And he soon learned from doctors that the same disorder could ravage his left eye, too. He could lose his sight altogether. In The Beauty of Dusk, Bruni hauntingly recounts his adjustment to this daunting reality, a medical and spiritual odyssey that involved not only reappraising his own priorities but also reaching out to, and gathering wisdom from, longtime friends and new acquaintances who had navigated their own traumas and afflictions. The result is a poignant, probing, and ultimately uplifting examination of the limits that all of us inevitably encounter, the lenses through which we choose to evaluate them and the tools we have for perseverance. Bruni's world blurred in one sense, as he experienced his first real inklings that the day isn't forever and that light inexorably fades, but sharpened in another. Confronting unexpected hardship, he felt more blessed than ever before. There was vision lost. There was also vision found.
-----Girls That Never Die: Poems
Elhillo, Safia
In Girls That Never Die, award-winning poet Safia Elhillo reinvents the epic to explore Muslim girlhood and shame, the dangers of being a woman, and the myriad violences enacted and imagined against women's bodies. Drawing from her own life and family histories, as well as cultural myths and news stories about honor killings and genital mutilation, she interlaces the everyday traumas of growing up a girl under patriarchy with magical realist imaginings of rebellion, autonomy, and power. Elhillo writes a new world: women escape their stonings by birds that carry the rocks away; slain girls grow into two, like the hydra of lore, sprouting too numerous to ever be eradicated; circles of women are deemed holy, protected. Ultimately, Girls That Never Die is about wrestling ourselves from the threats of violence that constrain our lives, and instead looking to freedom and questioning: [what if i will not die] [what will govern me then].
------Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life: A Memoir
Ephron, Delia
The bestselling, beloved writer of romantic comedies like You've Got Mail tells her own late-in-life love story in her "resplendent memoir," complete with a tragic second act and joyous resolution. Delia Ephron had struggled through several years of heartbreak. She'd lost her sister, Nora, and then her husband, Jerry, both to cancer. Several months after Jerry's death, she decided to make one small change in her life--she shut down his landline, which crashed her internet. She ended up in Verizon hell. She channeled her grief the best way she knew: by writing a New York Times op-ed. The piece caught the attention of Peter, a Bay Area psychiatrist, who emailed her to commiserate. Recently widowed himself, he reminded her that they had shared a few dates fifty-four years before, set up by Nora. Delia did not remember him, but after several weeks of exchanging emails and sixties folk songs, he flew east to see her. They were crazy, utterly, in love. But this was not a rom-com: four months later she was diagnosed with AML, a fierce leukemia. In Left on Tenth, Delia Ephron enchants as she seesaws us between tears and laughter, navigating the suicidal lows of enduring cutting-edge treatment and the giddy highs of a second chance at love. With Peter and her close girlfriends by her side, with startling clarity, warmth, and honesty about facing death, Ephron invites us to join her team of warriors and become believers ourselves.
------Ten Steps to Nanette
Gadsby, Hannah
Hannah Gadsby's unique standup special Nanette was a viral success--and to some, her worldwide fame may have seemed like an overnight sensation. But like everything else about Gadsby, there's more to her success than meets the eye. In her first book, the queer Australian comedian, writer, and actress takes us through the key moments in her life that ultimately led to the creation of Nanette and her startling declaration that she was quitting comedy. She traces her growth as a gay woman from Tasmania--where homosexuality was illegal until 1997--to her ever-evolving relationship with comedy, to her struggle with late-in-life diagnoses of autism and ADHD, and finally to the backbone of Nanette--the renouncement of self-deprecation, the rejection of misogyny, and the moral power of telling the truth.
------The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
Gladwell, Malcolm
Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists had a different view. This 'Bomber Mafia' asked: What if precision bombing could, just by taking out critical choke points -- industrial or transportation hubs -- cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal? In his podcast, Revisionist History, Gladwell re-examines moments from the past and asks whether we got it right the first time. In The Bomber Mafia, he steps back from the bombing of Tokyo, the deadliest night of the war, and asks, "Was it worth it?" The attack was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared more by averting a planned US invasion. Things might have gone differently had LeMay's predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. As a key member of the Bomber Mafia, Haywood's theories of precision bombing had been foiled by bad weather, enemy jet fighters, and human error. When he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.
------Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse
Goulson, Dave
We have to learn to live as part of nature, not apart from it. And the first step is to start looking after the insects, the little creatures that make our shared world go round.
Insects are essential for life as we know it - without them, our world would look vastly different. Drawing on the latest ground-breaking research and a lifetime's study, Dave Goulson reveals the long decline of insect populations that has taken place in recent decades and its potential consequences.
-----The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life
Jacobs, A. J.
The New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically goes on a journey to understand the enduring power of puzzles: why we love them, what they do to our brains, and how they can improve our world.
-----Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest
Simard, S.
A personal and scientific work on trees, forests, and the author's profound discoveries of tree communication.
------An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
Yong, Ed
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world.This book welcomes us into a previously unfathomable dimension-the world as it is truly perceived by other animals. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires (and fireworks), songbirds that can see the Earth's magnetic fields, and brainless jellyfish that nonetheless have complex eyes. We discover that a crocodile's scaly face is as sensitive as a lover's fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, and that even fingernail-sized spiders can make out the craters of the moon. We meet people with unusual senses, from women who can make out extra colors to blind individuals who can navigate using reflected echoes like bats. Yong tells the stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, and also looks ahead at the many mysteries which lie unsolved.
What tremendous topics the above two lists cover. I liked Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest—Suzanne Simard quite a bit. Her writing flowed and her story about researching forests to help curb clear cutting forests was outstanding. I’ve had The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free—Paulina Bren on my wish list quite awhile now. Reading the synopsis reminded me why.
Thanks for all of these, AliasReader.
----- Thinking 101: How to Reason Better to Live Better
by Woo-Kyoung Ahn
What it is: a thought-provoking exploration of the preconceptions that can cloud our judgement and negatively impact our reasoning skills, with strategies to help readers improve their critical thinking skills.
Topics include: confirmation bias; anecdotal evidence; and perspective-taking techniques.
Why you might like it: Though author Woo-Kyoung Ahn bases her conclusions in comprehensive psychological research, her analysis is accessible, engaging, and full of useful, everyday examples.
----- Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories that Make Us
by Rachel Aviv
What it's about: the importance of our self-perception and the stories we tell ourselves, with a focus on mental health and how current psychiatric frameworks can both help and hinder our sense of who we are.
How it's structured: as a collection of candid, moving profiles of people with mental illness, interspersed with the author's own conclusions based on original research and reporting.
Reviewers say: "A moving, meticulously researched, elegantly constructed work of nonfiction (Kirkus Reviews).
----- The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired our Minds and Our World
by Max Fisher
What it is: a candid and well-researched examination of the effect social media is having on our minds and societies.
Best for: readers curious about the relationship between their individual experiences and the wider structural forces that may play a role in how they think and feel about themselves.
About the author: Pulitzer Prize finalist Max Fisher is a New York Times columnist whose work has also appeared in The Atlantic and the Washington Post.
----- Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make--and Keep--Friends
by Marisa G. Franco, PhD
What it's about: the importance of friendship, how to foster it in our lives, and how learning about attachment styles can help us connect with one another.
Don't miss: the chapter exploring the unique hurdles that marginalized people can face in friendships with privileged people and how set and maintain boundaries.
Reviewers say: Platonic is a "pleasing mix of research, advice, and humor" an a "useful tonic to a key social ailment" (Kirkus Reviews).
----- Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People)
by Amy Gallo
What it is: a thought-provoking exploration of workplace conflict -- how it happens, how it affects us, and what we can do about it.
Topics include: common types of difficult coworkers; dealing with an insecure boss; learning to be "the adult in the room."
About the author: Amy Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review who wrote The HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict and hosts the podcast Women at Work.
----- Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be
by Dr. Becky Kennedy
What it's about: how to develop a parenting framework that emphasizes connecting with children over correcting them.
The title: refers to the central argument that parents should aim to view their children as "good inside" when considering their behavior, which sounds obvious but can be difficult to put into practice.
Reviewers say: "Frustrated parents will find this well worth their time" (Publishers Weekly).
----- It's Not Me, It's You: Break the Blame Cycle, Relationship Better
by John Kim and Vanessa Bennett
What it is: an approachable analysis of common obstacles faced by couples in long-term relationships and advice for moving forward together.
Why you might like it: the skillful mix of professional and personal -- authors John Kim and Vanessa Bennett share knowledge gained from their careers as therapists and reflections on their own long-term relationship as they guide readers through topics like communication and parenting.
Don't miss: the "questions to ask yourself" section at the end of each chapter and the "Practice" challenges for how to apply what you've learned.
----- The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in A Toxic Culture
by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté
What it's about: the increase in chronic illness in wealthy countries and the potential connections between trauma and capitalism and these poorer health outcomes.
Topics include: the physiological impact of stress the body; the uptick in mental illness diagnosis in adolescents; how socioeconomic factors like racism can lead to lower life expectancy.
Reviewers say: Myth is a "bold reappraisal" of modern medicine that "has the power to change how readers think about health" (Publishers Weekly).
----- Girls on the Brink: Helping Our Daughters Thrive in An Era of Increased Anxiety...
by Donna Jackson Nakazawa
What it is: an incisive look at factors that can have a negative impact on girls' mental health and strategies for navigating their formative years.
Why you should read it: although the subject matter is sobering, the engaging and accessible writing style makes reading about such an important topic a little less daunting.
About the author: Donna Jackson Nakazawa is an award-winning science journalist whose previous books include The Last Best Cure and Childhood Disrupted.
----- The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care
by Rina Raphael
What it's about: the rapid rise of the wellness industry, what it can actually offer, and how to approach it with a critical eye.
Chapters include: "Why the Hell is the Advice Always Yoga?"; "Is My Face Wash Trying to Kill Me?"; and "Gym as Church."
Reviewers say: "This astute and revealing investigation packs a punch" (Publishers Weekly).
I've had a library hold on this one for awhile. There is a long wait list.----- The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in A Toxic Culture
by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté
That is the one from the list that i added to my TBR, Alias. Nice list with good topics. Thank you.
------ Our America: A Photographic History
by Ken Burns; introduction by Sarah Hermanson Meister
What's inside: a chronological collection of both well-known and obscure photographs documenting nearly two centuries of American history, assembled by famed documentarian Ken Burns.
Why you might like it: Featuring richly detailed notes on each photo's context and origin, this moving collection celebrates the breadth of the American experience.
----- Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and...
by Matthew F. Delmont
What it is: a thought-provoking history that explores the essential yet overlooked roles African American soldiers played in World War II and details how they served in the face of racism.
Don't miss: Historian Matthew F. Delmont's account of the lesser-known Port Chicago Mutiny, an event that led to the desegregation of the United States Navy.
Try this next: David P. Cline's well-researched oral history Twice Forgotten: African Americans and the Korean War.
------ The Story of Russia
by Orlando Figes
What it is: a sweeping history of Russia from 988 CE to the present exploring the evolution of the country's national identity: "No other country has reimagined its past so frequently."
About the author: Prizewinning historian Orlando Figes is regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on Russian history.
Book buzz: The Story of Russia was named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly.
----- The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World
by Jonathan Freedland
What it's about: In 1944, Slovak Jewish teenager Rudolf Vrba made a harrowing escape from Auschwitz and co-wrote a report about the camp that was distributed to the Allies and helped save over 200,000 lives.
Read it for: a compelling, pulse-pounding account that reads like fiction; a nuanced portrait of an overlooked historical figure who often courted controversy in his postwar life.
Try this next: The Escape Artists: A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Escape of the Great War by Neal Bascomb.
------ Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past
by Kevin Michael Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer (editors)
What's inside: 20 thought-provoking essays that address misinformation about America's past, each penned by a renowned historian.
Contributors include: Akhil Reed Amar, Carol Anderson, Geraldo Cadava, Daniel Immerwahr, Erika Lee, and more.
Topics include: immigration laws, voter fraud, The New Deal and The Great Society, feminism, socialism, and the U.S.-Mexico border.
📚📚******* 2022 Debuts ******* 📚📚
------ The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India
by Mansi Choksi
What it is: Dubai-based journalist Mansi Choksi's illuminating exploration of how the pull between tradition and modernity informs marriage customs in contemporary India.
Featuring: profiles of a lesbian couple, an intercaste couple, and an interfaith couple who eschewed arranged marriages in their search for true love.
Reviewers say: "This is a heart-wrenching and inspiring portrait of love under pressure" (Publishers Weekly).
------ Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela
by William Neuman
What it is: a sobering account of how government neglect, corruption, and political polarization have contributed to Venezuela's decline.
Read it for: interviews with politicians and everyday citizens detailing how the populace grapples with hyperinflation, poverty, and famine.
About the author: William Neuman is the former Andes Region Bureau Chief for the New York Times and lived in Caracas for many years.
------ The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World
by Shelley Puhak
What it's about: the rivalry between Merovingian queen consorts and sisters-in-law Brunhild and Fredegund, each of whom played an active (and violent) role in securing their positions in 6th-century Francia.
Why you might like it: Poet Shelley Puhak's lively and evocative history "reclaims two powerhouse women from obscurity" (Publishers Weekly) by revealing how they subverted the limitations of their era.
For fans of: the women-led politicking of HBO's House of the Dragon.
----- The Black Joke: The True Story of One Ship's Battle Against the Slave Trade
by A.E. Rooks
What it's about: the HMS Black Joke, the British Royal Navy ship whose crew captured slave ships off the west coast of Africa between 1828 and 1832 and helped free thousands of enslaved people.
Why you should read it: Jeopardy! champion A.E. Rooks' well-researched narrative, aided by her background in in law and library science and ample use of archival materials, revives the maritime exploits that were vital to curbing the transatlantic slave trade.
------ Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern
by Jing Tsu
What it's about: how industrialization and globalization led to efforts to modernize the written Chinese language and make it more accessible.
Author alert: Jing Tsu is the Literature Chair of the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University and a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow.
Reviewers say: "An engaging, relevant work that delves into the linguistic past in order to predict China's future success in the world" (Kirkus Reviews).
------The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway (fiction)
While a cellist plays at the site of a mortar attack to commemorate the deaths of twenty-two friends and
neighbors, two other men set out in search of bread and water to keep themselves alive, and a woman
sniper secretly protects the life of the cellist as her army becomes increasingly threatening
----- Around the World in 50 Years: My Adventure to Every Country On Earth by Albert Podell
In 2003, Albert Podell realized that he'd been to 110 countries in the world. What if he could go to them
all? This book is a remarkable and meaningful tale of quiet courage, dogged persistence, undying
determination, and an uncanny ability to extricate himself from one perilous situation after another-and
return with some of the most memorable, frightening, and hilarious adventure stories you have ever read
------ In Siberia by Colin Thubron
As mysterious as it is beautiful, as forbidding as it is populated with warm-hearted people, Siberia is a land
few Westerners know, and even fewer will ever visit. Traveling alone, by train, boat, car, and on foot, Colin
Thubron traversed this vast territory, whose natural resources have been savagely exploited for decades;
a terrain tainted by nuclear waste but filled with citizens who both welcomed him and fed him—despite
their own tragic poverty (Amazon).
----- The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica by Laurie Gwen
Shapiro
The spectacular, true story of a teenager from New York's Lower East Side who stowed away on an
expedition to Antarctica. The night before the expedition's flagship launched, Billy Gawronski--a skinny,
first generation New York City high schooler desperate to escape a dreary future in the family upholstery
business--jumped into the Hudson River and snuck aboard. This book takes you on the unforgettable
voyage of a gutsy young stowaway who became an international celebrity
------Life and Death in the Andes: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries by Kim
MacQuarrie
This book contains unique portraits of legendary characters along South America's mountain spine, from
Charles Darwin to the present day. The Andes Mountains are the world's longest mountain chain, linking
most of the countries in South America. Kim MacQuarrie takes us on a historical journey through this
unique region, bringing fresh insight and contemporary connections to such fabled characters as Charles
Darwin, Pablo Escobar, Che Guevara, and many others
-----Italy: Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
Anthony Doerr won a Pulitzer Prize for his dazzling novel All The Light We Cannot See. The seeds of that story were planted during the year he spent in Rome with his wife and newborn twins after receiving the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award comes with a stipend and a writing studio, and in this lovely, descriptive memoir, Doerr shares his struggles with balancing the sleep schedules of two infants, the deep historical research that laid the groundwork for his novel, and the creative journey of a novelist and new father amid the colorful, chaotic, and endlessly charming Eternal City.
------ Zimbabwe: The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah
Memory is a construct, yes, but in Petina Gappah’s fierce debut novel, Memory is also a protagonist. The story zooms straight into the maximum-security unit of a prison in Harare, Zimbabwe, where Memory, an albino woman on trial for murder, is scribbling down details about the events that led to the death of her adoptive father. She is writing for her life, and memory—both the person and the practice—has never felt more urgent.
-----Saudi Arabia: A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
Set amid Saudi Arabian sand dunes during the American recession, Dave Eggers’s A Hologram for the King is a meditation on globalism, excessive wealth, and the utter fragility of the modern American dream. Alan Clay, a 54-year-old sales consultant, is very much a 21st-century Willy Loman (of Death of a Salesman). Sent to Saudi Arabia to pitch a holographic teleconference system to none other than the king himself, he takes readers from the glass towers of Jeddah to flapping white tents in the stark Arabian desert. The novel describes a nation misunderstood by many, where the illusion of extremism is unmasked to reveal the same complicated contradictions that define nearly all of humanity.
-----Turkey: Snow by Orhan Pamuk
Poet Ka returns to his homeland, Turkey, after 12 years in exile, settling in the city of Kars, where a spate of teenage suicides has shaken the community. It’s no coincidence, of course, that Ka and Kars both sound like the word kar, the Turkish word for “snow.” In this mystical, restive novel, there is snow everywhere—both on Kars’s boulevards and buildings and on the tip of Ka’s pen. The snow becomes a buffer from the outside world and a metaphor for the modern nation of Turkey, where so many truths and troubles are buried just beneath the surface.
-----Japan: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Nothing and everything seems to make sense in Kafka on the Shore, the intergenerational tour de force from Japanese literary master Haruki Murakami. The tale is bookended by the 15-year-old Kafka and the elderly Nakata, a simpleton who communicates with cats. Kafka, on the run from a family curse, ends up holed up in a library run by a former singer; Nakata’s mental facilities were wiped out during World War II and now he traipses along an alternate reality. At the story’s core is a respect for Japanese spirituality, a fascination with our dreams, and a longing for connection across generations.
-----Atlas Obscura, Second Edition Atlas Obscura, Second Edition
by Joshua Foer, Ella Morton, and Dylan Thuras
You could start by pulling out the Atlas Obscura dream road trip map and fantasy traveling your way across the world’s most mysterious, beautiful, and hidden locations, or simply thumb through the book until one of the pictures grabs you (with underwater villages, boiling rivers, floating gardens, and giant Peruvian mummies, there’s a lot to be grabbed by). Accompanied by short, snappy essays and perks like city guides, Atlas Obscura is the perfect armchair traveling book — it’s impossible to open the cover and not feel transported.
-----Arctic Dreams
by Barry Lopez
The world’s basically mapped out, but for many of us, the Arctic still embodies the unknown, a place of terrible beauty whose savage weather and landscape put a welcome check on the human impulse to conquer. Enter Barry Lopez’s sublime Arctic Dreams, which takes a careful look at the many features of the Arctic that summon our persistent fascination with it: the doomed explorations, the dwarfed forests, the musk oxen and narwhals, the frozen seas, northern lights, and Indigenous communities who have learned to navigate this stunning landscape.
----- Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent
by Dipo Faloyin
An exuberant, opinionated, stereotype-busting portrait of contemporary Africa in all its splendid diversity, by one of its leading new writers.
------Nowhere for Very Long: The Unexpected Road to an Unconventional Life
by Brianna Madia
A woman defined by motion, the author, in this chronicle of living in the wild, learning and unlearning, heads into the canyons of Utah, along with her three dogs and a beat-up van, where she explores the outside world and the spirit within.
------Solito: A Memoir
by Javier Zamora
A young poet reflects on his 3,000-mile journey from El Salvador to the United States when he was nine years old, during which he was faced with perilous boat trips, relentless desert treks, pointed guns, arrests and deceptions during two life-altering months alongside a group of strangers who became an unexpected family.
------Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country: Traveling Through the Land of my Ancestors
by Louise Erdrich
The critically acclaimed author of Love Medicine describes her evocative odyssey back to the islands of her ancestors in southern Ontario, offering a compelling portrait of Ojibwe language, culture, spirits, traditions, and art as she visits centuries-old rock paintings and recalls her own family and contemporary life.
-----The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey
by Dawn Anahid MacKeen
Presents the inspiring story of a young Armenian’s harrowing escape from genocide and of his granddaughter’s quest to retrace his steps.
------House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East
by Anthony Shadid
A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who was one of the four New York Times reporters to be captured and freed in Libya traces the story of his family's effort to rebuild an ancestral home in Lebanon amid political strife and how the work enabled a greater understanding of the emotions behind Middle East turbulence.
-----The Old Patagonian Express – Paul Theroux
It’s nearly impossible to choose the best book on train travel written by Theroux, and I could just as easily recommend The Great Railway Bazaar or Riding the Iron Rooster. What breaks the tie for me is the opening scene in this compelling travelogue. It’s a Monday morning in recession-plagued 1979, and our narrator is on a suburban train, making the slog through wet winter weather to downtown Boston. Almost everyone in the car looks like they hate their job and their life, but not Theroux. He’s not clutching a purse or a briefcase – he’s got an overstuffed backpack. He’s not clean-shaven, but in the early days of growing a moustache that he hopes will help him to fit in south of the border. This, it turns out, will not be the only train Theroux will be on. His plan is to ride the rails all the way to Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost point in the hemisphere. Across the US, Mexico, Central and South America, Theroux meets interesting characters, allows us to get inside his own head during the endless hours on slow trains and shares the glory we feel when we have freedom of movement and few adult responsibilities. A true travel masterpiece.
-----The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2004, this contemporary novel was also adapted to a film in the U.S. A late-thirties woman who still lives with her possessive mother teaches piano at a prestigious Vienna school. However, beneath her talents are secrets of sexual desires and acts that leads to several controversial stories.
----The Art of Travel – Alain de Botton
“Few activities seem to promise is as much happiness as going travelling: taking off for somewhere else, somewhere far from home, a place with more interesting weather, customs and landscapes. But although we are inundated with advice on where to travel to, we seldom ask why we go and how we might become more fulfilled by doing so.“
----Around the World in Eighty Days – Jules Verne
“Pragmatic gambler Phileas Fogg has made a gentlemanly wager to the members of his exclusive club: that he can circle the world in just eighty days, right down to the minute. Fetching his newly appointed French valet, Fogg embarks on a fabulous journey across land and sea—by steamer, rail, and elephant—to win the bet of a lifetime.“
Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela—William Neuman has a great title with a good subject. While Kingdom of Characters: The Language Revolution That Made China Modern—Jing Tsu connects with my fascination with languages. Two from the list, which calls to me. Thanks, AliasReader.
Around the World in 50 Years: My Adventure to Every Country on Earth—Albert Podell sound incredible. I’m eager to read his story. I like that you included Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days to conclude the globe-hopping list. Thanks for all of them!
Glad you enjoyed the list, deb. Here is one more that I think is fun.
15 books about books for bibliophiles
This storied collection of titles crosses five genres and features a mix of recent novels, backlist favorites, and heartfelt nonfiction.
https://modernmrsdarcy.com/books-abou...
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----- Life on the Mississippi: An Epic American Adventure
by Rinker Buck
What it is: a fascinating combination of history and travelogue by Rinker Buck, who built a 19th-century-style wooden flatboat and sailed it from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, with the help a small, entertaining crew.
Want a taste? "The inland rivers -- not the wagon ruts crossing from Missouri to Oregon -- were American's first western frontier."
Read this next: the author's The Oregon Trail, Tony Horwitz's Spying on the South, Imani Perry's South to America, or Peter Fox's Northland.
---- Shadowlands: A Journey Through Britain's Lost Cities and Vanished Villages
by Matthew Green
What it is: a historian's lyrical, haunting look at eight lost British towns, covering their rise and demise, the people who lived there, and what the places are like now.
Locations include: Skara Brae, a Neolithic site in the Orkney Islands; Wharram Percy, a deserted medieval village; Dunwich, a city that fell into the sea, and Capel Celyn, a village flooded in 1965 for a reservoir.
For fans of: Robert Macfarlane's books, Annalee Newitz's Four Lost Cities, and Alastair Bonnett's Unruly Places.
----- A Place in the World: Finding the Meaning of Home
by Frances Mayes
What it is: a short collection of personal essays centered on home and place by the bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun.
Locations include: San Francisco, where she once lived; Cortana, Italy, where she renovated a home; Hillsborough, NC, where she now lives and grows roses; Fitzgerald, Georgia, where she grew up; Provence, Capri, and other places she's felt at home.
Want more essay collections? Try Aminatta Forna's The Window Seat, Letitia Clark's Bitter Honey, or Pam Houston's Deep Creek.
----- France: An Adventure History
by Graham Robb
What it is: the fascinating latest by British historian and author Graham Robb, who offers a quick, wide-ranging history of France, from Ancient Gaul to the election of Emmanuel Macron, based on a series of bicycle journeys he's taken throughout the country.
Read this next: Paris to the Past by Ina Caro, The Seine by Elaine Sciolino, or the author's other books.
Reviewers say: "Delightful, discerning, and charmingly irreverent" (Kirkus Reviews); "refreshing as well as deeply researched" (Booklist).
----- The Last Resort: A Chronicle of Paradise, Profit, and Peril at the Beach
by Sarah Stodola
What it's about: Travel writer Sarah Stodola details visits to beach resorts around the globe, offering an eye-opening, well-researched look at these "sanitized bubbles" and their sometimes troubling aspects, as well as their history and what climate change might mean for their future.
Locations include: Thailand, England, New Jersey, Monte Carlo, Fiji, Nicaragua, Senegal, Ibiza, Hawaii, Portugal, Florida, Indonesia.
Want a taste? "We haven't really conquered the sea, as it likes to remind us. The beach resort only works as well as our ability to pretend otherwise."
******* Family Time! *****
----- Driving Miss Norma: An Inspirational Story About What Really Matters at the End of Life
by Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle
Starring: charming nonagenarian Norma; her retired son, Tim; his personable wife, Ramie; and their standard poodle, Ringo.
What happened: After receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis the same week her husband died, Norma decided to forgo a nursing home and invasive chemotherapy to embark on a lively tour of the country with Tim, Ramie, and Ringo in their Airstream RV.
Adventures include: hot air balloon rides, NBA courtside seats, a fêted appearance at the Boston St. Patrick's Day parade, and more.
----- Dirt: Adventures in Lyon, as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the...
by Bill Buford
What it's about: New Yorker writer Bill Buford worked in the kitchen at Washington, D.C.'s famed Citronelle restaurant to learn about French cooking before moving to Lyon in 2008 with his wife and three-year-old twins to really dig into the subject, and stayed for almost five years.
Who it's for: those who appreciate haute cuisine, stories of families abroad, or vibrant foodie travelogues with amiable guides.
About the author: Buford also wrote about living and cooking in Italy in 2006's Heat.
---- Blue Sky Kingdom: An Epic Family Journey to the Heart of the Himalaya
by Bruce Kirkby
Featuring: Canadian TV journalist Bruce Kirkby, his introverted wife Christine, their highly intelligent autistic seven-year-old son Bodi, and their free-spirited three-year-old son Taj.
What happened: From British Columbia, they slow traveled (no planes!) for three months, making their way to South Korea, India, China, and finally Nepal, staying at a Buddhist monastery for three months.
For fans of: rich, uplifting family travelogues; the Travel Channel's Big Crazy Family Adventure, which covers the first part of their trip.
---- From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home
by Tembi Locke
What it is: a poignant, heartfelt memoir by actress Tembi Locke, who fell in love with Saro, an Italian professional chef. Saro's Sicilian family wasn't sure about him marrying a Black American, but as he battled and then succumbed to cancer, Tembi grew closer to them and spent summers in Sicily with the couple's adopted daughter.
Media buzz: An eight-part Netflix series starring Zoe Saldaña arrives this month. Locke and her sister, bestselling crime writer Attica Locke, created, wrote, and produced the show.
----- We Came, We Saw, We Left: A Family Gap Year
by Charles Wheelan
What it's about: In 2016, college professor Charles Wheelan, his math teacher wife, 18-year-old daughter, 16-year-old daughter, and 13-year-old son left their New Hampshire home to spend nine months visiting six continents on a budget.
What happened: They visited Colombia, Australia, the Republic of Georgia, India, and other locales while seeing amazing sights, large spiders, and not always getting along with each other.
Read this next: For other entertaining family travelogues, try Dan Kois' How to Be a Family.