First, this is exhaustively researched, brilliant, and eloquent, both (in the author’s words) as “a brief history” and “a civics primer.” Second, it will pair nicely with the 2026 celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, helping to inform our interpretations of that document, its historical context, and its continuing relevance. And …
A sensual and absorbing debut novel that was short-listed for the 2024 Booker Prize. In this tale of two vastly different women, brittle Isabel and free-spirited Eva, are thrown together in a country house in [the Netherlands] following WWII. What begins as a deeply tense relationship moves into a complex exploration of self-discovery, acceptance, and …
America in the years leading into WW2 went through astonishing twists and turns in the efforts of homegrown Nazis and Fascists, who worked with great coordination and sophistication to destroy Democracy and install authoritarian rule. Their primary tools were propaganda, misinformation, and overwhelming antisemitism, and their funding was largely from the Nazi regime. Among their …
Tilt plunges into the catastrophic aftermath of a megathrust earthquake, as revealed through the eyes of nine-month pregnant Annie. Physically and mentally exhausted, barely mobile, she is injured and stranded miles from home after the quake. Annie quickly grasps the brutal reality that no one is coming to save her. Walking among the dead and …
If you’ve been needing a good escape look no further than this cozy mystery. Kate Atkinson’s beloved sleuth Jackson Brodie is back, teaming up with young Reggie Chase to solve a whodunit Agatha Christie herself would’ve loved. Atkinson’s nod and wink to the grande dame is fun, but the novel also interests itself in the …
Beginning with the ambitious literary efforts of James Franklin and his indentured brother Ben, this is a charming, deeply researched, and surprisingly exciting history of the understated but vital role that booksellers have played in forging the American identity. Often paired with publishing houses and printers, bookstores were an essential source of information from the …
This novel is about marriage, motherhood, and how fear and insecurity affect a person and the people they love. The characters are thoroughly and convincingly drawn; I felt every bit of Julia’s struggles and growth. I raced through this story. I can’t remember the last time a novel made me cry, but this one did—have …
Jenny Odell’s thinking has infected my brain. After I read her book How to Do Nothing – a critique of productivity and our relationship to technology – I looked at my phone slightly differently. Now with this book, Odell is asking me to change how I see my watch. Saving Time is both a historical look at how …
From family of friends of Chandler O’Leary, through her website: “Our dear friend Chandler passed away on April 2 from sudden and severe pneumonia. She was just 41 years old, and leaves behind an astonishing body of work as an author and artist[. . . ] “In her short life, she filled countless sketchbooks and …
This book is haunting and elegiac, not least because Death herself is one of the narrators. Our other main narrator, Wolf, is a liminal entity, as befits someone who has survived Death more than once and now serves as her chronicler (and possibly more). Godden challenges readers both structurally and stylistically, equally confronting and easing …
