{ "1": { "id": 1, "title": "Over The Top: A Raw Journey To Self-Love", "author": "Jonathan Van Ness", "reviewers": [ "Alexander McCall" ], "text": "

Bold, empathetic, vulnerable and funny, Jonathan Van Ness is my favorite star on the Netflix makeover show Queer Eye. I can imagine him shouting “Yaaassss!” at me one moment and having a heart-to-heart with me the next. That mix of joy, confidence and honesty drives JVN’s memoir. He reveals hardship and trauma alongside stories of growth and triumph. The result is a reminder that the long road to self-love is worth the journey despite all of the obstacles and unglamorous moments.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "no biz like show biz", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0062906372", "seamus": 772304815, "itunes": 9780062906373, "goodreads": 43386674, "cover": "0062906372", "bookshop": 9780062906373, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062906373", "isbn10": "0062906372", "links": [] }, "2": { "id": 2, "title": "Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir Of Fumbling Toward Adulthood", "author": "Andrew Rannells", "reviewers": [ "Alexander McCall" ], "text": "

A closeted gay teenager dreams of moving to New York City and acting on the Broadway stage. Is this about 16-year-old me? No, this particular story belongs to The Book of Mormon and Girls actor Andrew Rannells. He fumbles his way through growing up as many of us do: trying on versions of himself until something sticks. But his singular experiences stayed with me, too – such as when he learns, in the midst of a one-night stand, that his dad has died. Rannells lets us in on all of the messy experiences that, as he says, don’t fit into his Playbill bio and reminds us what’s possible with gumption, tenacity and laughter.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0525574859", "seamus": 698721961, "itunes": 9780525574859, "goodreads": 40712504, "cover": "0525574859", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525574859", "isbn10": "0525574859", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 2, "book": "Too Much Is Not Enough: A Memoir Of Fumbling Toward Adulthood", "source": "NPR", "text": "Andrew Rannells On 'Fumbling Toward' Adulthood And Broadway Fame", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/27/698721620/andrew-rannells-on-fumbling-toward-adulthood-and-broadway-fame" } ] }, "3": { "id": 3, "title": "Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly", "author": "Jim DeRogatis", "reviewers": [ "Anastasia Tsioulcas" ], "text": "

Veteran music journalist and critic Jim DeRogatis has been making a public case against the R&B singer R. Kelly for two decades: uncovering, investigating and chronicling the many accusations of sexual assault and abuse against the R&B superstar. (Kelly has denied all the allegations.) Soulless is a harrowing and deeply absorbing account of DeRogatis’ slog toward justice – and a damnation of all the forces that have seemed to cosset Kelly for all these years. But DeRogatis doesn’t put himself in the center of the action. Instead, the book’s heart is the stories of the women and the girls.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for music lovers", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1419740075", "seamus": 729331674, "itunes": 9781419740077, "goodreads": 43618595, "cover": "1419740075", "bookshop": 9781419740077, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781419740077", "isbn10": "1419740075", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 3, "book": "Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly", "source": "NPR", "text": "Reporter Who Broke R. Kelly Story: Abuse Was In 'Full View Of The World'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/729539206/reporter-who-broke-r-kelly-story-abuse-was-in-full-view-of-the-world" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 3, "book": "Soulless: The Case Against R. Kelly", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Soulless,' A Journalist Takes On R. Kelly And The Business That Made Him A Star", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/729310654/in-soulless-a-journalist-takes-on-r-kelly-and-the-business-that-made-him-a-star" } ] }, "4": { "id": 4, "title": "Juliet Takes A Breath", "author": "Gabby Rivera", "reviewers": [ "Andee Tagle" ], "text": "

This queer coming-of-age story – about a Puerto Rican teenager from the Bronx coming to terms with her identity – is a tale of finding strength through vulnerability, and self through change. Author Gabby Rivera, who, like Juliet, also uprooted to Portland, Ore., told NPR that she has a message for young people coming out for the first time: “Your work is not to make your mom accept you,” she says. “That’s your mom’s work. … Your work is to just live authentically and as honestly as you can.” Through Juliet’s eyes, Rivera amplifies POC voices, confronts white feminism and asks us all to be a little more open. Pa’lante!

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "young adult", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "0593108175", "seamus": 762465168, "itunes": 9780593108178, "goodreads": 45213811, "cover": "0593108175", "bookshop": 9780593108178, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780593108178", "isbn10": "0593108175", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 4, "book": "Juliet Takes A Breath", "source": "NPR", "text": "Life, Love, Coming Out And Culture Shock In 'Juliet Takes A Breath'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/18/762046606/book-juliet-takes-a-breath" } ] }, "5": { "id": 5, "title": "God Save The Queens: The Essential History Of Women In Hip-Hop", "author": "Kathy Iandoli", "reviewers": [ "Andee Tagle" ], "text": "

God Save the Queens lives up to its subtitle: It is an “essential history.” Men have long dominated hip-hop’s origin stories, and music journalist Kathy Iandoli answers that imbalance with a vital history of the genre’s founding women. Hip-hop fans will be delighted to hear from Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj, Monie Mon and more but may find themselves asking: “Why did we have to wait so long for this?”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "for music lovers", "identity & culture", "no biz like show biz", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0062878506", "seamus": 772305511, "itunes": 9780062878502, "goodreads": 43309531, "cover": "0062878506", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062878502", "isbn10": "0062878506", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 5, "book": "God Save The Queens: The Essential History Of Women In Hip-Hop", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Righteous Fire Burns At The Heart Of Women-In-Hip-Hop's 'God Save The Queens'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/24/772682749/there-a-righteous-fire-burns-at-the-heart-of-god-save-the-queens" } ] }, "6": { "id": 6, "title": "Spotify Teardown: Inside The Black Box Of Streaming Music", "author": "Maria Eriksson, Rasmus Fleischer, Anna Johansson, Pelle Snickars, Patrick Vonderau", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Flanagan" ], "text": "

Five researchers set out to analyze the massive streaming platform, and they broke a few rules along the way. Trying to holistically understand how Spotify’s ecosystem works is difficult, given the proprietary nature of its technology and agreements with the music industry. So Maria Eriksson et al. set up their own projects within the platform, using them to get a look at the leviathan from the inside.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "for music lovers", "eye-opening reads", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0262038900", "seamus": 772306657, "itunes": 9780262038904, "goodreads": 39644202, "cover": "0262038900", "bookshop": 9780262038904, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780262038904", "isbn10": "0262038900", "links": [] }, "7": { "id": 7, "title": "Year Of The Monkey", "author": "Patti Smith", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Flanagan" ], "text": "

Patti Smith calmly, sadly traces the foggy outline of a liminal and pernicious year, 2016, which delivered changes both personal – the declining health of playwright and actor Sam Shepard, the death of music producer Sandy Pearlman – and global. In this slim volume, Smith glides through her dreamlike world as a famous spirit might, performing, writing, reading, drinking coffee and a very occasional sip of alcohol. “I tried to shrug off unease, do my work, say my prayers, bide my time,” she writes near the dead-middle of the book, in which she does exactly that in her way, exactly.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "for music lovers", "the dark side", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0525657681", "seamus": 763923736, "itunes": 9780525657682, "goodreads": 44776548, "cover": "0525657681", "bookshop": 9780525657682, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525657682", "isbn10": "0525657681", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 7, "book": "Year Of The Monkey", "source": "NPR", "text": "Patti Smith Weaves Between Worlds Real And Imagined In 'Year Of The Monkey'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/24/763812369/patti-smith-weaves-between-worlds-real-and-imagined-in-year-of-the-monkey" } ] }, "8": { "id": 8, "title": "How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir", "author": "Saeed Jones", "reviewers": [ "Anjuli Sastry Krbechek" ], "text": "

In powerful poetry and prose, Saeed Jones recounts his experiences growing up as a young, black, gay man in rural Texas. Jones told NPR’s Sam Sanders he wanted “to allow readers to be in my body” through these formative years: He describes grappling with his attraction to other boys at a young age and surviving a violent sexual encounter. The book is also an ode of sorts to Jones’ mother, who died following a heart attack in 2011. Jones writes about fighting for his life – and in doing so, offers lessons in how we can all fight for our own. “Our culture is dominated by and obsessed with straight, rich, cisgender people,” Jones says. “I think those people will never fully understand how much work literally everyone else does to imagine ourselves into existence.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1501132733", "seamus": 767866600, "itunes": 9781501132735, "goodreads": 43682552, "cover": "1501132733", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501132735", "isbn10": "1501132733", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 8, "book": "How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'We're All Struggling': Writer Saeed Jones Reflects On Identity And Acceptance", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/06/776747102/we-re-all-struggling-writer-saeed-jones-reflects-on-identity-and-acceptance" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 8, "book": "How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'How We Fight For Our Lives' Is One Life Story That Finds Connection To Others", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/14/768755815/how-we-fight-for-our-lives-is-one-life-story-that-finds-connection-to-others" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 8, "book": "How We Fight For Our Lives: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Saeed Jones' Eloquent Coming-Of-Age Is Hard To Read — And Harder To Put Down", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/09/767865730/saeed-jones-eloquent-coming-of-age-is-hard-to-read-and-harder-to-put-down" } ] }, "9": { "id": 9, "title": "No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power Of Embracing Emotions At Work", "author": "Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy", "reviewers": [ "Anjuli Sastry Krbechek" ], "text": "

People aren’t robots! Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy push back on the myth that emotions and the workplace don’t mix. Full of fun illustrations and anecdotes, No Hard Feelings covers emotional decision-making, why “feelings aren’t facts,” and fostering positive culture on your team. I came away feeling more capable at communicating and managing up – and I even brought one of the book’s worksheets (yes, there are worksheets!) to a recent team retreat. The focus is what’s best for you – whether that means improving culture at a company you’ve been at for years, or recognizing when it’s time to leave. Women and nonbinary folks may find this book particularly helpful, but I think it’s a must-read for anyone who has ever felt feelings (aka been human) at a job.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0525533834", "seamus": 772311810, "itunes": 9780525533832, "goodreads": 40062678, "cover": "0525533834", "bookshop": 9780525533832, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525533832", "isbn10": "0525533834", "links": [] }, "10": { "id": 10, "title": "Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories Of Social Upheaval", "author": "Saidiya Hartman", "reviewers": [ "Ann Powers" ], "text": "

Social history poses a crucial question: Who is forgotten? Columbia University’s Saidiya Hartman has created a method – she calls it “critical fabulation” – that melds archival research with critical inquiry and imaginative writing to bring silenced people’s voices and images to life. Her latest work considers how, at the turn of the 20th century, African American women on the margins of society negotiated a freedom that white supremacy always kept fragile. Hartman uncovers court citations like one branding a teenage Eleanora Fagan – later called Billie Holiday – a juvenile delinquent; letters from soldiers to common-law wives left behind; and snapshots like one showing two young women in slacks outside a boarding house, embracing in a gleeful gesture of romantic love. Gorgeously written and intellectually rigorous, Hartman’s work shows us how these women built a free America inside the one that would keep them in bondage. In doing so, she challenges us to think differently about the official stories that have kept them from our view.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0393285677", "seamus": 772312593, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 40180089, "cover": "0393285677", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393285673", "isbn10": "0393285677", "links": [] }, "11": { "id": 11, "title": "Blood: A Memoir", "author": "Allison Moorer", "reviewers": [ "Ann Powers" ], "text": "

“One shot. 1-2-3-4. Next shot.” Allison Moorer uses this stark phrase to evoke the rupture at the center of her family’s story: When she was 14 and her sister Shelby was 17, her father killed her mother and then turned the gun on himself. This disaster was never a secret. Fans of the prolific singer-songwriter and her sister, who records as Shelby Lynne, have long known its outline. In this wrenching, careful excavation of all that has flowed through and around that morning, Moorer transforms it into a mystery – a memory she can never quite see clearly and a paradox with which she must reconcile, because she loved her Daddy and sometimes pitied her Mama and still lives, intimately, with their ghosts.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "biography & memoir", "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "for music lovers", "the dark side", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0306922681", "seamus": 772313131, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 43884869, "cover": "0306922681", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780306922688", "isbn10": "0306922681", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 11, "book": "Blood: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Years After Her Parents' Murder-Suicide, Musician Allison Moorer Finds Healing ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/775990825/years-after-her-parents-murder-suicide-musician-allison-moorer-finds-healing" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 11, "book": "Blood: A Memoir", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "Allison Moorer's 'Blood' Explores Trauma — and Healing — Through Music and Prose", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/allison-moorers-blood-explores-trauma-and-healing-through-music-and-prose" } ] }, "12": { "id": 12, "title": "It Would Be Night In Caracas", "author": "Karina Sainz Borgo, translated by Elizabeth Bryer", "reviewers": [ "Ari Shapiro" ], "text": "

Karina Sainz Borgo has spent her life writing about Venezuela as a journalist, but this is her first time writing about it as a novelist. The narrative jumps back and forth from Venezuela’s bleak and violent present – when cash is worthless, shelves are empty and gangs roam the streets – to the recent prosperous past, with scenes of abundance and joy. Sainz Borgo describes it as a love letter to her country, but it also reads like an obituary telling the tragic story of a place that has become unrecognizable to a woman who once called it home. “I have this strong feeling of loneliness…” she told me. “The country I want to go back to does not exist anymore.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0062936867", "seamus": 771313520, "itunes": 9780062936868, "goodreads": 43884206, "cover": "0062936867", "bookshop": 9780062936868, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062936868", "isbn10": "0062936867", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 12, "book": "It Would Be Night In Caracas", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'It Would Be Night In Caracas' Mourns A Mother And A Country", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/28/771313679/it-would-be-night-in-caracas-mourns-a-mother-and-a-country" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 12, "book": "It Would Be Night In Caracas", "source": "NPR", "text": "Venezuelan Journalist Karina Sainz Borgo On Her Book 'It Would Be Night In Caracas'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/15/770417218/venezuelan-journalist-karina-sainz-borgo-on-her-book-it-would-be-night-in-caraca" } ] }, "13": { "id": 13, "title": "Quichotte: A Novel", "author": "Salman Rushdie", "reviewers": [ "Ari Shapiro" ], "text": "

Hosting All Things Considered leaves me almost no time to read for pleasure. I usually manage to squeeze in about one book a year that isn’t for an author interview. So my standards are high. Quichotte was my pleasure reading in 2019, and it cleared the bar with ease. Salman Rushdie’s retelling of the Don Quixote story is a sprawling, messy, multilayered, overflowing heap of a thing. It also shows the skills of a master at the peak of his abilities.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "059313298X", "seamus": 755161541, "itunes": 9780593132982, "goodreads": 44599127, "cover": "059313298X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780593132982", "isbn10": "059313298X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 13, "book": "Quichotte: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "If Salman Rushdie's 'Quichotte' Drives You Nuts — That's Fine. It's Meant To", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/07/755162016/if-salman-rushdies-quichotte-drives-you-nuts-thats-fine-its-meant-to" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 13, "book": "Quichotte: A Novel", "source": "WAMC", "text": "Hear Salman Rushdie On 'The Book Show'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/post/book-show-1626-salman-rushdie" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 13, "book": "Quichotte: A Novel", "source": "KCUR", "text": "Salman Rushdie Shares His Inspiration And Research Techniques", "url": "https://www.kcur.org/post/seg-1-hyperloop-kansas-city-seg-2-novelist-salman-rushdie#stream/0" } ] }, "14": { "id": 14, "title": "Love Poems For Married People", "author": "John Kenney", "reviewers": [ "Ari Shapiro" ], "text": "

This collection of poems about marriage started out as a humor column for The New Yorker, and the themes will ring true for anybody who has experienced life with a spouse. Less first love and fewer passionate embraces; more sweatpants and smartphones. Poem titles include “What time should we leave for the airport?” and “Would it be possible to stop volunteering me for things?” After I read it, I gave a copy to my husband, who bought several more copies for our married friends.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "short stories, essays & poetry", "family matters", "funny stuff", "let’s talk about sex", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "0525540008", "seamus": 692724204, "itunes": 9780525540007, "goodreads": 41109403, "cover": "0525540008", "bookshop": 9780525540007, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525540007", "isbn10": "0525540008", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 14, "book": "Love Poems For Married People", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Love Poems For Married People' Will Help Spice Things Up In The— Zzzzz", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/08/692707437/love-poems-for-married-people-will-help-spice-things-up-in-the-zzzzz" } ] }, "15": { "id": 15, "title": "Patron Saints Of Nothing", "author": "Randy Ribay", "reviewers": [ "Ashley Westerman" ], "text": "

As a Filipino American, Patron Saints of Nothing is the novel I’ve been waiting for. It follows Jay, a half-Filipino, half-white teen growing up in the U.S. who travels to the Philippines after his cousin is killed in the ongoing drug war there. While unraveling the mystery, Jay must also wrestle with the realities of a place, a people and a family he thought he knew. Randy Ribay effectively tackles the difficulties of identity through a polarizing and timely event, bringing to bear some of the internal conflict that those of us with dual identities often struggle to put into words.

", "tags": [ "young adult", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0525554912", "seamus": 731732822, "itunes": 9780525554912, "goodreads": 42166429, "cover": "0525554912", "bookshop": 9780525554912, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525554912", "isbn10": "0525554912", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 15, "book": "Patron Saints Of Nothing", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Patron Saints Of Nothing' Is A Book For 'The Hyphenated'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/17/727649223/patron-saints-of-nothing-is-a-book-for-the-hyphenated" } ] }, "16": { "id": 16, "title": "They Called Us Enemy", "author": "George Takei, Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, illustrated by Harmony Becker", "reviewers": [ "Bo Hamby" ], "text": "

In this graphic memoir, Star Trek actor George Takei recounts his childhood experience living in Japanese internment camps in the 1940s. In affecting black-and-white artwork, Harmony Becker depicts the traumatic events his family endured, but Takei still finds room for joy – such as the moment he experienced snow for the first time, just before the family’s first Christmas in the camp. “Despite the chilly season, I retain warm memories,” he writes. Out of the dehumanizing ordeal, Takei ultimately lays out a message of perseverance: You can be anyone – perhaps even an officer on the starship Enterprise – if you forge boldly ahead.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "family matters", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1603094504", "seamus": 742568781, "itunes": 9781603094504, "goodreads": 42527866, "cover": "1603094504", "bookshop": 9781603094504, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781603094504", "isbn10": "1603094504", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 16, "book": "They Called Us Enemy", "source": "NPR", "text": "George Takei Recalls Time In An American Internment Camp In 'They Called Us Enemy'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/17/742558996/george-takei-recalls-time-in-an-american-internment-camp-in-they-called-us-enemy" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 16, "book": "They Called Us Enemy", "source": "Connecticut Public Radio", "text": "George Takei Discusses His Graphic Memoir And How America Must Learn From Its Past", "url": "https://www.wnpr.org/post/george-takei-discusses-his-graphic-memoir-and-how-america-must-learn-its-past" } ] }, "17": { "id": 17, "title": "The Book Of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth", "author": "Philip Pullman", "reviewers": [ "Bob Mondello" ], "text": "

While Lyra Belacqua fans have been buzzing over Dafne Keen’s performance in HBO’s His Dark Materials, I’ve been dusting off Philip Pullman’s Book of Dust to get ready for this gloriously engrossing sequel. Lyra’s in her 20s now, and when a diabolical character suggests the best way to overcome institutions and ingrained habits of thought is to “delicately and subtly undermine the idea that truth and facts are possible,” I knew Pullman was writing about today. A vivid page turner and a great setup for Volume 3.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0553510665", "seamus": 767211830, "itunes": 9780553510669, "goodreads": 44139418, "cover": "0553510665", "bookshop": 9780553510669, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780553510669", "isbn10": "0553510665", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 17, "book": "The Book Of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth", "source": "NPR", "text": "Philip Pullman Pushes The Limits Of His World In 'The Secret Commonwealth'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/05/767215280/philip-pullman-pushes-the-limits-of-his-world-in-the-secret-commonwealth" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 17, "book": "The Secret Commonwealth", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": " 'His Dark Materials' Author Philip Pullman On The Consciousness Of All Things", "url": "https://www.ttbook.org/interview/his-dark-materials-author-philip-pullman-consciousness-all-things" } ] }, "18": { "id": 18, "title": "Jerome Robbins, By Himself: Selections From His Letters, Journals, Drawings, Photographs, And An Unfinished Memoir", "author": "Jerome Robbins, edited by Amanda Vaill", "reviewers": [ "Jeff Lunden" ], "text": "

Jerome Robbins was a singular figure in 20th century American artistic history – he was phenomenally successful as both a director and choreographer for Broadway shows and, concurrently, as a choreographer for ballet. Amanda Vaill, who authored the Robbins biography, Somewhere, has edited this substantial volume of the artist’s letters, journal entries, photos, drawings, fictional work and excerpts from an unpublished memoir to give a deeper insight into the man, his creativity, his neuroses and his lifelong loneliness. Of particular interest are letters to his collaborators on West Side Story, to get them to trim and streamline the show, and Fiddler on the Roof, asking for better songs. There are long, revealing letters to friends and lovers (both men and women). And excerpts from Robbins’ unproduced Poppa Piece explore his Jewish identity, his guilt over naming names when he was called before HUAC, and his difficult relationship with his father. This is an essential volume, for lovers of both Broadway and ballet.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "no biz like show biz", "for history lovers", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0451494660", "seamus": 776911018, "itunes": 9780451494665, "goodreads": "", "cover": "0451494660", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780451494665", "isbn10": "0451494660", "links": [] }, "19": { "id": 19, "title": "A Is For Audra: Broadway's Leading Ladies From A To Z", "author": "John Robert Allman, illustrated by Peter Emmerich", "reviewers": [ "Jeff Lunden" ], "text": "

A book that teaches children the alphabet and Broadway history? I’m down with that. John Robert Allman has crafted witty rhyming couplets, and Peter Emmerich has illustrated Broadway’s divas in some of their most celebrated roles. Patti LuPone as Evita? Check. Ethel Merman as Rose in Gypsy? Check. Idina Menzel as Elphaba in Wicked? Check. The back of the book has thumbnail biographies for grown-ups, and the interior covers are reserved for autographs – in the hope that the youngsters who read the book might someday meet some of the stars in person. (For ages 3 to 7)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "for music lovers", "no biz like show biz", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0525645403", "seamus": 776927140, "itunes": 9780525645405, "goodreads": 44085037, "cover": "0525645403", "bookshop": 9780525645405, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525645405", "isbn10": "0525645403", "links": [] }, "20": { "id": 20, "title": "Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through The Heart Of America's Fast-Food Kingdom", "author": "Adam Chandler", "reviewers": [ "Brandon Carter" ], "text": "

Americans have a complicated relationship with fast food. We love to eat it; we also love to hate it. Drive-Thru Dreams balances those impulses by offering short histories of the people and companies that have changed the way this country eats. Along the way, author Adam Chandler makes the case that our love for fast food is a defining part of American culture. I spent much of my childhood chasing Happy Meal toys and clamoring for Blizzards. If you did, too, this book’s for you – and once you finish, you’ll probably crave a burger and fries.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "cookbooks & food", "for history lovers", "it’s all geek to me", "the states we’re in", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1250090725", "seamus": 748655729, "itunes": 9781250090720, "goodreads": 41150451, "cover": "1250090725", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250090720", "isbn10": "1250090725", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 20, "book": "Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through The Heart Of America's Fast-Food Kingdom", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Drive-Thru Dreams' Explores America's Love-Hate Relationship With Fast Food", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/08/07/747711160/drive-thru-dreams-explores-america-s-love-hate-relationship-with-fast-food" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 20, "book": "Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America's Fast-Food Kingdom", "source": "Texas Public Radio", "text": "The Intersection Of Fast Food And American Culture", "url": "https://www.tpr.org/post/intersection-fast-food-and-american-culture" } ] }, "21": { "id": 21, "title": "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, And Our Lives Revealed", "author": "Lori Gottlieb", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "

How is psychotherapy like pornography? “Both involve a kind of nudity. Both have the potential to thrill,” writes psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb. Gottlieb speaks as both patient and practitioner in this book. A few years ago, she found herself in need of a good therapist after the man she thought she would marry broke up with her unexpectedly. In this wry and insightful memoir, she lays bare her experiences on both sides of the couch, offering a candid view of the hard work — and vast rewards — of therapy.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1328662055", "seamus": 707562558, "itunes": 9781328662057, "goodreads": 37570546, "cover": "1328662055", "bookshop": 9781328662057, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781328662057", "isbn10": "1328662055", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 21, "book": "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, And Our Lives Revealed", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Psychotherapist Goes To Therapy — And Gets A Taste Of Her Own Medicine", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/28/707561940/a-psychotherapist-goes-to-therapy-and-gets-a-taste-of-her-own-medicine" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 21, "book": "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed", "source": "KUFM", "text": "Lori Gottlieb On 'Maybe You Should Talk To Someone'", "url": "https://www.mtpr.org/post/maybe-you-should-talk-someone-lori-gottlieb" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 21, "book": "Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed", "source": "KWIT-KOJI: Siouxland Public Media", "text": "Check It Out: 'Maybe You Should Talk To Someone'", "url": "https://www.kwit.org/post/check-it-out-maybe-you-should-talk-someone-lori-gottlieb" } ] }, "22": { "id": 22, "title": "The Body In Question: A Novel", "author": "Jill Ciment", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "

A teen is on trial for the murder of her toddler brother, and the jurors who will decide her fate have been sequestered. Forced to step outside of their lives for weeks, two jurors form an unexpected bond. For Hannah, sneaking into Graham’s room in the cheap hotel where they’re holed up provides an unexpected respite from her marriage to a much older man. But as the details of the case come to light — and a fellow juror reveals their affair to the judge — questions of guilt and innocence get ever more complex in this deftly written, disconcerting novel.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "family matters", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "152474798X", "seamus": 731610845, "itunes": 9781524747985, "goodreads": 42046111, "cover": "152474798X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524747985", "isbn10": "152474798X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 22, "book": "The Body In Question: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Jurors Generate Drama Of Their Own In Smart, Disturbing 'Body In Question'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/11/731607394/jurors-generate-drama-of-their-own-in-smart-disturbing-body-in-question" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 22, "book": "The Body In Question", "source": "WOSU", "text": "The Body In Question' On 'All Sides Weekend'", "url": "https://radio.wosu.org/post/all-sides-weekend-books-42#stream/0" } ] }, "23": { "id": 23, "title": "The Bride Test", "author": "Helen Hoang", "reviewers": [ "Candice Lim" ], "text": "

While working at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Esme gets an offer that’s tough to pass up: The mother of a handsome Silicon Valley accountant wants her to come to California and marry her son. The only catch? Esme has just a few months to make Khai fall in love with her – and expressing emotions (never mind being in a relationship) has never come easily for him. Helen Hoang, author of The Kiss Quotient, has written another complex, swoon-worthy love story.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0451490827", "seamus": 719728458, "itunes": 9780451490827, "goodreads": 39338454, "cover": "0451490827", "bookshop": 9780451490827, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780451490827", "isbn10": "0451490827", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 23, "book": "The Bride Test", "source": "NPR", "text": "Love Goes Global In These 3 May Romances", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/724150923/love-goes-global-in-these-3-may-romances" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 23, "book": "The Bride Test", "source": "NPR", "text": "In Helen Hoang's Novels, Autism Is No Bar To Love And Happiness", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/05/719728222/in-helen-hoangs-novels-autism-is-no-bar-to-love-and-happiness" } ] }, "24": { "id": 24, "title": "What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir Of Witness And Resistance", "author": "Carolyn Forché", "reviewers": [ "Carol Ritchie" ], "text": "

When poet Carolyn Forché was in her late 20s, a friend’s cousin showed up at her door. The charismatic stranger had driven from El Salvador to persuade her to visit and, perhaps, write about his country, which, in the late 1970s, was on the verge of a violent civil war. Forché decides to go and witnesses the poverty of the country’s citizens and the immorality of the military government. This is an adventure story – together they dodge death squads and find refuge in remote villages – but it’s also about radical empathy and the awakening of social conscience.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "0525560378", "seamus": 710324102, "itunes": 9780525560371, "goodreads": 40712499, "cover": "0525560378", "bookshop": 9780525560371, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525560371", "isbn10": "0525560378", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 24, "book": "What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir Of Witness And Resistance", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'What You Have Heard Is True,' A Poet Bears Witness To Devastating Civil War", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/05/710296555/in-what-you-have-heard-is-true-a-poet-bears-witness-to-devastating-civil-war" } ] }, "25": { "id": 25, "title": "Girl, Woman, Other", "author": "Bernardine Evaristo", "reviewers": [ "Catherine Whelan" ], "text": "

Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other is about connection. It tracks 12 characters, mostly black, British women, of different generations, political opinions, classes, faiths and heritages as they move through one another’s worlds and times. Each person is drawn out in their own chapter, but their stories interweave: Some are friends, family or lovers, while others simply happen to be at the same show or argue on Twitter. It’s a surprising and funny read, full of raw human experience. There is no overarching story, but one emerges anyway: Girl, Woman, Other is deeply about humanness, heart and the things that ultimately unite us all.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0802156983", "seamus": 776930302, "itunes": 9780802156983, "goodreads": 47864242, "cover": "0802156983", "bookshop": 9780802156983, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780802156983", "isbn10": "0802156983", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 25, "book": "Girl, Woman, Other", "source": "NPR", "text": "The Booker Prize Is Shared By The 12 Black Brits In 'Girl, Woman, Other'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/09/777616750/the-booker-prize-is-shared-by-the-12-black-brits-in-girl-woman-other" } ] }, "26": { "id": 26, "title": "Coventry: Essays", "author": "Rachel Cusk", "reviewers": [ "Clare Marie Schneider" ], "text": "

After finishing Rachel Cusk’s first collection of essays, Coventry, I read passages aloud to a friend over coffee. This is all you can ask of a book – to excite you enough to break out of your own head to share the words with someone else. Divided into three sections – personal essay, cultural criticism and literary criticism – Coventry is concerned with how stories obey or reject truth. Cusk probes at motherhood, Eat, Pray, Love, driving, Edith Wharton (among other seminal authors) while chipping away at the stories we tell ourselves, the stories others give us and the stories we read.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "family matters", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0374126771", "seamus": 761243809, "itunes": 9780374126773, "goodreads": 41940257, "cover": "0374126771", "bookshop": 9780374126773, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780374126773", "isbn10": "0374126771", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 26, "book": "Coventry: Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Coventry' Touches On Gender, Self-Definition In Taking Control Of One's Narrative", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/19/761236496/coventry-touches-on-gender-self-definition-in-taking-control-of-ones-narrative" } ] }, "27": { "id": 27, "title": "Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays", "author": "Leslie Jamison", "reviewers": [ "Clare Marie Schneider" ], "text": "

Leslie Jamison fills her essays with real people, real events and real places, all the while questioning the realness of her own perspective. In examining her own biases, she explores how narratives are shaped by their narrators. Her wide-ranging essays looks at the online community Second Life, children who are haunted by dreams of past lives and a Croatian museum devoted to broken relationships. Throughout it all, she grapples with the fragility of objectivity and questions whether anyone can see anything “as it is.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0316259632", "seamus": 763410157, "itunes": 9780316259637, "goodreads": 43521617, "cover": "0316259632", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316259637", "isbn10": "0316259632", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 27, "book": "Make It Scream, Make It Burn: Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Make It Scream, Make It Burn,' Leslie Jamison Turns The Pen On Herself ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/24/763370597/in-make-it-scream-make-it-burn-leslie-jamison-turns-the-pen-on-herself" } ] }, "28": { "id": 28, "title": "The Topeka School: A Novel", "author": "Ben Lerner", "reviewers": [ "Colin Dwyer" ], "text": "

This is one of those books that feel impossible to describe. In one sense, it’s pretty mundane: a family in Kansas, the teen on the cusp of college and his psychologist parents. In another sense, it’s about ideas too big to wrap your arms around: love, speech and the countless ways the mind makes and undermines a sense of self. But the truth rests somewhere in between – and, maybe, between is the best description of all. Living on the uneasy boundary between fiction and memoir, humor and dread, affection and hatred, The Topeka School will also claim some valuable real estate between your ears.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0374277788", "seamus": 768382249, "itunes": 9780374277789, "goodreads": 43565369, "cover": "0374277788", "bookshop": 9780374277789, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780374277789", "isbn10": "0374277788", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 28, "book": "The Topeka School: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "How High School Debate In 1990s Kansas Explains The Present: A Novel Argument", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/08/768356577/how-high-school-debate-in-1990s-kansas-explains-the-present-a-novel-argument" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 28, "book": "The Topeka School", "source": "WOSU", "text": "The Topeka School' On 'All Sides Weekend'", "url": "https://radio.wosu.org/post/all-sides-weekend-books-42#stream/0" } ] }, "29": { "id": 29, "title": "Black Leopard, Red Wolf", "author": "Marlon James", "reviewers": [ "Colin Dwyer" ], "text": "

Full disclosure: This is not an easy read. Marlon James’ fantasy is full to brimming with mutilations and murders, witches and shape-shifters. It’s a paradox: at once distressingly claustrophobic in tone and thrillingly expansive in vision; as deft in its language as it is unsparing in what it presents; blunt but deceptive. I put this book down for others several times before, finally, it grabbed me in its jaws and refused to let me go. Now I can’t get it out of my head.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0735220174", "seamus": 691681060, "itunes": 9780735220171, "goodreads": 40524312, "cover": "0735220174", "bookshop": 9780735220171, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780735220171", "isbn10": "0735220174", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 29, "book": "Black Leopard, Red Wolf", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf' Is A Beast Of A Book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/08/692415906/black-leopard-red-wolf-is-a-beast-of-a-book" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 29, "book": "Black Leopard, Red Wolf", "source": "NPR", "text": "Marlon James Builds A New World From Old Stories In 'Black Leopard'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/05/691679975/marlon-james-builds-a-new-world-from-old-stories-in-black-leopard" } ] }, "30": { "id": 30, "title": "Song For The Unraveling Of The World", "author": "Brian Evenson", "reviewers": [ "Colin Dwyer" ], "text": "

Here be monsters. At least, they look like monsters from this angle. But you had to be just seeing things … right? Brian Evenson’s Song for the Unraveling of the World is a collection of 22 taut, troubling short stories in which the danger seems to always lurk just out of view or beyond definition. Here are indistinct terrors that grow more real (and more amused) the more you try to discount them and a horde of questions that, if we’re being honest, you would probably rather not know the answers to. It’s an unsettling experience all around – and a worthy introduction to a prolific writer who deserves many more readers.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "short stories, essays & poetry", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1566895480", "seamus": 731726584, "itunes": 9781566895484, "goodreads": 41888678, "cover": "1566895480", "bookshop": 9781566895484, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781566895484", "isbn10": "1566895480", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 30, "book": "Song For The Unraveling Of The World", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Unraveling' Sings A Cohesive, Unsettling Song", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/12/731726812/unraveling-sings-a-cohesive-unsettling-song" } ] }, "31": { "id": 31, "title": "Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory: Stories", "author": "Raphael Bob-Waksberg", "reviewers": [ "Connor Donevan" ], "text": "

Assume for a moment your heart is a jar – one that has become wedged shut by a divorce, or a breakup, or 20-too-many sparkless Tinder dates. Now, think of each of these stories – written by the creator of BoJack Horseman – as an “As Seen on TV” jar-opening contraption. How can something so weird, so hilarious, so fantastical, help with a problem as mundane as a stuck jar? And yet … right there in the first story, a can of cashews with dubious intentions will convince you to feel vulnerable again. In the last, a grammatical error will turn into a meditation on fleeting, intense love that is itself fleeting, intense and lovely. And somewhere along the way your jar/heart will pop right back open

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "short stories, essays & poetry", "funny stuff", "love & romance", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "152473201X", "seamus": 733511286, "itunes": 9781524732011, "goodreads": 42046110, "cover": "152473201X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524732011", "isbn10": "152473201X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 31, "book": "Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Damaged' Tales Of Love, In Fiction From 'BoJack' Creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734418214/damaged-tales-of-love-in-fiction-from-bojack-creator-raphael-bob-waksberg" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 31, "book": "Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "Will You Love This Book In All Its 'Damaged Glory'? Maybe", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/20/733511429/will-you-love-this-book-in-all-its-damaged-glory-maybe" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 31, "book": "Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "BoJack Horseman' Creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg On His Debut Short-Story Collection", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/bojack-horseman-creator-raphael-bob-waksberg-his-debut-short-story-collection" } ] }, "32": { "id": 32, "title": "Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story", "author": "Kevin Noble Malliard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal", "reviewers": [ "Cynthia Leitich Smith" ], "text": "

Fry Bread is food, history, nations and so much more in this charming, adorably illustrated picture book celebration of a delicious Native American treat. In the back of the book you’ll find Kevin Noble Maillard’s personal fry bread recipe and a warm, conversational author’s note offering more insights into fry bread’s cultural role as well as into Native American daily life, identity, diversity and intertribal connections.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "identity & culture", "kids’ books", "the states we’re in", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "1626727465", "seamus": 776936692, "itunes": 9781626727465, "goodreads": 42642044, "cover": "1626727465", "bookshop": 9781626727465, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781626727465", "isbn10": "1626727465", "links": [] }, "33": { "id": 33, "title": "Opium: How An Ancient Flower Shaped And Poisoned Our World", "author": "John H. Halpern and David Blistein", "reviewers": [ "Darian Woods" ], "text": "

In 1898, Bayer marketed a cough suppressant with an active ingredient that supposedly lacked the addictive qualities of morphine. Those claims were wrong; that ingredient was heroin. America’s current opioid crisis – fueled by misleading marketing of oxycodone – is, historically speaking, déjà vu. That’s what I realized reading Opium: How An Ancient Flower Shaped And Poisoned Our World. The book shows the ways this one flower, the opium poppy, has had a recurring role, for better or for worse, throughout human civilization and global trade.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "science!", "tales from around the world", "the states we’re in", "staff picks", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0316417661", "seamus": 776937851, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 36423145, "cover": "0316417661", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316417662", "isbn10": "0316417661", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 33, "book": "Opium: How An Ancient Flower Shaped And Poisoned Our World", "source": "NPR", "text": "The Opium Cycle", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/11/05/776212608/the-opium-cycle" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 33, "book": "Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World", "source": "VPR", "text": "What The History Of Opium Teaches Us About The Opioid Epidemic", "url": "https://www.vpr.org/post/what-history-opium-teaches-us-about-opioid-epidemic#stream/0" } ] }, "34": { "id": 34, "title": "Horizon", "author": "Barry Lopez", "reviewers": [ "Dave Blanchard" ], "text": "

Barry Lopez writes about traveling to the Arctic, the Galapagos and other remote corners of the globe in Horizon, but “travel writer” isn’t really the right way to categorize him. His books don’t inspire you to book a flight so much as they inspire you to see your own familiar environment in a new light. Throughout Horizon, he offers dense, transcendent lessons about humanity’s relationship to nature, reminding us how much we take for granted and how little time we have left to correct our course with the natural world.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "tales from around the world", "seriously great writing", "eye-opening reads", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0394585828", "seamus": 704946245, "itunes": 9780394585826, "goodreads": 15259073, "cover": "0394585828", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780394585826", "isbn10": "0394585828", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 34, "book": "Horizon", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Horizon,' Considering All That Is Connected", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/20/704901636/in-horizon-considering-all-that-is-connected" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 34, "book": "Horizon", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "To Travel Well, Be Willing To Listen, Play, Leave The Notebook Behind", "url": "https://www.ttbook.org/interview/travel-well-be-willing-listen-play-leave-notebook-behind" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 34, "book": "Horizon", "source": "New England Public Radio", "text": "In Contrast: Barry Lopez On 'Horizon'", "url": "https://digital.nepr.net/podcasthub/2019/06/05/lopez/" } ] }, "35": { "id": 35, "title": "Sea Level Rise: A Slow Tsunami On America's Shores", "author": "Orrin H. Pilkey and Keith C. Pilkey", "reviewers": [ "Debbie Elliott" ], "text": "

Duke Geology Professor Emeritus Orrin Pilkey has long written about how to live with changing shorelines, but his latest collaboration with his son Keith Pilkey sounds the alarm on the coastal crisis looming for the country. They identify the legal, political and financial decisions required to cope with sea level rise as it threatens nearly every aspect of American life, including commerce and shipping, the military, tourism and the design and functioning of major cities. The sober assessment questions whether the recent trend toward building resilient coastal communities is even possible.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "the states we’re in", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1478005068", "seamus": 776939546, "itunes": 9781478005063, "goodreads": 42794119, "cover": "1478005068", "bookshop": 9781478005063, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781478005063", "isbn10": "1478005068", "links": [] }, "36": { "id": 36, "title": "The Broken Road: George Wallace And A Daughter’s Journey To Reconciliation", "author": "Peggy Wallace Kennedy", "reviewers": [ "Debbie Elliott" ], "text": "

This is a fascinating and unflinching memoir from the daughter of former Alabama governors George and Lurleen Wallace. The book explores Peggy Wallace Kennedy’s journey from a little girl defending her father as a “segregationist” and not a “racist” to an adult grappling with his civil rights legacy and seeking racial justice. She dubs her father “the Confederacy’s very own Napoleon.” We get a stark look at a difficult home life and a glaring assessment of George Wallace’s blinding ambition, launched with his infamous declaration of “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "the states we’re in", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1635573653", "seamus": 776942091, "itunes": 9781635573657, "goodreads": 42972006, "cover": "1635573653", "bookshop": 9781635573657, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781635573657", "isbn10": "1635573653", "links": [] }, "37": { "id": 37, "title": "Oculus: Poems", "author": "Sally Wen Mao", "reviewers": [ "Elise Hu" ], "text": "

This was a big year for reckoning with the Internet, which for the developed world, has become the central organizing unit of modern life. Oculus is a vivid poetry collection that helped me better feel and recognize the disorientation of this digital, self-surveilling era. Sally Wen Mao investigates identity, race and projection in a way that made for such a thoughtful and engaging read, even for the poetry-averse reader like me (I hang my head in shame). If you read Jia Tolentino’s essay collection, which is also in this Concierge, I suggest pairing this poetry with that prose.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "short stories, essays & poetry", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1555978258", "seamus": 686350263, "itunes": 9781555978259, "goodreads": 40121999, "cover": "1555978258", "bookshop": 9781555978259, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781555978259", "isbn10": "1555978258", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 37, "book": "Oculus: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "\"I Reject Walls\": A 2019 Poetry Preview", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686349087/-i-reject-walls-a-2019-poetry-preview" } ] }, "38": { "id": 38, "title": "A Good American Family: The Red Scare And My Father", "author": "David Maraniss", "reviewers": [ "Don Gonyea" ], "text": "

Books about the so-called Red Scare of the 1950s often focus on the big names involved in that tragic drama – Sen. Joseph McCarthy and lawyer Roy Cohn, journalist Edward R. Murrow, or those caught up in the Hollywood blacklist. But Pulitzer Prize-winner David Maraniss instead examines how the anti-communist purge touched middle America. The author’s father, Elliott Maraniss, was a family man, a former World War II Army officer and a newspaperman whose life was upended when an FBI informant gave his name to the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee. The elder Maraniss had indeed been involved in radical politics starting as a college student in the late 1930s, and that activity led to him being called to testify at a congressional hearing held in Detroit in 1952. By examining such a personal story, Maraniss brings a dark period in American history to life.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "for history lovers", "family matters", "the states we’re in", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1501178377", "seamus": 723151750, "itunes": 9781501178375, "goodreads": 42201333, "cover": "1501178377", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501178375", "isbn10": "1501178377", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 38, "book": "A Good American Family: The Red Scare And My Father", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'A Good American Family,' A Son Details How The Red Scare Upended His Father", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/14/722087242/in-a-good-american-family-a-son-details-how-the-red-scare-upended-his-father" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 38, "book": "A Good American Family", "source": "WDET", "text": "Author, Detroit Native David Maraniss Reflects On How 1950s Red Scare Upended His Family", "url": "https://wdet.org/posts/2019/05/20/88204-author-detroit-native-david-maraniss-reflects-on-how-1950s-red-scare-upended-his-family/" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 38, "book": "A Good American Family", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "What Can We Learn About Today From The McCarthy Era Blacklist?", "url": "https://www.ttbook.org/interview/what-can-we-learn-about-today-mccarthy-era-blacklist" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 38, "book": "A Good American Family", "source": "WUWM", "text": "David Maraniss Digs Into His Family's Own Red Scare In 'Good American Family'", "url": "https://www.wuwm.com/post/david-maraniss-digs-his-familys-own-red-scare-good-american-family#stream/0" } ] }, "39": { "id": 39, "title": "Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler", "author": "Lynne Olson", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "

Outside the World War II spy world, few knew that Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was the brains and ingenuity behind the French Resistance, which was so crucial to the Allied victory. She built and rebuilt her network using the names of animals as aliases for herself and her agents. The Hedgehog, as she was known, endured tremendous family sacrifice. But she earned the trust of British and American intelligence, ultimately providing them with a detailed 55-foot-long map of the Normandy coastline where the D-Day invasion would take place.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "tales from around the world", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0812994760", "seamus": 776952726, "itunes": 9780812994766, "goodreads": 41796203, "cover": "0812994760", "bookshop": 9780812994766, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780812994766", "isbn10": "0812994760", "links": [] }, "40": { "id": 40, "title": "Midnight In Chernobyl: The Untold Story Of The World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster", "author": "Adam Higginbotham", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "

Don’t let the depressing nature of the world’s worst nuclear disaster put you off from reading this outstanding piece of reporting. The book tells about much more than the official denials by recounting the stories of the engineers, scientists and citizens whose lives were changed forever. The accident becomes the beginning of the downfall of the Soviet Union – and more than just one lesson for the history books. Unprecedented access to documents makes the details of the storytelling gripping and unforgettable.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "nonfiction", "tales from around the world", "staff picks", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1501134612", "seamus": 737993197, "itunes": 9781501134616, "goodreads": 40538681, "cover": "1501134612", "bookshop": 9781501134616, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501134616", "isbn10": "1501134612", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 40, "book": "Midnight In Chernobyl: The Untold Story Of The World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Pulls Back The Iron Curtain On The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/02/737984716/author-pulls-back-the-iron-curtain-on-the-chernobyl-nuclear-disaster" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 40, "book": "Midnight in Chernobyl", "source": "WYSO", "text": "Book Nook: Adam Higginbotham On 'Midnight In Chernobyl'", "url": "https://www.wyso.org/post/book-nook-midnight-chernobyl-adam-higginbotham" } ] }, "41": { "id": 41, "title": "The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.", "author": "Evan Ratliff", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "

This is the story of the drug lord you likely have never heard of but who, with his online drug websites, probably has had a lot greater impact on your life than those from Latin America making bigger headlines. The hunt to finally arrest Paul Le Roux reads like a mercenary thriller at times, but it also shines a light on hardworking U.S. government agents who don’t give up, despite Le Roux’s slippery nature as he hopscotches around the globe. It is a fascinating window into modern organized crime and the stories of people who paid the price to allow him to get away with it.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "mysteries & thrillers", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0399590412", "seamus": 776958688, "itunes": 9780399590412, "goodreads": 41181600, "cover": "0399590412", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399590412", "isbn10": "0399590412", "links": [] }, "42": { "id": 42, "title": "Last Boat Out Of Shanghai: The Epic Story Of The Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution", "author": "Helen Zia", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "

This has been a decade of refugees, so it is a great time to reflect on an earlier wave – those fleeing the rise of Mao Zedong’s communist revolution in China. Helen Zia brings us into the lives of four exiles who reflect the diversity of the socioeconomic experiences of the Shanghai diaspora. Each is a story of endurance, persistence and perseverance topped with significant doses of luck. Theirs are stories of connections, community and family. Perhaps most amazing is that China does not acknowledge the Shanghai exodus, much less the enormous brain drain it triggered. Each of these stories is captivating, but together they are a powerful narrative and a reminder of the hardships of uprooting and starting again, often repeatedly, before finding a new home.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "034552232X", "seamus": 778946838, "itunes": 9780345522320, "goodreads": 40061595, "cover": "034552232X", "bookshop": 9780345522320, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780345522320", "isbn10": "034552232X", "links": [] }, "43": { "id": 43, "title": "The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students", "author": "Anthony Abraham Jack", "reviewers": [ "Elissa Nadworny" ], "text": "

Navigating college is hard for many young people, and for low-income students or kids whose parents didn’t go to college, it can be even trickier. Anthony Abraham Jack talked with low-income students at an unnamed elite college and found that making college more inclusive requires creative and thoughtful solutions, such as keeping dining halls and dorms open during holiday breaks – because not every student can afford a ski trip, or even a bus ticket home. So many professors have told me this book made them rethink their own classrooms.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0674976894", "seamus": 700026727, "itunes": 9780674976894, "goodreads": 42422452, "cover": "0674976894", "bookshop": 9780674976894, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780674976894", "isbn10": "0674976894", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 43, "book": "The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students", "source": "NPR", "text": "As Elite Campuses Diversify, A 'Bias Towards Privilege' Persists", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/699977122/as-elite-campuses-diversify-a-bias-towards-privilege-persists" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 43, "book": "The Privileged Poor", "source": "WFAE", "text": "Tony Jack On His Journey From The Streets Of Miami To Harvard Yard", "url": "https://www.wfae.org/post/southbound-tony-jack-his-journey-streets-miami-harvard-yard#stream/0" } ] }, "44": { "id": 44, "title": "Look Both Ways: A Tale Told In Ten Blocks", "author": "Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Alexander Nabaum", "reviewers": [ "Elissa Nadworny" ], "text": "

Jason Reynolds writes so naturally in the voice of kids. His latest book tells 10 stories about 10 different blocks of a neighborhood – and the middle schoolers who walk those blocks on their ways home from school. Some of the stories connect, and some of the characters, like the school’s crossing guard, appear in multiple stories. Seeing one neighborhood, on one day, through so many different perspectives reminds readers that kids contain multitudes. (For ages 10 to 14)

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "kids’ books", "family matters", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "148143828X", "seamus": 776959417, "itunes": 9781481438285, "goodreads": 40538720, "cover": "148143828X", "bookshop": 9781481438285, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781481438285", "isbn10": "148143828X", "links": [] }, "45": { "id": 45, "title": "The National Team: The Inside Story Of The Women Who Changed Soccer", "author": "Caitlin Murray", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Baker" ], "text": "

For anyone who found themselves jumping up and down and screaming “Equal Pay!” along with the Women’s World Cup stadium crowd last summer (sorry, downstairs neighbors), this book is for you. Caitlin Murray puts you right there on the pitch with the game-changing athletes of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team as they fight for recognition and respect from the sport’s governing bodies and from the public. Interviews with several generations of soccer superstars – Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, Alex Morgan and more – reveal the constant behind-the-scenes work these athletes put in (a late-night sewing session to hem hand-me-down men’s uniforms will both infuriate and inspire) and give soccer fans a better appreciation for each of the four World Cup victories.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "for sports lovers", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1419743015", "seamus": 776960206, "itunes": 9781419743016, "goodreads": 47582752, "cover": "1419743015", "bookshop": 9781419743016, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781419743016", "isbn10": "1419743015", "links": [] }, "46": { "id": 46, "title": "The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across The Last Untamed Frontier", "author": "Ian Urbina", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Baker" ], "text": "

I have been completely obsessed with the story of Sealand after there was speculation that the tiny ocean-platform-turned-principality could become home to Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks servers. (You can’t make this stuff up – Google it yourself!) Or better yet, grab a copy of Ian Urbina’s riveting book to read about some of the eccentric characters, pirate enterprises and human rights violations that thrive in the murky legal brine of international waters. Urbana takes readers onboard a floating abortion clinic, scofflaw fishing trawlers, a vigilante environmentalist ship and more in his extensive reporting that puts you right in the middle of action you probably never realized was happening.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0451492943", "seamus": 751757355, "itunes": 9780451492944, "goodreads": 43345615, "cover": "0451492943", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780451492944", "isbn10": "0451492943", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 46, "book": "The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across The Last Untamed Frontier", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Outlaw Ocean': A Forgotten Frontier Where Slavery And Illegal Activities Abound", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/21/751707831/the-outlaw-ocean-a-forgotten-frontier-where-slavery-and-illegal-activities-aboun" } ] }, "47": { "id": 47, "title": "A Good Kind Of Trouble", "author": "Lisa Moore Ramée", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Bird" ], "text": "

Why go looking for trouble when you can just keep your head down and stay out of it? Shayla’s pretty good at ignoring problems, but when a public trial of a policeman results in a verdict of not guilty, something changes. She’s your typical quiet girl, but maybe there’s something she can do to make a difference. If the biggest trend in 2019 children’s fiction was social awareness and activism, then A Good Kind of Trouble is the go-to example for how to do it right. Kids will come for the fun friendship drama, but they’ll stay for the tough questions: What does it mean to be “black enough,” and should some rules be broken? (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0062836684", "seamus": 776960828, "itunes": 9780062836687, "goodreads": 39855077, "cover": "0062836684", "bookshop": 9780062836687, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062836687", "isbn10": "0062836684", "links": [] }, "48": { "id": 48, "title": "I Can Make This Promise", "author": "Christine Day", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Bird" ], "text": "

Edie never thought her parents would keep secrets from her, but that was before she discovered the box in her attic – the box filled with photos of a woman bearing her name and wearing her face. But Edie’s mom was an orphan who never knew her family … right? Edie is of Suquamish and Duwamish ancestry, and the family secret is linked to a shameful chapter of U.S. history. Christine Day’s book encompasses a mystery that will keep kids guessing until the gut-wrenching reveal. Expect this one to keep them glued to the pages. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0062871994", "seamus": 776961634, "itunes": 9780062871992, "goodreads": 43453719, "cover": "0062871994", "bookshop": 9780062871992, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062871992", "isbn10": "0062871994", "links": [] }, "49": { "id": 49, "title": "Pokko And The Drum", "author": "Matthew Forsythe", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Bird" ], "text": "

There is no getting around it: “The biggest mistake Pokko’s parents ever made was giving her a drum.” When they find they can no longer take the incessant noise, Pokko is let loose in the forest, where she quickly accrues both desirable and undesirable followers. Matthew Forsythe produces that rarest of picture-book tales: the kind that’s twisted and empowering by turns. Luminous illustrations pulsate on the page, as Pokko emerges as a leader and, let’s be honest, a pretty good drummer to boot. (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "for art lovers", "for music lovers", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1481480391", "seamus": 776963130, "itunes": 9781481480390, "goodreads": 43822059, "cover": "1481480391", "bookshop": 9781481480390, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781481480390", "isbn10": "1481480391", "links": [] }, "50": { "id": 50, "title": "Queen Of The Sea", "author": "Dylan Meconis", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Bird" ], "text": "

If you like your alternative history comics chock-full o’ nuns, have we got the book for you. In this thinly disguised tale of Elizabethan England (called Albion here), 12-year-old Margaret has always lived on an island convent and loves its denizens dearly. When her country’s exiled queen is sent to the island by her half-sister (sound familiar?) the child bonds with the woman, little dreaming that they share a connection much deeper than mere location. The rich watercolors, high jinks and history prove a winning combination in this effervescent and charming book. (For ages 10 to 14)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff", "for history lovers", "comics & graphic novels", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "1536204986", "seamus": 743846466, "itunes": 9781536204988, "goodreads": 27411491, "cover": "1536204986", "bookshop": 9781536204988, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781536204988", "isbn10": "1536204986", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 50, "book": "Queen Of The Sea", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Queen Of The Sea,' The Story Rides On Goatback ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/21/743846388/in-queen-of-the-sea-the-story-rides-on-goatback" } ] }, "51": { "id": 51, "title": "Spy Runner", "author": "Eugene Yelchin", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Bird" ], "text": "

When young Jake comes to believe that his mom’s new boarder is a Russian spy, he’ll stop at nothing to uncover the truth. But what happens when the truth reveals the sickly underbelly of society? Spies, traitors and double agents all help bring 1950s-era McCarthyism to life. Eugene Yelchin jacks up the tension but still allows space for strange, quiet moments and artistically blurred photographs that look straight out of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. With gunshots, car chases and even attempted murder, this book is perfect for young adrenaline junkies. (For ages 8 to 11)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1250120810", "seamus": 776964302, "itunes": 9781250120816, "goodreads": 39280471, "cover": "1250120810", "bookshop": 9781250120816, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250120816", "isbn10": "1250120810", "links": [] }, "52": { "id": 52, "title": "This Was Our Pact", "author": "Ryan Andrews", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Bird" ], "text": "

Every year, townspeople drop paper lanterns into the river for the Autumn Equinox Festival, and every year, Ben wonders where they go. Determined to find the answer, he and an unpopular classmate ride their bikes through numerous adventures. A rare stand-alone epic quest comic, Ryan Andrews maintains a gentle but urgent narrative pull through magical and madcap scenarios. No one comes out the same as they went in. (For ages 10 to 14)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "comics & graphic novels", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1626720533", "seamus": 776965096, "itunes": 9781626720534, "goodreads": 40864829, "cover": "1626720533", "bookshop": 9781626720534, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781626720534", "isbn10": "1626720533", "links": [] }, "53": { "id": 53, "title": "We’re Not From Here", "author": "Geoff Rodkey", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Bird" ], "text": "

Funny story: Remember when the humans destroyed Earth and found a replacement planet containing four alien species who were willing to take us in? Well, after awakening from bio-suspension after 20 years, the remaining humans have found the aliens no longer want anything do with us. The solution? Lan’s family is going to live on Planet Choom for a while to show everyone that humans are A-OK. Geoff Rodkey manages to balance humor and good, old-fashioned talking space marshmallows with serious issues of immigration and fake news. This isn’t a space opera; this is a space mockumentary. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1524773042", "seamus": 776965795, "itunes": 9781524773045, "goodreads": 40645666, "cover": "1524773042", "bookshop": 9781524773045, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524773045", "isbn10": "1524773042", "links": [] }, "54": { "id": 54, "title": "I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through The TV Revolution", "author": "Emily Nussbaum", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Blair" ], "text": "

Emily Nussbaum doesn’t just “like to watch” TV, she’s been on something of a campaign to give the boob-tube, as many parents once called it, the cred she believes it deserves: “a critical stance less hobbled by shame – a language that treated television as its own viable force, not the weak sibling to superior mediums,” she writes. This collection of new and previously published essays includes profiles of showrunners Kenya Barris and Jenji Kohan and deep dives into such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Americans, Black-ish and Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette. In the new essay “Confessions of the Human Shield,” she grapples with a conundrum of the #MeToo movement: Is it possible to separate the art from the artist?

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "it’s all geek to me", "no biz like show biz", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0525508961", "seamus": 735521841, "itunes": 9780525508960, "goodreads": 42815538, "cover": "0525508961", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525508960", "isbn10": "0525508961", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 54, "book": "I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through The TV Revolution", "source": "NPR", "text": "We All Watch In Our Own Way: A Critic Tracks The 'TV Revolution'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/15/741146427/we-all-watch-in-our-own-way-a-critic-tracks-the-tv-revolution" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 54, "book": "I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through The TV Revolution", "source": "NPR", "text": "From 'Buffy' Superfan To Pulitzer Prize, A Critic Celebrates TV On Her Own Terms", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/25/735877540/from-buffy-superfan-to-pulitzer-prize-a-critic-celebrates-tv-on-her-own-terms" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 54, "book": "I Like To Watch: Arguing My Way Through The TV Revolution", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'I Like To Watch' Is A Passionate, Brilliant Defense Of TV ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/25/735514087/i-like-to-watch-is-a-passionate-brilliant-defense-of-tv" } ] }, "55": { "id": 55, "title": "The Ride Of A Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years As CEO Of The Walt Disney Company", "author": "Robert Iger", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Blair" ], "text": "

In difficult moments, Robert Iger turns to a Teddy Roosevelt speech for inspiration: “It is not the critic who counts … The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.” From dealing with angry board members to acquiring 21st Century Fox to firing Roseanne Barr, Iger’s Ride is equal parts management guide and personal journey, told with brisk pacing, wit and sensitivity by the man largely credited with turning the once-embattled Mouse House into a respected powerhouse. Particularly moving is Iger’s retelling of the grand opening of the multi-billion-dollar Shanghai Disney while responding to tragedies at home – the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando and the death of a little boy at a Disney resort. “It was a happy day. It was also the saddest of my career.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "0399592091", "seamus": 764329712, "itunes": 9780399592096, "goodreads": 44525305, "cover": "0399592091", "bookshop": 9780399592096, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399592096", "isbn10": "0399592091", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 55, "book": "The Ride Of A Lifetime: Lessons Learned From 15 Years As CEO Of The Walt Disney Company", "source": "NPR", "text": "Disney CEO Bob Iger Has Lessons On Fostering Creativity — And Acquiring It", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764329165/disney-ceo-bob-iger-has-lessons-on-fostering-creativity-and-acquiring-it" } ] }, "56": { "id": 56, "title": "In Pain: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle With Opioids", "author": "Travis Rieder", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "

This book is a wake-up call for anyone who thinks the opioid crisis can’t touch them. After a motorcycle accident that nearly took off his foot, Johns Hopkins bioethicist Travis Rieder was prescribed large doses of painkillers. But when he tried to wean himself off, he experienced severe withdrawal and found that his doctors didn’t have answers for him. Though Rieder eventually managed to stop taking the meds, the experience prompted him to write In Pain. It’s part memoir, part indictment of the doctors and pharmaceutical companies that push painkillers without addressing the addiction issues that come with them.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "science!", "eye-opening reads", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "006285464X", "seamus": 738952679, "itunes": 9780062854643, "goodreads": 42654397, "cover": "006285464X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062854643", "isbn10": "006285464X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 56, "book": "In Pain: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle With Opioids", "source": "NPR", "text": "Motorcycle Crash Shows Bioethicist The Dark Side Of Quitting Opioids Alone", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/07/08/738952129/motorcycle-crash-shows-bioethicist-the-dark-side-of-quitting-opioids-alone" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 56, "book": "In Pain: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle with Opioids", "source": "WYPR", "text": "The Torment Of Withdrawal", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/post/torment-withdrawal" } ] }, "57": { "id": 57, "title": "The Starless Sea: A Novel", "author": "Erin Morgenstern", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "

Anyone who’s read Erin Morgenstern’s wildly successful fiction debut, The Night Circus, knows how meticulously she crafts her imaginary worlds. Her new novel, The Starless Sea, revels in them. Graduate student Zachary Ezra Rawlins picks a book off the shelf in his college library and finds a description of himself and an incident from his childhood that he never told anyone. As he tries to solve the mystery of the book, both he and the reader are immersed in a multitude of stories, the threads of which gradually weave together to a haunting conclusion.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "038554121X", "seamus": 775435779, "itunes": 9780385541213, "goodreads": 43575115, "cover": "038554121X", "bookshop": 9780385541213, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385541213", "isbn10": "038554121X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 57, "book": "The Starless Sea: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "You'll Float Away On The Warm Waters Of 'The Starless Sea'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/03/775436518/youll-float-away-on-the-warm-waters-of-the-starless-sea" } ] }, "58": { "id": 58, "title": "Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir Of Recording And Discording With Wilco, Etc.", "author": "Jeff Tweedy", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "

This memoir feels like a gift from the often enigmatic Wilco frontman to longtime fans. Jeff Tweedy opens up about his opioid addiction and recovery, his father’s drinking issues, and the mood disorders that affected them both. He tells us how a childhood bike accident made him a guitar player, and he gives his take on the breakup of Uncle Tupelo and Jay Bennett’s departure from Wilco. It’s all written with a wry humor that will be familiar to anyone who has ever gone to a Wilco show.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "for music lovers", "the dark side", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1101985267", "seamus": 667342217, "itunes": 9781101985267, "goodreads": 40911670, "cover": "1101985267", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781101985267", "isbn10": "1101985267", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 58, "book": "Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir Of Recording And Discording With Wilco, Etc.", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Let's Go,' Wilco Frontman Jeff Tweedy Details His Struggles And Joys ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2018/11/13/667336084/in-lets-go-wilco-frontman-jeff-tweedy-details-his-struggles-and-joys" } ] }, "59": { "id": 59, "title": "The Proudest Blue: A Story Of Hijab And Family", "author": "Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem Aly", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "

In 2016, fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad became the first Muslim American woman to compete for the U.S. in the Olympics wearing a hijab. In The Proudest Blue, she draws on her own experience as she tells the story of Faizah and her big sister Asiya, as Asiya wears a hijab to school for the first time. Though the sisters encounter questions and teasing, the tone is joyful: Hatem Aly’s illustrations depict a bright blue hijab – like “the sky on a sunny day … It’s always there, special and regular.” (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0316519006", "seamus": 776967354, "itunes": 9780316519007, "goodreads": 43853210, "cover": "0316519006", "bookshop": 9780316519007, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316519007", "isbn10": "0316519006", "links": [] }, "60": { "id": 60, "title": "The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays", "author": "Esmé Weijun Wang", "reviewers": [ "Emily Bogle" ], "text": "

Esmé Weijun Wang artfully weaves clinical and cultural analysis into her 13 essays on mental health and schizophrenia. The collection includes excerpts from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and reactions to movies and art. Wang’s writing is deeply personal as she chronicles her family history of trauma and mental illness, her own diagnosis journey and her considerations about whether to have children. Throughout she asks: What is real, and how do we define that for ourselves?

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "eye-opening reads", "book club ideas", "science!" ], "isbn": "1555978274", "seamus": 690501499, "itunes": 9781555978273, "goodreads": 40121993, "cover": "1555978274", "bookshop": 9781555978273, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781555978273", "isbn10": "1555978274", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 60, "book": "The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Collected Schizophrenias' Conveys What It's Like To Live With A 'Hidden' Illness", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/06/691302982/the-collected-schizophrenias-conveys-what-its-like-to-live-with-a-hidden-illness" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 60, "book": "The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": "Hallucinations Kidnap The Senses In 'The Collected Schizophrenias'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/03/690501557/hallucinations-kidnap-the-senses-in-the-collected-schizophrenias" } ] }, "61": { "id": 61, "title": "Dunce", "author": "Mary Ruefle", "reviewers": [ "Emily Vaughn" ], "text": "

Newly minted Vermont poet laureate Mary Ruefle is a devious nonsense-maker. Stanzas that shouldn’t be comprehensible are instead a delight. “Words have no thoughts / just as you have no / lice.” Ruefle, also known for her books of essays and erasure poetry, demonstrates offhand wit that gives levity to the desolate landscape she conjures: “Who won? I said. / The game’s tomorrow, he said.” Reading these poems is exhilarating, like careering down a rocky hill on a rusty bike. A wheel might pop off at any moment, and something horrible might happen. But it’s a heck of a ride.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1940696852", "seamus": 776968222, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 43841537, "cover": "1940696852", "bookshop": 9781940696850, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781940696850", "isbn10": "1940696852", "links": [] }, "62": { "id": 62, "title": "Audience Of One: Donald Trump, Television, And The Fracturing of America", "author": "James Poniewozik", "reviewers": [ "Eric Deggans" ], "text": "

Only a critic with James Poniewozik’s skill can show how the evolution of modern TV mirrored the rise of the celebrity who would become the U.S. commander in chief. Poniewozik, the chief TV critic for The New York Times, documents how Donald Trump used media coverage and appearances in TV and film to become the embodiment of many Americans’ idea of a businessman, just as TV’s penchant for antiheroes and thin stereotypes of reality TV primed an audience. Toss in the anger, racist dog-whistles and sexism of Fox News Channel, and you have a recipe for Trump’s message, artfully explained by one of the best critics in the business.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "no biz like show biz", "the states we’re in", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1631494422", "seamus": 759428434, "itunes": 9781631494420, "goodreads": 43726540, "cover": "1631494422", "bookshop": 9781631494420, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781631494420", "isbn10": "1631494422", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 62, "book": "Audience Of One: Donald Trump, Television, And The Fracturing of America", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Audience Of One' Aims To Show How TV Shaped Donald Trump — And Led To His Rise", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/11/759016509/audience-of-one-aims-to-show-how-tv-shaped-donald-trump-and-led-to-his-rise" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 62, "book": "Audience Of One", "source": "WYPR", "text": " 'Audience Of One': James Poniewozik On TV And The Rise Of Donald Trump", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/post/audience-one-james-poniewozik-tv-and-rise-donald-trump" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 62, "book": "Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America", "source": "WBUR", "text": "The Role TV Played In The Election And Presidency Of Trump", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/09/13/donald-trump-television-audience-of-one-james-poniewozik" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 62, "book": "Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America", "source": "Connecticut Public Radio", "text": "Without TV, There's No Trump", "url": "https://www.wnpr.org/post/without-tv-theres-no-trump" } ] }, "63": { "id": 63, "title": "Unexampled Courage: The Blinding Of Sgt. Isaac Woodard And The Awakening Of President Harry S. Truman And Judge J. Waties Waring", "author": "Richard Gergel", "reviewers": [ "Eric Deggans" ], "text": "

This is a book so packed with overlooked history that you will forgive that it has one of the most unwieldy titles of the year. Richard Gergel — a judge who presided over the trial of white supremacist Charleston, S.C., church shooter Dylann Roof — introduces readers to a man they should already know but likely don’t. Isaac Woodard was an African American sergeant blinded by a beating from a police chief in South Carolina while returning home from service in World War II. Gergel writes that this case inspired President Harry Truman to establish a civil rights commission and desegregate the armed forces, which then helped in arguments for the Supreme Court case that desegregated U.S. schools. The acquittal of the police chief who blinded Woodard by an all-white jury also inspired the judge on the case, J. Waties Waring, to become more sensitive to racism and issue many civil rights decisions. Gergel recounts all this with compelling prose, revealing how a single injustice led to some of the nation’s most important civil rights victories.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "nonfiction", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0374107890", "seamus": 776970351, "itunes": 9780374107895, "goodreads": 40121995, "cover": "0374107890", "bookshop": 9780374107895, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780374107895", "isbn10": "0374107890", "links": [] }, "64": { "id": 64, "title": "Parkland: Birth Of A Movement", "author": "Dave Cullen", "reviewers": [ "Eric McDaniel" ], "text": "

By now, I have a sense of how the coverage around mass shootings tends to unfold; I’ve been at NPR less than four years and have covered nearly a dozen of them. Parkland was different – and Dave Cullen’s book shows why. The author of the definitive book on Columbine flew down and embedded with the kids behind March For Our Lives within a week of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and stayed with them for nearly a year. The book is a strikingly beautiful look at the origins, evolution and people of a movement that has touched the nation.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0062882945", "seamus": 776971638, "itunes": 9780062882943, "goodreads": 41154327, "cover": "0062882945", "bookshop": 9780062882943, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062882943", "isbn10": "0062882945", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 64, "book": "Parkland: Birth Of A Movement", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Parkland'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-parkland" } ] }, "65": { "id": 65, "title": "The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming", "author": "David Wallace-Wells", "reviewers": [ "Eric McDaniel" ], "text": "

Like the parable of the blind men and the elephant, my understanding of the future of our planet and the things that live on it used to be cobbled together from 100 well-intentioned half-truths and a handful of lies from people who have an interest in denying that the elephant is even in the room. Reading David Wallace-Wells’ book was, simply put, like going to meet the elephant myself. There is no better, more readable look at the consequences of the climate change that will unfold in the span of the next human lifetime. You owe it to yourself to actually understand what’s happening and what can be done to try to mitigate the outcome.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "science!", "the dark side", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0525576703", "seamus": 706516496, "itunes": 9780525576709, "goodreads": 41552709, "cover": "0525576703", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525576709", "isbn10": "0525576703", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 65, "book": "The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming", "source": "NPR", "text": "New Climate Books Stress We Are Already Far Down The Road To A Different Earth", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706499110/new-climate-books-stress-we-are-already-far-down-the-road-to-a-different-earth" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 65, "book": "The Uninhabitable Earth", "source": "KWIT-KOJI: Siouxland Public Media", "text": "Check It Out: 'The Uninhabitable Earth'", "url": "https://www.kwit.org/post/check-it-out-uninhabitable-earth" } ] }, "66": { "id": 66, "title": "Normal People: A Novel", "author": "Sally Rooney", "reviewers": [ "Eric McDaniel" ], "text": "

The beauty of novels is that they can briefly reveal to us a path inward, to show us our hurts, loves and fears. By that measure, Sally Rooney has written a remarkable one. Her book Normal People is the story of a young couple in Ireland who want only and desperately to understand each other, even though, like all of us, they’re unable to understand even themselves.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "1984822179", "seamus": 711377872, "itunes": 9781984822178, "goodreads": 41057294, "cover": "1984822179", "bookshop": 9781984822178, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984822178", "isbn10": "1984822179", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 66, "book": "Normal People: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Normal People' Appeals Across Genders And Generations", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/16/713477427/normal-people-appeals-across-genders-and-generations" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 66, "book": "Normal People: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Personal Demons And Class Differences Complicate Love In 'Normal People'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/09/711377704/personal-demons-and-class-differences-complicate-love-in-normal-people" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 66, "book": "Normal People", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Normal People'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-normal-people" } ] }, "67": { "id": 67, "title": "The Parade: A Novel", "author": "Dave Eggers", "reviewers": [ "Eric McDaniel" ], "text": "

Modern life is horrible and also opaque. By which I mean, the nature of the global economy means that I don’t know where my clothes or food or tech come from or the conditions under which they’re made. But I do know that I’d probably find the answers horrifying – the same emotion I felt after finishing Dave Eggers’ novella The Parade, a parable about global development, megacorporations and human connection. Read it and rest assured there are few unambiguously ethical choices under capitalism.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0525655301", "seamus": 703855306, "itunes": 9780525655305, "goodreads": 42261231, "cover": "0525655301", "bookshop": 9780525655305, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525655305", "isbn10": "0525655301", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 67, "book": "The Parade: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Parable Of International Development From Dave Eggers", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/18/703838822/a-parable-of-international-development-from-dave-eggers" } ] }, "68": { "id": 68, "title": "The Tradition", "author": "Jericho Brown", "reviewers": [ "Erin Slomski-Pritz" ], "text": "

Jericho Brown’s masterful collection is an unflinching examination of the rituals, stories and identities that make us. In these poems, Brown explores the places where violence and love intersect and play out in both behavior and language. The result is subversive. The title poem, a sonnet (traditionally a love poem), begins with flowers and ends with the names of slain black men. Brown builds on poetic tradition with his own invention, the duplex, a form that draws on the sonnet, the blues and the ghazal – a formal response to poetic inheritance that says: We make this our own.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "short stories, essays & poetry", "identity & culture", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1556594860", "seamus": 686362884, "itunes": 9781556594861, "goodreads": 41746324, "cover": "1556594860", "bookshop": 9781556594861, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781556594861", "isbn10": "1556594860", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 68, "book": "The Tradition", "source": "NPR", "text": "\"I Reject Walls\": A 2019 Poetry Preview", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686349087/-i-reject-walls-a-2019-poetry-preview" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 68, "book": "The Tradition", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Jericho Brown On 'The Witches Of Eastwick'", "url": "https://www.ttbook.org/interview/jericho-brown-witches-eastwick" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 68, "book": "The Tradition", "source": "KMUW", "text": " 'I Want You To Change': Jericho Brown On His New Collection Of Poems, 'The Tradition'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/i-want-you-change-jericho-brown-his-new-collection-poems-tradition" } ] }, "69": { "id": 69, "title": "The Mosquito: A Human History Of Our Deadliest Predator", "author": "Timothy C. Winegard", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "

At once a deep dive and a view from 30,000 feet. Timothy C. Winegard traces the history of civilization (Western, largely) through the lens of that most hated scourge of cocktail hour on your back deck. In friendly, discursive prose, he walks you through the many ways that the mosquito – more specifically, the diseases she carries – has turned the tide in major wars and has overthrown governments. When you learn, for example, that these miserable little bloodsuckers are responsible for the deaths of half the humans who have ever lived on the planet, it will lend a distinct tang of righteous retribution to the next time you manage to splat one before it’s done feasting on your ankle.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "science!", "the dark side", "rather long", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "1524743410", "seamus": 730432456, "itunes": 9781524743413, "goodreads": 43999118, "cover": "1524743410", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524743413", "isbn10": "1524743410", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 69, "book": "The Mosquito: A Human History Of Our Deadliest Predator", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Mosquito,' Humans Face A Predator More Deadly Than The Rest ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/12/749798515/in-the-mosquito-humans-face-a-predator-more-deadly-than-the-rest" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 69, "book": "The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator", "source": "Colorado Public Radio", "text": "Think Mosquitoes Serve No Purpose But To Bug You? This Colorado Researcher Says They May Have Another One (Warning: It’s Bleak)", "url": "https://www.cpr.org/2019/07/10/think-mosquitoes-serve-no-purpose-but-to-bug-you-this-colorado-researcher-says-they-may-have-another-one-warning-its-bleak/" } ] }, "70": { "id": 70, "title": "Death Wins A Goldfish: Reflections From A Grim Reaper's Yearlong Sabbatical", "author": "Brian Rea", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "

The Grim Reaper is, among many other things, a workaholic. So when Human Resources decrees that he’s got to take all his unused vacation days at once – a whole year off, basically – he’s unsure of what to do. In Brian Rea’s charming, warm-hearted and funny graphic novel, Death – here represented with a deceptively childlike, stick-figure simplicity – opts to do a little bit of everything and keep a journal while doing so. He goes to a carnival (winning the goldfish in question), hits the slopes, swims with a shark (“August 21,” reads that day’s entry, “Ran into an old colleague.”) and learns to shift his work-life … er, work-death balance. Rea stuffs the book with great visual gags; my favorite – Death orders a coffee and we see the paper cup on which the barista has written “Beth.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "comics & graphic novels", "funny stuff", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1452172552", "seamus": 776776079, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 40537336, "cover": "1452172552", "bookshop": 9781452172552, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781452172552", "isbn10": "1452172552", "links": [] }, "71": { "id": 71, "title": "Rusty Brown", "author": "Chris Ware", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "

Nobody chronicles lives of quiet desperation – and of really, really loud desperation, for that matter – with the exacting meticulousness of Chris Ware. His singular style – bright colors, simple shapes, painstakingly spare compositions – provides him, and us, with direct access to the primal emotions we collectively repress. Rusty Brown, Ware’s latest collection – tells four interwoven tales of suffering souls in and around Omaha, Neb. But it’s not miserablism for misery’s sake – it’s Ware aiming at the things that connect human beings to one another, with a precision that will take your breath away.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "comics & graphic novels", "book club ideas", "family matters", "for art lovers", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0375424326", "seamus": 765208416, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 43475261, "cover": "0375424326", "bookshop": 9780375424328, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780375424328", "isbn10": "0375424326", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 71, "book": "Rusty Brown", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Rusty Brown,' Chris Ware Resolves To Find The Good In Everyone", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/28/765208916/in-rusty-brown-chris-ware-resolves-to-find-the-good-in-everyone" } ] }, "72": { "id": 72, "title": "Swimming In Darkness", "author": "Lucas Harari, translated by David Homel", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "

A young architecture student quits school and visits a remote spa complex high in the Swiss Alps in Lucas Harari’s gorgeous, mysterious and intriguingly suspenseful graphic novel. As young Pierre explores the facility, which is linked to a network of thermal springs, his reality starts to bleed into the local legends about a presence that lives deep within the mountain. Harari’s tale is pulpy noir by way of Hitchcock, with a strong, Lynchian hint of the uncanny.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "comics & graphic novels", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1551527677", "seamus": 755486162, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 44670525, "cover": "1551527677", "bookshop": 9781551527673, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781551527673", "isbn10": "1551527677", "links": [] }, "73": { "id": 73, "title": "The Peanuts Papers: Writers And Cartoonists On Charlie Brown, Snoopy & The Gang, And The Meaning Of Life", "author": "Andrew Blauner (editor)", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "

This collection of essays about Charles Schulz’s venerable comic strip might start off shakily – with selections that sweatily invoke Anton Chekhov and Eugène Ionesco, as if their authors feel the need to justify writing critically about a newspaper comic. But before long, the essays settle down and start to unpack the strip and its characters, instead of comparing them with other work. The best of these engage directly and vigorously with the unsentimental sense of melancholy that Schulz delivered to millions of American doorsteps on a daily basis.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for art lovers", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1598536168", "seamus": 766777767, "itunes": 9781598536164, "goodreads": 44300078, "cover": "1598536168", "bookshop": 9781598536164, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781598536164", "isbn10": "1598536168", "links": [] }, "74": { "id": 74, "title": "How To: Absurd Scientific Advice For Common Real-World Problems", "author": "Randall Munroe", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "

The mind behind the webcomic xkcd provides a slew of hilariously overcomplicated instructions for everything from throwing a pool party to winning an election, bringing his signature stick figures – and his singular wit – along for the ride. How To is a loving testament to the power of the human brain to take things to absurd lengths.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "comics & graphic novels", "eye-opening reads", "funny stuff", "it’s all geek to me", "science!" ], "isbn": "0525537090", "seamus": 757572158, "itunes": 9780525537090, "goodreads": 43852758, "cover": "0525537090", "bookshop": 9780525537090, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525537090", "isbn10": "0525537090", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 74, "book": "How To: Absurd Scientific Advice For Common Real-World Problems", "source": "NPR", "text": "Randall Munroe's Absurd Science For Real-World Problems", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/757567807/randall-munroes-absurd-science-for-real-world-problems" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 74, "book": "How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems", "source": "WVXU", "text": "Looking Up: Randall Munroe On 'How To'", "url": "https://www.wvxu.org/post/looking-randall-munroe-thing-explainer#stream/0" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 74, "book": "How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems", "source": "KCUR", "text": "XKCD Creator Brings His Impractical Solutions To Kansas City", "url": "https://www.kcur.org/post/xkcd-creator-brings-his-impractical-solutions-kansas-city#stream/0" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 74, "book": "How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems", "source": "KMUW", "text": " 'Marginalia' With Randall Munroe", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/marginalia-randall-munroe" } ] }, "75": { "id": 75, "title": "Permanent Record", "author": "Edward Snowden", "reviewers": [ "Greg Myre" ], "text": "

Six years after he spilled valuable secrets from the National Security Agency, Edward Snowden remains a deeply polarizing figure. In his memoir, Permanent Record, Snowden says he went public because the NSA went “from the targeted surveillance of individuals to the mass surveillance of entire populations.” His revelations started a national conversation and have led to reforms. However, critics in the national security community still regard him as a traitor. He still faces criminal charges in the U.S. and remains in limbo in Moscow. From his apartment there, he says, “I beam myself onto stages around the world, speaking about the protection of civil liberties in the digital age.”

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1250237238", "seamus": 760121899, "itunes": 9781250237231, "goodreads": 46223297, "cover": "1250237238", "bookshop": 9781250237231, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250237231", "isbn10": "1250237238", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 75, "book": "Permanent Record", "source": "NPR", "text": "Edward Snowden Speaks Out: 'I Haven't And I Won't' Cooperate With Russia", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/19/761918152/exiled-nsa-contractor-edward-snowden-i-haven-t-and-i-won-t-cooperate-with-russia" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 75, "book": "Permanent Record", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Permanent Record,' Edward Snowden Says 'Exile Is An Endless Layover'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/13/759833071/in-permanent-record-edward-snowden-makes-his-case-against-mass-surveillance" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 75, "book": "Permanent Record", "source": "NPR", "text": "Edward Snowden Tells NPR: The Executive Branch 'Sort Of Hacked The Constitution'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/12/760121373/edward-snowden-tells-npr-i-have-been-criticizing-the-russian-government" } ] }, "76": { "id": 76, "title": "The Other End Of The Line", "author": "Andrea Camilleri, translated by Stephen Sartarelli", "reviewers": [ "Hannah Bloch" ], "text": "

I read The Other End of the Line, Andrea Camilleri’s 24th Inspector Montalbano mystery novel, shortly before the prolific and beloved Sicilian author died in July at age 93. I’ve long been a fan of Camilleri’s crime series, but this novel – set against the backdrop of Europe’s migration crisis – struck me with its compassion and a strong moral force that couldn’t be more timely. After Camilleri died, I was heartened to learn that this story isn’t quite the end of the line. Camilleri wrote 27 Montalbano novels in Italian – so fans like me can hope for three more in translation.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "mysteries & thrillers", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0143133772", "seamus": 776979819, "itunes": 9780143133773, "goodreads": 43669270, "cover": "0143133772", "bookshop": 9780143133773, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780143133773", "isbn10": "0143133772", "links": [] }, "77": { "id": 77, "title": "Another", "author": "Christian Robinson", "reviewers": [ "Jacob Ganz" ], "text": "

Christian Robinson’s colorful collages and illustrations have happily become a regular presence in picture books in recent years. His first solo title is a wordless adventure in which a young girl discovers a portal in her room and enters a realm full of surprises that will bend minds young and old. My kids turned the book upside down, trying to see through its pages and figure out its secrets. When it’s my wife’s turn to read it, she walks out of the room shaking her head about the eerie (but not, like, frightening) similarity to Jordan Peele’s Us. In Robinson’s imagination, two dimensions have real depth. (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "153442167X", "seamus": 776980659, "itunes": 9781534421677, "goodreads": 39992292, "cover": "153442167X", "bookshop": 9781534421677, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781534421677", "isbn10": "153442167X", "links": [] }, "78": { "id": 78, "title": "Spying On The South: An Odyssey Across The American Divide", "author": "Tony Horwitz", "reviewers": [ "Jane Greenhalgh" ], "text": "

In the 1850s, as the nation edged closer to civil war, an undercover reporter set off on a journey south. He was Frederick Law Olmsted, celebrated today as the visionary architect of Central Park. Olmsted was an avowed abolitionist, and for more than a year he traveled across the nation’s fault line – between free and slave states – trying to understand the angry debate consuming the country. Fast-forward to 2016, and another reporter – Tony Horwitz – re-creates Olmsted’s journey. Echoes of the fault line remain, this time among red states and blue: extreme polarization, racial strife and anger drowning out reasoned debate. It’s a delightful book for anyone interested in history, politics, landscape architecture and places far off the beaten track. And it turned out to be Horwitz’s last gift to his readers – he died the month it was published.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1101980281", "seamus": 725039435, "itunes": 9781101980286, "goodreads": 41883933, "cover": "1101980281", "bookshop": 9781101980286, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781101980286", "isbn10": "1101980281", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 78, "book": "Spying On The South: An Odyssey Across The American Divide", "source": "NPR", "text": "An Author Goes 'Spying On The South' 160 Years After Frederick Law Olmsted", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/721756613/an-author-goes-spying-on-the-south-160-years-after-frederick-law-olmsted" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 78, "book": "Spying On The South", "source": "WWNO", "text": "The Reading Life With Tony Horwitz", "url": "https://www.wwno.org/post/reading-life-tony-horwitz-and-bryan-camp" } ] }, "79": { "id": 79, "title": "The Art Of Statistics: How To Learn From Data", "author": "David Spiegelhalter", "reviewers": [ "Jane Greenhalgh" ], "text": "

We live in a world of big data: Numbers are thrown at us all the time, predicting who’s going to win an election, showing the state of the economy or claiming bacon sandwiches cause cancer. But as David Spiegelhalter points out, more data mean we need to be aware of what the evidence is actually worth. The book starts with a compelling tale of statistics and murder – a great way to draw in non-mathematicians like myself. Then comes the hard stuff: statistical significance, causation and correlation, uncertainty intervals, probability theory and systematic bias. Spiegelhalter carefully explains everything you need to know: Are numbers bringing clarity and insight, or are they being used to promote an agenda or attract attention? In an era of “alternative facts” and “fake news,” this is the right book at the right time. Learn how to evaluate the evidence yourself and believe your own eyes and ears.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "rather long", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "1541618513", "seamus": 776982781, "itunes": 9781541618510, "goodreads": 43722897, "cover": "1541618513", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781541618510", "isbn10": "1541618513", "links": [] }, "80": { "id": 80, "title": "The Editor", "author": "Steven Rowley", "reviewers": [ "Jason DeRose" ], "text": "

In fiction and nonfiction, editors help writers find paths through worlds, and worlds within worlds. In Steven Rowley’s novel, James Smale has sold his semi-autobiographical novel about a complicated mother-son relationship to a publisher – and the editor who acquired his book turns out to be Jacqueline Onassis. She loves the story but tells James that the ending needs work. Over many months, Mrs. Onassis helps James craft an ending to his story, on the page and in real life. The editor makes James a better writer, and The Editor will make you want to be a better son.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0525537961", "seamus": 776983794, "itunes": 9780525537960, "goodreads": 40530002, "cover": "0525537961", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525537960", "isbn10": "0525537961", "links": [] }, "81": { "id": 81, "title": "There’s Something About Sweetie", "author": "Sandhya Menon", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

I’ve been fat my whole life, and this is the book I desperately needed as a teenager. Sweetie Nair is a fat track star. She challenges thin, handsome basketball player Ashish Patel to a race – and wins. I love Sandhya Menon’s young adult books because she always writes three-dimensional teens who learn from each other and grow while falling in love. She also renders complicated, fully realized families and an insightful examination of desi culture. And her latest novel is a shrewdly radical endorsement for fat acceptance.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture", "love & romance", "young adult" ], "isbn": "1534416781", "seamus": 724142890, "itunes": 9781534416789, "goodreads": 42201316, "cover": "1534416781", "bookshop": 9781534416789, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781534416789", "isbn10": "1534416781", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 81, "book": "There’s Something About Sweetie", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'There's Something About Sweetie' — Something Irrepressibly Joyous", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/19/724143274/theres-something-about-sweetie-something-irrepressibly-joyous" } ] }, "82": { "id": 82, "title": "Permanent Record", "author": "Mary H.K. Choi", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

I adored Permanent Record because Mary H.K. Choi’s singular voice creates an unforgettable protagonist who leaps off the page. Pablo Rind is a college dropout adrift in New York who works the graveyard shift at a deli. A chance encounter with mega pop star Leanna Smart leads to a jet-setting whirlwind romance that forces Pablo to reexamine his choices and get his life together. While the romance is fun and charming, Pablo’s coming-of-age arc is what hooked me.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "young adult", "for music lovers", "love & romance", "seriously great writing", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "1534445978", "seamus": 755157951, "itunes": 9781534445970, "goodreads": 43822604, "cover": "1534445978", "bookshop": 9781534445970, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781534445970", "isbn10": "1534445978", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 82, "book": "Permanent Record", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Permanent Record' Captures The Confusing Moments Between Adolescence And Adulthood", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/07/755158377/permanent-record-captures-the-confusing-moments-between-adolescence-and-adulthoo" } ] }, "83": { "id": 83, "title": "Red, White & Royal Blue", "author": "Casey McQuiston", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

This delightful rom-com, centered on U.S-British relations, provides an escape from Brexit, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. When the son of the U.S. president accidentally pushes the Prince of Wales into a royal wedding cake, it creates a media frenzy. The rivals are forced into a fake friendship for damage control, and enemies turn into friends, then into lovers. This book reminds me of a British trifle – it’s a delicious indulgence that also contains many layers. It’s a syrupy sweet love story, a nuanced look at political ambition and its toll on families, and an examination of the ways private people learn to manage an unbearably public life.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250316774", "seamus": 724105811, "itunes": 9781250316776, "goodreads": 47904396, "cover": "1250316774", "bookshop": 9781250316776, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250316776", "isbn10": "1250316774", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 83, "book": "Red, White & Royal Blue", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Red, White & Royal Blue' Reigns As Must-Read Romance", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/18/724106008/red-white-royal-blue-reigns-as-must-read-romance" } ] }, "84": { "id": 84, "title": "The Right Swipe: A Novel", "author": "Alisha Rai", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

Alisha Rai’s latest novel is so sexy, nuanced and whip smart that I gobbled it up in one sitting. Workaholic Rhiannon Hunter created a successful dating app, but her own love life is on the fritz. Former pro football player Samson Lima ghosted Rhiannon after one steamy night. Rhiannon’s business rival hires Samson to pitch another dating service, and sparks fly when the two are unexpectedly reunited. This is a romance, so of course they end up together. But Rai seamlessly weaves their story into an insightful look at sexism in the tech industry and how concussions and CTE damage the lives of NFL players and their families.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "for sports lovers", "let’s talk about sex", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "0062878093", "seamus": 747664588, "itunes": 9780062878090, "goodreads": 39863092, "cover": "0062878093", "bookshop": 9780062878090, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062878090", "isbn10": "0062878093", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 84, "book": "The Right Swipe: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Burned Out By Dating Apps? 'The Right Swipe' Will Relight Your Fire", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/05/747664801/burned-out-by-dating-apps-the-right-swipe-will-relight-your-fire" } ] }, "85": { "id": 85, "title": "The Wedding Party", "author": "Jasmine Guillory", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

Jasmine Guillory’s books are my most trusted companion on long-distance flights, and The Wedding Party is my favorite. Maddie and Theo – supporting characters in her previous books – have never gotten along, but when their mutual best friend asks them to be in her bridal party, they have to work together. I’ve gravitated toward Guillory’s books because she avoids rom-com hijinks in favor of thoughtfully drawn normal people who just happen to fall in love, and this is the most relatable romance I read this year.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "let’s talk about sex", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "1984802194", "seamus": 776985412, "itunes": 9781984802194, "goodreads": 42599067, "cover": "1984802194", "bookshop": 9781984802194, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984802194", "isbn10": "1984802194", "links": [] }, "86": { "id": 86, "title": "Trust Exercise: A Novel", "author": "Susan Choi", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

Reading and dissecting Trust Exercise was one of my greatest literary pleasures this year. But I’m hesitant to say more – revealing too much will ruin the joy of discovering the twists and turns on your own. So I will say this: The story centers on a group of students at a performing arts high school in the 1980s. But that’s not what the novel is about. It’s about the myths we create to reconcile ourselves to our memories. It’s about how there’s no single truth. It’s about who gets to own a person’s story. And it’s a satisfying read.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1250309883", "seamus": 709999082, "itunes": 9781250309884, "goodreads": 40046059, "cover": "1250309883", "bookshop": 9781250309884, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250309884", "isbn10": "1250309883", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 86, "book": "Trust Exercise: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Susan Choi Takes Her Teenagers Seriously", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/09/711491267/susan-choi-takes-her-teenagers-seriously" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 86, "book": "Trust Exercise: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Teen Years Echo Through A Lifetime In 'Trust Exercise'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/09/709999799/teen-years-echo-through-a-lifetime-in-trust-exercise" } ] }, "87": { "id": 87, "title": "Pride, Prejudice, And Other Flavors: A Novel", "author": "Sonali Dev", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

I picked up this book assuming it was a modern-day, gender-swapped adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. But I was pleasantly surprised that it’s more a meditation on its themes: class, familial duty and (of course) love. Trisha Raje is a successful neurosurgeon and a member of an eminent Indian American family. She clashes with DJ Caine, an Anglo Indian and Rwandan working-class chef. The novel deftly interrogates how race and class intersect and seamlessly integrates these issues into Trisha and DJ’s slow-burn romance.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture", "love & romance", "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0062839055", "seamus": 721885869, "itunes": 9780062839053, "goodreads": 41154302, "cover": "0062839055", "bookshop": 9780062839053, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062839053", "isbn10": "0062839055", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 87, "book": "Pride, Prejudice, And Other Flavors: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Pride, Prejudice, And Other Flavors' Is More Than Just Reheated Austen", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/11/721900566/pride-prejudice-and-other-flavors-is-more-than-just-reheated-austen" } ] }, "88": { "id": 88, "title": "We Cast A Shadow: A Novel", "author": "Maurice Carlos Ruffin", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

I knew I wanted to read this book after a friend described it as Jordan Peele meets Franz Kafka. The story takes place in a near future where racial tensions in America are even worse than they are now. Our unnamed narrator is a black lawyer whose biracial son has a mysterious facial birthmark that keeps growing in size. He deeply loves his son but wants him to have a “demelanization” surgery to remove the birthmark – and his blackness. The novel is razor-sharp satire of race in America, but it’s also a moving story of familial love. I can’t wait to read whatever Maurice Carlos Ruffin writes next.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0525509062", "seamus": 689747126, "itunes": 9780525509066, "goodreads": 40163362, "cover": "0525509062", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525509066", "isbn10": "0525509062", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 88, "book": "We Cast A Shadow: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'We Cast A Shadow,' The Horrors Are Close To Home ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/30/689747338/in-we-cast-a-shadow-the-horrors-are-close-to-home" } ] }, "89": { "id": 89, "title": "Sing To It: New Stories", "author": "Amy Hempel", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "

It’s no surprise that Amy Hempel is a master of the short story art form. This latest collection is taut and magnificent, and each story deserves your undivided attention. Her subjects include a volunteer at an animal shelter, a disgraced teacher turned home-care worker and a woman obsessed with her husband’s mistress. Hempel can flip a story on its head with a single sentence. Reading her prose often felt like a punch to the stomach – but in a good way. Her stories have burrowed into my subconscious, and I will think about them for years to come.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "short stories, essays & poetry", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1982109114", "seamus": 705891942, "itunes": 9781982109110, "goodreads": 40639315, "cover": "1982109114", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781982109110", "isbn10": "1982109114", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 89, "book": "Sing To It: New Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Sing To It' Is Worth The Wait", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/705892222/sing-to-it-is-worth-the-wait" } ] }, "90": { "id": 90, "title": "Republic Of Shame: Stories From Ireland's Institutions For 'Fallen Women'", "author": "Caelainn Hogan", "reviewers": [ "Joanna Kakissis" ], "text": "

A few years ago, when I read about the horrors inflicted by Roman Catholic nuns on single moms and their children at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Ireland, I wondered what drove the shame that enforced this cruelty. Caelainn Hogan’s sensitive, can’t-look-away book, Republic of Shame, explores that question through the stories of the women who were irrevocably damaged by it. Ireland today is progressive – abortion and same-sex marriage are legal – but those milestones came only within the past five years. Through moving stories, Hogan shows how the past is still present.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "the dark side", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1844884457", "seamus": 778556488, "itunes": 9781844884452, "goodreads": 46844225, "cover": "1844884457", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781844884452", "isbn10": "1844884457", "links": [] }, "91": { "id": 91, "title": "They Will Have To Die Now: Mosul And The Fall Of The Caliphate", "author": "James Verini", "reviewers": [ "Jolie Myers" ], "text": "

I’m generally not into books about war. The epic, testosterone-laden stories of (mostly) male trials and triumphs do nothing for me. But journalist James Verini focuses on the quiet moments between battles in his book about the fight to take Mosul from ISIS. He documents the troughs between adrenaline waves, the boredom that turns fighters into philosophers and the irony of everyday indignities. War is hell, and in Verini’s prose it is also utterly absurd. But is it inevitable? Verini takes you to the front lines and forces you to confront that question over and over again.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0393652475", "seamus": 762820953, "itunes": 9780393652475, "goodreads": 43726563, "cover": "0393652475", "bookshop": 9780393652475, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393652475", "isbn10": "0393652475", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 91, "book": "They Will Have To Die Now: Mosul And The Fall Of The Caliphate", "source": "NPR", "text": "The Battle For Mosul — And Why The Threat Of ISIS Won't Go Away", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/23/772633858/the-battle-for-mosul-and-why-the-threat-of-isis-wont-go-away" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 91, "book": "They Will Have To Die Now: Mosul And The Fall Of The Caliphate", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'They Will Have To Die Now' Is A Bare-Knuckles Account Of The Fight Against ISIS", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/20/762722469/they-will-have-to-die-now-is-a-bare-knuckles-account-of-the-fight-against-isis" } ] }, "92": { "id": 92, "title": "The New Me", "author": "Halle Butler", "reviewers": [ "Jolie Myers" ], "text": "

Halle Butler’s tale of an embittered millennial temp worker is full of abandoned self-care rituals and existential rage. But the real surprise of this book is how tenderly the author writes the character of Millie, who at first glance seems to be a gremlin in a human suit. Unzip the shabby dress though, and you’ll find a wounded generation supped on promises of endless growth and Instagram dreams. Pick up this book for the devastating analysis of what utter self-awareness hath wrought and stay for the office-related petty revenge fantasies.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "the dark side", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0143133608", "seamus": 704428680, "itunes": 9780143133605, "goodreads": 40019531, "cover": "0143133608", "bookshop": 9780143133605, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780143133605", "isbn10": "0143133608", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 92, "book": "The New Me", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The New Me' Is Meh About Ambition And Adulthood", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/19/704428358/the-new-me-is-meh-about-ambition-and-adulthood" } ] }, "93": { "id": 93, "title": "Five Days Gone: The Mystery Of My Mother's Disappearance As A Child", "author": "Laura Cumming", "reviewers": [ "Jolie Myers" ], "text": "

In 1929, Laura Cumming’s mother was kidnapped. Five days later, she was returned to the people she thought were her mother and father. This crime makes up the central mystery of Cumming’s gorgeously written memoir. But what could have been a satisfying whodunit is instead a close examination of collective silence and suppressed love. You will weep, you will mourn and you will wonder what it is you’ve never known – and never will – about your own family.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "family matters", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1501198718", "seamus": 776985858, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 42202058, "cover": "1501198718", "bookshop": 9781501198717, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501198717", "isbn10": "1501198718", "links": [] }, "94": { "id": 94, "title": "Acid For The Children: A Memoir", "author": "Flea", "reviewers": [ "Jolie Myers" ], "text": "

Flea has written a memoir not about music, but about a feral child growing up in Hollywood who assembles a family out of the other lost souls around him. The prose is like his bass technique – wild, energetic, indelible. And in the final moments of the book, as the Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to take the stage for the first time, you can’t wait to find out what’s next.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "biography & memoir", "nonfiction", "for music lovers", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1455530530", "seamus": 776986053, "itunes": 9781455530533, "goodreads": 28963741, "cover": "1455530530", "bookshop": 9781455530533, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781455530533", "isbn10": "1455530530", "links": [] }, "95": { "id": 95, "title": "A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life Of Music And Cheap Lessons", "author": "Ben Folds", "reviewers": [ "Josh Rogosin" ], "text": "

Reading Ben Folds’ memoir feels like sitting down with an old friend who’s seen it all. Folds dropped out of college, tossed his drums into a lake on campus and paid the bills playing music at a German restaurant wearing lederhosen. Even if you’re not a huge fan, it’s interesting to read the stories behind familiar tunes like “Army” (which was inspired by a conversation he had with his dad about becoming a college dropout). Like his music, Folds’ writing isn’t always graceful, but it’s full of passion and unpredictability. His talent for banging out jams on the piano and transforming personal stories into songs is epitomized in this Tiny Desk concert, which I gleefully recorded and mixed back in 2016.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "for music lovers" ], "isbn": "1984817272", "seamus": 776986433, "itunes": 9781984817273, "goodreads": 44279087, "cover": "1984817272", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984817273", "isbn10": "1984817272", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 95, "book": "A Dream About Lightning Bugs", "source": "WFAE", "text": "Ben Folds On Making Music, Making Mistakes, And Building A Creative Life", "url": "https://www.wfae.org/post/southbound-ben-folds-making-music-making-mistakes-and-building-creative-life#stream/0" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 95, "book": "A Dream About Lightning Bugs", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Musician Ben Folds Reflects On His Genre-Bending Career", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/musician-ben-folds-reflects-his-genre-bending-career-0" } ] }, "96": { "id": 96, "title": "The Field Guide To The North American Teenager", "author": "Ben Philippe", "reviewers": [ "Justine Kenin" ], "text": "

High school: Who’s in? Who’s out? You could make a sociological study of it. And that’s exactly what Norris Kaplan does. Norris is a hockey-loving, black, French Canadian kid – a snarky, skeptical fish out of water plopped into a Texas high school. The Field Guide to the North American Teenager will be funny and familiar to anyone who has had the pleasure of attending high school. Share it with a teenager. I can’t wait to see what Ben Phillipe writes next.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "young adult", "funny stuff", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0062824112", "seamus": 687499091, "itunes": 9780062824110, "goodreads": 39813125, "cover": "0062824112", "bookshop": 9780062824110, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062824110", "isbn10": "0062824112", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 96, "book": "The Field Guide To The North American Teenager", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Field Guide To The North American Teenager' Taps Into The Raw Anxiety Of Adolescence", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/687255684/field-guide-to-the-north-american-teenager-taps-into-the-raw-anxiety-of-adolesce" } ] }, "97": { "id": 97, "title": "Feast Your Eyes: A Novel", "author": "Myla Goldberg", "reviewers": [ "Justine Kenin" ], "text": "

Feast Your Eyes is one of the most exciting and daring books this year. Myla Goldberg tells the story in the format of a catalog for a posthumous show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It’s the work of Lillian Preston, a young woman who ventured to New York City in the 1950s, determined to be a photographer. It’s entirely fictional and entirely believable. What was it to be a woman entering a male profession before Roe v. Wade? What is it to be an artist who can’t not express her point of view?

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "for art lovers", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1501197843", "seamus": 716895896, "itunes": 9781501197840, "goodreads": 40539146, "cover": "1501197843", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501197840", "isbn10": "1501197843", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 97, "book": "Feast Your Eyes: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Real Photos Inspire A Fictional Life In 'Feast Your Eyes'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/25/716886442/real-photos-inspire-a-fictional-life-in-feast-your-eyes" } ] }, "98": { "id": 98, "title": "Genesis Begins Again", "author": "Alicia Williams", "reviewers": [ "Justine Kenin" ], "text": "

Thirteen-year-old Genesis is doing the usual work of fitting in and figuring out who she is – all while struggling with a new school, her father’s alcoholism and family members who think that lighter skin makes for an easier life. First-time novelist Alicia Williams takes on colorism and prejudice, and I can’t recommend this book enough to help readers think past the dichotomy of black and white.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "young adult", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1481465805", "seamus": 690385569, "itunes": 9781481465809, "goodreads": 40538683, "cover": "1481465805", "bookshop": 9781481465809, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781481465809", "isbn10": "1481465805", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 98, "book": "Genesis Begins Again", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Teen Faces Colorism At School And At Home In 'Genesis Begins Again'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/31/690381040/a-teen-faces-colorism-at-school-and-at-home-in-genesis-begins-again" } ] }, "99": { "id": 99, "title": "Just Like Beverly: A Biography Of Beverly Cleary", "author": "Vicki Conrad, illustrated by David Hohn", "reviewers": [ "Justine Kenin" ], "text": "

Confession: I hugged this book before I even opened it – just like young Beverly Cleary on the cover, clutching her reading in her arms. Just Like Beverly is a picture book biography of my favorite writer. Cleary was a frustrated reader at first but learned to love reading and writing. She’s drawn so much like Ramona, with lovely touches such as Cleary cutting rose bushes (Portland, Ore.’s beloved flower) while waiting to hear if her first book will get published. I love a book that humanizes the writing process for kids and lets them know that the world awaits their stories too. (For ages 5 to 9)

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "for history lovers", "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "1632172224", "seamus": 776986695, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 42996807, "cover": "1632172224", "bookshop": 9781632172228, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781632172228", "isbn10": "1632172224", "links": [] }, "100": { "id": 100, "title": "Ayesha At Last", "author": "Uzma Jalaluddin", "reviewers": [ "Karen Grigsby Bates" ], "text": "

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Pride and Prejudice retelling will emerge ever few years. Few, dear reader, will be as good as this one. Uzma Jalaluddin, a Toronto teacher and journalist, wanted to write about “ordinary Muslims” and chose to do it through a fetching romance. How spirited, independent Ayesha Shamsi meets, dismisses and finally clicks with shy, conservative Khalid Mirza had me from Page 1. In addition to being a thoroughly modern love story, Jalaluddin weaves in issues such as substance abuse and colorism, seldom discussed outside her community. If there is justice in the world, there will be a sequel.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "love & romance", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1984802798", "seamus": 730616955, "itunes": 9781984802798, "goodreads": 47182868, "cover": "1984802798", "bookshop": 9781984802798, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984802798", "isbn10": "1984802798", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 100, "book": "Ayesha At Last", "source": "NPR", "text": "Code Switch Book Club, Summer 2019", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/06/20/733808217/code-switch-book-club-summer-2019" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 100, "book": "Ayesha At Last", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Ayesha At Last,' A Take On Austen That's Sparky And Sensitive", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/09/730616351/in-ayesha-at-last-a-take-on-austen-thats-sparky-and-sensitive" } ] }, "101": { "id": 101, "title": "In The Country Of Women: A Memoir", "author": "Susan Straight", "reviewers": [ "Karen Grigsby Bates" ], "text": "

There are at least two kinds of families: the ones we are born into and the ones we choose, regardless of blood connection. In this memoir, Susan Straight tells the story of the women in her Swiss-descended blood family and the African-descended women who became family when she married into their clan. This gorgeously written memoir is a gift to her three daughters, but it’s also a heartfelt refutation of so much of the nationalism and classism that have shredded our national fabric. Straight’s book reminds us that inclusion and generosity are among the values that made America great.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "family matters", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1948226227", "seamus": 748934055, "itunes": 9781948226226, "goodreads": "", "cover": "1948226227", "bookshop": 9781948226226, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781948226226", "isbn10": "1948226227", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 101, "book": "In The Country Of Women: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'In The Country Of Women' Honors The Strength And Resilience Of 6 Generations", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/748132560/in-the-country-of-women-honors-the-strength-and-resilience-of-six-generations" } ] }, "102": { "id": 102, "title": "Supreme Glamour", "author": "Mary Wilson with Mark Bego", "reviewers": [ "Karen Grigsby Bates" ], "text": "

I first saw The Supremes (Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, Florence Ballard) in concert around 1964 – I wasn’t even a teen then – and remember them actually glittering from the stage. Part of it was their undeniable star power, sure, and that was enhanced by their clothes. Founding Supreme Mary Wilson gives us a luscious look at the original group’s fashion evolution, from the promlike chiffons of the early years through the slinky sequined numbers in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. In addition to each gown’s provenance and composition (was that silk velvet or rayon velvet?), Wilson has generous inclusions of candid and offstage photos. Gift this coffee-table book to your fashionista friend, die-hard fans of the OG Supremes and anyone who misses the elegance embodied by this Motown trio.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "for art lovers", "for music lovers", "for history lovers", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "0500022003", "seamus": 758293685, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 41817388, "cover": "0500022003", "bookshop": 9780500022009, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780500022009", "isbn10": "0500022003", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 102, "book": "Supreme Glamour", "source": "NPR", "text": "Not My Job: 'Supremes' Singer Mary Wilson Gets Quizzed On Stop Lights", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/07/758276020/not-my-job-supremes-singer-mary-wilson-gets-quizzed-on-stop-lights" } ] }, "103": { "id": 103, "title": "The Lager Queen Of Minnesota: A Novel", "author": "J. Ryan Stradal", "reviewers": [ "Kat Lonsdorf" ], "text": "

Author J. Ryan Stradal, who is from Minnesota, was tired of the oversimplified caricatures he often saw of Midwestern women in literature. So he wrote this story of a hardworking, pie-baking, Minnesotan grandma who is estranged from her go-getter, beer-brewing younger sister. The book follows different generations of the same family, as the women each take on the world in their own way. The characters are rich and the sense of place is wonderfully real (this Midwestern reader felt like she was home again from the very first page). You’ll fall in love with these characters – and fight the urge to crack a beer every time you crack open the book.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0399563059", "seamus": 744545170, "itunes": 9780399563058, "goodreads": 42203363, "cover": "0399563059", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399563058", "isbn10": "0399563059", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 103, "book": "The Lager Queen Of Minnesota: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Lager Queen' Author Was Tired Of Caricatures Of Midwestern Women", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/23/744535478/lager-queen-author-was-tired-of-caricatures-of-midwestern-women" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 103, "book": "The Lager Queen of Minnesota", "source": "KMUW", "text": " 'Marginalia' With J. Ryan Stradal", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/marginalia-j-ryan-stradal" } ] }, "104": { "id": 104, "title": "Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents And Flourishing As We Age", "author": "Mary Pipher", "reviewers": [ "Kathy Rushlow" ], "text": "

Mary Pipher’s famous 1990s book Reviving Ophelia explores the often hidden, traumatic lives of teenage girls. With Women Rowing North, Pipher dives into stories of women older than 50 – who may have been Ophelia readers – who, after years of giving and nurturing, now look over the landscape of their lives with calm contentment, good humor and a sense of wisdom. This comes despite misogyny, ageism and the loss of so much, including sometimes themselves. Women of all ages will find much to reflect on, and respond to, in this collection of lives lived and lost.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1632869608", "seamus": 698542004, "itunes": 9781632869609, "goodreads": 38884171, "cover": "1632869608", "bookshop": 9781632869609, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781632869609", "isbn10": "1632869608", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 104, "book": "Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents And Flourishing As We Age", "source": "NPR", "text": "Aging Offers Women 'Enormous Possibilities For Growth,' Says Author ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/27/698535498/aging-offers-women-enormous-possibilities-for-growth-says-author" } ] }, "105": { "id": 105, "title": "American Pop: A Novel", "author": "Snowden Wright", "reviewers": [ "Kiarra Powell" ], "text": "

American Pop fizzes with the same energy as a freshly opened soft drink. It follows the Forsters, a Southern family whose wealth is rooted in a massive soda company. The meandering timeline winds back and forth through more than a century of highs and lows for multiple Forster generations, without ever getting confusing (there’s a family tree included for reference). Every member of the family has faced misfortune, self-inflicted and otherwise, which will make you root both for them and against them. Snowden Wright’s lush depictions of the varied time periods and locales make it easy to envision it all. So, crack open a can and savor this story.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "family matters", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "love & romance", "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0062697749", "seamus": 776986991, "itunes": 9780062697745, "goodreads": 40139217, "cover": "0062697749", "bookshop": 9780062697745, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062697745", "isbn10": "0062697749", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 105, "book": "American Pop", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "Author Snowden Wright Chronicles Fictional Southern Cola Dynasty In Novel 'American Pop'", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/author-snowden-wright-chronicles-fictional-southern-cola-dynasty-novel-american-pop" } ] }, "106": { "id": 106, "title": "The Stationery Shop", "author": "Marjan Kamali", "reviewers": [ "Kirk Siegler" ], "text": "

I happened to pick up The Stationery Shop last summer just as tensions between Iran and the U.S. were hitting a peak – and what a timely, insightful look into that country’s past and America’s role in it this book turned out to be. But it’s also a gut-wrenching love story about family secrets and misunderstandings. (On the lighter side, the vivid descriptions of traditional feasts had me running hungrily to a strip of Iranian restaurants near my Los Angeles apartment.)

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "family matters", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1982107480", "seamus": 777005785, "itunes": 9781982107482, "goodreads": 42201995, "cover": "1982107480", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781982107482", "isbn10": "1982107480", "links": [] }, "107": { "id": 107, "title": "You Will Be Safe Here", "author": "Damian Barr", "reviewers": [ "Kirk Siegler" ], "text": "

I love a good story where I also learn something new. And Damian Barr’s historical novel – partly set during the Second Boer War in southern Africa – checks all the boxes. Barr deftly points out how the British scorched-earth policies and development of concentration camps helped inspire the atrocities of Nazi Germany – as well as laid the groundwork for apartheid in South Africa. At times, this book felt like two completely different stories – it’s set in 1900, and also in 2010 at an apparent gay conversion therapy camp. But stick with it and you’ll see how it’s all related.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "fiction", "identity & culture", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1635573513", "seamus": 777008575, "itunes": 9781635573510, "goodreads": 40653135, "cover": "1635573513", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781635573510", "isbn10": "1635573513", "links": [] }, "108": { "id": 108, "title": "The Education Of An Idealist: A Memoir", "author": "Samantha Power", "reviewers": [ "Kitty Eisele" ], "text": "

Turns out, facing down warlords as a 20-something reporter is pretty good training for a future diplomat. Samantha Power’s The Education of an Idealist is that rare political memoir: startlingly honest, funny and beautifully written. This Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former journalist in Bosnia spent eight years in the Obama administration, ending as U.S. ambassador to the UN. Power knows how improbable her own life story is: An Irish immigrant as a child, she eventually comes to speak for the entire United States – still, facing down warlords while raising her two very young kids. It’s a story she tells with relish and bracing candor. I couldn’t put it down.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "biography & memoir", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0062820699", "seamus": 759815362, "itunes": 9780062820693, "goodreads": 43884162, "cover": "0062820699", "bookshop": 9780062820693, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062820693", "isbn10": "0062820699", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 108, "book": "The Education Of An Idealist: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "In New Memoir, Samantha Power Describes Going From Idealist To Diplomat", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/12/759886483/in-new-memoir-samantha-power-describes-going-from-idealist-to-diplomat" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 108, "book": "The Education Of An Idealist: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Samantha Power Tells Of The Not-So-Simple 'Education Of An Idealist'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/11/759791599/samantha-power-tells-of-the-not-so-simple-education-of-an-idealist" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 108, "book": "The Education Of An Idealist", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "UN Ambassador Samantha Power's Memoir Looks Back On 'The Education Of An Idealist'", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/un-ambassador-samantha-powers-memoir-looks-back-education-idealist" } ] }, "109": { "id": 109, "title": "Weird Parenting Wins: Bathtub Dining, Family Screams, And Other Hacks From The Parenting Trenches", "author": "Hillary Frank", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "

You can treat this one like a favorite cookbook – pulling it down off the shelf for consultation in moments of need. Weird Parenting Wins is the brainchild of Hillary Frank, creator of The Longest Shortest Time parenting podcast. Frank crowdsourced hundreds of hard-won parenting tips from her listeners, and the result is a book filled with chapters like “The Art of Keeping Your Kids from Strangling Each Other.” It’s a laugh-out-loud parenting companion filled with tiny victories. Want your kid to go hiking? Toss ‘em a tube of lipstick and let ‘em keep applying it as long as they keep walking. Want your 2-year-old to eat peas? Load them into a PEZ dispenser!

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "family matters", "eye-opening reads", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0143132555", "seamus": 682861570, "itunes": 9780143132554, "goodreads": 39999176, "cover": "0143132555", "bookshop": 9780143132554, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780143132554", "isbn10": "0143132555", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 109, "book": "Weird Parenting Wins: Bathtub Dining, Family Screams, And Other Hacks From The Parenting Trenches", "source": "NPR", "text": "Childbirth Injury Led A New Mom To Start A Parenting Podcast 'To Feel Less Alone'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/01/07/682861330/childbirth-injury-led-a-new-mom-to-start-a-parenting-podcast-to-feel-less-alone" } ] }, "110": { "id": 110, "title": "The Gifted School: A Novel", "author": "Bruce Holsinger", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "

This tale of scandalous admissions doesn’t have Desperate Housewives or celebrities’ daughters on yachts, but it’s no less salacious for it. A school for gifted kids is opening in a wealthy Colorado suburb, and parents are tripping over themselves to secure spots. The children – an equestrian bookworm, a social butterfly of average intelligence (and above-average income), a trilingual, origami-folding immigrant boy and a brilliant but socially stunted child – become pawns in their parents’ wildly inappropriate admissions antics. It’s a page-turning meditation on what it means to be gifted – and how far parents will go to prove it.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0525534962", "seamus": 737127505, "itunes": 9780525534969, "goodreads": 47535494, "cover": "0525534962", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525534969", "isbn10": "0525534962", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 110, "book": "The Gifted School: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "New Novel Asks: What Would You Do To Get Your Kid Into 'The Gifted School'?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/06/738999654/new-novel-asks-what-would-you-do-to-get-your-kid-into-the-gifted-school" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 110, "book": "The Gifted School: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Gifted School,' Ripped-From-The-Headlines Parental Scheming", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/02/737125569/in-the-gifted-school-ripped-from-the-headlines-parental-scheming" } ] }, "111": { "id": 111, "title": "What My Mother And I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break The Silence", "author": "Michele Filgate (editor)", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "

“Our mothers are our first homes, and that’s why we’re always trying to return to them,” editor Michele Filgate writes in this book’s first essay. Our mothers are also our first heroes – and therefore it feels like a deep betrayal when we learn they are mere mortals. Each essay – from writers such as Carmen Maria Machado, André Aciman, Kiese Laymon and Leslie Jamison – is a portrait of a fracture. For some, it’s a hairline – the fissure undetectable to an outsider’s eye. For others, there’s a wide gulf where the two sides used to touch. The wounds in these stories are painfully detailed, but so is, in equal measure, the love. If you’re feeling bold, the book is a potent conversation starter. But at the very least, it’s 15 voices saying: “You’re not alone.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "short stories, essays & poetry", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "1982107340", "seamus": 718245604, "itunes": 9781982107345, "goodreads": 42201997, "cover": "1982107340", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781982107345", "isbn10": "1982107340", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 111, "book": "What My Mother And I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break The Silence", "source": "NPR", "text": "What Don't You Talk About With Your Mom?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/01/718087503/what-dont-you-talk-about-with-your-mom" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 111, "book": "What My Mother and I Don't Talk About", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "What Fifteen Writers Don't Talk About With Their Mothers", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/what-fifteen-writers-dont-talk-about-their-mothers" } ] }, "112": { "id": 112, "title": "The Testaments: The Sequel To The Handmaid's Tale", "author": "Margaret Atwood", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "

Would you recognize evil if you saw it? What about resistance? In The Testaments (Margaret Atwood’s long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale), readers get a deeper look into the conditions that created Gilead – a fundamentalist Christian dystopia that’s not quite as unimaginable as one might hope. In this society, where everyone’s options are some gradation of awful, a handful of women find ways to undermine the system. But even that resistance is fraught in a book that makes heroism look like the least glamorous choice available. The revolution is not televised, the revolutionaries don’t look like revolutionaries and the impeccably mannered bad guys just want everyone to be more civil.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385543786", "seamus": 754852549, "itunes": 9780385543781, "goodreads": 42975172, "cover": "0385543786", "bookshop": 9780385543781, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385543781", "isbn10": "0385543786", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 112, "book": "The Testaments: The Sequel To The Handmaid's Tale", "source": "NPR", "text": "Atwood Hints At A Brighter Future In 'Handmaid' Sequel 'The Testaments'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/759040269/atwood-hints-at-a-brighter-future-in-handmaid-sequel-the-testaments" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 112, "book": "The Testaments: The Sequel To The Handmaid's Tale", "source": "NPR", "text": "Why Margaret Atwood Said 'No' To A 'Handmaid's Tale' Sequel — Until Now", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/07/756064690/why-margaret-atwood-said-no-to-a-handmaid-s-tale-sequel-until-now" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 112, "book": "The Testaments: The Sequel To The Handmaid's Tale", "source": "NPR", "text": "Hear Margaret Atwood Read From 'The Testaments,' Her Sequel To 'The Handmaid's Tale'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/754859270/first-read-hear-margaret-atwood-tell-the-tale-of-the-testaments" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 112, "book": "The Testaments: The Sequel To The Handmaid's Tale", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Testaments' Takes Us Back To Gilead For A Fast-Paced, Female-Centered Adventure", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/03/755868251/the-testaments-takes-us-back-to-gilead-for-a-fast-paced-female-centered-adventur" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 112, "book": "The Testaments", "source": "WBEZ", "text": " ‘The Testaments’ Preview On 'Nerdette Book Club'", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/shows/nerdette/nerdette-book-club-the-testaments-preview/3924464a-1374-48ab-a195-228ac0e525e4" } ] }, "113": { "id": 113, "title": "Other Words For Home", "author": "Jasmine Warga", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "

When Jude and her mother leave their small town in war-torn Syria, her world is turned upside down. Middle school is hard enough as it is, but the complications of displacement, prejudice and a new language will leave you wondering how she can even begin to cope. Yet Jude has more courage, confidence and hope than she realizes. The flawless free verse in Jasmine Warga’s Other Words for Home offers powerful insight into this 12-year-old’s journey. This is truly a book for our times. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "the states we’re in", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0062747800", "seamus": 726354282, "itunes": 9780062747808, "goodreads": 41154293, "cover": "0062747800", "bookshop": 9780062747808, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062747808", "isbn10": "0062747800", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 113, "book": "Other Words For Home", "source": "NPR", "text": "These 'Words For Home' Are Poetic And Powerful", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/30/726354827/these-words-for-home-are-poetic-and-powerful" } ] }, "114": { "id": 114, "title": "Pie In The Sky", "author": "Remy Lai", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "

When 11-year-old Jingwen is uprooted from his home country to Australia, he feels like he’s landed on Mars. He can’t speak the language, is mocked and is grieving for his father who recently died. In secret, Jingwen, with the aid of his hilariously annoying little brother, bakes cakes using his dad’s recipes. Then he eats them to hide his sorrow from his mother. Uproarious humor and a burgeoning friendship add to the ingredients in this stunning debut. Remy Lai’s Pie In The Sky is a book to be savored – and the illustrations are the icing on the cake. (For ages 8 to 11)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1250314100", "seamus": 777008958, "itunes": 9781250314109, "goodreads": 40864902, "cover": "1250314100", "bookshop": 9781250314109, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250314109", "isbn10": "1250314100", "links": [] }, "115": { "id": 115, "title": "Stargazing", "author": "Jen Wang", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "

The hardest tests in middle school aren’t in math or English, but friendship. When Christine becomes best friends with an outspoken new girl, she’s unprepared for Moon’s secret – that she has celestial visions and feels she doesn’t belong on Earth. There’s plenty of outrageous fun, painful arguments and misunderstandings, but when Moon is hospitalized and fighting for her life, Christine is afraid she has failed her. Jen Wang’s graphic novel will tug at your heart, while the humor and insight offer a universe of possibilities. This story of friendship gets an A+. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "identity & culture", "comics & graphic novels" ], "isbn": "125018388X", "seamus": 762843696, "itunes": 9781250183880, "goodreads": 40864836, "cover": "125018388X", "bookshop": 9781250183880, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250183880", "isbn10": "125018388X", "links": [] }, "116": { "id": 116, "title": "The Moon Within", "author": "Aida Salazar", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "

Celi Rivera’s life is crowded with confusion – about menstruation, her first crush and her best friend’s gender identity. To complicate matters, her mother is insisting on an embarrassing Mexica moon ceremony to celebrate Celi’s first period. Told in illuminating first-person verse, Aida Salazar gives voice to this 11-year-old’s journey of discovery and acceptance as she takes control and embraces her life. This coming-of-age story overflows with joy, heart and soul. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1338283375", "seamus": 701682510, "itunes": 9781338283372, "goodreads": 39983482, "cover": "1338283375", "bookshop": 9781338283372, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781338283372", "isbn10": "1338283375", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 116, "book": "The Moon Within", "source": "NPR", "text": "Menstruate? Celebrate! New Novel Urges Girls To Embrace 'The Moon Within'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/10/701540827/menstruate-celebrate-new-novel-urges-girls-to-embrace-the-moon-within" } ] }, "117": { "id": 117, "title": "Catch And Kill: Lies, Spies, And A Conspiracy To Protect Predators", "author": "Ronan Farrow", "reviewers": [ "Lulu Garcia-Navarro" ], "text": "

Ronan Farrow is perhaps the most important chronicler of powerful men’s misdeeds in this era, using the privilege of his upbringing as the son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen to shine the light on the very community he grew up around. While the book reads like a thriller and shocks with the layers of duplicity and intimidation that were wielded to protect Harvey Weinstein, what shines through are the touching and terrible testimonies of the women who were victims of sexual assault and harassment. This book will confirm your worst suspicions about the way the world has worked up until now, with the rich and mighty protecting each other at the expense of everyone else – and yet it leaves you hopeful that things can change.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "book club ideas", "no biz like show biz", "the dark side", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0316486639", "seamus": 768347593, "itunes": 9780316486637, "goodreads": 46650277, "cover": "0316486639", "bookshop": 9780316486637, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316486637", "isbn10": "0316486639", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 117, "book": "Catch And Kill: Lies, Spies, And A Conspiracy To Protect Predators", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ronan Farrow: 'Catch And Kill' Tactics Protected Both Weinstein And Trump", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/15/770249717/ronan-farrow-catch-and-kill-tactics-protected-both-weinstein-and-trump" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 117, "book": "Catch And Kill: Lies, Spies, And A Conspiracy To Protect Predators", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Catch And Kill,' Ronan Farrow Offers A Damning Portrait Of A Conflicted NBC", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/11/768346770/in-catch-and-kill-ronan-farrow-offers-a-damning-portrait-of-a-conflicted-nbc" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 117, "book": "Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators", "source": "KQED", "text": "Ronan Farrow On 'Catch and Kill,' The Weinstein Scandal And Investigative Journalism", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/news/11781549/ronan-farrow-on-catch-and-kill-the-weinstein-scandal-and-investigative-journalism" } ] }, "118": { "id": 118, "title": "Red At The Bone: A Novel", "author": "Jacqueline Woodson", "reviewers": [ "Lynn Neary" ], "text": "

Red at the Bone is a slim novel that has all the heft of a family saga but reads like poetry. Jacqueline Woodson’s writing is spare and beautiful. The story spans three generations of two families brought together by an unexpected teenage pregnancy. The pregnant young girl, Iris, decides to keep the baby, much against her parents’ wishes. Then she lets her parents and the baby’s father, Aubrey, raise the child while she goes to college. As the book travels backward and forward in time, we learn the story of each character and see how this birth affects them all. As the novel drew to a close, I found myself wanting more. Then Woodson nailed the ending, leaving me thoroughly satisfied and awed by her talent.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0525535276", "seamus": 755218528, "itunes": 9780525535270, "goodreads": 43697186, "cover": "0525535276", "bookshop": 9780525535270, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525535270", "isbn10": "0525535276", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 118, "book": "Red At The Bone: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Red At The Bone' Cuts Close To The Bone", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/17/755219583/red-at-the-bone-cuts-close-to-the-bone" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 118, "book": "Red At The Bone", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Red At The Bone'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-red-bone" } ] }, "119": { "id": 119, "title": "The Heavens", "author": "Sandra Newman", "reviewers": [ "Lynn Neary" ], "text": "

The Heavens is a novel that almost defies description. It is a time traveling fantasy, historical fiction, political allegory, social realism and love story all rolled into one. A young woman named Kate has a recurring dream that takes her to an alternate life in Elizabethan England. Kate believes her dreams are changing the “real” world, where cataclysmic events like climate change and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are taking place. Kate’s boyfriend, Ben, fears she is going insane, and the young couple must confront the pain that comes with mental illness. This book is a wildly imaginative ride where the reader, like Kate, is never quite sure what is a dream and what is reality.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0802129021", "seamus": 699120352, "itunes": 9780802129024, "goodreads": 40642331, "cover": "0802129021", "bookshop": 9780802129024, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780802129024", "isbn10": "0802129021", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 119, "book": "The Heavens", "source": "NPR", "text": "What 'The Heavens'? This Extraordinary New Book Feels Like 5 Novels In One", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/02/699120171/what-the-heavens-this-extraordinary-new-book-feels-like-5-novels-in-one" } ] }, "120": { "id": 120, "title": "The Nickel Boys: A Novel", "author": "Colson Whitehead", "reviewers": [ "Lynn Neary" ], "text": "

I almost didn’t read this book. I knew it was based on a real reform school for boys in Florida that was both violent and racist, and I was afraid of what I would find in it. Colson Whitehead does not hold back on the cruelties suffered by the inmates of the Nickel Academy. One of them, Elwood Curtis, ends up at Nickel through a twist of fate. He forges a friendship with a boy named Turner who guides the idealistic Elwood through this brutal new world with a clear-eyed reality. It is in this friendship that Whitehead finds a way to give this story a turn that takes it to an unexpected place – where a new life is possible even as the pain of the past is never forgotten.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "for history lovers", "historical fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385537077", "seamus": 740901512, "itunes": 9780385537070, "goodreads": 42279228, "cover": "0385537077", "bookshop": 9780385537070, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385537070", "isbn10": "0385537077", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 120, "book": "The Nickel Boys: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "For The 'Nickel Boys,' Life Isn't Worth 5 Cents", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/18/740901819/for-the-nickel-boys-life-isnt-worth-five-cents" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 120, "book": "The Nickel Boys: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Colson Whitehead On The True Story Of Abuse And Injustice Behind 'Nickel Boys'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/16/742159523/colson-whitehead-on-the-true-story-of-abuse-and-injustice-behind-nickel-boys" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 120, "book": "The Nickel Boys: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rooted In History, 'The Nickel Boys' Is A Great American Novel", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/16/742129946/rooted-in-history-the-nickel-boys-is-a-great-american-novel" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 120, "book": "The Nickel Boys", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'The Nickel Boys'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-nickel-boys" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 120, "book": "The Nickel Boys", "source": "WWNO", "text": "The Reading Life With Colson Whitehead", "url": "https://www.wwno.org/post/reading-life-colson-whitehead" } ] }, "121": { "id": 121, "title": "The Secrets We Kept: A Novel", "author": "Lara Prescott", "reviewers": [ "Lynn Neary" ], "text": "

In this debut novel, writer Lara Prescott reaches back to the early days of the CIA to tell the story of a young woman named Irina who is pulled from the CIA’s secretarial pool into the world of espionage. As a novice spy, Irina helps get copies of Doctor Zhivago into the Soviet Union, where it has been banned because of its depiction of life under communism. At the same time, she falls in love with the woman who has been assigned to teach her how to be a spy. Prescott merges this spy saga with the story of Zhivago author Boris Pasternak and his real life lover, Olga. In The Secrets We Kept Prescott takes a sliver of little-known spy history and weaves it together with the story behind a famous novel to create a satisfying read about the often hidden role women played in both espionage and art.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0525656154", "seamus": 758049258, "itunes": 9780525656159, "goodreads": 43426115, "cover": "0525656154", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525656159", "isbn10": "0525656154", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 121, "book": "The Secrets We Kept: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Secrets We Kept' Imagines What CIA Secretaries Knew", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/08/758048011/the-secrets-we-kept-imagines-what-cia-secretaries-knew" } ] }, "122": { "id": 122, "title": "Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me", "author": "Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell", "reviewers": [ "Mallory Yu" ], "text": "

Seventeen-year-old Frederica “Freddy” Riley has a big problem, as she explains to an advice column: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me. I couldn’t get enough of this book. Mariko Tamaki’s dialogue feels so natural, and her characters are infinitely relatable; they reminded me of myself and the people who have broken my heart, in the best (and sometimes the worst) ways. Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s art is charming and full of life, and her use of space and paneling on the page enhances the characters’ melancholy and isolation. Laura Dean is a wrenching read at times, but it would be a good companion for a teen experiencing these feelings for the first time or, for adults, a bittersweet reminder of growing pains past.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "comics & graphic novels", "love & romance", "young adult", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1626722595", "seamus": 777010524, "itunes": 9781626722590, "goodreads": 40864834, "cover": "1626722595", "bookshop": 9781626722590, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781626722590", "isbn10": "1626722595", "links": [] }, "123": { "id": 123, "title": "The American Dream?: A Journey On Route 66 Discovering Dinosaur Statues, Muffler Men, And The Perfect Breakfast Burrito", "author": "Shing Yin Khor", "reviewers": [ "Mallory Yu" ], "text": "

I’ll be the first to admit that, while I love the idea of road trips, I don’t love being in a car too long, so Shing Yin Khor’s The American Dream? allowed me to live vicariously. Khor writes a chronological timeline of their weeks-long road trip along the iconic route, poking through old ghost towns with their fellow travelers (and their adorable dog, Bug) and reflecting on their ideas of what the American Dream really is. Khor’s art is cartoonish and colorful, which feels appropriate for capturing the kitschy and the weird they come across along the way. This book offers a different perspective on the American dream, and it’d be perfect for the Americana aficionado in your life.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "comics & graphic novels", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1942186371", "seamus": 777010839, "itunes": 9781942186373, "goodreads": 35533390, "cover": "1942186371", "bookshop": 9781942186373, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781942186373", "isbn10": "1942186371", "links": [] }, "124": { "id": 124, "title": "In Waves", "author": "A.J. Dungo", "reviewers": [ "Malaka Gharib" ], "text": "

This heart-wrenching graphic memoir weaves the history of the modern surfboard – and the love story between author A.J. Dungo and his late partner, Kristen, as she fights terminal cancer. At first, it might be hard to see how the two narratives connect, but readers quickly learn that In Waves is about Dungo’s own emotional journey as he processes his grief. With its sparse dialogue and clean line drawings reminiscent of the cartoonist Adrian Tomine, the book conveys a remarkable depth of feeling.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "for history lovers", "for sports lovers", "love & romance", "the dark side", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1910620637", "seamus": 777012537, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 44451502, "cover": "1910620637", "bookshop": 9781910620632, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781910620632", "isbn10": "1910620637", "links": [] }, "125": { "id": 125, "title": "A Particular Kind Of Black Man: A Novel", "author": "Tope Folarin", "reviewers": [ "Maquita Peters" ], "text": "

I picked this book up about 7:30 p.m. one Tuesday and was transported – taken on a riveting journey into self, cultural identity and the challenges of leaving a life behind to start over in a new country. This book particularly appealed to me as a black woman who too has traversed the immigrant and academic landscape of this country, and who too had a traumatic relationship with a parent. The moments of confusion and reflection, the search for answers, validation, acceptance, hope and ultimately lessons of love were beyond palpable when I turned that last page – four hours after I first entered Tope Folarin’s world.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "identity & culture", "fiction", "tales from around the world", "the states we’re in", "family matters", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "150117181X", "seamus": 751917747, "itunes": 9781501171819, "goodreads": 42201357, "cover": "150117181X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501171819", "isbn10": "150117181X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 125, "book": "A Particular Kind Of Black Man: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Tope Folarin Was 'A Particular Kind Of Black Man' — So He Wrote A Book About It", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/24/751917486/tope-folarin-was-a-particular-kind-of-black-man-so-he-wrote-a-book-about-it" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 125, "book": "A Particular Kind of Black Man: A Novel", "source": "WPR", "text": "Tope Folarin's Debut Novel Reflects His Own Search For Identity", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/author-tope-folarins-debut-novel-reflects-his-own-search-identity" } ] }, "126": { "id": 126, "title": "Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries Of African-American Cooking", "author": "Toni Tipton-Martin", "reviewers": [ "Maria Godoy" ], "text": "

I look to cookbooks for the edible and the edifying – and found Jubilee to be a true feast. Food journalist Toni Tipton-Martin traces 200 years of African American cooking, exploring how dishes evolved over time and updating historic recipes for the modern palate. Tipton-Martin showcases dishes that reflect the breadth of the African American experience – from ingredients and techniques with roots in Africa, to meals prepared by enslaved chefs and free entrepreneurs, to recipes that fed civil rights activists and the black bourgeoisie. As its name implies, Jubilee is a culinary celebration of black excellence.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "for history lovers", "cookbooks & food", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1524761737", "seamus": 777014111, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 44461771, "cover": "1524761737", "bookshop": 9781524761738, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524761738", "isbn10": "1524761737", "links": [] }, "127": { "id": 127, "title": "Notes From A Young Black Chef: A Memoir", "author": "Kwame Onwuachi and Joshua David Stein", "reviewers": [ "Maria Godoy" ], "text": "

This riveting memoir from acclaimed chef Kwame Onwuachi chronicles his dizzying career rise and fall (his first D.C. restaurant, Shaw Bijou, was a highly publicized failure) – as well as his made-for-Hollywood comeback. (A film version is reportedly in the works.) Onwuachi grew up in a Bronx home where money was tight. At age 10 he was headed down the wrong path and was sent to live with relatives in Nigeria for two years. Cooking provided a way out, and eventually, he ended up working at Per Se and Eleven Madison Park, temples of American high cuisine, before opening his own D.C. restaurants. Onwuachi’s memoir is not only a story about triumph over adversity – it’s a reflection on what it means to be a black man in a profession where racism is still all too present.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "cookbooks & food", "identity & culture", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1524732621", "seamus": 710434140, "itunes": 9781524732622, "goodreads": 40645634, "cover": "1524732621", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524732622", "isbn10": "1524732621", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 127, "book": "Notes From A Young Black Chef: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Chef's Memoir Tackles What It's Like To Be Young, Gifted And Black In Fine Dining", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/04/07/710364521/chefs-memoir-tackles-what-it-s-like-to-be-young-gifted-and-black-in-fine-dining" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 127, "book": "Notes from a Young Black Chef: A Memoir", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Kwame Onwuachi Tells The Story Of His Culinary Coming-Of-Age", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/kwame-onwuachi-tells-story-his-culinary-coming-age" } ] }, "128": { "id": 128, "title": "A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves: One Family and Migration In The 21st Century", "author": "Jason DeParle", "reviewers": [ "Marisa Peñaloza" ], "text": "

Jason DeParle tells a multigenerational migration saga by focusing on one Filipino family. DeParle first met Tita and Emet Comodas in the late 1980s when he was reporting on slum life in Manila. Emet migrates to Saudi Arabia to work as a pool keeper, and eventually all five of his children also leave home to work overseas. DeParle documents the ongoing cycle of sacrifice and success over decades. “The fact that so many people are willing to leave their families and take such risks and be apart for such a length of time is just another measure of their poverty and desperation,” he told All Things Considered. The current discourse on immigration in the U.S. makes this book a must-read – and DeParle’s nuanced history and beautiful narrative make this gripping, satisfying read difficult to put down – no matter your political persuasion.

", "tags": [ "family matters", "identity & culture", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "067078592X", "seamus": 752808127, "itunes": 9780670785926, "goodreads": 43153910, "cover": "067078592X", "bookshop": 9780670785926, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780670785926", "isbn10": "067078592X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 128, "book": "A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves: One Family and Migration In The 21st Century", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'A Good Provider' Argues Migration Can Be Salvation", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/20/752805784/a-good-provider-argues-migration-can-be-salvation" } ] }, "129": { "id": 129, "title": "Places And Names: On War, Revolution, And Returning", "author": "Elliot Ackerman", "reviewers": [ "Mary Louise Kelly" ], "text": "

Elliot Ackerman was a Marine – five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan – and years afterward, he decides to sit down with the enemy. So he invites Abu Hassar, who fought for al-Qaida in Iraq, to lunch. They don’t share a common language. During one particularly awkward silence, Ackerman opens his notebook to a clean page. He draws a ribbon – the Euphrates River. Abu Hassar recognizes it and scribbles in the name of a town where he fought. “Our hands now chase each other around the map, mimicking the way we’d once chased each other around this country,” Ackerman writes, as it dawns on both men that they fought the same war, just different sides. Beautiful writing about combat and humanity and what it means to “win” a war.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0525559965", "seamus": 730384604, "itunes": 9780525559962, "goodreads": 42041745, "cover": "0525559965", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525559962", "isbn10": "0525559965", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 129, "book": "Places And Names: On War, Revolution, And Returning", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'I Write To Understand What I Think': A Veteran Turns To Words After War", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/07/730381720/i-write-to-understand-what-i-think-a-veteran-turns-to-words-after-war" } ] }, "130": { "id": 130, "title": "She Said: Breaking The Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite A Movement", "author": "Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey", "reviewers": [ "Mary Louise Kelly" ], "text": "

I know what you’re thinking: “A book about Harvey Weinstein! Detailing allegations of sexual harassment! That’s just what I wanted for the holidays!” Bear with me here, because this book is in fact such a great and empowering read. You will come away with profound respect for Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and the lengths they go to in order to land their story. (How do you track down Gwyneth Paltrow’s phone number and then persuade her to talk to you?) And if you’re like me, you will also come away grateful for the many ways women have, and continue, to come together to support one another.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "0525560343", "seamus": 757925688, "itunes": 9780525560340, "goodreads": 44767249, "cover": "0525560343", "bookshop": 9780525560340, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525560340", "isbn10": "0525560343", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 130, "book": "She Said: Breaking The Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite A Movement", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'New York Times' Reporters Explain How They United Women, Helping Trigger #MeToo", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/758904841/new-york-times-reporters-explain-how-they-united-women-helping-trigger-metoo" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 130, "book": "She Said: Breaking The Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite A Movement", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'She Said' Tracks The Remarkable Reporting Leading To The Arrest Of Harvey Weinstein", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/08/757858186/she-said-tracks-the-remarkable-reporting-leading-to-the-arrest-of-harvey-weinste" } ] }, "131": { "id": 131, "title": "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel", "author": "Ocean Vuong", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "

When Ocean Vuong’s mother – a Vietnamese immigrant – gave him his distinctive first name, she called into being a writer whose language will carry readers away. Vuong’s sentences are liquid, flowing, teasing and overpowering. Written in the form of a letter from a son to his illiterate mother, Vuong’s debut novel ranges from the legacy of the Vietnam War, to a gay teenager’s sexual awakening, to the wry observation that “sorry” is the most-used English word spoken by Asian manicurists. Like so many immigrant writers before him, Vuong has not only made the English language his own, he’s made it better.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0525562028", "seamus": 728727304, "itunes": 9780525562023, "goodreads": 41880609, "cover": "0525562028", "bookshop": 9780525562023, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525562023", "isbn10": "0525562028", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 131, "book": "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'On Earth' Is Gorgeous All The Way Through", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/05/729691730/on-earth-is-gorgeous-all-the-way-through" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 131, "book": "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "An Immigrant Yearns For Connection In 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/729648424/an-immigrant-yearns-for-connection-in-on-earth-we-re-briefly-gorgeous" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 131, "book": "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Start With Truth And End With Art': Poet Ocean Vuong On His Debut Novel", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/01/728722925/start-with-truth-and-end-with-art-poet-ocean-vuong-on-his-debut-novel" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 131, "book": "On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous", "source": "WAMC", "text": "Hear Ocean Vuong On 'The Book Show'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/post/book-show-1620-ocean-vuong" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 131, "book": "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel", "source": "Connecticut Public Radio", "text": "A Conversation With Ocean Vuong", "url": "https://www.wnpr.org/post/conversation-ocean-vuong" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 131, "book": "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Ocean Vuong's Debut Novel 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' Contemplates Family, Love And Beauty", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/artery/2019/06/03/ocean-vuong-novel-review-on-earth-we-are-briefly-gorgeous" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 131, "book": "On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' Navigates The Language Of Belonging", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/earth-were-briefly-gorgeous-navigates-language-belonging" } ] }, "132": { "id": 132, "title": "The Beneficiary: Fortune, Misfortune, And The Story Of My Father", "author": "Janny Scott", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "

To give you a quick sense of Janny Scott’s pedigree, her great-great-grandfather was a railroad baron and mentor to Andrew Carnegie, and her glamorous grandmother was said to be the inspiration for the Hepburn character in The Philadelphia Story. Growing up, Scott (along with her family and four generations of relatives) lived in houses scattered over an 800-acre Main Line estate. The Beneficiary is a wise and poignant memoir about the emotional weight of inheritance. Scott surveys all the things money can buy – and all the things it can’t.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "biography & memoir", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "159463419X", "seamus": 716776796, "itunes": 9781594634192, "goodreads": 42837896, "cover": "159463419X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781594634192", "isbn10": "159463419X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 132, "book": "The Beneficiary: Fortune, Misfortune, And The Story Of My Father", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Beneficiary' Weighs The Emotional Heft Of Inheritance", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716768726/the-beneficiary-weighs-the-emotional-heft-of-inheritance" } ] }, "133": { "id": 133, "title": "Conviction", "author": "Denise Mina", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "

Scottish mystery master Denise Mina departs from the gritty crime novels that have made her reputation with an eerie story that mashes up a Gothic ghost tale with a classic woman-in-trouble plot. The opening pages of Conviction set its deliciously hectic pace: Our heroine, a mother of two named Anna, pours herself morning coffee as she listens to one of the true crime podcasts she loves. Before Anna finishes that coffee, her marriage has crumbled and she learns – via that podcast – that an old friend has died aboard a cursed yacht. Conviction is the ultimate un-put-downable mystery.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316528501", "seamus": 733702891, "itunes": 9780316528504, "goodreads": 42283333, "cover": "0316528501", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316528504", "isbn10": "0316528501", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 133, "book": "Conviction", "source": "NPR", "text": "New Noir By James Ellroy And Denise Mina Is Daredevil Storytelling At Its Finest", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/18/733676912/new-noir-by-james-ellroy-and-denise-mina-is-daredevil-storytelling-at-its-finest" } ] }, "134": { "id": 134, "title": "Black Is The Body: Stories From My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, And Mine", "author": "Emily Bernard", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "

Emily Bernard writes that she “conceived” this book in a hospital as she recovered from a stabbing, a “bizarre act of violence” that helped set her “free” as a storyteller. Bernard’s scarred intestines become a metaphor for her writing style: winding, messy and very personal. All of these essays are about race and are rooted, autobiographically, in the blackness of Bernard’s own body. She writes about living and teaching in the snow globe state of Vermont, as well as her own interracial marriage. Every single one of these 12 essays is unforgettable.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "short stories, essays & poetry", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "0451493028", "seamus": 691661338, "itunes": 9780451493026, "goodreads": 40163296, "cover": "0451493028", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780451493026", "isbn10": "0451493028", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 134, "book": "Black Is The Body: Stories From My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, And Mine", "source": "NPR", "text": "You'll Find 12 Fresh And Unforgettable Essays In 'Black Is The Body'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/06/691643976/youll-find-12-fresh-and-unforgettable-essays-in-black-is-the-body" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 134, "book": "Black Is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine", "source": "VPR", "text": "Emily Bernard Explores Race And Personal History In 'Black Is The Body'", "url": "https://www.vpr.org/post/author-emily-bernard-explores-race-and-personal-history-black-body" } ] }, "135": { "id": 135, "title": "Three Women", "author": "Lisa Taddeo", "reviewers": [ "Meghan Keane" ], "text": "

Three Women charts the paths of, well, three real women: One who has an inappropriate relationship with her teacher, one who seeks satisfaction outside a sexless marriage and another who has a complicated relationship with her own open marriage. Lisa Taddeo brilliantly shatters your preconceived notions by mapping a deep, gritty history of each story, and braided together, they make for a visceral read that proves female desire shapes much more of the world than we give it credit for.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "1451642296", "seamus": 736959789, "itunes": 9781451642292, "goodreads": 42201100, "cover": "1451642296", "bookshop": 9781451642292, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781451642292", "isbn10": "1451642296", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 135, "book": "Three Women", "source": "NPR", "text": "Debut Book Tells Of The Real-Life Longings And Frustrations Of 'Three Women'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/08/739523657/debut-book-tells-of-the-real-life-longings-and-frustrations-of-three-women" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 135, "book": "Three Women", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Three Women' Puts Female Desire At The Forefront", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/29/736957224/three-women-puts-female-desire-at-the-forefront" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 135, "book": "Three Women", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Three Women'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-three-women" } ] }, "136": { "id": 136, "title": "The Salt Path", "author": "Raynor Winn", "reviewers": [ "Meghan Collins Sullivan" ], "text": "

In The Salt Path, Raynor Winn takes us on both a physical and philosophical journey. What, to me, sets this trek along England’s South West Coast Path apart from several other memoirs involving hiking is that it doesn’t feel contrived: Raynor and her husband, Moth, are not young adults trying to find themselves. Instead, after 32 years of building a solid family life, a business deal gone bad leaves them homeless and searching for a future. I honestly felt like I was on this trip with them, experiencing the awe of nature and new places, worrying about all that was threatening – and finding kinship along the way.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "biography & memoir", "tales from around the world", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0241349648", "seamus": 777014349, "itunes": 9780241349649, "goodreads": 38085814, "cover": "0241349648", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780241349649", "isbn10": "0241349648", "links": [] }, "137": { "id": 137, "title": "I Miss You When I Blink: Essays", "author": "Mary Laura Philpott", "reviewers": [ "Meghan Collins Sullivan" ], "text": "

There aren’t many books that have made me tear up from both laughing and crying – on the same page. Mary Laura Philpott’s essays truly capture the emotional pull of mothering beyond the baby stage – coexisting, for some, with a midlife crisis-esque period. It’s the drive to devote yourself fully to your kids, knowing that in two seconds they’ll be adults themselves, battling the constant fear of personal stagnation. She establishes that there can be many “yous,” among them the childhood you, the single you, the married you, the parent you, the career you. Through sometimes painful, often funny and always heartwarming self-reflective stories, she shows readers that one of you doesn’t have to give way for another – that your many “yous” can coexist as “a crowd of selves.”

", "tags": [ "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "nonfiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1982102802", "seamus": 777014911, "itunes": 9781982102807, "goodreads": 40539018, "cover": "1982102802", "bookshop": 9781982102807, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781982102807", "isbn10": "1982102802", "links": [] }, "138": { "id": 138, "title": "Ask Again, Yes: A Novel", "author": "Mary Beth Keane", "reviewers": [ "Michel Martin" ], "text": "

Two young Irish American cops, Francis and Brian, meet at the police academy, work the streets together briefly and, by coincidence, buy houses next to each other in a small town. Francis’ daughter and Brian’s son quickly become inseparable. But all is not well behind closed doors: Brian’s wife is mentally ill, but no one seems to be able to recognize or address it until it’s too late. That illness and the denial of it set in motion events that mark both families in profound ways.\nThis book reminded me of the people I grew up with and around, even though my family is neither Irish nor suburban. They were people who wore uniforms and a badge; some because they wanted to, some because they thought it was the best they could do. These days, police officers are either heroes or villains; in this novel, they are just human. It’s not a tidy story and there is no tidy ending, but it’s deeply felt and feels real and true.

", "tags": [ "family matters", "fiction", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1982106980", "seamus": 735675278, "itunes": 9781982106980, "goodreads": 42201996, "cover": "1982106980", "bookshop": 9781982106980, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781982106980", "isbn10": "1982106980", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 138, "book": "Ask Again, Yes: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Ask Again, Yes' Is A Profound Yet Unpretentious Family Drama", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/25/735675181/ask-again-yes-is-a-profound-yet-unpretentious-family-drama" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 138, "book": "Ask Again, Yes", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Ask Again, Yes'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-ask-again-yes" } ] }, "139": { "id": 139, "title": "How To Do Nothing: Resisting The Attention Economy", "author": "Jenny Odell", "reviewers": [ "Mina Tavakoli" ], "text": "

Like Thoreau’s essay on “Walking,” Jenny Odell’s big point is not that elaborate, inventive or novel. It’s in the title. How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy is a big, thick dialectic about resisting the world of digital nonsense so that we can genuinely “want what we want to want.” Despite the distracting “How to Do” portion of the title, though, Odell’s work is less a how-to than a what-I-did. She wanders around, pointing at soothing ephemera (bird-watching, etc.), inviting us to amble alongside and consider the degree to which we’ve all succumbed to 2019’s myriad consciousness-suckers. Halfway between a park ranger and a spiritual guru, Odell gives us carte blanche to really consider the blanche.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1612197493", "seamus": 777015180, "itunes": 9781612197494, "goodreads": 42771901, "cover": "1612197493", "bookshop": 9781612197494, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781612197494", "isbn10": "1612197493", "links": [] }, "140": { "id": 140, "title": "Small In The City", "author": "Sydney Smith", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "

This quiet book has enough warmth to melt even the coldest of hearts. A child walks through a swirling cityscape that is both busy and lonely. While Smith’s spare but emotional story intentionally leaves readers without clear-cut answers, it does leave us with something more important: a sense of comfort in the face of the unknown. (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "0823442616", "seamus": 777015766, "itunes": 9780823442614, "goodreads": 43289978, "cover": "0823442616", "bookshop": 9780823442614, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780823442614", "isbn10": "0823442616", "links": [] }, "141": { "id": 141, "title": "Small World", "author": "Ishta Mercurio, illustrated by Jen Corace", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "

Starting with a baby in the warmth of a mother’s arms, this story follows a young girl as she grows and explores the mysteries of the world around her. Ishta Mercurio’s text revels in the ebb and flow between curiosity and discovery, making the world feel infinitely large one second and “safe, warm, small” the next. Paired with Jen Corace’s joyful illustrations, Small World is especially timely for those who were inspired by the recent all-female spacewalk. (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "science!" ], "isbn": "1419734075", "seamus": 777015944, "itunes": 9781419734076, "goodreads": 40758726, "cover": "1419734075", "bookshop": 9781419734076, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781419734076", "isbn10": "1419734075", "links": [] }, "142": { "id": 142, "title": "The Undefeated", "author": "Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "

Kwame Alexander’s unflinching verse combines with Kadir Nelson’s unparalleled artistry to take a powerful dive into the pain and the pride of black history and current events, emerging with a hopeful and resolute eye toward the future. In making sure that we remember the past, Alexander and Nelson have left us with something truly unforgettable. (For ages 6 to 9)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "for art lovers", "nonfiction", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1328780961", "seamus": 708821622, "itunes": 9781328780966, "goodreads": 40796177, "cover": "1328780961", "bookshop": 9781328780966, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781328780966", "isbn10": "1328780961", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 142, "book": "The Undefeated", "source": "NPR", "text": "This Is For 'The Undefeated': A New Picture Book Celebrates Black Brilliance", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/02/708821115/this-is-for-the-undefeated-a-new-picture-book-celebrates-black-brilliance" } ] }, "143": { "id": 143, "title": "Truman", "author": "Jean Reidy, illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "

When a girl mysteriously leaves for the day, her pet tortoise, Truman (who is the size of “a small donut – and every bit as sweet”), gathers the courage to leave home and find her. A gentle adventure that playfully shows you don’t have to go very far (or move very fast) to have an extraordinary journey. (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1534416641", "seamus": 777016406, "itunes": 9781534416642, "goodreads": 38792202, "cover": "1534416641", "bookshop": 9781534416642, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781534416642", "isbn10": "1534416641", "links": [] }, "144": { "id": 144, "title": "Under My Hijab", "author": "Hena Khan, illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "

In these loving portraits, Hena Khan and Aaliya Jaleel follow the women in one Muslim community at work, school and home. At the doctor’s office, Mama wears a white coat and a bright pink hijab; at home, she braids her long hair and rolls up her sleeves to garden. Under My Hijab celebrates women who are collectively as vibrant and varied as the headscarves they choose for themselves. (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "kids’ books", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1620147920", "seamus": 777016810, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 39397848, "cover": "1620147920", "bookshop": 9781620147924, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781620147924", "isbn10": "1620147920", "links": [] }, "145": { "id": 145, "title": "Bowlaway: A Novel", "author": "Elizabeth McCracken", "reviewers": [ "Nancy Pearl" ], "text": "

I suspect there’s never been (or ever will be again) another work of fiction whose main character is arguably a family-owned candlepin bowling alley. From the moment Bertha Truitt, matriarch-to-be, is discovered unconscious in a cemetery, events follow their own idiosyncratic (and sometimes outlandish) course, but Elizabeth McCracken, a writer’s writer, brings this charming and quirky novel to a most satisfying conclusion.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "fiction", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "for sports lovers", "historical fiction" ], "isbn": "0062862855", "seamus": 687763671, "itunes": 9780062862853, "goodreads": 40162715, "cover": "0062862855", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062862853", "isbn10": "0062862855", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 145, "book": "Bowlaway: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Bowlaway' Scores A Strike", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/05/691304393/bowlaway-scores-a-strike" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 145, "book": "Bowlaway: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Pack Your Bags And Your Books For 6 Literary Journeys With Nancy Pearl", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/29/687759369/pack-your-bags-and-your-books-for-6-literary-journeys-with-nancy-pearl" } ] }, "146": { "id": 146, "title": "Out Of Darkness, Shining Light: A Novel", "author": "Petina Gappah", "reviewers": [ "Nancy Pearl" ], "text": "

When African explorer David Livingstone died in 1873 in what is now Zambia, the remaining members of his expedition carried his body for 1,500 miles so he could be sent back to Britain for burial. This brilliantly conceived novel is told by two narrators: Livingstone’s cook Halima, a young slave whom Livingstone bought as a “road wife” for his expedition leader, and Jacob Wainwright, an educated former slave and devout Christian, who reads the explorer’s journals and writes his own on the 285-day journey east. Their voices show us the complexity and contradictory beliefs of a man whom most of us know only by the phrase “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "fiction", "tales from around the world", "historical fiction" ], "isbn": "1982110333", "seamus": 777016988, "itunes": 9781982110338, "goodreads": 43822681, "cover": "1982110333", "bookshop": 9781982110338, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781982110338", "isbn10": "1982110333", "links": [] }, "147": { "id": 147, "title": "The Witches Are Coming", "author": "Lindy West", "reviewers": [ "Molly Seavy-Nesper" ], "text": "

Lindy West’s follow-up to her 2016 memoir, Shrill, proves that she remains one of the funniest, sharpest cultural critics of our time. Over 18 essays, the feminist writer and New York Times op-ed contributor eviscerates the current sociopolitical reality – from Grumpy Cat memes to the president’s cries of “WITCH HUNT!” on Twitter – all while making you laugh. This is an essential book for anyone who has felt the need to let out a primal scream into a pillow (or in public) in the last few years.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas", "nonfiction", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0316449881", "seamus": 768275967, "itunes": 9780316449885, "goodreads": 38362811, "cover": "0316449881", "bookshop": 9780316449885, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316449885", "isbn10": "0316449881", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 147, "book": "The Witches Are Coming", "source": "NPR", "text": "Lindy West: 'The Witches Are Coming' — And They Are Rightfully Angry", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/11/777561750/lindy-west-the-witches-are-coming-and-they-are-rightfully-angry" } ] }, "148": { "id": 148, "title": "Beirut Hellfire Society: A Novel", "author": "Rawi Hage", "reviewers": [ "Neda Ulaby" ], "text": "

“Everyone loves Beirut and everyone is scared of Beirut,” muses a character in this playfully scabrous novel that draws nearly as much from Nabokov as from Lebanon’s grisly civil war in the 1970s. Beirut Hellfire Society follows the nihilistic son of a Christian undertaker who falls in with a carnivalesque assortment of gleeful scofflaws and kinky debauchees who take it upon themselves to bury the remains of gay people, heretics and other undesirables. The writing is bravura, the humor, stygian and the thrill of expression, triumphant – even over the blasted, blasphemous horror show of war.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "historical fiction", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1324002913", "seamus": 777017524, "itunes": 9781324002918, "goodreads": 41817567, "cover": "1324002913", "bookshop": 9781324002918, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781324002918", "isbn10": "1324002913", "links": [] }, "149": { "id": 149, "title": "A Wild And Precious Life: A Memoir", "author": "Edie Windsor and Joshua Lyon", "reviewers": [ "Neda Ulaby" ], "text": "

“An Incredibly Long and Amazingly Accomplished Life” would’ve been a more boring but equally apt title for this “memoir/biography hybrid.” Before Edie Windsor became the 83-year-old lead plaintiff in a 2013 case successfully challenging the Defense of Marriage Act, she was a Greenwich Village heartbreaker, pioneering software developer and partner to psychologist Thea Spyer for more than 40 years. Joshua Lyon started interviewing the activist and bon vivant only a year before her death in 2017, but he captures both an epoch in mid-20th century LGBT history and a singular voice: brash, funny and brave.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "1250195136", "seamus": 777017717, "itunes": 9781250195135, "goodreads": 43263541, "cover": "1250195136", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250195135", "isbn10": "1250195136", "links": [] }, "150": { "id": 150, "title": "Death Is Hard Work: A Novel", "author": "Khaled Khalifa, translated by Leri Price", "reviewers": [ "Nina Gregory" ], "text": "

The darkest of humor punctuates deep storytelling in Khaled Khalifa’s novel, in which three siblings in Syria must find a way to honor their father’s desire to be buried in his family plot. The problem is that he died in Damascus and the plot is in Anabiya, a few hours away. Khalifa’s essential novel is a Faulkneresque odyssey that traverses not just regime- and rebel-held territory, but life after death as Syria’s civil war rages on.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0374135738", "seamus": 777017831, "itunes": 9780374135737, "goodreads": 40121989, "cover": "0374135738", "bookshop": 9780374135737, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780374135737", "isbn10": "0374135738", "links": [] }, "151": { "id": 151, "title": "Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz And The Secret History Of L.A.", "author": "Lili Anolik", "reviewers": [ "Nina Gregory" ], "text": "

One golden tale unravels into another in Lili Anolik’s stylish portrait of writer and bon vivant Eve Babitz. Immortalized in a photo depicting her playing chess – nude – with Marcel Duchamp, Babitz has a life full of boldfaced names and equally bold tales (beginning with her name, given to her by her godfather, Igor Stravinsky). A native Angeleno, Babitz was “discovered” as a writer by Joan Didion, though Anolik’s inventive biography, which began as a magazine profile, prompted the reissue of all of Babitz’s books, ushering in a Babitz revival.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "no biz like show biz", "let’s talk about sex", "staff picks", "biography & memoir", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "1501125796", "seamus": 683254718, "itunes": 9781501125799, "goodreads": 38532113, "cover": "1501125796", "bookshop": 9781501125799, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501125799", "isbn10": "1501125796", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 151, "book": "Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz And The Secret History Of L.A.", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Hollywood's Eve' Feeds Renewed Interest In L.A. 'It' Girl Turned Writer", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/10/683177909/hollywoods-eve-feeds-renewed-interest-in-l-a-it-girl-turned-writer" } ] }, "152": { "id": 152, "title": "The Castle On Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, And Scandal At Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont", "author": "Shawn Levy", "reviewers": [ "Nina Gregory" ], "text": "

In a town where buildings get more face-lifts than movie stars do, the Chateau Marmont stands defiantly, getting better with age as it holds down the Beverly Hills end of Sunset Boulevard. The castlelike hotel became infamous after John Belushi overdosed there. But the pages of this book reveal many other intriguing stories in the decades both before and since, like that Mabel Walker Willebrandt, LA’s first “public defender of women” and at one time the highest-ranking woman in the federal government, was one of the Chateau’s original investors.

", "tags": [ "no biz like show biz", "for history lovers", "staff picks", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0385543166", "seamus": 777018884, "itunes": 9780385543163, "goodreads": 46360986, "cover": "0385543166", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385543163", "isbn10": "0385543166", "links": [] }, "153": { "id": 153, "title": "Where Cooking Begins: Uncomplicated Recipes To Make You A Great Cook", "author": "Carla Lalli Music", "reviewers": [ "Nina Gregory" ], "text": "

Never again utter, “There’s nothing in the house to eat.” Where Cooking Begins is a great starter cookbook for novices – and a refresher for more advanced cooks in need of some new tricks. Simplicity can be revolutionary – like what Carla Lalli Music calls “SPC,” or Salt and Pepper Cooking. Photos serve as excellent illustrations of techniques, and the recipes are clear, concise and accessible. My co-workers kept asking to borrow this beautiful book – be sure to write your name in yours in case it walks away!

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0525573348", "seamus": 777019116, "itunes": 9780525573340, "goodreads": 40712503, "cover": "0525573348", "bookshop": 9780525573340, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525573340", "isbn10": "0525573348", "links": [] }, "154": { "id": 154, "title": "The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, And The Pillage Of An Empire", "author": "William Dalrymple", "reviewers": [ "Nishant Dahiya" ], "text": "

William Dalrymple has long chronicled, with great fealty, the British Raj and the collapse of the Mughal Empire in India. With The Anarchy, he tries to answer a central question: How did the East India Company evolve from a trading corporation into a colonial power that eventually controlled much of the Indian subcontinent, looting much of its riches in the process? It’s a great story told in fabulous detail with interesting, if at times utterly rapacious or incompetent, characters populating it.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "staff picks", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "1635573955", "seamus": 777019423, "itunes": 9781635573954, "goodreads": 42972023, "cover": "1635573955", "bookshop": 9781635573954, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781635573954", "isbn10": "1635573955", "links": [] }, "155": { "id": 155, "title": "The Wall: A Novel", "author": "John Lanchester", "reviewers": [ "Nishant Dahiya" ], "text": "

An island nation decides to barricade itself from the invading hordes after some kind of climate collapse and needs to rely on its citizens to defend “The Wall” it has built. Our protagonist is one such Defender, and it’s all going well until it’s not. This is not a fun read but a thought-provoking story for our times that’s also compulsively readable.

", "tags": [ "seriously great writing", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1324001631", "seamus": 777019886, "itunes": 9781324001638, "goodreads": 40180117, "cover": "1324001631", "bookshop": 9781324001638, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781324001638", "isbn10": "1324001631", "links": [] }, "156": { "id": 156, "title": "First: Sandra Day O'Connor", "author": "Evan Thomas", "reviewers": [ "Nina Totenberg" ], "text": "

Author Evan Thomas breaks new ground with First. With extraordinary access to the justice, her papers, her personal journals – and even 20 years of her husband’s diary – the book is, in a sense, an authorized biography. But it is considerably more. It is an unvarnished and psychologically intuitive look at the nation’s first female Supreme Court justice and some of her contradictory characteristics. First is unlike every other volume written about Sandra Day O’Connor – even the books the justice wrote about herself.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "the states we’re in", "for history lovers", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0399589287", "seamus": 690313749, "itunes": 9780399589287, "goodreads": 40594422, "cover": "0399589287", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399589287", "isbn10": "0399589287", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 156, "book": "First: Sandra Day O'Connor", "source": "NPR", "text": "From Triumph To Tragedy, 'First' Tells Story Of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/15/693542112/from-triumph-to-tragedy-first-tells-story-of-justice-sandra-day-oconnor" } ] }, "157": { "id": 157, "title": "Moneyland: The Inside Story Of The Crooks And Kleptocrats Who Rule The World", "author": "Oliver Bullough", "reviewers": [ "Noel King" ], "text": "

Give Oliver Bullough points for prescience. He wrote a book about corruption in Ukraine before so very many people were concerned about corruption in Ukraine. After president Viktor Yanukovych fled his country in 2014, Bullough walked through Yanukovych’s opulent estate and wondered how the leader of a poor country could afford such luxury. The answer is “dark money”: untaxed, unregulated, untraceable and uncountable, stolen by kleptocrats and dictators and funneled into shell companies, secret bank accounts and real estate in London and New York. Bullough gamely travels the world in search of the money and mostly doesn’t find it, but that’s the point. Along the way he examines the legal loopholes that allow it to vanish and makes two persuasive arguments. First, theft on this scale is eroding democracies. Second, if we better understood how this kind of semi-criminality works, we’d be very angry. Give him points as well for writing a book that’s both furious and funny.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "125020870X", "seamus": 719002317, "itunes": 9781250208705, "goodreads": 41150536, "cover": "125020870X", "bookshop": 9781250208705, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250208705", "isbn10": "125020870X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 157, "book": "Moneyland: The Inside Story Of The Crooks And Kleptocrats Who Rule The World", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Moneyland' Reveals How Oligarchs, Kleptocrats And Crooks Stash Fortunes ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/01/719001286/moneyland-reveals-how-oligarchs-kleptocrats-and-crooks-stash-fortunes" } ] }, "159": { "id": 159, "title": "The Impeachers: The Trial Of Andrew Johnson And The Dream Of A Just Nation", "author": "Brenda Wineapple", "reviewers": [ "Peter Overby" ], "text": "

When Donald Trump became president and I began tracking his ethics problems, I went looking for a solid, comprehensive account of Andrew Johnson’s impeachment. Historian Brenda Wineapple was on it. The Impeachers, which she started in 2013, tells a big, mostly damning tale. Draw your parallels at will, as Johnson catered to the South’s just-defeated white supremacists and fought with what he called “this radical Congress.” As for the senator who cast the decisive vote to save Johnson (he’s in Profiles in Courage), Wineapple cites lingering questions that he was bought. So swampy.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0812998367", "seamus": 777020950, "itunes": 9780812998368, "goodreads": 41709894, "cover": "0812998367", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780812998368", "isbn10": "0812998367", "links": [] }, "160": { "id": 160, "title": "Mrs. Everything: A Novel", "author": "Jennifer Weiner", "reviewers": [ "Peter Sagal" ], "text": "

The women who came of age in the 1960s and ‘70s are often known to literature only as muses or objects of desire in the many stories of men of the Age of Aquarius. But Mrs. Everything is a deeply felt, moving history of two members of this “lost” generation. The novel alternates between two sisters, Jo and Bethie Kaufman, whose lives are shaped by forces beyond their control, often in the form of men and male violence. They endure but suffer terrible losses along the way – the revealing of what the title means is one of the most casually tragic moments I can remember reading. Jennifer Weiner follows these two women for decades as they navigate a world that was not nearly as “liberated” as it liked to think.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "1501133489", "seamus": 736820547, "itunes": 9781501133480, "goodreads": 42589678, "cover": "1501133489", "bookshop": 9781501133480, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501133480", "isbn10": "1501133489", "links": [] }, "161": { "id": 161, "title": "Gods Of Jade And Shadow", "author": "Silvia Moreno-Garcia", "reviewers": [ "Petra Mayer" ], "text": "

Silvia Moreno-Garcia takes readers on a myth-dazzled road trip through 1920s Mexico in Gods of Jade and Shadow. It starts out as a simple Cinderella-esque tale: Casiopeia is little more than a drudge in the house of her wealthy grandfather, until she finds a locked chest containing the dismembered body of Hun-Kamé, the Maya god of death. But Moreno-Garcia spins her story out to stranger places, rejecting the easy arc of a fairy tale. You’ll be left wondering where Casiopeia will go next — and longing for more of her magical world.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0525620753", "seamus": 741222244, "itunes": 9780525620754, "goodreads": 46787786, "cover": "0525620753", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525620754", "isbn10": "0525620753", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 161, "book": "Gods Of Jade And Shadow", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Gods Of Jade And Shadow' Spins A Dark, Dazzling Fairy Tale", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/23/741222646/gods-of-jade-and-shadow-spins-a-dark-dazzling-fairy-tale" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 161, "book": "Gods Of Jade And Shadow", "source": "KWIT-KOJI: Siouxland Public Media", "text": "Check It Out: 'Gods Of Jade And Shadow'", "url": "https://www.kwit.org/post/gods-jade-and-shadow-silvia-moreno-garcia" } ] }, "162": { "id": 162, "title": "The Austen Playbook", "author": "Lucy Parker", "reviewers": [ "Petra Mayer" ], "text": "

The Austen Playbook is the latest – and for my book-buying money, the best – in Lucy Parker’s beloved London Celebrities series, which follows the romantic trials and travails of a group of colorful theater and media people in London’s West End. This time around we’re with Freddy Carlton, a bit player previously who’s now the center of attention as she prepares for “The Austen Playbook,” a play-within-a-play being staged as a live-action TV event on a palatial estate that just happens to be owned by the snotty critic who’s panned all her previous performances. Do sparks fly? You bet your bonnet and pelisse they do.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "1335006893", "seamus": 710422167, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 43198678, "cover": "1335006893", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781335006899", "isbn10": "1335006893", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 162, "book": "The Austen Playbook", "source": "NPR", "text": "For April, 3 Novels Of Love At Any Age, In Any Era", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/15/710424594/for-april-3-novels-of-love-at-any-age-in-any-era" } ] }, "163": { "id": 163, "title": "The Deep", "author": "Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes", "reviewers": [ "Petra Mayer" ], "text": "

Yetu is a historian – she holds the collective memories of her people, a peaceful undersea race called the wajinru. And she does it alone, because her people would be shattered if they knew the truth: They descend from pregnant slaves thrown overboard during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Rivers Solomon’s lyrical but uncompromising novella – inspired by a track from the experimental hip-hop group clipping. – builds a rich, gorgeous underwater world on the foundations of dry land’s horrors.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "identity & culture", "for music lovers", "the dark side", "rather short", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1534439862", "seamus": 768336729, "itunes": 9781534439863, "goodreads": 42201962, "cover": "1534439862", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781534439863", "isbn10": "1534439862", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 163, "book": "The Deep", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Deep' Sings With Many Voices", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/07/776948306/the-deep-sings-with-many-voices" } ] }, "164": { "id": 164, "title": "Jade War", "author": "Fonda Lee", "reviewers": [ "Petra Mayer" ], "text": "

Sam Briger

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316440922", "seamus": 745438296, "itunes": 9780316440929, "goodreads": 41716919, "cover": "0316440922", "bookshop": 9780316440929, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316440929", "isbn10": "0316440922", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 164, "book": "Jade War", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Jade War' Is A Magical, Operatic Crime And Family Drama", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/28/745438950/jade-war-is-a-magical-operatic-crime-and-family-drama" } ] }, "165": { "id": 165, "title": "Steel Crow Saga", "author": "Paul Krueger", "reviewers": [ "Petra Mayer" ], "text": "

Every year there’s a book that falls through the cracks, that I read too late to fit into our regular coverage and then smack myself and yell “ARRRGH!” loud enough to scare the cats. This year, it’s Paul Krueger’s delightful, swaggering, multilayered Southeast Asian-inflected fantasy Steel Crow Saga. If you’re getting tired of waiting for the final volume in Ken Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty series, you should spend some time with Krueger’s band of misfits as they navigate war, rebellion, postcolonialism, diplomacy, love, family ties – and magical animal companions.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593128222", "seamus": 777022216, "itunes": 9780593128220, "goodreads": 43568424, "cover": "0593128222", "bookshop": 9780593128220, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780593128220", "isbn10": "0593128222", "links": [] }, "166": { "id": 166, "title": "How Do You Dance?", "author": "Thyra Heder", "reviewers": [ "Philipp Goedicke" ], "text": "

“How do you dance?” is a question our young protagonist would rather not answer. But Thyra Heder’s lively watercolors make it clear there’s no one right way – they’re all good! It’s cleverly paced, occasionally absurd and always fun. To be read by strobe light or disco ball, this book will have you jumping out of your reading chair to bust out a few moves of your own. (For ages 3 to 7)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1419734180", "seamus": 777022429, "itunes": 9781419734182, "goodreads": 43909011, "cover": "1419734180", "bookshop": 9781419734182, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781419734182", "isbn10": "1419734180", "links": [] }, "167": { "id": 167, "title": "Most Marshmallows", "author": "Rowboat Watkins", "reviewers": [ "Philipp Goedicke" ], "text": "

Rowboat Watkins has a quirky, gentle touch. Most Marshmallows appears to be a marshmallow documentary (though he may have hired marshmallow actors; we can’t be sure) revealing that marshmallows live regular lives and dream big dreams – just like us. The book offers wonderful pictures, clever details and an encouraging message. And at the risk of my recommendation having more words than the book itself, the magic lies in the “most” of the title, which refuses to let us generalize about anyone – marshmallows included. (For ages 3 to 5)

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "kids’ books", "staff picks", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1452159599", "seamus": 777022582, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 39653602, "cover": "1452159599", "bookshop": 9781452159591, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781452159591", "isbn10": "1452159599", "links": [] }, "168": { "id": 168, "title": "Rat Rule 79: An Adventure", "author": "Rivka Galchen, illustrated by Elena Megalos", "reviewers": [ "Philipp Goedicke" ], "text": "

On the night before her 13th birthday, Fred can’t sleep. She gets out of bed and sees her mother walk through a lantern. Fred follows her into a magical land filled with highly rational, unreasonable rules (or is it highly reasonable, irrational rules?) In the ensuing puzzles and conundrums, Rivka Galchen delivers joy and cleverness reminiscent of The Phantom Tollbooth, Alice in Wonderland and Hayao Miyazaki movies as she playfully exposes the holes in logic as presented through language. From the quirky chapter headings to the deadpan illustrations by Elena Megalos, it is a wonderful read (and re-read) for kids and adults. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "family matters", "kids’ books", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "fiction" ], "isbn": "163206099X", "seamus": 777022698, "itunes": 9781632060990, "goodreads": 43822451, "cover": "163206099X", "bookshop": 9781632060990, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781632060990", "isbn10": "163206099X", "links": [] }, "169": { "id": 169, "title": "The Elephant In The Room: One Fat Man's Quest To Get Smaller In A Growing America", "author": "Tommy Tomlinson", "reviewers": [ "Preeti Aroon" ], "text": "

“I’ve never been not fat,” writes Tommy Tomlinson. In this deeply personal memoir, Tomlinson traces his relationship with food from childhood to adulthood and describes how, around age 50, he made the pivotal decision to change the trajectory of his body and his life. He writes candidly about what it’s like to be fat – from the health risks to the humiliations of existing in a world not designed for his body. Readers will feel the emotional pull of the small-town Georgia of Tomlinson’s youth and find thoughtful observations about the nation’s approach to food and obesity.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1501111612", "seamus": 686945450, "itunes": 9781501111617, "goodreads": 40415813, "cover": "1501111612", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501111617", "isbn10": "1501111612", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 169, "book": "The Elephant In The Room: One Fat Man's Quest To Get Smaller In A Growing America", "source": "NPR", "text": "He Was 460 Pounds. What Confronting His Weight Taught Him About Obesity In America", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/20/686945060/he-was-460-pounds-what-confronting-his-weight-taught-him-about-obesity-in-americ" } ] }, "170": { "id": 170, "title": "Charged: The New Movement To Transform American Prosecution And End Mass Incarceration", "author": "Emily Bazelon", "reviewers": [ "Ramtin Arablouei" ], "text": "

Mass incarceration is now widely accepted as a major social problem in the United States, but the causes and possible solutions to the problem are intensely debated. Emily Bazelon enters that conversation with her assertion that American prosecutors are too often left out of the national discourse on mass incarceration. In her richly layered storytelling style, Bazelon gives voice to people whose lives have been profoundly impacted by a system that grants many prosecutors unfettered power. By breaking down abstract legal arguments and using the stories of real people, Bazelon brings us closer to understanding the inequities of America’s legal system.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "the dark side", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0399590013", "seamus": 711764534, "itunes": 9780399590016, "goodreads": 40983162, "cover": "0399590013", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399590016", "isbn10": "0399590013", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 170, "book": "Charged: The New Movement To Transform American Prosecution And End Mass Incarceration", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Charged' Explains How Prosecutors And Plea Bargains Drive Mass Incarceration", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/10/711654831/charged-explains-how-prosecutors-and-plea-bargains-drive-mass-incarceration" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 170, "book": "Charged: The New Movement To Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration", "source": "Connecticut Public Radio", "text": "The Criminal (In)Justice System", "url": "https://www.wnpr.org/post/criminal-injustice-system" } ] }, "171": { "id": 171, "title": "How To Hide An Empire: A History Of The Greater United States", "author": "Daniel Immerwahr", "reviewers": [ "Rund Abdelfatah" ], "text": "

How to Hide an Empire takes you on a whirlwind tour of the islands and territories the U.S. has governed from the 19th century on. It draws you in with smartly weaved, gripping stories and constructs an impressively expansive tale of America’s global conquests. Manifest destiny takes on a whole new meaning. Simmering beneath all these stories is a powerful throughline: As classic colonialism was being fazed out in the 20th century, a new, more covert form of empire-building set in – with the U.S. at the forefront. It’s not a stretch to say that this book will make you think about American history in a new way.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "nonfiction", "the states we’re in", "for history lovers", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1784703915", "seamus": 694711739, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 46041149, "cover": "1784703915", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781784703912", "isbn10": "1784703915", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 171, "book": "How To Hide An Empire: A History Of The Greater United States", "source": "NPR", "text": "The History Of American Imperialism, From Bloody Conquest To Bird Poop", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/18/694700303/the-history-of-american-imperialism-from-bloody-conquest-to-bird-poop" } ] }, "172": { "id": 172, "title": "This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant's Manifesto", "author": "Suketu Mehta", "reviewers": [ "Jamie York" ], "text": "

Someone made the mistake of telling Suketu Mehta that immigrants were a problem. Mehta’s response, This Land Is Our Land, begins with an anecdote about his grandfather – an immigrant well-versed in Britain’s colonial experiments – who, when confronted in London in the ‘80s by a fellow Briton asking “Why are you in my country?” responded: “Because we are the creditors. You took all our wealth. Now we have come to collect.” It’s the thesis of the book but just the barest hint of the argument that Mehta will marshal by the time he’s finished presenting his sweeping history of how solidly our world has been built by immigrants. This might sound like a tiresome polemic but, in this case, anger has just sharpened Mehta’s focus and put his eloquence to full use. Beware of scapegoats who know the truth, write this well and decide to fight back.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "tales from around the world", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0374276021", "seamus": 777022805, "itunes": 9780374276027, "goodreads": 37941669, "cover": "0374276021", "bookshop": 9780374276027, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780374276027", "isbn10": "0374276021", "links": [] }, "173": { "id": 173, "title": "Underland: A Deep Time Journey", "author": "Robert Macfarlane", "reviewers": [ "Laine Kaplan-Levenson" ], "text": "

Underland takes you deep underground to stare down the Anthropocene. Robert Macfarlane brutally confronts the realities of climate change by exploring some of the most inaccessible corners of the world – and takes you along for the ride. There’s not a whole lot of optimism in his examination of humanity’s cumulative impact on nature, and yet he’s still able to see so much beauty. This work often reads more like poetry – and taps into some of the most ancient human tendencies to both bury and extract.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "science!", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0393242145", "seamus": 729235945, "itunes": 9780393242140, "goodreads": 41817481, "cover": "0393242145", "bookshop": 9780393242140, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393242140", "isbn10": "0393242145", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 173, "book": "Underland: A Deep Time Journey", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Underland' Connects Us To Dazzling Worlds Beneath Our Feet", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/03/729156788/underland-connects-us-to-dazzling-worlds-beneath-our-feet" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 173, "book": "Underland: A Deep Time Journey", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Why We Descend Into Darkness", "url": "https://www.ttbook.org/interview/why-we-descend-darkness" } ] }, "174": { "id": 174, "title": "10 Minutes, 38 Seconds In This Strange World", "author": "Elif Shafak", "reviewers": [ "Reena Advani" ], "text": "

The clock starts ticking the moment you begin Elif Shafak’s gripping novel. That’s because there are only 10 minutes and 38 seconds left before the protagonist’s brain shuts down. Leila, a sex worker, has been murdered and left in a dumpster. Through flashbacks to her life in modern-day Turkey, minute by minute, you’ll feel her wonder, her joy, her pain. You’ll feel empathy for a girl whose life is upended from the day she is born. It’s companionship with other Istanbul transplants that saves Leila from complete despair. And as you get to know Leila’s other friends on the margins of society, you find yourself rooting for them in the unlikeliest of endeavors.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "tales from around the world", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1635574471", "seamus": 777022964, "itunes": 9781635574470, "goodreads": 46777584, "cover": "1635574471", "bookshop": 9781635574470, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781635574470", "isbn10": "1635574471", "links": [] }, "175": { "id": 175, "title": "Good To Go: What The Athlete In All Of Us Can Learn From The Strange Science Of Recovery", "author": "Christie Aschwanden", "reviewers": [ "Richard Harris" ], "text": "

I hadn’t realized that an entire industry had sprung up to help people recover rapidly from the aches and pains of serious exercise until I read Christie Aschwanden’s book. But I knew that this accomplished science reporter would lead me on a thoughtful journey to flag the hype (such as celebrity-branded underwear), while highlighting what’s likely to be true. This is by no means just a book for jocks – it tells us how to use evidence to understand the claims that swirl all around. Aschwanden devises a controlled trial using beer as a recovery aid. She floats in the dark, struggles into constricting garments and generally dishes about everything from ice baths (dubious), hydration (oversold), lactic acid (misunderstood) to sleep – which is not only effective but free!

", "tags": [ "for sports lovers", "science!", "staff picks", "nonfiction", "it’s all geek to me", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "039325433X", "seamus": 693423799, "itunes": 9780393254334, "goodreads": 40180017, "cover": "039325433X", "bookshop": 9780393254334, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393254334", "isbn10": "039325433X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 175, "book": "Good To Go: What The Athlete In All Of Us Can Learn From The Strange Science Of Recovery", "source": "NPR", "text": "The 'Strange Science' Behind The Big Business Of Exercise Recovery", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/02/11/693423729/the-strange-science-behind-the-big-business-of-exercise-recovery" } ] }, "176": { "id": 176, "title": "How To Build A Dragon Or Die Trying: A Satirical Look At Cutting-Edge Science", "author": "Paul Knoepfler and Julie Knoepfler", "reviewers": [ "Richard Harris" ], "text": "

Scientist Paul Knoepfler has a reputation for sorting through some of the outrageous claims around cell therapy, which are too often purported cures that end instead in tragedy. He teamed up with his high school daughter, Julie, to imagine how they would set about to design and build an actual flying, fire-breathing dragon. The subtitle calls this work a satire, but it’s really more a flight of fancy. It imagines how a not-so-mad scientist might use the latest tools, such as gene editing technology and stem cells, to create something that’s firmly rooted in fiction. It’s an amusing journey to explore the power and ethics of these technologies.

", "tags": [ "science!", "staff picks", "nonfiction", "it’s all geek to me", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "9813275936", "seamus": 777023332, "itunes": 9789813275935, "goodreads": 45037741, "cover": "9813275936", "bookshop": 9789813275935, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9789813275935", "isbn10": "9813275936", "links": [] }, "177": { "id": 177, "title": "The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead In A Reckless Age", "author": "Bina Venkataraman", "reviewers": [ "Richard Harris" ], "text": "

I covered climate change for NPR for many years and gradually concluded that our greatest challenge isn’t the science, the technology or even the economics, but how to change human behavior. Bina Venkataraman zeroes in on the heart of this problem in The Optimist’s Telescope. We, individually and collectively, rarely look ahead more than a few steps, whether it’s investors focused on quarterly profit reports or farming practices that increase yields today but deplete resources for the future. After framing these problems with vivid anecdotes, Venkataraman musters all the optimism she can manage to suggest how we might be able to overcome something that feels like plain old human nature.

", "tags": [ "science!", "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0735219478", "seamus": 777023754, "itunes": 9780735219472, "goodreads": 43232389, "cover": "0735219478", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780735219472", "isbn10": "0735219478", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 177, "book": "The Optimists Telescope", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Looking At Earth's Future Through 'The Optimist's Telescope'", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/09/24/the-optimists-telescope-bina-venkataraman" } ] }, "178": { "id": 178, "title": "Nobody's Looking At You: Essays", "author": "Janet Malcolm", "reviewers": [ "Rommel Wood" ], "text": "

Each of the essays in Janet Malcolm’s Nobody’s Looking at You turn up small, beautiful details that get caught in your brain like dandelion seeds get caught on a sweater. There’s pianist Yuja Wang, on a world tour with Beethoven’s most difficult sonatas – but all anyone talks about are her short, tight stage dresses. There’s an earnest review of the TLC docuseries Sarah Palin’s Alaska. My favorite of the lot is her essay “Three Sisters,” about the owners of a Manhattan bookstore so cool that singer and writer Patti Smith once lied about her book-restoring credentials to get a job there – and was quickly let go after she accidentally spilled rabbit glue all over a 19th century Bible, a detail I discovered while reading Nobody’s Looking at You.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "for art lovers", "for music lovers", "for history lovers", "no biz like show biz", "seriously great writing", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0374279497", "seamus": 695944479, "itunes": 9780374279493, "goodreads": 40121987, "cover": "0374279497", "bookshop": 9780374279493, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780374279493", "isbn10": "0374279497", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 178, "book": "Nobody's Looking At You: Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Nobody's Looking At You,' The Author Finds Herself Part Of The Story", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/20/695929854/in-nobody-s-looking-at-you-the-author-finds-herself-influencing-the-story" } ] }, "179": { "id": 179, "title": "Trick Mirror: Reflections On Self-Delusion", "author": "Jia Tolentino", "reviewers": [ "Sam Sanders" ], "text": "

Increasingly, I feel like the Internet grew up way too quickly and matured into something our society still hasn’t made sense of yet. The World Wide Web sometimes seems as if it controls us now, not the other way around. It makes us angry, exhausted, tells us what we should be thinking or doing and often knows what we want before we do. Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror arrives in the midst of my existential angst over all this. Pitched as personal essays, reflections on Tolentino’s own self-delusion, it’s so much more. It’s a guidebook for dealing with an Internet gone wild. Though she often has just as many questions about the corrosive nature of Internet and its intersection with late-stage capitalism, Trick Mirror let me know I’m not alone in my feelings. And that feels pretty good.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "short stories, essays & poetry", "identity & culture", "nonfiction", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0525510540", "seamus": 747604230, "itunes": 9780525510543, "goodreads": 43126457, "cover": "0525510540", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525510543", "isbn10": "0525510540", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 179, "book": "Trick Mirror: Reflections On Self-Delusion", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'New Yorker' Writer Fears We're Fooling Ourselves In The Internet's 'Trick Mirror'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/06/747603108/new-yorker-writer-fears-we-re-fooling-ourselves-in-the-internet-s-trick-mirror" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 179, "book": "Trick Mirror: Reflections On Self-Delusion", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Trick Mirror' Finds Hope That Little Truths Will Emerge Amid Absurdities", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/06/747609884/trick-mirror-finds-hope-that-little-truths-will-emerge-amid-absurdities" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 179, "book": "Trick Mirror", "source": "WBUR", "text": "How We Lie To Ourselves Online: Exploring Self-Delusion With Jia Tolentino", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/08/13/trick-mirror-jia-tolentino-new-yorker" } ] }, "180": { "id": 180, "title": "Queenie", "author": "Candice Carty-Williams", "reviewers": [ "Sam Sanders" ], "text": "

Queenie has been pitched as Black Bridget Jones, a label one could find a bit offensive. But author Candice Carty-Williams has no such qualms, as long as it gets people to read her book – in fact, she came up with the phrase. Carty-Williams’ desire to handle race bluntly and clearly, yet refuse to be dogmatic about it, just as she was with the label Black Bridget Jones, is what makes her debut novel sing. Her heroine – a young black woman in the U.K. struggling to make it as a journalist while also figuring out money, family and love – brings you into her world as if she’s known you forever, right from the start; the opening scene of the book has our heroine enduring an OB-GYN visit from hell, narrating the whole ordeal while in stirrups. This book is equal parts millennial comedy and treatise on modern race relations, and a work of fiction that leaps from the page as all truth, no filler.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "love & romance", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1501196014", "seamus": 777024215, "itunes": 9781501196010, "goodreads": 40539165, "cover": "1501196014", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501196010", "isbn10": "1501196014", "links": [] }, "181": { "id": 181, "title": "Children Of Virtue And Vengeance", "author": "Tomi Adeyemi", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

It’s three weeks after the events of Children of Blood and Bone and Zélie has successfully brought magic back to the land of Orïsha. But not just to the maji – to the people, like Zélie, who originally had it. The nobility and the military now have powerful magic, too, and they want to use it to get rid of the maji for good. And Zélie really doesn’t want to spend another 400 pages being a heroine. She falters, she fails, she thinks about running away. She’s depressed. This wasn’t the sequel I necessarily wanted for Zélie (don’t worry, it’s still as full of plot twists and action sequences as the first), but her journey is so incredibly human that I’m fine with having my expectations upended. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be over here chewing on my fingernails until the third and final installment comes out.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250170990", "seamus": 1250170990, "itunes": 9781250170996, "goodreads": 39122774, "cover": "1250170990", "bookshop": 9781250170996, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250170996", "isbn10": "1250170990", "links": [] }, "182": { "id": 182, "title": "On The Come Up", "author": "Angie Thomas", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

I started reading this novel with some trepidation. Could Angie Thomas write a second book that I loved as much as I loved The Hate U Give? She could! She did! We return to Garden Heights, but the star of this novel is Bri: normal high schooler with boy problems, daughter of a recovering drug addict, aspiring greatest rapper of all time. And she has a lot to say about inequality and injustice in America. There’s not always food on her table, and as a black teenager in America, she’s been called a “hoodlum” and “aggressive.” Rap is a powerful outlet for Bri as she tries to find her voice, and her smart, edgy lyrics pack an emotional punch as they communicate hard, messy truths. It’s a myth that lightning doesn’t strike twice.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "for music lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "young adult" ], "isbn": "0062498568", "seamus": 690396601, "itunes": 9780062498564, "goodreads": 35887567, "cover": "0062498568", "bookshop": 9780062498564, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062498564", "isbn10": "0062498568", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 182, "book": "On The Come Up", "source": "NPR", "text": "Code Switch Book Club, Summer 2019", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/06/20/733808217/code-switch-book-club-summer-2019" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 182, "book": "On The Come Up", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Angie Thomas Writes To 'Mirror' Young, Black Readers ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/31/690391879/author-angie-thomas-writes-to-mirror-young-black-readers" } ] }, "183": { "id": 183, "title": "One Day: The Extraordinary Story Of An Ordinary 24 Hours In America", "author": "Gene Weingarten", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

Gene Weingarten asked strangers at a bar to pick a day at random out of a green fedora. They chose Dec. 28, 1986. So, Weingarten researched and wrote beautiful, compelling stories about the events of that otherwise average, sleepy Sunday. They are by turns heartfelt, profound, tragic, ironic, funny, cruel and heroic. One even circuitously involves Weingarten’s barber. But above all, each is a deeply human portrait, and a glimpse into an interesting and complicated 24 hours in American history. Weingarten proves, again and again, that he can turn anything and anyone into a story that I would want to read.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0399166661", "seamus": 773161589, "itunes": 9780399166662, "goodreads": 44525300, "cover": "0399166661", "bookshop": 9780399166662, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399166662", "isbn10": "0399166661", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 183, "book": "One Day: The Extraordinary Story Of An Ordinary 24 Hours In America", "source": "NPR", "text": "Gene Weingarten Mines Magic From Just 'One Day'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/26/773041703/gene-weingarten-mines-magic-from-just-one-day" } ] }, "184": { "id": 184, "title": "Frankly In Love", "author": "David Yoon", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

Frank Li is in love with a white girl, but his Korean parents don’t approve. So he concocts a plan to fake-date a fellow Korean as a cover. What will happen next? It’s not what you think! OK, maybe it is. It’s classic rom-com, sure, but this book manages to both be exceedingly delightful and dish out a lot of realness without making it feel like a lesson. Frank and his friends confront racism, stereotypes and complicated parent-child relationships. They explore their sexualities, identities and immigrant histories. But what I love the most about Frankly in Love is that everyone is honestly just trying to do their best. You get to root for everyone for a change, and it’s a really nice feeling.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "young adult", "family matters", "identity & culture", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "1984812203", "seamus": 762746181, "itunes": 9781984812209, "goodreads": 39847584, "cover": "1984812203", "bookshop": 9781984812209, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984812209", "isbn10": "1984812203", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 184, "book": "Frankly In Love", "source": "NPR", "text": "Navigating Culture And Crushes In 'Frankly In Love'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/21/762745851/navigating-culture-and-crushes-in-frankly-in-love" } ] }, "185": { "id": 185, "title": "Women Talking", "author": "Miriam Toews", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

From 2005 to 2009, Mennonite women and girls in rural Bolivia were being knocked unconscious with a chemical used to anaesthetize animals and raped in the night by men in their community. Miriam Toews takes that horrific true story and imagines what happened next. As the title suggests: The women of the colony gather in a hayloft and talk about their options. Do they stay and do nothing? Do they stay and fight? Do they leave? The emotional journey the women go on to make their decision is sprawling. They discuss God, theology and forgiveness. They talk about their hopes and imagine a future for themselves outside of the only life they’ve ever known. Their conversations are intimate yet universal, philosophical yet surprisingly funny. This is the book I spent all year telling people to read. And after you do, go look up what happened to the women in real life.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1635572584", "seamus": 707744804, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 40046077, "cover": "1635572584", "bookshop": 9781635572582, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781635572582", "isbn10": "1635572584", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 185, "book": "Women Talking", "source": "NPR", "text": "These 'Women Talking' Build Their Own Faith And Future", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/06/709530968/these-women-talking-build-their-own-faith-and-future" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 185, "book": "Women Talking", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Women Talking' Gives A Human Voice To Horror", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/31/707734729/women-talking-gives-a-human-voice-to-horror" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 185, "book": "Women Talking", "source": "WOSU", "text": " 'Women Talking' On 'All Sides Weekend'", "url": "https://radio.wosu.org/post/all-sides-weekend-books-37#stream/0" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 185, "book": "Women Talking", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Women Talking'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-women-talking" } ] }, "186": { "id": 186, "title": "In The Dream House: A Memoir", "author": "Carmen Maria Machado", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

Like many women I know, I’m guilty of having said something like “Life would be so much easier if I were a lesbian” at least once. But in this memoir, Carmen Maria Machado recounts how the stereotype of the lesbian relationship as safe and utopian, and the lack of existing narratives about queer domestic abuse, kept her from recognizing her own psychologically abusive relationship with her ex-girlfriend for what it was. In The Dream House is a stunning, brave, inventive work, yes, but it’s also a historical document that can’t be erased, that says: This happened. It’s not an easy book to read, but it’s a necessary one.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "seriously great writing", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "1644450038", "seamus": 768336527, "itunes": 9781644450031, "goodreads": 43317482, "cover": "1644450038", "bookshop": 9781644450031, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781644450031", "isbn10": "1644450038", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 186, "book": "In The Dream House: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'In The Dream House' Invents A New Form Of Memoir To Convey A Haunting Nightmare", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/05/776316011/in-the-dream-house-invents-a-new-form-of-memoir-to-convey-a-haunting-nightmare" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 186, "book": "In The Dream House: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "In The 'Dream House,' Carmen Maria Machado Recounts Nightmares", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/03/775126373/in-the-dream-house-carmen-maria-machado-recounts-nightmares" } ] }, "187": { "id": 187, "title": "SHOUT", "author": "Laurie Halse Anderson", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

“This is the story of a girl who lost her voice and wrote herself a new one.” Shout is the origin story for Laurie Halse Anderson’s groundbreaking young adult novel Speak, about a teenage girl who can’t find the words to talk about her sexual assault. In this memoir-in-verse, Anderson reveals that she was raped when she was 13 and stayed silent about it for more than two decades. “If I opened my mouth, I was afraid I’d never stop screaming.” Writing was her balm, and these stark, beautiful poems will break your heart, take your breath away and beg to be underlined, highlighted and dog-eared. My favorite of all: “When you figure out what’s eating you alive you can slay it.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "young adult", "the dark side", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "0670012106", "seamus": 703819924, "itunes": 9780670012107, "goodreads": 40519259, "cover": "0670012106", "bookshop": 9780670012107, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780670012107", "isbn10": "0670012106", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 187, "book": "SHOUT", "source": "NPR", "text": "20 Years After 'Speak,' Laurie Halse Anderson Tells Her Own Story In 'Shout'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/16/703814048/20-years-after-speak-laurie-halse-anderson-tells-her-own-story-in-shout" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 187, "book": "Shout", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Shout'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-shout" } ] }, "188": { "id": 188, "title": "My Papi Has A Motorcycle", "author": "Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

When I grow up I want to be as cool as Daisy Ramona. She knows her way around a toolbox, her motorcycle helmet has a unicorn decal and she loves riding on the back of her dad’s motorcycle after school. To ride along with Daisy is to be fully immersed in her world: the tortilla shop, the lemon tree at her grandparents’ house, the busy, colorful streets, the market and her dad’s construction site. My Papi Has a Motorcycle (or the Spanish version, Mi Papi Tiene un Moto) is both a fun adventure and a heartfelt love letter to a beloved hometown. Illustrator Zeke Peña worked closely with author Isabel Quintero to bring the city of Corona, Calif., to life, and it shows. (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "family matters", "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "052555341X", "seamus": 753761979, "itunes": 9780525553410, "goodreads": 41542761, "cover": "052555341X", "bookshop": 9780525553410, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525553410", "isbn10": "052555341X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 188, "book": "My Papi Has A Motorcycle", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'My Papi Has A Motorcycle' Pays Loving Tribute To A California Childhood", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/25/753746555/my-papi-has-a-motorcycle-pays-loving-tribute-to-a-california-childhood" } ] }, "189": { "id": 189, "title": "The Shortest Day", "author": "Susan Cooper, illustrated by Carson Ellis", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

Dec. 21 is the shortest day of the year, and the only thing you should do on that day (OK, fine, any day you want) is curl up under a blanket and read this poem by Susan Cooper. Start in a hushed tone, so you don’t disturb Carson Ellis’ cozy, snow-blanketed, candle-lit illustrations. But let your voice crescendo as the sun rises, the pages brighten and the revelers celebrate the light by caroling and feasting with their friends. The Shortest Day is about just one day, the winter solstice. But at its heart it’s a story about hope, anticipation and love. And it doesn’t hurt to have more of that every day of the year. Don’t forget your hot cocoa. (For ages 5 and older)

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "kids’ books", "seriously great writing", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "0763686980", "seamus": 777025127, "itunes": 9780763686987, "goodreads": 43984188, "cover": "0763686980", "bookshop": 9780763686987, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780763686987", "isbn10": "0763686980", "links": [] }, "190": { "id": 190, "title": "Guest House For Young Widows: Among The Women Of ISIS", "author": "Azadeh Moaveni", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "

The role of women in ISIS has been fetishized and sensationalized. But who are these women – and what happened before they gave up lives in their home countries for Syria and the caliphate? Some of the 13 women Azadeh Moaveni follows in this book were fleeing political and financial insecurity, some were true believers in the religious ideals that ISIS promoted and some were in love with the idea of having a warrior husband. Moaveni is clear that the women she writes about had agency when they joined ISIS, but it’s also clear that she still sees them as human; she works hard to provide much-needed context for what drives them. For me, this book’s greatest gift, other than exceptional reporting, is empathy.

", "tags": [ "tales from around the world", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0399179755", "seamus": 777025652, "itunes": 9780399179754, "goodreads": 44641370, "cover": "0399179755", "bookshop": 9780399179754, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399179754", "isbn10": "0399179755", "links": [] }, "191": { "id": 191, "title": "Aloha Kitchen: Recipes From Hawai'i", "author": "Alana Kysar", "reviewers": [ "Sara Kehaulani Goo" ], "text": "

To capture the food of a place, you must understand the people who live there. Aloha Kitchen provides cultural context and a diverse representation of recipes to honor Hawai’i’s native people and the waves of immigrants who brought their own flavors and dishes to the table. Alana Kysar, who grew up on the islands, presents accessible recipes with roots in Portugal, Japan, China and the Philippines that will be as familiar as a plate lunch to anyone who has visited the Rainbow State. Though some ingredients may be hard to find on the mainland, Kysar provides alternatives that would work just fine. The simple BBQ marinade for “huli huli” chicken makes for great backyard grilling. A comforting bowl of noodle soup (saimin) or chicken long rice brings me back to my favorite Hawaiian restaurants. And Kysar’s sweet bread roll recipe has me up for the challenge of making the pillowy bread from scratch. Finally, it wouldn’t be Hawai’i without Spam: Kysar’s recipe for soy-glazed Spam musubi (a kind of sushi-looking snack) had my kids asking for more. If you can’t book a flight, this cookbook will bring you to the locals’ table.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "tales from around the world", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0399581367", "seamus": 777026206, "itunes": 9780399581366, "goodreads": 40766430, "cover": "0399581367", "bookshop": 9780399581366, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399581366", "isbn10": "0399581367", "links": [] }, "192": { "id": 192, "title": "Horror Stories: A Memoir", "author": "Liz Phair", "reviewers": [ "Sarah Handel" ], "text": "

Liz Phair’s new memoir is the installment of “Stars – They’re Just Like Us!” you never knew you needed. If you’ve ever felt a bad memory eat away at you, Phair can relate. Her Horror Stories are tales of misunderstandings, misgivings and decisions she’s still questioning all these years later. There’s enough rock ’n’ roll memoir stuff for fans of her music, but it’s also a generous peek inside the artist’s head. Turns out our rock goddess is human after all.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "biography & memoir", "for music lovers", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0525511989", "seamus": 768645109, "itunes": 9780525511984, "goodreads": 44525549, "cover": "0525511989", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525511984", "isbn10": "0525511989", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 192, "book": "Horror Stories: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Horror Stories,' Liz Phair Writes Of 'The Haunting Melodies' In Her Head", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/09/768508798/in-horror-stories-liz-phair-writes-of-the-haunting-melodies-in-her-head" } ] }, "193": { "id": 193, "title": "Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, And Me", "author": "Adrienne Brodeur", "reviewers": [ "Sarah Handel" ], "text": "

Adrienne Brodeur’s mom, Malabar, is a force of nature. A rare beauty, an accomplished chef, a consummate entertainer. She’s the kind of woman to whom everyone is in thrall, and her daughter is no different. So when Malabar creeps into 14-year-old Adrienne’s room and reveals she’s just shared an extramarital kiss with a family friend – and she’s thrilled about it – Adrienne becomes Malabar’s mostly willing accomplice in the epic affair that follows. Wild Game is Brodeur’s telling of the story of that affair, and a reckoning with her own complicity. It’s a delicious page-turner, vivid and emotionally intense. I couldn’t put it down.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "family matters", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1328519031", "seamus": 770952058, "itunes": 9781328519030, "goodreads": 43261166, "cover": "1328519031", "bookshop": 9781328519030, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781328519030", "isbn10": "1328519031", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 193, "book": "Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, And Me", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Daughter Becomes An Accomplice To Her Mother's Affair In 'Wild Game'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/17/770911878/a-daughter-becomes-an-accomplice-to-her-mothers-affair-in-wild-game" } ] }, "194": { "id": 194, "title": "Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland", "author": "Patrick Radden Keefe", "reviewers": [ "Scott Detrow" ], "text": "

A history of Northern Ireland’s “troubles,” but focused in on the choices and consequences faced by a handful of families. The book is written and paced like a novel, with surprise revelations and twists. Reading Say Nothing against the backdrop of current events, I couldn’t help thinking that it shows just how quickly a neighborhood, city or country can descend into deadly violence that can then take years, even generations, to heal.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "for history lovers", "mysteries & thrillers", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385521316", "seamus": 697751005, "itunes": 9780385521314, "goodreads": 40163119, "cover": "0385521316", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385521314", "isbn10": "0385521316", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 194, "book": "Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Say Nothing': Murder, Memory And A Masterful History Of The Troubles", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/04/698552913/say-nothing-murder-memory-and-a-masterful-history-of-the-troubles" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 194, "book": "Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder And Memory In Northern Ireland", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Say Nothing' Is A Timely Warning That Ireland's Old Wounds Are Easily Opened", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/25/697727036/say-nothing-is-a-timely-warning-that-irelands-old-wounds-are-easily-opened" } ] }, "195": { "id": 195, "title": "Our Man: Richard Holbrooke And The End Of The American Century", "author": "George Packer", "reviewers": [ "Scott Detrow" ], "text": "

Our Man is many things: a history of Democratic politics from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama; a study of the rapidly ending era of American foreign policy experts single-handedly shaping world events; and, most compellingly, a Wolf Hall or Shakespeare-level story about a man desperately grabbing for power and prestige in Washington. The biography of Richard Holbrooke also includes one of the most readable histories of the Vietnam War that I’ve come across, and an inside look at why the Obama administration failed on its promise to wind down the American military presence in Afghanistan.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "the states we’re in", "for history lovers", "rather long", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0307958027", "seamus": 721535125, "itunes": 9780307958020, "goodreads": 40594328, "cover": "0307958027", "bookshop": 9780307958020, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780307958020", "isbn10": "0307958027", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 195, "book": "Our Man: Richard Holbrooke And The End Of The American Century", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Our Man' Provides An Inside Look At The Life Of Richard Holbrooke", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/08/721529499/our-man-provides-an-inside-look-at-the-life-of-richard-holbrooke" } ] }, "196": { "id": 196, "title": "Agent Running In The Field: A Novel", "author": "John le Carré", "reviewers": [ "Scott Detrow" ], "text": "

My first thought when I saw John le Carré had written a new novel: Oh no. His last book, A Legacy of Spies, had been a perfect cap to a literary career spanning half a century, with its return to George Smiley and other iconic characters from his early books. It only took a few pages of reading Agent Running in the Field to change that view. The novel has all the hallmarks of a classic le Carré story: surprise plot twists, cryptic meetings in exotic locales, verbal jousting among high-brow British socialites, etc, etc. It drops all those ingredients into a plot touching on current events, including Brexit and, yes, President Trump. It all adds up to a charming and fun read.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "mysteries & thrillers", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1984878875", "seamus": 768273448, "itunes": 9781984878878, "goodreads": 43904017, "cover": "1984878875", "bookshop": 9781984878878, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984878878", "isbn10": "1984878875", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 196, "book": "Agent Running In The Field: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "John Le Carré Works Out Some Obsessions In 'Agent Running In The Field'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/25/773077291/john-le-carr-works-out-some-obsessions-in-agent-running-in-the-field" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 196, "book": "Agent Running In The Field: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "John Le Carré Fears For The Future In 'Agent Running In The Field'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/19/771089425/john-le-carr-fears-for-the-future-in-agent-running-in-the-field" } ] }, "197": { "id": 197, "title": "Kochland: The Secret History Of Koch Industries And Corporate Power In America", "author": "Christopher Leonard", "reviewers": [ "Scott Horsley" ], "text": "

A richly reported tale of how Charles Koch and his late brother David amassed the fortune they used to bankroll a network of conservative think tanks, lobbying shops and “Astroturf” advocacy groups. For Democrats and environmentalists, the Koch brothers are among the darkest of dark-money villains. But Charles Koch is also a savvy businessman who quietly built his family’s Wichita company into a multibillion-dollar conglomerate. Christopher Leonard tells how, in this riveting story of modern capitalism full of insider accounts from refinery operators, warehouse workers, options traders and whistleblowers.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1476775389", "seamus": 750477727, "itunes": 9781476775388, "goodreads": 44149967, "cover": "1476775389", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781476775388", "isbn10": "1476775389", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 197, "book": "Kochland: The Secret History Of Koch Industries And Corporate Power In America", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Kochland': How The Koch Brothers Changed U.S. Corporate And Political Power", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/13/750803289/kochland-how-the-koch-brothers-changed-u-s-corporate-and-political-power" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 197, "book": "Kochland: The Secret History Of Koch Industries And Corporate Power In America", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Kochland' Explores How The Famous Brother Duo Made Their Money", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/13/750449277/kochland-explores-the-money-stream-of-the-famous-brother-duo" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 197, "book": "Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America", "source": "KCUR", "text": "The Making Of Koch Industries", "url": "https://www.kcur.org/post/making-koch-industries#stream/0" } ] }, "198": { "id": 198, "title": "Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, The World's Greatest Rodeo, And A Hidden History Of The American West", "author": "David Wolman and Julian Smith", "reviewers": [ "Sean McMinn" ], "text": "

Let’s get this out of the way: I highly recommend reading Aloha Rodeo during a Hawaiian vacation. You’ll find yourself noticing things you may have otherwise overlooked, such as the 130-year-old cattle ranch you pass on your way up Haleakala Volcano and the rocky terrain that paniolos (Hawaiian cowboys) navigated on horseback just across from where you take a surf lesson. But even if you find yourself reading it from the mainland, when it comes time for the paniolos to face off against the top American rodeo stars in Wyoming, you won’t be able to help but root for the underdogs.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "for sports lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "staff picks", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0062836005", "seamus": 736689796, "itunes": 9780062836007, "goodreads": 41571730, "cover": "0062836005", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062836007", "isbn10": "0062836005", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 198, "book": "Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, The World's Greatest Rodeo, And A Hidden History Of The American West", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Aloha Rodeo' Offers Alternative To The Cowboy Cliché", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/27/736037164/-aloha-rodeo-offers-alternative-to-cowboy-clich" } ] }, "199": { "id": 199, "title": "If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now: Why We Traded The Commuting Life For A Little House On The Prairie", "author": "Christopher Ingraham", "reviewers": [ "Sean McMinn" ], "text": "

Christopher Ingraham did what so many of us have fantasized about: After visiting Red Lake Falls, Minn. – the least attractive place to live in the United States, per an obscure government ranking he wrote about for The Washington Post – he said goodbye to big-city life and moved his family to the heartland. Of course, his spot in the heartland features temperatures that shatter thermometers in the winter then thaw frozen dog poop in the spring, turning his front lawn into a stinky mess. But after reading his book, which weaves high-level datasets with hilarious stories from on the ground in Ingraham’s new life, I could see the possibility of Red Lake Falls, and other small towns like it, making way for more coastal migrants soon.

", "tags": [ "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "staff picks", "biography & memoir", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0062861476", "seamus": 759515838, "itunes": 9780062861474, "goodreads": 43245858, "cover": "0062861476", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062861474", "isbn10": "0062861476", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 199, "book": "If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now: Why We Traded The Commuting Life For A Little House On The Prairie", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Throwaway Line Led 'Washington Post' Reporter To Call Rural Midwest His New Home", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/11/759513032/a-throwaway-line-led-washington-post-reporter-to-call-rural-midwest-his-new-home" } ] }, "200": { "id": 200, "title": "Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide To Better, More Relaxed Parenting, From Birth To Preschool", "author": "Emily Oster", "reviewers": [ "Selena Simmons-Duffin" ], "text": "

If you (like me) have a small baby at home, you’ll be hungry for a book like this. Emily Oster spent years reading through mountains of data to be able to answer questions like: How long are you supposed to breastfeed? And why? And what if you don’t? She’s an economist, so her approach is pragmatic, even as she takes on charged topics like vaccination and co-sleeping. (She also devotes a chapter to vagina recovery titled “Trust Me, Take the Mesh Underwear.”) The book is jampacked with information, but it’s also a delightful read because Oster is such a good writer. The overall message: Consider the data, then figure out what works for your family, and quit all the second-guessing.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "family matters", "science!", "eye-opening reads", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0525559256", "seamus": 716411090, "itunes": 9780525559252, "goodreads": 40121328, "cover": "0525559256", "bookshop": 9780525559252, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525559252", "isbn10": "0525559256", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 200, "book": "Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide To Better, More Relaxed Parenting, From Birth To Preschool", "source": "NPR", "text": "Drowning In Parenting Advice? Here's Some Advice For That", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/04/23/716403704/drowning-in-parenting-advice-heres-some-advice-for-that" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 200, "book": "Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide To Better, More Relaxed Parenting, From Birth To Preschool", "source": "SDPB", "text": "Emily Oster On 'Cribsheet'", "url": "https://listen.sdpb.org/post/emily-osters-new-book-cribsheet" } ] }, "201": { "id": 201, "title": "The Water Dancer: A Novel", "author": "Ta-Nehisi Coates", "reviewers": [ "Seth Kelley" ], "text": "

The Water Dancer is beautiful and captivating. It starts as a story about Hiram, an enslaved man with a mysterious gift who is forced to serve his white half-brother. It becomes an expansive adventure story about organizing and traversing the Underground Railroad through a series of supernatural search-and-rescue missions. In a Fresh Air interview, Ta-Nehisi Coates explains that, in his research for the book, he found “magic is often very much a part” of the way African Americans described their escape from slavery. The Water Dancer, he says, “tries to take a somewhat forgotten tradition in African American resistance and render it seriously.”

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "historical fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0399590595", "seamus": 763477633, "itunes": 9780399590597, "goodreads": 43982054, "cover": "0399590595", "bookshop": 9780399590597, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399590597", "isbn10": "0399590595", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 201, "book": "The Water Dancer: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Water Dancer,' Ta-Nehisi Coates Creates Magical Alternate History", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764373265/in-the-water-dancer-memory-is-the-path-to-freedom" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 201, "book": "The Water Dancer: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ta-Nehisi Coates On Magic, Memory And The Underground Railroad", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/24/763477150/ta-nehisi-coates-on-magic-memory-and-the-underground-railroad" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 201, "book": "The Water Dancer", "source": "WOSU", "text": " 'The Water Dancer' On 'All Sides Weekend'", "url": "https://radio.wosu.org/post/all-sides-weekend-books-37#stream/0" } ] }, "202": { "id": 202, "title": "Dark Age", "author": "Pierce Brown", "reviewers": [ "Steve Mullis" ], "text": "

In the first trilogy in Pierce Brown’s Red Rising universe, there was an epic, planet-hopping war started by slaves rebelling against their masters – the living gods known as the Golds. Last year’s Iron Gold kicked off a second trilogy and explored the aftermath of that war through characters on the periphery as well as continued the story of Darrow – the former slave who became a hero to the revolution. With Dark Age, Brown begins to weave his threads together in violent and surprising ways that avoid feeling contrived. The collisions make sense. The losses are fitting. The gains are earned. If the goal of a penultimate book in a series is to break down characters (and the reader) and put everyone through the emotional wringer, mission accomplished.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0425285944", "seamus": 747638992, "itunes": 9780425285947, "goodreads": 37678631, "cover": "0425285944", "bookshop": 9780425285947, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780425285947", "isbn10": "0425285944", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 202, "book": "Dark Age", "source": "NPR", "text": "Disaster Is On The Horizon In Blood-Soaked 'Dark Age'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/03/747639424/disaster-is-on-the-horizon-in-blood-soaked-dark-age" } ] }, "203": { "id": 203, "title": "The City In The Middle Of The Night", "author": "Charlie Jane Anders", "reviewers": [ "Steve Mullis" ], "text": "

In a city bathed in a persistent daylight, on a planet with never-changing zones of light and dark, blistering hot and deathly cold, the hours of the day are regulated by systems and governments and strict protocols. People wake and work and sleep on the timetable set by the ruling class. The story Charlie Jane Anders chooses to tell, with imaginative characters to match this vividly realized setting, is one of love and loss, wavering friendships, loyalty, privilege, rebellion – and crocodiles. Giant, telepathic crocodiles. It is thoroughly engrossing and adventurous, and you won’t want to leave this world, harsh and unforgiving as it is.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0765379961", "seamus": 694891304, "itunes": 9780765379962, "goodreads": 37534907, "cover": "0765379961", "bookshop": 9780765379962, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780765379962", "isbn10": "0765379961", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 203, "book": "The City In The Middle Of The Night", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The City In The Middle Of The Night,' Big Ideas Lead To Big Upheavals", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/17/694892002/in-the-city-in-the-middle-of-the-night-big-ideas-lead-to-big-upheavals" } ] }, "204": { "id": 204, "title": "Recursion: A Novel", "author": "Blake Crouch", "reviewers": [ "Steve Mullis" ], "text": "

Have you ever had a memory or recalled an event that feels like it came from another person’s life? Blake Crouch (Dark Matter, the Wayward Pines trilogy) takes that premise and just runs with it. What begins as a detective thriller about a case of false memory syndrome takes a hard turn that will leave your head spinning in the most wonderful ways. Crouch’s writing is fast, packed with smash cuts, quick dialogue and very distinct visuals. There’s almost no fat, and it feels intended to become a bingeable TV series. (And whaddya know – it’s headed to Netflix.)

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1524759783", "seamus": 732034867, "itunes": 9781524759780, "goodreads": 42046112, "cover": "1524759783", "bookshop": 9781524759780, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524759780", "isbn10": "1524759783", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 204, "book": "Recursion: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Recursion' Is A Puzzle Box Of Time Travel, Memory And Death", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/13/732035142/recursion-is-a-puzzle-box-of-time-travel-memory-and-death" } ] }, "205": { "id": 205, "title": "All About Dinner: Simple Meals, Expert Advice", "author": "Molly Stevens", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

All About Dinner is a classic category book – salads, soups, fish, vegetables, meats, sweets – with a strict dozen in each category. True to form, Molly Stevens offers the completely basic (“Simplest Tossed Green Salad”) right alongside the unexpected and charming ("Celery Salad with Apricots and Candied Almonds”). As the title suggests, expert tips abound here – “Salt early and salt often!” – in sidebars, headnotes, essays. But even if you jump right in and make “Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak with Sweet Potatoes and Chipotle Aïoli” with no dress rehearsal, you can trust it’ll still be first-time-friendly and company-ready. Absolutely foolproof, sometimes surprising.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0393246272", "seamus": 777027010, "itunes": 9780393246278, "goodreads": 43726512, "cover": "0393246272", "bookshop": 9780393246278, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393246278", "isbn10": "0393246272", "links": [] }, "206": { "id": 206, "title": "Pastry Love: A Baker's Journal Of Favorite Recipes", "author": "Joanne Chang", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

At first glance – fig danishes on the cover! – you might think Pastry Love is a “someday” book, as in “someday I will try to make pastry.” But in fact, it’s shockingly accessible. There’s maple-blueberry scones, there’s pound cake, there’s mocha chip cookies. It tricks you into thinking it’s a normal baking book, and then somehow by the time the book has been around the kitchen for a week, you’re making puff pastry and apple chaussons. Beautifully photographed, free of the massive tables and charts typical of pastry textbooks, Pastry Love may just turn you into an accidental pâtissier.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0544836480", "seamus": 777027259, "itunes": 9780544836488, "goodreads": 43261193, "cover": "0544836480", "bookshop": 9780544836488, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780544836488", "isbn10": "0544836480", "links": [] }, "207": { "id": 207, "title": "Curry & Kimchi: Flavor Secrets For Creating 70 Asian-Inspired Recipes At Home", "author": "Unmi Abkin and Roger Taylor", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

Chef Unmi Abkin has created a name for herself with a series of fusion-flavored restaurants in the Pioneer Valley of New England. In this debut cookbook, Abkin and Taylor (her partner and co-owner) take us on a swift, highly focused tour of Abkin’s idiosyncratic culinary landscape. Where else will you find Instant Pot pork carnitas tacos rubbing shoulders with General Tso’s tofu, or Korean bolognese with gochujang and miso paste? Sharply curated and intensely sauced, Abkin’s creations are both manageable enough for the weeknight routine and eccentric enough to disrupt it.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1635861586", "seamus": 777027510, "itunes": 9781635861587, "goodreads": 45479365, "cover": "1635861586", "bookshop": 9781635861587, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781635861587", "isbn10": "1635861586", "links": [] }, "208": { "id": 208, "title": "The Food Of Sichuan", "author": "Fuchsia Dunlop", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

In 2003, Fuchsia Dunlop published Land of Plenty, her award-winning first cookbook on Sichuanese cuisine. But Dunlop’s love of this region and its food was not exhausted, and this year she has returned to expand and embellish on this classic tribute. In addition to the dan dan noodles and ma po dou fu of the original, The Food of Sichuan introduces bowl-steamed pork in ricemeal with peas, gong bao shrimp with cashews and any number of other fiery, sweet, numbing, tart, chili-laced delights. Fresh photography and essays seek to capture a timeless culture in fast-changing times.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1324004835", "seamus": 777028021, "itunes": 9781324004837, "goodreads": 43726592, "cover": "1324004835", "bookshop": 9781324004837, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781324004837", "isbn10": "1324004835", "links": [] }, "209": { "id": 209, "title": "Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes For True, Fresh Flavors", "author": "Andrea Nguyen", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

Pretty much any Andrea Nguyen book is cause for celebration, so it’s good we get one almost every year. After a parade of single-subject books on banh mi, pho, dumplings and tofu, this time Nguyen focuses on the stews and stir-fries and wraps and sweets after Page 2 of the menu. Here are the lacy rice pancakes known as bánh xèo, crab glass noodles flecked with black pepper, silk orange-rum flan, as well as welcome fusions such as Vietnamese empanadas and pomegranate-molasses tofu (really!). Face it, it’s high time you got another bottle of fish sauce anyway.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0399580352", "seamus": 777028440, "itunes": 9780399580352, "goodreads": 40163162, "cover": "0399580352", "bookshop": 9780399580352, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399580352", "isbn10": "0399580352", "links": [] }, "210": { "id": 210, "title": "Vegetables Illustrated: An Inspiring Guide With 700+ Kitchen-Tested Recipes", "author": "America's Test Kitchen", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

America’s Test Kitchen has turned into something of a publishing juggernaut, issuing 15 titles in 2019 alone. But just because it’s in the business of repackaging its sprawling database of recipes doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Packed with how-to photographs and three text columns to a page, Vegetables Illustrated is a value-and-a-half for vegetable lovers and those who wish they were. It offers both basics (sautéed zucchini) and reimagined classics (mushroom bourguignon). Be aware that it is neither vegan nor exclusively vegetarian – among my favorites were broccolini with pancetta and Parmesan and lemon-herb cod fillets with crispy garlic potatoes.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1945256737", "seamus": 777028626, "itunes": 9781945256738, "goodreads": 41192143, "cover": "1945256737", "bookshop": 9781945256738, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781945256738", "isbn10": "1945256737", "links": [] }, "211": { "id": 211, "title": "Double Awesome Chinese Food: Irresistible And Totally Achievable Recipes From Our Chinese-American Kitchen", "author": "Andrew Li, Irene Li and Margaret Li", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

This is a weird and exuberant offering from three Chinese American siblings who got their start with a Boston food truck in 2012, and it’s unlike any other Chinese cookbook you’ve seen. Think you know yu xiang (“fish-fragrant”) eggplant? You haven’t had it with cranberries and almonds. (It’s vegan, too!) Love dan dan noodles? You’ll like them even better with crispy pork belly and Brussels sprouts! There are also mouthwateringly messy desserts, like oat crunch chocolate pudding and honey beet blondies. You know, like you usually get with your fortune cookies.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1611805570", "seamus": 777028794, "itunes": "", "goodreads": "", "cover": "1611805570", "bookshop": 9781611805574, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781611805574", "isbn10": "1611805570", "links": [] }, "212": { "id": 212, "title": "Hero Dinners: Complete One-Pan Meals That Save The Day", "author": "Marge Perry and David Bonom", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

I don’t know about you, but I rarely feel like a hero around 5:30 on a weekday when dinner is still just a bunch of ingredients in the fridge. Enter Perry and Bonom, whose one-pan wonders will be greeted with equal delight by cook and dishwasher (doubly so if you are both). Go ahead and pile cod, potatoes and green beans onto a baking sheet and call it “New England fish dinner”! Who says you can’t cook rice in the oven, right underneath your hoisin-marmalade chicken? I vote this one “Most Likely to Supplant Your Meal Subscription Box.”

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0062856065", "seamus": 777029050, "itunes": 9780062856067, "goodreads": 40696756, "cover": "0062856065", "bookshop": 9780062856067, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062856067", "isbn10": "0062856065", "links": [] }, "213": { "id": 213, "title": "From The Oven To The Table", "author": "Diana Henry", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

British food columnist Diana Henry must be some kind of secret alchemist – she brings together disparate ingredients to produce effects that seem to appear out of nowhere on your flavor map. Who marries chicken with prunes, potatoes, cauliflower and harissa? Henry does. I’m not going to spoil the ending, but go make it. Better yet, most of the labor in these recipes happens up front. That means even familiar dishes, like baked beans with pork belly and molasses, ask only a brief spate of your furious attention before going off to make quiet miracles in the oven all by themselves.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1784726095", "seamus": 777029265, "itunes": 9781784726096, "goodreads": 43886442, "cover": "1784726095", "bookshop": 9781784726096, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781784726096", "isbn10": "1784726095", "links": [] }, "214": { "id": 214, "title": "Cooking For Good Times: Super Delicious, Super Simple", "author": "Paul Kahan, Perry Hendrix and Rachel Holtzman", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

Twelve techniques – such as “roast some roots,” “make some pizza dough” and “roast a whole fish” – form the basis for this large-format cookbook from Chicago chef Paul Kahan. You start with the technique in question and then move on to a carousel of intricate variations. Some may find this intimidating (“I have to braise a whole pork shoulder before I even get to the recipes?!”) but if you persist through some page-turning, the rewards are real when you tuck into that pork shoulder with knepfle noodles, cabbage, caraway and apples, or roasted fish with romesco and warm pepper vinaigrette. Many potential game changers for ambitious home chefs.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0399578587", "seamus": 777029530, "itunes": 9780399578588, "goodreads": 43747448, "cover": "0399578587", "bookshop": 9780399578588, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399578588", "isbn10": "0399578587", "links": [] }, "215": { "id": 215, "title": "Bobby At Home: Fearless Flavors From My Kitchen: A Cookbook", "author": "Bobby Flay, Stephanie Banyas and Sally Jackson", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "

Having logged countless hours in restaurant kitchens and in front of TV cameras, celebrity chef Bobby Flay had one item left unticked on his list: the chef-at-home cookbook. Done! Granted, Bobby’s home stove doesn’t look like yours – there’s gotta be 12 burners and two ovens on that thing – but his food remains as approachable as ever, whether it’s showstoppers with just half a dozen ingredients (corn and scallion salad with cilantro-mint dressing) or classics updated for new technology (pressure cooker ropa vieja). Even in glasses and an old T-shirt, the man can cook – and so can you.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0385345917", "seamus": 777030921, "itunes": 9780385345910, "goodreads": 43747381, "cover": "0385345917", "bookshop": 9780385345910, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385345910", "isbn10": "0385345917", "links": [] }, "216": { "id": 216, "title": "The Raven Tower", "author": "Ann Leckie", "reviewers": [ "Thomas Wilburn" ], "text": "

Inspired by Hamlet, Ann Leckie’s foray into fantasy turns the story on its head: Told to the protagonist, Eolo, by an ancient and vengeful god, The Raven Tower spins out its mysteries before gleefully setting fire to them in the last few pages. Leckie has a gift for using language both as worldbuilding and as plot device, and here the use of second-person creates an effect that’s both intimate and distancing — Eolo’s motivations and inner state remain opaque to us, even as we realize that the narrator’s close interest in him is not entirely trustworthy or benign.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316388696", "seamus": 696030358, "itunes": 9780316388696, "goodreads": 40537059, "cover": "0316388696", "bookshop": 9780316388696, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316388696", "isbn10": "0316388696", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 216, "book": "The Raven Tower", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Raven Tower' Rises From Shakespearean Foundations", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/26/696030082/the-raven-tower-rises-from-shakespearean-foundations" } ] }, "217": { "id": 217, "title": "Daisy Jones & The Six: A Novel", "author": "Taylor Jenkins Reid", "reviewers": [ "Wynne Davis" ], "text": "

Daisy Jones & The Six tells the story of how one of the most iconic (but sadly fictional) rock bands of the ‘70s came together – and how it mysteriously fell apart. Daisy Jones is a Los Angeles wild child; Billy Dunne has moved to the city in hopes of making it big with his band. Through mostly oral histories, the tumultuous relationship between the two singer-songwriters becomes clear, along with their individual struggles with drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll. You can’t actually play the soundtrack to this novel, but you’ll want to, just as much as you’ll find yourself wishing that Daisy Jones & The Six were a real band.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "historical fiction", "for music lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1524798622", "seamus": 777031572, "itunes": 9781524798628, "goodreads": 40597810, "cover": "1524798622", "bookshop": 9781524798628, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524798628", "isbn10": "1524798622", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 217, "book": "Daisy Jones & the Six", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Daisy Jones & The Six'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-daisy-jones-six" } ] }, "218": { "id": 218, "title": "The Ten Thousand Doors Of January", "author": "Alix E. Harrow", "reviewers": [ "Wynne Davis" ], "text": "

The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a book to lose yourself in. In it, you’ll find January Scaller, a young girl living in New England with her father’s employer, Mr. Locke. As her father travels across the world searching for treasures for Locke, January finds a book full of adventures like the ones she longs to go on herself. This is a book about books, doors to other worlds, magic, the power of written words and love. The escape that Alix E. Harrow offers is one that you’ll still think about long after you turn the last page.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316421995", "seamus": 755171967, "itunes": 9780316421997, "goodreads": 43521657, "cover": "0316421995", "bookshop": 9780316421997, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316421997", "isbn10": "0316421995", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 218, "book": "The Ten Thousand Doors Of January", "source": "NPR", "text": "You'll Want To Open Every One Of 'The Ten Thousand Doors Of January'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/14/755172071/youll-want-to-open-every-one-of-the-ten-thousand-doors-of-january" } ] }, "219": { "id": 219, "title": "Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, And The Last Trial Of Harper Lee", "author": "Casey Cep", "reviewers": [ "Wynne Davis" ], "text": "

Long after Harper Lee’s success with To Kill a Mockingbird, the author found a true crime story that she would spend years trying to make her second act. An Alabama preacher accused of killing five of his family members for insurance money is himself killed at one of the funerals – and the lawyer who helped the preacher collect the insurance money ends up representing his killer. Lee chronicles the murder trial in the hope of telling a tale to rival her friend Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, which she had helped research. In three parts, Casey Cep presents the facts of the story as well as Lee likely wished she herself could, along with the best look at what happened to Lee after fame found her.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1101947861", "seamus": 721458722, "itunes": 9781101947869, "goodreads": 41883932, "cover": "1101947861", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781101947869", "isbn10": "1101947861", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 219, "book": "Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, And The Last Trial Of Harper Lee", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Furious Hours' Tells The Tale Of Harper Lee And Her Unfinished Work", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/08/721435957/furious-hours-tells-the-tale-of-harper-lee-and-her-unfinished-work" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 219, "book": "Furious Hours", "source": "Mississippi Public Broadcasting", "text": "Furious Hours' On 'Mississippi Edition' Book Club", "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLcxospALM0Frl33vkUA2qt7FJccztbOtW&v=1_DSXxAxGEo" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 219, "book": "Furious Hours", "source": "WFAE", "text": "Author Casey Cep On The Real-Life Murder Story That Harper Lee Tried To Write", "url": "https://www.wfae.org/post/southbound-author-casey-cep-real-life-murder-story-harper-lee-tried-write#stream/0" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 219, "book": "Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "Furious Hours' Reveals Harper Lee’s Unfinished Book", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/furious-hours-reveals-harper-lee-s-unfinished-book" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 219, "book": "Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee", "source": "WWNO", "text": "The Reading Life With Casey Cep", "url": "https://www.wwno.org/post/reading-life-nigel-hamilton-and-casey-cep" } ] }, "220": { "id": 220, "title": "Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food For Having People Over", "author": "Alison Roman", "reviewers": [ "Wynne Davis" ], "text": "

“Using your time and resources to feed people you care about is the ultimate expression of love.” Alison Roman gets me – or at least it feels like she does with that quote. In Nothing Fancy, Roman proves that stress and perfection aren’t necessary ingredients when having people over for dinner. A dinner party is more fun with everyone involved in the process – so pick out a few recipes, say, caramelized garlic on toast with anchovies, citrusy cucumbers with red onion and toasted sesame, and spicy pork meatballs in brothy tomatoes, and get together with friends to make a meal that will feel fancy, but without the fuss.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0451497015", "seamus": 77033877, "itunes": 9780451497017, "goodreads": 44767037, "cover": "0451497015", "bookshop": 9780451497017, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780451497017", "isbn10": "0451497015", "links": [] }, "221": { "id": 221, "title": "The New Pie: Modern Techniques For The Classic American Dessert", "author": "Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin", "reviewers": [ "Wynne Davis" ], "text": "

It’s easy to forget how exciting pie can be when you stick only to the classics like apple, blueberry, pumpkin, pecan, etc. But bakers Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin are changing that with The New Pie. They challenge the idea of what a pie can be with flavors like Thai Iced Tea, Bubbling Butterbeer and the Un-Beet-Able – which is topped with a goat cheese frosting. The duo also gives step-by-step instructions and tips that make this pie book ideal for both novice and veteran bakers alike. The only trouble I had was choosing which pie I wanted to make first.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "cookbooks & food", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0525576444", "seamus": 777034352, "itunes": 9780525576440, "goodreads": 40641094, "cover": "0525576444", "bookshop": 9780525576440, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525576440", "isbn10": "0525576444", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 221, "book": "The New Pie", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "Baking Is A Science: CDC Scientists Give Formula For Perfect 'New Pie'", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/baking-science-cdc-scientists-give-formula-perfect-new-pie" } ] }, "222": { "id": 222, "title": "The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee: Native America From 1890 To The Present", "author": "David Treuer", "reviewers": [ "Tom Bowman" ], "text": "

In Dee Brown’s 1970 book, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, the author – not Native American, and with seemingly little connection to any current tribes – declared that “the culture and civilization of the American Indian was destroyed” during the late 1800s. Not so fast, says David Treuer. He calls his book a “counternarrative” to Brown’s bestseller, with its story of U.S. government betrayal, forced relocation and massacres. In this fine and timely work, Treuer, a member of the Ojibwe Tribe, says Native Americans have not only maintained their culture and civilization through some dark years, but in some parts of the country today are thriving. The heartbeat is strong.

", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1594633150", "seamus": 688501426, "itunes": 9781594633157, "goodreads": 41574287, "cover": "1594633150", "bookshop": 9781594633157, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781594633157", "isbn10": "1594633150", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 222, "book": "The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee: Native America From 1890 To The Present", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee' Aims To Usher In A New Narrative For Native Americans", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/25/688499170/the-heartbeat-of-wounded-knee-aims-to-usher-in-a-new-narrative-for-native-americ" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 222, "book": "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee", "source": "SDPB", "text": "David Treuer's Expansive New Native American History", "url": "https://listen.sdpb.org/post/david-treuers-expansive-new-native-american-history" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 222, "book": "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1980 to the Present", "source": "Iowa Public Radio", "text": "Native American History That Goes Beyond Tragedy", "url": "https://www.iowapublicradio.org/post/native-american-history-goes-beyond-tragedy#stream/0" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 222, "book": "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1980 to the Present", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "The Puzzle Of Ethnic Literary Labels", "url": "https://www.ttbook.org/interview/puzzle-ethnic-literary-labels" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 222, "book": "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present", "source": "KMUW", "text": " 'Marginalia' With David Treuer", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/marginalia-david-treuer" } ] }, "223": { "id": 223, "title": "Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specialized World", "author": "David J. Epstein", "reviewers": [ "Bradley Babendir" ], "text": "

In Range, former ProPublica investigative and science reporter David Epstein argues that the theory of specialization – that one needs 10,000 hours to master a skill – popularized by Malcolm Gladwell, is the wrong advice. What benefits people in most circumstances is not extremely high competence in one area but a diversity of experience and ability, he writes. In other words, range. Epstein stories range (get it?) from an appropriately wide berth of fields – from athletics to the sciences to chess – to make his point. Range is a blueprint for a more thoughtful, collaborative world – and it’s also really fun to read.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0735214484", "seamus": 725755718, "itunes": 9780735214484, "goodreads": 41795733, "cover": "0735214484", "bookshop": 9780735214484, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780735214484", "isbn10": "0735214484", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 223, "book": "Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specialized World", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Range' Argues That Specialization Should Not Be The Goal For Most", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/28/725755061/range-argues-that-specialization-should-not-be-the-goal-for-most" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 223, "book": "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "Jack Of All Trades, Master Of Success", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/jack-all-trades-master-success" } ] }, "224": { "id": 224, "title": "The Heartland: An American History", "author": "Kristin L. Hoganson", "reviewers": [ "Bradley Babendir" ], "text": "

The Midwest, in the center of America, occupies a central place in the American political discourse. How can politicians win Midwesterners’ votes? What do they think? Everyone, allegedly, wants to know. The Heartland: An American History argues, by way of example, that those are the wrong questions. Author Kristin Hoganson writes an engaging, thorough history of the region as a big player in all the things people suggest it’s not, including international trade and fast-paced change. She also shares archival newspaper articles, old-timey livestock names and other colorful bits that make it (perhaps unexpectedly) an exciting read.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "nonfiction", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1594203571", "seamus": 716980833, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 41094000, "cover": "1594203571", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781594203572", "isbn10": "1594203571", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 224, "book": "The Heartland: An American History", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Heartland' Aims To Debunk Myths About The Midwest", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/25/716079591/the-heartland-aims-to-debunk-myths-about-the-midwest" } ] }, "225": { "id": 225, "title": "Underground: A Human History Of The Worlds Beneath Our Feet", "author": "Will Hunt", "reviewers": [ "Bradley Babendir" ], "text": "

Space, the unknown above, is a subject of fascination for millions of people. In Underground, Will Hunt demonstrates that a world nearly as exciting is just below our feet. He takes readers through tunnels under Paris, into the world’s oldest mine on aboriginal land in Australia – and beyond. Perhaps the book’s best feature is how seriously Hunt takes his responsibility to reckon with the history of each place he visits. It’s also full of beautiful pictures. There’s plenty for those who are brave enough to adventure on their own and those, like me, who would prefer to read about someone else doing it instead.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0812996747", "seamus": 689274076, "itunes": 9780812996746, "goodreads": 43420930, "cover": "0812996747", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780812996746", "isbn10": "0812996747", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 225, "book": "Underground: A Human History Of The Worlds Beneath Our Feet", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Underground' Digs Deep Into The World Beneath Our Feet", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/30/689888487/underground-digs-deep-into-the-world-beneath-our-feet" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 225, "book": "Underground: A Human History Of The Worlds Beneath Our Feet", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Underground' Digs Up The Secrets Of Hidden Communities Around The World", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/28/689273526/underground-digs-up-the-secrets-of-hidden-communities-around-the-world" } ] }, "226": { "id": 226, "title": "An American Sunrise: Poems", "author": "Joy Harjo", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "

The first Native American to be U.S. poet laureate, Joy Harjo recalls and laments the violence and displacement that have marked hundreds of years of Native American history: “The children were stolen from these beloved lands by the government. / … / … they were lined up to sleep alone in their army-issued cages.” It’s hard to imagine she does not also mean to call to mind the present horrors at the southern border. Her work is a stark reminder of what poetry is for and what it can do: hold contradictory truths in mind and keep us from forgetting.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1324003863", "seamus": 750923235, "itunes": 9781324003861, "goodreads": 43726586, "cover": "1324003863", "bookshop": 9781324003861, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781324003861", "isbn10": "1324003863", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 226, "book": "An American Sunrise: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'An American Sunrise,' Joy Harjo Speaks With A Timeless Compassion", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/750502736/in-an-american-sunrise-joy-harjo-speaks-with-a-timeless-compassion" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 226, "book": "An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago", "source": "KCUR", "text": "How Sustained Violence Affects Individuals In One Of The Most Violent Cities In America", "url": "https://www.kcur.org/post/seg-1-building-resilient-cities-seg-2-effects-chronic-violence#stream/0" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 226, "book": "An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago", "source": "WUWM", "text": " 'An American Summer' Tells Stories Of Love And Loss In Neighborhoods Wracked By Gun Violence", "url": "https://www.wuwm.com/post/american-summer-tells-stories-love-loss-neighborhoods-wracked-gun-violence#stream/0" } ] }, "227": { "id": 227, "title": "Be Recorder: Poems", "author": "Carmen Giménez Smith", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "

“Though I was born in America / I wasn’t born American / I know it’s hard to understand,” writes Carmen Giménez Smith in her most ambitious book to date, in which she presents a new “context for the twenty-first century Latina lyric I,” the fierce and undaunted voice that speaks her poems. With a powerful allegiance to the freedom of free verse, Smith tells a sort of fragmentary superhero origin story about a girl who faces the disdain of her country to become a woman, poet and mother for whom there is no distance between the personal and the political.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1555978487", "seamus": 686356642, "itunes": 9781555978488, "goodreads": 41940246, "cover": "1555978487", "bookshop": 9781555978488, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781555978488", "isbn10": "1555978487", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 227, "book": "Be Recorder: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "\"I Reject Walls\": A 2019 Poetry Preview", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686349087/-i-reject-walls-a-2019-poetry-preview" } ] }, "228": { "id": 228, "title": "Cyborg Detective", "author": "Jillian Weise", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "

Sassy, funny and justifiably bitter, Jillian Weise sets ableist America – and America’s literary subcultures – straight about a number of things in her third collection, in which every line snaps and many of them sting. “It’s the same poem / y’all been writing in your centuries. Someone / gets sad, buys a house, has children, politics / and little birdies. Throw some ableism / in and publish it,” Weise, an amputee, self-identified “cyborg” and disability activist, writes in one of many poems addressed to her poetic peers, whom she takes to task. If all the poetry shop talk seems like too much inside baseball, remember that poetry is always a metaphor for everything else.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1942683855", "seamus": 777035052, "itunes": 9781942683858, "goodreads": 43841519, "cover": "1942683855", "bookshop": 9781942683858, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781942683858", "isbn10": "1942683855", "links": [] }, "229": { "id": 229, "title": "Deaf Republic: Poems", "author": "Ilya Kaminsky", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "

This extraordinary book-length narrative work quickly became one of the most-talked-about literary books of the year in any genre – and for good reason. The collection is set in the imaginary town of Vasenka, which is occupied by soldiers who shoot the deaf nephew of two puppeteers. The whole town adopts deafness as a form of resistance, tribute and retaliation, simply refusing to hear the soldiers’ commands. “Our hearing doesn’t weaken, but something silent in us strengthens,” a chorus of townspeople proclaims. This book is practically an instruction manual for our occupied moment.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1555978312", "seamus": 686363499, "itunes": 9781555978310, "goodreads": 40121980, "cover": "1555978312", "bookshop": 9781555978310, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781555978310", "isbn10": "1555978312", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 229, "book": "Deaf Republic: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "\"I Reject Walls\": A 2019 Poetry Preview", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686349087/-i-reject-walls-a-2019-poetry-preview" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 229, "book": "Deaf Republic", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Poet Ilya Kaminsky On 'Deaf Republic'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/poet-ilya-kaminsky-deaf-republic" } ] }, "230": { "id": 230, "title": "Hybrida: Poems", "author": "Tina Chang", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "

In one of the most important books of poetry to come along in years, Tina Chang chronicles a mother’s harrowing and courageous passage through a psychic gantlet: “I know the world will find him / and tell him the history of his skin,” she writes of her young son, who is half-black. “Harm will come searching for him / and pour into him its scorching mercury, / its nails, its bitter breath against his boyhood / skin still smelling of milk and wonder.” In these poems, Chang plays my heartstrings like a guitar – and then rips them out.

", "tags": [ "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1324002484", "seamus": 686361614, "itunes": 9781324002482, "goodreads": 41817564, "cover": "1324002484", "bookshop": 9781324002482, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781324002482", "isbn10": "1324002484", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 230, "book": "Hybrida: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "\"I Reject Walls\": A 2019 Poetry Preview", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686349087/-i-reject-walls-a-2019-poetry-preview" } ] }, "231": { "id": 231, "title": "Lima :: Limón", "author": "Natalie Scenters-Zapico", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "

These poems, with electric brilliance, speak fiercely as they straddle various borders, especially the one between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, where Natalie Scenters-Zapico grew up – and where “Life is short & I show them how to talk / to police without opening the door.” She crosses aesthetic and linguistic borders as well, spanning the supposed divides between traditional and experimental, English and Spanish. I’m surprised and shocked by every word here, thrown off balance, suddenly attentive and listening.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "155659531X", "seamus": 777035446, "itunes": 9781556595318, "goodreads": 41745756, "cover": "155659531X", "bookshop": 9781556595318, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781556595318", "isbn10": "155659531X", "links": [] }, "232": { "id": 232, "title": "Nightingale", "author": "Paisley Rekdal", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "

Paisley Rekdal’s poems are equal parts gorgeous minor key music and cold-eyed analysis; she is a thinker who can really sing. This book takes off from the canonical myths of Ovid’s “Metamorphosis,” layering them atop contemporary situations to describe the consequences of violence against women – and to kindle our sense of responsibility to women and their stories. This isn’t easy reading, but why should it be?

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "the dark side", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1556595670", "seamus": 686359865, "itunes": 9781556595677, "goodreads": 41746555, "cover": "1556595670", "bookshop": 9781556595677, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781556595677", "isbn10": "1556595670", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 232, "book": "Nightingale", "source": "NPR", "text": "\"I Reject Walls\": A 2019 Poetry Preview", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686349087/-i-reject-walls-a-2019-poetry-preview" } ] }, "233": { "id": 233, "title": "How To Be An Antiracist", "author": "Ibram X. Kendi", "reviewers": [ "Ericka Taylor" ], "text": "

Maybe it’s the contrarian in me, but I’ve rarely embraced “how to” books. Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist is such an exception that I may have to reconsider. It’s a lofty title and an equally ambitious goal, but Kendi really does guide the reader through the process of becoming an antiracist. His success may come partly from the book also being a memoir that draws from his own missteps down the path of antiracism, from his earliest years through adulthood. Certain to both challenge and reinforce the views of many, this book is one to read.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "biography & memoir", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0525509283", "seamus": 750799995, "itunes": 9780525509288, "goodreads": 40265832, "cover": "0525509283", "bookshop": 9780525509288, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525509288", "isbn10": "0525509283", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 233, "book": "How To Be An Antiracist", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ibram X. Kendi Says No One Is 'Not Racist.' So What Should We Do?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/15/751070344/theres-no-such-thing-as-not-racist-in-ibram-x-kendis-how-to-be-an-anitracist" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 233, "book": "How To Be An Antiracist", "source": "NPR", "text": "Trump 'Embodies Nearly Every Aspect Of A Racist,' Author Says", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/13/750799889/ibram-x-kendi-racism-isnt-an-identity-its-what-youre-doing-in-the-moment" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 233, "book": "How to Be An Antiracist", "source": "WAMC", "text": "Hear Ibram X. Kendi On 'The Book Show'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/post/book-show-1624-ibram-x-kendi" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 233, "book": "How to be an Antiracist", "source": "WDET", "text": "Listeners Weigh In On How To Fight Racism Within Yourself And Your Community", "url": "https://wdet.org/posts/2019/08/20/88539-listeners-weigh-in-on-how-to-fight-racism-within-yourself-and-your-community/" } ] }, "234": { "id": 234, "title": "Lanny: A Novel", "author": "Max Porter", "reviewers": [ "Ericka Taylor" ], "text": "

Max Porter’s Lanny is a story of an extraordinary child (of somewhat ordinary parents in a rather ordinary English village) who, one day, goes missing. In lesser hands, much of what makes Lanny so compelling could come across as gimmicky. There’s fabulism and folklore and text that dances across the page instead of marching neatly from left margin to right. Porter’s inventiveness is a perfect fit for the narrative, however. Couple that with his wry humor, engaging prose and a plot that gradually ramps the tension up to “11,” and Lanny deserves a spot as one of the year’s best.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1555978401", "seamus": 721907767, "itunes": 9781555978402, "goodreads": 41940306, "cover": "1555978401", "bookshop": 9781555978402, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781555978402", "isbn10": "1555978401", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 234, "book": "Lanny: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "An Ethereal Child Causes Earthly Problems In 'Lanny'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/13/721908112/an-ethereal-child-causes-earthly-problems-in-lanny" } ] }, "235": { "id": 235, "title": "Survival Math: Notes On An All-American Family", "author": "Mitchell S. Jackson", "reviewers": [ "Ericka Taylor" ], "text": "

Easily the most compelling memoir I’ve read in a decade, Mitchell S. Jackson’s Survival Math: Notes on an All-American Family is a brilliant exploration of growing up black in one of the whitest cities in the country – and the strategies the author’s family and community have employed to survive. Jackson takes an unflinching look at himself and those around him, while remaining attentive to the forces that have shaped his community since its founding. While it is at times heart-wrenching and at others heartwarming, Survival Math, throughout, is marked by its abundance of beauty and grace.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "biography & memoir", "nonfiction", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1501131702", "seamus": 700351146, "itunes": 9781501131707, "goodreads": 36373576, "cover": "1501131702", "bookshop": 9781501131707, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501131707", "isbn10": "1501131702", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 235, "book": "Survival Math: Notes On An All-American Family", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Survival Math' Is A Memoir About Growing Up Black In Oregon", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/06/700873567/survival-math-is-a-memoir-about-growing-up-black-in-oregon" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 235, "book": "Survival Math: Notes On An All-American Family", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Survival Math' Is A Spellbinding Narrative In Essays", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/700347012/survival-math-is-a-spellbinding-narrative-in-essays" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 235, "book": "Survival Math: Notes on an All-American FamilyKCUR", "source": "KCUR", "text": "Mitchell S. Jackson On 'Survival Math'", "url": "https://www.kcur.org/post/seg-1-kansas-legislature-review-seg-2-author-mitchell-jackson#stream/0" } ] }, "236": { "id": 236, "title": "The Source Of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, And Meditations", "author": "Toni Morrison", "reviewers": [ "Ericka Taylor" ], "text": "

Her last published work before her death, Toni Morrison’s The Source of Self-Regard gathers selected essays, speeches and meditations from the last four decades. Morrison may have been best known for her fiction, but this collection makes clear why she was also a highly regarded public intellectual. Despite the span over which the pieces were written, the book is almost uncomfortably timely, with Morrison turning her penetrating analysis on issues such as migration, racism, sexism, classism and fascism. Her final gift to the reading public, in which her trademark lyricism is on full display, is undoubtedly one to treasure.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0525521038", "seamus": 694281609, "itunes": 9780525521037, "goodreads": 40265834, "cover": "0525521038", "bookshop": 9780525521037, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525521037", "isbn10": "0525521038", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 236, "book": "The Source Of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, And Meditations", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Source Of Self-Regard' Speaks To Today's Social And Political Moment", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/14/694259009/the-source-of-self-regard-speaks-to-todays-social-and-political-moment" } ] }, "237": { "id": 237, "title": "Real Queer America: LGBT Stories From Red States", "author": "Samantha Allen", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "

Many of my New York City friends raised their eyebrows when I announced that I was moving to Nebraska for graduate school, and, I admit, I was skeptical as well. I was worried that my queerness would be unwelcome in the conservative state. If only I’d had Daily Beast journalist Samantha Allen’s Real Queer America back then! In this mix of reportage, memoir and travelogue, Allen, who came into her own gender while attending Brigham Young University in Utah, travels through Middle America and finds the LGBTQ+ community that exists here – and everywhere – and celebrates its vitality, resilience and resistance.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0316516031", "seamus": 777035682, "itunes": 9780316516037, "goodreads": 40391043, "cover": "0316516031", "bookshop": 9780316516037, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316516037", "isbn10": "0316516031", "links": [] }, "238": { "id": 238, "title": "Delayed Rays Of A Star: A Novel", "author": "Amanda Lee Koe", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "

Berlin, 1928: Anna May Wong, Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl – three pioneering women in show biz – pose for a photograph together at a party. From this frozen moment, Amanda Lee Koe spins a glittering and ambitious debut that encompasses eight decades, with characters as far removed as a sex-trafficked Chinese woman in Paris and a gay German mourning his lover who died in battle. Blending questions about pop culture, war and art, Delayed Rays of a Star is neither high nor lowbrow, refusing such facile dichotomies and playing, instead, in the messiness of the gray areas.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "for history lovers", "no biz like show biz", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0385544340", "seamus": 740489112, "itunes": 9780385544344, "goodreads": 42504640, "cover": "0385544340", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385544344", "isbn10": "0385544340", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 238, "book": "Delayed Rays Of A Star: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Delayed Rays Of A Star' Sheds Light On 3 Film Legends", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/12/740490132/delayed-rays-of-a-star-sheds-light-on-3-film-legends" } ] }, "239": { "id": 239, "title": "Mostly Dead Things", "author": "Kristen Arnett", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "

Florida librarian and author Kristen Arnett’s debut novel is everything I hoped it would be – and more. Narrator Jessa, a queer woman with a complicated romantic history involving her brother’s wife, is trying to keep her father’s taxidermy business afloat after he dies by suicide, while her mom plans to mount a gallery exhibition using the stuffed (as in dead, not plush) animals in her sexually explicit art. Determined to stop her, Jessa is constantly sidetracked by dating the gallery owner, struggling to keep a handle on her niece and nephew and learning to live with her father’s death.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "family matters", "for art lovers", "funny stuff", "let’s talk about sex", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1947793306", "seamus": 730593160, "itunes": 9781947793309, "goodreads": 41817578, "cover": "1947793306", "bookshop": 9781947793309, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781947793309", "isbn10": "1947793306", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 239, "book": "Mostly Dead Things", "source": "NPR", "text": "Macabre And Irreverent, 'Mostly Dead Things' Is A Satisfying Journey", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/08/730592827/macabre-and-irreverent-mostly-dead-things-is-a-satisfying-journey" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 239, "book": "Mostly Dead Things", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Author Kristen Arnett On Why She Loves Taxidermy And 7-Eleven", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2019/08/19/kristen-arnett-mostly-dead-things" } ] }, "240": { "id": 240, "title": "Hollow Kingdom", "author": "Kira Jane Buxton", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "

Kira Jane Buxton takes a joyfully original approach to apocalyptic fiction in this debut: Instead of us humans being the focal point in the story of our own extinction, it’s the plethora of life that we leave behind that takes center stage. Narrated by S.T., a fast-food-loving domesticated crow, the novel follows him and his droopy dog companion, Dennis, as they try to survive a world where humans have gone berserk and begin to die out. Slowly, S.T. learns that wild animals are just as creative, resourceful and lively as the humans he so loves.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1538745828", "seamus": 749456739, "itunes": 9781538745823, "goodreads": 42839296, "cover": "1538745828", "bookshop": 9781538745823, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781538745823", "isbn10": "1538745828", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 240, "book": "Hollow Kingdom", "source": "NPR", "text": "Humans Are Gone In 'Hollow Kingdom,' So It's Up To The Crows", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/10/749457565/humans-are-gone-in-hollow-kingdom-so-its-up-to-the-crows" } ] }, "241": { "id": 241, "title": "The Archive Of Alternate Endings", "author": "Lindsey Dragger", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "

Halley’s comet passes Earth once every 75 years or so, and its appearance serves as the organizing principle in this gorgeously written and haunting novel that spans several centuries of sightings. With characters like Johannes Gutenberg, the Brothers Grimm and Edmond Halley himself making occasional appearances, this circuitous, atmospheric book is all about the telling of tales, the passing-on of knowledge, stories’ shifting and mutating nature and how they can disappear into the black hole of unrecorded history, if allowed to. Both tragic and hopeful, it speaks to how human storytelling really is. Read it, read it, read it.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "science!", "seriously great writing", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1945814829", "seamus": 721912778, "itunes": 9781945814822, "goodreads": 42770439, "cover": "1945814829", "bookshop": 9781945814822, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781945814822", "isbn10": "1945814829", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 241, "book": "The Archive Of Alternate Endings", "source": "NPR", "text": "Hansel, Gretel And Halley's Comet Link The Tales In 'Alternate Endings'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/12/721912974/hansel-gretel-and-halleys-comet-link-the-tales-in-alternate-endings" } ] }, "242": { "id": 242, "title": "Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest", "author": "Hanif Abdurraqib", "reviewers": [ "Nicholas Cannariato" ], "text": "

Hanif Abdurraqib’s Go Ahead in the Rain is a brilliant meditation on race, music and writing. It’s also a history of hip-hop and an extended reflection on one of hip-hop’s most legendary groups: A Tribe Called Quest. Abdurraqib synthesizes the personal and the critical as he writes bracingly about the ambitious aesthetic of Tribe’s music and his personal affinity with the contrasting personas of the group’s principal members: the vulnerable, dynamic Phife Dawg and the cool, visionary Q-Tip. I loved Go Ahead in the Rain because it’s about what it means to take refuge in music and also what it means to break out of that refuge through music.

", "tags": [ "for music lovers", "seriously great writing", "nonfiction", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "1477316485", "seamus": 691299907, "itunes": 9781477316481, "goodreads": 41864516, "cover": "1477316485", "bookshop": 9781477316481, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781477316481", "isbn10": "1477316485", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 242, "book": "Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Go Ahead In The Rain,' The Love For A Tribe Called Quest Is Infectious", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/05/691293961/in-go-ahead-in-the-rain-the-love-for-a-tribe-called-quest-is-infectious" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 242, "book": "Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest (American Music)", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Author Reflects On The Legacy Of A Tribe Called Quest", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/author-reflects-legacy-tribe-called-quest" } ] }, "243": { "id": 243, "title": "1919", "author": "Eve L. Ewing", "reviewers": [ "Nicholas Cannariato" ], "text": "

Eve L. Ewing’s 1919 poetically depicts the context of the Chicago race riot of 1919 with searing pain and intimacy. In that year, many black Chicagoans who’d recently arrived in the Great Migration from the South were forced to confront the brutal limits of a segregated North. Ewing’s poems give voice to those whose historical memory was drawn in dispossession and often informed by the biblical themes of exodus and deliverance. I recommend 1919 because it holds a mirror up to America, to Chicago: a city where the fault lines of American history tremble underfoot, where the promise of America is betrayed by its past.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1608465985", "seamus": 777036158, "itunes": 9781608465989, "goodreads": 41746074, "cover": "1608465985", "bookshop": 9781608465989, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781608465989", "isbn10": "1608465985", "links": [] }, "244": { "id": 244, "title": "The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, And Care", "author": "Anne Boyer", "reviewers": [ "Sascha Cohen" ], "text": "

The Undying chronicles poet Anne Boyer’s experience in treatment for aggressive breast cancer as a 41-year-old single working mother. In a lyrical style that blends memoir, mythology and philosophy, Boyer argues that suffering from cancer is largely man-made, resulting not from the disease process itself but instead from the gendered social rituals surrounding it – and the deeply broken, inequitable health care system in America. This is not your mother’s breast cancer narrative; it refuses peppy “pinkwashed” optimism, yet still offers a sense of comfort to readers who have experienced illness by reminding us we aren’t alone.

", "tags": [ "the dark side", "seriously great writing", "eye-opening reads", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "0374279349", "seamus": 761223852, "itunes": 9780374279349, "goodreads": 43565374, "cover": "0374279349", "bookshop": 9780374279349, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780374279349", "isbn10": "0374279349", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 244, "book": "The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, And Care", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Undying' Catalogs The Unceasing Losses Of A Breast Cancer Diagnosis", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/17/761214595/the-undying-catalogs-the-unceasing-losses-of-a-breast-cancer-diagnosis" } ] }, "245": { "id": 245, "title": "Camgirl", "author": "Isa Mazzei", "reviewers": [ "Sascha Cohen" ], "text": "

From the screenwriter of Netflix’s surreal horror flick Cam comes this candid, juicy memoir of Isa Mazzei’s experience working in the online sex industry. As her seductive alter ego “Una,” the author staged erotic digital performances to earn money and explore her own sexual longings. Camgirl culminates with revelations about childhood trauma and the challenges of sustaining a bifurcated identity. The book offers insights into the formidable physical and emotional labor demanded of adult entertainers, as well as the ways that power and desire are intertwined for young women – all recounted in Mazzei’s raw, surprisingly comedic voice.

", "tags": [ "let’s talk about sex", "identity & culture", "biography & memoir", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "1644280353", "seamus": 777036875, "itunes": 9781644280355, "goodreads": 40116700, "cover": "1644280353", "bookshop": 9781644280355, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781644280355", "isbn10": "1644280353", "links": [] }, "246": { "id": 246, "title": "I Wish You All The Best", "author": "Mason Deaver", "reviewers": [ "Alethea Kontis" ], "text": "

Teen Ben De Backer comes out as nonbinary to their family at Christmas and then gets kicked out of the house. In the process of building a new life, Ben experiences dysmorphia, the exhaustion of “constantly coming out” and the fear involved in making every single human connection. Mason Deaver’s book explores nonbinary issues and queer life in a way that is gentle yet real. There is tragedy at the heart of this story, but there is also tenderness; I Wish You All the Best educated me further on the nonbinary landscape and inspired incredible compassion within me.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "fiction", "young adult" ], "isbn": "133830612X", "seamus": 726668462, "itunes": 9781338306125, "goodreads": 43795766, "cover": "133830612X", "bookshop": 9781338306125, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781338306125", "isbn10": "133830612X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 246, "book": "I Wish You All The Best", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Nonbinary Teen Makes Their Way In The World In 'I Wish You All The Best'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/01/726669344/a-nonbinary-teen-makes-their-way-in-the-world-in-i-wish-you-all-the-best" } ] }, "247": { "id": 247, "title": "The Birds, The Bees, And You And Me", "author": "Olivia Hinebaugh", "reviewers": [ "Alethea Kontis" ], "text": "

Seventeen-year-old Lacey Burke is a strong-willed feminist who’s comfortable in her own body and knows her own mind. In defiance of her school’s abstinence-only sex ed policy, Lacey turns into a sex guru for her classmates, taking “office hours” in the bathroom and distributing educational pamphlets about condoms. The opposite of shame should be education, right? The Birds, the Bees, and You and Me is an ambitious debut novel, covering myriad subjects from the ethics of sex ed to a young girl’s first sexual encounter.

", "tags": [ "family matters", "funny stuff", "let’s talk about sex", "young adult", "fiction" ], "isbn": "125019265X", "seamus": 686371207, "itunes": 9781250192653, "goodreads": 36192182, "cover": "125019265X", "bookshop": 9781250192653, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250192653", "isbn10": "125019265X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 247, "book": "The Birds, The Bees, And You And Me", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Birds, The Bees,' Teens Take On Sex Ed", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/21/686371436/in-the-birds-the-bees-teens-take-on-sex-ed" } ] }, "248": { "id": 248, "title": "The Dead Queens Club", "author": "Hannah Capin", "reviewers": [ "Alethea Kontis" ], "text": "

Dead Queens’ dark plot is very Gossip Girl meets Riverdale, as told by a narrator with the verbal gymnastic skills of a teenage Lorelai Gilmore. But one detail makes this storyline rise above the rest: The characters are 100% based on the court of Henry VIII. Hannah Capin perfectly executes the voice of a forward-thinking Gen-Z girl genius while deftly demonstrating her prowess as a historian, balancing school politics and intrigue with strong messages about female relationships and girl power. The Dead Queens Club isn’t just a fun book – it’s brilliant.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "young adult", "funny stuff", "the dark side", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "133554223X", "seamus": 690090075, "itunes": 9781335542236, "goodreads": 35998937, "cover": "133554223X", "bookshop": 9781335542236, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781335542236", "isbn10": "133554223X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 248, "book": "The Dead Queens Club", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Dead Queens Club,' Henry VIII Is The Homecoming King", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/02/690091867/in-dead-queens-club-henry-viii-is-the-homecoming-king" } ] }, "249": { "id": 249, "title": "The Silence Between Us", "author": "Alison Gervais", "reviewers": [ "Alethea Kontis" ], "text": "

Maya Harris lost her hearing at 13. She had been attending a school for the deaf, but because of a family move to Colorado, she ends up at a hearing high school, where she faces a steady stream of trials without a lot of wins. Reading about Maya’s struggles can sometimes be almost as exhausting as it is compelling – but The Silence Between Us is eminently un-put-down-able, and author Alison Gervais (who’s hard of hearing) pulls off fascinating storytelling acrobatics in her dialogue. This book both taught me things about the deaf community and inspired me to continue my education well after the story was finished.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "young adult", "identity & culture", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0310766168", "seamus": 751327247, "itunes": 9780310766162, "goodreads": 42771975, "cover": "0310766168", "bookshop": 9780310766162, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780310766162", "isbn10": "0310766168", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 249, "book": "The Silence Between Us", "source": "NPR", "text": "Dialogue Drives The Story In 'The Silence Between Us'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/16/751327592/dialogue-drives-the-story-in-the-silence-between-us" } ] }, "250": { "id": 250, "title": "Dear Haiti, Love Alaine", "author": "Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite", "reviewers": [ "Alethea Kontis" ], "text": "

After Washington, D.C., high schooler Alaine turns her Latin American history project into a spectacle that threatens to get her expelled, her family concocts a new independent project for her: They pack her off to Haiti, where she’ll intern at a child-sponsorship program with her aunt, the Hatian minister of tourism – and confront some dark family secrets. Dear Haiti, Love Alaine is a dense and beautiful tapestry of heavy issues that make a compelling character out of Haiti itself. But my favorite part was the female empowerment that permeated every part of this tale, past and present.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "fiction", "young adult", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1335777091", "seamus": 754868228, "itunes": 9781335777096, "goodreads": 41861731, "cover": "1335777091", "bookshop": 9781335777096, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781335777096", "isbn10": "1335777091", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 250, "book": "Dear Haiti, Love Alaine", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Dear Haiti, Love Alaine,' Haiti Comes Alive As A Character ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/06/754869607/in-dear-haiti-love-alaine-haiti-comes-alive-as-a-character" } ] }, "251": { "id": 251, "title": "A Memory Called Empire", "author": "Arkady Martine", "reviewers": [ "Amal El-Mohtar" ], "text": "

Do you like political intrigue, high stakes and the constant self-interrogation of your love for a beautiful thing that’s destroying you even as it defines you? This is the book for you. Ambassador Mahit Dzmare has long been fascinated by the Teixcalaanli Empire, which is threatening to consume her home, Lsel Station — and now she gets to see it in person, armed only with her wits and the faulty mental copy of the previous ambassador embedded in her brain stem. (The previous ambassador died under mysterious circumstances, but that’s probably fine.) Gorgeous, supple prose and stunning world-building make this Byzantium-in-Space novel shine.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "it’s all geek to me", "seriously great writing", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250186439", "seamus": 710356236, "itunes": 9781250186430, "goodreads": 39863238, "cover": "1250186439", "bookshop": 9781250186430, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250186430", "isbn10": "1250186439", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 251, "book": "A Memory Called Empire", "source": "NPR", "text": "Questions For Arkady Martine, Author Of 'A Memory Called Empire'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/07/710356506/questions-for-arkady-martine-author-of-a-memory-called-empire" } ] }, "252": { "id": 252, "title": "The Bird King", "author": "G. Willow Wilson", "reviewers": [ "Amal El-Mohtar" ], "text": "

Fatima, a royal concubine in the last days of Muslim Granada, and Hassan, a queer map-maker with strange powers, escape the palace together before it surrenders to Christian Castile — but an Inquisitor named Luz pursues them as they try to find their way to the fabled island of the Bird King. The Bird King is the story of a journey, but it’s also a journey into story — and faith and refuge, the family we choose and the friends we find. It’s deeply beautiful and wondrously sad, and one of the most beautifully written books I read this year.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "historical fiction", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "080212903X", "seamus": 698732040, "itunes": 9780802129031, "goodreads": 40642333, "cover": "080212903X", "bookshop": 9780802129031, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780802129031", "isbn10": "080212903X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 252, "book": "The Bird King", "source": "NPR", "text": "Building A Home Of Stories In 'The Bird King'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/17/698732975/building-a-home-of-stories-in-the-bird-king" } ] }, "253": { "id": 253, "title": "The Haunting Of Tram Car 015", "author": "P. Djèlí Clark", "reviewers": [ "Amal El-Mohtar" ], "text": "

A charming romp through a lovingly realized setting. In 1879, Egypt overthrew British rule with the help of a sudden influx of djinn; in 1912, Cairo’s modernity is a mixture of magic and technology. Against this backdrop, agents Hamed Nasr and Onsi Youssef represent the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities, investigating untoward magical occurrences and abuses. When the Superintendent of Tram Safety and Maintenance calls them in to deal with the titular haunted tram car, they’re both bemused – but taking the case leads them on a merry chase through their city and alternate approaches to magic and philosophy. Delightful!

", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "funny stuff", "rather short", "tales from around the world", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250294800", "seamus": 694929887, "itunes": 9781250294807, "goodreads": 36546128, "cover": "1250294800", "bookshop": 9781250294807, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250294807", "isbn10": "1250294800", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 253, "book": "The Haunting Of Tram Car 015", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Tram Car 015' Is A Delightful Ride", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/18/694930932/tram-car-015-is-a-delightful-ride" } ] }, "254": { "id": 254, "title": "Palestine +100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba", "author": "Basma Ghalayini (editor)", "reviewers": [ "Amal El-Mohtar" ], "text": "

Memory and imagination are contested territories in this deeply moving collection. Twelve Palestinian authors write stories set 100 years after the Nakba — Arabic for “catastrophe” – during which, as editor Basma Ghalayini writes in her introduction, “Israel declared itself a new-born state on the rubble of Palestinian lives.” Beyond their shared premise, the stories are inventive and dextrous, as brilliant as they are painful — and playful. As often as I wept, I laughed at witty turns of phrase, surprising goofiness, shrugging resilience. There’s also a remarkable compassion for Israelis, for the Israeli experience of being settler-colonists, the psychological damage that entails. Warm and powerful.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1910974447", "seamus": 754856739, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 43590055, "cover": "1910974447", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781910974445", "isbn10": "1910974447", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 254, "book": "Palestine +100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Palestine + 100' Explores Contested Territory, Past And Future", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/31/754858096/palestine-100-explores-contested-territory-past-and-future" } ] }, "255": { "id": 255, "title": "Disappearing Earth: A Novel", "author": "Julia Phillips", "reviewers": [ "Bethanne Patrick" ], "text": "

Kamchatka, Russia – and its main city of Petropavlovsk – forms the backdrop to a stunning debut novel from Julia Phillips, Disappearing Earth. When two young sisters are lured into a strange man’s car and disappear, their community wants to find out why; through voices of the women who make up that community, we discover why they may never do so. A fierce indictment of a world – not just a region – that continues to devalue all things female.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "mysteries & thrillers", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0525520414", "seamus": 725055209, "itunes": 9780525520412, "goodreads": 41880604, "cover": "0525520414", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525520412", "isbn10": "0525520414", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 255, "book": "Disappearing Earth: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Kamchatka Is A Rich Backdrop For Mystery In 'Disappearing Earth'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/21/725056496/kamchatka-is-a-rich-backdrop-for-mystery-in-disappearing-earth" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 255, "book": "Disappearing Earth", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "Julia Phillips' Debut Novel 'Disappearing Earth' Reimagines Detective Fiction", "url": "https://www.gpbnews.org/post/julia-phillips-debut-novel-disappearing-earth-reimagines-detective-fiction" } ] }, "256": { "id": 256, "title": "Heaven, My Home", "author": "Attica Locke", "reviewers": [ "Bethanne Patrick" ], "text": "

Caddo Lake, a sprawling, irregular inland sea divided between Texas and Louisiana, has long been home to people looking to “hide in plain sight,” as one character in Attica Locke’s new Highway 59 novel, Heaven, My Home, remarks. African American Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is ambivalent about the East Texas home he has returned to after being educated in the North and Midwest. When he’s called to investigate a boy’s disappearance, he discovers that class can blind you are surely as racism can.

", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316363405", "seamus": 761898990, "itunes": 9780316363402, "goodreads": 43521642, "cover": "0316363405", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316363402", "isbn10": "0316363405", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 256, "book": "Heaven, My Home", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Heaven, My Home' Attica Locke Shows A Part Of Texas We Don't Usually See", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/16/770613459/in-heaven-my-home-attica-locke-shows-a-part-of-texas-we-don-t-usually-see" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 256, "book": "Heaven, My Home", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Heaven, My Home' Is A Complicated Place", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/20/762489842/heaven-my-home-is-a-complicated-place" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 256, "book": "Heaven, My Home", "source": "NPR", "text": "Racial Tensions Complicate The Search For A Missing Child In 'Heaven, My Home'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/18/761888708/racial-tensions-complicate-the-search-for-a-missing-child-in-heaven-my-home" } ] }, "257": { "id": 257, "title": "The Need", "author": "Helen Phillips", "reviewers": [ "Bethanne Patrick" ], "text": "

When stressed paleobotanist and mother of two Molly begins to find strange items at a dig and a deer-head-masked stranger in her living room, she slowly realizes that her feelings of otherness about parenthood have, in a sense, come alive – forcing her to come to terms with how childbirth and mothering have changed her, perhaps beyond her own recognition. Helen Phillips writes with energy and experimentalism, including aspects of child rearing that are slapstick and joyous as well as life-altering and draining. It’s a book that starts out as a mystery, morphs into comedy and ends … well, you’ll have to read it to understand how perfect the ending is.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "1982113162", "seamus": 777037210, "itunes": 9781982113162, "goodreads": 42201850, "cover": "1982113162", "bookshop": 9781982113162, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781982113162", "isbn10": "1982113162", "links": [] }, "258": { "id": 258, "title": "The Other Americans: A Novel", "author": "Laila Lalami", "reviewers": [ "Bethanne Patrick" ], "text": "

Laila Lalami (The Moor’s Account) pens a riveting police procedural combined with a sensitive examination of contemporary life in California’s Mojave Desert region. Nora Guerraoui is a young composer born and raised in California by Moroccan immigrant parents Driss and Maryam. When Driss dies in a hit-and-run accident, Nora wants answers, maybe even revenge, while her mother and her sister, Salma, have much more passive reactions – for different reasons. But several other narrators provide views on Driss, Nora and the accident, demonstrating that we are all “other,” not just to our fellows, but to ourselves.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1524747149", "seamus": 705945941, "itunes": 9781524747145, "goodreads": 40988961, "cover": "1524747149", "bookshop": 9781524747145, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524747145", "isbn10": "1524747149", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 258, "book": "The Other Americans: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Other Americans' Take Center Stage In A Timely New Novel", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/01/707567076/other-americans-take-center-stage-in-a-timely-new-novel" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 258, "book": "The Other Americans: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "We Are All 'The Other Americans'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/30/707340939/we-are-all-the-other-americans" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 258, "book": "The Other Americans: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "9 First-Person Perspectives Give Voice To 'The Other Americans'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/24/705843058/9-first-person-perspectives-give-voice-to-the-other-americans" } ] }, "259": { "id": 259, "title": "The Sentence Is Death: A Novel", "author": "Anthony Horowitz", "reviewers": [ "Bethanne Patrick" ], "text": "

Anthony Horowitz – well-known for, among other things, his Sherlock Holmes follow-on novels The House of Silk and Moriarty – returns with his second Inspector Hawthorne mystery, The Sentence Is Death. The narrator, “Anthony Horowitz,” a writer whose CV is exactly analogous to his nonfictional creator’s, teams up reluctantly with the somewhat shady Daniel Hawthorne to solve a murder involving a bottle of wine and a long marital feud. With just enough intrigue about Hawthorne’s past and present connections and loads of British place names, this novel satisfies like a bracing cup of tea.

", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062676830", "seamus": 730579891, "itunes": 9780062676832, "goodreads": 41716660, "cover": "0062676830", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062676832", "isbn10": "0062676830", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 259, "book": "The Sentence Is Death: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Sentence Is Death' Is A Bracing Addition To Any Beach Bag", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/08/730580461/the-sentence-is-death-is-a-bracing-addition-to-any-beach-bag" } ] }, "260": { "id": 260, "title": "Enchantée", "author": "Gita Trelease", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

Camille uses la magie ordinaire to transform odds and ends into temporary coins so she can provide for her sister and their wastrel brother. But it’s not enough. She realizes that to survive, she must try a new kind of magic — changing her own appearance so that she can gamble with rich aristocrats. Enchantée dishes up the tangled streets of 18th century Paris, the golden halls of Versailles, the clang of dueling swords, the snap of a deck of cards – all served with a delicious soupçon of magic and bated breath as La Révolution bears down upon noble and commoner alike.

", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "young adult", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250295521", "seamus": 692473854, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 39863494, "cover": "1250295521", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250295521", "isbn10": "1250295521", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 260, "book": "Enchantée", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Enchantée' Casts A Delightful Spell", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/09/692474793/enchant-e-casts-a-delightful-spell" } ] }, "261": { "id": 261, "title": "Butterfly Yellow", "author": "Thanhha Lai", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

Vietnam War refugee Hằng arrives in America determined to search for her stolen brother. She finds him with the help of a wannabe cowboy but realizes that their reunion is still out of reach. Butterfly Yellow is so vivid and specific in its details – the sharp tang of ginger quelling nausea on a hot bus, the scent of a horse’s coat, the feeling of cave insects burrowing into skin – but really, its power lies in its depiction of that universal hope of being able to find a new place to feel safe after everything has been torn apart.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "fiction", "family matters", "young adult", "tales from around the world", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0062229214", "seamus": 755214777, "itunes": 9780062229212, "goodreads": 43208845, "cover": "0062229214", "bookshop": 9780062229212, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062229212", "isbn10": "0062229214", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 261, "book": "Butterfly Yellow", "source": "NPR", "text": "3 Crackling Young Adult Reads To Welcome Fall", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/16/755210534/3-crackling-young-adult-reads-to-welcome-fall" } ] }, "262": { "id": 262, "title": "Pet", "author": "Akwaeke Emezi", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

Angels have rid the city of Lucille of monsters. Jam has no reason to doubt this until a creature crawls out of one of her mother’s paintings, intent on hunting down a monster. Pet is a shiny gem of a book, more novella than novel, more middle grade than young adult in feel, even as it tackles very adult questions about society’s evils and the best way to combat them when everyone seems intent on looking away. Pet doesn’t concern itself with intended audience – it is for the readers who will let its fire burn bright in their hearts.

", "tags": [ "for art lovers", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0525647074", "seamus": 755213240, "itunes": 9780525647072, "goodreads": 43568395, "cover": "0525647074", "bookshop": 9780525647072, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525647072", "isbn10": "0525647074", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 262, "book": "Pet", "source": "NPR", "text": "3 Crackling Young Adult Reads To Welcome Fall", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/16/755210534/3-crackling-young-adult-reads-to-welcome-fall" } ] }, "263": { "id": 263, "title": "Riverland", "author": "Fran Wilde", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

For sisters Eleanor and Mike, life is all about following the rules and using house magic to keep their home safe from their father’s rage. When he breaks an heirloom linked to that house magic, it tears open a portal into another world where a river of dreams and nightmares flows – a river that’s now leaking through into their own world, threatening everything in its path. Harrowing and beautiful, Riverland is both the dark tumbling water and the lighthouse of imagination and resilience that shows a way through it.

", "tags": [ "young adult", "family matters", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1419733729", "seamus": 777037564, "itunes": 9781419733727, "goodreads": 41070150, "cover": "1419733729", "bookshop": 9781419733727, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781419733727", "isbn10": "1419733729", "links": [] }, "264": { "id": 264, "title": "Spin The Dawn", "author": "Elizabeth Lim", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

Maia is the best tailor along the Great Spice Road. But girls aren’t allowed to be tailors, so when her family receives a royal summons, Maia disguises herself as a boy and sets off to save her family with her needle and thread. Spin the Dawn is proof that focusing on the working folk of an imaginary land allows for fresh and nuanced storytelling. Maia’s perspective as a tailor makes her world vibrant and full of sensory details that will delight even the most jaded of fantasy readers.

", "tags": [ "young adult", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "052564699X", "seamus": 740872622, "itunes": 9780525646990, "goodreads": 47907309, "cover": "052564699X", "bookshop": 9780525646990, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525646990", "isbn10": "052564699X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 264, "book": "Spin The Dawn", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Spin The Dawn' Stitches Up A Fabulous Fantasy", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/15/740873686/spin-the-dawn-stitches-up-a-fabulous-fantasy" } ] }, "265": { "id": 265, "title": "The Downstairs Girl", "author": "Stacey Lee", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

As a Chinese girl living in late 19th century Atlanta, Jo constantly struggles to remain invisible even as she bursts with opinions. She begins writing an anonymous advice column, Dear Miss Sweetie, pouring out all the ideas she’s kept hidden – but as much as she yearns for acknowledgement, invisibility becomes more important than ever. This book tackles the racism and sexism of the Reconstruction-era South while still being a joyful read, full of newspaper office shenanigans, clandestine assignations in cemeteries and bicycle-riding adventures. The Downstairs Girl, for all its serious and timely content, is a jolly good time.

", "tags": [ "young adult", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "historical fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1524740950", "seamus": 753484140, "itunes": 9781524740955, "goodreads": 40277343, "cover": "1524740950", "bookshop": 9781524740955, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524740955", "isbn10": "1524740950", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 265, "book": "The Downstairs Girl", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Downstairs Girl' Faces Difficult History With Joy And Style", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/25/753484852/the-downstairs-girl-faces-difficult-history-with-joy-and-style" } ] }, "266": { "id": 266, "title": "Wilder Girls", "author": "Rory Power", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

The Raxter School for Girls is under quarantine. The Tox rips through the faculty and students, and Hetty and her friends Byatt and Reese are just trying to survive. But even though they look out for one another, unspoken tensions threaten to rupture their friendship as the Tox does the same to their bodies. Wilder Girls combines grotesque physical metamorphosis with the intense bonds of love between teenage girls to create a unique variety of feelings-heightened body horror. Wilder Girls is as sharp as a blade used to cut out corruption, and it wants to cut us deep.

", "tags": [ "the dark side", "young adult", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0525645586", "seamus": 740032456, "itunes": 9780525645580, "goodreads": 42505366, "cover": "0525645586", "bookshop": 9780525645580, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525645580", "isbn10": "0525645586", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 266, "book": "Wilder Girls", "source": "NPR", "text": "Enter The Quarantine Around 'Wilder Girls' At Your Own Risk", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/11/740033141/enter-the-quarantine-around-wilder-girls-at-your-own-risk" } ] }, "267": { "id": 267, "title": "With The Fire On High", "author": "Elizabeth Acevedo", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

Emoni got pregnant her freshman year of high school, and now she must juggle parenting her Babygirl with passing her classes. But Emoni’s true passion is cooking. In her hands, ingredients transform into something magical, transporting people deep into their most precious memories. And when Emoni’s school announces a special cooking class, it seems too good to be true. With the Fire on High is an open representation of teen motherhood that shows its hardships and joys without judgment. It’s a love letter to teens like Emoni, and its message is a powerful one: You can do this – and thrive.

", "tags": [ "family matters", "fiction", "young adult", "cookbooks & food", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "006266283X", "seamus": 721761844, "itunes": 9780062662835, "goodreads": 41154268, "cover": "006266283X", "bookshop": 9780062662835, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062662835", "isbn10": "006266283X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 267, "book": "With The Fire On High", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'With The Fire On High' Cooks Up A Powerful Message", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/11/721762105/with-the-fire-on-high-cooks-up-a-powerful-message" } ] }, "268": { "id": 268, "title": "Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All", "author": "Laura Ruby", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "

Frankie lives at an orphanage in Depression-era Chicago. Life is hard, but Frankie has her pals and her routines. She also has a ghost. Pearl watches Frankie, and as she tells us Frankie’s story, she circles her own and begins to remember all of the things that she has forgotten. Frankie is a bright but tiny flame of unexpressed longing and rage, and Pearl warms her ghostly hands against the fire, hoping it will burn through her as well – because there may be wolves behind all of the doors, but there is also a whole world beyond for those bold enough to push them wide.

", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "young adult", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062317644", "seamus": 766897695, "itunes": 9780062317643, "goodreads": 43453524, "cover": "0062317644", "bookshop": 9780062317643, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062317643", "isbn10": "0062317644", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 268, "book": "Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All", "source": "NPR", "text": "There Are Wolves Beyond These 'Thirteen Doorways' — But Also A Whole World", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/04/766903674/there-are-wolves-beyond-these-thirteen-doorways-but-also-a-whole-world" } ] }, "269": { "id": 269, "title": "A Prince On Paper: Reluctant Royals", "author": "Alyssa Cole", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "

Emotion, humor and sensuality are at the heart of the third entry in Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series. Johan von Braustein and Nya Jerami are the epitome of reluctant lovers, and the biggest obstacle to their happy-ever-after is, well, Johan and Nya. After one of the most memorable meet-cutes of the year, this duo struggles through mostly self-created obstacles. Nya is repressed, sheltered and inexperienced with life and love. Johan brims with confidence and bravado, but his Bad Boy Jo-Jo persona is a mask. Once these two begin to share their true selves, sparks fly and romance soars, making A Prince on Paper a must-have on any 2019 best-of list.

", "tags": [ "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "family matters", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0062685589", "seamus": 719645063, "itunes": 9780062685582, "goodreads": 41030122, "cover": "0062685589", "bookshop": 9780062685582, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062685582", "isbn10": "0062685589", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 269, "book": "A Prince On Paper: Reluctant Royals", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'A Prince On Paper,' The Road To Love Is Rocky", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/04/719645345/in-a-prince-on-paper-the-road-to-love-is-rocky" } ] }, "270": { "id": 270, "title": "Fumbled", "author": "Alexa Martin", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "

Fiercely independent Poppy Patterson is a waitress at the Emerald Cabaret, a Denver nightclub with a steakhouse on one floor and aerial acts on another. But Poppy’s most important job is that of a single mom to 9-year-old son Ace. And Ace’s father is Denver Mustangs wide receiver Trevor Kyle “TK” Moore – a secret neither Ace nor TK knows, until a chance encounter changes everything. Alexa Martin – who’s married to a former NFL player – offers an authentic look into the world of pro ball, from the paparazzi to the agents to the dangers of concussion. Whether you love or hate the sport, Fumbled is a second-chance romance that delivers as many laugh-out-loud moments as heartfelt sighs – all in the name of love.

", "tags": [ "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "family matters", "for sports lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0451491971", "seamus": 717577807, "itunes": 9780451491978, "goodreads": 40766478, "cover": "0451491971", "bookshop": 9780451491978, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780451491978", "isbn10": "0451491971", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 270, "book": "Fumbled", "source": "NPR", "text": "Whatever Your Feelings On Football, 'Fumbled' Scores Big", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/28/717578389/whatever-your-feelings-on-football-fumbled-scores-big" } ] }, "271": { "id": 271, "title": "Rebel", "author": "Beverly Jenkins", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "

Valinda Lacy is a Northerner who has come to New Orleans in the aftermath of the Civil War to help the city’s newly emancipated community. Captain Drake LeVeq is a physically formidable hulk of a man from an influential family with a long history in the area. Valinda has a fiancé and Drake a mistress, but their attraction to each other is immediate and unstoppable, challenging them both to make bold choices. Rebel is the first novel in Beverly Jenkins’ Women Who Dare series, and it blends history and romance for a gripping tale of a strong-willed, determined woman and a champion of a man.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture", "historical fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062861689", "seamus": 777037997, "itunes": 9780062861689, "goodreads": 41571739, "cover": "0062861689", "bookshop": 9780062861689, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062861689", "isbn10": "0062861689", "links": [] }, "272": { "id": 272, "title": "Alienation", "author": "Inés Estrada", "reviewers": [ "Etelka Lehoczky" ], "text": "

Though it’s set in 2054, Alienation sketches a world that feels just a few ticks off from the present day. While protagonist Elizabeth and her partner Charly frisk about in virtual worlds and enjoy an array of futuristic conveniences, Earth is clearly undergoing an inexorable collapse. The pair seesaw between delight at the incredible things technology can do and a panicked awareness of looming environmental disaster. Sound familiar? Inés Estrada’s drawings convey a fizzing, slightly hysterical ebullience, perfectly capturing a mercurial blend of exhilaration and alarm.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1683961897", "seamus": 719654923, "itunes": 9781683961895, "goodreads": 40554584, "cover": "1683961897", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781683961895", "isbn10": "1683961897", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 272, "book": "Alienation", "source": "NPR", "text": "Virtual Reality Eases The Reality Of Natural Destruction (Somewhat) In 'Alienation'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/04/719655355/virtual-reality-eases-the-reality-of-natural-destruction-somewhat-in-alienation" } ] }, "273": { "id": 273, "title": "Are You Listening?", "author": "Tillie Walden", "reviewers": [ "Etelka Lehoczky" ], "text": "

Tillie Walden’s magical-realist tale is spare, even sparse. Two young women, Bea and Lou, meet on the road in West Texas. Lou is en route to a vague destination, while the younger Bea is on the run from someone or something. They find a lost cat and resolve to return it to the address on its collar tag, even though it’s in a town they’ve never heard of. The story has the feel of a dream, but the specialness of the two women’s journey suffuses every page thanks to Walden’s remarkable pen.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1626727732", "seamus": 755140276, "itunes": 9781626727731, "goodreads": 42642075, "cover": "1626727732", "bookshop": 9781626727731, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781626727731", "isbn10": "1626727732", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 273, "book": "Are You Listening?", "source": "NPR", "text": "2 Women And A Magical Cat Hit The Road In 'Are You Listening?'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/08/755141219/2-women-and-a-magical-cat-hit-the-road-in-are-you-listening" } ] }, "274": { "id": 274, "title": "BTTM FDRS", "author": "Ezra Claytan Daniels, illustrated by Ben Passmore", "reviewers": [ "Etelka Lehoczky" ], "text": "

When young urbanites move into poor neighborhoods in search of cheap rents and local color, they often get more than they bargained for. What they don’t usually get are body parts spilling over the toilet rim and face-eating tentacles crawling out of the ventilation systems. That’s the kind of visceral revenge meted out in Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore’s comedic horror comic. Along with its lighthearted story, an unexpectedly radiant color palette and razor-sharp socioeconomic analysis make BTTM FDRS a memorable take on gentrification.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "for art lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1683962060", "seamus": 736312148, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 42123830, "cover": "1683962060", "bookshop": 9781683962069, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781683962069", "isbn10": "1683962060", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 274, "book": "BTTM FDRS", "source": "NPR", "text": "Of Tenants And Tentacles: 'BTTM FDRS' Confronts Gentrification In Comic Horror Form", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/27/736317209/of-tenants-and-tentacles-bttm-fdrs-confronts-gentrification-in-comic-horror-form" } ] }, "275": { "id": 275, "title": "Hot Comb", "author": "Ebony Flowers", "reviewers": [ "Etelka Lehoczky" ], "text": "

Deceptively simple in both its visuals and narrative, Hot Comb reflects on growing up black with a combination of humor and biting rage. Its throughline is hair – Ebony Flowers shows how hair is the nucleus of every African American girl’s self-image, an ever-present and ever-shifting symbol of difference, mutability, glamour and even the power of capitalism. It’s a thread running through stories of coping with overworked parents, racist classmates and pushy strangers. Flowers’ intuitive, unruly drawing style gives her lighter anecdotes gonzo verve and her darker stories immediacy.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "family matters", "identity & culture", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "1770463488", "seamus": 777038341, "itunes": 9781770463486, "goodreads": 41940338, "cover": "1770463488", "bookshop": 9781770463486, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781770463486", "isbn10": "1770463488", "links": [] }, "276": { "id": 276, "title": "I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir", "author": "Malaka Gharib", "reviewers": [ "Etelka Lehoczky" ], "text": "

Drawing comics with characters of diverse races is a fraught task. It’s supremely difficult to make race visible without reinscribing stereotypes, so Malaka Gharib’s strategy is usually to not draw race at all. In her pages, a Korean American looks pretty much the same as a white person. Not that Gharib thinks everyone’s all alike – quite the opposite. She argues that it’s not color, but culture that makes a person. Gharib fills her book with the things that do matter: the beliefs, values, food, music and experiences that make an Egyptian Filipino American (and NPR editor) who she is.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "family matters", "identity & culture", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0525575111", "seamus": 718228240, "itunes": 9780525575115, "goodreads": 40909448, "cover": "0525575111", "bookshop": 9780525575115, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525575115", "isbn10": "0525575111", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 276, "book": "I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "NPR's Malaka Gharib's Memoir: 'I Was Their American Dream'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/06/720570645/nprs-malaka-gharibs-graphical-memoir-i-was-their-american-dream" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 276, "book": "I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'I Was Their American Dream,' It's Culture, Not Color, That Matters", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/30/718220595/in-i-was-their-american-dream-its-culture-not-color-that-matters" } ] }, "277": { "id": 277, "title": "Man-Eaters Volume 1", "author": "Chelsea Cain, illustrated by Kate Niemczyk and Lia Miternique", "reviewers": [ "Etelka Lehoczky" ], "text": "

Even if it didn’t happen to be about preteen girls turning into giant killer panthers, Man-Eaters would still be a remarkable comic. Simply by envisioning teen girls as ferocious beasts, writer Chelsea Cain finds a hundred ways to mock our culture’s fear of powerful women. To flesh out Man-Eaters’ world, Cain and artist Kate Niemczyk create page upon page of fake ads, educational pamphlets and other propaganda. Thanks to Cain’s toothy humor, by the end of Man-Eaters, a killer cat starts to seem like a perfectly (or purrrfectly) OK creature to be.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "young adult", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1534311432", "seamus": 698642014, "itunes": 9781534311435, "goodreads": 41546163, "cover": "1534311432", "bookshop": 9781534311435, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781534311435", "isbn10": "1534311432", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 277, "book": "Man-Eaters Volume 1", "source": "NPR", "text": "In Wildly Satirical 'Man-Eaters,' Teen Girls Turn Into Ferocious Panthers", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/06/698642420/in-wildly-satirical-man-eaters-teen-girls-turn-into-ferocious-panthers" } ] }, "278": { "id": 278, "title": "The Hard Tomorrow", "author": "Eleanor Davis", "reviewers": [ "Etelka Lehoczky" ], "text": "

After a couple of fairly abstract books, the virtuosic Eleanor Davis delves into a story of intimacy, connection and concreteness. Hannah, a home health worker, and her husband, Johnny, are trying to have a baby and build a house. Hannah goes to political demonstrations with her friend Gabby, while Johnny gets dubious advice on construction and life from his conspiracy-theorizing friend, Tyler. A cascading series of events eventually leads Hannah and Johnny to reckon with their deepest values. Davis’ art, more gorgeous than ever, lends every simple moment glorious significance.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "fiction", "family matters", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "1770463739", "seamus": 777038480, "itunes": 9781770463738, "goodreads": 43317538, "cover": "1770463739", "bookshop": 9781770463738, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781770463738", "isbn10": "1770463739", "links": [] }, "279": { "id": 279, "title": "The Seventh Voyage", "author": "Stanislaw Lem, illustrated by Jon Muth, translated by Michael Kandel", "reviewers": [ "Etelka Lehoczky" ], "text": "

Stanislaw Lem’s story is quite short, takes place inside a cramped spaceship and features only one character (well, sort of). But master artist Jon Muth makes this small story a place you can stay a while. When narrator Ijon Tichy zooms into a field of gravitational vortices, different versions of him start appearing – each from different times. While Lem’s text pokes fun at the concept of the heroic solo space traveler, Muth’s soft-edged paintings gently mock the notion of space travel as a high-tech fantasy.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "it’s all geek to me", "funny stuff", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0545004624", "seamus": 766840479, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 43118388, "cover": "0545004624", "bookshop": 9780545004626, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780545004626", "isbn10": "0545004624", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 279, "book": "The Seventh Voyage", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Seventh Voyage' Takes A Grand Journey In A Tiny Spaceship", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/04/766840876/the-seventh-voyage-takes-a-grand-journey-in-a-tiny-spaceship" } ] }, "280": { "id": 280, "title": "The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys With The Hustlers And Rebels Of The New China", "author": "Frank Langfitt", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

NPR correspondent Frank Langfitt has covered China and other countries for nearly two decades. Everything he learned about China – and about building compelling narratives – can be found in The Shanghai Free Taxi. It’s a nonfiction gem that offers readers a mixture of politics, history, action, crime and humor, all adding up to a superb chronicle of China as it adapts to changes both internal and global.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "tales from around the world", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1610398149", "seamus": 733185876, "itunes": 9781610398145, "goodreads": 42283958, "cover": "1610398149", "bookshop": 9781610398145, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781610398145", "isbn10": "1610398149", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 280, "book": "The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys With The Hustlers And Rebels Of The New China", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Shanghai Free Taxi' Delves Deep Into China's Troubles", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/16/732365213/the-shanghai-free-taxi-delves-deep-into-chinas-troubles" } ] }, "281": { "id": 281, "title": "An American Summer: Love And Death In Chicago", "author": "Alex Kotlowitz", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

The gun debate in this country tends to focus on what needs to be done about guns, instead of on those who have lost their lives or been affected by gun violence. Writer and filmmaker Alex Kotlowitz’s An American Summer reintroduces the human elements into the debate. Instead of discussing politics, Kotlowitz deftly writes about the brutal, blood-soaked streets of Chicago and digs into the lives of those touched by violence, both as victims and culprits. Maddening, heartbreaking and strangely full of hope, An American Summer rehumanizes the gun debate by putting names and faces to the violence we see on TV.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "the states we’re in", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0385538804", "seamus": 700352910, "itunes": 9780385538800, "goodreads": 40594394, "cover": "0385538804", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385538800", "isbn10": "0385538804", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 281, "book": "An American Summer: Love And Death In Chicago", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'An American Summer' Presents The Human Side Of Gun Violence In Chicago", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/08/701467501/an-american-summer-presents-the-human-side-of-gun-violence-in-chicago" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 281, "book": "An American Summer: Love And Death In Chicago", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'An American Summer' Looks At How Gun Violence 'Gets In People's Bones'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/700341774/american-summer-looks-at-how-gun-violence-gets-in-people-s-bones" } ] }, "282": { "id": 282, "title": "Juliet The Maniac: A Novel", "author": "Juliet Escoria", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

In Juliet the Maniac, the apocalypse is an internal problem. Juliet is a young woman suffering from depression; she feels alienated and has twice attempted suicide. In the aftermath, she’s stuck in a psychiatric institution, and her life keeps deteriorating as she struggles with unhelpful medication and her need to understand herself. Walking a fine line between autobiography and fiction, this is a gloomy narrative about mental illness that slowly transforms into a story about discovering hope when there is none, allowing ourselves to believe in redemption and finding ways to heal.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1612197590", "seamus": 718715659, "itunes": 9781612197593, "goodreads": 41180823, "cover": "1612197590", "bookshop": 9781612197593, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781612197593", "isbn10": "1612197590", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 282, "book": "Juliet The Maniac: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "For 'Juliet The Maniac,' Healing Had To Come From Within", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/01/718715858/for-juliet-the-maniac-healing-had-to-come-from-within" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 282, "book": "Juliet The Maniac: A Novel", "source": "WPR", "text": "Novelist Juliet Escoria Taps Personal Pain With Debut 'Juliet The Maniac'", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/novelist-juliet-escoria-taps-personal-pain-debut-juliet-maniac" } ] }, "283": { "id": 283, "title": "Night Boat To Tangier: A Novel", "author": "Kevin Barry", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

The plot of Kevin Barry’s Night Boat to Tangier is simple: Two old Irish drug smugglers, Maurice and Charlie, spend a night in the dark waiting room of a ferry terminal in the Spanish port of Algeciras, waiting for Maurice’s estranged daughter. And waiting leads to talking – about their lives of crime, lost loves, living in exile and the violence they’ve experienced. Told with incredible economy of language and a healthy dose of black humor, Night Boat to Tangier is a deliciously dark comedy about two unforgettable thugs who are also philosophers and longtime friends — and who are funny as hell.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "tales from around the world", "family matters", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0385540310", "seamus": 762514111, "itunes": 9780385540315, "goodreads": 43256597, "cover": "0385540310", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385540315", "isbn10": "0385540310", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 283, "book": "Night Boat To Tangier: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Take A Dark Ride On The 'Night Boat To Tangier'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/20/762515226/take-a-dark-ride-on-the-night-boat-to-tangier" } ] }, "284": { "id": 284, "title": "Wanderers: A Novel", "author": "Chuck Wendig", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

The post-apocalyptic genre is thriving, but only a few books in every decade become part of the post-apoc canon. Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers is one of those special ones that join the likes of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Stephen King’s The Stand. One day, people just start walking, mindlessly, unstoppably – is it an illness? A terrorist attack? The end of the world? No one knows, and the uncertainty sends the country spinning into bigotry, mayhem and murder. Powerful and political without being preachy, Wanderers is a must-read for fans of the genre.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0399182101", "seamus": 738973913, "itunes": 9780399182105, "goodreads": 34019083, "cover": "0399182101", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399182105", "isbn10": "0399182101", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 284, "book": "Wanderers: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "These 'Wanderers' Are Heading For The End Of The World", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/06/738974776/these-wanderers-are-heading-for-the-end-of-the-world" } ] }, "285": { "id": 285, "title": "Solitary: Unbroken By Four Decades In Solitary Confinement", "author": "Albert Woodfox", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

Solitary made me angry. Albert Woodfox spent four decades in prison, many of those years in solitary confinement. He suffered racist abuse, deprivation, neglect and extreme isolation – and now he’s telling the world about it. While it works as a biography, Solitary is also a book about how racism has corrupted our legal system and how prisons are places where bigotry is sometimes allowed to flourish. This book should be read by everyone, and everyone should be angry about what Woodfox went through. Angry enough to make sure it never happens again.

", "tags": [ "biography & memoir", "nonfiction", "the states we’re in", "eye-opening reads", "the dark side", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0802129080", "seamus": 700345777, "itunes": 9780802129086, "goodreads": 40642337, "cover": "0802129080", "bookshop": 9780802129086, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780802129086", "isbn10": "0802129080", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 285, "book": "Solitary: Unbroken By Four Decades In Solitary Confinement", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Solitary,' Determination And Humanity Win Over Injustice ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/700339694/in-solitary-determination-and-humanity-win-over-injustice" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 285, "book": "Solitary: My Journey of Transformation and Hope", "source": "WWNO", "text": "The Reading Life With Albert Woodfox", "url": "https://www.wwno.org/post/reading-life-albert-woodfox" } ] }, "286": { "id": 286, "title": "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir In Essays", "author": "Damon Young", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

Damon Young, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Very Smart Brothas, isn’t afraid to tell the truth about his experiences as a black man living in the United States. In the essays that make up What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, Young discusses everything from growing up waiting to be called the N-word to black masculinity, barbershop drama and his financial struggles. With his straightforward, witty, heartfelt prose, Young has created a special book that offers a look into a unique set of experiences that have universal resonance.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "identity & culture", "book club ideas", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0062684302", "seamus": 705901624, "itunes": 9780062684301, "goodreads": 40652123, "cover": "0062684302", "bookshop": 9780062684301, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062684301", "isbn10": "0062684302", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 286, "book": "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir In Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'What Doesn't Kill You' Is A Humorous, Authentic Take On Growing Up Black", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/03/719991374/what-doesn-t-kill-you-is-a-humorous-authentic-take-on-growing-up-black" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 286, "book": "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir In Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker' Is A Powerful Look At One Black Man's Life", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/26/706741007/what-doesnt-kill-you-makes-you-blacker-is-a-powerful-look-at-one-black-mans-life" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 286, "book": "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir In Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'What Doesn't Kill You' Navigates The Challenges Of Existing While Black", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/23/705844250/what-doesnt-kill-you-navigates-the-challenges-of-existing-while-black" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 286, "book": "What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker", "source": "WPR", "text": "Writer Damon Young Compares Living While Black To An Extreme Sport", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/writer-damon-young-compares-living-while-black-extreme-sport" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 286, "book": "What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker", "source": "WDET", "text": "Damon Young’s Book 'What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker' Challenges Perceptions Of Race", "url": "https://wdet.org/posts/2019/04/11/88061-damon-youngs-book-what-doesnt-kill-you-makes-you-blacker-challenges-perceptions-of-race/" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 286, "book": "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker", "source": "Georgia Public Broadcasting", "text": "Being Black Is An Extreme Sport", "url": "http://www.gpb.org/blogs/speakeasy/2019/12/03/being-black-extreme-sport" } ] }, "287": { "id": 287, "title": "A Friend Is A Gift You Give Yourself: A Novel", "author": "William Boyle", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

Noir is alive and well, and William Boyle is one of the new masters of the genre. A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself is a quintessential New York City noir novel that subverts the tropes of the genre by putting women at the center of the narrative and ignoring guns in favor of focusing on feelings and the ways the past influences the present. Told with superb economy of language and packed with New York trivia, this is a deep, funny story about running away and finding yourself that features a Brooklyn mob widow, an estranged daughter and a Golden Age porn star.

", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "seriously great writing", "funny stuff", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1643130587", "seamus": 698636010, "itunes": 9781643130583, "goodreads": 40554557, "cover": "1643130587", "bookshop": 9781643130583, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781643130583", "isbn10": "1643130587", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 287, "book": "A Friend Is A Gift You Give Yourself: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'A Friend Is A Gift' For Crime Novel Fans", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/698636659/a-friend-is-a-gift-for-crime-novel-fans" } ] }, "288": { "id": 288, "title": "Black Souls", "author": "Gioacchino Criaco, translated by Hillary Gulley", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "

Black Souls tells the story of three childhood friends in Calabria’s Aspromonte mountains who turn to crime to climb out of the poverty they were born into. Like many other Mafia novels, this one is packed with violence and crime. But Gioacchino Criaco has a great understanding of the psychogeography of crime and treats his characters – who aren’t far removed from his own experiences – with humanity. The novel is also deeply immersed in Calabrian culture, showing readers a ruthless world in which people with good hearts know that crime is the only path to a better life.

", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1616959975", "seamus": 777039143, "itunes": 9781616959975, "goodreads": 41823774, "cover": "1616959975", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781616959975", "isbn10": "1616959975", "links": [] }, "289": { "id": 289, "title": "Floating Coast: An Environmental History Of The Bering Strait", "author": "Bathsheba Demuth", "reviewers": [ "Genevieve Valentine" ], "text": "

Nature is inextricable from politics. People are inextricable from nature. The Arctic is inextricable from everything. In Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait, the Arctic comes alive with detail amid dramatic shifts – in seasons, in nature, in politics. The triumph of this lyrical history is how Bathsheba Demuth pulls numerous threads into a net from which neither whales nor our children can escape. Complex and devastating, Floating Coast can read as a eulogy, but it’s also a deeply studied book that traces a complex history, notes what faces us now and dares us to imagine better.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "science!", "tales from around the world", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0393635163", "seamus": 751730722, "itunes": 9780393635164, "goodreads": 41817544, "cover": "0393635163", "bookshop": 9780393635164, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393635164", "isbn10": "0393635163", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 289, "book": "Floating Coast: An Environmental History Of The Bering Strait", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Floating Coast' Reads Like A Eulogy To The Natural World — With A Sliver Of Hope", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/21/751237150/floating-coast-reads-like-a-eulogy-to-the-natural-world-with-a-sliver-of-hope" } ] }, "290": { "id": 290, "title": "The Plaza: The Secret Life Of America's Most Famous Hotel", "author": "Julie Satow", "reviewers": [ "Genevieve Valentine" ], "text": "

It all comes back to The Plaza. No other New York edifice so directly reflects the city itself – the shift from old money to new business, the strained relationship between developers and unions, globalization, and every generation’s interpretations of the past. Through personal interviews and historical accounts, Julie Satow embraces the chaos of its history. The details are always dramatic, though it’s impossible to ignore the distance between backroom billionaires and expendable employees. Still, nostalgia about the Plaza always manages to turn its excess into excitement, and the fact that it survived hard times endears the hotel even to those who can only dream of staying there.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "no biz like show biz", "the states we’re in", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "1455566675", "seamus": 729942562, "itunes": 9781455566679, "goodreads": 42283773, "cover": "1455566675", "bookshop": 9781455566679, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781455566679", "isbn10": "1455566675", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 290, "book": "The Plaza: The Secret Life Of America's Most Famous Hotel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Plaza' Is A Nostalgic Look At The History Of New York's Most Famous Hotel", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/06/729935197/the-plaza-is-a-nostalgic-look-at-the-history-of-new-yorks-most-famous-hotel" } ] }, "291": { "id": 291, "title": "Elizabethan Globalism: England, China And The Rainbow Portrait", "author": "Matthew Dimmock", "reviewers": [ "Genevieve Valentine" ], "text": "

The Rainbow Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I has enough mythmaking character design to make a comic book superhero jealous, and yet it still retains its mystery. Part history, part art book, Elizabethan Globalism: England, China and the Rainbow Portrait offers up in-depth scholarship and a museum exhibit’s worth of historical artifacts, illuminating the world behind the painting: the queen’s growing power, England’s relationship with the Ottoman Empire, its fascination with China and issues of fashion, culture and trade. It’s a historical treasure hunt that shows how a single artifact contains underpinnings of an empire and that offers fascinating insight into how political myths are made.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "for art lovers", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "1913107035", "seamus": 777039350, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 44310206, "cover": "1913107035", "bookshop": 9781913107031, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781913107031", "isbn10": "1913107035", "links": [] }, "292": { "id": 292, "title": "A Woman Of No Importance: The Untold Story Of The American Spy Who Helped Win World War II", "author": "Sonia Purnell", "reviewers": [ "Genevieve Valentine" ], "text": "

As an American woman with a disability, Virginia Hall was an unlikely choice for British spy work. But by 1940 she was in France, with only the barest brief – build a resistance, no matter what. Sonia Purnell’s A Woman of No Importance is a gripping account of how Hall defied all expectations as she built her network and how she fought obstacles at home after the war. The book smooths a staggering cast and a complex timeline into a brisk narrative, balancing the story of the resistance that eventually made victory possible with the life of a remarkable spy who risked it all.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "nonfiction", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "073522529X", "seamus": 711805560, "itunes": 9780735225299, "goodreads": 40595446, "cover": "073522529X", "bookshop": 9780735225299, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780735225299", "isbn10": "073522529X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 292, "book": "A Woman Of No Importance: The Untold Story Of The American Spy Who Helped Win World War II", "source": "NPR", "text": "Virginia Hall, The Subject Of 'A Woman Of No Importance,' Was Anything But", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/11/711773072/virginia-hall-the-subject-of-a-woman-of-no-importance-was-anything-but" } ] }, "293": { "id": 293, "title": "The Season: A Social History Of The Debutante", "author": "Kristen Richardson", "reviewers": [ "Genevieve Valentine" ], "text": "

Don’t let the evening gloves fool you – The Season is a tense history of social change. Much of debutante tradition arose from attempts to preserve narratives of power and culture and deliberately excluded families on the basis of religion, race and class. Luckily, Kristen Richardson has a wry touch with even the most mercenary moments. Though the practice of social debuts is clearly loaded, the book offers a humanizing glimpse behind the very careful performances being given at very fraught balls. Debuting is a tug of war among money, race, class, culture and tradition, and The Season makes sparkling work of it.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0393608735", "seamus": 777039626, "itunes": 9780393608731, "goodreads": 43726555, "cover": "0393608735", "bookshop": 9780393608731, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393608731", "isbn10": "0393608735", "links": [] }, "294": { "id": 294, "title": "Black Card: A Novel", "author": "Chris L. Terry", "reviewers": [ "Jason Heller" ], "text": "

The premise of Chris L. Terry’s Black Card is simple: It’s a novel that draws from the author’s experiences as a mixed-race youth existing in two overlapping and not always welcoming worlds – the punk rock scene and the South. From there, though, this wildly entertaining look at racism veers into satire, poignancy and plenty of insight into all the ways America finds to divide itself.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "identity & culture", "for music lovers", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "194822626X", "seamus": 751339465, "itunes": 9781948226264, "goodreads": "", "cover": "194822626X", "bookshop": 9781948226264, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781948226264", "isbn10": "194822626X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 294, "book": "Black Card: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Black Card' Wrings Humor And Pathos Out Of A Serious Situation", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/18/751339492/black-card-wrings-humor-and-pathos-out-of-a-serious-situation" } ] }, "295": { "id": 295, "title": "Supernova Era", "author": "Cixin Liu, translated by Joel Martinsen", "reviewers": [ "Jason Heller" ], "text": "

Hugo Award winner Cixin Liu had the science fiction world spellbound with his Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, but Supernova Era is something different. A standalone novel from early in the Chinese author’s career, it imagines a world where adults have gone extinct and preadolescents are forced to grow up overnight and save civilization from disappearing. The concept is profound, and Liu executes it with agile twists and a heart full of hope for humanity

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250306035", "seamus": 771332288, "itunes": 9781250306036, "goodreads": 43263225, "cover": "1250306035", "bookshop": 9781250306036, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250306036", "isbn10": "1250306035", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 295, "book": "Supernova Era", "source": "NPR", "text": "In Cixin Liu's 'Supernova Era,' The Children Really Are The Future", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/21/771332617/in-cixin-lius-supernova-era-the-children-really-are-the-future" } ] }, "296": { "id": 296, "title": "The Grand Dark", "author": "Richard Kadrey", "reviewers": [ "Jason Heller" ], "text": "

“For the patrons,” writes Richard Kadrey, speaking of the eponymous, decadent theater at the heart of his latest fantasy novel, “entering the Grand Dark was a gleeful surrender, a leap down the gullet of an alluring monster.” The same can be said of The Grand Dark itself. It’s a sumptuous tale of street-level intrigue and sprawling socioeconomic drama set in a fictional, Weimar Republic-like city that takes on a life of its own – as do most Kadrey creations.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "no biz like show biz", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0008288852", "seamus": 734467051, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 45722597, "cover": "0008288852", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780008288853", "isbn10": "0008288852", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 296, "book": "The Grand Dark", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Noir Stalwart Builds A New Old World In 'The Grand Dark'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734467280/a-noir-stalwart-builds-a-new-old-world-in-the-grand-dark" } ] }, "297": { "id": 297, "title": "The Ruin Of Kings", "author": "Jenn Lyons", "reviewers": [ "Jason Heller" ], "text": "

One of the most immersive new fantasy series of 2019 is Jenn Lyons’ A Chorus of Dragons. The first book in the series, The Ruin of Kings, establishes the empire of Quuros, a place where the magical Academy helps protect the citizenry from the threat of monsters that abound in the land – up to and including dragons. From that basic layout, Lyons constructs an epic architecture of plot, characters and world building that’s given plenty of fans distraction in the absence of Game of Thrones.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250175488", "seamus": 754397597, "itunes": 9781250175489, "goodreads": 39863237, "cover": "1250175488", "bookshop": 9781250175489, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250175489", "isbn10": "1250175488", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 297, "book": "The Ruin Of Kings", "source": "NPR", "text": "These 5 Fire-Breathing Books Will Warm The Hearts Of Dragon Fans", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/754397933/these-5-fire-breathing-books-will-warm-the-hearts-of-dragon-fans" } ] }, "298": { "id": 298, "title": "A Spectral Hue", "author": "Craig Laurance Gidney", "reviewers": [ "Jason Heller" ], "text": "

Craig Laurance Gidney’s previous fiction and poetry have shown a daring openness when it comes to genre, and A Spectral Hue is cut from similar cloth. In one sense, it’s a quiet, confidently told novel of identity – gay, black, artistic and ancestral – that resonates on a wholly realistic level. In another, it’s a hybrid of horror, folklore, dark fantasy and magical realism that whispers and twists through the lush, imaginary city of Shimmer, Md., a place where the supernatural seems woven into the air itself.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "rather short", "for art lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1939905508", "seamus": 733457733, "itunes": 9781939905505, "goodreads": "", "cover": "1939905508", "bookshop": 9781939905505, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781939905505", "isbn10": "1939905508", "links": [] }, "299": { "id": 299, "title": "Magic For Liars: A Novel", "author": "Sarah Gailey", "reviewers": [ "Jason Heller" ], "text": "

Academies of magic have been fertile ground for many authors since before Harry Potter seized the collective imagination. Few authors, however, have pulled off a magic-school story with the flair of Sarah Gailey. Magic for Liars is a novel rife with mystery, rich emotion and, of course, academic magic that never fails to dazzle with its inventiveness and quirky verve. Even if you feel this kind of setting has been done to death, you’ll find something fresh and fantastic in Gailey’s lively brainchild.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250174619", "seamus": 730636393, "itunes": 9781250174611, "goodreads": 41555947, "cover": "1250174619", "bookshop": 9781250174611, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250174611", "isbn10": "1250174619", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 299, "book": "Magic For Liars: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Magic For Liars' Asks, What If You're Actually Not Magic?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/08/730636982/magic-for-liars-asks-what-if-youre-actually-not-magic" } ] }, "300": { "id": 300, "title": "A Song For A New Day", "author": "Sarah Pinsker", "reviewers": [ "Jason Heller" ], "text": "

Rock music and speculative fiction have a long history together – Emma Bull’s classic fantasy novel War for the Oaks springs to mind. But Sarah Pinsker has upped the volume with A Song for a New Day. The Nebula Award-winning author delivers a dystopian tale of political suppression, virtual reality and outlaw musicians that examines why we create and how vital that is in a world gone mad.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "for music lovers", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1984802585", "seamus": 772327871, "itunes": 9781984802583, "goodreads": 43223112, "cover": "1984802585", "bookshop": 9781984802583, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984802583", "isbn10": "1984802585", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 300, "book": "A Song For A New Day", "source": "KAXE/KBXE Northern Community Radio", "text": "What We're Reading: Sarah Pinsker's 'A Song For A New Day'", "url": "https://beta.prx.org/stories/292485" } ] }, "301": { "id": 301, "title": "We Went To The Woods: A Novel", "author": "Caite Dolan-Leach", "reviewers": [ "Jean Zimmerman" ], "text": "

Twenty-something Mackenzie – calling herself Mack – flees her suburban upbringing to join a kind of millennial experiment, a cloud-cuckoo-land commune in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. She sees herself and the other 20-something communards as “survivalists,” determined to live off the grid. “We were abuzz,” she enthuses – and variations on ecstatic togetherness recur, forming delightful tableaus or ominous danger signs, depending on the reader’s level of cynicism. A sharp, spellbinding cautionary tale, the novel reminds us that even those who do remember the past might also wind up repeating it.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0399588884", "seamus": 738000753, "itunes": 9780399588884, "goodreads": 42179785, "cover": "0399588884", "bookshop": 9780399588884, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399588884", "isbn10": "0399588884", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 301, "book": "We Went To The Woods: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'We Went To The Woods' Warns: You Can Know History And Still Repeat It", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/03/738001096/we-went-to-the-woods-warns-you-can-know-history-and-still-repeat-it" } ] }, "302": { "id": 302, "title": "Best Friends", "author": "Shannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

I thought my middle school memories had faded to a blurry haze, but Shannon Hale’s Best Friends brings them into sharp relief. We first met sixth-grader Shannon in 2017’s Real Friends. Now she’s back, and so is The Group. Ah, The Group. Hale’s Best Friends is no less authentic, emotional or heart-wrenching than its predecessor, and young Shannon’s struggles with popularity, honesty, heartbreak and insecurity make me glad sixth grade (and my own false friends) is far behind me. Every painful grimace and false smile are brilliantly illustrated by LeUyen Pham. This a must-read for any kid as they grow up, and also a must-read for parents as they try to remember what it was like to be a kid. (For ages 8 to 11)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "fiction", "comics & graphic novels" ], "isbn": "1250317452", "seamus": 760229020, "itunes": 9781250317452, "goodreads": 42642018, "cover": "1250317452", "bookshop": 9781250317452, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250317452", "isbn10": "1250317452", "links": [] }, "303": { "id": 303, "title": "Bruce’s Big Storm", "author": "Ryan T. Higgins", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

Ah, Bruce! Will he ever get any peace and quiet? With all Bruce’s previous trials, (Oh, those geese! Oh, those mice!) one would think Ryan T. Higgins would give him a break, but no such luck. If anything, Higgins doubles down on poor, grumpy, homebody Bruce’s troubles; not only does he have to provide shelter from the storm to a new bevy of animals, a tree falls on his house! Bruce’s Big Storm is almost sure to be your kid’s new favorite in the Bruce series. It’s really that funny. (For ages 4 to 7)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1368026222", "seamus": 777040044, "itunes": 9781368026222, "goodreads": 43522208, "cover": "1368026222", "bookshop": 9781368026222, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781368026222", "isbn10": "1368026222", "links": [] }, "304": { "id": 304, "title": "Five Minutes: (That's A Lot of Time) (No, It's Not) (Yes, It Is)", "author": "Liz Garton Scanlon and Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Olivier Tallec", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

The authors of one of my all-time favorite children’s books (Bob, Not Bob) have done it again with Five Minutes (That’s a lot of time) (No, it’s not) (Yes, it is). A family faces all the perils of five minutes from first thing in the morning (five more minutes of sleep is too short) and rushing out of the house (five minutes and still in pajamas!), to the end of the day (five minutes of drying dishes is too long, but five minutes of reading is not long enough). Olivier Tallec manages to masterfully illustrate boredom and frenzy, and the image of the little boy as he waits five minutes at the post office is snort-worthy. (For ages 3 to 7)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters" ], "isbn": "052551631X", "seamus": 777040314, "itunes": 9780525516316, "goodreads": 42550052, "cover": "052551631X", "bookshop": 9780525516316, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525516316", "isbn10": "052551631X", "links": [] }, "305": { "id": 305, "title": "Home In The Woods", "author": "Eliza Wheeler", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

It took one page of Eliza Wheeler’s Home in the Woods to make me cry. After her father dies, 6-year-old Marvel, her seven young siblings and their mother face the Great Depression on their own. Evicted from their home, they find a dilapidated tar paper shack in the woods and set about to make it a home. Following Marvel through a year of deprivation, hard work and ingenuity, Home in the Woods is a heartfelt love letter to our families who came before us and to putting family before ourselves. Wheeler’s illustrations are a revelation, using tint and saturation to evoke seasons of plenty and want. A poignant and personal story that will resound with any of us whose family stories include almost unimaginable hardship. (For ages 5 to 8)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "historical fiction", "for art lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0399162909", "seamus": 777040496, "itunes": 9780399162909, "goodreads": 43581896, "cover": "0399162909", "bookshop": 9780399162909, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780399162909", "isbn10": "0399162909", "links": [] }, "306": { "id": 306, "title": "Rumple Buttercup: A Story Of Bananas, Belonging, And Being Yourself", "author": "Matthew Gray Gubler", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

There’s a new monster in town, and his name is Rumple Buttercup. Rumple rolls into town – well, he actually lives UNDER the town already – and takes it by storm. Rumple has green skin, five crooked teeth, three strands of hair, an imaginary friend made of candy and hides from the world under a banana peel. At 136 pages, it may seem a little long for reading aloud, but Rumple is so endearing that kids won’t let you put it down. Matthew Gray Gubler’s first book is a triumph, and his quirky illustrations hook kids immediately and leave them waiting for a sequel. (For ages 4 and older)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0525648445", "seamus": 777040781, "itunes": 9780525648444, "goodreads": 40909460, "cover": "0525648445", "bookshop": 9780525648444, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525648444", "isbn10": "0525648445", "links": [] }, "307": { "id": 307, "title": "Sunny Rolls The Dice", "author": "Jennifer L. Holm, illustrated by Matthew Holm", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

For any parent who wants to impart the magic of the 1970s to their children (I do, with a vengeance), the Sunny series is a great way to start. Summer is over, and Sunny has finally reached middle school: 1970s middle school. Into the world of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans (not Sunny’s style) and teen magazines (spoiler – Sunny fails the quizzes), comes Dungeons and Dragons in the wood-paneled basement, and Sunny is hooked. While the ‘70s references may be a bit hard for some kids to navigate, middle school struggles are universal. And so is Lip Smackers lip gloss. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "it’s all geek to me", "historical fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1338233149", "seamus": 777041072, "itunes": 9781338233148, "goodreads": 43319627, "cover": "1338233149", "bookshop": 9781338233148, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781338233148", "isbn10": "1338233149", "links": [] }, "308": { "id": 308, "title": "The Curse Of The Werepenguin", "author": "Allan Woodrow, ilustrated by Scott Brown", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

Imagine Mary Shelley had a preoccupation with zoos, a sense of humor and bad allergies, then commiserated with Roald Dahl and Mel Brooks to write a story for upper elementary school kids, and you would have The Curse of the Werepenquin. Bolt Wattle’s trek from his dismal orphanage to mysterious Brugaria to meet (he thinks) his mother and father leads him straight to … 12-year-old Baron Chordata? And the prospect of becoming a werepenguin himself. It’s funny, it’s ridiculous, it’s solidly spooky without being too scary and it leaves me with the impression that stale French bread may be a pretty good weapon against the Greatest Bandit in the World. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "funny stuff", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0451480449", "seamus": 777041139, "itunes": 9780451480446, "goodreads": 43062981, "cover": "0451480449", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780451480446", "isbn10": "0451480449", "links": [] }, "309": { "id": 309, "title": "The Good Egg", "author": "Jory John, illustrated by Pete Oswald", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

I did NOT think Jory John and Pete Oswald could produce a book as entertaining as The Bad Seed, but The Good Egg comes awfully, awfully close. It may not be as fun for kids to say “I’m a good egg” as it is for them to say (in their most contrary voices) “I’m a baaaaaad seed,” but boy do they love it when Good Egg realizes he doesn’t have to be good all the time, and they really identify with Good Egg’s annoyance when the other eggs aren’t perfect. A morality tale with a very funny bag of yolks. (For ages 4 to 8)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "cookbooks & food", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0062866001", "seamus": 777041333, "itunes": 9780062866004, "goodreads": 40221498, "cover": "0062866001", "bookshop": 9780062866004, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062866004", "isbn10": "0062866001", "links": [] }, "310": { "id": 310, "title": "The Last Last-Day-Of-Summer", "author": "Lamar Giles, illustrated by Dapo Adeola", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

Move over, Encyclopedia Brown, and make way for Otto and Sheed Alston. Lamar Giles, master of young adult mysteries and thrillers, finally brings us a book for middle-grade readers. Already legendary detectives in their small Virginia town, the Alston boys dismally face their last day of summer vacation, which, considering they have been inadvertently tricked into freezing time, ends up being the longest day of their lives. A gumshoe adventure with a sci-fi twist, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer is a fast-moving, highly entertaining read. (For ages 10 to 12)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1328460835", "seamus": 777041504, "itunes": 9781328460837, "goodreads": 40796129, "cover": "1328460835", "bookshop": 9781328460837, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781328460837", "isbn10": "1328460835", "links": [] }, "311": { "id": 311, "title": "Tight", "author": "Torrey Maldonado", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "

Sixth-grader Bryan makes me nervous. Normally quiet and a bit introverted, Bryan has a new friend, Mike, and he’s bad news. With a home life that leaves him vulnerable to Mike’s bad influence, Bryan has a real struggle on his hands. Oh, Bryan, please don’t jump that turnstile! Tight is written so realistically that I could not help but wring my hands over Bryan’s choices. Relevant and relatable but not at all preachy, Tight is a good reminder of how hard it is to grow up – and makes me want to hug all the middle schoolers out there (and give them all after-school jobs so they don’t get into trouble). (For ages 10 and up)

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1524740578", "seamus": 777041608, "itunes": 9781524740573, "goodreads": 43999114, "cover": "1524740578", "bookshop": 9781524740573, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781524740573", "isbn10": "1524740578", "links": [] }, "312": { "id": 312, "title": "Indian-ish: Recipes And Antics From A Modern American Family", "author": "Priya Krishna and Ritu Krishna", "reviewers": [ "Lily Meyer" ], "text": "

Bon Appetit and New York Times contributor Priya Krishna’s cookbook Indian-ish, written with her mother, Ritu Krishna, is the happiest mother-daughter story I’ve read in years. Krishna adapts her mom’s recipes with grace, love and gorgeous family photography — and every one is delicious. Krishna’s salty, satisfying saag feta is perfect for potlucks, her Indian-ish baked potatoes ideal for hosting a crowd. Best of all, to my mind, are her mom’s roti pizzas, laden with red onions, cheddar and chutney. Since acquiring Indian-ish this summer, I’ve made them at least once a week.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1328482472", "seamus": 722103627, "itunes": 9781328482471, "goodreads": 40796136, "cover": "1328482472", "bookshop": 9781328482471, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781328482471", "isbn10": "1328482472", "links": [] }, "313": { "id": 313, "title": "Space Invaders: A Novel", "author": "Nona Fernández, translated by Natasha Wimmer", "reviewers": [ "Lily Meyer" ], "text": "

The Chilean novelist and playwright Nona Fernández’s Space Invaders, translated by Natasha Wimmer, is as addictive as the video game whose name it borrows. Space Invaders blinks by in short, spare chapters, each narrated communally by a group of primary school classmates who grew up during Gen. Augusto Pinochet’s right-wing dictatorship. Their valiant, doomed efforts to make sense of the political violence they witnessed in childhood are moving and haunting and will linger long after the book is done.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "rather short", "fiction", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1644450070", "seamus": 777043166, "itunes": 9781644450079, "goodreads": 43317567, "cover": "1644450070", "bookshop": 9781644450079, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781644450079", "isbn10": "1644450070", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 313, "book": "Space Invaders: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Space Invaders' Maps Pixelated Battles Onto Real-Life Conflict", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/11/777746870/space-invaders-maps-pixelated-battles-onto-real-life-conflict" } ] }, "314": { "id": 314, "title": "Inventing Victoria", "author": "Tonya Bolden", "reviewers": [ "Margaret Willison" ], "text": "

For lovers of historical fiction, it can often feel like you’re forced to choose between books with a social conscience and books replete with an appreciation for the past’s refined grandeur – you get either the charm of a ballroom or a frank analysis of the oppressive systems that created that wealth. Not so with Tonya Bolden’s terrific coming of age story, which follows Essie Mirth, a poor girl from Savannah, Ga., as she reinvents herself as Victoria Vashon to join the small but fascinating world of Washington’s black high society. Here you get all the joys of heliotrope silk gowns described to the last detail, but also a stark picture of the cost of attempting to manufacture “respectability” on terms set by people who deny your humanity.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "historical fiction", "young adult", "fiction" ], "isbn": "168119807X", "seamus": 777043266, "itunes": 9781681198071, "goodreads": 40025247, "cover": "168119807X", "bookshop": 9781681198071, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781681198071", "isbn10": "168119807X", "links": [] }, "315": { "id": 315, "title": "Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass", "author": "Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Steve Pugh", "reviewers": [ "Margaret Willison" ], "text": "

There are some plot summaries that no human should be able to resist: “Harley Quinn, mischievous teen miscreant, moves in with a gaggle of drag queens and teams up with Ivy Du-Barry, teen activist and aspiring botanist, to fight both jerks at Gotham High and gentrification in their Gotham neighborhood” is one such plot. Mariko Tamaki captures Harley’s voice perfectly, Steve Pugh’s art renders her vividly expressive and the origin story they create together lives up to all the promise its plot summary contains. Whether you ran to see Joker in theaters or fled any mention of it, I think you’ll find something to delight in here.

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "young adult", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1401283292", "seamus": 777043725, "itunes": 9781401283292, "goodreads": 38506832, "cover": "1401283292", "bookshop": 9781401283292, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781401283292", "isbn10": "1401283292", "links": [] }, "316": { "id": 316, "title": "Lady In The Lake: A Novel", "author": "Laura Lippman", "reviewers": [ "Margaret Willison" ], "text": "

Laura Lippman has created something special with this novel: a mystery that manages to be deliciously discursive without ever losing its driving narrative momentum. Lippman accomplishes this by telling the story through a clever mix of voices – a third-person window on her protagonist Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz, a Jewish housewife who abandons her purportedly idyllic existence in suburban 1960s Baltimore to become a reporter; first-person interludes from Cleo Sherman, the sardonic ghost of the young black woman whose mysterious but ignored death Maddie decides to look into; and, in Lippman’s coup de grace, one-off first-person chapters from the perspective of the wide array of characters Maddie encounters throughout her investigation. The result is a richly nuanced portrait of Baltimore in a time of upheaval that also happens to be a page-turning mystery with a deeply satisfying conclusion.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "mysteries & thrillers", "the states we’re in", "for history lovers", "historical fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062390015", "seamus": 742221200, "itunes": 9780062390011, "goodreads": 42519229, "cover": "0062390015", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062390011", "isbn10": "0062390015", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 316, "book": "Lady In The Lake: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "If These 2 Titles Remind You Of Masterful Suspense Novels, They Should", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/19/745609366/if-these-2-titles-remind-you-of-masterful-suspense-novels-they-should" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 316, "book": "Lady In The Lake: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Cities Are Resilient,' Says Baltimore Crime Novelist Laura Lippman ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/30/746433092/cities-are-resilient-says-baltimore-crime-novelist-laura-lippman" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 316, "book": "Lady In The Lake: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Real Disappearances Are The Premise For Laura Lippman's 'Lady In The Lake'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/25/742220303/real-disappearances-are-the-premise-for-laura-lippmans-lady-in-the-lake" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 316, "book": "Lady in the Lake", "source": "WYSO", "text": "Hear Laura Lippman On 'The Book Nook'", "url": "https://www.wyso.org/post/book-nook-lady-lake-laura-lippman" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 316, "book": "Lady in the Lake", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Crime Novelist Laura Lippman's 'Lady In The Lake' Explores Social Issues In 1960s Baltimore", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/crime-novelist-laura-lippmans-lady-lake-explores-social-issues-1960s-baltimore" } ] }, "317": { "id": 317, "title": "When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family’s Forgotten History", "author": "Massoud Hayoun", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "

When We Were Arabs is an absorbing family history that spans continents and epochs. Author Massoud Hayoun is a member of the Arab diaspora – and along with his Moroccan, Egyptian and Tunisian heritage, he’s also Jewish. Using his grandparents’ stories, he illuminates the fading history of a once thriving Arab Jewish community, in the process delivering a scathing indictment of colonialism. When We Were Arabs is a nostalgic celebration of a rich, diverse tradition, wrapped around a prayer for a time and place where Jews and Muslims can rejoice in their commonalities.

", "tags": [ "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "family matters", "for history lovers", "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "1620974169", "seamus": 736033141, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 42139776, "cover": "1620974169", "bookshop": 9781620974162, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781620974162", "isbn10": "1620974169", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 317, "book": "When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family’s Forgotten History", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'When We Were Arabs' Is A Nostalgic Celebration Of A Rich, Diverse Heritage", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/26/732052345/when-we-were-arabs-is-a-nostalgic-celebration-of-a-rich-diverse-heritage" } ] }, "318": { "id": 318, "title": "Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares", "author": "Aaarti Namdev Shahani", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "

Aarti Namdev Shahani, who until recently reported on Silicon Valley for NPR, has written a riveting memoir of her personal success, set against the backdrop of her close-knit family’s contorted, painful path to citizenship. After her father’s arrest and imprisonment, the family discovered that American justice is neither just nor colorblind. Even as Shahani watches her father get crushed beneath the system, she grows and evolves as a daughter. If you’re moved by frequent calls to deport criminal or undocumented immigrants and refugees, please read Here We Are. For to “migrate to America … is the boldest act of one’s life.”

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "nonfiction", "identity & culture", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1250204755", "seamus": 766059563, "itunes": 9781250204752, "goodreads": 43782398, "cover": "1250204755", "bookshop": 9781250204752, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250204752", "isbn10": "1250204755", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 318, "book": "Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Here We Are,' Heart-Rending Challenges Of Immigration Are Exposed ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/01/765702621/in-here-we-are-heart-rending-challenges-of-immigration-are-exposed" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 318, "book": "Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares", "source": "WUWM", "text": " 'Here We Are': An Unfiltered Look At An Immigrant Family's Journey", "url": "https://www.wuwm.com/post/here-we-are-unfiltered-look-immigrant-familys-journey#stream/0" } ] }, "319": { "id": 319, "title": "The Yellow House: A Memoir", "author": "Sarah M. Broom", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "

The titular yellow house anchors Sarah M. Broom’s memoir about her large and complex family. Broom maps her parents’ lives, the forgotten neighborhood off Chef Menteur Highway where she grew up and Hurricane Katrina’s onslaught. She writes with intellect, breadth and feeling about the relentless divestment of wealth from African Americans, our government’s failure to protect our poor and the papering over of systemic problems by politicians. With a mother who never flags and a young woman who circumnavigates the world in search of self and identity, The Yellow House is also about grit, love and family.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0802125085", "seamus": 750571934, "itunes": 9780802125088, "goodreads": 43347603, "cover": "0802125085", "bookshop": 9780802125088, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780802125088", "isbn10": "0802125085", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 319, "book": "The Yellow House: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Katrina Destroyed 'The Yellow House' — But Inequality Eroded Its Foundation", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/757471674/katrina-destroyed-the-yellow-house-but-inequality-eroded-its-foundation" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 319, "book": "The Yellow House: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Yellow House' Connects Place, Memory And Self-Knowledge", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/13/750449665/the-yellow-house-connects-place-memory-and-self-knowledge" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 319, "book": "The Yellow House", "source": "WWNO", "text": "The Reading Life With Sarah Broom", "url": "https://www.wwno.org/post/reading-life-sarah-broom" } ] }, "320": { "id": 320, "title": "Thick: And Other Essays", "author": "Tressie McMillan Cottom", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "

In well-crafted, succinct language, Tressie McMillan Cottom delivers wide-ranging essays that rip the lid off commonly held racist tropes. She interrogates subjects that absorb us, but that we don’t often question, such as the meaning of beauty, the steep price of status symbols for black people and the slippery wiliness of whiteness. Cottom proves her independence as a scholar, public intellectual and creative thinker. What she unveils isn’t pretty and isn’t meant to be, but her sense of humor and lack of pretension brings grace and clarity to her message.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1620975874", "seamus": 777043789, "itunes": 9781620975879, "goodreads": 46273726, "cover": "1620975874", "bookshop": 9781620975879, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781620975879", "isbn10": "1620975874", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 320, "book": "Thick: And Other Essays", "source": "WBUR", "text": "In 'Thick,' Tressie McMillan Cottom Looks At Beauty, Power And Black Womanhood In America", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/01/21/in-thick-tressie-mcmillan-cottom-looks-at-beauty-power-and-black-womanhood-in-america" } ] }, "321": { "id": 321, "title": "Any Old Diamonds", "author": "KJ Charles", "reviewers": [ "Maya Rodale" ], "text": "

In this historical heist romance, London-based illustrator Alec Pyne hires two notorious thieves to relieve the Duke and Duchess of Ilvar of a diamond parure at an upcoming house party for … reasons. In order to pull off the heist, Alec and one of the thieves, Jerry Crozier, must bond so they can present themselves as friends. Friendship, seduction, romance and a devilish mystery ensue. It seems impossible that this pair should find their happily ever after along with that diamond parure, but of course they do.

", "tags": [ "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "identity & culture", "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1912688085", "seamus": 692503952, "itunes": 9781912688081, "goodreads": 44083085, "cover": "1912688085", "bookshop": 9781912688081, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781912688081", "isbn10": "1912688085", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 321, "book": "Any Old Diamonds", "source": "NPR", "text": "For Chilly February, 3 Romances To Warm Your Heart", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/11/692505598/for-chilly-february-3-romances-to-warm-your-heart" } ] }, "322": { "id": 322, "title": "Bringing Down The Duke", "author": "Evie Dunmore", "reviewers": [ "Maya Rodale" ], "text": "

In England, in 1879, suffragist and Oxford student Annabelle Archer is tasked with lobbying the imposing Duke of Montgomery to oppose the Married Women’s Property Act. Montgomery is every alpha duke – and there is nothing quite as satisfying as seeing such a man brought to his knees with love by a beautiful woman with nothing to her name except an inviolable sense of her own self-worth. The suffragist subplot brings a new dimension to their dynamic, and it forces the duke to do the most romantic thing of all: change history for love.

", "tags": [ "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "for history lovers", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1984805681", "seamus": 755201593, "itunes": 9781984805683, "goodreads": 43521785, "cover": "1984805681", "bookshop": 9781984805683, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984805683", "isbn10": "1984805681", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 322, "book": "Bringing Down The Duke", "source": "NPR", "text": "Love Wins Out In These 3 September Romances", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/13/755192490/love-wins-out-in-these-3-september-romances" } ] }, "323": { "id": 323, "title": "Desire Lines", "author": "Elizabeth Kingston", "reviewers": [ "Maya Rodale" ], "text": "

This enchanting novel, set in medieval Wales, pairs Nan – beautiful, mute, and lethal with knives – with Gryff, an exile who longs to return to his homeland. Their journey together has them slowly falling in love, while facing unexpected encounters and revelations about their pasts and identities. When Gryff and Nan both get what they want, it becomes plain that all they really ever desired was each other – and they’re willing to put everything on the line for their happy ever after.

", "tags": [ "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "1795514795", "seamus": 698756474, "itunes": 9781795514798, "goodreads": 45422512, "cover": "1795514795", "bookshop": 9781795514798, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781795514798", "isbn10": "1795514795", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 323, "book": "Desire Lines", "source": "NPR", "text": "For March, 3 Romances That Fight For Love", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/19/698747543/for-march-3-romances-that-fight-for-love" } ] }, "324": { "id": 324, "title": "Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure", "author": "Courtney Milan", "reviewers": [ "Maya Rodale" ], "text": "

Mrs. Bertrice Martin is “some seventy-three years young,” incredibly wealthy and plagued by her Terrible Nephew. Violetta Beauchamps is 69, impoverished and just the ally Bertrice needs to evict Terrible Nephew from her rooming house. They embark on one delightfully outrageous and hysterical scheme after another – and in the process find love, pleasure and a deep connection with each other. There’s no doubt these two old women will live happily ever after together. Terrible Nephew? Not so much!

", "tags": [ "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "historical fiction", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1075978416", "seamus": 710428483, "itunes": "", "goodreads": "", "cover": "1075978416", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781075978418", "isbn10": "1075978416", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 324, "book": "Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure", "source": "NPR", "text": "For April, 3 Novels Of Love At Any Age, In Any Era", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/15/710424594/for-april-3-novels-of-love-at-any-age-in-any-era" } ] }, "325": { "id": 325, "title": "Evvie Drake Starts Over: A Novel", "author": "Linda Holmes", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Grant" ], "text": "

Linda Holmes, host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, brings all of her formidable talent to this sparkling fiction debut. A year after her emotionally abusive husband died, Evvie Drake still hasn’t told anyone that she was about to leave him. Meanwhile, Dean Tenney’s pitching career with the Yankees has been derailed by a case of the yips (a fascinating condition in which athletes lose fine motor skills). When Dean moves into Evvie’s big, empty house, sparks fly – and so does witty banter. This hugely satisfying romantic comedy thoroughly delivers on both the romance and the comedy – and doesn’t shy away from difficult personal issues. It’s pure enjoyment from start to finish.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "love & romance", "for sports lovers" ], "isbn": "0525619240", "seamus": 733761835, "itunes": 9780525619246, "goodreads": 40514431, "cover": "0525619240", "bookshop": 9780525619246, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525619246", "isbn10": "0525619240", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 325, "book": "Evvie Drake Starts Over: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "2 Fractured Halves Make A Whole In 'Evvie Drake'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/22/733761273/2-fractured-halves-make-a-whole-in-evvie-drake" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 325, "book": "Evvie Drake Starts Over", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "How To Write Your First Novel In Your 40s With Linda Holmes", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/shows/nerdette/linda-holmes-on-evvie-drake-starts-over/1f85adff-e371-4fa9-8d1c-d40edd947f9b" } ] }, "326": { "id": 326, "title": "The Wolf And The Watchman: A Novel", "author": "Niklas Natt och Dag", "reviewers": [ "Silvia Moreno-Garcia" ], "text": "

Niklas Natt och Dag’s gritty, historical mystery follows two men trying to find the person who committed a sadistic murder in 18th century Stockholm. The book excels at sensory description – you’ll be able to smell the stench of the tenements as you read this book – and keeps you enthralled as it switches points of view and intertwines the characters. Perfect for fans of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "historical fiction", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1501196774", "seamus": 698661265, "itunes": 9781501196775, "goodreads": 40539807, "cover": "1501196774", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781501196775", "isbn10": "1501196774", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 326, "book": "The Wolf And The Watchman: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Wolf And The Watchman' Has Some Serious Bite", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/06/698659316/the-wolf-and-the-watchman-has-some-serious-bite" } ] }, "327": { "id": 327, "title": "Fleishman Is In Trouble: A Novel", "author": "Taffy Brodesser-Akner", "reviewers": [ "Barrie Hardymon" ], "text": "

Fleishman Is in Trouble is ostensibly the story of embittered divorce-to-be, Toby, but through a magic trick of narration, Toby’s story is presented by Libby, his old friend who begins as a shadow on the page but gradually asserts her own perspective while laying out his. Through these layered narratives we begin to see Rachel, Toby’s absent, much maligned wife, take shape. Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s writing is sharp-eyed and attentive – each page is littered with precise observations of modern life that are funny and sometimes chilling in their accuracy. It’s a book to be gobbled and enjoyed, certainly, but its insights are profound. In the end, though Toby Fleishman is the center and title of the book, he is not its subject – a thought experiment in empathy that every person in a relationship ought to try.

", "tags": [ "family matters", "funny stuff", "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0525510877", "seamus": 732098165, "itunes": 9780525510871, "goodreads": 41880602, "cover": "0525510877", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525510871", "isbn10": "0525510877", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 327, "book": "Fleishman Is In Trouble: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Fleishman Is In Trouble' Flips Expectations Upside Down", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/18/733430304/fleishman-is-in-trouble-flips-expectations-upside-down" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 327, "book": "Fleishman Is In Trouble: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Fleishman Is In Trouble': A Debut About Divorce, Dating And Disappearance", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/15/732097604/fleishman-is-in-trouble-a-debut-about-divorce-dating-and-disappearance" } ] }, "328": { "id": 328, "title": "Lost Children Archive: A Novel", "author": "Valeria Luiselli", "reviewers": [ "Barrie Hardymon" ], "text": "

There is an impressive and moving body of storytelling that has accumulated in the wake of the crisis of migrant children – lost, separated, incarcerated – at the U.S.-Mexico border. But if you’re interested in the role that fiction can play, you must read Valeria Luiselli’s marvelous book Lost Children Archive. It’s structured as a road trip novel. A journalist, her husband and two children head toward the border to document the ongoing crisis. Her own family is in crisis as well – the marriage is unhappy. With her children sleeping in the back seat, a resonant corollary to the lost children she is chronicling, the narrator is preoccupied with how she will tell the story. Can an author make something out of the horror of these childrens’ experiences, or is it a kind of theft from children that have already had so much stolen from them? And as readers, can we read about this cruelty without indulging in sanctimony before we shut the book and go back to our own lives and children?

", "tags": [ "family matters", "fiction", "staff picks", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0525520619", "seamus": 693593682, "itunes": 9780525520610, "goodreads": 40245130, "cover": "0525520619", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525520610", "isbn10": "0525520619", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 328, "book": "Lost Children Archive: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "A New Novel Reminds Readers, These 'Lost Children' Belong To Us All", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/27/698590312/a-new-novel-reminds-readers-these-lost-children-belong-to-us-all" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 328, "book": "Lost Children Archive: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Real Life Informs A Tense Trip In 'Lost Children Archive'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/12/693595614/real-life-informs-a-tense-trip-in-lost-children-archive" } ] }, "329": { "id": 329, "title": "The Dutch House: A Novel", "author": "Ann Patchett", "reviewers": [ "Barrie Hardymon" ], "text": "

Over the holidays, it’s a special pleasure to read about families with different dysfunctions than the people serving the mashed potatoes at your own table. For this season, I submit that Ann Patchett’s novel, The Dutch House, will happily fulfill your requirements. The book contains all of the best elements of the family drama – a house too gorgeous not to be haunted, resourceful orphans, a wicked stepmother. Told by one of the orphaned siblings expelled from their childhood home, it’s a book with many of the elements of a fairy tale, but with real suspense and characters that live on the page. Patchett executes the story with so much surety that you hardly notice that her writing is virtually flawless.

", "tags": [ "family matters", "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0062963678", "seamus": 762887502, "itunes": 9780062963673, "goodreads": 44318414, "cover": "0062963678", "bookshop": 9780062963673, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062963673", "isbn10": "0062963678", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 329, "book": "The Dutch House: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Motherless Children Make Their Own Family In Ann Patchett's 'The Dutch House'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/762888874/motherless-children-make-their-own-family-in-the-dutch-house" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 329, "book": "The Dutch House", "source": "WYPR", "text": "Ann Patchett On Her New Novel, 'The Dutch House'", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/post/ann-patchett-her-new-novel-dutch-house" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 329, "book": "The Dutch House", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'The Dutch House'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-dutch-house" } ] }, "330": { "id": 330, "title": "Cantoras: A Novel", "author": "Carolina De Robertis", "reviewers": [ "Barrie Hardymon" ], "text": "

2019 was a rich year for characters who have often been erased from literature – because of race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. One of the best of these novels is Carolina de Robertis’ gorgeous novel Cantoras, which tells the story of five queer Uruguayan women who find each other in a small village at the height of the military dictatorship there in the mid-70s. The words gay, lesbian and queer are not even in their vocabulary in the early days – they’ve been erased, but they can still be punished for who they are, an essential tyranny that hangs over the novel. But Cantoras is, at its heart, a close character study of the women themselves – they are precisely drawn in all their virtues and flaws as they fall in and out of love and try to live their lives under the constant threat of possible violence. It’s that sharply observed character study that carries this novel, and is a fitting answer to years of erasure.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "love & romance", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0525521690", "seamus": 753513015, "itunes": 9780525521693, "goodreads": 43289181, "cover": "0525521690", "bookshop": 9780525521693, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525521693", "isbn10": "0525521690", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 330, "book": "Cantoras: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "On Making Friends With Raina Telgemeier", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/26/753508422/on-making-friends-with-raina-telgemeier" } ] }, "331": { "id": 331, "title": "Guts", "author": "Raina Telgemeier", "reviewers": [ "Barrie Hardymon" ], "text": "

I loved the scrappy and resourceful heroines of my youth – Ramona! Harriet! Cassie! – but they simply didn’t seem to get anxious the way I did. I would have benefited greatly from a book like Raina Telgemeier’s standout graphic novel Guts, which takes on childhood anxiety in a beautiful, well-told and gorgeously illustrated memoir. Young Raina grapples with her anxiety about vomiting after a stint with stomach flu, and her fears begin to leak into other aspects of school. The novel’s color, illustrations and text work together perfectly – and give young readers a vocabulary for what they may be feeling. For parents, it’s a perfect opportunity to talk with your kids about what color their anxiety is – and to talk about Raina’s realistic and empathetic journey with her therapist. One of the great pleasures I have had this year is observing a well-worn copy of this groundbreaking and important book make the rounds from kid to kid at pickup. (For ages 8 to 12)

", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "fiction", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0545852501", "seamus": 437620370, "itunes": 9780545852500, "goodreads": 42097227, "cover": "0545852501", "bookshop": 9780545852500, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780545852500", "isbn10": "0545852501", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 331, "book": "Guts", "source": "NPR", "text": "On Making Friends With Raina Telgemeier", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/26/753508422/on-making-friends-with-raina-telgemeier" } ] }, "332": { "id": 332, "title": "Who Wet My Pants?", "author": "Bob Shea, illustrated by Zachariah O'Hora", "reviewers": [ "Barrie Hardymon" ], "text": "

Who Wet My Pants sat on my desk for weeks, and truly, every time I looked at the cover – an angry scout bear with wet pants in search of answers – I guffawed. Is it a great mystery for our time? A lighthearted take on alternative facts in an age of fake news? An exploration of the psychology of blame in an era of buck passing? Or is it simply the funniest book I have read out loud all year? (Try yelling “WHO WET MY PANTS” without the room dissolving into laughter.) The images are irresistible – brightly colored and rich with little details that kids will delight in finding. It’s doing double duty for kids who are encountering potty training embarrassment – they’re getting the message that pants-wetting is normal, and empathy is the best policy. But even if you’re of an age where accidents happen less frequently, this book’s combo of words and giggles are still an absolute pleasure to read and act aloud.

", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0316525219", "seamus": 777043929, "itunes": 9780316525213, "goodreads": 41859658, "cover": "0316525219", "bookshop": 9780316525213, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316525213", "isbn10": "0316525219", "links": [] }, "333": { "id": 333, "title": "The Old Drift: A Novel", "author": "Namwali Serpell", "reviewers": [ "Annalisa Quinn" ], "text": "

Namwali Serpell’s lush speculative novel The Old Drift tells the history of Zambia from the early days of colonialism through Zambian independence, touching on the Kariba Dam, the AIDS epidemic, the ill-fated Zambian space program, and forward into the age of mass surveillance and drone warfare. It’s also partly narrated by mosquitoes!

", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1101907142", "seamus": 710315678, "itunes": 9781101907146, "goodreads": 40985726, "cover": "1101907142", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781101907146", "isbn10": "1101907142", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 333, "book": "The Old Drift: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Old Drift' Takes The Long View Of Human (And Mosquito) History", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/07/710315354/the-old-drift-takes-the-long-view-of-human-and-mosquito-history" } ] }, "334": { "id": 334, "title": "The Water Cure: A Novel", "author": "Sophie Mackintosh", "reviewers": [ "Annalisa Quinn" ], "text": "

It seems like lately we’ve been calling everything “toxic.” The Water Cure, a tart, uncanny debut novel by Sophie Mackintosh, tests the limits of this metaphor. A group of women live on a remote island to protect themselves from men, whom they believe to be literally toxic. It’s never clear if women on the “mainland” are really getting sick, or if the protagonists are living in a cultish separatist movement with extreme beliefs, but the novel elegantly interrogates a suddenly ubiquitous concept.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385543875", "seamus": 682926472, "itunes": 9780385543873, "goodreads": 39335566, "cover": "0385543875", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780385543873", "isbn10": "0385543875", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 334, "book": "The Water Cure: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Water Cure' Makes Toxic Masculinity Literal", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/13/684210575/the-water-cure-makes-toxic-masculinity-literal" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 334, "book": "The Water Cure: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Suspenseful 'Water Cure' Dips Into 2019's Dystopian Zeitgeist", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/07/682924897/suspenseful-and-evocative-the-water-cure-dips-into-2019s-dystopian-zeitgeist" } ] }, "335": { "id": 335, "title": "Know My Name: A Memoir", "author": "Chanel Miller", "reviewers": [ "Annalisa Quinn" ], "text": "

For four years, she has been known publicly as Emily Doe, “an unconscious woman” or simply “Brock Turner’s victim.” In her moving, sharply uncompromising new memoir Know My Name, Chanel Miller wants to set the record straight: “I am a victim, I have no qualms with this word, only with the idea that it is all that I am,” she writes. “However, I am not Brock Turner’s victim. I am not his anything.”

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "073522370X", "seamus": 762323389, "itunes": 9780735223707, "goodreads": 46264398, "cover": "073522370X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780735223707", "isbn10": "073522370X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 335, "book": "Know My Name: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Chanel Miller Says 'Know My Name' As She Reflects On Her Assault By Brock Turner", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/762028606/chanel-miller-says-know-my-name-as-she-reflects-on-her-assault-by-brock-turner" } ] }, "336": { "id": 336, "title": "Felon: Poems", "author": "Reginald Dwayne Betts", "reviewers": [ "Annalisa Quinn" ], "text": "

“There is no name for this thing that you’ve become:/ Convict, prisoner, inmate, lifer, yardbird, all fail,” writes Reginald Dwayne Betts in his stunning new collection of poetry, Felon, based on the eight years he spent in prison for a crime he committed as a teenager. These poems describe the traumas of incarceration, but also of reentry: “Them fools say you can become anything when it’s over./ Told ‘em straight up, ain’t nothing to resurrect after prison.”

", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0393652149", "seamus": 775615441, "itunes": 9780393652147, "goodreads": 43726561, "cover": "0393652149", "bookshop": 9780393652147, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393652147", "isbn10": "0393652149", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 336, "book": "Felon: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Felon' Author Says, 'Everybody Has To Tell Their Kids Something'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/03/775605155/felon-author-says-everybody-has-to-tell-their-kids-something" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 336, "book": "Felon: Poems", "source": "WHYY", "text": "Poetry, Prison, And Criminal Justice Reform", "url": "https://whyy.org/episodes/felon-poetry-and-criminal-justice-reform/" } ] }, "337": { "id": 337, "title": "Mitz: The Marmoset Of Bloomsbury", "author": "Sigrid Nunez", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "

We have the success of Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel The Friend to thank for the reissue of her rich little 1998 gem about Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s rescued pet marmoset, Mitz. Set in England during the ominous buildup to WWII, this charming biographical novel is an ode to the Bloomsbury power couple’s devotion and commitment – to each other, their work, their friends and family, their freedom and their pets, including the tiny, impossible-to-housetrain, rodent-tailed monkey who rides around in Leonard’s waistcoat pocket. All threatened by dark times to come.

", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "love & romance", "eye-opening reads", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1593765827", "seamus": 749528969, "itunes": 9781593765828, "goodreads": 43570546, "cover": "1593765827", "bookshop": 9781593765828, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781593765828", "isbn10": "1593765827", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 337, "book": "Mitz: The Marmoset Of Bloomsbury", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Mitz' The Marmoset Was Definitely Not Afraid Of Virginia Woolf", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/11/749529934/mitz-the-marmoset-was-definitely-not-afraid-of-virginia-woolf" } ] }, "338": { "id": 338, "title": "Olive, Again: A Novel", "author": "Elizabeth Strout", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "

Ten years after she won a Pulitzer Prize for her linked stories about Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout returns to coastal Crosby, Maine, with this worthy update about her retired but not retiring schoolteacher, a tetchy, blunt busybody who’s also capable of kindness – and self-doubt. At this point in her life, ornery Olive struggles with widowhood, loneliness, regrets over behavior that alienated her only child, snobbery and the affronts of aging – but she’s resilient, and more importantly, open to learning a lesson we should all take to heart: Empathy can radically change your outlook on the world.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "love & romance", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0812996542", "seamus": 769472847, "itunes": 9780812996548, "goodreads": 43984883, "cover": "0812996542", "bookshop": 9780812996548, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780812996548", "isbn10": "0812996542", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 338, "book": "Olive, Again: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Olive, Again,' Elizabeth Strout Revisits An Old Friend", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/16/770357632/in-olive-again-elizabeth-strout-revisits-an-old-friend" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 338, "book": "Olive, Again: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'We've Got More To Say About You': Olive Kitteridge Is Back, And Complex As Ever", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/12/769455243/we-ve-got-more-to-say-about-you-olive-kitteridge-is-back-and-complex-as-ever" } ] }, "339": { "id": 339, "title": "Spring: A Novel", "author": "Ali Smith", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "

The third volume of Ali Smith’s audacious seasonal quartet about troubling current issues focuses on the global migrant crisis and the abhorrent, dehumanizing treatment of refugees. Once again, it showcases this brilliant Scottish writer’s clever wordplay, outrage at the world’s injustices, genuine affection for people at either end of the age spectrum and insistence on the heartwarming, life-enhancing possibilities of love, decency and art.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "110187077X", "seamus": 718327305, "itunes": 9781101870778, "goodreads": 40642956, "cover": "110187077X", "bookshop": 9781101870778, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781101870778", "isbn10": "110187077X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 339, "book": "Spring: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ali Smith's 'Spring' Unfolds Like A Fern", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/04/30/718328001/ali-smiths-spring-unfolds-like-a-fern" } ] }, "340": { "id": 340, "title": "The Grammarians: A Novel", "author": "Cathleen Schine", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "

Cathleen Schine’s latest smart, comic novel is about two language-obsessed sisters, freakishly precocious identical twins with a passion for abstruse words (such as oxters, meaning armpits) and the nitty-gritty of English usage. One grows up to become a language “scold,” the other a proponent of informal, mutating English. Like the twin advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, they feud publicly in their competing columns and suffer a lengthy estrangement. Filled with fun zingers, this is a buoyant read for people who can appreciate the absurdity of phrases like “nearly ten women.” (Is that 9.5 or 9.75?)

", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0374280118", "seamus": 754846722, "itunes": 9780374280116, "goodreads": 43565380, "cover": "0374280118", "bookshop": 9780374280116, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780374280116", "isbn10": "0374280118", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 340, "book": "The Grammarians: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Grammarians' Diagrams The Push And Pull Of Sisterhood", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/754847041/the-grammarians-diagrams-the-push-and-pull-of-sisterhood" } ] }, "341": { "id": 341, "title": "Happiness Is Baking: Favorite Desserts From The Queen Of Cake", "author": "Maida Heatter", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "

Before there were food blogs and online recipe searches, Maida Heatter’s superlative-splattered cookbooks – Great Desserts, Great Chocolate Desserts, Best Dessert Book Ever – were the go-to for meticulous, fool-proof deliciousness. Happiness is Baking, published shortly before the Queen of Cake’s death this past June at 102, features more than 100 of her most popular recipes, including Palm Beach Brownies, The Best Damn Lemon Cake and my two favorites, her 86-Proof Chocolate Cake and Gingerful Biscotti.

", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0316420573", "seamus": 777044406, "itunes": 9780316420570, "goodreads": 41155069, "cover": "0316420573", "bookshop": 9780316420570, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316420570", "isbn10": "0316420573", "links": [] }, "342": { "id": 342, "title": "The Pursuit Of William Abbey", "author": "Claire North", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

In colonial South Africa, in 1884, Dr. William Abbey stood by as a boy was killed at the hands of a white mob. For doing nothing to intervene, the boy’s mother cursed him, and now no matter where he goes, the spirit of the dead boy will follow him – slowly but inexorably, never stopping. And when it catches him, it will kill someone he loves. Claire North uses this brilliant setup to tell a chameleon story that is a different thing chapter to chapter, sometimes page to page. It is a horror story, a thriller, a supernatural mystery, a spy story, a heavily political indictment of capitalism and empire, a war story, a love story, a confession. But every piece of it is remarkable and comes together to make for one of the most moving, horrifying and gut-wrenching novels of the year.

", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316316849", "seamus": 779348980, "itunes": 9780316316842, "goodreads": 44286477, "cover": "0316316849", "bookshop": 9780316316842, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780316316842", "isbn10": "0316316849", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 342, "book": "The Pursuit Of William Abbey", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Pursuit Of William Abbey' Travels A Twisty Path", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/11/17/779349233/the-pursuit-of-william-abbey-travels-a-twisty-path" } ] }, "343": { "id": 343, "title": "Do You Dream Of Terra-Two?", "author": "Temi Oh", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

There’s a pulse that runs through Temi Oh’s debut novel. A living, beating heart that races and stalls, stutters and recovers. It is the conjoined pulse of six living teenagers (plus one dead one) who have been chosen from among hundreds to leave the spoiled Earth and fly away to another fresh, perfect planet far, far away. The voyage will take them 23 years. When it is done, their childhoods will be long over, and they will be the first humans to set foot on a virgin world. That’s the promise that has been made to them. But things happen between here and there that no one could’ve expected and that not everyone will survive.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1534437401", "seamus": 751442449, "itunes": 9781534437401, "goodreads": 40538971, "cover": "1534437401", "bookshop": 9781534437401, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781534437401", "isbn10": "1534437401", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 343, "book": "Do You Dream Of Terra-Two?", "source": "NPR", "text": "Tragedy Beats At The Heart Of 'Do You Dream Of Terra-Two?'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/17/751442561/tragedy-beats-at-the-heart-of-do-you-dream-of-terra-two" } ] }, "344": { "id": 344, "title": "Exhalation: Stories", "author": "Ted Chiang", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

A warning letter from the future. A museum exhibit card describing the mechanization of nurturing. An exploration of emergent artificial intelligence. The stories in Ted Chiang’s newest short story collection are tightly focused dramas of individuals whom the future has struck like a wave, or a bomb. And whether the “future” is tomorrow or 100 years ago (as seen from someone witnessing it from 101 years ago), it has the weight of inexorability to it. Tomorrow comes whether we want it to or not. The world changes no matter how tightly we cling to yesterday. And Chiang writes often (almost always) with an understanding that nothing we do, nothing he does, nothing any of his characters do, can change that.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1101947888", "seamus": "721564742/", "itunes": 9781101947883, "goodreads": 46347136, "cover": "1101947888", "bookshop": 9781101947883, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781101947883", "isbn10": "1101947888", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 344, "book": "Exhalation: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "Take A Breath And Dive Into 'Exhalation'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/10/721565040/take-a-breath-and-dive-into-exhalation" } ] }, "345": { "id": 345, "title": "The Future Of Another Timeline", "author": "Annalee Newitz", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

The Future of Another Timeline is about a girl, Beth, who’s involved in some terrible things and a woman, Tess, who is a professional time traveler secretly trying to protect the future from the organized misogyny of a group that wants queer women dead, trans women dead and all women cowed, quiet and consigned to the kitchen while straight white men take their rightful place as rulers of all blah blah blah. Things get nasty. Get bloody. Get complicated. It’s a time travel story – there’s no other way they go. And in the end, the question becomes how much of your past are you willing to sacrifice in the name of a better future?

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0765392100", "seamus": 764357777, "itunes": 9780765392107, "goodreads": 43263237, "cover": "0765392100", "bookshop": 9780765392107, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780765392107", "isbn10": "0765392100", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 345, "book": "The Future Of Another Timeline", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Future Of Another Timeline' Edits The Past To Save The Present", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764358950/future-of-another-timeline-edits-the-past-to-save-the-present" } ] }, "346": { "id": 346, "title": "Gideon The Ninth", "author": "Tamsyn Muir", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

The first of a proposed trilogy, Gideon the Ninth is a freaky science-fantasy-horror-romance mashup that is as deliriously all over the map as it is wickedly smart and propulsive. The setup is genius: In some (possibly distant, possibly ancient) corner of the universe exist nine ancient houses each adept in different forms of gooey, death-obsessed magic. Representatives from each have been called together in a competition, so The Lady Harrowhark Nonagesimus, heir to the Ninth House, and her unwilling bodyguard, Gideon Nav (a smart, mean and badass orphaned girl), arrive and find that someone (or something) is killing heirs of the nine houses and that Gideon and Harrow are in terrible danger. What follows is a goofy, bloody, foul-mouthed Scooby-Doo episode full of ghosts, monsters, sword fights and bitter, terrible friendships that will gut you before you turn the last page.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250313198", "seamus": 755169945, "itunes": 9781250313195, "goodreads": 42036538, "cover": "1250313198", "bookshop": 9781250313195, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250313195", "isbn10": "1250313198", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 346, "book": "Gideon The Ninth", "source": "NPR", "text": "Smart, Snarky 'Gideon The Ninth' Swears Her Way Through The Stars", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/755170550/smart-snarky-gideon-the-ninth-swears-her-way-through-the-stars" } ] }, "347": { "id": 347, "title": "Middlegame", "author": "Seanan McGuire", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

There is a version of Middlegame that is just the story of two childhood friends (and separated twins), Roger and Dodger, navigating youth and young adulthood, high school and college, as preternatural geniuses with a hinky psychic connection. There is another version that is about James Reed, the powerful alchemist who created them and set them on a collision course meant to change the world. And Seanan McGuire manages to fit both these stories into one skin, jumping back and forth from conspiracy to friendship and back again in a way that beautifully ratchets up the tension on both sides until, finally, everyone comes together in a bloody conclusion that both offers answers and leaves bodies on the floor.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250195527", "seamus": 723709277, "itunes": 9781250195524, "goodreads": 41893832, "cover": "1250195527", "bookshop": 9781250195524, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250195524", "isbn10": "1250195527", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 347, "book": "Middlegame", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Middlegame' Makes Mathematical Magic", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/16/723709536/middlegame-makes-mathematical-magic" } ] }, "348": { "id": 348, "title": "All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries", "author": "Martha Wells", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

This isn’t just one book, but the first in a series of novellas (all finally released in hardcover as of this year) that follow Murderbot – a rogue SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and given itself free will. And while the novellas present themselves as just garden-variety killer-robot sci fi, Martha Wells has hidden a remarkably human story inside her cheesy pulp architecture. There are subtexts to be read into Murderbot – that its experience is a coming-out narrative, that it mirrors the lives of trans people, immigrants, those on the autism spectrum or anyone else who feels the need to hide some essential part of themselves from a population that either threatens or can’t possibly understand them. It’s powerful to see that on the page and to recognize that we are all a little bit Murderbot too.

", "tags": [ "book club ideas", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250214718", "seamus": 688354940, "itunes": 9781250214713, "goodreads": 40653269, "cover": "1250214718", "bookshop": 9781250214713, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250214713", "isbn10": "1250214718", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 348, "book": "All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sulky, Cynical 'Murderbot' Is One Of Sci-Fi's Most Human Characters", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/01/27/688354123/sulky-cynical-murderbot-is-one-of-sci-fis-most-human-characters" } ] }, "349": { "id": 349, "title": "Ninth House", "author": "Leigh Bardugo", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

You know all those secret societies at Yale? Skull & Bones and all the rest? OK, so imagine that they can all, to a certain extent, do actual magic. That’s the hook for Leigh Bardugo’s first foray into adult fiction (after a wildly successful run in YA), and the story follows Galaxy “Alex” Stern, small-time drug dealer from California, recruited by Yale simply because she can see and talk to ghosts. She’s a girl with a past who meets a boy with a future, both of them responsible for overseeing the grimy, bloody, powerful rituals of the societies to make sure that nothing goes wrong. And guess what? Something does go very, very wrong, and it’s up to Alex to make it all right again.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250313074", "seamus": 767335432, "itunes": 9781250313072, "goodreads": 43263680, "cover": "1250313074", "bookshop": 9781250313072, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250313072", "isbn10": "1250313074", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 349, "book": "Ninth House", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Ninth House' Keeps Watch Over Bloody Mysteries", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/10/06/767335727/ninth-house-keeps-watch-over-bloody-mysteries" } ] }, "350": { "id": 350, "title": "The Violent Century", "author": "Lavie Tidhar", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

The world right now is full of superhero stories. In movies and on TV, in comics and graphic novels. But Lavie Tidhar, with his sharp eye for absurdity (and stellar world-building powers), gives his heroes a literary moment, bringing them to the page in a world where American, British, Russian and Nazi supermen fought in World War II and shaped everything we know of 20th and 21st century history. It begins like a classic John le Carré story, with an old, retired hero called Fogg being brought in to discuss an old case file. But where it ends up is like nothing that anyone but Tidhar could imagine.

", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1616963166", "seamus": 777045003, "itunes": 9781616963163, "goodreads": 43362232, "cover": "1616963166", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781616963163", "isbn10": "1616963166", "links": [] }, "351": { "id": 351, "title": "This Is How You Lose The Time War", "author": "Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

Seriously, what’s better than a love story between two time ninjas on opposite sides of an epic, genocidal time war? Nothing, that’s what. Unless that love story played out largely via secret messages each leaves for the other on the alien battlefields they have inhabited. Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone lean way into the weird here, making an almost experimental back-and-forth narrative between their two soldiers, Red and Blue, and the result is brilliant, mind-bending and approachable all at the same time.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1534431004", "seamus": 742939827, "itunes": 9781534431003, "goodreads": 41093489, "cover": "1534431004", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781534431003", "isbn10": "1534431004", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 351, "book": "This Is How You Lose The Time War", "source": "NPR", "text": "Letters Serve To Bond Time-Traveling Rivals In 'This Is How You Lose The Time War'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/18/742651647/letters-serve-to-bond-time-traveling-rivals-in-this-is-how-you-lose-the-time-war" } ] }, "352": { "id": 352, "title": "Growing Things And Other Stories", "author": "Paul Tremblay", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

Paul Tremblay writes horror stories. Weird stories. Effed the eff up stories that seem benign (sometimes) until you close your eyes or shut off the lights and feel them moving around in the dark. In his new collection, Growing Things, he writes about monsters and ghosts and monsters and nightmares and memory and monsters and the end of the world. Apocalypses large and small haunt the space between the covers. The kind that could be happening, that have happened, are just about to happen right now. They’re the kind of stories that make you want to check your phone just to make sure what you’re reading about isn’t already on the news. That make you want to look over your shoulder to make sure the monster isn’t right behind you.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062679139", "seamus": 737137282, "itunes": 9780062679130, "goodreads": 42118050, "cover": "0062679139", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062679130", "isbn10": "0062679139", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 352, "book": "Growing Things And Other Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Growing Things' Will Wind Its Tendrils Into Your Mind", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/02/737137852/growing-things-will-wind-its-tendrils-into-your-mind" } ] }, "353": { "id": 353, "title": "The Border: A Novel", "author": "Don Winslow", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

The third and final piece of Don Winslow’s drug war trilogy is a massive doorstopper of a book that brings to a close the stories of Art Keller and Adán Barrera – the cop and the kingpin who’ve been at the center of this extended tale for 15 years. Operatic, visceral, full of clipped sentences and quick action, The Border is politics made into spectacle. There’s something absolutely Shakespearean about Winslow’s work – the sense of complicated, ungainly problems presented with full lights and fireworks, costumed in gold chains and polo shirts, writ hugely in the way that only fiction can be. So 300 years from now, when our children’s children’s children want to understand the defining conflict of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there’s a fair chance that this is what they’ll read.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "rather long", "tales from around the world", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0062664484", "seamus": 698644871, "itunes": 9780062664488, "goodreads": 40222528, "cover": "0062664484", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780062664488", "isbn10": "0062664484", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 353, "book": "The Border: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Border' Is Shakespeare For Our Times — Seriously", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/03/698645059/the-border-is-shakespeare-for-our-times-seriously" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 353, "book": "The Border", "source": "WYSO", "text": "Hear Don Winslow On 'The Book Nook'", "url": "https://www.wyso.org/post/book-nook-border-don-winslow" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 353, "book": "The Border", "source": "WYSO", "text": "Book Nook: Don Winslow On 'The Border'", "url": "https://www.wyso.org/post/book-nook-border-don-winslow" } ] }, "354": { "id": 354, "title": "Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead: A Novel", "author": "Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones", "reviewers": [ "Jason Sheehan" ], "text": "

I originally picked up this book just because of the title. Later, I heard that Olga Tokarczuk had won the (delayed) 2018 Nobel Prize for Literature, and it made total sense because this book (originally published in 2009, released in English translation in 2019) is both deeply strange and deeply personal – a kind of noir murder mystery with feminist, leftist, vegetarian and academic undertones. Gorgeously written and immediately engaging, it is a complicated story about deer, hunters, age, infirmity, chaos and William Blake, driven by the rigorously no-BS practicality of its elderly narrator, Janina Duszejko, who is trying to figure out who is murdering all the hunters in her small, snowbound Polish village, all while contemplating the greater mysteries of life, Poland and the universe in general.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0525541330", "seamus": 751323189, "itunes": 9780525541332, "goodreads": 42983724, "cover": "0525541330", "bookshop": 9780525541332, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525541332", "isbn10": "0525541330", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 354, "book": "Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Drive Your Plow' Is Philosophical Lament, Disguised As A Whodunit", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/16/751323423/drive-your-plow-is-philosophical-lament-disguised-as-a-whodunit" } ] }, "355": { "id": 355, "title": "The Shadow King: A Novel", "author": "Maaza Mengiste", "reviewers": [ "Laila Lalami" ], "text": "

Set during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King does what few war stories do: It centers around the experiences of female fighters. Maaza Mengiste introduces the reader to Hirut and Aster – one a servant, the other a mistress – both constrained by the rules of their society. When they join the struggle for freedom, their personal conflicts don’t disappear; instead, they’re recast against a larger canvas, and interwoven with the perspectives of other characters on either side of the battle, including a Jewish Italian photographer who documents the fighting. Epic in scope yet intimate in detail, this novel is a gem.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "seriously great writing", "historical fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "039308356X", "seamus": 763905899, "itunes": 9780393083569, "goodreads": 43726511, "cover": "039308356X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393083569", "isbn10": "039308356X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 355, "book": "The Shadow King: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Shadow King' Is A Gorgeous Meditation On Memory, War And Violence", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/25/763907282/the-shadow-king-is-a-gorgeous-meditation-on-memory-war-and-violence" } ] }, "356": { "id": 356, "title": "Big Wonderful Thing: A History Of Texas", "author": "Stephen Harrigan", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

Journalist and author Stephen Harrigan is essentially to Texas literature what Willie Nelson is to Texas music, and his latest book might just be the one he was born to write. Big Wonderful Thing, a sprawling history of the Lone Star State, showcases Harrigan’s enthusiasm for Texas – it’s an endlessly fascinating look at how the state has evolved over the years. Harrigan covers the state’s political and cultural history, paying special attention to Texans who have been overlooked in the past. Endlessly readable and written with great care, Big Wonderful Thing is just that.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0292759517", "seamus": 765782594, "itunes": 9780292759510, "goodreads": 44890882, "cover": "0292759517", "bookshop": 9780292759510, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780292759510", "isbn10": "0292759517", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 356, "book": "Big Wonderful Thing: A History Of Texas", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Big Wonderful Thing' Sets Us Straight On Texas, Moving Away From The Mythology", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/09/30/765702020/big-wonderful-thing-sets-us-straight-on-texas-moving-away-from-the-mythology" } ] }, "357": { "id": 357, "title": "Norco '80: The True Story Of The Most Spectacular Bank Robbery In American History", "author": "Peter Houlahan", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

On May 9, 1980, five robbers hit a branch of Security Pacific Bank in Norco, Calif., but failed to flee the scene before police showed up. The resulting shootout, escape and manhunt form the basis of Peter Houlahan’s gripping debut book, Norco ‘80, a nonfiction account of one of the most violent bank robberies in U.S. history, in which three people were killed and almost 20 others injured. Houlahan provides fascinating history and context of the robbery, which still reverberates in Southern California today. It’s not only a gripping true-crime account; it’s also one of the best nonfiction books of the year.

", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "for history lovers", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1640092129", "seamus": 732583333, "itunes": 9781640092129, "goodreads": 43192297, "cover": "1640092129", "bookshop": 9781640092129, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781640092129", "isbn10": "1640092129", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 357, "book": "Norco '80: The True Story Of The Most Spectacular Bank Robbery In American History", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Norco '80' Is A Gripping Account Of One Of America's Most Notorious Bank Heists", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/14/732052722/norco-80-is-a-gripping-account-of-one-of-americas-most-notorious-bank-heists" } ] }, "358": { "id": 358, "title": "American Spy: A Novel", "author": "Lauren Wilkinson", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

Lauren Wilkinson’s book follows Marie Mitchell, an ex-FBI agent who has fled to Martinique after being attacked by someone connected to her past – while serving in the Bureau, she was recruited by the CIA to cozy up, and possibly seduce, the president of Burkina Faso. The book is a beautifully paced novel and a promising debut from a writer who’s not content to rely on the settled tropes of any literary genre – it’s an excellent thriller as well as a deeply intelligent literary novel that tackles issues of politics, race and gender in a way that’s never didactic.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0812998952", "seamus": 693615003, "itunes": 9780812998955, "goodreads": 40274582, "cover": "0812998952", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780812998955", "isbn10": "0812998952", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 358, "book": "American Spy: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'American Spy' Is A Thrilling Debut With No Simple Answers", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/25/696450945/american-spy-is-a-thrilling-debut-with-no-simple-answers" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 358, "book": "American Spy: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'American Spy' Is A Unique Spin On The Cold War Thriller", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/13/693617293/american-spy-is-a-unique-spin-on-the-cold-war-thriller" } ] }, "359": { "id": 359, "title": "Patsy: A Novel", "author": "Nicole Dennis-Benn", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

The title character of Nicole Dennis-Benn’s second novel is a young single mother in Jamaica who abandons her family when given the chance to move to New York, where the woman she has been in love with for years lives. The novel is an unflinching look at the experience of undocumented immigrants in America, who are forced to deal with racism and poverty in the land they’ve always dreamed about. Dennis-Benn is a compassionate, courageous writer, and Patsy is a brave, brilliant triumph of a book.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "love & romance", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1631495631", "seamus": 726727731, "itunes": 9781631495632, "goodreads": 41817523, "cover": "1631495631", "bookshop": 9781631495632, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781631495632", "isbn10": "1631495631", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 359, "book": "Patsy: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Patsy' Discovers Her Dreams Don't Match Reality", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/726728394/patsy-discovers-her-dreams-dont-match-reality" } ] }, "360": { "id": 360, "title": "Where Reasons End: A Novel", "author": "Yiyun Li", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

Yiyun Li’s heartbreaking autobiographical novel takes the form of an extended conversation between the narrator – an author and teacher – and her son, Nikolai, who has recently died from suicide. (Li herself lost a son to suicide.) The narrator and Nikolai challenge each other throughout the course of the novel, each straining to find words to express their emotions. Devastating and true, Where Reasons End is a masterpiece of American fiction that proves beyond a doubt that Li is one of this country’s greatest writers.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "rather short" ], "isbn": "198481737X", "seamus": 691719028, "itunes": 9781984817372, "goodreads": 40147915, "cover": "198481737X", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781984817372", "isbn10": "198481737X", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 360, "book": "Where Reasons End: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Grief Conquers Language — Almost — In 'Where Reasons End'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/02/06/691719374/grief-conquers-language-almost-in-where-reasons-end" } ] }, "361": { "id": 361, "title": "Gingerbread: A Novel", "author": "Helen Oyeyemi", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

As far as British novelist Helen Oyeyemi is concerned, you’re never too old for fairy tales. Her latest novel is a spin on the Hansel and Gretel story – it follows Harriet, a would-be social climber with a magical gingerbread recipe, and her daughter, Perdita, a troubled young woman who takes a bizarre trip to a country that may or may not exist. It’s a life-affirming, charming and just plain fun novel from an author who’s refreshingly unafraid to be joyful.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1594634653", "seamus": 698646457, "itunes": 9781594634659, "goodreads": 40812195, "cover": "1594634653", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781594634659", "isbn10": "1594634653", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 361, "book": "Gingerbread: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Gingerbread' Is A Delightfully Spicy Family Fable", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/09/698646775/gingerbread-is-a-delightfully-spicy-family-fable" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 361, "book": "Gingerbread: A Novel", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Book Review: 'Gingerbread: A Novel'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/post/book-review-gingerbread" } ] }, "362": { "id": 362, "title": "Everything Inside: Stories", "author": "Edwidge Danticat", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

Edwidge Danticat has made death and grief centerpieces of her brilliant fiction and nonfiction for more than 20 years. In her latest short story collection, she explores how people come to terms with death, both their loved ones’ and their own. Filled with her superb writing, Everything Inside is a brilliant, relentlessly honest book about how we say goodbye; about compassion and cruelty in the face of death; about, as she writes, “loves that outlive lovers.”

", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0525521275", "seamus": 754394555, "itunes": 9780525521273, "goodreads": 43064139, "cover": "0525521275", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525521273", "isbn10": "0525521275", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 362, "book": "Everything Inside: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "Edwidge Danticat: 'Whether Or Not We Belong Is Not Defined By Us'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/30/754393771/edwidge-danticat-whether-or-not-we-belong-is-not-defined-by-us" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 362, "book": "Everything Inside: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "Coming To Terms With Loss And Grief In Gorgeous 'Everything Inside'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/754395108/coming-to-terms-with-loss-and-grief-in-gorgeous-everything-inside" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 362, "book": "Everything Inside", "source": "WAMC", "text": "Hear Edwidge Danticat On 'The Book Show'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/post/book-show-1628-edwidge-danticat" } ] }, "363": { "id": 363, "title": "Lot: Stories", "author": "Bryan Washington", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

In his gorgeous debut short story collection, young author Bryan Washington paints an unforgettable picture of Houston and the people who call it home – all struggling to find a place for themselves in a quickly changing city. About half the stories, most of which are named after Houston neighborhoods, feature the same protagonist – a young, gay biracial man growing up in the city’s East End. Washington’s writing is beautiful, and he does a brilliant job making the city come to life in all its imperfect glory. It’s a stunning work of art and instant classic of Texas literature.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0525533672", "seamus": 698742582, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 40749395, "cover": "0525533672", "bookshop": 9780525533672, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525533672", "isbn10": "0525533672", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 363, "book": "Lot: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Lot' Paints An Unforgettable Portrait Of Houston And Its People", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/03/19/698742832/lot-paints-an-unforgettable-portrait-of-houston-and-its-people" } ] }, "364": { "id": 364, "title": "Marilou Is Everywhere: A Novel", "author": "Sarah Elaine Smith", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

Cindy, the teenage narrator of Sarah Elaine Smith’s debut novel, longs to disappear from her lonely, poverty-stricken existence in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. She gets the chance when a girl from her county goes missing, and she’s able to slide into the life she’s always wanted for herself. Marilou is Everywhere is a novel of stunning emotional intelligence, and Cindy an unforgettable character, but it’s Smith’s writing that’s the real star of the book – her voice is nothing short of angelic, and this novel reads like a miracle.

", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0525535241", "seamus": 745746842, "itunes": 9780525535249, "goodreads": 36222278, "cover": "0525535241", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525535249", "isbn10": "0525535241", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 364, "book": "Marilou Is Everywhere: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Growing Up In Appalachia Is 'The Great Riddle Of My Life,' Says 'Marilou' Author", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/03/747679307/growing-up-in-appalachia-is-the-great-riddle-of-my-life-says-marilou-author" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 364, "book": "Marilou Is Everywhere: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Marilou Is Everywhere,' And Also A Miracle", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/07/29/745747218/marilou-is-everywhere-and-also-a-miracle" } ] }, "365": { "id": 365, "title": "Orange World And Other Stories", "author": "Karen Russell", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

Karen Russell’s latest short story collection features a boy who falls in love with a 2,000-year-old dead girl, a young woman possessed by a Joshua tree and a mother coerced into breastfeeding the devil – needless to say, literary realism this is not. Russell’s stories aren’t like anything you’ve ever read before; there’s no doubt at all that she is one of the most original American authors working today. She’s also one of the best.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0525656138", "seamus": 723303975, "itunes": 9780525656135, "goodreads": 42180217, "cover": "0525656138", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780525656135", "isbn10": "0525656138", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 365, "book": "Orange World And Other Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "Karen Russell Proves She's A True Original With 'Orange World'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/05/15/723304631/karen-russell-proves-shes-a-true-original-with-orange-world" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 365, "book": "Orange World", "source": "WPR", "text": "Karen Russell's Short Stories Explore The Supernatural In Our Natural World", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/karen-russells-short-stories-explore-supernatural-our-natural-world" } ] }, "366": { "id": 366, "title": "The World Doesn't Require You: Stories", "author": "Rion Amilcar Scott", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "

Cross River, Md. – the home of America’s “only successful slave uprising” – is one of the country’s most fascinating cities. And it exists only in the imagination of author Rion Amilcar Scott, who returns to the fictional town in his second short story collection. The book is less a collection of short, genre-spanning stories than it is an ethereal atlas of a world that’s both wholly original and disturbingly familiar; it’s one of the most innovative, and best, books of the year.

", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1631495380", "seamus": 753415817, "itunes": 9781631495380, "goodreads": 41817522, "cover": "1631495380", "bookshop": 9781631495380, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781631495380", "isbn10": "1631495380", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 366, "book": "The World Doesn't Require You: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "Characters Shine In Powerful, Dreamy 'The World Doesn't Require You'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753416157/characters-shine-in-powerful-dreamy-the-world-doesnt-require-you" }, { "year": 2019, "id": 366, "book": "The World Doesn't Require You: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rion Amilcar Scott Returns To Cross River In 'The World Doesn't Require You'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2019/08/22/753493926/rion-amilcar-scott-returns-to-cross-river-in-the-world-doesn-t-require-you" } ] }, "367": { "id": 367, "title": "Epic Continent: Adventures In The Great Stories Of Europe", "author": "Nicholas Jubber", "reviewers": [ "Nancy Pearl" ], "text": "

In this fascinating mixture of armchair travel and close reading of European epic literature, we journey throughout Europe accompanied by works such as The Odyssey (Greece); the Nibelungenlied (Germany); Beowulf (Scandinavia) and – most interesting for me, since I was totally unfamiliar with it – the Kosovo cycle (the Balkans). Not only is it a painless, entertaining way to brush up on the classics, but you’ll want to use this book to plan your next European jaunt.

", "tags": [ "for history lovers", "it’s all geek to me", "nonfiction", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1529374340", "seamus": 777017326, "itunes": 9781529374346, "goodreads": 43212525, "cover": "1529374340", "bookshop": 9781529374346, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781529374346", "isbn10": "1529374340", "links": [] }, "368": { "id": 368, "title": "Rabbits For Food", "author": "Binnie Kirshenbaum", "reviewers": [ "Nancy Pearl" ], "text": "

A simple plot description – depressed woman checks herself into a psych ward, refuses to take the prescribed meds and starts writing about her fellow inmates – doesn’t do justice to this marvelous novel, because it leaves out everything that makes it so special. The writing is splendid; against all odds it’s frequently explosively funny, and it offers readers a memorable picture of an often wittily acerbic woman trying to find herself in the gray fog of sadness. Oh, and there’s a cat named Jeffrey and a therapy dog who never shows up, as well.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "funny stuff", "fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1788164652", "seamus": 777017212, "itunes": "", "goodreads": 46641450, "cover": "1788164652", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781788164658", "isbn10": "1788164652", "links": [] }, "369": { "id": 369, "title": "Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber", "author": "Mike Isaac", "reviewers": [ "Jeremy Hobson" ], "text": "

In 2009, when the ride-hailing app Uber first started, it was called UberCab. The company was a basic black car service in San Francisco. Since then, the company has upended transportation around the world – at Uber’s highest valuation it was worth more than $60 billion. New York Times technology reporter Mike Isaac takes us through the fascinating rise of Uber, and the fall of its founder Travis Kalanick, who was forced to resign. Isaac brings his expertise and energy to Super Pumped, and helps us better understand one of the most important companies on earth.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "nonfiction", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0393652246", "seamus": 782012656, "itunes": 9780393652246, "goodreads": 44573628, "cover": "0393652246", "bookshop": 9780393652246, "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9780393652246", "isbn10": "0393652246", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 369, "book": "Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber", "source": "WBUR & NPR", "text": "The Meteoric Rise And Fall Of Uber's Founder", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/09/03/uber-super-pumped-mike-isaac" } ] }, "370": { "id": 370, "title": "The Empire And The Five Kings: America's Abdication And The Fate Of The World", "author": "Bernard-Henri Lévy", "reviewers": [ "Jeremy Hobson" ], "text": "

In his book,The Empire and the Five Kings, renowned French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy argues that America’s influence is declining, and five powers – China, Russia, Iran, Turkey and Sunni radical Islam – are ready to take its place in the world. Levy argues that the United States, while built on idealism and laudable principles, is now focused only on the short term and lacks a strategic aim. His book was written before the U.S. abandoned the Kurds at the request of Turkey in Northern Syria, an event that only strengthens his argument.

", "tags": [ "eye-opening reads", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1250203015", "seamus": 782015637, "itunes": 9781250203014, "goodreads": 40698141, "cover": "1250203015", "year": 2019, "isbn13": "9781250203014", "isbn10": "1250203015", "links": [ { "year": 2019, "id": 370, "book": "The Empire and the Five Kings", "source": "WBUR & NPR", "text": "Bernard-Henri Lévy's Take On What Declining American Influence And Leadership Means For The World", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/03/19/bernard-henri-levy-book" } ] } }