Blackouts is an immersive experience. This National Book Award winner contains photographs, illustrations and handwritten letters – ephemera that help tell the story of an early 20th-century lesbian researcher and activist named Jan Gay. Justin Torres embeds her real-life story (complete with cameos from Andy Warhol, Emma Goldman and Martin Scorsese) in a fictional (or is it?) dialogue between a dying man named Juan Gay and a young unnamed narrator. The book is mysterious, sexy and layered, and as soon as I finished it, I wanted to go back and read it again.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0374293570", "cover": "blackouts-torres", "goodreads": 65215321, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374293574, "image": "https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/win_fic_Blackouts.jpg?resize=391%2C600&ssl=1", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374293574", "isbn10": "0374293570", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 1, "book": "Blackouts", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Blackouts,' one writer brings America's hidden queer history to the forefront", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/13/1205582268/blackouts-justin-torres-queer-history" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 1, "book": "Blackouts", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Blackouts' is an ingenious deathbed conversation between two friends", "url": "https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1205721246" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 1, "book": "Blackouts", "source": "NPR", "text": "Justin Torres explores the queer history we're not talking about in novel 'Blackouts'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/10/1204963441/justin-torres-explores-the-queer-history-were-not-talking-about-in-novel-blackou" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 1, "book": "Blackouts", "source": "NPR", "text": "Justin Torres wins at National Book Awards as authors call for cease-fire in Gaza", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/11/15/1213350274/justin-torres-wins-at-national-book-awards-as-authors-call-for-cease-fire-in-gaz" } ] }, "2": { "id": 2, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Guest", "author": "Emma Cline", "reviewers": [ "Clare Marie Schneider" ], "text": "A romp of epic proportions – Alex, our adrift protagonist, swims and eats her way through the private pools and stainless steel kitchens of the Hamptons’ elite. Broke and without a home to return to, she extends her summer stay by weaseling her way into the lives of various seasonal residents. After puzzling through all the actually difficult parts of infiltrating the world, her demise is her own once she’s in. Alex’s self-destructive impulses land her in increasingly anxiety-inducing, thriller-like scenarios and interactions that become harder to unravel as she leaves a trail of mess with every exit. She simply must scratch the itch – steal the watch, kiss the boy, jump in the pool.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "0812998626", "cover": "0812998626", "goodreads": 61986136, "itunes": 9780812998627, "bookshop": 9780812998627, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31y5xF5JYuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780812998627", "isbn10": "0812998626", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 2, "book": "The Guest", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Guest,' a sex worker wreaks havoc on the glitzy social scene at the Hamptons ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/25/1178300477/in-the-guest-a-sex-worker-wreaks-havoc-on-the-glitzy-social-scene-at-the-hampton" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 2, "book": "The Guest", "source": "WSHU", "text": "Book Review: 'The Guest' by Emma Cline", "url": "https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2023-06-15/book-review" } ] }, "3": { "id": 3, "edition": "fall", "title": "Mascot", "author": "Charles Waters and Traci Sorell", "reviewers": [ "Cynthia Leitich Smith" ], "text": "At a time when grown-ups struggle to thoughtfully tackle culture issues, a diverse group of middle schoolers debates their stereotypical “Indian mascot.” This multiple-viewpoint novel in verse reflects opinions of those with anti-racism, pro-Indigenous perspectives and of those who prioritize school tradition and “fun.” The conversation, which begins in the classroom, tests the tweens and their relationships. Respectively Black and Cherokee co-authors deftly interweave nuances of identity and impact with noteworthy attention to socioeconomic class. Their engaging, accessible narrative effectively utilizes white space on the page, inviting young readers to reflect on the controversy. (For ages 10 to 13)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "identity & culture", "fiction", "for sports lovers", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1623543800", "cover": "1623543800", "goodreads": 125078485, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781623543808, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41caUCvmikL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781623543808", "isbn10": "1623543800", "links": [] }, "4": { "id": 4, "edition": "fall", "title": "Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food", "author": "Fuchsia Dunlop", "reviewers": [ "Vincent Ni" ], "text": "Fuchsia Dunlop finds it a pity that Chinese food is among the world’s favorites, yet one of the least understood. This is partly because, in her view, there are few Chinese gastronomy critics who can both cook dishes and write prose. In Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food, Dunlop – who in the 1990s became the first foreigner to study at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine in Chengdu – tries to take on that role. It’s a personal journey filled with history of some of the best-known and occasionally exotic dishes, told in lip-smacking detail. It’s an invitation hard to resist.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0393867137", "cover": "0393867137", "goodreads": 123979561, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780393867138, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81FnrHgE2cL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780393867138", "isbn10": "0393867137", "links": [] }, "5": { "id": 5, "edition": "fall", "title": "Feed Them Silence", "author": "Lee Mandelo", "reviewers": [ "Liam McBain" ], "text": "I love books about people who kind of suck – especially gay people who kind of suck – and this tight little speculative novella really did the trick for me. It’s about a harried lesbian academic whose research involves using technology to mind-meld with a she-wolf. As her obsession with the wolf deepens, she tries to hold off both the ethical quandaries associated with her work and the breakdown of her relationship with her wife. Feed Them Silence is a creative exploration of belonging and the burdens of humanity with an incredible amount of depth, given its short length.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "science!", "identity & culture", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250824508", "cover": "1250824508", "goodreads": 60784259, "itunes": 9781250824509, "bookshop": 9781250824509, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31+P3mG7xXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250824509", "isbn10": "1250824508", "links": [] }, "6": { "id": 6, "edition": "fall", "title": "Idlewild", "author": "James Frankie Thomas", "reviewers": [ "Liam McBain" ], "text": "Idlewild is a devastating debut novel about two adults looking back on the dissolution of their teenage friendship. Nell is a lesbian and deeply into her best friend, Fay; Fay is deeply into gay men but doesn’t think becoming one herself is possible. When a pair of sexually ambiguous boys join their quirky Quaker school, Nell and Fay become obsessed with them – and the four entangle into an inevitable implosion. I’m a gay trans guy; Fay is too. Watching both Nell and Fay hurt one another as they refuse to see the truth of that was painful to read. Even through the pain, I felt so protective of and tenderly for these two characters – and also for my younger self.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1419769146", "cover": "1419769146", "goodreads": 98653925, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781419769146, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/318AbdKUMyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781419769146", "isbn10": "1419769146", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 6, "book": "Idlewild", "source": "WBUR", "text": "In writing 'Idlewild,' author James Frankie Thomas discovered his own trans nature", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/09/25/dlewild-james-frankie-thomas" } ] }, "7": { "id": 7, "edition": "fall", "title": "Eagle Drums", "author": "Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson", "reviewers": [ "Cynthia Leitich Smith" ], "text": "In a brilliantly timeless middle-grade debut, this authentic retelling blends faith and folklore centered on the origin of the Iñupiaq Messenger Feast. The art is gorgeously layered in meaning and tradition, elevating an engaging, adventurous text with imaginative, evocative visual storytelling. Young readers will be drawn in by Pinja’s high-stakes, epic adventure – rendered with immersive sensory detail and interwoven with the ways of Alaska Native life. A soaring story of family and courage, culture and community, wonder and resilience. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250750652", "cover": "1250750652", "goodreads": 54017889, "itunes": 9781250750655, "bookshop": 9781250750655, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tjgmljd4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250750655", "isbn10": "1250750652", "links": [] }, "8": { "id": 8, "edition": "fall", "title": "Artificial: A Love Story", "author": "Amy Kurzweil", "reviewers": [ "Chloe Veltman" ], "text": "In Artificial: A Love Story, New Yorker cartoonist Amy Kurzweil describes how she and her father, famed futurist, technologist and inventor Ray Kurzweil, harness the power of artificial intelligence to connect with the grandfather she never knew. Fred Kurzweil died in 1970. He was a talented conductor and pianist from Vienna who fled the Nazis just before Kristallnacht in 1938 to begin a new life in the United States. Through words and meticulously detailed pen and ink drawings, this smart and spiritual graphic memoir not only chronicles the process that Amy and Ray go through to create a chatbot version of their forebear (“Fred-bot”), but also asks big questions about how we memorialize the people we love and the relationship between technology and humanity.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "for music lovers", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "1948226383", "cover": "1948226383", "goodreads": "", "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781948226387, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ORdcuw65L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781948226387", "isbn10": "1948226383", "links": [] }, "9": { "id": 9, "edition": "fall", "title": "On a Woman’s Madness", "author": "Astrid Roemer, translated by Lucy Scott", "reviewers": [ "Lily Meyer" ], "text": "In this queer Dutch classic, a young Surinamese woman named Noenka leaves her brief marriage for a voyage of self-discovery, described in gorgeous (and often steamy!) sensory detail. Astrid Roemer’s writing, in Lucy Scott’s new translation, is lush and sinuous, turning quiet domestic scenes into dreamscapes and cranking up the volume on the many love stories this novel contains. It has taken far too long for On a Woman’s Madness to make it into English – don’t miss it now that it’s here!
", "tags": [ "fiction", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1949641430", "cover": "1949641430", "goodreads": 61244744, "itunes": 9781949641431, "bookshop": 9781949641431, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71TfjhU+GuL._SY522_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781949641431", "isbn10": "1949641430", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 9, "book": "On a Woman’s Madness", "source": "NPR", "text": "3 books in translation that have received acclaim in their original languages", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/10/1154760787/3-books-in-translation-that-have-received-acclaim-in-their-original-languages" } ] }, "10": { "id": 10, "edition": "fall", "title": "Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People", "author": "Tracy Kidder", "reviewers": [ "Scott Horsley" ], "text": "Dr. Jim O’Connell has been treating unhoused people in Boston for more than three decades, and he hasn’t worked himself out of a job yet. On the contrary, the job is bigger than ever – not only in Boston but in nearly every American city. Nevertheless, I found Tracy Kidder’s book about O’Connell and his Sisyphean work surprisingly uplifting. The onetime bartender is both cleareyed and compassionate toward his patients – people who are ignored by so many others. His work might be a Band-Aid on the bigger problem of homelessness, but as he says, “This is what we do while we’re waiting for the world to change.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1984801430", "cover": "1984801430", "goodreads": 62328661, "itunes": 9781984801432, "bookshop": 9781984801432, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ZLi2etjSL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781984801432", "isbn10": "1984801430", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 10, "book": "Rough Sleepers", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Rough Sleepers': How one person can make a difference caring for the unhoused", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1163617477/rough-sleepers-how-one-person-can-make-a-difference-caring-for-the-unhoused" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 10, "book": "Rough Sleepers", "source": "NPR", "text": "House calls to the homeless: A doctor treats Boston's most isolated patients", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/29/444214320/house-calls-to-the-homeless-a-doctor-treats-bostons-most-isolated-patients" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 10, "book": "Rough Sleepers", "source": "Siouxland Public Media", "text": "Check It Out: 'Rough Sleepers' by Tracy Kidder ", "url": "https://www.kwit.org/show/check-it-out/2023-06-12/check-it-out-rough-sleepers-by-tracy-kidder" } ] }, "11": { "id": 11, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Work and Life", "author": "Sally Jenkins", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "Sally Jenkins has had a superb career chronicling the highest achievements in sports, both by individuals and by teams. With The Right Call, she looks back through her reporter’s notebooks to capture what makes some athletes and coaches reach the peak of their game. Character and judgment prevail, but she explores how they succeed without pithy shortcuts. Whatever part of life you want to excel in – family, friendship or the workplace – this book will have you rethinking what you do and how you might do it differently.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for sports lovers", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "1982122552", "cover": "1982122552", "goodreads": 62919736, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982122553, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51fFIWvoc6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982122553", "isbn10": "1982122552", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 11, "book": "The Right Call", "source": "WHYY", "text": "Life Lessons from Sports with Sally Jenkins", "url": "https://whyy.org/episodes/life-lessons-from-sports-sally-jenkins-sportswriter-washington-post/" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 11, "book": "The Right Call", "source": "WYPR", "text": "Sportswriter Sally Jenkins looks to athletes for vital life lessons ", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/show/midday/2023-06-28/sportswriter-sally-jenkins-looks-to-athletes-for-vital-life-lessons" } ] }, "12": { "id": 12, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them", "author": "Timothy Egan", "reviewers": [ "Doug Berman" ], "text": "This fascinating and timely book about the second rise of the Ku Klux Klan in America reads like a legal thriller. The story follows the rise and fall of Indiana’s con-man-ish grand dragon, D.C. Stephenson, whose qualities may remind some readers of a certain prominent political figure of today. When a woman brings an unlikely case against him, it challenges the status quo in 1920s Indiana, where belonging to the KKK became as common and as socially acceptable as belonging to the Rotary Club.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0735225265", "cover": "0735225265", "goodreads": 61423989, "itunes": 9780735225268, "bookshop": 9780735225268, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yOWfXnudL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780735225268", "isbn10": "0735225265", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 12, "book": "A Fever in the Heartland", "source": "KUER", "text": "Timothy Egan on the KKK’s 'Plot to Take Over America'", "url": "https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2023-05-18/timothy-egan-on-the-kkks-plot-to-take-over-america" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 12, "book": "A Fever in the Heartland", "source": "KUOW", "text": "At the height of the KKK's popularity, one woman's story toppled its leader", "url": "https://www.kuow.org/stories/at-the-height-of-the-kkk-s-popularity-one-woman-s-story-toppled-its-leader" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 12, "book": "A Fever in the Heartland", "source": "MTPR", "text": "Timothy Egan on ‘The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them’ ", "url": "https://www.mtpr.org/podcast/the-write-question/2023-05-08/timothy-egan-on-the-ku-klux-klans-plot-to-take-over-america-and-the-woman-who-stopped-them" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 12, "book": "A Fever in the Heartland", "source": "KJZZ", "text": "How the KKK rose to power in the heartland in the 1920s", "url": "https://kjzz.org/content/1846864/how-kkk-rose-power-heartland-1920s" } ] }, "13": { "id": 13, "edition": "fall", "title": "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence", "author": "Paul Scharre", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "What are the implications of the use of artificial intelligence in democratic and authoritarian states? Paul Scharre’s clear primer on AI addresses the race to lead AI in determining the rules of the next century. He raises the possibility that AI in war accelerates past human control, undermining democracy and freedom. He urges democratic nations to shape the future of AI, arguing that the U.S. has struggled to develop an identifiable strategy for AI, unlike China, which views it as a key to national success.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "it’s all geek to me", "nonfiction", "science!", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0393866866", "cover": "0393866866", "goodreads": 61089453, "itunes": 9780393866865, "bookshop": 9780393866865, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/512+nfVtS0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780393866865", "isbn10": "0393866866", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 13, "book": "Four Battlegrounds", "source": "NPR", "text": "When it comes to the dangers of AI, surveillance poses more risk than anything", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/02/1160714485/when-it-comes-to-the-dangers-of-ai-surveillance-poses-more-risk-than-anything" } ] }, "14": { "id": 14, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941", "author": "Robert Kagan", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "When the U.S. awakened to its status as a world power, it had to learn how to exercise power and shape the world without losing its founding principles. It had no strategy to do so. Robert Kagan challenges old tropes with economic data and a keen look at the domestic situation, arguing that World War II was a result of poor decisions in the 1920s. Underestimating U.S. power at home and abroad in 1919 had huge consequences. Once unleashed, there was no going back on how or when to use it.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0307262944", "cover": "0307262944", "goodreads": 60017541, "itunes": 9780307262943, "bookshop": 9780307262943, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41v8T78jiAL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780307262943", "isbn10": "0307262944", "links": [] }, "15": { "id": 15, "edition": "fall", "title": "Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better", "author": "Jennifer Pahlka", "reviewers": [ "Darian Woods" ], "text": "Why are government websites and digital services so bad? Jennifer Pahlka’s experience behind the scenes tells her it’s not primarily an issue caused by outdated technology or the average government worker’s tech skills. Instead, Pahlka details how years of built-up policy “cruft” and top-down cultures conspire to leave us frustrated. The book offers vignettes explaining why the unemployment system was crushed under COVID-19, why many people in poverty don’t use food stamps and even why satellite maps could be made better. Despite tales that would frustrate even Franz Kafka, Pahlka’s optimism and problem-solving clarity are an inspiration for fixing pain points in any organization.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "it’s all geek to me", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1250266777", "cover": "1250266777", "goodreads": 61796680, "itunes": 9781250266774, "bookshop": 9781250266774, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41FBMS7v4cL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250266774", "isbn10": "1250266777", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 15, "book": "Recoding America", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Recoding America' author Jennifer Pahlka on how we can reshape our government to work for us", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/06/14/recoding-america-author-jennifer-pahlka-on-how-we-can-reshape-our-government-to-work-for-us" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 15, "book": "Recoding America", "source": "NPR", "text": "Can You Code A Better Government? ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2013/10/04/191618910/can-you-code-a-better-government" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 15, "book": "Recoding America", "source": "NPR", "text": "Why government websites and online services are so bad", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/10/1186880310/why-government-websites-and-online-services-are-so-bad" } ] }, "16": { "id": 16, "edition": "fall", "title": "Berlin", "author": "Bea Setton", "reviewers": [ "Casey Morell" ], "text": "You may think you’ve read this story before: Girl gets fed up with her hometown, girl moves to another country to find herself, girl finds success. But what if it doesn’t quite work out that way? This book is a wry, slinky exploration of something that many of us have dreamed of doing, but it’s coupled with an existential crisis that comes from the dream being less than what was expected. Written in punchy, self-effacing prose, Berlin is one of those novels whose jokes and terrors alike will stick with you for a while – in the best of ways.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "014313762X", "cover": "014313762X", "goodreads": 62050489, "itunes": 9780143137627, "bookshop": 9780143137627, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41UZpdpgFvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780143137627", "isbn10": "014313762X", "links": [] }, "17": { "id": 17, "edition": "fall", "title": "40 Men and 12 Rifles: Indochina 1954", "author": "Marcelino Truong, translated by David Homel", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "The title of this richly illustrated graphic “faction” – a term used by Marcelino Truong to describe fiction based on meticulously researched facts – refers to a propaganda unit of 40 ill-equipped, not-quite-battle-ready artists who nevertheless helped Ho Chi Minh’s army achieve victory at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and terminate France’s century-long colonization of Vietnam. The narrative centers on Minh, an illustrator conscripted into serving the communist war effort but openly resisting the facile David and Goliath narrative. The book makes a clear distinction between the romance of Marxism and its totalitarian approach: The fact that a nation behaves heroically or suffers tremendously in war does not make the ideology that governs it admirable.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "comics & graphic novels", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1551529238", "cover": "1551529238", "goodreads": 125877101, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781551529233, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518pUsCUijL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781551529233", "isbn10": "1551529238", "links": [] }, "18": { "id": 18, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens", "author": "Raul Palma", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "It’s a rare book that scares you and makes you think in equal measures. In this viscerally affecting debut, Raul Palma reimagines the manifestations and consequences of debt in terrifying and thought-provoking ways. Debt is more than what you owe the bank. It’s the sins you commit that come back to haunt you just when you think you’ve made an escape. For widower and Santeria priest Hugo Contreras, grief-stricken and hellbent on revenge, the devil is a dangerous debt collector to challenge. Hugo is haunted and tormented by the myriad debts he has accumulated since his brother helped him escape the mines of Bolivia as a child. He’s a widower who feels implicated in his wife’s suffering and death, and the mistakes he has piled up aren’t easy to shake.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "059347211X", "cover": "059347211X", "goodreads": 147371037, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593472118, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41lwWgHauCL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593472118", "isbn10": "059347211X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 18, "book": "A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens", "source": "NPR", "text": "Raul Palma on his debut novel 'A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/14/1205951254/raul-palma-on-his-debut-novel-a-haunting-in-hialeah-gardens" } ] }, "19": { "id": 19, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, a History, a Memorial", "author": "Viet Thanh Nguyen", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Combining elements of stand-up comedy and slam poetry, the author of The Sympathizer and The Refugees tells a story that aligns his personal trajectory of moving to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam with other lives affected by unruly forces. To guard against any dominant culture’s view of history, he urges inheritors of secondhand memory – those who were not witnesses to the original event but learn about the past through testimonials, film and literature – to investigate the intent in every narrative, as well as any system that suppresses disputes. His approach embraces a diasporic writer’s divided self as a site of endless examination.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "rather long", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0802160506", "cover": "0802160506", "goodreads": 124948662, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780802160508, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41oDSOOhDML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780802160508", "isbn10": "0802160506", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 19, "book": "A Man of Two Faces", "source": "NPR", "text": "A Man of Two Faces' is a riveting, one-stop primer on Viet Thanh Nguyen", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/12/1205062264/book-review-a-man-of-two-faces-memoir-by-viet-thanh-nguyen" } ] }, "20": { "id": 20, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Perfect Vintage", "author": "Chelsea Fagan", "reviewers": [ "Erica Liao" ], "text": "A Perfect Vintage has it all: a picturesque French countryside château and a complex web of relationships that could come only from mixing family, work and pleasure. We follow Lea Mortimer, who is meticulous about her job remodeling French country estates into hotels. It’s business as usual until her best friend (and cousin) Stephanie, in the midst of a messy divorce and in need of an escape, convinces Lea to take her and her daughter to Lea’s next project in the Loire Valley. At the château, they step into the complex dynamics of the Lévesque family, owners of the property. Trysts blossom, relationships are tested and a tangled web is woven. Pairs well with sitting poolside, a glass of French wine in hand!
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1662938624", "cover": "1662938624", "goodreads": 123255927, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781662938627, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41QlYowMiKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781662938627", "isbn10": "1662938624", "links": [] }, "21": { "id": 21, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Slow, Calculated Lynching: The Story of Clyde Kennard", "author": "Devery S. Anderson", "reviewers": [ "Debbie Elliott" ], "text": "Americans likely know how James Meredith made history in 1962 as the first Black student admitted to the all-white University of Mississippi. But before Meredith, another Black Mississippi veteran, Clyde Kennard, tried repeatedly to integrate Mississippi Southern College in Hattiesburg (now the University of Southern Mississippi). And he paid a great price for it. This meticulously researched book reveals how Kennard was wrongly imprisoned in Mississippi’s infamous Parchman prison farm, where he was denied proper medical care despite a cancer diagnosis. It reveals the chilling tactics the state of Mississippi employed to preserve white supremacy.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1496844041", "cover": "1496844041", "goodreads": 63246098, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781496844040, "image": "https://www.upress.state.ms.us/var/site/storage/images/books/a/a-slow-calculated-lynching/image-front-cover/1492577-1-eng-CA/Image-front-cover_rb_modalcover.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781496844040", "isbn10": "1496844041", "links": [] }, "22": { "id": 22, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Spell of Good Things", "author": "Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀", "reviewers": [ "Nayantara Dutta" ], "text": "A Spell of Good Things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ is the story of two families in Nigeria, one rich and one poor, as their lives come together in one fateful moment. We follow a tired young doctor with the world at her feet and a hungry teenager fighting to stay in school. Their intertwined story reflects on power, political corruption and the unexpected ties that bind us. Arresting, layered and heartbreaking, it almost reads like a thriller. I became very invested in the characters and will be thinking about this book for a long time.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1838856048", "cover": "1838856048", "goodreads": 57834285, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780525657644, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pra+rSXTL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781838856045", "isbn10": "1838856048", "links": [] }, "23": { "id": 23, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Study in Drowning", "author": "Ava Reid", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "Of all the books I’ve devoured this year, I’m most surprised by how often I revisit Ava Reid’s quietly stunning gothic fantasy in my mind. On the surface, it’s an unassuming story about Effy Sayre, a young woman who takes up residence in a crumbling, flooded mansion to find out the truth about her favorite author – with help from a handsome but prickly academic rival. But on a much deeper level, it’s a powerful tale about the ways in which women survive the men who dare to use and discard them.
\nWith hauntingly careful prose, Reid weaves a compelling tale of trauma and healing. You’ll find yourself drinking in the book with small sips and then choking gulps – ensnared even as the water swallows you whole.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "staff picks", "the dark side", "love & romance", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063211505", "cover": "0063211505", "goodreads": 75302266, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063211506, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/512c2qlbeNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063211506", "isbn10": "0063211505", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 23, "book": "A Study in Drowning ", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 YA books for fall that give academia vibes", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1195495741/5-ya-books-for-fall-that-give-academia-vibes" } ] }, "24": { "id": 24, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Walk in the Woods", "author": "Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney", "reviewers": [ "Cynthia Leitich Smith" ], "text": "A grieving boy, mourning the loss of his father, follows a treasure map into the woods they used to visit together. Nikki Grimes’ powerful, yet tender language is an ideal complement to Jerry Pinkney’s loose, softly saturated art. Honest, healing – this is a memorable story of strength and solace. It’s the kind of book you’ll want to keep forever and revisit for its comforting cadence and loving wisdom. The end notes, honoring Jerry Pinkney and his legacy, are a must-read for anyone who cares deeply about children’s books and the best among us who create them. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "for art lovers", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0823449653", "cover": "0823449653", "goodreads": 125078610, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780823449651, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61WSntIsVxL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780823449651", "isbn10": "0823449653", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 24, "book": "A Walk in the Woods", "source": "WCMU", "text": "The Children's Bookshelf: 'A Walk in the Woods'", "url": "https://radio.wcmu.org/show/the-childrens-bookshelf/2023-10-08/the-childrens-bookshelf-a-walk-in-the-woods-october-8-2023" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 24, "book": "A Walk in the Woods", "source": "NPR", "text": "Jerry Pinkney, the beloved, award-winning children's book illustrator, has died at 81", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2021/10/20/1047786312/jerry-pinkney-illustrator-obituary" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 24, "book": "A Walk in the Woods", "source": "NPR", "text": "2022 was a good year for Nikki Grimes, who just published her 103rd book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2022/12/23/1142266412/2022-was-a-good-year-for-nikki-grimes-who-just-published-her-103rd-book" } ] }, "25": { "id": 25, "edition": "fall", "title": "Above Ground", "author": "Clint Smith", "reviewers": [ "Anika Steffen" ], "text": "This poetry book, with its reflections on new fatherhood, spoke to me as a parent. The collection stretches across the feelings of parent life from a delightful ode to the baby swing to a poem on marveling at cicadas with the author’s children. But it’s not just light fare. Smith also writes of his home city of New Orleans and of storms and loss, of generations before him and the legacy he is carrying. This collection deftly tells a story across its poems and it’s a story you shouldn’t miss.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "0316543039", "cover": "0316543039", "goodreads": 61398927, "itunes": 9780316543033, "bookshop": 9780316543033, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41PzbZ3VAAL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316543033", "isbn10": "0316543039", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 25, "book": "Above Ground", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Clint Smith's 'Above Ground' explores both the joys and tribulations of parenthood through poetry", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/04/11/above-ground-clint-smith-poetry" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 25, "book": "Above Ground", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Above Ground,' Clint Smith meditates on a changing world, personal and public", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/28/1166192914/in-above-ground-poetry-book-clint-smith-meditates-on-a-changing-world-parenthood" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 25, "book": "Above Ground", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Above Ground,' Clint Smith uses poetry to confront the legacy of slavery ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/29/1166783252/in-above-ground-clint-smith-uses-poetry-to-confront-the-legacy-of-slavery" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 25, "book": "Above Ground", "source": "KQED", "text": "Clint Smith celebrates complexities of parenthood in ‘Above Ground’", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892794/clint-smith-celebrates-complexities-of-parenthood-in-above-ground" } ] }, "26": { "id": 26, "edition": "fall", "title": "Absolution", "author": "Alice McDermott", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "In Absolution, Alice McDermott transports her signature characters – Irish American, Catholic, working-class New Yorkers – to Vietnam, circa 1963. Tricia Kelly is a shy newlywed who aspires “to be a helpmeet for my husband” – an engineer allegedly working for “navy intelligence.” Charlene is a strawberry-blond dynamo of a corporate wife who conscripts Tricia into her charity projects in hospitals and orphanages. McDermott brilliantly evokes the early buildup of American involvement in Vietnam as witnessed by some “minor characters” – expat wives mostly oblivious to the deeper machinations of their husbands and country.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "staff picks", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0374610487", "cover": "0374610487", "goodreads": 101404407, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374610487, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41AHFybcw+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374610487", "isbn10": "0374610487", "links": [] }, "27": { "id": 27, "edition": "fall", "title": "Age of Vice", "author": "Deepti Kapoor", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "With its focus on a family dynasty rooted in crime, this meaty Indian crime saga is frequently compared to mafia drama, but I read Deepti Kapoor’s creation more as a page-turning social novel than pulpy thriller. It stirs the pulse while digging into the entrenched and evolving structures and contradictions of modern India through three primary figures – a playboy with ambition beyond his shady, blood-soaked family business, a lonely servant, and an ambitious journalist. The most memorable of the trio, the one that stuck with me long after I put the book down, is a young man of low caste whose life began spiraling out of control with one tiny mistake at the age of eight.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593328795", "cover": "0593328795", "goodreads": 60177466, "itunes": 9780593328798, "bookshop": 9780593328798, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51joe0z988L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593328798", "isbn10": "0593328795", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 27, "book": "Age of Vice ", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Deepti Kapoor discusses 'Age of Vice' with Parul Sehgal", "url": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/deepti-kapoor-age-vice" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 27, "book": "Age of Vice ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Deepti Kapoor on her new novel 'Age of Vice'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/07/1147678864/deepti-kapoor-on-her-new-novel-age-of-vice" } ] }, "28": { "id": 28, "edition": "fall", "title": "All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me", "author": "Patrick Bringley", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "What E.L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is for kids (OK, I read it as an adult, too!), All the Beauty in the World is for grown-ups: a peek behind the curtain at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. That’s where, after his brother died from cancer, Patrick Bringley quit his job and donned a polyester blue uniform to become a guard. He writes that he just wanted to stand still for a while, but ended up staying for 10 years – studying the Masters, pondering the mummies, and contemplating life, art, and beauty. I found this memoir, and Bringley’s portrait of the museum, so compelling that I actually planned a trip to The Met!
", "tags": [ "rather short", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "for art lovers", "eye-opening reads", "book club ideas", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1982163305", "cover": "1982163305", "goodreads": 59366169, "itunes": 9781982163303, "bookshop": 9781982163303, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41SdHRq4iyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982163303", "isbn10": "1982163305", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 28, "book": "All The Beauty In The World", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'All the Beauty in the World' conveys Met guard's profound appreciation for art", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/14/1156479714/patrick-bringley-memoir-all-the-beauty-in-the-world-art-appreciation-the-met" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 28, "book": "All The Beauty In The World", "source": "NPR", "text": "Patrick Bringley on his book 'All the Beauty in the World'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/11/1156306061/patrick-bringley-on-his-book-all-the-beauty-in-the-world" } ] }, "29": { "id": 29, "edition": "fall", "title": "All the Sinners Bleed", "author": "S.A. Cosby", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "New York Times bestselling author S.A. Cosby’s All the Sinners Bleed is crime fiction at its best. Titus Crown, the first Black sheriff in Charon County, Va., is a former FBI agent who returned home to care for his sickly father, but solving crime is in his blood. A school shooting and a suspect shot to death by deputies lead Titus to the discovery of a series of gruesome murders – and the chase is on for a serial killer. Cosby’s powerful writing makes this an unforgettable tale that expertly weaves a taut criminal investigation with heart-pounding action and a heartwarming family. S.A. Cosby’s novel is another must-read from a crime fiction master.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250831911", "cover": "1250831911", "goodreads": 61884832, "itunes": 9781250831910, "bookshop": 9781250831910, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518z0dhLxXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250831910", "isbn10": "1250831911", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 29, "book": "All The Sinners Bleed", "source": "NPR", "text": "Crime writer S.A. Cosby loves the South — and is haunted by it", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/25/1189276661/s-a-cosby-all-the-sinners-bleed-south-confederacy" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 29, "book": "All The Sinners Bleed", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'All the Sinners Bleed' elegantly walks a fine line between horror and crime fiction", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/09/1181236505/book-review-sa-cosby-all-the-sinners-bleed" } ] }, "30": { "id": 30, "edition": "fall", "title": "All You Have to Do Is Call", "author": "Kerri Maher", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "Powerful. Dramatic. Insightful. Kerri Maher’s All You Have to Do Is Call centers on the Jane Collective, an underground women’s health network in Chicago during the years of 1969 to 1973 – a time when abortion was illegal in most of the United States. Maher writes vividly and compassionately about the complexities and courage of her three main characters as they face a turbulent time, battling the limitations of health care. It’s not only a timely novel, but storytelling at its finest – a must-read.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593102215", "cover": "0593102215", "goodreads": 75293468, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593102213, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51G4lbJtZyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593102213", "isbn10": "0593102215", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 30, "book": "All You Have To Do Is Call", "source": "BSPR", "text": " 'All You Have to Do Is Call': An author interview with Kerri Maher ", "url": "https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/show/idaho-matters/2023-08-11/all-you-have-to-do-is-call-author-interview-kerri-maher" } ] }, "31": { "id": 31, "edition": "fall", "title": "Alone: The Journeys of Three Young Refugees", "author": "Paul Tom, illustrated by Mélanie Baillairgé, translated by Arielle Aaronson", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "The critically acclaimed documentary Seuls is reinterpreted as a fully illustrated adaptation for young readers. Traveling on your own when you’re a kid is difficult. Traveling as a refugee without your parents to a country where you don’t even speak the language? Unthinkable – and it happens every day. The stories of three kids from Iran, Burundi and Uganda, respectively, are thrown into sharp relief when their narratives are illustrated on the page. It’s so gripping, young readers may completely forget the book they are reading isn’t fictional. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "kids’ books", "young adult", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1773069276", "cover": "1773069276", "goodreads": 122228934, "itunes": 9781773069272, "bookshop": 9781773069272, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31E-ENLCKLL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781773069272", "isbn10": "1773069276", "links": [] }, "32": { "id": 32, "edition": "fall", "title": "America the Beautiful?: One Woman in a Borrowed Prius on the Road Most Traveled", "author": "Blythe Roberson", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "Blythe Roberson quits her day job to go on the classic American rite of passage: the cross-country road trip. She structures her solitary trip around national parks where she can complete junior ranger badges (an aspiration I now hold near, as far too many of my friends are probably willing to attest). Roberson discusses ecotourism, conservation, class, politics, sex, gender and the beautiful, varied nature of the national parks. Roberson’s travelogue had me cracking up. She’s funny, engaging and opinionated, and I’ve bought a second copy because so many of my friends borrowed my first.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "funny stuff", "it’s all geek to me", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0063115514", "cover": "0063115514", "goodreads": 60563720, "itunes": 9780063115514, "bookshop": 9780063115514, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Vn-cSZHtL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063115514", "isbn10": "0063115514", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 32, "book": "America the Beautiful?", "source": "WUWM", "text": "Wisconsin-raised author releases her newest comedy travel log, 'America the Beautiful?' ", "url": "https://www.wuwm.com/2023-04-25/wisconsin-raised-author-releases-her-newest-comedy-travel-log-american-the-beautiful" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 32, "book": "America the Beautiful?", "source": "KPR", "text": "Conversations: 'America the Beautiful? One Woman in a Borrowed Prius on the Road Most Traveled'", "url": "https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/conversations/2023-05-05/america-the-beautiful-one-woman-in-a-borrowed-prius-on-the-road-most-traveled" } ] }, "33": { "id": 33, "edition": "fall", "title": "American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress", "author": "Wesley Lowery", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words are the tool used to convince people to pick up the sticks and stones. That’s the argument – girded by reporting and historical research – that Wesley Lowery makes in this book. He looks at the rhetoric that politicians and the media use to describe different groups, including immigrants, people of color, Jews and Muslims. Then, he draws direct connections between that language and some of the deadly violence that has been visited on those communities, with anecdotes from various points throughout U.S. history.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0358393264", "cover": "0358393264", "goodreads": "", "itunes": 9780358393269, "bookshop": 9780358393269, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514hw0Jk7TL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780358393269", "isbn10": "0358393264", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 33, "book": "American Whitelash", "source": "WYPR", "text": "In 'American Whitelash,' Wesley Lowery examines white supremacy ", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/show/midday/2023-08-29/in-american-whitelash-wesley-lowery-examines-white-supremacy" } ] }, "34": { "id": 34, "edition": "fall", "title": "An American Story", "author": "Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Dare Coulter", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "“How do you tell a story that starts in Africa and ends in horror?” Around the U.S. right now, some towns and states are challenging children’s books that dare to show a more complicated vision of our American past. Fortunately, our kids have brave histories like this one to double down and show just how much complexity can be packed into a single picture book. It’s slavery, but explained with the honesty our children deserve. And as the book says, our children will deal with this information “by being brave enough to lift your voice, by holding history in one hand and clenching hope in the other.” (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "kids’ books", "identity & culture", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "031647312X", "cover": "031647312X", "goodreads": 60656846, "itunes": 9780316473125, "bookshop": 9780316473125, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/511BH8m+FRL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316473125", "isbn10": "031647312X", "links": [] }, "35": { "id": 35, "edition": "fall", "title": "An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created", "author": "Santi Elijah Holley", "reviewers": [ "Rodney Carmichael" ], "text": "Twenty-seven years after Tupac Shakur’s unsolved murder, Las Vegas police are finally working to bring the case to justice. But to grasp the seismic tragedy of his death, you have to understand how unjust Pac’s life was from birth. Santi Elijah Holley doubles all the way down on that mission, detailing the legacy of struggle, self-determination and sacrifice Pac shouldered as a Shakur. From his mother Afeni to his godmother Assata to his stepfather Mutulu, his family members were freedom fighters and self-declared political prisoners who dared to dream, and wage war, in the name of Black liberation. Before Pac picked up a mic and tatted “Thug Life” on his torso, his people were branded America’s Most Wanted. Even in defeat, this revolutionary family rerouted the course of U.S. history. The book is documented proof.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "for music lovers", "identity & culture", "for history lovers", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "0358588766", "cover": "0358588766", "goodreads": 62120706, "itunes": 9780358588764, "bookshop": 9780358588764, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419Zt1VdNsL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780358588764", "isbn10": "0358588766", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 35, "book": "An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'An Amerikan Family' traces the legacy of Tupac Shakur's influential family", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/1182123264/an-amerikan-family-traces-the-legacy-of-tupac-shakurs-influential-family" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 35, "book": "An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created", "source": "KQED", "text": "The Shakur Family and the Evolution of Black Radicalism", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893227/the-shakur-family-and-the-evolution-of-black-radicalism" } ] }, "36": { "id": 36, "edition": "fall", "title": "Anansi's Gold: The Man Who Looted the West, Outfoxed Washington, and Swindled the World", "author": "Yepoka Yeebo", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "Catch Me if You Can meets Coming to America in this epic tale of one of the greatest scammers of all time. It’s the (true) story of a Ghanaian con artist who traveled the world spinning tales that wove together history, desire, corruption and hope of a fabulous wealth. And even though you know, from the beginning, that these tales aren’t true, his misadventures are so compellingly catalogued that when all is said and done, you may forget whom you should be rooting for.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "eye-opening reads", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1635574730", "cover": "1635574730", "goodreads": 58532145, "itunes": 9781635574739, "bookshop": 9781635574739, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41WHatUmSEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781635574739", "isbn10": "1635574730", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 36, "book": "Anansi's Gold", "source": "KCPW", "text": "Mountain Money: Author Yepoka Yeebo shares her new book 'Anansi's Gold'", "url": "https://www.kpcw.org/show/mountain-money/2023-08-01/anansis-gold-the-man-who-looted-the-west-outfoxed-washington-and-swindled-the-world" } ] }, "37": { "id": 37, "edition": "fall", "title": "Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling", "author": "Bricia Lopez with Javier Cabral", "reviewers": [ "Milton Guevara" ], "text": "Restaurateur Bricia Lopez says her cookbook Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling is a love letter to Los Angeles. It’s an expression of both her Oaxacan and American identity. An asada is a smoky barbecue filled with family, friends, music and drinks. And backyard asada culture reigns supreme in the streets of LA. Lopez’s cookbook covers everything you need to know to throw an asada, from making marinades to refreshing agua frescas.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "identity & culture", "staff picks", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1419762885", "cover": "1419762885", "goodreads": 61783794, "itunes": 9781419762888, "bookshop": 9781419762888, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tn1tBAAyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781419762888", "isbn10": "1419762885", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 37, "book": "Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling", "source": "NPR", "text": "New cookbook has tips for creating your own Oaxacan-inspired cookout", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/03/1185740739/new-cookbook-has-tips-for-creating-your-own-oaxacan-inspired-cookout" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 37, "book": "Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Asada: It’s not just a taco filling — it’s a lifestyle", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/el-cholo-centennial-taco-bell-test-kitchen-asada/asada-cookbook-bricia-lopez-javier-cabral-asada" } ] }, "38": { "id": 38, "edition": "fall", "title": "Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World", "author": "Claire Jean Kim", "reviewers": [ "Jeff Guo" ], "text": "The latest book from political scholar Claire Jean Kim is a razor-sharp retelling of Asian American history, one in which Asian Americans have not merely struggled against white supremacy but have often perpetrated – and benefited from – anti-Blackness. Kim traces these reciprocal strains of racism across 200 years of Asians in America, from Chinese exclusion to Japanese American incarceration during World War II to our present-day clashes over affirmative action. The story of race and rights in the United States cannot be told without Asian Americans. This book will show you why.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1009222252", "cover": "1009222252", "goodreads": 123021558, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781009222259, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Il8drAYNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781009222259", "isbn10": "1009222252", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 38, "book": "Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Model Minority' myth again used as a racial wedge between Asians and Blacks", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth-again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks" } ] }, "39": { "id": 39, "edition": "fall", "title": "Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune", "author": "Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe", "reviewers": [ "Anna Clarkson" ], "text": "The Astor family made its money in beaver trapping, but the family is perhaps most known for its political and cultural influence. The prominent American family helped develop New York City with multiple real estate holdings, and the Astors were mainstays of Gilded Age society and had the most famous death on the Titanic. As with most other ultrawealthy Gilded Age families, the money that was made by one or two generations dwindled over the years and is now mostly gone (see Anderson Cooper’s 2021 book on his ancestors, the Vanderbilts). The book details the often ruthless ways members of the family made and spent their fortune and how it led at times to unhappiness and greed. Money can’t buy you everything.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0062964704", "cover": "0062964704", "goodreads": 112975117, "itunes": 9780062964700, "bookshop": 9780062964700, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51xGwa4fn+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062964700", "isbn10": "0062964704", "links": [] }, "40": { "id": 40, "edition": "fall", "title": "Bea Wolf", "author": "Zach Weinersmith, illustrated by Boulet", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "Bea Wolf is a brilliant reinvention of Beowulf for the middle-grade crowd and up. In this graphic novel, Boulet’s dynamic black-and-white illustrations are the perfect foil for Zach Weinersmith’s exuberant storytelling. Instead of Geats, we get the legendary feats of neighborhood kids today, “fighters of fun-killers, fearing nothing, fated for fame. Heorot becomes Treeheart, a treehouse; Grendel, a “grim-faced joy-gobbler” named Grindle. Weinersmith is such a joyful tale-teller with such love for the original and poetry. Do yourself a favor, read it aloud. Have fun! (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1250776295", "cover": "1250776295", "goodreads": 60316971, "itunes": 9781250776297, "bookshop": 9781250776297, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Hh+RXMszL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250776297", "isbn10": "1250776295", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 40, "book": "Bea Wolf", "source": "WVTF", "text": "A modern take on Beowulf features a brave, smart, sneaky girl ", "url": "https://www.wvtf.org/news/2023-08-08/a-modern-take-on-beowulf-features-a-brave-smart-sneaky-girl" } ] }, "41": { "id": 41, "edition": "fall", "title": "Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song", "author": "Judith Tick", "reviewers": [ "Nate Chinen" ], "text": "Before her anointing as the “First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was a soft-spoken yet impetuous striver who worked hard to create an impression of breezy naturalism. This revealing biography honors Fitzgerald’s effort, along with the resilience it took to prevail in an industry predisposed to view her artistry through a lens of girlish naïveté. Through conscientious research, notably including a mountain of material published in the Black press, historian Judith Tick reminds us not only of this jazz singer’s exceptional talent, but also her unwavering dignity and clear-eyed ambition – all of which she only seemed to carry as easily as a tune.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "for history lovers", "rather long" ], "isbn": "039324105X", "cover": "039324105X", "goodreads": 77264982, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780393241051, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41e8pkr9hjL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780393241051", "isbn10": "039324105X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 41, "book": "Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song", "source": "NPR", "text": "Early hardship couldn't muffle Ella Fitzgerald's joy", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2017/04/25/524726767/early-hardship-couldnt-muffle-ella-fitzgeralds-joy" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 41, "book": "Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song", "source": "WGBO", "text": "Ella Fitzgerald’s auspicious debut on the national jazz scene with drummer/bandleader Chick Webb ", "url": "https://www.wbgo.org/music/2023-04-25/ella-fitzgeralds-auspicious-debut-on-the-national-jazz-scene-with-drummer-bandleader-chick-webb" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 41, "book": "Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song", "source": "WGBO", "text": "Few really knew Ella Fitzgerald ", "url": "https://www.wbgo.org/news/2017-03-30/few-really-knew-ella-fitzgerald" } ] }, "42": { "id": 42, "edition": "fall", "title": "Beijing Sprawl", "author": "Xu Zechen, translated by Jeremy Tiang and Eric Abrahamsen", "reviewers": [ "Casey Morell" ], "text": "Seventeen-year-old Muyu leaves his rural village to make a life in Beijing, where things aren’t always as great as they seem from afar. He lives with three friends in a dusty apartment, and in Xu’s stories detailing their travails, we learn about how a changing city can change its people, too, both for the good and for the bad. In a place that’s constantly evolving, can one ever truly feel at home? Muyu and his friends aren’t quite sure, but they’re going to try their best despite all odds.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1949641325", "cover": "1949641325", "goodreads": 122191844, "itunes": 9781949641325, "bookshop": 9781949641325, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41p1e2FvkbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781949641325", "isbn10": "1949641325", "links": [] }, "43": { "id": 43, "edition": "fall", "title": "Bellies", "author": "Nicola Dinan", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "Ming and Tom meet while they’re both at university, and even though they couldn’t be more different, they hit it off immediately. The future seems certain for these lovebirds, but when they move to London after graduating, Ming shares with Tom that she’s a woman and is planning to transition. Tom loves Ming and at first is intent on staying with her; but Tom is gay, and what does it mean for him to be with a woman? Tom and Ming are far from perfect, but they’re complex and loving and navigate the following years with attempts at caring for both each other and themselves.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "1335490884", "cover": "1335490884", "goodreads": 63028672, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781335490889, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41aLzRG1L5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781335490889", "isbn10": "1335490884", "links": [] }, "44": { "id": 44, "edition": "fall", "title": "Beneath", "author": "Cori Doerrfeld", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "A young child named Finn is sad and does not want to get out from beneath their blanket (we’ve all been there, haven’t we?). His loving grandfather gently convinces him to go for a walk, and Finn gradually emerges from his shell as the grandfather points out “what’s beneath” all the things they see. Beneath the surface of Cori Doerrfeld’s quiet story lies a deep emotional intelligence, and like her other bestselling book The Rabbit Listened, this one will open up important conversations between readers of all ages.
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0316312266", "cover": "0316312266", "goodreads": 58985028, "itunes": 9780316312264, "bookshop": 9780316312264, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516ADN9ayHL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316312264", "isbn10": "0316312266", "links": [] }, "45": { "id": 45, "edition": "fall", "title": "Better the Blood", "author": "Michael Bennett", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "I read this thriller in January 2023 and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Taking a knife to a nation’s idyllic image, this debut puts a tragic fact in the center of a murder mystery: “Aotearoa/New Zealand is a paradise with an awful and bloody colonial history.” That past propels a series of shocking contemporary crimes 160 years after a brutal act against the nation’s Indigenous people. While some caution that “fire ignites more fires,” or “violence begets violence,” others demand no less than retribution. The senior officer running the investigation, Maori detective Hana Westerman, has long been caught up in these conflicts. Her white ex is the police chief, her daughter is an activist and her own family has been rocked by the underlying rifts.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0802160603", "cover": "0802160603", "goodreads": 61997066, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780802160607, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412PA2-G3ZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780802160607", "isbn10": "0802160603", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 45, "book": "Better the Blood ", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Nerdette Book Club: Michael Bennett on ‘Better the Blood’ ", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/nerdette-book-club-michael-bennett-on-better-the-blood/da0ec035-f095-4125-84f3-2519555b7e6b" } ] }, "46": { "id": 46, "edition": "fall", "title": "Beware the Woman", "author": "Megan Abbott", "reviewers": [ "Linda Holmes" ], "text": "Megan Abbott writes about women and the things they need, love and fear. In Beware the Woman, a pregnant woman named Jacy goes with her new husband for a vacation with his doctor father at the family cabin in the woods. She begins to realize that something is wrong, then very wrong, as the men’s concern for her safety teeters on the edge of becoming a kind of entitlement to her body. Abbott writes gripping thrillers, and a story about how pregnancy intersects with privacy, self-determination and safety – even for women in “good” situations – could not have come at a better time.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593084934", "cover": "0593084934", "goodreads": 62366771, "itunes": 9780593084939, "bookshop": 9780593084939, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51v-hCcbnsL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593084939", "isbn10": "0593084934", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 46, "book": "Beware The Woman", "source": "NPR", "text": "Two summer suspense novels delight in overturning the 'woman-in-trouble' plot", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180115847/megan-abbott-beware-the-woman-katie-williams-my-murder-review" } ] }, "47": { "id": 47, "edition": "fall", "title": "Big", "author": "Vashti Harrison", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Vashti Harrison’s distinctive, charming illustrations underscore the powerful message of this book: that girls – especially girls of color – have a right to take up space and be embraced as they are. In it, a sweet-faced little girl with afro puffs grows and outpaces societal expectations of her body, causing those around her to project their feelings, fears, judgments, and aspersions onto her. Powerfully, the girl gives those painful words back to the adults and kids who tried to constrict her, confident, strong, and capable as she is.
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks", "for art lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0316353221", "cover": "0316353221", "goodreads": 121905413, "itunes": 9780316353229, "bookshop": 9780316353229, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41RkmTIKJHL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316353229", "isbn10": "0316353221", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 47, "book": "Big", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author-illustrator Vashti Harrison wants her book and the word 'big' to affirm kids", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173477768/author-illustrator-vashti-harrison-wants-her-book-and-the-word-big-to-affirm-kid" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 47, "book": "Big", "source": "Texas Standard", "text": "Children’s book 'Big' explores the impact words can have on young minds", "url": "https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/big-childrens-book-vashti-harrison/" } ] }, "48": { "id": 48, "edition": "fall", "title": "Big Swiss", "author": "Jen Beagin", "reviewers": [ "Pien Huang" ], "text": "A hilarious, dark and quirky coming-of-middle-age story starring Greta, a 45-year-old aspiring writer drifting in upstate New York. She transcribes sex therapy sessions for the local amateur therapist – and starts a life-changing affair with one of his clients, a woman she calls “Big Swiss.” Jen Beagin’s third novel is strictly fiction, though it borrows details from her life. It started a bidding war in Hollywood before it was even released, and an HBO series starring Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) is in the works.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "1982153083", "cover": "big-swiss-cvr", "goodreads": 60701439, "itunes": 9781982153083, "bookshop": 9781982153083, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71S9QgztVwL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982153083", "isbn10": "1982153083", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 48, "book": "Big Swiss", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Take note: Jen Beagin’s 'Big Swiss' explores the secret life of a sex-therapy transcriptionist ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2023-02-27/take-note-jen-beagins-big-swiss-explores-the-secret-life-of-a-sex-therapy-transcriptionist" } ] }, "49": { "id": 49, "edition": "fall", "title": "Biography of X", "author": "Catherine Lacey", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Escobar" ], "text": "How well can anyone really know their spouse? When an enigmatic artist – who goes by the name X – dies suddenly, her wife, CM, quickly learns how little she actually knew about the woman she had spent years with. Biography of X is CM’s metafictional attempt to write, well, a biography of X, an artist with multiple personas who’d become famous for her transgressive, controversial work. Set against the backdrop of an alternate-universe United States that’s recovering from a post-World War II schism between the North and South, the book documents CM’s journey to untangle the true history of her wife’s life by interviewing people who each knew a completely different version of her. And what she uncovers, revealed in the book’s final act, left me breathless.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "rather long", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "037460617X", "cover": "037460617X", "goodreads": 60784729, "itunes": 9780374606176, "bookshop": 9780374606176, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vy2gdKqKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374606176", "isbn10": "037460617X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 49, "book": "Biography of X", "source": "NPR", "text": "Everything she knew about her wife was false — a faux biography finds the 'truth'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/28/1166265285/biography-of-x-review-catherine-lacey" } ] }, "50": { "id": 50, "edition": "fall", "title": "Birnam Wood", "author": "Eleanor Catton", "reviewers": [ "Katie Daugert" ], "text": "New Zealand is far away from my home, so I appreciated my jet lag-free trip there in the form of this thrilling novel about a group of young environmentalists. Mira Bunting is part of a “guerrilla gardening collective” – their activism revolves around farm projects, but there is nothing calm or pastoral about this suspenseful and tragic tale. None of the characters is spared from Eleanor Catton’s precise and devastating examinations of their motives, blind spots and manipulations. I found myself shouting warnings out loud to the characters, just like in a horror movie: Look behind you!
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0374110336", "cover": "0374110336", "goodreads": 60784757, "itunes": 9780374110338, "bookshop": 9780374110338, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Hot+3TFfL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374110338", "isbn10": "0374110336", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 50, "book": "Birnam Wood", "source": "NPR", "text": "Eco-idealism and staggering wealth meet in 'Birnam Wood'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163329362/birnam-wood-review-eleanor-catton" } ] }, "51": { "id": 51, "edition": "fall", "title": "Birth Canal", "author": "Dias Novita Wuri", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Crossing multiple timelines and cities in Indonesia and Japan to establish the links among its six female protagonists, this compact yet far-reaching novel endeavors to make visible both the female body and the structure of storytelling by using the idea of the birth canal as a site of conflicts and thwarted possibilities. Failed conception – stillbirth, miscarriage, filicide, abortion and suicide – thus represents both an acknowledgment of female trauma and a form of political protest. In exploring women’s sexuality, mental health, reproductive choice and domestic violence, this gifted Indonesian author deftly explores topics that impact women in a Muslim-majority country.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1957363622", "cover": "1957363622", "goodreads": 75660876, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781957363622, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ueO4QP7vL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781957363622", "isbn10": "1957363622", "links": [] }, "52": { "id": 52, "edition": "fall", "title": "Black River Orchard", "author": "Chuck Wendig", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "A demon, a farmer, a cat, a teen wannabe influencer, a cheating wife, a dom, a Richie Rich type, and a rare fruit hunter walk into an apple orchard. At 640 pages, this horror novel might feel daunting to some. But it’s so good that, if you’re anything like me, you’ll end up bingeing it over a couple of days. The story crisscrosses through time and characters as author Chuck Wendig shows readers the consequences of power. It’s intense, frightening, and a little bit gross, but also wonderfully diverse. Also: evil apples.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "rather long", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593158741", "cover": "0593158741", "goodreads": 75352300, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593158746, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51eVgVSwjTL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593158746", "isbn10": "0593158741", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 52, "book": "Black River Orchard", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Chuck Wendig on his apple-flavored horror novel", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/tgi-friday-the-13th/02632fac-8f64-4965-933e-ac8bcf947518" } ] }, "53": { "id": 53, "edition": "fall", "title": "Boys Weekend", "author": "Mattie Lubchansky", "reviewers": [ "Andie Huether" ], "text": "Mattie Lubchansky’s poignant reflection on the friction between old friendship and a current self comes wrapped in an over-the-top satire of tech bro libertarian seasteading, with a dash of Lovecraftian dread.\nThe travails of Sammie’s attempts to assert their nonbinary identity, despite being “best man” on a boys weekend, pair surprisingly well with the unregulated international waters pastiche. Each page is full of background gags poking fun at crypto scams, entrepreneurial gibberish and the Faustian promise of big tech solutions, all while Sammie struggles to be their full self amid the baggage of a past steeped in emotionally stunted male relationships. The full trifecta is served here: laugh at the gags, retch at the horror, and cry at the heart-wrenching emotional climax.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0593316711", "cover": "0593316711", "goodreads": 63249715, "itunes": 9780593316719, "bookshop": 9780593316719, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sVpTZvtiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593316719", "isbn10": "0593316711", "links": [] }, "55": { "id": 55, "edition": "fall", "title": "Bright Young Women", "author": "Jessica Knoll", "reviewers": [ "Elissa Nadworny" ], "text": "Written from the perspective of the young women whose lives were forever changed by the serial killer Ted Bundy, this book is part historical fiction – an old story told from a refreshingly new perspective – and part mystery. There are multiple voices and multiple time periods, but it all gets woven together with a great payoff at the end. Read it for the great characters, lots of plot and enough unanswered questions that you’ll have trouble putting it down.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "eye-opening reads", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1501153226", "cover": "1501153226", "goodreads": 101124639, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781501153228, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51IP3wAkZiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781501153228", "isbn10": "1501153226", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 55, "book": "Bright Young Women", "source": "KQED", "text": "Jessica Knoll’s ‘Bright Young Women’ is an Ode to Victims and Survivors of Ted Bundy", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/13934945/jessica-knoll-bright-young-women-ted-bundy-kathy-kleiner-sorority" } ] }, "56": { "id": 56, "edition": "fall", "title": "Broadway Bodies: A Critical History of Conformity", "author": "Ryan Donovan", "reviewers": [ "Jennifer Vanasco" ], "text": "So much of the casting for Broadway musicals depends not on voice range or mastery of dance styles, but on the height, thinness, age, color, ethnicity and lack of disability of certain bodies. Ryan Donovan, an assistant professor of theater studies at Duke, examines the history of the “Broadway Body” over the last 50 years, looking at questions like: Why do some shows use fat suits instead of casting heavier actors? Why are there so many disabled characters in musical theater and so few disabled actors? And most crucially: Is casting based on body shape/size/ethnicity/color actually crucial to the work onstage, or is it just a form of entrenched bias and legalized discrimination?
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "no biz like show biz", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0197551084", "cover": "0197551084", "goodreads": 62849667, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780197551080, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ZM1b6wmfL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780197551080", "isbn10": "0197551084", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 56, "book": "Broadway Bodies", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Whose bodies does Broadway cast, and whose does it cast aside?", "url": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/whose-bodies-does-broadway-cast-and-whose-does-it-cast-aside" } ] }, "57": { "id": 57, "edition": "fall", "title": "Brooklyn Crime Novel", "author": "Jonathan Lethem", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Part crime novel, part literary mosaic that follows a plethora of lives in Brooklyn through time, and a love letter to the borough, Brooklyn Crime Novel sees Jonathan Lethem in the same spectacular form he showed in novels like Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude. Fast, funny, gritty and full of nostalgia, this mosaic novel is wildly entertaining while also delivering a history of Brooklyn and its residents that doesn’t shy away from tackling difficult topics like injustice, racism and gentrification.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062938827", "cover": "0062938827", "goodreads": 84089388, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780062938824, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51AnxnuXPVL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062938824", "isbn10": "0062938827", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 57, "book": "Brooklyn Crime Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Brooklyn Crime Novel' explores relationships among the borough's cultures and races ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/06/1203911911/book-review-jonathan-lethem-brooklyn-crime-novel" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 57, "book": "Brooklyn Crime Novel", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: Jonathan Lethem's 'Brooklyn Crime Novel'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/jonathan-lethems-brooklyn-crime-novel/" } ] }, "58": { "id": 58, "edition": "fall", "title": "Brotherless Night", "author": "V.V. Ganeshananthan", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "What makes a person become a terrorist? This book explores that question through the eyes of Sashi, a young Tamil woman growing up in a Sri Lanka on the edge of civil war. She wants to be a doctor but cannot ignore her loved ones who want to fight for a Tamil homeland. I was completely engrossed in this novel; reading it made the story of the Tamil Tigers and the bloody conflict in Sri Lanka real to me in a way they hadn’t been before.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0812997158", "cover": "0812997158", "goodreads": 60324341, "itunes": 9780812997156, "bookshop": 9780812997156, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vkGq4vVKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780812997156", "isbn10": "0812997158", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 58, "book": "Brotherless Night", "source": "MPR", "text": " 'Brotherless Night' explores a young Sri Lankan Tamil woman's life, love and idealism set against civil war", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/01/24/brotherless-night-explores-a-young-sri-lankan-womans-life" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 58, "book": "Brotherless Night", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'Brotherless Night' explores Sri Lanka's civil war through stories of family", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/04/18/brotherless-night-sri-lanka" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 58, "book": "Brotherless Night", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Author V.V. Ganeshananthan on her newest novel, 'Brotherless Night' ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-01-03/v-v-ganeshananthan-on-her-newest-novel-brotherless-night" } ] }, "59": { "id": 59, "edition": "fall", "title": "Brutes", "author": "Dizz Tate", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "On the first page of Dizz Tate’s debut novel, a 14-year-old girl has gone missing from Falls Landing, Florida, where screams from nearby theme parks ripple through the air. Instead of focusing on the missing girl, Tate makes the far more compelling choice to zoom in on her pack of 13-year-old friends who are used to blending into the background – and who know far more than the town’s adults. In plunging the reader into the girls’ collective perspective, Brutes makes for an original and stylistically ambitious take on the well-trodden subject matter of girls in peril.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "mysteries & thrillers" ], "isbn": "1646221672", "cover": "1646221672", "goodreads": 61324696, "itunes": 9781646221677, "bookshop": 9781646221677, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CDhUd7peL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781646221677", "isbn10": "1646221672", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 59, "book": "Brutes", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Brutes' captures the simultaneous impatience and mercurial swings of girlhood", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/1154754161/dizz-tate-debut-novel-brutes-captures-swings-of-girlhood" } ] }, "60": { "id": 60, "edition": "fall", "title": "Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood", "author": "Maureen Ryan", "reviewers": [ "Jessica Reedy" ], "text": "I read a ton of nonfiction about Hollywood, and this book is essential reading for all viewers of TV and film. It would be trite to boil down Maureen Ryan’s thesis to: All your faves are problematic. But her meticulous and essential reporting on shows I love, including Saturday Night Live and Lost, helped me better understand how Hollywood institutions reinforce a system complicit in abuse, at the expense of women and people of color. But this book isn’t a slog. Ryan’s writing is passionate and personal, and I found Burn It Down to be a life-changing read.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "no biz like show biz", "rather long", "identity & culture", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0063269279", "cover": "0063269279", "goodreads": 62365904, "itunes": 9780063269279, "bookshop": 9780063269279, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5104MS0c0eL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063269279", "isbn10": "0063269279", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 60, "book": "Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood", "source": "KCRW", "text": "In ‘Burn It Down,’ Maureen Ryan exposes Hollywood hypocrisy — and offers solutions", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-business/burn-it-down-maureen-ryan-myths-hollywood-wb-tcm/maureen-ryan-burn-it-down-book-interview-misconduct-hollywood" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 60, "book": "Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood", "source": "NPR", "text": "Beloved TV show 'Lost' wasn't immune to industry's pervasive toxic culture", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/03/1180008736/beloved-tv-show-lost-wasnt-immune-to-industrys-pervasive-toxic-culture" } ] }, "61": { "id": 61, "edition": "fall", "title": "But She Is Also Jane", "author": "Laura Read", "reviewers": [ "Chris Maccini" ], "text": "My favorite part about a Laura Read poem is the feeling I have just after reading one of her brilliant opening lines. Here’s an example: “Whether I should say You taught me algebra / to the woman I recognize in the YMCA bathroom / is a dilemma.” I’m so in on this poem from that first moment, even though I have no idea where it’ll take me. To say that But She is Also Jane deals with the experience of being a woman, or aging, or sexism undersells it so much that I hesitate to categorize it. Yes, that’s all in there. But the humor, intimacy and surprise contained on every page are what make each poem worth savoring.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1625347146", "cover": "1625347146", "goodreads": 63065552, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781625347145, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JxouoyVOL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781625347145", "isbn10": "1625347146", "links": [] }, "62": { "id": 62, "edition": "fall", "title": "But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups", "author": "Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz", "reviewers": [ "Ann Powers" ], "text": "As much as the Beatles, and more than Elvis, girl groups shaped the sound of classic rock. In this exhaustive and exciting oral history – think Meet Me in the Bathroom in taffeta and kitten heels – girl group devotees Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz gather more than 100 voices to reveal nearly every aspect of the early-1960s girl group moment – from the artistry of the Brill Building songwriters and the mostly Black teen singers who brought their compositions to life, to the role girl groups played in the fight for civil rights and the sad stories of some who were more exploited than celebrated. If you love great pop and underheard stories, in this book you’ll hear a symphony.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for music lovers", "rather long", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0306829770", "cover": "0306829770", "goodreads": 75593480, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780306829772, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mYQnyFKzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780306829772", "isbn10": "0306829770", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 62, "book": "But Will You Love Me Tomorrow: An Oral History of the '60s Girl Groups,", "source": "NPR", "text": "Black women recorded famous rock 'n' roll songs but few remember their names", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/05/1197578318/black-women-recorded-famous-rock-n-rolls-songs-but-few-remember-their-names" } ] }, "63": { "id": 63, "edition": "fall", "title": "Cassandra in Reverse", "author": "Holly Smale", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "This book both touched me and taught me about autism. The title character is autistic (as is the author, who prefers that terminology) and remembers – and conveys – her past in painstaking detail. This ability, though, comes in handy when Cassandra discovers she can go back in time and change that past. Of course, her first efforts are inept. But if you stay in Cassandra’s world, I imagine you, like me, will end up rooting for her – and remembering her long after you’ve finished reading.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0778334538", "cover": "0778334538", "goodreads": 177513602, "itunes": 9780778334538, "bookshop": 9780778334538, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515do+FaywL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780778334538", "isbn10": "0778334538", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 63, "book": "Cassandra in Reverse", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'Cassandra In Reverse' looks at time travel through an autistic point of view", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/06/15/cassandra-in-reverse-holly-smale" } ] }, "64": { "id": 64, "edition": "fall", "title": "Chain Gang All Stars", "author": "Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah", "reviewers": [ "Anika Steffen" ], "text": "Chain-Gang All-Stars takes place in the near future, where imprisoned people are made to fight to the death gladiator-style in a multimillion-dollar sporting league with America’s rapt attention and viewership. While the pages are futuristic with hovering cameras following the convicts’ every move, the footnotes cite real facts about imprisonment in America. A dystopian sci-fi with a message about for-profit prisons, the American prison industrial complex, and America’s love of violent sport, this book will have you feeling uncomfortable but also have you racing to the next page.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "for sports lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593317335", "cover": "0593317335", "goodreads": 61190770, "itunes": 9780593317334, "bookshop": 9780593317334, "image": "https://images3.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/700jpg/9780593317334", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593317334", "isbn10": "0593317335", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 64, "book": "Chain Gang All-Stars", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on his new novel 'Chain-Gang All-Stars'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/29/1172894622/author-nana-kwame-adjei-brenyah-on-his-new-novel-chain-gang-all-stars" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 64, "book": "Chain Gang All-Stars", "source": "KMUW", "text": " ‘Chain-Gang All-Stars’ examines the violence and injustice of America’s prison system ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2023-06-05/chain-gang-all-stars-examines-the-violence-and-injustice-of-americas-prison-system" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 64, "book": "Chain Gang All-Stars", "source": "KQED", "text": "Dystopian novel ‘Chain-Gang All-Stars’ portrays prison system uncomfortably similar to our own", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893149/dystopian-novel-chain-gang-all-stars-portrays-prison-system-uncomfortably-similar-to-our-own" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 64, "book": "Chain Gang All-Stars", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on 'Chain Gang All Stars'", "url": "https://wamcpodcasts.org/podcast/1815-nana-kwame-adjei-brenyah-chain-gang-all-stars-the-book-show/" } ] }, "65": { "id": 65, "edition": "fall", "title": "Check & Mate", "author": "Ali Hazelwood", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "If you, like me, are firmly in the “checkers not chess” camp, you may have been feeling a little FOMO when the chess craze kicked in high gear this year. This YA book is the perfect balm – offering a mix of teen angst, a lot of romantic chemistry and some actual chess sprinkled in. Mallory Greenleaf, who’s 18, hasn’t played chess since it ruined her life a few years ago. When her best friend enters her in a charity competition, she finds herself face-to-face with “bad boy of chess” Nolan Sawyer. As the two make moves on and off the chessboard, Mallory has to decide whether she can open her heart to both the player and the game.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "young adult", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0593619919", "cover": "0593619919", "goodreads": 60683957, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593619919, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514DlvNDAFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593619919", "isbn10": "0593619919", "links": [] }, "66": { "id": 66, "edition": "fall", "title": "Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance", "author": "Francesca T. Royster", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "Francesca T. Royster and her wife, Annie, decide they want to raise a child when they’re in their 40s and 50s respectively. Overwhelmed and awed by this desire, Royster, who is Black, and Annie, who is white, consider the most ethical way they can do so. In what is both a memoir and a work of accessible queer theory, Royster explores how Black families have historically needed to reinvent the institution. Indeed, Royster finds in her own family history, and its many and varied matriarchs, a kind of roadmap for her own coming parenthood.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1419756176", "cover": "1419756176", "goodreads": 60310703, "itunes": 9781419756177, "bookshop": 9781419756177, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41VErSvhkZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781419756177", "isbn10": "1419756176", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 66, "book": "Choosing Family: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance ", "source": "WTTW", "text": "‘Choosing Family’ brings home lessons of gathering kin across time", "url": "https://news.wttw.com/2023/06/18/choosing-family-brings-home-lessons-gathering-kin-across-time" } ] }, "67": { "id": 67, "edition": "fall", "title": "Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture – and the Magic That Makes It Work", "author": "Jesse David Fox", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "Jesse David Fox is a shrewd and incisive critic of a vibrant and mutable art form that historically rejects criticism. Each chapter examines stand-up comedy from a different angle – “Context,” “Truth,” “Politics,” “Timing” and, not to be overlooked, “Funny.” But Fox brings the same level of inquiry and passion to them all, making an argument for comedy’s role in society even as he’s grappling with the shifting alchemy of the thing itself. It’s fascinating to read him making a very good case that, when it comes to stand-up, laziness is and has always been a far worse problem than not being funny. His insights go beyond pat notions of “punching up” and “punching down,” and he writes movingly about the craft of comedy – both its deft, hilarious uses and its hack, cruel abuses.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0374604711", "cover": "0374604711", "goodreads": 65215002, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374604714, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41qJ-xQhFzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374604714", "isbn10": "0374604711", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 67, "book": "Comedy Book", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: Jesse David Fox on comedians and the truth ", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/jesse-david-fox-comedians-and-truth/" } ] }, "68": { "id": 68, "edition": "fall", "title": "Congratulations, The Best Is Over!: Essays", "author": "R. Eric Thomas", "reviewers": [ "Emily Bogle" ], "text": "R. Eric Thomas’ latest essay collection focuses on the absurdity of midlife. He returns to his hometown of Baltimore after his husband takes a new job, despite Thomas having a “toxic relationship” with the city. Thomas chronicles how he and his husband work hard to establish friendships, while he also feels out of place in his own hometown. At one point, Thomas is not recognized while standing next to his family at church and is then mistaken for a local bartender who left the area. On the plus side? He gets free wine out of the interactions. Thomas’ incisive and hilarious essays are about the pains of starting over and making friends as an adult. In one of my favorite essays in the collection, he weaves together his love of Oprah’s Favorite Things with his experiences with depression and seeking therapy.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593496264", "cover": "0593496264", "goodreads": 71872896, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593496268, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41irKq9ywWL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593496268", "isbn10": "0593496264", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 68, "book": "Congratulations, the Best Is Over!: Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": "Don't believe his book title: For humorist R. Eric Thomas, the best is yet to come", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1194104031/r-eric-thomas-baltimore-congratulations-the-best-is-over" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 68, "book": "Congratulations, the Best Is Over!: Essays", "source": "WYPR", "text": " 'Congratulations! The Best is Over.' Or is it, asks R. Eric Thomas", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/show/midday/2023-09-14/congratulations-the-best-is-over-or-is-it-asks-r-eric-thomas" } ] }, "69": { "id": 69, "edition": "fall", "title": "Cousins", "author": "Aurora Venturini, translated by Kit Maude", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "The late Argentine author Aurora Venturini wrote this brilliant, provocative novel at age 85, winning the newspaper Página/12’s 2007 New Novel award. Anglophone readers are lucky that Kit Maude’s translation has brought it to us for the first time. The story centers on four women in a poor family in provincial La Plata, Argentina, who face sexual assault, illegal abortions, exploitation and murder – extremely dark stuff. But even as Cousins settles in the muck of depravity, it is shot through with humor and formal risks that make it a propulsive read.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1593767293", "cover": "1593767293", "goodreads": 57758612, "itunes": 9781593767297, "bookshop": 9781593767297, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GsULL11KL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781593767297", "isbn10": "1593767293", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 69, "book": "Cousins", "source": "WBUR", "text": "3 new books in translation blend liberation with darkness ", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/npr/1178785566/3-new-books-in-translation-blend-liberation-with-darkness" } ] }, "70": { "id": 70, "edition": "fall", "title": "Crook Manifesto", "author": "Colson Whitehead", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "In this enticing follow-up to the heightened heist novel Harlem Shuffle, after 15 years in business, uptown anti-hero Ray Carney, the industrious son of a notorious career criminal, has earned the trappings of respectability. A property owner and merchant, he’s expanded his landmark store and ensconced his family in a Strivers’ Row brownstone that even his persnickety in-laws should envy. And yet, Ray remains both prosperous and twitchy – just itching for a reason to stray. So when his daughter begs for sold-out Jackson 5 concert tix, down the illicit rabbit hole he goes. Who knew trading favors with a dirty cop would create complications? In this twisty, three-part tale, Colson Whitehead’s evocation of a fraying 1970s New York and blending of social history and crime make the journey exquisite.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "the dark side", "historical fiction" ], "isbn": "0385545150", "cover": "0385545150", "goodreads": 61812836, "itunes": 9780385545150, "bookshop": 9780385545150, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51N4LPeoVML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780385545150", "isbn10": "0385545150", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 70, "book": "Crook Manifesto ", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Crook Manifesto' takes Colson Whitehead's heist hero in search of Jackson 5 tickets", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/18/1188141256/crook-manifesto-review-colson-whitehead" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 70, "book": "Crook Manifesto ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Colson Whitehead channels the paranoia and fear of 1970s NYC in 'Crook Manifesto'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/24/1189739081/colson-whitehead-channels-the-paranoia-and-fear-of-1970s-nyc-in-crook-manifesto" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 70, "book": "Crook Manifesto ", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Colson Whitehead on 'Crook Manifesto'", "url": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/whitehead-crook-manifesto" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 70, "book": "Crook Manifesto ", "source": "NHPR", "text": "Writers on a New England Stage: Colson Whitehead ", "url": "https://www.nhpr.org/show/writers-on-a-new-england-stage/2023-08-25/writers-on-a-new-england-stage-colson-whitehead-crook-manifesto" } ] }, "71": { "id": 71, "edition": "fall", "title": "Curlfriends: New in Town", "author": "Sharee Miller", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "Who knew the awkward years of middle school could look and feel so vibrant? About to start a new middle school, Charlie takes the opportunity to reinvent herself. She tries her best to hide the quirkier sides of her personality, but what happens when her new friends start to catch on? Sharee Miller infuses each page with such a playful spirit and energy that she pulls off a serious magic trick: she makes it a joy to revisit that particularly angst-ridden stage of life. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0316591459", "cover": "0316591459", "goodreads": 103455737, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780316591454, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51OldO-e00L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316591454", "isbn10": "0316591459", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 71, "book": "Curlfriends: New in Town", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Curlfriends: New In Town' reminds us that there can be positives of middle school", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/13/1205699948/book-review-curlfriends-new-in-town-by-sharee-miller" } ] }, "72": { "id": 72, "edition": "fall", "title": "Damned If You Do", "author": "Alex Brown", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Love Buffy the Vampire Slayer but wish it had more diversity? You’re in luck! This young adult contemporary fantasy has all the snappy banter and chaotic demons you crave, plus queer romance and Filipino folklore. With two demons vying for her soul, an aswang stalking her, her undead dad trying to kill her, and tech week for the school play all converging this week, Cordelia Scott has a lot going on. I wish I could take credit for this fun, fantastic novel, but alas that credit belongs to another Alex Brown.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1645679993", "cover": "1645679993", "goodreads": 65212969, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781645679998, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51p-2jNlwML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781645679998", "isbn10": "1645679993", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 72, "book": "Damned If You Do", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 YA books for fall that give academia vibes", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1195495741/5-ya-books-for-fall-that-give-academia-vibes" } ] }, "73": { "id": 73, "edition": "fall", "title": "Dayswork", "author": "Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "Dayswork is charmingly unclassifiable. A collaboration between a husband and wife – one a novelist, the other a poet – it is part portrait of a literary marriage weathering the COVID-19 pandemic, part fictionalized memoir, part poetry and part biographical and critical dive into the often unhappy and not-altogether-successful life of Herman Melville. It all adds up to a clever and utterly enjoyable exploration of what it means to say that a life “works” – or doesn’t.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1324065400", "cover": "1324065400", "goodreads": 123410752, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781324065401, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41UqLD4DduL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781324065401", "isbn10": "1324065400", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 73, "book": "Dayswork: A Novel", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel on 'Dayswork' ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-09-12/chris-bachelder-and-jennifer-habel-on-dayswork" } ] }, "74": { "id": 74, "edition": "fall", "title": "Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska", "author": "Warren Zanes", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "It’s been more than 40 years since Bruce Springsteen shocked the rock music world with Nebraska, his stripped-down, mostly acoustic, folk-inspired album featuring songs about troubled people often on the wrong side of the law. Springsteen’s fellow musician, Warren Zanes, considers the iconic album in his new book, which tells the story of its history and considers the effect it had on rock music as a whole. Extensively researched and beautifully written, this book is a must for anyone who cares about American popular music, not just fans of The Boss.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "for music lovers", "no biz like show biz", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0593237412", "cover": "0593237412", "goodreads": 61913599, "itunes": 9780593237410, "bookshop": 9780593237410, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41qIdHuEyjL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593237410", "isbn10": "0593237412", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 74, "book": "Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska", "source": "WGBO", "text": "The Third Story: Warren Zanes: 'Don't erase yourself from the picture'", "url": "https://www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story/2023-09-06/warren-zanes-dont-erase-yourself-from-the-picture" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 74, "book": "Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska", "source": "WVIK", "text": "The making of 'Nebraska' was central to the making of Bruce Springsteen", "url": "https://www.wvik.org/podcast/heartland-politics-with-robin-johnson/2023-06-17/the-making-of-nebraska-was-central-to-the-making-of-bruce-springsteen" } ] }, "75": { "id": 75, "edition": "fall", "title": "Disruptions: Stories", "author": "Steven Millhauser", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Master of the short story Steven Millhauser unearths the surreal lurking under the mundane surface of the American suburbs in his 10th collection. Each of these 18 fabulist stories painstakingly constructs a world that looks much like our own, until something odd disrupts it: In one, a fad for climbing ever-taller ladders takes over a town; in another, a community of regular humans shares space with 2-inch-tall counterparts. A sense of strangeness lingers long after the final page.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593535413", "cover": "0593535413", "goodreads": 61813105, "itunes": 9780593535417, "bookshop": 9780593535417, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51etyXmWAeL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593535417", "isbn10": "0593535413", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 75, "book": "Disruptions", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Steven Millhauser doesn't mind if his new stories leave you uneasy", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/02/1191671840/author-steven-millhauser-doesnt-mind-if-his-new-stories-leave-you-uneasy" } ] }, "76": { "id": 76, "edition": "fall", "title": "Dragon Palace", "author": "Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted Goossen", "reviewers": [ "Leland Cheuk" ], "text": "From the author of the bestseller Strange Weather in Tokyo, this new story collection goes further than just strange. Reading Hiromi Kawakami’s stories is a bit like riding a dragon – you’ll have to hold on tight and go with it. Here are just a few of the unforgettable characters: a great-grandmother who was a sex-loving religious leader, an office-working mole married to a human, and a housewife who eats stucco and nurses a god in her kitchen. Kawakami’s work always challenges our society’s expectations of women.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "funny stuff", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1737625350", "cover": "1737625350", "goodreads": 123236963, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781737625353, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31it028c9RL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781737625353", "isbn10": "1737625350", "links": [] }, "77": { "id": 77, "edition": "fall", "title": "Easily Slip into Another World: A Life in Music", "author": "Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards", "reviewers": [ "Nate Chinen" ], "text": "Henry Threadgill’s fiercely original musical voice – irrepressible, uncategorizable, an enlightened riot of sensation and sound – finds a close literary analog in this gripping memoir. Along with tales from the harrowing streets of Chicago and the hallucinatory jungles of Vietnam, the book opens a window onto Threadgill’s resolute artistic convictions, which set him apart from both the jazz tradition and the classical establishment (while leaving his mark on both). That apartness is a personal trademark, and in his telling – fashioned with a deft touch from his perceptive co-author, Brent Hayes Edwards – Threadgill also makes it seem a superpower.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1524749079", "cover": "1524749079", "goodreads": 121887459, "itunes": 9781524749071, "bookshop": 9781524749071, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51QYlg4zULL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781524749071", "isbn10": "1524749079", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 77, "book": "Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music", "source": "NPR", "text": "Composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill has a new album and a new book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/22/1183704880/composer-and-saxophonist-henry-threadgill-has-a-new-album-and-a-new-book" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 77, "book": "Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: Henry Threadgill's life in music", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/henry-threadgills-life-music/" } ] }, "78": { "id": 78, "edition": "fall", "title": "Ed Mitchell's Barbeque", "author": "Ed Mitchell and Ryan Mitchell with Zella Palmer", "reviewers": [ "Debbie Elliott" ], "text": "This book is a tribute to the “unspoken cuisine of America” and to the authors’ enslaved ancestors, the first pitmasters of eastern North Carolina. The recipes are delectable. The star is whole hog BBQ, pit-roasted over hot embers with a vinegar-based sauce, and traditional sides, like Tobacco Barn Brunswick Stew, Church Ladies’ Candied Yams, and Ed’s Shindig Slaw. But we also get some fresh takes, like Smoked Collard Green Dip, Bougie Barbequed Whole Turkey, and Smoked Tofu Burnt Ends. This is one of those special regional cookbooks that reads as a rich cultural and historical memoir told through the lens of foodways.
", "tags": [ "family matters", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "006308838X", "cover": "006308838X", "goodreads": 62365875, "itunes": 9780063088382, "bookshop": 9780063088382, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gCgcrBEVL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063088382", "isbn10": "006308838X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 78, "book": "Ed Mitchell's Barbeque", "source": "KATU", "text": " 'Ed Mitchell's Barbeque': Barbequed Spatchcocked Chicken", "url": "https://katu.com/afternoon-live/cooking-recipes/ed-mitchells-barbeque-barbequed-spatchcocked-chicken" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 78, "book": "Ed Mitchell's Barbeque", "source": "Connecticut Public Radio", "text": "Seasoned: Connecticut’s BBQ scene is on fire ", "url": "https://www.ctpublic.org/show/seasoned/2023-07-20/connecticuts-bbq-scene-is-on-fire" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 78, "book": "Ed Mitchell's Barbeque", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: BBQ season has begun", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/bbq-season-has-begun/" } ] }, "79": { "id": 79, "edition": "fall", "title": "Egg: A Dozen Ovatures", "author": "Lizzie Stark", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "I never thought all that much about eggs. But Lizzie Stark dives into their mythology, their uses in scientific experiments and the food industry, and the many ways that they’ve been decorated. And, no yolk, there is a lot to egg-splore. Egg puns aside (and she has a lot of them!), Stark also has a difficult relationship with her own eggs: She has a genetic link to cancer. The combination of facts and whimsy makes this an egg-cellent read.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "science!", "it’s all geek to me", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0393531503", "cover": "0393531503", "goodreads": 61089440, "itunes": 9780393531503, "bookshop": 9780393531503, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31XtqeGiZLL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780393531503", "isbn10": "0393531503", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 79, "book": "Egg: A Dozen Ovatures", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'Egg: A Dozen Ovatures' book egg-spounds on the history of the not-so-humble ovals", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/04/04/egg-a-dozen-ovatures-lizzie-stark" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 79, "book": "Egg: A Dozen Ovatures", "source": "UPR", "text": "Access Utah: 'Egg: A Dozen Ovatures' with Lizzie Stark", "url": "https://www.upr.org/show/access-utah/2023-03-29/egg-with-lizzie-stark-on-wednesdays-access-utah" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 79, "book": "Egg: A Dozen Ovatures", "source": "KQED", "text": "Lizzie Stark celebrates the egg in its multitudes", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892641/lizzie-stark-celebrates-the-egg-in-its-multitudes" } ] }, "80": { "id": 80, "edition": "fall", "title": "Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries", "author": "Heather Fawcett", "reviewers": [ "Anika Steffen" ], "text": "Emily Wilde – an anti-social, curmudgeonly Cambridge professor – is an expert in the study of faeries. This book is her journal, complete with faerie-lore-filled footnotes, on her northern research journey to study the fae. Her observation takes a turn when she gets far too involved in the world of the fae and begins chronicling her increasingly dangerous adventures, not just her research. Throw in a handsome, and mysterious, academic rival, Wendell Bambleby, who shows up uninvited to join the expedition, and you get an incredibly fun journey through fae lands and dark magic.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "059350013X", "cover": "059350013X", "goodreads": 60657589, "itunes": 9780593500132, "bookshop": 9780593500132, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514nJ2AbsnL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593500132", "isbn10": "059350013X", "links": [] }, "81": { "id": 81, "edition": "fall", "title": "Empty Theatre: A Novel: or The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty...", "author": "Jac Jemc", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Being royalty seems great from far away – all jewels, banquets, and balls. Closer up, the pressures on royalty make it look far less appealing. At the end of every gilded hall lies a heavy price: the pressure to marry to form an alliance, to produce an heir, to navigate a court full of rumors. This novel beautifully captures the dichotomy of the royal lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Elizabeth of Austria in the late 19th century. By turns amusing and heartbreaking, it’s a captivating story rooted in bizarre reality, but told in a fresh format.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0374277923", "cover": "0374277923", "goodreads": 60784784, "itunes": 9780374277925, "bookshop": 9780374277925, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51b+DpeHZXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374277925", "isbn10": "0374277923", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 81, "book": "Empty Theatre", "source": "NPR", "text": "Jac Jemc on her new novel 'Empty Theatre'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/18/1158128234/jac-jemc-on-her-new-novel-empty-theatre" } ] }, "82": { "id": 82, "edition": "fall", "title": "Every Rising Sun", "author": "Jamila Ahmed", "reviewers": [ "Jenny Bhatt" ], "text": "Jamila Ahmed’s well-crafted debut is a revisionist retelling of One Thousand and One Nights, foregrounding Scheherazade in a real historical period and even allowing her a different ending. It’s one thing to boldly take on this much-debated, well-known literary classic. To then turn its conventional – and, let’s be honest, tired – tropes upside down and inside out is a literary feat deserving of our recognition and respect. Ahmed’s Scheherazade subverts the patriarchal codes of her time, wielding stories as beautifully forged weapons to fashion her own path. Following her pioneering journey, we rediscover the many gemlike truths and pleasures of those quintessential stories.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250887070", "cover": "1250887070", "goodreads": 61884971, "itunes": 9781250887078, "bookshop": 9781250887078, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61qEcZP-oDL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250887078", "isbn10": "1250887070", "links": [] }, "83": { "id": 83, "edition": "fall", "title": "Evil Eye", "author": "Etaf Rum", "reviewers": [ "Linah Mohammad" ], "text": "This engrossing novel delves into the complexities of Palestinian American women’s experiences through its protagonist, Yara, whose journey of self-discovery and liberation is a powerful story of resilience and determination as she confronts societal expectations and her internal struggles. Yara struggles to feel fulfilled, while achieving success in her marriage and career. The novel sheds light on broader themes of displacement, cultural identity and the ongoing struggle for Palestinian self-determination. It’s a valuable contribution to the continuing discourse on gender, identity and the enduring spirit of a people in the face of adversity.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0062987909", "cover": "0062987909", "goodreads": 59381516, "itunes": 9780062987907, "bookshop": 9780062987907, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51iRwK5reaL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062987907", "isbn10": "0062987909", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 83, "book": "Evil Eye", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: 'Etaf Rum's New Novel 'Evil Eye'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/etaf-rums-new-novel-evil-eye/" } ] }, "84": { "id": 84, "edition": "fall", "title": "Family Lore", "author": "Elizabeth Acevedo", "reviewers": [ "Christina Cala" ], "text": "Flor can tell when someone’s going to die. It’s her gift, her little bit of magic. Her three sisters have their own gifts, as do her two nieces – a magical ability to tell when someone’s lying. But when Flor announces she’s having a living wake, the family wonders whether she has foretold her own demise. This multigenerational story of secrets, survival and self-discovery artfully weaves together touches of magic with the reality of what it is to be a woman – daughter, sister, mother, tía. Whether you come for the chisme, the magic or the desire to read something real, you’ll leave having devoured a lyrical family saga that touches so many real, tender parts of what it means to be human.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063207265", "cover": "0063207265", "goodreads": 62949033, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063207264, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KVyk8KC9L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063207264", "isbn10": "0063207265", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 84, "book": "Family Lore", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Family Lore,' award-winning YA author Elizabeth Acevedo turns to adult readers", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/29/1190748767/in-family-lore-award-winning-ya-author-elizabeth-acevedo-turns-to-adult-readers" } ] }, "85": { "id": 85, "edition": "fall", "title": "Family Meal", "author": "Bryan Washington", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Bryan Washington was still in his 20s when he published his first two critically acclaimed books, Lot and Memorial. Those were brilliant; his latest novel is somehow even better. The book follows Cam, who moves back to Houston from Los Angeles after the death of his beloved partner; he reconnects with an old friend, TJ, and takes a job at TJ’s family bakery. Washington writes about difficult subjects — mourning, sexuality, estrangement – with an intelligence and grace well beyond his years. It’s a stunning look at what it really means to be family.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0593421094", "cover": "0593421094", "goodreads": 123414019, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593421093, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fFhVDKrqL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593421093", "isbn10": "0593421094", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 85, "book": "Family Meal", "source": "NPR", "text": "This book is an exploration of care through family, friends and food", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/12/1205556259/this-book-is-an-exploration-of-care-through-family-friends-and-food" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 85, "book": "Family Meal", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Bryan Washington on grief and how relationships evolve in 'Family Meal'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-10-10/bryan-washington-on-grief-and-how-relationships-evolve-in-family-meal" } ] }, "86": { "id": 86, "edition": "fall", "title": "Family Style: Memories of an American From Vietnam", "author": "Thien Pham", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "Reading Family Style is like sitting down to a home-cooked feast, with Thien Pham as the master chef serving up his life story one satisfying course after the other. His journey from refugee to U.S. citizen is at times harrowing but always filtered through a delightful sense of humor and immense heart. Family Style is a reminder that a great story, like a great meal, is meant to be shared. And this book nourishes the soul so thoroughly that you’ll want to pass it around the table many times over.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "young adult", "family matters", "identity & culture", "rather short", "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "125080972X", "cover": "125080972X", "goodreads": 61484900, "itunes": 9781250809728, "bookshop": 9781250809728, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TfRgWQ0tL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250809728", "isbn10": "125080972X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 86, "book": "Family Style", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'Family Style' graphic novel uses food memories to tell a refugee story", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/06/21/family-style-thien-pham" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 86, "book": "Family Style", "source": "KQED", "text": "Thien Pham's graphic novel is an immigration story told through food", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/13930458/thien-pham-family-style-graphic-novel-food-memoir-vietnamese-refugee-san-jose-hella-hungry" } ] }, "87": { "id": 87, "edition": "fall", "title": "Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World", "author": "John Vaillant", "reviewers": [ "Neda Ulaby" ], "text": "How unfortunately ironic that this gripping investigation into a catastrophic 2016 Canadian wildfire was published at exactly the moment when the Eastern Seaboard found itself gasping through a yellow haze caused by record-setting fires that scorched over 70,000 square miles north of the border. John Vaillant, an U.S.-born author and journalist living in Canada, examines an earlier, comparable disaster. The Fort McMurray wildfire, known locally as “the Beast,” caused billions of dollars in damages and displaced tens of thousands of people. Vaillant takes readers back into the deep history of the boreal forests before thrusting us into the Beast’s fiery heart. Fire Weather is a report from the front lines of environmental cataclysm and a prediction of what more will surely come.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1524732850", "cover": "1524732850", "goodreads": 61966364, "itunes": 9781524732851, "bookshop": 9781524732851, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41K32bUXLBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781524732851", "isbn10": "1524732850", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 87, "book": "Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World ", "source": "Maine Public", "text": "Expect '21st-century fires,' says author John Vaillant ", "url": "https://www.mainepublic.org/the-mission-of-maine-public" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 87, "book": "Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World ", "source": "Montana Public Radio", "text": "The Write Question: John Vaillant’s 'Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World'", "url": "https://www.mtpr.org/podcast/the-write-question/2023-06-23/john-vaillants-fire-weather-a-true-story-from-a-hotter-world-pt-1" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 87, "book": "Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World ", "source": "KALW", "text": "Your Call: 'Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World'", "url": "https://www.kalw.org/show/your-call/2023-08-21/fire-weather-a-true-story-from-a-hotter-world" } ] }, "88": { "id": 88, "edition": "fall", "title": "Forget Me Not", "author": "Julie Soto", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "It’s really hard not to fall for a romance novel where the main love interest is a brooding tattooed dude who runs a flower shop. Elliot Bloom (lol) hates being a florist, but he took over the family shop when his dad died. Meanwhile, Ama Torres is a wedding planner who doesn’t believe in marriage. And despite working in the same industry, the two have carefully avoided each other since their disastrous breakup years ago – until they’re both booked for the same wedding. This book is a love letter to beautiful and rare flowers that’ll have you running to your nearest florist – if not a tattoo artist.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "1538740885", "cover": "1538740885", "goodreads": 61618737, "itunes": 9781538740880, "bookshop": 9781538740880, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sXLIzoOlL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781538740880", "isbn10": "1538740885", "links": [] }, "89": { "id": 89, "edition": "fall", "title": "Fourth Wing", "author": "Rebecca Yarros", "reviewers": [ "Matson Bauer" ], "text": "Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing checks a lot of the boxes that readers are going cuckoo for these days – enemies to lovers, love triangles, sorting rituals, underdogs overcoming, etc. – but mix in some dragon riding and this book takes off. After training her whole life to spend the rest of her days with books and maps, Violet Sorrengail is forced (by her commanding general mother) to join the ferocious and enemy-ridden dragon riders instead. You may think you know what’s going to happen next, and then something new lands just in time to catch you off guard. Fourth Wing will have you ninth in your library’s hold line for the sequel (like I was), dying for more!
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "let’s talk about sex", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1649376162", "cover": "fourth-wing", "goodreads": 176403358, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781649374042, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/914HWd0RxsL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781649376169", "isbn10": "1649376162", "links": [] }, "90": { "id": 90, "edition": "fall", "title": "From From: Poems", "author": "Monica Youn", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "“Where are you from from?” A fraught question that almost every immigrant or refugee gets asked. Monica Youn offers her bird’s-eye view of Western culture and the English language as a caustic yet nuanced response to this question, exposing cultural appropriation and solipsism via the myths of Echo and Narcissus, riffing on the various meanings of “ch***” as a racial slur directed at Asians, a crack or a breakthrough, and analyzing the active-passive relationship between the words “subject,” “object,” “project” and “abject.” Panoramic yet intimate, Youn’s lyricism illustrates how violence against the other is inseparable from fear and desire.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1644452219", "cover": "1644452219", "goodreads": 60784770, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781644452219, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/513imW6FC8L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781644452219", "isbn10": "1644452219", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 90, "book": "From From: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "NewsPoet: Monica Youn writes the day in verse", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2012/04/27/151517039/newspoet-monica-youn-writes-the-day-in-verse" } ] }, "91": { "id": 91, "edition": "fall", "title": "Georgie, All Along: An Uplifting and Unforgettable Love Story", "author": "Kate Clayborn", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Georgie is a pro when it comes to solving other people’s problems as a high-powered personal assistant, which is a great way to avoid dealing with her own problems. When her boss decides to escape the grind of Hollywood, Georgie heads back to her hometown on the Chesapeake Bay to consider what it is she wants out of life. Enter Levi Fanning, an unexpected housemate and former town bad boy who helps Georgie along on her quest to discover which parts of her younger self she might want to reclaim and who she is now.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "family matters", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1496737296", "cover": "1496737296", "goodreads": 60604190, "itunes": 9781496737298, "bookshop": 9781496737298, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/512dFwMVbdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781496737298", "isbn10": "1496737296", "links": [] }, "92": { "id": 92, "edition": "fall", "title": "Girlfriends", "author": "Emily Zhou", "reviewers": [ "Liam McBain" ], "text": "I can’t believe this is Emily Zhou’s debut – it’s one of the most well-crafted short story collections I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Girlfriends is a set of seven stories centered on trans women navigating the business of their lives. In the mundanity of odd jobs, roommate drama and new crushes, Zhou captures her characters in moments of change – subtle ones that are no less profound for their quietness. With its cutting wit and clear prose, Girlfriends is well worth a read.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1736716840", "cover": "1736716840", "goodreads": 181271401, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781736716847, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41AwIvHLI2L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781736716847", "isbn10": "1736716840", "links": [] }, "93": { "id": 93, "edition": "fall", "title": "Glassworks", "author": "Olivia Wolfgang-Smith", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "This era-spanning debut novel begins in 1910 with Agnes, a philanthropist and naturalist, who marries a cad. To cope, she loses herself in a friendship with Ignace Novak, a glassblower she has hired to make pristine models of plants and animals. In the next generation, Agnes’ son, Edward, a failed priest candidate, becomes enamored with a spirited young woman, who’s not what she seems. Their eventual child, Novak, a window washer in New York City, gets entangled with a Broadway ingénue, Cecily; Cecily’s child, Flip – also working with glass like those in generations past – has to untangle her family’s history as she tries to find her own way in life.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "for art lovers", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "historical fiction" ], "isbn": "1635578779", "cover": "1635578779", "goodreads": 62039292, "itunes": 9781635578775, "bookshop": 9781635578775, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51IhaMltUNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781635578775", "isbn10": "1635578779", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 93, "book": "Glassworks", "source": "WBUR", "text": "New novel 'Glassworks' explores a century's worth of needy and unpredictable love", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/05/16/glassworks-olivia-wolfgang-smith-book-review" } ] }, "94": { "id": 94, "edition": "fall", "title": "Glitter Everywhere! Where It Came From, Where It's Found & Where It's Going", "author": "Chris Barton, illustrated by Chaaya Prabhat", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Why did the European Union officially ban loose glitter in 2023? We think we’ve found the answer. Everyone’s favorite microplastic gets a book of its own as Chris Barton digs deep to show everything about the sparkly substance, from its invention and ties to the LGBTQ+ community to its devastating effect on the environment. Original research digs into who created the first glitter and what we can do to create a sustainable version in the future. Love glitter? Great! Hate glitter? Even better! Here’s a book that can truly appeal to both sides of this eternal debate. (For ages 5 to 9)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "kids’ books", "science!", "it’s all geek to me", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "1623542529", "cover": "1623542529", "goodreads": "", "itunes": 9781623542528, "bookshop": 9781623542528, "image": "https://images2.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/9781623542528", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781623542528", "isbn10": "1623542529", "links": [] }, "95": { "id": 95, "edition": "fall", "title": "Gone to the Wolves", "author": "John Wray", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "You don’t have to be a headbanger to love this novel about three friends involved in the heavy metal scene of the 1980s and ’90s. There’s Kip, a Florida misfit turned rock journalist; Leslie, a bisexual Black man whose life is nearly derailed by substance use; and Kira, a bartender who vanishes on a trip to Europe. Kip and Leslie reunite to search for Kira, but it’s not an easy task. John Wray perfectly captures the spirit of late-20th-century metal in this novel that manages to be both funny and disturbing.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "for music lovers", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0374603332", "cover": "0374603332", "goodreads": 62039317, "itunes": 9780374603335, "bookshop": 9780374603335, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KhIPRbNBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374603335", "isbn10": "0374603332", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 95, "book": "Gone to the Wolves", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Gone to the Wolves' masterfully portrays the heavy metal scene of the '80s and '90s ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173613977/john-wray-novel-gone-to-the-wolves-heavy-metal-book-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 95, "book": "Gone to the Wolves", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Heavy, hair, death: ‘Gone to the Wolves’ says yes to all the metal", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/writers-strike-opioids-metal-music/gone-to-wolves-novel" } ] }, "96": { "id": 96, "edition": "fall", "title": "Good Night, Irene", "author": "Luis Alberto Urrea", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "Good Night, Irene is historical fiction based on Luis Alberto Urrea’s mother, who served as a Red Cross volunteer in an outfit called the Clubmobile Corps in World War II. These so-called Donut Dollies made doughnuts and served coffee in a 2.5-ton GMC truck, boosting morale and providing comfort to the soldiers. Oh – and they also drove to the front lines, were trapped behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge and were there when Gen. Patton liberated Buchenwald. I like that this novel is a fresh take on WWII history, but I love that it’s an epic buddy comedy starring characters who model friendship, courage, good humor and wit even in the toughest of circumstances.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "tales from around the world", "love & romance", "family matters", "eye-opening reads", "book club ideas", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316265853", "cover": "0316265853", "goodreads": 63023640, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780316265850, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51OFcR8SAeL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316265850", "isbn10": "0316265853", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 96, "book": "Good Night, Irene", "source": "NPR", "text": "Luis Alberto Urrea pays tribute to WWII's forgotten volunteers — including his mother", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/22/1177057433/luis-alberto-urrea-good-night-irene-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 96, "book": "Good Night, Irene", "source": "NPR", "text": "Luis Alberto Urrea on his new novel 'Good Night, Irene'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/03/1179979714/luis-alberto-urrea-on-his-new-novel-good-night-irene" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 96, "book": "Good Night, Irene", "source": "Texas Public Radio", "text": " ‘Good Night, Irene’: Luis Alberto Urrea’s historical novel based on his mother’s experiences in the Red Cross during World War II ", "url": "https://www.tpr.org/podcast/book-public/2023-05-31/good-night-irene-luis-alberto-urreas-historical-novel-based-on-his-mothers-experiences-in-the-red-cross-during-world-war-ii" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 96, "book": "Good Night, Irene", "source": "Texas Standard", "text": " 'If somebody is in trouble, you help': Author Luis Alberto Urrea recounts his mother’s WWII story in new novel", "url": "https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/good-night-irene-book-luis-alberto-urrea-wwii-red-cross-women-texas-book-festival/" } ] }, "97": { "id": 97, "edition": "fall", "title": "Hang the Moon", "author": "Jeannette Walls", "reviewers": [ "Keishel Williams" ], "text": "Picture it – the Jazz Age. Glamorous speakeasies. Illegal liquor. Brash bootleggers. Jeannette Walls’ Hang the Moon parachutes us into the middle of one of the most movie-ready eras in U.S. history, but instead of meeting Al Capone in NYC, we’re introduced to the fiery bootlegger Sallie Kincaid in rural Virginia. This effervescent, drama-filled page-turner barrels through a few storylines, touching on a fraught battle over family business succession, racial tension in a poor rural county, family secrets and land conflict. For Ms. Kincaid, car chases, shootouts and changing the status quo are all in a day’s work.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1501117297", "cover": "1501117297", "goodreads": 61272702, "itunes": 9781501117299, "bookshop": 9781501117299, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51MsLCWXt9L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781501117299", "isbn10": "1501117297", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 97, "book": "Hang the Moon: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Jeannette Walls' 'Hang the Moon' transports readers to Prohibition", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/29/1166728181/jeanette-wall-s-hang-the-moon-raises-intrigue-about-women-bootleggers" } ] }, "98": { "id": 98, "edition": "fall", "title": "Happy Place", "author": "Emily Henry", "reviewers": [ "Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez" ], "text": "Harriet and Wyn were the perfect couple with the perfect friend group – until they weren’t. Now, on their annual friend vacation, they must keep the truth from the people closest to them. Together, they will pretend to be the happily engaged couple everyone believes them to be. Happy Place by Emily Henry highlights the highs and lows of love, friendship and communication while on the ceaseless journey to find yourself. Told out of chronological order, this book pulled at my heartstrings and, as Emily Henry always manages to do, helped me learn more about myself along the way. Sometimes our happy place isn’t a location, it is a group of people.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "let’s talk about sex", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593441273", "cover": "0593441273", "goodreads": 61718053, "itunes": 9780593441275, "bookshop": 9780593441275, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41TFFNLibqL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593441275", "isbn10": "0593441273", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 98, "book": "Happy Place", "source": "GBH", "text": "In 'Happy Place,' author Emily Henry reminds readers it's OK to change your mind ", "url": "https://www.wgbh.org/culture/2023-04-25/in-happy-place-author-emily-henry-reminds-readers-its-ok-to-change-your-mind" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 98, "book": "Happy Place", "source": "BSPR", "text": " 'Happy Place:' An author interview with Emily Henry ", "url": "https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/show/idaho-matters/2023-09-18/happy-place-an-author-interview-with-emily-henry" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 98, "book": "Happy Place", "source": "NPR", "text": "Authors Emily Henry and Bolu Babalola give their hottest summer reading recs", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/01/1179421542/authors-emily-henry-and-bolu-babalola-give-their-hottest-summer-reading-recs" } ] }, "99": { "id": 99, "edition": "fall", "title": "He Who Drowned the World", "author": "Shelley Parker-Chan", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "The sequel to 2021’s magnificent historical fantasy She Who Became the Sun continues its reimagining of Zhu Yuanzhang’s rise to power and the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu, the Radiant King, teams up with her former enemy General Ouyang as their goals of toppling the emperor temporarily align. Also scheming for power are the new Prince of Henan, Wang Baoxiang, and the ambitious Madam Zhang. Gender, power, queerness, sex and empire are explored in complex and sometimes shocking ways. This duology will leave you breathless.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250621828", "cover": "1250621828", "goodreads": 63132338, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781250621825, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/512FkcebMLL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250621825", "isbn10": "1250621828", "links": [] }, "100": { "id": 100, "edition": "fall", "title": "Hello Beautiful", "author": "Ann Napolitano", "reviewers": [ "Michel Martin" ], "text": "A tight sister posse, a neglected son who finds his purpose and his love in basketball, Chicago winters, mental health, an underachieving but lovable dad – it’s hard to figure out how Ann Napolitano packed all these ideas into this lovely, poignant story about … all of the things I just said, but she did and somehow it works. You don’t have to have a sister (or wish you did) or love basketball to enjoy this novel, but it helps.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "rather long", "for sports lovers", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0593243730", "cover": "0593243730", "goodreads": 61827495, "itunes": 9780593243732, "bookshop": 9780593243732, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518W7M50eiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593243732", "isbn10": "0593243730", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 100, "book": "Hello Beautiful", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ann Napolitano on her new novel 'Hello Beautiful'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/18/1164523144/ann-napolitano-on-her-new-novel-hello-beautiful" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 100, "book": "Hello Beautiful", "source": "KMUW", "text": "‘Hello Beautiful’ features heartbreak, grief, forgiveness — all the stuff of great family drama ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2023-08-28/hello-beautiful-features-heartbreak-grief-forgiveness-all-the-stuff-of-great-family-drama" } ] }, "101": { "id": 101, "edition": "fall", "title": "Henry, Like Always", "author": "Jenn Bailey, illustrated by Mika Song", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "When his teacher upsets the regular class routine by placing an unexpected class parade during the period usually set aside for Share Time, Henry is having none of it. While there’s been a marked increase in books featuring kids on the autism spectrum, few have been early readers and fewer still are as deft and funny as this one. It’s a masterpiece in converying an understanding of a deep and abiding frustration that you might not necessarily feel yourself. (For ages 6 to 9)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "identity & culture", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "179721389X", "cover": "179721389X", "goodreads": 62058645, "itunes": 9781797213897, "bookshop": 9781797213897, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51-VELZ1+GL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781797213897", "isbn10": "179721389X", "links": [] }, "102": { "id": 102, "edition": "fall", "title": "Hestia Strikes a Match", "author": "Christine Grillo", "reviewers": [ "Megan Pratz" ], "text": "Imagine this: It is Civil War time in the precarious border state of Maryland. A young woman is left to support herself when her husband leaves to fight. But this isn’t 1863. It’s today, and that Civil War? It’s happening in modern times. Hestia Harris is looking for love and living her life in Baltimore against a backdrop of civil unrest that has seen the U.S. divided into two separate countries, with Hestia living in the progressive north. It’s a modern girl-on-the-go story with a dark side, as frequent bombings make going out to dinner quite challenging. The work is funny, the protagonist is relatable and the concept is uncomfortably close to home – in a good way.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0374609977", "cover": "0374609977", "goodreads": 60784674, "itunes": 9780374609979, "bookshop": 9780374609979, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/519010ILRZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374609979", "isbn10": "0374609977", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 102, "book": "Hestia Strikes a Match", "source": "WYPR", "text": "The Weekly Reader: Local Authors Special: Jane Delury, Christine Grillo, and Matt Norman ", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/show/the-weekly-reader-on-wypr/2023-07-06/local-authors-special-jane-delury-christine-grillo-and-matt-norman" } ] }, "103": { "id": 103, "edition": "fall", "title": "Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing", "author": "Emily Lynn Paulson", "reviewers": [ "Kira Condee-Padunova" ], "text": "Emily Lynn Paulson’s memoir explores the world of multilevel marketing from the inside, where she was a successful MLM salesperson who eventually became disillusioned with the whole industry. She writes about how MLMs prey on women in particular, setting up barriers to keep sellers inside. While Paulson opens herself up to criticism about how she continued to benefit as she was in the process of leaving her MLM, she is very honest about how MLMs manipulate and gaslight their workforces.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "family matters", "it’s all geek to me", "identity & culture", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1955905258", "cover": "1955905258", "goodreads": 62241157, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781955905251, "image": "https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781955905251/hey-hun-9781955905251_xlg.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781955905251", "isbn10": "1955905258", "links": [] }, "104": { "id": 104, "edition": "fall", "title": "Hi Honey, I'm Homo!: Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture", "author": "Matt Baume", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "If you’re interested in the modern history of queer folk, what better lens through which to examine it than the American sitcom – that omnipresent cultural object that so diligently reflects the prevailing sensibilities of its time? Hidebound by narrative formula, fueled by tropes and conventional wisdom, the sitcom itself is anything but queer, but Matt Baume reveals how sitcom creators have always found ways to engage with queer content in good ways and bad, directly and (until relatively recently) indirectly. He shows that queer representation in media – even the most cringeworthy variety, on the hackiest sitcom – can challenge stereotypes by making them part of the joke.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "identity & culture", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "for history lovers", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1637743017", "cover": "1637743017", "goodreads": 72336219, "itunes": 9781637743010, "bookshop": 9781637743010, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51FaWVjZ1ZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781637743010", "isbn10": "1637743017", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 104, "book": "Hi Honey, I'm Homo", "source": "KUOW", "text": "From 'Bewitched' to 'Modern Family': Queer representation in TV sitcoms", "url": "https://www.kuow.org/stories/from-bewitched-to-modern-family-queer-representation-in-tv-sitcoms" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 104, "book": "Hi Honey, I'm Homo", "source": "Texas Standard", "text": "New book examines the TV sitcom’s role in queer liberation – from 'Bewitched' to 'Modern Family'", "url": "https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/hi-honey-im-homo-book-matt-baume-queer-liberation-bewitched-golden-girls-will-grace/" } ] }, "105": { "id": 105, "edition": "fall", "title": "Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir", "author": "Lamya H", "reviewers": [ "Linah Mohammad" ], "text": "Hijab Butch Blues is a raw and relatable memoir that challenges societal norms and expectations. Through personal experiences, Lamya H navigates the complexities of gender, sexuality and faith as a queer, nonbinary Muslim. The book is a manifesto for self-acceptance and a call to action for dismantling rigid binaries. It’s a powerful reminder that we are all capable of defying labels and embracing our true selves.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593448766", "cover": "0593448766", "goodreads": 61111274, "itunes": 9780593448762, "bookshop": 9780593448762, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41SS5L+NI5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593448762", "isbn10": "0593448766", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 105, "book": "Hijab Butch Blues", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Hijab Butch Blues' challenges stereotypes and upholds activist self-care", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/13/1155638498/lamya-h-hijab-butch-blues-guide-to-islam-queer-manifesto" } ] }, "106": { "id": 106, "edition": "fall", "title": "Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983", "author": "Jen B. Larson", "reviewers": [ "Ann Powers" ], "text": "Every artistic movement has its legends, but in punk many of the best were unknown, underground and, most of all, local. And the most overlooked involve women. This book, designed to be as vivid and personal-feeling as a classic photopied punk zine, is both a travelogue and a compendium of the women-led bands that burned up the clubs in punk’s forming days, not only in New York and Los Angeles, but in vibrant scenes from South Palm Beach to Milwaukee to San Francisco. Mixing mini-bios with interviews, essays and raggedly cool visutals, Hit Girls shows how unhinged female energy gave punk life.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "for art lovers", "for music lovers", "identity & culture", "rather short", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "1627311238", "cover": "1627311238", "goodreads": 60052398, "itunes": 9781627311236, "bookshop": 9781627311236, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41tADgnewHL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781627311236", "isbn10": "1627311238", "links": [] }, "107": { "id": 107, "edition": "fall", "title": "A Splash of Soy: Everyday Food from Asia", "author": "Lara Lee", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "If your personal gastronomic paradise is centered somewhere off the South China Sea, this one’s for you. Australian food writer Lara Lee draws inspiration from foodways spanning the Eastern Hemisphere; she’ll lead you on a lemongrass-scented, tamarind-flecked, coconut-infused frolic through the aisles of your local Asian grocery. We tore our way through Sambal Shrimp with Coconut and Cashews, Tom Yum Roast Chicken, Pickled Ginger Soba Noodle Salad, Tofu and Cabbage Okonomiyaki, Lemongrass Pork Burgers and much more. By the end, way more than a splash of soy adorned my copy – and I bet it’ll be the same for yours.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1639730435", "cover": "1639730435", "goodreads": 62039257, "itunes": 9781639730438, "bookshop": 9781639730438, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XDekjmqBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781639730438", "isbn10": "1639730435", "links": [] }, "108": { "id": 108, "edition": "fall", "title": "Tenderheart: A Cookbook About Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds", "author": "Hetty Lui McKinnon", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "Prolific cookbook author and daughter of a produce wholesaler Hetty Lui McKinnon knows her way around her greens. While many vegetable cookbooks worship at the altar of the unadorned plant, Tenderheart advocates an exuberant, over-the-top vegetarianism, enhanced with innovative homemade chili crisps, pickles, aiolis, harissas. King Oyster Mushrooms with Whipped Almonds, Roasted Broccoli and Crispy Chickpeas with Sichuan Dukkah, and Sticky Gochujang Brussels Sprouts are like nothing you ever encountered in the Moosewood generation. With mouthwatering, high-def photography and a pristine layout, this one’s eminently giftable, too.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593534867", "cover": "0593534867", "goodreads": 62052320, "itunes": 9780593534861, "bookshop": 9780593534861, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CkyreiPCL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593534861", "isbn10": "0593534867", "links": [] }, "109": { "id": 109, "edition": "fall", "title": "Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others", "author": "Amy Thielen", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "A decade after her debut cookbook, The New Midwestern Table, ex-Food Network host Amy Thielen has produced a sequel. Company’s calling, and the result is menu after menu of plates serving six to 20. A veteran eschewer of fuss and fine china, Thielen tirelessly conjures good flavor ideas – Crispy Smashed Chicken Breasts with Gin-and-Sage Jus, Crispy Curried Cauliflower with Mustard Seeds, Spiced Meatballs with Cream Gravy. If you’re like me, you’ll ignore the menus, the project recipes (handmade strudel? No!), even the guests, and just pick and choose any Thielen recipe you want for dinner; even downscaled, they overdeliver.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "family matters" ], "isbn": "132400150X", "cover": "132400150X", "goodreads": 60165397, "itunes": 9781324001508, "bookshop": 9781324001508, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41J8sjl-LQL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781324001508", "isbn10": "132400150X", "links": [] }, "110": { "id": 110, "edition": "fall", "title": "Chetna's Indian Feasts: Everyday meals and easy entertaining", "author": "Chetna Makan", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "The prolific Chetna Makan is up to her – count them! – seventh cookbook since her 2014 Bake Off appearance. Vivid photography and creatively spiced recipes set the tone for Makan’s work, and the term “feasts” is used loosely (most serve two to four). Along with standards like Dal Fry, Chicken Tikka, Prawn Vindaloo, here you can also find weeknight gems like crisp-edged Okra Masala or Sticky Spicy Chicken Wings draped in a fast tomato curry fragrant with fenugreek – a great excuse (as if you needed one) for more frequent runs to your local Indian grocer.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0600637670", "cover": "0600637670", "goodreads": 63251787, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780600637677, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/619hOTdZ-aL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780600637677", "isbn10": "0600637670", "links": [] }, "111": { "id": 111, "edition": "fall", "title": "100 Morning Treats: With Muffins, Rolls, Biscuits, Sweet and Savory Breakfast Breads, and More", "author": "Sarah Kieffer", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "As winter closes its frosty talons around our waking hours, “morning treats” seem like a necessary luxury. Sarah Kieffer (whose pan-banging cookie method went pandemic-viral) brings indulgence one stop closer with recipes that range from simple Caramel Apple Muffins and Maple Oatmeal Scones to fancy laminate dough productions like Kouignettes and Raspberry Hazelnut Danish Braids. As an avid devotee of “lunch dessert” and pre-dinner “cooking snack,” I can assure you that “morning treat” is merely a suggestion. These recipes offer a promise of inexhaustible sugary profusion – make one a day, and winter will be over before you know it.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1797216163", "cover": "1797216163", "goodreads": 62195506, "itunes": 9781797216164, "bookshop": 9781797216164, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51xctu77uaL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781797216164", "isbn10": "1797216163", "links": [] }, "112": { "id": 112, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Cookie That Changed My Life: And More Than 100 Other Classic Cakes, Cookies, Muffins, and Pies That Will Change Yours: A Cookbook", "author": "Nancy Silverton with Carolynn Carreño", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "If you’re like me, every cookie is the “cookie that changed my life.” But in the case of veteran baker Nancy Silverton, it was a giant peanut butter cookie from an LA bakery. “Perfection!” Silverton thought – before setting out to make it even more perfect. Every recipe in this book similarly gilds the lily: Walnut oil and ground walnuts intensify the dough for Walnut Sandies. Black cocoa powder, cacao nibs, bittersweet chocolate and flaky salt marry in the Ultimate Chocolate Cookie – which takes hours. But you will want to change your life to make time for it.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593321669", "cover": "0593321669", "goodreads": 62794515, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593321669, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41dbtschw1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593321669", "isbn10": "0593321669", "links": [] }, "113": { "id": 113, "edition": "fall", "title": "Veg-table: Recipes, Techniques, and Plant Science for Big-Flavored, Vegetable-Focused Meals", "author": "Nik Sharma", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "Vegetable-forward but meat-friendly, with a liberal dash of nerd: That’s how I’d describe Veg-Table. You’ll recognize a gardener at work as soon as you see the table of contents: nightshades here, brassicas there; the okra stands alone. But it’s clear Nik Sharma devotes as much attention to the stove as he does to the soil; he coaxes his harvest into explosive flavors in Broccoli Za’atar Salad; pairs it with proteins in Sesame Sweet Potatoes + Gochujang Chicken and Steak with Roasted Bell Pepper Sauce. Colorfully photographed and informative, it’s also a perfect browse for the post-dinner digestion-and-recovery period.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1797216317", "cover": "1797216317", "goodreads": 115575060, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781797216317, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51q5qs1l0-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781797216317", "isbn10": "1797216317", "links": [] }, "114": { "id": 114, "edition": "fall", "title": "More Is More: Get Loose in the Kitchen: A Cookbook", "author": "Molly Baz", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "Food-fluencer Molly Baz had a hit with her 2021 Cook This Book; this follow-up is as big and loud as its title suggests. The type design is psychedelic, the recipes minutely attentive to detail; larger-than-life photos bleed over their margins. It’s daunting at first sight, but persist! for astonishing food that practically leaps off the plate with flavor: Chicken Piccata with Sweet Corn, Chiles & Buttermilk, Spicy Coconut-Smothered Green Beans, Lamb Chops Scottadito with Minty Beans & Artichokes. Trust me – this profane, maximalist book is worth every second you’ll spend trawling the grocery aisles for ingredients.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0593578848", "cover": "0593578848", "goodreads": 75500829, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593578841, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+R2n5sspL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593578841", "isbn10": "0593578848", "links": [] }, "115": { "id": 115, "edition": "fall", "title": "Make It Japanese: Simple Recipes for Everyone: A Cookbook", "author": "Rie McClenny with Sanaë Lemoine", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "“Culinary content creator” Rie McClenny, born in Hiroshima, bursts off the screen with this approachable debut cookbook. With a restrained palette of Asian grocery store essentials (mirin, kombu, instant dashi, panko), McClenny walks you through a vast array of fast Japanese homestyle dishes rarely seen on a takeout menu: Chicken-Tofu Tsukune (meatballs), Miso Cod with Swiss Chard, Rib-Eye Steak with Shoyu-Garlic Sauce (and garlic chips I’d eat by the fistful given half a chance). You don’t have to go for the Tamagoyaki (rolled omelet) in the special pan; just crack an Asahi, start the rice cooker, and you’re off.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593236351", "cover": "0593236351", "goodreads": 126524703, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593236352, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TyQPq7SEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593236352", "isbn10": "0593236351", "links": [] }, "116": { "id": 116, "edition": "fall", "title": "Bao Family Cookbook: Recipes from the Eight Culinary Regions of China", "author": "Céline Chung and team, photos by Grégoire Kalt", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "When you think of Paris, I imagine your first thought is not “Chinese food!” Céline Chung, proprietor of four Franco-Chinese restaurants, is out to change that. Chung’s restaurants are famous for the puffy hot buns known as bao, and her cookbook offers vegetarian and Charsiu versions as well as the dim sum dumplings that are their tiny weekend cousins. But this chic production offers more than snacks, with creditable versions of classics like Dan Dan Noodles, Cumin Beef, Salt-And-Pepper Chicken. You may well leave the table feeling like a steaming, stuffed, adorable bao yourself.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1623717426", "cover": "1623717426", "goodreads": 112079936, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781623717421, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516pEhZGz1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781623717421", "isbn10": "1623717426", "links": [] }, "117": { "id": 117, "edition": "fall", "title": "Holly", "author": "Stephen King", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Fans of Holly Gibney have been eagerly waiting for a novel in which she is the main character since the moment she first appeared in Chapter 24 of Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes, the first novel in the Bill Hodges trilogy. Holly appeared again in the two subsequent books and then in other King narratives, but Holly puts her front and center, and the wait was worth it. Dark, gripping, political and very of its time, Holly is a great read and hopefully the launch of Holly Gibney’s own series.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "mysteries & thrillers", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668016133", "cover": "1668016133", "goodreads": 65916344, "itunes": 9781668016138, "bookshop": 9781668016138, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/417kSOgt4aL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781668016138", "isbn10": "1668016133", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 117, "book": "Holly", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Holly' is one of Stephen King's most political novels to date", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1197679876/holly-is-one-of-stephen-kings-most-political-novels-to-date" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 117, "book": "Holly", "source": "NPR", "text": "Stephen King is sorry you feel like you're stuck in a Stephen King novel", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2020/04/08/829298135/stephen-king-is-sorry-you-feel-like-youre-stuck-in-a-stephen-king-novel" } ] }, "118": { "id": 118, "edition": "fall", "title": "Homestead", "author": "Melinda Moustakis", "reviewers": [ "Kirk Siegler" ], "text": "Homestead is a gripping tale of what it must have been like to be brave enough to build a life and survive in one of the world’s harshest environments long before it was cool to go “off grid.” But Melinda Moustakis also excellently captures the complexities around a moment in American history that too often is reduced to a line or two in schoolbooks – Alaskan statehood. It was during an era like now when American life seemed to be undergoing tectonic shifts. The characters in Homestead themselves are escaping tumultuous pasts largely tied to forces out of their control. Everything seems to come into focus for them only after a dramatic and tragic climax that’s just one of many reasons why you won’t want to put this novel down.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250845556", "cover": "1250845556", "goodreads": 60784367, "itunes": 9781250845559, "bookshop": 9781250845559, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Uhe5zlDdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250845559", "isbn10": "1250845556", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 118, "book": "Homestead ", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Homestead' is a story about starting fresh, and the joys and trials of melding lives", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/28/1159640140/melinda-moustakis-book-homestead-is-a-story-about-starting-fresh" } ] }, "119": { "id": 119, "edition": "fall", "title": "House of Cotton", "author": "Monica Brashears", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "In the first sentence of this book, the narrator, 19-year-old Magnolia, says she has never “felt as trapped and choked” as she does in that very moment, sitting at her grandmother’s funeral. That feeling of claustrophobia permeates the now-orphaned Magnolia’s every move – and to the reader, it gives logic to all the strange, contradictory and surreal things that will happen next, as she makes her way through the world. This is the story of someone trying to get free in a world where the paths toward freedom are winding, dark – and filled with tricksters and wolves. And Magnolia is a complex heroine, drawn to dark shadows even as she relentlessly seeks out the light.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250851912", "cover": "1250851912", "goodreads": 60784369, "itunes": 9781250851918, "bookshop": 9781250851918, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510TY5TXLbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250851918", "isbn10": "1250851912", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 119, "book": "House of Cotton", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'House of Cotton' is a bizarre, uncomfortable read — in the best way possible", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/25/1171852627/monica-brashears-novel-house-of-cotton-book-review" } ] }, "120": { "id": 120, "edition": "fall", "title": "The House of Doors", "author": "Tan Twan Eng", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "Tan Twan Eng’s captivating, lushly atmospheric novel, set largely in 1921 Penang, imagines a two-week stay by the writer William Somerset Maugham at the home of an old friend. “Willie,” ever on the prowl for new material, finds plenty to spark his interest in his host’s apparently lovelorn wife, Lesley Hamlyn. The House of Doors encompasses at-the-time risky interracial and same-sex love stories, a scandalous (actual) murder trial and – through the discrepancies between what Lesley confides in Willie and the stories she later reads in Maugham’s 1926 collection, The Casuarina Tree – a clever exploration of the art of transforming life experiences into literature.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1639731938", "cover": "1639731938", "goodreads": 65215270, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781639731930, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51t4GjwLjUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781639731930", "isbn10": "1639731938", "links": [] }, "121": { "id": 121, "edition": "fall", "title": "How to Say Babylon: A Memoir", "author": "Safiya Sinclair", "reviewers": [ "Keishel Williams" ], "text": "Poet Safiya Sinclair’s How to Say Babylon is a masterpiece and should be required reading. Sinclair’s deeply personal story of self-love, family pain, cultural traditions and reckoning with post-colonial systems takes a look at the complexity of what it means to grow up Rasta. What makes this memoir special – beyond the exceptionally melodic writing – is the excavation of Jamaica’s brutal history and the thread that runs through an oppressed country, her oppressed parents, and then to her, the oppressed daughter. There were numerous attempts to silence her, but through poetry, Safiya Sinclair came out victorious – roaring from the hills like the lioness that she is.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1982132337", "cover": "1982132337", "goodreads": 62919742, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982132330, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41qO4tho7wL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982132330", "isbn10": "1982132337", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 121, "book": "How To Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir ", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'How to Say Babylon' centers on resisting patriarchy and colonialization", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/11/1203070539/book-review-safiya-sinclair-how-to-say-babylon" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 121, "book": "How To Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Poet Safiya Sinclair reflects on her Rastafari roots and how she cut herself free", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/04/1203590575/poet-safiya-sinclair-rasta-how-to-say-babylon" } ] }, "122": { "id": 122, "edition": "fall", "title": "How to Say Goodbye", "author": "Wendy MacNaughton", "reviewers": [ "LA Johnson" ], "text": "“I forgive you.” “Please forgive me.” “I love you.” In this tenderly illustrated book, graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton shares what she learned from hospice caregivers about how to be with someone as they die. She distills hours of sitting, being there and waiting into a beautiful reminder that death is a part of living and that we can learn from it. “Follow their lead.” “Just be there.” “Cry. A lot.” This “how-to” guide about dying reminds the living to embrace the present and deepen our relationships.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1639730850", "cover": "1639730850", "goodreads": 62039252, "itunes": 9781639730858, "bookshop": 9781639730858, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41tyuxl7AQL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781639730858", "isbn10": "1639730850", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 122, "book": "How To Say Goodbye", "source": "KQED", "text": "How to say goodbye to the dying", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101894355/how-to-say-goodbye-to-the-dying" } ] }, "123": { "id": 123, "edition": "fall", "title": "How to Sell a Haunted House", "author": "Grady Hendrix", "reviewers": [ "Kira Condee-Padunova" ], "text": "I always look forward to Grady Hendrix’s next book, and this one was another pleasure to read. After the death of her parents, Louise heads home to prepare their house for sale with the help – or lack of help – of her deadbeat brother, Mark. But there’s something waiting in that house for the next generation to come and it doesn’t want them to go. It takes a turn from the horror genre I thought we were in, but was still very enjoyable.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593201264", "cover": "0593201264", "goodreads": 59414094, "itunes": 9780593201268, "bookshop": 9780593201268, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tlXgI2oEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593201268", "isbn10": "0593201264", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 123, "book": "How to Sell a Haunted House", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'How to Sell a Haunted House' is campy and tense, dark but also deep", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/20/1150240753/grady-hendrix-how-to-sell-a-haunted-house-is-campy-and-tense-dark-but-also-deep" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 123, "book": "How to Sell a Haunted House", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Grady Hendrix on 'How to Sell a Haunted House' ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-01-31/grady-hendrix-on-how-to-sell-a-haunted-house" } ] }, "124": { "id": 124, "edition": "fall", "title": "Huda F Cares", "author": "Huda Fahmy", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Huda Fahmy’s sequel to her blockbuster graphic novel Huda F Are You? is full of laughs, miseries, sisterhood and all the frustrations that come with daily Muslim teenage life in America. Fans of the first book in the series will not want to miss the universal struggles of going on a vacation with siblings (please don’t pass gas in the car) and the less-universal struggle of trying to fit in while standing out so much. Huda F Cares? is an illuminating, relatable and funny continuation of Huda’s triumphs and tribulations.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture", "young adult" ], "isbn": "0593532805", "cover": "0593532805", "goodreads": 78292425, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593532805, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gzu4SKv5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593532805", "isbn10": "0593532805", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 124, "book": "Huda F Cares", "source": "NPR", "text": "Huda Fahmy asks 'Huda F Are You?' in new book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2021/11/20/1057618817/huda-fahmy-asks-huda-f-are-you-in-new-book" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 124, "book": "Huda F Cares", "source": "NPR", "text": "3 YA graphic novels that highlight the timelessness of teenage themes this autumn", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2021/12/07/1061750798/3-ya-graphic-novels-that-highlight-the-timelessness-of-teenage-themes-this-autum" } ] }, "125": { "id": 125, "edition": "fall", "title": "I Have Some Questions for You", "author": "Rebecca Makkai", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "The stories we tell ourselves about our childhoods are often only partially true – tales we invent to make our youthful experiences make sense. But what happens when you revisit a foundational story and begin to unpack it? What happens when you realize that the people you once trusted were inventing tales of their own? This book follows a woman who travels back to teach a class at the boarding school she once attended – and to revisit the circumstances under which her former roommate died while they were at school. It’s an eerie look at how race and gender and youth shape our perceptions of guilt and innocence, and a story that reminds us that it takes more than one bad guy to get away with murder.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0593490142", "cover": "0593490142", "goodreads": 61053829, "itunes": 9780593490143, "bookshop": 9780593490143, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51xdlhWGLqL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593490143", "isbn10": "0593490142", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 125, "book": "I Have Some Questions For You", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'I Have Some Questions For You' is a dark, uncomfortable story that feels universal", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/27/1158940771/rebecca-makkai-i-have-some-questions-for-you-book-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 125, "book": "I Have Some Questions For You", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rebecca Makkai on her novel 'I Have Some Questions For You'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/18/1158128178/rebecca-makkai-on-her-novel-i-have-some-questions-for-you" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 125, "book": "I Have Some Questions For You", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rebecca Makkai's smart, prep school murder novel is self-aware about the 'ick' factor", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/02/1160051405/i-have-some-questions-for-you-rebecca-makkai-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 125, "book": "I Have Some Questions For You", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Rebecca Makkai on the violence against women in 'I Have Some Questions for You' ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-02-28/rebecca-makkai-on-the-violence-against-women-in-i-have-some-questions-for-you" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 125, "book": "I Have Some Questions For You", "source": "NHPR", "text": "Rebecca Makkai's new true crime novel takes place in NH ", "url": "https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2023-02-21/rebecca-makkais-new-true-crime-novel-takes-place-in-nh" } ] }, "126": { "id": 126, "edition": "fall", "title": "I Must Be Dreaming", "author": "Roz Chast", "reviewers": [ "Beth Novey" ], "text": "My mom and I used to joke that Roz Chast must have installed surveillance cameras in our house – how else could her New Yorker cartoons hit so close to home? Well, the tables have turned, and now we get a behind-the-scenes tour of Chast’s unconscious in her illustrated compendium of dreams. I know, other people’s dreams are notoriously uninteresting. But with her signature humor, Chast makes it work – from the recurring alone-at-a-party dream to the one where she runs into Henry Kissinger at the dentist. The book is a bizarre field trip into someone else’s head – and great fun for anyone curious about what our minds are up to after we close our eyes.
", "tags": [ "rather short", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "1620403226", "cover": "1620403226", "goodreads": 65215403, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781620403228, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51t2SJWroSL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781620403228", "isbn10": "1620403226", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 126, "book": "I Must Be Dreaming", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'I Must Be Dreaming,' Roz Chast succeeds in engaging us with her dreams", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/23/1207477308/book-review-graphic-memoir-i-must-be-dreaming-by-roz-chast" } ] }, "127": { "id": 127, "edition": "fall", "title": "I'm From", "author": "Gary R. Gray Jr., illustrated by Oge Mora", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "“Where are you from?” is one of those loaded questions that can feel like more than a simple inquiry. Gary R. Gray Jr. acknowledges the thorniness of the phrase, but transforms it into an invitation to kids to explore and celebrate their unique backgrounds. Oge Mora’s captivating artwork bounces effortlessly between emotions, deftly moving from the bustle of a school bus to the cold isolation in class to the warm embrace of a loving family. Many of us are so focused on what’s next, it’s helpful to be reminded that before we can know where we’re going, we have to understand where we’re from. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0063089963", "cover": "im-from", "goodreads": 75302259, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063089969, "image": "https://www.harpercollins.com/cdn/shop/products/9780063089969_15aa6caf-482e-4787-afe9-1aa48c92eb61.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063089969", "isbn10": "0063089963", "links": [] }, "128": { "id": 128, "edition": "fall", "title": "Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks – a Cool History of a Hot Commodity", "author": "Amy Brady", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "Amy Brady’s cultural history of ice in America is the unexpected nonfiction pleasure read I turned to in lieu of air conditioning this summer. Brady fascinates and educates, covering the immense impact and complex social histories of this now-ubiquitous and indispensable part of American life. There’s a lot to learn! Helpfully, Ice is divided into four parts: The Birth of an Obsession, Food and Drink, Ice Sports, and The Future of Ice. With clear prose and a lot of passion, Brady touches on many manifestations of ice; however, it feels like just the tip of the iceberg. Do you like surprisingly expansive niche subjects? I can’t recommend this one enough.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "it’s all geek to me", "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0593422198", "cover": "0593422198", "goodreads": 62562868, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593422199, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41pD5SrHZzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593422199", "isbn10": "0593422198", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 128, "book": "Ice", "source": "KQED", "text": "Historian Amy Brady Explains the American Obsession With Ice", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893292/historian-amy-brady-explains-the-american-obsession-with-ice" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 128, "book": "Ice", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: How Ice Became A Hot Commodity", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/how-ice-became-hot-commodity/" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 128, "book": "Ice", "source": "UPR", "text": " 'Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks' with Amy Brady", "url": "https://www.upr.org/show/access-utah/2023-07-10/ice-from-mixed-drinks-to-skating-rinks-with-amy-brady-on-mondays-access-utah" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 128, "book": "Ice", "source": "KPR", "text": "KPR Presents: Ice – A Cool History of a Hot Commodity ", "url": "https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/kpr-presents/2023-09-14/kpr-presents-ice-a-cool-history-of-a-hot-commodity" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 128, "book": "Ice", "source": "KPCW", "text": "Cool Science Radio: 'Ice: From Mixed Drinks to Skating Rinks – A Cool History of a Hot Commodity'", "url": "https://www.kpcw.org/show/cool-science-radio/2023-07-13/ice-from-mixed-drinks-to-skating-rinks-a-cool-history-of-a-hot-commodity" } ] }, "129": { "id": 129, "edition": "fall", "title": "Immortal Longings", "author": "Chloe Gong", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "Immortal Longings is the cutthroat fantasy novel of a Hunger Games girlie’s dreams. Chloe Gong seamlessly blends revenge, romance and power struggle in this story about a former princess who teams up with an exiled aristocrat in a competition to the death. The book’s claustrophobic setting of San-Er (inspired by the real-life Kowloon Walled City), lends a gritty realness to a world where anyone can switch bodies (yes, there’s body-jumping in this book, but weirdly it works). If you find yourself hungry for a story that will cut you while you read and where betrayal lurks around every corner, you’ll want to check this title out.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668000229", "cover": "1668000229", "goodreads": 62919356, "itunes": 9781668000229, "bookshop": 9781668000229, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41+lJ5JhcXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781668000229", "isbn10": "1668000229", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 129, "book": "Immortal Longings ", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Romance and revenge: 'Immortal Longings' is a bloody reimagining of Shakespearean tragedy", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/07/18/immortal-longings-chloe-gong" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 129, "book": "Immortal Longings ", "source": "WGBH", "text": "Chloe Gong comes of age with adult debut novel 'Immortal Longings' ", "url": "https://www.wgbh.org/culture/2023-07-18/chloe-gong-comes-of-age-with-adult-debut-novel-immortal-longings" } ] }, "130": { "id": 130, "edition": "fall", "title": "Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story", "author": "Julia Wertz", "reviewers": [ "Tahneer Oksman" ], "text": "Julia Wertz has been writing autobiographical comics for years, with recent digressions into documenting New York City landscapes. Now she has returned to autobiography, and her latest book opens with her standing alone in a jungle beside a wrecked car. How did she get here? With her trademark dark humor laced with earnestness, sensitivity and wit, Wertz’s wiry black-and-white comics trace the roots of her slow road to sobriety. This tome is unusually absorbing for the unflinching way the narrator exposes her uneasy path to vulnerability – with friends, other loved ones and, ultimately, herself.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "funny stuff", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0762468254", "cover": "0762468254", "goodreads": 62315670, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780762468256, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/616O7MKEg+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780762468256", "isbn10": "0762468254", "links": [] }, "131": { "id": 131, "edition": "fall", "title": "Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim", "author": "Patricia Park", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "This is a young adult novel that adults might also want to read because it asks questions like: What does it mean to be of mixed race? And how do you navigate the world in the wake of wokeness? The title character is a Korean Argentine scholarship student at a private Quaker school. When Alejandra receives a microaggression from a teacher, her white best friend agitates for his dismissal. Alejandra, who’s coping with her father’s death and focused on getting into college, doesn’t want the attention. But eventually she starts coming to terms with her feelings about race, identity and friendship.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "young adult", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593563379", "cover": "0593563379", "goodreads": 61356588, "itunes": 9780593563373, "bookshop": 9780593563373, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51d3TJ2F5jL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593563373", "isbn10": "0593563379", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 131, "book": "Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'Imposter Syndrome' explores navigating a culturally confused existence", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/02/22/imposter-syndrome-ya-novel" } ] }, "132": { "id": 132, "edition": "fall", "title": "In Memoriam", "author": "Alice Winn", "reviewers": [ "Carrie Feibel" ], "text": "Any reader picking up a World War I book will have some sense, at least intellectually, of the historic horrors that await. But this propulsive and poetic debut thrust me deep into the muddy maws of industrialized trench warfare in a way that felt emotionally convincing and new. But In Memoriam is more than a searing war novel; it’s also a suspenseful story of forbidden queer love. It follows best friends Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood from their English boarding school, into the officer ranks and to the battlefields of Ypres, Loos and the Somme. As expected, their paths are strewn with misery, death and escape, but I was left most awed by Alice Winn’s brilliant probing of the invisible injuries – those left by war, yes, but also by the repressive civilization that preceded and precipitated it.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593534565", "cover": "0593534565", "goodreads": 59948520, "itunes": 9780593534564, "bookshop": 9780593534564, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419l47Lxm6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593534564", "isbn10": "0593534565", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 132, "book": "In Memoriam ", "source": "NPR", "text": "How Alice Winn found inspiration for her debut novel in school newspapers from WWI", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/07/1161727818/how-alice-winn-found-inspiration-for-her-debut-novel-in-school-newspapers-from-w" } ] }, "133": { "id": 133, "edition": "fall", "title": "Ink Blood Sister Scribe", "author": "Emma Törzs", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "As a book person, is there anything more alluring than a book about people who are obsessed with books? I was immediately intrigued by the premise of Ink Blood Sister Scribe: Estranged sisters are reunited when mysterious forces threaten their family’s library of magic books. It took only a few pages for this stellar debut to put me completely under its spell. Genres entwine to form the cleverly paced narrative as we travel from thriller to murder mystery to romance, while always keeping a foot in the deliciously fantastical.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "rather long", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063253461", "cover": "ink-blood-sister-scribe", "goodreads": 62854842, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063253469, "image": "https://www.harpercollins.com/cdn/shop/products/9780063253469.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063253469", "isbn10": "0063253461", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 133, "book": "Ink Blood Sister Scribe", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 new fantasy novels invigorate old tropes", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/18/1172698983/5-new-fantasy-novels-invigorate-old-tropes" } ] }, "134": { "id": 134, "edition": "fall", "title": "Invisible Son", "author": "Kim Johnson", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "When Andre Jackson is falsely accused of a crime, he ends up in juvenile detention, but getting out is just the start of his problems. Set during the onset of COVID, Andre is desperate to clear his name, reclaim his lost love, and find out why his friend is missing – all the while hampered by an ankle monitor and pandemic restrictions. Does his missing friend have something to do with Andre getting framed? Does he really want to find out the truth? Invisible Son is a socially conscious and profound YA thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "young adult", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593482107", "cover": "0593482107", "goodreads": 63249758, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593482100, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5101ne8yubL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593482100", "isbn10": "0593482107", "links": [] }, "135": { "id": 135, "edition": "fall", "title": "Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter", "author": "Aida Salazar, illustrated by Molly Mendoza", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "An inspiring true story of Jovita Valdovinos, a woman who defied the expectations of her community in order to save it. With her poetic touch, Aida Salazar shows how a rambunctious youngster (bristling against her skirts) persevered through violence and heartache to become a pants-wearing revolutionary leader standing against the Mexican government. Molly Mendoza’s artwork powerfully captures Jovita’s indomitable spirit, which feels like it is jumping feet (and pants) first off of every action-packed page. (For ages 6 to 9)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "kids’ books", "for history lovers", "biography & memoir", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1338283413", "cover": "1338283413", "goodreads": 58719111, "itunes": 9781338283419, "bookshop": 9781338283419, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vScGPc8kL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781338283419", "isbn10": "1338283413", "links": [] }, "136": { "id": 136, "edition": "fall", "title": "Judas Goat: Poems", "author": "Gabrielle Bates", "reviewers": [ "Sara Lieto" ], "text": "Gabrielle Bates’ debut poetry collection is a lush exploration of intimate relationships. The book’s namesake animal, “Judas goat,” is a goat trained to lead sheep to slaughter: a metaphor at the intersection of this collection as it asks questions about mourning, womanhood, autonomy, the South and language. Rich with myth, scripture and childhood memory, these poems were impossible to turn away from.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1953534643", "cover": "1953534643", "goodreads": 61340224, "itunes": 9781953534644, "bookshop": 9781953534644, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41-1arzP0oL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781953534644", "isbn10": "1953534643", "links": [] }, "137": { "id": 137, "edition": "fall", "title": "Julieta and the Romeos", "author": "Maria E. Andreu", "reviewers": [ "Alethea Kontis" ], "text": "Julieta Talavera Toledo, 17, escapes into writing, the perfect haven for her increasingly runaway imagination. She has a highly entertaining penchant for hilariously detailed descriptions of the people, places and things around her – especially the three handsome boys she can’t seem to avoid these days: Lucas, Calvin and Ryan. For writing exercise homework, Julieta posts a story online and receives a request for collaboration from someone going by “Happily Ever Drafter.” All of Julieta’s Romeos could easily be Happily Ever Drafter. There are no wrong answers and much delight to be had as the mystery unfolds, flavored with the romantic spice of Argentina.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "young adult", "funny stuff", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0062996541", "cover": "0062996541", "goodreads": 62047943, "itunes": 9780062996541, "bookshop": 9780062996541, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/519kvwyocGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062996541", "isbn10": "0062996541", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 137, "book": "Julieta and the Romeos", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Julieta and the Romeos,' a teen aims to uncover the identity of her mystery man", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/20/1175717383/ya-romance-book-review-maria-e-andreu-julieta-and-the-romeos" } ] }, "138": { "id": 138, "edition": "fall", "title": "Juliette or, the Ghosts Return in the Spring", "author": "Camille Jourdy, translated by Aleshia Jensen", "reviewers": [ "Tahneer Oksman" ], "text": "In this gem of a graphic novel, Juliette returns to her hometown from Paris to visit her family. There’s an understated, powerfully melancholic quality to the stories that unfold. Her older sister has been having an affair; her father is stuck in his lonely habits; and her eccentric mother is off with yet a new lover. Juliette meets a stranger living in the house they all once shared, who takes her mind off her hypochondriac worries. This book is worth reading for its gorgeous art alone, expressing a wide palette of feelings spread across members of this torn, but still loving, family.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "family matters", "fiction", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1770466649", "cover": "1770466649", "goodreads": 62039220, "itunes": 9781770466647, "bookshop": 9781770466647, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51MccMuVT5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781770466647", "isbn10": "1770466649", "links": [] }, "139": { "id": 139, "edition": "fall", "title": "Kafka: A Manga Adaptation", "author": "Nishioka Kyodai, translated by David Yang", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Nine visionary Kafka stories, among which are The Metamorphosis, A Hunger Artist, In the Penal Colony, The Concerns of a Patriarch, and Jackals and Arabs, explore the literally gnawing and shapeshifting notion of the other. Illustrated in stark black and white panels reminiscent of art deco, Italian futurism, this graphic rendering – realized by a Japanese brother and sister duo known for their meticulous approach, then retranslated into English by a Modern Japanese scholar proficient in German – could have been conjured as a series of fever dreams outside of space and time by Kafka himself.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "comics & graphic novels", "for art lovers", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1782279849", "cover": "1782279849", "goodreads": 123591643, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781782279846, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515FBSiox7L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781782279846", "isbn10": "1782279849", "links": [] }, "140": { "id": 140, "edition": "fall", "title": "Kala", "author": "Colin Walsh", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "In this novel, Katherine “Kala” Lanann goes missing from the town of Kinlough, Ireland, in 2003. Fifteen years later, her three once-close friends find themselves back – or still in – Kinlough reckoning with the state of their lives. After two more teen girls – cousins to one in the group – go missing, the pain and mystery of what happened is brought urgently back to the surface of their lives. Even after you put the pieces together, you’ll want to stay with this powerful meditation on the power of fear and the meaning of bravery.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385549636", "cover": "0385549636", "goodreads": 63184768, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780385549639, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51SlIhdgSAL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780385549639", "isbn10": "0385549636", "links": [] }, "141": { "id": 141, "edition": "fall", "title": "Kantika", "author": "Elizabeth Graver", "reviewers": [ "Jerome Socolovsky" ], "text": "Rebecca Cohen grows up in a well-to-do family, sheltered from political turmoil in interbellum Constantinople/Istanbul, but after her father’s business is requisitioned, they fall on hard times and try their luck in Barcelona, Spain. In a land that expelled her Sephardic ancestors, a pig’s head is thrown into their garden and she adopts a Catholic name to work as a seamstress. When she moves to Queens, N.Y., for an arranged marriage, society is more welcoming, but she yearns for an idealized version of her birthplace. Kantika was inspired by the experiences of the author’s grandmother, and it’s a highly readable and poignant tale of dislocation, refuge and resilience as a Jewish woman struggles to build a new life in two foreign lands.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250869846", "cover": "1250869846", "goodreads": 60741785, "itunes": 9781250869845, "bookshop": 9781250869845, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mj5lStjBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250869845", "isbn10": "1250869846", "links": [] }, "142": { "id": 142, "edition": "fall", "title": "King: A Life", "author": "Jonathan Eig", "reviewers": [ "Tony Cavin" ], "text": "Only two U.S. holidays celebrate the birthdays of prominent Americans: Washington’s Birthday (Presidents Day) and Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. King has been gone for over 50 years, and the author of this book, Jonathan Eig, writes, “in hallowing King we have hollowed him.” Little more than his call to judge people not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” is now taught in schools. Eig remedies this in his meticulously researched and beautifully written book, bringing back to life King the man, his strengths and his weaknesses, and King the organizer, whose political evolution leads him to conclude that only through radical change will America be able to offer equality and justice for all, an often overlooked aspect of the man whose birthday we celebrate every January.
", "tags": [ "biography & memoir", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "rather long", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0374279292", "cover": "0374279292", "goodreads": 62039291, "itunes": 9780374279295, "bookshop": 9780374279295, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41NYMGH6BML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374279295", "isbn10": "0374279292", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 142, "book": "King: A Life", "source": "WBUR", "text": "New biography of Martin Luther King Jr. undercuts a widely cited quote about Malcolm X", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/npr/1175833143/mlk-martin-luther-king-jr-malcolm-x-quote-biography" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 142, "book": "King: A Life", "source": "NPR", "text": "Jonathan Eig's new biography examines the life of Martin Luther King Jr. ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/1176371630/jonathan-eigs-new-biography-examines-the-life-of-martin-luther-king-jr" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 142, "book": "King: A Life", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "A new book reveals Martin Luther King Jr.’s radical side", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/jonathan-eigs-king-a-life-portrays-a-human-but-defiant-mlk/0140f560-a660-4bf6-b331-62644539cce7" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 142, "book": "King: A Life", "source": "WFAE", "text": "Jonathan Eig discusses his MLK biography 'King: A Life' ", "url": "https://www.wfae.org/show/charlotte-talks-with-mike-collins/2023-07-19/jonathan-eig-discusses-his-mlk-biography-king-a-life" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 142, "book": "King: A Life", "source": "WWNO", "text": "The Reading Life: Jonathan Eig ", "url": "https://www.wwno.org/podcast/the-reading-life/2023-05-19/the-reading-life-jonathan-eig" } ] }, "143": { "id": 143, "edition": "fall", "title": "Künstlers in Paradise", "author": "Cathleen Schine", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "Cathleen Schine’s latest social comedy, Künstlers in Paradise, involves “glamorous exile,” as multiple generations of a family shelter in Los Angeles from the Holocaust and, decades later, the COVID-19 pandemic. When 24-year-old Julian heads west in February 2020 to help his 93-year-old grandmother, “Mamie” Künstler, after a fall, he has no idea he’ll be trapped in her Venice Beach bungalow for months. Mamie seizes the opportunity to open the eyes of her whiny, floundering grandson with stories of her family’s harrowing flight from Vienna in 1939, their luck in landing in Hollywood and their adaptation to American life. Schine’s moving tale about how shared memories forge connections is lightened by witty repartee, a wry, breezy tone and fun cameos by Greta Garbo and Arnold Schoenberg.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250805902", "cover": "1250805902", "goodreads": 60784564, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781250805904, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41mvdjmPXEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250805904", "isbn10": "1250805902", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 143, "book": "Künstlers in Paradise", "source": "WYPR", "text": "Pandemic Possibilities: 'Kunstlers in Paradise' and 'The Fun Widow's Book Tour'", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/show/the-weekly-reader-on-wypr/2023-04-13/pandemic-possibilities-kunstlers-in-paradise-by-cathleen-schine-and-the-fun-widows-book-tour-by-zoe-fishman" } ] }, "144": { "id": 144, "edition": "fall", "title": "Land of Milk and Honey", "author": "C Pam Zhang", "reviewers": [ "Linah Mohammad" ], "text": "In C Pam Zhang’s Land of Milk and Honey, the pleasure of food starkly contrasts with the harsh realities of a dying world. Set in a future where a mysterious smog has engulfed Earth, causing widespread crop failures and food shortages, the story follows an unnamed chef who finds herself in a world of culinary delights and unparalleled sensory experiences amid a stark landscape of scarcity and despair. But it’s not merely a story about food; it is a profound exploration of human nature, the allure of pleasure and the choices we make in the face of adversity. It is a story that lingers long after the final page, leaving you questioning the delicate balance between survival and indulgence and the price we are willing to pay for pleasure in a world on the brink.
", "tags": [ "rather short", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "cookbooks & food", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593538242", "cover": "0593538242", "goodreads": 101673225, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593538241, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51YPrJ958kL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593538241", "isbn10": "0593538242", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 144, "book": "Land of Milk and Honey", "source": "NPR", "text": "The dystopian suspense 'Land of Milk and Honey' satisfies all manner of appetites", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/26/1201528596/land-of-milk-and-honey-review-c-pam-zhang" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 144, "book": "Land of Milk and Honey", "source": "NPR", "text": "The dystopian 'Land of Milk and Honey' tells of a future without the pleasure of food", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/26/1201849563/the-dystopian-land-of-milk-and-honey-tells-of-a-future-without-the-pleasure-of-f" } ] }, "145": { "id": 145, "edition": "fall", "title": "Landscapes", "author": "Christine Lai", "reviewers": [ "Marcela Davison Avilés" ], "text": "In the last days of Mornington Hall, an ancient family estate in a futuristic Britain demolished by earthquakes and climate change, Penelope finishes archiving the contents of a once-grand library. Disaster refugees have joined them to make Mornington a last-ditch respite. But Penelope and her partner Aidan are out of money and time, and the estate has been sold. Working against time to catalog artists and storytellers before the building is demolished, her archive becomes a diary of solace and poignant recollection until she learns Julian – Aidan’s brother and Penelope’s rapist – is returning to see his former home one last time. As she writes an elegy of preservation, Penelope navigates a prosaic detour around her future shock.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "for art lovers", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1953387381", "cover": "1953387381", "goodreads": 124931360, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781953387387, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Y5XV4dhSL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781953387387", "isbn10": "1953387381", "links": [] }, "146": { "id": 146, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Last Tale of the Flower Bride", "author": "Roshani Chokshi", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "How well do you really know the person you married? That’s the question at the heart of Roshani Chokshi’s unsettlingly gorgeous adult fantasy. In the book, a man is forced to face uncomfortable truths about his mysterious wife, Indigo, on a trip to her childhood home. Indigo has always held the secrets of her past between tight fists and closed lips – especially regarding her childhood friend Azure, who disappeared years ago. But the past has a way of coming loose – no matter how hard you try to keep it hidden underneath the floorboards.\nThis book is for anyone who loves dark fairy tales and is obsessed with the monstrous nature of teenage girlhood.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "the dark side", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063206501", "cover": "0063206501", "goodreads": 199302246, "itunes": 9780063206502, "bookshop": 9780063206502, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51adyfG5K+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063206502", "isbn10": "0063206501", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 146, "book": "Last Tale of the Flower Bride ", "source": "WBUR", "text": " ‘The Last Tale of the Flower Bride’: Monstrous teen girls, a marriage of lies and fairy tale horror", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/02/28/last-tale-flower-bride-book" } ] }, "147": { "id": 147, "edition": "fall", "title": "Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew From It", "author": "Greg Marshall", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "Greg Marshall grew up with a limp, thinking it was “tight tendons,” only to find out – well into adulthood – that it was actually cerebral palsy and that his high school secretary knew before he did. While Leg is a memoir about Marshall’s complicated relationship with his most interesting limb, the leg has a lot of competition for top billing among the troop of brash, loud siblings, a dad with ALS and a mother who makes it her decades-long mission to be a star cancer patient. Leg has everything you want in a memoir: plenty of body humor, a little bit of smut, family drama and tons of personality.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "1419763601", "cover": "1419763601", "goodreads": 61783798, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781419763601, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41AoY9dSEfL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781419763601", "isbn10": "1419763601", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 147, "book": "Leg ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Greg Marshall on his new memoir 'Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew From It'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/10/1181505135/greg-marshall-on-his-new-memoir-leg-the-story-of-a-limb-and-the-boy-who-grew-fro" } ] }, "148": { "id": 148, "edition": "fall", "title": "Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir In Archives", "author": "Amelia Possanza", "reviewers": [ "Brittany Cronin" ], "text": "Amelia Possanza tells the story of seven lesbians and their loves, including Mabel Hampton, co-founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives; Rusty Brown, a male impersonator who performed at Coney Island in the McCarthy era; and Gloria Anzaldúa, who refused to choose between her lesbian and Chicana identities. The stories are deeply researched and imaginatively told through a mix of historical record, primary sources, invented scenes and the author’s own wrestling with the meaning of what she finds. Possanza challenges the history we’re taught, one that codifies and reproduces heteronormativity. “Scholars … will construct arguments out of what little evidence remains, arguments that suit their needs, further their own careers. I have defiantly joined them, arguing for the lesbian ancestor I need.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "love & romance", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1646221052", "cover": "1646221052", "goodreads": 56150014, "itunes": 9781646221059, "bookshop": 9781646221059, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41YsuTf-sXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781646221059", "isbn10": "1646221052", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 148, "book": "Lesbian Love Story", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Lesbian Love Story' unearths a century of queer romance", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/06/1179622122/lesbian-love-story-unearths-a-century-of-queer-romance" } ] }, "149": { "id": 149, "edition": "fall", "title": "Like Lava In My Veins", "author": "Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Shawn Martinbrough", "reviewers": [ "Rakiesha Chase-Jackson" ], "text": "Bobby Beacon was born with a superhero name and “the power of light and fire.” After struggling to control his powers and his temper, he is placed in an alternative school with a teacher who shows him that confidence, friendship and peace are the strongest superpowers of all. In the end, will Bobby succumb to the chaos inside of him, or will he be able to turn his flame into a beacon of light? Like Lava in My Veins is a redemption story, a reminder that everyone deserves second chances, and a celebration of Black boy joy. (For ages 5 to 8)
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "staff picks", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0525518746", "cover": "0525518746", "goodreads": 62121448, "itunes": 9780525518747, "bookshop": 9780525518747, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TAAKrF-1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780525518747", "isbn10": "0525518746", "links": [] }, "150": { "id": 150, "edition": "fall", "title": "Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice", "author": "Cristina Rivera Garza", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Escobar" ], "text": "In 1990, an abusive ex-boyfriend murdered Cristina Rivera Garza’s younger sister, Liliana, in Mexico City – a crime that has tormented the author ever since. She has confronted that grief, in part, by writing this book: part memoir, part true-crime investigation, part treatise against femicide. It’s rich with details of Liliana’s history, pieced together through interviews, police reports and the archive of diary entries and letters her sister left behind. But it’s Rivera Garza’s beautiful, poetic writing that has really stayed with me; her love for her sister is so apparent it makes my heart ache – and rage – that much more.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593244095", "cover": "0593244095", "goodreads": 61111247, "itunes": 9780593244098, "bookshop": 9780593244098, "image": "https://images4.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/700jpg/9780593244098", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593244098", "isbn10": "0593244095", "links": [] }, "151": { "id": 151, "edition": "fall", "title": "Limitless: The Federal Reserve Takes on a New Age of Crisis", "author": "Jeanna Smialek", "reviewers": [ "Sam Yellowhorse Kesler" ], "text": "Since the pandemic, the economy has been on something of a roller coaster. It can feel arbitrary to most people reading the headlines, but there is one organization whose job it is to manage all of this: the Federal Reserve. New York Times reporter Jeanna Smialek covers the Fed, and in this book, she explains to the reader just how important the Fed is to the lives of ordinary people and details the changing role of the Fed amid crisis. Through human-level storytelling, she makes the Fed’s seemingly closed-door decision-making feel refreshingly transparent.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0593320239", "cover": "0593320239", "goodreads": 61192680, "itunes": 9780593320235, "bookshop": 9780593320235, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/418bz3TYywL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593320235", "isbn10": "0593320239", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 151, "book": "Limitless: The Federal Reserve Takes on a New Age of Crisis", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Limitless' makes the case that the Federal Reserve is more powerful than we realize", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/28/1160057795/limitless-makes-the-case-that-the-federal-reserve-is-more-powerful-than-we-reali" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 151, "book": "Limitless: The Federal Reserve Takes on a New Age of Crisis", "source": "NPR", "text": "How the Fed got so powerful", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173424484/how-the-fed-got-so-powerful" } ] }, "152": { "id": 152, "edition": "fall", "title": "Lone Women", "author": "Victor LaValle", "reviewers": [ "Abi Inman" ], "text": "Lone Women opens with Adelaide Henry burning down her family home in early 20th century California with her parents’ corpses still inside. She makes her way to the Montana wilderness (with a steamer trunk that she guards fiercely and never unlocks) to begin a new life as a homesteader. It’s a propulsive start to a novel that claims a fast-paced plot – though I found myself gripped just as much by Adelaide’s defiant, glorious stubbornness and guarded wit. Lone Women combines elements of Western fiction, horror and magical realism, while featuring queer, POC characters inventing lives for themselves in the last years of the American frontier. It’s impossible to categorize and impossible to put down.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "052551208X", "cover": "052551208X", "goodreads": 60460704, "itunes": 9780525512080, "bookshop": 9780525512080, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CMFhGkoxL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780525512080", "isbn10": "052551208X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 152, "book": "Lone Women", "source": "NPR", "text": "Victor LaValle's novel 'Lone Women' is infused with dread and horror — and more", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/12/1175718334/the-changeling-author-victor-lavalle-new-novel-lone-women-book-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 152, "book": "Lone Women", "source": "WGCU", "text": "GCL Book Club: Victor LaValle, 'Lone Women'", "url": "https://news.wgcu.org/show/gclbookclub/2023-05-17/victor-lavalle-lone-women" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 152, "book": "Lone Women", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Get Lit with All Of It: Victor LaValle", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/get-lit-all-it-victor-lavalle/" } ] }, "153": { "id": 153, "edition": "fall", "title": "Loot", "author": "Tania James", "reviewers": [ "Nayantara Dutta" ], "text": "Loot by Tania James is a treasure that chronicles the journey of a wooden musical tiger and its makers from Mysore, India, to Rouen, France, to England. It tells the story of Abbas, a woodcarver who wishes to create something that outlives him. It’s based on real history and speculates about the makers of Tipu’s Tiger, which is currently exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Its unusual premise and unforgettable heist will completely wrap you up in its world. Masterful, hilarious and moving, it’s a story that you can easily lose yourself in.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "for history lovers", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593535979", "cover": "0593535979", "goodreads": 62802771, "itunes": 9780593535974, "bookshop": 9780593535974, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ZGplBI5LL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593535974", "isbn10": "0593535979", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 153, "book": "Loot", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'Loot' explores issues of colonialism, art and plunder in 18th-century India and Europe", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/08/01/loot-tania-james" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 153, "book": "Loot", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Loot,' Tipu's Tiger tells a story of war, art and love", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/13/1182001401/in-loot-tipus-tiger-tells-a-story-of-war-art-and-love" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 153, "book": "Loot", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Nerdette Book Club: ‘Loot,’ discussed! ", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/nerdette-book-club-loot-discussed/b1657278-b44b-47bf-9b7e-c6c53b84ff97" } ] }, "154": { "id": 154, "edition": "fall", "title": "Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America", "author": "Russell Moore", "reviewers": [ "Daniel Wood" ], "text": "The last decade in the U.S. has been fraught as it relates to politics and Christianity. Scandals, Trump, more scandals. In Losing Our Religion, former Southern Baptist pastor and Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore offers a roadmap for Christians trying to make sense of it all. There are no quick solutions here; he points, instead, to the teachings of Jesus in expressing how humans should be: rooted, generous and patient. Loving to our neighbor. Obsessed not with influence but with integrity and healing. If you, like me, have grown increasingly wary of the labels of Evangelical or even Christian, this book may be a good place to find your footing.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593541782", "cover": "0593541782", "goodreads": 71872910, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593541784, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Hh7fnsQmL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593541784", "isbn10": "0593541782", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 154, "book": "Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America", "source": "NPR", "text": "Russell Moore on 'an altar call' for Evangelical America", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/05/1192374014/russell-moore-on-altar-call-for-evangelical-america" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 154, "book": "Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America", "source": "NPR", "text": "He was a top church official who criticized Trump. He says Christianity is in crisis", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192663920/southern-baptist-convention-donald-trump-christianity" } ] }, "155": { "id": 155, "edition": "fall", "title": "Lou Reed: The King of New York", "author": "Will Hermes", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Alternative rock pioneer Lou Reed was a notoriously slippery subject – terse and belligerent with interviewers, he jealously guarded his privacy. That’s what makes journalist Will Hermes’ biography of the Velvet Underground co-founder so remarkable: Hermes paints a vivid picture of the musician from his difficult childhood to his last days and explores Reed’s complicated relationships with drugs, music, sexuality and gender. It’s a compulsively readable and astonishingly well-researched book that’s not just for Reed’s fans, but for anyone interested in American cultural history. This is a biography with a real rock and roll heart.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "for music lovers", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0374193398", "cover": "0374193398", "goodreads": 65215410, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374193393, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Ww3xTOaqL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374193393", "isbn10": "0374193398", "links": [] }, "156": { "id": 156, "edition": "fall", "title": "Love and Other Flight Delays", "author": "Denise Williams", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "If a person is their best, most ideal self on vacation, surely the opposite is true for our airport selves. The airport is a place for sweat, schlepping and snapping at fellow travelers who don’t understand that coats do not belong in the overhead compartment! It is a deeply unromantic place, and that is why this trio of stories is so delightful. Air travel brings together such an eclectic mix of humans: the handsomely suited stranger getting off his flight, the passenger seated across the aisle on a packed flight – anything could happen! Don’t get me wrong – I love a whirlwind romance in a dreamy place, but if you can find love at baggage claim, that’s a connection worth keeping.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "let’s talk about sex", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "0593441079", "cover": "0593441079", "goodreads": 61327472, "itunes": 9780593441077, "bookshop": 9780593441077, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51y+KehKpkL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593441077", "isbn10": "0593441079", "links": [] }, "157": { "id": 157, "edition": "fall", "title": "Madonna: A Rebel Life", "author": "Mary Gabriel", "reviewers": [ "Anastasia Tsioulcas" ], "text": "The pop megastar Madonna turned 65 this year, not long after she became the first female artist to earn a Billboard Top 10 album across five separate decades. (Five. Decades.) Whether you adore her or despise what she represents, she’s certainly earned a scholarly biography – and it’s finally arrived in the form of Mary Gabriel’s seriously hefty, earnest book. (It’s 858 pages! 858!) If you have a major Madonna fan in your life, this is the perfect deep dive into an endlessly complicated celebrity. Gabriel traverses Madonna’s many public personas, including Material Girl, Lady of the Manor and beatific mother of many, with grace and skill – and reflects on what she means as a pop culture doyenne.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "identity & culture", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0316456470", "cover": "0316456470", "goodreads": 59918088, "itunes": 9780316456470, "bookshop": 9780316456470, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/416QglkczuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316456470", "isbn10": "0316456470", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 157, "book": "Madonna: A Rebel Life", "source": "NPR", "text": "Madonna and Britney Spears: It's them against the world", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/28/1208753110/book-review-madonna-a-rebel-life-and-britney-spears-the-woman-in-me" } ] }, "158": { "id": 158, "edition": "fall", "title": "Maggie Lou, Firefox", "author": "Arnolda Dufour Bowes, illustrated by Karlene Harvey", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Like a hardscrabble Métis companion to Ramona, Maggie Lou is as likely to be learning boxing in a tutu or working hard at her dad’s construction site as she is attempting to shoot down her first deer. If you think books for kids are too “safe” these days, then you haven’t met Maggie. A compact delight of a book. Just be prepared for its uppercut. (For ages 9 to 12)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1773068814", "cover": "1773068814", "goodreads": 122825058, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781773068817, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51HWx2CELXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781773068817", "isbn10": "1773068814", "links": [] }, "159": { "id": 159, "edition": "fall", "title": "Mama Shamsi at the Bazaar", "author": "Mojdeh Hassani and Samira Iravani, illustrated by Maya Fidawi", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "The fun of playing under your grandmother’s big chador is front and center in this delightful rhyming tale. Samira is finally old enough to go to the bazaar with her grandmother for the very first time, but it isn’t long before shyness sets in. Yet each time she asks to hide under a different part of her grandmother’s chador, she’s told what kind of silly animal they’d be imitating. Set unofficially at Tehran’s Tajrish Bazaar, this lighthearted book is a magnificent storytime read aloud, full of high jinks, humor and satisfyingly authentic details. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0593110617", "cover": "0593110617", "goodreads": 58678499, "itunes": 9780593110614, "bookshop": 9780593110614, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51xJeccWmRL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593110614", "isbn10": "0593110617", "links": [] }, "160": { "id": 160, "edition": "fall", "title": "Mass Supervision: Probation, Parole, and the Illusion of Safety and Freedom", "author": "Vincent Schiraldi", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "Mass Supervision is a hard book to categorize. It’s part policy argument, part memoir, part historical analysis. In other hands, that combination could result in something unbearably wonky or disjointed. But Vincent Schiraldi makes it work with a fascinating – sometimes devastating – argument: that people who care about mass incarceration in the U.S. should also be concerned about the way that probation and parole ensnare an enormous, vulnerable population into cycles of exploitation, surveillance and poverty.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1620978172", "cover": "1620978172", "goodreads": 125869517, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781620978177, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41hG5jF+RfL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781620978177", "isbn10": "1620978172", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 160, "book": "Mass Supervision", "source": "NPR", "text": "Almost 4 million people are on probation or parole. Here's why that matters.", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/27/1197954050/code-switch-draft-09-27-2023" } ] }, "161": { "id": 161, "edition": "fall", "title": "Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom", "author": "Ilyon Woo", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "This book tells the story of Ellen and William Craft, who staged a life-threatening escape from enslavement in Georgia in 1848 and spent the rest of their lives advocating for Black freedom. Never far from the slave hunter’s maw, the Crafts joined the abolition movement and made tremendous contributions both in the United States and in England, speaking alongside great activists such as Frederick Douglass. Ilyon Woo’s ability to weave the Crafts’ personal love story and their love of family, alongside their public speaking and travel epic, makes for a gripping read. Kudos to Woo, for bringing this courageous couple to light.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1501191055", "cover": "1501191055", "goodreads": 61272711, "itunes": 9781501191053, "bookshop": 9781501191053, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41p3H-K6xoL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781501191053", "isbn10": "1501191055", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 161, "book": "Master Slave Husband Wife", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ilyon Woo's new book explores the relentless pursuit of freedom", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/24/1150584461/ilyon-woos-master-slave-husband-wife-interview" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 161, "book": "Master Slave Husband Wife", "source": "BSPR", "text": "Reader's Corner: 'Master Slave Husband Wife' by Ilyon Woo ", "url": "https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/show/readers-corner/2023-07-07/master-slave-husband-wife-by-ilyon-woo" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 161, "book": "Master Slave Husband Wife", "source": "WGBH", "text": "Ilyon Woo with 'Master Slave Husband Wife'", "url": "https://www.wgbh.org/forum-network/lectures/ilyon-woo-with-master-slave-husband-wife" } ] }, "162": { "id": 162, "edition": "fall", "title": "Mater 2-10", "author": "Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae", "reviewers": [ "Leland Cheuk" ], "text": "This nearly 500-page novel opens with a laid-off railroad worker in Seoul camped out on a platform atop a factory chimney, where he will stay for 410 consecutive days in protest. As he braves the elements, his ancestors, also railroad workers, visit to relive the murders, imprisonment and torture they endured under Japanese and U.S. occupation while fighting for better working conditions. The Nobel Prize in literature almost always goes to a European, but for the next one that’s awarded to a non-European, I’m rooting for Hwang Sok-yong, perhaps South Korea’s most renowned author.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1957363312", "cover": "1957363312", "goodreads": 63241868, "itunes": 9781957363318, "bookshop": 9781957363318, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81cnGe8AQvL._SY522_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781957363318", "isbn10": "1957363312", "links": [] }, "164": { "id": 164, "edition": "fall", "title": "Mexikid", "author": "Pedro Martín", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Meet Pedro, the seventh of nine kids, as he and his family take an epic trip to Mexico to fetch his Mexican Revolution-era abuelito to bring him to America. The Golden Age of the graphic novel memoir for kids is nigh, with this book a perfect example of the genre done right. Pedro Martín’s memories take front stage, as he packs each page to the brim with a tale that flies off the rails and then keeps on going. Hilarious, true and full of raw milk, snotty Pop Rocks, family and heart. (For ages 10 to 14)
", "tags": [ "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "family matters", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world", "nonfiction", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0593462297", "cover": "0593462297", "goodreads": 63249744, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593462294, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61XYXH-L1YL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593462294", "isbn10": "0593462297", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 164, "book": "Mexikid", "source": "Texas Standard", "text": " 'Mexikid' offers an illustrated view into a coming-of-age road trip story", "url": "https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/mexikid-graphic-novel-pedro-martin-comics-mexican-american-seventies/" } ] }, "165": { "id": 165, "edition": "fall", "title": "Mimosa", "author": "Archie Bongiovanni", "reviewers": [ "Nicolette Khan" ], "text": "I took Archie Bongiovanni’s captivating graphic novel Mimosa to a cabin weekend and was sneaking off whenever I could to read it. There is a hole in my heart where these characters lived, worked, partied and parented for a few days. The book explores the lives and friendships of four 30-something queer people in Minneapolis who are still learning to ask for what they want and show up for the people they love. Bongiovanni frankly illustrates that community is sometimes messy and always evolving.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "141975243X", "cover": "141975243X", "goodreads": 60310672, "itunes": 9781419752438, "bookshop": 9781419752438, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GmJBN3jsL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781419752438", "isbn10": "141975243X", "links": [] }, "166": { "id": 166, "edition": "fall", "title": "Mobility", "author": "Lydia Kiesling", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Lydia Kiesling pulls off a feat in this novel about fossil fuels and climate change – her sharp pairing of politics and the personal eschews the didactic but remains charged. A big part of why Mobility works so well is Kiesling’s choice of protagonist: a hapless, onetime foreign service brat deliciously named Bunny Glenn. As Bunny languishes in Azerbaijan as a 1990s teenager oblivious to the global scramble for oil, stumbles into an oil career in Texas in young adulthood and grapples with our climate-wrecked future, Kiesling explores individual complicity with late capitalism.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1638930562", "cover": "1638930562", "goodreads": 85323183, "itunes": 9781638930563, "bookshop": 9781638930563, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41eZf7kI+BL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781638930563", "isbn10": "1638930562", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 166, "book": "Mobility", "source": "NPR", "text": "Lydia Kiesling on her new novel 'Mobility'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/29/1190910369/lydia-kiesling-on-new-novel-mobility" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 166, "book": "Mobility", "source": "KQED", "text": "Lydia Kiesling’s novel 'Mobility' explores ethical dilemmas in everyday life", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893905/lydia-kieslings-novel-mobility-explores-ethical-dilemmas-in-everyday-life" } ] }, "167": { "id": 167, "edition": "fall", "title": "MoneyZen: The Secret to Finding Your 'Enough'", "author": "Manisha Thakor with Lisa Sweetingham", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "I feel personally attacked by this book. I picked it up hoping for some helpful perspective on personal finance – and I got that. But what MoneyZen is really about is our deeply harmful obsession with work. In her decades in finance, Manisha Thakor worked herself into the ground – damaging relationships and becoming so physically sick from stress that she had to take months off. And health statistics suggest that she’s not the only one. Even if your work obsession is less severe, it’s nice to be reminded that life has value and meaning outside the workplace.
", "tags": [ "rather short", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0063247968", "cover": "0063247968", "goodreads": 63313290, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063247963, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41hf99Gg-iL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063247963", "isbn10": "0063247968", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 167, "book": "MoneyZen", "source": "NPR", "text": "Understanding the promises and limits of ethical investing", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2022/01/11/1072207126/ethical-investing-with-esg-funds" } ] }, "168": { "id": 168, "edition": "fall", "title": "Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma", "author": "Claire Dederer", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "What do we do with great art made by men (it’s mostly men) who’ve done bad things? Men like Pablo Picasso, Norman Mailer, Ernest Hemingway, Roman Polanski, Miles Davis and Woody Allen, to name but a few. Do we put blinders on and just focus on the work? Do geniuses, as Monsters asks, get a “hall pass” for their behavior? Or do we “cancel” the art of men who’ve been “monstrous” in their behavior? Claire Dederer, who started out as a film critic, writes with wit and passion in this slim, smart book.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "for art lovers", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "0525655115", "cover": "0525655115", "goodreads": 61685822, "itunes": 9780525655114, "bookshop": 9780525655114, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41odTfyrJ5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780525655114", "isbn10": "0525655115", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 168, "book": "Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma", "source": "NPR", "text": "When art you love was made by 'Monsters': A critic lays out the 'Fan's Dilemma'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/10/1174293359/monsters-a-fans-dilemma-review-claire-dederer" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 168, "book": "Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma", "source": "NPR", "text": "Claire Dederer on her book 'Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/30/1172957440/claire-dederer-on-her-book-monsters-a-fans-dilemma" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 168, "book": "Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma", "source": "KUER", "text": "Claire Dederer and 'A Fan’s Dilemma'", "url": "https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2023-06-22/claire-dederer-and-a-fans-dilemma" } ] }, "169": { "id": 169, "edition": "fall", "title": "Monstrilio", "author": "Gerardo Sámano Córdova", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "To say Gerardo Sámano Córdova exploded onto the literary scene with this debut would be an understatement. The story of a mother who raises a sentient chunk of lung she cut from her dead son – and also the story of the being that grew from that piece of lung – Monstrilio is a wonderfully bizarre and unexpectedly touching narrative about queer love and the things that grief makes people do.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1638930368", "cover": "1638930368", "goodreads": 62888191, "itunes": 9781638930365, "bookshop": 9781638930365, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91idW+4A9EL._SY522_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781638930365", "isbn10": "1638930368", "links": [] }, "170": { "id": 170, "edition": "fall", "title": "Mr. Texas", "author": "Lawrence Wright", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "It ain’t bragging if it’s true: Everything’s bigger down here in Texas. (Pipe down, Alaska, we don’t want to hear it.) That includes political dysfunction, as veteran Texas author Lawrence Wright knows well. His new novel follows Sonny Lamb, a hapless cattle rancher recruited by Texas Republicans to run for the state legislature after the Democratic incumbent dies. He’s elected and soon finds himself resisting his party’s attempts to control him. It’s sharp, warmhearted and funny as hell – if only the late Molly Ivins were around to enjoy it.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0593537378", "cover": "0593537378", "goodreads": 78086724, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593537374, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GGhVhXKoL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593537374", "isbn10": "0593537378", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 170, "book": "Mr. Texas", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Mr. Texas' author Lawrence Wright takes on the colorful world of Lone Star politics", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/16/1206123344/mr-texas-author-lawrence-wright-takes-on-the-colorful-world-of-lone-star-politic" } ] }, "171": { "id": 171, "edition": "fall", "title": "Much Ado About Nada", "author": "Uzma Jalaluddin", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "Nada and Baz have a secret past. A messy, layered one. One that ended so badly that they haven’t seen each other in years. A lot of things have ended badly for Nada – personally and professionally. The app she worked so hard to launch totally flopped. Now, nearly 30, she’s a shell of her former self. When Nada’s best friend drags her to a big Muslim conference in Toronto, she comes face-to-face with Baz. The story flips from past to present as Nada wrestles with who she and Baz once were and who they might be still. Come for the second-chance romance; stay for the deeply lovable (and chaotic) cast of characters who are Nada’s family and friends.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593336380", "cover": "0593336380", "goodreads": 62802747, "itunes": 9780593336380, "bookshop": 9780593336380, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nLZkEyE4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593336380", "isbn10": "0593336380", "links": [] }, "172": { "id": 172, "edition": "fall", "title": "My Father, the Panda Killer", "author": "Jamie Jo Hoang", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "The horrors of war have ripple effects that reverberate in families and through communities for generations. This unsparing and sometimes surreal story – which alternates between teenage Jane, growing up in San Jose in the 1990s, and her father, Phúc, fleeing Vietnam as a child in the ’70s – shows a family floundering as the wounds of the past leave scars on a new generation. In painting this portrait, Jamie Jo Hoang also dives into the elusive nature of memory and explores how the stories that have been passed down to us are always incomplete – and how sometimes you have to get creative if you want to capture the truth before it slips through your fingers.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "young adult", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593642961", "cover": "0593642961", "goodreads": 70917025, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593642962, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51lTcVag8nL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593642962", "isbn10": "0593642961", "links": [] }, "173": { "id": 173, "edition": "fall", "title": "My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups", "author": "Chris Harris, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "If you think that Shel Silverstein is the king of poetry for kids, it could be that you just haven’t read a book by Chris Harris yet. Bold words? Come at me! Harris indulges readers with 96 poems of elderly cavemen, nail-clipping fairies, AWOL buffaloes and more in this laugh-out-loud triumph of a book. Even the page numbers are funny! It is also, quite possibly, the cleverest book for kids out this year. You don’t quite know what’s going to happen in this collection. You only know that children are going to freakin’ love it. (For ages 6 and up)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "short stories, essays & poetry", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0316592595", "cover": "0316592595", "goodreads": 63251783, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780316592598, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51dTbKHsp4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316592598", "isbn10": "0316592595", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 173, "book": "My Head Has a Bellyache", "source": "WCMU", "text": "The Children's Bookshelf: 'My Head Has a Bellyache'", "url": "https://radio.wcmu.org/show/the-childrens-bookshelf/2023-07-09/the-childrens-bookshelf-my-head-has-a-bellyache-july-9-2023" } ] }, "174": { "id": 174, "edition": "fall", "title": "My Murder", "author": "Katie Williams", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Wessel" ], "text": "Would you investigate your own murder if you could? Lou has the opportunity to do just that after she’s brought back to life following her death at the hands of a serial killer. Once I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. I’ve read a lot of thriller/mystery/suspense novels and I’ve become pretty accustomed to what twists lie around the corner, but this book surprised me and made me laugh out loud more than once, while also confronting our culture’s obsession with true crime.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "funny stuff", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593543769", "cover": "0593543769", "goodreads": 62952152, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593543764, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CYpXn2i-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593543764", "isbn10": "0593543769", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 174, "book": "My Murder", "source": "NPR", "text": "Two summer suspense novels delight in overturning the 'woman-in-trouble' plot", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180115847/megan-abbott-beware-the-woman-katie-williams-my-murder-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 174, "book": "My Murder", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Author Katie Williams on 'My Murder' and the fascination with true crime ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-06-06/author-katie-williams-on-my-murder-and-the-fascination-with-true-crime" } ] }, "175": { "id": 175, "edition": "fall", "title": "My Picture Diary", "author": "Fujiwara Maki, translated by Ryan Holmberg", "reviewers": [ "Malaka Gharib" ], "text": "Comics publisher Drawn & Quarterly has just reprinted My Picture Diary, a 1981 collection of simple illustrations and diary entries by the late Japanese artist Fujiwara Maki. Her drawings capture daily life with her young son, Shosuke, and her husband, acclaimed manga author Tsuge Yoshiharu. Although she bears the brunt of the housework and child rearing – with little help from her moody husband – the ever-resilient Maki finds joy where she can. In one scene, she throws a cookie party for Shosuke on a cold winter’s day; in another, she takes herself out to a movie. It’s a charming and at times heartbreaking read.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1770466622", "cover": "1770466622", "goodreads": 62039328, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781770466623, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41KvkC4wIWL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781770466623", "isbn10": "1770466622", "links": [] }, "176": { "id": 176, "edition": "fall", "title": "My Powerful Hair", "author": "Carole Lindstrom, illustrated by Steph Littlebird", "reviewers": [ "Cynthia Leitich Smith" ], "text": "Carole Lindstrom – whose poetic prose so often radiates with powerful Indigenous activism – reflects, celebrates and illuminates the very personal and cultural relationship between a Native girl and her hair. Between many Native people and our hair. The resulting text is strong, sacred and woven with truth and history. Steph Littlebird’s colorful, breathtaking illustrations showcase both evocative concepts and daily-life rituals. For those who find themselves on the page, it’s a loving affirmation. For our friends and allies, it’s a way to understanding and appreciating anew. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "identity & culture", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1419759434", "cover": "1419759434", "goodreads": 61783765, "itunes": 9781419759437, "bookshop": 9781419759437, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61BxW4-pdtL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781419759437", "isbn10": "1419759434", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 176, "book": "My Powerful Hair", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Like a living scrapbook': 'My Powerful Hair' is a celebration of Native culture", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1163090069/carole-lindstrom-book-my-powerful-hair-is-a-celebration-of-native-culture" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 176, "book": "My Powerful Hair", "source": "WBUR", "text": "In new kids picture book 'My Powerful Hair,' an Indigenous girl reclaims her heritage", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/03/24/my-powerful-hair-book" } ] }, "177": { "id": 177, "edition": "fall", "title": "My Strange Shrinking Parents", "author": "Zeno Sworder", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "What is a parent willing to give up for their child? Comfort? Careers? What about – height? Inspired by the Japanese woodblock prints by Hokusai and Hiroshige and books by Oscar Wilde, Shel Silverstein and Stan Sakai, in this wholly original fable a narrator tells how his immigrant parents sacrificed inches of their size to get their son the clothes, toys and education he needed. As he grows up, they grow down, until at last he’s able to care for his tiny parents in their later years. Love and devotion meld with dreamy, delicate art to produce a small masterpiece of a metaphor. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "1760762954", "cover": "1760762954", "goodreads": 61408306, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781760762957, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41lq1EZruNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781760762957", "isbn10": "1760762954", "links": [] }, "178": { "id": 178, "edition": "fall", "title": "Nestlings", "author": "Nat Cassidy", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "Ana and Reid are dealing with a lot – first-time parenthood, Ana’s paralysis, postpartum depression, loss of income, the recent death of Reid’s mother, an antisemitic landlord and more – when they win a life-changing housing lottery. It seems like their luck is turning. But it isn’t. The home – the Deptford – with its secret histories, gargoyles, labyrinthine hallways, green-in-winter courtyard, is as memorable as literature’s well-known Overlook Hotel and Hill House. Nat Cassidy is good at revealing just enough to disquiet, steadily ratcheting up dread and “too late?” anxiety until you don’t know what the right choices are. This unusual vampire novel asks what is the price of belonging; how much is survival worth. No easy answers here.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250265258", "cover": "1250265258", "goodreads": 65212029, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781250265258, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41RgGq0wVbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250265258", "isbn10": "1250265258", "links": [] }, "179": { "id": 179, "edition": "fall", "title": "Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves through Dark Moods", "author": "Mariana Alessandri", "reviewers": [ "Kira Condee-Padunova" ], "text": "Using Plato’s allegory of “The Cave,” Mariana Alessandri explores our culture’s obsession with “toxic positivity” and our fear of darker emotions like grief, anxiety and depression. She argues that instead of scrambling out of these moods, we should examine them as an opportunity to better understand ourselves and those around us who are experiencing their own struggles. Instead of encouraging our loved ones to “stay positive,” maybe it’s worth sitting with someone in their darkness.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "it’s all geek to me", "the dark side", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0691215456", "cover": "0691215456", "goodreads": 61388046, "itunes": 9780691215457, "bookshop": 9780691215457, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/416w1hISP1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780691215457", "isbn10": "0691215456", "links": [] }, "180": { "id": 180, "edition": "fall", "title": "Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories", "author": "Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "This is a relatively short collection of stories, but it opens with a bang and never relents. A girl says she has a rabbit between her legs. A man commits suicide to spite his neighbor. A woman offers a guide to overcoming a breakup. A man falls for an alien. Wild, hilarious, violent, unexpected; this collection has it all, and Agustina Bazterrica deftly changes tone and atmosphere with each story.
", "tags": [ "rather short", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668012669", "cover": "1668012669", "goodreads": 62919399, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781668012666, "image": "https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781668012666/nineteen-claws-and-a-black-bird-9781668012666_xlg.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781668012666", "isbn10": "1668012669", "links": [] }, "181": { "id": 181, "edition": "fall", "title": "None of This Is True", "author": "Lisa Jewell", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Walters" ], "text": "None of This Is True is a tale of two women born on the same day. It follows Alix, a successful podcast host, and Josie, a quirky but otherwise seemingly ordinary woman. Alix begins interviewing Josie for her show in hopes that Josie’s life story will interest her listeners. Their lives quickly become intertwined, as Josie is revealed to have a set of depraved secrets. Then Josie disappears. Soon Alix realizes she has made a dangerous mistake and has become the subject of her own true-crime podcast. The book’s unreliable narrator, dark twists and unending suspense will keep you on edge until the very last page.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1982179007", "cover": "1982179007", "goodreads": 62334530, "itunes": 9781982179007, "bookshop": 9781982179007, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51n1N61D7JL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982179007", "isbn10": "1982179007", "links": [] }, "182": { "id": 182, "edition": "fall", "title": "North Woods", "author": "Daniel Mason", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "A little patch of land in Massachusetts sees a cabin built, an apple orchard grown, a rich man’s getaway: The property changes hands and generations, decades and centuries, retaining some wildness but never really belonging to anyone but itself and its ghosts. Daniel Mason’s North Woods is a profoundly good – and fun – read, especially the chapter about the sexy beetles!
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593597036", "cover": "0593597036", "goodreads": 71872930, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593597033, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51enOMyb+UL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593597033", "isbn10": "0593597036", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 182, "book": "North Woods", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'North Woods' is the story of a place and its inhabitants over centuries", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/19/1200166912/book-review-daniel-mason-north-woods" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 182, "book": "North Woods", "source": "NPR", "text": "Daniel Mason on his novel 'North Woods'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/23/1201306844/daniel-masoon-his-novel-north-woods" } ] }, "183": { "id": 183, "edition": "fall", "title": "Old God's Time", "author": "Sebastian Barry", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Sebastian Barry’s latest novel follows Tom Kettle, a 66-year-old Irishman who has retired from his career as a police detective and moved to a small lean-to adjoining a castle in the town of Dalkey. He’s still haunted by an old case involving a murdered priest, as well as his own demons, and he’s not quite prepared to have to confront them all again. This is a relentlessly bleak, stunning novel about how the effects of violence and abuse can reverberate for years and across generations.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "mysteries & thrillers" ], "isbn": "0593296109", "cover": "0593296109", "goodreads": 61358640, "itunes": 9780593296103, "bookshop": 9780593296103, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51LSlV2xAhL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593296103", "isbn10": "0593296109", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 183, "book": "Old God's Time", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Old God's Time,' Sebastian Barry stresses the long effects of violence and abuse ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1163042950/old-gods-time-sebastian-barry-book-stresses-effects-of-abuse" } ] }, "184": { "id": 184, "edition": "fall", "title": "On Minimalism: Documenting a Musical Movement", "author": "Kerry O’Brien and William Robin (editors)", "reviewers": [ "Tom Huizenga" ], "text": "Composer Philip Glass once slugged a hater off the stage. That’s how misunderstood minimalism was in the 1960s. Today the music, in its many forms, surrounds us in pop songs and TV ads and has persisted long enough to merit a historical documentation. These editors collected six decades of writing, providing a rich view of the music and its makers. There are essays by “founding fathers” Terry Riley, La Monte Young and Steve Reich, but more importantly, the book shines crucial light on lesser-known pioneers who guided minimalism’s evolution, from Americans Julius Eastman and Pauline Oliveros to Dutchman Louis Andriessen. Extraordinarily researched, On Minimalism satisfies both the nerd and the neophyte.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "rather long", "no biz like show biz", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0520382080", "cover": "0520382080", "goodreads": 62794326, "itunes": 9780520382084, "bookshop": 9780520382084, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41+p8gmwyaL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780520382084", "isbn10": "0520382080", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 184, "book": "On Minimalism: Documenting a Musical Movement ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Minimalism: a story told in 8 pulses", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/20/1188809648/interview-on-minimalism-documenting-a-musical-movement" } ] }, "185": { "id": 185, "edition": "fall", "title": "Once More With Feeling", "author": "Elissa Sussman", "reviewers": [ "Anna Clarkson" ], "text": "Katee Rose was a child pop star who dated the lead singer of a boy band. A love triangle developed with another band member, Cal Kirby, ultimately leading to the destruction of Katee’s career and public life. But as an adult, Katee (now Kathleen) gets an opportunity to star in a Broadway show written by another childhood friend – something she’d always dreamed about. Except Cal is directing it, and they haven’t spoken in 10 years, each blaming the other for their downfall. Old flames start to ignite, and they have to decide how much they’re willing to risk for a second chance.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "let’s talk about sex", "rather long", "for music lovers" ], "isbn": "059335737X", "cover": "059335737X", "goodreads": 61420112, "itunes": 9780593357378, "bookshop": 9780593357378, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XzGJXWf9L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593357378", "isbn10": "059335737X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 185, "book": "Once More With Feeling", "source": "NPR", "text": "What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing, reading and listening", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1197072081/whats-making-us-happy-a-guide-to-your-weekend-viewing-reading-and-listening" } ] }, "186": { "id": 186, "edition": "fall", "title": "Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever", "author": "Matt Singer", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "That subtitle promises a great deal, but anyone who grew up during Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert’s reign can only nod sagely at its wisdom. Strange that a TV show would nurture a love of film in an entire generation of viewers and critics (hi!), and Matt Singer lays out an ironclad case that not just any TV show could have done so. He unpacks how the two men’s bitter rivalry drove the show’s engine and remained the key to its uncanny appeal. I now host an unscripted roundtable discussion show that’s marked by less acrimony, but (hopefully) just as much passion and curiosity and eagerness to champion new voices. That’s the aim, anyway, and Siskel and Ebert were the template.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "no biz like show biz", "it’s all geek to me", "staff picks", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "0593540158", "cover": "0593540158", "goodreads": 65650231, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593540152, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Grhd+NICL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593540152", "isbn10": "0593540158", "links": [] }, "187": { "id": 187, "edition": "fall", "title": "Ordinary Notes", "author": "Christina Sharpe", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "There are 248 “notes” contained in Christina Sharpe’s collection. Among them are personal and historical photographs, letters, reading lists, observations and definitions. Taken together, they create a portrait of Black life – both Sharpe’s singular life and the collective lives of Black people – that is honest and thought provoking and heartbreaking and, above all, exquisite. Though Sharpe calls this collection Ordinary Notes, there is nothing at all ordinary about it.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "staff picks", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0374604487", "cover": "0374604487", "goodreads": 60784727, "itunes": 9780374604486, "bookshop": 9780374604486, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31BNwkFePIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374604486", "isbn10": "0374604487", "links": [] }, "188": { "id": 188, "edition": "fall", "title": "Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears", "author": "Michael Schulman", "reviewers": [ "Linda Holmes" ], "text": "Michael Schulman’s history of the Oscars doubles as a breezy history of the whole movie business – full of gossipy and delicious anecdotes – as well as a collection of perhaps forgotten truths about how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began and how it has changed. Who cared about winning and who didn’t, which surprises shook careers for good and for ill, and which campaigns majestically backfired? There is Harvey Weinstein, there are good and terrible ceremonies – including, yes, the botched Moonlight victory – and there is the counterculture that movies like Easy Rider represented. Schulman considers the awards’ terrible history with race through the stories of Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier and Halle Berry, and he zooms in on the blacklist that ended careers. The book is both juicy and informative.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0062859013", "cover": "0062859013", "goodreads": 61190218, "itunes": 9780062859013, "bookshop": 9780062859013, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51J8-j0nLfL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062859013", "isbn10": "0062859013", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 188, "book": "Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Oscar Wars' spotlights bias, blind spots and backstage battles in the Academy", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158513159/oscar-wars-michael-schulman-academy-awards-controversies" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 188, "book": "Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears", "source": "NPR", "text": "The first Oscars lasted 15 minutes — plus other surprises from 95 years of awards", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1162052588/oscars-academy-award-scandal-slap" } ] }, "189": { "id": 189, "edition": "fall", "title": "Our Hideous Progeny", "author": "C.E. McGill", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "The plot at the beginning of this book sounds almost slapstick: An ambitious but struggling scientist couple has a harebrained idea to construct a prehistoric sea creature – and bring it back to life. But beyond the somewhat fantastical premise lies a story of two people trying, with mixed success, to find meaning in their lives and their relationship after suffering a stillbirth. It’s a reconsideration of the Frankenstein story, of course – one that looks at what the impulse toward life can create and what we owe the creatures we’ve brought into this world, no matter how feared or misunderstood they may be.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "science!", "the dark side", "family matters", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063256797", "cover": "0063256797", "goodreads": 61150779, "itunes": 9780063256798, "bookshop": 9780063256798, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Yi8h6TBpL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063256798", "isbn10": "0063256797", "links": [] }, "190": { "id": 190, "edition": "fall", "title": "Our Incredible Library Book (and the wonderful journeys it took)", "author": "Caroline Crowe, illustrated by John Joseph", "reviewers": [ "Rakiesha Chase-Jackson" ], "text": "Every book takes its reader on an adventure, but every library book is also lucky enough to go on multiple adventures of its own. From camping trips to subway rides, cozy couches to park benches, Our Incredible Library Book might be damp with bathwater and taped up in a few places, but it’s certainly been loved. The rhyming and colorful illustrations make this a perfect book for introducing younger audiences to the magic of library books, and the self-referential narrative provides a great tool to help children understand the responsibility that comes with harnessing that magic through the power of our community libraries!
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1782507418", "cover": "1782507418", "goodreads": 63112858, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781782507413, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/519yyEz+hEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781782507413", "isbn10": "1782507418", "links": [] }, "191": { "id": 191, "edition": "fall", "title": "Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”", "author": "Héctor Tobar", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "What does it mean to be Latino? Los Angeles author Héctor Tobar considers the question in his latest, inspired by his years teaching English and Chicano/Latino studies at the University of California, Irvine. Tobar writes movingly about his own childhood, as the son of Guatemalan immigrants, and takes fascinating detours into history, immigration and popular culture. An essay collection with elements of memoir, this book is brilliantly structured and filled with Tobar’s illuminating insights – it’s a must-read for anyone interested in what makes America what it is.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "037460990X", "cover": "037460990X", "goodreads": 62039320, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374609900, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41UtVLfhcFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374609900", "isbn10": "037460990X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 191, "book": "Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”", "source": "WBUR", "text": "In 'Our Migrant Souls,' Héctor Tobar explores myths and truths of what it means to be Latino", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/05/23/our-migrant-souls-hector-tobar" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 191, "book": "Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”", "source": "NPR", "text": "It's the 10th year of the Kirkus Prize. Meet the winners of a top literary award ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/11/1205070306/kirkus-prize-winners-2023" } ] }, "192": { "id": 192, "edition": "fall", "title": "Our Share of Night", "author": "Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Mariana Enriquez’s Our Share of Night is a novel about black magic, family, the tumultuous years of Argentina’s military dictatorship and the strange years that followed. As poetic as it is gory and as complex as it is violent, this novel is one of the richest multilayered narratives of the last half-decade. It’s also a novel that will surely turn Enriquez into a household name, just like she is in her native Argentina.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0451495152", "cover": "0451495152", "goodreads": 168675458, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780451495150, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Tckqk4WzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780451495150", "isbn10": "0451495152", "links": [] }, "193": { "id": 193, "edition": "fall", "title": "Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir", "author": "Beth Nguyen", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Owner of a Lonely Heart offers indelible insights on biological and surrogate motherhood, informed by the author’s upbringing in a chaotic yet emotionally repressed family led by a Vietnamese refugee father and a second-generation Mexican stepmother in white-centric Grand Rapids, Mich. Referencing yet subverting the swaggering lyrics of a 1983 Yes song, Beth Nguyen’s memoir, a taut, contemplative follow-up to Stealing Buddha’s Dinner, reconciles the apparent gaps in her family history with the need for sufficient space and time to redefine the past.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1982196343", "cover": "1982196343", "goodreads": 62919898, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982196349, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/410tNaER4HL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982196349", "isbn10": "1982196343", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 193, "book": "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "source": "WUWM", "text": " 'Owner of a Lonely Heart': Beth Nguyen's journey from refugee to motherhood ", "url": "https://www.wuwm.com/2023-07-18/owner-of-a-lonely-heart-beth-nguyens-journey-from-refugee-to-motherhood" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 193, "book": "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Not knowing the correct way to live: Beth Nguyen on assimilation", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/climate-vietnam-film-reviews/beth-nguyen-owner-lonely-heart" } ] }, "194": { "id": 194, "edition": "fall", "title": "Parachute Kids: A Graphic Novel", "author": "Betty C. Tang", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Fans of Jerry Craft’s New Kid and Robin Ha’s Almost American Girl won’t want to miss Betty C. Tang’s new graphic novel. Ten-year-old Feng-Li is on vacation with her family in America, but when her parents’ visas expire, they return to Taiwan – leaving the kids in California with friends. As undocumented children, everything from going to school to going to the doctor is overwhelming and frightening. Partially based on Tang’s own life, Parachute Kids offers a glimpse into a world we rarely see and the conflict, togetherness, resilience and self-discovery that come with it.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1338832689", "cover": "1338832689", "goodreads": 60758314, "itunes": 9781338832686, "bookshop": 9781338832686, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51LAB8PmeCL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781338832686", "isbn10": "1338832689", "links": [] }, "195": { "id": 195, "edition": "fall", "title": "Pay As You Go", "author": "Eskor David Johnson", "reviewers": [ "Tochi Onyebuchi" ], "text": "Though I’ve read many funny books, I’ve read few that made me laugh out loud and fewer still that have had me guffawing so hard I had to put the book down. Eskor David Johnson’s Pay As You Go is a veritable ab workout of a book. I can’t remember the last time I cheered as rowdily as I have for Slide, our aspirant barber with a past. Relatable to anyone who has endured city life, his surreal and uproarious picaresque is a love letter to cities and all who have lived in them.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "funny stuff", "rather long" ], "isbn": "195211974X", "cover": "195211974X", "goodreads": 120017148, "itunes": 9781952119743, "bookshop": 9781952119743, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51WQlMo2qvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781952119743", "isbn10": "195211974X", "links": [] }, "196": { "id": 196, "edition": "fall", "title": "People Collide", "author": "Isle McElroy", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "Eli is married to Elizabeth and is living with her in Bulgaria, where she’s completing a fellowship. One day, Eli visits Elizabeth’s workplace and discovers that people are addressing him as if he is his wife; when he realizes that he is, indeed, inside Elizabeth’s body, he understandably freaks out and spends several days at home trying to figure out what’s going on. Shenanigans – both hilarious and profound – ensue. People Collide is a deep exploration of marriage, love, the ways we know one another (and don’t), and how slippery a sense of self can be.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world", "identity & culture", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063283751", "cover": "0063283751", "goodreads": 75302296, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063283756, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mgP7UV2sL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063283756", "isbn10": "0063283751", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 196, "book": "People Collide", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'People Collide' is a 'Freaky Friday'-type exploration of the self and persona", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/26/1201826203/book-review-isle-mcelroy-novel-people-collide" } ] }, "197": { "id": 197, "edition": "fall", "title": "Pineapple Street", "author": "Jenny Jackson", "reviewers": [ "Jason DeRose" ], "text": "Jenny Jackson’s Pineapple Street is a helpful antidote to the grief and anxiety wrought by today’s pressing issues. Sasha, who marries into wealth, is the reader’s ambassador to a world of Brooklyn Heights brownstones and prenuptial agreements. Among the more compelling family members is Georgiana, who learns that her trust fund is far more staggering than she had thought. An ill-fated romance helps her realize that she needs to do something more with her money than join the world of the ladies who lunch. Sometimes, a story of high-end real estate and mistrustful sisters-in-law is just the thing you need.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "059349069X", "cover": "059349069X", "goodreads": 61246258, "itunes": 9780593490693, "bookshop": 9780593490693, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Os4JFEvdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593490693", "isbn10": "059349069X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 197, "book": "Pineapple Street", "source": "NPR", "text": "Jenny Jackson on her debut novel 'Pineapple Street'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/04/1161126044/jenny-jackson-on-her-debut-novel-pineapple-street" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 197, "book": "Pineapple Street", "source": "NPR", "text": "2 novels to cure your winter blahs: Ephron's 'Heartburn' and 'Pineapple Street'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/16/1163668411/nora-ephron-heartburn-jenny-jackson-pineapple-street-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 197, "book": "Pineapple Street", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Jenny Jackson’s 'Pineapple Street' explores the changing landscape of New York’s mega-rich ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2023-03-27/jenny-jacksons-pineapple-street-explores-the-changing-landscape-of-new-yorks-mega-rich" } ] }, "198": { "id": 198, "edition": "fall", "title": "Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close", "author": "Hannah Carlson", "reviewers": [ "Genevieve Valentine" ], "text": "In Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close, Hannah Carlson traces the cultural impact of pockets, from medieval Europe to Twitter hashtags. They might sound like a historical footnote, but to Carlson, pockets function as markers of class, industry, leisure and even gender. Above all, she argues, they offer privacy – increasingly precious in the surveillance age – and a deeply personal glimpse of what you carry with you. This book will give you fresh appreciation for that pocket in your coat (or convince you to make one).
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "1643751549", "cover": "1643751549", "goodreads": 75593882, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781643751542, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51-7scjDvlL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781643751542", "isbn10": "1643751549", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 198, "book": "Pockets: An Intimate History of How We Keep Things Close", "source": "NPR", "text": "Pick your clothes wisely, if you want pockets", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/22/1201216564/pick-your-clothes-wisely-if-you-want-pockets" } ] }, "199": { "id": 199, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Porcelain Moon: A Novel of France, the Great War, and Forbidden Love", "author": "Janie Chang", "reviewers": [ "Jeanine Herbst" ], "text": "Set against the backdrop of World War I in France, Janie Chang’s latest novel, The Porcelain Moon, tells the story of two women, one French, one Chinese, who break generational expectations and restrictions to find the love – and the lives – that they want. Camille, raised outside Paris in genteel poverty in the shadow of family money long gone, is trying to escape a violent marriage; and Pauline, who works for her uncle at his Paris shop, is trying to avoid an arranged marriage in Shanghai. Their lives intersect in a heart-pounding way amid the war. I love Chang’s richly researched historical fiction books, and this one doesn’t disappoint. She draws from Chinese legends and her family’s history to weave tales of love, familial obligations and freedom that will have you hooked.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063072866", "cover": "0063072866", "goodreads": 61180151, "itunes": 9780063072862, "bookshop": 9780063072862, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KzdtiIUAL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063072862", "isbn10": "0063072866", "links": [] }, "200": { "id": 200, "edition": "fall", "title": "Poverty, by America", "author": "Matthew Desmond", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Limbong" ], "text": "In 2022, the noise rock band Chat Pile put out a song that repeatedly asks “Why? Why do people have to live outside?” In Poverty, by America, sociologist Matthew Desmond plainly delivers an answer: because we benefit from it. Not a vague, squishy, ethereal we, but a more direct we – him, me, and, likely, you. The book is a tightly written, research-backed and uncomfortable argument that those of us lucky enough to live above the poverty line directly profit by keeping the people on the other side beneath it. Or, as Chat Pile puts it, “real American horror story.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593239911", "cover": "0593239911", "goodreads": 61358638, "itunes": 9780593239919, "bookshop": 9780593239919, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31KBXBSeBBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593239919", "isbn10": "0593239911", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 200, "book": "Poverty, By America", "source": "NPR", "text": "Private opulence, public squalor: How the U.S. helps the rich and hurts the poor", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/21/1164275807/poverty-by-america-matthew-desmond-inequality" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 200, "book": "Poverty, By America", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Poverty, By America' shows how the rest of us benefit by keeping others poor ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/17/1158230630/poverty-by-america-book-review-matthew-desmond-evicted" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 200, "book": "Poverty, By America", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sociologist Matthew Desmond on why poverty persists in the U.S.", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/19/1164585458/sociologist-matthew-desmond-on-why-poverty-persists-in-the-u-s" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 200, "book": "Poverty, By America", "source": "WUWM", "text": "Sociologist Matthew Desmond on America’s poverty problem ", "url": "https://www.wuwm.com/2023-03-27/sociologist-matthew-desmond-on-americas-poverty-problem" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 200, "book": "Poverty, By America", "source": "WFAE", "text": "Maybe we should actually be a bit more hopeful about poverty ", "url": "https://www.wfae.org/race-equity/2023-10-18/maybe-we-should-actually-be-a-bit-more-hopeful-about-poverty" } ] }, "201": { "id": 201, "edition": "fall", "title": "Prom Mom: A Thriller", "author": "Laura Lippman", "reviewers": [ "Linda Holmes" ], "text": "A Laura Lippman book can be expected to tease and twist deliciously, even when, as Prom Mom is, it’s set during the difficult early months of COVID-19 and springs from the real stories of high school teens who don’t even know they’re pregnant until they go into labor. Amber, who once was at the center of such a story and suffered the consequences, crosses paths years later with Joe, who was the indifferent father of her baby. Now married and uninterested in revisiting the past, he is initially not eager to renew their acquaintance. But they both have secrets, and they both have fears, and they begin to talk. What unfolds is a tale of betrayal, resentment, reckoning and being haunted by someone who is absolutely sure he is a good guy.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062998064", "cover": "0062998064", "goodreads": 63241079, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780062998064, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51DCXculvRL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062998064", "isbn10": "0062998064", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 201, "book": "Prom Mom", "source": "WYPR", "text": "Psycho thriller 'Prom Mom'; Plus, Lippman gets personal ", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/show/on-the-record/2023-07-25/psycho-thriller-prom-mom-plus-lippman-gets-personal" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 201, "book": "Prom Mom", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: Laura Lippman's new novel 'Prom Mom'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/laura-lippmans-new-novel-prom-mom/" } ] }, "202": { "id": 202, "edition": "fall", "title": "Promises of Gold", "author": "José Olivarez, translated by David Ruano González", "reviewers": [ "Aja Miller" ], "text": "In Promises of Gold, José Olivarez weaves a work that delves into love, family, grief, and an exploration of self. Written in both English and Spanish, we read through a series of thoughts and emotions that are personal but still find a way to resonate with the reader. Olivarez’s collection of poems delivers a voice that’s both intimate and understated. His voice is both distinct and familiar; a voice you can hear yourself in. You’ll be wanting to read the same poem three times over because you’ll find something new to love about it each and every time.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250878497", "cover": "1250878497", "goodreads": 60784597, "itunes": 9781250878496, "bookshop": 9781250878496, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51YUMR8FZlL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250878496", "isbn10": "1250878497", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 202, "book": "Promises of Gold", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Poet José Olivarez Discusses 'Promises of Gold'", "url": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/jose-olivarez-promises-gold" } ] }, "203": { "id": 203, "edition": "fall", "title": "Promposal", "author": "RaeChell Garrett", "reviewers": [ "Alethea Kontis" ], "text": "To get into her dream college, Autumn Reeves launches a startup called Promposal Queen, where she is paid to help conceive and execute elaborate proposals for her classmates. She joins the Young Black Entrepreneurs in an effort to be better than average and pitches Promposal Queen with the help of fellow senior Mekhi Winston, Autumn’s former crush turned enemy. Over and over again, Mekhi’s presence makes her seemingly impossible mountain almost easy to climb. But considering their tumultuous past, how can the two of them possibly have a future together? A playful narrative with a satisfying ending, featuring well-developed and diverting teen characters.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "young adult", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "031637170X", "cover": "031637170X", "goodreads": 60606491, "itunes": 9780316371704, "bookshop": 9780316371704, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51wOTWwZzwL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316371704", "isbn10": "031637170X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 203, "book": "Promposal", "source": "NPR", "text": "College dreams and teen love find common ground in 'Promposal'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/08/1168327403/college-dreams-teen-love-unite-in-raechell-garrett-book-promposal" } ] }, "204": { "id": 204, "edition": "fall", "title": "Prophet Song", "author": "Paul Lynch", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Paul Lynch’s latest takes place in a near-future dystopian Dublin, where the Garda National Services Bureau – a secret police force – has been given seemingly boundless powers. Prophet Song centers not on how the liberal democracy got here, but on how authoritarian rule affects one family. We follow Eilish, a microbiologist and mother of four, as she struggles to keep her family together in the aftermath of her husband’s disappearance by the state. The premise alone is blood-chilling; Lynch’s narration, which unspools in long, breathless paragraphs, plunges the reader into the family’s nightmare. Prophet Song won the 2023 Booker Prize – the judges said “it is propulsive and unsparing, and it flinches away from nothing.”
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0861546865", "cover": "0861546865", "goodreads": 175740709, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780802163011, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51AS09OdSyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780861546862", "isbn10": "0861546865", "links": [] }, "205": { "id": 205, "edition": "fall", "title": "Quietly Hostile: Essays", "author": "Samantha Irby", "reviewers": [ "Emily Bogle" ], "text": "Samantha Irby’s latest essay collection includes some familiar topics, like her love of Dave Matthews Band and her frequent references to diarrhea. She also weaves together new stories about navigating COVID-19 isolation, in part by adopting a poorly behaved pandemic dog, which I deeply relate to. Irby’s voice is distinct and hilarious, whether she is discussing Red Lobster or ridiculous reactions people online had when it was announced she was a writer on the Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That …. I appreciate that she shares her disappointments, like spending years pitching a television show about her life that never aired. Hopefully Hollywood will reconsider, but in the meantime, we have Irby’s essays to enjoy.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0593315693", "cover": "0593315693", "goodreads": 62052300, "itunes": 9780593315699, "bookshop": 9780593315699, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41uPaPWBSIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593315699", "isbn10": "0593315693", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 205, "book": "Quietly Hostile", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Quietly Hostile' is Samantha Irby's survival guide (of sorts)", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/1175784023/samantha-irby-quietly-hostile" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 205, "book": "Quietly Hostile", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Quietly Hostile,' Samantha Irby trains a cynical eye inward", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/15/1175717333/quietly-hostile-essays-samantha-irby-book-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 205, "book": "Quietly Hostile", "source": "NPR", "text": "Writer Sam Irby bears her soul – again – with new essay collection 'Quietly Hostile'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/18/1176935506/writer-sam-irby-bears-her-soul-again-with-new-essay-collection-quietly-hostile" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 205, "book": "Quietly Hostile", "source": "KQED", "text": "Samantha Irby on Hollywood, toilet taboos and being ‘Quietly Hostile’", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893371/samantha-irby-on-hollywood-toilet-taboos-and-being-quietly-hostile" } ] }, "206": { "id": 206, "edition": "fall", "title": "Rainbow Shopping", "author": "Qing Zhuang", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "A recent arrival to New York from China, a lonely young girl is feeling “gray as a pigeon.” Though her grandmother and parents are always working, this rainy Saturday they will all be together for dinner. Accompanying her mother to Chinatown, grocery shopping turns the dreary day into a glorious adventure. Delighted by the familiar foods, spices, and sweet treats, her joy shines through in the simple prose and exuberant watercolor, colored pencil, and crayon images. At home, her father cooks up a delicious feast, and as the family gathers we are reminded that after the rain comes a rainbow. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0823449777", "cover": "0823449777", "goodreads": 61154755, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780823449774, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51RodtrfL2L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780823449774", "isbn10": "0823449777", "links": [] }, "207": { "id": 207, "edition": "fall", "title": "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs", "author": "Jamie Loftus", "reviewers": [ "Mary Childs" ], "text": "This is the least hinged book I have ever read. Readers follow along on a comedian’s dogged (sorry) quest to try the different/best/most famous hot dogs across this great/Godforsaken country, during the cursed summer of 2021. Her dedication is inexplicable and admirable; her writing is hilarious and tragic and informative.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "cookbooks & food", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1250847745", "cover": "1250847745", "goodreads": 62039305, "itunes": 9781250847744, "bookshop": 9781250847744, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Ro09sWCPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250847744", "isbn10": "1250847745", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 207, "book": "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs", "source": "NPR", "text": "Comedian Jamie Loftus' book 'Raw Dog' chronicles her hot-dog eating travels", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/21/1177391874/comedian-jamie-loftuss-book-raw-dog-chronicles-her-hot-dog-eating-travels" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 207, "book": "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs", "source": "WGBH", "text": " 'Raw Dog' explores the flavors and controversies of America’s favorite tubed meat ", "url": "https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2023-06-02/raw-dog-explores-the-flavors-and-controversies-of-americas-favorite-tubed-meat" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 207, "book": "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs", "source": "KQED", "text": "Comedian Jamie Loftus on why America loves hot dogs", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893312/comedian-jamie-loftus-on-why-america-loves-hot-dogs" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 207, "book": "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs", "source": "WAMU", "text": "The savory story of hot dogs and America", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/the-story-of-hot-dogs-in-america/" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 207, "book": "Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "The naked truth about hot dogs ", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/the-naked-truth-about-hot-dogs/761a6835-c625-4e5e-bde3-57f07c236582" } ] }, "208": { "id": 208, "edition": "fall", "title": "Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included)", "author": "Pooja Lakshmin", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "With meaningful roots in the social justice movement, the term “self-care” has become so ubiquitous that it’s starting to lose meaning. The phrase has been co-opted by marketers to sell a growing number of goods and services. How, then, do you – a person hanging on by your fingernails – find meaning and actual relief in caring for yourself? Enter Pooja Lakshmin, a psychiatrist dedicated to helping people put down the guilt that comes with attempting to achieve perfection within broken systems. Instead of pushing us to strive – or suggesting a cleanse – Lakshmin provides tools for boundary setting and treating yourself with compassion.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0593489721", "cover": "0593489721", "goodreads": 61327482, "itunes": 9780593489727, "bookshop": 9780593489727, "image": "https://images2.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/9780593489727", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593489727", "isbn10": "0593489721", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 208, "book": "Real Self Care", "source": "NPR", "text": "Real self-care takes real systemic change", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2023/04/19/1170063872/self-care-laid-bare" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 208, "book": "Real Self Care", "source": "KQED", "text": "Pooja Lakshmin says ‘Real Self Care’ goes far beyond meditation apps", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892624/pooja-lakshmin-says-real-self-care-goes-far-beyond-meditation-apps" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 208, "book": "Real Self Care", "source": "WAMU", "text": "What does it mean to engage in self-care in American society? ", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/what-does-it-mean-to-engage-in-self-care-in-american-society/" } ] }, "209": { "id": 209, "edition": "fall", "title": "Remember", "author": "Joy Harjo, illustrated by Michaela Goade", "reviewers": [ "Cynthia Leitich Smith" ], "text": "How could a pairing by the U.S. poet laureate (a beloved Mvskoke poet) — and a Caldecott medalist (a beloved Tlingit artist) not result in a gorgeously resonant picture book? Yet, it still completely blew away my starry expectations! This book is a blessing to our children, to ourselves, to creation. The sparse, heartfelt text is kid friendly. Flowing illustrations underscore our infinite connectedness. Together, they serve as a quiet call to honor all of our relationships on Earth and beyond. It’s my go-to gift book of 2023. Especially recommended to fans of Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee’s All the World. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "short stories, essays & poetry", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "0593484843", "cover": "0593484843", "goodreads": 61356556, "itunes": 9780593484845, "bookshop": 9780593484845, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51YWbY1nFnL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593484845", "isbn10": "0593484843", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 209, "book": "Remember", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Joy Harjo on 'Remember'", "url": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/joy-harjo-remember" } ] }, "210": { "id": 210, "edition": "fall", "title": "Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America", "author": "Abraham Josephine Riesman", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Limbong" ], "text": "If you’ve ever seen some attention-hoarding loudmouth spout their nonsense into a microphone and wondered “wait, is this a bit?” then this book is for you. Abraham Josephine Riesman’s biography of WWE mastermind Vince McMahon isn’t just a deep dive into the history of pro wrestling, it’s also an explanation and exploration of what’s dubbed “neokayfabe” – that perfect mixture of half-truths and semi-fictions concocted to exploit our attention economy. And once you see the pattern laid by Riesman out in the world of “sports entertainment,” you can see it all throughout our everyday lives, because ultimately the answer to “is this a bit?” is “yes, but it’s real.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for sports lovers", "no biz like show biz", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1982169443", "cover": "1982169443", "goodreads": 61273754, "itunes": 9781982169442, "bookshop": 9781982169442, "image": "https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781982169442/ringmaster-9781982169442_xlg.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982169442", "isbn10": "1982169443", "links": [] }, "211": { "id": 211, "edition": "fall", "title": "Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War II", "author": "Evan Thomas", "reviewers": [ "Nina Totenberg" ], "text": "This is an enthralling account of the events leading up to the Japanese surrender in World War II. Evan Thomas has gotten access to the diaries of leading players on the American and Japanese sides of the drama. What he has produced is a riveting account of the decision to drop two atomic bombs, but even more importantly, he has shed new light on the cataclysmic power struggle behind the scenes in Japan and how the powerful military fought the idea of surrender quite literally to its death. This is a book perfectly paired with American Prometheus (which was the source material for the film Oppenheimer) and is remarkable for the way it counters modern conventional wisdom about the atomic end of the war.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0399589252", "cover": "0399589252", "goodreads": 62120824, "itunes": 9780399589256, "bookshop": 9780399589256, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41LqtW3+6iL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780399589256", "isbn10": "0399589252", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 211, "book": "Road To Surrender", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Road to Surrender' revisits the final weeks of World War II", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/20/1183140547/road-to-surrender-revisits-the-final-weeks-of-world-war-ii" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 211, "book": "Road To Surrender", "source": "WAMU", "text": "Revisiting the decision to drop the bomb", "url": "https://wamu.org/story/23/05/18/revisiting-the-decision-to-drop-the-bomb/" } ] }, "212": { "id": 212, "edition": "fall", "title": "Roaming", "author": "Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki", "reviewers": [ "Huo Jingnan" ], "text": "In Roaming, readers follow two old friends and a new pal on their first college spring-break trip to New York City. We get carried away by the stream of sensory pleasure as the city’s sights, sounds and smells leap out of the pages. Intertwined with that are currents of wonder and connection but also eddies of anxiety and longing that the travelers find in each other’s company. We can feel the brush of fingertips and the catching of breath with as much sensitivity as the rush of Times Square or the breeze in Central Park – and that is a treat you can’t miss.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "love & romance", "staff picks", "the states we’re in", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1770464336", "cover": "1770464336", "goodreads": 65215718, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781770464339, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51uO2G-rEGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781770464339", "isbn10": "1770464336", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 212, "book": "Roaming", "source": "NPR", "text": "Love, identity and ambition take center stage in 'Roaming' ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/18/1200101308/lbook-review-jillian-tamaki-mariko-tamaki-graphic-novel-roaming" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 212, "book": "Roaming", "source": "NPR", "text": "A new graphic novel follows two friends taking on life in New York City", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/10/1198675604/a-new-graphic-novel-follows-two-friends-taking-on-life-in-new-york-city" } ] }, "213": { "id": 213, "edition": "fall", "title": "Roman Stories", "author": "Jhumpa Lahiri, translated by Jhumpa Lahiri and Todd Portnowitz", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "The nine stories in Jhumpa Lahiri’s first collection since she switched to writing in Italian powerfully convey her characters’ struggles to find their place in the world and overcome their painful sense of being outsiders. This pervasive sense of foreignness and being caught between two worlds strikes not just the refugees and immigrants Lahiri writes about with such compassion as they strive to gain a toehold in a xenophobic society, but also lifelong Romans and privileged American expats too. Elegantly written and largely translated by the author – who herself straddles several cultures and languages – Roman Stories presents an affecting view of an often cruelly unwelcoming world.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0593536320", "cover": "0593536320", "goodreads": 78292448, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593536322, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61P4YcrkfmL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593536322", "isbn10": "0593536320", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 213, "book": "Roman Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "In Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Roman Stories,' many characters are caught between two worlds", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/10/1204820880/jhumpa-lahiri-book-short-stories-roman-stories" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 213, "book": "Roman Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Roman Stories' is Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jhumpa Lahiri's latest collection", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/17/1206359194/roman-stories-is-pulitzer-prize-winning-author-jhumpa-lahiris-latest-collection" } ] }, "214": { "id": 214, "edition": "fall", "title": "Romantic Comedy", "author": "Curtis Sittenfeld", "reviewers": [ "Diane Webber" ], "text": "If your love language is snark, this book is for you. Known for two kinds of books – historical fiction where the history is 20 minutes ago (Rodham, American Wife) and social X-rays in the lineage of Jane Austen (Eligible, Prep) – Curtis Sittenfeld checks both boxes with her latest. The oh-so-recent history here is the COVID-19 pandemic, and the historical figures are characters based on Saturday Night Live writers, producers and actors. It’s a very satisfying plot that Sittenfeld pulls together from the strands of our familiar lives and from sources documenting SNL. And my favorite scene: The main character’s first significant one-on-one interaction is the give-and-take of an edit! You don’t have to be an editor, though, to be charmed by this romance.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0399590943", "cover": "0399590943", "goodreads": 62628727, "itunes": 9780399590948, "bookshop": 9780399590948, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41wb1vcdVzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780399590948", "isbn10": "0399590943", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 214, "book": "Romantic Comedy", "source": "NPR", "text": "Novel 'Romantic Comedy' explores desirability, entertainment and writing as a cure", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/04/1168030429/novel-romantic-comedy-explores-desirability-entertainment-and-writing-as-a-cure" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 214, "book": "Romantic Comedy", "source": "MPR", "text": "Curtis Sittenfeld's 'Romantic Comedy' is about more than just laughs", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/04/10/romantic-comedy-is-about-more-than-just-laughs" } ] }, "215": { "id": 215, "edition": "fall", "title": "Romney: A Reckoning", "author": "McKay Coppins", "reviewers": [ "Scott Detrow" ], "text": "It is rare for a politician to prioritize moral stands over his or her electoral self-interest. It is even more rare for a politician to willingly share private journals, and honest self-assessments, with a journalist. Mitt Romney has now done both of these things, and the result is McKay Coppins’ engrossing new biography. It’s one of the best political books I’ve read in years, and it provides key insights into how drastically the Republican Party has shifted in the decade since Romney was its presidential nominee.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1982196203", "cover": "1982196203", "goodreads": 101162151, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982196202, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/4189KCEe8rL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982196202", "isbn10": "1982196203", "links": [] }, "216": { "id": 216, "edition": "fall", "title": "Roommates: A Totally Uplifting, Dramatic and Emotional Women's Fiction Novel", "author": "Ola Tundun", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "Reading this book is like curling up with a thick blanket as rain gently patters on the window. After leaving her longtime fiancé, homebody Ariella moves in with Caleb, her colleague with a party-boy reputation. The two have little in common except that they’re both figuring out their own messes under the same roof. They begin to connect over small but tender acts – preparing meals for each other, taking long walks – showing care for each other even when they don’t fully understand the other.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "love & romance", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1805080814", "cover": "1805080814", "goodreads": 198608185, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781805080817, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41NZOBcSVdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781805080817", "isbn10": "1805080814", "links": [] }, "217": { "id": 217, "edition": "fall", "title": "Rootless", "author": "Krystle Zara Appiah", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "Sam gets home one evening to find that his wife, Efe, has left him and their toddler. Confused, angry and worried, Sam tracks her down – only to learn that she’s in Ghana, thousands of miles away from their London home. The book then takes us back in time to Efe’s youth and her arrival in the U.K., bound for high school and then university. Efe has always struggled with conflict between who she’s expected to be and who she is – and in this tender debut, we follow her as she navigates her friendship and later her romance with Sam and balances her own desires alongside her family’s.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "love & romance", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593500458", "cover": "0593500458", "goodreads": 61685996, "itunes": 9780593500453, "bookshop": 9780593500453, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ny6XY9zrL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593500453", "isbn10": "0593500458", "links": [] }, "218": { "id": 218, "edition": "fall", "title": "Ruby Lost and Found", "author": "Christina Li", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "l love intergenerational stories, and this one does not disappoint. After the loss of her beloved grandfather, Ruby feels unmoored. Trouble at school lands the 13-year-old at her grandmother’s senior center for the summer. And then when her family’s favorite Chinese bakery is in danger of closing, Ruby becomes determined to find a way to keep it open. Her search for answers leads to unexpected realizations in this lovely novel about heartbreak, resilience, and hope. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "fiction", "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0063008939", "cover": "0063008939", "goodreads": 62047947, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063008939, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51FS17rJqyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063008939", "isbn10": "0063008939", "links": [] }, "219": { "id": 219, "edition": "fall", "title": "Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair", "author": "Mercury Stardust", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "If you’ve ever felt out of place in the hardware store or felt too intimidated to ask for help while lost in an aisle filled with power tools and screws, may I please introduce Mercury Stardust, the Trans Handy Ma’am? Mercury’s book is an extension of her fantastic social media videos. She’s a sparkly mix of pep talk, practical knowledge (replacing a toilet seat!) and whimsy (um, hello, cat-shelf tutorial?!). If there were an Adulting 101 class, this would be required reading.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0744079071", "cover": "0744079071", "goodreads": 76149581, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780744079074, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51zNPLmMvdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780744079074", "isbn10": "0744079071", "links": [] }, "220": { "id": 220, "edition": "fall", "title": "Shubeik Lubeik", "author": "Deena Mohamed", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "With an Arabic title that means “Your Wish is My Command,” this dazzlingly profound feast begins at a Cairo kiosk, where, among modern sundry goods, bottled wishes are sold. All the linked stories illustrate the complex struggle between external forces (sexism, poverty, disease and intolerance) and individual choice (personal ethics and rational skepticism). Before invoking the wish, each protagonist must consider the causal relationship between the expression, or suppression, of their wish and their social environment. The concept of earned agency at the center of these thoughtful examinations echoes the central idea of One Thousand and One Nights, where telling a good story means to successfully translate one’s desire, and in doing so, destinies can be shaped, and demises deferred.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "comics & graphic novels", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1524748412", "cover": "1524748412", "goodreads": 62594914, "itunes": 9781524748418, "bookshop": 9781524748418, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51P7RXSZQgL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781524748418", "isbn10": "1524748412", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 220, "book": "Shubeik Lubeik", "source": "NPR", "text": "This graphic novel imagines what would happen if you could buy and sell wishes", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/01/11/1148253567/what-if-you-could-buy-wishes-an-egyptian-fantasy-comic-does-some-wishful-thinkin" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 220, "book": "Shubeik Lubeik", "source": "NPR", "text": "Deena Mohamed on her graphic novel 'Shubeik Lubeik'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/08/1147737275/deena-mohamed-on-her-graphic-novel-shubeik-lubeik" } ] }, "221": { "id": 221, "edition": "fall", "title": "Sidle Creek", "author": "Jolene McIlwain", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "The 22 stories in Jolene McIlwain’s debut collection all take place in the Appalachian plateau of western Pennsylvania, where the author grew up and lives now, and all convey the deep love of the people and place McIlwain has long called home. One of the collection’s recurring motifs is a masculine softness that isn’t always easy to express in words but that is nevertheless deeply felt. Another theme is community care; not in the Hollywoodized small town “aw shucks” kind of way, but rather in the difficult, intentional work of maintaining contact with one’s neighbors and trying to provide what people need.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1685890415", "cover": "1685890415", "goodreads": 121011250, "itunes": 9781685890414, "bookshop": 9781685890414, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41RN5r08ZsL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781685890414", "isbn10": "1685890415", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 221, "book": "Sidle Creek", "source": "NPR", "text": "Stories in 'Sidle Creek' offer an insider look at Appalachia", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/17/1176602573/jolene-mcilwain-sidle-creek-appalachia-book-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 221, "book": "Sidle Creek", "source": "WESA", "text": "Kittanning writer's stories explore life in Northern Appalachia", "url": "https://www.wesa.fm/arts-sports-culture/2023-06-12/kittanning-writers-stories-explore-life-in-northern-appalachia" } ] }, "222": { "id": 222, "edition": "fall", "title": "Sing Her Down", "author": "Ivy Pochoda", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Meet Florence “Florida” Baum, imprisoned in Arizona for a crime she hasn’t quite come to terms with. She makes a jailhouse enemy in Diosmary “Dios” Sandoval, who thinks Florida has a darker heart than she lets on. When the two are released from prison at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida sets out for California, with Dios on her trail, determined to make her take responsibility for her actions. This is a taut, violent Western thriller that never lets up – and it’s definitely not for the squeamish.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0374608482", "cover": "0374608482", "goodreads": 62039258, "itunes": 9780374608484, "bookshop": 9780374608484, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41l4lhjk4ML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374608484", "isbn10": "0374608482", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 222, "book": "Sing Her Down", "source": "KCRW", "text": " ‘Sing Her Down’: Ivy Pochoda brings female rage to the forefront", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/maui-ivy-pochoda-wende-museum/sing-her-down" } ] }, "223": { "id": 223, "edition": "fall", "title": "Small Mercies: A Detective Mystery", "author": "Dennis Lehane", "reviewers": [ "Mary Glendinning" ], "text": "Within just a few pages, you are submerged in the prejudice, hypocrisy, violence, anger, hatred and despair of South Boston festering in the hot summer of 1974. The integration of its schools through forced busing is looming when Mary Pat’s daughter goes missing. As she searches, Mary Pat confronts painful truths about herself, her world and the people who dominate it. While this evocative, awfully contemporary story makes you wonder whether we ever truly will be capable of change, it also offers small mercies that will linger with you for a long time to come.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0062129481", "cover": "0062129481", "goodreads": 61812308, "itunes": 9780062129482, "bookshop": 9780062129482, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51PjcSaP4jL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062129482", "isbn10": "0062129481", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 223, "book": "Small Mercies", "source": "NPR", "text": "Dennis Lehane's 'Small Mercies' is a crime thriller that spotlights rampant racism ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/28/1172426738/book-review-dennis-lehane-small-mercies" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 223, "book": "Small Mercies", "source": "NPR", "text": "Dennis Lehane on his new novel 'Small Mercies'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/22/1171450341/dennis-lehane-on-his-new-novel-small-mercies" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 223, "book": "Small Mercies", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Novel 'Small Mercies' illuminates a turbulent period in Boston's history", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/04/25/dennis-lehane-small-mercies-book-review" } ] }, "224": { "id": 224, "edition": "fall", "title": "Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden", "author": "Camille T. Dungy", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Poet Camille Dungy writes about her efforts to transform her suburban yard in predominantly white Fort Collins, Colo., into a wilder, natural garden full of native plants. By turns a memoir of family life during the pandemic, a meditation on – and contribution to – American nature writing, and an exploration of the historical effect of segregation on not just where people of color have lived but how they engage with the natural world, this book is wide – ranging. Dungy is so expressive, exploratory and engaging that you definitely want to go along for the ride with her.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1982195304", "cover": "1982195304", "goodreads": 62919890, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982195304, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Jqcz-fw+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982195304", "isbn10": "1982195304", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 224, "book": "Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden", "source": "NPR", "text": "She ripped up her manicured lawn and challenged the norms of gardening stories", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/05/1172727763/garden-gardening-book-writing-soil-dungy" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 224, "book": "Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden", "source": "NPR", "text": "For this poet, working on her garden is exploring history, race and sustainability", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/28/1172837042/for-this-poet-working-on-her-garden-is-exploring-history-race-and-sustainability" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 224, "book": "Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden", "source": "NSPR", "text": "Cultivating Place: 'Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden,' with Camille Dungy ", "url": "https://www.mynspr.org/show/cultivating-place-conversations-on-natural-history-and-the-human-impulse-to-garden/2023-05-04/cultivating-place-soil-the-story-of-a-black-mothers-garden-with-camille-dungy" } ] }, "225": { "id": 225, "edition": "fall", "title": "Some Desperate Glory", "author": "Emily Tesh", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Zutter" ], "text": "Raised on militaristic Gaea Station, Kyr (short for Valkyr) is the perfect warrior to avenge Earth’s destruction by the alien federation known as the majoda – until she’s assigned to the Nursery, her body only good enough to birth the next generation of soldiers, and must reevaluate her entire worldview. Like her war-hungry namesake, Kyr is vicious, ruthless and cruel. But jumping through alternate realities cracks her open into soft-bellied vulnerability, teaching her to forgive – the majoda, her peers and even herself. Despite the toxic martyrdom of her upbringing, Kyr’s emotional growth is wholly earned. Emily Tesh unflinchingly plumbs black hole depths of bleakness, with a resolution that had me sobbing cathartically, ready to say goodbye.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250834988", "cover": "1250834988", "goodreads": 58388343, "itunes": 9781250834980, "bookshop": 9781250834980, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41eYsezUfLL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250834980", "isbn10": "1250834988", "links": [] }, "226": { "id": 226, "edition": "fall", "title": "Someone Else's Shoes", "author": "Jojo Moyes", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Kuypers" ], "text": "Nisha Cantor and Sam Kemp are women with seemingly nothing in common, apart from both being at crisis-y crossroads in their lives. Sam is struggling with her marriage and career, and Nisha’s entire lifestyle is in jeopardy. Their paths intersect only when Sam accidentally grabs Nisha’s similar-looking gym bag in a locker room mix-up. The bag, of course, contains the MacGuffin: the titular shoes, which Nisha desperately needs to get back. The ensuing journey is equal parts fun, clever caper and sweet ode to unlikely friendships, new chapters and finding out what happens when you walk in … well, you know …
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1984879294", "cover": "1984879294", "goodreads": 62971668, "itunes": 9781984879295, "bookshop": 9781984879295, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41mYd6CyeXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781984879295", "isbn10": "1984879294", "links": [] }, "227": { "id": 227, "edition": "fall", "title": "Something Wild & Wonderful", "author": "Anita Kelly", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "Some of the best modern romances are as much about growing into oneself as about finding the one to create a life with. With a literal quest at its center, Anita Kelly’s latest melds those two arcs particularly well. Alexei Lebedev and Ben Caravalho have their minds fixed on their personal hurdles when they meet cute, just barely avoiding disaster on the challenging Pacific Crest Trail. Completing the 2,500-mile hike is a trial. It takes months. But it’s a great way to exhaust your body while seeking change or tending to emotional and mental bruises. Though they have very different experiences and outlooks, Ben and Alexei are undeniably drawn to each other after repeatedly crossing paths. Their romantic relationship grows organically and gorgeously as they press forward into the wild.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1538754886", "cover": "1538754886", "goodreads": 61399138, "itunes": 9781538754887, "bookshop": 9781538754887, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51C1YKHkWnL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781538754887", "isbn10": "1538754886", "links": [] }, "228": { "id": 228, "edition": "fall", "title": "Sordidez", "author": "E.G. Condé", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Taínofuturism (futuristic science fiction rooted in Taíno culture and customs with an Indigenous-centric decolonial framework) is likely a new genre term to many readers, but that makes this novella all the more worth diving into. In this compelling near-future story, Vero, a trans journalist from Puerto Rico, ventures into the jungles of the Yucatán to a refuge for the chronically ill run by Doña Margarita. In the shadows, a rebel leader enacts her revenge. Fiercely decolonial, this will appeal to anyone eager to read about resisting an empire and reclaiming a culture.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1777682363", "cover": "1777682363", "goodreads": 123022089, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781777682361, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41KFlISajAL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781777682361", "isbn10": "1777682363", "links": [] }, "229": { "id": 229, "edition": "fall", "title": "Spare", "author": "Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "What was behind Prince Harry’s decision to step back from royal duties? How bad did the relationship between him and his brother and father get? What was the deal with the frostbit todger? One more question: Who cares? Don’t read Harry’s memoir to answer those questions; instead, come for a well-told (kudos to ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer) coming-of-age story about a boy born in a fishbowl who has to overcome one of the world’s most famous dysfunctional family dynamics in order to become his own man.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "staff picks", "rather long", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593593804", "cover": "0593593804", "goodreads": 62296528, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593593806, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CSAHVHk+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593593806", "isbn10": "0593593804", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 229, "book": "Spare", "source": "NPR", "text": "We royally wade into the Harry and Meghan discourse", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/18/1149718994/we-royally-wade-into-the-harry-and-meghan-discourse" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 229, "book": "Spare", "source": "NPR", "text": "Prince Harry's much talked about memoir 'Spare' is on bookstore shelves", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/10/1148063130/prince-harrys-much-talked-about-memoir-spare-is-on-bookstore-shelves" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 229, "book": "Spare", "source": "WAMU", "text": "Prince Harry and the future of the British monarchy", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/prince-harry-and-the-future-of-the-british-monarchy/" } ] }, "230": { "id": 230, "edition": "fall", "title": "Starling House", "author": "Alix E. Harrow", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "In Eden, Ky., the air is thick with dust. The dying coal town is the perfect setting for this gothic fantasy about a haunted house and the inevitable, inescapable pull of history. At the center of the story are Opal and Arthur – two lonely people shouldering the burden of a town that refuses to make peace with the past. And the romance that unfolds between them is so lovely in its yearning, it’ll make your bones ache.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "love & romance", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250799058", "cover": "1250799058", "goodreads": 65213595, "itunes": 9781250799050, "bookshop": 9781250799050, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516CcKOor9L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250799050", "isbn10": "1250799058", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 230, "book": "Starling House ", "source": "NPR", "text": "For Alix E. Harrow, writing 'Starling House' meant telling a new story of Kentucky", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/04/1203421254/book-review-alix-e-harrow-starling-house-gothic-fantasy-novel" } ] }, "231": { "id": 231, "edition": "fall", "title": "Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook: A Cookbook", "author": "Sohla El-Waylly", "reviewers": [ "Sarah Handel" ], "text": "I really can’t think of a better kitchen mentor than Sohla El-Waylly. She’s created some of my most favorite recipes, and Start Here will teach you any technique you need – whether it’s new to you, or you’re just a bit rusty or unsure – to make your food taste incredible. My family inhaled her Baked White Beans with Dates, and I got over my fear of cooking with dried legumes, thanks to her gentle but authoritative guidance. Next up? Maybe Turmeric Potatoes with a Whole Lotta Lemon. Yum.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0593320468", "cover": "0593320468", "goodreads": 124028429, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593320464, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51FbBOq-D6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593320464", "isbn10": "0593320468", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 231, "book": "Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sohla El-Waylly on race, food and 'Bon Appétit'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2021/03/05/974000091/sohla-el-waylly-on-race-food-and-bon-appetit" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 231, "book": "Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook", "source": "NPR", "text": "Planning a New Year's brunch in a pinch", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2022/12/31/1146491012/planning-a-new-years-brunch-in-a-pinch" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 231, "book": "Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sohla El-Waylly talks holiday traditions and her path to stardom", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2020/11/29/939811021/sohla-el-waylly-talks-holiday-traditions-and-her-path-to-stardom" } ] }, "232": { "id": 232, "edition": "fall", "title": "Starter Villain", "author": "John Scalzi", "reviewers": [ "Linda Holmes" ], "text": "The cover of John Scalzi’s Starter Villain features a cat wearing a suit – blue tie, white shirt, dark jacket – and yes, believe it or not, there’s a good reason.
\nCharlie isn’t particularly close to his uncle Jake, so he hears about Jake’s death on TV. He later learns that Jake has left him a business – a supervillain business. Jake was part of a sort of supervillain secret society, and he had enemies. Now, those enemies are Jake’s problem. Trying to explain where the cats fit in, or the dolphins’ work stoppage, or the volcano? It’s all too much. But Scalzi’s command of the balance between a genuinely compelling story and infectiously whimsical imagery means that it doesn’t really matter if it doesn’t make logical sense. It’s just a delight.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0765389223", "cover": "0765389223", "goodreads": 61885029, "itunes": 9780765389220, "bookshop": 9780765389220, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41rshqE9rBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780765389220", "isbn10": "0765389223", "links": [] }, "233": { "id": 233, "edition": "fall", "title": "Stolen", "author": "Ann-Helén Laestadius, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles", "reviewers": [ "Liz Baker" ], "text": "Nine-year-old Elsa witnesses the slaughter of her reindeer – a hate crime against the Indigenous Sámi community – and is threatened into silence by the killer. But when he strikes again a decade later, she is ready to take down both the killer and the criminal justice system that allowed him to terrorize her people with impunity. This coming-of-age thriller explores themes of white male entitlement, rural despair, generational trauma, colonialism and gatekeeping with a nuance that makes you forget its Swedish setting. Scandinavia, it turns out, is not as cozy-cabin-core as Americans like to imagine. In fact, it’s just like us.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1668007169", "cover": "1668007169", "goodreads": 61273340, "itunes": 9781668007167, "bookshop": 9781668007167, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41EeRsbgyiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781668007167", "isbn10": "1668007169", "links": [] }, "235": { "id": 235, "edition": "fall", "title": "Study for Obedience", "author": "Sarah Bernstein", "reviewers": [ "Amanda Orr" ], "text": "A young woman moves from her remote hometown to take over domestic responsibilities for her brother after his wife leaves. After she arrives, she senses hostility toward newcomers as unusual events begin to unfold among the livestock. Although the plot is a bit of an enigma, the book delves into the lasting impact of trauma stemming from the Holocaust and the power of truths, both spoken and unspoken. Not the easiest read, but worth the work.
", "tags": [ "rather short", "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1039009069", "cover": "1039009069", "goodreads": 123636870, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781039009066, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ArwPwduML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781039009066", "isbn10": "1039009069", "links": [] }, "236": { "id": 236, "edition": "fall", "title": "Sunshine Nails", "author": "Mai Nguyen", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "Jessica Tran returns home to Toronto after living in Los Angeles for eight years. In all that time, she never came to visit, and her parents never felt they had the time to fly out to California. Having just lost her job, she’s insulted when her father offers her work at the family business, Sunshine Nails, a salon the Trans have been operating for years. Eventually, though, she doesn’t have much choice – and Jessica is surprised to find herself getting competitive with Take Ten, the trendy chain salon opening across the street that’s endangering Sunshine Nails’ business. This swift and pleasing read also simmers with questions about work, class and generational divides.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1668010496", "cover": "1668010496", "goodreads": 62919385, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781668010495, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51DyGBpZgtL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781668010495", "isbn10": "1668010496", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 236, "book": "Sunshine Nails", "source": "NPR", "text": "A complex immigrant family story lies beneath the breezy veneer of 'Sunshine Nails'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/06/1185136468/review-book-sunshine-nails-mai-nguyen" } ] }, "237": { "id": 237, "edition": "fall", "title": "Sunshine: A Graphic Novel", "author": "Jarrett J. Krosoczka", "reviewers": [ "Meghan Collins Sullivan" ], "text": "Sunshine is a beautifully rendered follow-up to Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s 2018 memoir Hey, Kiddo, which was a National Book Award finalist. In Hey, Kiddo, Krosoczka conveys what it was like to grow up in a home with a mostly absent mother, due to addiction, an absent father, and with grandparents as guardians. As a teen camp counselor for seriously ill kids and their families in Sunshine, Krosoczka learns to find hope with the heartbreak. Through his words and illustrations, he takes us with him on a journey to a better understanding of others – and of himself. And readers just might gain a new perspective, too. (For ages 12 and up)
", "tags": [ "rather short", "family matters", "fiction", "staff picks", "nonfiction", "comics & graphic novels", "biography & memoir", "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "1338356313", "cover": "1338356313", "goodreads": 55376655, "itunes": 9781338356311, "bookshop": 9781338356311, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51M2gmHxU9L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781338356311", "isbn10": "1338356313", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 237, "book": "Sunshine: A Graphic Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Sunshine' centers on a life-changing summer for author Jarrett J. Krosoczka", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/21/1170997615/book-review-jarrett-j-krosoczka-graphic-novel-memoir-sunshine" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 237, "book": "Sunshine: A Graphic Novel", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Roundtable: 'Sunshine: A Graphic Novel' by Jarrett J. Krosoczka ", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2023-05-17/sunshine-a-graphic-novel-by-jarrett-j-krosoczka" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 237, "book": "Sunshine: A Graphic Novel", "source": "KPR", "text": "Conversations: 'Sunshine – How One Camp Taught Me About Life, Death, and Hope'", "url": "https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/conversations/2023-05-11/sunshine-how-one-camp-taught-me-about-life-death-and-hope" } ] }, "238": { "id": 238, "edition": "fall", "title": "Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere", "author": "Maria Bamford", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "Maria Bamford is the best stand-up comic working today. And everything that makes her so jumps from every page of her memoir about her struggles with mental health and the various support groups, talk therapies and medications that have helped – or very, very haven’t. Her definition of “cult” is broader than yours (read: it includes things like AA, showbiz and her family), but her artisanal blend of unflinching self-awareness, searing honesty and compulsion for hilarious self-disclosure makes for an unforgettable read (or listen, because the audiobook is fantastic).
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "family matters", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1982168560", "cover": "1982168560", "goodreads": 112093865, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982168568, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41e8NNm7HeL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982168568", "isbn10": "1982168560", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 238, "book": "Sure, I'll Join Your Cult", "source": "NPR", "text": "Comic Maria Bamford is down to 'Join Your Cult'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1197849467/comic-maria-bamford-is-down-to-join-your-cult" } ] }, "239": { "id": 239, "edition": "fall", "title": "Symphony of Secrets", "author": "Brendan Slocumb", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "This haunting and heartaching second novel is a rarity – a suspenseful dual-timeline thriller about icons and hidden figures in music. Like the star of Brendan Slocumb’s debut, The Violin Conspiracy, Josephine Reed defies expectations. In the early 20th century, her options are severely limited; she’s a young Black woman and, though it wouldn’t have been called this then, neurodivergent. She’s also enormously talented, and her art is everything. She followed her passion to New York, writing music in secret, doing odd jobs, and sharing an apartment with a new friend, the ambitious but struggling composer Frederic Delaney. While Fred gets famous, Josephine fades away like so many new arrivals. Decades later, musicology professor Bern Hendricks receives an enticing call from an institution inviting him to restore Fred’s long-lost handwritten opera score for performance. What the young music professor and his high-tech partner Eboni discover could shake the foundation to the ground.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "for music lovers", "identity & culture", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593315448", "cover": "0593315448", "goodreads": 61111253, "itunes": 9780593315446, "bookshop": 9780593315446, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41yqerQMKnL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593315446", "isbn10": "0593315448", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 239, "book": "Symphony of Secrets", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Symphony of Secrets' is an ode to music stolen and composers erased", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2023/05/12/symphony-of-secrets-is-an-ode-to-music-stolen-and-composers-erased" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 239, "book": "Symphony of Secrets", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Roundtable: 'Symphony of Secrets' by Brendan Slocumb ", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2023-04-20/symphony-of-secrets-by-brendan-slocumb" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 239, "book": "Symphony of Secrets", "source": "WGBH", "text": "Author Brendan Slocumb on his new novel, 'Symphony of Secrets' ", "url": "https://www.wgbh.org/culture/2023-06-16/author-brendan-slocumb-on-his-new-novel-symphony-of-secrets" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 239, "book": "Symphony of Secrets", "source": "Illinois Public Media", "text": "A Conversation with Author Brendan Slocumb", "url": "https://will.illinois.edu/clefnotes/entry/a-conversation-with-author-brendan-slocumb" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 239, "book": "Symphony of Secrets", "source": "WGBH", "text": "Brendan Slocumb's latest novel explores the Black experience in classical music ", "url": "https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2023-06-30/brendan-slocumbs-latest-novel-explores-the-black-experience-in-classical-music" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 239, "book": "Symphony of Secrets", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Brendan Slocumb on his new musical thriller, 'Symphony of Secrets' ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-06-05/brendan-slocumb-on-his-new-musical-thriller-symphony-of-secrets" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 239, "book": "Symphony of Secrets", "source": "WYSO", "text": "Book Nook: 'Symphony of Secrets' by Brendan Slocumb ", "url": "https://www.wyso.org/podcast/book-nook/2023-06-26/book-nook-symphony-of-secrets-by-brendan-slocumb" } ] }, "240": { "id": 240, "edition": "fall", "title": "Tacos Today: El Toro & Friends", "author": "Raúl the Third, colors by Elaine Bay", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "Tacos! Tacos! Tacos! With stomachs rumbling, El Toro and his friends are on a search for Tuesday’s tacos. But, oh no! Our young luchadores don’t have enough lunch money. Energetic action and colorful illustrations pack every inch of every page in this comic book-style feast for the eyes. Sprinkled with Spanish, the exuberant storyline and prose are a celebration of friendship and food. After reading Tacos Today, you’re going to want tacos today… and every day! (For ages 6 to 10)
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "cookbooks & food", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0358539374", "cover": "0358539374", "goodreads": 58311970, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780358539377, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516FbufNF4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780358539377", "isbn10": "0358539374", "links": [] }, "241": { "id": 241, "edition": "fall", "title": "Take What You Need", "author": "Idra Novey", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Leah has settled into a worldly life in New York City when she learns that her estranged stepmother, Jean, has died in their hometown. Jean had an accident while welding steel sculptures in her living room and bequeathed her oeuvre to Leah. Take What You Need alternates between Leah’s Trump flag-lined journey home to the same insular slice of the Rust Belt where Idra Novey herself was raised, and Jean’s path to belatedly producing outsider art. The result is an odd and beautiful novel about the ineffable impulse to make art, wedged into an exploration of what happens to towns and people left behind.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "for art lovers", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593652851", "cover": "0593652851", "goodreads": 61151289, "itunes": 9780593652855, "bookshop": 9780593652855, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yWkoRFbJL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593652855", "isbn10": "0593652851", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 241, "book": "Take What You Need", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Nerdette Book Club: Idra Novey on ‘Take What You Need’ ", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/nerdette-book-club-idra-novey-on-take-what-you-need/d72b72c1-dabe-47ff-9a3a-af1ecba3fcc7" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 241, "book": "Take What You Need", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Idra Novey on estrangement, division, and the power of art in 'Take What You Need' ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-03-21/idra-novey-on-estrangement-division-and-the-power-of-art-in-take-what-you-need" } ] }, "242": { "id": 242, "edition": "fall", "title": "Temple Folk", "author": "Aaliyah Bilal", "reviewers": [ "Linah Mohammad" ], "text": "Temple Folk is a testament to the power of short stories to illuminate the human condition. It offers an exploration of the lives of Black Muslims in America and a nuanced and multifaceted portrayal of their experiences with faith, family and identity in a society that often seeks to marginalize and define them. In a collection of deeply personal and universally relatable stories, Aaliyah Bilal offers poignant and insightful glimpses into the lives of individuals through lyrical and evocative prose, capturing the essence of her characters’ lives with a poetic sensibility.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1982191813", "cover": "1982191813", "goodreads": 62919865, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982191818, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41114aBBBPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982191818", "isbn10": "1982191813", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 242, "book": "Temple Folk", "source": "NPR", "text": "A new short story collection showcases the diversity of the Black Muslim experience", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/05/1186099005/a-new-short-story-collection-showcases-the-diversity-of-the-black-muslim-experie" } ] }, "244": { "id": 244, "edition": "fall", "title": "That Flag", "author": "Tameka Fryer Brown, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Some things bring us together, and some push us apart. Bianca and Keira, inseparable friends, share many things: their braids, their love of reading and four square. But Keira can’t go to Bianca’s house, because her parents fly “that flag.” What does a flag have to do with her friendship with Bianca? When a field trip to a Southern Legacy Museum reveals how differently the two girls view the flag, Keira’s heart is broken. Will anything change Bianca’s point of view? That Flag is a touching and hopeful take on a very divisive topic, vibrantly illustrated by Nikkolas Smith. (For ages 6 to 10)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0063093448", "cover": "that-flag-cover", "goodreads": 61057728, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063093447, "image": "https://www.harpercollins.com/cdn/shop/products/9780063093447_6caa7676-200a-42f9-bc80-c5f5618f0458.jpg?v=1698254652&width=350", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063093447", "isbn10": "0063093448", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 244, "book": "That Flag", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Little readers can find big issues — from racism to mental health — in picture books", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/03/22/kids-books-big-topics" } ] }, "245": { "id": 245, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi: A new fantasy series set a thousand years before The City of Brass", "author": "Shannon Chakraborty", "reviewers": [ "Amina Khan" ], "text": "Amina al-Sirafi, a once-foul-mouthed, cunning, ambitious seafarer, has retired to live a quiet life with her mother and daughter. Amina is determined to stay out of trouble – that is until the mother of one of her crewmates, who died under mysterious circumstances, seeks her help. She offers Amina one last mission, untold riches and a chance at redemption. But all is not what it seems. I loved everything about this book: Amina and her crew, the way she navigates the world of the jinn and other beings – and how the book centers people who are often erased or vilified in much of the high fantasy I grew up reading.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062963503", "cover": "0062963503", "goodreads": 199302382, "itunes": 9780062963505, "bookshop": 9780062963505, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61JRs7oBwiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062963505", "isbn10": "0062963503", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 245, "book": "The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi' explores motherhood, faith through pirate heist on the high seas", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/npr/1160681781/adventures-of-amina-al-sirafi" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 245, "book": "The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Nerdette Book Club: Shannon Chakraborty on ‘The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi’ ", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/nerdette-book-club-shannon-chakraborty-on-the-adventures-of-amina-al-sirafi/3a94d207-084c-4591-aeab-11f0e555a687" } ] }, "246": { "id": 246, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Beast You Are: Stories", "author": "Paul Tremblay", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Paul Tremblay is one of the leading voices of contemporary fiction, and he pushes the short story in new directions in each of his collections. From a ghost story to a narrative that uses letters to tell a tale, and from a mysterious building that just pops into existence one day to a long poem about animals fighting monsters, The Beast You Are is smart, creepy, funny and full of unique tales that show why Tremblay is widely recognized as a modern maestro of dark fiction.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063069962", "cover": "0063069962", "goodreads": 62966507, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063069961, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Hee+WYWGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063069961", "isbn10": "0063069962", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 246, "book": "The Beast You Are", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Beast You Are' is smart, self-aware, fun, creepy, and strange", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/13/1187453331/paul-tremblay-the-beast-you-are-horror-fiction-book-review" } ] }, "247": { "id": 247, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Bee Sting", "author": "Paul Murray", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Fans of Paul Murray’s hilarious 2010 novel, Skippy Dies, might be shocked by his latest – this is a dark story about the dissolution of four members of an Irish family contending with economic trouble, alcohol abuse and violence, among other notably non-funny subjects. The novel spans more than 650 pages and it’s frequently heartbreaking, but Murray’s beautiful prose – the best of his career so far – and pitch-black sense of humor make it fly by. It might be dark, but it’s definitely a trip worth taking.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0374600309", "cover": "0374600309", "goodreads": 62039166, "itunes": 9780374600303, "bookshop": 9780374600303, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31dlr85+v-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374600303", "isbn10": "0374600309", "links": [] }, "248": { "id": 248, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Blue House: Collected Works of Tomas Tranströmer", "author": "Tomas Tranströmer, translated by Patty Crane", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "A poem by Swedish Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer is one in which “consciousness can take hold of the world/ like a hand clutching a sun-warmed stone.” Tranströmer’s grasp is gentle, but startling surprises surface from the depths in his hand. This book is the culmination of a years-long endeavor by Patty Crane to render all of Tranströmer’s work in an English as subtle and sensitive as the poet’s original Swedish, in which “The shadows here are deep/ without a voice.” There are many versions of this titanic poet in English, but this one should become the standard – Crane’s translation is the Tranströmer to read.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1556596855", "cover": "1556596855", "goodreads": 123088547, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781556596858, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515kbUhdsYL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781556596858", "isbn10": "1556596855", "links": [] }, "250": { "id": 250, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Boy From Kyiv: Alexei Ratmansky's Life in Ballet", "author": "Marina Harss", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "Dance writer Marina Harss follows famed Ukrainian Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky from birth to the present day in a revelatory book about how he evolved into the internationally sought-after choreographer of the moment. Illustrated with beautiful photographs, this book is a must-read for balletomanes keen to understand Ratmansky’s Russian, Canadian and Danish influences, as well as his full-bore immersion into American ballet. It is also for readers who want to learn how a world-spanning dance career that includes two sides of an ongoing war unfolds.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "seriously great writing", "no biz like show biz", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0374102619", "cover": "0374102619", "goodreads": 65215417, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374102616, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41EAx274BhL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374102616", "isbn10": "0374102619", "links": [] }, "251": { "id": 251, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Centre", "author": "Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi", "reviewers": [ "Emily Dagger" ], "text": "At first, The Centre seems like so many other thrillers – a young woman finds herself in a secluded environment with a shocking secret at its core. In this case, the young woman is Anisa, a frustrated translator, and the secluded environment is an elite training program that can make anyone fluent in any language in just 10 days. Where this book starts to turn things on its head is when Anisa discovers the Centre’s shocking secret – and fails to be all that shocked (in fact, she kind of vibes with it). To that trope subversion add smart critiques on the intersections of race, class and gender – as well as a few laugh-out-loud moments – and what you have is either a thriller with a literary theory degree or literary fiction wrapped in a thriller’s (skull-and-flower-encrusted) cover.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1638930546", "cover": "1638930546", "goodreads": 72238625, "itunes": 9781638930549, "bookshop": 9781638930549, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51T0LyX9RUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781638930549", "isbn10": "1638930546", "links": [] }, "252": { "id": 252, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Collected Regrets of Clover", "author": "Mikki Brammer", "reviewers": [ "Rachel Treisman" ], "text": "Who knew a book about death could be so uplifting? Clover Brooks is a death doula, focused on giving people their best possible final days rather than making the most of her own. It’s a delight to watch as new people come into her life and help her change that (easier said than done, as any introvert knows). This book is like a warm hug, with a lot to love — including a feisty nonagenarian, romances both budding and rediscovered, a cross-country road trip and many words of wisdom about what it means to live a beautiful life.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1250284392", "cover": "1250284392", "goodreads": 61214136, "itunes": 9781250284396, "bookshop": 9781250284396, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KbA0f+jSL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250284396", "isbn10": "1250284392", "links": [] }, "253": { "id": 253, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight", "author": "Andrew Leland", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "When Andrew Leland was growing up in New Mexico, he noticed that he had trouble seeing in the dark. That night blindness was the first sign of retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic condition that gradually narrows one’s sight. The Country of the Blind represents Leland’s personal, cultural and historical journey into “the world of blindness and what possibilities might exist there” as he comes to terms with the total blindness he knows awaits him. This artful blend of memoir and wide-ranging investigation generously invites the reader to “discover the largely invisible terrain of blindness” and sit together with Leland in uncertainty.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "science!", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1984881426", "cover": "1984881426", "goodreads": 121561903, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781984881427, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ND8fDJMmL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781984881427", "isbn10": "1984881426", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 253, "book": "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight", "source": "NPR", "text": "As a writer slowly loses his sight, he embraces other kinds of perception", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/08/1192488173/andrew-leland-blindness-memoir-retinitis-pigmentosa" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 253, "book": "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight", "source": "KQED", "text": "Andrew Leland chronicles his own vision loss in 'The Country of the Blind'", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893798/andrew-leland-chronicles-his-own-vision-loss-in-the-country-of-the-blind" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 253, "book": "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight", "source": "NHPR", "text": "In 'The Country of the Blind,' western Mass. author makes 'peace with whatever comes next' ", "url": "https://www.nhpr.org/2023-07-18/in-the-country-of-the-blind-western-mass-author-makes-peace-with-whatever-comes-next" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 253, "book": "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight", "source": "KCRW", "text": "On blindness: Andrew Leland explores how losing his sight has expanded his world view", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/life-examined/andrew-leland-retinitis-pigmentosa-blindness-disability-technology" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 253, "book": "The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight", "source": "Texas Standard", "text": "An immigrant to 'The Country of the Blind'", "url": "https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/andrew-leland-memoir-country-of-the-blind-book/" } ] }, "254": { "id": 254, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Covenant of Water", "author": "Abraham Verghese", "reviewers": [ "Asma Khalid" ], "text": "The doctor and novelist (how can you really be that multitalented?!) Abraham Verghese returns to the literary scene with an epic family drama that has been years in the making. The result – one of the best books I’ve read about South Asia in years. On its surface, this story set in South India chronicles three generations of a family that suffers from a medical mystery of drownings. But the storyline is much deeper – a complex plot with lessons about love, pain and human understanding. Don’t be discouraged by the 700+ pages: The book is a page-turner that miraculously gives you a way to find hope in the face of repeated tragedy (though I still found myself crying).
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0802162177", "cover": "0802162177", "goodreads": 180357146, "itunes": 9780802162175, "bookshop": 9780802162175, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518+jXvFO6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780802162175", "isbn10": "0802162177", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 254, "book": "The Covenant of Water ", "source": "NPR", "text": "The Covenant of Water' tells the story of three generations in South India", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173052459/cutting-for-stone-author-abraham-verghese-new-novel-the-covenant-of-water" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 254, "book": "The Covenant of Water ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Novel 'The Covenant of Water' tells of a family in India haunted by a medical mystery", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/31/1197123767/novel-the-covenant-of-water-tells-of-a-family-in-india-haunted-by-a-medical-myst" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 254, "book": "The Covenant of Water ", "source": "KUER", "text": "Abraham Verghese on ‘The Covenant of Water’ ", "url": "https://radiowest.kuer.org/podcast/radiowest/2023-06-15/abraham-verghese-and-the-covenant-of-water" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 254, "book": "The Covenant of Water ", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Abraham Verghese's 'The Covenant of Water'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2023-05-23/abraham-verghese-the-covenant-of-water" } ] }, "255": { "id": 255, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Cuban Heiress", "author": "Chanel Cleeton", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton is an absorbing page-turner in a genre mashup of mystery, suspense, romance and thrills. It’s 1934, and during a voyage from New York to Havana on a luxury cruise liner, two fascinating women find themselves intertwined in a tale of love, larceny, loss and revenge. Inspired by the true story of the SS Morro Castle, Cleeton’s book is an unforgettable read that should be at the top of every TBR list.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "059344048X", "cover": "059344048X", "goodreads": 57696209, "itunes": 9780593440483, "bookshop": 9780593440483, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/512ZbMFwC-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593440483", "isbn10": "059344048X", "links": [] }, "256": { "id": 256, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Dos and Donuts of Love", "author": "Adiba Jaigirdar", "reviewers": [ "Alethea Kontis" ], "text": "17-year-old Bangladeshi Irish Shireen Malik is a baker of fabulous desserts alongside her parents at Drive Me Glazy, a boutique doughnut shop in Dublin. Shireen soon learns that she and her ex, Christina “Chris” Huang, have both been invited to appear on the same TV competition show – the Junior Irish Baking Show. They have to work together and weather bigoted comments on social media. But sparks make good television – and one competitor is willing to do whatever it takes to snag that winning title. The fast-paced plot never fails to grab the reader’s attention, and the punny chapter titles and celebrity judges’ names will make everyone laugh out loud.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "love & romance", "young adult", "funny stuff", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250842115", "cover": "1250842115", "goodreads": 61484904, "itunes": 9781250842114, "bookshop": 9781250842114, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51BP+vd7GrL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250842114", "isbn10": "1250842115", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 256, "book": "The Dos and Donuts of Love", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Dos and Donuts of Love' is a delectably delightful, reality TV tale", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/18/1182639467/ya-novel-romance-book-review-adiba-jaigirdar-the-dos-and-donuts-of-love" } ] }, "257": { "id": 257, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Enchanters", "author": "James Ellroy", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "This jazzy 1960s carnival ride of a thriller by the preeminent chronicler of Old Hollywood noir imagines that Marilyn Monroe’s demise may have stemmed from an obsession with the most powerful man in the free world. Matching the mood of its sensational subjects, the writing is sexy, nervy and drug fueled. Alongside disgraced detective Freddy Otash and the doomed star, the players include President Kennedy, his brother Robert and mobbed-up labor boss Jimmy Hoffa, who’s out to destroy the crusading pols. The plot that brings them together is sprawling and twisty: A kidnapping and the suspicious death of one of the most famous women ever to grace the silver screen brings Freddy’s special skill set back in the bosom of the LAPD to suss out the facts.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "no biz like show biz", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593320441", "cover": "0593320441", "goodreads": 71872848, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593320440, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51BIuUbwthL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593320440", "isbn10": "0593320441", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 257, "book": "The Enchanters", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Enchanters' James Ellroy brings Freddy Otash into 1960s L.A.", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/13/1199058023/book-review-james-ellroy-the-enchanters-sees-return-of-freddy-otash" } ] }, "258": { "id": 258, "edition": "fall", "title": "The End of Drum-Time", "author": "Hanna Pylväinen", "reviewers": [ "Bethanne Patrick" ], "text": "Set in the cold, dark and often eerie world of Finland’s Sámi people, Hanna Pylväinen’s second novel – a finalist for the 2023 National Book Award – derived from her investigation of family roots and her discovery of fundamentalist Christian ancestors who once interacted with Indigenous groups in the far north. When Willa, a young 19th century woman whose strict minister father disapproves of her love for reindeer herder Ivvár, decides to take a chance and follows the herders to the sea, readers will see that Pylväinen cares more about the culture clash than about the crimes committed in the name of anyone’s gods. It’s an unusual, and unusually elegant, perspective on what happens when groups of humans cannot possibly agree on the best use of land, time and strength.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250822904", "cover": "1250822904", "goodreads": 60741781, "itunes": 9781250822901, "bookshop": 9781250822901, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41BtvZIoyNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250822901", "isbn10": "1250822904", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 258, "book": "The End of Drum-Time", "source": "NPR", "text": "Hanna Pylväinen on her new novel 'The End of Drum-Time'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/28/1152313326/hanna-pylvainen-on-her-new-novel-the-end-of-drum-time" } ] }, "259": { "id": 259, "edition": "fall", "title": "The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac", "author": "Louise Kennedy", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Whereas Louise Kennedy’s 2022 debut novel Trespasses, which was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, is set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, this collection of stories mostly focuses on the lives of contemporary Irish women at moments of rupture, with settings up and down the island. It is both dark and beautiful, blending Kennedy’s lyrical descriptions of foreboding landscapes with the complex interiority of women who feel hemmed in by marriage, economics and Irish traditionalism.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "family matters", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1526623277", "cover": "1526623277", "goodreads": 55118247, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593540923, "image": "https://images3.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/700jpg/9780593540923", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781526623270", "isbn10": "1526623277", "links": [] }, "260": { "id": 260, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Eyes and the Impossible", "author": "Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Certain children’s books take the voices of animals, or toys that become animals, and are so pure, so sincere, that they become part of our own voices. Winnie-the-Pooh is one, The Velveteen Rabbit and Charlotte’s Web others, and Dave Eggers’ The Eyes and the Impossible takes its place among them. Johannes, the Eyes of the park, who runs like light, who sees you but is never seen, is a dog who wants nothing more than to be free. With Shawn Harris’ grand illustrations, straight from the Hudson River School, Johannes is a hero for all time. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "for art lovers", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1524764205", "cover": "1524764205", "goodreads": 62667934, "itunes": 9781524764203, "bookshop": 9781524764203, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51YeAmlbVgL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781524764203", "isbn10": "1524764205", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 260, "book": "The Eyes and the Impossible", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Dave Eggers channels a stray dog for his new book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/09/1175071465/author-dave-eggers-channels-a-stray-dog-for-his-new-book" } ] }, "261": { "id": 261, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa", "author": "Stephen Buoro", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "Andy Aziza’s life is at an inflection point, but like most teenagers, he doesn’t recognize it. He lives in northern Nigeria with a mother he’s at odds with, writes poetry, and hangs out with his besties, dreaming of the West and lusting for blond women. Then violence erupts at a church event, and everything changes. This novel shimmers with the wit and desires of a 15-year-old who doesn’t fully grasp how complex his family and country are and who isn’t yet mature enough to make good decisions. Andy will make you laugh, and then he will break your heart.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1635577772", "cover": "1635577772", "goodreads": 58532181, "itunes": 9781635577778, "bookshop": 9781635577778, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517RhENM3lL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781635577778", "isbn10": "1635577772", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 261, "book": "The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa", "source": "NPR", "text": "Stephen Buoro on his comic novel 'The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/23/1171494487/stephen-buoro-on-his-comic-novel-the-five-sorrowful-mysteries-of-andy-africa" } ] }, "262": { "id": 262, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Fraud", "author": "Zadie Smith", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "When an Australian butcher with a very unaristocratic mien and accent comes forward claiming to be the long-lost missing heir to a British title and estate, the resulting court case becomes a divisive cause célèbre in Victorian England. And when, more than a hundred years later, one of our most revered literary icons makes the case the center of her first historical novel, it’s an event. There are myriad reasons to love Zadie Smith’s grand novel – precise period detail, the sensational case at the center and how Smith captures the social and political landscape of an era. Smith delivers on all those counts. What I didn’t expect was the emotionality and how well it would reveal the lives of, and relationships between, those watching and those on the periphery of the case, including those who were once considered property and part of that disputed estate.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0525558969", "cover": "0525558969", "goodreads": 66086834, "itunes": 9780525558965, "bookshop": 9780525558965, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517n1gJ1RvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780525558965", "isbn10": "0525558969", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 262, "book": "The Fraud", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Fraud,' Zadie Smith seeks to 'do absolute justice to the truth'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/05/1197604421/zadie-smith-the-fraud" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 262, "book": "The Fraud", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Fraud' asks questions as it unearths stories that need to be told", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/09/1198430207/the-fraud-asks-questions-as-it-unearths-stories-that-need-to-be-told" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 262, "book": "The Fraud", "source": "NPR", "text": "Historical fiction 'The Fraud' is about a man's testimony of outrageous, obvious lies", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/06/1197979380/historical-fiction-the-fraud-is-about-a-mans-testimony-of-outrageous-obvious-lie" } ] }, "263": { "id": 263, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Frozen River", "author": "Ariel Lawhon", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "Dig your crime novels blanketed with a late 18th-century, New England snow? How about with a capable, middle-aged midwife in the role of detective, telling the men in power things they absolutely do not want to hear? This compelling story begins in a river community in Maine with a body frozen in the ice; it unspools with the alleged assault of a minister’s wife. This is a most uncozy mystery that addresses the unbalanced power dynamics of men and women, rich and poor. Bonus: The character of the midwife and some plot points are based on a real person, Martha Ballard. Not quite true crime but true enough!
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "staff picks", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0385546874", "cover": "0385546874", "goodreads": 112975658, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780385546874, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51W1na2kZUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780385546874", "isbn10": "0385546874", "links": [] }, "264": { "id": 264, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Girl Before Her", "author": "Line Papin, translated by Adriana Hunter and Ly Lan Dill", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "In French, the words for water (les eaux) and bones (les os) sound identical. It’s a phonetic pun that plays on this novel’s central images: If water represents a person’s destiny or origin, then bones represent the core – creative ways in which this mixed-race writer defines herself. Line Papin dazzlingly contrasts the history and romance of Hanoi – her birth city – with the stark displacement she experienced at 10 when her family relocated to France, her father’s homeland. It was as if Papin’s Vietnamese grandmother and mother, who had survived wars, now transmitted their suppressed grief to her young body, where it manifested physically as anorexia and metaphorically as a rage against loss.
", "tags": [ "biography & memoir", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "1885030835", "cover": "1885030835", "goodreads": 96174419, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781885030832, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jKNr-aZPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781885030832", "isbn10": "1885030835", "links": [] }, "265": { "id": 265, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Global Pantry Cookbook: Transform Your Everyday Cooking with Tahini, Gochujang, Miso, and Other Irresistible Ingredients", "author": "Scott Mowbray and Ann Taylor Pittman", "reviewers": [ "Debbie Elliott" ], "text": "I collect cookbooks. I especially love ones with stories about how recipes reflect local culture and history. This new collection goes around the world to “taste the umami of human history.” The authors are test kitchen superstars, and the book is an encyclopedia of flavors with an introduction that explains how they were first introduced to American cooks. It includes a glossary of interesting ingredients to try, like anyuls vinegar, kecap manis and ras el hanout (try it in chicken salad!). Ann Taylor Pittman showcases her Korean and Mississippi roots in her Smokey Pimento Kim Cheese recipe. It’s fun to make – you fashion a stovetop smoker with a foil pan to smoke the pimento and add chopped kimchi for punch. Delicious!
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1523516852", "cover": "1523516852", "goodreads": 103485398, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781523516858, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51l1RO5unFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781523516858", "isbn10": "1523516852", "links": [] }, "266": { "id": 266, "edition": "fall", "title": "The God of Endings", "author": "Jacqueline Holland", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Zombies, haunted houses and vampires are a few horror tropes that must feel entirely new and unique in order to work, and that’s exactly what Jacqueline Holland pulls off here. Sure, this is a vampire novel, but it’s also much more than that. Gorgeously written even when it gets dark and violent and epic in terms of breadth, scope and the years it covers, The God of Endings follows one woman’s journey for two centuries, while also exploring the transformative power of art, the effects of solitude, the power of love and the beauty of brevity.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "for art lovers", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250856760", "cover": "1250856760", "goodreads": 60784372, "itunes": 9781250856760, "bookshop": 9781250856760, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41kXsBu4JmL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250856760", "isbn10": "1250856760", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 266, "book": "The God of Endings ", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The God of Endings' is a heartbreaking exploration of the human condition", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/09/1161871204/jacqueline-holland-the-god-of-endings-book-review" } ] }, "267": { "id": 267, "edition": "fall", "title": "The God of Good Looks", "author": "Breanne Mc Ivor", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "Bianca Bridge had an affair with a married Trinidadian government minister, and the resulting scandal has left her blackballed. Unable to get a job in journalism, she’s had to parlay her looks into modeling gigs she finds necessary but demeaning. But an up-and-coming makeup mogul sees something in Bianca that will help advance his struggling company’s fortunes, if only the two can get along! What seems at first like a light, frothy romance goes deeper into the beauty industry, sexism and class while also being witty along the way.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "identity & culture", "staff picks", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0063278812", "cover": "good-looks", "goodreads": 62047994, "itunes": 9780063278813, "bookshop": 9780063278813, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81YV2hJ9DjL._SY522_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063278813", "isbn10": "0063278812", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 267, "book": "The God of Good Looks", "source": "NPR", "text": "Debut novel 'The God of Good Looks' adds to growing canon of Caribbean literature", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/17/1182639268/debut-novel-the-god-of-good-looks-adds-to-growing-canon-of-caribbean-literature" } ] }, "268": { "id": 268, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Golden Spoon", "author": "Jessa Maxwell", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Fans of The Great British Baking Show, rejoice! This cozy whodunit is for you. As Year 10 of Bake Week begins to film on a sprawling Vermont estate, questions swirl about whether the co-host brought in to shake things up is the only change afoot to the beloved show and whether ingredient mix-ups are innocent mistakes. Those concerns soon take a back seat to the matter of figuring out who in the cast or crew pushed a murder victim atop the iconic tent that the show films in. Suspicions fly around the group, building and breaking relationships up to the final reveal.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff", "cookbooks & food", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668008009", "cover": "1668008009", "goodreads": 61273344, "itunes": 9781668008003, "bookshop": 9781668008003, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41TPYrZWasL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781668008003", "isbn10": "1668008009", "links": [] }, "269": { "id": 269, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration", "author": "Jake Bittle", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Climate change is reshaping the world, leading to rising temperatures and sea levels, melting glaciers and increasingly severe droughts. It’s also changing the U.S. in another way, as Americans move from their hometowns to other areas, hoping to escape the meteorological threats that leave them vulnerable. Jake Bittle is an empathetic writer with a real gift for explaining the fraught issues that make the climate crisis so complex, and this is a fascinating look at how America has changed, and will continue to change, as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on the nation and the people who live there.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1982178256", "cover": "1982178256", "goodreads": 59366223, "itunes": 9781982178253, "bookshop": 9781982178253, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41V6XGI-OOL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982178253", "isbn10": "1982178256", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 269, "book": "The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Great Displacement' looks at communities forever altered by climate change", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/24/1158940219/jake-bittle-the-great-displacement-communities-people-and-climate-change" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 269, "book": "The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration", "source": "NPR", "text": "Climate change has forced thousands to relocate in the U.S.", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/21/1158580464/climate-change-has-forced-thousands-to-relocate-in-the-u-s" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 269, "book": "The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration", "source": "KALW", "text": " 'The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration'", "url": "https://www.kalw.org/show/your-call/2023-02-27/the-great-displacement-climate-change-and-the-next-american-migration" } ] }, "270": { "id": 270, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America", "author": "Saket Soni", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "Saket Soni’s The Great Escape begins in 2006, when Soni, a labor organizer, receives a midnight phone call from a Mississippi number. Speaking in Hindi, the caller pleads, “You need to help us, sir. We are growing desperate.” The man is one of 500 Indian welders and pipefitters who paid $20,000 to a firm that promised green cards if they would help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. But the green cards were a lie, and the men are living in squalid work camps. What follows reads like a movie script: There’s a daring middle-of-the-night escape from camp, then a march to Washington, D.C., where the workers file a human trafficking complaint with the Department of Justice. Throughout it all, Soni humanizes the men, reminding us that exploitation is all too common among marginalized workers.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1643750089", "cover": "1643750089", "goodreads": 60831905, "itunes": 9781643750088, "bookshop": 9781643750088, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51za6z5fcsL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781643750088", "isbn10": "1643750089", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 270, "book": "The Great Escape", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sold an American Dream, these workers from India wound up living a nightmare", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/23/1150684455/human-trafficking-katrina-india-great-escape-saket-soni" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 270, "book": "The Great Escape", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'The Great Escape' tells of human trafficking in post-Katrina Mississippi", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/03/06/great-escape-book-human-trafficking" } ] }, "271": { "id": 271, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race", "author": "Farah Karim-Cooper", "reviewers": [ "Jeff Lunden" ], "text": "This blend of scholarly research and accessible writing helps readers approach Shakespeare with new insight. Farah Karim-Cooper, a professor at King’s College London and education director at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, unpacks some of the more problematic elements of race, misogyny and otherness in plays like Othello, Antony and Cleopatra and Merchant of Venice, as well as in the very language Shakespeare uses in his comedies and sonnets: white versus Black, fair versus brown. Using a contemporary lens on a playwright over 400 years after his death, the book unlocks, as Karim-Cooper told me in an interview, “Shakespeare’s capacity to make sense in the world today.” Highly recommended.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "no biz like show biz", "staff picks", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0593489373", "cover": "0593489373", "goodreads": 63249762, "itunes": 9780593489376, "bookshop": 9780593489376, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JHw7U2osL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593489376", "isbn10": "0593489373", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 271, "book": "The Great White Bard: How to Love Shakespeare While Talking About Race", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Examining the role of race in Shakespeare", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/examining-role-race-shakespeare/" } ] }, "272": { "id": 272, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Guest Lecture", "author": "Martin Riker", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "I stayed up too late reading this novel of ideas that enacts a sleepless night. Martin Riker takes us into the mind of Abby, an economist who has just been denied tenure, as she prepares to give a lecture on John Maynard Keynes. Abby mentally walks through her house, attempting to memorize her speech on Keynes’ pragmatic optimism by associating the speech’s different sections with familiar rooms. But she keeps getting sidetracked, pulled into self-recriminations and anxieties – and into imagined dialogues with the likes of Keynes himself. In Riker’s nimble hands, this insomniac’s dark night of the soul abounds with humor and feeling.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0802160417", "cover": "0802160417", "goodreads": 59070298, "itunes": 9780802160416, "bookshop": 9780802160416, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41LKG1A7FGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780802160416", "isbn10": "0802160417", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 272, "book": "The Guest Lecture", "source": "MPR", "text": "Ask a Bookseller: 'The Guest Lecture,' a late-night philosophical debate", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/01/28/ask-a-bookseller-the-guest-lecture-a-latenight-philosophical-debate" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 272, "book": "The Guest Lecture", "source": "KMUW", "text": " ‘The Guest Lecture’ explores the tangents of one woman’s mind over the course of one sleepless night ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2023-05-30/the-guest-lecture-explores-the-tangents-of-one-womans-mind-over-the-course-of-one-sleepless-night" } ] }, "273": { "id": 273, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise", "author": "Pico Iyer", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Voyaging from shadowy mosques and gardens of Iran (where the same Farsi word is used for both “garden” and “paradise”) to the stark skyline of North Korea; from the deceptively peaceful lakes of Kashmir to the unyielding terrains of Ladakh and the tense sunlit lawns of Sri Lanka; from the wrathful Old Testament landscape of Broome, Australia, to the fog-shrouded embankments of Varanasi; from the clamorous streets of Jerusalem to the hushed temples of Koyasan, Japan, Pico Iyer captures the otherworldly beauty of these places while acknowledging the paradox of utopia. Why do so many paradises rupture in suffering and chaos? Is the serpent a natural habitant of paradise? In the process, he also questions our idea of knowledge by embracing the half-known life, “where so many of our possibilities lie.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "059342025X", "cover": "059342025X", "goodreads": 60834549, "itunes": 9780593420256, "bookshop": 9780593420256, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51eUPFqd9bL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593420256", "isbn10": "059342025X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 273, "book": "The Half Known Life", "source": "NPR", "text": "Pico Iyer's 'The Half Known Life' upends the conventional travel genre", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/10/1148033914/pico-iyer-the-half-known-life-book-review-travel" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 273, "book": "The Half Known Life", "source": "NPR", "text": "How to travel more without going anywhere ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/13/1148855309/how-to-travel-more-without-going-anywhere" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 273, "book": "The Half Known Life", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Travel writer Pico Iyer reflects on looking for paradise in troubled places", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/01/18/pico-iyer-book-paradise" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 273, "book": "The Half Known Life", "source": "KCRW", "text": "In search of paradise—and why travel writer Pico Iyer says it may be within", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/life-examined/pico-iyer-the-half-known-life-travel-iran-japan-paradise-death" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 273, "book": "The Half Known Life", "source": "WYPR", "text": " 'The Half Known Life': Pico Iyer's hunt for the roots of human bliss ", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/show/midday/2023-08-30/the-half-known-life-pico-iyers-hunt-for-the-roots-of-human-bliss" } ] }, "274": { "id": 274, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Happy Couple", "author": "Naoise Dolan", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "As a fragile romantic, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed this wry tale of modern love gone off the rails. But like reality television, unholy messes are riveting. Luke and Celine are enviable, newly engaged, 20-something Dubliners with great careers and fashionable friends, but their relationship is hobbled by doubt. That sounds like Sally Rooney territory, but this is darker – reading it feels like a twisty and suspenseful thriller with wounded hearts in place of dead bodies. Part of that is due to the ingenious structure. Naoise Dolan tells this story from multiple perspectives, saving one of the central players for last.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0063330466", "cover": "0063330466", "goodreads": 112973666, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063330467, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41dUwpPhK9L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063330467", "isbn10": "0063330466", "links": [] }, "275": { "id": 275, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet", "author": "Jeff Goodell", "reviewers": [ "Natalia Fidelholtz" ], "text": "This was one of my more memorable reads of 2023; Jeff Goodell’s writing is so engaging. He explains the science behind climate change and its effects, taking you on a journey from the halls of power where crucial decisions are made to the front lines, through personal stories of people who have been affected by climate change, which is relatable and moving. He combines hard-hitting facts with compelling storytelling to make the consequences of our warming planet feel tangible. It’s a wake-up call to the realities we face but also a call to action, urging us to take responsibility for our planet’s future. If you want to better understand the climate crisis and to feel inspired to make a difference, and not just dwell in the doom and gloom, this book is a must-read.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0316497576", "cover": "0316497576", "goodreads": 63251778, "itunes": 9780316497572, "bookshop": 9780316497572, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/512+nG58TeL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316497572", "isbn10": "0316497576", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 275, "book": "The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Our 'Scorched Planet' is getting hotter, and no one is immune to rising temperatures", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/12/1187038601/our-scorched-planet-is-getting-hotter-and-no-one-is-immune-to-rising-temperature" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 275, "book": "The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet ", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'The Heat Will Kill You First': How extreme heat will change the world", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/07/03/heat-will-kill-you-first-book" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 275, "book": "The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet ", "source": "WFAE", "text": " 'The Heat Will Kill You First' author discusses our warming planet ", "url": "https://www.wfae.org/show/charlotte-talks-with-mike-collins/2023-08-21/the-heat-will-kill-you-first-author-discusses-our-warming-planet" } ] }, "276": { "id": 276, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store", "author": "James McBride", "reviewers": [ "Michel Martin" ], "text": "James McBride is so talented – as a jazz musician, memoirist and novelist – it’s almost annoying! But this book is so good and so special you have to forgive him. It’s set among fictionalized Black and Jewish residents in Pottstown, Pa., in the 1920s and ’30s, where a Jewish couple runs a theater and grocery store and a Black couple who works for them asks their help to care for a young deaf boy whom the authorities want to institutionalize. McBride somehow intertwines their stories in a way that is intricate and heartwarming without ever being cloying – and that still manages to be hilarious too. At a time when there is so much tension and hatred in the world, this story is a reminder of how love, respect and courage really can overcome evil.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593422945", "cover": "0593422945", "goodreads": 65678550, "itunes": 9780593422946, "bookshop": 9780593422946, "image": "https://images2.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/9780593422946", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593422946", "isbn10": "0593422945", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 276, "book": "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store", "source": "NPR", "text": "James McBride's 'Heaven & Earth' is an all-American mix of prejudice and hope", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/14/1188327549/james-mcbride-heaven-earth-grocery-store-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 276, "book": "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store", "source": "NPR", "text": "James McBride's new novel explores Black and Jewish affection, tensions in the 1930s", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/08/1192750324/james-mcbrides-new-novel-explores-black-and-jewish-affection-tensions-in-the-193" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 276, "book": "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store", "source": "WHYY", "text": "James McBride’s ‘The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store’", "url": "https://whyy.org/episodes/james-mcbrides-the-heaven-earth-grocery-store/" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 276, "book": "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Get Lit: James McBride on 'The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/james-mcbride-heaven-earth-grocery-store-get-lit/" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 276, "book": "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store", "source": "BSPR", "text": " 'The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store:' An author interview with James McBride ", "url": "https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/show/idaho-matters/2023-08-15/the-heaven-and-earth-grocery-store-an-author-interview-with-james-mcbride" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 276, "book": "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store", "source": "MPR", "text": "Ask a Bookseller: 'The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store'", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2023/10/14/ask-a-bookseller-the-heaven-and-earth-grocery-store" } ] }, "277": { "id": 277, "edition": "fall", "title": "The House Is on Fire", "author": "Rachel Beanland", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Rachel Beanland’s The House Is on Fire is the kind of historical novel that makes you forget that a lot of what you’re reading really happened. The novel chronicles the burning of a theater during a performance and the tumultuous aftermath of it in Richmond, Va., in 1811. While following several characters, the novel also looks at the rampant racism and misogyny of the times and explores how these two elements helped shape the narrative of the event and distort the truth of what happened during the ensuing investigation. This is a historical novel that is also very timely.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "no biz like show biz", "the states we’re in", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1982186143", "cover": "1982186143", "goodreads": 61273814, "itunes": 9781982186142, "bookshop": 9781982186142, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515xaVICeEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982186142", "isbn10": "1982186143", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 277, "book": "The House is on Fire", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The House Is on Fire' spotlights privilege, sexism, and racism in the 1800s", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/06/1168327207/rachel-beanland-book-the-house-is-on-fire-shines-light-on-1800s-in-the-u-s" } ] }, "278": { "id": 278, "edition": "fall", "title": "The House of Eve", "author": "Sadeqa Johnson", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "New York Times bestselling author Sadeqa Johnson’s The House of Eve is a beautifully written and wonderfully crafted tale of two young Black women, their families and their love stories. However, that’s only the beginning of this immersive, captivating story. Johnson’s two main characters are strikingly different but stunningly similar. Readers will never forget Ruby or Eleanor, or the choices they make and the sacrifices they endure in this timely, relatable tale of women, children, skin color, haves and have-nots with an ending that will stay with you for a long, long time. A Reese’s Book Club pick, The House of Eve is an instant classic.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1982197366", "cover": "1982197366", "goodreads": 61273858, "itunes": 9781982197360, "bookshop": 9781982197360, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41pG8FvpT3L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982197360", "isbn10": "1982197366", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 278, "book": "The House of Eve", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sadeqa Johnson on her novel 'The House of Eve'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/05/1154582055/sadeqa-johnson-on-her-novel-the-house-of-eve" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 278, "book": "The House of Eve", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Sadeqa Johnson 'The House of Eve'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2023-07-25/danielle-trussoni-the-puzzle-master" } ] }, "279": { "id": 279, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Illiterate", "author": "Ágota Kristóf, translated by Nina Bogin", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Sharp and precise as a surgeon’s blade, this compact memoir vividly evokes the author’s serialized displacements due to war and political oppression. A precocious reader in her native language, Ágota Kristóf was repeatedly rendered “illiterate” by historical circumstances: She had to absorb Russian as a child during the Soviet occupation of Hungary at the end of World War II, then she was forced to learn French when resettling in Switzerland after her escape from Hungary’s failed uprising against Soviet rule in 1956. Comparing her exile to “a desert,” Kristóf nevertheless survived the wilderness through hawklike observation of her social environment and a fierce survival instinct.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0811234851", "cover": "0811234851", "goodreads": 61340211, "itunes": 9780811234856, "bookshop": 9780811234856, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/21E9gSdV3dL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780811234856", "isbn10": "0811234851", "links": [] }, "280": { "id": 280, "edition": "fall", "title": "The King Penguin", "author": "Vanessa Roeder", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” Percival the penguin may not be Henry IV, but he is a king penguin, so he wears the crown, doesn’t he? In Vanessa Roeder’s charming and pun-filled picture book, Percival rules over his subjects with an iron wing (he takes all their fish for taxes!), and soon enough, they revolt. What’s a king penguin to do when he loses his subjects? Look for new ones, of course! But it turns out seals, polar bears and even sardines don’t want to put up with Percival’s haughtiness. Can Percival be a king penguin without being king? (For ages 3 to 5)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0593324412", "cover": "0593324412", "goodreads": 75494990, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593324417, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51S4xEpnfjL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593324417", "isbn10": "0593324412", "links": [] }, "281": { "id": 281, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Last Animal", "author": "Ramona Ausubel", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "It is the Age of Extinction, with the most recent death being that of Jane’s beloved husband, dead in a car accident. Jane, a graduate student in paleobiology, takes her daughters to Siberia on a research trip, and while there, the girls discover something miraculous: an entire baby mammoth frozen in the ice. Back in the U.S., trying to return to their regular lives, Jane and her daughters continue to grapple with their grief – both personal and ecological. When an opportunity to do some experimental science comes up, they jump on it, throwing caution and proper procedure to the wind.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "family matters", "science!", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593420527", "cover": "0593420527", "goodreads": 61387955, "itunes": 9780593420522, "bookshop": 9780593420522, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41-F9wMSPML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593420522", "isbn10": "0593420527", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 281, "book": "The Last Animal", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Last Animal' is a bright-eyed meditation on what animates us", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/18/1170583203/ramona-ausubel-the-last-animal-book-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 281, "book": "The Last Animal", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ramona Ausubel on her novel 'The Last Animal'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/22/1171450390/ramona-ausubel-on-her-novel-the-last-animal" } ] }, "282": { "id": 282, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Last Devil to Die: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery", "author": "Richard Osman", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "Richard Osman’s books are a slyly sophisticated bunch, boasting emotional development equal to the memorable mysteries. Every Thursday, members of a wealthy retirement community apply their considerable talents to unsolved local crime. They begin with cold cases, then move on to active investigations, to the frustration of the local authorities. The core four – diarist and social butterfly Joyce, retired psychiatrist Ibrahim, Ron, the bombastic political activist, and Elizabeth, a former spy and natural leader – grow tighter with each installment, making The Last Devil to Die especially poignant. While ex-spy Elizabeth reaches an unmistakable turning point with her husband, whose dementia has grown acutely painful, danger lurks close to home as the crew tries to solve the recent murder of a friend. Thursday Murder Club mystery stands up well on its own, but given the richness of character and relationships, as a set, they’re bloody brilliant.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "tales from around the world", "fiction", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0593299426", "cover": "0593299426", "goodreads": 75293475, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593299425, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ZabpyifSL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593299425", "isbn10": "0593299426", "links": [] }, "283": { "id": 283, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Laughter", "author": "Sonora Jha", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "Sonora Jha’s fast-paced campus drama turns the tables upside down in this well-traveled genre. Jha deploys a clueless narrator, Dr. Oliver Harding, who becomes smitten with Ruhaba Khan, a Pakistani law professor. Jha gets inside the hubristic Dr. Harding’s head to show his obliviousness to his white privilege, his antiquated views on race, his impact on others and, ultimately, his fragile position on campus. The “laughter” is in Professor Khan’s sense of humor, but more so in the author’s own dark humor.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0063240254", "cover": "0063240254", "goodreads": 61145400, "itunes": 9780063240254, "bookshop": 9780063240254, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TVdGZuWhL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063240254", "isbn10": "0063240254", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 283, "book": "The Laughter", "source": "KUOW", "text": "The comedy and complexity of campus life: Sonora Jha's 'The Laughter'", "url": "https://www.kuow.org/stories/the-comedy-and-complexity-of-campus-life-sonora-jha-s-the-laughter" } ] }, "284": { "id": 284, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Librarianist", "author": "Patrick deWitt", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "Bob Comet has led a quiet life among the stacks of the libraries of Portland, Ore., and now he’s leading an even quieter, unremarkable retirement. A chance encounter at a 7-Eleven with a resident who cannot communicate leads him to her senior center, where he begins to find a community. Quirky, at times absurd, Patrick deWitt’s novel begs of us to consider the interior lives and needs of introverts, with the added idea that it’s never too late to have a rich life.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0063085127", "cover": "0063085127", "goodreads": 62645180, "itunes": 9780063085121, "bookshop": 9780063085121, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41MbRfg7oZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063085121", "isbn10": "0063085127", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 284, "book": "The Librarianist", "source": "KMUW", "text": "In ‘The Librarianist,’ Patrick deWitt shows us another life of quiet desperation ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2023-08-07/in-the-librarianist-patrick-dewitt-shows-us-another-life-of-quiet-desperation" } ] }, "285": { "id": 285, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Lights: Poems", "author": "Ben Lerner", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "The poet Ben Lerner is back! It’s not that I don’t love his fiction, but I have missed the poet. Lerner is one of the most formidable writers of lyric poetry of my generation – and his particular brand of cynicism edged with vague hope fits my mood at this moment exactly. “Birds are out of the question,” he writes. Yes, that about sums it up.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0374279217", "cover": "0374279217", "goodreads": 65215738, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374279219, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/218QAMJT+fL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374279219", "isbn10": "0374279217", "links": [] }, "286": { "id": 286, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Lonely Hearts Book Club", "author": "Lucy Gilmore", "reviewers": [ "Arielle Retting" ], "text": "It’s a classic trope: Sweet woman meets grumpy man, and after a series of twists and turns, they realize how much they need each other. You probably have an idea where this is going, but you’re probably only halfway right. Sloane is a young librarian who gets into daily arguments about books with an old curmudgeon named Arthur. When Arthur stops coming around the library for a few days, Sloane risks her job by looking up his address to track him down. When she gets there, she finds him bedridden and alone. Wanting to keep a close eye on him, she starts a book club with him and a few other misfits, much to his chagrin. It turns out they all need each other, but for different reasons. And if you think you know what happens, that doesn’t take away from the journey of this sweet story.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "family matters", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1728256216", "cover": "1728256216", "goodreads": 61341469, "itunes": 9781728256214, "bookshop": 9781728256214, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mFoM3gZNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781728256214", "isbn10": "1728256216", "links": [] }, "287": { "id": 287, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Magician's Daughter", "author": "H.G. Parry", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "A girl raised by a magician on the hidden island of Hy-Brasil must leave the safety of her secluded world to help her guardian save the existence of magic. This book is rooted in appreciation for the classics, but it never feels derivative or awkwardly nostalgic. I ripped through it with a sort of manic glee, repeatedly forgetting I was supposed to be reading it critically rather then just enjoying myself. In short, this is a charming romp of an old-school coming of age fantasy about family and magic that will take your heart for a wild ride.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316383708", "cover": "0316383708", "goodreads": 61237030, "itunes": 9780316383707, "bookshop": 9780316383707, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51IgBrT4waL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316383707", "isbn10": "0316383708", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 287, "book": "The Magician's Daughter", "source": "NPR", "text": "3 new fantasy novels spin inventive narratives from old folklore", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1161870714/3-new-fantasy-novels-spin-inventive-narratives-from-old-folklore" } ] }, "288": { "id": 288, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men", "author": "Manuel Betancourt", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "In this collection of essays, writer/critic Manuel Betancourt explores queer representation in media in an intensely personal, and uniquely engaging, manner. He recalls a childhood in Colombia as a “soft and skinny” kid whose ideas about masculinity were shaped by a host of disparate influences – including Ricky Martin, Saved by the Bell, Calvin Klein ads, Disney films, Walter Mercado and Pedro Almodóvar – that will resonate with his many readers. Betancourt finds the through line of forbidden desire connecting them all and unpacks how his life as a writer and a gay man exists in an ever-evolving conversation with their notions of manhood.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "no biz like show biz", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "rather short", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "164622146X", "cover": "164622146X", "goodreads": 62337366, "itunes": 9781646221462, "bookshop": 9781646221462, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41L0PcyPltL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781646221462", "isbn10": "164622146X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 288, "book": "The Male Gazed", "source": "NPR", "text": "What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing, listening and reading", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187560624/flyana-boss-project-runway-queer-nonfiction" } ] }, "289": { "id": 289, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams", "author": "Daniel Nayeri, illustrated by Daniel Miyares", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Any book that begins with a kid running hell-for-leather away from a group of monks attempting to stone him to death is clearly a book worth reading! A kid referred to only as Monkey is saved from certain death by a fast-talking merchant named Samir on the Silk Road. Trouble is, six different assassins have been hired to kill Samir, and Monkey is on the hook to save him each time. A book by turns shocking and hilarious. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "kids’ books", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1646143035", "cover": "1646143035", "goodreads": 62675031, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781646143030, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51X7vNe-+UL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781646143030", "isbn10": "1646143035", "links": [] }, "290": { "id": 290, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity", "author": "Nicholas Day, illustrated by Brett Helquist", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "Smile! This isn’t just a whodunit – it’s also a delightful, deceitful, and uproarious how-done-it?! In 1911, when Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa disappears from the Louvre, speculation about the mastermind behind the missing 16th century masterpiece runs rampant. Toggling back and forth between the heist and the life of the painting’s creator, we meet surprising suspects like Pablo Picasso, and follow wild leads and false accusations in this true-life art romp. Brett Helquist’s witty and wonderful black and white art heightens Nicholas Day’s fascinating narrative to make this thriller the real deal. (For ages 10-14)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "kids’ books", "mysteries & thrillers", "eye-opening reads", "for art lovers", "for history lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593643844", "cover": "0593643844", "goodreads": 70917084, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593643846, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516Q+TBbsvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593643846", "isbn10": "0593643844", "links": [] }, "291": { "id": 291, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Museum of Failures", "author": "Thrity Umrigar", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "OK, no plot spoilers because I want you to read this novel! The central character, Remy, is an Indian American ad executive who returns to Bombay to adopt a child. He learns that his mother, from whom he’s estranged, is ill and has stopped speaking. Why she has and the nature of the estrangement are the basis of this profound story about love and forgiveness, parents and children. I sped through the book and was invested to the last page and beyond. Please discover it for yourself.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "164375355X", "cover": "164375355X", "goodreads": 75593884, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781643753553, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51JDoaXfuGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781643753553", "isbn10": "164375355X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 291, "book": "The Museum of Failures", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'The Museum of Failures' explores identity, immigration and keeping family secrets", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/09/26/museum-of-failures-book" } ] }, "292": { "id": 292, "edition": "fall", "title": "The New Earth", "author": "Jess Row", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Jess Row’s timely novel follows a family that has weathered several implosions. Sandy and Naomi have recently separated, with the former impulsively abandoning his job and the latter living with her new partner. Their two surviving children, Patrick and Winter, are haunted by the loss of their sister, a peace activist who was killed by an Israeli sniper in the West Bank. This is a modern epic that takes an unsparing look at family and national dynamics that nobody really wants to confront. It’s ambitious and magnificent, the rare swing for the fences that actually connects.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0062400630", "cover": "0062400630", "goodreads": 61391144, "itunes": 9780062400635, "bookshop": 9780062400635, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mFQ9pB5eL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780062400635", "isbn10": "0062400630", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 292, "book": "The New Earth", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The New Earth,' a family's pain echoes America's suffering", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/19/1168384777/jess-row-the-new-earth-book-review" } ] }, "293": { "id": 293, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Peacock and the Sparrow", "author": "I.S. Berry", "reviewers": [ "Steve Drummond" ], "text": "A spy thriller that is engaging and utterly believable, in large part because the author of this debut novel, I.S. Berry, has served overseas in the CIA herself. With the vividly painted backdrop of Bahrain in the time of the Arab Spring as the setting and her spy, Shane Collins, as the main character, the story that unfolds is steeped in actual knowledge of spy stuff. It’s cynical, fast moving and immensely readable.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1982194545", "cover": "1982194545", "goodreads": 62919887, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982194543, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51VgKb+QzHL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982194543", "isbn10": "1982194545", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 293, "book": "The Peacock and the Sparrow", "source": "WAMU", "text": "Former spy turned local author pens her first novel ‘The Peacock and The Sparrow’", "url": "https://wamu.org/story/23/06/01/former-spy-turned-local-author-pens-her-first-spy-novel/" } ] }, "294": { "id": 294, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Postcard", "author": "Anne Berest, translated by Tina Kover", "reviewers": [ "Isabel Lara" ], "text": "An unsigned postcard with the names of relatives killed in the Holocaust arrives at her mother’s home; finding out who sent it and why leads the author to learn about her family history and her own identity. Anne Berest describes this as a “true novel” because all of the events in it are true – a result of her meticulous investigation into her family history – but she wrote it like fiction, changing the names of people who harmed her family so their descendants don’t suffer today and imagining characters’ thoughts. Berest’s story is specific, but there are themes in this book anyone can identify with – that history and bias are ever-present when we dig just a little, that how people see us may be so different from how we see ourselves, and that even relatives we never met influence the way we are.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1609458389", "cover": "1609458389", "goodreads": 121741746, "itunes": 9781609458386, "bookshop": 9781609458386, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41iapetd+qL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781609458386", "isbn10": "1609458389", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 294, "book": "The Postcard", "source": "NPR", "text": "Anne Berest's novel traces her family history and leads back to the Holocaust", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/13/1176001764/anne-berests-novel-traces-her-family-history-and-leads-back-to-the-holocaust" } ] }, "295": { "id": 295, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Probability of Everything", "author": "Sarah Everett", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "This powerhouse of a novel will leave you breathless. Kemi Carter has a happy life collecting scientific facts, but when an asteroid threatens to destroy Earth, the world as she knows it is turned upside down. With only four days until impact, Kemi scrambles to create a time capsule of cherished family memories that will survive, even if they don’t. My heart hurt as I raced through the last chapters of this unique book that shines a light on family, friends, grief and love. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "identity & culture", "science!", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "006325655X", "cover": "006325655X", "goodreads": 62870380, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063256552, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gpHcYaRkL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063256552", "isbn10": "006325655X", "links": [] }, "296": { "id": 296, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Queen of Dirt Island", "author": "Donal Ryan", "reviewers": [ "Carol Ritchie" ], "text": "This story is about four generations of women in rural Ireland, beginning in the 1980s with the birth of Saoirse (and the death, the same day, of her father). We see this family through Saoirse’s eyes (and what perceptive eyes!) as she grows up under the care of her mother, Eileen, and grandmother Mary – Eileen’s mother-in-law turned best friend. Men both dead and alive linger at the periphery, but these women run the show, with fierce opinions and even fiercer love that are tested when Saoirse becomes pregnant. Their lives unfold in short, lyrical chapters that sneak quietly into your gut and grab you by the heart.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593652932", "cover": "0593652932", "goodreads": 61111300, "itunes": 9780593652930, "bookshop": 9780593652930, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51u2xqY9sWL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593652930", "isbn10": "0593652932", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 296, "book": "The Queen of Dirt Island", "source": "NPR", "text": "Growing up in a kitchen full of women inspired Donal Ryan's new book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/06/1161444681/growing-up-in-a-kitchen-full-of-women-inspired-donal-ryans-new-book" } ] }, "297": { "id": 297, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Queer Film Guide: 100 great movies that tell LGBTQIA+ stories", "author": "Kyle Turner, illustrated by Andy Warren", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "Film critic Kyle Turner gives us a whistle-stop tour through the history of queer cinema that offers fresh insight into familiar chestnuts while spotlighting overlooked films that deserve a place in the canon. Turner’s analyses are steeped in queer academic theory, but – happily – his prose isn’t; it’s crisp and engaging and comes from a place of curatorial passion. The essays on each film are brief but substantive and are accompanied by cleverly evocative illustrations by Andy Warren, which make it all a great coffee-table book. Or, as it’s queer, an iced-coffee table book, I suppose.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "identity & culture", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1922754293", "cover": "1922754293", "goodreads": 91331968, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781922754295, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41WWdQemRDL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781922754295", "isbn10": "1922754293", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 297, "book": "The Queer Film Guide", "source": "NPR", "text": "What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing, listening and reading", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/14/1187560624/flyana-boss-project-runway-queer-nonfiction" } ] }, "298": { "id": 298, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth", "author": "Elizabeth Rush", "reviewers": [ "Rebecca Hersher" ], "text": "Books about Antarctica are always about dudes. Brave dudes who went to a cold, scary place and performed feats of strength and endurance in the name of being first or, sometimes, a monarch. This book is the antidote to those. It takes place on a somewhat-claustrophobic research ship bound for Antarctica. Elizabeth Rush mixes science reporting with memoir as she ruminates on her choice to have a child, how it feels to confront climate change and how laborious it is to study Antarctica.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "science!", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1571313966", "cover": "1571313966", "goodreads": 123207191, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781571313966, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Y+2xDD7kL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781571313966", "isbn10": "1571313966", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 298, "book": "The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth", "source": "NPR", "text": "An author's journey to Antarctica — and motherhood — in 'The Quickening'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1194349667/the-quickening-considers-bringing-a-child-into-a-world-with-a-changing-climate" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 298, "book": "The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth", "source": "NPR", "text": "The book 'The Quickening' looks at bringing a child into a world with climate change", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1194497383/the-book-the-quickening-looks-at-bringing-a-child-into-a-world-with-climate-chan" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 298, "book": "The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth", "source": "NPR", "text": "The Sunday Story: The Quickening", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1194185895/the-sunday-story-the-quickening" } ] }, "299": { "id": 299, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Rachel Incident", "author": "Caroline O'Donoghue", "reviewers": [ "Miles Parks" ], "text": "Who knew the financial crisis could be so … fun? Don’t get me wrong, The Rachel Incident gets into some heavy themes – class, sexual identity, abortion, to name a few – but this book navigates a young Irishwoman’s chaotic early 20s, during a specific economic moment, with a cozy warmth that had me laughing out loud throughout. This is one of those catch-yourself-smiling-without-realizing-it books – and one I think I’ll go back to, the next time I just want to feel like it’s all going to be OK.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593535707", "cover": "0593535707", "goodreads": 63094957, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593535707, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41QCjM9yxOL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593535707", "isbn10": "0593535707", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 299, "book": "The Rachel Incident", "source": "NPR", "text": "Caroline O'Donoghue on her book 'The Rachel Incident'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/24/1184152297/caroline-odonoghue-on-her-book-the-rachel-incident" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 299, "book": "The Rachel Incident", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Roundtable: 'The Rachel Incident' by Caroline O'Donoghue ", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2023-08-10/the-rachel-incident-by-caroline-odonoghue" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 299, "book": "The Rachel Incident", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Caroline O’Donoghue on her American debut, 'The Rachel Incident' ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-06-27/caroline-odonoghue-on-her-american-debut-the-rachel-incident" } ] }, "300": { "id": 300, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Reformatory", "author": "Tananarive Due", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "It’s hard to dream up something more terrifying than real history, and Tananarive Due doesn’t try. Instead, she uses elements of the spiritual and supernatural to enhance a setting already dripping with horror – a reform school (based on a real place) where young boys are sent to repent for their youthful misdeeds. The book takes place in 1950s Florida, and the protagonist is Robbie, a young Black boy navigating racism and ghosts alike. But though the world he inhabits is often cruel and terrifying, Robbie’s story is also propelled by community, persistence, creativity and love.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1982188340", "cover": "1982188340", "goodreads": 62919847, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982188344, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41sLdl9bM2L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982188344", "isbn10": "1982188340", "links": [] }, "301": { "id": 301, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Road to Dalton", "author": "Shannon Bowring", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "The fictional Dalton, a town in northern Maine’s Aroostook County, is the setting for this tender novel and its quiet and complicated characters. Richard and Trudy Haskell are married, and while Richard, the town doctor, knows everyone’s secrets, he cannot share those or much else with Trudy, who is preoccupied with her librarian job and her romance with Bev, who is married to Bill. The respective couples’ children are each struggling in different ways, as are the town’s other inhabitants. Via an intricate web of familial and neighborly relationships, Shannon Bowring brings to life the dramas of this politely distant yet loving community.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "the states we’re in", "rather short", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "1609459261", "cover": "1609459261", "goodreads": 122266426, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781609459260, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51xo2lnGIbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781609459260", "isbn10": "1609459261", "links": [] }, "302": { "id": 302, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Roaring Days of Zora Lily", "author": "Noelle Salazar", "reviewers": [ "Keishel Williams" ], "text": "Who doesn’t love a story about blinding ambition and female perseverance – plus fashion, fame and fortune-hunting? Noelle Salazar tells the story of Zora Hough, a poor seamstress in 1920s Seattle, following her dream to become a world-famous fashion designer. Then, the book jumps ahead 100 years to the present day, where a dress once worn by Greta Garbo is being archived at the Smithsonian – and a conservator finds Zora’s name under the designer label. This is a captivating story about friendship, love and family duty – and how success isn’t always linear.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0778305309", "cover": "days-zora-lily", "goodreads": 75339213, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780778305309, "image": "https://www.harpercollins.com/cdn/shop/products/x9780778305200_86058a3f-cf02-4415-8beb-fd62146090fb.jpg?v=1699090401&width=350", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780778305309", "isbn10": "0778305309", "links": [] }, "303": { "id": 303, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Ruins of Nostalgia", "author": "Donna Stonecipher", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "Donna Stonecipher is a strange, dark, deeply nuanced and undersung poet whose work I have loved for many years. These new prose poems meditate quietly on the collective and individual longing for the past, which Stonecipher calls “only a recurring dream of never arriving.” Essayistic, utterly vulnerable and sobered by recent events, Stonecipher wonders whether “looking forward was actually, depending on your standpoint in history, looking backward, or the reverse.” In disorienting times, why not make disorientation beautiful?
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0819500844", "cover": "0819500844", "goodreads": 123757017, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780819500847, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31jQM7u4fKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780819500847", "isbn10": "0819500844", "links": [] }, "304": { "id": 304, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Salt Grows Heavy", "author": "Cassandra Khaw", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "A voiceless mermaid flees her prince’s kingdom, with a masked plague doctor, after the kingdom is devoured and destroyed by her monstrous progeny. Instead of safety, they find a violent cult of children presided over by three surgeon-saints who claim control over life itself. Here is hunger, violence and beauty. Here is prose that gnaws at you; you feel it in your gut. Cassandra Khaw neatly vivisects fairy tales to create something as gorgeous as it is gory – and it is gory. There’s meat to sink your teeth into in this fierce, elegant abattoir of a story. But dig through the viscera, and you’ll find something surprisingly tender and hopeful.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250830915", "cover": "1250830915", "goodreads": 61884779, "itunes": 9781250830913, "bookshop": 9781250830913, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51UFmodI4ML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250830913", "isbn10": "1250830915", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 304, "book": "The Salt Grows Heavy", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 new fantasy novels invigorate old tropes", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/18/1172698983/5-new-fantasy-novels-invigorate-old-tropes" } ] }, "305": { "id": 305, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho", "author": "Paterson Joseph", "reviewers": [ "Holly J. Morris" ], "text": "Charles Ignatius Sancho was a real person: abolitionist, merchant, composer, husband, father, freed slave and the first known Black man to vote in a British general election. His fictionalized diaries imagine his youthful antics and, in an epistolary interlude, his long-distance romance; these are interleaved with brief detours into his respectable, gout-plagued middle age. The vibe is rollicking, but Charles’ bone-deep fear of slave catchers underlines the story with anxiety and sadness. Our hero’s bouncy resilience despite an unjust society and his personal demons (gambling, alcoholism, indigence) makes for a thrilling read that’s neither trauma porn nor superficial picaresque. A note for book-design nerds: The endpapers on this baby are to die for.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "rather long", "tales from around the world", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250880378", "cover": "1250880378", "goodreads": 60784624, "itunes": 9781250880376, "bookshop": 9781250880376, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51A3Hnr2kvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250880376", "isbn10": "1250880378", "links": [] }, "306": { "id": 306, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Secret Hours", "author": "Mick Herron", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "Though Mick Herron’s latest thriller connects the dots between the sins of the post-Cold War era and the messy, contemporary misadventures of the popular Slough House spy series, it’s also fantastic as a standalone. That said, if you’ve read the previous books, the breadcrumbs are a delight to follow. After years of dead ends and low-level testimony, two career MI5 civil servants are grappling with a new development in a career-killing assignment investigating whether (or how badly) the UK’s elite intelligence service has overreached their authority in covert operations. When a bombshell case file mysteriously lands in their laps, they’re told to shut it all down. Instead, Griselda and Malcolm call the crucial party to testify. Deadly consequences, riveting flashbacks, and revelations ensue.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "164129521X", "cover": "164129521X", "goodreads": 123727738, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781641295215, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51buHZDpIgL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781641295215", "isbn10": "164129521X", "links": [] }, "307": { "id": 307, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen", "author": "KJ Charles", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "This romance novel set in Regency-era Kent will make you swoon. Joss Doomsday is a scoundrel to some and a leader to others. His livelihood as a smuggler is put at risk with the arrival of Sir Gareth Inglis. Gareth grew up feeling abandoned and unloved, but now has a baronetcy to manage. Tensions rise and sparks fly. If you’re an audiobook person, Martyn Swain’s narration is a balm for the soul. And if you want more Doomsday romance, the sequel, A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, came out in September.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1728255856", "cover": "1728255856", "goodreads": 57102663, "itunes": 9781728255859, "bookshop": 9781728255859, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51oCnQuSOBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781728255859", "isbn10": "1728255856", "links": [] }, "308": { "id": 308, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Secret of Cooking: Recipes for an Easier Life in the Kitchen", "author": "Bee Wilson", "reviewers": [ "Jennifer Vanasco" ], "text": "More than a cookbook, this is an empathetic guide to how to make cooking work for you – and even become a joy (or a joy again). Sure, Bee Wilson says, cooking is easy if you have all afternoon, no kids pulling on you and someone prepping your ingredients. But what if you have picky eaters, a full-time job and a kitchen with only half the ingredients the recipe calls for? This book has the answers, explaining everything from how to figure out what flavors go together, to how to build a repertoire of favorites, to how to cut yourself some slack when everything goes wrong. The book’s simple, delicious recipes are treated more like blueprints – if something in a recipe doesn’t work for you, Wilson is happy for you to try putting in something that will.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "rather long", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0393867633", "cover": "0393867633", "goodreads": 77264998, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780393867633, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Z1ysVI8iL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780393867633", "isbn10": "0393867633", "links": [] }, "309": { "id": 309, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Stolen Coast", "author": "Dwyer Murphy", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "There’s a noir vibe to this tale of a femme fatale who returns to trouble the guy she left behind and perhaps sets up for a final fall. The Stolen Coast is set in a dingy seaside town in Massachusetts, with a harbor “shaped like a teardrop.” Our potential patsy is Jack Betancourt, nicknamed “the ferryman” because he ferries people on the run into new lives. While his clients’ false IDs are being made, Jack stows them away in vacation cottages. Whether Jack himself will end up “stowed away” is a question Dwyer Murphy keeps aloft until the final pages.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "the dark side", "staff picks", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "059365367X", "cover": "059365367X", "goodreads": 63249845, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593653678, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51VMqPWRQTL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593653678", "isbn10": "059365367X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 309, "book": "The Stolen Coast", "source": "NPR", "text": "Dive in: 'Do Tell' and 'The Stolen Coast' are perfect summer escapes", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/20/1188330603/do-tell-the-stolen-coast-review" } ] }, "310": { "id": 310, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Talk", "author": "Darrin Bell", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "The Talk isn’t about the talk Darrin Bell got from his parents about how white people would perceive him as a threat, it’s about the talk Bell will give his son. Growing up, Bell didn’t understand why his mother wouldn’t let him have a squirt gun. He thinks his white mother is overreacting when he’s slighted in public and in school. But as he becomes a young man, he begins to understand why she was so protective and where the real threat is coming from. Told and illustrated with sincerity and humor, plus a gentleness that really packs a gut punch.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "young adult", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250805147", "cover": "1250805147", "goodreads": 61796675, "itunes": 9781250805140, "bookshop": 9781250805140, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51HWmqG7awL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250805140", "isbn10": "1250805147", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 310, "book": "The Talk ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Darrin Bell's graphic memoir 'The Talk' references a shared experience among Black parents", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/04/1180030845/darrin-bells-graphic-memoir-the-talk-references-a-shared-experience-among-black-" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 310, "book": "The Talk ", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Talk' is an epic portrait of an artist making his way through hardships", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/08/1180103649/the-talk-is-an-epic-portrait-of-an-artist-making-his-way-through-hardships" } ] }, "311": { "id": 311, "edition": "fall", "title": "The True Love Experiment", "author": "Christina Lauren", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "This author duo (Christina Lauren is the pen name of the combined Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings) knows how to write a dang love story, right down to the dedication page: “This one is a blatant love letter to our genre.” And it truly is. Prolific romance writer Fizzy Chen gets cast on a reality television show in the hopes of finding love – or at least the inspiration that’ll save her from an epic bout of writer’s block. When filming starts, sparks start flying – with the guy behind the camera. In casting an Asian American woman as their lead, the two (white) writers clearly put in the work to make Fizzy feel authentic. She’s no token character, and her complicated feelings about love and life reflect that.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "family matters", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "1982173432", "cover": "1982173432", "goodreads": 62361081, "itunes": 9781982173432, "bookshop": 9781982173432, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gCrqjIHlL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982173432", "isbn10": "1982173432", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 311, "book": "The True Love Experiment", "source": "PRX", "text": "Shelf Discovery: 'The True Love Experiment' by Christina Lauren", "url": "https://beta.prx.org/stories/473243" } ] }, "312": { "id": 312, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and Consumption", "author": "Katy Kelleher", "reviewers": [ "Anna Isaacs" ], "text": "Katy Kelleher’s collection of essays is part history, part memoir of the precious and pretty things we consume, from gemstones and porcelain to makeup and perfume. Her lush descriptions of these objects are reason enough to recommend the book, though she writes with equal care of their painful, extractive and deadly origins. Throughout, she weaves in memories of, and musings on, her own fraught relationship with mascara and turquoise jewelry, silk clothes and gleaming countertops. Kelleher never lectures or guilt-trips, nor does she shy away from ambivalence. She assures us that to seek and covet beauty is natural and ancient, even life affirming – and that there are ways to do it that can enrich our understanding, even enhance our pleasure and maybe leave less of a mark.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "198217935X", "cover": "198217935X", "goodreads": 61273786, "itunes": 9781982179359, "bookshop": 9781982179359, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41-6frWt2AL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982179359", "isbn10": "198217935X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 312, "book": "The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and Consumption", "source": "Maine Public Radio", "text": "Maine writer Katy Kelleher discusses her new book about the human desire for objects of beauty ", "url": "https://www.mainepublic.org/show/maine-calling/2023-04-27/maine-writer-katy-kelleher-discusses-her-new-book-about-the-human-desire-for-objects-of-beauty" } ] }, "313": { "id": 313, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Vaster Wilds", "author": "Lauren Groff", "reviewers": [ "Emma Choi" ], "text": "In 17th-century colonial Virginia, a young servant girl escapes a famine-torn settlement to flee into the sprawling, punishing wilderness beyond. In her fifth novel, Lauren Groff, an author whose prose imbues even the most mundane with magic, crafts a tale that transcends genre. Part historical, part horror, part breathless thriller, part wilderness survival tale, The Vaster Wilds is a story about the lengths to which we will go to stay alive.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593418395", "cover": "0593418395", "goodreads": 62952130, "itunes": 9780593418390, "bookshop": 9780593418390, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51EB-L4QEpL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593418390", "isbn10": "0593418395", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 313, "book": "The Vaster Wilds", "source": "NPR", "text": "Lauren Groff has a go bag and says so should you", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/11/1198409885/lauren-groff-the-vaster-wilds" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 313, "book": "The Vaster Wilds", "source": "NPR", "text": "Lauren Groff's survivalist novel 'The Vaster Wilds' will test your endurance, too", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/21/1199199765/lauren-groff-the-vaster-wilds-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 313, "book": "The Vaster Wilds", "source": "MPR", "text": "A young girl runs from Jamestown in Lauren Groff's new book, 'The Vaster Wilds'", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2023/09/29/a-young-girl-runs-from-jamestown-in-lauren-groffs-new-book-the-vaster-wilds" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 313, "book": "The Vaster Wilds", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Nerdette Book Club: Lauren Groff on ‘The Vaster Wilds’ ", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/nerdette-book-club-lauren-groff-on-the-vaster-wilds/cd6fd97c-1e27-4723-8c36-1e430a8363e5" } ] }, "314": { "id": 314, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Vulnerables", "author": "Sigrid Nunez", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "After the last few years, it would be understandable if you don’t want to read another word about the COVID-19 pandemic. But it would be a shame to miss out on the latest novel from Sigrid Nunez, which follows a New York woman in the early days of lockdown who is watching an apartment and its resident macaw for an acquaintance. She ends up forming an unlikely friendship with the Gen Z college student who used to care for the bird. This one is tender without being treacly, and Nunez’s dry wit shines through.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0593715519", "cover": "0593715519", "goodreads": 125930473, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593715512, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41FxTp-OwKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593715512", "isbn10": "0593715519", "links": [] }, "315": { "id": 315, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder", "author": "David Grann", "reviewers": [ "Nell Greenfieldboyce" ], "text": "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder is an exhaustively researched and thrilling account of a long-forgotten, 18th-century calamity at sea. Unlike Herman Melville’s or Patrick O’Brian’s nautical adventures, which I also love, this historical narrative isn’t just based on a true story – it really is one, despite extremes of psychology and nature that make the recounted events almost unbelievable. That’s part of why reading it felt like getting swept away by a hurricane-force gale, as journalist David Grann laid out the stunning facts and surprises in his deceptively simple and spare writing.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0385534264", "cover": "0385534264", "goodreads": 61714633, "itunes": 9780385534260, "bookshop": 9780385534260, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51QZyQzA83L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780385534260", "isbn10": "0385534264", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 315, "book": "The Wager", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Wager' chronicles shipwreck, mutiny and murder at the tip of South America ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/18/1170612022/the-wager-chronicles-shipwreck-mutiny-and-murder-at-the-tip-of-south-america" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 315, "book": "The Wager", "source": "WBUR", "text": "From cannibalism to cover-up, David Grann sees his new shipwreck mystery as a parable", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/npr/1169987734/david-grann-the-wager" } ] }, "316": { "id": 316, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Wicked Bargain", "author": "Gabe Cole Novoa", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Transmasculine nonbinary teen Mar sails the high seas with their pirate father (while keeping their fire and ice magic a secret), until a demon claims his soul. Mar teams up with a demonio named Dami and Bas, the cute son of another pirate, to rescue Mar’s father and take on an evil colonial representative. This is a young adult historical fantasy full of adventure and magic. Fans of the TV series Our Flag Means Death take note: Vico Ortiz narrates the audiobook!
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593378016", "cover": "0593378016", "goodreads": 60323916, "itunes": 9780593378014, "bookshop": 9780593378014, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41AmqyQKfPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593378014", "isbn10": "0593378016", "links": [] }, "317": { "id": 317, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Wind Knows My Name", "author": "Isabel Allende, translated by Frances Riddle", "reviewers": [ "Marcela Davison Avilés" ], "text": "When I learned Isabel Allende’s latest novel is set in my hometown of Nogales, Ariz., I put it on my reading list. I wanted to know: Is her story as dearly held as my memory of a childhood of blended language and culture, of my grandmother’s whistled greetings to her neighbors? Children trapped by geopolitical violence and left to navigate immigration by themselves are the inspiration for this story. The novel is a powerful love letter to them. Their catharsis is both reference and refrain, evoked as a whistling in the dark of a forever song of hope. You can hear it in these pages, as I once did in the resilient neighborhoods of Nogales.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593598105", "cover": "0593598105", "goodreads": 62583516, "itunes": 9780593598108, "bookshop": 9780593598108, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51392BE1UuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593598108", "isbn10": "0593598105", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 317, "book": "The Wind Knows My Name", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Wind Knows My Name' is a reference and a refrain in the search for home", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/10/1180103464/book-review-isabel-allende-novel-the-wind-knows-my-name" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 317, "book": "The Wind Knows My Name", "source": "WAMU", "text": "Isabel Allende and 'The Wind Knows My Name'", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/isabel-allende-and-the-wind-knows-my-name/" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 317, "book": "The Wind Knows My Name", "source": "Texas Public Radio", "text": " ‘The Wind Knows My Name’: Isabel Allende shows how history repeats itself in novel about two child refugees ", "url": "https://www.tpr.org/podcast/book-public/2023-06-09/the-wind-knows-my-name-isabel-allende-shows-how-history-repeats-itself-in-novel-about-two-child-refugees" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 317, "book": "The Wind Knows My Name", "source": "UPR", "text": "Access Utah: 'The Wind Knows My Name' with Isabel Allende", "url": "https://www.upr.org/show/access-utah/2023-06-13/the-wind-knows-my-name-with-isabel-allende-on-tuesdays-access-utah" } ] }, "318": { "id": 318, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Witching Tide", "author": "Margaret Meyer", "reviewers": [ "Keishel Williams" ], "text": "Martha Hallybread is a woman of faith – somewhat. When a strange man rolls into her small fishing town and establishes himself as a witch hunter, that faith is tested. And so are Martha’s loyalty and sanity. Margaret Meyer’s debut novel, The Witching Tide, takes us into the middle of the terrifying witch trials in East Anglia in the 17th century. Martha is a healer and midwife who can’t speak. The town is paranoid, and as almost every woman in her once close-knit town is being accused of witchcraft, her inability to speak may save her from the noose as she cannot formally confess to the accusations of being a witch. But her saving grace becomes the final nail for her friends and neighbors when Martha is unable to use her voice to save them.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668011360", "cover": "1668011360", "goodreads": 101144882, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781668011362, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51DQH578IeL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781668011362", "isbn10": "1668011360", "links": [] }, "319": { "id": 319, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Wolves of Eternity", "author": "Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated by Martin Aitken", "reviewers": [ "Casey Morell" ], "text": "What does a moody, confused 19-year-old in 1980s Norway have to do with a middle-aged scientist in present day Russia? If your answer is “not a lot,” think again. In his signature style of having seemingly disparate narratives weave together in unlikely ways, Karl Ove Knausgaard brings us another story exploring the bonds we make, those we break, and those foisted upon us through circumstance in a wry, captivating story that will make you think about those you’re close to in new and different ways.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593490835", "cover": "0593490835", "goodreads": 75293514, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593490839, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41EqPoaFmQL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593490839", "isbn10": "0593490835", "links": [] }, "320": { "id": 320, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Woman in Me", "author": "Britney Spears", "reviewers": [ "Brittany Luse" ], "text": "How did one of the most beloved, visible and successful women in the world end up in a 13-year conservatorship that revoked her access to her wealth, her privacy and even her food preferences? The Woman In Me, the bombshell memoir from pop star Britney Spears, attempts to answer just that. We find the expected – opportunistic family, dastardly exes, and a labyrinthine family court system – but always in the periphery, fueling the paparazzi’s chase, is the public, who lapped up every one of Spears’ missteps on gossip blogs and tabloid pages. In showing us her demons, Spears also hands us a mirror.
", "tags": [ "biography & memoir", "nonfiction", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "for music lovers", "book club ideas", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1668009048", "cover": "1668009048", "goodreads": 63133205, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781668009048, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31kNMP-6n8L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781668009048", "isbn10": "1668009048", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 320, "book": "The Woman In Me", "source": "NPR", "text": "Madonna and Britney Spears: It's them against the world", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/28/1208753110/book-review-madonna-a-rebel-life-and-britney-spears-the-woman-in-me" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 320, "book": "The Woman In Me", "source": "NPR", "text": "Britney Spears can finally tell her own story in 'The Woman in Me'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/27/1197954176/its-been-a-minute-draft-10-27-2023" } ] }, "321": { "id": 321, "edition": "fall", "title": "The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope", "author": "José Andrés and World Central Kitchen with Sam Chapple-Sokol", "reviewers": [ "Anastasia Tsioulcas" ], "text": "This is much more than a cookbook: It’s a chronicle of World Central Kitchen’s profound work nourishing millions of people worldwide in the wake of natural disasters and other crises. WCK founder and chef José Andrés has organized the recipes into WCK’s core principles, like “empathy,” “adaptation,” “resilience” and the like. The inspiring text and photos highlight WCK’s work all over the globe, including in Haiti, Lebanon and Indonesia, as well as across the United States. Several of the dishes here have already become weeknight family favorites in my own home, including the tangy Chicken Chili Verde, the flavorful one-pot Turkey Bolognese and the mouthwatering Venezuelan Banana Bread.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593579070", "cover": "0593579070", "goodreads": 71872927, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593579077, "image": "https://images3.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/700jpg/9780593579077", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593579077", "isbn10": "0593579070", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 321, "book": "The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'World Central Kitchen Cookbook' details recipes chef Jose Andres makes to feed people in crisis", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/10/13/world-central-kitchen-cookbook" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 321, "book": "The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope", "source": "NPR", "text": "Chef José Andrés and his team are feeding Ukrainians on the front lines of the war", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2022/03/12/1086309022/ukraine-jose-andres-interview-world-central-kitchen" } ] }, "322": { "id": 322, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Wreck: A Daughter's Memoir of Becoming a Mother", "author": "Cassandra Jackson", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "Fertility treatments can feel incredibly dehumanizing, as well as core-shaking. For Cassandra Jackson, they also became clarifying. Her desire for a biological child was intertwined with the incredible loss her father had suffered years before her birth: the deaths of five members of his family in a terrible car accident in rural Alabama. The tragedy haunted him for decades, but emboldened to learn more about it, she becomes closer to him. The wreck isn’t just the accident, it’s the emotional wreckage left behind and the incredible legacy of resilience that one Black father gives to his daughter.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "staff picks", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593490029", "cover": "0593490029", "goodreads": 62052314, "itunes": 9780593490020, "bookshop": 9780593490020, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41M+cnV7fjL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593490020", "isbn10": "0593490029", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 322, "book": "the Wreck", "source": "NPR", "text": "Cassandra Jackson on her memoir 'The Wreck'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/14/1176062283/cassandra-jackson-on-her-memoir-the-wreck" } ] }, "323": { "id": 323, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Wren, the Wren", "author": "Anne Enright", "reviewers": [ "Shannon Rhoades" ], "text": "The great (fictional) Irish poet Phil McDaragh is revered for portrayals of love, like this:
\nthe wren the wren
\nwas a panic
\nof feathered air
\nin my opening hand
\nso fierce and light
\nI did not feel
\nthe push
\nof her ascent
\naway from me
A man of great appetites – for women, for drink – McDaragh’s legacy, off the page, is more complicated.\nHow the daughter he abandons, and in turn her daughter, contend with that legacy shapes this exquisite novel.\nThroughout, Anne Enright includes the poems – which she has written – for her poet, a task she characterized as “extremely cheeky” when she spoke with NPR’s Scott Simon.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "family matters", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1324005688", "cover": "1324005688", "goodreads": 77265006, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781324005681, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/418UpOd6zNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781324005681", "isbn10": "1324005688", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 323, "book": "The Wren, The Wren", "source": "NPR", "text": "Descendants of a famous poet wrestle with his vexed legacy in 'The Wren, The Wren'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/07/1195623543/the-wren-the-wren-book-review-anne-enright" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 323, "book": "The Wren, The Wren", "source": "NPR", "text": "Anne Enright's novel follows a family that's left behind in a famous poet's pursuit of fame", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/16/1199963930/anne-enrights-novel-follows-a-family-thats-left-behind-in-a-famous-poets-pursuit" } ] }, "324": { "id": 324, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet", "author": "Jake Maia Arlow", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "As if middle school weren’t hard enough already, 12-year-old Al Schneider thinks she likes girls, and her stomach hurts all. the. time. She tries to hold it in, but a near-disaster in gym class sets Al on a trajectory to find out what’s really wrong – and the answer doesn’t make everything all right. A hilarious, touching and raw story of a middle schooler who has to add “chronic illness” to the list of things that make her feel different. (For ages 10 to 14)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593112962", "cover": "0593112962", "goodreads": 61981112, "itunes": 9780593112960, "bookshop": 9780593112960, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51D+6m4umuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593112960", "isbn10": "0593112962", "links": [] }, "325": { "id": 325, "edition": "fall", "title": "There Was a Party for Langston, King of Letters", "author": "Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "In 1991 the New York Times photographer Chester Higgins Jr. went to a party at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and got a shot of Maya Angelou dancing with Amiri Baraka above the scattered ashes of Langston Hughes himself. Now kids can join this poetry party of the page as it cheers on America’s Black wordsmiths one and all, from W.E.B. Du Bois to Octavia Butler. Come for the celebration, stay for the jaw-dropping art and killer typography. You want a book topped up with Black joy? Come and get it! (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "kids’ books", "identity & culture", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1534439447", "cover": "1534439447", "goodreads": 101126946, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781534439443, "image": "https://d28hgpri8am2if.cloudfront.net/book_images/onix/cvr9781534439443/there-was-a-party-for-langston-9781534439443_xlg.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781534439443", "isbn10": "1534439447", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 325, "book": "There Was a Party for Langston, King of Letters ", "source": "WCMU", "text": "The Children's Bookshelf: 'There Was a Party for Langston'", "url": "https://radio.wcmu.org/show/the-childrens-bookshelf/2023-09-03/the-childrens-bookshelf-there-was-a-party-for-langston-september-3-2023" } ] }, "326": { "id": 326, "edition": "fall", "title": "There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History", "author": "Rory Carroll", "reviewers": [ "Tucker Ives" ], "text": "There was no book harder to put down this year than this one. Rory Carroll makes it clear that this will not be a definitive history of the conflict in Ireland known as “The Troubles.” Instead, he focuses on the would-be assassins of The Iron Lady, the victims who weren’t so lucky, and the law enforcement officers who had the seemingly impossible task of finding the mysterious bomber. Carroll wrote this book after exhaustive interviews with those directly involved, and he makes it clear how much history would have changed if those two minutes had a different outcome.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593419499", "cover": "0593419499", "goodreads": 61420116, "itunes": 9780593419496, "bookshop": 9780593419496, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41XvbudHjkL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593419496", "isbn10": "0593419499", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 326, "book": "There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 1984, Margaret Thatcher was nearly assassinated — a new book asks, what if?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/17/1170007595/there-will-be-fire-review-rory-carroll-ira-margaret-thatcher" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 326, "book": "There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Roundtable: 'There Will Be Fire' by Rory Carroll ", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2023-03-29/there-will-be-fire-margaret-thatcher-the-ira-and-two-minutes-that-changed-history-by-rory-carroll" } ] }, "327": { "id": 327, "edition": "fall", "title": "There’s No Way I'd Die First", "author": "Lisa Springer", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Campy YA horror bursts into the contemporary zeitgeist in Lisa Springer’s There’s No Way I’d Die First. When Noelle invites her wealthy, social-media obsessed friends to a party to boost the popularity of her horror podcast and a homicidal clown forces the kids to play a game of tag, what could go wrong? As kids start dropping like flies, Noelle is determined to survive. Full of pop culture references and classic slasher details, this book is a Gen Z thriller from the word go.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "young adult", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593643178", "cover": "0593643178", "goodreads": 70917058, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593643174, "image": "https://images4.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/700jpg/9780593643174", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593643174", "isbn10": "0593643178", "links": [] }, "328": { "id": 328, "edition": "fall", "title": "Thicker Than Water: A Memoir", "author": "Kerry Washington", "reviewers": [ "Ashley Brown" ], "text": "Celebrity memoirs can be inherently tantalizing, especially when written by a “famously private” famous person. But I’m not sure many contain revelations as shocking as what Kerry Washington learned and subsequently shared about her own family history. Very mild spoiler warning here: In uncanny examples of life imitating art, the actor lays bare some lived experiences that mirror the plotlines of her on-screen roles in Scandal, She Hate Me and Little Fires Everywhere. Even if you haven’t avoided full spoilers for this book, Washington’s candor about forgiveness and building resilience after multiple traumas is deeply compelling. Insight and wisdom about the craft of acting is also sprinkled in, to boot.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "0316497398", "cover": "0316497398", "goodreads": 88564046, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780316497398, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41arSIcfn0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316497398", "isbn10": "0316497398", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 328, "book": "Thicker Than Water", "source": "NPR", "text": "How a DNA test inspired actress-activist Kerry Washington's journey of self-discovery", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/25/1201488524/kerry-washington-thicker-than-water-memoir" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 328, "book": "Thicker Than Water", "source": "NPR", "text": "After revealing her family secret, Kerry Washington reflects on what was gained ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/10/02/1202968650/kerry-washington-secret-finding-your-roots-npr-interview-thicker-than-water" } ] }, "329": { "id": 329, "edition": "fall", "title": "This Bird Has Flown", "author": "Susanna Hoffs", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "This debut novel from the Bangles singer and guitarist follows Jane Start, a one-hit-wonder musician whose life is in shambles: Her boyfriend has left her for a younger woman, and at 33, she has moved back in with her parents. But her luck changes when she meets a handsome Oxford literature professor on a plane to London, and she gets an opportunity to revitalize her flagging career. Susanna Hoffs is a tremendously funny author; she writes with an amused gentleness that syncs perfectly with Jane’s frenetic, somewhat anxious personality. This novel is a winning rom-com and a charming valentine to music.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "for music lovers", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0316409316", "cover": "0316409316", "goodreads": 58313993, "itunes": 9780316409315, "bookshop": 9780316409315, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OIDbNIRmL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316409315", "isbn10": "0316409316", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 329, "book": "This Bird Has Flown", "source": "NPR", "text": "Susanna Hoffs' 'This Bird Has Flown' is a love story — and a valentine to music", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/05/1168120914/the-bangles-susanna-hoffs-book-this-bird-has-flown-is-a-love-story" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 329, "book": "This Bird Has Flown", "source": "NPR", "text": "Bangles cofounder Susanna Hoffs infused her debut novel with her love of music", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/13/1169808268/bangles-cofounder-susanna-hoffs-infused-her-debut-novel-with-her-love-of-music" } ] }, "330": { "id": 330, "edition": "fall", "title": "This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America", "author": "Navied Mahdavian", "reviewers": [ "Malaka Gharib" ], "text": "In Navied Mahdavian’s debut graphic memoir, he recounts his experience moving from San Francisco to rural Idaho with his wife in 2016. In addition to adapting to country life and preparing to start a family, Mahdavian, who is Iranian American, examines his relationship with his race and identity while living in a red state in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. With light and airy illustrations, Mahdavian tackles these complex themes with humor and wit.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1797223674", "cover": "1797223674", "goodreads": 115575694, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781797223674, "image": "https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6010aad3780628040ee8d866/7e884fca-1f43-440e-a644-76944e6232e1/81ZDAMdOW9L.jpg?format=750w", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781797223674", "isbn10": "1797223674", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 330, "book": "This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America", "source": "KUER", "text": "Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America ", "url": "https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2023-09-28/searching-for-home-in-very-rural-america" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 330, "book": "This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America", "source": "UPR", "text": "Access Utah: 'This Country' with Nahvied Mahdavian", "url": "https://www.upr.org/show/access-utah/2023-09-26/this-country-with-nahvied-mahdavian-on-wednesdays-access-utah" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 330, "book": "This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America", "source": "WNYC", "text": "This Country' Explores Moving to Rural America", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/country-explores-moving-rural-america/" } ] }, "331": { "id": 331, "edition": "fall", "title": "This Other Eden", "author": "Paul Harding", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "This Other Eden is inspired by the real-life events on Malaga Island, Maine, which, from roughly the Civil War era to 1912, was home to an interracial fishing community. After government officials inspected the island in 1911, Malaga’s 47 residents, including children, were forcibly removed, with some rehoused in institutions for the “feebleminded.” In 2010, the state of Maine offered an apology. You could imagine lots of ways a historical novel about these terrible events might be written, but none of them would give you a sense of the strange spell of This Other Eden – its dynamism, bravado and melancholy.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "staff picks", "rather short", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "132403629X", "cover": "132403629X", "goodreads": 61089492, "itunes": 9781324036296, "bookshop": 9781324036296, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41GYjsBuRnL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781324036296", "isbn10": "132403629X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 331, "book": "This Other Eden", "source": "NPR", "text": "Racism tears a Maine fishing community apart in 'This Other Eden' ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/20/1149796211/this-other-eden-review-paul-harding-malaga-island-maine" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 331, "book": "This Other Eden", "source": "MPR", "text": "Paul Harding explores the archetype of displacement in 'This Other Eden' ", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2023/03/24/paul-harding-explores-the-archetype-of-displacement-in-this-other-eden" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 331, "book": "This Other Eden", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Paul Harding - 'This Other Eden'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2023-02-28/paul-harding-this-other-eden" } ] }, "332": { "id": 332, "edition": "fall", "title": "Thornhedge", "author": "T. Kingfisher", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "Prepare to be delighted and enchanted with T. Kingfisher’s revisiting of “Sleeping Beauty.” Toadling, stolen and raised in fairyland by water fairies, was given a task in the human world. Centuries later, she is still determined to keep her world and the human world separate. Enter Halim, a curious knight after the truth of the tale. What follows is a moving story of connection, responsibility, belonging and unexpected friendship. Kingfisher’s fairyland is full of teeth, wonder and horror; what’s dark is very dark, but what’s good will give you warmth. Toadling is so charming a heroine I won’t soon forget her; by the last page, my heart was mended.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250244099", "cover": "1250244099", "goodreads": 61884932, "itunes": 9781250244093, "bookshop": 9781250244093, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41EG7jc-EeL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250244093", "isbn10": "1250244099", "links": [] }, "333": { "id": 333, "edition": "fall", "title": "Tim Te Maro and the Subterranean Heartsick Blues", "author": "H.S. Valley", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Set in a magical boarding school in New Zealand, this lovely contemporary young adult fantasy is as heartfelt as it is melodramatic. Tim, a Māori teen, is paired up with his nemesis, Elliott, to take care of an egg for a school project. Soon that tension turns from bickering to kissing. As the boys move from enemies to lovers, Tim has to find a way to deal with his self-esteem issues before it fractures their fledgling relationship. Sweet, invigorating and effervescent, like cold lemonade on a hot summer’s day.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "young adult", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1760508756", "cover": "1760508756", "goodreads": 57890818, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781760508753, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514L-tw6tXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781760508753", "isbn10": "1760508756", "links": [] }, "334": { "id": 334, "edition": "fall", "title": "Time's Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance", "author": "Jeremy Eichler", "reviewers": [ "Anastasia Tsioulcas" ], "text": "Culture and memory live on in music. That’s the premise of this deeply absorbing and moving narrative of how four composers – Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten – metabolized the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust and how each man’s own personal circumstances and choices shaped their artistic responses. Jeremy Eichler, the chief classical music critic of The Boston Globe, is a sensitive and keenly perceptive documentarian, and this richly drawn history places each of the four composers into a broad historical narrative.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0525521712", "cover": "0525521712", "goodreads": 63946826, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780525521716, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yo3+tuKFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780525521716", "isbn10": "0525521712", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 334, "book": "Time's Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance", "source": "WBUR", "text": "With 'Time's Echo' Boston Globe classical music critic Jeremy Eichler explores the music of memory", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/10/13/jeremy-eichler-times-echo" } ] }, "335": { "id": 335, "edition": "fall", "title": "To Name the Bigger Lie: A Memoir in Two Stories", "author": "Sarah Viren", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "To Name the Bigger Lie has the page-turning quality of a thriller, but instead of tracking down culprits and solving mysteries, Sarah Viren methodically untangles knotty philosophical tensions in pursuit of what is real. Viren was working on a book about her high school philosophy teacher – a man who trafficked in conspiracy theories – when her wife was anonymously accused of sexually harassing students at Arizona State University. The couple quickly discovered that the complaints were part of a smear campaign by a professional rival of Viren’s. She revised her book project, tracing both men’s lies and how they skewed her understanding of reality.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1982166592", "cover": "1982166592", "goodreads": 62919776, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982166595, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41A1hnINAqL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982166595", "isbn10": "1982166592", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 335, "book": "To Name the Bigger Lie", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'To Name the Bigger Lie' is an investigation of the nature of truth", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/14/1181870708/book-review-sarah-viren-to-name-the-bigger-lie-an-investigation-of-truth" } ] }, "336": { "id": 336, "edition": "fall", "title": "To Shape a Dragon's Breath: The First Book of Nampeshiweisit", "author": "Moniquill Blackgoose", "reviewers": [ "Caitlyn Paxson" ], "text": "An Indigenous girl bonds with a dragon and is forced to attend a school where the colonizing Anglish train their youth to control dragons. She rapidly learns that conforming to Anglish values threatens everything she cares about. These days, I find that it’s hard to enjoy a fantasy boarding school setting that doesn’t consider the inherent imperialist undertones of such institutions. This book cuts right to the chase and offers a scathing rejection of the idea that there is one right way for a person to be educated. I tore through it, caught up in an enthusiasm for dragons that I hadn’t experienced since I was a teenager obsessed with Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea and Anne McCaffrey’s Pern.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "rather long", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593498283", "cover": "0593498283", "goodreads": 61937038, "itunes": 9780593498286, "bookshop": 9780593498286, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510usSO71KL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593498286", "isbn10": "0593498283", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 336, "book": "To Shape A Dragon's Breath", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 new fantasy novels invigorate old tropes", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/18/1172698983/5-new-fantasy-novels-invigorate-old-tropes" } ] }, "337": { "id": 337, "edition": "fall", "title": "Today Tonight Forever", "author": "Madeline Kay Sneed", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "Sometimes, you’re just tired of going to weddings. That’s the case for Athena, recently divorced from her wife and, once again, serving as a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding. Exhausted with the grief of losing her father as well as splitting with her wife, she’s arrived at the beaches of Watercolor, Fla., unenthusiastic but ready to put her best face on. What follows is a whirlwind of a weekend, the novel following a wide cast of characters – from Athena to her ex-wife to the bride to assorted family members and old friends – as they confront secrets, old flames, betrayals and more.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1525819593", "cover": "1525819593", "goodreads": 75339201, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781525819599, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510LtrATIQL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781525819599", "isbn10": "1525819593", "links": [] }, "338": { "id": 338, "edition": "fall", "title": "Tom Lake", "author": "Ann Patchett", "reviewers": [ "Meghan Keane" ], "text": "In Tom Lake, a mother uses the long days of pandemic lockdown to tell her adult daughters about her showmance with an actor (who goes on to be famous) back in her summer-stock days. There’s drama; there’s summer love; there are questions about how a moment can impact your life’s trajectory. It will make younger readers question what path is in front of them and make older readers feel appreciative of the road they’ve already taken. This novel is why Ann Patchett is a master.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "love & romance", "family matters", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "006332752X", "cover": "006332752X", "goodreads": 63241104, "itunes": 9780063327528, "bookshop": 9780063327528, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516ATeeZF+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063327528", "isbn10": "006332752X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 338, "book": "Tom Lake", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Ann Patchett on writing about family secrets in her novel 'Tom Lake'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/09/1192996926/author-ann-patchett-on-writing-about-family-secrets-in-her-novel-tom-lake" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 338, "book": "Tom Lake", "source": "NPR", "text": "How much should a mother divulge to her daughters? Ann Patchett weighs it up", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/10/1193256105/tom-lake-ann-patchett-books-mother-daughter" } ] }, "339": { "id": 339, "edition": "fall", "title": "Too Small Tola Gets Tough", "author": "Atinuke, illustrated by Onyinwe Iwu", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "While the Nigerian response to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic may not strike you as a natural plot for an early chapter book, it’s doubtful you’ll find any series quite as charming, as clever as Tola’s. Economics force Tola to work for some rich people in her city of Lagos, but it’s her math skills (yes, math skills!) that end up saving the day. Atinuke at what is clearly the top of her game. (For ages 7 to 9)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1536229466", "cover": "1536229466", "goodreads": 61851827, "itunes": 9781536229462, "bookshop": 9781536229462, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51U2ArizTmL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781536229462", "isbn10": "1536229466", "links": [] }, "340": { "id": 340, "edition": "fall", "title": "Translation State", "author": "Ann Leckie", "reviewers": [ "Joshua Hoffman" ], "text": "What do you do when a powerful, murderous alien race with which you have a peace treaty is so different from humanity that there’s not even a straightforward way to communicate? In the Imperial Radch universe, the alien race in question, the Presger, have found a way to bridge that gap through Translators, though the process of creating those Translators is guarded and mysterious. In this book that’s part space opera, part coming-of-age tale, part body horror delight, Ann Leckie explores themes of power, gender identity, family, destiny and AI through charming characters, dramatic diplomacy and nail-biting action.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "031628971X", "cover": "031628971X", "goodreads": 62873999, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780316289719, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41FQYDOtyKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780316289719", "isbn10": "031628971X", "links": [] }, "341": { "id": 341, "edition": "fall", "title": "Transplant: A Memoir", "author": "Bernardine Watson", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "Bernardine Watson’s memoir about her journey through family estrangement, life-threatening kidney disease, three marriages, raising a son and an impressive career consulting for foundations and nonprofits is a page-turner. Watson insists the reader understand that kidney disease afflicts Black people and people of color in outsize numbers in the U.S. and that our health system continues to fail us. She tells a difficult story while threading affirmation and positivity through to finding her true love. Most important are her clear-eyed explanations about the complexity and challenges of kidney disease, all too ordinary in America.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "family matters", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "194155136X", "cover": "194155136X", "goodreads": 193379938, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781941551363, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51reA0Hr0yL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781941551363", "isbn10": "194155136X", "links": [] }, "342": { "id": 342, "edition": "fall", "title": "Tress of the Emerald Sea: A Cosmere Novel", "author": "Brandon Sanderson", "reviewers": [ "Nikki Birch" ], "text": "This book recounts the journey of Tress, an extraordinarily pragmatic young woman with a fondness for collecting cups. When her friend Charlie, the only son and heir to a duke, is kidnapped by the Sorceress, Tress devises a plan to rescue him by smuggling herself off her home island. Her adventures, told by Hoid, a recurring character in Brandon Sanderson’s expansive universe, The Cosmere, take her across oceans of dangerous pollen aboard a pirate ship, where she uncovers the captain’s nefarious plans. This book has everything you want in a fantasy story: talking animals, extraterrestrial beings, curses, dragons and a unique system of magic. It’s a standalone novel that will delight both hardcore Standersons, like myself, and new readers.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250899656", "cover": "1250899656", "goodreads": 63068384, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781250899651, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41C2yEHF8RL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250899651", "isbn10": "1250899656", "links": [] }, "343": { "id": 343, "edition": "fall", "title": "Twenty Questions", "author": "Mac Barnett, illustrated by Christian Robinson", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "The point of this book – from a pair of children’s literature all-stars – is conversation. “Which of these children is dreaming of peaches?” prompts one of the assembled queries from author Mac Barnett. Some of the questions are simple, some complex, and all are paired with provocative, often whimsical, and engaging illustrations from Christian Robinson. The pairings inspire discussions of why you came up with your answer, which may be profound and bias breaking, or silly and belly-laugh inducing. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1536215139", "cover": "1536215139", "goodreads": 62595545, "itunes": 9781536215137, "bookshop": 9781536215137, "image": "https://images2.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/700jpg/9781536215137", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781536215137", "isbn10": "1536215139", "links": [] }, "344": { "id": 344, "edition": "fall", "title": "Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food", "author": "Chris van Tulleken", "reviewers": [ "Jane Greenhalgh" ], "text": "Wait, I’m eating what? That’s the question Chris van Tulleken poses at the start of Ultra-Processed People, arguing that over the past 150 years, food has become, well, “not food.” Humans first processed food by crushing grain to make bread, but in recent decades, ultraprocessed products made with fillers, additives and synthetic ingredients have come to dominate the food supply. To demonstrate the health impacts, Dr. van Tulleken went on an ultraprocessed diet: “I became unwell very quickly,” he says. The book is both a fascinating history lesson and a cautionary tale. And it will make you much more careful about what you eat.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "science!", "eye-opening reads", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1324036729", "cover": "1324036729", "goodreads": 62586003, "itunes": 9781324036722, "bookshop": 9781324036722, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51qXHMyO6tL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781324036722", "isbn10": "1324036729", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 344, "book": "Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food", "source": "NPR", "text": "An ultra-processed diet made this doctor sick. Now he's studying why", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/24/1189276187/an-ultra-processed-diet-made-this-doctor-sick-now-hes-studying-why" } ] }, "345": { "id": 345, "edition": "fall", "title": "Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World's Ugliest Sweater", "author": "Peggy Orenstein", "reviewers": [ "Erica Liao" ], "text": "Like many other people, I picked up knitting again during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Peggy Orenstein did too – in a more thorough way than most. She documents my (maybe somewhat specific) dream: making a sweater truly from scratch, starting with shearing a sheep, then spinning the yarn, dyeing the wool and finally knitting it up. As Orenstein goes through each step, she interrogates our historical and current relationship to the making of clothes. At the same time, Unraveling is a memoir of a life during COVID: the tedious stress of lockdown, all while facing big shifts in her relationships with a parent and a child. The breadth is wide, and it all comes together cohesively in Orenstein’s conversational, engaging prose.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "for history lovers", "it’s all geek to me", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0063081725", "cover": "0063081725", "goodreads": 60916166, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780063081727, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41q0UJqFyJL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063081727", "isbn10": "0063081725", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 345, "book": "Unraveling", "source": "KQED", "text": "What making a sweater from scratch – from shearing to knitting – can teach us about life", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892056/what-making-a-sweater-from-scratch-from-shearing-to-knitting-can-teach-us-about-life" } ] }, "346": { "id": 346, "edition": "fall", "title": "Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome", "author": "Aparna Nancherla", "reviewers": [ "Emily Bogle" ], "text": "Comedian Aparna Nancherla has long explored mental health in her stand-up. Her book allows her to dig deeper into how psychology has become more mainstream in popular culture. Her essays reflect on her own experiences with anxiety and depression, along with the rise in mental health being normalized and monetized on social media – with self-deprecating jokes along the way. In one instance, Nancherla offers a peek into her brain hour by hour as she deals with performance anxiety before a stand-up set, an art form she loves dearly but that sparks internal conflict. Her writing reveals how she has adjusted to anxiety and depression as present, yet evolving, forces in her life, which is relatable for anyone who is navigating life with these experiences.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1984879804", "cover": "1984879804", "goodreads": 125930612, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781984879806, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41u1-u0OW+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781984879806", "isbn10": "1984879804", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 346, "book": "Unreliable Narrator", "source": "NPR", "text": "Comic Aparna Nancherla uses humor to confront self doubt and anxiety", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/19/1200341521/comic-aparna-nancherla-uses-humor-to-confront-self-doubt-and-anxiety" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 346, "book": "Unreliable Narrator", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Comedian Aparna Nancherla squares off against her inner critic", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/listen/2122124" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 346, "book": "Unreliable Narrator", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Aparna Nancherla’s navel is your navel ", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/aparna-nancherlas-navel-is-your-navel/a8b5d5f9-8f53-435b-ad41-b62f422796f2" } ] }, "347": { "id": 347, "edition": "fall", "title": "Up Late", "author": "Nick Laird", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "The title poem of this new book by Irish poet Nick Laird is one of the finest elegies in my recent memory, a keening outcry over the death of the poet’s father. The urgent beauty of that poem inflects the taut, formal lyrics throughout the rest of the book, which take off from subjects as desperate and unlikely as Pac Man and a paperclip (“To bend inward forever/ shying from the world”). It’s not exactly a happy book, but since when have we come to poetry to get happy?
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "family matters", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1324065443", "cover": "1324065443", "goodreads": 123410753, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781324065449, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31y-DLoImzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781324065449", "isbn10": "1324065443", "links": [] }, "348": { "id": 348, "edition": "fall", "title": "Vampires of El Norte", "author": "Isabel Cañas", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Wessel" ], "text": "In her follow-up to The Hacienda, Isabel Cañas once again brings the creepy vibes in a page-turner of a story. Set in the 1840s on the Texas-Mexico border, Cañas’ novel tells the story of two childhood friends separated by a tragedy and the creatures they must face, both human and supernatural. Weaving together elements of horror, romance and historical fiction, this book still haunts my brain months after reading it. I envy those who get to read it for the first time.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593436725", "cover": "0593436725", "goodreads": 63892214, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593436721, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Asa-FFCzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593436721", "isbn10": "0593436725", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 348, "book": "Vampires of El Norte", "source": "NPR", "text": "Isabel Cañas' 'Vampires of El Norte' elegantly navigates a multiplicity of genres ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/18/1194150491/book-review-isabel-canas-vampires-of-el-norte" } ] }, "349": { "id": 349, "edition": "fall", "title": "Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers", "author": "Jesse Q. Sutanto", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Vera Wong’s San Francisco tea shop isn’t as busy as it once was, but she keeps her life on track with a steady routine – a routine that’s upended when she finds a dead body on the floor of the tea shop one morning. Suddenly, she’s busier than she might have bargained for. The mysterious surprise leads Vera to investigate when it’s clear the police have it wrong. With the help of customers new and old, she tracks down the truth of the matter, building community, sparking some romance and leading us on a delightful caper to the conclusion.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "family matters", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593549228", "cover": "0593549228", "goodreads": 61827543, "itunes": 9780593549223, "bookshop": 9780593549223, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bu2ENsFrL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593549223", "isbn10": "0593549228", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 349, "book": "Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers", "source": "KPR", "text": "Conversations: 'Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers'", "url": "https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/conversations/2023-04-05/vera-wongs-unsolicited-advice-for-murderers" } ] }, "350": { "id": 350, "edition": "fall", "title": "Victory City", "author": "Salman Rushdie", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "With nothing left to prove in his stellar career as a writer, it’s amazing to see Salman Rushdie deliver one of his best novels to date. Epic in both breadth and scope, Victory City tells the story of a young woman who becomes a vessel for a deity, while also chronicling the history of a city as it changes through 250 years. Presented to readers as the translation of an ancient epic, Victory City is a superb tale of love, grief, war, sibling rivalry, myth, growth and adventure that could’ve come only from one of the best living writers.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593243390", "cover": "0593243390", "goodreads": 61111246, "itunes": 9780593243398, "bookshop": 9780593243398, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ws-97x8yL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593243398", "isbn10": "0593243390", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 350, "book": "Victory City", "source": "NPR", "text": "Salman Rushdie's 'Victory City' is a triumph, independent of the Chautauqua attack", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/1155111717/salman-rushdie-victory-city" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 350, "book": "Victory City", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Author Salman Rushdie releases his new expansive, mystical novel 'Victory City'", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/02/07/salman-rushdie-victory-city" } ] }, "351": { "id": 351, "edition": "fall", "title": "Warrior Girl Unearthed", "author": "Angeline Boulley", "reviewers": [ "Kira Condee-Padunova" ], "text": "Warrior Girl Unearthed follows Perry Firekeeper-Birch as she attends a paid summer internship to reimburse her Auntie Daunis for a fender bender. While there, Perry learns more about NAGPRA, a federal law for the repatriation of Native remains and sacred objects, and becomes interested in the remains of the Warrior Girl, held at a local university. As more institutions reckon with the items in their collections, this book tells a great thriller with a call for justice at its core.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "young adult", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1250766583", "cover": "1250766583", "goodreads": 61675933, "itunes": 9781250766588, "bookshop": 9781250766588, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gZxq5L33L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250766588", "isbn10": "1250766583", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 351, "book": "Warrior Girl Unearthed", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Warrior Girl Unearthed' revisits the 'Firekeeper's Daughter' cast of characters ", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/10/1172699332/warrior-girl-unearthed-firekeepers-daughter-novel-angeline-boulley" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 351, "book": "Warrior Girl Unearthed", "source": "Michigan radio", "text": "Stateside Podcast: Angeline Boulley on new YA thriller ", "url": "https://www.michiganradio.org/podcast/stateside/2023-05-03/stateside-podcast-angeline-boulley-on-new-ya-thriller" } ] }, "352": { "id": 352, "edition": "fall", "title": "We Are a Haunting", "author": "Tyriek White", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "We are a Haunting is written so vividly that it’s almost vibrating. In this multigenerational family epic, East New York – with all of its sounds, smells and pulsing sensations – feels almost as alive as the people who inhabit it. But it is, of course, the people who bring so much heart, pain, strangeness and beauty to this story. The family at its center is blessed with an otherworldly gift to connect with both the living and dead – an ability that brings surreal layers to a very real-world struggle: trying to hold on to home and community in a city that is continually crushing and displacing some of its longest-standing residents.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "the states we’re in", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1662601719", "cover": "1662601719", "goodreads": 61818988, "itunes": 9781662601712, "bookshop": 9781662601712, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/511qoyga7YL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781662601712", "isbn10": "1662601719", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 352, "book": "We Are A Haunting", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'We Are a Haunting' is a stunningly original, beautiful novel of devotion", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/27/1172399913/book-review-tyriek-white-we-are-a-haunting-debut-novel" } ] }, "353": { "id": 353, "edition": "fall", "title": "We Could Be So Good", "author": "Cat Sebastian", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "When Cat Sebastian is creating romance, every serve is an ace. Little surprise that this sweet and sizzling 1950s story is my favorite of the year. Sebastian draws the challenges of queer life in the period with insight and a light touch. The real stars, though, are her characters and their chemistry. “Nick Russo could fill the Sunday paper with reasons why he shouldn’t be able to stand Andy Fleming.” On top of being the boss’s son, Andy is a gadfly and a diffident heir who’s only “slumming it” on the city desk at The Chronicle, the New York newspaper where Nick is sweating out his dreams. Nick clocks a litany of reasons to loathe this upstart, yet the hostile pose lasts barely an hour. He becomes Andy’s guide, then best friend. Their slow-burning sparks are organic, joy inducing and earned.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063272768", "cover": "0063272768", "goodreads": 62365905, "itunes": 9780063272767, "bookshop": 9780063272767, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KEmXDz74L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063272767", "isbn10": "0063272768", "links": [] }, "354": { "id": 354, "edition": "fall", "title": "We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir", "author": "Raja Shehadeh", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "There’s something so simple, so heartbreaking about the title of Raja Shehadeh’s memoir, We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I. In it, the Palestinian lawyer and human rights activist revisits his strained relationship with his father, a brilliant lawyer displaced from Jaffa by the Israelis in 1948, then later banished and imprisoned by the Jordanian regime for advocating on behalf of Palestinians. Shehadeh describes his father, Aziz, as a “pioneer, ahead of his peers,” a man whose advocacy for a two-state solution put him at odds with both Arabs and Israelis – and may have been the impetus for his assassination in 1985. Writing now, decades later, Shehadeh finds himself sorting through his father’s papers, surprised and saddened by how much of himself he recognizes in Aziz’s work.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "family matters", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "staff picks", "rather short", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1635423643", "cover": "1635423643", "goodreads": 61193145, "itunes": 9781635423648, "bookshop": 9781635423648, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/417J8knhTvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781635423648", "isbn10": "1635423643", "links": [] }, "355": { "id": 355, "edition": "fall", "title": "We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America", "author": "Roxanna Asgarian", "reviewers": [ "Joseph Shapiro" ], "text": "Start with a sensational case that grabbed our attention: Two mothers who crashed their SUV over a California cliff, killing themselves and their six adopted children. Then add a reporter who knows her subject in depth – the inner-workings of America’s foster care system. Reporter Roxanna Asgarian spent nearly five years to reveal a truer story – about a system where a well-off white couple can dodge claims of abuse, but the children’s Black families had their kids taken quickly, leaving adults and siblings grieving for their broken family. Press coverage in 2018 puzzled over the motivation of the mothers. Asgarian more thoughtfully asks: What does this tragedy say about a foster care system where, in most cases, children are removed for issues of neglect and poverty, not for abuse?
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0374602298", "cover": "0374602298", "goodreads": 60784741, "itunes": 9780374602291, "bookshop": 9780374602291, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41wvN33sarL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374602291", "isbn10": "0374602298", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 355, "book": "We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'We Were Once a Family' exposes ills of U.S. child welfare system", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1163047232/roxanna-asgarian-we-were-once-a-family-exposes-ills-of-u-s-child-welfare-system" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 355, "book": "We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'We Were Once a Family' explores flaws in foster, adoption systems and 6 children's resulting deaths ", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/04/11/we-were-once-family-book-adoption" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 355, "book": "We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America", "source": "Texas Standard", "text": "New book digs deeper into tragedy of six children killed by their adoptive parents", "url": "https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/we-were-once-family-asgarian-book-texas-foster-system-hart-killed/" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 355, "book": "We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America", "source": "WAMU", "text": "Local Spotlight: The Hart family murders and the flawed child welfare system", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/local-spotlight-the-hart-family-murders-and-the-flawed-child-welfare-system/" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 355, "book": "We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America", "source": "KQED", "text": "5 Years After Mendocino Crash, Journalist Roxanna Asgarian Retells the Stories of the Children Murdered", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101892809/5-years-after-mendocino-crash-journalist-roxanna-asgarian-retells-the-stories-of-the-children-murdered" } ] }, "356": { "id": 356, "edition": "fall", "title": "We're Safe When We're Alone", "author": "Nghiem Tran", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "This hypnotic and richly allusive novella can be read as a concentric poem that hints at both hope and inevitable endings: A boy, fearing for his mother’s death from cancer, agrees to travel with his father to “the other world” for a chance of saving her. Yet the story also reflects the boy’s foreboding sense of his father’s demise or imminent absence when the two of them are in this other world, which can also stand for a foreign country. His fear of “ghosts” lurking outside the home with infinite power to take him away from his father seems to represent an immigrant/refugee child’s fear of turning into an assimilated other that would make him a stranger to his family.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1566896835", "cover": "1566896835", "goodreads": 80110997, "itunes": 9781566896832, "bookshop": 9781566896832, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31AntuWhnlL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781566896832", "isbn10": "1566896835", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 356, "book": "We're Safe When We're Alone", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Nghiem Tran on how writing 'We're Safe When We're Alone' inspired him to reflect on his own immigration story ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-10-12/nghiem-tran-on-how-writing-were-safe-when-were-alone-inspired-him-to-reflect-on-his-own-immigration-story" } ] }, "357": { "id": 357, "edition": "fall", "title": "Wednesday's Child: Stories", "author": "Yiyun Li", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "The short stories in Yiyun Li’s new collection focus chiefly on people trying to put themselves together after some kind of loss: dealing with anguish that takes its time, rising from its dormancy at unexpected moments. Li is a master at understanding human emotion, but her tenderness never gives way to sentimentality; her compassion, coupled with her gorgeous prose and painstaking attention to detail, is what makes these stories so beautiful, so accomplished. This is a perfect collection by a writer at the top of her game.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0374606374", "cover": "0374606374", "goodreads": 65215744, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374606374, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/413y0wxdC8L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374606374", "isbn10": "0374606374", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 357, "book": "Wednesday's Child", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Wednesday's Child' deals in life after loss", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/07/1197601727/wednesdays-child-deals-in-life-after-loss" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 357, "book": "Wednesday's Child", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Yiyun Li Reads 'Wednesday’s Child'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/yiyun-li-reads-wednesdays-child/" } ] }, "358": { "id": 358, "edition": "fall", "title": "Wellness", "author": "Nathan Hill", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Nathan Hill’s brilliant second novel follows Jack and Elizabeth, a couple staring down the advent of their middle age and trying to find deliverance in upgraded living quarters, life hacks and new adventures, all hoping it will make them and their marriage better. This is a perfect novel for our age, filled with a deep awareness of the internet-poisoned, marketing-driven engineered emptiness of modern times, but also with a compassionate optimism about our ability to find and maintain love nonetheless. It’s a monumental achievement: a masterpiece by an author who has, in the space of two novels, become indispensable.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing", "rather long", "love & romance" ], "isbn": "0593536118", "cover": "0593536118", "goodreads": 65650229, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593536117, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41oKsVdkGoL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593536117", "isbn10": "0593536118", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 358, "book": "Wellness", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Wellness' is a perfect novel for our age, its profound sadness tempered with humor", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/20/1200197882/book-review-nathan-hill-wellness" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 358, "book": "Wellness", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Nathan Hill on 'Wellness' ", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2023-09-19/nathan-hill-on-wellness" } ] }, "359": { "id": 359, "edition": "fall", "title": "West: A Translation", "author": "Paisley Rekdal", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "Paisley Rekdal has always been a breathtakingly ambitious poet, and this is her most ambitious book so far – a work of seamlessly blended poetry and history. In lyric poems in many forms and spoken through many voices, as well as in corresponding essays, Rekdal traces and grieves the sorrowful politics that link the building of the transcontinental railroad and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (“Congress had to pass an act/ to make the building stop”). She excavates an American shame that has yet to be reckoned with, though this extraordinary book, which finds a fresh purpose for poetry as a reliquary of evidence, perhaps makes a start.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1556596561", "cover": "1556596561", "goodreads": 80055422, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781556596568, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31tbDmCEZYL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781556596568", "isbn10": "1556596561", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 359, "book": "West", "source": "UPR", "text": "Access Utah: 'West: A Translation' with Paisley Rekdal ", "url": "https://www.upr.org/programs/2021-05-10/west-a-translation-with-paisley-rekdal-on-mondays-access-utah" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 359, "book": "West", "source": "NPR", "text": "NewsPoet: Paisley Rekdal writes The Day In Verse", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2012/07/10/156543220/newspoet-paisley-rekdal-writes-the-day-in-verse" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 359, "book": "West", "source": "KWGS", "text": "A chat with Paisley Rekdal, former Poet Laureate of Utah", "url": "https://www.publicradiotulsa.org/show/studiotulsa/2023-03-30/a-chat-with-paisley-rekdal-the-former-poet-laureate-of-utah-who-will-soon-read-her-from-work-at-tu" } ] }, "360": { "id": 360, "edition": "fall", "title": "Western Lane", "author": "Chetna Maroo", "reviewers": [ "Neda Ulaby" ], "text": "What is it like to be a child sports prodigy? We’re captivated by the real-life stories of Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters. Now, in her taut, spare debut novel, Chetna Maroo introduces us to Gopi, a fictional 11-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants living in a London suburb. Her extraordinary talents in the game of squash are revealed in the wake of a devastating tragedy that leaves Gopi, her sisters and her father emotionally frozen and fragile. In selecting this novel as a finalist for the Booker Prize, the judges especially singled out Western Lane for its language, praising its “crystalline prose that also feels warm and tender, which can be a difficult balance to strike.”
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "for sports lovers", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0374607494", "cover": "0374607494", "goodreads": 60784812, "itunes": 9780374607494, "bookshop": 9780374607494, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31TWYfcZ5fL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374607494", "isbn10": "0374607494", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 360, "book": "Western Lane", "source": "NPR", "text": "Two debut books make the prestigious Booker Prize shortlist", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/09/21/1200878152/t2023-booker-prize-shortlist-escoffery-maroo-murray-harding-bernstein-lynch" } ] }, "361": { "id": 361, "edition": "fall", "title": "Weyward", "author": "Emilia Hart", "reviewers": [ "Sara Richard" ], "text": "This spellbinding tale spanning five centuries instantly caught my attention. With its seamless transitions between 1619, 1942 and 2019, it tells the stories of three generations of strong and resilient women. Each one faces unique hardships, but through their unwavering determination and the support of their loved ones, they triumph over adversity. You will uncover a cottage, secrets and immeasurable strength. This debut novel is an impressive tribute to the indomitable spirit of women, the transformative power of nature and the enduring bonds of family and ancestry.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "historical fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "125028080X", "cover": "125028080X", "goodreads": 60654349, "itunes": 9781250280800, "bookshop": 9781250280800, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518P8cxHRXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250280800", "isbn10": "125028080X", "links": [] }, "362": { "id": 362, "edition": "fall", "title": "Whalefall", "author": "Daniel Kraus", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "When you read a novel about a man who is accidentally swallowed by a whale – yes, a modern version of Jonah’s tale – you probably expect strangeness and gore, and Daniel Kraus’ narrative delivers plenty of those. However, it’s the book’s wealth of scientific facts and emotional content that makes this a must-read. An enthralling, claustrophobic, action-packed thriller that is also a love letter to the ocean and a beautiful tale that explores the broken relationship between a man and his dead father, this is Kraus’ best novel to date.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "the dark side", "science!", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1665918160", "cover": "1665918160", "goodreads": 62919162, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781665918169, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41-UetejO5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781665918169", "isbn10": "1665918160", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 362, "book": "Whalefall", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Daniel Kraus on his new thriller 'Whalefall'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/13/1193640363/author-daniel-kraus-on-his-new-thriller-whalefall" } ] }, "363": { "id": 363, "edition": "fall", "title": "What the Dead Know: Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator", "author": "Barbara Butcher", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "What the Dead Know is Barbara Butcher’s memoir about her career as a death investigator in Manhattan (she was the first woman to hold the job for longer than a few months). Homicide, suicide, accident or natural – it was her job to figure out how people died but also, as she writes in the book, how they lived. The story takes an emotional turn when, after 9/11, it became Butcher’s job to identify the remains of people who died that day. While it may sound bleak, reading this memoir is like watching an episode of CSI with your dry, brassy best friend. And, yes, she has heard all the jokes about her last name.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "the dark side", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1982179384", "cover": "1982179384", "goodreads": 62919823, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781982179380, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51e-DJt0-GL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982179380", "isbn10": "1982179384", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 363, "book": "What The Dead Know", "source": "NPR", "text": "Death investigator Barbara Butcher knows 'What the Dead Know'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/06/17/1182941227/death-investigator-barbara-butcher-knows-what-the-dead-know" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 363, "book": "What The Dead Know", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: Barbara Butcher on death (and life) in 'What the Dead Know'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/barbara-butcher-death-and-life-what-dead-know/" } ] }, "364": { "id": 364, "edition": "fall", "title": "When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era", "author": "Donovan X. Ramsey", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "As a Black man who grew up during the crack epidemic, author Donovan X. Ramsey watched firsthand as the drug lay waste to his community – but he never understood why it happened. In When Crack Was King, Ramsey reevaluates the era by focusing on the stories of four people who lived through it. Along the way, he makes a convincing case that government policies criminalized what was essentially a public health crisis, and he busts some of the most pernicious media-generated myths of the epidemic – including the much ballyhooed threat of the “crack baby.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "staff picks", "rather long", "identity & culture", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0525511806", "cover": "0525511806", "goodreads": 63024187, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780525511809, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51m99EZl6WL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780525511809", "isbn10": "0525511806", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 364, "book": "When Crack Was King", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'When Crack Was King' follows four people who lived through the drug epidemic", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/11/1186750331/when-crack-was-king-follows-four-people-who-lived-through-the-drug-epidemic" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 364, "book": "When Crack Was King", "source": "NPR", "text": "Why the crack cocaine epidemic hit Black communities 'first and worst'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/13/1186778651/crack-cocaine-epidemic-when-crack-was-king-donovan-x-ramsey" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 364, "book": "When Crack Was King", "source": "NPR", "text": "Donovan X. Ramsey's book is a 'people's history' of the cocaine epidemic", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/07/09/1186674923/donovan-x-ramseys-book-is-a-peoples-history-of-the-cocaine-epidemic" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 364, "book": "When Crack Was King", "source": "NPR", "text": "How pop culture framed the crack epidemic", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/07/1192489893/how-pop-culture-framed-the-crack-epidemic" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 364, "book": "When Crack Was King", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Donovan Ramsey on 'When Crack Was King'", "url": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/ramsey-crack-was-king" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 364, "book": "When Crack Was King", "source": "KQED", "text": " ‘When Crack Was King’ dives into the people, and the myths, of the crack epidemic", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893966/when-crack-was-king-dives-into-the-people-and-the-myths-of-the-crack-epidemic" } ] }, "365": { "id": 365, "edition": "fall", "title": "Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess", "author": "Evan Drellich", "reviewers": [ "Tucker Ives" ], "text": "At this point, the Houston Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal has been well documented. But they weren’t banging on garbage cans in a vacuum. The journalist who broke the original sign stealing story goes into more detail about the conditions that led to the dugout percussion routine, the fallout across the sport, and other efforts Houston made to gain an edge (yes, McKinsey consultants are involved). The on-field players take a back seat to the front office characters who have egos to match their budget. This book is as much about modern American culture and business as it is about baseball.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for sports lovers" ], "isbn": "006304904X", "cover": "006304904X", "goodreads": 55921510, "itunes": 9780063049048, "bookshop": 9780063049048, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41wFagcxmLL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063049048", "isbn10": "006304904X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 365, "book": "Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess", "source": "NPR", "text": "Evan Drellich's new book sheds light on the Houston Astros cheating scandal", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/06/1161248173/evan-drellichs-new-book-sheds-light-on-the-houston-astros-cheating-scandal" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 365, "book": "Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess", "source": "WNYC", "text": "All of It: A new set of rules for Major League Baseball ", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-set-rules-major-league-baseball/" } ] }, "366": { "id": 366, "edition": "fall", "title": "Witch King", "author": "Martha Wells", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Kai, a demon, survives a murder attempt, only to discover his close friend is missing and the new world he helped forge out of the ruins of a brutal empire is on the verge of collapse. With old friends and new allies, Kai takes on powerful mages and past traumas. This motley crew of mages, demons and otherworldly beings crosses oceans and continents, past and present, to save the world and people they love. It’s the kind of novel you want to sink into, with a narrative style that hooks you in and makes it impossible to put down.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250826799", "cover": "1250826799", "goodreads": 61885085, "itunes": 9781250826794, "bookshop": 9781250826794, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41uz2SeskCL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250826794", "isbn10": "1250826799", "links": [] }, "367": { "id": 367, "edition": "fall", "title": "Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother", "author": "Peggy O'Donnell Heffington", "reviewers": [ "Erin Sells" ], "text": "My mother never pressured me to become a mother, which may be part of the reason why I never felt it was an imperative. And also why I was somewhat surprised to discover so many people felt it was – for themselves, sure, but also for me and every other woman, regardless of desire, ability or inclination. The often untold, hushed, pitied, even vilified (but rarely celebrated) history of women without children is a worthwhile read for anyone who wants to consider how women build their lives and how we can support them whether they are mothers or not.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "for history lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1541675576", "cover": "1541675576", "goodreads": 61918857, "itunes": 9781541675575, "bookshop": 9781541675575, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pB2d7z+1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781541675575", "isbn10": "1541675576", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 367, "book": "Without Children: The Long History Of Not Being A Mother", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "More women choosing not to have children, but it’s not a new phenomenon ", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/stories/more-women-choosing-not-to-have-children-but-its-not-a-new-phenomenon/d3934919-b015-4e72-aa98-0496558d4dc8" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 367, "book": "Without Children: The Long History Of Not Being A Mother", "source": "WAMU", "text": "The choice to not have children", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/the-choice-to-not-have-children/" } ] }, "368": { "id": 368, "edition": "fall", "title": "Witness: Stories", "author": "Jamel Brinkley", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Jamel Brinkley made a splash in the literary world with his debut short story collection, A Lucky Man. His follow-up collection, set in a changing New York City, contains 10 stories about people who choose to speak on behalf of others – or fail to do so. Brinkley tackles several themes in the book, including community, responsibility and grief, and he does so beautifully, with assured prose and artful dialogue that rings true, sometimes painfully so. This is a brilliant collection that offers hope, but not at the expense of realism.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0374607036", "cover": "0374607036", "goodreads": 62039185, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780374607036, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31W4x0DFLTL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780374607036", "isbn10": "0374607036", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 368, "book": "Witness", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Jamel Brinkley explores loss, love & responsibility in his new book, 'Witness'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/08/04/1192246096/author-jamel-brinkley-explores-loss-love-responsibility-in-his-new-book-witness" } ] }, "369": { "id": 369, "edition": "fall", "title": "Women of Myth: From Deer Woman and Mami Wata to Amaterasu and Athena, Your Guide to the Amazing and Diverse Women from World Mythology", "author": "Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy, illustrated by Sara Richard", "reviewers": [ "Holly J. Morris" ], "text": "The goddesses, heroines and monsters of this collection share a trait: absolute badassery. The authors, who created the Ancient History Fangirl podcast, balance eyebrow-raising details with historical and cultural context. You’ll learn that ancient Vietnamese warrior Triệu Thị Trinh would sling her bosoms over her shoulder in battle, that she was likely a real-life rebel against Chinese imperialism, and also that she’s represented in some video games today. The full-page portraits depict people of action, who are unearthly yet relatable. (These Barbies have realistic body types!) Their personalities shine, ooze and/or scream through; even the corpselike Mexican ghost La Llorona has a certain je ne sais quoi.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world", "it’s all geek to me", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1507219415", "cover": "1507219415", "goodreads": 59465293, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781507219416, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ImcVCrfuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781507219416", "isbn10": "1507219415", "links": [] }, "370": { "id": 370, "edition": "fall", "title": "Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons", "author": "Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "This vibrantly realized three-part history of the Amazons of DC Comics – you know, Wonder Woman’s people – has everything you want in a saga of gods and monsters. Kelly Sue DeConnick renders Earth’s original dysfunctional family – Zeus, Hera, Athena and the lot – as scheming, tempestuous creatures whose clashes grind human lives up in their gears. Sumptuous art by Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott is so richly detailed you’ll find yourself lingering over each page before turning it.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "comics & graphic novels", "family matters", "it’s all geek to me", "staff picks", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1779521359", "cover": "1779521359", "goodreads": 89982174, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781779521354, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Mq4kkOocL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781779521354", "isbn10": "1779521359", "links": [] }, "371": { "id": 371, "edition": "fall", "title": "Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey", "author": "Edel Rodriguez", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "If you did not want to be part of Fidel Castro’s revolution, if you wanted to flee Cuba, you were considered a “worm.” In his graphic memoir, Edel Rodriguez recounts his childhood and the events that led to his family’s choice to leave on the Mariel boatlift. His illustrations underscore the desperation and uncertainty of those times, rife with propaganda, lies and fear. Later, as a Cuban American, Rodriguez creates covers for Time magazine about the Trump administration, drawing connections between his childhood and the new political rhetoric he hears in the U.S. It’s a stunning memoir that exposes what happens to a family and a society when ruled by an authoritarian.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "young adult", "staff picks", "family matters", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "125075397X", "cover": "125075397X", "goodreads": 57771211, "itunes": 9781250753977, "bookshop": 9781250753977, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51dvc5Pf-SL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781250753977", "isbn10": "125075397X", "links": [] }, "372": { "id": 372, "edition": "fall", "title": "Y/N", "author": "Esther Yi", "reviewers": [ "Tochi Onyebuchi" ], "text": "Esther Yi’s Y/N is the most adroit depiction of celebrity and parasocial relationships I have ever read. Bizarre, confidently so, yet observant and abounding in humanity and humor, every sentence is a surprise. Our nameless protagonist’s journey through the looking glass of K-pop fandom will have you thinking deeply about what it means to live and to love in our profoundly online age.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing", "rather short", "tales from around the world", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1662601530", "cover": "1662601530", "goodreads": 61105578, "itunes": 9781662601538, "bookshop": 9781662601538, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51mtQ9IE+GL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781662601538", "isbn10": "1662601530", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 372, "book": "Y/N", "source": "NPR", "text": "The loneliness of the central character in Esther Yi's 'Y/N' is universal", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/21/1165092731/the-loneliness-of-the-central-character-in-esther-yis-y-n-is-universal" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 372, "book": "Y/N", "source": "NPR", "text": "In defense of fan fiction, and ignoring the 'pretensions of polish'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/03/23/1165330497/fan-fiction-books-novels-writing-esther-yi" } ] }, "373": { "id": 373, "edition": "fall", "title": "Yellowface", "author": "R.F. Kuang", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "“Nail-biting thriller about the world of book publishing” is not a phrase I ever expected to use. But that’s what this book is, with the added dimension of a toxic friendship, an identity thief and, of course, some racebending. The story is glossy and fun but tackles some very serious ideas – like who owns history, what it means to grieve and where the line is between appreciation, appropriation and outright thievery. This one is hard to put down – as baffling and often pernicious as the narrator’s decisions sometimes are, I found myself unable to stop hoping, desperately, that she would eventually find the light.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0063250837", "cover": "0063250837", "goodreads": 195930484, "itunes": 9780063250833, "bookshop": 9780063250833, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41-fexPs++L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780063250833", "isbn10": "0063250837", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 373, "book": "Yellowface", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Yellowface' takes white privilege to a sinister level", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/15/1175725398/r-f-kuang-novel-yellowface-takes-white-privilege-to-a-sinister-level" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 373, "book": "Yellowface", "source": "NPR", "text": "She wants fiction writers to step outside their experiences. Even if it's messy", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/1176502815/yellowface-book-novel-rf-kuang-satire-asian-american" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 373, "book": "Yellowface", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author R.F. Kuang on unlikable narrators and cultural appropriation in 'Yellowface'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/05/16/1176508635/author-r-f-kuang-on-unlikable-narrators-and-cultural-appropriation-in-yellowface" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 373, "book": "Yellowface", "source": "Connecticut Public Radio", "text": "R.F. Kuang's satirical thriller 'Yellowface' tackles ethics in authorship ", "url": "https://www.ctpublic.org/show/where-we-live/2023-07-20/r-f-kuangs-satirical-thriller-yellowface-tackles-ethics-in-authorship" } ] }, "374": { "id": 374, "edition": "fall", "title": "You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir", "author": "Maggie Smith", "reviewers": [ "Anastasia Tsioulcas" ], "text": "In 2016, poet Maggie Smith went viral with her poem “Good Bones.” She wrote: “The world is at least / fifty percent terrible,” noting that “Any decent realtor” would try to sell you a place with good bones with the claim: “You could make this place beautiful.” Smith comes back to that line as the launching point of this lyrical, bittersweet memoir about her divorce – making something beautiful out of a horrible situation. (As her career skyrocketed, Smith says, her marriage crumbled.) If you’re looking for a bitchy tell-all about her marriage fracturing, this isn’t it. Instead, Smith is working through her pain, page by page, in a heartbreaking and exquisitely rendered collection of vignettes, poems and brief musings.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1982185856", "cover": "1982185856", "goodreads": 61273812, "itunes": 9781982185855, "bookshop": 9781982185855, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41wnde8xF1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781982185855", "isbn10": "1982185856", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 374, "book": "You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Poet Maggie Smith on her new memoir 'You Could Make This Place Beautiful'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/04/15/1170246271/poet-maggie-smith-on-her-new-memoir-you-could-make-this-place-beautiful" } ] }, "375": { "id": 375, "edition": "fall", "title": "You, Again", "author": "Kate Goldbeck", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "As Marie Kondo once said, “I’m so excited, because I love mess.” This gender-swapped When Harry Met Sally retelling (she’s the commitment phobe, he’s the hopeless romantic) is for anyone who craves romance novels with realistic and flawed characters. Ari and Josh circle each other for years in the kind of delicious, slow-burn tension that only comes from a well-executed enemies-to-friends-to-lovers arc. And while they make many mistakes (so many mistakes) on their journey to one another, you can’t help but enjoy every second of the ride.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "let’s talk about sex", "rather long" ], "isbn": "059344812X", "cover": "059344812X", "goodreads": 75665887, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593448120, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61BDlZlh7aL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593448120", "isbn10": "059344812X", "links": [] }, "376": { "id": 376, "edition": "fall", "title": "Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America’s Revolutions", "author": "Mattie Kahn", "reviewers": [ "Maya Rodale" ], "text": "Claudette Colvin. Anna Elizabeth Dickinson. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee. Alice de Rivera. You may not know these names, but you certainly know the revolutions they sparked – for equal rights, for abolition, for equal access to the ballot, for gender equality in schools. They are just a few of the fearless teenage girls whose defiance and determination changed the world. This riveting and well-researched book invites us to reexamine the history we’ve been taught and to view teenage girls as a powerful force for change.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "for history lovers", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "059329906X", "cover": "059329906X", "goodreads": 63139917, "itunes": 9780593299067, "bookshop": 9780593299067, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51go17lAeUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593299067", "isbn10": "059329906X", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 376, "book": "Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America’s Revolutions", "source": "KQED", "text": "Need to Start a Revolution? Ask a Teen Girl", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893493/need-to-start-a-revolution-ask-a-teen-girl" } ] }, "377": { "id": 377, "edition": "fall", "title": "Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia", "author": "Gary J. Bass", "reviewers": [ "Vincent Ni" ], "text": "Gary J. Bass’ latest book adds to a growing body of literature that deals with post-World War II Asia. The Tokyo trial “was a measure of Asia’s colonial past and a prelude of its Cold War future,” he writes of the 1940s trials that lasted almost three times as long as those at Nuremberg. In his riveting account of this lesser-known piece of Asian history, Bass reveals just how contentious the trials were. Through his vivid storytelling, he also exposes the dilemma between idealism and pragmatism. This provides a useful historical reference point to inform the current debate about what may follow the Russia-Ukraine war.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "for history lovers", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1101947101", "cover": "1101947101", "goodreads": 75596597, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781101947104, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ZAe+8VcbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781101947104", "isbn10": "1101947101", "links": [] }, "378": { "id": 378, "edition": "fall", "title": "Edith Holler", "author": "Edward Carey", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "Do not, no matter how hungry, eat the beetle spread! It’s the fictional condiment of the city of Norwich, made (supposedly) from ground deathwatch beetles. And 12-year-old Edith Holler, cursed never to leave her family’s Victorian theater lest she die, suspects there’s something ghastly ground into the spread. When she tries to communicate this to the city, everything goes sideways: A mysterious stepmother with suspiciously sharp teeth arrives, a stage collapses, uncles disappear, and beetles, beetles, beetles are everywhere! Edward Carey excels in writing – and drawing! – peculiar characters, and the cast he creates for the macabre and fun Edith Holler is no exception.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "rather long", "the dark side", "no biz like show biz", "fiction" ], "isbn": "059318890X", "cover": "059318890X", "goodreads": 142600807, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780593188903, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nMl3jUyOL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780593188903", "isbn10": "059318890X", "links": [] }, "379": { "id": 379, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp: Spicy Recipes and Stories from Fly By Jing's Kitchen", "author": "Jing Gao", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "Not one, but two Sichuan chili crisp cookbooks came to market this year, a boon for those of us who adore our “angry lady sauce” (an affectionate nickname for the classic Laoganma original). Food entrepreneur Jing Gao built a business on the version she encourages you to make, but I am here to tell you these recipes are just as thrilling with store-bought chili crisp, taken to new frontiers: Chili Paneer! Lazi Chicken Wings! Savory Soft Douhua! “Am I actually allowed to do this?!” I thought, slurping down silky tofu pudding streaked with brick-red chili. Yes! – and now you can, too.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1984862170", "cover": "1984862170", "goodreads": 128719740, "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781984862174, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ct3nGLh6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781984862174", "isbn10": "1984862170", "links": [] }, "380": { "id": 380, "edition": "fall", "title": "Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars", "author": "Kliph Nesteroff", "reviewers": [ "Glen Weldon" ], "text": "Kliph Nesteroff’s chosen subject is a tricky one. After all, pop culture comes in for criticism from all sides. Or does it? As you’d expect, you’ll find in these pages many self-appointed public scolds who, affronted by depictions of sex, politics, or religion, have convinced governments to censor artists for decades. But today, some of these very same individuals and organizations can be found making bad-faith complaints about “wokeness.” The through line, of course, is a regressive resistance to social change, and Nesteroff’s meticulously researched book chronicles the many battles that have been waged on that front in the culture wars since the birth of show business. It expertly provides the one thing lacking in too many discussions of popular culture: deep, substantive, meaningful context.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "no biz like show biz", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "141976098X", "cover": "141976098X", "goodreads": "", "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781419760983, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71AoI90kMqL._SL1368_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781419760983", "isbn10": "141976098X", "links": [] }, "381": { "id": 381, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García", "author": "Laura Tillman", "reviewers": [ "Carrie Kahn" ], "text": "Lalo García’s road traveled – from child farmworker to deported criminal to one of Mexico City’s elite star chefs – is a drama-filled story that needs no embellishment. But author Laura Tillman injects keen insight, deft prose, fascinating historical context and foodie facts that leave your mouth watering and mind satiated. García’s unconventional path to success not only crosses the U.S.-Mexico border several times but spans his own existential journey from poverty to privilege. With Mexico City now a must-stop on the global food stage, García’s story is all the more engaging, timely and tasty.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1324005777", "cover": "1324005777", "goodreads": "", "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781324005773, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61iuf51y7YL._SL1200_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781324005773", "isbn10": "1324005777", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 381, "book": "The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García ", "source": "WUSF", "text": "A former Florida farmworker tells of grim working conditions", "url": "https://www.wusf.org/economy-business/2023-09-10/former-florida-farmworker-tells-of-grim-working-conditions" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 381, "book": "The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García ", "source": "KCRW", "text": "The life and times of Lalo García: Immigration, deportation, reconciliation", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/migrant-chef-life-and-times-lalo-garcia-laura-tillman" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 381, "book": "The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García ", "source": "WGCU", "text": "Gulf Coast Life Book Club: Laura Tillman, 'The Migrant Chef'", "url": "https://news.wgcu.org/show/gclbookclub/2023-09-06/gcl-book-club-laura-tillman-the-migrant-chef" } ] }, "382": { "id": 382, "edition": "", "title": "Day", "author": "Michael Cunningham", "reviewers": [ "Shannon Rhoades" ], "text": "How to write a novel about the pandemic without writing a pandemic novel? Michael Cunningham manages that feat with beauty, grace and lines that linger, like this from the book’s opening: “This early, the East River takes on a thin layer of translucence, a bright steely skin that appears to float over the river itself as the water turns from its nocturnal black to the opaque deep green of the approaching day.” The novel follows a Brooklyn family – already in something of a bubble, even before COVID-19 – across a single day, April 5, across three years, 2019, 2020 and 2021. There’s a passage toward the end about a little girl in a yellow dress – too small, a difficult color, those around her think – well, I won’t spoil it.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0399591346", "cover": "0399591346", "goodreads": "", "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780399591341, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71R+sZGFELL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780399591341", "isbn10": "0399591346", "links": [] }, "383": { "id": 383, "edition": "", "title": "The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece", "author": "Tom Hanks, illustrated by R.Sikoryak", "reviewers": [ "Cory Turner" ], "text": "Yes, this is a love letter to the movies. More to the point, it’s a love letter to the people who make movies. Tom Hanks is at his best when he’s breathing life into characters who, with a few exceptions, toil behind the camera: producers and assistants, drivers and hair stylists. There’s a humanity to this book that has always been Hanks’ greatest gift as an actor. Remember that scene in “The Money Pit” when a baby-faced Hanks is trapped in the carpet of his collapsing life? This book is like that: hilarious and tragic, ridiculous and heartbreakingly sincere all at once.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "052565559X", "cover": "052565559X", "goodreads": "", "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780525655596, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71o2PwHadtL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780525655596", "isbn10": "052565559X", "links": [] }, "384": { "id": 384, "edition": "fall", "title": "My Name Is Barbra", "author": "Barbra Streisand", "reviewers": [ "Brittany Luse" ], "text": "At nearly 1,000 pages long, Barbra Streisand’s memoir is the ultimate exercise in directorial control. Over the course of 59 chapters, Streisand recounts her life as a series of odysseys, and she the ever-triumphant victor. Frankly, she has earned it. Our culture loves to press pause on Streisand, seeing her only as Babs – the consummate prima donna, our forever leading lady. But in doing so, audiences, critics and biographers have failed to acknowledge the shrewd image-maker she has always been: the architect of her persona and performance.
", "tags": [ "rather long", "for music lovers", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir" ], "isbn": "0525429522", "cover": "0525429522", "goodreads": "", "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780525429524, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81KuLAC1XdL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780525429524", "isbn10": "0525429522", "links": [ { "year": 2023, "id": 384, "book": "My Name Is Barbra", "source": "NPR", "text": "Barbra Streisand's memoir shows she wasn't born a leading lady — she made herself one", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/11/07/1210819637/barbra-streisand-memoir-review" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 384, "book": "My Name Is Barbra", "source": "NPR", "text": "Barbra Streisand shares her secret for keeping performances honest", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1211217972/barbra-streisand-shares-her-secret-for-keeping-performances-honest" }, { "year": 2023, "id": 384, "book": "My Name Is Barbra", "source": "NPR", "text": "Barbra Streisand says she's not a diva - she's a director", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/11/10/1197954263/its-been-a-minute-draft-11-10-2023" } ] }, "385": { "id": 385, "edition": "", "title": "Lunar Love", "author": "Lauren Kung Jessen", "reviewers": [ "Elise Hu" ], "text": "This is a heart-swelling romance with the Chinese zodiac – and two charismatic business competitors at the center. Lauren Kung Jessen’s Los Angeles-based love story pits Olivia, a matchmaker who runs a traditional agency based on really getting to know her individual clients, against Bennett, who’s behind a dating app that threatens her business – and her worldview. This book is a fast-paced and funny exploration of family, identity, legacy and fate, packed with delicious descriptions of food. I inhaled this one in a single afternoon.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "fiction", "identity & culture", "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1538710250", "cover": "1538710250", "goodreads": "", "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9781538710258, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hTXA7t1qL._SL1000_.jpg", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9781538710258", "isbn10": "1538710250", "links": [] }, "386": { "id": 386, "edition": "fall", "title": "The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History", "author": "Ned Blackhawk", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "Historian Ned Blackhawk opens The Rediscovery of America with a map of the contiguous United States, overlain with the names of the Indigenous tribes that called each area home. Millions of Native people were living in North America prior to Columbus’ landing in 1492 – but they’ve often been left out of history books and official archives. This engrossing and thought-provoking retelling of five centuries of history won the National Book Award for nonfiction, and it highlights the myriad ways Indigenous people have shaped the United States’ politics, Constitution, diplomacy and culture.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "seriously great writing", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0300244053", "cover": "0300244053", "goodreads": "", "itunes": "", "bookshop": 9780300244052, "image": "https://i0.wp.com/www.nationalbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/win_nf_Blackhawk_The-Rediscovery-of-America.jpg?resize=395%2C600&ssl=1", "year": 2023, "isbn13": "9780300244052", "isbn10": "0300244053", "links": [] } }