A wordless title is incredibly fitting for this National Book Award finalist poetry collection that is felt more than it is read. Fady Joudah writes of the horror faced by Palestinians as they live, love and die through war and violence against them. The poem “Dedication” lists the many whom these poems are dedicated to. “To the martyrs who witness from above, and the living who witness on the ground. To those who will be killed on the last day of the war. To those who will be killed on the first day after the war ends. To those who succumb in the humanitarian window of horror. An hour before the pause, a minute after.” The collection shows us the world through Palestinian eyes at a time when such a worldview is most needed.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "163955128X", "cover": "163955128X", "goodreads": 204929165, "itunes": 9781639551286, "bookshop": 9781639551286, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41pWYzdfOKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781639551286", "isbn10": "163955128X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 1, "book": "...: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "Two Palestinian writers on the right to share their stories", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/08/1249793354/codeswitch-draft-09-09-2024" } ] }, "2": { "id": 2, "edition": "Fall", "title": "36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem", "author": "Nam Le", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Nam Le’s latest work represents a radical restatement of modern poetry. The poet, evoking Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens, becomes the “aperture” that sharply captures multitudinous poetic traditions. In this endeavor, Le critiques the way mainstream poets flatten the representation of the other through well-intentioned if facile assumptions. “Ekphrastic,” which refers to an overexposed photo of Le’s grandmother, seems to be a retort to “What Were They Like,” Denise Levertov’s 1967 anti-war poem. In it, Levertov laments the obliteration of the Vietnamese people due to American bombs, yet her very description of Vietnamese culture resorts to clichés verging on erasure – thus failing to illustrate its complex, heterogeneous heritage.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593537203", "cover": "0593537203", "goodreads": 174147717, "itunes": 9780593537206, "bookshop": 9780593537206, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31vXeEINjUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593537206", "isbn10": "0593537203", "links": [] }, "3": { "id": 3, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Better World", "author": "Sarah Langan", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "A creepy slice of dystopian fiction that questions the price of living in a “perfect” community, A Better World tells the story of a woman trying to build a better life for her family in a place where she comes to be seen as the enemy. This is a tense narrative that gets progressively darker, weirder and more claustrophobic as it moves forward, but Sarah Langan’s sharp prose makes every disturbing page a pleasure to read.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1982191066", "cover": "1982191066", "goodreads": 176443112, "itunes": 9781982191061, "bookshop": 9781982191061, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41jXU3Hc1yL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781982191061", "isbn10": "1982191066", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 3, "book": "A Better World: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "It's a wild ride to get to the bottom of what everyone's hiding in 'A Better World'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1244788857/sarah-langan-novel-thriller-a-better-world" } ] }, "4": { "id": 4, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery", "author": "Lawrence Ingrassia", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "In 1968, when journalist Lawrence Ingrassia was 15, his mother died of breast cancer at age 42. “It was tragic, but what was there to say?” he writes. Ingrassia couldn’t know then that in the decades to come, his three siblings would each die from a different kind of cancer and that a nephew would too. In A Fatal Inheritance, Ingrassia movingly intertwines his family’s oncological experiences with the winding story of how researchers worked to uncover the roles that heritable genetic mutations play in cancer risk.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "science!" ], "isbn": "1250837227", "cover": "1250837227", "goodreads": 198902282, "itunes": 9781250837226, "bookshop": 9781250837226, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419o5ENEgIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250837226", "isbn10": "1250837227", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 4, "book": "A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'A Fatal Inheritance' follows a family's struggle with cancer across generations", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/18/1252307797/a-fatal-inheritance-follows-a-familys-struggle-with-cancer-across-generations" } ] }, "5": { "id": 5, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Love Song for Ricki Wilde", "author": "Tia Williams", "reviewers": [ "Kelli Wessinger" ], "text": "Ricki Wilde is adrift. Not interested in going into the family funeral business and even less interested in living in her sisters’ giant shadows, she strikes out on her own and opens a flower shop in Harlem that she is determined to make a success. Too bad she can’t stop running into a handsome and mysterious stranger who makes her head spin — a connection that neither time nor space can separate. Tia Williams wrote the most romantic and magical book of the year in my opinion: I swooned, I giggled, I kicked my feet.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "love & romance", "for art lovers", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "153872670X", "cover": "153872670X", "goodreads": 173404023, "itunes": 9781538726709, "bookshop": 9781538726709, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51lVIkxQFBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781538726709", "isbn10": "153872670X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 5, "book": "A Love Song for Ricki Wilde", "source": "KPBS", "text": " 'A Love Song for Ricki Wilde' explores Harlem's storied past through romance and leap years", "url": "https://www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpbs-midday-edition/a-love-song-for-ricki-wilde-explores-harlems-storied-past-through-romance-and-leap-years" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 5, "book": "A Love Song for Ricki Wilde", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 new romances by Black authors", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1235945606/kennedy-ryan-novel-this-could-be-us-black-romance-and-romantasy" } ] }, "6": { "id": 6, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging", "author": "Lauren Markham", "reviewers": [ "Christina Cala" ], "text": "What does it mean to belong? How is identity built, not just on an individual level but on a national or global scale? Lauren Markham explores these questions in a deeply personal and thoroughly reported story that weaves together her family lore with centuries of Greece’s history. A reporter who has covered migration for years, she tells the story of the Moria 6, refugees who were accused of setting fire to the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos in 2020. A Map of Future Ruins is a serious but dreamy read.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593545575", "cover": "0593545575", "goodreads": 177188706, "itunes": 9780593545577, "bookshop": 9780593545577, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41I1tD5hn2L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593545577", "isbn10": "0593545575", "links": [] }, "7": { "id": 7, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Shore Thing", "author": "Joanna Lowell", "reviewers": [ "Anika Steffen" ], "text": "A Shore Thing is a Victorian queer love story that will have you giggling and blushing as Kit Griffith – a trans man, unrepentant rake, artist and bicycle shop owner – flirts with buttoned-up scientist Muriel Pendrake. Kit finds himself dealing with an outside challenge, resulting in a bike race with Muriel as his partner. And as it tends to do, romance happens along the way. This book is full of charm and low-stakes adventure, just the warm and soft romance many of us are looking for.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593549724", "cover": "0593549724", "goodreads": 199173002, "itunes": 9780593549728, "bookshop": 9780593549728, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51RjufTwepL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593549728", "isbn10": "0593549724", "links": [] }, "8": { "id": 8, "edition": "Summer", "title": "A Short Walk Through a Wide World", "author": "Douglas Westerbeke", "reviewers": [ "Jennifer Vanasco" ], "text": "It’s the year 1885, in Paris, when 9-year-old Aubry Tourvel encounters a mysterious, wooden puzzle ball: It may be a blessing or a curse, but it most definitely changes her life. Now she needs to keep moving forever; too long in any one town and she will bleed to death. So her life is all travel and adventure, and through her we wonder at the richness of the globe’s markets, towns, forests and deserts. Over many decades, she meets all types of kind and curious people – as well as cruel and uncaring ones. Sometimes Aubry enjoys quick communion with strangers. Other times, she is surrounded but desperately lonely. This is a ravishing, deeply human book that’s in love with the world, with people, with the new – and yet is infused with a deep, futile longing for home.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668026066", "cover": "1668026066", "goodreads": 176443045, "itunes": 9781668026069, "bookshop": 9781668026069, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51CTzfRXYUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668026069", "isbn10": "1668026066", "links": [] }, "9": { "id": 9, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Sorceress Comes to Call", "author": "T. Kingfisher", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "Any new T. Kingfisher book is reason to take a personal day, but A Sorceress Comes to Call might be my favorite yet. Cordelia’s mother can make people obedient. When Evangeline decides she wants the Squire, the only thing standing in her way is time, and perhaps Hester, the Squire’s sister, who knows something is off. If you like your fantasy dark and your protagonists clever and vulnerable (and older! and witty!), look no further. I mentioned dark, right? Because this setting might be mannered Regency-esque, but it is juxtaposed against occasional nightmare-fueled images and sorcery-enhanced abuse. Take warning – but also be prepared for a deeply satisfying read.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250244072", "cover": "1250244072", "goodreads": 195790847, "itunes": 9781250244079, "bookshop": 9781250244079, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51R4vDpKY8L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250244079", "isbn10": "1250244072", "links": [] }, "10": { "id": 10, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Talent for Murder", "author": "Peter Swanson", "reviewers": [ "Shannon Rhoades" ], "text": "If you love crime fiction, author Peter Swanson never disappoints. Same goes for Lily Kintner, the protagonist he first introduced in The Kind Worth Killing. Lily plays a key role in this spine-tingler about a librarian who suspects her new husband might be capable of, well, to say more might spoil the way Swanson always manages to upend readers’ expectations.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063205033", "cover": "0063205033", "goodreads": 199116301, "itunes": 9780063205031, "bookshop": 9780063205031, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515XgUeD3WL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063205031", "isbn10": "0063205033", "links": [] }, "11": { "id": 11, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Thousand Times Before", "author": "Asha Thanki", "reviewers": [ "Nayantara Dutta" ], "text": "How are we shaped by those who came before us? A Thousand Times Before follows a magical tapestry passed down between three generations of women in one family, from pre-Partition Karachi to modern-day Brooklyn, which lets them inherit the memories of all the mothers and daughters before them and choose to influence their fate. An intricate and heartbreaking novel, it considers what we inherit and how history shapes us. It also beautifully captures the warmth of sisterhood and the bonds that women share. While reading, I paused between paragraphs to reflect on my own family and how each generation has responded to the one before. It’s a story that you want to share with your loved ones – I immediately thought of whom I would gift it to.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593654641", "cover": "0593654641", "goodreads": 199373441, "itunes": 9780593654644, "bookshop": 9780593654644, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51h3gUpUntL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593654644", "isbn10": "0593654641", "links": [] }, "12": { "id": 12, "edition": "Summer", "title": "A Very Private School: A Memoir", "author": "Charles Spencer", "reviewers": [ "Shannon Rhoades" ], "text": "Charles Spencer – younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales – turns his considerable talents as a writer and historian on his own childhood. A Very Private School details what, he says, happened to him and his classmates – physical, sexual, emotional abuse – at one of Britain’s most elite boarding schools. Undergirding all is a culture of privilege, yes, but also silence and tradition rooted in the British Empire, sending 8-year-olds away from home as “the done thing.” Spencer’s quote from author Hilary Mantel in the book’s epigraph is telling, “I am writing in order to take charge of my childhood.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1668046385", "cover": "1668046385", "goodreads": 176442861, "itunes": 9781668046388, "bookshop": 9781668046388, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gzMn-BPwL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668046388", "isbn10": "1668046385", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 12, "book": "A Very Private School: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Historian Charles Spencer on his memoir 'A Very Private School'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/16/1238981444/historian-charles-spencer-on-his-memoir-a-very-private-school" } ] }, "13": { "id": 13, "edition": "Fall", "title": "A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson", "author": "Camille Peri", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "What a couple they were! Robert and Fanny Stevenson braved social convention and poverty to forge a bohemian marriage that took them from their meeting at an artists’ colony in France to their honeymoon in an abandoned silver mine in California to settled happiness in Samoa. Camille Peri says in the introduction to her biography of the Stevensons that she hopes their story will be “an inspiration for anyone seeking a freer, more unconventional life.” Just for starters, it has inspired me to reread Treasure Island.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0670786195", "cover": "0670786195", "goodreads": 202102004, "itunes": 9780670786190, "bookshop": 9780670786190, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5196PPF0d3L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780670786190", "isbn10": "0670786195", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 13, "book": "A Wilder Shore: The Romantic Odyssey of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'A Wilder Shore' charts the course of a famous bohemian marriage", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/08/19/nx-s1-5081139/a-wilder-shore-charts-the-course-of-a-famous-bohemian-marriage" } ] }, "14": { "id": 14, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Accordion Eulogies: A Memoir of Music, Migration, and Mexico", "author": "Noé Álvarez", "reviewers": [ "Felix Contreras" ], "text": "The accordion in the title belonged to Noé Álvarez‘s grandfather, a man so ill-prepared to face life’s hardships that he took to the nomadic life as a wandering musician leaving behind a family and at least three generations of familial trauma in his wake. Álvarez’s decision to chase not only his grandfather’s bitter history, but also his fascination with the accordion leads him to examine the role the instrument plays along the U.S./Mexico border, as well as the Cajun swamps of Louisiana. Part musicology treatise, part confessional, Accordion Eulogies is a powerful look at the process of healing and how he chooses accordion music to be the soundtrack of that healing.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "the states we’re in", "for music lovers", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1646220897", "cover": "1646220897", "goodreads": 198139894, "itunes": 9781646220892, "bookshop": 9781646220892, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/414WiDFBwqL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781646220892", "isbn10": "1646220897", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 14, "book": "Accordion Eulogies: A Memoir of Music, Migration, and Mexico", "source": "KUOW", "text": "Understanding the music of migration in Noé Álvarez’s new memoir, 'Accordion Eulogies'", "url": "https://www.kuow.org/stories/understanding-the-music-of-migration-in-no-lvarez" } ] }, "15": { "id": 15, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour", "author": "Nora Nguyen", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "Pop this one for an instant vacation! Evie Lang is stuck in neutral. She’s a poet with writer’s block, teaching at a small-town college … until she’s fired by the chair of the English department (who also happens to be her boyfriend — ICK!). Thankfully, Evie’s dead aunt is determined to meddle from beyond the grave. Auntie Hảo has left her San Francisco house to Evie — if she agrees to go on a whirlwind matchmaking tour in Vietnam. Once she touches down, the novel (and Evie) spring to life. From speedy rides through jungles on carts to snail-based food nights and getting to know the hot-grumpy guy who works at the matchmaking company, it’s all depicted so vividly that you almost forget you’re not there.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0063381508", "cover": "0063381508", "goodreads": 199793676, "itunes": 9780063381506, "bookshop": 9780063381506, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GGIGh20HL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063381506", "isbn10": "0063381508", "links": [] }, "16": { "id": 16, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Adrift on a Painted Sea", "author": "Tim Bird, paintings by Sue Bird", "reviewers": [ "Tahneer Oksman" ], "text": "In this slender volume, a middle-aged man grieves the loss of his mother. Sue Bird was a librarian and painter who filled her life with artmaking even as she never fully pursued life as an artist. Here, her son, a U.K.-based illustrator and cartoonist, intersperses his own memories of his mother over time – captured in beautifully rendered, simply adorned comics – with close reproductions of some of her intricate oil paintings. This gentle memoir offers glimpses of a mother-son pair fiercely devoted to the sea, to family, and to capturing – through art – the hardest and best that life throws at them.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "family matters", "for art lovers", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "191039582X", "cover": "191039582X", "goodreads": 206304496, "itunes": 9781910395820, "bookshop": 9781910395820, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515fGT6vcWL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781910395820", "isbn10": "191039582X", "links": [] }, "18": { "id": 18, "edition": "Fall", "title": "All Fours", "author": "Miranda July", "reviewers": [ "Wailin Wong" ], "text": "It’s the novel that blew up a thousand group chats. The unnamed protagonist, a 45-year-old artist, says goodbye to her husband and young child and embarks on a solo road trip. She’s just a half hour from home when she takes a detour that’s geographically unremarkable but yields massive emotional consequences. It is a journey of creative and sexual fulfillment, unhinged interior design, and exploring desire within the liminal space of perimenopausal middle age. Miranda July’s protagonist makes choices that you may find hilarious, relatable, or infuriating, but they are never boring.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0593190262", "cover": "0593190262", "goodreads": 197798168, "itunes": 9780593190265, "bookshop": 9780593190265, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419WeJnV-yL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593190265", "isbn10": "0593190262", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 18, "book": "All Fours: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Miranda July's new book asks: Is middle-age a cliff or a mountain peak?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/14/1251408108/miranda-julys-new-book-asks-is-middle-age-a-cliff-or-a-mountain-peak" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 18, "book": "All Fours: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "The miracle of middle age with Miranda July", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/14/1197956401/its-been-a-minute-draft-all-fours-miranda-july-middle-age" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 18, "book": "All Fours: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Miranda July on 'All Fours'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/14/1197959042/bullseye-with-jesse-thorn-miranda-july" } ] }, "19": { "id": 19, "edition": "Fall", "title": "All Our Ordinary Stories: A Multigenerational Family Odyssey", "author": "Teresa Wong", "reviewers": [ "Tahneer Oksman" ], "text": "As her aging mother’s health declines, an artist and mother of three works her way back in time to explore the story of her family’s struggles, escapes and migrations. Moving geographically between China and Canada, Teresa Wong’s graphic memoir meanders in spaces between: what she knows and what has been told to her; what she can see for herself and what she must imagine. An expertly paced work of comics told in black and white, using crisp, direct prose alongside unassuming but meaningful illustrations, All Our Ordinary Stories is a memoir of quiet longing and of what it means to live in the aftermath.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1551529491", "cover": "1551529491", "goodreads": 205307206, "itunes": 9781551529493, "bookshop": 9781551529493, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41oqQM8UCoL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781551529493", "isbn10": "1551529491", "links": [] }, "20": { "id": 20, "edition": "Fall", "title": "All We Were Promised", "author": "Ashton Lattimore", "reviewers": [ "Keishel Williams" ], "text": "For her debut novel, journalist and author Ashton Lattimore has outdone herself. Set in pre-Civil War Philadelphia, All We Were Promised follows the lives of Charlotte, who escaped enslavement in the South; her friend Nell, a wealthy budding Black abolitionist; and Evie, Charlotte’s friend who reaches out for help escaping her mistress during a trip to Philadelphia. This dense but riveting novel delves into Pennsylvania’s 1780 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, as well as the burning of Pennsylvania Hall, an abolitionist venue destroyed by a mob just days after it opened in 1838. It’s an inspiring story of a fight for freedom and friendship that you won’t be able to put down.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593600150", "cover": "0593600150", "goodreads": 182484361, "itunes": 9780593600153, "bookshop": 9780593600153, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ZF+pDxTuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593600153", "isbn10": "0593600150", "links": [] }, "21": { "id": 21, "edition": "Summer", "title": "American Spirits", "author": "Russell Banks", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "The three stories in this collection are set in a fictional town, but seem so familiar: a local guy who got in a dangerous beef with an out-of-towner that bought up his family’s property and then refused to let him hunt on it; a family that adopts several children then purposely crashes their van off the highway; grandparents who are scammed by people claiming to have kidnapped their grandson. The late Russell Banks’ final writings are a masterful exploration of these kinds of tales, looking at the motivations of ordinary people in a world that’s become increasingly polarized and deeply troubled.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0593536770", "cover": "0593536770", "goodreads": 75305025, "itunes": 9780593536773, "bookshop": 9780593536773, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51U8s6gXlHL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593536773", "isbn10": "0593536770", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 21, "book": "American Spirits", "source": "NPR", "text": "The working class gets stubbed out in Russell Banks' posthumous 'American Spirits'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/10/1237083926/russell-banks-posthumous-novel-american-spirits" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 21, "book": "American Spirits", "source": "NPR", "text": "Novelist Russell Banks, dead at age 82, found the mythical in marginal lives", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/01/10/1148071365/russell-banks-dies-continental-drift-cloudsplitter" } ] }, "22": { "id": 22, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Amrikan: 125 Recipes from the Indian American Diaspora", "author": "Khushbu Shah", "reviewers": [ "Nicolette Khan" ], "text": "Amrikan is Khushbu Shah’s answer to “What is Indian food in America?” It’s a thoughtful celebration of adaptation: American influences on Indian foods, Indian influences on “American” foods and some untouched Indian classics. This book was my introduction to Rajma – who knew that the humble kidney bean could be so swoon-worthy? I served it alongside the beautifully simple Cabbage Nu Shaak with some rice and yogurt and the meal was a hit. I am also a convert of Shah’s Masala Deviled Eggs and Jaggery and Fennel Rice Krispie Treats. The photos are gorgeous and the recipes are concise and easy to follow, making this an inviting collection for a range of occasions.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1324036257", "cover": "1324036257", "goodreads": 199387836, "itunes": 9781324036258, "bookshop": 9781324036258, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41nl95QYF9L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324036258", "isbn10": "1324036257", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 22, "book": "Amrikan", "source": "NPR", "text": "Cookbook adapts Indian recipes for American palates and pantries", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/05/1196981888/here-now-anytime-06-05-2024" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 22, "book": "Amrikan", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Amrikan' focuses on American food with an Indian accent", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/indian-diaspora-fu-pei-mei-california-salmon-ban/amrikan-indian-cookbook-khushbu-shah" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 22, "book": "Amrikan", "source": "KQED", "text": "Khushbu Shah reimagines Indian cuisine for the American diaspora", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906138/khushbu-shah-reimagines-indian-cuisine-for-the-american-diaspora" } ] }, "23": { "id": 23, "edition": "Fall", "title": "An Academy for Liars", "author": "Alexis Henderson", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Dark academia is still going strong in 2024. This take on the trend introduces us to Lennon, a young woman given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn how to do magic at a secret school. Her talent lies in summoning portals to other times and places, but it’s a power she can’t control. Worse, there is a darkness at Drayton College that threatens to consume her. No one is who they seem, and the only person she can trust is herself. As engrossing as it is intense, it’s a solid successor to Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593638301", "cover": "0593638301", "goodreads": 203956639, "itunes": 9780593638309, "bookshop": 9780593638309, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41xox1zi9-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593638309", "isbn10": "0593638301", "links": [] }, "24": { "id": 24, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Anita de Monte Laughs Last", "author": "Xochitl Gonzalez", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "The perils of a woman’s success exceeding her partner’s is a perennial obsession of culture. The message: When one star rises, another falters. And if a wife’s star eclipses her husband’s, trouble follows. In Xochitl Gonzalez’s engrossing art world drama, Anita de Monte Laughs Last, relationships are complicated by such power imbalances. The title character is the wife of a famous artist and a forgotten Latina painter whose death was either a tragic accident or a gross act of violence. Raquel Toro is a first-generation college student of Puerto Rican descent at Brown University who’s navigating her own treacherous waters and becomes obsessed with de Monte. Through their experiences, the book explores questions of race, class and privilege in the rarified environs of art and the Ivy League.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "for art lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250786215", "cover": "1250786215", "goodreads": 127306192, "itunes": 9781250786210, "bookshop": 9781250786210, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510nWWwNM3L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250786210", "isbn10": "1250786215", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 24, "book": "Anita de Monte Laughs Last", "source": "NPR", "text": "Xochitl Gonzalez on novel 'Anita de Monte Laughs Last'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/02/1235517970/xochitl-gonzales-on-novel-anita-de-monte-laughs-last" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 24, "book": "Anita de Monte Laughs Last", "source": "KQED", "text": "Xochitl Gonzalez struggles to understand a mother that chose activism over her", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906831/xochitl-gonzalez-struggles-to-understand-a-mother-that-chose-activism-over-her" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 24, "book": "Anita de Monte Laughs Last", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Anita de Monte Laughs Last' is a complex dissection of art, gender and marriage", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/06/1236279729/xochitl-gonzalez-anita-de-monte-laughs-last-book-review" } ] }, "25": { "id": 25, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Annie Bot", "author": "Sierra Greer", "reviewers": [ "Hafsa Fathima" ], "text": "Annie goes for walks, is charmed by animals, and can think – all quintessential human characteristics. Except she isn’t one. She’s a highly developed artificial-intelligence bot known as a “Stella,” and she is owned by a human named Doug. Stellas perform errands and, in Annie’s case, also sex. Her role as the ever-controlling Doug’s perfect “girlfriend” is mundane, until she begins toying with the idea of what a free life could look like. Annie Bot is a haunting book that will have you rooting for Annie’s independence – posing stark, relevant questions as the influence of artificial intelligence grows.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "the dark side", "let’s talk about sex", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063312697", "cover": "0063312697", "goodreads": 156023123, "itunes": 9780063312692, "bookshop": 9780063312692, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419B7r7bHBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063312692", "isbn10": "0063312697", "links": [] }, "26": { "id": 26, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet", "author": "Molly Morris", "reviewers": [ "Hafsa Fathima" ], "text": "What happens when your former best friend comes back from the dead, but only for 30 days? That’s what Wilson needs to figure out when her friend Annie is brought back as part of a local custom in her small California town. To complicate things more, their friend Ryan apparently hates them both. Wilson is determined to fix things before Annie returns to – well, being dead. This is a beautifully poetic YA work about female friendships, with a touch of magical realism and laugh-out-loud humor. The dynamic among the trio is filled with teenage angst, love and forgiveness. It considers a common dilemma: How do you accept change when it means giving up what you love?
", "tags": [ "young adult", "staff picks", "love & romance", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1250290066", "cover": "1250290066", "goodreads": 195790698, "itunes": 9781250290069, "bookshop": 9781250290069, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/411Kb8Bf+kL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250290069", "isbn10": "1250290066", "links": [] }, "27": { "id": 27, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Attachments: Essays on Fatherhood and Other Performances", "author": "Lucas Mann", "reviewers": [ "Brent Baughman" ], "text": "Lucas Mann writes from a father’s perspective, but this essay collection could serve any new parent confronting the joy, exhaustion and “mundane enormous terror of watching a child grow.” As a modern-day parent, you keep two things within arm’s reach at all times: your child and your phone. Both are exquisitely engineered to demand your attention; both leave you unmoored from your sense of self. Until one day, as you fumble through small talk with other parents at the playground, you find yourself performing parenthood. Mann observes himself observing himself, articulating interiorities of fatherhood I hadn’t noticed on my own. Probably because I was too exhausted – or scrolling on my phone.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1609389530", "cover": "1609389530", "goodreads": 203093888, "itunes": 9781609389536, "bookshop": 9781609389536, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41HpFQ7B9vL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781609389536", "isbn10": "1609389530", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 27, "book": "Attachments: Essays on Fatherhood and Other Performances", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Me, my daughter and ‘a place that is ours’", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2024/06/14/riffraff-providence-attachments-fatherhood-lucas-mann" } ] }, "28": { "id": 28, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Baby X: A Thriller", "author": "Kira Peikoff", "reviewers": [ "Hafsa Fathima" ], "text": "In the future, a person’s cells can create sperm or eggs, leading to a new form of reproduction. And with it comes people who are determined to steal the cells of the rich and famous. Told in parallel narratives, Baby X follows a singer, whose DNA is a constant target, and his partner, who runs a biosecurity business. Their lives are upturned when they meet a young woman who says she is pregnant with his child. Baby X is a fast-paced, mind-boggling read that will keep the pages turning – asking important, pertinent questions about bioethics and consent.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1639106332", "cover": "1639106332", "goodreads": 173476065, "itunes": 9781639106332, "bookshop": 9781639106332, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41MnmXrt9wL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781639106332", "isbn10": "1639106332", "links": [] }, "29": { "id": 29, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Barrio Rising: The Protest That Built Chicano Park", "author": "María Dolores Águila, illustrated by Magdalena Mora", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "In this story of how a beloved San Diego landmark came to be, María Dolores Águila and Magdalena Mora deftly bring a sense of urgency to this slice of history by showing it through the eyes of a child. With faceoffs against construction crews, indifferent politicians and a history of injustice, Barrio Rising reminds us all of how bravery can start as a nervous and delicate flicker and grow into a fire that can light the way for an entire community. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0593462076", "cover": "0593462076", "goodreads": 198637932, "itunes": 9780593462072, "bookshop": 9780593462072, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51CIV2pOl0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593462072", "isbn10": "0593462076", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 29, "book": "Barrio Rising: The Protest that Built Chicano Park", "source": "KPBS", "text": "A new children's book explores the protest that built Chicano Park", "url": "https://www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpbs-midday-edition/honoring-the-history-of-chicano-park-in-barrio-rising" } ] }, "30": { "id": 30, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Bear", "author": "Julia Phillips", "reviewers": [ "Julie Depenbrock" ], "text": "After reading Julia Phillips’ debut novel, Disappearing Earth, I couldn’t wait to pick up Bear. I was not disappointed. Disappearing Earth transported the reader to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia; Bear takes place in the San Juan Islands of the rural Pacific Northwest. It follows two sisters, Sam and Elena, who are caring for their dying mother. One day, Sam, who works on a ferry, spots a bear in the water. “A shape broke the surface. A creature. Moving. Someone near her shouted.” The bear keeps appearing to the sisters, who react quite differently to the strange sightings. And the story proceeds, like the dark fairy tale it is.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "seriously great writing", "family matters", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0525520430", "cover": "0525520430", "goodreads": 196056205, "itunes": 9780525520436, "bookshop": 9780525520436, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51zzIGUxvpL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780525520436", "isbn10": "0525520430", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 30, "book": "Bear: A Novel", "source": "WGCU", "text": "GCL Book Club: Julia Phillips, 'Bear'", "url": "https://news.wgcu.org/show/gclbookclub/2024-09-04/gcl-book-club-julia-phillips-bear" } ] }, "31": { "id": 31, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Behind My Doors: The Story of the World’s Oldest Library", "author": "Hena Khan, illustrated by Nabila Adani", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "If walls could talk, what would they say? In this illuminating picture book, told from the Al-Qarawiyyin Library’s point of view, Hena Khan’s words bring the building to life. In Fez, Morocco, in 859, a young woman’s passions helped create a mosque, school and library. A testament to knowledge and learning, the library eventually fell into disrepair. However, it was magnificently restored to create a living monument that personifies dignity, knowledge and the love of books. With the book’s art by Nabila Adani in warm embracing hues, this library has an amazing story to tell. (For ages 5 to 10)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "it’s all geek to me", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "164379423X", "cover": "164379423X", "goodreads": 197064039, "itunes": 9781643794235, "bookshop": 9781643794235, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yIX4+PHxL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781643794235", "isbn10": "164379423X", "links": [] }, "32": { "id": 32, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Behind You Is the Sea", "author": "Susan Muaddi Darraj", "reviewers": [ "Malaka Gharib" ], "text": "If you want to know the challenges that Palestinian Americans face in the U.S., you must read this book. It follows several families in Baltimore as they wrestle with poverty, religion, living in between two cultures and their pursuit of the American Dream. There is Marcus, a cop who stands up for his Arab sister who is dating a Black man; Samira, who is shamed for being a childless divorcee (despite being a successful lawyer); and Layla, a high school student who pushes back against the drama club’s production of Aladdin, which she says perpetuates racist stereotypes about Arabs. How their lives intersect will leave you at the edge of your seat.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0063324237", "cover": "0063324237", "goodreads": 134221617, "itunes": 9780063324237, "bookshop": 9780063324237, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fDuaK+wvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063324237", "isbn10": "0063324237", "links": [] }, "33": { "id": 33, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Between Two Sounds: Arvo Pärt's Journey to His Musical Language", "author": "Joonas Sildre, edited by Aile Tooming, translated by Adam Cullen", "reviewers": [ "Tom Huizenga" ], "text": "A biography of a classical composer in the form of a graphic novel? How gauche! But author and illustrator Joonas Sildre, like his subject, isn’t afraid to “bend the rules.” Betweeen Two Sounds, colorfully drawn in black and white, tells the improbable story of the embattled Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, who runs afoul of Soviet culture ministers, suffers an eight-year self-imposed writer’s block, but emerges triumphant with a new sound. The book ends in 1980, at the cusp of Pärt’s stardom, but it’s a terrific coup, deploying a pop culture format, innovatively drawn, to reveal the struggles of a beloved living composer.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1636081347", "cover": "1636081347", "goodreads": 203626708, "itunes": 9781636081342, "bookshop": 9781636081342, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JApUWRrNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781636081342", "isbn10": "1636081347", "links": [] }, "34": { "id": 34, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Bird of Four Hundred Voices: A Mexican American Memoir of Music and Belonging", "author": "Eugene Rodriguez", "reviewers": [ "Felix Contreras" ], "text": "The bird referenced in the title is the mockingbird. California musician Eugene Rodriguez has adopted the Nahuatl (pre-Columbian) name for the mockingbird, cenzontle, for both the Mexican folk band he leads as well as the Bay Area cultural center he directs. The story Rodriguez tells is one of personal self-discovery through music and helping others find their place in Mexican folk music. His search for authentic Mexican folkloric expression mirrors a deep dive into his own identity as a California-born, Mexican American kid who felt he was from neither here nor there – ni de aqui ni de allá. His commitment to his community and his exploration of growing up bicultural are both inspiring. His story resonated deeply with this fellow California-born, Mexican American kid who has always loved Los Lobos as much as the Rolling Stones.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "rather short", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1597146447", "cover": "1597146447", "goodreads": 203695551, "itunes": 9781597146449, "bookshop": 9781597146449, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51b-QMDbTHL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781597146449", "isbn10": "1597146447", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 34, "book": "Bird of Four Hundred Voices: A Mexican American Memoir of Music and Belonging", "source": "NPR", "text": "Folk musician Eugene Rodriguez authors memoir 'Bird of Four Hundred Voices'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5107839/folk-musician-eugene-rodriguez-authors-memoir-bird-of-four-hundred-voices" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 34, "book": "Bird of Four Hundred Voices: A Mexican American Memoir of Music and Belonging", "source": "KQED", "text": " 'Bird of Four Hundred Voices' chronicles Los Cenzontles' mission to empower young people through Mexican folk music", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906655/bird-of-four-hundred-voices-chronicles-los-conzontles-mission-to-empower-young-people-through-mexican-folk-music" } ] }, "35": { "id": 35, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Birding with Benefits", "author": "Sarah T. Dubb", "reviewers": [ "Christina Cala" ], "text": "This sweet, fake-relationship romance follows the recently divorced empty-nester Celeste as she navigates life as a single woman, once again. This time around, she’s saying yes to life and shaking things up. She didn’t expect the shaking to bring in the sensitive, gentle giant that is John. Or his deep love of birds. Come for the romance, but beware, you might find yourself falling in love with John’s quiet, colorful world of birding yourself!
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1668037831", "cover": "1668037831", "goodreads": 199797869, "itunes": 9781668037836, "bookshop": 9781668037836, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41PhdESOkFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668037836", "isbn10": "1668037831", "links": [] }, "36": { "id": 36, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Black Girl You Are Atlas", "author": "Renée Watson, illustrated by Ekua Holmes", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "This robust, wonderful poetry collection both recounts Renée Watson’s own life and connects and weaves together the lives of other Black girls and women. Packed full of brilliant pieces, there’s humor mixed with some deeply serious writing, evoking For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Best of all? It’s a quick read – because you don’t need a book to be a tome to be touched by it. (For ages 12 to 17)
", "tags": [ "young adult", "identity & culture", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0593461703", "cover": "0593461703", "goodreads": 154488278, "itunes": 9780593461709, "bookshop": 9780593461709, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51aTB3QWsNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593461709", "isbn10": "0593461703", "links": [] }, "37": { "id": 37, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Blackheart Man", "author": "Nalo Hopkinson", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "There are few fantasy authors who can match Nalo Hopkinson in terms of sheer craft. Here, Veycosi is a griot-in-training. After one too many mistakes, he’s punished by having to take a bunch of colonizers around his island home, Chynchin. Years ago, Chynchin freed themselves from the Ymisen empire, but now the enslaving empire is back and exerting its will. While all this is going on, a bunch of children go missing and a battalion of warriors who have spent decades stuck in a magical tar pit begin to awaken. Veycosi is at the center of it all. It’s hard to explain, but trust me, it’s incredible!
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668005107", "cover": "1668005107", "goodreads": 199798012, "itunes": 9781668005101, "bookshop": 9781668005101, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41aCat04FLL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668005101", "isbn10": "1668005107", "links": [] }, "38": { "id": 38, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Blood of the Old Kings", "author": "Sung-il Kim, translated by Anton Hur", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Translated for the first time from Korean to English, this trilogy opener is ideal for fans of epic fantasy and sword and sorcery. The fates of our three heroes – Loran the princess-turned-king, Cain the spy and Arienne the runaway wizard – are intertwined. Blessed by an imprisoned dragon, Loran is tasked with freeing her people from an oppressive empire, the same empire that plans to kill Arienne and use her as a magical battery. Cain only wants to know who murdered his best friend, but his investigation reveals secrets some very powerful people would do anything to keep quiet. Sung-il Kim had me at dragons.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250895332", "cover": "1250895332", "goodreads": 203579293, "itunes": 9781250895332, "bookshop": 9781250895332, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41l5K6-pGGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250895332", "isbn10": "1250895332", "links": [] }, "39": { "id": 39, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Blood on the Brain", "author": "Esinam Bediako", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Akosua, a 24-year-old Ghanaian American woman living in New York, is already having a tough time – she has gone through a breakup and is flailing as a graduate student – when she slips in the shower and sustains a serious head injury. The concussion throws her for a loop but also leads her to reexamine her life, relationships and cultural identity. Esinam Bediako is remarkably self-assured in this debut novel; it’s the kind of funny, compassionate book you want your friends to read so you can talk about it with someone else.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "rather short" ], "isbn": "163628180X", "cover": "163628180X", "goodreads": 203553197, "itunes": 9781636281803, "bookshop": 9781636281803, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41jhTYu2xML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781636281803", "isbn10": "163628180X", "links": [] }, "40": { "id": 40, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Blood Test: A Comedy", "author": "Charles Baxter", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Imagine taking a blood test and being informed that you’re a ticking time bomb, a murderer-in-waiting who’s about to explode. That’s what happens to mild-mannered insurance salesman Brock Hobson in Charles Baxter’s latest – a send-up of the current political climate, masculinity and the corporatization of medicine. It seems strange to say this about a novel with a major character who gets badly injured (and deserves it), but this is one of the funniest books of the year – and it’s pretty impressive that it’s also written with real heart.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "rather short", "science!" ], "isbn": "0593700856", "cover": "0593700856", "goodreads": 208430621, "itunes": 9780593700853, "bookshop": 9780593700853, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41k2XkqKNsL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593700853", "isbn10": "0593700856", "links": [] }, "41": { "id": 41, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Blue Lard", "author": "Vladimir Sorokin, translated by Max Lawton", "reviewers": [ "Leland Cheuk" ], "text": "Originally published in 1999, Blue Lard sparked protests in Russia and is the type of messy, bizarre, but hilarious postmodern novel that one might imagine Thomas Pynchon or David Foster Wallace authoring. New York Review of Books has brought this work back to life, publishing its first English translation. Russian scientists have cloned the country’s most famous authors, their writings producing blue lard from their sweat that can be used to power reactors. Stalin and Khrushchev are romantically involved, and author Vladimir Sorokin indulges in lengthy parodies of Nabokov’s and Tolstoy’s writing styles. Trust me, it’s a lot of fun.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "eye-opening reads", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1681378183", "cover": "1681378183", "goodreads": 157995355, "itunes": 9781681378183, "bookshop": 9781681378183, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51LDFaGm58L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781681378183", "isbn10": "1681378183", "links": [] }, "42": { "id": 42, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Blue Sky Through the Window of a Moving Car: Comics for Beautiful, Awful and Ordinary Days", "author": "Jordan Bolton", "reviewers": [ "Malaka Gharib" ], "text": "This collection of poignant, poetry-like mini-comics will change the way you see the world. Each fictional story explodes seemingly banal and tiny moments – remembering an inside joke at a furniture store, watching old soccer clips online – and transforms them into powerful, thought-provoking meditations on the joy and heartbreak of being alive. In the titular comic, a father tells his adult son that he loves him, for the first and only time, while driving back from a funeral. Now, whenever the son thinks of his father, all he sees is “blue sky through the window of a moving car.” Beautiful.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1524895091", "cover": "1524895091", "goodreads": 210199269, "itunes": 9781524895099, "bookshop": 9781524895099, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41wWwwtJ8gL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781524895099", "isbn10": "1524895091", "links": [] }, "43": { "id": 43, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Bride", "author": "Ali Hazelwood", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "In some ways, Misery Lark is pretty typical – she’s bored at her job as a software engineer, hates wrestling with her duvet cover and is struggling to figure out where she belongs in the world. That’s partly because she’s a vampire raised among humans, whose politician father is trying to marry her off to a werewolf to secure a political alliance. Misery agrees to the marriage because she thinks it may help her find her best friend, who has gone missing. She meets husband Lowe for the first time at their wedding, and he seems totally bewildered by her. So Misery is searching for her friend and trying to figure out cohabitation with another species. Sure, it’s an outlandish premise, but the story is filled with romance, political intrigue and a celebration of outcasts so captivating that it’ll be a page-turner as soon as you sink your teeth in (pun intended, obviously).
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "family matters", "funny stuff", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593550404", "cover": "0593550404", "goodreads": 181350812, "itunes": 9780593550403, "bookshop": 9780593550403, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419v9YkcuwL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593550403", "isbn10": "0593550404", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 43, "book": "Bride", "source": "NPR", "text": "These romance authors know the magic of a love story", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/01/1196979652/here-now-anytime-03-01-2024" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 43, "book": "Bride", "source": "NPR", "text": "Looking for love? You'll find it in 2024 in these 10 romance novels", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/14/1231132359/valentines-day-10-of-the-best-romance-novels-for-early-2024" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 43, "book": "Bride", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Happily Ever After: A celebration of romance novels and the authors behind them", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/events/902332/happily-ever-after-a-celebration-of-romance-novels-and-the-authors-behind-them" } ] }, "44": { "id": 44, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story", "author": "Kara Swisher", "reviewers": [ "Eric Deggans" ], "text": "Kara Swisher pulls off a magic trick here, delivering several sharply written books in one. There’s her story of becoming media’s most influential tech analyst, chronicling the rises of Facebook, Amazon, Google and, of course, X/Twitter – psychoanalyzing all the driven, flawed (mostly) dudebros who turned them into world-shaking platforms. There’s also an affecting personal memoir, charting her journey as a gay woman, spouse, mother, entrepreneurial journalist and advocate. And there’s a passionate critique of toxic technology, slamming self-centered tech CEOs who pursue engagement through enragement, unleashing social division. It’s all knit together with nimble-yet-effective prose, outlining how Silicon Valley works, how journalism works and how society works in one neat package.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "it’s all geek to me", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1982163895", "cover": "1982163895", "goodreads": 195791688, "itunes": 9781982163891, "bookshop": 9781982163891, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/417UzkMMjxL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781982163891", "isbn10": "1982163895", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 44, "book": "Burn Book: A Tech Love Story", "source": "NPR", "text": "Kara Swisher is still drawn to tech despite her disappointments with the industry", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/26/1233845063/kara-swisher-burn-book-memoir-tech-industry-dissapointements" } ] }, "45": { "id": 45, "edition": "Fall", "title": "By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land", "author": "Rebecca Nagle", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "Journalist Rebecca Nagle uses a small-town murder and the intricacies of disputed jurisdiction over where it took place as a jumping-off point in this fascinating history of Native American land, the U.S. government’s broken promises and outright theft of said land, and the legal battles fought by Indigenous peoples to reclaim what is theirs. In alternating chapters, Nagle writes about the legal battle that restored nearly 20 million acres of land in Oklahoma to the Muscogee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Cherokee nations, and the history that led to that battle’s necessity.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0063112043", "cover": "0063112043", "goodreads": 199393033, "itunes": 9780063112049, "bookshop": 9780063112049, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vO3Oz043L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063112049", "isbn10": "0063112043", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 45, "book": "By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Rebecca Nagle on the centuries-long fight over tribal sovereignty in Oklahoma", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/rebecca-nagle-on-the-centurieslong-fight-over-tribal-sovereignty-in-oklahoma/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 45, "book": "By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land", "source": "KOSU", "text": "Rebecca Nagle's 'By the Fire We Carry' questions treatment of Indigenous nations, democracy at large", "url": "https://www.kosu.org/race-culture/2024-09-10/rebecca-nagles-by-the-fire-we-carry-questions-treatment-of-indigenous-nations-democracy-at-large" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 45, "book": "By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land", "source": "KQED", "text": "Rebecca Nagle on the long and ongoing battle for tribal sovereignty and land", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101907008/rebecca-nagle-on-the-long-and-ongoing-battle-for-tribal-sovereignty-and-land" } ] }, "46": { "id": 46, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Cahokia Jazz", "author": "Francis Spufford", "reviewers": [ "Holly J. Morris" ], "text": "It’s 1922 and, in this alternate-history detective story, Cahokia isn’t a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Illinois. It’s a thriving Indigenous-owned and operated city and state with a strong Catholic presence, plus Klansmen, bootleggers and other undesirables. If you try to skim, you’ll get lost in the how-deep-does-this-go corruption, careful world-building and sprawling cast. The naive main character, jazz-playing police detective Joe Barrow, shoves his way through exposition, fight scenes, maybe-occult doings, local royalty and personal angst, all backgrounded by a Roaring ‘20s aesthetic portrayed in loving detail. Maps and excerpts from (made-up) primary sources will guide you through – if you pay attention. If you’re me, you’ll take notes.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "the states we’re in", "for music lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668025450", "cover": "1668025450", "goodreads": 176443282, "itunes": 9781668025451, "bookshop": 9781668025451, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412hQIcYRTL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668025451", "isbn10": "1668025450", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 46, "book": "Cahokia Jazz: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Cahokia Jazz,' alternate history mashes up with hardboiled noir", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/15/1231483570/in-cahokia-jazz-alternate-history-mashes-up-with-hardboiled-noir" } ] }, "47": { "id": 47, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Call Me Roberto! Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos", "author": "Nathalie Alonso, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "The highs and lows of one of the greatest baseball players of all time is told here with a special focus on how Roberto Clemente fought racism throughout his career. The author makes sure not to skimp on fun baseball details, but she also expertly addresses what Clemente had to go through as a professional ballplayer from Puerto Rico, with African roots, living through Jim Crow times. It’s a deft duality. Great writing, beautiful art and worthy of Clemente himself, who said, as captured in the book, “I represent the common people of America. So I am going to be treated like a human being.” (For ages 7 to 10)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "kids’ books", "for history lovers", "for sports lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1635928117", "cover": "1635928117", "goodreads": 202777366, "itunes": 9781635928112, "bookshop": 9781635928112, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91meLOn52LL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781635928112", "isbn10": "1635928117", "links": [] }, "48": { "id": 48, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Carrie Carolyn Coco: My Friend, Her Murder, and an Obsession with the Unthinkable", "author": "Sarah Gerard", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Novelist, essayist and private investigator Sarah Gerard redefines true crime in this poignant tribute to her friend Carolyn Bush, a poet who was killed at age 25 by her roommate. While simultaneously investigating Bush’s death, Gerard constructs a collage-like portrait of Bush from interviews with dozens of her friends and family members, ensuring that readers understand the impact this clever, intuitive young woman had on her community. Carrie Carolyn Coco goes far beyond the tabloids that characterized Bush’s killer as a “tortured artist,” using in-depth reporting to expose the privilege and misogyny at the heart of this case.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1638930465", "cover": "1638930465", "goodreads": 196841887, "itunes": 9781638930464, "bookshop": 9781638930464, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Hs8BlvMGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781638930464", "isbn10": "1638930465", "links": [] }, "49": { "id": 49, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Catalina", "author": "Karla Cornejo Villavicencio", "reviewers": [ "Christina Cala" ], "text": "Catalina Ituralde is that elusive, cool, shrewdly intelligent, cultured friend who has somehow managed to be unapologetically herself. She is main-character energy. Her senior year at Harvard, Catalina wants to date fellow student Nathaniel Wheeler, work on the literary magazine and write a killer thesis. What happens after graduation is uncertain. As a DREAMer raised in Queens, she’s navigating her undocumented status, her relationship with her grandparents and her place in a world that isn’t built for her. Catalina is a melding of unflinching personal insights and insecurities with an analytical exploration into the politics of feminism, colonialism, race, class and gender. As author Karla Cornejo Villavicencio puts it – out of all the abandoned girls, Catalina could be the valedictorian.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0593449096", "cover": "0593449096", "goodreads": 202907408, "itunes": 9780593449097, "bookshop": 9780593449097, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41A1ApiIaCL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593449097", "isbn10": "0593449096", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 49, "book": "Catalina", "source": "NPR", "text": "Karla Cornejo Villavicencio on 'The Undocumented Americans'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2020/06/23/882551486/the-undocumented-americans" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 49, "book": "Catalina", "source": "NPR", "text": "What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend reading and listening", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/12/nx-s1-5034061/whats-making-us-happy-a-guide-to-your-weekend-reading-and-listening" } ] }, "50": { "id": 50, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food", "author": "Michelle T. King", "reviewers": [ "Shannon Rhoades" ], "text": "Fu Pei-mei, the woman who brought the art of Chinese cooking to the world, had an extraordinary life. Fu Pei-mei’s 1969 cookbook, with recipes in both Mandarin and English, is still considered a classic. She had her own TV show for 40 years – and her influence spans instant ramen, airline food, even the closing banquet for President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China. In this ode, Michelle T. King weaves stories of how Fu Pei-mei’s cooking helped nourish a generation of immigrants to the U.S. in a way that “fed” us all.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1324021284", "cover": "1324021284", "goodreads": 199566953, "itunes": 9781324021285, "bookshop": 9781324021285, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5117p+iPk5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324021285", "isbn10": "1324021284", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 50, "book": "Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food", "source": "NPR", "text": "A new book traces the life of Fu Pei-mei, who brought Chinese food to the world", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/11/1250756694/a-new-book-traces-the-life-of-fu-pei-mei-who-brought-chinese-food-to-the-world" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 50, "book": "Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Meet Fu Pei-mei, Taiwan's first TV cooking star", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/good-food/indian-diaspora-fu-pei-mei-california-salmon-ban/fu-pei-mei-chop-fry-watch-learn-book" } ] }, "51": { "id": 51, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church", "author": "Eliza Griswold", "reviewers": [ "Daniel Burke" ], "text": "Eliza Griswold likens her style of immersion journalism to hitchhiking: You might think you’re headed to Vermont, only to find yourself lost in Las Vegas. Something of the sort happens in her nonfiction book Circle of Hope. She spots the hipsters and spiritual refugees who make up Philadelphia’s Circle of Hope church, and she embeds with its four pastors, expecting to tell a story about modern Christians emulating Jesus’ earliest followers. But the story takes a sharp left turn as the church confronts the COVID-19 pandemic and its own racial missteps. It’s not a happy ending – the Circle, in the end, is broken. But animated by Griswold’s sharp eye and deep empathy for the church’s idealistic but flawed leaders, the book is more than worth the journey.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0374601682", "cover": "0374601682", "goodreads": 195791354, "itunes": 9780374601683, "bookshop": 9780374601683, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Dcb2UXUuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374601683", "isbn10": "0374601682", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 51, "book": "Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church", "source": "NPR", "text": "How culture wars divided one small progressive church in Philadelphia", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/28/nx-s1-5165379/circle-of-hope-culture-wars-eliza-griswold" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 51, "book": "Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church", "source": "WITF", "text": "September Pick of the Month: 'Circle of Hope' by Eliza Griswold", "url": "https://www.witf.org/2024/08/27/september-pick-of-the-month-circle-of-hope-by-eliza-griswold/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 51, "book": "Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Roundtble: Eliza Griswold's 'Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Hope, Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2024-09-25/eliza-griswolds-circle-of-hope-a-reckoning-with-hope-love-power-and-justice-in-an-american-church" } ] }, "52": { "id": 52, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Clear", "author": "Carys Davies", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "It’s the 1840s, the last and most brutal years of The Clearances, when Scottish landowners began replacing unprofitable tenants with sheep. Based on that real history, Clear is a novel about a minister, John, who has been dispatched to clear a remote island of its last remaining inhabitant, Ivar. Except just after he arrives, John slips and falls off a cliff. Ivar finds John, nurses him back to health, and invites him into his life; Ivar begins to teach John the many words that all mean some variation of “rough seas” in Norn (a real language), and the pair learn to communicate roughly, but with an unexpected depth. What follows is perhaps the most tender, beautiful story about the connection between two people and what they must overcome to find each other – in every sense of the word.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668030667", "cover": "1668030667", "goodreads": 176443690, "itunes": 9781668030660, "bookshop": 9781668030660, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51BG4uKcgsL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668030660", "isbn10": "1668030667", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 52, "book": "Clear: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Carys Davies' 'Clear' follows a reverend's journey to evict an island's lone tenant", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/30/1241836309/carys-davies-clear-follows-a-reverends-journey-to-evict-an-islands-lone-tenant" } ] }, "53": { "id": 53, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Cloistered: My Years as a Nun", "author": "Catherine Coldstream", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Nuns have captured our imaginations as characters in fiction and on film over the years, but it’s rare to hear from one firsthand. This compelling memoir provides a glimpse into the life of a cloistered nun as the author shares her journey into – and ultimately out of – an order of Carmelite nuns in England. Catherine Coldstream seamlessly weaves her own personal motivations for seeking a life of solitude, contemplation and service alongside an exploration of the challenges, reforms and purpose of such orders at the turn of the 21st century. This book will push you to reflect on faith, power and personal agency in your own communities as you consider Coldstream’s experience.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1250323517", "cover": "1250323517", "goodreads": 127305797, "itunes": 9781250323514, "bookshop": 9781250323514, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41nWUoBKuWL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250323514", "isbn10": "1250323517", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 53, "book": "Cloistered: My Years as a Nun", "source": "NPR", "text": "A former nun explains why she ran away from her 'Cloistered' life", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/20/1239633773/cloistered-former-nun-catherine-coldstream" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 53, "book": "Cloistered: My Years as a Nun", "source": "NPR", "text": "A former nun's 'Cloistered' life", "url": "https://www.npr.org/search/?query=Catherine%20Coldstream&page=1&range%5BlastModifiedDate%5D%5Bmin%5D=1698192000" } ] }, "54": { "id": 54, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Colored Television", "author": "Danzy Senna", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "Danzy Senna has earned a stellar reputation for her discerning reflections on the experience of being Black and biracial in an aspirationally post-racial America. Her exhilarating, satirical fourth novel, Colored Television, is one of the sharpest, most viscerally entertaining novels I’ve read in years. Jane is a literary novelist who’s sick of living in genteel, precarious poverty in the cold shadow of Hollywood’s dream factory. When her spectacularly esoteric, centuries-spanning saga of mixed-race history (a “mulatto War and Peace”) doesn’t sell, she launches a perilous yet hilarious bid to become a TV writer instead. It’s a wild and poignant ride.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "0593544374", "cover": "0593544374", "goodreads": 220572240, "itunes": 9780593544372, "bookshop": 9780593544372, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41IhaEKPg4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593544372", "isbn10": "0593544374", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 54, "book": "Colored Television", "source": "NPR", "text": "I want to write myself into existence,' says 'Colored Television' author", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/03/nx-s1-5095921/colored-television-danzy-senna" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 54, "book": "Colored Television", "source": "NPR", "text": "An identity crisis at the heart of the election; plus, disrupting biracial fantasies", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/27/1202000780/its-been-a-minute-midwest-identity-danzy-senna" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 54, "book": "Colored Television", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Colored Television' is an ungentle satire set in post-post-racial America", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/09/nx-s1-5100219/colored-television-review-danzy-senna" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 54, "book": "Colored Television", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Danzy Senna on the anxieties of being racially ambiguous in Hollywood", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/housing-lebanon-detonations-danzy-senna-film/colored-tv" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 54, "book": "Colored Television", "source": "WYPR", "text": "Reality Adjacent: 'Colored Television' by Danzy Senna and 'Small Rain' by Garth Greenwell", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/show/the-weekly-reader-on-wypr/2024-09-27/reality-adjacent-colored-television-by-danzy-senna-and-small-rain-by-garth-greenwell" } ] }, "55": { "id": 55, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Come and Get It", "author": "Kiley Reid", "reviewers": [ "Beck Harlan" ], "text": "Told through multiple perspectives, I could not put this snappy page-turner down, even though I had no idea where it was going until its jaw-dropping crescendo. Set at the University of Arkansas, this story follows several college students and a writing professor over the course of a year, largely through the lens of their relationship with money – how it motivates them, how it gets them into and (for some) out of situations – as well as race, sexuality, power and social status. As a Southerner and the graduate of a Southern university, I found myself nodding along excitedly to Reid’s apt depictions of contemporary Southern culture.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "fiction", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593328205", "cover": "0593328205", "goodreads": 127482608, "itunes": 9780593328200, "bookshop": 9780593328200, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517lUWYpWVL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593328200", "isbn10": "0593328205", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 55, "book": "Come and Get It", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Come and Get It': This fictional account of college has plenty of truth baked in", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/27/1227111977/come-and-get-it-review-kiley-reid-such-a-fun-age" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 55, "book": "Come and Get It", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Kiley Reid's juicy campus novel tackles college students, money and responsibility", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/nerdette/2024/02/06/nerdette-book-club-kiley-reids-campus-novel-come-and-get-it" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 55, "book": "Come and Get It", "source": "KUAF", "text": "Kiley Reid talks 'Come and Get It'", "url": "https://www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-at-large/2024-01-31/kiley-reid-talks-come-and-get-it" } ] }, "56": { "id": 56, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Consent: A Memoir", "author": "Jill Ciment", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "After the death of her husband of nearly 50 years, Jill Ciment reconsiders their relationship, which began when she was 17 and he was her much older, married drawing instructor. She first wrote about their early years together in Half a Life, when she was in her 40s and he was in his 70s. In Consent, she scrutinizes and amplifies that account in light of the #MeToo movement and changing social attitudes. Did she have the agency to consent? Was he a letch? Was she a vixen? How could she have known as a teenager that he was the love of her life?
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0593701062", "cover": "0593701062", "goodreads": 200798634, "itunes": 9780593701065, "bookshop": 9780593701065, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/417Y6Mxo-yL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593701065", "isbn10": "0593701062", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 56, "book": "Consent: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "She was 17. He was 47. #MeToo changed how she thinks of their relationship", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/09/nx-s1-5028203/jill-ciment-consent-me-too" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 56, "book": "Consent: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Consent,' an author asks: 'Me too? Did I have the agency to consent?'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/10/nx-s1-4998478/jill-ciment-memoir-consent-half-a-life-metoo-movement" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 56, "book": "Consent: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "An arresting memoir of 'Consent' asks: Does a marriage's end excuse its beginning?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/06/nx-s1-4995729/consent-jill-ciment-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 56, "book": "Consent: A Memoir", "source": "WOSU", "text": "Woman writes about 30-year age gap between she and her husband in memoir", "url": "https://www.wosu.org/show/all-sides/2024-08-01/woman-writes-about-30-year-age-gap-between-she-and-her-husband-in-memoir" } ] }, "57": { "id": 57, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Creation Lake", "author": "Rachel Kushner", "reviewers": [ "Will Jarvis" ], "text": "For a spy novel, Creation Lake has a straightforward setup: A ruthless agent, backed by a mysterious and deep-pocketed client, infiltrates a group of radical environmentalists in rural France. But Rachel Kushner’s latest work – nominated for the Booker Prize and a National Book Award – is as much an espionage thriller as it is a treatise on philosophy, human evolution, anarchism and medieval peasant uprisings. The agent “Sadie Smith” narrates the novel. She’s perceptive, funny, cruel, amoral. A spy-for-hire who revels in exploiting weakness. In her isolation, Sadie sees herself as a master manipulator. But is someone else pulling her strings?
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "seriously great writing", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1982116528", "cover": "1982116528", "goodreads": 207300960, "itunes": 9781982116521, "bookshop": 9781982116521, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41b3sonGykL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781982116521", "isbn10": "1982116528", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 57, "book": "Creation Lake", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rachel Kushner's new espionage thriller may be her coolest book yet", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/10/nx-s1-5104725/creation-lake-review-rachel-kushner" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 57, "book": "Creation Lake", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rachel Kushner on her new spy novel 'Creation Lake'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/07/nx-s1-5061496/rachel-kushner-on-her-new-spy-novel-creation-lake" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 57, "book": "Creation Lake", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Author Rachel Kushner on her novel, 'Creation Lake'", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/culture/author-rachel-kushner-on-her-novel-creation-lake" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 57, "book": "Creation Lake", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Rachel Kushner on 'Creation Lake'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2024-09-03/rachel-kushner-creation-lake" } ] }, "58": { "id": 58, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Cuckoo", "author": "Gretchen Felker-Martin", "reviewers": [ "Liam McBain" ], "text": "Cuckoo is an ingeniously scary novel about a group of kids sent to a conversion camp in the ‘90s. There’s the terror of the socially accepted abuse the kids face (both at the camp and at home) because they are queer, but there’s yet another horrifying entity preying on them, and trying to make them – different. Gretchen Felker-Martin’s sharp novel takes on the particular vulnerability of queer kids and the body-snatching that is conversion therapy, and she does it with equal measures of tenderness and grotesquery. As harrowing and disgusting as it is, I also found it quite insightful and beautiful – and for that reason, Cuckoo is a great work of horror.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250794668", "cover": "1250794668", "goodreads": 61884778, "itunes": 9781250794666, "bookshop": 9781250794666, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/413cUGpzoIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250794666", "isbn10": "1250794668", "links": [] }, "59": { "id": 59, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV", "author": "Emily Nussbaum", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "Emily Nussbaum has accomplished the near impossible: She crafted a book with such deep insight and wide-ranging appeal that it works for fans, haters and scholars of reality television alike. Cue the Sun! is a rigorous and riveting deep dive into the roots, scandals and cultural power of reality television in the United States. And though written by one of our most erudite and acclaimed cultural critics, the book sidelines expert voices in favor of the media-makers – it’s grounded in hundreds of interviews with show casts and crew members.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "no biz like show biz" ], "isbn": "0525508996", "cover": "0525508996", "goodreads": 203020280, "itunes": 9780525508991, "bookshop": 9780525508991, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ALtZ7p-7L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780525508991", "isbn10": "0525508996", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 59, "book": "Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Cue the Sun!' is a riveting history of reality TV", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/25/nx-s1-5017620/book-review-cue-the-sun-emily-nussbaum" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 59, "book": "Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV", "source": "NPR", "text": "What Do The 'Love is Blind' Lawsuits Mean For Reality TV?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/29/1197972293/emily-nussbaum-reality-tv" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 59, "book": "Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Emily Nussbaum on reality TV's origins and real world impact", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-treatment/emily-nussbaum-richard-lagravenese-vince-staples/cue-the-sun-invention-of-reality-tv-interview" } ] }, "60": { "id": 60, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Curvy Girl Summer", "author": "Danielle Allen", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "Like Michelle Buteau’s TV series Survival of the Thickest in book form, indie publishing queen Danielle Allen’s Curvy Girl Summer is a saucy, spicy modern romantic escape. Aaliyah is a 29-year-old IT professional with a fabulous apartment and thriving career, but her family can’t get over the fact that she’s single and, in some family members’ view, too fluffy to be in demand on the modern marriage mart. Aaliyah sets out to prove them wrong by finding a long-term romantic partner before her 30th birthday and finally squash that negative talk for once and for all. Unfortunately, the romantic pickings are shockingly shady. And the highlight of each date is the time she spends lamenting what went wrong with her favorite (possibly already taken) hot bartender, Ahmad. The best kinds of sexy shenanigans ensue.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "1250331048", "cover": "1250331048", "goodreads": 154986013, "itunes": 9781250331045, "bookshop": 9781250331045, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41LYfh0UAZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250331045", "isbn10": "1250331048", "links": [] }, "61": { "id": 61, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Dead in Long Beach, California", "author": "Venita Blackburn", "reviewers": [ "Linda Holmes" ], "text": "A woman named Coral finds the body of her brother after his suicide, but she doesn’t tell anyone right away. Instead, she begins to inhabit his life through his phone, as if she can keep him alive by answering his texts. But what makes the book even odder, even more ambitious, is that it is narrated in the detached voices of automated beings from the future who are all that’s left after humanity has wiped itself out. This combination of almost unbearable intimacy and arm’s-length anthropology has an explanation of sorts. But more importantly, it serves both to add considerable humor to the text (what would a robot think of human frailty, after all?) and to render Coral’s situation more confusing, more disorienting. It’s a sad story, but it’s also a ride, and that’s a tough combination.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "funny stuff", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0374602824", "cover": "0374602824", "goodreads": 127282888, "itunes": 9780374602826, "bookshop": 9780374602826, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41TkF0CFNlL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374602826", "isbn10": "0374602824", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 61, "book": "Dead in Long Beach, California: A Novel", "source": "KQED", "text": "In 'Dead in Long Beach, California,' grief gives way to disastrous decisions", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/13940524/dead-in-long-beach-california-review-venita-blackburn" } ] }, "62": { "id": 62, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Dear Dad: Growing Up with a Parent in Prison – and How We Stayed Connected", "author": "Jay Jay Patton and Antoine Patton, with Kiara Valdez, illustrated by Markia Jenai", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Forging a relationship with a parent who is incarcerated is a daunting task, but 9-year-old Jay Jay Patton doesn’t have another choice. Jay Jay’s father is in prison and she’s only been able to visit him twice. Hampered by slow mail, expensive collect calls and extreme distance, Jay Jay and her father decide something has to be done. This graphic novel tells the moving story of one family’s determination to connect, no matter what. Dear Dad not only shines a light on an overlooked problem, but also serves as an inspiration to families everywhere. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1338893203", "cover": "1338893203", "goodreads": 202773011, "itunes": 9781338893205, "bookshop": 9781338893205, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jnqEapCBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781338893205", "isbn10": "1338893203", "links": [] }, "63": { "id": 63, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Deer Run Home", "author": "Ann Clare LeZotte", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "I was unprepared for the power and grace of this remarkable novel in verse. Effie, who is deaf, has no one in her family who uses sign language. When her devastating secret threatens to destroy those closest to her, despair and hope ping-pong back and forth as she endeavors to be heard. This important book, based on a true story, is a testament to friendship, found family and courage. Ann Clare LeZotte’s Deer Run Home stayed with me long after I finished the final sentence. (For ages 10 to 14)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "short stories, essays & poetry", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1339021900", "cover": "1339021900", "goodreads": 202772969, "itunes": 9781339021904, "bookshop": 9781339021904, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OFQAmGh7L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781339021904", "isbn10": "1339021900", "links": [] }, "64": { "id": 64, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America", "author": "Paola Ramos", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "Every election cycle, like clockwork, a chorus of articles is published declaring that “Latinos are not a monolith!” But often the subsequent analysis is pretty limited. Not so, here. In Defectors, Paola Ramos dives deep into why some Latinos are so drawn to the politics of the far right, including white supremacist ideologies. It’s a challenging but deeply compassionate book that explores how tribalism, traditionalism and trauma all influence the politics of one of the United States’ most misunderstood demographic groups. And it includes personal reflection about Ramos’ own political coming-of-age and the fine lines that separate her beliefs from those of the communities that she’s exploring.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593701364", "cover": "0593701364", "goodreads": 204316963, "itunes": 9780593701362, "bookshop": 9780593701362, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41At3CoTSBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593701362", "isbn10": "0593701364", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 64, "book": "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America", "source": "NPR", "text": "Latinos are moving to the far right. Paola Ramos thinks she knows why", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/25/1201499003/latinos-are-moving-to-the-far-right-paola-ramos-thinks-she-knows-why" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 64, "book": "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America", "source": "KQED", "text": "Paola Ramos on the rise of the Latino far right", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101907195/paola-ramos-on-the-rise-of-the-latino-far-right" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 64, "book": "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America", "source": "KERA", "text": "Will the far-right extend white privilege to Latinos?", "url": "https://think.kera.org/2024/09/26/will-the-far-right-extend-white-privilege-to-latinos/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 64, "book": "Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America", "source": "KJZZ", "text": "Author sets out to understand the rightward drift of Latino voters", "url": "https://www.kjzz.org/the-show/2024-10-09/author-sets-out-to-understand-the-rightward-drift-of-latino-voters" } ] }, "65": { "id": 65, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Die Hot with a Vengeance: Essays on Vanity", "author": "Sable Yong", "reviewers": [ "Elise Hu" ], "text": "We’re living in the most visual culture ever, with Zoom’s “touch up my appearance” slider and algorithms showing us how to look. It’s a lot! Sable Yong’s collection of essays takes stock of this beauty-laden landscape and helped me think through big beauty™, wellness and vanity through her laugh-out-loud observations and searing insights.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "eye-opening reads", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0063236486", "cover": "0063236486", "goodreads": 199392896, "itunes": 9780063236486, "bookshop": 9780063236486, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41xesuCnVCL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063236486", "isbn10": "0063236486", "links": [] }, "66": { "id": 66, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Do I Know You?: A Faceblind Reporter’s Journey into the Science of Sight, Memory, and Imagination", "author": "Sadie Dingfelder", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "Lots of people think of themselves as “bad with faces.” If you’ve ever mixed up two co-workers or not recognized an old friend, you might put yourself in this category. But as an adult, journalist Sadie Dingfelder realized that she wasn’t just a little bad with faces – she perceived the world profoundly differently from most people around her. (As in, mistaking a stranger for her husband, and an aunt for her mother.) When she realized that these types of mix-ups weren’t particularly common for other people, she embarked on a fascinating (and often hilarious) journey to understand how human perception works. The resulting book is an exploration of the rich, and often downplayed, variety in how people see the world.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "funny stuff", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0316545147", "cover": "0316545147", "goodreads": 199928370, "itunes": 9780316545143, "bookshop": 9780316545143, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41V1vpIZ28L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316545143", "isbn10": "0316545147", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 66, "book": "Do I Know You?: A Faceblind Reporter's Journey into the Science of Sight, Memory, and Imagination", "source": "NPR", "text": "An incident at a grocery store set Sadie Dingfelder down the path of writing her book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/23/nx-s1-4949748/an-incident-at-a-grocery-store-set-sadie-dingfelder-down-the-path-of-writing-her-book" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 66, "book": "Do I Know You?: A Faceblind Reporter's Journey into the Science of Sight, Memory, and Imagination", "source": "WHYY", "text": "The Pulse: Making Faces", "url": "https://whyy.org/episodes/making-faces/" } ] }, "67": { "id": 67, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Do What Godmother Says", "author": "L.S. Stratton", "reviewers": [ "Keishel Williams" ], "text": "Do What Godmother Says by L.S. Stratton is a fantastic addition to the collection of works set during and celebrating the artistic environment of the Harlem Renaissance. This captivating dual-timeline Gothic thriller follows a modern writer who discovers a family heirloom painting by a Harlem Renaissance artist, linking her family to a mysterious past. The novel explores the complex and often deteriorating relationships between patrons and artists during this significant cultural movement. I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction, as it skillfully reveals the intricacies of creative ownership, particularly in the context of race and wealth.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "family matters", "for art lovers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1454947489", "cover": "1454947489", "goodreads": 201906748, "itunes": 9781454947486, "bookshop": 9781454947486, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51lDsLUAAlL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781454947486", "isbn10": "1454947489", "links": [] }, "68": { "id": 68, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Dragonfruit", "author": "Makiia Lucier", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "In the crowded young adult fantasy space, Dragonfruit’s gorgeous world-building stands out. The story, inspired by Pacific Islander mythology, follows Hanalei, who has spent years in exile from her island nation of Tamarind after her father stole a precious sea dragon egg. Now Hanalei is back and has the chance to right her father’s wrong. But first she has to make amends with her estranged childhood friend Sam, who happens to be the last prince of Tamarind. This book explodes with color – it’s vibrant and lush. This is perfect for any reader looking for a sweet love story set in a verdant and unique fantasy world.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0358272106", "cover": "0358272106", "goodreads": 181325033, "itunes": 9780358272106, "bookshop": 9780358272106, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51xcR2zt+kL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780358272106", "isbn10": "0358272106", "links": [] }, "69": { "id": 69, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Drawn Onward", "author": "Daniel Nayeri, illustrated by Matt Rockefeller", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Is there any kids’ genre Daniel Nayeri hasn’t mastered? Since launching into the middle-grade stratosphere with his award-winning Everything Sad is Untrue, Nayeri has been busy turning out magical masterpieces. Drawn Onward, a picture book with palindromic title and text, is a heart-rending tale of one child’s journey through grief. So simple and pure, this story is sure to bring tears to your eyes. Lushly illustrated by Matt Rockefeller, Drawn Onward deserves a place on every bookshelf. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0063277166", "cover": "0063277166", "goodreads": 199531825, "itunes": 9780063277168, "bookshop": 9780063277168, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ij7aVglML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063277168", "isbn10": "0063277166", "links": [] }, "70": { "id": 70, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Enlightenment", "author": "Sarah Perry", "reviewers": [ "Shannon Rhoades" ], "text": "You know that feeling – when you are fascinated by someone all the more because you don’t fully understand them? That’s how I feel in English author Sarah Perry’s “presence.” Enlightenment is a tale of two friends, different generations but hailing from the same small Essex town and even smaller congregation. There’s a mystery involving a woman astronomer – but mainly there’s empathy for the complexities of people’s identities and belief systems, a sense of home and loads of gorgeous writing.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "staff picks", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0063352613", "cover": "0063352613", "goodreads": 196774352, "itunes": 9780063352612, "bookshop": 9780063352612, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ydo+dN6+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063352612", "isbn10": "0063352613", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 70, "book": "Enlightenment: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sarah Perry on her new novel 'Enlightenment'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/01/nx-s1-4892947/sarah-perry-on-her-new-novel-enlightenment" } ] }, "71": { "id": 71, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Entitlement", "author": "Rumaan Alam", "reviewers": [ "Shannon Rhoades" ], "text": "How does wealth – having it, wanting it – change a person? A struggling New Yorker in her 30s goes to work for an elderly billionaire who has started a foundation to give his fortune away. Like in his novel Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam builds tension by creating a world that feels familiar – and alien. The ending is perfect book club material; so many interpretations that you’ll want to discuss among friends.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0593718461", "cover": "0593718461", "goodreads": 209330233, "itunes": 9780593718469, "bookshop": 9780593718469, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41HzKhJ0RtL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593718469", "isbn10": "0593718461", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 71, "book": "Entitlement: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "A billionaire gives away his fortune in Rumaan Alam's 'Entitlement'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/14/nx-s1-4761461/a-billionaire-gives-away-his-fortune-in-rumaan-alams-entitlement" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 71, "book": "Entitlement: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Entitlement' disappoints — 'Leave the World Behind' was a tough act to follow", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/19/nx-s1-5118359/entitlement-review-rumaan-alam" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 71, "book": "Entitlement: A Novel", "source": "KCRW", "text": " 'Entitlement' novel tackles race, power, real estate", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/election-deep-fakes-rumaan-alam/entitlement-novel" } ] }, "72": { "id": 72, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Everything We Never Had", "author": "Randy Ribay", "reviewers": [ "Dhanika Pineda" ], "text": "This book is a window into the soul of any Filipino American with ties to the motherland, no matter how loose those ties are. Tracing the relationships of four generations of Filipino men, Everything We Never Had is a candid depiction of the work it takes to break generational trauma, form cultural bonds and truly understand one’s place in history. Randy Ribay’s latest novel is a well-woven narrative packed with references to historical figures like labor leader Larry Itliong and even the notorious dictator and former president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos. An emotional experience for any reader who has ever wondered why their elders think the way they do, this book is a reminder of the importance of understanding and communicating as a means to preserve and celebrate history.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "young adult", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "059346141X", "cover": "059346141X", "goodreads": 202775014, "itunes": 9780593461419, "bookshop": 9780593461419, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ntUJ0QALL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593461419", "isbn10": "059346141X", "links": [] }, "73": { "id": 73, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Faker", "author": "Gordon Korman", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "For Trey, working with his dad doesn’t mean changing the oil or raking leaves; it means running cons and scamming people out of money. Trey, his sister and his father have bounced around from scam to scam for as long as Trey can remember, but he’s tired of running. Finally, Trey is at a new school and feels like a part of things, but his new life comes with questions: Is what his dad is doing really OK? If it’s not, what does that make Trey? Gordon Korman offers another middle-grade page-turner that will draw in even the most reluctant reader. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1338826751", "cover": "1338826751", "goodreads": 195263491, "itunes": 9781338826753, "bookshop": 9781338826753, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412IvIevrQL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781338826753", "isbn10": "1338826751", "links": [] }, "74": { "id": 74, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir", "author": "Tessa Hulls", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "Author Tessa Hulls’ journalist grandmother escaped China’s Cultural Revolution only to end up in and out of mental hospitals. Her mother was thrust into the role of caretaker at an early age; as an adult, she would constantly monitor Tessa for signs of instability. Tessa rebelled, running away from her family until she finally returned, after her 13th birthday, ready to learn about her family’s ghosts. Hulls recounts an epic story with haunting drawings and simple but eloquent prose.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "for history lovers", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0374601658", "cover": "0374601658", "goodreads": 127282542, "itunes": 9780374601652, "bookshop": 9780374601652, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61NGn+w8rLL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374601652", "isbn10": "0374601658", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 74, "book": "Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Feeding Ghosts,' Tessa Hulls explores impact of China's Cultural Revolution on her family", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/03/12/feeding-ghosts-tessa-hulls" } ] }, "75": { "id": 75, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Fire Exit", "author": "Morgan Talty", "reviewers": [ "Andrea de Leon" ], "text": "Penobscot writer Morgan Talty cuts right to the bone. His non-native narrator, Charles, was raised on the reservation but can no longer live there. In spare language that perfectly matches the rugged Central Maine landscape, Talty explores the ties of blood, culture and personal history. Saying goodbye to these characters was like waving goodbye to a friend after a too-short visit: wistful but grateful for the time together.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1959030558", "cover": "1959030558", "goodreads": 197789783, "itunes": 9781959030553, "bookshop": 9781959030553, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51G82EUzZ0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781959030553", "isbn10": "1959030558", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 75, "book": "Fire Exit: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Night of the Living Rez' author Morgan Talty follows up with novel 'Fire Exit'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/16/nx-s1-5002014/night-of-the-living-rez-author-morgan-talty-follows-up-with-novel-fire-exit" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 75, "book": "Fire Exit: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Fire Exit,' a father grapples with connection and the meaning of belonging", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/06/nx-s1-4991141/morgan-talty-debut-novel-fire-exit" } ] }, "76": { "id": 76, "edition": "Fall", "title": "First Love: Essays on Friendship", "author": "Lilly Dancyger", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "I’ve always maintained that my friendships have been just as important and life-affirming as my romantic relationships, and I was ecstatic when one of my favorite contemporary essayists, Lilly Dancyger, published this book on the topic. In her signature beautiful and thoughtful prose, Dancyger writes about the girls and women who helped her feel seen, known and cared for as she grew up and came into her own. She explores the darker sides of such relationships too: the obsessive, potentially destructive ones, and the grief of losing someone to time or death. A necessary, moving essay collection.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0593447573", "cover": "0593447573", "goodreads": 195888551, "itunes": 9780593447574, "bookshop": 9780593447574, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41PgkQbenbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593447574", "isbn10": "0593447573", "links": [] }, "77": { "id": 77, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Fledgling: The Keeper's Records of Revolution", "author": "S.K. Ali", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Wealthy versus poor. Technology versus ecology. S.K. Ali’s futuristic, dystopian YA novel has its finger on the pulse. This gripping, fantastical, fast-paced cautionary tale is told from multiple points of view. With intricate, detailed worldbuilding, Ali masterfully brings her characters to life against the stark backdrop of their realities. Fledgling is a tough, gritty and complex introduction to Ali’s new series.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593531248", "cover": "0593531248", "goodreads": 205064710, "itunes": 9780593531242, "bookshop": 9780593531242, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51z6rW-yGgL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593531242", "isbn10": "0593531248", "links": [] }, "78": { "id": 78, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Flying Through Water", "author": "Mamle Wolo", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Living in rural Ghana, Sena knows his future depends on his schooling and grades. But when a chance to make money for his family arises, he jumps at it – leading to a situation where he’s essentially enslaved and must escape and find a way back home. An adept adventure tale with nail-biting sequences, this book offers an eye-opening view of Ghana’s beauty and ills. By the time the story becomes a survival tale worthy of Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, you’ll never be able to forget the book’s writing or the environmental message at its heart. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "fiction", "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0316703966", "cover": "0316703966", "goodreads": 198493714, "itunes": 9780316703963, "bookshop": 9780316703963, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GWA6lvhiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316703963", "isbn10": "0316703966", "links": [] }, "79": { "id": 79, "edition": "Fall", "title": "For the Blessings of Jupiter and Venus", "author": "Varun Gauri", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "This debut novel looks at a contemporary couple of Indian background who opt for an arranged marriage. Meena and Avi go in with eyes open and settle in small town Ohio with the intention of making their relationship work. Varun Gauri narrates the story from both points of view with compassion and skill. Despite shared values and caring natures, the couple must navigate the stranglehold of family as well as familial judgment. Plenty of other misunderstandings and conflicts crop up to challenge their decision to marry. Gauri proves himself to be a wonderful storyteller.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1941551424", "cover": "1941551424", "goodreads": 216014781, "itunes": 9781941551424, "bookshop": 9781941551424, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41jTTHXWZtL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781941551424", "isbn10": "1941551424", "links": [] }, "80": { "id": 80, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Forgottenness", "author": "Tanja Maljartschuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "In this cryptic, haunting novel, the author wrestles with the meaning of Ukrainian identity and probes the elasticity of time, which eventually erases all identities – national and personal. The narrator’s malaise and weakening attachment to time serve as a metaphor for today’s Ukraine, as well as for other struggling democracies, including our own. Toward the end, she writes: “As years passed, I seemed to have less and less innate freedom left. I had been born with a big orb inside me, filled with freedom, like gas, but gradually my inborn supply of freedom leaked out, seeping into the surrounding expanse…” Forgottenness raises questions that are impossible to answer.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1324093226", "cover": "1324093226", "goodreads": 150778695, "itunes": 9781324093220, "bookshop": 9781324093220, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JkCVpPJ0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324093220", "isbn10": "1324093226", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 80, "book": "Forgottenness: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Forgottenness' explores upheavals in Ukraine and what it means to be Ukrainian", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/22/1226019224/forgottennes-explores-upheavals-in-ukraine-s-history-and-what-it-means-to-be-ukr" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 80, "book": "Forgottenness: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Forgottenness' wrestles with the meaning of Ukrainian identity — and time", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1226032210/book-review-tanja-maljartschuk-forgottenness-on-ukraine-russia" } ] }, "81": { "id": 81, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Four Squares", "author": "Bobby Finger", "reviewers": [ "Meghan Keane" ], "text": "Shortly after his 60th birthday, Artie Anderson finds himself volunteering at a local queer senior center. While Artie thinks he’ll be on the sidelines making popcorn for movie nights, he falls into a new community of friends who remind him that tight-knit friendships aren’t just for young people. As the book alternates between two time lines, the magic (and sometimes heartbreak) of Artie’s friendships is beautifully rendered. Author Bobby Finger is particularly adept at capturing sparky dialogue that only happens between good friends and brings alive the warm feeling only community can bring a person.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0593713559", "cover": "0593713559", "goodreads": 199426316, "itunes": 9780593713556, "bookshop": 9780593713556, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51qI8sjI3lL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593713556", "isbn10": "0593713559", "links": [] }, "82": { "id": 82, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Funny Story", "author": "Emily Henry", "reviewers": [ "Arielle Retting" ], "text": "It’s a classic love story: Boy meets girl, they fall in love and the two plan to get married, until boy decides he actually loves his childhood best friend – this time, Petra – instead. Scorned and stranded, Daphne moves in with the only person who could understand: Petra’s ex, Miles. The ex of my enemy is my friend, I guess? Emily Henry delivers another sweet and suspenseful romantic comedy, with a slow burn that has you wanting the best for Daphne and Miles, but especially Daphne as she comes out of her shell. Above all, Funny Story is a reminder that the most important relationship you have is the one you have with yourself.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "family matters", "let’s talk about sex", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593441281", "cover": "0593441281", "goodreads": 194803835, "itunes": 9780593441282, "bookshop": 9780593441282, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/417JgNCsi1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593441282", "isbn10": "0593441281", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 82, "book": "Funny Story", "source": "NPR", "text": "Emily Henry on 'embarrassing, giddy, freefall' of writing, reading and being in love", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/23/1246682981/emily-henry-on-embarrassing-giddy-freefall-of-writing-reading-and-being-in-love" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 82, "book": "Funny Story", "source": "NPR", "text": "Looking for love? You'll find it in 2024 in these 10 romance novels", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/14/1231132359/valentines-day-10-of-the-best-romance-novels-for-early-2024" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 82, "book": "Funny Story", "source": "KMUW", "text": "OK, OK, I finally read Emily Henry. And 'Funny Story' — now I know what the fuss is about", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2024-05-13/ok-ok-i-finally-read-emily-henry-and-funny-story-now-i-know-what-the-fuss-is-about" } ] }, "83": { "id": 83, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me", "author": "Glory Edim", "reviewers": [ "Keishel Williams" ], "text": "Tenderly written, Glory Edim’s Gather Me is a beautiful memoir that serves as a powerful testament to resilience. It pays tribute to the art of community building from someone whose career and identity are deeply rooted in literature. Edim, founder of Well-Read Black Girl, thoughtfully navigates her emotionally complex life, highlighting the books and authors that have shaped her journey. The chapter about Nikki Giovanni’s work – Edim’s spiritual exploration through it and the solace it brought her – is particularly poignant. Overall, it is an emotional narrative about family bonds and a meaningful gift to her community.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0525619798", "cover": "0525619798", "goodreads": 60372120, "itunes": 9780525619796, "bookshop": 9780525619796, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/414ymb17nSL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780525619796", "isbn10": "0525619798", "links": [] }, "84": { "id": 84, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See", "author": "Bianca Bosker", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Blair" ], "text": "Just about every page of Bianca Bosker’s deep dive into New York’s exclusive art world made me laugh. Her research included working as a gallery assistant, selling pieces at a Miami art fair and hanging out with “artist groupies.” She got a job as a museum guard, once “protecting a pile of dust” that she was told was part of the art itself. Artists, she writes, “frowned on my idea of beauty.” One gallery owner told her the way she dressed “was lowering my coolness.” Her stories are hilarious, and the art world doesn’t come off looking too good. But Bosker also shares what she learned about how to look at art. That’s useful to anyone who has been intimidated by hallowed art institutions or been confounded by what’s on their walls.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for art lovers", "funny stuff", "it’s all geek to me", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0525562206", "cover": "0525562206", "goodreads": 156741696, "itunes": 9780525562207, "bookshop": 9780525562207, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tWWW-J+jL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780525562207", "isbn10": "0525562206", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 84, "book": "Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See", "source": "NPR", "text": "How the art world excludes you and what you can do about it", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1227564378/get-the-picture-bianca-bosker-art" } ] }, "85": { "id": 85, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Getting to Know Death: A Meditation", "author": "Gail Godwin", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Nobody wants to talk about death, but legendary novelist Gail Godwin makes a good case that these conversations can be enlightening, necessary and sometimes even funny. Godwin broke her neck at age 85 while watering a dogwood tree outside her home, and her recovery was a tough one, as she chronicles in this moving reflection on aging and dying. This book meanders, surprises and comforts – it’s a stunning addition to Godwin’s impressive catalog.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1639734449", "cover": "1639734449", "goodreads": 198902280, "itunes": 9781639734443, "bookshop": 9781639734443, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31aDMuIffdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781639734443", "isbn10": "1639734449", "links": [] }, "86": { "id": 86, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Girl Abroad", "author": "Elle Kennedy", "reviewers": [ "Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez" ], "text": "Girl Abroad starts with Abbey Bly, 19 years old, ready to step away from her adoring, yet overprotective, father when she is given the chance to study abroad in London. There’s just one hitch: Abbey believes she’ll be living with girls there – but arrives to find out all her flatmates are boys. She decides to step into her newfound independence (and hide this fact from her father). Elle Kennedy has written an enjoyable coming-of-age story filled with humor, drama, romance and a found family. Readers will enjoy the way Kennedy deviates from her usual steamy, angst-centric stories for one with deeper emphasis on self-growth, relationship dynamics and figuring out not only who you are, but what you want.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1728299799", "cover": "1728299799", "goodreads": 175399560, "itunes": 9781728299792, "bookshop": 9781728299792, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51JEMmrzX8L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781728299792", "isbn10": "1728299799", "links": [] }, "87": { "id": 87, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Glass Houses", "author": "Madeline Ashby", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Zutter" ], "text": "When tech startup Wuv’s team crash-lands on a remote island, Chief Emotional Manager Kristen Howard must supervise not only the mounting hysteria as unknown horrors hunt them, but also her needy boss Sumter Williams’ deluded insistence that they can survive on magical thinking. Barricaded in a sexist smart (glass) house, Kiki can rely only on herself. Madeline Ashby brilliantly shatters expectations with this title, as the most harrowing scenes give characters nowhere to hide: beneath the blinding lights of a conference keynote, or under the glaring eye of a smartphone camera, streaming Kiki’s adolescence to subscribers controlling far more than her family’s revenue numbers. This book is a primal scream for the indignities women have suffered in tech and beyond, culminating in a triumphant howl.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "076538292X", "cover": "076538292X", "goodreads": 195790684, "itunes": 9780765382924, "bookshop": 9780765382924, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41wN8n73NbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780765382924", "isbn10": "076538292X", "links": [] }, "88": { "id": 88, "edition": "Fall", "title": "God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer", "author": "Joseph Earl Thomas", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Yep, it’s that Otis Spunkmeyer – the (fictitious) man behind the ubiquitous vending-machine baked goods. Joseph, the protagonist of Joseph Earl Thomas’ frenetic debut novel, wants nothing more than a chocolate chip muffin to get him through his shift as a med tech at a Philadelphia hospital. He will have to learn to live with disappointment (which is no problem for him). It’s hard to list all the themes Thomas tackles with aplomb in this book – just know it’s smart, fast moving and funny as hell. (It will make you want one of those muffins, though.)
", "tags": [ "fiction", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1538740982", "cover": "1538740982", "goodreads": 202220516, "itunes": 9781538740989, "bookshop": 9781538740989, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Mj7ANum4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781538740989", "isbn10": "1538740982", "links": [] }, "89": { "id": 89, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Great Expectations", "author": "Vinson Cunningham", "reviewers": [ "Linda Holmes" ], "text": "Vinson Cunningham worked on the 2008 Obama campaign, so it’s no surprise that this coming-of-age story follows a young man working on a thinly (very thinly) veiled version of that very undertaking. It would be easy to make a story like this either a cynical and cutting takedown of politics or a starry-eyed and idealistic discovery of meaning. It’s neither. It presents this campaign as a formative stage in the life of a young person who sees what goes into the successful gathering of power, ugly and impressive as it can be. Full of sharp observations about our precarious system of government, it’s also insightful about race and wealth and the relationship between the two.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593448235", "cover": "0593448235", "goodreads": 139400711, "itunes": 9780593448236, "bookshop": 9780593448236, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51oHYdPXfVL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593448236", "isbn10": "0593448235", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 89, "book": "Great Expectations: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "The déjà vu election; plus, losing faith in politics in 'Great Expectations'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1197955917/its-been-a-minute-biden-trump-great-expectations-vinson-cunningham" } ] }, "90": { "id": 90, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Greekish: Everyday Recipes with Greek Roots", "author": "Georgina Hayden", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Not everyone who loves Greek food is lucky enough to have a Yiayia to teach them to hand-roll dolmas and work with phyllo dough. Fans of the cuisine also don’t necessarily have the time it takes to lovingly prepare specialty dishes that would typically take hours or even days to come together. Enter Georgina Hayden with a collection of recipes inspired by her Greek-Cypriot heritage, adapted for busy home cooks. The flavors and dishes manage to feel both classic and fresh, inspiring Tuesday night dinner options that will transport your family.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1526630664", "cover": "1526630664", "goodreads": 198110754, "itunes": 9781526630667, "bookshop": 9781526630667, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51iIsLxv9AL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781526630667", "isbn10": "1526630664", "links": [] }, "91": { "id": 91, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Green Frog: Stories", "author": "Gina Chung", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Gina Chung’s Green Frog is an amazing medley of short stories that dance between literary fiction, fable, Korean folklore, horror and science fiction. Featuring a tale with instructions on how to cut your heart out, a story about imagining things that will never happen, a horror story about the power of memory, a narrative about a robot designed to replace a lost daughter, a healthy dose of feminism, and plenty of Korean and Korean American characters, this impressive debut collection makes Chung an author to watch.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593469364", "cover": "0593469364", "goodreads": 177185879, "itunes": 9780593469361, "bookshop": 9780593469361, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/413d2oYlC5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593469361", "isbn10": "0593469364", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 91, "book": "Green Frog: Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "The stories in 'Green Frog' are wildly entertaining and wonderfully diverse", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/14/1237941835/gina-chung-short-story-collection-green-frog-book-review" } ] }, "92": { "id": 92, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Greta & Valdin", "author": "Rebecca K Reilly", "reviewers": [ "Linda Holmes" ], "text": "The loving family at the heart of this very funny and moving novel about a brother and sister is so complex that I drew a diagram – no fooling – halfway through, the better to solidify in my mind ideas like, “Valdin recently broke up with his older boyfriend, who is also his uncle’s husband’s brother.” But despite the messy structure of things, every bond in the book is written to be precious and specific. Greta & Valdin is the rare story to live up to its fearless promotional copy, which calls it a cross between Schitt’s Creek and Normal People. Perhaps that sounds impossible; that’s what makes it so good.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1668028042", "cover": "1668028042", "goodreads": 176443453, "itunes": 9781668028049, "bookshop": 9781668028049, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JVReTQnFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668028049", "isbn10": "1668028042", "links": [] }, "93": { "id": 93, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Grief Is for People", "author": "Sloane Crosley", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "I spent most of the last year mourning my mother and found few books that even got close to capturing my altered mental state. My brain kept rehashing the past and finding significance in the oddest things, and I so wanted to share that experience with the very person I was missing. In a slim 191 pages, Sloane Crosley nails it precisely as she details mourning her best friend, who died suddenly by suicide. While poignant and vulnerable, her memoir is also insightful and funny, especially as she recounts adventures with Russell and her attempts to track down and reclaim jewelry that was stolen from her apartment about a month before he died: a caper he would have enjoyed in the telling. I finished it feeling grateful for her friend’s life and even more appreciative of my mom’s.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0374609845", "cover": "0374609845", "goodreads": 127282631, "itunes": 9780374609849, "bookshop": 9780374609849, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/415aJYrjSSL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374609849", "isbn10": "0374609845", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 93, "book": "Grief Is for People", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sloane Crosley mourns her best friend in 'Grief Is for People'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/28/1233929859/grief-is-for-people-book-review-sloane-crosley" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 93, "book": "Grief Is for People", "source": "NPR", "text": "Sloane Crosley on her memoir 'Grief is for People', mourning and magical thinking", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/25/1233771304/sloane-crosley-on-her-memoir-grief-is-for-people-mourning-and-magical-thinking" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 93, "book": "Grief Is for People", "source": "NPR", "text": "Grief Is for People' is an idiosyncratic reflection on friendship and loss", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1235931424/grief-is-for-people-is-an-idiosyncratic-reflection-on-friendship-and-loss" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 93, "book": "Grief Is for People", "source": "WPR", "text": "Sloane Crosley looks at grief, a strong emotion we all experience", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/books/sloane-crosley-grief-is-for-people-beta-book" } ] }, "94": { "id": 94, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Grown Woman Talk: Your Guide to Getting and Staying Healthy", "author": "Sharon Malone M.D.", "reviewers": [ "Allison Aubrey" ], "text": "If you want to be more proactive in managing your health, Dr. Sharon Malone can help. Grown Woman Talk is a playbook for navigating a fragmented and flawed health care system, written by a doctor who has spent more than 30 years practicing as an OB/GYN and is a certified menopause practitioner. She weaves in insights from her childhood in Mobile, Ala., when doctor visits were rare for her family. She recalls the first time she saw a doctor, entering the hospital through the “colored” door for an emergency tonsillectomy – and describes her mother as a “Jedi master” of managing injuries and illnesses with home remedies. Her deep sense of loss and anger at the death of her mom from cancer when she was 12 inspired her to be the kind of doctor and caretaker we need more of.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "science!", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593593863", "cover": "0593593863", "goodreads": 186872502, "itunes": 9780593593868, "bookshop": 9780593593868, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/410eOixXXZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593593868", "isbn10": "0593593863", "links": [] }, "95": { "id": 95, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Guide Me Home", "author": "Attica Locke", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "In this affecting final installment of Attica Locke’s award-winning Highway 59 series, which began with Bluebird, Bluebird, a Black college student goes missing from the all-white Texas sorority she was pledging. Burned-out and semiretired Texas Ranger Darren Mathews investigates as a favor and soon finds himself facing a wall of silence, as the missing student’s family lives in a shadowy, for-profit company town whose inhabitants have long given up on government. That intrigue seamlessly intertwines with the cultural ripples of Trumpism – from its appeal among some men of color to the deference for corporations and the wealthy. While #MeToo-themed mysteries are relatively thick on the ground, politically minded racial reckonings are not. This one is particularly worth spending time with.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316494615", "cover": "0316494615", "goodreads": 204593454, "itunes": 9780316494618, "bookshop": 9780316494618, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41N9vdc+0JL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316494618", "isbn10": "0316494615", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 95, "book": "Guide Me Home", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Attica Locke: In America, we walk 'Side By Side' with our past", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2017/09/14/550729865/author-attica-locke-in-america-we-walk-side-by-side-with-our-past" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 95, "book": "Guide Me Home", "source": "NPR", "text": "Here are the new books we're looking forward to this fall", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/03/nx-s1-5099220/best-books-fiction-nonfiction-2024" } ] }, "97": { "id": 97, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Hard by a Great Forest", "author": "Leo Vardiashvili", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "Hard by a Great Forest has all the ingredients of a dark and twisty fairy tale: A mysterious disappearance, a postwar city teeming with danger, a scavenger hunt, riddles, a road trip, escaped zoo animals, an orphan and a title echoing the first line of Hansel and Gretel. It’s loosely based on author Leo Vardiashvili’s life – he lived through Georgia’s civil war and immigrated to the U.K. as a refugee in the mid-’90s. It’s two decades later in the novel when Saba’s father is pulled back to their homeland in search of something – before promptly disappearing. His last message to his son: Do not follow me. But Saba (of course) follows his breadcrumb trail of clues and, along the way, is forced to confront the question: Can you ever really go home again?
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593545036", "cover": "0593545036", "goodreads": 145624505, "itunes": 9780593545034, "bookshop": 9780593545034, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51iMOYh5KdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593545034", "isbn10": "0593545036", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 97, "book": "Hard by a Great Forest: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Hard by a Great Forest' traces a family's journey back to a land they fleed", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/27/1227397135/hard-by-a-great-forest-traces-a-familys-journey-back-to-a-land-they-fleed" } ] }, "98": { "id": 98, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Haunt Sweet Home", "author": "Sarah Pinsker", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "Sarah Pinsker is just so good at writing characters you want to spend time with. In Haunt Sweet Home, Mara doesn’t know what she’s doing with her life when she takes a job as a production assistant on her cousin’s gimicky reality show, which combines home renovation with ghosts. Mara’s job is to provide the hauntings. I enjoyed behind the scenes of the show almost as much as I enjoyed Mara’s voice. Want something cozy and spooky? Pinsker writes with sharpness and warmth; there are moments of real eerieness. Haunt Sweet Home has a lot of heart – and is a lot of fun.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "no biz like show biz", "the dark side", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250330262", "cover": "1250330262", "goodreads": 203579272, "itunes": 9781250330260, "bookshop": 9781250330260, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KJQLIlZ0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250330260", "isbn10": "1250330262", "links": [] }, "99": { "id": 99, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Headshot", "author": "Rita Bullwinkel", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "Headshot is a real one-two punch of a novel. Eight teenage girl boxers have come to Bob’s Boxing Palace in Reno, Nev., for the 12th annual Women’s 18 & Under Daughters of America Cup. As each fight plays out in the ring – sometimes brutally, ferociously – Rita Bullwinkel brings to life the internal monologues of the girls. They recite the digits of pi, think about their pasts, their futures, their dreams of being the best in the world – and also of making their opponents chomp on a mouthful of pennies until their teeth break. Bullwinkel’s dynamic writing – moving back and forth in time, in and out of the boxing gym – and short, punchy sentences are a perfect mirror of the girls’ jabs in the ring. It’s a knockout.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "for sports lovers", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0593654102", "cover": "0593654102", "goodreads": 174156218, "itunes": 9780593654101, "bookshop": 9780593654101, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41kl0LsH1lL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593654101", "isbn10": "0593654102", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 99, "book": "Headshot: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rita Bullwinkel talks about her novel 'Headshot' and writing about women's boxing", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/09/1237179263/rita-bullwinkel-talks-about-her-novel-headshot-and-writing-about-womens-boxing" } ] }, "100": { "id": 100, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Heatwave", "author": "Lauren Redniss", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "It’s not just hot – it’s red hot, scorching hot, unbearably hot. This is more than just a picture book – it’s a powerful portrait of the weather and how it affects us. With each turn of the page, you can feel the intense images awash in red as the oppressive sun beats down. Life seems to slow to a stop due to the sweltering heat until … a single blue raindrop appears, followed by more. At last, relief ushers in the night. The spare text is the perfect foil for the strong, brilliant and blazing images in Lauren Redniss’ Heatwave. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "0593645944", "cover": "0593645944", "goodreads": 198688418, "itunes": 9780593645949, "bookshop": 9780593645949, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51u4vQaop7L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593645949", "isbn10": "0593645944", "links": [] }, "101": { "id": 101, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Heir", "author": "Sabaa Tahir", "reviewers": [ "Dhanika Pineda" ], "text": "Failed assassination attempts. The search for a lost religious figure and an elusive killer devouring hearts. A two-bed twist on the one-bed trope. This book is a puzzle of perspectives, timelines and plot twists that will leave you absolutely gobsmacked when everything finally falls into place. Set in the same world as Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series, Heir brings readers the Empire’s next generation of leaders and the obstacles they face. A journey of magic and manipulation, this book is full of complex characters who constantly remind us that heroes and villains are made, not born. At the end of it all, Sabaa Tahir leaves us with a strange feeling of connection to the killer – hungry for more.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593616944", "cover": "0593616944", "goodreads": 206780522, "itunes": 9780593616949, "bookshop": 9780593616949, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51E-Y77WqvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593616949", "isbn10": "0593616944", "links": [] }, "102": { "id": 102, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Help Wanted", "author": "Adelle Waldman", "reviewers": [ "Viet Le" ], "text": "If you’re like me and find details of people’s workplaces and work fascinating, this is your book. In this case, the workplace is a big-box store and the work is moving merchandise off the truck and onto the shelf. It’s routine, invisible and doesn’t pay great, but members of “Team Movement” make it, you know, work. So when the big boss announces his departure, the team spots an opportunity to improve things and gets to scheming … and for one of them, potentially, a promotion. Adelle Waldman brings a generous amount of humanity and humor to this world. I especially enjoyed meeting the cast of characters, each with a distinct background but a universal aspiration for a better life.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "132402044X", "cover": "132402044X", "goodreads": 150778765, "itunes": 9781324020448, "bookshop": 9781324020448, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41I-FRm7WxL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324020448", "isbn10": "132402044X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 102, "book": "Help Wanted: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Big-box store workers find themselves shut out of the American Dream in 'Help Wanted'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/13/1238010097/adelle-waldman-help-wanted-book-review" } ] }, "103": { "id": 103, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Henry Henry", "author": "Allen Bratton", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "Hal is a profane mess, kind of like Shakespeare’s Prince Hal, on whom he’s based: The 20-something is careening through life fueled by drugs, booze, cigarettes and loveless sex. He both flaunts and loathes his class status, his family’s fortune and his future as Duke of Lancaster, along with a flat-out refusal to live up to his father’s expectations. Hal is so wholly unsympathetic that if not for the brilliant writing, you might just give up before discovering the shocking violation at the root of his self-destruction. How can he finally become his own person? This isn’t an easy read. It’s at times dark and highly upsetting, but the author makes you stick with it in hopes of seeing Hal finally grow up.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "196188402X", "cover": "196188402X", "goodreads": 182108722, "itunes": 9781961884021, "bookshop": 9781961884021, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Ogdjbd-UL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781961884021", "isbn10": "196188402X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 103, "book": "Henry Henry", "source": "NPR", "text": "Allen Bratton's 'Henry Henry' gives the Shakespearan character a modern twist", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/20/1246083012/allen-brattons-henry-henry-gives-the-shakespearan-character-a-modern-twist" } ] }, "104": { "id": 104, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Here After: A Memoir", "author": "Amy Lin", "reviewers": [ "Beck Harlan" ], "text": "In this memoir, the past and the present bleed together, as short wisps of chapters build the case for Kurtis and Amy as soulmates, while also telling the story of Kurtis’ sudden and unexplained death. Poetic, visceral and stark, this beautifully crafted book is a gift, pulling back the curtain on the intimate processes of love and grief. Steeped in the greatest of personal losses, Amy Lin allows us to witness her plod against the cascading losses that follow and behold the life raft that is memory.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "family matters" ], "isbn": "195850632X", "cover": "195850632X", "goodreads": 182095845, "itunes": 9781958506325, "bookshop": 9781958506325, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31ht67lEr5L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781958506325", "isbn10": "195850632X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 104, "book": "Here After: A Memoir", "source": "WNYC", "text": "The grief of losing a partner at a young age", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/the-grief-of-losing-a-partner-at-a-young-age-mental-health-mondays/" } ] }, "105": { "id": 105, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Here One Moment", "author": "Liane Moriarty", "reviewers": [ "Jeanine Herbst" ], "text": "You’re sitting on a packed plane that’s already been delayed, when, suddenly, a woman stands up and tells everyone not only when they will die, but how. People are upset, but most try to brush it off as a troubled woman playing a cruel prank. Is Cherry a psychic? Can she see into the future, or – what? In Here One Moment, Australian author Liane Moriarty takes readers on a wild ride as passengers deal with love, heartbreak and careers, all while contemplating whether fate and destiny are real – and whether the outcome can be changed. It’s a captivating book that keeps you reading till the end to find out what happens to the passengers and just who Cherry really is.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0593798600", "cover": "0593798600", "goodreads": 208516656, "itunes": 9780593798607, "bookshop": 9780593798607, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41eEai2k69L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593798607", "isbn10": "0593798600", "links": [] }, "106": { "id": 106, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net", "author": "Jessica Calarco", "reviewers": [ "Erica Liao" ], "text": "Maybe it’s the age I’m in – seeing friends and peers become parents while also caring for their own parents, seeing how it radically changes their lives, seeing the price of child care! – but this book hit home. Drawing on surveys and in-depth interviews, Holding It Together clearly lays out how the U.S. forces women to fill in as society’s support system through both written policy and cultural norms. Some of the interviews may ruin your day with how angry they make you. There is also a healthy dose of hope, as this book points us toward urgent institutional changes to pave a better path forward.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593538129", "cover": "0593538129", "goodreads": 198563770, "itunes": 9780593538128, "bookshop": 9780593538128, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/410uTGFhi2L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593538128", "isbn10": "0593538129", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 106, "book": "Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net", "source": "NPR", "text": "Moms as our social safety net", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/10/1197956376/its-been-a-minute-drake-kendrick-rap-beef-women-05-10-2024" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 106, "book": "Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Women as America's safety net", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/06/04/women-work-safety-net" } ] }, "107": { "id": 107, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Hombrecito", "author": "Santiago Jose Sanchez", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "Santiago Jose Sanchez is a terrific new literary voice. Their debut novel sizzles, a queer coming-of-age novel about a boy who emigrates from Colombia and later returns to his homeland as a young man – only to realize his life is in the U.S. Sanchez communicates the anxiety and discomfort of adjusting to life in Miami, and later trying to make it in New York, while his relationship with his mother becomes increasingly fraught. He embraces his sexuality with dangerous lows and stunning highs. Against the odds, the protagonist ends up at Yale. If he is a fish out of water there, he’s a young man deserving of every academic opportunity. Sanchez is an author to watch.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0593542185", "cover": "0593542185", "goodreads": 200555888, "itunes": 9780593542187, "bookshop": 9780593542187, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/3141kwp-ABL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593542187", "isbn10": "0593542185", "links": [] }, "108": { "id": 108, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You're Too Scared to Watch", "author": "Emily C. Hughes", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "As I write this, my friends are all watching a scary movie and there’s at least one empty seat in the theater. Reader, I chickened out! If you’re also a weenie who has extreme FOMO when everyone’s talking about Jordan Peele’s latest or have to watch even the gentlest Hitchcock with the lights on, this book is for you. Emily C. Hughes spoils every major movie plot in horror history – with a bunch of actually funny jokes sprinkled in to make the journey less scary. Hughes also adds context that I might’ve missed if I watched while peeking out from under the covers. Things like, what zombie films have to do with the Vietnam War and how The Blair Witch Project changed the horror movie landscape.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1683694252", "cover": "1683694252", "goodreads": 203166778, "itunes": 9781683694250, "bookshop": 9781683694250, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/411Gkpj3hxL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781683694250", "isbn10": "1683694252", "links": [] }, "109": { "id": 109, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Horror Movie", "author": "Paul Tremblay", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Paul Tremblay is known for two things: gripping horror narratives that keep readers guessing and pushing the boundaries of horror in terms of format and storytelling. Horror Movie delivers all of that and more with a story about a cult movie that is told partly as a novel and partly as the movie’s script. Groundbreaking and darker than anything Tremblay has written before, Horror Movie is yet another great novel from one of horror fiction’s leading voices.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063070014", "cover": "0063070014", "goodreads": 200101541, "itunes": 9780063070011, "bookshop": 9780063070011, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41IKIkE91aL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063070011", "isbn10": "0063070014", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 109, "book": "Horror Movie: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Horror Movie' questions the motivation behind evil acts", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/11/nx-s1-5002249/paul-tremblay-book-review-horror-movie" } ] }, "110": { "id": 110, "edition": "Fall", "title": "House of Flame and Shadow", "author": "Sarah J. Maas", "reviewers": [ "Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez" ], "text": "Sarah J. Maas returned this year with House of Flame and Shadow, the latest in her Crescent City romantasy series. Building off House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, the ensemble cast of friends in this sequel is faced with new challenges that will forever change how they view themselves and their world. Maas weaves pain, love, friendship, deceit and family ties together, and this installment has everything you could ask for: laughter, tears and some familiar faces along the way. It left my heart pounding.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "family matters", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1635574102", "cover": "1635574102", "goodreads": 123211531, "itunes": 9781635574104, "bookshop": 9781635574104, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XvyJXAJyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781635574104", "isbn10": "1635574102", "links": [] }, "111": { "id": 111, "edition": "Fall", "title": "How It All Ends", "author": "Emma Hunsinger", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "When Tara skips a grade – going straight to ninth grade after ending seventh – and finds herself suddenly a high schooler, she’ll have to figure out friendship, crushes, family and who she is to survive. Setting itself up to quite possibly be the funniest book for kids in 2024, this story views high school through the eyes of an outsider. Come for the freshman boy antics. Stay for the privilege of remembering why, maybe, you would never go back to high school. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "comics & graphic novels", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0063158140", "cover": "0063158140", "goodreads": 199793467, "itunes": 9780063158146, "bookshop": 9780063158146, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pxJFbFkOL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063158146", "isbn10": "0063158140", "links": [] }, "112": { "id": 112, "edition": "Summer", "title": "How to End a Love Story", "author": "Yulin Kuang", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "If a 1990s rom-com grew up and went to therapy, this sparkling book would be the result. After penning a popular YA book series, Helen Zhang gets a seat in the writers room where it’s being adapted into a TV show. Unfortunately, Grant Shepard is also one of the writers in that room. Grant was the charming homecoming king at their high school, whereas Helen was awkward and introverted. He’s also the reason Helen’s sister is dead – kind of. It’s been years since the accident, but the writers room reopens old wounds and forces Helen and Grant to be vulnerable with each other. Even as Helen wrestles with their past, the two begin a present day romance that is sexy and tender. This book is a raised glass to second chances and late bloomers.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0063310686", "cover": "0063310686", "goodreads": 212432167, "itunes": 9780063310681, "bookshop": 9780063310681, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41qJBpNzvzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063310681", "isbn10": "0063310686", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 112, "book": "How to End a Love Story", "source": "NPR", "text": "Looking for love? You'll find it in 2024 in these 10 romance novels", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/14/1231132359/valentines-day-10-of-the-best-romance-novels-for-early-2024" } ] }, "113": { "id": 113, "edition": "Fall", "title": "How to Live Free in a Dangerous World: A Decolonial Memoir", "author": "Shayla Lawson", "reviewers": [ "Nayantara Dutta" ], "text": "When you travel, it changes everything you know. This essay collection takes the reader to post-Mugabe Zimbabwe, a refugee asylum in the Netherlands and foraging in the mist in Bermuda. Each chapter has a new location and theme, from privilege to intimacy to liberation, that explore the truths and contradictions that we discover in new places. At times, the author’s stream-of-consciousness writing style can be difficult to follow, but many essays are evocative and thoughtful. This is a memoir to read slowly, one chapter before bedtime, to let it all sink in.
", "tags": [ "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "nonfiction" ], "isbn": "0593472586", "cover": "0593472586", "goodreads": 150246133, "itunes": 9780593472583, "bookshop": 9780593472583, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51BTiyJPjIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593472583", "isbn10": "0593472586", "links": [] }, "114": { "id": 114, "edition": "Fall", "title": "How to Solve Your Own Murder", "author": "Kristen Perrin", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Imagine living your whole life based on one single piece of information. Allowing that single notion to shape your decisions, lifestyle, your friends and enemies. Frances Adams was just a teenager when a fortune teller predicted her murder. Decades later, her dead body is found on her English estate that her grandniece Annie is set to inherit. This upends the rest of the family and sets Annie on the path to collect clues Frances left behind – and figure out whether paranoia, or murder, is at play. The first in a new series, this whodunit will delight mystery lovers.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593474015", "cover": "0593474015", "goodreads": 181350367, "itunes": 9780593474013, "bookshop": 9780593474013, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41hAbXoRYwL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593474013", "isbn10": "0593474015", "links": [] }, "115": { "id": 115, "edition": "Fall", "title": "How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler", "author": "Peter Pomerantsev", "reviewers": [ "Brett Neely" ], "text": "Peter Pomerantsev’s story about Britain’s top covert propagandist during World War II reads like it should be on the fiction shelf. Sefton Delmer created elaborate radio broadcasts that mimicked Nazi broadcasts, but also subverted them by finding ways to slip in information that wasn’t otherwise available to Germans. Pomerantsev is an expert on autocracy and democratic backsliding, and his insights about Delmer’s work 80 years ago still feels fresh and useful today.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1541774728", "cover": "1541774728", "goodreads": 182761575, "itunes": 9781541774728, "bookshop": 9781541774728, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518a+qWAQqL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781541774728", "isbn10": "1541774728", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 115, "book": "How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'How to Win an Information War' details fighting with — and against — propaganda", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/14/1238514552/how-to-win-an-information-war-details-fighting-with-and-against-propaganda" } ] }, "116": { "id": 116, "edition": "Fall", "title": "How You Get the Girl", "author": "Anita Kelly", "reviewers": [ "Valentina Rodríguez Sánchez" ], "text": "When Julie Parker became a high school basketball coach, she didn’t expect to come face to face with her lifelong hero: former NCAA women’s basketball star Elle Chochrane. But Elle just happens to be the foster parent to a new and challenging member of Julie’s team. The two spark a friendship in which Elle offers to help Julie explore and practice dating – as if it were basketball. But when the line between practice and affection blurs, Elle and Julie start to reevaluate this coaching relationship. Themes of family, loss, relationships, sexuality and mental health are all handled with care in this warm hug of a book.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "family matters", "let’s talk about sex", "for sports lovers" ], "isbn": "1538754916", "cover": "1538754916", "goodreads": 173404080, "itunes": 9781538754917, "bookshop": 9781538754917, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51X80Hr1QDL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781538754917", "isbn10": "1538754916", "links": [] }, "118": { "id": 118, "edition": "Fall", "title": "I Hope This Finds You Well", "author": "Natalie Sue", "reviewers": [ "Holly J. Morris" ], "text": "This is likely the cutest-ever take on an inexcusable, wholly unethical invasion of privacy. (It will also make you finally stop gossiping on company computers.) Downtrodden desk jockey Jolene Smith accidentally gets unlimited access to her co-workers’ emails and chats, and she unrepentantly uses her powers to bolster her career and sabotage others. Jolene’s HR rep, whose capacity for forgiveness strains credulity, is the love interest. The B plot brings in overbearing parents and unexpected friendship – all based on mutual blackmail. This is a cheerful book about people who do terrible things but are not, themselves, terrible. Who can’t relate?
", "tags": [ "fiction", "funny stuff", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0063320363", "cover": "0063320363", "goodreads": 200987323, "itunes": 9780063320369, "bookshop": 9780063320369, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41QyWGisttL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063320369", "isbn10": "0063320363", "links": [] }, "119": { "id": 119, "edition": "Fall", "title": "I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both", "author": "Mariah Stovall", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Khaki is in a funk. A onetime punk and emo fan, the millennial woman hasn’t been to a show or listened to new music in years, and she spends her nights in her sad apartment, with her 768 records gathering dust – until she receives a message from a long-lost friend, which causes her to look back on her life and forward to the future. This is an excellent novel, compassionate and filled with a sparkling intelligence about the human condition – and for all you music fans, it’s the best rock novel in years.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "for music lovers", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1593767609", "cover": "1593767609", "goodreads": 185767233, "itunes": 9781593767600, "bookshop": 9781593767600, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jE-OS9LRL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781593767600", "isbn10": "1593767609", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 119, "book": "I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both' is a rare, genuinely successful rock novel", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/13/1230454178/mariah-stovall-i-love-you-so-much-its-killing-us-both-book-review" } ] }, "120": { "id": 120, "edition": "Fall", "title": "I Was a Teenage Slasher", "author": "Stephen Graham Jones", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Few writers can seamlessly blend horror, social commentary, humor and gripping storytelling the way Stephen Graham Jones can, and I Was a Teenage Slasher finds him in full swing and as entertaining as ever. At once tragic, gory and touching, this novel offers a new approach to the slasher genre, which Jones has more or less singlehandedly made very popular once again. This is a violent book, but it is also a lot of fun and it is always self-aware in ways that enrich the narrative while pushing the genre into a new space.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668022249", "cover": "1668022249", "goodreads": 199798522, "itunes": 9781668022245, "bookshop": 9781668022245, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OBn7psL6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668022245", "isbn10": "1668022249", "links": [] }, "121": { "id": 121, "edition": "Fall", "title": "I'm Sorry You Got Mad", "author": "Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Julie Kwon", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "It’s hard to resist a good epistolary picture book.This one is written in a series of terrible-to-good apologies, but it harbors a mystery at its heart: When Jack knocks down Zoe’s block castle, his first attempt at a teacher-mandated apology goes poorly. But why did Jack knock down that castle in the first place? Laugh-out-loud art and a sly dig at toxic masculinity round out one of the best children’s books of the year. (For ages 3 to 7)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0593462912", "cover": "0593462912", "goodreads": 202774970, "itunes": 9780593462911, "bookshop": 9780593462911, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yInTA8QtL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593462911", "isbn10": "0593462912", "links": [] }, "123": { "id": 123, "edition": "Fall", "title": "If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury", "author": "Geraldine DeRuiter", "reviewers": [ "Alan Yu" ], "text": "You may have heard about the epically horrible, hours-long meal at the Michelin-starred restaurant Bros that food writer Geraldine DeRuiter endured: It involved one dish where guests are meant to suck foam out of a cast of the owner’s mouth. She dives deep into this story, including interviewing a former chef at the restaurant, in one chapter of her new book. Throughout, she uses food to reflect on topics like expectations of women (and what men can get away with), health culture and the end of a long friendship. As the title promises, I was sometimes infuriated, sometimes astonished, by what I learned. But, mostly, I laughed at DeRuiter’s humor, which made this book a joy to read.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0593444485", "cover": "0593444485", "goodreads": 177186058, "itunes": 9780593444481, "bookshop": 9780593444481, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41z9gDh4OUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593444481", "isbn10": "0593444485", "links": [] }, "124": { "id": 124, "edition": "Fall", "title": "In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face-to-Face With the Idea of an Afterlife", "author": "Sebastian Junger", "reviewers": [ "Steve Drummond" ], "text": "In his latest book, Sebastian Junger returns to some of the themes that made his first one, 1997’s The Perfect Storm, a runaway bestseller. Back then, he set out to explore an unanswerable question: How did six men on a fishing boat perish in a massive storm, and what were their final moments like? This time, he directs his reporting and storytelling powers inward, toward equally unknowable things: What happens to us when we die? Why, as he lay in a Boston hospital in June 2020, minutes away from bleeding to death, did his father – dead for many years – appear above him? And why are such near-death experiences, involving friends or relatives no longer alive, so similar – across cultures and across centuries? This deeply personal book takes him, and the reader, into some surprising places.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1668050838", "cover": "1668050838", "goodreads": 199798896, "itunes": 9781668050835, "bookshop": 9781668050835, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41S2ne2ibWL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668050835", "isbn10": "1668050838", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 124, "book": "In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife", "source": "WHYY", "text": "How writer Sebastian Junger came face-to-face with his mortality", "url": "https://whyy.org/episodes/how-writer-sebastian-junger-came-face-to-face-with-his-mortality/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 124, "book": "In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Sebastian Junger's near-death experience, and his vision of an afterlife", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/sebastian-jungers-neardeath-experience-and-his-vision-of-an-afterlife/?tab=transcript" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 124, "book": "In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife", "source": "WYPR", "text": " 'In My Time of Dying': A brush with death prompts an exploration of the afterlife", "url": "https://www.wypr.org/2024-05-21/in-my-time-of-dying-a-brush-with-death-prompts-an-exploration-of-the-afterlife" } ] }, "125": { "id": 125, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Intermezzo", "author": "Sally Rooney", "reviewers": [ "Casey Morell" ], "text": "In Sally Rooney’s latest, Peter and Ivan are Irish brothers with a complicated relationship. As they navigate the aftermath of their father’s death, they struggle with how their relationships – with each other, with their late father and with those they hold close – color everything else around them. Rooney’s pointed prose and complex characters shine. Intermezzo is a story about how what you want and what you need are sometimes at odds. It’s eminently relatable – and an emotional sucker punch.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0374602638", "cover": "0374602638", "goodreads": 208931300, "itunes": 9780374602635, "bookshop": 9780374602635, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41maZghhb4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374602635", "isbn10": "0374602638", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 125, "book": "Intermezzo: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Intermezzo' is Sally Rooney's most moving novel yet", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/24/nx-s1-5100222/intermezzo-review-sally-rooney" } ] }, "126": { "id": 126, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality", "author": "Renée DiResta", "reviewers": [ "Brett Neely" ], "text": "At a time when our screens are clogged with viral lies and conspiracy theories, Invisible Rulers takes a long view toward explaining media manipulation and how we got to this moment. The book skillfully weaves together history and technology to explain the changing iterations of political propaganda over the past century. Renée DiResta, a disinformation researcher at Stanford University, shares her own experiences on the front lines of the struggle to define objective reality, including entering the field after confronting anti-vaccine sentiment when she became a parent. In the years since, DiResta has found herself a focal point for conspiracy theories, as powerful politicians have sought to discredit her work and that of other researchers in the field.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "for history lovers", "it’s all geek to me", "eye-opening reads", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1541703375", "cover": "1541703375", "goodreads": 199372835, "itunes": 9781541703377, "bookshop": 9781541703377, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61gr7IoG8eL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781541703377", "isbn10": "1541703375", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 126, "book": "Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality", "source": "NPR", "text": "How influencers flocked to Springfield chasing debunked rumors and attention", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/nx-s1-5112682/springfield-influencers-haitian-immigrants-social-media-trump" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 126, "book": "Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality", "source": "KQED", "text": "How influencers and algorithms undermine democracy — and how to fight back", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906078/how-influencers-and-algorithms-undermine-democracy-and-how-to-fight-back" } ] }, "127": { "id": 127, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Isabel and the Rogue", "author": "Liana De la Rosa", "reviewers": [ "Anika Steffen" ], "text": "Liana De la Rosa introduced us to the Luna sisters in Ana María and the Fox. In Isabel and the Rogue, we meet Isabel – the middle Luna sister – who is smart, determined and, as many a middle child can relate, often overlooked. But there’s more than meets the eye in this quiet socialite, and she will use her ignored state to her favor. Isabel acts as a spy in London, seeking information to help her besieged government in Mexico. That is, until she is hampered by the rakish and frustratingly handsome Captain Sirius Dawson, who never overlooks Isabel. De la Rosa navigates the historical romance genre deftly – with flourish, with all the flirting you could ever want, but also with history that is not often found in romances set in English ballrooms. De la Rosa’s Luna sisters are my favorite sisters – other than my own.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593440900", "cover": "0593440900", "goodreads": 198563728, "itunes": 9780593440902, "bookshop": 9780593440902, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vkv3aoHXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593440902", "isbn10": "0593440900", "links": [] }, "128": { "id": 128, "edition": "Summer", "title": "James", "author": "Percival Everett", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Limbong" ], "text": "The jokes in James range from chin scratchers to knee slappers to gut busters. Although I’m not sure Percival Everett would even classify them as “jokes.” In his reimagining of the Huckleberry Finn story, Everett mines language, history and irony to showcase brutal truths about America. And yes, it’s often funny. But, like the original source material, things can quickly turn deadly serious depending on how the river flows. This National Book Award-winning novel is thrilling, hilarious, heartbreaking and a strong argument for Everett as one of the best doing it right now.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385550367", "cover": "0385550367", "goodreads": 173754979, "itunes": 9780385550369, "bookshop": 9780385550369, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31h4n2M9SUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780385550369", "isbn10": "0385550367", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 128, "book": "James: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'James' revisits Huck Finn's traveling companion, giving rise to a new classic", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/18/1238251709/percival-everett-james-reimagines-jim-in-mark-twain-huckleberry-finn" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 128, "book": "James: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Percival Everett gives Mark Twain's classic story about Huck a new voice in 'James'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1238741304/percival-everett-gives-mark-twains-classic-story-about-huck-a-new-voice-in-james" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 128, "book": "James: A Novel", "source": "WAMU", "text": "The Diane Rehm Book Club: 'James' by Percival Everett", "url": "https://wamu.org/event/the-diane-rehm-book-club-james-by-percival-everett/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 128, "book": "James: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'James' reimagines Twain's 'Huckleberry Finn' with mordant humor, and horror", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/19/1239377175/james-reimagines-twains-huckleberry-finn-with-mordant-humor-and-horror" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 128, "book": "James: A Novel", "source": "WEBZ", "text": "Author Percival Everett reimagines 'Huckleberry Finn' in his new novel", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/reset-with-sasha-ann-simons/2024/03/28/author-percival-everett-reimagines-huckleberry-finn-in-his-new-novel" } ] }, "129": { "id": 129, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Just Say Yes", "author": "Goldy Moldavsky", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "There aren’t many romance stories in fiction or real life where marriage is the answer to one’s problems – especially not if you’re a 17-year-old girl in New York City. But it’s 2007 and Jimena Ramos just found out that she’s undocumented. Desperately seeking a green card, Jimena hatches a plan to get herself hitched to an American. Her kinda-dorky, kinda-cute friend and neighbor, Vitaly, is moving abroad for college, so he’s out. But since dating in NYC is reckless at any age, Vitaly tags along on her sketchy Craigslist dates. In between dating shenanigans, the two explore what they want for their lives – if they get the chance to choose for themselves.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "young adult", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1250863236", "cover": "1250863236", "goodreads": 166216429, "itunes": 9781250863232, "bookshop": 9781250863232, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51cXQBdRhrL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250863232", "isbn10": "1250863236", "links": [] }, "130": { "id": 130, "edition": "Fall", "title": "K Is in Trouble", "author": "Gary Clement", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Nobody is nice to K in this book. Nobody except, perhaps, the cockroach at the start and even it doesn’t stick around. And yet, for all that, there’s something oddly cathartic about this series of three short tales set in a Kafka-esque, Prague-like country with its put-upon protagonist. K is constantly in trouble – but how much of it is his fault? Wherever he goes, he’s the brunt of everyone’s blame. This is a bizarre, downbeat, ultimately endearing little book, chock full of life’s inequalities. And K is set to get in trouble – again! – in a second book in 2025. (For ages 7 to 12)
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "0316468606", "cover": "0316468606", "goodreads": 145624814, "itunes": 9780316468602, "bookshop": 9780316468602, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+UIKFtNRL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316468602", "isbn10": "0316468606", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 130, "book": "K Is in Trouble", "source": "KPR", "text": " 'K is in Trouble' — A graphic novel for middle grade readers inspired by Kafka", "url": "https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/conversations/2024-02-14/k-is-in-trouble-a-graphic-novel-for-middle-grade-readers-inspired-by-kafka" } ] }, "131": { "id": 131, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder", "author": "Salman Rushdie", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "For much of his adult life, Salman Rushdie has lived beneath a shadow – he’s as famous for his novels as he is for being the target of a fatwa. But in 2022, that threat went from theoretical to very real when Rushdie was stabbed repeatedly at a literary conference. That attack resulted in multiple long-term health issues, including blindness in his right eye. You might expect Rushdie’s memoir detailing the attack and its aftermath to be somewhat grim. And it is. But it’s also in turn warm, vulnerable, acerbic and, surprisingly, very funny.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0593730240", "cover": "0593730240", "goodreads": 199344846, "itunes": 9780593730249, "bookshop": 9780593730249, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31Ed-AqbU1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593730249", "isbn10": "0593730240", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 131, "book": "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder", "source": "NPR", "text": "Two nights before the attack, Salman Rushdie dreamed he was stabbed onstage", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1244847366/salman-rushdie-knife" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 131, "book": "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 takeaways from Salman Rushdie's new memoir 'Knife'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/15/1244354113/salman-rushdie-memoir-knife" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 131, "book": "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Salman Rushdie on surviving attack and the value of every day of life", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/17/1245366949/author-salman-rushdie-on-surviving-attack-and-the-value-of-every-day-of-life" } ] }, "132": { "id": 132, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Last Date in El Zapotal", "author": "Mateo García Elizondo, translated by Robin Myers", "reviewers": [ "Leland Cheuk" ], "text": "Imagine Leaving Las Vegas set in Mexico. A man addicted to heroin arrives in the town of El Zapotal, rents a room and plans to die alone with a stash of the great love of his life. Things get surreal when he can’t seem to complete the task at hand and his drugs run out. As he goes through withdrawal, memories blur into hallucinations that blur into reality and back until the reader can’t tell where life ends and the afterlife begins. Mateo García Elizondo’s prose is filled with gallows humor and imagistic surprises.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1913867846", "cover": "1913867846", "goodreads": 189375135, "itunes": 9781913867843, "bookshop": 9781913867843, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fOyb8ETIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781913867843", "isbn10": "1913867846", "links": [] }, "133": { "id": 133, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Leo's First Vote!", "author": "Christina Soontornvat, illustrated by Isabel Roxas", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "To win an election, you have to effectively deliver a message to your audience, in which case Leo’s First Vote wins this one in a landslide. Through a fun, kid-centric story that folds in helpful information about the electoral process, Christina Soontornvat and Isabel Roxas provide readers with a clear-eyed guide to the scope, stakes and value of casting a vote. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593644263", "cover": "0593644263", "goodreads": 205181136, "itunes": 9780593644263, "bookshop": 9780593644263, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41HKog5sE1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593644263", "isbn10": "0593644263", "links": [] }, "134": { "id": 134, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Let the Games Begin", "author": "Rufaro Faith Mazarura", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "Rufaro Faith Mazarura is a British Zimbabwean writer making her novel debut with a savvy and layered romance about the challenges that arise when two high-achieving, 20-something offspring of Zimbabwean immigrants try and fail to resist falling in love at a fictional 2024 Athens-set Olympic Games. Beyond their shared heritage, these reluctant lovebirds have little in common. Olivia is a sharp, focused college grad whose dream internship turns into a nightmare. Zeke is the pampered rising superstar of Team Great Britain’s track and field. They meet awkwardly, colliding into each other, and neither one can afford the distraction, but the chemistry won’t let them leave it alone.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "for sports lovers", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1250354536", "cover": "1250354536", "goodreads": 202404523, "itunes": 9781250354532, "bookshop": 9781250354532, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41BTWrqmp1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250354532", "isbn10": "1250354536", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 134, "book": "Let the Games Begin ", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rufaro Faith Mazarura's 'Let the Games Begin' is a rom-com set in the Olympic village", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/08/20/1196982068/nprs-book-of-the-day-olympics-rufaro-faith-mazarura-let-the-games-begin" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 134, "book": "Let the Games Begin ", "source": "NPR", "text": "8 hot new love stories from a stellar lineup of Black authors", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/19/nx-s1-5043792/new-romance-books-by-black-authors-for-summer-reading" } ] }, "135": { "id": 135, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Lies and Weddings", "author": "Kevin Kwan", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "Reading a Kevin Kwan book (he also wrote Crazy Rich Asians) makes me happy. I’m transported by a smart, funny narrator into an ultra-luxurious world with at least one or two characters I identify with. Lies and Weddings gives us spectacular destination weddings and a handsome but soon-to-be-poor son of British nobility whose mother wants him to marry a wealthy heiress rather than his true love, a hardworking doctor. But even as Kwan gently pokes fun at the superrich in his inimitable style, he also explores issues of class, identity and family. Thought provoking but still a fun ride!
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "rather long", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0385546297", "cover": "0385546297", "goodreads": 197144545, "itunes": 9780385546294, "bookshop": 9780385546294, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51V4VZYlHEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780385546294", "isbn10": "0385546297", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 135, "book": "Lies and Weddings: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Kevin Kwan explores race and identity in 'Sex and Vanity' and 'Lies and Weddings'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/11/24/1196978540/here-now-anytime-draft-11-24-2023" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 135, "book": "Lies and Weddings: A Novel", "source": "KERA", "text": "The author of 'Crazy Rich Asians' on race, social satire and beach reads", "url": "https://think.kera.org/2024/06/06/the-author-of-crazy-rich-asians-on-race-social-satire-and-beach-reads/" } ] }, "136": { "id": 136, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Life After Power: Seven Presidents and Their Search for Purpose Beyond the White House", "author": "Jared Cohen", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "The American presidency is viewed as the most powerful position in the world. What happens when the job ends? History is often surprising. Not everyone found the role to be the most fulfilling one they ever had. Jared Cohen looks at some fascinating case studies that back that up. John Quincy Adams and William Howard Taft found greater joy in other branches of government: Congress and the Supreme Court. George Bush enjoys his private life and art studio. Life after power can be much more rewarding.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "it’s all geek to me", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1982154543", "cover": "1982154543", "goodreads": 176444081, "itunes": 9781982154547, "bookshop": 9781982154547, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41lz1zNPwpL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781982154547", "isbn10": "1982154543", "links": [] }, "137": { "id": 137, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Like Happiness", "author": "Ursula Villarreal-Moura", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "When Tatum gets a call from a journalist asking about famous author M. Domínguez, she’s shocked; three years have passed since her last interaction with M., and she thought she’d finally shaken off the remnants of their relationship. But when she learns that M. has been accused of sexual assault, she’s not entirely surprised. So begins this absorbing debut novel that movingly portrays its protagonist coming to terms with her imbalanced, difficult and sometimes harmful friendship with M. that was, at the same time, an essential and at times euphoric part of her life for years.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250882834", "cover": "1250882834", "goodreads": 127305658, "itunes": 9781250882837, "bookshop": 9781250882837, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hoU1K5pAL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250882837", "isbn10": "1250882834", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 137, "book": "Like Happiness: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Like Happiness,' a woman struggles to define a past, destructive relationship", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/12/1244151930/ursula-villarreal-moura-like-happiness-debut-novel" } ] }, "138": { "id": 138, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Lilith", "author": "Eric Rickstad", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "This is a hard read, but also a very necessary one. A truly harrowing narrative about a school shooting and its aftermath, Lilith offers an unflinching look at gun culture and the way school shootings change the lives of everyone involved in very significant ways. Honest to the core, fearless in its approach to a touchy subject, and written with impeccable pacing and economy of language, this one should be mandatory reading in all schools.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1094000744", "cover": "1094000744", "goodreads": 200643033, "itunes": 9781094000749, "bookshop": 9781094000749, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31OudGmZ7fL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781094000749", "isbn10": "1094000744", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 138, "book": "Lilith", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Lilith' cuts to the heart of the gun debate and school shootings", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/02/1242116577/eric-rickstad-lilith-on-guns-and-school-shootings-book-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 138, "book": "Lilith", "source": "WYSO", "text": "Book Nook: 'Lilith' by Eric Rickstad", "url": "https://www.wyso.org/podcast/book-nook/2024-04-04/book-nook-lilith-by-eric-rickstad" } ] }, "139": { "id": 139, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Listen for the Lie", "author": "Amy Tintera", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Listen for the Lie is a true crime podcast hosted by Ben Owens, and its compelling Season 2 will pull you right in. Owens is investigating the unsolved murder of a young woman, Savvy, whose best friend, Lucy, was found wandering the street covered in Savvy’s blood. Lucy was clearly at the scene of the crime but can’t remember anything about what happened. Years later, after establishing a fairy-tale life following the brutal loss of her friend, Lucy is pulled into the past again, as Owens tries to untangle the mystery. Think you can catch the lie?
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250880319", "cover": "1250880319", "goodreads": 218482352, "itunes": 9781250880314, "bookshop": 9781250880314, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51K9RJ2UCML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250880314", "isbn10": "1250880319", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 139, "book": "Listen for the Lie: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 new mysteries and thrillers for your nightstand this spring", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/17/1239716585/5-new-mysteries-and-thrillers-spring-2024-reading-list-recommendations" } ] }, "140": { "id": 140, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Little Rot", "author": "Akwaeke Emezi", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "In this twisty, poetic roller-coaster ride of a novel, a bitter breakup precipitates a harrowing descent into darkness for a wealthy young Nigerian man, his pious, long-suffering ex-girlfriend and their friends. Aima and Kalu met as ex-pats in Houston and returned home for his business and to build a life together. They’d been happy abroad, but the move shook loose something important. Back home they revert to destructive patterns. It’s complex, but at the core, love lies and dies in this fictional, decadent yet riveting, money-loving city of “New Lagos.” If you want a book that grabs onto your brain and shakes it, I highly recommend Akwaeke Emezi’s genre-defying Little Rot. It gutted and enthralled me in equal measure.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0525541632", "cover": "0525541632", "goodreads": 202165946, "itunes": 9780525541639, "bookshop": 9780525541639, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GdSdDQYPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780525541639", "isbn10": "0525541632", "links": [] }, "141": { "id": 141, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Long Island", "author": "Colm Tóibín", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "A word about sequels: I don’t usually review them because not everyone has read the first book. But in this case, it would be well worth your time to catch up: Colm Tóibín’s Long Island, together with its 2009 predecessor, Brooklyn, is a devastating dual portrait of a woman in two different seasons of her life, thrashing against the constraints of fate. As readers familiar with Brooklyn know, Eilis Lacey is a restless soul. The opening shocker on the second page of Long Island is that Tony – her easygoing husband of now 20 years – has been getting restless himself.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "8419960152", "cover": "8419960152", "goodreads": 214211585, "itunes": 9781476785110, "bookshop": 9781476785110, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41NBufE3XbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9788419960153", "isbn10": "8419960152", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 141, "book": "Long Island", "source": "NPR", "text": "Long Island' renders bare the universality of longing", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/07/1249564840/colm-toibin-novel-long-island-sequel-to-brooklyn" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 141, "book": "Long Island", "source": "NPR", "text": "Colm Toibin vowed to never write a sequel. Until 'Long Island'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/07/1249771014/colm-toibin-vowed-to-never-write-a-sequel-until-long-island" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 141, "book": "Long Island", "source": "NPR", "text": "Silence and secrets permeate an immigrant enclave in Colm Tóibín's 'Long Island'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/09/1249928119/silence-and-secrets-permeate-an-immigrant-enclave-in-colm-toibins-long-island" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 141, "book": "Long Island", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Colm Tóibín on 'Long Island'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2024-05-21/colm-toibin-long-island" } ] }, "142": { "id": 142, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Long Island Compromise", "author": "Taffy Brodesser-Akner", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Escobar" ], "text": "After the patriarch of the wealthy Fletcher family is kidnapped and then returned for a hefty ransom, everyone tries to forget anything ever happened. But as the decades pass, it becomes clear how the family never really escaped from the terror of that day. The family fortune, generated by the factory founded by their Jewish immigrant forebears, can’t save the Fletchers from themselves – in fact, it often just enables them to be the architects of their own misery. But when the money suddenly vanishes, it becomes apparent that wealth was the glue keeping everything from falling apart. Despite the dark premise, Taffy Brodesser-Akner doesn’t let readers feel too sorry for her cast of characters – often unpleasant and out of touch, they’re both unsympathetic and deeply compelling.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0593133498", "cover": "0593133498", "goodreads": 55777544, "itunes": 9780593133491, "bookshop": 9780593133491, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OyMoY+OEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593133491", "isbn10": "0593133498", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 142, "book": "Long Island Compromise: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Taffy Brodesser-Akner was kicked out of multiple schools. This is what she learned", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/08/08/1244131010/taffy-brodesser-akner-on-long-island-compromise-wealth-god" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 142, "book": "Long Island Compromise: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Taffy Brodesser-Akner explores wealth and family trauma in 'Long Island Compromise'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/08/nx-s1-5028200/taffy-brodesser-akner-explores-wealth-and-family-trauma-in-long-island-compromise" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 142, "book": "Long Island Compromise: A Novel", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Taffy Brodesser-Akner's New Novel, 'Long Island Compromise'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/taffy-brodesserakners-new-novel-long-island-compromise/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 142, "book": "Long Island Compromise: A Novel", "source": "KCRW", "text": " 'Long Island Compromise': Can money truly buy security?", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/election-taffy-brodesser-akner/long-island-compromise" } ] }, "143": { "id": 143, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Long Live Evil", "author": "Sarah Rees Brennan", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "Do you often find yourself saying “if villain, why hot?” Do you mourn the early cancellation of shows like My Lady Jane and Galavant? Then you’re going to love the self-aware adventure that is Long Live Evil. The book follows Rae, a terminally ill woman, who wakes up in the world of her favorite book. Great turn of events! Except Rae’s character is the villain of the story. Oops! Nevertheless, Rae decides to persist, with villainy. She assembles a motley crew of knife-carrying and morally deficient henchmen, including the very sexy Key, who is equal parts sociopath and simp. Rae’s journey to seize control of the narrative is meta, camp and oh so much fun! If you’ve ever wanted to break the fourth wall with your bare hands, you’ll want to pick this one up.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0316568716", "cover": "0316568716", "goodreads": 201626991, "itunes": 9780316568715, "bookshop": 9780316568715, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51e3nTFk0RL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316568715", "isbn10": "0316568716", "links": [] }, "144": { "id": 144, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Lunar Boy", "author": "Jes and Cin Wibowo", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Lunar Boy is a queer, Indonesian-centric, science-fiction story with more than a passing allusion to The Little Prince. Indu was just a little kid when he was found on the moon. Now, after living with his mom in space for a while, it’s time to make a life on Earth. But Indu quickly learns that just living in this world can be painful, and he eventually has to figure out how to sort his life out before the moon decides it wants him back. You know a book is good when the fact that its hero was found wandering on the moon is the least interesting thing about him. This is a book with serious undercurrents about what it means to be LGBTQIA+ in a world full of so much pain. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "comics & graphic novels", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "kids’ books", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "006305759X", "cover": "006305759X", "goodreads": 196775509, "itunes": 9780063057593, "bookshop": 9780063057593, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Uj-WPONhL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063057593", "isbn10": "006305759X", "links": [] }, "145": { "id": 145, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Lunar New Year Love Story", "author": "Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by LeUyen Pham", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Since the Lunar New Year generally falls between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20, at times this holiday coincides with Valentine’s Day. By its very title, Lunar New Year Love Story combines the symbolism of both holidays to create a dynamic romance, interweaving different traditions of the lion dance in Asian culture with the symbol of the lion in Christian iconography. Acknowledging the dark forces that haunt refugee and immigrant lives in transition, the young lovers in this young adult graphic novel must learn how to dance, literally and metaphorically, to free themselves from the shackles of the past and the idea of cultural authenticity that have created barriers between communities.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "love & romance", "young adult", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250908264", "cover": "1250908264", "goodreads": 123023430, "itunes": 9781250908261, "bookshop": 9781250908261, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51xauKenoSL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250908261", "isbn10": "1250908264", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 145, "book": "Lunar New Year Love Story", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Lunar New Year Love Story' celebrates true love, honors immigrant struggles", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/11/1223512388/lbook-review-graphic-novel-romance-lunar-new-year-love-story" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 145, "book": "Lunar New Year Love Story", "source": "NPR", "text": "In a new graphic novel, romance flourishes during the Lunar New Year", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/21/1196979088/nprs-book-of-the-day-lunar-new-year-love-story" } ] }, "146": { "id": 146, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Madwoman", "author": "Chelsea Bieker", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "I have been a fan of Chelsea Bieker’s fever-dream fiction about women struggling to break free from bad men since her 2020 debut Godshot. In her latest, Bieker explores the aftermath of a seemingly clean break. After a childhood spent fearing that her father would kill her mother, Clove has built a safe life with a husband who would never raise a hand to her, and children who have never known raised voices. But a letter from a women’s prison shatters the illusion that her past is past. Madwoman reads like a thriller, but with a deep meditation on the intergenerational effects of domestic violence.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0316573299", "cover": "0316573299", "goodreads": 204593567, "itunes": 9780316573290, "bookshop": 9780316573290, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OflgPLRhL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316573290", "isbn10": "0316573299", "links": [] }, "147": { "id": 147, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders", "author": "Vanessa Angélica Villarreal", "reviewers": [ "Ann Powers" ], "text": "Like the Witchers, whose avatars she assumes in the video games she played to heal from her white ex-husband’s abuse and betrayal, poet and cultural critic Vanessa Angélica Villarreal leaps across seemingly insurmountable boundaries in this stunning book of interwoven essays and shattered, artfully reassembled memoir. Music and fantasy form the framework of her own bildungsroman as she exposes the bigotry she and her immigrant family survived in the Texas borderlands of her youth and the echoes of that racism throughout the popular culture she adores and remakes through her avid engagement. Villarreal deftly blends her own family’s stories with unique insights into realms like grunge and indie music, Jennifer Lopez rom-coms, the life and death of Selena and the meanings of Game of Thrones.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "for music lovers", "seriously great writing", "staff picks", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0593187148", "cover": "0593187148", "goodreads": 200706911, "itunes": 9780593187142, "bookshop": 9780593187142, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51is+Mx2pfL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593187142", "isbn10": "0593187148", "links": [] }, "148": { "id": 148, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All", "author": "Chanel Miller", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Chanel Miller is well known for her New York Times bestselling memoir, Know My Name, which recounts a life-altering sexual assault and its aftermath, including the trial of Brock Turner. Here, Miller finds joy in moving on to a different and far lighter realm of writing. In this debut children’s book, Magnolia Wu is determined to show her new friend, Iris, the great things about living in NYC, and she has the perfect way to do it: an investigation into finding the owners of every missing sock she has collected at her parents’ laundromat. Along the way, Magnolia herself gets an eye-opening peek into her parents’ lives outside their workplace. A thoroughly original take on seeing your immigrant parents anew through the lens of others. (For ages 7 to 11)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593624521", "cover": "0593624521", "goodreads": 201721655, "itunes": 9780593624524, "bookshop": 9780593624524, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517742FEdyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593624524", "isbn10": "0593624521", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 148, "book": "Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All", "source": "NPR", "text": "Chanel Miller's new children's novel follows lost socks in New York City", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/21/1246163931/chanel-millers-new-childrens-novel-follows-lost-socks-in-new-york-city" } ] }, "149": { "id": 149, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Margo's Got Money Troubles", "author": "Rufi Thorpe", "reviewers": [ "Elise Hu" ], "text": "The simple way to describe this is as a story of a college gal getting knocked up by her English teacher and resorting to starting an OnlyFans to make ends meet. Not sold yet? Well, then let me add that this book opens up far wider and deeper than its premise. You’ll come to care so deeply about Margo, her professional wrestler father, Jinx, and all the relationships she forms as she figures things out. A warm, heartfelt, hilarious novel that I won’t soon forget.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "family matters", "funny stuff", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0063356589", "cover": "0063356589", "goodreads": 199534613, "itunes": 9780063356580, "bookshop": 9780063356580, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51kgbrzLmfL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063356580", "isbn10": "0063356589", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 149, "book": "Margo's Got Money Troubles: A Novel", "source": "KMUW", "text": "In 'Margot's Got Money Troubles,' Rufi Thorpe explores motherhood and sex work", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2024-06-17/in-margots-got-money-troubles-rufi-thorpe-explores-motherhood-and-sex-work" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 149, "book": "Margo's Got Money Troubles: A Novel", "source": "KQED", "text": "‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ tells a tale of modern love and success", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959868/margos-got-money-troubles-book-review-rufi-thorpe-apple-tv-nicole-kidman" } ] }, "150": { "id": 150, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Martyr!", "author": "Kaveh Akbar", "reviewers": [ "Dave Blanchard" ], "text": "Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is a portrait of Cyrus Shams – a man consumed by addiction, depression and spiritual untethering. Full of sadness and righteous anger – especially when it comes to the American tendency to negate the value of certain Middle Eastern lives – it’s also one of the funniest books I’ve read in years. Martyr! is propelled by those kinds of contradictions. It breezes by while knocking you over. It strikes an optimistic note within its fatalism. It suggests death might provide the meaning of life. Ultimately, it could leave you in tears of laughter or of sorrow. Or most likely both.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "0593537610", "cover": "0593537610", "goodreads": 139400713, "itunes": 9780593537619, "bookshop": 9780593537619, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/410fBisj1lL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593537619", "isbn10": "0593537610", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 150, "book": "Martyr!: A novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Martyr!,' an endless quest for purpose in a world that can be cruel and uncaring", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1227116232/book-review-martyr-by-kaveh-akbar" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 150, "book": "Martyr!: A novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Kaveh Akbar on his debut novel 'Martyr!'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/20/1225795054/kaveh-akbar-on-his-debut-novel-martyr" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 150, "book": "Martyr!: A novel", "source": "WITF", "text": "March Pick of the Month: 'Martyr!' by Kaveh Akbar", "url": "https://www.witf.org/2024/02/26/march-pick-of-the-month-martyr-by-kaveh-akbar/" } ] }, "151": { "id": 151, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Mean Boys: A Personal History", "author": "Geoffrey Mak", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "Berlin’s techno scene, evangelical Christianity, Alcoholics Anonymous and the Isla Vista mass shooter – these are just some of the unexpected threads that Geoffrey Mak explores in his first book, which blends memoir, reportage and cultural criticism to great effect. In thoughtful and far-reaching essays, Mak writes about his own psychotic breaks and addiction; the limits of empathy, as well as the transcendent possibilities of self-discovery to be found in it; and his return to Christianity, which, as the son of a minister, he had once spurned. An intellectually vivid and curious collection that refuses to find simple answers to its complex questions.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1635577942", "cover": "1635577942", "goodreads": 133939398, "itunes": 9781635577945, "bookshop": 9781635577945, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41j21Y2sRKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781635577945", "isbn10": "1635577942", "links": [] }, "152": { "id": 152, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Memory Piece", "author": "Lisa Ko", "reviewers": [ "Elissa Nadworny" ], "text": "This is a coming-of-age story about three friends growing up in and around New York City in the 1990s. Their friendship evolves over the decades as they experiment with, and push the boundaries of, art, performance and technology. I loved that the book makes art feel real and weird and kind of gross – not glamorous and sugarcoated.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "for art lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "059354210X", "cover": "059354210X", "goodreads": 193759650, "itunes": 9780593542101, "bookshop": 9780593542101, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Nge8K0dGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593542101", "isbn10": "059354210X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 152, "book": "Memory Piece: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Memory Piece' novel follows three Asian-American friends from the 1980s into 2040", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/03/19/memory-piece-lisa-ko" } ] }, "153": { "id": 153, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Metal from Heaven", "author": "August Clarke", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Orphaned when her parents are murdered while on strike, Marney escapes with a band of rebels. She has the uncanny ability to manipulate ichorite, a metal so versatile that Yann Industry Chauncey has made a fortune manufacturing it – even when his laborers, like Marney, suffer from life-threatening allergic reactions. As Marney ages, her rage coalesces into a demand for revenge. This is the kind of novel that makes me pillage the thesaurus looking for words to describe it. It’s dazzling and disconcerting – a revolution spiced with kink, a queer manifesto and an anarchist raising a middle finger to capitalism with one hand and lobbing a molotov cocktail into a factory with the other. An epic poem crossed with an industrial fairy tale, August Clarke’s novel is, to put it simply, stunning.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "let’s talk about sex", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1645660982", "cover": "1645660982", "goodreads": 205762592, "itunes": 9781645660989, "bookshop": 9781645660989, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Ou9i7jvqL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781645660989", "isbn10": "1645660982", "links": [] }, "154": { "id": 154, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Mid-Air", "author": "Alicia D. Williams, illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Reviewers and critics typically overuse the term “lyrical” when discussing great books, but there are few better appellatives to apply to this canny verse novel. With multilayered aplomb, the story focuses on Isaiah and his friends Drew and Darius. These three love biking, skating and trying to break all kinds of world records, but when an accident claims the life of Darius, Isaiah feels responsible and hopelessly lost. This deft narrative is capable of delving into serious topics, like what happens when grief is compounded by violence, without dragging the book down or ever feeling too heavy. A tale where your redemption is inextricable from forgiving yourself. (For ages 10 and up)
", "tags": [ "fiction", "kids’ books", "seriously great writing", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "148146583X", "cover": "148146583X", "goodreads": 176442928, "itunes": 9781481465830, "bookshop": 9781481465830, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/411MEowGxgL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781481465830", "isbn10": "148146583X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 154, "book": "Mid-Air", "source": "NPR", "text": "Alicia D. Williams on her new book 'Mid-Air'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/21/1246236293/alicia-d-williams-on-mid-air" } ] }, "155": { "id": 155, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Milk Without Honey", "author": "Hanna Harms, translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp", "reviewers": [ "Tahneer Oksman" ], "text": "What would our world look like without bees? This slim volume made up of detailed, beautiful illustrations paired alongside brief snippets of prose (translated from German) offers up glimpses of that dull, gray world. But its central focus is a celebration of the understated magic of bees – their hardy memories, easy collaborations and sophisticated systems of navigation and communication. Poised somewhere “between poetry and science,” Hanna Harms’ book makes visible the daily drudgery that most of us unknowingly rely on. Equal parts warning bell and tribute, Milk Without Honey is an essential addition to the growing literature on climate change.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "comics & graphic novels", "eye-opening reads", "for art lovers", "science!", "it’s all geek to me", "rather short" ], "isbn": "195149136X", "cover": "195149136X", "goodreads": 209538526, "itunes": 9781951491369, "bookshop": 9781951491369, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41xeZjBYmZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781951491369", "isbn10": "195149136X", "links": [] }, "156": { "id": 156, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood's Hidden Genius", "author": "Carrie Courogen", "reviewers": [ "Rommel Wood" ], "text": "The writer, director, actor and comedian Elaine May has pissed off a lot of people in Hollywood. Carrie Courogen chronicles everything from May’s start as a child performer in Yiddish theaters to her affinity for eating apples, core and all, in this comprehensive biography. Even if you don’t know May’s name, you know her work: In addition to her films (The Heartbreak Kid, A New Leaf) May was involved in the making of Tootsie, Labyrinth, The Birdcage and more. And those people she pissed off? Oh, they’re still pissed! But they can’t seem to help but gush about May’s brain, talent and work ethic in this book.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff", "staff picks", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1250279224", "cover": "1250279224", "goodreads": 195790922, "itunes": 9781250279224, "bookshop": 9781250279224, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41YMArCiXuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250279224", "isbn10": "1250279224", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 156, "book": "Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood's Hidden Genius", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Elaine May, 'the godmother of modern American comedy'", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/culture/elaine-may-does-not-exist-comedy-carrie-courogen" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 156, "book": "Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood's Hidden Genius", "source": "KCRW", "text": " 'Miss May Does Not Exist' casts Elaine May as the leading lady of her own life", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-treatment/sean-penn-carrie-courogen-philip-gefter/miss-may-does-not-exist-interview" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 156, "book": "Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood's Hidden Genius", "source": "WITF", "text": "Pick of the Month: 'Miss May Does Not Exist' by Carrie Courogen", "url": "https://www.witf.org/2024/07/01/july-pick-of-the-month-miss-may-does-not-exist-by-carrie-courogen/" } ] }, "157": { "id": 157, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix", "author": "Gabe Cole Novoa", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is my all-time favorite novel. I reread it constantly and have seen the 2005 movie so often I can recite nearly the entire script from memory. As an Austen connoisseur and a lover of young adult fiction, I was already predisposed toward this queer remix. Oliver Bennet keeps his trans identity secret – it is England in 1812, after all – but with the arrival of Darcy and the Bingley clan, he yearns to share his truth with the man he unexpectedly falls for. Gabe Cole Novoa hits all the highlights of Austen’s classic novel while adapting it to include queerness and reframing it for a teen audience.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "young adult", "family matters", "tales from around the world", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250869803", "cover": "1250869803", "goodreads": 111673641, "itunes": 9781250869807, "bookshop": 9781250869807, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/513B8VG510L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250869807", "isbn10": "1250869803", "links": [] }, "158": { "id": 158, "edition": "Fall", "title": "My Antarctica: True Adventures in the Land of Mummified Seals, Space Robots, and So Much More", "author": "G. Neri, illlustrated by Corban Wilkin", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Take a trip to the coldest, windiest, highest and driest continent in the world. Here, young readers will find answers to every question they’ve ever had about Antarctica – not to mention ones they hadn’t even thought to ask. Who is there now? Why? What do you eat when you’re there? G. Neri’s easygoing narrative reads like a journal, full of cartoons, photos and the occasional mummified seal. Plus, he profiles the many different scientists at work at McMurdo Station with humor, candor and wonder. Just be ready for one inevitable question after reading this book: “Can we go?” (For ages 7 to 10)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1536223328", "cover": "1536223328", "goodreads": 177721403, "itunes": 9781536223323, "bookshop": 9781536223323, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51lKeVwCAJL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781536223323", "isbn10": "1536223328", "links": [] }, "159": { "id": 159, "edition": "Fall", "title": "My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me", "author": "Caleb Carr", "reviewers": [ "Chloe Veltman" ], "text": "This unusual and beautiful “meow-moir” by The Alienist author and military historian Caleb Carr – the last book he wrote before dying of cancer at age 68 this year – explores the author’s lifelong affinity for cats and his particular relationship with one enormous, fluffy Siberian named Masha. Masha and the writer enjoyed 17 years of adventures together, mostly in and around their rugged rural home in upstate New York. The book chronicles their mutual zest for life and their struggles through illness and financial woes. Even though this is a book for cat lovers, it’s really for everyone: It explores, with somber pathos and wry humor, how we form attachments in life and how they keep us going through it all.
", "tags": [ "biography & memoir", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0316503606", "cover": "0316503606", "goodreads": 155685403, "itunes": 9780316503600, "bookshop": 9780316503600, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jD7QI2UAL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316503600", "isbn10": "0316503606", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 159, "book": "My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me", "source": "NPR", "text": "Caleb Carr's new book is a memoir about life spent with his beloved rescue cat", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/13/1244583143/caleb-carrs-new-book-is-a-memoir-about-life-spent-with-his-beloved-rescue-cat" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 159, "book": "My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me", "source": "NPR", "text": "Caleb Carr, author of 'The Alienist', dies at 68", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/24/nx-s1-4979767/caleb-carr-the-alientist-author-died-obit" } ] }, "160": { "id": 160, "edition": "Fall", "title": "My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future", "author": "Alice Randall", "reviewers": [ "Ann Powers" ], "text": "Still wondering what all the fuss over Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter was about? Let Alice Randall – esteemed novelist, Vanderbilt University professor and longtime Nashville songwriter – inform you. Recounting the role country music played in her Detroit childhood (The Supremes, she declares, were country) through her adulthood as a revolutionary presence on Music Row, Randall interweaves her own story with detailed histories of underacknowledged or misplaced figures like Jimmie Rodgers collaborator Lil Hardin and Hollywood’s Black cowboy Herb Jeffries, offering a unified theory of what “Black country” means. This gripping, graceful read shows that, no matter what boundaries others set around it, country is a Black art form growing from an obscured past toward a brighter future.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "for music lovers", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1668018403", "cover": "1668018403", "goodreads": 199797769, "itunes": 9781668018408, "bookshop": 9781668018408, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516hrb5G9yL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668018408", "isbn10": "1668018403", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 160, "book": "My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future", "source": "KQED", "text": "From Beyoncé to Lil Hardin, 'My Black Country' Celebrates the Undersung Black History and Future of Country Music", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101905263/from-beyonce-to-lil-hardin-my-black-country-celebrates-the-undersung-black-history-and-future-of-country-music" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 160, "book": "My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future", "source": "WUNC", "text": "Due South takes a trip to 'My Black Country' with Alice Randall, Rhiannon Giddens and Rissi Palmer", "url": "https://www.wunc.org/show/due-south/2024-06-25/due-south-takes-a-trip-to-my-black-country-with-alice-randall-rhiannon-giddens-and-rissi-palmer" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 160, "book": "My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future", "source": "WFAE", "text": "Alice Randall shines a light on the Black trailblazers in country music (including herself)", "url": "https://www.wfae.org/podcast/southbound/2024-03-13/alice-randall-shines-a-light-on-the-black-trailblazers-in-country-music-including-herself" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 160, "book": "My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future", "source": "WDET", "text": "Created Equal: Detroiter's new memoir details Black roots of country music", "url": "https://wdet.org/2024/10/01/detroiters-new-memoir-details-black-roots-of-country-music/" } ] }, "161": { "id": 161, "edition": "Fall", "title": "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two", "author": "Emil Ferris", "reviewers": [ "Tahneer Oksman" ], "text": "This rich, skillfully rendered graphic novel sequel continues to follow 10-year-old Karen Reyes as she makes her way through late 1960s Chicago accompanied by a diverse cast of family, friends and neighbors. Karen is reeling from her mother’s death, and her upstairs neighbor’s mysterious murder, when this action-packed diaristic narrative opens. Drawn in highly detailed, gorgeous sketches composed in ballpoint pen and set against notebook paper, the detective story unfolds alongside a grab bag of exposed family secrets. At its heart is the love between Karen and her brother, Deeze, a fiercely protective part-time artist, part-time criminal. The sequel is best appreciated beside the previous volume; both invite, and reward, deep and careful regard.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "mysteries & thrillers", "family matters", "for art lovers", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1683969278", "cover": "1683969278", "goodreads": 193385485, "itunes": 9781683969273, "bookshop": 9781683969273, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51YSV4cLVyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781683969273", "isbn10": "1683969278", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 161, "book": "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two", "source": "WBEZ", "text": "Emil Ferris conjures 1960s Uptown spirits in long-awaited 'My Favorite Things Is Monsters' sequel", "url": "https://www.wbez.org/books/2024/07/07/emil-ferris-my-favorite-things-is-monsters-sequel-chicago-uptown" } ] }, "162": { "id": 162, "edition": "Fall", "title": "My Friends", "author": "Hisham Matar", "reviewers": [ "Bilal Qureshi" ], "text": "“Our friendships are our fate,” novelist Hisham Matar told me this year. The entirety of his book My Friends unfolds during a late-night walk across London. As the story begins, the protagonist, a middle-aged Libyan man named Khaled, has just bid farewell to his old friend Hosam Zowa at St. Pancras station. On Khaled’s long walk home from Hosam’s departure, he tells the story of their relationship – everything from how they met as young men, to the loves and books they shared, and, most importantly, the changing and inevitable seasons of friendships.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0812994841", "cover": "0812994841", "goodreads": 206399073, "itunes": 9780812994841, "bookshop": 9780812994841, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51NAeoDNVgL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780812994841", "isbn10": "0812994841", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 162, "book": "My Friends", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Our friendships are our fate': Novelist Hisham Matar on revolution and relationships", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/15/1224816829/hisham-matar-tells-a-story-of-friendship-and-revolution-in-new-novel-my-friends" } ] }, "163": { "id": 163, "edition": "Fall", "title": "My Thoughts Have Wings", "author": "Maggie Smith, illustrated by Leanne Hatch", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "It can be easy to forget that little kids have big thoughts, strong emotions and unbound imaginations swirling through their brains. And that constant activity doesn’t always stop when it’s time for bed. Poet Maggie Smith understands this and weaves a beautiful, comforting tale designed to ease and settle busy, anxious minds. She encourages children to build a “cozy nest” for their happy thoughts, while letting their worries fly away. A lovely conversation starter for kids and caregivers. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "006321458X", "cover": "006321458X", "goodreads": 125645027, "itunes": 9780063214583, "bookshop": 9780063214583, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51j9E8mGE8L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063214583", "isbn10": "006321458X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 163, "book": "My Thoughts Have Wings", "source": "NPR", "text": "How poet Maggie Smith 'tried on' hope to keep moving forward", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2021/01/25/960423757/how-poet-maggie-smith-tried-on-hope-to-keep-moving-forward" } ] }, "164": { "id": 164, "edition": "Fall", "title": "New and Selected Poems", "author": "Marie Howe", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "In her first retrospective collection, one of the year’s essential books of poetry, Marie Howe writes vividly about life’s big questions and their nonanswers: What are we here for? What does it mean to do good? What have we done to the environment? What are the consequences and what do we who are here now owe to those who will follow us? And yet her tone and straightforward delivery make her poems as approachable as friends.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "family matters" ], "isbn": "1324075031", "cover": "1324075031", "goodreads": 150778999, "itunes": 9781324075035, "bookshop": 9781324075035, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31ON5zD-HcL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324075035", "isbn10": "1324075031", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 164, "book": "New and Selected Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "As National Poetry Month comes to a close, 2 new retrospectives to savor", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/29/1247554487/collections-from-poets-marie-howe-jean-valentine-for-national-poetry-month" } ] }, "165": { "id": 165, "edition": "Fall", "title": "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West", "author": "David E. Sanger", "reviewers": [ "Frank Langfitt" ], "text": "This is the best book so far to define a new era of great power struggles between the United States, China and Russia. Consumed by the Middle East and Afghanistan, America was slow to respond to the far greater challenge of a resurgent China. Washington was also late to countering Russia as it sought to rebuild its old sphere of influence in Eastern Europe by force. Both authoritarian countries are now trying to reshape the American-led world order. U.S. leaders have a tough task ahead: building a new strategy to navigate the most complex geopolitical landscape in decades, while managing a divided electorate at home.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593443594", "cover": "0593443594", "goodreads": 195531096, "itunes": 9780593443590, "bookshop": 9780593443590, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/411nt-osa4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593443590", "isbn10": "0593443594", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 165, "book": "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West", "source": "NPR", "text": "Technology and disinformation places U.S. in multiple cold wars, author argues", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1245037690/technology-and-disinformation-places-u-s-in-multiple-cold-wars-author-argues" } ] }, "166": { "id": 166, "edition": "Fall", "title": "New Testaments: Stories", "author": "Dagoberto Gilb", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Texas- and Mexico-based author Dagoberto Gilb doesn’t care about ivory towers, but he does know how to build them. He started writing short stories while working a construction job at the University of Texas at El Paso and has been going strong ever since. The stories in his latest collection focus on working-class Mexican Americans and are written with Gilb’s signature realism, which manages to be both gritty and beautiful. Looking for accomplished, unpretentious fiction that celebrates real people? This is your man.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0872869318", "cover": "0872869318", "goodreads": 205903387, "itunes": 9780872869318, "bookshop": 9780872869318, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OApzjZ0nL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780872869318", "isbn10": "0872869318", "links": [] }, "167": { "id": 167, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Nicked", "author": "M. T. Anderson", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "This is an 11th century romp but with stolen, maybe mystical, bones: An earnest monk dreams of St. Nicholas, thinking he’s directing him to minister to those suffering from a pox in Bari. The monk’s bosses say “Nope!” and decide to use his dream to serve their goal of bringing (stealing, filching, nicking) the saint’s remains from Myra, across the Mediterranean (saints’ bones will cure a pox and boost tourism, you know). Enter the relic hunters and their boat, off goes the earnest monk to see the dubious mission through, and so begins a comic adventure that’s complete with swashbuckling, sharp banter and successful flirting.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "historical fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "the dark side", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593701607", "cover": "0593701607", "goodreads": 200555176, "itunes": 9780593701607, "bookshop": 9780593701607, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41o11hYrFtL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593701607", "isbn10": "0593701607", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 167, "book": "Nicked: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "A comic novel from M.T. Anderson follows a heist to swipe the remains of St. Nicholas", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/20/nx-s1-4953371/a-comic-novel-from-m-t-anderson-follows-a-heist-to-swipe-the-remains-of-st-nicholas" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 167, "book": "Nicked: A Novel", "source": "WBUR", "text": "M. T. Anderson's 'Nicked' is the story of a young man with a dream", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/23/m-t-anderson-nicked-book-review" } ] }, "168": { "id": 168, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Nightwatching", "author": "Tracy Sierra", "reviewers": [ "Julie Rogers" ], "text": "Nightwatching begins with a scene straight out of a nightmare: A woman is at home with two sleeping children when she hears the footsteps of an intruder on the stairs. The story that follows is by turns suspenseful, uncomfortable and enraging. Tracy Sierra skillfully uses the home invasion to explore the terrifying responsibility of motherhood and to expose the pure horror of being a woman in a society that does not always choose to believe women.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "the dark side", "family matters", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593654765", "cover": "0593654765", "goodreads": 150246179, "itunes": 9780593654767, "bookshop": 9780593654767, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41rHQ0+u-tL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593654767", "isbn10": "0593654765", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 168, "book": "Nightwatching: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Tracy Sierra's debut novel 'Nightwatching' is a chilling thriller", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/06/1229602729/tracy-sierras-debut-novel-nightwatching-is-a-chilling-thriller" } ] }, "169": { "id": 169, "edition": "Fall", "title": "No Country for Love", "author": "Yaroslav Trofimov", "reviewers": [ "Nick Spicer" ], "text": "No Country for Love is Doctor Zhivago meets Stalingrad – a mix of romantic historical fiction and gritty, reportage-like storytelling. No surprise: Author Yaroslav Trofimov is a top foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. He was born in and has reported extensively from Ukraine. The story he tells across decades of impossible love, war and survival rings painfully and beautifully true. The history is spot-on, going from pre-Communist times, through World War II, to the era of Stalin and after. And the stories it tells of the human heart, through the eyes of its heroine Deborah Rosenbaum and those who befriend or betray her, are unforgettable.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0349145318", "cover": "0349145318", "goodreads": 154260977, "itunes": 9780349145310, "bookshop": 9780349145310, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41dy9cxHDPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780349145310", "isbn10": "0349145318", "links": [] }, "170": { "id": 170, "edition": "Fall", "title": "No One Gets to Fall Apart: A Memoir", "author": "Sarah LaBrie", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "In 2017, when Sarah LaBrie was in her early 30s and living in Los Angeles, her mother – a nurse in Houston – was found on the side of a highway, paralyzed with paranoia that she was being targeted by assailants in white sedans. Through the lens of her mother’s schizophrenia diagnosis, LaBrie, who is Black, examines her intense and unstable upbringing, her family’s history of mental illness and her own artistic ambitions. As these threads intersect, No One Gets to Fall Apart forms a remarkable meditation on inheritance, race and mental illness, the mother-daughter relationship and the blurry line between madness and artistic brilliance.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "family matters", "identity & culture", "book club ideas", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0063280728", "cover": "0063280728", "goodreads": 199793610, "itunes": 9780063280724, "bookshop": 9780063280724, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51i8WQd+zeL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063280724", "isbn10": "0063280728", "links": [] }, "171": { "id": 171, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Nosy Neighbors", "author": "Freya Sampson", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Author Freya Sampson is the patron saint of city dwellers who form unexpected, solid-as-steel friendships. In this story, it’s cantankerous septuagenarian Dorothy, who is rooted in place by her memories, and misanthropic 20-something Kat, who is trying to outrun hers. Dorothy is a long-term resident of the once resplendent, now crumbling Shelley House, an apartment building in a British village that also happens to be the first place Kat has been able to settle in and feel at home for years. When the building is threatened by developers and a neighbor turns up dead, the two combine forces in an effort to save their community.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593550528", "cover": "0593550528", "goodreads": 182484343, "itunes": 9780593550526, "bookshop": 9780593550526, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419injA7QYL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593550526", "isbn10": "0593550528", "links": [] }, "172": { "id": 172, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Not a Speck of Light", "author": "Laird Barron", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Laird Barron’s work comes from a place in which crime and cosmic horror collide with stellar results. The haunting memories of a serial killer, an elderly couple who learn to live with the thing that inhabits their attic, and the lingering effects of sinister childhood games are just some of the things readers will find in this superbly written collection from one of the best contemporary purveyors of Vantablack-dark speculative fiction.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "short stories, essays & poetry", "fiction" ], "isbn": "", "cover": "speck", "goodreads": 216875430, "itunes": 9798218036065, "bookshop": 9798218036065, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41euvYrTcFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "links": [] }, "173": { "id": 173, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Not Quite a Ghost", "author": "Anne Ursu", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Violet doesn’t much like her new house, particularly since her new attic bedroom has some seriously creepy wallpaper. When she becomes ill with a disease that leaves her exhausted, she discovers that something in the wallpaper has been waiting a long time to take advantage of her very situation. Not Quite a Ghost takes the 1892 short story “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and passes it through the wringer of the 21st century, tweaking the female hysteria narrative to one of chronic fatigue and doctors who don’t believe their female patients. Anne Ursu shows off her horror-writing chops as she draws parallels between the contemporary medical establishment and an old (but prescient) classic tale. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "kids’ books", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0062275151", "cover": "0062275151", "goodreads": 134221625, "itunes": 9780062275158, "bookshop": 9780062275158, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/516vO6lizbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780062275158", "isbn10": "0062275151", "links": [] }, "174": { "id": 174, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet", "author": "Hannah Ritchie", "reviewers": [ "Darian Woods" ], "text": "Not the End of the World sifts through the evidence on pollution, extinction threats and deforestation. Once the numbers are clinically separated from emotion, a surprising guidebook to an eco-friendly life emerges. Food miles: not likely to affect climate change much. Meatless Mondays: helpful, especially if eschewing beef. Not everyone will interpret the world’s chances of staying within 2 degrees Celsius of warming with the same cautious optimism as Hannah Ritchie (“I’m confident we can keep moving closer”). But Ritchie’s data-first perspective makes this book an invaluable chaser to climate doomscrolling.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "science!" ], "isbn": "031653675X", "cover": "031653675X", "goodreads": 145624737, "itunes": 9780316536752, "bookshop": 9780316536752, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41VBERPeVCL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316536752", "isbn10": "031653675X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 174, "book": "Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet", "source": "NPR", "text": "A manifesto for feeding 8 billion people", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/1197961329/feeding-the-world-global-hunger" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 174, "book": "Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Not the End of the World' author on tackling climate change", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/14/1224741109/not-the-end-of-the-world-author-on-tackling-climate-change" } ] }, "175": { "id": 175, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Nuclear War: A Scenario", "author": "Annie Jacobsen", "reviewers": [ "Tucker Ives" ], "text": "The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred nearly 80 years ago – long before I was born. Annie Jacobsen moves nuclear war out of the history books and into the present day. Interspersed with her reporting on the current state of preparation for nuclear war, she makes a well-educated guess about how such a situation could unfold today. Jacobsen’s writing in this scenario has the suspense of a great political thriller. The book leaves no doubt that the immediate aftermath of nuclear war would be horrific and it would only get worse from there.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "the dark side", "rather long", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0593476093", "cover": "0593476093", "goodreads": 182733784, "itunes": 9780593476093, "bookshop": 9780593476093, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412CZJ4CU6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593476093", "isbn10": "0593476093", "links": [] }, "176": { "id": 176, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Old King", "author": "Maxim Loskutoff", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "It’s 1976, and Duane Oshun has decided it’s time for a change. He moves out of Utah and finds himself in a small Montana town, where he soon discovers there’s something off about his neighbor, a recluse named Ted Kaczynski. Writing about a real-life figure, especially one as infamous as the Unabomber, can be tricky, but Maxim Loskutoff captures his menace perfectly. Readers with an interest in the American West will be thrilled by this one, but don’t start it at night – it’s the kind of book you’ll want to read cover to cover.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0393868192", "cover": "0393868192", "goodreads": 199291752, "itunes": 9780393868197, "bookshop": 9780393868197, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yVZ9sxK3L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780393868197", "isbn10": "0393868192", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 176, "book": "Old King", "source": "MTPR", "text": "Maxim Loskutoff: 'What Montana represents to me is an entire species-wide need to re-evaluate our relationship with the natural world'", "url": "https://www.mtpr.org/podcast/the-write-question/2024-06-08/maxim-loskutoff-what-montana-represents-to-me-is-an-entire-species-wide-need-to-re-evaluate-our-relationship-with-the-natural-world" } ] }, "177": { "id": 177, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Olivetti", "author": "Allie Millington", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "I had a young visitor point to my old typewriter and ask, “What’s that?” In Olivetti, Ernest’s mother goes missing and – are you ready? – he and his mom’s beloved typewriter conspire to find her. So much is at stake in this unique and wholly captivating mystery. Memories are lost, then found, and new ones made along the way in this tender novel. The next time a kid asks me about my typewriter, I will offer them Allie Millington’s book and say, “Here, I’ll let the typewriter tell you all about what it is.” (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters", "it’s all geek to me", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250326931", "cover": "1250326931", "goodreads": 138383323, "itunes": 9781250326935, "bookshop": 9781250326935, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51s-QwLMUNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250326935", "isbn10": "1250326931", "links": [] }, "179": { "id": 179, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Ours", "author": "Phillip B. Williams", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "When an award-winning poet writes an epic saga, you want to sit up and take notice, and while Ours is lengthy and beautifully complex, it is also a page-turner. Opening on a contemporary death of a teenager and his shocking resurrection, the book then travels back to the 1830s and a conjure woman named Saint who is freeing enslaved people from their bonds and taking revenge on their masters. She founds a town for these freed people and shields it from the world – but she can’t protect its residents from their own pasts and present hurts.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "059365482X", "cover": "059365482X", "goodreads": 195095780, "itunes": 9780593654828, "bookshop": 9780593654828, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41+41ln2oDL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593654828", "isbn10": "059365482X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 179, "book": "Ours: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Writer Phillip B. Williams brought the power of conjuring into his debut novel 'Ours'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/20/1232769574/writer-phillip-b-williams-brought-the-power-of-conjuring-into-his-debut-novel-ou" } ] }, "180": { "id": 180, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Pages of Mourning", "author": "Diego Gerard Morrison", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Aureliano Más may be named for 19 characters from One Hundred Years of Solitude and may hail from Comala, Mexico, the literal ghost town in Juan Rulfo’s novel Pedro Páramo, but he sees magical realism as pure fantasy that serves to soothe a country riven by forced disappearances. Pages of Mourning follows Aureliano’s attempts to dismantle the genre as he writes a novel about his mother, who vanished when he was an infant. It’s an inventive work of metafiction that grapples with the horrific realities of Mexico’s drug wars and the families left grieving without bodies to bury.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1953387403", "cover": "1953387403", "goodreads": 75406249, "itunes": 9781953387400, "bookshop": 9781953387400, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51u8nIZJXiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781953387400", "isbn10": "1953387403", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 180, "book": "Pages of Mourning", "source": "NPR", "text": "Two new novels investigate what makes magic, what is real and imagined", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/15/1250919110/the-cemetery-of-untold-stories-pages-of-mourning-book-review" } ] }, "181": { "id": 181, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Past Tense: Facing Family Secrets and Finding Myself in Therapy", "author": "Sacha Mardou", "reviewers": [ "Tahneer Oksman" ], "text": "British cartoonist Sacha Mardou began posting her highly readable comics – about her experiences going to therapy when her daughter was young – on social media. Past Tense chronicles this story – the many steps that led Mardou to an earnest bridging of the past, her family’s history, into the present. Somewhere between Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half and Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know, Mardou’s brightly tinted, clear-eyed comics reveal how active self-reflection – combined with art, storytelling and professional supports – can powerfully reshape a person’s sense of self and community.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0593541367", "cover": "0593541367", "goodreads": 205977782, "itunes": 9780593541364, "bookshop": 9780593541364, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41m76j3hflL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593541364", "isbn10": "0593541367", "links": [] }, "182": { "id": 182, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Phantom Orbit: A Thriller", "author": "David Ignatius", "reviewers": [ "Edith Chapin" ], "text": "Phantom Orbit is an enthralling fictional account of satellite warfare – perhaps a frontier not given enough attention in headlines today. Could Russia and China cooperate to use malware to take out the Western GPS system used globally? What are the implications of a GPS failure and the use or abuse of commercial satellites for military purposes? As with all of David Ignatius’ novels, this book is unnerving, contemporary and fast-paced with compelling, relatable characters. If you like spy thrillers, this one is provocative and won’t disappoint.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "the dark side", "science!", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1324050918", "cover": "1324050918", "goodreads": 200196195, "itunes": 9781324050919, "bookshop": 9781324050919, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/513W1FCHo4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324050919", "isbn10": "1324050918", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 182, "book": "Phantom Orbit: A Thriller", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Washington Post' columnist David Ignatius releases 12th novel: 'Phantom Orbit'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/06/1249296678/washington-post-columnist-david-ignatius-releases-12th-novel-phantom-orbit" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 182, "book": "Phantom Orbit: A Thriller", "source": "BSPR", "text": "David Ignatius on 'Phantom Orbit'", "url": "https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/show/readers-corner/2024-08-23/phantom-orbit-by-david-ignatius" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 182, "book": "Phantom Orbit: A Thriller", "source": "KJZZ", "text": "David Ignatius from The Washington Post talks his new spy novel, real threats to national security", "url": "https://www.kjzz.org/2024-05-17/content-1880278-david-ignatius-washington-post-talks-his-new-spy-novel-real-threats-national" } ] }, "183": { "id": 183, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Pick the Lock", "author": "A.S. King", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "A.S. King sets tough issues of parental manipulation, domestic violence, gaslighting and self-identity against a bizarre and surrealistic backdrop in her latest young adult novel. Jane’s not a little kid anymore, and she’s realizing that her family isn’t like others: When her mother isn’t off touring with her punk band, she’s hooked up to pneumatic tubes at home by Jane’s father. And other kids don’t get locked up at home. When Jane finds secret videotapes of her own life, everything she thought she knew comes into sharper focus. A roller coaster of a book, Pick the Lock is one thrill after another.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "young adult", "the dark side", "family matters", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593353978", "cover": "0593353978", "goodreads": 204316876, "itunes": 9780593353974, "bookshop": 9780593353974, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51FdMKXGuBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593353974", "isbn10": "0593353978", "links": [] }, "184": { "id": 184, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Piglet", "author": "Lottie Hazell", "reviewers": [ "Rommel Wood" ], "text": "Piglet begins 98 days before a wedding. The book’s timeline ping-pongs between the days, weeks and hours leading up to the big day. Piglet, our bride to be, is an ambitious cookbook editor with blue-collar roots. Her fiancé, Kit, is handsome and comes from family money. In meeting Kit, Piglet has jumped a socioeconomic rung and is still adjusting to the growing pains. Thirteen days before the wedding, Kit confesses to Piglet that he has done something awful, an unimaginable betrayal that the reader is never let in on. Despite this, Piglet decides to go on with the wedding, leading to one of the wildest meltdowns I’ve ever read in fiction. Piglet has a lot to say about expectations, feminism, friendship, class mobility and what happens when you surrender to insatiable hunger.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "cookbooks & food", "love & romance", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "125028984X", "cover": "125028984X", "goodreads": 127282554, "itunes": 9781250289841, "bookshop": 9781250289841, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51eWFoJ3foL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250289841", "isbn10": "125028984X", "links": [] }, "185": { "id": 185, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Pink Slime", "author": "Fernanda Trías, translated by Heather Cleary", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Even if you’re wary of reading a pandemic novel, give this one, by Uruguayan author Fernanda Trías, a chance. It tells the story of a woman living in the aftermath of a deadly algae bloom that has decimated her city, leaving residents dependent on “pink slime” – a meat product as unappealing as its name. Trías conveys the horror of mass illness perfectly in this enormously unsettling, but surprisingly beautiful, novel.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668049775", "cover": "1668049775", "goodreads": 199797823, "itunes": 9781668049778, "bookshop": 9781668049778, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ezFleu2kL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668049778", "isbn10": "1668049775", "links": [] }, "186": { "id": 186, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Plain Jane and the Mermaid", "author": "Vera Brosgol", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "The heroine is plain, the villain is beautiful, the love interest(s) are hot, and the bad guys sometimes involve water demons in bad toupees (which is always a good thing). In danger of losing her home upon the death of her parents, Jane proposes a marriage of convenience to the good-looking, yet poor, Peter. But when Peter is kidnapped by an amorous (and hungry) mermaid, it’s up to Jane to save the day. Vera Brosgol flies in the face of all those beautiful Disney heroines with a girl who’s clever and brave but has enough personal flaws to be relatable. An original fairy tale that’ll have comics fans clamoring for more. (For ages 10 to 14)
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "1250314852", "cover": "1250314852", "goodreads": 180729678, "itunes": 9781250314857, "bookshop": 9781250314857, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51wyIflRIdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250314857", "isbn10": "1250314852", "links": [] }, "187": { "id": 187, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Playground", "author": "Richard Powers", "reviewers": [ "Ari Shapiro" ], "text": "Richard Powers won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for The Overstory, a book that helped many readers see trees in a different way. This novel does something similar with the world’s oceans and reefs. He weaves a story spanning decades, tracing a friendship and rivalry between childhood friends whose life paths veer in different directions. And he somehow manages to balance the sweep of subjects like colonialism, ecosystems and artificial intelligence with intimate details of humans playing games and cuttlefish putting on an underwater light show.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "tales from around the world", "seriously great writing", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1324086033", "cover": "1324086033", "goodreads": 205478762, "itunes": 9781324086031, "bookshop": 9781324086031, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51i3ridx+nL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324086031", "isbn10": "1324086033", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 187, "book": "Playground: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Powers plunges deep into the ocean in 'Playground'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5100220/playground-review-richard-powers" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 187, "book": "Playground: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Richard Powers' new book is filled with awe", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/24/nx-s1-4983831/richard-powers-new-book-is-filled-with-awe" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 187, "book": "Playground: A Novel", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Author Richard Powers celebrates oceans – and explores threats to sustainability – in 'Playground'", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/10/14/richard-powers-playground" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 187, "book": "Playground: A Novel", "source": "WAMU", "text": "Author Richard Powers uses his storytelling to connect us to nature", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/author-richard-powers-uses-his-storytelling-to-connect-us-to-nature/" } ] }, "188": { "id": 188, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Pony Confidential", "author": "Christina Lynch", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Gray" ], "text": "The pony in this mystery is such a delightfully bitter misanthrope, “bent on revenge” and singularly devoted to finding the girl who cast him aside, condemning him to a life of spoiled, bratty kids. Turns out, she’s grown up and charged with murder: a death that happened years before, the last night she and her pony were together. Did she do it? Did the pony? Can he use his wits and resist peppermints long enough for all to be revealed? A kooky page-turner that took me back to every girl-and-her-horse book I ever read, but Misty of Chincoteague was nowhere near as spicy as this pony is!
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "funny stuff", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593640365", "cover": "0593640365", "goodreads": 207611550, "itunes": 9780593640364, "bookshop": 9780593640364, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41+nGHcyzjL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593640364", "isbn10": "0593640365", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 188, "book": "Pony Confidential", "source": "NPR", "text": "Christina Lynch's new novel follows a detective pony bent on revenge", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/11/09/nx-s1-5121414/christina-lynchs-new-novel-follows-a-detective-pony-bent-on-revenge" } ] }, "189": { "id": 189, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Poor Deer", "author": "Claire Oshetsky", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Margaret, a 16-year-old girl, can’t run away from her past, because a mysterious creature that lives inside her mind won’t let her. The teenager is haunted by the memory of an incident that happened when she was 4 and caused the death of her friend in a game that went awry. Poor Deer, the creature, insists that she write a confession, throwing Margaret into an intense turmoil. It goes without saying that this is an emotionally wrenching novel, but it’s also one with an undercurrent of hope – and it proves that Claire Oshetsky is one of our most brilliant working writers.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "rather short" ], "isbn": "006332766X", "cover": "006332766X", "goodreads": 127823311, "itunes": 9780063327665, "bookshop": 9780063327665, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ZC8Xh-2PL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063327665", "isbn10": "006332766X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 189, "book": "Poor Deer", "source": "TPR", "text": "Book Public: 'Poor Deer' by Claire Oshetsky", "url": "https://www.tpr.org/podcast/book-public/2024-06-21/book-public-poor-deer-by-claire-oshetsky" } ] }, "190": { "id": 190, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Practice", "author": "Rosalind Brown", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "In Rosalind Brown’s beguiling short novel, an ambitious but restless and libidinous Oxford undergraduate runs into the age-old philosophical mind-body problem in her struggles to drum up a worthy topic for an essay on Shakespeare’s sonnets, due the next day. The result is a simultaneously serious and entertaining meditation on physical and intellectual appetites. Practice joins a shelf of fiction about the writerly discipline involved in filling a blank page with something original and compelling. But it is also about the art of reading and engaging with a text, body and soul.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "037461301X", "cover": "037461301X", "goodreads": 195790845, "itunes": 9780374613013, "bookshop": 9780374613013, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41aSqJvWBPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374613013", "isbn10": "037461301X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 190, "book": "Practice: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "This absorbing debut novel about writing takes its cue from 'Mrs. Dalloway'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/16/nx-s1-5037987/practice-rosalind-brown-review" } ] }, "191": { "id": 191, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Rakesfall", "author": "Vajra Chandrasekera", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "This one is intense. Rakesfall is a challenging, protean work of speculative fiction, dazzling and wounding by turn. At its most basic, Rakesfall is the story of two souls connected across many lives. We first meet them as Annelid and Leveret, children during the Sri Lankan civil war. If you require a straightforward narrative, this is where I tell you to go elsewhere. This story takes place across timelines, worlds, liminal spaces and selves. Characters shed lives and understanding, merging or separating, with breathless frequency. Vajra Chandrasekera’s prose unspools, sometimes fabulous, sometimes blunt – I couldn’t look away. I was fascinated.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250847680", "cover": "1250847680", "goodreads": 195791063, "itunes": 9781250847683, "bookshop": 9781250847683, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bpISatFzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250847683", "isbn10": "1250847680", "links": [] }, "192": { "id": 192, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Ready or Not", "author": "Cara Bastone", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "Eve is pregnant after a one-night stand, and even more surprising than her pregnancy? The reactions to it. Her best friend, struggling with infertility, emotionally ghosts her. Eve’s baby daddy is in the picture, but it’s complicated. Thankfully, Eve has Shep, who has been hanging out in the friend zone for years. He literally shows up with a bike that has a baby seat attached. If that’s not New York City for “I love you,” then what is? And, sure, this is a love story. But it’s also about all the ways love shows up. Eve’s disappointing friend and baby daddy try to show up the best ways they can. And at the end of the day, that’s the ideal family, right? Never perfect but always trying.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "funny stuff", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593595718", "cover": "0593595718", "goodreads": 154462768, "itunes": 9780593595718, "bookshop": 9780593595718, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51EyAxC4TjL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593595718", "isbn10": "0593595718", "links": [] }, "193": { "id": 193, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Real Americans", "author": "Rachel Khong", "reviewers": [ "Wailin Wong" ], "text": "In the final third of this novel, a Chinese immigrant notes how she and her American-born roommate eat an apple differently. I attuned so closely to this observation as an American-born Chinese that I immediately shared it with my mother, who immigrated to the U.S. around the same time as the character does in the book. There are many such crystalline moments in this intergenerational saga, which also employs subtle science fiction elements in its portrait of one family’s attempts to obviate the pain of the past and set new narratives into motion.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "identity & culture", "book club ideas", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593537254", "cover": "0593537254", "goodreads": 62929342, "itunes": 9780593537251, "bookshop": 9780593537251, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51nn3DXt6+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593537251", "isbn10": "0593537254", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 193, "book": "Real Americans: A novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Rachel Khong explores genetics, race and the idea of being American in new novel", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/01/1248550775/rachel-khong-explores-genetics-race-and-the-idea-of-being-american-in-new-novel" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 193, "book": "Real Americans: A novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Real Americans' asks: What could we change about our lives?", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/30/1247785191/rachel-khong-real-americans-book-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 193, "book": "Real Americans: A novel", "source": "MPR", "text": "Rachel Khong on ‘Real Americans’", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2024/07/12/rachel-khongs-real-americans" } ] }, "194": { "id": 194, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk", "author": "Kathleen Hanna", "reviewers": [ "Ariana Stone" ], "text": "As both a singer and author, Kathleen Hanna’s iconic voice bellows, soars and dances defiantly; it splatters bright reds, pinks and violets over a gray and black world. Unsurprisingly, Hanna’s memoir is raw, clever and irreverent, with moments that are gut-wrenching, funny and poignant – much like your favorite Bikini Kill record. In Rebel Girl, Hanna finally tells the story of her life so far in her own words and double-dares the audience to come along for the entire wild and compelling journey.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "for music lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0062825232", "cover": "0062825232", "goodreads": 78130090, "itunes": 9780062825230, "bookshop": 9780062825230, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51SlGeaJuEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780062825230", "isbn10": "0062825232", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 194, "book": "Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk", "source": "NPR", "text": "Kathleen Hanna on life as a 'Rebel Girl,' and the joy of expressing anger in public", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/13/1250507900/bikini-kill-kathleen-hanna-rebel-girl" } ] }, "195": { "id": 195, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Rednecks", "author": "Taylor Brown", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "During the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, around 10,000 miners from all races revolted against the mine owners that fought their union, the government (which sided with the owners) and the state militia. It was the largest labor uprising in American history, and it was a violent, important chapter in the fight for worker protection. Rednecks is a superb historical novel that mixes real people with fictitious characters to bring this story to the page in outstanding detail – and with vivid scenes that will stay with readers long after they finish the book.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250329337", "cover": "1250329337", "goodreads": 195790759, "itunes": 9781250329332, "bookshop": 9781250329332, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41EIZhJgZ-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250329332", "isbn10": "1250329337", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 195, "book": "Rednecks: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Rednecks' chronicles the largest labor uprising in American history", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/23/nx-s1-4976209/taylor-brown-rednecks-book-review" } ] }, "196": { "id": 196, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Rejection: Fiction", "author": "Tony Tulathimutte", "reviewers": [ "Liam McBain" ], "text": "Rejection hurts – but what happens when you just can’t move on from it? This novel of connected stories explores the lives of people stuck in the downward spiral of rejection, huffing the fumes of their own shame. From a male feminist-turned-incel to a slang-slinging startup bro, the depths of each character’s solipsism turn them grotesque, like monsters of the deep sea. The book reads a bit like Reddit’s AITA page but better, sicker, freakier. It sounds punishing (and it kind of is – I had to put the book down at times just to escape the relentless cringe), but it’s also one of the funniest books I’ve read in years and a smart take on how the internet breaks our brains.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0063337878", "cover": "0063337878", "goodreads": 199635125, "itunes": 9780063337879, "bookshop": 9780063337879, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41FDbwKvc0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063337879", "isbn10": "0063337878", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 196, "book": "Rejection: Fiction", "source": "NPR", "text": "Tony Tulathimutte on 'Rejection'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/1200551219/its-been-a-minute-diddy-arrested-rejection" } ] }, "197": { "id": 197, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood", "author": "Gretchen Sisson", "reviewers": [ "Schuyler Swenson" ], "text": "Gretchen Sisson’s research and careful retelling of first/birth mothers’ experiences sheds light on the people who are too often ignored, dehumanized and erased within the institution of adoption. This book deepened my understanding of how adoption, while typically viewed as a noble, feel-good form of family building, actually hinges on the trauma of family separation. Relinquished reveals the structural forces behind this loss, commonly blamed on the individual failures of a mother or birth parents. These are interviews that broadened my understanding of reproductive justice and myself as an adopted person. It’s essential reading in this era of reproductive rights under threat, for anyone who has thought of adoption as “a simple alternative” to abortion, and anyone considering adoption as a family plan.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250286778", "cover": "1250286778", "goodreads": 127306494, "itunes": 9781250286772, "bookshop": 9781250286772, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41U5-T7wOUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250286772", "isbn10": "1250286778", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 197, "book": "Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood", "source": "GBH", "text": " 'Relinquished' aims to challenge our understanding of adoption in America", "url": "https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2024-04-05/relinquished-aims-to-challenge-our-understanding-of-adoption-in-america" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 197, "book": "Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood", "source": "KQED", "text": "UCSF’s Gretchen Sisson Spotlights Experiences of Birth Mothers in ‘Relinquished’", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101904826/ucsfs-gretchen-sisson-spotlights-experiences-of-birth-mothers-in-relinquished" } ] }, "198": { "id": 198, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Reservoir Bitches: Stories", "author": "Dahlia de la Cerda, translated by Heather Cleary and Julia Sanches", "reviewers": [ "Leland Cheuk" ], "text": "It’s an undeniably rich time in Mexican literature, and we’re lucky that so much great work is being translated into English for American readers. Many will be familiar with Valeria Luiselli and Yuri Herrera, but authors like Fernanda Melchor and Dahlia de la Cerda shine a light on femicide and violence against women south of the U.S. border. De la Cerda’s debut links together 13 first-person stories about women connected to a cartel boss’s daughter who aspires to be a “superhot housewife” while ordering killings. Prepare to be disturbed.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1558613110", "cover": "1558613110", "goodreads": 205668497, "itunes": 9781558613119, "bookshop": 9781558613119, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41W4veZPOUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781558613119", "isbn10": "1558613110", "links": [] }, "199": { "id": 199, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Same as It Ever Was", "author": "Claire Lombardo", "reviewers": [ "Danielle Kurtzleben" ], "text": "Plenty of books have messy heroines – palatable, quirky ladies who (gasp) confess that motherhood is hard or that they sometimes hate their husbands. And then there is Julia, the protagonist of Same as It Ever Was. Julia is a frayed, spiky knot of insecurity and anxiety and loneliness and self-sabotage, a woman who finds herself falling apart as a stay-at-home mother to a 3-year-old in the 1980s. When she meets Helen, a sage older woman with an impossibly dreamy life, Julia feels she has found a life preserver. Their short, intense friendship has consequences that reverberate throughout Julia’s life. Calling this a drama about family doesn’t do Claire Lombardo’s novel justice – it’s an almost uncomfortably perceptive exploration of what it feels like to not feel at home in the world … which is to say, it’s deeply relatable.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "staff picks", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0385549555", "cover": "0385549555", "goodreads": 199344873, "itunes": 9780385549554, "bookshop": 9780385549554, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51RUeV5nlcL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780385549554", "isbn10": "0385549555", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 199, "book": "Same As It Ever Was: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "Claire Lombardo on her novel 'Same As It Ever Was'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/15/nx-s1-76220/claire-lombardo-on-her-novel-same-as-it-ever-was" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 199, "book": "Same As It Ever Was: A Novel", "source": "KPCW", "text": "August book review: 'Same as It Ever Was'", "url": "https://www.kpcw.org/arts-culture/2024-08-12/august-book-review-same-as-it-ever-was" } ] }, "200": { "id": 200, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Sandwich", "author": "Catherine Newman", "reviewers": [ "Maryfran Tyler" ], "text": "This slim volume depicts delicate balances and shifting dynamics between “Rocky” (Rachel) and her husband, Nick; their young-adult children; and her aging parents during their annual vacation to Cape Cod. Rocky’s week gives her time to reflect on marriage, parenting and a range of reproductive issues amid past secrets and anxiety about change. Throw in some septic issues and a cat named “Chicken,” and author Catherine Newman unfurls roiling emotions propelling readers from joyful and tender scenes to teary heartaches and laugh-out-loud moments. While some will find the situations realistic and others may strongly reject choices made, readers and book clubbers will find ample opportunities to dissect the characters and events.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0063345161", "cover": "0063345161", "goodreads": 200028726, "itunes": 9780063345164, "bookshop": 9780063345164, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/513+zxOUx9L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063345164", "isbn10": "0063345161", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 200, "book": "Sandwich", "source": "NPR", "text": "2 books offer just the right summer mix of humor and nostalgia", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/17/nx-s1-5008714/when-women-ran-fifth-avenue-julie-satow-sandwich-catherine-newman-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 200, "book": "Sandwich", "source": "NPR", "text": "A new novel from Catherine Newman tells the story of the 'sandwich' generation", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/29/nx-s1-4876876/a-new-novel-from-catherine-newman-tells-the-story-of-the-sandwich-generation" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 200, "book": "Sandwich", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Catherine Newman on her new novel, 'Sandwich'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2024-06-25/catherine-newman-on-her-new-novel-sandwich" } ] }, "201": { "id": 201, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Sandwiches of History: The Cookbook: All the Best (and Most Surprising) Things People Have Put Between Slices of Bread", "author": "Barry W. Enderwick", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Kuypers" ], "text": "On social media, Barry W. Enderwick, aka @sandwichesofhistory, makes sandwiches from all sorts of historical sources, to mixed results. In this cookbook, he’s given us a range of 50+ recipes from the classic (Croque Monsieur) to the unexpected (Pineapple Cucumber). Each recipe includes the cookbook and year it came from (Beverages and Sandwiches for Your Husband’s Friends, 1893, is a particularly delightful example), as well as some light historical context. Sometimes he offers us his signature “Plus Ups” – ways to make an OK sandwich great (often adding heat, spice, texture or contrast). The book is chatty and accessible, offering coaching and encouragement the way you would to a friend. To borrow a phrase from him, I recommend you give this cookbook … a go.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0760392102", "cover": "0760392102", "goodreads": 209456012, "itunes": 9780760392102, "bookshop": 9780760392102, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51oF35Gy1-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780760392102", "isbn10": "0760392102", "links": [] }, "202": { "id": 202, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Say You'll Be Mine", "author": "Naina Kumar", "reviewers": [ "Hafsa Fathima" ], "text": "It’s a familiar South Asian story: Two people finally relent to their parents’ wishes of meeting a potential marriage partner. But Say You’ll Be Mine is so much more than that. Meghna is in love with her best friend, who is engaged to someone else. Karthik is an engineer who doesn’t really want to get married. But as the two discover, a fake engagement between them may be the answer to their problems. Naina Kumar writes a funny, heartwarming tale filled with sizzling chemistry. It’s hard to not root for them from Page 1, as they slowly fall in love. It’s an incredible book that tackles the merits and shortcomings of culture, finding an identity and, of course, true love.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593723880", "cover": "0593723880", "goodreads": 134117190, "itunes": 9780593723883, "bookshop": 9780593723883, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51OuezRSp-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593723883", "isbn10": "0593723880", "links": [] }, "203": { "id": 203, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Service", "author": "Sarah Gilmartin", "reviewers": [ "Casey Morell" ], "text": "Hannah lands a job as a server in Dublin’s hottest new restaurant, led by chef Daniel Costello. It’s a good job, with good wages and staff camaraderie. Plus, Daniel’s taken an interest in helping Hannah’s career advance. But years later, after she’s left the job, many of Hannah’s old colleagues accuse Daniel of sexual assault. As Daniel faces trial, Hannah comes to terms with her own experiences that summer. In a story narrated by Hannah, Daniel and Daniel’s wife, Julie, Sarah Gilmartin weaves a compelling story about consent, power and what we choose to forget.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1911590804", "cover": "1911590804", "goodreads": 65599686, "itunes": 9781911590804, "bookshop": 9781911590804, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81zVXpdyCHL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781911590804", "isbn10": "1911590804", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 203, "book": "Service", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Sarah Gilmartin on her novel 'Service'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2024-06-04/sarah-gilmartin-on-her-novel-service" } ] }, "204": { "id": 204, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Sex, Lies and Sensibility", "author": "Nikki Payne", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "Set in the heart of vacationland, Nora Dash and Ennis “Bear” Freeman are both fighting uphill battles. After her dad dies, Nora inherits some serious family drama – and a rundown cottage in Maine. Now, Nora and her sister have just months to turn the place into a successful resort. Meanwhile, Bear’s struggling with his own business of guiding visitors through his native Abenaki land. The tours take him through Nora’s backyard and the two team up. Their chemistry is off the charts as they spend hours working and finding stress relief in long runs through the Maine woods. But both are keeping secrets and have let shame work its way through their lives like an invasive species. The two have to figure out how to move forward once those secrets spill out.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "rather long" ], "isbn": "059344096X", "cover": "059344096X", "goodreads": 122993486, "itunes": 9780593440964, "bookshop": 9780593440964, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51zOSkJvO3L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593440964", "isbn10": "059344096X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 204, "book": "Sex, Lies and Sensibility", "source": "NPR", "text": "5 new romances by Black authors", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/05/1235945606/kennedy-ryan-novel-this-could-be-us-black-romance-and-romantasy" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 204, "book": "Sex, Lies and Sensibility", "source": "NPR", "text": "Looking for love? You'll find it in 2024 in these 10 romance novels", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/14/1231132359/valentines-day-10-of-the-best-romance-novels-for-early-2024" } ] }, "205": { "id": 205, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Sheine Lende: A Prequel to Elatsoe", "author": "Darcie Little Badger, illustrated by Rovina Cai", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "In 2020, Darcie Little Badger debuted with her young adult mystery about an asexual Lipan Apache teen, Ellie, who could summon animal spirits. In Sheine Lende, Little Badger tells us the story of Ellie’s grandmother, Shane. Shane and her mother, Lorenza, use their gifts to find missing people. When Lorenza and a couple of kids disappear, Shane must use her animal spirit summoning talents. Little Badger imbues her young adult story with Lipan Apache culture and frank conversations about racism, colonialism and assimilationism. Throughout it, she reminds us that there is power in community and shared heritage.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "young adult", "identity & culture", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1646143795", "cover": "1646143795", "goodreads": 190854829, "itunes": 9781646143795, "bookshop": 9781646143795, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51oOX1xkpzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781646143795", "isbn10": "1646143795", "links": [] }, "206": { "id": 206, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Sidetracks", "author": "Bei Dao, translated by Jeffrey Yang", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "Bei Dao’s Sidetracks, translated with cinematic eloquence by Jeffrey Yang, defines the poet’s choice of the road less traveled as resistance against both totalitarianism and aesthetic orthodoxy. A leading figure of meng long shi – or “misty,” “no direction home” poetry – who galvanized the 1989 pro-democracy movement in China, Bei Dao employs paradox and parataxis to portray his misguided Red Guard youth as “prisoner of the lost road” and the time lost via exile and regained via the poetic imagination.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "short stories, essays & poetry", "for history lovers", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "081123844X", "cover": "081123844X", "goodreads": 198216876, "itunes": 9780811238441, "bookshop": 9780811238441, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51B8aPr6ObL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780811238441", "isbn10": "081123844X", "links": [] }, "207": { "id": 207, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Silver: Poems", "author": "Rowan Ricardo Phillips", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "To meet this terrifying moment, Rowan Ricardo Phillips retrenches in poetry, which, he claims, can be found everywhere: “The imagination hides in plain sight.” Poetry stands by us, ready, Phillips seems to say, to console us with the truth, whether or not we want to hear it. That’s the kind of “news that stays news” that I need right now.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "0374611319", "cover": "0374611319", "goodreads": 127282548, "itunes": 9780374611316, "bookshop": 9780374611316, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/21axOyi9CkL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374611316", "isbn10": "0374611319", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 207, "book": "Silver: Poems", "source": "NPR", "text": "3 collections take the poetic measure of America in the aftermath of the pandemic", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/07/1234472527/poetry-monica-mcclure-gone-thing-rowan-ricardo-phillips-silver-diane-seuss" } ] }, "208": { "id": 208, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout", "author": "Cal Newport", "reviewers": [ "Preeti Aroon" ], "text": "If you’re the typical knowledge worker, your life is overwhelmed by a dizzying flurry of emails and Slack messages breaking your focus every few minutes. You breathlessly ricochet from task to task yet never get enough real work done. Stop. Take a deep breath. Then read Slow Productivity, which expounds on productivity expert Cal Newport’s tripartite philosophy of 1) do fewer things, 2) work at a natural pace and 3) obsess over quality. He provides practical hacks to implement these principles into your life, while weaving in examples of how deep thinkers such as Jane Austen embodied slow productivity. Newport writes, “The way we’re working no longer works.” But if enough knowledge workers embrace slow productivity, we can revolutionize the world of work.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "0593544854", "cover": "0593544854", "goodreads": 197773418, "itunes": 9780593544853, "bookshop": 9780593544853, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51W+dwQ8gEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593544853", "isbn10": "0593544854", "links": [] }, "209": { "id": 209, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Small Rain", "author": "Garth Greenwell", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "A new novel from Garth Greenwell is cause for celebration. Small Rain takes place during the terrifying, early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The protagonist has a blindingly painful tear in his aorta that lands him in an isolated Iowa City hospital room. He narrates from his bed, where his intimate portraits of each orderly, nurse and doctor open doors to human kindness. This book is a lyrical meditation on life and death, sickness and health, the birth of love, and an examination of human frailty and strength. As always with Greenwell, Small Rain is also an erotic celebration of gay love.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0374279543", "cover": "0374279543", "goodreads": 205363938, "itunes": 9780374279547, "bookshop": 9780374279547, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41UkzXrPjML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374279547", "isbn10": "0374279543", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 209, "book": "Small Rain", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Mysterious pain haunts Garth Greenwell's new novel 'Small Rain'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/mysterious-pain-haunts-garth-greenwells-new-novel-small-rain/" } ] }, "210": { "id": 210, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories", "author": "Amitav Ghosh", "reviewers": [ "Diaa Hadid" ], "text": "This is a gripping tale of how the British became history’s first narco state, curiously, to help pay for the tea its people so loved to drink. Amitav Ghosh narrates how the British forced opium into China, creating a market by creating addicts. But opium did so much more. Ghosh investigates how it created many of the modern merchant families of India and the United States, including the fortunes of the Delanos (Roosevelt’s maternal grandfather) and the Forbeses. But perhaps the most important part of this book is how Ghosh looks at the history of opium through the prism of what we know now about opioid addiction, and the relatively newfound sympathy we have toward addicts – white addicts.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "eye-opening reads", "rather long", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0374602921", "cover": "0374602921", "goodreads": 127282658, "itunes": 9780374602925, "bookshop": 9780374602925, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51OPMlx9OtL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374602925", "isbn10": "0374602921", "links": [] }, "211": { "id": 211, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Sociopath: A Memoir", "author": "Patric Gagne", "reviewers": [ "Jenna Molster" ], "text": "Shame. Embarrassment. Empathy. From a very young age, Patric Gagne knew she didn’t feel these emotions. She also knew it was best not to tell anyone. Gagne bluntly outlines childhood tales of lying, stealing and home invasion – her efforts to feel anything but an emotional void. She spent much of her young adulthood grappling with the idea that being a sociopath didn’t mean she was destined for violence or jail. This candid memoir is a gripping firsthand view into the “emotional learning disability” of sociopathy.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "166800318X", "cover": "166800318X", "goodreads": 176443093, "itunes": 9781668003183, "bookshop": 9781668003183, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41HDp4W7ggL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668003183", "isbn10": "166800318X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 211, "book": "Sociopath: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author's memoir details her struggle to accept she's a sociopath", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/03/1242451962/authors-memoir-details-her-struggle-to-accept-shes-a-sociopath" } ] }, "212": { "id": 212, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Solutions for the Problem of Bodies in Space: Poems", "author": "Catherine Barnett", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "Is there anything Catherine Barnett can’t face head on, from a slight slant? In a style both disarmingly direct and slightly distant, as if the poems are in a bit of a trance, Barnett considers “all I’ve meant to mend. / Meant to mean.” For a book built around a series of aphoristic “Studies in Loneliness,” it’s excellent, compassionate company. It’s also art of a very high order.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1644452871", "cover": "1644452871", "goodreads": 196674647, "itunes": 9781644452875, "bookshop": 9781644452875, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51L3LOXQAUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781644452875", "isbn10": "1644452871", "links": [] }, "213": { "id": 213, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Someone You Can Build a Nest In", "author": "John Wiswell", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "A man-eating monster lurks in a rundown manor. Her name is Shesheshen and she’s tired of people always barging into her swamp pit trying to kill her and messing up her decor. This time, however, she eats the wrong person and winds up pretending to be human to keep the real humans off her back. She also happens to fall for Homily, a woman struggling to survive her abusive family. Secrets pile up as Homily and Shesheshen sort out their queerplatonic feelings toward each other, culminating in a fight that will redefine their futures. It’s a wonderfully queer and fantastically strange novel that has a lot to say about being asexual in an allosexual world.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0756418852", "cover": "0756418852", "goodreads": 182506390, "itunes": 9780756418854, "bookshop": 9780756418854, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91i66jGYz0L._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780756418854", "isbn10": "0756418852", "links": [] }, "214": { "id": 214, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Something About Living", "author": "Lena Khalaf Tuffaha", "reviewers": [ "Anika Steffen" ], "text": "Through her poems, Lena Khalaf Tuffaha tells us stories of lands where violence is ever present. She speaks of violence against Palestinians hoping to live. She also chronicles the specter of violence in American life – her poem on an American mass shooting, “This Day Our Daily Bread,” will crack you right open. Tuffaha’s collection won the National Book Award for poetry, and these beautiful, haunting poems will stay with you for a long time.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1629222739", "cover": "1629222739", "goodreads": 205275668, "itunes": 9781629222738, "bookshop": 9781629222738, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/415abPbFuZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781629222738", "isbn10": "1629222739", "links": [] }, "215": { "id": 215, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Somewhere Beyond the Sea", "author": "TJ Klune", "reviewers": [ "Hafsa Fathima" ], "text": "The inhabitants of Marsyas Island are back in this warm, cozy sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea. Arthur Parnassus looks deceptively ordinary, except he can turn into a phoenix. And he’s not the only magical being around – he and his partner, Linus Baker, are parents to six magical children in the island’s orphanage. Keeping their children safe in a world wary of their powers isn’t always easy, especially when the human-run government sends an inspector to their home. TJ Klune delivers another heartwarming read about belonging, identity and found family, with plenty of laugh out loud moments along the way.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "love & romance", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "125088120X", "cover": "125088120X", "goodreads": 199347538, "itunes": 9781250881205, "bookshop": 9781250881205, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fuqA4odnL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250881205", "isbn10": "125088120X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 215, "book": "Somewhere Beyond the Sea", "source": "KPBS", "text": "New sequel, 'Somewhere Beyond the Sea' explores queer joy as resistance", "url": "https://www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpbs-midday-edition/new-sequel-somewhere-beyond-the-sea-explores-queer-joy-as-resistance" } ] }, "216": { "id": 216, "edition": "Fall", "title": "State of Paradise", "author": "Laura van den Berg", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "State of Paradise is an enchanting and complex study of Florida’s psychogeography that is also a creepy story about people who went missing mysteriously, ghosts, cults and technology. Written in a unique voice and dealing with things like family and the lingering effects of the pandemic, this is one of those novels that defy categorization. That said, the only thing that matters is that it is sharp and superbly written. It’s, perhaps Laura van den Berg’s most bizarre and wildly entertaining novel to date, and that’s saying a lot.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "037461220X", "cover": "037461220X", "goodreads": 195790688, "itunes": 9780374612207, "bookshop": 9780374612207, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41iewa+leiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374612207", "isbn10": "037461220X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 216, "book": "State of Paradise", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'State of Paradise' effortlessly blends the commonplace and the extraordinary", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/10/nx-s1-5033009/book-review-state-of-paradise-laura-van-den-berg" } ] }, "217": { "id": 217, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Still Life with Remorse", "author": "Maira Kalman", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "Maira Kalman continues her quest for meaning and happiness in a troubling world with Still Life with Remorse, another quirky, philosophical graphic memoir. Musings on the lives of great writers and composers are interspersed with disquieting bits of family history, including her father’s divergent trajectory from that of his brothers after they left Belarus for Palestine in the 1930s. Kalman’s splendid Matissean illustrations, awash in her by now trademark pink furnishings and flowers, literally brighten the picture. She hilariously notes that deep regret is so pervasive in her family that they even have a name for the suffering that follows a potential disaster that might have happened but didn’t: “the possible-probable remorse tense.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "book club ideas", "family matters", "for art lovers", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0063391813", "cover": "0063391813", "goodreads": 200740843, "itunes": 9780063391819, "bookshop": 9780063391819, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51NWs9Sa4xL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063391819", "isbn10": "0063391813", "links": [] }, "218": { "id": 218, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection", "author": "Charles Duhigg", "reviewers": [ "Lee Hale" ], "text": "Self-help books often leave me feeling deflated. The checklists of shortcuts and habits to optimize your life are enticing, but who has the time for all that? Supercommunicators is different. The simple premise drew me in: Why do so many important conversations end poorly? And Charles Duhigg’s anecdote-heavy writing makes for a breezy read (or listen in my case). I came away not feeling intimidated, but encouraged. One takeaway still often crosses my mind: When a conversation begins to go south, stop defending yourself and start asking questions.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593243919", "cover": "0593243919", "goodreads": 214438480, "itunes": 9780593243916, "bookshop": 9780593243916, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51442-63BEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593243916", "isbn10": "0593243919", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 218, "book": "Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Charles Duhigg is trying to help us have better conversations", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/03/1235703877/author-charles-duhigg-is-trying-to-help-us-have-better-conversations" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 218, "book": "Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection", "source": "WAMU", "text": "How to become a Supercommunicator", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/how-to-become-a-supercommunicator/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 218, "book": "Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection", "source": "KCRW", "text": "The art of conversation: Charles Duhigg on how to be a Supercommunicator", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/life-examined/charles-duhigg-supercommunicators-connection-conversation-listening" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 218, "book": "Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection", "source": "KQED", "text": "Charles Duhigg's 'Supercommunicators' Breaks Down How to Talk Better and Forge Connections", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101904823/charles-duhiggs-supercommunicators-breaks-down-how-to-talk-better-and-forge-connections" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 218, "book": "Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection", "source": "WHYY", "text": "Supercommunicators: The Language of Connection", "url": "https://whyy.org/episodes/supercommunicators-the-language-of-connection/" } ] }, "219": { "id": 219, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Swift River", "author": "Essie Chambers", "reviewers": [ "Neda Ulaby" ], "text": "After her beloved father mysteriously disappears, Diamond and her mom find themselves living hand to mouth in a faded New England mill town where Diamond is the lone Black resident. Why did a previous generation of Black families abandon it? This propulsive and poetic first novel, by an accomplished documentary film producer, grounds a tender coming-of-age narrative in a history of migration, marginalization and imagination. Threaded through every step of Diamond’s journey is her deadpan wit; of one ramshackle dwelling, she observes, “the whole house looks like it’s having a cigarette.” And she reflects, when a heartbreaking legal issue is finally resolved, “That was the thing about a racist town. It got to decide when it would be kind.”
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1668027917", "cover": "1668027917", "goodreads": 199798557, "itunes": 9781668027912, "bookshop": 9781668027912, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51b2BhwGUiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668027912", "isbn10": "1668027917", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 219, "book": "Swift River", "source": "NHPR", "text": "Check This Out: Essie Chambers and 'Swift River'", "url": "https://www.nhpr.org/show/check-this-out/2024-11-09/check-this-out-essie-chambers-swift-river" } ] }, "220": { "id": 220, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water", "author": "Vicki Valosik", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "With a history that harks back to the “diving girls” of the early 20th century, synchronized swimming has always been a curious mix of pageantry, grace and athleticism. In Swimming Pretty, Vicki Valosik takes a deep dive into the evolution of “artistic swimming” (as the sport was rebranded in 2017) and the larger story of women in water. I usually try to put my phone away while reading, but I broke my own rule several times over for this book. How could I not pause to pull up a video of a water-skiing Esther Williams being lifted from water to sky by a helicopter, or to marvel at the Chinese team’s gold-medal performance at the Paris Olympics?
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "for sports lovers", "it’s all geek to me", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1324093048", "cover": "1324093048", "goodreads": 200482058, "itunes": 9781324093046, "bookshop": 9781324093046, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41+Q7eeWqxL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324093046", "isbn10": "1324093048", "links": [] }, "221": { "id": 221, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Sylvia's Second Act", "author": "Hillary Yablon", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Sylvia is a retiree who hates Boca. So when she finds her husband cheating on her with a neighbor she also can’t stand, it’s not the end of something, but a chance to start anew. Sure, it’s not what she expected 63 would be for her, but with an octogenarian friend widow from Florida, she moves to New York to try to make it in the business she abandoned decades ago: wedding planning. Relationships are complicated, celebrating love can be fraught. But Sylvia brings pragmatism, grace and good humor to even the thorniest situations. Hilarious, heartwarming and unexpected.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0593493613", "cover": "0593493613", "goodreads": 177192328, "itunes": 9780593493618, "bookshop": 9780593493618, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Lq7LtTtHL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593493618", "isbn10": "0593493613", "links": [] }, "222": { "id": 222, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Table for Two: Fictions", "author": "Amor Towles", "reviewers": [ "Chloe Veltman" ], "text": "The first half of this jaunty short-story collection takes place in New York. Among the memorable characters are a Russian immigrant whose chief role in life is to stand in lines; a young antiquarian bookstore employee who gets more than he bargains for in his desire for life experience; and a seemingly straight-laced family man with a big Wall Street job, whose secret pastime, once discovered, upends his and his loved ones’ lives. The second half, devoted entirely to the novella “Eve in Hollywood,” is set in Los Angeles during Tinseltown’s Golden Age. The pithy, film noir-ish thriller picks up where the author’s 2011 novel Rules of Civility left off – with the plucky, scar-faced adventuress, Evelyn Ross, deftly saving the honor of a host of Hollywood starlets.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0593296370", "cover": "0593296370", "goodreads": 195474144, "itunes": 9780593296370, "bookshop": 9780593296370, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41T-oNOuyaL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593296370", "isbn10": "0593296370", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 222, "book": "Table for Two: Fictions", "source": "NPR", "text": "Amor Towles checked in to the Beverly Hills Hotel to edit new novella", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/02/1242328521/amor-towles-checked-in-to-the-beverly-hills-hotel-to-edit-new-novella" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 222, "book": "Table for Two: Fictions", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Amor Towles' 'Table for Two: Fictions'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2024-09-24/amor-towles-table-for-two-fictions-and-the-best-short-stories-2024-the-o-henry-prize-winners" } ] }, "223": { "id": 223, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Tell Me Everything", "author": "Elizabeth Strout", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "Elizabeth Strout loves her characters so much, whether they are chronically lonely and emotionally fragile, like Lucy Barton and Bob Burgess, or curmudgeonly and self-absorbed, like Olive Kitteridge and William Gerhardt, that she keeps checking in on them. In Tell Me Everything, she brings together several beloved protagonists from her earlier novels. They connect through storytelling and the shared gift of being truly listened to and heard. “I get it,” they keep saying to each other in this endearing ode to empathy.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0593446097", "cover": "0593446097", "goodreads": 204811915, "itunes": 9780593446096, "bookshop": 9780593446096, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41av2r16OzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593446096", "isbn10": "0593446097", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 223, "book": "Tell Me Everything", "source": "WAMC", "text": "Elizabeth Strout on 'Tell Me Everything'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2024-09-17/elizabeth-strout-tell-me-everything" } ] }, "224": { "id": 224, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Tender", "author": "Beth Hetland", "reviewers": [ "Nicolette Khan" ], "text": "There was a lot of well-deserved hype around this book. It fully lives up to the body horror genre, which may be disturbing for some readers; it also contains graphic depictions of self-harm. I read it in one tense sitting with a mix of sympathy and revulsion. Carolanne is obsessed with having a husband and child and the superficial affirmation of her friends and co-workers. No one notices her body-focused repetitive behaviors until they grow into more compulsive sacrifices. But even then, she is able to conceal (and others are able to ignore) her trauma and grief slowly consuming her.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "the dark side", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1683969359", "cover": "1683969359", "goodreads": 184557247, "itunes": 9781683969358, "bookshop": 9781683969358, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41avMj0QVVL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781683969358", "isbn10": "1683969359", "links": [] }, "225": { "id": 225, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Thank You Please Come Again: How Gas Stations Feed & Fuel the American South", "author": "Kate Medley", "reviewers": [ "Debbie Elliott" ], "text": "As someone who travels Southern backroads reporting for NPR, I’ve long noticed how gas stations tend to serve as hubs in rural communities. And I have certainly sampled my share of convenience store fried chicken and sweet tea. Now, photojournalist Kate Medley, a native of Mississippi, takes us on a picturesque road trip across 11 states to document the food cultures you find at service stations. It’s a lovely coffee table book that puts a fascinating lens on a changing American South. There’s a little bit of everything – live bait and ammunition, hot tamales, catfish plates, Cajun banh mi, boiled peanuts, chicken tikka masala and hand-cut steaks. Writer Kiese Laymon’s forward sets the table with a story from his Mississippi youth as he recalls “my favorite restaurant served gas.”
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0998029351", "cover": "0998029351", "goodreads": 206172775, "itunes": 9780998029351, "bookshop": 9780998029351, "image": "https://bsgeneralstore.com/cdn/shop/files/typca-product-square_600x.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780998029351", "isbn10": "0998029351", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 225, "book": "Thank You Please Come Again: How Gas Stations Feed & Fuel the American South", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Thank You Please Come Again' is an ode to the food of Southern gas stations", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/11/1230667363/thank-you-please-come-again-is-an-ode-to-the-food-of-southern-gas-stations" } ] }, "226": { "id": 226, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Abandoners: On Mothers and Monsters", "author": "Begoña Gómez Urzaiz, translated by Lizzie Davis", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "This year, the literary world couldn’t stop talking about the impossible tension between motherhood and artistic ambition. But nowhere have I seen mention of what remains an ultimate taboo: a mother who, as Begoña Gómez Urzaiz writes, “for a time, wants to act like she isn’t one.” The Abandoners explores the stories of real women like Muriel Spark, as well as fictional characters like Anna Karenina, who decided that they would not sacrifice themselves wholly for their children. In focusing on extreme stories, the collection illuminates how our fears of “monstrous” mothers speak to the judgments we make about all women’s choices.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1324079479", "cover": "1324079479", "goodreads": 205478839, "itunes": 9781324079477, "bookshop": 9781324079477, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41J-Spu52yL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324079477", "isbn10": "1324079479", "links": [] }, "227": { "id": 227, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder", "author": "C.L. Miller", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Years after their estrangement, the protege of an antique dealer is pulled back to her hometown to try to solve her mentor’s murder. Freya Lockwood is an expert appraiser and can see that something is clearly amiss with the items she’s valuing, while she’s filling in on a job for Arthur Crockleford after his death. Freya must make connections quickly before she becomes the next victim of a nefarious network of ne’er-do-wells with whom Arthur had become entangled. Written by the daughter of an Antiques Roadshow pro, this story pushes us to consider what the items we ascribe meaning and value to say about us in turn.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "for art lovers", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668032007", "cover": "1668032007", "goodreads": 176450518, "itunes": 9781668032008, "bookshop": 9781668032008, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Gkuv7kbZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668032008", "isbn10": "1668032007", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 227, "book": "The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder", "source": "NPR", "text": "C.L. Miller on her debut mystery novel and growing up in the antiques business", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/03/1228839465/c-l-miller-on-her-debut-mystery-novel-and-growing-up-in-the-antiques-business" } ] }, "228": { "id": 228, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Art of Catching Feelings", "author": "Alicia Thompson", "reviewers": [ "Lauren Migaki" ], "text": "This book is wonderfully tender – you just have to stay strong through the cringefest that kicks it off. In a move straight out of the playbook for “worst person at a baseball game,” Daphne Brink (who, admittedly, is going through some stuff) gets drunk and heckles the guy at bat. And the guy at bat … starts crying. Suddenly the interaction is being replayed in GIFs, memes and every sportsball show on television. Are you hiding under the covers from embarrassment yet? Me too, but hang on! Daphne and Chris get a few opportunities to get to know each other better, and the story that unfurls is sweet and big hearted.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "for sports lovers", "let’s talk about sex" ], "isbn": "0593640934", "cover": "0593640934", "goodreads": 199928280, "itunes": 9780593640937, "bookshop": 9780593640937, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51yTpw6zvBL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593640937", "isbn10": "0593640934", "links": [] }, "229": { "id": 229, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Backyard Bird Chronicles", "author": "Amy Tan", "reviewers": [ "Julie Depenbrock" ], "text": "In 2016, Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, despaired that the world was “turning uglier and uglier,” she told NPR in an interview this year. So she turned to nature, spending up to 10 hours a day watching and sketching birds right outside her window. The result is a delightful illustrated nature journal about the joys of bird-watching, featuring detailed drawings of the birds that visited Tan in her backyard.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "science!", "it’s all geek to me", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "0593536134", "cover": "0593536134", "goodreads": 194803881, "itunes": 9780593536131, "bookshop": 9780593536131, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/413EX7s3a1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593536131", "isbn10": "0593536134", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 229, "book": "The Backyard Bird Chronicles", "source": "NPR", "text": "Amy Tan's bird obsession led to a new book — and keeping mealworms in her fridge", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/22/1246277603/amy-tan-backyard-bird-chronicles" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 229, "book": "The Backyard Bird Chronicles", "source": "WITF", "text": "August Pick of the Month: 'The Backyard Bird Chronicles' Amy Tan", "url": "https://www.witf.org/2024/08/01/august-pick-of-the-month-the-backyard-bird-chronicles-amy-tan/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 229, "book": "The Backyard Bird Chronicles", "source": "WHYY", "text": "Amy Tan's 'The Backyard Bird Chronicles', The Nightmare of Customer Service", "url": "https://whyy.org/episodes/amy-tans-the-backyard-bird-chronicles-the-nightmare-of-customer-service/" } ] }, "230": { "id": 230, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Bad Ones", "author": "Melissa Albert", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "This book feels like one of those scary stories you’d tell as a kid at a sleepover – the kind that starts out as totally fictional but feels so real and terrifying by the end that you have to leave a light on. Creepy, monstrous and compelling – the story follows Nora, who is trying to unravel the disappearance of her estranged best friend, Becca. Melissa Albert weaves a tight mystery that takes on a different shape each time you turn it over in your hands. It’s an eerie ode to girlhood, suburban legends and that one corner of the room you never want to visit in the dark.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "young adult", "the dark side", "staff picks", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250894891", "cover": "1250894891", "goodreads": 65211848, "itunes": 9781250894892, "bookshop": 9781250894892, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TBH529ZFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250894892", "isbn10": "1250894891", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 230, "book": "The Bad Ones", "source": "NPR", "text": "Magic, secrets, and urban legend: 3 new YA fantasy novels to read this spring", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1239718473/ya-fantasy-novels-a-tempest-of-tea-the-vanishing-station-the-bad-ones" } ] }, "231": { "id": 231, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Bog Wife", "author": "Kay Chronister", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "The Haddesley siblings know this: They are bound by ancient compact to care for the bog. In return, the bog cares for them and provides a wife for the eldest Haddesley son. The rules are strict; their lives, isolated. But now their father is dying, the bog is failing, and the sibling who left must be called back. The Bog Wife builds slowly, effectively weaving claustrophobic dread with family dysfunction, myth with secrets. Eerie eco-horror meets bog gothic is a subgenre of gothic I didn’t know I needed until now. For fans of Jeff VanderMeer, T. Kingfisher, and James Frazer’s The Golden Bough.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "family matters", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1640096620", "cover": "1640096620", "goodreads": 205673392, "itunes": 9781640096622, "bookshop": 9781640096622, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+qHUdC9CL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781640096622", "isbn10": "1640096620", "links": [] }, "232": { "id": 232, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Book of Love", "author": "Kelly Link", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "The Book of Love is Kelly Link’s first novel, ambitious in scope and sharp of teeth, which it will set into your heart. Laura, Daniel and Mo died one year ago; they, along with another, are brought back by their teacher, who gives them fairy-tale tasks, such as learn magic and remember how they died. Hanging over their heads: Only two get to stay. Nobody else writes a sentence or renders the mundane into the magical like Kelly Link. No other book made me cry quite so much or love quite so hard. The Book of Love is a masterpiece.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0812996585", "cover": "0812996585", "goodreads": 157981682, "itunes": 9780812996586, "bookshop": 9780812996586, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OhYiCulZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780812996586", "isbn10": "0812996585", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 232, "book": "The Book of Love", "source": "NPR", "text": "Kelly Link's debut novel 'The Book of Love' is magical, confusing, heartfelt, strange", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/15/1231331761/kelly-link-debut-novel-the-book-of-love-review" } ] }, "233": { "id": 233, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Book That Almost Rhymed", "author": "Omar Abed, illustrated by Hatem Aly", "reviewers": [ "Rakiesha Chase-Jackson" ], "text": "Some of my favorite picture books rhyme, so I understand why our young author/narrator was super proud of his rhyming story. That is, until his little sister comes along and messes everything up with her ideas of dancing pirates and fire-breathing armadillos. Or does she? The Book That Almost Rhymed is a playful story about the magic that can come from sharing fun and adventure – even with a younger sibling whose ideas are more ruckus than rhyme. (For ages 3 to 7)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks", "family matters", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0593406389", "cover": "0593406389", "goodreads": 181350373, "itunes": 9780593406380, "bookshop": 9780593406380, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XDR4hBSOL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593406380", "isbn10": "0593406389", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 233, "book": "The Book That Almost Rhymed", "source": "NPR", "text": "The picture 'Book That Almost Rhymed' is an adventure in siblinghood", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/24/1240613538/the-picture-book-that-almost-rhymed-is-an-adventure-in-siblinghood" } ] }, "234": { "id": 234, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Briar Club", "author": "Kate Quinn", "reviewers": [ "Megan Pratz" ], "text": "At Briarwood House, women young and old rent rooms from a bitter landlord who resents the children left behind by her ex-husband. But with the arrival of widow Grace March, these disparate boarders slowly become something more than just housemates. With the novel set during the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s, discussions of the fear of communism are mixed with in-depth portraits of each resident Kate Quinn employs to weave a tale. This rare female view of the era starts with a murder and then takes us back in time to slowly unfold a mystery and a drama that are compelling, warm and, at times, heartbreaking.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "mysteries & thrillers", "the states we’re in", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063244748", "cover": "0063244748", "goodreads": 181110045, "itunes": 9780063244740, "bookshop": 9780063244740, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/512p2bD+i1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063244740", "isbn10": "0063244748", "links": [] }, "235": { "id": 235, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Brides of High Hill (The Singing Hills Cycle, Book 5)", "author": "Nghi Vo", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "I love a story as much about observation as it is about storytelling. I love having my expectations thoroughly upended. And I loved The Brides of High Hill, the latest addition to The Singing Hills Cycle series. Once again we follow Cleric Chih, who is accompanying a young bride to her husband-to-be’s opulent estate. Something stinks, and it isn’t just the strange, monstrous talismans hidden around buildings, or the rot-taken library. Nobody is quite what they seem. Silence is a curse or complicity. Bad things happen to good and bad people. Author Nghi Vo is so good.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "rather short", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250851440", "cover": "1250851440", "goodreads": 195790817, "itunes": 9781250851444, "bookshop": 9781250851444, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41rBA5r9zKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250851444", "isbn10": "1250851440", "links": [] }, "236": { "id": 236, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur", "author": "Lev Grossman", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Zutter" ], "text": "This eminently worthy successor to The Magicians series explores what happens after the death of King Arthur fractures the Round Table through the eyes of Collum, a bastard backwater nobody with dreams of knighthood. Joining up with Camelot’s castoffs, including second-tier knights and enchantress Nimue, he confers with queens and duels dark fairies in a bloody and disillusioning battle of succession as they seek “a new sword, a new stone.” This tome is sweepingly epic yet accessible, transforming legends back into flesh-and-blood creatures. Most of all, it allows us to relate to Collum’s gleeful awareness that he is inhabiting an epic narrative in the making – as well as his grim acceptance that this adventure would have been impossible in the old Camelot.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0735224048", "cover": "0735224048", "goodreads": 201750794, "itunes": 9780735224049, "bookshop": 9780735224049, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51CLKTwRPzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780735224049", "isbn10": "0735224048", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 236, "book": "The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur", "source": "KAXE", "text": "What We're Reading: Lev Grossman pens a fresh take on the King Arthur legend", "url": "https://www.kaxe.org/show/what-were-reading/2024-09-16/lev-grossman-pens-a-fresh-take-on-the-king-arthur-legend" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 236, "book": "The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur", "source": "NPR", "text": "What's Making Us Happy: A guide to your weekend viewing and reading", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/08/09/nx-s1-5066927/whats-making-us-happy-a-guide-to-your-weekend-viewing-and-reading" } ] }, "237": { "id": 237, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Bullet Swallower", "author": "Elizabeth Gonzalez James", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "The Bullet Swallower tells two stories about the same family. The first follows Antonio Sonoro in 1895 as he tries to rob a train to get out of his desperate financial situation. Instead of riches, he finds the Texas Rangers on his trail and a lot of violence. The second narrative is that of Jaime Sonoro, a renowned actor and singer in 1960s Mexico who learns about his family from a book and wants to do everything in his power to clear the Sonoro name. Part family saga, part Western adventure, and part historical fiction with some magical realism sprinkled in, this novel will appeal to readers of all genres.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "historical fiction", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668009323", "cover": "1668009323", "goodreads": 123847255, "itunes": 9781668009321, "bookshop": 9781668009321, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41479E9lOuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668009321", "isbn10": "1668009323", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 237, "book": "The Bullet Swallower", "source": "NPR", "text": "The Bullet Swallower' sees the Texas-Mexico border through a magical realism lens", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1226406529/the-bullet-swallower-sees-the-texas-mexico-border-through-a-magical-realism-lens" } ] }, "238": { "id": 238, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Butcher of the Forest", "author": "Premee Mohamed", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "Lost children. A haunted forest. A rescue mission where danger lurks at all times. Premee Mohamed’s The Butcher of the Forest is a superb mix of horror and fantasy that also manages to discuss things like trust and the way power and riches don’t guarantee happiness. A short, engaging novel that almost demands to be devoured in a single sitting.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250881781", "cover": "1250881781", "goodreads": 127281143, "itunes": 9781250881786, "bookshop": 9781250881786, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XmWpW+K7L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250881786", "isbn10": "1250881781", "links": [] }, "239": { "id": 239, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Cemetery of Untold Stories", "author": "Julia Alvarez", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "The Cemetery of Untold Stories is a novel about being haunted by the stories we don’t write. A mix of folklore and magical realism, this is an entertaining story about a writer who uses a chunk of land to bury her characters so they can rest in peace and then must deal with the consequences of said characters developing a mind of their own. Another great innovative novel from a literary icon.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1643753843", "cover": "1643753843", "goodreads": 195820829, "itunes": 9781643753843, "bookshop": 9781643753843, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/517OZ4HmYIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781643753843", "isbn10": "1643753843", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 239, "book": "The Cemetery of Untold Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Cemetery of Untold Stories' unearths unfinished tales", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/04/1196980109/here-now-anytime-04-04-2024" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 239, "book": "The Cemetery of Untold Stories", "source": "NPR", "text": "Two new novels investigate what makes magic, what is real and imagined", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/15/1250919110/the-cemetery-of-untold-stories-pages-of-mourning-book-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 239, "book": "The Cemetery of Untold Stories", "source": "WOUB", "text": "One of America's most celebrated Latina writers, 'Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined'", "url": "https://woub.org/2024/09/11/one-of-americas-most-celebrated-latina-writers-julia-alvarez-a-life-reimagined-on-american-masters-sept-17-at-9-pm/" } ] }, "240": { "id": 240, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The City and Its Uncertain Walls", "author": "Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel", "reviewers": [ "Casey Morell" ], "text": "Picture this: As a teenager, you find love and create a world of your own with your beloved. Then, suddenly, she disappears and, as an adult, you find yourself in that same world of your imagination. Is there a way back to reality, or to find the one you miss the most? And is the reality you thought you had actually real at all? Haruki Murakami’s latest novel is a profound work of love, loss and yearning that exceeds the highs of his previous works. It’s a book that further cements him as a leading figure in modern magical realism, and one of our most interesting authors today.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593801970", "cover": "0593801970", "goodreads": 209192695, "itunes": 9780593801970, "bookshop": 9780593801970, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ho0GHxmKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593801970", "isbn10": "0593801970", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 240, "book": "The City and Its Uncertain Walls", "source": "NPR", "text": "It was 'great relief' for Haruki Murakami to finish his latest novel", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/11/11/nx-s1-5184497/haruki-murakami-interview-new-novel-the-city-and-its-uncertain-walls" } ] }, "241": { "id": 241, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The City in Glass", "author": "Nghi Vo", "reviewers": [ "Hafsa Fathima" ], "text": "The city of Azril is luminous and thriving – until angels come and raze it to the ground. This shatters the heart of the city’s guardian demon, Vitrine, who curses one angel in particular to haunt the city forever. A sweeping, gorgeously written narrative follows, where an angel and demon work together to build the future of a new Azril. And though Vitrine and her angel grow more bound to each other, it is Vitrine’s love for the city that is at the heart of this book. Through her eyes, we see the city rebuilt through grief, loss and hope.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250348277", "cover": "1250348277", "goodreads": 209439468, "itunes": 9781250348272, "bookshop": 9781250348272, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ldLGI7F+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250348272", "isbn10": "1250348277", "links": [] }, "242": { "id": 242, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Cliffs", "author": "J. Courtney Sullivan", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "An empty house, faded to a soft purple, perches high above the sea in Awadapquit, Maine. The house calls out to Jane Flanagan, a lonely working-class teenager. Jane begins cutting classes to explore the purple house and to read outside under its trees. Thus begins J. Courtney Sullivan’s quintessential page-turner of a ghost story, eerie and atmospheric. When Jane returns to Awadapquit after her mother’s death, she’s a professional woman in her 30s, tormented by personal demons: alcoholism and guilt. The Cliffs is a novel to get lost in and to remain haunted by.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "059331915X", "cover": "059331915X", "goodreads": 200634908, "itunes": 9780593319154, "bookshop": 9780593319154, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ZjFkR7GTL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593319154", "isbn10": "059331915X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 242, "book": "The Cliffs", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Cliffs' explores a house through the centuries of women who passed through", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/02/nx-s1-4959224/the-cliffs-explores-a-house-through-the-centuries-of-women-who-passed-through" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 242, "book": "The Cliffs", "source": "WBUR", "text": "J. Courtney Sullivan's 'The Cliffs' is a deeply moving exploration of history", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/02/j-courtney-sullivan-the-cliffs-book-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 242, "book": "The Cliffs", "source": "KMUW", "text": "J. Courtney Sullivan's 'The Cliffs' is a moving novel about digging up family secrets – and ghosts", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2024-07-15/j-courtney-sullivans-the-cliffs-is-a-moving-novel-about-digging-up-family-secrets-and-ghosts" } ] }, "243": { "id": 243, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Dead Cat Tail Assassins", "author": "P. Djèlí Clark", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Author P. Djèlí Clark is on “auto-buy” for me. If he has a book available, I’ll purchase it. This book is a little lighter and a whole lot funnier than his other fare, but it still hits that same high-quality mark. In the city of Tal Abisi lives Eveen the Eviscerator, an unkillable assassin with a very particular set of skills. Skills she has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make her a nightmare for the people at the pointy ends of her blades. All except for one teenage girl she can’t bring herself to kill. When she fails to complete her contract, it kicks off a series of twisty, sinister events involving patriarchal jerks, edgelords getting their comeuppance, a pissed-off goddess and wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey strangeness.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250767040", "cover": "1250767040", "goodreads": 127305606, "itunes": 9781250767042, "bookshop": 9781250767042, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JfPwIDXXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250767042", "isbn10": "1250767040", "links": [] }, "244": { "id": 244, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Dictionary Story", "author": "Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "Dictionary just wants to tell a story like all the other books, so one day she decides to bring her definitions to life. A chase story ensues – Alligator chases Donut and makes a hole in the A’s as he escapes from inside the book. When Queen slips on Soap, some of the S words go tumbling off the page entirely. It’s chaos! The plot is fun and wacky, but what I really want to kvell over is how much work went into this kids’ book about a book. Not only did Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston have a bookbinder make two real copies of their main character (which they then destroyed), but they also filled Dictionary with hundreds of fake but sort-of-real definitions – combining photography, painting, ink handwriting and typography. This book was seven years in the making, and IMO it was worth the effort! (For ages 3 to 7)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "1536235504", "cover": "1536235504", "goodreads": 201632466, "itunes": 9781536235500, "bookshop": 9781536235500, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31ku2DLSlWL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781536235500", "isbn10": "1536235504", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 244, "book": "The Dictionary Story", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Dictionary Story' is a kids' book that defies definition", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/08/30/nx-s1-4865931/the-dictionary-story-sam-winston-oliver-jeffers" } ] }, "245": { "id": 245, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years", "author": "Shubnum Khan", "reviewers": [ "Holly J. Morris" ], "text": "The djinn of the title – I pictured a depressed Grinch – haunts this comforting dose of tropes: A girl with a deceased mom moves into an old, possibly magic house with an inaccessible area. Blocked-off rooms being irresistible to teenage main characters, Sana Malek digs her way in, uncovering a tragic family secret or two. The twists and revelations that follow aren’t exactly jaw-dropping, but are emotionally wrenching enough to clear out the old tear ducts without leaving a grief hangover.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "family matters", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "0593653459", "cover": "0593653459", "goodreads": 127464148, "itunes": 9780593653456, "bookshop": 9780593653456, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vHhGOEZML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593653456", "isbn10": "0593653459", "links": [] }, "246": { "id": 246, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II", "author": "Candace Fleming", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Ah, the rare World War II history that doesn’t involve creating the bomb (apologies to Oppenheimer). Imagine you’re a teen in England during the rise of Hitler. You want to help with the war effort, so you’ve been recruited to monitor communications, break codes and catalog German intelligence information at Bletchley Park. The catch? When the war is over, you will never be able to tell anyone what you did. Candace Fleming cleverly cuts up the narratives of 10 distinct young women with additional (and fun!) spy and code-breaking information. There are pranks, dancing and romance, even alongside the difficult moments. At last, the people who helped break the German ciphers get their long-delayed day in the sun. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "kids’ books", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1338749579", "cover": "1338749579", "goodreads": 124932715, "itunes": 9781338749571, "bookshop": 9781338749571, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51EQVUTWSIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781338749571", "isbn10": "1338749579", "links": [] }, "247": { "id": 247, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Extinction of Irena Rey", "author": "Jennifer Croft", "reviewers": [ "Elissa Nadworny" ], "text": "This book has so many layers! Let’s start with the premise. Eight translators meet up at the home of a famous Polish novelist to translate her latest work – which is apparently so brilliant it could change the world! – into their respective home languages. But their beloved author goes missing, setting off their search for her in the nearby Białowieża forest – filled with so many layers of wilderness! The narrator is the Spanish translator, but we’re reading the story in English – it’s been translated by the English translator. Those two don’t get along. More layers! If you like language, literature – and fungi – this wild ride of a very esoteric mystery is for you.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "mysteries & thrillers" ], "isbn": "1639731709", "cover": "1639731709", "goodreads": 172979818, "itunes": 9781639731701, "bookshop": 9781639731701, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51SmwLFqppL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781639731701", "isbn10": "1639731709", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 247, "book": "The Extinction of Irena Rey", "source": "NPR", "text": "Jennifer Croft talks about her novel 'The Extinction of Irena Rey'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/02/1235517914/jennifer-croft-talks-about-her-novel-the-extinction-of-irena-rae" } ] }, "248": { "id": 248, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Familiar", "author": "Leigh Bardugo", "reviewers": [ "Hafsa Fathima" ], "text": "It is the Spanish Golden Age, and kitchen maid Luzia has secrets to hide: her skill at magic and her Jewish heritage. When her employer discovers her spells, Luzia is entered into a tournament to find King Philip, who hopes to increase his military standing, a champion. She is trained by the strange creature Santángel, an immortal with a mysterious past. This is a gorgeously lush, vividly written book that shines with its strong cast of characters. Luzia is a hero you’ll find yourself rooting for right from the start, and the magic system in this world is a breath of fresh air. Once again, Leigh Bardugo proves she never misses the mark when it comes to intricately building fantastical worlds – leaving you thinking about them long after the last page is turned.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "125088425X", "cover": "125088425X", "goodreads": 133286777, "itunes": 9781250884251, "bookshop": 9781250884251, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71aG78k1IbL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250884251", "isbn10": "125088425X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 248, "book": "The Familiar", "source": "NPR", "text": "Fantasy writer Leigh Bardugo on magic, miracles and her version of hell", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/30/1248058853/fantasy-writer-leigh-bardugo-on-magic-miracles-and-her-version-of-hell" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 248, "book": "The Familiar", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Familiar' is a romance, coming-of-age tale, and a story about fighting for more", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/11/1244125050/leigh-bardugo-the-familiar-book-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 248, "book": "The Familiar", "source": "WAMU", "text": "Miracles, mystery, and magic in Leigh Bardugo's 'The Familiar'", "url": "https://www.wvtf.org/2024-04-15/miracles-mystery-and-magic-in-leigh-bardugos-the-familiar" } ] }, "249": { "id": 249, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Formula: How Rogues, Geniuses, and Speed Freaks Reengineered F1 into the World's Fastest-Growing Sport", "author": "Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg", "reviewers": [ "Kyra Waller" ], "text": "Cheating scandals, intentional crashes, rule changes, media deals, host countries with questionable human rights records … Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg weave through nearly 80 years to explore how Formula One went from small garages in England to the global phenomenon it is today. You’ll be astounded at what some sponsors, executives, teams and drivers have done to keep the sport afloat or keep the world championship in reach. Whether you’ve been a fan for decades or you just discovered the sport through Netflix’s Drive to Survive, this is a fascinating and fast-paced account of the business, finance and entertainment sides of Formula One.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "for sports lovers", "it’s all geek to me" ], "isbn": "0063318628", "cover": "0063318628", "goodreads": 176822898, "itunes": 9780063318625, "bookshop": 9780063318625, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Q7TeodD4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063318625", "isbn10": "0063318628", "links": [] }, "250": { "id": 250, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Fox Wife", "author": "Yangsze Choo", "reviewers": [ "Elissa Nadworny" ], "text": "There’s a little bit of mystery and mysticism on every page of this book. Set in China in the early 1900s, the book centers on two characters in separate but connecting narratives: a fox masquerading as a young woman that’s set out to avenge her daughter’s death and a detective with an affinity for foxes who is working a murder case. It’s clever and observant, with twists and turns, and just the perfect amount of folklore to keep you asking: What is real and what is imagined?
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250266017", "cover": "1250266017", "goodreads": 127278666, "itunes": 9781250266019, "bookshop": 9781250266019, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41nOGay2JiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250266019", "isbn10": "1250266017", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 250, "book": "The Fox Wife", "source": "NPR", "text": "Yangsze Choo on her new novel 'The Fox Wife'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/10/1230605053/yangsze-choo-on-her-new-novel-the-fox-wife" } ] }, "251": { "id": 251, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir", "author": "Griffin Dunne", "reviewers": [ "Emiko Tamagawa" ], "text": "This is the memoir for folks who think they hate celebrity memoirs. Yes, you get details about Griffin Dunne’s longtime friendship with the late Carrie Fisher, glamourous Hollywood parties and his acting career. But Dunne also writes with loving honesty about his family: his brother, who struggled with mental illness, his mother, who lived with multiple sclerosis, and his younger sister, Dominique, whose murder devastated the family but also ignited his father Dominick’s career as a true-crime writer. The book is an answer to why Dunne didn’t make it big as an actor: He was a writer all along.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "family matters", "no biz like show biz", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593652827", "cover": "0593652827", "goodreads": 203708995, "itunes": 9780593652824, "bookshop": 9780593652824, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ACR23+71L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593652824", "isbn10": "0593652827", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 251, "book": "The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Actor Griffin Dunne revisits his Hollywood childhood in 'The Friday Afternoon Club'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/10/nx-s1-4998272/actor-griffin-dunne-revisits-his-hollywood-childhood-in-the-friday-afternoon-club" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 251, "book": "The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Griffin Dunne on a celeb-filled childhood and the loss of his sister", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/election-griffin-dunne/friday-afternoon-memoir" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 251, "book": "The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Griffin Dunne's 'The Friday Afternoon Club'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2024-07-02/griffin-dunne-the-friday-afternoon-club" } ] }, "252": { "id": 252, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The God of the Woods", "author": "Liz Moore", "reviewers": [ "Lori Lizarraga" ], "text": "Early one morning in 1975, a summer camp counselor finds an empty bunk – a 13-year-old camper has vanished. As the search begins along the banks of a lake in the Adirondacks, this 500-page drama unfolds – and it is worth every page! Liz Moore’s storytelling captures such an authentic picture of youth, young friendship and family secrets. There are thoughtful, well-developed characters, unexpected revelations, a history of a serial killer recently escaped, captivating storylines, shocking connections and surprising answers to every single mystery along the way. The God of the Woods has become a personal favorite of the year!
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593418913", "cover": "0593418913", "goodreads": 199700434, "itunes": 9780593418918, "bookshop": 9780593418918, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CbBZrOggL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593418918", "isbn10": "0593418913", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 252, "book": "The God of the Woods", "source": "NPR", "text": "Liz Moore on her novel 'The God of the Woods'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/06/nx-s1-4699446/liz-moore-on-her-novel-the-god-of-the-woods" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 252, "book": "The God of the Woods", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Liz Moore's 'The God of the Woods' is the can't-put-it-down summer read you've been craving", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2024-07-01/liz-moores-the-god-of-the-woods-is-the-cant-put-it-down-summer-read-youve-been-craving" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 252, "book": "The God of the Woods", "source": "NCPR", "text": "How the North Country inspired bestselling author Liz Moore's latest novel", "url": "https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/50213/20240726/how-the-north-country-inspired-bestselling-author-liz-moore-s-latest-novel" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 252, "book": "The God of the Woods", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Liz Moore on her new novel, 'The God of the Woods'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2024-07-02/liz-moore-on-her-new-novel-the-god-of-the-woods" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 252, "book": "The God of the Woods", "source": "WNYC", "text": "A Teen Goes Missing at Summer Camp in 'The God of the Woods'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/a-teen-goes-missing-at-summer-camp-in-the-god-of-the-woods/" } ] }, "253": { "id": 253, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Greatest", "author": "Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Vesper Stamper", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "A family thinks its grandfather is the greatest in the world, but he insists that he is just a simple, ordinary man. Through Vesper Stamper’s vibrant illustrations, we watch as this ordinary grandfather captivates his grandchildren with stories, leads the Passover Seder and catches fireflies in the backyard. By the end, the book reveals a great truth: Our love transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. As Veera Hiranandani so beautifully puts it, “Maybe love is like a mirror and it’s reflected back and forth until it glows so bright, everything is surrounded by that light.” And there is nothing simple or ordinary about that. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0593645561", "cover": "0593645561", "goodreads": 205181057, "itunes": 9780593645567, "bookshop": 9780593645567, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+P2CxD30L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593645567", "isbn10": "0593645561", "links": [] }, "254": { "id": 254, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The History of Sound: Stories", "author": "Ben Shattuck", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "The stories in The History of Sound deal in intimate histories, linger on the immediacy of a moment felt before it is lost. Preservation is considered from many angles, whether music preserved on wax cylinders, self-preservation in the face of grief, preservation of a relationship or a historical record. Ben Shattuck’s writing is so sure; he is so thoughtful, so reverent of life and its messes, and so very, very good at connecting his stories in unexpected ways. As a collection, The History of Sound sings; Shattuck’s voice is superb — I am definitely now a fan.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "book club ideas", "for music lovers", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "059349038X", "cover": "059349038X", "goodreads": 199373354, "itunes": 9780593490389, "bookshop": 9780593490389, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/411PEE4WxFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593490389", "isbn10": "059349038X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 254, "book": "The History of Sound: Stories", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Ben Shattuck's wistful stories are an ode to New England, past and present", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/09/ben-shattuck-history-of-sound-book-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 254, "book": "The History of Sound: Stories", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Ben Shattuck on his new story collection, 'The History of Sound'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2024-07-09/ben-shattuck-on-his-new-story-collection-the-history-of-sound" } ] }, "255": { "id": 255, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Horse", "author": "Willy Vlautin", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Al Ward has isolated himself from the world, living in an abandoned mining claim in the Nevada desert. The musician is working on beating his alcoholism and is fixated on memories of his past life, but his reclusive existence comes to an end when a blind, ailing horse shows up. Al knows he has to help, but he has to conquer his own demons first. This is a stunning novel, a new take on the Western that’s overflowing with soul from a writer whose books are just as accomplished as his music.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "for music lovers", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0063346575", "cover": "0063346575", "goodreads": 199532033, "itunes": 9780063346574, "bookshop": 9780063346574, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ki7p43pZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063346574", "isbn10": "0063346575", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 255, "book": "The Horse", "source": "OPB", "text": "Willy Vlautin's book 'The Horse' is a love letter to music and the American West", "url": "https://www.opb.org/article/2024/08/22/willy-vlautin-book-the-horse/" } ] }, "256": { "id": 256, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Hunter", "author": "Tana French", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Set in the hills of Western Ireland, this novel picks up the story of characters introduced in 2020’s The Searcher – retired American detective Cal Hooper and Trey, a teen girl he’s taken under his wing. As Tana French revisits the seemingly bucolic landscape where trouble roils just under the surface, her writing continues to shift from mystery to meditation. While there’s still a knot of questions about crimes – including both fraud and murder – to be untangled, this novel is ultimately about belonging. It’s about the ways in which families do, and don’t, owe each other debts – and the communities we resist, alienate, or become a welcome part of. Morally shaded and complex, it will leave you thinking about who’s right, and what’s wrong, long after you turn the last page.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "tales from around the world", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593493435", "cover": "0593493435", "goodreads": 174156145, "itunes": 9780593493434, "bookshop": 9780593493434, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41tewrizVRL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593493434", "isbn10": "0593493435", "links": [] }, "257": { "id": 257, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Husbands", "author": "Holly Gramazio", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "Lauren leaves her London flat for a bachelorette party one night only to discover a husband at home awaiting her return. Not only was she not married when she left for the night, she doesn’t recognize this man. Slowly she works out that he’s not a threat – and that all evidence on her phone, in conversations with friends and neighbors, and in their apartments points to him being fully integrated into her life. And there he is until he goes into the attic and a different husband emerges, slightly – or drastically – altering Lauren’s life. The pattern continues as Lauren searches for metaphysical clues to what’s going on and wrestles with how to know, if she can ever know, which life is right for her. A rare combination of the truly hilarious and profound.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "family matters", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385550618", "cover": "0385550618", "goodreads": 193781998, "itunes": 9780385550611, "bookshop": 9780385550611, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41KjyFFDQ6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780385550611", "isbn10": "0385550618", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 257, "book": "The Husbands", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Holly Gramazio's 'The Husbands' asks important questions about relationships and life", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2024-05-20/holly-gramazios-the-husbands-asks-important-questions-about-relationships-and-life" } ] }, "258": { "id": 258, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Judgment of Yoyo Gold", "author": "Isaac Blum", "reviewers": [ "Juanita Giles" ], "text": "Set in an Orthodox Jewish community, The Judgment of Yoyo Gold brings one “perfect” girl’s internal and external struggles into high relief. A born rule-follower and daughter of a rabbi, Yoyo has never questioned the standards that govern her life. But when one of her friends is cast out of the community for what seems like a minor transgression, Yoyo’s beliefs and morality are put to the test, and her foray into the world outside brings intense conflict. A deeply modern and moving YA novel set in a tightly closed community, this book is a near-perfect exploration of teen self-discovery.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "young adult", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "059352585X", "cover": "059352585X", "goodreads": 205435917, "itunes": 9780593525852, "bookshop": 9780593525852, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51NUCY4p6KL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593525852", "isbn10": "059352585X", "links": [] }, "259": { "id": 259, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Kamogawa Food Detectives", "author": "Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood", "reviewers": [ "Maryfran Tyler" ], "text": "Do you have a favorite dish whose scents and tastes evoke cherished memories but whose recipe is elusive? Then perhaps you want to wend your way through the back streets of Kyoto to find Nagare and Kolishi Kamogawa – the retired police detective and his daughter, proprietors of the Kamagowa Diner and Kamogawa Detective Agency – who promise to “find your food.” The duo’s careful interviews and investigations mixed with the meticulous melding of ingredients aim to unlock the past and possibly open the future to satisfy clients who savor these special dishes, whether a steaming bowl of udon or beef stew. Delicious and delectable. Save room! You may want to order a second serving; this is the first in a series about the food detectives by Japanese dentist Hisashi Kashiwai.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "cookbooks & food", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593717716", "cover": "0593717716", "goodreads": 154488299, "itunes": 9780593717714, "bookshop": 9780593717714, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51dGiJPzQRL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593717714", "isbn10": "0593717716", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 259, "book": "The Kamogawa Food Detectives", "source": "NPR", "text": "You'll savor the off-beat mysteries served up by 'The Kamogawa Food Detectives'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/19/1231349691/the-kamogawa-food-detectives-review-hisashi-kashiwai" } ] }, "260": { "id": 260, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History", "author": "Manjula Martin", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "In 2020, wildfires in California broke records, burning more than 4 million acres. Manjula Martin records what it was like to live through these conflagrations, with lyrical attention to detail, placing her experience in the context of deep ecological history. As she recounts months when the siren on her local firehouse in western Sonoma County blared almost daily, Martin reflects on what it means to make one’s home in a place that is destined to burn and to live “inside a damaged body on a damaged planet.” This meditation on the climate crisis demands attention.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593317157", "cover": "0593317157", "goodreads": 134121281, "itunes": 9780593317150, "bookshop": 9780593317150, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41mt9MoYr3L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593317150", "isbn10": "0593317157", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 260, "book": "The Last Fire Season: A Personal and Pyronatural History", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Last Fire Season' describes what it was like to live through Calif.'s wildfires", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/18/1224441938/book-review-manjula-martin-the-last-fire-season-on-california-wildfires" } ] }, "261": { "id": 261, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Last Hour Between Worlds", "author": "Melissa Caruso", "reviewers": [ "Kalyani Saxena" ], "text": "All Kembral Thorne wants is a break. She’s a new mom, on leave from her day job rescuing people who slip between the layers of reality (no biggie), and she’s looking forward to a few hours at an office party/ball. But the universe has other ideas. Someone is killing the guests at the party in a sinister game for power. And it’s up to Kem to stop it. This book – the first in a series – is like if a game of Clue also took place in the multiverse. Kem’s world is surreal, brutal and deeply entertaining. Melissa Caruso keeps the wild premise in check with a smart writing style that delivers well-timed moments of levity. And if you like sapphic romance, you’ll appreciate the chemistry between Kem and her professional rival Rika, who is as prickly as she is mysterious!
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "031630347X", "cover": "031630347X", "goodreads": 182761345, "itunes": 9780316303477, "bookshop": 9780316303477, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51hOOZYOIJL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316303477", "isbn10": "031630347X", "links": [] }, "262": { "id": 262, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Letters of Emily Dickinson", "author": "Emily Dickinson, edited by Cristanne Miller and Domhnall Mitchell", "reviewers": [ "Maureen Corrigan" ], "text": "This collection is probably the closest thing we’ll ever have to an intimate autobiography of Emily Dickinson. Some 300 previously uncollected letters have been added to this volume, for a grand total of 1,304 letters. They detail a life filled with visitors, the poet’s loyal dog, Carlo, and recipes for doughnuts and coconut cakes. There’s mention of the racist minstrel stereotype Jim Crow, as well as of Florence Nightingale and Walt Whitman. Most likely, the last letter an ailing 55-year-old Dickinson wrote before falling unconscious on May 13, 1886, was to her cousins. It reads:\nLittle Cousins,\n“Called back.” Emily.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "short stories, essays & poetry", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0674982975", "cover": "0674982975", "goodreads": 197877744, "itunes": 9780674982970, "bookshop": 9780674982970, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Xdm6ujadL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780674982970", "isbn10": "0674982975", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 262, "book": "The Letters of Emily Dickinson", "source": "NPR", "text": "This collection may be the closest we'll ever come to a Dickinson autobiography", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/25/1246249850/emily-dickinsons-letters-review" } ] }, "263": { "id": 263, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Lion Women of Tehran", "author": "Marjan Kamali", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali is an emotionally captivating page-turner about women’s friendship and the fight for women’s rights in Iran, beginning during the Shah’s reign and progressing to almost the present day. Kamali writes beautifully and passionately about friendship, love, youth, conflict, aging and the challenges of sustaining meaningful relationships amid high-stakes Iranian politics. The novel is full of atmosphere, history, great food and two unforgettable heroines, Ellie and Homa, who, despite the adversities they must face and sometimes overcome, will endear and intrigue readers from the opening scenes to the last page – a must-read.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668036584", "cover": "1668036584", "goodreads": 199798217, "itunes": 9781668036587, "bookshop": 9781668036587, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51pnFQyxVdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668036587", "isbn10": "1668036584", "links": [] }, "264": { "id": 264, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Lost Story", "author": "Meg Shaffer", "reviewers": [ "Barbara J. King" ], "text": "I fell hard for this novel starring Jeremy and Rafe, young men on a quest to locate friend Emilie’s sister. She is lost in a Narnia-like world, a hidden dimension within a West Virginia forest where they themselves had gone missing as teens. Who becomes transformed into a knight, a prince, or a princess matters less in Meg Shaffer’s luminous storytelling than the slow dawning of gentle queer love between Jeremy and Rafe. That narrative arc unfolds as beautifully as any I’ve encountered, painting a world of bravery and kindness as genuine as it is magical.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "mysteries & thrillers", "love & romance", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593598873", "cover": "0593598873", "goodreads": 199927030, "itunes": 9780593598870, "bookshop": 9780593598870, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tZKiu1mwL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593598870", "isbn10": "0593598873", "links": [] }, "265": { "id": 265, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony", "author": "Annabelle Tometich", "reviewers": [ "Shannon Rhoades" ], "text": "This family memoir begins with a courtroom scene like no other. After a night in jail, Annabelle Tometich’s mom is charged with firing at a man who, she says, was stealing mangoes from the tree in her front yard. Tometich then hits rewind, taking readers back through her Fort Myers, Fla., childhood – with her Filipino American mom and white dad, a couple whose personality differences do not make them stronger together. The writing is both jewel-like and effortless, and Tometich’s memories – some mundane, some extraordinary – are mesmerizing.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0316540323", "cover": "0316540323", "goodreads": 195820710, "itunes": 9780316540322, "bookshop": 9780316540322, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41b41YBU7CL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316540322", "isbn10": "0316540323", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 265, "book": "The Mango Tree", "source": "NPR", "text": "Annabelle Tometich on her memoir 'The Mango Tree'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/06/1243230484/annabelle-tometich-on-her-memoir-the-mango-tree" } ] }, "266": { "id": 266, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Manicurist's Daughter: A Memoir", "author": "Susan Lieu", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "In juxtaposing her Vietnamese American family’s refugee trajectory with her mother’s 1996 death at the hands of an uninsured plastic surgeon, Susan Lieu eloquently expresses how this loss has been both an irreparable internal rupture and an ongoing process toward public reckoning. Lieu’s initial zeal to avenge her mother’s death by publicly shaming the unscrupulous doctor (he died of Parkinson’s disease before she had the chance) becomes, over time, a way to redefine her mother’s legacy within the evolving lives of surviving family members who still struggle with the social stigma from the young matriarch’s death. By exploring public and private ways to honor her mother’s memory, Lieu’s memoir encompasses both social and familial dimensions.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1250835046", "cover": "1250835046", "goodreads": 126918629, "itunes": 9781250835048, "bookshop": 9781250835048, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Mck8v2sdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250835048", "isbn10": "1250835046", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 266, "book": "The Manicurist's Daughter: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Manicurist's Daughter,' a refugee family goes on after its matriarch's death", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1237943568/susan-lieu-the-manicurists-daughter-book-review" } ] }, "267": { "id": 267, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Mesmerist", "author": "Caroline Woods", "reviewers": [ "Denny S. Bryce" ], "text": "Caroline Woods’ The Mesmerist is an immersive and compelling story inspired by the Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers and front-page news about a serial killer in 1894 Minneapolis. Deftly mixing crime fiction and historical women’s fiction in a tightly plotted, tension-filled tale, the novel focuses on three very different women who work together to save their home – and stop a killer. Abby, the staunch Quaker; May, seeking her happily-ever-after; and Faith, who arrives at the Bethany Home mute, are unforgettable female characters in a story of magic, mystery and murder. The Mesmerist will linger long after you turn the last page.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "for history lovers", "seriously great writing", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385550162", "cover": "0385550162", "goodreads": 203608516, "itunes": 9780385550161, "bookshop": 9780385550161, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sedRD0W6L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780385550161", "isbn10": "0385550162", "links": [] }, "268": { "id": 268, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Message", "author": "Ta-Nehisi Coates", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "The Message is an urgent reevaluation of the stories we are told and tell ourselves about the world. Ta-Nehisi Coates travels to Dakar, Senegal, where he confronts “the idea of a Black civilization”; to South Carolina, where he attends a school board meeting about banning his book Between the World and Me; and to Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where he witnesses “the separate and unequal nature of Israeli rule” over Palestinians. Throughout, Coates untangles the nationalist myths that have long propped up grievous inequities and charts a new path forward for how we can use storytelling to face difficult truths.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0593230388", "cover": "0593230388", "goodreads": 210943364, "itunes": 9780593230381, "bookshop": 9780593230381, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518IWZx9whL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593230381", "isbn10": "0593230388", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 268, "book": "The Message", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ta-Nehisi Coates explores how oppression can breed oppression in 'The Message'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/01/nx-s1-5131276/ta-nehisi-coates-the-message-senegal-israel-gaza" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 268, "book": "The Message", "source": "NPR", "text": "Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates returns to nonfiction with his essay collection 'The Message'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/29/nx-s1-5043643/writer-ta-nehisi-coates-returns-to-nonfiction-with-his-essay-collection-the-message" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 268, "book": "The Message", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ta-Nehisi Coates On Why Books Scare People", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/13/1211596752/ta-nehisi-coates-the-message" } ] }, "269": { "id": 269, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Midnight Feast", "author": "Lucy Foley", "reviewers": [ "Emily Dagger" ], "text": "The opening weekend of an exclusive “woo-woo, but still chic” wellness resort run by a wealthy and ambitious influencer (think Lady Macbeth if she read Goop) is the setting for Lucy Foley’s latest locked-room thriller. Here, Foley’s usual techniques of unraveling the central mystery through multiple timelines and narrators are paralleled by the spiraling events of the weekend, which careen from juice shots and yoga on the lawn to a chaotic climax at a hallucinogen-fueled bacchanal where hidden identities and multiple murders are brought to light. It is an absolute bonkers delight (and I haven’t even mentioned the local bird cult yet …).
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063003104", "cover": "0063003104", "goodreads": 199743738, "itunes": 9780063003101, "bookshop": 9780063003101, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Fvgd7AI-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063003101", "isbn10": "0063003104", "links": [] }, "270": { "id": 270, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science", "author": "Kate McKinnon", "reviewers": [ "Elizabeth Blair" ], "text": "The SNL and Barbie star calls her first novel part of her “mission … to give a private nod to the next generation of weirdos.” Much like the author herself, the Porch sisters are outcasts, especially in the early 1900s town where Kate McKinnon’s mystery takes place. They love bats, slugs and building odd contraptions. Kicked out of yet another etiquette school, the girls meet the mad scientist Millicent Quibb, who enlists them to help her rescue the town from a ginormous, hungry worm whose mouth is “lined all the way around with crunching teeth made of thick rocks.” McKinnon’s delightfully eccentric humor is all over Millicent Quibb. Big bonus: She and her sister narrate the audiobook. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books", "staff picks", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0316554731", "cover": "0316554731", "goodreads": 207567700, "itunes": 9780316554732, "bookshop": 9780316554732, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51vO3LhjemL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316554732", "isbn10": "0316554731", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 270, "book": "The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science", "source": "NPR", "text": "Kate McKinnon's new middle-grade mystery is for all her fellow misfits", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/02/nx-s1-4848724/kate-mckinnon-childrens-book-millicent-quibb" } ] }, "271": { "id": 271, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Ministry of Time", "author": "Kaliane Bradley", "reviewers": [ "Christina Cala" ], "text": "You’d think a novel about the bureaucracy of a time-travel government agency might be kinda, boring? But from the moment you meet the book’s enigmatic protagonist – as she starts a new job in the U.K.’s top secret new time travel agency – to the introduction of the dashing Graham Gore, an 1847 Arctic explorer plucked through time, you’ll be hooked. Come for the romance, stay for the unraveling of a mystery, the nuanced, genre-bending treatises on race and identity, and the long-lingering ideas on colonialism, empires and the mutability of history.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668045141", "cover": "1668045141", "goodreads": 199798179, "itunes": 9781668045145, "bookshop": 9781668045145, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41TRqhiD9kL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668045145", "isbn10": "1668045141", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 271, "book": "The Ministry of Time", "source": "NPR", "text": "Understanding the refugee experience, through a time-traveling British colonizer", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2024/05/22/1197956484/understanding-the-refugee-experience-through-a-time-traveling-british-colonizer" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 271, "book": "The Ministry of Time", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Kaliane Bradley's 'The Ministry of Time' takes time travel to a whole new level", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/culture/kaliane-bradleys-the-ministry-of-time-travel-novel" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 271, "book": "The Ministry of Time", "source": "HPPR", "text": "HPPR Radio Readers Book Club: 'The Ministry of Time' – Sci-Fi-Rom-Com?", "url": "https://www.hppr.org/2024-07-08/the-ministry-of-time-sci-fi-rom-com" } ] }, "272": { "id": 272, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Most", "author": "Jessica Anthony", "reviewers": [ "Heller McAlpin" ], "text": "Jessica Anthony serves an ace with this tightly constructed novel, a portrait of a marriage at its breakpoint that highlights the trade-offs people make in life. The Most spans a single, unseasonably warm November day in 1957, during which the wife, a former intercollegiate tennis champion, slips into her apartment complex’s kidney-shaped pool and refuses to get out. To break through the marital impasse with her husband, she deploys a cunning tennis strategy from which the novel takes its title.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0316576379", "cover": "0316576379", "goodreads": 201626978, "itunes": 9780316576376, "bookshop": 9780316576376, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51OdOVaA5DL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316576376", "isbn10": "0316576379", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 272, "book": "The Most", "source": "NPR", "text": "Blindsided by 'The Most': This is a superb novel of a marriage at its breakpoint", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/25/nx-s1-5049895/the-most-review-jessica-anthony" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 272, "book": "The Most", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Jessica Anthony on her new novel, 'The Most'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2024-07-30/jessica-anthony-on-her-new-novel-the-most" } ] }, "273": { "id": 273, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Mountains Are High", "author": "Alec Ash", "reviewers": [ "Vincent Ni" ], "text": "For years since China’s economic reform, many ambitious young Chinese have migrated to bustling cities to get rich and seek career fulfillment. But the highly competitive rat race has also forced some to rethink their ultimate pursuit. All this happened as China’s economic growth slowed and job opportunities waned. In recent years, phrases describing those who opt for a pressure-free life, such as “tang ping” (lying flat), have stormed into China’s everyday lexicon. Some of the urban escapees – including author Alec Ash himself – ended up in smaller cities such as Dali, in Southwest China. In this beautifully written book, Ash introduces us to them. They fittingly call Dali “Dalifornia,” for its chilled vibes, California-like good weather and picturesque mountains.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1914484371", "cover": "1914484371", "goodreads": 79328284, "itunes": 9781914484377, "bookshop": 9781914484377, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41lFG0YR4IL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781914484377", "isbn10": "1914484371", "links": [] }, "274": { "id": 274, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Murder of Mr. Ma", "author": "SJ Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "I don’t read much in the way of historical mysteries, but the premise of this book was too tempting to pass up. In London in 1924, the scholar Lao She meets Judge Dee Ren Jie. Dee is investigating the murder of a man who worked alongside him in the Chinese Labour Corps during World War I. Their investigation takes them all over London and into the homes and businesses of Chinese immigrants fighting to find a place in a country mired in xenophobia and anti-Chinese sentiment. It’s a bit murder mystery, a bit martial arts action movie and a bit historical drama; think Warrior meets Sherlock Holmes.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "164129549X", "cover": "164129549X", "goodreads": 182506459, "itunes": 9781641295499, "bookshop": 9781641295499, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41q5EJHNZEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781641295499", "isbn10": "164129549X", "links": [] }, "275": { "id": 275, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The New India: The Unmaking of the World's Largest Democracy", "author": "Rahul Bhatia", "reviewers": [ "Diaa Hadid" ], "text": "An unrepentant Nazi. A movement to purify Hinduism in response to British colonialism. A dusty book on a forgotten bookshelf in Delhi. A tech evangelist creates a database of every Indian citizen, but why? A Muslim man fighting for justice, tilting at well-worn windmills. Rahul Bhatia weaves all these elements together to look at the endemic challenges to India’s democracy – and also the newer challenges – threatening it all. This book should be heavy, yet it is so readable, so swiftly sketched, that it’s a page-turner. It’s like a mystery novel, with India as the main character.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "rather long", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1541704002", "cover": "1541704002", "goodreads": 209456102, "itunes": 9781541704008, "bookshop": 9781541704008, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41H5X0xciLL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781541704008", "isbn10": "1541704002", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 275, "book": "The New India: The Unmaking of the World's Largest Democracy", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'The New India' explores the unraveling of the world's largest democracy", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/11/20/new-india-book" } ] }, "276": { "id": 276, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Nightmare Box and Other Stories", "author": "Cynthia Gómez", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "This was hands down my favorite horror anthology of 2024. The stories are loudly and proudly Latinx, queer, feminist and working-class. You’ll encounter Black Panthers and vampires, witches and magical clothes, brave activists and cops who get what’s coming to them. Longtime San Francisco Bay Area residents will love picking up the references to local sights – places that never hit the tourist tours or the big bestsellers. Of the 12 stories in the anthology, the eponymous story is the one I think about the most. Set in 1970, the piece is about a woman named Serena who can create custom-made nightmares. She’s forced to work against the interests of some local activists and decides to resist in the only way she knows how.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "", "cover": "0nightmare", "goodreads": 208925637, "itunes": 9798988413820, "bookshop": 9798988413820, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41vHRFjMj1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "links": [] }, "277": { "id": 277, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports", "author": "Michael Waters", "reviewers": [ "Adele Ackert" ], "text": "When Zdeněk Koubek announced in 1935 that he would live as a man after his rise to celebrity in women’s sports, it seemed that the public was poised to accept gender expression outside the binary. But a small group of international sporting officials developed a system of “sex testing” that still affects athletes today. The Other Olympians offers a retrospective of the sporting world’s attempt to understand, define and ultimately police sex in competition. Against the backdrop of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Michael Waters weaves dense history with narrative storytelling while never failing to center the humanity of the athletes and activists of the time. Within a fraught history, Waters uncovers stories of queer joy and resilience still relevant today.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "for sports lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0374609810", "cover": "0374609810", "goodreads": 195790616, "itunes": 9780374609818, "bookshop": 9780374609818, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41iLF7l2w4L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374609818", "isbn10": "0374609810", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 277, "book": "The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports", "source": "KMUW", "text": " 'The Other Olympians': What fueled the rise of sex testing?", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/mid-east-trump-lgbtq-athletes/other-olympians-book" } ] }, "278": { "id": 278, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Pairing", "author": "Casey McQuiston", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Zutter" ], "text": "San Sebastián, Pisa, Monaco, Nice: a dream itinerary for a food-stuffed, wine-soaked Eurotrip, but also the necessary route for exes Theo and Kit to revisit their failed relationship four years later as new people who are still hopelessly in love with each other. However, that will not stop these sensualists from competing on a hookup tour at every mouth-watering stop. Casey McQuiston composes odes upon odes to making friends at food markets, to wandering vineyards for a boozy lunch, to saying yes to a surprise meal or a surprise lover. The sublime symmetry of the trip and the alternating rom-com narration makes it even more thrilling to watch Kit and Theo decide which pieces of themselves to pick back up and which to leave behind.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world", "rather long" ], "isbn": "1250862744", "cover": "1250862744", "goodreads": 199440249, "itunes": 9781250862747, "bookshop": 9781250862747, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ayxlZ9HEL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250862747", "isbn10": "1250862744", "links": [] }, "279": { "id": 279, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Phoenix Crown", "author": "Kate Quinn and Janie Chang", "reviewers": [ "Elaine Coates" ], "text": "This book’s gorgeous prose weaves together four diverse women – an aspiring opera singer, a visionary painter, a brilliant botanist and a talented Chinatown seamstress – in 1906 San Francisco days before an earthquake nearly destroys it. Friendly acquaintances before the quake, these women unite to find justice against a greedy, murdering hustler amid the city’s ruins, and across continents. Each character is layered with historical facts; some are even based on real people. This historical drama is so fascinating – it will transport you to a remarkable moment in U.S. history.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "book club ideas", "the states we’re in", "staff picks", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063304732", "cover": "0063304732", "goodreads": 64417401, "itunes": 9780063304734, "bookshop": 9780063304734, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ue3bcuOeL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063304734", "isbn10": "0063304732", "links": [] }, "280": { "id": 280, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Physics of Sorrow", "author": "Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "In this brilliant book, Georgi Gospodinov considers the concept of “weight” in physics. He writes, “The past, sorrow, literature – only these three weightless whales interest me.” This book raises vexing questions about the human condition, traveling down labyrinthine digressions about topics that consume us – life, death, social woes, war, peace, old age, youth. And, above all, the creation of literature. For Gospodinov, time is an artifice and present, past and future slide around like pieces on a chessboard. This fragmented novel coheres into a remarkable whole, a winding maze through Bulgarian communism, art, literature, history, the personal past, love, sorrow and so much more.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1324094893", "cover": "1324094893", "goodreads": 23129709, "itunes": 9781324094890, "bookshop": 9781324094890, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81DZczwLKUL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324094890", "isbn10": "1324094893", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 280, "book": "The Physics of Sorrow", "source": "NPR", "text": "Prize-winning Bulgarian writer brings 'The Physics of Sorrow' to U.S. readers", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/21/1252665982/georgi-gospodinov-novel-the-physics-of-sorrow-time-shelter-booker-prize" } ] }, "281": { "id": 281, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Return of Ellie Black", "author": "Emiko Jean", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Wessel" ], "text": "When Ellie Black, a teenager who went missing two years ago, is found alive, it turns Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s world upside down. Twenty years ago, Chelsey’s own sister went missing. Now, she must figure out what happened to Ellie during her disappearance, while also confronting complicated family memories. Emiko Jean digs into family trauma and how the past never really leaves us, in this engrossing, fast-paced book. I had a hard time putting it down.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "family matters", "the dark side", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668023938", "cover": "1668023938", "goodreads": 199798460, "itunes": 9781668023938, "bookshop": 9781668023938, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41tf+W5rdYL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668023938", "isbn10": "1668023938", "links": [] }, "282": { "id": 282, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The SalviSoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and the Women Who Preserve Them", "author": "Karla Tatiana Vasquez", "reviewers": [ "Milton Guevara" ], "text": "Karla Tatiana Vasquez was born in El Salvador, but her family fled to Los Angeles because of war. Food became a way for her to stay connected to her culture. She began documenting recipes and stories of the women who preserve Salvadoran traditions. That work led to The SalviSoul Cookbook. It’s her tribute to El Salvador, its people and the diaspora. This is the first cookbook focused on Salvadoran food from a major U.S. publishing house.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1984861425", "cover": "1984861425", "goodreads": 195430700, "itunes": 9781984861429, "bookshop": 9781984861429, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51JA7Qp-cIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781984861429", "isbn10": "1984861425", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 282, "book": "The SalviSoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and the Women Who Preserve Them", "source": "NPR", "text": "How 'SalviSoul,' first Salvadoran cookbook from a major U.S. publisher, came together", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/29/1247172998/salvadoran-food-cookbook-salvisoul-karla-tatiana-vasquez" } ] }, "283": { "id": 283, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster", "author": "John O'Connor", "reviewers": [ "Gabino Iglesias" ], "text": "More than a nonfiction book about Bigfoot, John O’Connor’s The Secret History of Bigfoot is a witty, impeccably researched deep dive into the subculture of folks who live for the famous bipedal ape rumored to lurk in many forests across the country. Surprisingly political, unexpectedly hilarious and incredibly informative, this is a great serious book about a topic that most people quickly dismiss.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "book club ideas", "funny stuff", "the states we’re in", "it’s all geek to me", "eye-opening reads" ], "isbn": "1464216630", "cover": "1464216630", "goodreads": 152180034, "itunes": 9781464216633, "bookshop": 9781464216633, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ckn9aEl+L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781464216633", "isbn10": "1464216630", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 283, "book": "The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster", "source": "NPR", "text": "Is Bigfoot real? A new book dives deep into the legend", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/09/1229533661/john-oconnor-book-the-secret-history-of-bigfoot-legend" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 283, "book": "The Secret History of Bigfoot: Field Notes on a North American Monster", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Who looks for 'Bigfoot?' Journalist John O'Connor wanted to find out", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/05/31/secret-history-bigfoot" } ] }, "284": { "id": 284, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Seventh Veil of Salome", "author": "Silvia Moreno-Garcia", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "Silvia Moreno-Garcia refuses to confine herself to one genre, and that’s great news for readers. Her latest is a historical novel set in Golden Age Hollywood; it follows Vera, a young Mexican actor who lands the role of Salome in a big-budget biblical epic, and Nancy, a racist striver who can’t stand the young newcomer. Moreno-Garcia perfectly captures the feel of 1950s movies with her expert pacing and snappy dialogue. If the thought of a Turner Classic Movies marathon puts a smile on your face, this one couldn’t be more up your alley.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "no biz like show biz", "the states we’re in", "book club ideas", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593600266", "cover": "0593600266", "goodreads": 217362723, "itunes": 9780593600269, "bookshop": 9780593600269, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41NtekLAmGL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593600269", "isbn10": "0593600266", "links": [] }, "285": { "id": 285, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky", "author": "Simon Shuster", "reviewers": [ "Joanna Kakissis" ], "text": "In this cinematic page-turner, Time correspondent Simon Shuster paints a vivid portrait of the Ukrainian president, who honed his powerful communication skills during decades as one of Ukraine’s most popular comedians. Shuster charts the rise from naïve political novice to steely – and unforgiving – wartime president. Deeply reported and deftly written, this book is a feat not only because it sheds light on one of today’s most consequential political figures, but also the history that shaped him and the tectonic shift in geopolitics that he’s now forced to navigate.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0063307421", "cover": "0063307421", "goodreads": 63365317, "itunes": 9780063307421, "bookshop": 9780063307421, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41uimIBAJmL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063307421", "isbn10": "0063307421", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 285, "book": "The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky", "source": "KQED", "text": "New biography 'The Showman' follows Zelensky inside the war room", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/arts/13950809/the-showman-simon-shuster-zelensky-biography-ukraine" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 285, "book": "The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky", "source": "NPR", "text": "How war changed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/23/1226278535/the-showman-ukraine-russia-zelenskyy-simon-shuster" } ] }, "286": { "id": 286, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Spamalot Diaries", "author": "Eric Idle", "reviewers": [ "Jeff Lunden" ], "text": "If making comedy is hard, making a Broadway musical is even harder, as Eric Idle describes in The Spamalot Diaries, his chronicle of the creation of the hit musical based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Idle fills out his breezy, sly diary entries with emails to and from the creative team; talks about all the songs written, rewritten and dropped from the show; and includes some lyrics – even a song written to the melody of Ravel’s Boléro. Idle showers heaps of praise on the late Mike Nichols, the show’s Tony-winning director, even as he describes some of his insecurities. If you love Monty Python or Broadway musicals, this is an entertaining read.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "no biz like show biz", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "0593800486", "cover": "0593800486", "goodreads": 210246761, "itunes": 9780593800485, "bookshop": 9780593800485, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CzGSsKRYL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593800485", "isbn10": "0593800486", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 286, "book": "The Spamalot Diaries", "source": "NPR", "text": "Inside the making of 'Spamalot' with Monty Python's Eric Idle", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/10/14/spamalot-eric-idle" } ] }, "287": { "id": 287, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Stardust Grail", "author": "Yume Kitasei", "reviewers": [ "Natalie Zutter" ], "text": "Maya Hoshimoto is caught between cultures: She was raised on a space colony that wrested independence from Earth and then spent a decade as an alien-art thief, only to give up that life for the stability of Princeton’s graduate anthropology program. But when glitches in the Interstellar Web threaten to cut Earth off from the nodal network, Maya can’t resist returning to fieldwork. Reunited with tentacled alien pal Auncle, she must steal the mythical stardust grail before Earth can. But like Indiana Jones, Maya must choose: save Auncle’s endangered people or secure Earth’s node. Author Yume Kitasei keenly establishes humans as the relative newbies (and the cultural other) among more experienced extraterrestrials, while still showing how even advanced alien species can’t resist looting other cultures’ artifacts.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "for art lovers", "science!", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250875374", "cover": "1250875374", "goodreads": 195791479, "itunes": 9781250875372, "bookshop": 9781250875372, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ouUNdIBvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250875372", "isbn10": "1250875374", "links": [] }, "288": { "id": 288, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Stone Home", "author": "Crystal Hana Kim", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "In this wrenching intergenerational story of survival, Crystal Hana Kim explores a dark period of South Korean history – the military rule of the 1970s and 1980s, when the government sponsored “welfare facilities” for “vagrants” that in reality were internment camps. As the novel unfolds, Eunju Oh, now in her 40s, reveals long-buried secrets of her horrific experience at one such facility, the Stone Home, to the Korean American daughter of Sangchul, who escaped as a teenager. It makes for a compelling exploration of the intoxicating effects of power and the endurance of the human spirit.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "006331097X", "cover": "006331097X", "goodreads": 181109975, "itunes": 9780063310971, "bookshop": 9780063310971, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41vfPpfJ+LL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063310971", "isbn10": "006331097X", "links": [] }, "289": { "id": 289, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Storm We Made", "author": "Vanessa Chan", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Wessel" ], "text": "The Storm We Made follows the Alcantara family during Japan’s invasion of Malaya (now Malaysia) during World War II. Told from multiple points of view and different timelines, it is an exploration into one family’s struggles with racism, status, poverty and war. Vanessa Chan beautifully navigates all these themes and more. By the end of the book, I was left bereft and speechless.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1668015145", "cover": "1668015145", "goodreads": 214944658, "itunes": 9781668015148, "bookshop": 9781668015148, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41CVxkXzD0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668015148", "isbn10": "1668015145", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 289, "book": "The Storm We Made", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'The Storm We Made', the horrors of war are the main character", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2023/12/31/1222337102/in-the-storm-we-made-the-horrors-of-war-are-the-main-character" } ] }, "290": { "id": 290, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History", "author": "Karen Valby", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "Journalist Karen Valby reclaims the stories of five Black ballerinas – women who were the bedrock of Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem, founded in the wake of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. These dancers came from different walks of life and different geographies, but shared passion and talent for the artform. They performed around the world and opened audiences’ eyes to superlative dancing, as well as new choreography and music. This book describes the challenges and joys of working with Mitchell, a driven and exacting leader. This important story should inspire generations of girls who want to dance.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "no biz like show biz", "for history lovers", "for sports lovers" ], "isbn": "0593317521", "cover": "0593317521", "goodreads": 195430723, "itunes": 9780593317525, "bookshop": 9780593317525, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/418rNU+-GiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593317525", "isbn10": "0593317521", "links": [] }, "291": { "id": 291, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Tainted Cup", "author": "Robert Jackson Bennett", "reviewers": [ "Austin Frank" ], "text": "In the first book of a series, detective Ana Dolabra and her assistant, Dinios Kol, are investigating the murder of a high-ranking military officer. Set in the botanical Empire of Khanum, the story is a masterful combination of rich world-building and compelling mystery. Robert Jackson Bennett – author of The Founders Trilogy – is one of the most exciting fantasy writers I’ve read recently, designing worlds that feel inclusive and expansive. The next adventure of Din and Ana can’t come soon enough.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "rather long", "mysteries & thrillers", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1984820702", "cover": "1984820702", "goodreads": 150247395, "itunes": 9781984820709, "bookshop": 9781984820709, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51lJuXW4iVL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781984820709", "isbn10": "1984820702", "links": [] }, "292": { "id": 292, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Threshold of Dissent: A History of American Jewish Critics of Zionism", "author": "Marjorie N. Feld", "reviewers": [ "Leah Donnella" ], "text": "The world is a very confusing place right now – at least, that’s how it feels to me – so I’m always looking for books that can help me better understand where we are as a society and how we got here. The Threshold of Dissent is one of those books. In clear, careful language, the author illustrates some of the major moments over the past century that have shaped Jewish beliefs about Zionism, anti-Zionism and non-Zionism. It’s a history told with both rigor and compassion – two qualities that seem especially essential when embarking in conversation on such a fraught and contentious subject.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "for history lovers", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1479829315", "cover": "1479829315", "goodreads": 199646978, "itunes": 9781479829316, "bookshop": 9781479829316, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71oMQGqwOnL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781479829316", "isbn10": "1479829315", "links": [] }, "293": { "id": 293, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Truth According to Ember", "author": "Danica Nava", "reviewers": [ "Hafsa Fathima" ], "text": "Job hunting is hard, but Ember Lee Cardinal finds it even more difficult as an Indigenous Chickasaw woman. When she decides to tell a half-truth on an application and pass as white, she gets the job. Even if work isn’t the best, the very attractive guy from IT, Danuwoa, makes things easier. This book is more than just a workplace romance; it’s a searing look at all the ways women of color – particularly Indigenous women – must navigate structural injustice and oppression. The sizzling chemistry between Ember and Danuwoa doesn’t hurt either. All in all, a heartwarming and laugh-out-loud read.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593642600", "cover": "0593642600", "goodreads": 201752567, "itunes": 9780593642603, "bookshop": 9780593642603, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51q+UYlvAzL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593642603", "isbn10": "0593642600", "links": [] }, "294": { "id": 294, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels", "author": "Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans", "reviewers": [ "Rhaina Cohen" ], "text": "Trust me that you’ll be captivated by this book about death. The Unclaimed tells remarkably vivid, intimate stories about four people in Los Angeles whose bodies went unclaimed after they died – a more common phenomenon than you’d probably guess. The authors, both sociologists, follow neighbors and friends whose abiding care goes unrecognized by the state, and local government workers who are determined to bring dignity to people who’ve been abandoned in death. This lyrical and moving book raises profound questions about what we owe our family, our neighbors and our fellow citizens.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0593239059", "cover": "0593239059", "goodreads": 177185884, "itunes": 9780593239056, "bookshop": 9780593239056, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41DuXPxZMsL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593239056", "isbn10": "0593239059", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 294, "book": "The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels", "source": "NPR", "text": "A new book traces the lives of 4 people among thousands of 'unclaimed' deaths in L.A.", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/09/1237179326/a-new-book-traces-the-lives-of-4-people-among-thousands-of-unclaimed-deaths-in-l" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 294, "book": "The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels", "source": "KQED", "text": " 'The Unclaimed' spotlights the stories behind the abandoned dead of LA county", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101905011/the-unclaimed-spotlights-the-stories-behind-the-abandoned-dead-of-la-county" } ] }, "295": { "id": 295, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook", "author": "Hampton Sides", "reviewers": [ "Steve Inskeep" ], "text": "I’m a sucker for sea stories, for tales of man against nature, for people who put themselves on the line. So I picked up this book on a whim and read it straight through. I knew a sentence or two about James Cook, but not how famous he was in the 1700s or what he accomplished. This account of his final voyage puts you right on his leaky, smelly, cockroach-infested ship. What proves most dramatic is not his struggle with nature but with other people, the Polynesian islanders who Hampton Sides does much to bring to life. This is a story of exploration but also of empire, with all its dark implications.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "rather long", "for history lovers" ], "isbn": "0385544766", "cover": "0385544766", "goodreads": 191746386, "itunes": 9780385544764, "bookshop": 9780385544764, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/515-CKYOjuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780385544764", "isbn10": "0385544766", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 295, "book": "The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook", "source": "CPR", "text": "Hampton Sides examines 18th Century British naval captain James Cook through a modern lens in ‘The Wide Wide Sea’", "url": "https://www.cpr.org/2024/06/01/interview-hampton-sides-book-on-james-cook-the-wide-wide-sea/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 295, "book": "The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'The Wide Wide Sea' revisits Capt. James Cook's fateful final voyage", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/03/1242508406/the-wide-wide-sea-revisits-capt-james-cooks-fateful-final-voyage" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 295, "book": "The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook", "source": "KMUW", "text": "Marginalia: Hampton Sides on Captain James Cook and 'The Wide Wide Sea'", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/marginalia/2024-07-08/hampton-sides-on-captain-james-cook-and-the-wide-wide-sea" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 295, "book": "The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook", "source": "KTEP", "text": "The Book Club: 'The Wide Wide Sea'", "url": "https://www.ktep.org/show/the-book-club/2024-05-19/the-wide-wide-sea" } ] }, "296": { "id": 296, "edition": "Summer", "title": "The Women", "author": "Kristin Hannah", "reviewers": [ "Jeanine Herbst" ], "text": "“You’re only going to be a nurse until you get married,” her mother said. But Frankie McGrath had other ideas, ones that would lead her away from her wealthy family’s conservative outlook on how daughters should behave. Kristin Hannah’s The Women follows young Frankie’s transformation, when after working as a nurse in California and tending to a wounded soldier, and missing her soldier brother, she joins the Army as a nurse. That takes her from a comfortable life of known expectations to one of the chaos and danger of war, new career opportunities and love. Tangled love. When Frankie returns home, she finds her country still protesting the war and those who served. The Women shines a light on a then-little-known aspect of the war: the women who also served in Vietnam, as nurses.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1250178630", "cover": "1250178630", "goodreads": 127305853, "itunes": 9781250178633, "bookshop": 9781250178633, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5112eIqM9pL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250178633", "isbn10": "1250178630", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 296, "book": "The Women", "source": "WAMC", "text": "Kristin Hannah on 'The Women'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2024-02-27/kristin-hannah-the-women" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 296, "book": "The Women", "source": "KPCW", "text": "Book Review: 'The Women'", "url": "https://www.kpcw.org/arts-culture/2024-09-09/september-book-review-the-women" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 296, "book": "The Women", "source": "HPPR", "text": "HPPR Radio Readers Book Club: 'Remembering the Women'", "url": "https://www.hppr.org/2024-07-16/remembering-the-women" } ] }, "297": { "id": 297, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Wonderful Wisdom of Ants", "author": "Philip Bunting", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "Think you know ants? Think again. Good humor and surprising facts are the name of the game here. “Ants love: Family. Micronaps. Recycling. Helping others. Being caught on camera carrying stuff way bigger than they are.” Though seemingly simple, the more of this book you read, the more you come to realize how little you may actually know about these tiny workers. This book is chock full of factual hilarity that’ll engender a newfound respect for our hardworking (albeit minuscule) neighbors. And don’t hand this book to just the budding entomologists either. Give it to kids who know next to nothing about ants – it may just convert them. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "kids’ books", "science!", "funny stuff" ], "isbn": "0593567781", "cover": "0593567781", "goodreads": 179546926, "itunes": 9780593567784, "bookshop": 9780593567784, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51p3fAQSjyL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593567784", "isbn10": "0593567781", "links": [] }, "298": { "id": 298, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Woods All Black", "author": "Lee Mandelo", "reviewers": [ "Jessica P. Wick" ], "text": "Get ready for exceptional historical horror. It’s sometime in 1920s Appalachia and the community of Spar Creek invited a nurse, but Leslie is unwelcome from the moment he arrives. He’s too “mannish” for a proper woman (about that…), marked dangerous by a local pastor who wields religion like a closed fist, and unable to build rapport enough to help another “gay young thing,” Stevie, who has recently become the focal point of deep ugliness. This is a sublime examination of monstrousness, gruesome and graphic, queer and angry. Do you like an unapologetic revenge story? Me too. Look no further.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "identity & culture", "the dark side", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "125079031X", "cover": "125079031X", "goodreads": 177003235, "itunes": 9781250790316, "bookshop": 9781250790316, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51K6dZq1ZCL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250790316", "isbn10": "125079031X", "links": [] }, "299": { "id": 299, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing", "author": "Adam Moss", "reviewers": [ "Ari Shapiro" ], "text": "This book isn’t just about the creative process. It illustrates the creative process through scribbles, drafts, sketches and jotted notes. There are more than 40 chapters, each featuring one artist. And that word “artist” covers an enormous range, from sandcastle builders to crossword puzzle constructors to, well, Stephen Sondheim. You could start reading on any page, skip to chapters about the creators you like most, or read it cover to cover. The book might not turn you into a creative genius, but it’ll offer a load of insights into how those people make the things that have earned them the title.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "for art lovers", "for music lovers", "no biz like show biz", "rather long" ], "isbn": "059329758X", "cover": "059329758X", "goodreads": 192723955, "itunes": 9780593297582, "bookshop": 9780593297582, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51BoNvopSrL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593297582", "isbn10": "059329758X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 299, "book": "The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing", "source": "NPR", "text": "In a collection of 40+ interviews, author Adam Moss tries to find the key to creation", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/24/1246239543/in-a-collection-of-40-interviews-author-adam-moss-tries-to-find-the-key-to-creat" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 299, "book": "The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing", "source": "WSHU", "text": "Book Review: 'The Work of Art'", "url": "https://www.wshu.org/podcast/baum-on-books/2024-03-22/book-review-the-work-of-art" } ] }, "300": { "id": 300, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Yellow Bus", "author": "Loren Long", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "Loren Long takes us on an unexpected journey, following the life of a school bus as its role evolves over the years. Continuing along the path of children’s classics like Virginia Lee Burton’s Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, this is a profound meditation on the passage of time. When the ride is over, readers will emerge feeling wiser, kinder and, like the title character, filled with joy. (For ages 3 to 6)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "1250903130", "cover": "1250903130", "goodreads": 196674638, "itunes": 9781250903136, "bookshop": 9781250903136, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510XK5MFcZL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250903136", "isbn10": "1250903130", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 300, "book": "The Yellow Bus", "source": "KPBS", "text": "New children's book explores purpose through a school bus", "url": "https://www.kpbs.org/podcasts/kpbs-midday-edition/new-childrens-book-explores-purpose-through-a-school-bus" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 300, "book": "The Yellow Bus", "source": "Nebraska Public Media", "text": "All About Books: 'The Yellow Bus' by Loren Long", "url": "https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/es/series-media/all-about-books-audio/standalone-audio-15890/the-yellow-bus-by-loren-long-50024910/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 300, "book": "The Yellow Bus", "source": "KPR", "text": "Loren Long on 'The Yellow Bus'", "url": "https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/conversations/2024-10-08/the-yellow-bus-by-loren-long" } ] }, "301": { "id": 301, "edition": "Fall", "title": "There Are Rivers in the Sky", "author": "Elif Shafak", "reviewers": [ "Martha Anne Toll" ], "text": "Turkish British writer Elif Shafak captivates with terrific storytelling, emphasizing that human arrogance and frailty can drive history. A page-turner, the novel starts with a single raindrop and follows it through centuries. Shafak involves us with a wide variety of protagonists from around the world; ancient Assyria is as transfixing as immigrant London in the 21st century. The author takes lessons from history to give us messages for the present. Iraq figures as home to vast civilizations, and as a place of conflict today. Whether categorized as Kurdish or Yazidi, one characters says, “We are the memory tribe.”
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "book club ideas", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593801717", "cover": "0593801717", "goodreads": 202468422, "itunes": 9780593801710, "bookshop": 9780593801710, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51No4azp4ML._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593801710", "isbn10": "0593801717", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 301, "book": "There Are Rivers in the Sky", "source": "KMUW", "text": "There are Rivers in the Sky,' explores the transcendent power of water – and humanity", "url": "https://www.kmuw.org/podcast/book-review/2024-09-16/there-are-rivers-in-the-sky-explores-the-transcendent-power-of-water-and-humanity" } ] }, "302": { "id": 302, "edition": "Summer", "title": "There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension", "author": "Hanif Abdurraqib", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Limbong" ], "text": "I don’t even watch basketball all that much. And yet, there’s something alluring about Hanif Abdurraqib’s meditation on the sport. Because, sure, it’s about hoops and LeBron James and Cleveland and the funny way time works when you’re watching a Game 7. But it’s also about losing loved ones. Fans of Abdurraqib’s work will recognize his rhythms and stylistic flairs that hardly ever fail to draw a reader in and his talent at making you see the beauty in the things he finds beautiful.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "for sports lovers", "seriously great writing", "nonfiction", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593448790", "cover": "0593448790", "goodreads": 181346634, "itunes": 9780593448793, "bookshop": 9780593448793, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41nUH9k0aiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593448793", "isbn10": "0593448790", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 302, "book": "There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension", "source": "NPR", "text": "A conversation with the author of 'There's Always This Year'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/31/1241923493/a-conversation-with-the-author-of-theres-always-this-year" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 302, "book": "There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension", "source": "NPR", "text": "Hanif Abdurraqib is a 'genius.' His friends aren't impressed", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/12/1244131036/hanif-abdurraqib-columbus-mixtapes-poetry-90s" } ] }, "303": { "id": 303, "edition": "Fall", "title": "This Great Hemisphere", "author": "Mateo Askaripour", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "A wonderful Russian nesting doll of a novel, This Great Hemisphere is futuristic, dystopian speculative fiction with a wildly inventive and thoughtful allegory of race at the center. It’s also a moving saga about love and family, as well as a twisty political thriller. In the heroine Sweetmint’s world, people like her have second-class citizenship because their skin is invisible. When a political assassination sets off a manhunt for the killer, she’s determined to find her long-missing brother, the unlikely prime suspect, before the security forces can get to him. In my fantasies, I produce the inevitable film adaptation of this incredibly original story.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593472349", "cover": "0593472349", "goodreads": 199392395, "itunes": 9780593472347, "bookshop": 9780593472347, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412TKhqPsJL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593472347", "isbn10": "0593472349", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 303, "book": "This Great Hemisphere", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'This Great Hemisphere' tackles racism, classism, and political power struggles", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/18/nx-s1-5036871/this-great-hemisphere-tackles-racism-classism-and-political-power-struggles" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 303, "book": "This Great Hemisphere", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Mateo Askaripour shifts from startup satire to world building", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/books/mateo-askaripour-shifts-from-startup-satire-to-world-building" } ] }, "304": { "id": 304, "edition": "Fall", "title": "This Summer Will Be Different", "author": "Carley Fortune", "reviewers": [ "Anna Clarkson" ], "text": "Set on the picturesque Prince Edward Island, Lucy and Felix’s story is the ultimate summer romance. Five years earlier, Lucy had a chance encounter with Felix at an oyster restaurant when her best friend Bridget’s flight was delayed. She later finds out Felix is Bridget’s brother and spends the ensuing five years trying – and failing – to avoid him on their annual trips. Told through flashbacks and the present day, the romance and female friendships shine equally. It’s the perfect love letter to PEI, complete with Anne of Green Gables references. It will have you googling MacAusland wool blankets and planning a trip.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "staff picks", "let’s talk about sex", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "0593638883", "cover": "0593638883", "goodreads": 197577126, "itunes": 9780593638880, "bookshop": 9780593638880, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Ery0MOuIL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593638880", "isbn10": "0593638883", "links": [] }, "305": { "id": 305, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Those Beyond the Wall", "author": "Micaiah Johnson", "reviewers": [ "Holly J. Morris" ], "text": "English grammar can barely handle the premise: Humans from parallel worlds are jumping into other worlds, which kills their doppelgängers in the destination world, where this book takes place. Whew! (The preceding novel, The Space Between Worlds, will help make sense of it.) The wall of the title separates a high-tech, climate-controlled city from Ashtown, the home of protagonist Scales. A mechanic and member of Ashtown’s guardian gang, she tries to figure out what’s happening, amid environmental devastation and family dysfunction and generational trauma and structural inequality and institutional racism and more. Plus, motorcycles!
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "family matters", "staff picks", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593497503", "cover": "0593497503", "goodreads": 177186086, "itunes": 9780593497500, "bookshop": 9780593497500, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51NhCe+Rb7L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593497500", "isbn10": "0593497503", "links": [] }, "306": { "id": 306, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Thyme Travellers: An Anthology of Palestinian Speculative Fiction", "author": "Sonia Sulaiman", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Science fiction, fantasy and horror are littered with anthologies, and as a book critic specializing in speculative fiction, I read a lot of them. This is one of the best to come out this year. These 14 stories skip across speculative fiction, hitting folklore, dystopian, magical realism, history and near future. Each centers Palestinian lives, from those who reside in their homeland to those scattered across the diaspora. At once mournful and hopeful, the stories collected here reshaped my perspective. I especially recommend the opening story, “Down Under” by Jumaana Abdu, a powerful piece about searching for home.
", "tags": [ "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "1773636944", "cover": "1773636944", "goodreads": 209239800, "itunes": 9781773636948, "bookshop": 9781773636948, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Mw6HHAgrL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781773636948", "isbn10": "1773636944", "links": [] }, "307": { "id": 307, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Touch the Sky", "author": "Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic, illustrated by Chris Park", "reviewers": [ "Betsy Bird" ], "text": "It’s hard for adults to remember all the things that used to frustrate us as kids. How else to explain the dearth of picture books about learning to pump your legs on a playground swing? Vern eyes the kids who have mastered this skill with keen, green-eyed envy. His own attempts have proved fruitless time and again, and it’s only with the aid of a girl named Gretchen that he finally finds success. Vibrant colors and hilarious text perfectly complement a story about mastering a new skill – even when the learning takes longer than you’d like. (For ages 5 to 9)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "172846045X", "cover": "172846045X", "goodreads": 179517586, "itunes": 9781728460451, "bookshop": 9781728460451, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KR8VPu6GL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781728460451", "isbn10": "172846045X", "links": [] }, "308": { "id": 308, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell", "author": "Ann Powers", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "NPR music critic Ann Powers turns her gimlet eye to one of America’s most legendary musicians in her latest book, which is part biography and part reflection on the career of the ever-enigmatic Joni Mitchell. Powers does an excellent job putting Mitchell’s music in context and doesn’t shy away from discussing some of the singer-songwriter’s inexplicably offensive stunts, including her character Art Nouveau, whom she portrayed in blackface. This is a careful portrait of a complicated artist, and it will fascinate not just Mitchell’s listeners but anyone who cares about modern American music.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "for music lovers", "seriously great writing", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0062463721", "cover": "0062463721", "goodreads": 176823067, "itunes": 9780062463722, "bookshop": 9780062463722, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51PI57yaDhL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780062463722", "isbn10": "0062463721", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 308, "book": "Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell", "source": "NPR", "text": "Joni Mitchell biography 'Traveling' tracks a journey that changed popular music", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/06/11/joni-mitchell-traveling" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 308, "book": "Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell", "source": "KCRW", "text": " 'Traveling' traces Joni Mitchell's health crises and alter ego", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/mental-health-bankruptcy-ann-powers/joni-mitchell" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 308, "book": "Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell", "source": "WAMC", "text": "NPR Music critic Ann Powers' new book 'Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2024-08-08/npr-music-critic-ann-powers-new-book-traveling-on-the-path-of-joni-mitchell" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 308, "book": "Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell", "source": "KQED", "text": "Forum From the Archives: Music critic Ann Powers on 'Traveling' on singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's path", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101906922/forum-from-the-archives-music-critic-ann-powers-on-traveling-on-singer-songwriter-joni-mitchells-path" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 308, "book": "Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Uncovering lesser-known Joni Mitchell lore with NPR's Ann Powers", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/mental-health-bankruptcy-ann-powers" } ] }, "309": { "id": 309, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Twenty-Four Seconds from Now ...", "author": "Jason Reynolds", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "In exactly 24 seconds, Neon and his girlfriend, Aria, will lose their virginity to each other. Yes, it’s about s-e-x, but it’s also one of the sweetest, most heartfelt teen romances I’ve ever read. Author Jason Reynolds rewinds Neon and Aria’s relationship from the moment 24 seconds before they do it … to 24 minutes earlier, 24 hours, 24 days, you get it – all the way back to the moment they first met 24 months earlier. Along the way, Reynolds constructs the scaffolding of the teens’ world – we meet their friends, parents, neighbors, community. We watch them fall for each other in reverse – and experience all the love and vulnerability they’ve shared leading up to the moment they’ll share 24 seconds from now.
", "tags": [ "love & romance", "young adult", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1665961279", "cover": "1665961279", "goodreads": 207298501, "itunes": 9781665961271, "bookshop": 9781665961271, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41cwh1KVQjL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781665961271", "isbn10": "1665961279", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 309, "book": "Twenty-Four Seconds from Now . . .: A LOVE Story", "source": "NPR", "text": "Author Jason Reynolds on his latest young adult novel and winning a MacArthur grant", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/05/nx-s1-4921716/author-jason-reynolds-on-his-latest-young-adult-novel-and-winning-a-macarthur-grant" } ] }, "310": { "id": 310, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia", "author": "Kate Manne", "reviewers": [ "Selena Simmons-Duffin" ], "text": "This book kind of blew my mind right from the start, not only as a health reporter who (I learned) needs to be less sloppy equating people’s size with their health, but also as a person. At least once, I cried from painful realizations and memories. I couldn’t stop talking about this book with fellow parents at school drop-off or at home with my spouse – and I gave a copy to my mom when I finished reading it.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "science!", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0593593839", "cover": "0593593839", "goodreads": 127500544, "itunes": 9780593593837, "bookshop": 9780593593837, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41jB7golWwL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593593837", "isbn10": "0593593839", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 310, "book": "Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Unshrinking,' a writer discusses coming out as fat and pushing back against bias", "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/13/1238157663/in-unshrinking-a-writer-argues-that-the-medicalization-of-fatness-leads-to-bias" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 310, "book": "Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Living in a fatphobic world", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/living-fatphobic-world/" } ] }, "311": { "id": 311, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back", "author": "Ruth Chan", "reviewers": [ "Lisa Yee" ], "text": "Thirteen-year-old Ruth Chan isn’t just moving — she’s “moving across the world.” This heartbreaking, funny and insightful memoir captures the angst and apprehension of forging a new life in a new country. With Ruth leaving her beloved Toronto behind and landing in Hong Kong, uncertainties and anxiety threaten to crush her. Uprooted’s expressive art perfectly captures her emotions and wit. This irrepressible graphic novel will have you rooting for Ruth as she eventually embraces her new life, while still cherishing her old one. (For ages 8 to 12)
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "kids’ books", "family matters", "funny stuff", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1250855349", "cover": "1250855349", "goodreads": 200982378, "itunes": 9781250855343, "bookshop": 9781250855343, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518OYYDY1BL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250855343", "isbn10": "1250855349", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 311, "book": "Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back", "source": "WBUR", "text": "New graphic memoir tells the tale of an 'Uprooted' teen", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/09/18/uprooted-ruth-chan" } ] }, "312": { "id": 312, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Us Fools", "author": "Nora Lange", "reviewers": [ "Michael Schaub" ], "text": "“Junk kids.” That’s what Joanne and Bernadette, two girls growing up on an Illinois farm, call themselves; they’re neglected by their parents, whose lives have been thrown into turmoil by the 1980s farm crisis. Nora Lange follows the lives of the sisters as they grow up to lead very different lives, both carrying the scars of their childhoods. This novel is tender and exceptionally moving, but also mordantly funny in parts, and it’s a razor-sharp critique of American capitalism. And it’s written so beautifully that it’s hard to believe it’s a debut novel.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1953387519", "cover": "1953387519", "goodreads": 206550501, "itunes": 9781953387516, "bookshop": 9781953387516, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41JT6tIqFiL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781953387516", "isbn10": "1953387519", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 312, "book": "Us Fools", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Us Fools' author, Nora Lange, on what the farm crisis has to say about today", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5107478/us-fools-author-nora-lange-on-what-the-farm-crisis-has-to-say-about-today" } ] }, "313": { "id": 313, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Victim", "author": "Andrew Boryga", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Limbong" ], "text": "Lying is kind of funny. The stress of someone jumping through increasingly wild hoops to avoid getting caught in a lie is hilarious. Victim is about Javi, a writer from a marginalized community who fudges his way into the kinds of rooms where people say “marginalized” and “community” a lot. The book is a charming critique of the publishing industry and its surface-level attempts at righting societal ills (which is kind of bold for a debut author), while staying empathetic toward the well-meaning individuals who give Javi a shot.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "identity & culture", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0385549970", "cover": "0385549970", "goodreads": 177185976, "itunes": 9780385549974, "bookshop": 9780385549974, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/419A+6XGjPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780385549974", "isbn10": "0385549970", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 313, "book": "Victim", "source": "NHPR", "text": "Check This Out: Andrew Boryga on 'Victim'", "url": "https://www.nhpr.org/show/check-this-out/2024-06-22/check-this-out-andrew-boryga-victim" } ] }, "314": { "id": 314, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Victory Parade", "author": "Leela Corman", "reviewers": [ "Tahneer Oksman" ], "text": "A follow-up to her 2012 graphic novel Unterzakhn, Leela Corman’s Victory Parade takes place mainly in Brooklyn in the 1940s. It tracks several Jewish women, including Rose, who works building warships while her husband is at war, and Ruthie, a young German Jewish girl who lost her family back home and finds an outlet for her sorrow and rage in the wrestling ring. A meditation on trauma, the Holocaust, war and its lingering impacts, Victory Parade’s uncomfortably gorgeous images – shot through with stark reds and muddy browns – mingle the surreal alongside the real. Its emotional impact on some well-worn topics is powerful and profound.
", "tags": [ "comics & graphic novels", "for art lovers", "identity & culture", "historical fiction", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0805243445", "cover": "0805243445", "goodreads": 182484395, "itunes": 9780805243444, "bookshop": 9780805243444, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51lEjNL12AL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780805243444", "isbn10": "0805243445", "links": [] }, "315": { "id": 315, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice", "author": "David S. Tatel", "reviewers": [ "Nina Totenberg" ], "text": "David Tatel has written the book that his friends and admirers always hoped he would write, but expected he would not. One that deals candidly with his “vision” – his blindness, and his years of treating it as an asterisk, all while becoming one of the most prominent and thoughtful judges in the country. This book is both novelistic and introspective in its treatment of his lack of sight – from his love affair with his wife and children, to his “cane lessons,” to his later-in-life affection for his guide dog, Vixen. Along the way, it is also a book about the law, the art of judging and today’s Supreme Court. And it’s fascinating.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "biography & memoir", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0316542024", "cover": "0316542024", "goodreads": 200206586, "itunes": 9780316542029, "bookshop": 9780316542029, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41RrCaJGc0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316542029", "isbn10": "0316542024", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 315, "book": "Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice", "source": "NPR", "text": "Judge David Tatel on becoming the blind role model he never had", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/06/11/nx-s1-4956305/judge-david-tatel-on-becoming-the-blind-role-model-he-never-had" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 315, "book": "Vision: A Memoir of Blindness and Justice", "source": "NPR", "text": "A retired federal judge reflects on going blind and losing faith in the Supreme Court", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/03/g-s1-8041/a-retired-federal-judge-reflects-on-going-blind-and-losing-faith-in-the-supreme-court" } ] }, "316": { "id": 316, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Wandering Stars", "author": "Tommy Orange", "reviewers": [ "Hilary Fung" ], "text": "This novel follows multiple generations of a Cheyenne family from the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School to present-day Oakland, Calif., where we find some of the characters from Tommy Orange’s first book, There There. Trauma and addiction haunt every generation, but Orange gives each character a way to survive, and he creates one of my all-time-favorite matriarchs holding the family together. The resulting work combines rage and despair with wisdom, grace and love – a powerful cocktail that helped me confront the ongoing violence of settler colonialism.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593318250", "cover": "0593318250", "goodreads": 174147294, "itunes": 9780593318256, "bookshop": 9780593318256, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51EQC0ve6EL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593318256", "isbn10": "0593318250", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 316, "book": "Wandering Stars", "source": "NPR", "text": "Tommy Orange's 'Wandering Stars' is a powerful follow up to 'There There'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1233914096/tommy-orange-novel-wandering-stars-sequel-there-there" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 316, "book": "Wandering Stars", "source": "Wisconsin Public Radio", "text": "Tommy Orange's new book is a scathing indictment of US' war on its own people ", "url": "https://www.wpr.org/culture/tommy-orange-book-wandering-stars-there-there-prequel-sequel-cheyenne-arapaho-tribes" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 316, "book": "Wandering Stars", "source": "CPR", "text": " 'This country was taken in an armed robbery': new novel by Tommy Orange confronts American history, starting with the Sand Creek Massacre", "url": "https://www.cpr.org/2024/03/25/new-novel-by-tommy-orange-confronts-american-history-with-the-sand-creek-massacre/" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 316, "book": "Wandering Stars", "source": "NPR", "text": "Tommy Orange on his new novel 'Wandering Stars'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/02/24/1233702544/tommy-orange-on-his-new-novel-wandering-stars" } ] }, "317": { "id": 317, "edition": "Fall", "title": "We Solve Murders", "author": "Richard Osman", "reviewers": [ "Samantha Balaban" ], "text": "Did I read this and then immediately read every book in the Thursday Murder Club series? Yes, I did, because Richard Osman’s mystery novels are so fun. In We Solve Murders, Osman introduces a new crime-fighting trio: Amy Wheeler is a bodyguard for billionaires, her father-in-law, Steve, is a semiretired London cop obsessed with his cat, and Rosie D’Antonio is a bestselling novelist of indeterminate age currently being threatened by a Russian oligarch. There is a supervillain and there are some murders, but that’s not going to stop our detectives from having a lot of laughs as they travel around the world – or from enjoying the amenities on Rosie’s private plane. While I’m sad that I have to wait until 2025 to read another Richard Osman mystery, I’m happy to have two series to look forward to.
", "tags": [ "mysteries & thrillers", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "059365322X", "cover": "059365322X", "goodreads": 219449299, "itunes": 9780593653227, "bookshop": 9780593653227, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41OGCV2FANL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593653227", "isbn10": "059365322X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 317, "book": "We Solve Murders", "source": "NPR", "text": "A bodyguard battles a ChatGPT-wielding supervillain in 'We Solve Murders'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/21/nx-s1-4921676/a-bodyguard-battles-a-chatgpt-wielding-supervillain-in-we-solve-murders" } ] }, "318": { "id": 318, "edition": "Fall", "title": "We're Alone: Essays", "author": "Edwidge Danticat", "reviewers": [ "Tinbete Ermyas" ], "text": "Edwidge Danticat is agile when juggling duality. It’s a core feature of We’re Alone, her essay collection that strives for a “kind of aloneness/togetherness.” The title is a nod to both the isolation that life can make us feel and intimacy between reader and writer. And that duality governs so much of what Danticat confronts – displacement, gun violence, hurricanes, political tumult. Things that can end you, or make you anew. “Part of my job as a writer is to wrestle with mortality, both my own and that of others,” she writes. And yet Danticat’s observations feel more like a guide to living – a testament to what writers can offer in difficult times.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "short stories, essays & poetry", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1644453029", "cover": "1644453029", "goodreads": 205363944, "itunes": 9781644453025, "bookshop": 9781644453025, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41aMfN1EtKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781644453025", "isbn10": "1644453029", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 318, "book": "We're Alone: Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'We're Alone,' but together, in Edwidge Danticat's remarkable essays", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/09/nx-s1-5100218/were-alone-edwidge-danticat" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 318, "book": "We're Alone: Essays", "source": "NPR", "text": "Edwidge Danticat's new collection of essays says 'We're Alone'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/09/02/nx-s1-4909236/edwidge-danticats-new-collection-of-essays-says-were-alone" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 318, "book": "We're Alone: Essays", "source": "WLRN", "text": "Award-winning author Edwidge Danticat on life in Haiti, Miami and the stories that made her", "url": "https://www.wlrn.org/podcast/sundial/2023-11-13/award-winning-author-edwidge-danticat-on-life-in-haiti-miami-and-the-stories-that-made-her" } ] }, "319": { "id": 319, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Whale Fall", "author": "Elizabeth O’Connor", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Elizabeth O’Connor’s spare and bracing debut opens with an isolated Welsh island on a precipice. It is September 1938, and a whale has washed ashore, transfixing the 12 families that remain and drawing the attention of a pair of ethnographers from Oxford who are eager to document the islanders’ customs. Initially, Manod Llan, the novel’s gimlet-eyed, 18-year-old narrator, is eager to translate for the ethnographers – their attention stokes her desire to lead a worldlier life. But as Whale Fall unfolds, Manod must reckon with the costs of being seen from the outside.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593700910", "cover": "0593700910", "goodreads": 195888522, "itunes": 9780593700914, "bookshop": 9780593700914, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510ryxu8zUL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593700914", "isbn10": "0593700910", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 319, "book": "Whale Fall", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Whale Fall' centers the push-and-pull between dreams and responsibilities", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/16/1250911969/elizabeth-oconnor-whale-fall-book-review" } ] }, "320": { "id": 320, "edition": "Fall", "title": "What Can a Mess Make?", "author": "Bee Johnson", "reviewers": [ "Minh Lê" ], "text": "This book doesn’t just capture the chaos of childhood – it throws a parade and celebrates it. Bouncing beautifully from the whirlwind of a messy kitchen to the cacophony of a makeshift band, Bee Johnson’s lovingly crafted masterpiece is a rollicking good time that will make you want to put all the screens away and make a mess (and a memorable day) of your own. (For ages 4 to 8)
", "tags": [ "kids’ books" ], "isbn": "1250900247", "cover": "1250900247", "goodreads": 179095421, "itunes": 9781250900241, "bookshop": 9781250900241, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514ZgCdhKdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250900241", "isbn10": "1250900247", "links": [] }, "321": { "id": 321, "edition": "Fall", "title": "What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life", "author": "Billy Dee Williams", "reviewers": [ "Tayla Burney" ], "text": "If your only encounter with Billy Dee Williams’ work is his turn as Lando Calrissian, you already know he possesses an inimitable charm. Trust me, then, when I say you want to spend more time getting to know the man behind roles iconic and forgotten alike. What Have We Here? is full of unexpected and interesting stories from an incredible life. His teachers expected him to be the next truly great American painter, before he turned his eye to acting. Triple the charm if you listen to the audio version, read by the author.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "staff picks", "family matters", "no biz like show biz", "funny stuff", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0593318609", "cover": "0593318609", "goodreads": 145625056, "itunes": 9780593318607, "bookshop": 9780593318607, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Z6uWXYqKL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593318607", "isbn10": "0593318609", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 321, "book": "What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life", "source": "NPR", "text": "Billy Dee Williams' 'What Have We Here?'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/24/1197959118/bullseye-with-jesse-thorn-billy-dee-williams" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 321, "book": "What Have We Here?: Portraits of a Life", "source": "KCRW", "text": "Billy Dee Williams tells all", "url": "https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-treatment/chelsea-peretti-billy-dee-williams-jonathan-glazer/what-have-we-here-interview" } ] }, "322": { "id": 322, "edition": "Fall", "title": "When Southern Women Cook: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes with Contributions from 70 Women Writers", "author": "America's Test Kitchen", "reviewers": [ "Debbie Elliott" ], "text": "This cookbook geek, and longtime Southern cook and eater, was thrilled to get this gorgeous tome from America’s Test Kitchen and the editors of Cook’s Country. It’s a bible of Southern cuisine told via stories of remarkable women from the diverse cultures that make up the American South. Think chefs, farmers, seed savers, shrimpers, pitmasters, canning pioneers and even the Queen of bootleggers! I love reading about the roots of Southern classics like hoecakes, shrimp and grits, pimiento cheese and tamale pie. This will be a go-to in my kitchen. I’ve already tried the pickled shrimp recipe, a huge hit on my game day table. Next up – Sweet Potato Corn Bread with Ginger Honey Butter, just in time for the holidays.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "1954210493", "cover": "1954210493", "goodreads": 208433114, "itunes": 9781954210493, "bookshop": 9781954210493, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51R-iWpGNjL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781954210493", "isbn10": "1954210493", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 322, "book": "When Southern Women Cook: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes with Contributions from 70 Women Writers", "source": "WUNC", "text": " 'When Southern Women Cook' celebrates the unsung stars of the culinary world", "url": "https://www.wunc.org/show/due-south/2024-11-19/when-southern-women-cook-celebrates-the-unsung-stars-of-the-culinary-world" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 322, "book": "When Southern Women Cook: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes with Contributions from 70 Women Writers", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Curated Cuisine: Cook's Country's Toni Tipton-Martin & Morgan Bolling on the women who gave soul to Southern cooking", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/events/955173/curated-cuisine-cooks-country-toni-tipton-martin-morgan-bolling" } ] }, "323": { "id": 323, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Whiskey Tender: A Memoir", "author": "Deborah Jackson Taffa", "reviewers": [ "Ilana Masad" ], "text": "In straightforward and affecting prose, Deborah Jackson Taffa writes about being brought up by a Quechan (Yuma) and Laguna Pueblo father and a Catholic Latina mother, both on and off the Yuma reservation. Although her parents were united in their approach to maintaining a family, their attitudes toward the world diverged in other ways, and Taffa received mixed messages about her Indigeneity, her proximity to whiteness and how she was meant to carry herself. As a teenager, she began to experience anger at the injustices her people were subjected to and, at the same time, began to learn that all change is sacred.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "family matters", "for history lovers", "the states we’re in", "seriously great writing", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "0063288516", "cover": "0063288516x", "goodreads": 158649919, "itunes": 9780063288515, "bookshop": 9780063288515, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81SPPaDBpgL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063288515", "isbn10": "0063288516", "links": [] }, "324": { "id": 324, "edition": "Summer", "title": "Who's Afraid of Gender?", "author": "Judith Butler", "reviewers": [ "Tinbete Ermyas" ], "text": "Judith Butler, who wrote the groundbreaking 1990 book Gender Trouble, leans into the titular question of her latest work, asking: Why has gender become such a “phantasm” in American life, and what does it tell us about how we’re approaching some of the biggest problems facing us, like climate change and far-right extremism? Butler has a clear perspective – and spells out the dangers of an ascendant “anti-gender ideology.” But it’s also an invitation to consider how we think about gender – and what that might tell us about who we are.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "identity & culture", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "0374608229", "cover": "0374608229", "goodreads": 127282429, "itunes": 9780374608224, "bookshop": 9780374608224, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31V1ficldbL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374608224", "isbn10": "0374608229", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 324, "book": "Who's Afraid of Gender?", "source": "KQED", "text": " 'Who's Afraid of Gender?' According to Judith Butler, nearly everyone", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101905147/whos-afraid-of-gender-according-to-judith-butler-nearly-everyone" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 324, "book": "Who's Afraid of Gender?", "source": "NPR", "text": "Judith Butler plays Not My Job on 'Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/20/1245939719/wait-wait-for-april-20-2024-with-not-my-job-guest-judith-butler" } ] }, "325": { "id": 325, "edition": "Fall", "title": "With My Back to the World: Poems", "author": "Victoria Chang", "reviewers": [ "Craig Morgan Teicher" ], "text": "These poems of remarkable vividness and depth, many with visual components printed en face, converse with the works of artists Agnes Martin and On Kawara, engaging in a constant celebration of life in terms of its inexorable passing, a feast of grief in which “death still catches me by surprise.” Victoria Chang’s finely tuned ear for microtones among the lower emotional notes makes this book good company as the days darken.
", "tags": [ "short stories, essays & poetry", "for art lovers" ], "isbn": "0374611130", "cover": "0374611130", "goodreads": 127282302, "itunes": 9780374611132, "bookshop": 9780374611132, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/319wgmwobvL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780374611132", "isbn10": "0374611130", "links": [] }, "326": { "id": 326, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Woman, Life, Freedom", "author": "Marjane Satrapi, translated by Una Dimitrijevic", "reviewers": [ "Ariana Stone" ], "text": "Persepolis author Marjane Satrapi compiled this stunningly powerful comic book on the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death at the hands of Iran’s “morality police,” partnering with a political scientist, a historian, a journalist and 16 visual artists. Together, they paint a vivid picture of the events before Amini’s death, the feminist revolution it spurred and a hopeful vision for the future of Iran. The visual styles of the artists are distinct and differing. However, fans of Satrapi will recognize the same wit, heart and clarity of perspective that pulses through her previous works.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "comics & graphic novels", "staff picks", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "identity & culture" ], "isbn": "1644214059", "cover": "1644214059", "goodreads": 199469832, "itunes": 9781644214053, "bookshop": 9781644214053, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/513cNDg8wXL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781644214053", "isbn10": "1644214059", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 326, "book": "Woman, Life, Freedom", "source": "NPR", "text": "Iran women's protests are the focus of 'Persepolis' author Marjane Satrapi's new book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/27/1244144485/marjane-satrapi-new-book-iran-persepolis-woman-life-freedom" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 326, "book": "Woman, Life, Freedom", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Persepolis' author releases a new graphic novel on Iran's women's protests", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/04/21/1246163917/persepolis-author-releases-a-new-graphic-novel-on-irans-womens-protests" } ] }, "327": { "id": 327, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Women and Children First", "author": "Alina Grabowski", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Alina Grabowski’s kaleidoscopic debut chronicles the lead-up to and aftermath of the mysterious death of a teenage girl, but it’s not a thriller or a whodunit. Set in Nashquitten, a fictional town on the Massachusetts coast, Women and Children First passes narration among a Greek chorus of 10 women and girls linked to the tragedy. Through her pitch-perfect summoning of this intergenerational female cast, Grabowski explores the fickleness of truth, how difficult it is to really see those closest to us and how easy it is to betray one another.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "the dark side" ], "isbn": "1638930783", "cover": "1638930783", "goodreads": 123006769, "itunes": 9781638930785, "bookshop": 9781638930785, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Scs5q2IFL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781638930785", "isbn10": "1638930783", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 327, "book": "Women and Children First", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Alina Grabowski's debut novel 'Women and Children First' lives up to the hype", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/05/07/alina-grabowski-women-and-children-first-book-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 327, "book": "Women and Children First", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Women and Children First' is a tale about how actions and choices affect others", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/05/11/1250548299/alina-grabowski-women-and-children-first-book-review" } ] }, "328": { "id": 328, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Women's Hotel", "author": "Daniel M. Lavery", "reviewers": [ "Melissa Kuypers" ], "text": "In Women’s Hotel, we get to live with the midcentury women who reside at the Biedermeier hotel. Not a whole lot happens for most of the book; we just ride around in the characters’ heads (and they are characters) as they reflect on their pasts and overthink interactions with dates or housemates. The stakes are quaintly low. The writing is so charming and clever that I kept finding myself reading passages over and over. I wouldn’t want to live at the Biedermeier, but it sure is a wonderful place to visit.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "funny stuff", "book club ideas", "historical fiction" ], "isbn": "0063343533", "cover": "0063343533", "goodreads": 199793688, "itunes": 9780063343535, "bookshop": 9780063343535, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51DoVMOZb7L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063343535", "isbn10": "0063343533", "links": [] }, "329": { "id": 329, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Woo Woo", "author": "Ella Baxter", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "This art world send-up that doubles as a study of fear follows Melbourne-based conceptual artist Sabine in the week leading up to the gallery opening that might just be her big break. Already vacillating between wild hubris and crushing self-doubt, Sabine unhinges further as she is visited by a stalker who watches her through windows and leaves threatening letters. Ella Baxter – who wrote Woo Woo while being stalked herself – offers a bewildering exploration of exposure and autonomy and of seeing and being seen, through art and in life.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "mysteries & thrillers", "for art lovers", "seriously great writing", "the dark side", "tales from around the world" ], "isbn": "1646222555", "cover": "1646222555", "goodreads": 209457798, "itunes": 9781646222551, "bookshop": 9781646222551, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ycdRVLfRL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781646222551", "isbn10": "1646222555", "links": [] }, "330": { "id": 330, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Worry", "author": "Alexandra Tanner", "reviewers": [ "Kristen Martin" ], "text": "Alexandra Tanner’s hilarious debut opens in 2019 Brooklyn, where 28-year-old MFA graduate Jules Gold works for a SparkNotes-esque website. Her little sister, Poppy, has come to crash indefinitely, having fled their parents’ house in South Florida. Worry revolves around the sisters’ many anxieties: Is their three-legged rescue dog, Amy Klobuchar, foaming at the mouth from rabies, or is she just dehydrated? Why does their mother have an Instagram account suspiciously similar to those of conspiracy-minded momfluencers? Underneath the absurdity, the novel explores the thorniness of sisterhood and whether we’re different people when we’re around our families.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "family matters", "funny stuff", "seriously great writing", "book club ideas" ], "isbn": "1668018616", "cover": "1668018616", "goodreads": 176443441, "itunes": 9781668018613, "bookshop": 9781668018613, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51KjlaJz3EL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668018613", "isbn10": "1668018616", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 330, "book": "Worry", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Worry' is a portrait of sisterly love that is both hilarious and deeply disturbing", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/03/26/1241043495/worry-is-a-portrait-of-sisterly-love-that-is-both-hilarious-and-deeply-disturbin" } ] }, "331": { "id": 331, "edition": "Summer", "title": "You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World", "author": "Ada Limón", "reviewers": [ "Beck Harlan" ], "text": "This anthology of 50 never-before-published poems about nature was edited by the 24th poet laureate of the United States, Ada Limón. The collection is both achingly beautiful and terrifyingly urgent. From a humorous take on getting drenched in a rainstorm to a beloved tree on its last day of existence to a woman processing the bleak reality of the world her grandchildren will inherit, these poems encouraged a heightened noticing in me and (bonus!) introduced me to the work of many new-to-me poets I’m eager to explore.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "short stories, essays & poetry" ], "isbn": "1571315683", "cover": "1571315683", "goodreads": 192723639, "itunes": 9781571315687, "bookshop": 9781571315687, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/519nmgy+X-L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781571315687", "isbn10": "1571315683", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 331, "book": "You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ada Limón couldn't get pregnant, then realized: 'What if my body was only my body?'", "url": "https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1244130906" } ] }, "332": { "id": 332, "edition": "Summer", "title": "You Dreamed of Empires", "author": "Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer", "reviewers": [ "Chloe Veltman" ], "text": "This salty and dark historical fantasia feistily explodes well-worn textbook narratives about the meeting of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his captains with the Aztec emperor Moctezuma and his entourage in Tenoxtitlan – now Mexico City – in 1519. Álvaro Enrigue’s depiction of the stressed-out, clumsy Cortés and the drugged-out, mercurial Moctezuma sets these near-mythical figures into earthy relief. But it’s mostly the intrigues and machinations of these leaders’ canny consorts – the Aztec princess Atotoxtli and the conquistadors’ translator Malinalli – that power the plot. Natasha Wimmer’s English translation sharply delivers the novel’s poetic and witty qualities, while at the same time reveling in its core theme: the fundamental untranslatability of human experience.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world", "rather short", "fiction" ], "isbn": "059354479X", "cover": "059354479X", "goodreads": 127938747, "itunes": 9780593544792, "bookshop": 9780593544792, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Mq96H2KoL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593544792", "isbn10": "059354479X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 332, "book": "You Dreamed of Empires", "source": "NPR", "text": "Alvaro Enrigue's novel imagines the clash of two great empires in the 16th century", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/01/06/1223287074/alvaro-enrigues-novel-imagines-the-spanish-conquest-of-the-aztec-empire-in-1519" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 332, "book": "You Dreamed of Empires", "source": "Marfa Public Radio", "text": "Álvaro Enrigue reads from 'You Dreamed of Empires'", "url": "https://www.marfapublicradio.org/2024-06-11/alvaro-enrigue-reads-from-you-dreamed-of-empires" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 332, "book": "You Dreamed of Empires", "source": "WAMU", "text": "The 1A Book Club returns with ‘You Dreamed of Empires’ by Álvaro Enrigue", "url": "https://the1a.org/segments/the-1a-book-club-returns-with-you-dreamed-of-empires-by-alvaro-enrigue/" } ] }, "333": { "id": 333, "edition": "Fall", "title": "You Should Be So Lucky", "author": "Cat Sebastian", "reviewers": [ "Alex Brown" ], "text": "Sports romance is all the rage right now. As a person who does not care for sports, this new trend is not my favorite. On the other hand, I love Cat Sebastian as an author so much that I will read anything she writes – which was how I ended up with her new romance about a cinnamon roll of a baseball star and a grumpy reporter, set in 1960. Eddie and Mark are forced to work together, and sparks fly. But those same circumstances might pull them apart, since Eddie can’t be out publicly and play professional sports, and Mark refuses to be trapped in another secret relationship. If you like audiobooks, one of my favorite narrators, Joel Leslie, does a fantastic job on this one.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "love & romance", "for sports lovers", "identity & culture", "let’s talk about sex", "rather long", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0063272806", "cover": "0063272806", "goodreads": 196774347, "itunes": 9780063272804, "bookshop": 9780063272804, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51TjVKIU+IL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063272804", "isbn10": "0063272806", "links": [] }, "334": { "id": 334, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir", "author": "Ai Weiwei with Elettra Stamboulis, illustrated by Gianluca Costantini", "reviewers": [ "Thúy Ðinh" ], "text": "If Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads debuted as a public art installation in 2011 to challenge the monolithic view of Chinese history, then his thought-provoking graphic memoir, Zodiac, offers another shift, by focusing on his individual trajectory as an artist whose role is to resist the totalitarian state. In this context, Ai’s work and life are astutely reflected in the way he reinterprets the 12 animals that make up the Chinese zodiac: the mouse symbolizes insidious state power, the buffalo parental love, the tiger steadfastness, the rabbit artistic transformation, the dragon lightness, the snake romantic love, the horse artistic freedom, the sheep social justice, the monkey intuition, the rooster hope, the dog defiance and the pig self-awareness.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "biography & memoir", "comics & graphic novels", "family matters", "for art lovers", "for history lovers", "tales from around the world", "rather short" ], "isbn": "1984862995", "cover": "1984862995", "goodreads": 139400698, "itunes": 9781984862990, "bookshop": 9781984862990, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510prdakC3L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781984862990", "isbn10": "1984862995", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 334, "book": "Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Ai Weiwei's graphic memoir uses the animals of the Chinese zodiac to tell his story", "url": "https://npr.org/2024/01/27/1227397121/ai-weiweis-graphic-memoir-uses-the-animals-of-the-chinese-zodiac-to-tell-his-sto" } ] }, "335": { "id": 335, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Sprout & Co Saladology: Fresh Ideas for Delicious Salads", "author": "Theo Kirwan", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "“I’d LOVE salad for dinner!” If you’re like me, you say it every summer – before traitorously throwing another slab of protein on the grill. Behold, a salad book for meat lovers! In Saladology, restaurateur-farmer Theo Kirwan (who with his brother Jack runs Dublin’s Sprout & Co. franchise) assembles explosively flavored, globally inspired quasi-salads that stand alone as a meal: Shredded Chicken in Mala Sichuan Dressing, Vietnamese-Style Pork Meatballs with Rice Noodles and Lemon Grass Dressing, Smacked Cucumbers with Chili Crisp and Tahini, Miso Butter Bean Mash with Sauteed Leeks and Crispy Aromatics. A salad-esque splash of green appears in each, though lettuce is clearly optional.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1784729159", "cover": "1784729159", "goodreads": 197392681, "itunes": 9781784729158, "bookshop": 9781784729158, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41ZRmvmpW0L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781784729158", "isbn10": "1784729159", "links": [] }, "336": { "id": 336, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Delicious Tonight: Foolproof Recipes for 150+ Easy Dinners", "author": "Nagi Maehashi", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "Australian blogger Nagi Maehashi (the force behind the website RecipeTin Eats and the food bank RecipeTin Meals) knows a thing or two about keeping recipes simple yet vivacious. Does it really work to pan-fry fish fillets in spring roll wrappers? It does! Marinara plus coconut milk for a Coconut Shrimp Curry? Why not! And sure, go ahead and garnish that Kale-Apple Salad with handfuls of maple bacon pecan crumble! Maehashi’s exuberant, no-fuss style is contagious – now I, too, keep a jar of “Charlie” (It’s brown sauce. Get it? Charlie Brown?) on hand for stir-fry night. I bet you will too.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1682689476", "cover": "1682689476", "goodreads": 214251357, "itunes": 9781682689479, "bookshop": 9781682689479, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51GbTzncJuL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781682689479", "isbn10": "1682689476", "links": [] }, "337": { "id": 337, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Big Vegan Flavor: Techniques and 150 Recipes to Master Vegan Cooking", "author": "Nisha Vora", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "2024 catchwords: “plant-forward” and “food influencer.” Both apply to Nisha Vora, whose Rainbow Plant Life YouTube channel commands more than a million subscribers. It’s easy to see why – her recipes foreground bright colors and varied textures: a sprinkle of toasted nuts or smoky seeds, some citrus zest, a splash of vinegar. And she exhibits endless innovation when it comes to the soybean: Edamame Salad with Chili Crisp, Sticky Coconut Milk-Braised Tofu, Sweet and Sour Tempeh Peanut Stir-Fry. And we all like roasted Brussels sprouts, but add lemon zest, walnuts, fresh rosemary, balsamic vinegar and they become a phenomenon.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0593328930", "cover": "0593328930", "goodreads": 203164665, "itunes": 9780593328934, "bookshop": 9780593328934, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51p0JI539JL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593328934", "isbn10": "0593328930", "links": [] }, "338": { "id": 338, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year", "author": "Christopher Kimball", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "If you follow Milk Street Magazine recipes, you’ll recognize the sweet spot: globally inspired, streamlined, about a dozen ingredients. You could cook for over a year from Milk Street 365 without repeating yourself, and there isn’t a clinker in the bunch. Dry Fried Beef with Celery, Crisp Oven-Fried Cauliflower with Tahini-Yogurt Sauce, Coconut Curry Salmon, Turkey Herb-Mayo Parmesan Burgers: All are crowd-tested and most sail through weeknight prep in under an hour of active cooking time. Do you have, or know where to get, Thai basil, harissa, pomegranate molasses, poblano chiles? Then this one’s for you!
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "031653868X", "cover": "031653868X", "goodreads": 195820787, "itunes": 9780316538688, "bookshop": 9780316538688, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Ctv2LKQPL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316538688", "isbn10": "031653868X", "links": [] }, "339": { "id": 339, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking: Vegan Recipes, Tips, and Techniques", "author": "Joe Yonan", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "Washington Post food editor Joe Yonan has been marching in a plant-forward direction for years now, but his latest offering is definitive. Flavor-building details add dimension to basics like Spiced Roasted Tomato Soup and Crunchy Kale Chips “Your Way.” Reach for handfuls of fresh herbs for eerily crablike Lion’s Mane Mushroom Cakes; raid the spice cabinet for Avocado Salad with Dukkah Croutons and Harissa. Bringing together two dozen vegan or vegetarian chefs and 300-plus recipes, Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking demonstrates once and for all that you needn’t sacrifice taste, texture or excitement in a vegan kitchen.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "198486064X", "cover": "198486064X", "goodreads": 203164491, "itunes": 9781984860644, "bookshop": 9781984860644, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sVQLtdveL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781984860644", "isbn10": "198486064X", "links": [] }, "340": { "id": 340, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Pass the Plate: 100 Delicious, Highly Shareable, Everyday Recipes", "author": "Carolina Gelen", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "Born in Transylvania and headed for a stultifying technical job, Carolina Gelen sought refuge in her passion for cooking. Her delectable Instagram reels caught the eye of Food52 and now, barely five years later, she’s a notable online recipe creator launching her first cookbook. Broccoli sweet potato salad turns into a party beneath a crumbled disk of maple sesame crunch; simple seared steak lights up like a pinball machine when dressed with herby zhug. If you make the Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Sour Cream and Charred Scallions, act fast! – or I will snag the last one while you’re not looking.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0593581873", "cover": "0593581873", "goodreads": 204316947, "itunes": 9780593581872, "bookshop": 9780593581872, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/413gE9FTUnL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593581872", "isbn10": "0593581873", "links": [] }, "341": { "id": 341, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Justine Cooks: A Cookbook", "author": "Justine Doiron", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "No longer do gifted recipe creators toil away unseen in magazine test kitchens! Justine Doiron comes to us 2024-style, via content trifecta: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. These are wide-awake concoctions, adorned with crispy sage, apple cider vinegar, brown butter and anything blistered, frizzled, sizzled or smashed. Boyfriend Salmon (a riff on “Engagement Chicken”) dials up the umami with tomato and fish sauce; toasted cornmeal adds crunch to vinegary Brussels sprouts. A simple plate of Rosemary-Vinegared Oyster Mushrooms was one of the best things I ate this year, proving that less really is more if your ingredients aren’t afraid to shout.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0593582306", "cover": "0593582306", "goodreads": 206180599, "itunes": 9780593582305, "bookshop": 9780593582305, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51NOcFemqdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593582305", "isbn10": "0593582306", "links": [] }, "342": { "id": 342, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Dac Biet: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook", "author": "Nini Nguyen with Sarah Zorn", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "According to New Orleans-based chef and teacher Nini Nguyen, “Đặc Biệt” translates loosely to “extra special,” a term that could also be applied to her first cookbook. In addition to the classics (pho, bánh cuón) Nguyen freely riffs on French and Vietnamese techniques and ingredients, as in the succulent and acidic Shaking Beef with Watercress Salad, or mouth-puckering, juicy Shrimp Caramelized with Tamarind. When you feel unadventurous, simple dishes like ginger-braised chicken and cabbage charred with garlic will do nicely. But chances are Nguyen will convince you, like me, to finally venture into shrimp paste territory. Don’t fear the fermented!
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0593535545", "cover": "0593535545", "goodreads": 197516581, "itunes": 9780593535547, "bookshop": 9780593535547, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51QaPWDlk1L._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593535547", "isbn10": "0593535545", "links": [] }, "343": { "id": 343, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Ottolenghi Comfort: A Cookbook", "author": "Yotam Ottolenghi with Helen Goh", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "Many celebrity chefs who churn out a yearly cookbook experience a certain mission creep. Not so with Yotam Ottolenghi and his team, who continue to deliver provocative, doable recipes with virtuoso consistency. Slather Curry Leaf Dukkah Butter over your trusty weeknight roast chicken; sizzle some sage leaves and hazelnuts to adorn your orecchiette. While Ottolenghi and his cohorts don’t shy away from some far-flung terminology (Carrot and Vadouvan Quickbread, Peanut Rayu, Tortang Talong Omelet) thoughtful explanations and substitutions offer a glide path to efficient feasts that make the most of your most obscure pantry items.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0399581774", "cover": "0399581774", "goodreads": 205804219, "itunes": 9780399581779, "bookshop": 9780399581779, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51t6DVGrdmL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780399581779", "isbn10": "0399581774", "links": [] }, "344": { "id": 344, "edition": "Fall", "title": "What Goes with What: 100 Recipes, 20 Charts, Endless Possibilities", "author": "Julia Turshen", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "“What Goes With What” is the fifth accessible, unfussy cookbook from the highly organized brain of Julia Turshen. This time, each section begins with a formula and variations, in chart form. A great lettuce salad has a Base, a Crunchy Thing, a Rich Thing and a Dressing (e.g., chopped romaine, sliced pepperoncini, diced salami, pizzeria vinaigrette). Chicken-Zucchini Meatballs with Dill and Tahini (Meat + Binding + Seasoning + Sauce) light up the palate. The irony is, this book makes you feel so organized … you might just end up thinking you don’t need it.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "1250340969", "cover": "1250340969", "goodreads": 203579145, "itunes": 9781250340962, "bookshop": 9781250340962, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gkGyNxqlL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781250340962", "isbn10": "1250340969", "links": [] }, "345": { "id": 345, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Liars", "author": "Sarah Manguso", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Limbong" ], "text": "There’s something deliciously one-sided about Sarah Manguso’s Liars. It’s the story of the dissolution of a marriage, told from the eyes of a woman whose husband seems uninterested in husbanding. At first, it’s easy to brush off the slights as him just being a guy. But then the slights and put-downs and lies build, and it’s obvious to everyone outside of the relationship that this is unsustainable. It’s a story that’s been told a million times, but in Manguso’s hands, it’s terse and funny. The marriage is sour. You can wince, but you can’t look away.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "0593241258", "cover": "0593241258", "goodreads": 200555235, "itunes": 9780593241257, "bookshop": 9780593241257, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41FnYmdh5hL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593241257", "isbn10": "0593241258", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 345, "book": "Liars: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": " 'Liars' is an autopsy of a bitterly disappointing marriage", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/22/nx-s1-5044670/sarah-manguso-liars-book-review-marriage" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 345, "book": "Liars: A Novel", "source": "NPR", "text": "In 'Liars,' Sarah Manguso explores a marriage falling apart", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/07/30/1196981256/nprs-book-of-the-day-sarah-manguso-liars" } ] }, "346": { "id": 346, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Mina's Matchbox", "author": "Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen B. Snyder", "reviewers": [ "Andrew Limbong" ], "text": "There’s such an elegance to the way Mina’s Matchbox unfolds that it didn’t even stick out to me that the young, rich, asthmatic title character was riding a hippo to school. In the novel, 12-year-old Tomoko moves in with her rich cousin (the aforementioned hippo rider). They form crushes and cook up schemes as preteen girls tend to do. The world Yoko Ogawa builds is quiet, warm and it should feel comforting. But there are peculiarities about the whole thing that keep you on the tips of your toes.
", "tags": [ "historical fiction", "staff picks", "family matters", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "fiction" ], "isbn": "0593316088", "cover": "0593316088", "goodreads": 202102049, "itunes": 9780593316085, "bookshop": 9780593316085, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41PUtvjciNL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593316085", "isbn10": "0593316088", "links": [] }, "347": { "id": 347, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Burning Earth: A History", "author": "Sunil Amrith", "reviewers": [ "Neda Ulaby" ], "text": "First, don’t be put off by the title. The Burning Earth is a bracing book, rather than a depressing one. Although it’s a history of the terrible things human beings have done to the planet, to each other and to an unfathomable number of innocent creatures, Sunil Amrith’s chronicle is as compassionate as it is riveting. A Yale professor and the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, the author moves seamlessly from how global conquest and war reshaped Earth from 1218 onward, to fascinating cultural analysis, such as a look at the artistry of Charlie Chaplin, Akira Kurosawa and Diego Rivera through an environmental lens, to a resolute call for integrating our own vulnerable “creatureliness” into a road toward repair.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "science!", "for history lovers", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world", "rather long", "seriously great writing" ], "isbn": "1324007184", "cover": "1324007184", "goodreads": 205478854, "itunes": 9781324007180, "bookshop": 9781324007180, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/415YPnPeBdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781324007180", "isbn10": "1324007184", "links": [] }, "348": { "id": 348, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Rental House", "author": "Weike Wang", "reviewers": [ "Bridget Bentz" ], "text": "When you marry a person, do you also marry their family? That’s a question central to Rental House, Weike Wang’s smart and incisive novel about a married couple, Keru and Nate, and the fissures that appear in their relationship when their families (and some unexpected guests) join them on vacation. Keru’s parents are Chinese immigrants who believe that suffering is a necessary part of life; Nate’s rural, working-class family distrusts his academic inclinations. Is it any surprise that after two weeks of vacation, Keru and Nate are definitely not getting their security deposit back?
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "rather short" ], "isbn": "0593545540", "cover": "0593545540", "goodreads": 208584952, "itunes": 9780593545546, "bookshop": 9780593545546, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41F1ZYKP8YL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593545546", "isbn10": "0593545540", "links": [] }, "349": { "id": 349, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Patriot: A Memoir", "author": "Alexei Navalny", "reviewers": [ "Ari Shapiro" ], "text": "Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic Russian penal colony in February. But even in death, he continues his fight against President Vladimir Putin. This posthumous memoir has two sections: The first half is a traditional narrative, beginning with a true crime story when Navalny is poisoned with a nerve agent on a flight from Siberia in 2020. Halfway through, the book pivots to become his prison diary. Through even the darkest episodes, Navalny’s sunniness and humor shine through – whether he’s describing an episode of Rick and Morty that he left unfinished when he collapsed on that flight, or taking joy in the indulgence of bread and butter that he only ate on Sunday mornings behind bars.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "eye-opening reads", "tales from around the world", "biography & memoir", "rather long" ], "isbn": "0593320964", "cover": "0593320964", "goodreads": 210943348, "itunes": 9780593320969, "bookshop": 9780593320969, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/412qIsAAPJL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593320969", "isbn10": "0593320964", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 349, "book": "Patriot: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Alexei Navalny's diaries shed light on his time in prison, larger goals ", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/10/18/alexei-navalny-diaries" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 349, "book": "Patriot: A Memoir", "source": "NPR", "text": "Even in death, Alexei Navalny hasn't given up the fight against corruption in Russia", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/22/1211597248/alexei-nalvalny-memoir-patriot-posthumous-widow-interview-documentary-putin" } ] }, "350": { "id": 350, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Milk Street Bakes: A Baking Book with 200 Sweet and Savory Recipes", "author": "Christopher Kimball", "reviewers": [ "T. Susan Chang" ], "text": "It’s a bold move to release both a general-purpose cookbook and a definitive baking book in one year, but that’s business as usual for the Milk Street team. If Milk Street 365 takes care of dinner, Milk Street Bakes has your back for pretty much any floury situation you might get into. Some recipes are old friends – popovers, scones, ciabatta, tortillas, tarte tatin. Others have one tasty quirk – Tahini Swirl Brownies, Challah with Golden Raisins, Meringue Cookies with Salted Peanuts and Chocolate. Many come with helpful process photos, and all, of course, are tested to a fare-thee-well.
", "tags": [ "cookbooks & food" ], "isbn": "0316538884", "cover": "0316538884", "goodreads": 207567877, "itunes": 9780316538886, "bookshop": 9780316538886, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51BWeG5XybL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780316538886", "isbn10": "0316538884", "links": [] }, "351": { "id": 351, "edition": "Fall", "title": "This Motherless Land", "author": "Nikki May", "reviewers": [ "Carole V. Bell" ], "text": "I have a high bar for new takes on classic novels, and this book transcended it with ease. Wahala author Nikki May reimagines Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park as a cross-cultural family drama complicated by race. Nine-year-old Funke Oyenuga’s childhood in Lagos wasn’t perfect, but she was safe and deeply loved until a car accident spun Funke’s world off its axis. Suddenly, her beloved mother is dead, her Nigerian father’s family thinks she must be a witch for surviving, and her brilliant father is a wreck. So she’s shipped off to her mother’s English family, which assumes she must be a savage. The one bright side is her exuberant and loving cousin Liv. This keenly observed reimagining delivers perceptive twists and its own unique thrills.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "book club ideas", "identity & culture", "tales from around the world", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0063084295", "cover": "0063084295", "goodreads": 199531828, "itunes": 9780063084292, "bookshop": 9780063084292, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+qsNhR3fL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063084292", "isbn10": "0063084295", "links": [] }, "352": { "id": 352, "edition": "Fall", "title": "War", "author": "Bob Woodward", "reviewers": [ "Ron Elving" ], "text": "There is a certain wistful quality about reading the latest bestseller that Bob Woodward has written about a U.S. president and national security. Published in October, it conveys the hope that the electorate will agree with Woodward’s judgment that Donald Trump “is unfit to lead the country.” Woodward bases that judgment not only on the three books he previously published on Trump (Fear, Rage and Peril) but on Trump’s actions since to undermine President Biden and complicate his struggles with Afghanistan, Ukraine and Gaza. Woodward is surprisingly positive about the efforts of Biden and his team to control the damage and dangers, especially in Ukraine and Gaza. War also includes a report on Woodward’s 1989 interview with Trump, conducted along with colleague Carl Bernstein from the Watergate era. A transcript and voice recording of that interview resurfaced in 2023. It reveals a Trump who, at 42, sounds remarkably like the Trump of today.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "eye-opening reads", "the states we’re in", "staff picks", "rather long" ], "isbn": "166805227X", "cover": "166805227X", "goodreads": 217163885, "itunes": 9781668052273, "bookshop": 9781668052273, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Md7ZyGsdL._SL500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781668052273", "isbn10": "166805227X", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 352, "book": "War", "source": "NPR", "text": "Bob Woodward takes NPR behind the headline-grabbing moments in his new book", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/14/nx-s1-5150451/trump-biden-harris-putin-netanyahu-woodward-war-book" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 352, "book": "War", "source": "NPR", "text": "Bob Woodward's newest book is making headlines", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2024/10/15/1211596773/bob-woodwards-newest-book-is-making-headlines" } ] }, "353": { "id": 353, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up", "author": "Abigail Shrier", "reviewers": [ "Martin Kaste" ], "text": "This book is a provocation, but not in the way people might think. Abigail Shrier doesn’t dismiss talk therapy; she takes it seriously as a potent treatment for real mental illness. The problem, she says, is that we’ve made it one of those “It can’t hurt!” things, like vitamins or fresh air. Citing studies and interviewing parents, she highlights therapy’s potential risks, especially when it’s applied to the normal emotional ups and downs of childhood. The book is personal (Shrier is a mother) and at times contentious, but her case against the “therapization” of American kids is worth considering.
", "tags": [ "staff picks", "nonfiction", "family matters", "eye-opening reads", "book club ideas", "science!" ], "isbn": "0593542924", "cover": "0593542924", "goodreads": 198332459, "itunes": 9780593542927, "bookshop": 9780593542927, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81LihqT2kYL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593542927", "isbn10": "0593542924", "links": [] }, "354": { "id": 354, "edition": "Fall", "title": "The Mighty Red", "author": "Louise Erdrich", "reviewers": [ "Cory Turner" ], "text": "Louise Erdrich’s latest novel is set in North Dakota’s Red River Valley, and like a river, it gracefully winds through the landscape of Erdrich’s conscience: the toxic toll of large-scale farming (sugar beets, in this case), the inequities of capitalism, the sanctity of a good bookstore! Luckily, our guide is a Goth teen, Kismet, who comes of age before our eyes as she navigates tragedy and comedy, families both broken and bound by love, and, most importantly, two young men who profess to adore her. This is my favorite kind of book: one that can make you laugh and cry (and laugh again) in just a page, a paragraph or even one holy sentence.
", "tags": [ "fiction", "staff picks", "book club ideas", "family matters", "identity & culture", "seriously great writing", "the states we’re in" ], "isbn": "0063419351", "cover": "0063419351", "goodreads": 199793431, "itunes": 9780063277052, "bookshop": 9780063277052, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81ekL7+-QBL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780063419353", "isbn10": "0063419351", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 354, "book": "The Mighty Red", "source": "WBUR", "text": "Louise Erdrich's 'The Mighty Red' is a tale of love, regret and second chances", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/10/01/the-mighty-red-louise-erdrich-book-review" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 354, "book": "The Mighty Red", "source": "MPR", "text": "Talking Volumes: Louise Erdrich on ‘The Mighty Red’", "url": "https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2024/10/04/talking-volumes-louise-erdrich-on-the-mighty-red" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 354, "book": "The Mighty Red", "source": "WAMC", "text": "The Book Show: Louise Erdrich on 'The Mighty Red'", "url": "https://www.wamc.org/show/the-book-show/2024-10-01/louise-erdrich-the-mighty-red" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 354, "book": "The Mighty Red", "source": "WNYC", "text": "Louise Erdrich's new novel 'The Mighty Red'", "url": "https://www.wnyc.org/story/louise-erdrichs-new-novel-the-mighty-red/" } ] }, "355": { "id": 355, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment", "author": "Jason Schreier", "reviewers": [ "James Perkins Mastromarino" ], "text": "A deft examination of a gaming titan, Play Nice isn’t just thoroughly reported – it’s also a great yarn. Even if you don’t play the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo games that made Blizzard billions, Jason Schreier’s surprising anecdotes dramatically illustrate the studio’s shoestring origins, its all-encompassing work culture and its riotous excesses. It’s the story of a company that went from beloved boutique to industry pariah – but it’s also deeply human. Schreier never loses sight of the people who built Blizzard and battled for its soul.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "it’s all geek to me", "staff picks" ], "isbn": "1538725428", "cover": "1538725428", "goodreads": 207567968, "itunes": 9781538725429, "bookshop": 9781538725429, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81EiCb1ZWGL._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9781538725429", "isbn10": "1538725428", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 355, "book": "Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment", "source": "WBUR", "text": " 'Play Nice': The inside story of Blizzard Entertainment's billion-dollar games and controversies", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/10/08/play-nice-jason-schreier" } ] }, "356": { "id": 356, "edition": "Fall", "title": "Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling", "author": "Jason De León", "reviewers": [ "Deepa Fernandes" ], "text": "This book, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, reads like a gripping novel. But it’s all fact, the product of years of embedded reporting by an anthropology professor. Jason De León’s page-turner took me deep into the lives of the maligned “coyotes” who smuggle immigrants into the U.S. – wait, could they be victims too? – and through intimate details about their lives, their jobs and their world, what I thought I knew was turned upside down. The book walks with people we just want to see as the villains and seriously complicates the narrative.
", "tags": [ "nonfiction", "staff picks", "eye-opening reads", "seriously great writing", "tales from around the world", "family matters" ], "isbn": "0593298586", "cover": "0593298586", "goodreads": 165938555, "itunes": 9780593298589, "bookshop": 9780593298589, "image": "https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91CKGogOG6L._SL1500_.jpg", "year": 2024, "isbn13": "9780593298589", "isbn10": "0593298586", "links": [ { "year": 2024, "id": 356, "book": "Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling", "source": "WBUR", "text": "In 'Soldiers and Kings' an anthropologist explores the lives of those who smuggle migrants", "url": "https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/05/21/soldiers-and-kings-smugglers" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 356, "book": "Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling", "source": "KQED", "text": " ‘Soldiers and Kings’ investigates the world of human smuggling", "url": "https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101905081/soldiers-and-kings-investigates-the-world-of-human-smuggling" }, { "year": 2024, "id": 356, "book": "Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling", "source": "WDET", "text": "New book explores the complicated practice of migrant smuggling", "url": "https://wdet.org/2024/04/02/new-book-explores-the-complicated-practice-of-migrant-smuggling/" } ] } }