by Jess
Walter. Contributor comments: “A lovely novel set alternately
in the Italian coast in the 1960s and Hollywood today ... transitions between a beautiful
young cast member of the Cleopatra movie who was involved with Richard Burton,
a young hotelier in Italy, an American writer who summers in Italy and an
American film producer and his assistant.” 
by Coim
Toibin. This was on the 2012 New Fiction list. It was bumped up this year on the strength of additional enthusiastic reviews. Eilis
Lacey grew up in a small town in Ireland after World War II. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to
sponsor her in America, she decides she must go, leaving behind her fragile mother and
vivacious sister. 
by Tana French. “How had I not heard of Tana French before
last summer? In this, her third novel,
an undercover Dublin cop is called back to his old neighborhood by his
sister. He’s avoided the place since his
girlfriend disappeared twenty-two years earlier, just before just when they
were about to elope. And now her
suitcase has been found in an abandoned house, turning all his old assumptions
on their heads. He investigates (failing
to mention to his higher-ups his personal involvement in the case). It’s a dark, compelling page-turner. French is a master of story and character and
an exquisite writer. (NB: If you like Faithful Place, do not be tempted to think
her earlier works must be even better. Unlike many contemporary writers who get
lazy after one success, French’s work has only improved. It’s best to move on to the sequel, Broken
Harbor).” 
by Louise Erdrich. Lots of positive comments: “Riveting and
suspenseful, arguably the most accessible novel to date from the creator of Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and The Bingo Palace, Erdrich’s The Round House is a
page-turning masterpiece of literary fiction—at once a powerful coming-of-age
story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.” 
by Ayana Smith. This book, like many these days, hovers between short story and novel, with stories eventually woven together to form a whole, growing richer as it progresses. Readers learn about a mother, Hattie Shepherd, through the stories of her many children. “Yes, it felt like an Oprah book but still very good.” 
by Maria Semple. The author, among other accomplishments, wrote
for Arrested Development, which might give you some notion of what you’re in
for. The book is about a Seattle mother
who disappears just as the family is about to go on a trip to Antarctica. Her 15-year-old daughter takes on the task of
finding her. It’s an epistolary novel,
but entire chapters consist of medical reports and faxes and police
reports. It’s satirical – lots of humor
about Seattle (I don’t know that much about Seattle, but that’s not necessary
to appreciate it). 
by Carol Blymire. We’ve never had a cookbook as a top pick, but
this one is special. Not only was it
co-written by our clever and devoted contributor, it also includes great
summery recipes. (Carol, among many
accomplishments, also cooked her way through the Alinea Cookbook. See here).
By Rod Dreher. “It's a wonderful book--just released and
debuted on the NYT bestseller list. A story of family, community, small town
America, illness, and a meaningful life. Ruthie Leming – the author's sister
and a non-smoker – is diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer in her early
40s. Little Way tells the tale of what happens in the wake of her diagnosis.
The ways in which a community rallies around the Leming family and the ways in
which it profoundly changes her brother Rod, the author. It's a beautiful book
and I highly recommend it to you readers. I couldn't put it down and--despite
crying several times during the book. I
felt happy and uplifted after reading it. Little Way is a rare book and I hope
you and the beach books list will give it a whirl.” 
by Stephen King.
“I kept hearing that this book was about traveling back in time to save
President Kennedy - and that definitely was the driving force of the narrative
- but I actually enjoyed all the other plot lines so much more! At one point in
the middle of the book I just wanted to say ‘Forget Kennedy! The world will be
fine. Let's just get back to the high school and Sadie!! Put on another show!
Dancing is life!’ I didn't care that Oswald met with other Russian immigrants
or even that he beat his wife one minute and charmed her the next. But I
realize that all of these little pieces are what make the whole so much more
fulfilling. George experiences little harmonies - residue of his time travel
that keep raising flags. We really need to experience all of these events with
him to understand and appreciate the final outcome. By the end of the book I
felt like I knew these people, this town - I wanted them as friends and
neighbors. It takes 700+ pages to bring so much to life so clearly and it was
worth the investment to read every page.”
by Ali Smith. This is one of many
suggestions from a contributor who shared a book list compiled by her
fellow Barnard College alums. (Subsequent
entries marked “Barnard Book Club.”) “The Accidental is the dizzyingly entertaining, wickedly
humorous story of a mysterious stranger whose sudden appearance during a
family’s summer holiday transforms four variously unhappy people. Each of the
Smarts–parents Eve and Michael, son Magnus, and the youngest, daughter
Astrid–encounter Amber in his or her own solipsistic way, but somehow her
presence allows them to se their lives (and their life together) in a new
light. Smith’s exhilarating facility with language, her narrative freedom, and
her chromatic wordplay propel the novel to its startling, wonderfully enigmatic
conclusion. Ali Smith’s acclaimed novel won the prestigious Whitbread Award and
was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, the Orange Prize, and the James Tait
Black Memorial Prize.”
by James
Salter. From Amazon: “From his
experiences as a young naval officer in battles off Okinawa, Philip Bowman
returns to America and finds a position as a book editor. It is a time when
publishing is still largely a private affair—a scattered family of small houses
here and in Europe—a time of gatherings in fabled apartments and conversations
that continue long into the night. In this world of dinners, deals, and
literary careers, Bowman finds that he fits in perfectly. But despite his success,
what eludes him is love. His first marriage goes bad, another fails to happen,
and finally he meets a woman who enthralls him—before setting him on a course
he could never have imagined for himself.”
by John Banville. "Gripping and wistful account of a long ago love affair in rural Ireland. Gorgeous writing, if a tad pompous in places." 
by Mary
Louise Kelly. Two contributors mentioned
this book, and it’s not even published yet!
(Release date June 18.) It looks like
a great read, and should be of particular interest to this blog’s
readers. “An intriguing thriller from a
former NPR correspondent about a young reporter who must match wits with spies,
assassins and a terrorist sleeper cell targeting the very heart of American
power… Thom Carlyle had it all: the rowing trophies, the Oxbridge
education, the glamorous girlfriend. But on a glorious summer
evening in Harvard Square, Thom is murdered—pushed from the top of a Harvard
bell tower. The New England Chronicle sends a
beautiful, feisty, but troubled reporter named Alexandra James to investigate.
It is the story of a lifetime. But it is not what it seems. Alex’s reporting
takes her abroad, from the cobbled courtyards of Cambridge, England...to the
inside of a network of nuclear terrorists...to the corridors of the CIA...and
finally, to the terrorists’ target itself.”
by Rainbow Rowell. “Very
beach-worthy. A romantic story about an
Internet security professional whose job is to monitor the emails of employees
in the newsroom of the paper where he works. He becomes
fascinated by an ongoing email conversation between two friends and falls for one of them. A tech
geek makes for an odd romantic hero, but it works.” 
by Louise Penny. “I am a devotee to the Inspector
Gamache series penned by Louise Penny and the newest offering does not
disappoint. Gamache and Beauvoir find themselves in an isolated monastery in
Canada, summoned to investigate the murder of the abbot. The murderer must be a
monk – but who? As Beauvoir struggles with addiction, Gamache struggles with
police department politics, making for a multi-layered and satisfying mystery.” This is
one of several titles from contributor Michele Woodward, who has her own great booklist. 
by Sarah Pekkanen. "It is an easy, easy read, but she develops characters unusually well for a paperback beach read. And although I hadn't met her before her recent reading at Politics and Prose - she's a Chevy Chase mom of three, so hats off to her!" 
by Brad Thor. “This is the eleventh book
in Thor’s series about ex-Navy Seal Scot Harvath. It opens with an attempt to kill Harvath and
his entire company in what turns out to be part of an attempt to overthrow the
U.S. government. The pseudonymous black
list is buried in some government basement somewhere, seen only by the
president and a handful of advisors. Once your name is on the list, it never
comes off, until you are dead. Great
thriller.” 
by Joanie McDonald. Nick
Sayler, a damaged PI, lives on a barge on the New Jersey side of the Hudson
River. He reluctantly gets involved in a
whodunit when a doctor calls from Bellevue hospital to tell him a woman who was the victim of a brutal attack has amnesia. She remembers nothing about the attack, or her life, but was carrying his business card. 
by
Elizabeth Strout. By the author of Olive
Kittredge, a top pick a couple of years ago. “Haunted by the freak accident that killed
their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their
Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly
could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted
brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has
always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when
their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them
home. Her lonely teenage son, Zach, has gotten himself into trouble, and Susan
desperately needs their help. And so the Burgess brothers return to the
landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped
and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will
change them forever. I have read and loved every novel by Elizabeth Strout and
this newest one does not disappoint. As always, the author delivers rich
character development and nuanced insight into complicated family dynamics.
Also, a must-read for anyone from Maine.”
by John Lanchester: “It’s 2008 and the markets are crashing. The residents
of Pepys Road, London begin receiving anonymous postcards that say ‘We Want
What You Have.’ Who are they from? An
epic novel with intimate portrayals set a time of extraordinary tension.” 
by Laura Moriarty. “A fast beach read with a vivid 1920's
backdrop, this is the story of Louise Brooks (who became a famous silent film
star) and the chaperone accompanying her to NY where she will attend dance
school. To borrow from Wicked lyrics, both women are not sure they were changed
for the better, but because they knew each other they were changed for good...”
by John Brandon. “Brandon
finds shards of redemption in the swampy backwaters of Florida in his funny and
horrifying latest. When Shelby Register moves to Citrus County, Fla., with her
single father and little sister, she's expecting ‘surfers instead of rednecks,’
but the precocious teen makes the best of it.” 
by Julianne Donaldson. “For those who like romantic Austen-esque
novels set in the early 19th century, this is a charming alternative
to the trashy ones that dominate the genre.
A young woman, bored and trying to avoid an unwanted suitor in Bath,
England, joins her social climbing twin sister at a house party in the English
countryside. Shenanigans and romance
ensue. Fluff, but much better written
and not as pornographic than the usual fare.”
by David Grossman. “From one of Israel’s most
acclaimed writers comes a novel of extraordinary power about family life—the
greatest human drama—and the cost of war. Ora, a middle-aged Israeli
mother, is on the verge of celebrating her son Ofer’s release from army service
when he returns to the front for a major offensive. In a fit of preemptive
grief and magical thinking, she sets out for a hike in the Galilee, leaving no forwarding
information for the ‘notifiers’ who might darken her door with the worst
possible news. Recently estranged from her husband, Ilan, she drags along an
unlikely companion: their former best friend and her former lover, Avram, once
a brilliant artistic spirit.” (Barnard
Book Club). 
by Kevin Canty. “In
taut, exquisite prose, Kevin Canty explores the largest themes of life—work,
love, death, destruction, rebirth—in the middle of the everyday. On the
fifth of July, RL and June go down to the river with a bottle of Johnnie Walker
Red to commemorate Taylor’s fiftieth and last birthday. Taylor was RL’s boyhood
friend and June’s husband, but after eleven years, June, a childless hospice
worker, finally declares she’s “nobody’s widow anymore.” Anxious for a new
beginning, June considers selling her beloved house. RL, a
divorced empty-nester, faces a major change, too, when he agrees to lodge
his college girlfriend, Betsy, while she undergoes chemotherapy. Caught between
Betsy’s anguish and June’s hope, the cynical RL is brought face-to-face with
his own sense of futility, and the longing to experience the kind of love that
“knocks you down.” Set in Montana, reflecting the beauty of its landscape
and the independence of its people, this is a shimmering novel about
unexpected redemption by a writer of deep empathy and prodigious talents.” (Barnard
Book Club)
by Sarah Bird. “Cam has raised her daughter Aubrey alone ever since her
ex left to join a cult. But now the bond between mother and daughter seems to
have disappeared. While Cam is frantic to see Aubrey, a straight-A student, at
the perfect college, on a path that Cam is sure will provide her daughter
success and happiness, Aubrey suddenly shows no interest in her mother’s plans.
Even the promise of an exciting gap year saving baby seals or bringing clean
water to remote villages hasn’t tempted her. She prefers pursuing a life with
her wrong-side-of-the-tracks football-hero boyfriend and her own secret hopes. Both mourn the gap that has grown between
them, but Cam and Aubrey seem locked in a fight without a winner. Can they both
learn how to hold onto dreams . . . and when to let go to grasp something
better? Sarah Bird’s trademark laugh-out-loud humor joins with the tears that
accompany love in a combination that reveals the fragile yet tough bonds of
mother and daughter.”
by Tan Twan Eng. “On a mountain above the clouds once lived a
man who had been the gardener of the Emperor of Japan.... Eng's writing is poetic at times and full of
beautiful imagery. The Malaysian settings of the Japanese garden and the tea
estate are fully drawn and for the past few days my head has been filled with
visions of lush jungle and a formal structured garden of rock and foreign
plants - contrasting images that parallel life in a country controlled by
outsiders, first by the British and then the invading Japanese during the war. Teoh Yun Ling is a retired judge who returns
to the Cameron Highlands with aphasia - she will slowly forget how to speak and
write and understand language. As a result, she starts to document her past and
her story is told through her writing interspersed with episodes in the present
day. The story unfolds slowly and while the book is character driven, the plot
is generally compelling.” 
by Taiye Selasi. “Kweku Sai is dead. A renowned surgeon and
failed husband, he succumbs suddenly at dawn outside his home in suburban
Accra. The news of Kweku’s death sends a ripple around the world, bringing
together the family he abandoned years before. Ghana Must Go is their story. Electric, exhilarating,
beautifully crafted, Ghana Must Go is a testament to the transformative power
of unconditional love, from a debut novelist of extraordinary talent.” 
by Heidi Durrow.
“This novel tells the story of a girl, daughter of a Danish mother and a
black G.I. who miraculously survives a tragedy that claims the rest of her
family. She moves in with her
African-American grandmother and struggles to fit in with her light skin and
blue eyes.” 
by Dennis Lehane. “I avoid most of the books at the top of the bestseller list. If
it’s 50 Shades of anything, or Grisham, or Clancy, or Baldacci, I’m going to
skip those and go to something else. So I had avoided Dennis Lehane due to his
popularity. I was stupid. This is a great
book, totally up my alley – a sweeping family drama set against racial upheaval
and political turmoil. I loved it, and I apologize to Dennis Lehane profusely.” (H/T Michele Woodward’s book list) 
by Gillian
Flynn. This book made the list as a unprecedented "midsummer addition"
last year. I’m sure most of you have
at least heard of it, if not read it. A
gripping psychological thriller. Very hard to put down. One contributor commented, “A lot
of HATE in that one!” 
by Rafaella Barker. Oh, please do try this book! It's so much fun. Barker is a British
magazine columnist often compared to Helen Fielding. Hens Dancing is a married (well, divorced) woman's story, but the Bridget Jones comparison is apt. Venetia
lives in rural England with her three children (two spirited boys and a
baby girl known only as “The Beauty.”)
The book is a journal spanning a year after her husband leaves her for
the dreaded Helena (or “the poison dwarf” - Venetia's nickname). Characters include her vodka-swilling mother
and an interesting contractor. It is at
once absurd, warm and romantic. As another contributor said, “British
year in the life story with a great setting, fun characters and reads Bridget
Jones-esque.” 
by Shalom Auslander. “The
rural town of Stockton, New York, is famous for nothing: no one was born there,
no one died there, nothing of any historical import at all has ever happened
there, which is why Solomon Kugel, like other urbanites fleeing their pasts and
histories, decided to move his wife and young son there. To begin again. To
start anew. But it isn’t quite working out that way for Kugel… His ailing
mother stubbornly holds on to life, and won’t stop reminiscing about the Nazi
concentration camps she never actually suffered through. To complicate matters
further, some lunatic is burning down farmhouses just like the one Kugel
bought, and when, one night, he discovers history—a living, breathing,
thought-to-be-dead specimen of history—hiding upstairs in his attic, bad quickly
becomes worse. … A hilarious and
haunting examination of the burdens and abuse of history, propelled with
unstoppable rhythm and filled with existential musings and mordant wit. It is a
comic and compelling story of the hopeless longing to be free of those pasts
that haunt our every present.” (Barnard
Book Club)
by Liane Moriarty. “A fatal attraction
type novel about a hypnotist who falls in love with a man who has a
stalker. The stalker is posing as one of
the hypnotist’s clients, and becomes part of her life as well. Hard to explain, but fun to read.”
by Meg
Wolitzer. “Lives of a group of teenagers
who met and bonded at summer camp. The author weaves her characters together
going back and forth in time.
Engrossing.” 
by Susan Fales-Hill. This frothy, fun and satirical Price and Prejudice send-up features the Harcourts of Chevy Chase, MD. (Chevy Chase finally gets its literary
due!) Our heroine, Elizabeth (“Bliss”) has
moved back home with her daughter after a nasty divorce, and is working on her
PhD. Things get complicated when her sister
Diana (all the Harcourt daughters are named after royalty) stars in a reality
TV show called The Virgin. Mayhem and
romance ensue.
by Lawrence Norfolk. “This is one of the two books I
bought in hardcover this year because the review I read noted that the paper
and quality of the book was remarkable (it is) and that every chapter begins
with a recipe (it does). Knowing that recipes and Kindle do not mix well, I
bought the book and once it was in hand I was glad I had. It’s a rich and
sumptuous book set in England in the Middle Ages. John Saturnall is an orphan
whose mother taught him the ancient religious ways of living and of cooking. He
rises to head cook for a lord, and falls in love with the lord’s daughter –
mostly by cooking for her. It’s about time men realized the way to a woman’s
heart is through her stomach, too!” (H/T
Michelle Woodward’s best books list). 
by Jojo Moyes Several of you mentioned this book – it was on
the bubble for top pick. “In
1960, Jennifer Stirling wakes in the hospital and remembers nothing—not the car
accident that put her there, not her wealthy husband, not even her own name.
Searching for clues, she finds an impassioned letter, signed simply ‘B,’ from a
man for whom she seemed willing to risk everything. In 2003, journalist Ellie
Haworth stumbles upon the letter and becomes obsessed with learning the unknown
lovers’ fate.” This novel is at times
predictable, but the overall arc of the story is not what I expected.”
by Caleb Carr. "In the
kingdom of Broken, the priests and god-kings value physical perfection so
banish anyone less than perfect. These people become the tribe of Bane, who
exist in nearly perpetual war against Broken. Set in Germany in about 750 A.D.,
Carr laces the language with slightly Germanic phrases – just enough to make
the reader think. And, the perfection of Broken echoes the rise of the Aryan
nation of the Nazis. It’s written in a nearly archaic style which takes some
getting used to, but once you do the story comes alive."
by Kate
Atkinson. From the New York Times: "Ursula Todd keeps dying, then dying again. She dies when she is bering born, on a snowy night in 1910. As a child, she drowns, falls off a roof and contracts influenza. Later, she commits suicide and is murdered. She is killed during the German bombing of London in World War II and ends her life in the ruins of Berlin in 1945. Each time Ursula dies, Atkinson ... resurrects her and sets her on one of the many alternate courses that her destiny might have taken.... Atkinson nimbly succeeds in keeping the novel from becoming confusing." Atkinson's book One Good Turn
was on the list last year. [Ed: Read One Good Turn and loved it, btw]. 
by M.L. Stedman. From Amazon:
"After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to
Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a
day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat
comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two
miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the
wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral
principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant
immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s
judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom
and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people
in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them." 
by Paul
French. Based on a true crime story (this book is of the "creative non-fiction" genre). The book is about the murder of a young Englishwoman and its effect on the last days of colonial Peking and "Old China." French explores the question around the unsolved murder. Was the victim an innocent schoolgirl, or was she a young rebel enjoying Peking at its most exciting? The author follows the investigations by the Chinese police and the British legation, then an independent investigation funded by the victim's father, then forms his own theory. 
by Eric Puchner. "A tale about a troubled family that has moved from Wisconsin to California in search of a better life, but not finding it. Dad built a housing community but a toxic waste dump is opening up next door. He is in dire financial straits and trying mightily to hide it. The novel is populated with eccentric, quirky characters. It has been compared to Franzen's Corrections" 
by Michael Cunningham. "Peter and
Rebecca Harris: mid-forties denizens of Manhattan’s SoHo, nearing the apogee of
committed careers in the arts—he a dealer, she an editor. With a spacious loft,
a college-age daughter in Boston, and lively friends, they are admirable,
enviable contemporary urbanites with every reason, it seems, to be happy. Then
Rebecca’s much younger look-alike brother, Ethan (known in the family as Mizzy,
“the mistake”), shows up for a visit. A beautiful, beguiling
twenty-three-year-old with a history of drug problems, Mizzy is wayward, at
loose ends, looking for direction. And in his presence, Peter finds himself
questioning his artists, their work, his career—the entire world he has so
carefully constructed. Like his legendary, Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Hours, Michael Cunningham’s
masterly new novel is a heartbreaking look at the way we live now. Full of
shocks and aftershocks, it makes us think and feel deeply about the uses and
meaning of beauty and the place of love in our lives." (Barnard Book Club)
by Robin Sloan. "Harry Potter meets
Google." "Clay Jannon has left his job as a San Francisco Web designer (recession) and is now the night shift worker at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. It doesn't take him long to recognize just how odd this store is. Its few 'customers' don't actually buy anything, but come in repeatedly examining obscure books. He decides to unravel the mystery and enlists the help of his geek friends to do so." 
by Jennier Chiaverini. "A historical
novel based on the true relationship of Mary Todd Lincoln and her dressmaker,
Lizzie Keckley, a former slave. Lizzie
was privy to many inside conversations in the White House during the Civil War. The real Lizzie Keckley published her
memoirs, which resulted in her being completely ostracized by Mrs. Lincoln, but
those notes and letters were used for this novel. An interesting read, but not addictive."
by Adam Johnson "Fascinating fictional story
about North Korea. Not for the faint of heart but very timely. The author has
done immense research so much of it is based on real stories and is haunting." 
by Beatriz
Williams. "A passionate love story about
a charming British WWI officer who inadvertently time travels to modern
day. He falls in love with an American
Wall Street broker, but his past follows him into our century. The story interweaves scenes from today with
the scenes of the heroine traveling back to 1916 to warn the officer about his
future. There’s a sense of foreboding
throughout, which will force you to stay up late to finish in one sitting."
by Andrew Miller. "A young engineer is given a task - to empty the cemetery
of Les Innocents in Paris in 1785. The graveyard is so full of decaying bodies
that the smell permeates the surrounding streets of Paris, the food is tainted,
the locals all have sour breath. Jean-Baptiste finds himself in a strange world
with a strange job and the result is delightful. I loved the atmosphere of this
book and found myself completely engrossed in the story of the cemetery and the
characters linked to it. Imagine having to excavate a pit of bones so deep
there is little oxygen at the bottom. Loved it."
by
Kimberly McCreight, From Amazon: Kate's in the middle of the biggest meeting of her career when she gets the telephone call from Grace Hall, her daughter’s exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Amelia has been suspended, effective immediately, and Kate must come get her daughter—now. But Kate’s stress over leaving work quickly turns to panic when she arrives at the school and finds it surrounded by police officers, fire trucks, and an ambulance. By then it’s already too late for Amelia. And for Kate."
by Michael
Robotham. “Quick detective fiction read.” "Two missing girls. Two brutal murders. One person knows the truth."
by Kate
Morton. “Like her other novels, this
book shifts back and forth through time to solve a mystery, this time a dying
woman’s grown children delve into her past during WWII. I thought I knew where the story was going,
but Morton twisted it at the end to make it unpredictable and even better. “ 
by Vaddey Rattner. From Amazon: "For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the
footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours, bringing details
of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s
capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept
up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus. Over the next four years, as
the Khmer Rouge attempts to strip the population of every shred of individual
identity, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of her childhood— the
mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic
violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights
for her improbable survival." 
by Michael Frayn.
“It's not easy to write a good farce. Too often it becomes too silly,
too coincidental, too over the top unbelievable and the spell is broken. For
me, Skios achieves just the right balance of mistaken identity, accidental
bedmates, chance meetings and "what are you doing here?" moments to
make for a really funny, engaging farce. I wouldn't even want to try to recap
the plot - it would be like unfolding an origami crane - just let yourself
enjoy the twisted shape that has emerged.”
by Jo
Nesbo. “creepy Scandinavian murder
mystery a la Dragon Girl.”
by Amber Dermont “a beautifully written first novel...lots of good sailing
analogies... A coming of age story, taking place at a fictional New England
boarding school....A few tears at the end...”
by Jodi
Picoult. “It was so moving that I read three more books on the
Holocaust.”
by Carol Rifka Brunt. “This is the story of a June, a 14 year-old
whose uncle - the person she loves most in the world - dies of AIDS. It's the
1980's - a time when people were afraid and ignorant and AIDS was whispered about.
It's easy to get into June's head, to understand her loss. And her uncle Finn
is a man that anyone would love to be with, making June feel special despite
all her insecurities. I loved her stories of their time together. But there are
other relationships in June's life - old and new - and each of these is
strained and altered under the grief of Finn's death. There were a couple of
moments where I felt like June's actions were more plot driven than realistic
which took me out of the story for a bit but then she would say something that
would break my heart and my eyes would start to tear up and I was right back
into it.”
by Rachel Joyce. From Amazon: "Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his
wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to
how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one
morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter
addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn’t seen or heard from
in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say
goodbye. Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the
corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold
has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver
his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage at the
heart of Rachel Joyce’s remarkable debut. Harold Fry is determined to walk six
hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he
believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live."
by Susan Hill. “This is the first in the Simon Serrailler
detective series. Interestingly, he is hardly in this book at all which I
thought was a clever idea. Instead, Hill gives us Freya Graffham - a new young
policewoman in town who has a crush on Simon and sees him as an almost mythical
figure. We learn a lot about him through her eyes but he always stays a little
removed, intriguing, and seductive - the desire to know more means the second
book in the series is already in my TBR pile ready to go. Hill isn't writing
your usual mystery. She focuses mostly on character, developing even the minor
players with personalities, motivations, and back stories. Everyone has a
little something going on - some of it is linked to the plot and but some of it
just adds richness to the people we are starting to care about. The mystery is
here but it feels secondary and doesn't kick in for quite some time. That was
ok with me but I could understand if a reader was frustrated with the pace. I
actually thought the mystery is the weakest part of the book with an
interesting premise but an underdeveloped conclusion. Even so, this was a book
that I raced through and really enjoyed.”
by Leigh Boyer. A "scandalous tale of bad behavior in finance" it was "Written by a PR person who used to work for
BofA, or Citi, or Amex .... or so the NY rumor mill spins. Feels like thinly
veiled fiction. Easy read, can do it in a day and a half."
by Isaac
Marion. “I’m embarrassed
to admit that I discovered this book as a movie preview while watching the
final installment of Twilight: Breaking Dawn.
Ready to move on from tween vampire books, I easily transitioned into
tween zombie books. Set in a
post-apocalyptic world where zombies have taken over all countries and few
humans remain, one zombie falls for a human girl and suddenly starts to feel
human again. Total beach read – you’ll
be done in a few hours.”
“Described as a stunning,
smart, short, and fantastic first novel written by an author wise beyond his
years - it is a modern fable of faith and doubt, ambition, and love. In the
novel, a young male writer deals with the reappearance and disappearance of the
woman he met in college and loved. It discusses the New York publishing world,
the growing pains of post- collegiate life, and THE RIGORS OF ROMAN
CATHOLICISM. Sophie has converted to Catholicism, and somehow this plays
largely into the plot. Hailed as one of the best of 2012, it too has been very
well reviewed and received.”
by Liane
Moriarty. “A fun novel about a woman who
hits her head in spin class and comes to with the last 10 years shaved off her
life. She believes she is madly in love
with her husband and pregnant with her first child. In reality, she has 3 kids and is in the
midst of a bitter divorce. Things change
as she starts seeing her real life through the more innocent and happy lens of
her younger self.”
by Nathan
Englander. “In eight
short stories, Englander grapples with the weight of the past, the relationship
between history and the present, and the place of the Holocaust in modern life.
Englander's characters wrestle with issues of faith, justice, desire and love,
and his stories explore classic themes of sexual longing and ingenuity in the
face of adversity.” (Barnard Book Club) 
by
Alaa Aswany. “This controversial
bestselling novel in the Arab world reveals the political corruption, sexual
repression, religious extremism, and modern hopes of Egypt today. All manner of
flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant
temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying in the smog and bustle of
downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed "scientist of
women"; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young student, feeling the
irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper editor helplessly in love
with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to
justify his desires. These disparate lives careen toward an explosive
conclusion in Alaa Al Aswany's remarkable international bestseller. Teeming
with frank sexuality and heartfelt compassion, this book
is an important window on to the experience of loss and love in the Arab world.
The author has a way of making a world that is so foreign seem familiar because
the characters are human and flawed.”
