REQUIRED READING
West Wingers: Stories from the Dream Chasers, Change Makers and Hope Creators Inside the Obama White House Ed. by Gautam Raghavan (nonfiction, Penguin Books)
A moving behind-the-scenes look at the Obama White House, told through essays by 18 Obama staffers, each providing a different glimpse of the presidency, each working on the different issues that define their lives.
The Proposal Jasmine Guillory (f iction, Berkley)
Nikole Paterson isn’t expecting a scoreboard proposal when she goes to a Dodgers game with her boyfriend of five months and all his buddies. When she says no and the mood in the stadium becomes grim, a man named Carlos helps her flee a camera crew; in the aftermath, when a video of her rejection goes viral, the two fall in love.
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing Hank Green (f iction, Dutton)
Twentysomething April May becomes insta-famous when she encounters a giant alien/robot one night in Manhattan and videotapes her encounter with the droid, whom she names Carl. As it turns out, there are Carls all over the world. What they are doing here remains to be seen.
Transcription Kate Atkinson (f iction, Little, Brown)
In 1940, Juliet Armstrong was recruited to work in a department of MI5, where she monitored the movements of known British fascist sympathizers. Ten years later the war is over and she’s working at the BBC, but her past returns to haunt her. From the bestselling author of “Life After Life.”
How to Be a Good Creature Sy Montgomery (memoir, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Naturalist Sy Montgomery has traveled the world studying animals and plants. Here she reflects on what humans can learn from animals and the many qualities they share in common.
Trans Figured: My Journey from Boy to Girl to Woman to Man Brian Belovitch (memoir, Skyhorse Publishing)
A fascinating memoir that begins with a working class childhood in Fall River, Mass., where Brian first realized he was gay. Later, as an adult, he was a glam transgender woman named Tish, then an Army wife in Germany, a high-flying downtown NYC scenemaker named Tish and eventually an HIV-positive gay man in 1980s New York. Never boring.
American Like Me: Essays America Ferrera (nonfiction, Gallery Books)
A collection of essays from immigrants — including actress and political activist America Ferrera — reflecting on the experience of growing up between cultures.