REQUIRED READING
People Like Her
Ellery Lloyd (f iction, Harper) Emmy Jackson, @themamabare, is an Insta-Mom with a huge following that hangs on every post and picture depicting her “authentic” family life. But not everyone is a fan — in fact, there are plenty of trolls who send her awful e-mails. Including one in particular that seems ready to act out some kind of revenge fantasy.
Black Buck
Mateo Askaripour (f iction, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Darren is a black 22-year-old man working at a Midtown Starbucks when he catches the eye of the CEO of a hot tech startup. When the CEO gives him a sales job at the company, he’s ushered into the company culture and is the only black person at the firm. With his star on the rise, he hatches a plan to get more young people of color into sales jobs. Sharp, clever, and often hilarious.
A Stranger at the Door
Jason Pinter (f iction, Thomas & Mercer) In Book 2 of the Rachel Marin series, the single mother is in a good place, in a stable relationship and working for a local police department. But when her son’s teacher is murdered, that peace is shattered.
What Could Be Saved
Liese O’Halloran Schwarz (f iction, Atria Books) In 1972, Laura Preston’s family lived in Bangkok when her brother disappeared without a trace. Forty years later, she’s a reclusive artist living in Washington, DC, when a stranger contacts her, claiming to be her brother.
The Children’s Blizzard
Melanie Benjamin (f iction, Delacorte Press) On the Great Plains in 1888, a fierce blizzard struck, threatening the lives of hundreds of immigrant homesteaders, including schoolchildren. Schoolteachers were left with an awful choice: Keep the children inside and risk freezing to death as fuel ran out, or risk sending them home and possibly getting lost in the snow. A historic novel based on a true event.
That Old Country Music
Kevin Barry (f iction, Doubleday) From the author of “Night Boat to Tangier” comes a collection of short stories about everything from love to melancholy and magic, all set in rural Ireland.