POSTSCRIPT Books REQUIRED READING
Baby, Unplugged: One Mother’s Search for Balance, Reason, and Sanity in the Digital Age Sophie Brickman (nonfiction, HarperOne) Raising a child in 2021? There’s an app for that — hundreds of apps, actually. In this charming book that’s part parenting memoir, part research project, mother Sophie Brickman decided to talk to the experts to sort through the data overload — and identify what was actually helpful. In the end, she argues, parents need to learn to trust themselves, not their phones.
Fault Lines
Emily Itami (f iction, Custom House) Mizuki is a Japanese housewife with two kids, a successful husband and a beautiful Tokyo apartment. So why is she always musing about jumping off her high-rise balcony? One night she meets a restaurateur named Kiyoshi and embarks on a new double life in this debut that’s sharp and stunning.
Taking Paris: The Epic Battle for the City of Lights
Martin Dugard (nonf iction, Dutton Caliber) The world watched in horror in May 1940 as Hitler’s forces invaded France and swiftly took over the country. But while Nazis marched up the Champs-Élysées, there was a band of French citizens determined to fight back. From the fall of Paris to the race for Paris in 1944, this is a riveting war drama of courage under fire.
Every Deep-Drawn Breath: A Critical Care Doctor on Healing, Recovery, and Transforming Medicine in the ICU Wes Ely (nonf iction, Scribner) ICUs have unfortunately been in the news a lot these past months, but there isn’t a lot of talk about what actually happens in these units — and what could be done better. Dr. Ely is on a mission to improve critical care, drastically changing his own clinical practice with an eye to minimized sedation, maximizing mobility, providing robust aftercare, and more.
Beautiful World, Where Are You Sally Rooney (Fiction, Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Alice has asked Felix to travel with her to Rome. Meanwhile, her best friend Eileen is getting over a breakup and starts flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood. The four young adults break up, make up, slip in and out of relationships and worry about stuff in this much-anticipated new novel from the best-selling author of “Normal People.”
Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes
Alexa Martin (f iction, Bekeley) Jude and Lauren have been BFFs since elementary school, but lately, life has taken them down different paths: Jude is Instagram-famous, a real-life hot mess, whereas Lauren’s plans for med school hit a snag when she became pregnant and then was left by her fiance. The two friends decide to move in together into a townhouse — with Lauren’s 5-year-old.