RECOMMENDED READS

Welcome to our literary circle, in which San Diegans pass the (printed) word on books

Danielle Clayton

Job: Adult materials selector, San Diego County Library She recommends: “The Huntress” by Kate Quinn (William Morrow, 2019; 560 pages)

Why? Lorelei Vogt, a Nazi known as the Huntress, trapped and murdered refugees during World War II. Only one person, a brash Soviet bomber called Nina Markova, escaped the Huntress’ lair alive. Nina was a pilot who flew with the Night Witches, the Soviet Union’s all-female night-bomber regiment. Desperate to keep the war criminal from escaping justice, Nina joins a pair of Nazi hunters, a former British war correspondent and his American sidekick in a trek across two continents on Vogt’s heels. Nina is willing to do whatever it takes to rid the world of the Huntress. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Jordan Mcbride has a new stepmother, Anneliese, and a new stepsister, Ruth, both Austrian refugees. Jordan takes to Ruth right away; she wants to like her new stepmother, but she sees cruelty when Anneliese thinks no one is watching, she catches Anneliese in lies, and she finds a swastika charm hidden in Anneliese’s wedding bouquet. Jordan wants to protect Ruth, but how do you protect someone from their own mother? All of these disparate threads converge in Boston in a tense and thrilling faceoff. In this well-researched and vivid tale, Kate Quinn, a San Diego native, illustrates the great price some are willing to pay to find justice and truth.

Tiffany Palmer

Job: Bookseller, La Playa Books

She recommends:

“Broken People” by Sam Lansky (Hanover Square Press, 2020; 304 pages)

Why? This book is just as humorous as it is disturbing. Sam Lansky has given us a highly absorbing, introspective and personal story that explores the themes of self forgiveness and human struggle. Join Sam as he embarks on a journey within with the help of a modern-day mystic who utilizes traditional plant medicine and ceremony to help his clients heal trauma and transcend. You will traverse Sam’s inner landscape of distant memories and regrets while he hopes for healing but encounters terror and transformation. This is a novel about the parts of ourselves we don’t allow others or even ourselves to see. You may weep in solidarity. Tissues recommended.