REQUIRED READING
The Warbird: Three Heroes. Two Wars. One Story Tara Copp (memoir, SquadronBooks) As a journalist in Iraq in 2003, Tara Copp saw her ideas about war crumble in the harsh reality of modern combat. Struggling to make sense of it all as she told other people’s stories, she found comfort in her late grandfather’s memoirs. Piloting a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, Col. Richard C. “Dick” Harris had survived 63 bombing missions during World War II. Tara decided to finish her grandfather’s war story — and in the process, uncover more about everyday heroes living in extraordinary times. The Pierre Hotel Affair Daniel Simone (nonfiction, Pegasus) Everyone loves a good jewel heist. Toss two thieves named Bobby Comfort and Sammy “the Arab” Nalo and one of New York’s swankiest hotels into the mix, and it’s bound to be a good tale. This tells the story of $28 million worth of jewelry stolen from the Pierre Hotel in NYC, 1972, the most famous unsolved heist in American history. Plenty of Mafia intrigue, betrayal, corruption and more.ore We Shall Not All Sleep Estep Nagy (f iction, Bloomsbury USA) The Hillsingers and the Quicks have shared the small Maine island of Seven for generations, but they never mix despite being related through marriage. Set during three summer days in 1964, the children of both families run wild while the adults are otherwise occupied: Jim has been recently ousted from the CIA on suspicion of treason, and he’s threatening to banish his 12-year-old sonson, CattaCatta, to nearby Baffin Island to fend for himself for 24 hours. An intergenerational saga. My Glory Was I Had Such Friends Amy Silverstein (memoir, HarperWave) Almost 26 years after receiving her first heart transplant, Amy Silverstein’s donor heart starts to fail. To survive, she would need to find a new heart immediately. When her nine closest friends heard what was going on, there was no question of what to do next — they got on planes to California, putting their lives and families on hold to be there for their pal, creating spreadsheets, plans of attackattack, ofof fering distraction and showing up for their friend when she needed them most. Hum If You Don’t Know the Words Bianca Marais (f iction, GP Putnam’s Sons) The paths of a black woman and a white 9-yearold girl intersect in 1970s apartheid-era Johannesburg, South Africa. Robin Conrad has been left orphaned by violence following the Soweto uprising and has gone to live with her aunt. Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman whose daughter has just gone missing, is hired to care for Robin as she continues to try to find her daughter. Robin knows that if Beautyty succeeds in her quest, she’ll lose her loving caretaker, so she makes a decision that will have devastating consequences. The Lightkeeper’s Daughters Jean E. Pendziwol (f iction, Harper) Morgan Fletcher is performing community service at the senior center, penance for tagging it with graffiti art. She’s matched up with Elizabeth Livingstone, an elderly woman whose mind is still sharp, even though her eyesight has failed her. Elizabeth has just been sent some journals belonging to her late father, but she needs Morgan’s help to read them. As Elizabeth uncovers detailsails from her past with each page, Morgan becomes more determined to solve the mysteries in her own life.