REQUIRED READING
Do Not Become Alarmed Maile Meloy (f iction, Riverhead Books)
Two cousins take their families on a cruise, banking on some relaxation and bonding time. But when they all go ashore in Central America, the children go missing during an excursion gone wrong. In the terrible, tense days that follow, the drama that unfolds is told through thee perspectives of the parents and the children. Not recommended reading for anyone about to go on a cruise; for everyone else, carry on.
The End of Men Karen Rinaldi (f iction, Harper Perennial)
Isabel, Anna, Beth and Maggie are living life on their own terms. Whether they’re attempting to balance motherhood and work, conspiring to return a lover to his wife, running a lingerie company or lusting after old lovers, this novel, which inspired the movie “Maggie’s Plan,”” iis hilhilarii ous and clever.
Golden Hill Francis Spufford (f iction, Scribner)
Picture it: the tip of Manhattan Island, 1746. One rainy evening, a stranger fresh off the boat arrives at the counting-house (i.e., bank) with an order for a thousand pounds. Who is this man, and can he be trusted? What’s he planning to do with all that money? The New Yorkork mer-merchants can’t quite decide whether to befriend him or, possibly, kill him.
Beside Still Waters: A Chautauqua Murder Mystery Deb Pines (f iction, 52 Novels)
Feminist artist Jenny Van Alstine has gone missing from the summer arts community of Chautauqua, NY, and reporter Mimi Goldman is on the case. When she starts trying to dig up the truth, Goldman finds the vanished woman had a lot of enemiesmies —— including one determined to stop Mimi.
She Rides Shotgun Jordan Harper (f iction, Ecco)
Polly McClusky is 11 years old, and her dad, Nate, is fresh out of jail when he shows up in front of her school one day driving a stolen car. Turns out he’s on the run from the prison gang Aryan Steel, who has murdered Polly’s mother; Polly is next in their sights. The father and daughterughter duo spend nights on the lam, sleeping in cheap motels and trying to plan a move that will keep them safe.
Bed-Stuy is Burning Brian Platzer (f iction, Atria)
Banker Aaron and his journalist wife, Amelia, live in BedfordStuyvesant with their newborn baby. When a cop shoots a boy in a neighborhood park, the tension that simmered below the surface escalates into rioting, with Aaron and his family at its center. A debut novelovel about class conflict, race and gentrification. Reminiscent of “Bonfire of the Vanities.”