REQUIRED READING

Book of Judas Linda Stasi (f iction, Forge Books)

Alessandra Russo’s young son is in danger, and the only way to save him is to track down the missing pages of an explosive religious text unearthed in Egypt in the 1970s. She gets caught up in a world of conspiracy, murder and mystery — alll while racing against the clock to save her child.

The Naughty Nineties: The Triumph of the American Libido David Friend (nonfiction, Twelve)

A sexual history of the 1990s, exploring the libidinous decade that gave us Monica Lewinsky, Anita Hill, Heidi Fleiss, Lorena Bobbitt, the Brazilian wax, Viagra and more.

We Were Strangers Once Betsy Carter (f iction, Grand Central)

A gorgeous novel about a tight-knit group of immigrants in New York in the 1930s, sharing friendship, triumphs and disappointments as they try to forge new lives in a strange new land.

Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan’s Disaster Zone Richard Lloyd Parry (nonfiction, MCD)

On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated Japan, resulting in more than 18,000 deaths. Parry visited the village of Kamaya, which suffered the greatest loss of all — 74 out of 108 children at the Okawa Elementary School died, as well as 10 out of 11 teachers that were present. A moving investigation of a town’s attempts to heal and seek answers after a tragedy.

The Most Important Year: Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of Our Children Suzanne Bouffard (nonfiction, Avery)

What do our kids need from the first years at school, and how can they get it? That’s the issue at the heart of this book, which takes us into some of the bestest pre-K classrooms in the country and explores what makes them work.

Caroline: Little House, Revisited Sarah Miller (f iction, William Morrow)

Finally, it’s Ma’s turn to tell her story; Caroline Ingalls of the beloved “Little House” books. The “Little House” story is a familiar one, but the perspective has changed, offering new insightt into the life of a pioneer woman and her family.