REQUIRED READING

The Drama Teacher

Koren Zailckas (f iction, Crown)

Gracie is an expert con woman, a mother of two who’s skilled at inventing new facades. When a stint upstate results in the suspicious death of her friend, she hightails it to the city to begin a second life as a drama teacher at a posh private school. Her biggest act will be convincing her new colleagues that she has nothing to hide.

America: The Farewell Tour

Chris Hedges (nonfiction, Simon & Schuster)

In this no-holds-barred book, Hedges covers an America in crisis — from the opioid crisis to the current political situation, joblessness, breakdown of communities and more. A depressing, important read.

Fruit of the Drunken Tree

Ingrid Rojas Contreras (f iction, Doubleday)

Chula and Cassandra live privileged lives in Bogota, Colombia, but elsewhere in the city, violence and kidnappings abound. When their mother hires Petrona to be their maid, they find it’s no longer possible to ignore the world outside their gates.

Our House

Louise Candlish (f iction, Berkley)

Fiona and ex-husband Bram have a modern co-parenting “bird’s nest” arrangement: They each spend a few days with their kids in a shared house. But one day, Fiona comes home to find strangers moving into the house. The problem is, she didn’t sell it. And her husband and kids are nowhere in sight.

Meet Me At the Museum

Anne Youngson (f iction, Flatiron)

A Danish widower and an English farm wife in a loveless marriage strike up a pen-pal correspondence, brought together by their shared enthusiasm for a prehistoric man in a Denmark museum. It turns out that’s one of many things they have in common. They share confidences and open up to each other in a way both no longer thought possible.

An Unwanted Guest

Shari Lapena (f iction, Pamela Dorman Books)

From the author of “The Couple Next Door” comes a thriller set in a Catskills Mountain lodge. Everything is cozy and picturesque until a blizzard knocks out the electricity — and two guests wind up dead.