Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman When Britt-Marie’s husband leaves her, she is left adrift, with no employable skills, no family and no home. Low on social skills and obsessed with cleaning, Britt-Marie doesn’t seem to have a lot to offer. When the employment office manages to get her a job in the dying town…

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley. Winner of the Printz Award for best teen fiction of the year, this thriller features part-Obijwe native Daunis Fontaine, newly graduated from high school and about to start college in the fall.  When a brutal murder-suicide thrusts her into the midst of an FBI investigation into drug dealers and fatally…

Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown As World War II comes to a close, the United States and the Soviet Union emerge as the two greatest world powers on extreme opposites of the political spectrum. After the United States showed its hand with the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, the Soviets refuse to…

The Scorpio Races – Maggie Stiefvater “It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.” I reread this book every November. It has unforgettable characters and the descriptions of the fictional island of Thisby will draw vivid images in your mind. Based loosely on old myths and stories, the vicious, carnivorous…

Currently immersed in A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. This has been on my To Be Read list for a long time and I’m glad I finally picked it up since historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. It follows the life of a former Count who is placed under house arrest at…

Wilmington’s Lie: the Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy – David Zucchino. I won’t lie, there are no silver linings in this work of nonfiction. It is the unflinching and highly readable account of a well planned overthrow of the Republican government in Wilmington, North Carolina by the local Democrats. There…

The Traitor’s Blade by Kevin Sands, the 5th book in the Blackthorn Key series. This terrific middle grade series for older elementary/teen readers (and people like me!) features an apothecary’s apprentice in London in the mid-1600s. Every book finds Christopher and his friends using chemistry and ciphers to help solve a crime or mystery. I…

I’ve just started How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, which attempts to help readers understand and uproot racism in themselves and the world around them. Kendi is a history professor and writer who won the 2016 National Book Award for Stamped from the Beginning. –Alex Lent

—“I’ve just started Poppy by Avi. So far, it’s wonderful.” At the very edge of Dimwood Forest stood an old charred oak where, silhouetted by the moon, a great horned owl sat waiting. The owl’s name was Mr. Ocax, and he looked like death himself. With his piercing gaze, he surveyed the lands he called…

I’m reading To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis. Willis is an incredible science fiction author, best known for Blackout/All Clear, a two-part novel about Oxford historians who travel back in time to observe (and not alter) historical events. They go back to World War II London. They’re amazing and stressful, and Willis…

I just finished The Bees by Laline Paull, which was mesmerizing. I keep seeing it described as a fantasy novel, but I think that term doesn’t quite cut it. Magical realism might be better. It’s the story of a bee from the lowest caste in a rigid hive society who finds herself involved in different…

I’m reading How to Be a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery. It’s a memoir told through experiences with 13 different animals that impacted Montgomery’s life. Montgomery is best known for The Soul of an Octopus, which is on my TBR.   ~ Alex Lent

I’m rereading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, which is one of my all-time favorite sci-fi books. It follows a character who isn’t able to discern gender and so the narrative doesn’t give many clues to the genders of the characters. At first this is somewhat confusing, but then it becomes clear that it doesn’t really…

I just listened to Good Clean Fun by Nick Offerman, which is a memoir? a how-to-book? a satire? After enjoying Ruth Reichl’s My Kitchen Year (a cookbook? a memoir? a tell-all?), I thought I’d give this a try, but it wasn’t really for me. I’m currently listening to The Cleaner, by Brett Battles, a thriller…

I’m almost done with When by Daniel H. Pink, which is about effective timing. Certain types of work are more effective at certain times of day. Being aware of this face and of our individual “chronotypes” (per wikipedia: “a chronotype is the behavioral manifestation of underlying circadian rhythms of myriad physical processes. A person’s chronotype…

I’m listening to My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl, read by the author. Ms. Reichl was the last Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet and this book is her recipe-laden memoir of the year after the magazine shut down. It’s your standard food-related memoir, but because it has very short chapters, it zips right along. It’s odd to…