I love this book! Gary is a charmer – you will fall for this boy’s story and finish wishing for more. – Judy B
Category: Staff Picks
Modern Romance – Aziz Ansari & Eric Klinenberg
Foolishly, I over looked this book as just another comedian’s autobiography for far too long. Ansari teamed with sociologist Eric Klienberg to look how love, romance and couples have changed over generations. Extremely interesting… and of course, Ansari’s humor is always present. -Emily B
The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion
For those reading about people on the spectrum, this is a fun and funny read. How to find a wife in a novel way – Pat B
A Wild Swan and Other Stories – Michael Cunningham
Ever wonder how the witch from Hansel & Gretel became the way she did? Ot how Jack turned out after he chopped down the beanstalk? This wicked remix of modernized stories will take you to the dark side of Fairy Tales – Mia C
The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
“You think it can’t happen here, but then it does. I don’t know how Philip Roth foresaw the events of 2016 when he wrote this book a decade ago — but he got it spot on. Not to be missed.” Judy Blume, B&B Key West
When the renowned aviation hero and rabid isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh defeated Franklin Roosevelt by a landslide in the 1940 presidential election, fear invaded every Jewish household in America. Not only had Lindbergh, in a nationwide radio address, publicly blamed the Jews for selfishly pushing America toward a pointless war with Nazi Germany, but upon taking office as the thirty-third president of the United States, he negotiated a cordial “understanding” with Adolf Hitler, whose conquest of Europe and virulent anti-Semitic policies he appeared to accept without difficulty. What then followed in America is the historical setting for this startling new book by Pulitzer Prize–winner Philip Roth, who recounts what it was like for his Newark family — and for a million such families all over the country — during the menacing years of the Lindbergh presidency, when American citizens who happened to be Jews had every reason to expect the worst.
Picked by Judy Blume
Euphoria – Lily King
A New York Times Bestseller
Winner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize
Winner of the 2014 New England Book Award for Fiction
A Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award
A Best Book of the Year for:
New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Newsday, Vogue, New York Magazine, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Guardian, Kirkus Reviews, Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Our Man in Boston, Oprah.com, Salon
Euphoria is Lily King’s nationally bestselling breakout novel of three young, gifted anthropologists of the 30’s caught in a passionate love triangle that threatens their bonds, their careers, and, ultimately, their lives. Inspired by events in the life of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria is “dazzling … suspenseful … brilliant…an exhilarating novel.”-Boston Globe
Picked by Nan Klingener
The Sellout – Paul Beatty
Winner of the 2016
The Sympathizer – Viet Thanh Nguyen
The winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as six other awards, The Sympathizer is the breakthrough novel of the year. With the pace and suspense of a thriller and prose that has been compared to Graham Greene and Saul Bellow, The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a man of two minds,” a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.
Picked by George Cooper
The Third Swimmer – Rosalind Brackenbury
Brackenbury’s elegant prose and fractured narrative makes this novel about impulsive choices that reverberate for a lifetime. A stunning little feat of concise and compelling storytelling.
Michael N.
The Lost City of Z – David Grann
Somewhere in the Amazonian jungle, there’s a lost civilization, or so explorer Percy Fawcett sought to determine in 1925. David Grann takes us for a thrill ride as he follows Fawcett’s journey. A tale worthy of Indiana Jones, but all the better because it’s true.
George C.