Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson (Custom House)
Take the year 1938, combining a dude ranch outside of Reno catering to women looking to shed their spouses, two too handsome ranch hands, a splash of champagne, then stir gently and pour over a narrator who is in for quite a surprise, and voila....a perfect escape-the-snow read!
- H.S.
Twelve Caesars: Images of Power by Mary Beard (Princeton University Press)
One of the leading classists, Mary Beard, takes on a journey of discovery from Julius Caesar to Nero and shows how various artists, art historians, and others have portrayed these 12 men that ruled the Roman Empire. Beard discusses how various works of art have been shown by various owners over the centuries. She discusses how these Emperors have been viewed in different periods, from ancient to modern times.
- L.Q.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Piranesi lives in a labyrinthian world of an infinite house with thousands of statues and an imprisoned ocean; he is visited twice a week by another character, “The Other,” who is not as he appears. A World Fantasy Awards Finalist, this novel is mysterious, intriguing, and a page-turner.
- H.S.
Last Night At The Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
This novel feels like you’re stepping into core memory. Malinda Ho manages to guide the reader through a beautiful queer coming-of-age story. One that also has the drama of being Chinese in the middle of the Red Scare.
- C.B.
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead (Anchor Books)
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead (Anchor Books, 2000) has been around for a few years, but this debut novel by Mr. Whitehead should not be ignored by those who have missed its delights. In an urban alternative universe, we have a mystery revolving around an elevator accident pitching the Department of Elevator Inspectors into a turmoil of debate as its Empiricists face off against its Intuitionists. This debate is the base for a slyly humorous meditation on race, politics, morality, and careerism. The hero of the tale, Lila Mae Watson, is the unnamed city’s first Black elevator inspector. Her stellar accuracy rate has been besmirched, and she must go underground to investigate. Read and enjoy!
- M.W.
Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner
An addictive, page-turning suspenseful mystery about a couple trying to escape their haunted past when a mysterious woman suddenly befriends them. Set in London, see if you can figure out who the true villain, or villains, are!
- L.Q.
Last Seen Wearing (Library of Congress Crime Classic
The Library of Congress Crime Classics is an ongoing series of reprints of critically hailed American crime writing from the 1860s to the 1960s. A true gem in this series is Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh. The tale concerns the disappearance of a college student who walks out of her dormitory unseen and unheard and the efforts of the local police department to find out what happened. Led by a sharp and energetic veteran chief, the local police take up the twisting case. The reader experiences a fast-paced police procedural (supposedly one of the first) loaded with gown vs town, character, and the local color of an early postwar America middle-class community, with its social concerns but no diversity.
- M.W.
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music - Dave Grohl
In conversational prose, Dave Grohl of Scream, Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame, shares his clear -eyed perspective on fame with the reader; from playing at the Academy awards, drumming for Tom Petty to bedtime stories with Joan Jett and accompanying the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, this Grammy award-winning musician recounts these stories in a similar manner to the way he writes his songs – from his soul.
Detective Mole - Camilla Pintonato
Presents a charming tale of a bumbling, want-to-be woodland detective searching for a missing squirrel neighbor; the humor is provided by paint and collage illustrations. The reader will most likely solve the case before Oscar, the mole, who misses many of the clues strewn throughout the book. The fun is in figuring it out!
Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women - Annabel Abbs
A blend of memoir, travelogue and long-forgotten history, the book reflects on the most fundamental way of connecting with the outdoors: the simple act of walking. Share the nature experiences of Nan Shepherd in the mountains of Scotland, Georgia O’Keefe in New Mexico, Daphne du Maurier along the River Rhone and Simone de Beauvoir in the hills and mountains of France. Named a Smithsonian Top Ten Best Book about Travel for 2021.