Exit Party

by Emily St. John Mandel

Knopf/PRH

    My only complaint is that I would like more! lots more! The characters are drawn so that you want to know them forever; the settings are so close to realistic that they are frightening; the plotting is complex but never confusing; the issues raised will stay on your mind. It is well worth a second read, right away.

If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.

Scorpio Rising

By Deon Meyers

Atlantic Crime / Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

pub date March 2, 2027

   This gives a brief look at a particular part of  South Africa - murders, police and their families. You'll learn more than you imagined you'd ever want to know about the future of warfare, but also understand a bit of the traumas of crime solving. This is more fun than it sounds as the relationship between the two investigators is warm and often humorous. The glossary is very helpful.

    The others in this series are also worth your time, but they don't have to be read in any specific order. And they're available now - Devil's Peak is the first.

If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.

The Strangers

by Naomi Alderman

Little, Brown and Company/ Hachette Book Group

      This is not the usual Alderman tale.  There is a fantastical element, but this is a disturbing book about grief, death, unending sorrow and how badly most of us deal with it. The strangers are a small empathetic animal that is dealt with as is common with humans' reactions to things we don't understand. That is, badly. This is beautifully written and not an easy book, but worth your time.

If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.

Stealing Saint Nick: A Legendary Corpse, a Notorious Theft, and the Stories that Shape the World

by M.T.Anderson

Dutton Books for Young Readers/PRH

     You don't have to be a "young reader" to love this book and learn a great deal from it.  Anderson tackles hard questions of religion, war and Santa Claus without ever being too critical, or naive. There is much to learn and wonder about the years from 300AD forward and what to make of how far we have and haven't come since then.

    And yes, this is a very good companion to Anderson's (much funnier) novel Nicked. You'll want to read them both.

If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.

Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang

by Kate Wilhelm

Gateway/Hachette

  This is brilliantly written and thus terrifying. The ecological disaster is too close for comfort and you need only substitute AI for cloning to be genuinely frightened. Still, the characters are very well drawn and it does end with hope. It was written in 1976!

If you would like to know more about, or own any of these books, please check with your local independent bookstore or this great place: bookshop.org.