The Whistler    

by Nick Medina

Berkley/PRH 

    I don't expect to learn a lot when reading a horror novel, but this one taught me a great deal. There's much that the able-bodied among us should, and don't, know about people with paralysis. Fear, discomfort, for whatever reason, we do tend to avoid the subject and those whose lives are affected by it. 

    This novel teaches a great deal, as the troubled lead character suffers through his own errors.  It's also a very good scare, for all the horror-appropriate reasons.

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

Train Dreams

by Denis Johnson

FSG/Macmillan

    Robert Grainer  is a man with a conscience, a man of lost love, sorrow and solitude, a man you want to know. When you've finished this short but powerful book, put Springsteen's Nebraska on and fall into a beautiful, dark world that Grainer would recognize. These belong together.

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

Dark Renaissance: 

The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival

by Stephen Greenblatt

W.W. Norton & Company   

    

Christopher Marlowe and his dark, difficult world are so clearly depicted that you may find yourself comparing that treachery with our own. Any English major, current or not, will find this book fascinating.

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

The Boy from the Sea              

by Garrett Carr

Knopf/PRH

    A small fishing village on Donegal Bay where the people all know pretty much everything about each other and everyone is happiest that way. But a fisherman's life, and that of his family, is difficult - loving but hard. An infant found on the shore does complicate matters; he brings joy, sorrow and confusion.

    A novel as warm, loving and complex as the town. And the Irish way with words makes it all the more lovely.

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

The Impossible Thing

by Belinda Bauer

Atlantic Monthly Press/IPG

    This is a fast moving tale set partly between the World Wars in Britain, with characters you'll fall in love with quickly. There are several deaths but this is more a "crime novel" than a mystery, historical but not completely fiction, exceptionally well written, leaving you wanting more of these people (some first met in Bauer's Rubbernecker*). A fun read.

    *Also a fun read, but not for the squeamish - the scenes where the students are learning anatomy are graphic.

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