May 2016

It's always fascinating to see an in-depth and somewhat alternative view of a history we think we know about. 1941 saw a sharply divided American public arguing about whether to get into the war or not, with Teddy Roosevelt Jr. and the rabidly anti-Semitic Charles Lindbergh leading the isolationist camp and Roosevelt trying to help Churchill and Europe while not breaking promises he had been forced to make in the 1940 presidential campaign. Deeply researched and engagingly written.  Wortman will be at PSB on May 10.

Remember Chariots of Fire? Eric Liddell was even more driven and amazing than the movie version. After the Olympics, he went back to China as a missionary, but ended up in a prison camp during World War II.

In 2011, Suki Kim traveled to North Korea to teach English at the all-male Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. Her memoir of her time spent teaching the sons of North Korea's elite is haunting, disturbing, and informative.

If you love language, or have a particular flair for the dramatic in your speech, this is the book for you. If you are looking for a great Father's Day gift in advance (Nice initiative! Good on you!) or the perfect graduation gift for that English, philosophy, history, or really any humanities major in your life, this is the book for you. An elegant compendium on the art of comparison, composed of the finest metaphors in modern memory.

Part how-to guide and part history of navigation, Huth's book is a delightful look into our relationship to place, movement, the seasons, and the stars. Perfect to read before a spring or summer of hikes, walks, and travel.

Dark yet beautiful, far reaching but still intimate, and being hailed as O'Brien's masterpiece, this is a powerful novel about migration and reinvention, small lives and big issues. Marvelous for book groups, and my book of the year.

In her newest memoir, Lucy Knisley chronicles her experiences dealing with the wedding industry and all the social and cultural expectations around getting married. It's humorous and heartwarming, combining memoir, DIY, and criticism in one thoroughly enjoyable read -- especially if you're a 20- or 30-something with a mailbox full of invites.

I was hooked at 'super-powered female assassins.' This book is badass and intense, but funny. Definitely a new favorite.

Told in scraps of memories, visceral experiences, and excerpts from psychological reports, Jón recounts his childhood from an evolving perspective. Though isolated, and constantly pushed away (by family, schoolmates, friends) because of his strangeness, little Jón has admirable verve while retrospective Jón makes sure we laugh at the most dismal situations (setting a bedroom on fire, Dad's stinking barrel of fermenting meat and fish parts).