Spring stories that may shock, charm, and stick with you
NONFICTION
“Cave Mountain” by Benjamin Hale. Initially, this is a story about a girl lost in the Arkansas wilderness in 2001 and the eerie link to another lost girl decades before. But Hale goes on to expose and explore the world of Evangelical cults, prophets, manipulation, and religious fervor that relate to the latter. Much of this story is shocking and horrific, but Hale looks at the religious extremism with objectivity and a personal knowledge: one of the missing girls was his relative, and he knows Arkansas territory and its people.
FICTION
“This Book Made Me Think of You” by Libby Page. Six months after her husband’s death, Tilly is notified by a local bookshop that he has left her 12 books, one a month for the next year. How Tilly navigates that year is genuine and realistic. A charming read that I chose for my book club this month.
“This Is Not About Us” by Allegra Goodman. This was a captivating read, centered on a Jewish family on the East coast, it is, by turns, funny, sad, and completely relatable. I read a chapter of this as a short story in The New Yorker and was thrilled when I saw the book.
“The Midnight Taxi” by Yosha Gunasekera. A Sri Lankan taxi driver in NYC pulls into JFK with her passenger, but he can’t get out because he is dead. Murdered. With help from friends, she solves the mystery, but not before being jailed.
“The Lake Effect” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. A sweeping family saga in upstate New York by an author I truly enjoy. The story is shocking, humorous, evocative of an era, and believable. Very strong recommendation for this one.
“The Final Score” by Don Winslow. No one writes about crime better than Winslow. If you haven’t read his books, start with “The Power of the Dog” trilogy – the most chilling and deadly accurate description of the drug war you will ever read, then read “The Force” about NYC cops, then “The Danny Ryan” trilogy. I consider his work to be required reading – entertaining and enlightening.
“Whidbey” by T Kira Madden. This is not an easy read as it concerns child sexual abuse and the aftermath for the victims as well as the mother of the perpetrator. But in light of the Jeffrey Epstein case, it is timely if gut wrenching.
“Bad Asians” by Lillian Li. Asian friends dealing with post-college choices, or lack of them.
“In the Great Quiet” by Laura Vogt. Based on the author’s great-great-grandmother, this is the story of a woman who stakes a claim in the 1893 homestead rush and makes a life in Oklahoma. I found the writing to be wordy, but the basic story is remarkable.