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Ask Again, Yes
by Mary Beth Keane
Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope are two NYPD rookies assigned to the same Bronx precinct in 1973. They aren’t close friends on the job, but end up living next door to each other outside the city. What goes on behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne, sets the stage for the stunning events to come.
Friendship and love blossoms between Francis’s youngest daughter, Kate, and Brian’s son, Peter, who are born six months apart. In the spring of Kate and Peter’s eighth grade year a violent event divides the neighbors, the Stanhopes are forced to move away, and the children are forbidden to have any further contact. Ask Again, Yes reveals how the events of childhood look different when reexamined from the distance of adulthood—villains lose their menace, and those who appeared innocent seem less so.
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| The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur JaswalWhat it's about: Fulfilling the last wishes of their dying mother means that three very different British Punjabi sisters must reluctantly travel through India -- together.
Why you might like it: The sisters' distinct personalities, the secrets they're hiding, and the tension between them means there's plenty of fraught family dynamics, while India's vibrant sights provoke insight into and empathy for their mother's history -- and their relationships with each other. |
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How could she : a novel
by Lauren Mechling
After a devastating break-up with her fiance, Geraldine is struggling to get her life back on track in Toronto. Her two old friends, Sunny and Rachel, left ages ago for New York, where they've landed good jobs, handsome husbands, and unfairly glamorous lives (or at least so it appears to Geraldine). Sick of watching from the sidelines, Geraldine decides to force the universe to give her the big break she knows she deserves, and moves to New York City.
After she arrives, though, she discovers how hard it is to find her footing in a world of influencers and media darlings. Plus, the magazine where Sunny and Rachel work is on the brink of folding. Rachel is struggling to juggle her life as a writer, wife, and new mother, and Sunny's life as a popular West Village tastemaker is not nearly as charmed as it seemed. Hilarious and fiercely observed, How Could She is a novel of female friendship, an insider's look into the cutthroat world of New York media--from print to podcasting--and a witty exploration of the ways we can and cannot escape our pasts.
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| The Farm by Joanne RamosIn a world where...one percenters outsource their pregnancies, financially desperate birth mothers can expect luxury living quarters and huge payouts -- but at what cost?
Featuring: Three "hosts" at isolated Golden Oaks, including Filipina immigrant Jane Reyes, who's overwhelmed with worry for her own daughter outside the walls of the facility.
For fans of: thought-provoking novels that entwine reproduction issues with capitalism, like Vanessa Hua's A River of Stars. And while this isn't truly a dystopian novel, fans of The Handmaid's Tale will be intrigued. |
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The most fun we ever had : a novel
by Claire Lombardo
When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents'.
As the novel moves through the tumultuous year, we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons' past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.
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| A Man Called Ove by Fredrik BackmanFeaturing: cranky, ill-tempered Ove, and his annoyingly chatty, over-familiar neighbors.
What happens: Ove is mourning a deeply felt loss, but his desire to keep to himself gradually gets undermined by the aforementioned friendly neighbors.
The movie: While there's already a Swedish film version of this charming and beloved novel, Tom Hanks will be starring in a forthcoming U.S. remake. |
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| Catch-22 by Joseph HellerWhat it is: First published in 1961, this satirical, near-surreal classic is set on a Mediterranean island during World War II. It boasts a bizarre array of characters from the 256th Squadron and a non-chronological (some might say chaotic) narrative.
What it's about: the horrors and incomprehensible incoherence of war.
Already on screens near you...at least, if you have access to Hulu. Launched in May, there are six episodes depicting the illogical "adventures" of the 256th bombing squadron. |
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| The Rosie Project by Graeme SimsionStarring: Don Tillman, an extremely logical, efficient, and socially awkward Australian genetics professor who's never had a second date.
What happens: Having completed a scientifically rigorous and evidence-based questionnaire setting out his expectations (16 pages of them), he believes it's only a matter of time until he finds the perfect mate. Instead, he finds Rosie Jarman, a disorganized and fiercely independent bartender who needs his help.
Film potential: It continues to be a long road to development, but the latest rumors have Ryan Reynolds set to star as Don Tillman. |
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| The Goldfinch by Donna TarttWhat happens: After an explosion at a museum kills his mother, 13-year-old Theo Decker drifts, his only constant a painting stolen the day his mother died.
Read it for: the nuanced characters, Dickensian plot, and complex themes of loss and loyalty.
Coming soon to a screen near you: Starring Ansel Elgort as Theo, and featuring Nicole Kidman, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, and Jeffrey Wright (among others), the film will be released in September. |
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| Native Son by Richard WrightWhat it is: First published in 1940, this classic novel follows the life of Bigger Thomas, a young black man in 1930s Chicago, as his options narrow around him.
Why you should read it: Native Son frankly depicts the racial divide in the U.S. in the 1930s; though it's violent and at times hard to read, it's also a thought-provoking take on the impact of systemic racism.
Already on (small) screens near you: While Oprah appeared in the 1986 film, an HBO film set in the present day was released in April 2019. |
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