8 Books You Don't Want to Miss This Month

You know how you tend to see the same books over and over in reviews and features? Many of us (me included) are drawn to the books that our friends and trusted sources recommend, and it's easy to completely miss other titles that deserve more attention. That's what today's round-up is all about. Here are eight books, all published this month, that might have escaped your attention. The genres are all over the place, so I've listed the books alphabetically, rather than try to group them.

Caroline's Bikini by Kirsty Gunn (Faber & Faber, Jan. 22). This is a novel about unrequited love among the cocktail set of contemporary West London. When middle-aged, successful banker Evan takes lodgings in the top floor of British family home, he's hit hard when he meets his landlady, Caroline. Complete with footnotes and references to the age-old classics, this a modern retelling of familiar, ancient themes. Other things to know: one of the blurbs reads "A gin-fueled love story with one part One Day mixed with one part Zadie Smith and a splash of Ali Smith." Who can resist?

The Current by Tim Johnston (Algonquin, Jan. 22). This contemporary story, set in the icy upper Midwest, involves two college friends, a road trip, and two fatal car accidents that occur along the same rural road but two decades apart. Although the book involves a mystery and an amateur sleuth, this is much more than a whodunit. Other things to know: The author's Descent was one of my favorite books. The novel has won several starred reviews.

The Falconer by Dana Czapnik (Atria, Jan. 29): Set in the 1990s in New York City, this is the story of growing up female, athletic, smart,and talented in a world both full of promise and just about to take a long downward slide. Feminism, art, young love, and the city itself take center stage in this coming-of-age story of a young woman growing up in the shadow of the baby boomers and the light of new possibilities. Other things to know: The author is an award-winning fiction writer with many years as an editor in sports journalism. Tons critical of praise.

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay (Grove Press, Jan. 15): This contemporary story is set in India and deals with sociopolitical issues, family drama, grief, and religion conflicts. Shalini, a 30-something woman, travels across the country to the Himalayans hoping to better understand her late mother and to look for a man she remembers from her youth. Other things to know: The author, born in Bangalore, won the Pushcart Prize. This debut novel was an Indie Introduces pick. Diversity & Own Voices.

Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A. by Lili Anolik (Scribner, Jan. 8): This is the biography of one-time groupie / sex symbol Eve Babitz, who hooked up (in one way or another) with movie stars, musicians, and artists of the 1960s and 1970s. Yet from the time she was a teenager, she was also a writer and in her later years went on to write several semi-autobiographical novels, to little notice. Apparently, her work is now seeing a comeback. Other things to know: Anolik is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.

Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley (Harper, Jan 15). This contemporary novel focuses on two couples who have been close friends for decades. When one of the quartet dies suddenly, the dynamics of the remaining interrelationships are thrown off kilter. Themes include friendship, marriage, grief, and dealing with the past. Other things to know: The author has won Windham Campbell Prize and the Hawthornden Prize. The book received much critical praise and at least one starred review.

A Sky for Us Alone by Kristin Russell (Katherine Tegen Books, Jan. 8): Set in an insular Appalachian town in the heart of coal country, this is a contemporary story of a young boy on the brink of manhood who is trying to come to terms with a family death while balancing his desire to escape the poverty and limits of his home town with the strong ties he feels to place and people. Other things to know: A debut novel. Coming-of-age story.

That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron (Ballantine, Jan 29): This is a fictionalized account of the life of Jennie Jerome, a daughter of the New York City elite who traveled to England in the 1870s to marry into the landed gentry. Out of her many suitors, she married Lord Randolph Spencer-Churchill and made it her business to help his political career and their rise in British society. Later she supported her son Winston as he made his own name in politics. Other things to know: Barron is not only an accomplished author but once worked for the CIA as an intelligence analyst.

Which of these books would you read first?

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6 Books in Translation to Read in January

Several years ago (and probably more years ago than I realize), I started not just reading books in translation but seeking them out. I don’t know how or why I developed my interest, but if I had to guess, I’d blame Scandinavian crime fiction for turning my attention away from the English-speaking world. I love the perspective and the themes of translated fiction and nonfiction, and by stepping outside my own cultural sphere, I’m broadening my horizons. Here are six books in translation that are my January reading list.

• The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells; translated from the German by Charlotte Collins (Penguin Books; January 29). Set Europe, this prize-winning novel follows the fate of three siblings who are suddenly orphaned and sent away to boarding school, where they drift apart. The youngest, Jules, finds friendship in a shy girl, but they too lose touch after school. When a family crises reunites the siblings, Jules reaches out to his childhood friend. In a world of loss and grief, is it possible to find hope?
• Last Night in Nuuk by Niviaq Korneliussen; translated by Anna Halager (Grove Press; January 15). (Note: I’m not sure if this was originally written in Greenlandic or Danish.) Set in the capital city of Nuuk, this is the story of five young people trying to find both themselves and their place as they head off into adulthood. Contemporary themes include too much partying, sexual identity, facing responsibilities, and political activism.
• Mala Vida by Marc Fernandez; translated from the French by Molly Grogan (Arcade; January 15). Set in contemporary Madrid, this novel explores a country in transition, including economic woes and a populist movement (sound familiar? ugh). Against this atmosphere, a radio crime reporter begins to investigate a series of seemingly unrelated murders only to uncover a major scandal from the Franco years, involving what was essentially the kidnapping of babies for the rich and powerful.

• The Plotters by Un-su Kim; translated from the Korean by Sora Kim-Russell (Doubleday, January 29). I’ve already written about this futuristic or alternative-world crime novel about a young man who was raised in Seoul’s underworld to be an assassin. In this universe, killers belong to guilds (or families) and are trained to do their jobs, without asking questions. After bungling a hit, our protagonist decides to step out on his own—but at what cost?
• Wanderer by Sarah Léon; translated from the French by John Cullen (Other Press; January 8). Set in the French mountains, this is the story of a composer and music teacher who has long worked in isolation, until one winter day a former male student—now a famous pianist—appears on his doorstep. Against a background of music and a snow-covered landscape, this is the story of the pair’s complicated relationship, and whether time and maturity will allow them a second chance.
• What Hell Is Not by Alessandro D’Avenia; translated from the Italian by Jeremy Parzen (Oneworld; January 24). Set in 1990s Palermo, home of the mafia, this novel is based on a true story. When an upper-class teen is asked by his teacher and priest to work at a youth club for underprivileged youth, he gets a firsthand view of the city’s poverty. When the priest is murdered, the teen must decide whether to continue to help the boys at the club or return to his safe and comfortable life.

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BEA Book Group Speed Dating Sesson: Part 1

My favorite panel at BEA each year is the one geared to book clubs. For the second year, the Reading Groups Guides panel has been set up in a speed-dating format. Attendees sit at round tables, and the publicity and marketing people from various publishing houses move from table to table to tell us about their hottest titles that will prompt the best discussions. Here is Part 1 of my recap of that event, covering four of the eight publishers that stopped by my table. (Come back on tomorrow for BEA Book Group Speed Dating Session: Part 2.)

Here are the books I learned about at the session, plus my top pick from each publisher. Titles in boldface are books that made it to my wish list.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

• Man Alive! by Mary Kay Zueavleff: a contemporary novel of family and values
• Someone by Alice McDermott: a woman scorned in the 1930s; we are all fools for something
• Tinderbox by Lisa Gornick: contemporary novel about how a nanny disrupts a family's dynamics
• Hild by Nicola Griffith: historical novel; a seer in 7th-century Britain, just as Christianity is taking hold in the kingdom

All it takes is a quarter to change pediatric psychiatrist Dr. Owen Lerner’s life. When the coin he’s feeding into a parking meter is struck by lightning, Lerner survives, except that now all he wants to do is barbecue. What will happen to his patients, who rely on him to make sense of their world? More important, what will happen to his family?

The bolt of lightning that lifts Lerner into the air sends the entire Lerner clan into free fall. Mary Kay Zuravleff depicts family-on-family pain with generosity and devastating humor as she explores how much we are each allowed to change within a family—and without. Man Alive! captures Owen and Toni Lerner and their nearly grown children so vividly you’ll be looking over your shoulder to make sure the author hasn’t been watching your own family in action.

What will book clubs talk about? Family, the importance of money, ambition, the true meaning of success, marriage and expectations, adapting to change. On sale September 3; ISBN 13: 9780374202316

Grove / Atlantic

• Just What Kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly: contemporary novel about a woman whose friend's child disappears while she is in charge
• Wash by Margaret Wrinkle: historical novel; effects of slave breeding in early 1800s Tennessee
• It's Not Love, It's Just Paris by Patricia Engel: focuses on the inhabitants of a woman's rooming house in Paris

In this luminous debut, Margaret Wrinkle takes us on an unforgettable journey across continents and through time, from the burgeoning American South to West Africa and deep into the ancestral stories that reside in the soul. Wash introduces a remarkable new voice in American literature.

In early 1800s Tennessee, two men find themselves locked in an intimate power struggle. Richardson, a troubled Revolutionary War veteran, has spent his life fighting not only for his country but also for wealth and status. When the pressures of westward expansion and debt threaten to destroy everything he’s built, he sets Washington, a young man he owns, to work as his breeding sire. Wash, the first member of his family to be born into slavery, struggles to hold onto his only solace: the spirituality inherited from his shamanic mother. As he navigates the treacherous currents of his position, despair and disease lead him to a potent healer named Pallas. Their tender love unfolds against this turbulent backdrop while she inspires him to forge a new understanding of his heritage and his place in it. Once Richardson and Wash find themselves at a crossroads, all three lives are pushed to the brink.

What will book clubs talk about? Slavery, breeding programs, spirituality, cultural differences. On sale November 9; ISBN 13: 9780802122032

Harlequin Mira

• The Sweetest Hallelujah by Elaine Hussey: described as The Help meets Beaches; 1950s Mississippi
• The Returned by Jason Mott: contemporary novel; what if your loved ones could return from the dead?
• Teatime for the Firefly by Shona Patel: early 1940s India; unlikely love story at the brink of great social change; the author grew up on a tea plantation in India
• The Tulip Eaters by Antionette Van Heugten: contemporary and historical (World War II); thriller in which the crime has roots in the Dutch resistance

Harold and Lucille Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time. . . . Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.

All over the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human.

With spare, elegant prose and searing emotional depth, award-winning poet Jason Mott explores timeless questions of faith and morality, love and responsibility. A spellbinding and stunning debut, The Returned is an unforgettable story that marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

What will book clubs talk about? Death, spirituality, religion, love, hope, what happens when wishes come true. Extra: this has been picked up as a television series, which will be called Resurection. On sale August 27; ISBN 13: 9780778315339

Penguin USA

• Margot by Jillian Cantor: contemporary novel with flashbacks to World War II; what if Anne Frank's sister escaped to the United States and now must relive past horrors when her sister becomes posthumously famous
• Me before You by Jojo Moyes: contemporary novel; UK setting; love story
• A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins: what happens when a man tries to build the first sentient computer using his late-father's journals
• The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles by Katherine Pancol: translated from French; two sisters try to help each other out with unexpected results

When her chronically unemployed husband runs off to start a crocodile farm in Kenya with his mistress, Joséphine Cortès is left in an unhappy state of affairs. The mother of two—confident, beautiful teenage Hortense and shy, babyish Zoé—is forced to maintain a stable family life while making ends meet on her meager salary as a medieval history scholar. Meanwhile, Joséphine’s charismatic sister Iris seems to have it all—a wealthy husband, gorgeous looks, and a très chic Paris address—but she dreams of bringing meaning back into her life. When Iris charms a famous publisher into offering her a lucrative deal for a twelfth-century romance, she offers her sister a deal of her own: Joséphine will write the novel and pocket all the proceeds, but the book will be published under Iris’s name. All is well—that is, until the book becomes the literary sensation of the season.

What will book clubs talk about? Marriage, sisters, motherhood, get-rich-quick schemes, honesty, jealousy. On sale December 31; ISBN 13: 9780143121558

Don't forget that discussion guides will be available for all these titles. Check ReadingGroupGuides.com and the publishers' websites for more information about book club resources, the books, and the authors.

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Review: The Beans of Egypt, Maine, by Caorlyn Chute

On the surface, The Beans of Egypt, Maine, is a story of two poverty-stricken families trying to get by the best they can. Earlene Pomerleau has been brought up by her father and is heavily influenced by her god-fearing grandmother. Earlene, who is essentially motherless, spends much of her childhood alone.

Across the right of way lives Roberta Bean who, although unmarried, is almost always pregnant. She is constantly surrounded by a gaggle of her "babies" as she works in her garden or tends to her chores. The Bean men, who are known to drink too much and to have bad tempers, work as loggers. Rueben is the meanest of the bunch, and Beal may be the kindest.

These families are what are known as the working poor. They have jobs, but many don't have electricity, indoor plumbing, or access to healthcare. Their houses are falling apart, their cars are rusty, their clothes are dirty, and most can barely read.

Chute introduces us to a life we may not want to face. How can there be people who are forced to live like the Beans in the United States of late twentieth century? But in exposing us to this rural and poor world, Chute also shows us the individuals who live within those run-down shacks, and we see that we actually have much in common with the Beans. We try to help our families, we try to feed our children, and we do what we have to find some love and safety.

The Beans of Egypt, Maine, is written almost as if it were a series of interlinked short stories. We advance through time in spurts rather than in a slow progression. The story is told alternately from Earlene's perspective and from an anonymous observer and focuses on Earlene and Beal. The characters and their world become very real, and I would not be surprised to run into a Bean someday in Maine.

The book does suffer from one bothersome flaw, however. As I understand it, Chute reworked the novel after it had already been published. I read the second, or so-called finished, version. At the end of the novel we find an author's note that explains why she rewrote the book. That would be okay, except she then goes on to tell us the proper interpretation of several scenes. I found this to be somewhat annoying. As a reader, I should be left alone to interpret the story in whatever manner I want to. Furthermore, if Chute was unsure that she was getting her point across, she should have reworked those scenes when the book was republished rather than explain them in the backmatter.

The novel is not action driven, and it reminds the reader of the more unsavory parts of life in America. But if you like a character study and want to learn more about people who may be different from you, then I recommend the novel. I have continued to think about the characters and the setting. You will likely be too curious to skip the author's note, but don't say I didn't warn you. I also advise you to avoid reading the publisher summary of the novel, because it contains several major spoilers.

Carolyn Chute does not have a website. For more insight into that choice, see the Wikipedia article about the author. Chute wrote two other novels that are set in Egypt, Maine. If you have reviewed this book, let me know, and I'll add a link to your blog.

Beans of Egypt, Maine at an Indie

Beans of Egypt Maine at Powell's

Published by Grove Press
ISBN-13: 9780802143594
Challenges: A-Z Title, Well-Seasoned Reader, New to Me Author, 999, 100+
YTD: 24
Rating: B-

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