Many of wonderful titles we’ve loved and recommended are now out in paperback. Enjoy!
Cutting Teeth by Julia Fierro (St. Martin’s Press) Parenthood doesn’t magically make men and women’s less stellar habits, fixations, or attitudes disappear. Nothing makes this clearer than four young families vacationing together. It is in this setting that Fierro captures the realities of parenting preschoolers and how those responsibilities impact adult relationships. Cutting Teeth portrays parenting and its many anxieties openly without the homilies and sugar coating.—Jennifer Conner
Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Kortya (Back Bay Books) The Blackwell Brothers want 13 year old Jace Wilson dead before their trial. Secreting him away at Ethan Serbin’s remote survival camp buys him time, but it doesn’t guarantee anyone’s safety. The vivid details in Those Who Wish Me Dead drop the reader in the midst of a smoky fight for survival high in the mountains of Montana, making it the perfect choice for a fastpaced summer adventure.—Jennifer Conner
The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand (Back Bay Books) Summer is not complete unless you have your toes in the sand and your nose in a book by Elin Hilderbrand. Dabney Kimball Beech has successfully matched over forty couples, but can her own marriage survive the return of her first true love? Readers will travel to charming Nantucket between the pages of The Matchmaker, a lovingly crafted novel of family, love, loss, and forgiveness.—Alison Skap
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (Vintage) Historian Jill Lepore’s impeccably researched, and finely crafted, expose of Wonder Woman’s origins reveals the absorbing and peculiar life of William Moulton Marston, an often disgraced psychologist and researcher whose invention of the lie detector test was eclipsed by the creation of the iconic Amazonian superhero. Written with access to Marston’s private papers, The Secret History of Wonder Woman presents a man surrounded and immersed in complex and unconventional relationships with fascinating and influential feminist women. Lepore’s book offers new insight into the comics, the truetolife and often strangerthanfiction basis of Woman Woman’s thoughts and agenda, as well as a stunning cultural and feminist history of America. Lepore’s latest offering is must read for any American History buff. An abiding love of Wonder Woman adds to the appreciation of Lepore’s talents, but is entirely optional.—Nicole Bonía
Some Luck by Jane Smiley (Anchor) In Some Luck, the first in a trilogy, Smiley solidifies her reputation for having an intimate understanding of the rural Midwest. Distinct, complex characters and a rich narrative voice distinguish this multigenerational saga, as the Langstons navigate three decades of uncertain economics, changing technology, and unpredictable Iowa weather, beating the odds to see their family farm survive into the postwar years.—Candace B. Levy
The Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero (Anchor) The Supernatural Enhancements is an immensely entertaining haunted house tale with a twist—the story is told entirely through journal entries, transcripts, letters, receipts, and more. The clever use of puzzles and cryptograms along with the quirky characters make this an engaging, fascinating, and delightful read.—Amy Riley
The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg (Broadway Books Nordberg first covered Bacha Posh in an investigative report for the New York Times, and continues her research in this book exploring the lives and families from a cross-section of Afghan society- how each of the girls initially reacts to their opportunity, and how they handle being asked to transition back to a traditional female role. The stories she shares are as poignant as they are fascinating, shedding light on gender roles the world throughout even as they examine this seemingly alien microcosm.—Nicole Bonía
The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar (Harper Perennial) The Story Hour tells the tale of two very different women—Maggie, a black psychologist, and Lakshmi, a young wife from India lost in the new world of the United States—and how they change one another. Umrigar writes an insightful, emotional story. Readers will absolutely be drawn into both these women’s lives, hoping that they find peace and happiness with each other’s help.—Swapna Krishna
California by Edan Lepucki (Back Bay Books) California is a sweeping vision of a country radically transformed by the everyday news items we casually dismiss. Cal and Frida are an idealistic young couple whose efforts to live off the grid, and on the land come to a grinding halt when they discover Frida’s pregnancy. Unsettled by recent ominous signs, they decide to go in search of a community, both for protection and for aid in preparing for the birth of their child. What they find on their journey rocks them to their core and changes what they thought they understood about civilization and themselves. Lepucki’s novel explores the tensions and reinvention of family bonds and marital relations and loyalty against the shiftiness of an uncertain world.— Nicole Bonía
Landline by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin) Georgie McCool has been paying more attention to her job than she does to her husband Neal and their children. When she realizes she needs to work over Christmas, it is the last straw for Neal, who takes the kids to his mother’s house in Iowa without Georgie. On the brink of a possible divorce, Georgie attempts to call Neal from the phone in her childhood room and inadvertently manages to communicate with Neal back in the week before Neal proposed to her on Christmas Day. Landline is a beautiful novel about how priorities get out of whack and someone receiving the grace to fix them.—Jen Karsbaek
The post Readerly Top Picks In Paperback – July 2015 appeared first on Readerly.
