The Westport Library Resource Guides: Sybil's List: July 2017

Sybil Steinberg's New Book Picks

Date: Thursday, Jul 20, 2017 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Location: The McManus Room

Westporter Sybil Steinberg, contributing editor and former book review section editor for Publishers Weekly, returns with more ideas for your summer reading with her ever-popular talk on the best new reads.

Fiction (In Order of Presentation)

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
Publication Date: 2017-06-27
In 1746, a stranger comes to tiny New York City from London, with a secret mission and a fortune to spend.
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
Publication Date: 2017-06-06
Brilliantly written but challenging, this is a drama of India torn apart by sectarian violence and political chicanery.
Marlena by Julie Buntin
Publication Date: 2017-04-04
In a rust-belt rural community in Michigan, a young girl becomes involved in the drug-taking milieu of desperate teenagers.
The Underworld by Kevin Canty
Publication Date: 2017-03-07
A fire that sweeps through a silver mining town in Idaho wipes out working class families, loved ones and dreams.
The Locals by Jonathan Dee
Publication Date: 2017-08-08
In a small town on the economic skids, blue collar characters realize they can’t achieve the American dream.
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Publication Date: 2017-03-07
A brilliant evocation of the world-wide refugee problems, seen through a young couple who flee violence in their homeland.
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
Publication Date: 2017-04-25
Characters mentioned in My Name is Lucy Barton are described with masterful insight and compassion.
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Publication Date: 2017-02-14
On the night of his beloved son’s burial, Lincoln visits the cemetery, observed by the souls who hover there.
House of Names by Colm Tóibín
Publication Date: 2017-05-09
Revenge and murder animate this retelling of the Greek myth that begins when Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia.
Valiant Gentlemen by Sabina Murray
Publication Date: 2016-11-01
Irish diplomat Sir Roger Casement, who was hanged as a spy in 1916, had a long friendship with an artist and his wife.
War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans
Publication Date: 2016-08-09
stricken life, artistic aspirations, and service as a soldier in World War I.
The Dark Flood Rises by Margaret Drabble
Publication Date: 2017-02-14
A group of British characters brave the indignities and reduced vitality of old age with bravery and apprehension.
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
Publication Date: 2016-05-03
How the specter of mental illness affects a family, seen from the P.O.V. of a father, mother, daughter and two sons.
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
Publication Date: 2017-01-24
The rollicking adventures of a teenage Irish refugee and his equally impoverished lover in the American west during the mid-1800s.
A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman; Jessica Cohen (Translator)
Publication Date: 2017-02-21
A stand-up comedian’s act in a seedy Israeli nightclub turns into a wrenchingly sad recital of the tragedy of his life.
Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss
Publication Date: 2017-09-12
Two Americans who never meet each other experience epiphanies on a visit to Israel as each move along a path of self knowledge.
The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies
Publication Date: 2016-09-06
The lives of four Chinese-Americans, three of them real historical figures, followed over several decades.
The Burning Girl by Claire Messud
Publication Date: 2017-08-29
A haunting story of a universal subject: the thrill of finding a best friend and the heartbreak when the relationship ends.
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore
Publication Date: 2017-08-01
Bristol, England in 1792 is the setting where an idealistic young woman gradually realizes that her marriage was a tragic mistake.
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Publication Date: 2017-06-06
When a mythical serpent seems to have returned to the Essex River in 1893, a young widow up from London is fascinated.
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
Publication Date: 2017-03-28
The eponymous anti-hero is a criminal who goes straight to raise his beloved daughter but cannot escape the violence of his past.

Fiction Continued (In Order of Presentation)

Edgar and Lucy by Victor Lodato
Publication Date: 2017-03-07
Edgar is an albino boy born to Lucy, a reluctant, careless mother. When he is kidnapped, many secrets are revealed.
A House among the Trees by Julia Glass
Publication Date: 2017-06-13
When a renowned author of children’s book suddenly dies, the executor of his estate discovers the secret of his childhood.
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
Publication Date: 2017-03-21
Raised in a remote Chinese village, in a minority sect called the Akha, a young woman gives up her daughter born out of wedlock.
The Patriots by Sana Krasikov
Publication Date: 2017-01-24
A foolishly idealistic young woman from Brooklyn goes to Russia in 1933 and is trapped there during Stalin’s terrible regime.
Selection Day by Aravind Adiga
Publication Date: 2017-01-03
Two boys raised by their abusive father in Mumbai to become members of an elite soccer team face daunting choices.
Mother Land by Paul Theroux
Publication Date: 2017-05-09
The mother from hell raises her seven children to compete with each other in order to win her love.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Publication Date: 2017-05-09
An endearing story of a woman who has difficulty in social settings finally coming to terms with her life.
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Publication Date: 2017-03-14
A smart but clueless daughter of Turkish immigrants enrolls in Harvard in this subtle send-up of an adolescent’s understanding of the world.
Chemistry by Weike Wang
Publication Date: 2017-05-23
The parents of a Chinese-American woman consider her worthless unless she achieves her Ph. D in chemistry.
What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons
Publication Date: 2017-07-11
Due to her pale complexion, an African-American woman raised by professional parents feels an outsider in every social setting.

Short Fiction (In Order of Presentation)

The World to Come by Jim Shepard
Publication Date: 2017-02-21
Stories that range over an amazing span of time and place confirm Shepard’s status as one of our most prestigious short story writers.
Trajectory by Richard Russo
Publication Date: 2017-05-02
Venturing away from his familiar blue-collar characters Russo creates middle-aged professionals who face turning points in their lives.
Fresh Complaint by Jeffrey Eugenides
Publication Date: 2017-10-03
Ten beautifully written and satisfying stories whose plots grow out of character development rather than dramatic revelations.
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Publication Date: 2017-02-07
These Vietnamese refugees try to find an American identity while wrestling with sadness and guilt.

Nonfiction (In Order of Presentation)

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Publication Date: 2017-02-28
Subtitled: 'Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century', it’s a must-read.
My Life with Bob by Pamela Paul
Publication Date: 2017-05-02
BOB stands for Book of Books, where the editor of the New York Times Book Review discusses the books that marked chapters in her life.
The Lowells of Massachusetts by Nina Sankovitch
Publication Date: 2017-04-11
Prodigious research and a lively narrative style make this history of the prominent New England family fascinating.
Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Publication Date: 2016-04-05
In a captivating memoir, Jahren describes the arduous path she had to follow to become a geobiologist.
The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy
Publication Date: 2017-03-14
Why would a 38-year-old, newly pregnant woman accept an assignment to do a story in Mongolia?
Charlotte Bronte by Claire Harman
Publication Date: 2016-03-01
Newly available material adds to our knowledge of the fiercely ambitious woman writer who was ahead of her time.
Between Them by Richard Ford
Publication Date: 2017-05-02
Ford evokes his parents’ ordinary though difficult lives during the Great Depression.
The World Broke in Two by Bill Goldstein
Publication Date: 2017-08-15
The subtitle of this literary narrative is: “Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, E. M.Forster, and the Year That Changed Literature.”