The Westport Library Resource Guides: Sybil's List: June 2016

Sybil Steinberg's New Book Picks for Summer Reading

Date: Friday, June 3 from Noon to 1:00 pm

Location: The McManus Room

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

Fiction (In Order of Presentation)

Here I Am by Jonathan Safran Foer
Publication Date: 2016-09-06

A blockbuster about four generations of a Jewish family facing divorce, old age and death, this novel has in-your-face intensity.
They May Not Mean To, But They Do by Cathleen Schine
Publication Date: 2016-06-07

Anyone living with an elderly spouse, or taking care of elderly parents, will thoroughly enjoy this darkly hilarious, often touching story.
LaRose by Louise Erdrich
Publication Date: 2016-05-10

When a Native American man on a North Dakota reservation accidentally kills the son of his best friend, the anguish of both families is eased by an act of redemption.
The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan
Publication Date: 2016-05-03

This is a brilliant achievement that dramatizes the sport of thoroughbred horse racing seen against the background of inbred racial bigotry.
Heat and Light by Jennifer Haigh
Publication Date: 2016-05-03

Immensely readable, thought-provoking and brimming with psychological insight, Haigh’s novel tackles the dangers of fracking.
The Girls by Emma Cline
Publication Date: 2016-06-14

This summer’s hot book. A breathtakingly imaginative story in which a 14-year-old girl becomes involved with a Manson-like cult.
Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo
Publication Date: 2016-05-03

A shaggy dog story again set in a dying town features ne’er-do-wells, deadbeats, thieves, con-men and other colorful and irresistible characters.
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
Publication Date: 2016-05-24

The narrator of this coming of age novel set in Manhattan becomes a server at a celebrated restaurant.
The Summer Guest by Alison Anderson
Publication Date: 2016-05-24

The lives of three women intersect through the discovery of a diary that suggests that Chekhov wrote a novel, believed lost, now found.
All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage
Publication Date: 2016-03-08

A gruesome murder opens this stunning novel. Its focus is a college professor whose true nature is gradually revealed.
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien
Publication Date: 2016-03-29

The charismatic but evil stranger who arrives in an Irish village seduces a young married woman who carries his child.
Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift
Publication Date: 2016-04-19

In England after WWI, a maid at a country house and the heir to a neighboring estate engage in a secret love affair.
And after the Fire by Lauren Belfer
Publication Date: 2016-05-03

This compelling literary thriller follows a lost Bach cantata through four centuries of tumultuous history.
The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
Publication Date: 2016-05-10

Barnes channels the mind of Dimitri Shostakovich after Stalin attacks his music and thecomposer fears arrest by the KGB.
Modern Lovers by Emma Straub
Publication Date: 2016-05-31

Mid-life crises and the raging hormones of adolescents roil two families who’ve been friends since college days.
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Publication Date: 2016-03-22

An old-fashioned, unpretentious and absorbing story centering on the inhabitants of an English village in the final summer before WWI.
Peacekeeping by Mischa Berlinski
Publication Date: 2016-03-08

A political thriller set in Haiti where an idealistic American working for the UN fights a culture ingrained with corruption.
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Publication Date: 2016-03-22

Four middle aged siblings in a dysfunctional but appealing family await the distribution of a trust fund.
Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
Publication Date: 2016-01-05

A contemporary gothic, this imaginative novel deftly blurs the lines between fantasy and reality while focusing on a love story.
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
Publication Date: 2016-01-19

Impossible to categorize, this is a whimsical, appealing story of a love affair in which the heroine talks to squirrels.

Fiction Continued (In Order of Presentation)

Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen
Publication Date: 2016-04-05

The narrator of this warm-hearted, affecting novel grows up in the 1960s in a town destined to disappear in flood waters.
Exposure by Helen Dunmore
Publication Date: 2016-04-05

A Cold War thriller in which an innocent man is framed as a traitor by his colleague in the British Admiralty.
High Dive by Jonathan Lee
Publication Date: 2016-03-08

An imaginative portrait of the Irish terrorist who set the bomb meant to assassinate Margaret Thatcher in a Brighton hotel.
The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel
Publication Date: 2016-02-02

A funny, sad and beguiling novel set during three decades and centering around a tiny town in Portugal.
The Tusk That Did the Damage by Tania James
Publication Date: 2015-03-10

Set in South India, this beautifully paced and realized novel explores the moral complexities of the ivory trade.
Scary Old Sex by Arlene Heyman
Publication Date: 2016-03-08

An astonishing collection of unflinchingly candid stories with uncommon perceptions about love and sex, and aging.
The Bed Moved by Rebecca Schiff
Publication Date: 2016-04-12

Mordantly witty confessional stories in which the heroine reflects on her early sexual experiences.
Night at the Fiestas by Kirstin Valdez Quade
Publication Date: 2015-03-23

Ten stories set in New Mexico featuring characters who confront moral choices involving betrayal, family secrets and cultural and racial issues.

Nonfiction (In Order of Presentation)

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Publication Date: 2016-01-12

The author was 36 years old, about to finish a neurosurgical residency, when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
S. P. Q. R. by Mary Beard
New discoveries about how Rome grew, and its relevance to contemporary history.
The Year of Lear by James Shapiro
Publication Date: 2015-10-06

How events in 1606 influenced Shakespeare’s decision to write “King Lear,” “Macbeth,” and “Antony and Cleopatra.”
Killing a King by Dan Ephron
Publication Date: 2015-10-19

Twenty years after the assassination of Israel’s Prime Minister Rabin, Ephron writes a highly detailed summary of the event.
The Bridge Ladies by Betsy Lerner
Publication Date: 2016-05-03

The author uses bridge as a metaphor to chronicle how she belatedly forged a fond relationship with her mother.
West of Eden by Jean Stein
Publication Date: 2016-02-09

A fascinating oral history of five iconic Hollywood families, told through reminiscences of people who knew them.
On My Own by Diane Rehm
Publication Date: 2016-02-02

The NPR icon considers her new status as a widow expressing sadness and guilt about her husband’s illness and death.
The Pawnbroker's Daughter by Maxine Kumin
Publication Date: 2015-07-13

The late poet writes about her fiance’s secret wartime job as one of the scientists who developed the atomic bomb in Los Alamos.
Underground in Berlin by Marie Jalowicz-Simon; Anthea Bell (Translator); Hermann Simon (Afterword by, Foreword by)
Publication Date: 2015-09-08

In 1942, Marie ripped off her yellow star and moved among 20 different safe houses in Berlin, always a step away from discovery.
The Violet Hour by Katie Roiphe
Publication Date: 2016-03-08

Subtitled “Great Writers at the End” this fascinating book chronicles the final days of Susan Sontag, Sigmund Freud, John Updike, Dylan Thomas, Maurice Sendak and James Salter.