Seeking your next good read? Emma Snyder, owner of The Ivy Bookshop at 5928 Falls Road in Baltimore, offers recommendations for must-read titles for adults and children.
Fiction
“Joan Is Okay” (Hardcover)
By Weike Wang
Random House, 224 pages, $27
A witty, moving, piercingly insightful new novel about a marvelously complicated ICU doctor — set just before and during the early months of Covid — who can’t be anyone but herself.
“The Good Lord Bird” (Paperback)
By James McBride
Riverhead Books, 480 pages, $16
The story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade, and who must pass as a girl to survive. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination.
Nonfiction
“Across the River: Life, Death, and Football in an American City” (Hardcover)
By Kent Babb
HarperOne, 384 pages, $27.99
A rich and unflinching portrait of a football coach, his players, and the West Bank of the Mississippi in New Orleans, as they discover purpose, together, and navigate beyond difficult realities.
“Red Lines: Political Cartoons and the Struggle Against Censorship” (Paperback)
By Cherian George and Sonny Liew
MIT Press, 448 pages, $34.95
A lively graphic narrative reports on censorship of political cartoons around the world, featuring interviews with censored cartoonists from Pittsburgh to Beijing.
Children
‘Slug in Love” (Hardcover)
By Rachel Bright
Illustrated by Nadia Shireen
Simon & Schuster, 32 pages, $17.99
Young readers will love this funny, endearing, rhyming picture book that shows there’s a friend for everyone. Parents will take their own delight in reading it aloud. Ages 4-8
“Winterhouse” (Paperback)
By Ben Guterson
Illustrated by Chloe Bristol
Square Fish, 400 pages, $8.99
Mystery, adventure, and beautiful writing combine in this exciting debut richly set in a hotel full of secrets. Ages 9-12
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