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
“Mercury Pictures Presents” (Hardcover)
By Anthony Marra
Hogarth, 432 pages, $28.99
Anthony Marra’s newest novel moves from Mussolini’s Italy to the studio lots of 1940s LA. It tells the story of Maria Lagana, Italian emigre turned wartime movie producer, who must wrestle with family legacy and her own identity when someone from her father’s past arrives in LA.
“The Oppermanns” (Paperback)
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
Washington Square Press, 400 pages, $18
The Oppermanns, recently reissued with an introduction by Joshua Cohen, was originally written in 1933. It tells the story of an upper-class Jewish family in Weimar Germany as they live through the rise of Hitler. It’s a novel, a warning, a depiction of the fall of liberal democracy. It’s a version of the past that feels far too present.
Nonfiction
“The End of Solitude: Selected Essays” (Hardcover)
By William Deresiewicz
Henry Holt & Co., 320 pages, $29.99
This essay collection — drawn from Deresiewicz’s essays and criticism over the last 30 years — engages deeply with sincere questions: How do we live with integrity in a world geared toward showmanship? What is the purpose of education? How do we best discern who we really are?
“The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life” (Hardcover)
By Mark Epstein M.D.
Publisher Penguin Press, 320 pages, $16.99
Mark Epstein, psychotherapist and Buddhist, chronicles a year in the life of his therapy practice — the year in which he began to speak with his clients about his own spirtuality. A beautiful, and illuminating, framework for exploring w worldly emotion and spiritual practice.
Children
“Inch by Inch a Lift the Flap Book” (Board book)
By Leo Lionni
Random House for Young Readers, 22 Pages, $8.99
A spirited delight. This book is inspired by Lionni’s classic picture book and is full of bright collages and interactive pages. As they move through the book, kids will help Inchworm measure his various animal friends! (Baby – 3 years)
“Cornbread and Poppy at the Carnival”
By Matthew Cordell
Little Brown Books, 80 pages, $6.99
The second installment in Matthew Cordell’s early reader series, presents a delightful pair of odd-couple mice, Poppy and Cornbread — decidedly different, but the best of friends. As they head off to a day at the carnival, they’ll encounter treats, games, and rides, as well as the challenge of negotiating new experiences, together.
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