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
“Tilt”
By Emma Pattee
Simon & Schuster, 240 pages, $27.99
This book is stressful — in a very good way! Pattee’s debut novel invokes a visceral sense of danger, as she walks us through a single day in which a pregnant woman navigates Portland, Oregon amidst a devasting earthquake.
“Glorious Exploits”
By Ferdia Lennon
304 pages, $17.99
This high-concept novel shouldn’t work, and yet somehow it does. It’s a tragicomedy set in ancient Syrycuse, Italy and written in modern Irish vernacular, in which two out-of-work potters become theater directors who cast starving Athenian prisoners to carry out a production of Euripedes.
Nonfiction
“Eminent Jews”
By David Denby
Holt, 400 pages, $32
A witty and perceptive look at four consequential figures from Jewish American history; Leonard Bernstein, Mel Brooks, Betty Friedan and Norman Mailer. Denby celebrates their talents, explores their effect on broader culture, and looks at its impact on Jewish life in a post-war landscape.
“Potomac River: Reflections on the Nation’s River”
By Charlotte Taylor Fryar
272 pages, $17.99
A Glen Echo, Maryland resident, Fryar walks alongside the banks of the Potomac often. The result is this book — a mix of history, nature writing, and memoir. Using the flora and fauna that flourish in her footpath, she explores the origins of our splintered nation and racially divided capital city.
Children
“Somadina”
By Akwaeke Emezi
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 304 pages, $19.99
During their teens, Somadina and her twin brother, Jayaike, begin to develop magical powers that their community finds both enchanting and frightening. When Jayaike disappears, and people begin to turn on Somadina, she goes on an otherworldly voyage to track him down.
“Mistaco: A Tale of Tragedy y Tortillas”
By Eliza Kinkz
Kokila, 40 pages, $18.99
We all make mistakes, but we don’t all have the foresight to put those mistakes into a taco and eat our troubles away! Loaded with charm, this picture book is about owning your mistakes and forgiving yourself for them.
Filmmaker Justin Schein looks at wealth and inequality through the very real story of his late father.
For 35 years, the late Deborah Brodie, aka Bubbie Cookie, amassed a collection of over 200 Jewish ritual objects, which she used to teach her Hebrew school students with special needs.
Conceived by Columbia resident Benjamin Kintisch, "Life Review: The Hospice Musical" offers a thought-provoking and occasionally amusing perspective on mortality.
Steve Hofstetter, who will perform at Soundstage next week, recently made headlines for his social media post ridiculing some fans' warnings about Charm City's safety.