Staff Picks Format: Book

Flights by Olga Tokarczuk. [Book]

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If you are looking for a vacation read that is thought provoking, beautifully written, and exciting, I recommend Flights by Olga Tokarczuk.

Olga Tokarczuk is the first Polish woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature, and perhaps the most internationally beloved living Polish writer. Her books are always full of eccentric characters and rich prose.

Flights takes the form of what Tokarczuk calls a “Constellation Novel” — a disciple of Jung, she strings together vignettes, short stories, and essays (some only one sentence long) loosely associated as she creates a psychological portrait of her narrator.

The book is a meditation on travel, and on the psychology of people in states of motion. (The original Polish title, Bieguni, [lit. “runners”] refers to a sect of the Old Believers who believe that constant motion is a way to avoid evil.)

The structure of the book itself is designed for a travelling reader — the small vignettes make it easy to pick up and put down, for example when going between a plane and an airport terminal, without sacrificing the literary quality. You will meet a 17th century Dutch Anatomist who discovers the Achilles tendon in an unexpected way, a woman returning to her native Poland to poison her childhood sweetheart, A wife and child who disappear from their husband to return weeks later with no explanation, and academics who give lectures at airline gates to captive audiences.
This is an extraordinary book, in an excellent translation, that I expect I will return to again in moments of travel through life.

I also enjoyed Tokarczuk’s mystery novel Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead, although that one is better read in winter, and I look forward to reading her recently translated magnum opus, The Book of Jacob, an epic novel of the Frankist movement in Poland, but at 912 pages it may be slightly too large to fit into your beach bag.

Let me know what you think of Flights, and happy summer reading everyone!

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Flights:

“This is why tyrants of all stripes, infernal servants, have such deep-seated hatred for the nomads — this is why they persecute the Gypsies and the Jews, and why they force all free peoples to settle, assigning the addresses that serve as our sentences.

What they want is to create a frozen order, to falsify time’s passage. They want for the days to repeat themselves, unchanging, they want to build a big machine where every creature will be forced to take its place and carry out false actions. Institutions and offices, stamps, newsletters, a hierarchy, and ranks, degrees, applications and rejections, passports, numbers, cards, elections results, sales and amassing points, collecting, exchanging some things for others.

What they want is to pin down the world with the aid of barcodes, labeling all things, letting it be known that everything is a commodity, that this is how much it will cost you. Let this new foreign language be illegible to humans, let it be read exclusively by automatons, machines. That way by night, in their great underground shops, they can organize reading of their own barcoded poetry.

Move. Get going. Blessed is he who leaves.”

Popisho by Leone Ross [Book]

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Dead Collections by Isaac Fellman [Book]

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Sol Katz is the head archivist of an LGBTQ historical society, an avid fan of retro sci-fi television, a Jewish trans man, and a vampire. Any sun exposure could kill him, so his work organizing queer ephemera in a windowless basement suits him well. When Elsie, the widow of a well-known television writer, comes to donate her late wife’s papers, Sol is consumed by the project–both because the writer was the showrunner of his favorite 90’s space drama, Feet of Clay, and because of his growing attraction to Elsie. But things begin going wrong in the archive: film reels disintegrate, papers wither into dust, and Sol begins to suspect that a force beyond nature is to blame. As Sol searches for answers and learns more about the writer’s troubled life and career, he also grows closer to Elsie and begins reckoning with the way his vampirism limits and defines his life.
Though it’s easy enough to say that this is a book about a trans vampire archivist, mere description of the plot doesn’t do it justice. It’s a love letter to archives, but it’s also a meticulous and tender exploration of online fan communities and queer media. The story takes on many forms from chapter to chapter, including emails, forum posts, and scripts. This is my favorite book of the year so far, and I especially recommend it to anyone who enjoys explorations of gender, introspective horror, or Star Trek fanfiction.

Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky [Book]

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Outwitting History is an adventure tale, but much more than an adventure tale. It is a deeply felt, thoughtful look into the place of “other” cultures subsumed into the American melting pot, an homage to a generation that will soon be gone, and an homage to books. Yiddish may have outwitted history, but couldn’t have done it without Aaron Lansky. Share this story of the birth of one of our local institutions and the local hero who made it happen. Bring a tissue but be prepared to laugh.

What a Happy Family by Saumya Dave [Book]

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Saumya Dave follows up her debut (Well-Behaved Indian Women, 2020) with this story about another Indian-American family. The narrative is told from varying points of view: Bina and Deepak Joshi, who immigrated to the United States to give their children opportunities they never had; eldest daughter Suhani, following in her father’s footsteps as a psychiatrist; her white husband Zack; middle daughter Natasha, who turns down a proposal from the son of lifelong family friends to pursue a career in comedy; and son Anuj, their youngest child. Natasha’s rejection of her boyfriend’s proposal, shortly after she loses her job, begins a series of events that affect the family, their connections to their community, and their ability to support each other. Dave examines happiness itself from several angles, revealing different aspects for members of the family related to their individual mental health and interpersonal dynamics. Equal parts family drama, women’s fiction, and coming-of-age story, each family member is challenged and finds their way through with the strength of their relationships intact, if changed by experience. A sure bet for vacation reading and fans of hopeful family dramas.

She Wouldn’t Change a Thing by Sarah Adlakha. [Book]

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Maria Forssmann is thirty-nine years old, a successful psychiatrist with a charming husband, two beautiful daughters, and a son on the way, when she inexplicably wakes up in her seventeen-year-old body. Desperate to return to her life in the future, Maria finds herself committed to a mental health facility where she meets a doctor who may be able to help her. He’s also a time traveler and knows how this has worked for others. She’s returned to this time and place for a reason, and only completing her mission will send her back. Miles away in another state, her future husband’s family is about to suffer a terrible tragedy. Maria has knowledge that would allow her to prevent it, and doing so would also alter the future and thus erase her marriage. The choice before her is impossible, and she must make a decision.

Sarah Adlakha’s debut is a truly compelling read, making the reader consider what they would do if offered a second chance, how they might deal with a difficult choice, and what is most important in life. The characters are relatable, the story is gripping, and the blend of domestic fiction with a hint of science fiction is just plain great. Offer it to fans of Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, Jo Walton’s My Real Children, and book clubs.

Summertime Guests by Wendy Francis [Book]

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Wendy Francis centers her latest at the recently restored and reopened (fictional) Seafarer hotel in Boston, with its impressive history of important guests and air of glamour making it a destination for special occasions and events. The novel follows a handful of customers who intersect one fateful afternoon, and presents through flashbacks the stories of how they arrived at that moment. When a woman falls (or does she jump?) to her death from her room’s balcony on to the restaurant patio, her story ends, and the stories of the other players begin to unfold. Jean-Paul is a French expatriate juggling the management of the hotel and life as a new father. Riley is a bride-to-be attending a tasting as she, her fiance, and his mother consider wedding venues. Claire is a recent widow hoping to reconnect with the one who got away. Jason is a troubled grad student on a weekend getaway with his girlfriend. Who is the dead woman, and what happened? This engaging tale maintains a pleasant level of suspense throughout, and a satisfying conclusion of the mystery that will still leave readers with some things to think about.

Add this to your arsenal of beach reads along with Elin Hilderbrand, Nancy Thayer, and Dorothea Benton Frank.

Everything After by Jill Santopolo. [Book]

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In Santopolo’s (The Light We Lost, 2018) latest, Emily Gold is a psychologist with a fulfilling practice, married to Ezra, a compassionate pediatric oncologist. They live in a lovely Manhattan apartment and are preparing to expand their family. Emily’s feelings about getting pregnant now are mixed with her feelings about a pregnancy thirteen years earlier, when she was a college student and musician on the cusp of success playing gigs with her talented boyfriend. Told in chapters that alternate between college Emily’s journal and grown up Emily’s thoughts, the reader learns more about Emily’s past than even her husband knows. A challenging week for her marriage, with problems at home and work, coincides with the appearance of her college boyfriend on the hit music charts (and a local performance), compelling Emily to question the decisions she made then and is making now. Life, love, and loss are themes throughout both timelines.

Offer this to fans of women’s stories like those by Rebecca Serle and Taylor Jenkins Reid, readers who appreciate a good “what if…?” and those who like interpersonal drama set in New York City.

How Lucky by Will Leitch [Book]

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On the surface, this novel is a mystery story about the disappearance of a young college student. Mystery novels are obviously numerous, but it is the narrator (Daniel) that sets this book apart and above other typical mystery stories. Confined to a wheelchair and virtually non-verbal, the novel is told through Daniel’s curious, sharp, and often hilarious point of view. He watches the world go by from his front porch and, after witnessing the abduction already mentioned, works with a loveable and quirky cast of characters to solve the crime. While entertaining from start to finish, this book also gives a unique look into the world of those that suffer from degenerative diseases, and gives a voice to those that are often overlooked or underestimated.

Bleak House [Book]

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Though the title, age, and overall length (almost 1000 pages!) of this book may turn some readers away, this classic is well worth a read! Dickens’ writing style is evident in full force here and his lengthy descriptions of everything from fog to court judges contain beautiful insights and nuanced observations. It is the characters of this book that really shine though; fans of everything from Anna Karenina to Bridgerton will love the wide array of expertly named characters. From the somber and mysterious Lady Deadlock, to the cold and calculating Tulkinghorn, readers are pulled into the drama of the court case that the whole story centers around. There are twists and turns, triumphs and tragedies; a perfect book for a rainy day and an intrepid reader!

Sunflower Sisters by Martha Hall Kelly [Book]

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Crying in H Mart [Book]

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Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (also known by her band name Japanese Breakfast) is a beautifully crafted memoir about Zauner’s relationship with her mother and coming to terms with her mother’s slow decline and death. It grapples with themes of identity, loss, love, grief, and culture. She tells us about her and her mothers connection through vivid descriptions of Korean food and how food connects people, families, and cultures. It is a warm and yet heartbreaking story (one that will make you cry within the first chapter) that teaches us how we must not only remember the people who formed us, but also that we have the power to construct our own identities too.