by Emily Giffin |
People PICK
REVIEWED BY BETH PERRY
NOVEL
Taking a stroll through Manhattan barely three months after getting married, the pretty, successful and generally fabulous Ellen Dempsey bumps into Leo—the One Who Broke Her Heart. In an instant, she is transported back to the insecure twentysomething she was when they dated, stunned by the "tightness in my throat as I saw his face again." The mischievously alluring Leo follows her to a coffee shop, her heart "twists in knots," and in a thinly veiled seduction maneuver he proposes that they try to be friends.
Sure, we've been here before: a newly confident heroine struggling to stay away from an ex isn't surprising. But—as she proved with Baby Proof ('06) and Something Blue ('05)—Giffin's talent lies in taking relatable situations and injecting enough wit and suspense to make them feel fresh. The cat-and-mouse game between Ellen and Leo lights up these pages, their flirtation as dangerously addictive as a high-speed car chase. The ending isn't explosive, but what Ellen learns is quietly thrilling: Sometimes, you have to do whatever it takes to be with the one you love.
by Suze Rotolo |
REVIEWED BY DAVID CHIU
MEMOIR
In 1961, 17-year-old Suze Rotolo met a young singer named Bob Dylan in New York City, and they later became lovers—it's Rotolo who appears with him on the cover of '63's The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Her memoir is more portrait-of-an-era than tell-all, but there are delicious bits: the hours Dylan spent in front of a mirror, trying on rumpled clothes to perfect his serious image; his quietly telling Rotolo, after Columbia Records first signed him, "This is the beginning of what I have always known. I am going to be big." His growing fame hastened their breakup ("I couldn't handle being 'one step closer to God,'" she writes) but Rotolo isn't bitter. Through her eyes, we see Dylan as a unique artist on his way to greatness. She counts herself lucky to have been along for the ride.
by Ta-Nehisi Coates |
REVIEWED BY JONATHAN DURBIN
MEMOIR
In his lyrical debut, former Time writer Coates tells the story of his West Baltimore childhood and his intellectual father, Paul, an ex-Black Panther and Vietnam vet whose emphasis on education—both in the classroom and on the streets—ushered the author into manhood. As an African-American growing up poor in the '80s, Coates juggled the laws of his peers and the rule of his father; both demanded respect, but favor from one often meant losing the esteem of the other. He often fails on both fronts: A fight in school, for instance, ends in expulsion and ridicule from his classmates. His father doesn't mince words: "Ta-Nehisi, you are a disgrace to this family's name." Coates's struggle to win his dad's approval, recounted in tough, minimal language that's as quick to reference Transformers' Optimus Prime as it is Angela Davis, makes for a brilliant coming-of-age story.
by Jennifer McMahon |
REVIEWED BY JOANNA POWELL
FICTION
From the moment a hulking white rabbit abducts a schoolgirl from the parking lot of Pat's Mini Mart, this smart mystery-thriller grabs you by the throat and won't let go. Rhonda, the only witness, is so guilt-ridden by her dumbstruck failure to intervene that she launches her own hunt for the child. As with McMahon's debut, Promise Not to Tell, time shifts artfully; Rhonda's search leads her to revisit buried family secrets and explore the fate of her childhood pal Lizzy, another missing girl. Echoes of Alice down the rabbit hole persist right through the spellbinding conclusion, making this a page-turner you'll neglect sleep for.
ON DIVORCE, DORKDOM AND BEING A MOM
SPLIT by Suzanne Finnamore Her husband left; she lived to tell. Funny—even if "err on the side of lifetime vendetta" wouldn't be your style.
AMERICAN NERD by Benjamin Nugent The "story of my people" from a guy who had anxiety attacks when forced to play soccer.
OPTING IN by Amy Richards Not just another salvo in the mommy wars, Richards' take on the trade-offs of motherhood is evenhanded and illuminating.
In his new book Yes, You're Pregnant, but What About Me? Kevin Nealon—whose son with wife Susan Yeagley is now 15 months old—looks at the funny side of fatherhood (at age 54). He shares some insights:
IT'S TOO LATE TO GET OFF THE RIDE Getting married is a commitment, but once you have a child you're locked in—and it's a roller coaster.
HER HORMONES RULE When Susan was pregnant, I was trying a joke out on her. Apparently the sound of my voice was nauseating to her—she quickly ran to the bathroom to throw up.
YOUR PRIORITIES CHANGE I look for playgrounds now instead of gyms or bars. I get excited that a playground has the bucket swings.
HE ISN'T ONLY A FATHER I liked writing the book. Maybe I'll write Yes, You're in Jail, but What About Me? or Yes, You're Starving, but What About Me? It could be a series...
WHAT THEY'RE READING
CASH: The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. It gave me a new understanding of the Middle East.
JESSICA: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. It's a lot of ideas about trying to disconnect from your ego.
JIMMY: Charles Bock's Beautiful Children. I went to sixth grade with his brothers. Sarah's not a big reader.
SARAH: What?
JIMMY: You're not.
SARAH: I know, but that's not how I want America to perceive me!
WILLIAM: Electric Universe [by David Bodanis], about the history of electricity. It was fascinating! Felicity's sister sent it to me.
FELICITY: I do have some smart family members.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
