Westport Public Library BOOK blog

You have probably read or placed a hold on the current bestsellers, like American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld or Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. What next?
The Library is an excellent source of the latest information on newly published books.

Here are a few of the newest fiction books:

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti is a retelling of Oliver Twist set in 19th- century New England. Dramatic & traditional, this is an adventure with a moral- just like Dickens.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery is translated from the French by Alison Anderson. A graceful fable, it features a precocious 12-year-old and the middle-aged concierge of her exclusive Paris apartment. All of their differences melt away as they recognize their kindred souls. About art, beauty, hypocrisy, classism and the meaning of life and death.

The Road Home by Rose Tremain is seen through the eyes of an immigrant, who leaves his Eastern European country, spends time in Britain and then returns home. This contemporary story highlights his impressions of Western culture and the realization that everyday survival is a kind of heroism. Menial jobs, small hopes and disappointments are leavened by the author’s compassion & humor.

Fine Just the Way It Is by award winning author Annie Proulx delivers her trademark spare prose, struggling characters and harsh Wyoming backdrop. No sentiment here, although her dark humor can be glimpsed. For fans of stories about life in the real West.

Goldengrove by Francine Prose is an uncharacteristically quiet and meditative book for the author. A 17-year-old “golden girl” drowns, leaving her family bereft and her younger sister nearly overcome with grief. She turns to her sister’s older boyfriend for solace, as her parents fall apart.

What Happened to Anna K. by Irina Reyn is a modern take on Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Now Jewish and living in New York, Anna has material wealth and little else when she meets the Other Man. The “Sex in the City” version of the classic.

Next blog: Crime & Science Fiction.