The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian. One thing's for sure about this prolific Vermont-based writer - he can't be accused of writing the same book every time. His novels have dealt with the likes of midwifery (
Midwifes, which was also an Oprah pick back in the day); transgender issues (
Trans-Sister Radio, written back in 2001); an accidental family shooting (
The Kindness of Strangers); and the Armenian genocide (
The Sandcastle Girls). His latest welcome effort, which immediately hit independent bestseller lists, tackles issues of marital fidelity and sex trafficking wrapped
into a page-turning story with plenty of twists. It begins with a bachelor party thrown by investment banker Richard Chapman for his brother that goes horribly wrong, ending with two dead Russian bodyguards in Richard's Westchester home. The Russians had delivered the evening's, um, entertainment - two young women abducted as teenagers from Armenia who turn out to be resourceful and ruthless when opportunity strikes. With that set-up in place, the book follows the consequences of the bacchanalian evening on both the Chapman family and the on-the-run sex slaves trying to dodge both police, who may arrest them, and gangsters, who will certainly kill them.
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. He's probably best known for the Booker Award-winning
The Remains of the Day, thanks in part to Anthony Hopkins' cinematic turn as the dignified but repressed English butler. But Ishiguro's
literary reputation has been built with an impressive body of work that has earned him four Man Booker Prize nominations and one win (for
Remains). His newest book, just out in paperback, promises something different for his readers, a fable set in Arthurian England about an elderly couple who set off on a journey to their son's village. They encounter knights, dragons, ogres, and lots of mist, but of course in Ishiguro's hands this is no ordinary fairy tale. Although the setting is different, the themes of love and human nature are familiar as Axl and Beatrice seek to find their way and regain fading memories.
success of
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up would spawn a sequel. And so it has - Japanese decluttering guru Kondo has put together an illustrated guide to her acclaimed KonMari Method, with step-by-step folding illustrations for everything from shirts to socks, plus drawings of perfectly organized drawers and closets. This volume goes into more specifics than
Magic, but the principles are the same and theme of joyful organizing remains front and center.
