This week in First Impressions, we're covering Celeste Ng's much-anticipated Our Missing Hearts, a dystopian tale following a Chinese American poet and her son.

Our Editor's Choice review climbs aboard Freya Sampson's The Lost Ticket, an inspiring novel featuring perhaps one of the most dramatic social environments: the city bus.

We also have books for members to request, a new Wordplay, and upcoming webinars about BookBrowse's library subscriptions -- we invite all librarians and friends of libraries to join us!

With best wishes,

Davina Morgan-Witts

BookBrowse Publisher

Each month we give away books to BookBrowse members who live in the U.S. to read and review.

"This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is a terrifying and all too believable fable that imagines a not-too-distant future America where a law has been passed that protects 'American Values.' The first part of the book is told from the perspective of Bird, a young boy whose mother disappeared three years earlier. It describes his life in a society that removes children from parents who are believed to not be sufficiently American. The second part is from his mother Margaret's point of view and describes her experiences in the years after the passage of PACT (Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act). The book is beautifully written and a page-turner. Among other things it is a love letter to libraries and those who protect free speech." - Pam S. (Wellesley, MA)

"I do not enjoy reading dystopian novels. They make me angry and anxious. But Celeste Ng wrote this and I would read a phone book if she wrote it. Although the setting and plot both are very dark and upsetting, the characters are so well drawn and loving I found this novel to be uplifting, hopeful and inspiring. I cared about and felt like I knew all of the people going through such difficult events. The theme of mother/son love was powerful. One of the best novels I've read all year." - Shirley L. (Norco, LA)

"This book is dark, emotional, and also hopeful. I definitely recommend it and think it will be great for readers that have loved Celeste Ng's other books and a great one for book club discussions!" - Alice L. (Clifton Park, NY)

Members! This month's First Impressions books are now available. Request at bookbrowse.com/arc before end of Saturday, October 15.

Books are provided to U.S. resident members free of charge with the understanding that they'll do their best to either write a short review or take part in an online discussion forum (depending on whether the book is assigned for First Impressions or the Book Club). Members who choose to take part generally receive a book about every 3-4 months.

Join BookBrowse, or renew a lapsed membership by the end of this Saturday (the 15th), and you'll have the opportunity to request the book of your choice from these five titles--if you request just one title you have a very good chance of receiving it; if you request two or more titles, you will definitely receive one of them.

Drama on the bus can be Shakespearean. You just want to go downtown, but on the way, you overhear a too-loud sob story from someone's phone call, or the guy sitting across from you is impersonating Michael Jackson in a tattered wife beater, or an old lady recites her autobiography to you despite you wearing headphones. However, the bus can also surprise you in ways that aren't just amusing or mildly horrible; sometimes you sit next to someone extraordinary who brightens your day. That is the scenario in which Freya Sampson situates her novel The Lost Ticket. Libby, a woman going through a quarter-life crisis, meets Frank, a stranger with a heartwarming story, on a London bus.

Libby feels like her life is falling apart. She has given up on her artist dreams, and her jerkish boyfriend of half a decade has dumped her, leaving her homeless and jobless, so she has to stay at her unbearable sister's. However, things begin looking up for her when she hears Frank's story. For the past 60 years, Frank has ridden the number 88 bus, hoping to reconnect with a girl he met there in 1962, and Libby vows to help him find her. A quirky commercial take on a coming-of-age story and travel narrative, The Lost Ticket at its core is about trusting one's nonlinear path to happiness and self-acceptance, as well as discovering the true value of kindness. ... continued

Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne

In Freya Sampson's novel The Lost Ticket, Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne is a central motif. The painting first comes up in a conversation between the character Frank and an admirer he encounters on the London 88 bus, and it continues to reflect relationships between characters throughout. The mythological relationship between Bacchus and Ariadne, as shown in the painting, symbolizes how love between two people can have an immortal quality. Knowing the mythology behind this work of art can provide a deeper understanding of how love is portrayed in the novel.

Ariadne, a goddess of fertility, is mainly known for her critical role in assisting the hero Theseus in slaying the Minotaur — the offspring of a bull and Ariadne's mother — and guiding him out of the labyrinth where the beast was kept. According to some versions of the myth, after receiving her help, Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos, where she was rescued by Bacchus, the god of wine (otherwise known as Dionysus); he discovered her as she was sleeping and fell in love with her. In some versions of the myth, the two married and had children.

Bacchus and Ariadne is a High Renaissance, dynamic, beautiful piece: rippling fabric wraps around the main subjects, bodies contort in motion and — most notably — it shows Bacchus and Ariadne looking at each other. ... continued

Did you know that in addition to offering individual memberships, BookBrowse offers a subscription option for libraries that provides access to all patrons and staff?

If you're a librarian or involved with your local library, and would be interested in learning how these subscriptions work, we invite you to join us for a 30-minute guided tour of BookBrowse for Libraries over Zoom on either Friday, October 14 or Friday, October 25.

Click below to register. We hope to see you there!

Solve our Wordplay puzzle to reveal a well-known expression, and be entered to win the book of your choice or a 6-month membership to BookBrowse!

The answer to the last Wordplay: Y Can't G H A

Meaning: If you try to return to a place from your past it won't be the same as it was.

This expression gained popularity as the title of Thomas Wolfe's novel You Can't Go Home Again. Wolfe was born in North Carolina in 1900 and during his relatively short life wrote four novels, and many short stories and plays. He died in 1938 of tuberculosis. You Can't Go Home Again was published posthumously in 1940, the text having been extracted by Wolfe's editor, Edward Aswell, from a much longer unpublished manuscript titled The October Fair. ... continued