This week in First Impressions, we bring you a one-of-a-kind debut novel that has drawn comparisons to the writing of Elizabeth Strout and Ottessa Moshfegh: Colleen Hubbard's Housebreaking.

Our Editor's Choice review focuses on a fascinating work of narrative nonfiction, The Vortex by Scott Carney and Jason Miklian — our accompanying Beyond the Book article expands on the book's subject, the Great Bhola Cyclone of 1970.

We invite you to check out more articles in our Nature and the Environment category for some excellent post-Earth Day reading.

You can also explore current and upcoming book club discussions, previews of books publishing in May and a new Wordplay!

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. Members who choose to participate receive a free book about every 3-4 months. Here are their opinions on one recently released title.

"Our twenty-something protagonist, Del, finding herself in desperate circumstances after a series of losses, gets a call from a New England cousin, which sets in motion an opportunity for her to look into her one remaining asset — her much-neglected family home left to her by her long-deceased, divorced mother. She must make some decisions about a possible sale of the land beneath it to her mother's brother, whose family's construction firm will roll it into a lucrative development. Without giving away the plot, suffice it to say, this is literary fiction at its finest. Relationships are explored, characters are defined, and its rich, often humorous dialogue places this as a worthy book club pick. I read all 300-some pages in one fell swoop, and rejoiced in it — board by board, stone by stone. Colleen Hubbard has written a masterpiece." - Borderlass (Belmont, MA)

"A bildungsroman with a twist, this coming-of-age novel's premise is both fascinating and multifaceted. Young, rude, aimless loner Del challenges herself to demolish her childhood home, and in the process of deconstructing the house and her family's stuff, she builds herself. This book will make for lively discussion among book groups." - Ann B. (Kernville, CA)

"When Elizabeth Strout and Ottessa Moshfegh are referenced in media reviews — as in "if you like..." — I have possibly unrealistically high expectations. Which were met! The requisite off-kilter, unlikable yet believable family members, the impossible task... I'm looking forward to more from this first-time author." - Maggie R. (Canoga Park, CA)

In November 1970, a massive cyclone blew up from the Bay of Bengal and made landfall along the densely populated coastline of what was then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The tiny islands of Bhola and Manpura were hardest hit, but the former lent this storm its name: the Great Bhola Cyclone.

In The Vortex: A True Story of History's Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation, Scott Carney and Jason Miklian achieve a miracle of sorts in weaving three overarching stories into a convincing, satisfying whole. A work of narrative nonfiction, the story unfolds through the eyes of its key players, including Pakistan's notorious president, General Yahya Khan; American expatriates and activists Jon and Candy Rohde; a soccer player turned soldier, Hafiz Uddin Ahmad; and cyclone survivor and budding Bengali revolutionary, Mohammed Hai. Making infamous appearances, as well, are American president Richard Nixon and his wily Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, who seek Khan's help in brokering a historic meeting between the U.S. and China. All represent the different faces of the cyclone response and West Pakistan's secret war against East Pakistan targeting the nascent Bengali independence movement... continued

Visit BookBrowse for more, including our full review and Beyond the Book article, "The 1970 Great Bhola Cyclone: A Climate Change Warning."

For every book we review, we also write a "beyond the book" article that focuses on a cultural, historical or contextual topic related to the book — a great way to discover books!

In addition to our article about the Great Bhola Cyclone (accompanying The Vortex above) you can explore more of our "Nature and the Environment" category, which covers subjects related to climate change, environmental activism, biodiversity and much more.

🔒Individual members and patrons of subscribing libraries have full access to all articles, while others have limited access.

BookBrowse's forums-based discussions are open to all, so please join us!

Click to see past, current and upcoming discussions. You can also sign up to receive a one-time notification when a particular discussion opens.

Currently, we're discussing Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan and Kaitlyn Greenidge's Libertie. The discussion for David R. Gillham's Shadows of Berlin will open this weekend.

We've carefully selected the most noteworthy books publishing in May — check them out!

🔒Individual members and patrons of subscribing libraries can see, sort and download the full list for all months. Non-subscribers can view a limited number of previews for the current month as well as all notable books published in previous months.

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: S A S Wins T R

This expression alludes to the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare which is one of more than 700 "Aesop fables." According to Greek historian Herodotus, Aesop was a slave in Greece who lived from about 620 to 560 B.C.E. and won his freedom through telling moral stories.

However, Herodotus was not born until about 80 years after the time period when Aesop is said to have lived and so many scholars question whether Aesop actually existed or whether a certain type of moral fable in the oral tradition simply got attributed to him...