This week, we review Julie Otsuka's The Swimmers as our Editor's Choice feature; and our First Impressions readers discuss On a Night of a Thousand Stars by Andrea Yaryura Clark, an electrifying novel set in part during Argentina's Dirty War in the 1970s and '80s.

We also highlight books in our Strong Female Leads category, and give away copies of French Braid, the latest novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler.

Thanks for reading,

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.

In this moving, emotional narrative of love and resilience, a young couple confronts the start of Argentina's Dirty War in the 1970s, and a daughter searches for truth twenty years later.

"I admit I am a historical fiction addict. On a Night of a Thousand Stars by Andrea Yaryura Clark took me to a time and place about which I knew virtually nothing. It grabbed my attention from the beginning and inspired me to explore this time in Argentina's history. I highly recommend this book!" - Wanda T. (The Villages, FL)

Reviewed by Kim Kovacs

The Swimmers isn't a conventional novel, and at first I found the author's narrative style rather off-putting. Paragraph after paragraph reads like a catalog, an inventory of the swimmers and their habits, without much exposition or depth. I was well into the book and had spent many pages wondering what the first part of it had to do with the second before realizing that it's allegorical, with the crack in the pool representing dementia. The author maintains this style throughout the novel, but hidden within seemingly random sentences is an amazing amount of detail about the person Alice was before dementia took her memory. The narrative forms a sort of collage of the woman's life, fragmented but nonetheless making a complete picture. While it lacks a traditional plot structure, we come to know Alice well... continued

Visit BookBrowse for more including our full review and beyond the book article, frontotemporal dementia.

Members! This month's First Impressions and Book Club books are now available. Request at bookbrowse.com/arc before end of Saturday, Mar 12.

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.)

Join BookBrowse, or renew your membership, and request a book before end of Saturday and you will receive it.

All visitors to BookBrowse can browse by genre, but most of our 100+ themed categories are only for members.

Since March is Women's History Month in the U.S., we're highlighting the category of Strong Female Leads. For the next couple of weeks, all visitors can browse this category for free to explore books featuring triumphant, heroic and history-defining women, real and fictional.

Currently, we're discussing Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, and Her Hidden Genius by Marie Benedict.

"Lushly imagined, psychologically intricate, virtually inhalable...At every leap, Tyler balances gracefully between tenderness and piquant humor, her insights into human nature luminous. Tyler is a phenomenon, each of her novels feels fresh and incisive, and this charming family tale will be honey for her fans.” - Booklist (starred review)

"[She] draws her characters and their interactions in such specific and revealing detail...More lovely work from Tyler, still vital and creative at 80." - Kirkus Reviews