The Buddha in the Attic

by Julie Otsuka

This beautifully written novel traces the lives of Japanese “picture brides” who sailed to San Francisco in the early 1900s to become the wives of men they’d never met and knew only by their photographs. Julie Otsuka takes readers through their arduous journey, their disappointing marriages, their backbreaking work as fieldworkers and housekeepers, the heartbreak of watching their children reject their heritage, and their subsequent internment during World War II. Otsuka offers a captivating story while unearthing a little-known piece of American history.

Recommended by LOIS

I Have Some Questions for You

by Rebecca Makkai

Once in a great while, I’ll pick up a who-dunnit just for the fun of it, but then wind up feeling like I’ve frittered away my time. Rebecca Makkai’s I Have Some Questions for You satisfies as escapism but also delves into weighty issues like sexual violence, social class, racial profiling, individual agency and responsibility. And these topics make the novel feel worthwhile. Makkai’s story revolves around Bodie Kane, a character with a messy past, including the decades-old murder of her boarding school roommate. All that Bodie thinks she’s left behind comes rushing back when she agrees to teach a course at her old school. Clearly, Makkai’s title is meant to address Bodie, the suspects in the story - and its readers.

Recommended by MARY

One Summer: America, 1927

by Bill Bryson

Those who have read Bill Bryson know he crafts extremely readable, often hilarious, nonfiction.  In One Summer: America, 1927, he provides the backstory to what we learned in high school about the 1920s, and in particular, 1927. His deeply researched stories about Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, Mount Rushmore, Calvin Coolidge, aka Silent Cal, and much more, are interspersed with humorous anecdotes that make you wish he’d write a book about every year.

Recommended by HEIDI