BOOKSHELF
April Books
FICTION
Go Gentle, by Maria Semple
Adora Hazzard has it all figured out. A Stoic philosopher and divorcée, she lives a contented life on New York City’s Upper West Side. Having discovered that the secret to happiness is to desire only what you have, she’s applied this insight to blissful effect: relishing her teenage daughter, the freedom of being solo, and her job as a moral tutor for the twin boys of an old-money family. She’s even assembled a “coven” — like-minded women who live on the same floor in the legendary Ansonia — and is making active efforts to grow its membership. Adora’s carefully curated life is humming along brilliantly until a chance meeting with a handsome stranger. Soon, her ordered world is upended by black market art deals, a secret rendezvous and international intrigue. Her past — which she has worked so hard to bury — lands like a bomb in her present. Inflamed by unquenchable desire, Adora finds herself a woman wanting more, and she’ll risk everything to get it.
The Last Movement, by Robert Seethaler
In the spring of 1910, Gustav Mahler — wrapped in a wool blanket — sits on the deck of the Amerika, sailing back to Europe. The ocean around him is gray and endless, the air sharp with wind and steel. Not yet 50, Mahler is already a legend. In Vienna and New York, audiences fight for tickets to see the restless, small man who commands the most stubborn orchestra in the world. Yet his fame is shadowed by illness. His body is failing and his wife, Alma, has fallen in love with another man, the young architect Walter Gropius. Mahler has begged, humiliated himself, tried everything to keep her. Nothing worked, except the certainty of his approaching death. Alma has stayed, tending to him with care, perhaps to ease his final passage. On board, Mahler reflects on life, art and above all, love. Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins, Seethaler’s The Last Movement is a haunting, tender portrait of a great artist confronting his farewell to life.
NONFICTION
Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces that Shape Your Life, by Alex Mayyasi
The hosts of NPR’s Planet Money join longtime contributor Mayyasi to present brand-new stories and insights gathered from more than a decade of reporting, revealing ways AI might help you or replace you, demystify dating markets, and showing how pro sports’ “dumbest” contract holds the secret to building wealth. They take readers on adventures to a smartphone factory in Patagonia, a raisin cartel in California, and an Indigenous reserve in Canada that might just have a solution for the housing crisis. Planet Money shows how economics shapes our world, and how we can harness key principles to make our own lives a little richer.
Joyful, Anyway, by Kate Bowler
We live in a culture convinced that chasing happiness will optimize our bodies, our minds, our relationships, our lives. But in the meantime, bad news usually stays bad: Illness, chronic pain, grief and disappointment don’t obey our timelines or vision boards. We are left wondering why, if we’re doing everything right, life still feels so hard. Joyful, Anyway proves that experiencing joy does not depend on resolving everything that makes life difficult. Drawing on a decade of living with serious illness and a lifetime studying America’s obsession with progress, Joyful gives language for the ache we all carry and practices for loosening control, introducing novelty, choosing charity, and staying open to the surprising, technicolor moments that pull us back into life. Joy reminds us that no matter what, life is still worth loving.
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
The Sun Thief, by Alice Hemming
Squirrel and Bird are back, and this time it’s summer! But squirrel is perplexed: A few weeks ago, the sun was still out at bedtime. Now he’s brushing his teeth in the dark! There must be . . . A SUN THIEF! With vibrant art and captivating characters, the magic of summer’s changes is captured beautifully on each page as readers tag along on Squirrel’s forest adventure. Is there truly a sun thief on the loose, or is something else going on? A perfect exploration of change — both seasonal, and the anxiety that change sometimes causes. (Ages 4 and up.)
Now I See Spring, by Mac Barnett
Sparse and rhythmic text invites readers to explore a rural setting through different seasons, gently introducing everyday words. Envisioned as a set that also can be read as standalone books, each of the four volumes in this eye-catching series has identical text but different images that reflect the time of year. In spring, the tree’s leaves are budding, rain falls from the sky, a sweet treat is a cookie, and the perfect hat is a yellow one that keeps you dry. Now I See Spring celebrates all the wonderful things about the season through a child’s eyes — and shows why it’s their favorite time of year. (Ages 2-5.)