Rachel Baack

Summary: Without explanation, Karen, a seemingly normal and well-adjusted housewife, goes speeding through town and crashes her car into a telephone pole, which lands her in the hospital with a concussion and a case of amnesia. Her husband, Tom, reacts with understandably deep concern. This behavior, after all, is completely unexpected. Soon, however, it becomes clear that something is amiss, as the body of a murdered man is found in the same part of town as Karen’s car crash, and secrets—Karens’, Tom’s, and others’—start to come to light.

Summary: This second prequel to The Hunger Games series follows Haymitch as he faces his own reaping and experience training for and participating in the 50th Hunger Games. As the result of his attempts to protect his girlfriend, Lenore Dove, Haymitch is illegitimately chosen as the second male tribute from District 12 who will participate in the second Quarter Quell, a Hunger Games that doubles the number of tributes required to participate. After being taken from his family and forced to endure anguish of all kinds in the days leading up to the Games, Haymitch determines to make a stand against the Capitol and the institution of the Hunger Games.

Summary: After receiving a troubling letter from her recently married cousin Catalina, Noemí Taboada travels to Catalina’s new home in the mountains of the Mexican countryside to offer her help and try to discover the source of Catalina’s distress. Upon her arrival, Noemí is introduced to her new in-laws, a once-wealthy English family who Noemí finds to be extremely rigid. Not only does Noemí chafe under the limiting rules and regressive beliefs of Doyle family, but she also begins to experience disturbing dreams and sense that there is something sinister about the house itself.

The authors of this book argue for the establishment of social norms and structures under which everyone engages in part-time work and part-time care. They argue that this organization of work and care is vital to creating a society in which care and caregivers are valued and humans are able to thrive. The book is well researched, providing explanations of studies and real-world examples that support the authors’ claims. The authors’ arguments provide excellent food for both independent thought and interpersonal conversation.

Tolkien, writing in an alliterative verse style modeled after the source material, synthesizes several sources on Old Norse mythological tales to construct two poems that tell the tale of a line of Norse heroic figures. Published after Tolkien’s death, the text contains extensive notes from Christopher Tolkien providing context and explanations where they are necessary and/or helpful.

Summary: Al Gore lays out the realities surrounding the climate crisis as of 2017, interspersing this information with stories of climate activists, and ending with practical advice for how ordinary people can get involved in fighting for a healthier planet. Throughout the book, the author makes a point to emphasize the necessity of hope.

This book is at once highly accessible, uncomfortable, and necessary.

Summary: Pasha is a Ukrainian language teacher who has seen (but attempted to distance himself from the reality of) the impacts of the war going on in his homeland. Now, as battle lines shift, Pasha must travel into the heart of the fighting to retrieve his thirteen-year-old nephew, Sasha, from the orphanage in a now-occupied city.

This novel takes place over the course of just three days as Pasha and the other civilians with whom he finds himself traveling face dangers of every kind on their journeys, and it provides excellent insight into the impacts of war—at turns heartbreakingly predictable and utterly shocking—on a country’s civilian population.