Elaine's Picks

If you enjoy terrific, original literature, don’t miss Any Day Now. Clay grows up in 1950s Kentucky where the social and racial hierarchies are considered natural law. He’s smart, he writes poetry, he’s attracted to the Beats, but his parents want him to go to Vanderbilt. Instead he lands in New York in the 60s where he gets involved with a rich, radical girl who belongs to the Weathermen. When she vanishes he needs to disappear too and he does—to a utopian commune in Colorado. I can’t tell you more without blowing the story, but do get your hands on this masterful gem. Some signed first editions.

Anyone who had read Operating Instructions knows how hilarious Anne Lamott can be when dealing with the realities of becoming a parent. Now, nineteen-year-old Sam, the star of Operating Instructions, has become a father. As Anne sorts through her feelings, Sam chimes in with his own forthright take on the challenging miracle of loving and caring for baby Jax. The Lamotts have brought us an honest, humorous, heart-wrenchingly beautiful book that every parent and grandparent will treasure. Some signed first editions.

Kate is a CIA agent who is occasionally called upon to “terminate” someone. It gets stressful, especially for a young mother who can’t tell her husband what she really does at work. When her husband gets an opportunity for a high-paying position in Europe, she quits her job and starts to adjust to her new life as a full-time mom—until the day a woman from the CIA appears. Not only that, her husband has been up to some major illegal stuff. The twists and turns in this thriller will keep you up all night, but it’s worth it.

In an operation gone horribly wrong, American troops wipe out an entire village. Yunis, a 15-year-old Muslim boy, is saved by Christopher, a man who was instrumental in the attack. The boy is brought to the US, sponsored by an evangelical family. His name is changed to Jonas. But while he seems to be doing well at first,his past doesn’t disappear. Jonas moved right into my heart and Christopher moved right in with him. Stephen Dau makes war both personal and vivid. The ending is shocking and oh so right. Some signed first editions.

Come to the salt marshes on Cape Cod. Every year salt is thrown onto a bonfire and the colors that result predict the events of the year ahead. When one of two sisters sets a fire that leaves her older sister with terrible scars the siblings, who have been so close, are torn apart. One marries into the richest family in town. The scarred sister tries to save the salt farm. The locals know one thing, if you don’t buy that salt, your luck will be terrible. Baker brings us a lush tale filled with unforgettable characters, family secrets and revenge. Some signed first editions.

Her adoptive mother was a religious fanatic who liked to lock Jeanette out of the house for the slightest reason. A kind neighbor would sometimes feed her, but no one took her from her abusive home. The library was her refuge until her mother found her stash of books and burned them. Jeanette vowed to write her own. Kicked out of the house for good at 16, she got herself to Oxford. She’s acclaimed for her honest, haunting fiction but in this witty, scalding, tender memoir, she gives us the real scoop. Some signed first editions.

The opening line sets the tone: “Always there was music.” The Meisenheimers married in 1904 on the ship on which they’d escaped from Germany. They weren’t running from a political problem but from the bride’s horrible mother. After leaving the ship in New Orleans, hearing jazz, and meeting a man who would influence their lives, they settled in a small Missouri town. As the novel takes this immigrant couple and their family through the 20th century, we also follow the music—from Classical to Ragtime to Rock and Roll.