What We’re Reading This Week

MOLLY

What We Become by Arturo Perez-Reverte

“Perez-Reverte is expert at capturing the elegance, hypocrisy and tragedy of European high society before the Second World War. His latest, What We Become, explores the complex paths of a thief and an aristocrat in three time periods – before the Spanish Civil War, during the war, and years afterwards. The handsome thief, masquerading as a ballroom dancer, and the wealthy and rebellious aristocrat, married to a famous composer, first meet on a transatlantic voyage in the 1920s, where they are drawn into a menage a trois as the dancer teachers the composer and his wife the true meaning of tango. The two meet again during the Civil War, where the thief has been recruited into the shadowy world of wartime espionage. The two meet again at a Cold War chess tournament. All three time periods weave together to create a topography of a vanished world.” You can find copies of What We Become on our shelves and via bookpeople.com. 

GREGORY

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

“This boozy and raucous mystery follows Nick and Nora Charles as they try to best sobriety. They’d do it too if they didn’t have to parse through ginned-up schemes and solve murders. Dashiell Hammett’s most entertaining yarn mixes social satire with fierce plotting and goes down as smooth as a perfect martini.” You can find copies of The Thin Man on our shelves and via bookpeople.com. 

PATRICK

Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America by Kristian Williams

“The current state of policing in America is a subject I am very passionate about, but I’d never given much thought to its history. Williams gives a thorough account of the origin and development of the institution in this country from racist groups of vigilantes to racist groups of tax-funded patrolmen. I’m only about halfway done right now, but I’m having a very hard time setting this book down.”You can find copies of Our Enemies in Blue on our shelves and via bookpeople.com. 

CONSUELO loves…

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

“Whether I read five pages or fifty, Proulx’s sense of time and place completely sucked me in every time I opened the book. Characters both major and minor were detailed and complicated, compelling me to keep reading. I was unsure a 700 page novel about deforestation would be my cup of tea, but I can confidently say it’s the only big book that I’ve read in quite some time that warrants all those pages!” You can find copies of Barkskins on our shelves and via bookpeople.com. 

MELISSA

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

“The only shameful thing about this book is that I didn’t read it sooner. A large chunk of the human population has disappeared. Was it the rapture? Or something else entirely? The setting of this book is placed three years in the future and is told through the eyes of a few characters in a small town. The amazing thing about this book is the fact that instead of being focused on the rapture aspect, it’s more centered around the characters and how their lives have been affected. This is a fresh story that has captured me almost immediately and I am beyond invested and excited to see how these characters’ stories end.”You can find copies of The Leftovers on our shelves and via bookpeople.com.