The Other Woman by Daniel Silva – Book

The Other Woman National Review

Gabriel Allon, our green-eyed agent for Israeli Intelligence has finally agreed to become the Chief of “the Office”. Gabriel is not in Israel though. He’s in Vienna, waiting to welcome a man, code name Heathcliff, who has been a Russian courier for years, now defecting to the West. This compromised Russian spy, real name Konstantin Kirov, is shot by an assassin on a motorcycle before he can get to the safe house where Gabriel and his team are waiting. Obviously Gabriel’s op was not as secret as he thought it was, but why?

It was my quest this summer to read all of the Gabriel Allon books that Daniel Silva has written (so far). The Other Woman is Silva’s most recent book so my quest is done, but it is no longer summer; it is December. No matter, it is satisfying to reach a goal, and reading a number of good stories is a pretty painless path to pursue.

This particular Silva book takes us back to Moscow. Why? Some of the best classic spy thrillers were written during the Cold War between Russia and the West. When the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain fell, novels set in Russia lost their cachet. Many call these days at the beginning of the 21st century a new Cold War. Traditional spy craft is pertinent again (Moscow rules), although enhanced by cyber-warfare techniques. Silva’s books tend to follow hot spots of violence that threaten Israel (and its allies). This choice for his new plot perhaps reflects the heating-up of threats from a new Russia that is acting an awful lot like the old USSR.

It is fitting that an old spy, Kim Philby (real person) turns out to have fathered a new spy. Gabriel and his crew, while investigating how their Kirov op got blown, also manage to solve the mystery of Kim Philby’s offspring and prevent the successful installation of a mole at the head of MI6. Will Graham Seymour, current head of MI6 survive the scandal? Will Gabriel be able to save his once-close rapport with Seymour and British intelligence? The Other Woman by Daniel Silva is classic stuff, but it might make you wish that the bad old days did not seem to be returning.

The Black Widow by Daniel Silva-Book

The Black Widow by Daniel Silva - Book

The Black Widow( Bk. #16) by Daniel Silva opens with the violent death of another venerable Jewish person intent on preventing a reoccurrence of the atrocities of Hitler’s Germany. Hannah Weinberg created the Isaac Weinberg center for the Study of Anti-Semitism in France (fictional) at the end of Silva’s novel, The Messenger (Bk. #6 ) She also owns a (fictitious) van Gogh painting, Marguerite Gachet at Her Dressing Table, used to call attention to real events in French history – Jeudi Noir and the Paris Roundup of 1942.

Who is responsible for this bombing and assassination that kills Hannah and other prominent invitees to a conference at the center in Paris? Why are so many Jews leaving France to go to Israel in the midst of Palestinian rocket launches into Israel?

This particular book seemed to touch on issues that are not settled territory for me, perhaps because it brings us to a time that is more contemporary than previous books in the Allon series. For one thing I cannot help having some sympathy for Palestinians, although I think their militant approach to what they see as Israeli imperialism made it impossible to take a diplomatic stance that could have led to shared ownership and peace, instead of eliciting a corresponding violence in the Jewish people. Having just learned of the annihilation of 6 million Jews in Europe, the Jewish people found themselves homeless until they were granted a toehold in Israel, and the lesson they had learned, that they could not afford to trust any nation, had just been driven home so tragically. They were more than ready to defend their new nation.

The second part of this particular Gabriel Allon op was about Syria, and refugees, and ISIS, and the radicalization of Arabic people displaced by war (and others). ISIS appears to promise the vulnerable and dispossessed a new nation – a caliphate – a chance to restore pride and offer them a return to their homeland. (There is no place like home.) There is no instant fix to the whole issue of how Muslims and Christians can learn to live in closer proximity than we did before the Iraq war; it requires an investment of time and tolerance. I cannot help but feel sorrow for people who were forced to empty out their country because of Bashar al Assad’s unwillingness to be humane. But I also find myself fearful at the idea of a regimented caliphate that exhibits a violent missionary zeal. Fighting terrorism seems an appropriate action for nations to undertake.

Does it trivialize the rise of ISIS to put it at the center of a thriller. Perhaps a little. But it also allows readers who don’t pay much attention to news to get some insight into the genesis of ISIS, its history, its rationale, and its modus operandi. This time Gabriel turns a secretary/administrative assistant into The Black Widow who can join ISIS and perhaps track down the identity and location of Saladin, the illusive man directing recent terrorists activities in Europe and hoping to do so in America.

We know Gabriel does not have a problem using females in spy ops and we also know they often end up in great physical peril, as does Gabriel. How does his black widow fare? The issues I encountered with The Black Widowwere personal, so see what feelings this interesting thriller, full of all your favorite Silva characters, engenders in you. I did like the perspectives it gave on the war in Syria and the rise of ISIS.

Year One by Nora Roberts – Book

nora-roberts-year-one-ftr

Nora Roberts, author of Year One usually writes romance novels. I do enjoy a good romance novel. It doesn’t necessarily give your brain a workout but it sends you on an emotional journey that often ends in a happy sigh and a temporary uplift in your spirts. Lately I forgo the brief jolt of endorphins offered by fake joy for books with a more mental punch. But I will say that I think even fake joy can make your day. This time Nora Roberts goes off the chart and gives us an apocalypse. Even if it still encompasses a good deal of romance, there is also suspense and grief and magic and black magic, and this is only the first book of a trilogy, The Chronicles of the One. One of my sisters passed this book on to me.

The story begins in Scotland where Ross MacLeod, who now resides in NYC, visits the family farm in Dumfries, Scotland which has been in the family for over two hundred years. Ross goes for a walk on his land and changes the world when he shoots a pheasant that lands in a magic circle and activates an old blood sacrifice he accidentally contributed to fifty years earlier, simply by tripping and scraping a hand on a stone that sits in that ancient stone circle on the property. Ross is a bit freaked by the circling of crows above the site but he is no believer in magic. When he gets very ill he thinks it is a flu virus. Then he dies. Soon this untreatable and incurable disease, named the Doom, begins to spread as rapidly as people move around the globe these days.

The grief people feel is enormous. Max and Lana, newly in love and experimenting with some talents they seem to possess which indicate they might be witches, do not sense the enormity of the escalating depopulation right away. For a moment they are a spot of joy in a city that is being devastated by disease and looting and violence. Lana is a chef, Max a writer. Arlys, a newscaster on a popular NYC stations has been promoted to the main news desk by default. She offers daily news to anyone who is still listening. Fred is an intern who works with Arlys and who has a secret which might help explain her effervescent personality. One day Arlys is given reasons to tell her listeners the real news, which is far more frightening than what she is used to offering. Rachel is a doctor, Jonah an EMT. They are trying to run a hospital with fewer and fewer staff, and patients they are unable to save.

When these New Yorkers finally accept that they must leave their beloved city and travel to more rural areas we see them depart in pairs to look for more people who have survived the Doom. Why some people survive while others do not is something that has no satisfactory answer. Some survivors have found that they now have magical talents. Fred’s secret is that she is a faerie with wings and a sprightly spirit that makes her quite lovable. Max and Lana find that they have become more talented witches than they ever were before. Some people find they are elves. And yet some people like Rachel and Arlys have no discernible magical talents and yet they survive.

Getting out of New York is not an easy thing for anyone. It turns out that magical people, like normal people can use their talents for good or for evil. Many survivors have turned to evil and can harm magical people who strive to be good if they catch them off guard or if their talents are unequal. There are also the usual gangs that thrive on chaos. Traveling is scary and dangerous and there is more safety in numbers. Eventually all these New Yorkers meet, not quite by accident in a new community that is taking shape in New Hope, Virginia.

There is social commentary here. The Uncanny, as the magical humans are named, become “the other” and are feared by intolerant humans who cannot accept people with magical talents as neighbors. They taunt them and troll them and make sharing a community uncomfortable and sometimes worse things happen when the intolerants do more than use their words.

As soon as the internet is partially restored this message is posted: “If you are reading this, you are one of the chosen. No doubt you have lost those dear to you and have felt, many still know, despair. No doubt you have witnessed firsthand the abominations that have desecrated the world Our Lord created. You may believe the End Times are upon us. But take heart! You are not alone! Have faith! Have courage! We who survived this demonic plague wrought by Satan’s Children face a Great Test. Only we can defend our world, our lives our very souls. Arm yourselves and join The Holy Crusade.” – The Purity Warriors

The Purity Warriors pretend to save the world in the name of religion but they actually spread terror and violent rape and death, especially targeting the Uncanny. But Lana is carrying The One. Will she bear the child in safety to grow to her full powers? How will she change the sad equation in a ruined world? Good stuff for real, even if a bit too much sugar on occasion.

Photo Credit: From a Google Image Search – Parade

Find me on goodreads.com as Nancy Brisson

The Heist by Daniel Silva – Books

the Heist by Daniel Silva NewsOK

Daniel Silva’s 14^thbook featuring his reader’s favorite Israeli spy is The Heist. Gabriel Allon kills the people who do evil in the world (Europe and the Middle East for the most part). Gabriel is an unlikely hero, slight of build, not very tall, with a full head of dark hair graying at the temples. He has aged some through the years and is somewhere in his fifties but he has a new young wife, Chiara, who also works for “the Office”. Gabriel feels regret for the killing he does but he doesn’t let that govern him because these are villains exhibiting some serious anti-social behaviors.

Gabriel is an unusual spy because he is a great art restorer (who perhaps would have been a great artist except for his mentor, Ari Shamron). Shamron recruited him and he wants Allon to agree to become the head of Israeli Intelligence. Gabriel has resisted this role but has recently promised that he will do that when Uzi Navot’s term ends.

Art heists have become common in Europe. Security in museums is often fairly lax or spread a bit thin. Art thieves have many ways to trick museums, but one of the safest is to employ a great forger. Empty spaces tend to attract attention, but it often takes time to identify a really good forgery as a fake. One painting, missing for a long time, is a Caravaggio painting of a mother and child. Gabriel may be Jewish but he specializes in restoring Renaissance religious art. He hopes to find that Caravaggio, but the painting seems to have fallen into the hands of a dictator who gases his own people.

So, there is a Syrian connection in this story, and Silva provides an informative backstory of the origins of the regime of Bashar al Assad, which is now in Gabriel’s sights. Gabriel cannot assassinate Assad, but he can try to make some of his ill-gotten fortune turn up in other bank accounts. There is a woman involved who works for a Saudi man who hides Assad’s fortune in lots of places where banking secrets are seen as sacred, and where laws can’t reach, such as the Cayman Islands. Gabriel doesn’t let women off the hook as sources and allies in matters of conscience. He has only lost one of the women he enlisted to help so far, although she was already ill and dying. Does the woman he recruits this time live through this op?

Does Gabriel Allon get Assad’s money? Does he find the Caravaggio? Does Chiara lose the twins she is carrying? Fourteen books later, still good stuff.

Photo Credit: From a Google Image Search, NewOK

November 2018 Book List

book-club-recomendations

November 2018 Book List

What I noticed about the books published in October (which are on this November book list) is that there are many enticing biographies, memoirs, and autobiographies just in time for finding a lamp, a chair, and a blanket this winter and getting lost in someone else’s life. Here’s a list of some of the people’s lives you can immerse yourself in: Marie Colvin, Johnny Rosselli, John Marshall, Edward Gorey, the Beastie Boys, Churchill, Henry Worsley, Michelle Obama, Sally Fields, Ghandi, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Babe Ruth, John Williams, Chopin, Bing Crosby, Philip Johnson, Saul Bellow, Benjamin Rush, Andrew Johnson, and John Kerry. That is quite a list. Surely almost anyone can find a great read for November, or way too many great reads for November. Stay toasty.

Amazon

Literature and Fiction

My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel by Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim

A Ladder to the Sky: A Novel by John Boyne

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Heads You Win by Jeffrey Archer

Insurrecto by Gina Apostol

Wolves of Eden: A Novel by Kevin McCarthy

Tony’s Wife: A Novel by Adriana Trigani

Those Who Knew by Idra Novey

Mystery and Thrillers

The Best Bad Things: A Novel by Katrina Carrasco

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

Night Town (A Junior Bender Mystery) by Timothy Hallinan

The Feral Detective by Jonathan Lethem

Dark Sacred Heart by Michael Connelly

Wolves of Eden by Kevin McCarthy

Past Tense (A Jack Reacher Novel) by Lee Child

Debris Line (Gibson Vaughn) by Matthew Fitzsimmons

Seventeen: A Novel by Hideo Yokoyama, Louise Heal Kawai

A Ladder to the Sky: A Novel by John Boyne

The Shadows We Hide by Allen Eskens

Someone Like Me by M R Carey

Nonfiction

The White Darkness by David Grann

Nashville: Scenes from the New American South by Ann Patchett, Heidi Ross

Heirs of the Founders (The Epic Rivalry of Henry, John Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants) by H W Brands

Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond, Adam Horowitz

Einstein’s Monsters: The Life and Times of Black Holes by Chris Impey

The End of the End of the Earth by Jonathan Franzen (Essays)

Gene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome by Venki Ramakrishnan

The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success by Albert-LászlóBarabási

Art Matters: Because Your Imagination Can Change the World by Neil Gaiman, Chris Riddell

Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes’ Hollywood by Karina Longworth

Biographies and Memoirs

In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin by Lindsey Hilsum

Handsome Johnny: The Life and Death of Johnny Rosselli; Gentleman Gangster, Hollywood Producer, Assassin by Lee Server

John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court by Richard Brookhiser

Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery

Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horowitz

Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts

Why Religion: A Personal Story by Elaine Pagels

The White Darkness by David Grann (Henry Worsley)

Becoming Michelle Obama by Michelle Obama

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Fire and Blood: 300 Years Before a Game of Thrones by George R R Martin, Doug Wheatley

Someone Like Me by M R Carey

The Winter Road by Adrian Selby

Kimiko and the Accidental Proposal by Forthright

Vita Nostra: A Novel by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko

New York Times Book Review

Oct 7

Nonfiction

American Prison by Shane Bauer

The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre

Farsighted by Steven Johnson

Attention: Dispatches From a Land of Distraction by Joshua Cohen (essays)

The Dinosaur Artist by Paige Williams

Beautiful Country Burn Again by Ben Fountain

The Imposter: A True Story (Enric Marco) by Frank Wayne

The Shortlist

Orca: How We Came to Know and Love the Ocean’s Greatest Predator by Jason M Colby

Spying on Whales by Nick Pyenson

The Last Lobster: Boom or Bust for Maine’s Greatest Fishery? by Christopher White

Eye of the Shoal: A Fisherman’s Guide to Life, the Ocean and Everything by Helen Scales

Fiction

Crime

Wrecked by Joe Ide

Holy Ghost by John Sanford

Dark Tide Rising by Anne Perry

Death of a Rainmaker by Laurie Loewenstein

Transcription by Kate Atkinson

Boomer1 by Daniel Torday

The End of the Moment We Had by Toshiki Okada

Crudo by Kathy Acker

Waiting for Eden by Elliot Ackerman

Ordinary People by Diana Evans

Best New Fantasy Novels

Witchmark by C L Polk

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

Half Witch by John Schoffstall

Every River Runs to Salt by Rachael K Jones

The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler by John Hendrix (YA)

Oct. 14

Fiction

The Witch Elm by Tana French

Patient X by David Peace

Deviation by Luce D’Eramo

Nonfiction

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss

Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger by Rebecca Traister

Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly

In Pieces by Sally Field

Looking for Lorraine by Imani Perry

If You Love Me by Maureen Cavanaugh

Ghandi: The Years That Changed the World, 1914-1948 by Ramachandra Guha

You’ve Been so Lucky Already by Alethea Black

The Arab of the Future 3: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1985-1987 by Riad Sattouf, trans. from the French by Sam Taylor

Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of the Syrian War by Marwan Hisham and Molly Crabapple

Unwanted: Stories of Syrian Refugees by Don Brown (YA)

Oct. 21

Nonfiction

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Poison Squad by Deborah Blum

Mind Unraveled by Kurt Eichenwald

No Property Man by Sean Wilentz

Grand Improvisation by Derek Leebaert

Every Day is Extra by John Kerry

Fiction

The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

Children of God by Lars Petter Sveen

Jean Harley Was Here by Heather Taylor-Johnson

One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan (Tamil)

CoDex 1962 by Sion

Crime Novels

Shell Game (V I Warshawski) by Sara Paretsky

The Stranger Game by Peter Godol

The Darkness by Victoria Cribb

The Midnight Witness (Louise Rich) by Sara Blaedel trans. from the Danish by Mark Kline

Oct. 28

Thrillers

The Infinite Blacktop by Sara Gran

The Lies We Told by Camilla Way

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough

Find Me Gone by Sarah Meuleman

Horror Fiction

Melmoth by Sarah Perry

Little by Edward Carey

I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Devil’s Day by Andrew Michael Hurley

True Crime

Sons of Cain: A History of Serial Killers from the Stone Age to the Present by Peter Vronsky

The Kill Jar: Obsession, Descent, and a Hunt for Detroit’s Most Notorious Serial Killer by J Reuben Appelman

In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agent’s Relentless Pursuit of the Nation’s Worst Predators by Jeffry L Rinek

A Tale of Two Murders: Guilt, Innocence, and the Execution of Edith Thompson by Laura Thompson

The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman

Blood and Ivy: The 1849 Murder that Scandalized Harvard by Paul Collins

Fiction

City of Crows by Chris Womersley

In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt

Shortlist (Crossover YA Novels)

A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos

A Heart in the Body of the World by Deb Caletti

Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

Nonfiction

The Sky is Falling by Peter Biskind

Kafka’s Last Trial by Benjamin Balint

Daemon Voices by Philip Pullman (Essays)

University of Nike by Joshua Hunt

Nov. 2

Fiction

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

The Lake on Fire by Rosellen Brown

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

Virgil Wander by Leif Enger

The Shortlist (Family Sagas)

In Your Hands by Inês Pedrosa

The Hope Fault by Tracy Farr

News of Our Loved Ones by Abigail DeWitt

Transgender Literature

Freshwater by Akwaeki Emezi

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir by Kai Chen Thom

Nonfiction

On Sunset by Kathryn Harrison

American Dialogue by Joseph J Ellis

The King and the Catholics by Antonia Fraser

She Wants It by Jill Soloway

Melting Pot or Civil War by Reihan Salam *

Capitalism in America by Alan Greenspan and Adrian Wooldridge *

Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Jane Sherron DeHart *

The Corrosion of Conservatism by Max Boot *

Never Ran, Never Will by Albert Samaha

We Are the Nerds by Christine Lagorio-Chafkin

Publisher’s Weekly

Oct 8

What if it’s Us? By Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (YA)

Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly – Thriller

The Witch Elm by Tana French – Mystery

99 Ways to Die by Ed Lin – F

Death of a Rainmaker: A Dust Bowl Mystery by Laurie Loewenstein – Mystery

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton – F

One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan trans. from the Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan – F

Samuel Johnson’s Eternal Return by Martin Riker – F

The Souls of Yellow Folk by Wesley Yang – Essays

Bridge City by Markus Zusak – YA

Oct 15

Unfurled by Michelle Bailat-Jones – F

A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese-Anne Fowler – F

Anniversaries: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl by Uwe Johnson, trans, from the German by Damion Searls – F

The Darkness by Ragnor Jonasson – Thriller

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver – F

Heavy – An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon – Memoir

The Big Fella by Jan Leavy (Babe Ruth) – Biography

The Library Book by Susan Orlean – NF

Melmoth by Sarah Perry – F

Wasteland: The Great War and the Origins of Modern Horror by W Scott-Poole – NF

The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel: John Williams, ‘Stoner’, and the Writing Life by Charles J Shields – Biography

Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar – Fantasy

Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times by Alan Walker – Bio

The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of US Primacy by Stephen M Wait – NF *

Oct. 22

Of Love and War by Lynsey Addario – Photos

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah – Short stories

Little by Edward Carey – F

The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay – F

18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and its Weather by Christopher Dewdney – NF

Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond and Adam Horowitz – Illus. Bio

The Fox by Frederick Forsyth – Thriller

Rush: Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father by Stephen Fried – Bio

The Rise of Andrew Jackson: Myth, Manipulation, and the Making of Modern Politics by David S Heidler and Jeanne T Heidler – Bio

Everything Under by Daisy Johnson – F

The Line by Martin Limón -Mystery

Astounding: John W Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A Heinlein, L Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee – NF *

An Empire for Ravens: A John the Lord Chamberlain Mystery by Mary Reid and Eric Mayer – Mystery

The Light Between Worlds by Laura E Weymouth – YA Fantasy

Oct. 29

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly – F

Valley Forge by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin – NF

Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star – The War Years, 1940-1946 by Gary Giddens – Bio

An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris – Fantasy Thriller

Marooned: Jamestown, Shipwreck and a New History of America’s Origin by Joseph Kelly – NF

Elevation by Stephen King – F

Bastard by Max Radiguès – Graphic Novel

The Hole by Jose Revueltas, trans. from the Spanish by Amanda Hopkinson and Sophie Hughes – F

The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol. 2 1956-1963, Edited by Peter K Steinberg and Karen V Kukil – NF

Family Trust by Kathy Wang – F

Nov. 5

The Day that Went Missing by Richard Beard – F

Evening in Paradise: More Stories by Lucia Berlin (pub. Posthumously) – short stories

An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere by Mikita Brottman – True crime

Past Tense: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child – F

An Agent of Utopia by Andy Duncan – Short Stories

The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century by Mark Lamster – Bio

The Life of Saul Bellow: Love and Strife, 1965-2005 by Zackary Leader – Biography

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – Thriller

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan – Fantasy

Churchill: Walking with Destiny by Andrew Roberts – Bio *

We Begin in Gladness: How Poets Progress by Craig Morgan Teicher – NF

Beyoncéin Formation: Remixing Black Feminism by Omise’eke Tinsley – NF

A Shot in the Dark: A Constable Twitten Mystery by Lynn Truss – Mystery