I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything like Hartman’s Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments. Original, captivating, beautifully written. I discovered this book when I read Parul Sehgal’s amazing review in The New York Times. —Shari

I know I’m not alone in finding it hard to really get absorbed in a book these days. A friend across the ocean sent me Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott’s Swan Song for a birthday gift. She told me it would be fun and distracting, both of which I sorely needed. Boy is she right. I’m only 18 pages in and, as soon as I stop typing this, I can’t wait to to jump back in.—Rebecca