TCNJ

27 We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo THIS FIRST NOVEL by Zimbabwean writer Bulawayo is set in the politically tumultuous and violent year of 2008 in Zimbabwe, and later in the U.S. when the protagonist, Darling, immigrates to "Destroyed Michigan." We Need New Names is about the disappointments and challenges of being poor, black, and marginalized in both Zimbabwe and America, as well as about the price of immigration to achieve one's dreams (which, at least in this book, remain illusory). Mindy McMann I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson I'VE READ SEVERAL young adult novels recently, but I'll Give You the Sun, a story about twins (a brother and sister) whose lives are torn apart by tragedy, has been my favorite so far. The story moves back and forth in time—Noah narrating the past; Jude narrating the present—until both narratives are eventually reconciled. I loved how hopeful the story was in the end: Redemption, love, and forgiveness are real and possible. Emily Meixner The Lodger Shakespeare: His Life on Silver Street by Charles Nicholl STARTING WITH Shakespeare's recorded testimony as a witness in a sordid court case over an unpaid dowry, Charles Nicholl researches and describes early 17th-century London, providing a fascinating window into the daily life of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Speculative about Shakespeare, yes, but fun and full of material and cultural detail. Glenn Steinberg The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro A REVISION of the King Arthur legend set in 11th-century England, the novel is on its surface an archetypal hero's journey about a knight who must slay a dragon to restore the land. Though Arthur is not a character, his dark shadow haunts a wounded country where Britons and Saxons, living in fragile peace, have lost their memories. The book explores the tension between collective remembering and forgetting—when is it better for a community to forget a traumatic event, and when should we acknowledge and remember atrocities? Courtney Polidori How to Be Both by Ali Smith THIS DAZZLING, playful, experimental novel is divided into two parts—one centered on the Renaissance painter Francesco del Cossa, the other on George, a contemporary British teenager—that turn out to have much more in common than you might think. The novel was printed in two editions; one begins with the Renaissance section, the other with the contemporary one. I recommend you don't try to choose which edition to buy; Smith wants to surprise and delight you, and she does. As soon as I finished the book, I immediately read it again in the reverse order. Both versions are sublime. Michael Robertson

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