Finding a story that fits you at the right time can be daunting. Mood, place, interests, and season may contribute to the overall hunt for the perfect read.
When searching for a new book, knowing a story’s theme or genre can help determine what you read next. Maybe you don’t know what to read, given your reading tastes. Or, if you’re like me, you want something different and spontaneous—a fresh adventure outside your comfort zone.
I have compiled a few titles that stretch across all genres and, hopefully, pique your curiosity.
Dorothy Gilman is best known for her exciting, feisty whodunits, which feature Mrs. Emily Pollifax, a widow who enjoys socializing and attending Garden Club meetings in her hometown of New Brunswick, New Jersey.
In “The Unexpected Ms. Pollifax,” the first of fourteen audiobooks, Emily takes an assignment in New Mexico and finds herself embroiled in a Cold War mystery.
She isn’t your typical amateur sleuth. Mrs. Pollifax has an indelible and insatiable appetite for solving mysteries—not the crossword variety, but puzzles involving real-life murder.
Inquisitive, adventurous, daring, and nimble, Emily travels to various locations worldwide, becoming a CIA agent and helping law enforcement solve crimes and bring perpetrators to justice.
Barbara Rosenblat narrates “The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax” with ceaseless zest. In this riveting outing, her powerhouse performance helps make the written word an art form.
Alan Hollinghurst’s formidable and exquisite new historical novel, “Our Evenings,” delves into the tough queer life of the 1960s to present day.
A work of art in every sense of the word, Hollinghurst deliciously and skillfully paints a portrait of two men in tumultuous times, brilliant in its delivery (“In your fifties and sixties your father figures drop away—the ones who have licensed, enabled, and witnessed your life—and no one can replace them.”), beautiful prose and elegant descriptions of landscapes—stunning vistas and visions of modern England.
New possibilities emerge for Dave Win, who, at age thirteen, gets a scholarship to a top boarding school. As life in the elite English society prospers for him, Dave exposes himself to different races, cultures, and classes. He soon realizes the world in which he is enraptured becomes a callous, envious environment of violence from his wealthy classmates.
Amid a challenging home life and emerging struggles with his sexuality and the art of love and brutality, Dave finds a strange discovery in Giles Hadlow, a mentor for better or worse, a relationship that accelerates into a cruel reality of influence and control.
Sophie White’s wonderfully strange, unsettling, but satisfying horror novel, “Where I End,” goes straight for the jugular.
The lead character, Aoileann, struggles to care for her fragile mother, which is a 24-hour job that consumes her days and nights. The tug-of-war between caring for sick mother and Aoileann’s mental and emotional state of unrest reach a horrific pinnacle of terror.
Entertaining, gripping, and evocative in its stunning, melancholy setting of words and imagery, the book’s brevity packs a punch and delivers a nightmarish, skin-crawling story (“At night, my mother creaks. The house creaks along with her. Sometimes in the morning we find her in places. We never see her move. We just come upon her”).
Along a craggy island off the coast of Ireland lives a curse. Known as the “bed-thing,” Aoileann works tirelessly to feed, change, and care for her sick mother. At what cost to her own mental and emotional well-being?
When Rachel, an attractive artist from the mainland, arrives on the island with her colicky newborn, a maelstrom of dark secrets emerges from her past, leaving Aoileann in a tailspin of her troubled ruins.
A delicate balance of horror and self-discovery, suspense and thriller, bordering on autobiographical storytelling, “Where I End” is tragic and, at times, offensive. It is difficult to read, but it will scare you.
Keeping an open mind to new ideas will enrich your life as a reader. Living is a lot like reading: discovering new things, people, and their environment can be refreshing, sometimes frightening, but rewarding at the same time—an eye-opening experience. Choose your next great adventure from my list or while perusing the shelves of your local library or bookshop.
Thomas Grant Bruso is a Plattsburgh resident who writes fiction and has been an avid reader of genre fiction since he was a kid. Readers and writers are invited to connect and discuss books and writing at www.facebook.com/thomasgrantbruso