Book cover of O Beautiful

Book description

Jung Yun's O Beautiful is a "mesmerizing and timely" (New York Times) novel about a woman trying to come to terms with the ghosts of her past and the tortured realities of a deeply divided America.

Elinor Hanson is struggling to reinvent herself as a freelance writer when she receives…

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Why read it?

1 author picked O Beautiful as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The story takes places in Bakkon North Dakota during the oil boom. The protagonist, Elinor Hanson, a product of an overbearing father and a Korean mother who met during the war, is sent as a journalist to report on the landscape of change of her hometown. Armed with notes from her mentor/lover, to write a piece, Elinor is torn. There are many twists and turns. What story should she write? The oil boom changed Bakkon and what is the story Elinor wants to tell? A part of the country I never knew, the struggles, the conflicts, and challenges.

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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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Almost Home by Howard Means,

Almost Home is a fictional retelling of the last great tragedy of the Civil War.

In late April 1865, almost 2,000 newly freed Union prisoners of war are packed onto the steamer Sultana, in poor repair and with a listed capacity of 376 passengers. Among them are four Indiana soldiers…