Book cover of Slanting Towards the Sea

Book description

National Bestseller

Spanning twenty years and one life-altering summer in Croatia, Slanting Towards the Sea is at once an unforgettable love story and a powerful exploration of what it means to come of age in a country younger than oneself.

Ivona divorced the love of her life, Vlaho, a…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Slanting Towards the Sea as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Weeks after reading the final page of Lidija Hilje’s debut novel, I’m still wondering what her characters are doing now. From first words to last, I found myself completely immersed in a place I’ve always wanted to visit, the Croatian coastline; an amazing achievement for an author writing in her second language.

The novel is structured as a series of flashbacks interspersed with “now” (though the exact year is unspecified). This slow but steady drip of memories shows how Vlaho and Ivona met, fell in love, and then divorced. Meanwhile, scenes set in the present day drip with regrets.…

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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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