JULIE JACOBSON

I really loved Ayelet Waldman’s new memoir Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace ($24.95).  In fiercely tender and uproariously hilarious prose, the author recounts misadventures and discoveries on the perilous path of parenthood.  A great choice for a women’s book group!

Plots in which an ensemble of damaged characters heal each other while embarked on a common enterprise are hardly original.  But in The School of Essential Ingredients ($24.95), Erica Bauermeister weaves a masterful tale in which eight appealing students gather monthly at a local restaurant for lessons that are about much more than cooking wonderful food…delicious!

Following up on his acclaimed novel Molokai, Alan Brennert’s latest novel, Honolulu  ($24.95), is another winner.  The book follows four young Korean women who travel to Hawaii as “picture-brides” for lonely Korean men.  The grooms are nothing like the women expect, but they each find a successful path in their new home.  Full of fascinating characters, Honolulu is a great history lesson about Hawaii from 1914 until 1957. 

JON GRAND

Rogues’ Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money That Made the Metropolitan Museum by Michael Gross ($29.95).  The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of America's greatest museums.  But behind the veneer of rectitude and propriety lies the sometimes seedy but always colorful story of its acquisitions, benefactors, and directors. As in "740 Park,” Gross reveals the organic and human side of institutions. An engaging read whether you are fascinated by art history or not.

Eiffel's Tower by Jill Jonnes ($27.95).   Built for the Paris World's Fair of 1889, The Eiffel Tower was an engineering miracle...and to some, a blight on the Parisian skyline. From our perspective, the Tower is perhaps the most recognizable symbol of Paris. The 18,000 pieces that make up the structure confirm its architectural and engineering modernism.  But the Tower itself is only part of the story of Paris on the brink of the modern era:  Artists began the struggle to break the old molds; Men like Edison continued to press the frontiers of science; and traveling entertainment brought the culture of America to Europe.  The story of the Tower and the story of Paris at the turn of the century are inextricably joined, just as they are today. 

LESLIE BREED

A Pearl in the Storm by Tori Murden McClure ($25.99).  “In the end, I know I rowed across the Atlantic to find my heart, but in the beginning, I wasn’t aware that it was missing.”  So begins this fabulous memoir about rowing solo across the ocean—part gripping adventure story, part horrifying survival story, part aquatic travelogue, but most of all a no-holds-barred exploration of what drives a person to attempt an extreme mental and physical challenge.  Tori McClure is an exquisite writer and you won’t soon forget her heartfelt story of coming to terms with her demons in the middle of the Atlantic. 

NANCY RANDALL

Sarah Waters' most recent novel, The Little Stranger ($26) is terrific.  The setting, for the most part, is Hundreds Hall, a mansion in rural England that has seen better days.  It is 1949, and Dr. Faraday is called to Hundreds Hall to examine a young servant girl who complains of stomach pains.  Somehow the doctor almost immediately becomes involved with the Ayres family, who are trying in vain to keep the estate habitable. There is one disaster after another.  Waters weaves a wondrous story about decay, death and the decline of the British upper class.  Read this novel and decide for yourself who or what is haunting Hundreds Hall.

Once again Tracy Kidder proves that one person can make a difference.  In Strength in What Remains ($26), he tells the tale of Deo, a young man who survives the genocide in Burundi, Africa, lives on $6 a day in New York City, and with his determination, his intelligence and the help of three altruistic people, attends Columbia University.  Parts of Deo's compelling story are truly painful to read, but read on.  It's well worth it.

The Housekeeper and the Professor ($14) by Yoko Ogawa is a deeply felt, thought-provoking novel.  Like most good Japanese fiction, it is told in elegant, simple, yet profound prose.  It is the story of a once prominent math professor and his housekeeper, the single mother of a 10-year-old son.  In 1975, the professor had an automobile accident that resulted in him having an 80-minute memory—in other words, his short-term memory only recalls events of the last 80 minutes.  Yet, somehow, even with this handicap, he is able to form a relationship with his housekeeper and her son.  The Housekeeper and the Professor is a novel about the elusiveness of memory, the power of numbers, and the bonds of love and friendship.