Word’s pick: “Tigerman” by Nick Harkaway
I could not possibly have been more excited for “Tigerman,” Nick Harkaway’s third book. Expectations: met and then some. This is about family, environmental apocalypse, government bureaucracy, international intrigue, real-life superheroes, and how far you would go for someone you love. It is a decided shift from “The Gone-Away World” and “Angelmaker” — Harkaway’s humor is in full force, but in many ways this is a far more realistic — and therefore more terrifying — story. And here is where I run out of words and start to ramble and babble and so I will just say: buy it. Buy it now.
— Jenn Northington, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbrooklyn.com].
The BookMark Shoppe’s pick: “The Miniaturist” by Jessie Burton
Readers will delight in this enchanting debut novel by author Jessie Burton. Nella, a young Dutch girl, is chosen to be the bride of a wealthy merchant, with well-kept yet shocking secrets. Not long after, her enigmatic husband presents her with a beautiful cabinet, an exact replica of the house in which they live. Nella engages the services of a miniaturist to her beautiful gift, an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways. This miniaturist seems to know more than he lets on, sending Nella gifts she hasn’t even commissioned, hinting at a future he alone can predict. Expertly written and exquisitely suspenseful, “The Miniaturist” is a wonderful story of love, betrayal, and truth.
— Bina Valenzano, co-owner, The BookMark Shoppe [8415 Third Ave. between 84th and 85th streets in Bay Ridge, (718) 833–5115, www.bookmarkshoppe.com].
Greenlight Bookstore’s pick: “We Are Not Ourselves” by Matthew Thomas
“We Are Not Ourselves” may be one of my favorite novels of the late summer and early fall. It is an all-encompassing, deeply moving portrait of one family’s fraught journey through New York City and the “American dream,” with one of the more subtle and yet perfect endings to a book I have read in some time. Perfect for fans of Harbach (“The Art of Fielding”), Irving, and Russo.
— Emily Russo Murtagh, Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.greenlightbookstore.com].
