Word’s pick: “Blood Will Out” by Walter Kirn
In 1998, Walter Kirn (“Up in the Air,” “Thumbsucker”) delivered a crippled hunting dog from Montana to New York. The dog’s adopter, one Clark Rockefeller, was to all appearances a perfect, albeit eccentric, match — a wealthy banker, modern art collector, and dog lover. But in 2011, that “Rockefeller” was charged with murder under a different name, and Kirn was left to make sense of the man who had become a kind-of friend. Part personal narrative, part true crime, and part courtroom drama, “Blood Will Out” is fast-paced and riveting, as scary and mesmerizing as its manipulative central figure.
— Chad Felix, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbrooklyn.com].
The BookMark Shoppe’s pick: “Goodnight June” by Sarah Jio
“Goodnight June” begins as June Anderson, a no-nonsense power-house banker, is told by a doctor to lighten her load or her health will suffer. Having shrugged off his advice, June goes directly back to the office where she learns about the unexpected death of her beloved great aunt Ruby. More surprising is that Aunt Ruby left her entire estate to her great niece. June travels back to her hometown of Seattle, and back to Bluebird Books, Aunt Ruby’s beloved small bookstore. Prepared to close the business to settle outstanding debts, June comes across a letter written to Ruby by long-time friend and bestselling children’s author Margaret Wise Brown. Ruby hid more letters for June to uncover, life lessons in each note. Realizing that her very own aunt was the inspiration for the classic bedtime story “Goodnight Moon,” June begins to look at the bookstore in a different light, as well as her life. A warm novel that will inspire us to follow our heart.
— 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: “All the Birds, Singing” by Evie Wyld
This book alternates between the past in outback Australia where the main character, Jake, learned to care for, shear, and slaughter sheep, and the present — a remote plot of land British Isles where she has bought a sheep farm of her own. Both are ugly but compelling worlds for Jake. This book slowly reveals the damage that’s been done to — or by? — Jake and the self-inflicted punishment and demons that are haunting her. It’s hard to tell what is good, what is evil, and what is just neutral in the book because Jake is suspicious of them all, assuming everything is the demon finally catching up. Self-alienated from the world around her, Jake is ultimately forced back into the world of human companionship, and hopefully it does some good for her. A wonderful character study about how wounds do and don’t heal.
— Rebecca Fitting, Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.greenlightbookstore.com].
