Word’s pick: “Midnight in the Century” by Victor Serge
In 1933, the Soviet dissident writer Victor Serge was arrested by Stalin’s police force (again). He was held in solitary confinement for 85 days and then exiled to Orenburg for two years. Following that, he wrote “Midnight in the Century,” which takes place in remote Chenor, a community in Stalin’s shadow. Here, the Russian Orthodox Old Believers pray on, and the political agitators are still theorizing. And the true revolutionaries? They are there too, clandestine, and planning the next one. Turns out, in the dark, among the exiles, there is hope — and the slim chance of escape. One of my favorite novels released in 2014, with one of my favorite final sections ever.
— Chad Felix, Word [126 Franklin St. at Milton Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbrooklyn.com].
Greenlight Bookstore’s pick: “Act of God” by Jill Ciment
A slim, weird and wonderful literary book set in Brooklyn Heights, where elderly identical twin tenants have discovered a phosphorescent mushroom growing in their closet. The city deems it toxic, so the discovery leads to the building’s evacuation, and to greater calamities for the surrounding neighborhood and for the city at large, as more mushrooms are discovered. The book follows the lives of the building’s tenants, its famous actress owner, and neighbors, seeing how the strange turn of events affects each of their lives.
— Rebecca Fitting, Greenlight Bookstore [686 Fulton St. between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.greenlightbookstore.com].