We’re coming in like a stone-cold lion but you’ll be warm like a lamb when you curl up with one of these great recs for our March edition of “Feed Your Read!” from BookHampton (41 Main St., East Hampton, 631-324-4939). Right in the heart of East Hampton, there’s something for everyone at this year-round, vibrant bookseller, who for over 50 years has been keeping South Forkers supplied with page-turners. Bought by Carolyn Brody in 2016, the store has a 5,000-strong inventory packed into a 1,000-square foot space, which still somehow manages to come off as airy. There are tons of author events, a monthly book club that meets at LongHouse Reserve (cool, right?), and Brody’s awesome Authors to Schools program, which brings touring writers into local schools to talk about taking on writing as a career, among other topics. Here’s what the savvy staff there are turning to this March…
The Silence of the Choir, by Mohamad Mbougar Sarr
“Internationally praised, this is an urgent and entertaining story about 72 men who arrive in Altina, a sleepy Sicilian town, and begin lives as immigrants/refugees/exiles in a small world where they are both welcomed and shunned. Just as the town grapples with the arrival of The Other, so do the immigrants try to make sense of their new world. And a mysterious author chronicles the events which change all lives forever. A gem!” – Carolyn Brody
The Safekeep, by Yael Van Der Wouden
“Packed with ethical questions, ripe for discussion. A novel about family, legacy, home, and desire. Bold and tender. Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.” – Eve Karlin
There are Rivers in the Sky, by Elif Shafak
“A single drop of water falls upon an Assyrian king, an impoverished boy turned Mesopotamian scholar in 19th century London, a Yazidi girl in Turkey, and a hydrologist in present day London, linking them all. Like the water, Shafak’s characters are rich, resilient, and vulnerable. If The Overstory taught us to look at trees differently, There Are Rivers in the Sky will change the way one looks at water. Poetic and enriching.” – Eve Karlin
The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
“A riveting literary thriller. When a precocious teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, her disappearance stirs family secrets and reopens a decade-old crime. An intricately plotted page-turner that explores social disparities and emotional abuse.” – Eve Karlin
Men Have Called Her Crazy, by Anna Marie Tendler
“This powerful, feminist memoir will resonate deeply with women today. It tackles mental health, healing, and complex trauma through a gendered lens, exploring the many ways gender dynamics impact us daily. Anna Marie Tendler offers a raw, insightful portrait of her time in a psychiatric hospital, creating a contemporary narrative reminiscent of Susanna Kaysen and Sylvia Plath’s seminal works. This is not an anti-men book – I highly recommend it to everyone given today’s political climate. It will certainly make you think twice before calling a woman ‘crazy!’” – Rosie Foulds
