Ted's Picks

Anatoly Sukhanov's life is falling apart. A low–level Soviet apparatchik and editor of the premiere party-approved art journal, Sukhanov, through a series of dreams, is forced to reconsider the decision he made to trade his own Western–influenced artistic talent and dreams for a safe, comfortable life toeing the party line. A dreamlike fog permeates Grushin's prose, adding to the enchantment of this beautifully written first novel.

Mengestu's sparsely written debut novel is a compelling and melancholy character study of Ethiopian immigrant Sepha Stephanos. Stephanos is content to merely drift through his life, letting his small convenience store lapse into decrepitude and longing of Africa with fellow immigrants Kenneth and Joseph, until the gentrification of the neighborhood brings the white Judith and her daughter, Naomi, with whom Stephanos can glimpse the happy life he has put off for so long. A beautiful tale of class, love, the immigrant's experience, and ultimately loss.

Simon and co-author Burns turn a year's observation of Baltimore's open air drug markets into a rich work that reads like a novel. Using real names of the people involved and relying on first hand observation make this a personal and realistic story.
Highly recommended.