Sisterland
by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House)
In her the latest novel, Sittenfeld (“Prep,” “American Wife,”) explores family ties through twins sisters Vi and Kate. Like many siblings, they have a fraught childhood relationship. But something sets them apart: They have ESP. Vi and Kate reunite as adults in their native St. Louis, where the two live in an uneasy truce until Vi, a psychic medium, predicts on TV that a major earthquake will hit the region. Kate, a typical suburban mom, is mortified. But the problem is she knows Vi is right, in this provocative exploration of sibling relationships.
The Universe Versus Alex Woods
by Gavin Extence (Redhook)
Lost in Space? A cosmic encounter changes Alex Woods’ life — a meteor shard hits him and he survives — in English author Extence’s satirical debut novel. Bullied in school because of a brain condition brought on by the accident, Alex bonds with a pot-smoking Vietnam vet over their mutual love of “Cat’s Cradle” and “Slaughterhouse-Five.” Together, they seek the meaning of life. It’s all done in a dark, offbeat style that brings to mind the characters’ hero, the literary giant Kurt Vonnegut.
The Barbed-Wire University
The Real Lives of Allied Prisoners of War in the Second World War
by Midge Gillies (Aurum Press)
World War II POWs may trigger visions of the Steve McQueen motorcycle chase of “The Great Escape,” and the tunnels of “Stalag 17.” But in real life, detainees were more likely to test their foreign-language skills than their escaping skills, writes Gillies, citing prisoner accounts, including that of her own Scottish father. In one German military prison, inmates drilled each other in so many academic subjects the camp was known as “Barbed Wire University.” Perhaps more mundane than the movies, but gripping nonetheless.
Sniper
by Nicolai Lilin (Norton)
Call it the “Catch-22” of Chechnya. That’s the real-life experience that Lilin of Transnistria, a former Soviet state near Moldova, draws upon in his second novel. (His first, “Siberian Education,” is a European best seller now being made into a movie starring John Malkovich.) In this new tale, a nameless 18-year-old boy comes of age in the 1999-2000 second Chechen war. Seized one morning by the Russian army, his passport locked away, he is by the next morning a trainee sniper wading through bloody carnage.
The Whole Fromage
Adventures in the Delectable World of French Cheese
by Kate Lison (Broadway Books)
Author Lison lives in Arizona — not exactly cheese heaven. But as a Wisconsin native whose great-great-grandfather owned a dairy, you could understand her interest in the subject. We recommend pouring a glass of wine to sip as you read her cheese travelogue through France. There, she visits alpine barnyards and multinational corporate headquarters. She takes us to caves and monasteries. And Lison weighs in on hand milking versus machine milking. All in all, a mouth-watering read.