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A THOUSAND MIRACLES

When Meron’s native Poland was invaded in 1939, he writes in this impressive memoir, “Nazi Germany brought an apocalyptic change in my life: from sweet, uneventful, pampered childhood to the horrors of fleeing from monsters.” Seven years later, having fled those monsters, he arrived in Israel in 1946. “I was nearly 16 years old, with […]

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I THINK OF YOU CONSTANTLY WITH LOVE

This extraordinary volume of letters offers an intimate portrait of Ludwig Wittgenstein, not as the granite logician of legend, but as a man unguarded, needy, joyful, and often undone by love. Written between 1946 and his death in 1951, the correspondence with Ben Richards, a medical student 35 years his junior, documents what Wittgenstein called […]

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CHRISTIAN’S SOCCER SUPERPOWERS

Young Christian—a stand-in for the author—is such a soccer enthusiast that he carries a mini-ball with him everywhere he goes. But team tryouts turn disastrous when he finds himself surrounded by much taller, stronger kids. His family springs into action—proclaiming the next morning a “Super Soccer Day,” challenging him to earn his breakfast by beating […]

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CHASING THE CLOUDS AWAY

Maisy Gallagher is barely making ends meet. With her father’s unexpected death a few years earlier, she dropped out of nursing school to help out in the family’s jewelry store, working with her uncle. Her older brother, Sean, also moved back home so he and Maisy could help their mother and their 10-year-old brother, Patrick. […]

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THE FREEDOM MANIFESTO

When she was growing up, writes Machado, Venezuela regularly held elections with peaceful transfers of power and enjoyed a degree of prosperity greater than many of its Latin American neighbors, thanks to abundant oil. That changed when Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999. He “began by focusing on controlling the judicial system,” replacing longtime […]

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ISRAEL

Bartov, a Brown University professor of Holocaust and genocide studies, offers a frank, sure-to-be-controversial analysis of Israel’s past and present, arguing that the country has “engaged in systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocidal actions” in Gaza in response to Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The native Israeli and Israel Defense Force veteran’s […]

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PARALLEL PERIL

Reporters are always on the hunt for a good story, even while on vacation. Dallas TV journalist Vicky Robeson is ostensibly on a two-week break in California, but thoughts of work are never far behind. Recently promoted to news director, she’s waiting to hear from the higher-ups about her proposed budget, which is coming in […]

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THE DEAD RINGER

He has no idea where his brother, Sidney Bosco, has gone—with Kilt’s share of stolen money—and, following his “rebirth,” even more miseries await Kilt, who’s mauled by a lion. Passed out on his wandering mule, he’s found by Bonnie Grace, a 13-year-old Indigenous girl who nurses him back to health when not being brutally abused […]

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THE LOVELY DARK

Eleanor Newton wasn’t able to be with her grandmother three years ago, when she died alone in the hospital during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The loss lingers, especially because Grandma’s ghost appeared to Eleanor soon after her death, cryptically declaring “I’m early.” Trapped at home in lockdown and anticipating Grandma’s return, Eleanor […]

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GIRL OF LORE

Mina Murray lives with her yoga teacher mother in London, Georgia, a touristy town built around an impressive mythology of vampires, human sacrifice, and a snake-filled lake. With best friend Jackie Seward, she creates the Lore Club to investigate London’s idiosyncrasies. The club members discover a pattern of sinkholes appearing before people go missing. Mina […]