The Best Grown-Up Reads
of March 2019
by the Brightly Editors
There’s a lot to get excited about in March: Daylight Savings, spring break vacations, and the promise of warmer weather in the days ahead. Your bookshelf has a lot to get excited about too. From nerve-racking thrillers to eye-opening memoirs, we’ve picked the cream of the crop from this month’s new releases. Why not dive into one of these great books while waiting for spring to arrive?
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The River
Not long into their canoeing trip, best friends Wynn and Jack catch wind of a wildfire heading their way. The wisest plan of action is to get as far away as possible, and quickly, but when they hear a couple arguing on the foggy riverbank, they decide to warn them. The friends’ good deed gets them entangled in a violent scenario — while all the while, the wildfire closes in. Peter Heller spins a nerve-racking wilderness thriller about friendship and human frailty.
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Baby of the Family
Available from:When real estate magnate Roger Whitby dies, he’s alone — no children by his side, though he has plenty of them (from four separate marriages). To the surprise of all, he leaves his entire fortune to the youngest of his progeny: 21-year-old Nick, who’s gone AWOL. Daughters Shelley and Brooke take this news the hardest; Shelley’s unexpectedly pregnant, and Brooke’s got issues of her own. The half-siblings must all decide who they are without their father’s support, and who they are to one another.
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The Parade
Available from:Dave Eggers pens an unassuming and allegorical tale about war and humankind’s responsibility to one another in this highly anticipated novel. Two men, both foreign contractors, are sent to build a highway between two halves of a warring country that’s recently reached a tentative peace. One man wants to be a tourist in this exotic place; the other just wants to go home. But neither can do their job without making a chilling impact on this land that’s not their own.
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Era of Ignition
Available from:Actor, activist, and author Amber Tamblyn delivers a coming-of-age story and public reckoning in Era of Ignition. Grappling with our generation’s questions around gender inequality, white feminism, misogyny, and reproductive justice through the lens of her own experiences, Tamblyn lays bare her tumultuous era of self-reflection, accountability, and dissention. Massachusetts congresswoman Ayanna Pressley calls the book “a personal call to action that reminds us revolution starts by holding up the mirror.”
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Gingerbread
Available from:Helen Oyeyemi is a master of the wildly inventive, bewitching novel, as she proves once again with Gingerbread. When teenage Perdita wakes up after a gluten-induced coma, it’s with mysterious knowledge of her mother, Harriet’s, past. Harriet doesn’t understand how her daughter has come to know about Druhástrana, the supposedly non-existent country where Harriet grew up, or Gretel, Harriet’s enigmatic childhood friend. Mother and daughter exchange secrets in this haunting fairytale of family legacy.
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You, Your Child, and School: Navigate Your Way to the Best Education
Available from:Internationally recognized educator Ken Robinson gives parents practical advice and sound guidance for navigating the K-12 education system, as well as the options to public schooling. Every parent wants their child’s education to be productive and enjoyable, and to put them on the path for happy, successful lives. Now available in paperback, You, Your Child, and School dispels myths and addresses controversies, helping parents play an active role in their child’s schooling without helicoptering.
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