|bookshelf
October books NOTABLE NEW RELEASES compiled by Sally Brewster
The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles In June 1954, 18-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he served 15 months for involuntary manslaughter. With his mother long gone, his father recently deceased and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his 8-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California, where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction, to New York. Spanning just 10 days and told from multiple points of view, Towles’ third novel is his best to date.
restricted to his bed. He reads the recently published The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and has many questions about the book. He pleads with his sister Megs, a physics student at Oxford, to seek out Lewis and get the answers. She manages to meet the esteemed author and share George’s request with him. Over several visits, Lewis tells Megs stories of his life, which she brings home to George. Along the way, and with the help of a handsome fellow student, she learns that truth lies both in physics and in fairy tales, and new worlds open for her family and herself. Callahan (Becoming Mrs. Lewis) mines the life and work of C.S. Lewis in this enjoyable exploration of the power of imagination to see one through difficult times.
Gastro Obscura: A Food Adventurer’s Guide, by Cecily Wong and Dylan Thuras Created by the ever-curious minds behind Atlas Obscura, this breathtaking guide transforms our sense of what people around the world eat and drink. Covering all seven continents, Gastro Obscura serves up a loaded plate of incredible ingredients, food adventures and edible wonders. Ready for a beer made from fog in Chile? Sardinia’s “Threads of God” pasta? Egypt’s 2,000-year-old egg ovens? But far more than a menu of curious minds, delicacies and unexpected dishes, Gastro Obscura reveals food’s central place in our lives as well as our bellies, touching on history, culture, travel, festivals and hidden gems that might be right around the corner, like the vending machine in Texas dispensing full-sized pecan pies. Dig in and feed your sense of wonder.
A Line to Kill, by Anthony Horowitz When ex-detective inspector Daniel Hawthorne and his sidekick, author Anthony Horowitz, are invited to an exclusive literary festival on Alderney, an idyllic island off the south coast of England, they don’t expect to find themselves in the middle of murder investigation — or to be trapped with a cold-blooded killer in a remote place with a murky, haunted past. Arriving on Alderney, Hawthorne and Horowitz soon meet the festival’s other guests — an eccentric gathering that includes a bestselling children’s author, a French poet, a TV chef-turned-cookbook author, a blind psychic and a war historian. When a local grandee is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Hawthorne and Horowitz become embroiled in the case. The island is locked down, no one is allowed on or off, and it soon becomes horribly clear that a murderer lurks in their midst. But who? Another great addition to the Hawthorne and Horowitz mystery line. SP
Once Upon a Wardrobe, by Patti Callahan Eight-year-old George was born with a weak heart, so he is often
Sally Brewster is the proprietor of Park Road Books at 4139 Park Road. parkroadbooks.com
southparkmagazine.com | 75
