1. Fatima Taha’s review of Hotel Silence: A Novel by Auđur Ava Ólafsdóttir; translated by Brian FitzGibbon (Grove Press). “The minimalistic prose — which allows Jónas to be everyman — is Hotel Silence’s greatest strength, and translator Brian FitzGibbon deserves credit. The writing also creates a sense of moving through a fog, as if life itself has become too dense, simultaneously pushing in and on the reader.”


2. Susan Storer Clark’s review of Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of Solitude by Stephanie Rosenbloom (Viking). “In her introduction, Rosenbloom quotes Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his famous book, Flow: ‘Only witches and shamans feel comfortable spending time by themselves.’ Still, going solo can be deeply rewarding, and Alone Time shows a masterful way to do it.”


3. An interview with Nelson DeMille. Michael Causey may have chatted with the bestselling author of, most recently, The Cuban Affair, way back last fall, but it drew a record number of readers in June.


4. David Bruce Smith’s review of My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie by Todd Fisher (William Morrow). “After the tour, Reynolds returned to Las Vegas for lucrative engagements at the Desert Inn and the London Palladium. Carrie continued to perform, despite panic attacks, which she quelled with weed, Percodan, and angel dust. It was a secret dependence-on-the-rise known by Todd — who sometimes participated. Ironically, he had no indication or foreshadowing then about his sister’s troubled trajectory into addiction.”


5. Michael Causey’s review of The Captives: A Novel by Debra Jo Immergut (Ecco). “The story moves along briskly and skillfully straddles the line between literature and thriller. The best elements of both are woven throughout the book. The writing is insightful and crisp, the supporting characters, especially Lundquist’s brother and Greene’s father, add rewarding layers to the story. Immergut has built a world, no matter how harsh and tragic, where a visitor wants to stick around to learn how it all comes out.”

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