The Girls: A Story of Village LIfe by John Bowen, McNally Editions, New York, 1986. 

A wry, macabre tale of simple living, brutal murder, and a reasonably happy couple.

Echoes of Grace by Guadalupe Garcia McCall, TU Books, New York, 2022.

Guadalupe García McCall explores sisterhood, family secrets, intergenerational trauma, life, and love in a modern Gothic setting with a magical realist twist. In Eagle Pass, Texas, Grace struggles to understand the "echoes" she inherited from her mother--visions which often distort her reality. One morning, as her sister, Mercy, rushes off to work, a disturbing echo takes hold of Grace, and within moments, tragedy strikes.

So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo, Seal Press, 2019. 

Written by a black, queer woman, this is a good book to enter the discussion of racism. Oluo in brief chapters addresses from her experience issues that include, what is racism, privilege, affirmative action, cultural appropriation, microaggressions, the “N” word and more… If you are white, do not expect for the author to look to make you comfortable, she does not. I didn’t agree with everything but it allows for listening to a black person’s experience. Listening is important in at this time. A worthwhile read. Good for a discussion group.

The Plague by Albert Camus, translated from the French by Stuart Gilbert, Vintage International, Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, New York, 1991.  

It is the 1940s. The plague enters a northern Gillian city and how do people respond. A timely story of human resilience. The novel is narrated by…?  You won’t know until the end.

Murals of New York City: The Best of New York’s Public Paintings from Bemelmans to Parrish by Glenn Palmer – Smith; Photographs by Joshua McHugh, Rizzoli International Publications, 2013.  

Beautifully photographed mural paintings from throughout NYC bars and restaurants to Rockefeller Center, hotels and public civic buildings. A wonderful itinerary for your next trip to New York.