Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder

ROUGH SLEEPERS by Tracy Kidder (Mountains Beyond Mountains) is subtitled “Dr. Jim O'Connell's urgent mission to bring healing to homeless people,” described as “a glimpse of a world hidden in plain sight.” Kidder once again provides superb narration about a selfless individual; in this case, he is telling the amazing story of a doctor who has dedicated nearly 40 years to befriending and caring for the homeless in Boston. Kidder himself spent roughly five years researching the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, at times riding along with volunteers and paid staff as they brought medical care to the streets. Writing that “a country-doctor approach for an urban population — this was the kind of doctoring that could bring in suspicious patients,” Kidder emphasizes the importance of listening to the homeless patients (for more, see his piece for the New York Times). Filled with many anecdotes, ROUGH SLEEPERS is both troubling and extremely inspiring; it received a starred review from Kirkus and was selected as an Amazon Best Book of January 2023. 

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY by Sulari Gentill is an amazing mystery story and one of my favorite reads so far this year. Four strangers seated in the Boston Public Library hear a scream, begin conversing, and strike up an unlikely friendship. Perhaps it’s not that much of a surprise with two being writers: Freddie (Winifred) Kincaid and Cain McLeod.  The other two are students: Marigold Anastas, ever impetuous and emotional and studying psychology, and Whit Metters who is trying to fail law so as to extract himself from the family influence. I could also refer to them as Freddie does in the fictional account they inspire: Handsome Man, Freud Girl and Heroic Chin. It is that novel (a story within a story) and the chapter-by-chapter drafts from Australian author Hannah Tigone which are shared with Hannah’s correspondent, Leo Johnson, which adds to the intrigue and provide an increasingly dark narrative. That all sounds confusing and, yes, it is in a wonderful, twisty, mind-bending way.  My only regret is that the suspense ended too soon and in a rather quick manner. Mystery fans, especially those who enjoyed Magpie Murders (by Anthony Horowitz), The Eighth Detective (by Alex Pavesi) or titles by Ruth Ware, will adore THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY. Gentill’s latest was the top LibraryReads pick for June 2022 and received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Kirkus called this new book “a sharply drawn fictional hall of mirrors.” Highly recommended.