Break In Case of Emergency

What to read when life is having its way with you...

By Caroline Leavitt and Elisa Padilla
Published: Dec 01, 2007

Temper flaring and you need a literate chill to cool down?
Origin by Dana Abu-Jaber, Norton $23.95 June
origin
When Lena, a fingerprint expert, starts investigating several infant deaths in the New York area, she suddenly is led back to her own vague childhood. Connections to powerful people through one dead infant’s mother suddenly draws the attention of the police and media, while Lena is still trying to figure out how her own past is linked to the deaths. Suspense makes this book one you’ll have to force yourself to put down.

Wishing you could have a second chance?
The Reincarnationist by M.J. Rose, Mira $24.95 August

reincarnationist

Using her own reincarnation research, M.J. Rose’s The Reincarnationist is a fictional story that both takes place in present day New York and Rome, as well as historical Rome. When Josh Ryder, a photojournalist, survives a terrorist attack, his mind is occupied with hallucinations of his past life as a Pagan priest 1,600 years ago. A quest for answers about his past life eventually lead to more questions about his future, where Josh discovers it’s hard to know who you are without knowing who you were.

Someone else get that promotion that had your name on it? Special is as special does…
The Beautiful Miscellaneous by Dominic Smith Atria, $24.00 June

beautifulmiscellaneous
Following up Smith’s The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre, The Beautiful Miscellaneous tells the story of Nathan Nelson, whose father, a genius, longs for his son to be the same. Things change when Nathan is involved in a terrible accident that puts him in a coma and eventually has him attending a Mid-West research center where the patients are studied as well as utilized. Smith does a wonderful job exploring what can break a family up, and what can bring them back together.

Oh ye of little faith, having a crisis and yearn for something a little spiritual?
Here if you Need Me by Kate Braestrup, Little Brown $23.99 August

hereifyouneed me
While in the process of becoming a minister, Kate Braestrup’s husband, Drew, tragically lost his life on the very roads he policed as a Maine state trooper. Continuing Drew’s dream, Kate went on herself to become a minister and has devoted her life to helping others in times of similar crisis. Her unforgettable stories fill the pages of Here if you Need Me with funny, dramatic and moving accounts. If you ever need a reminder that someone will always be there for you, pick this up.

Step-parenting making you feel like a character in Cinderella?
The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross, Shaye Arehart Books $23.00 August

othermother
When a successful editor (Amanda) from New York City moves in right next door to a stay-at-home mother who’s never really left her town, it is not a particularly harmonious match. Things become stressful when the two mothers, with completely different views, are forced into each other’s lives due to a disaster. The battle of The Other Mother is a dark look into everything that tears us apart and brings us closest together.

Caroline Leavitt is an award-winning novelist and screenwriter. Her latest novel is the Booksense selection, Girls in Trouble. She has books in every room in the house and when she's reading, aliens could land and she wouldn't stop. She can be reached at http://www.carolineleavitt.com or http://carolineleavittville.blogspot.com/ She lives with her writer-husband Jeff Tamarkin and their son in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Spending her entire life in California, Elisa Padilla can't imagine herself living outside of sunny Los Angeles. Though she holds a degree in design, she's always had a fondness for words that seems to be more present than ever.

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