FICTION
Welcome to Lagos
by Chibundu Onuzo
An official Belletrist Book
Pick—a book club curated/
founded by actress Emma
Roberts—"Welcome to Lagos"
tells the story of a Nigerian
army officer who flees his post
aer defying orders to kill
innocent civilians. Along the
way, he encounters a number
of runaways en route to the
city of Lagos and what follows
is a series of portraits that
focus on each individual and
the different types of lives they
lead. Onuzo's hometown of
Lagos is represented as raw
and unromanticized, but the
characters in her novel know
they have no choice but to
keep moving forward amid
the chaos.
Call Me by Your Name
by André Aciman
ose who saw and swooned
over the film adaptation of
"Call Me by Your Name" will
find that the original novel,
published in 2007, is still
worth the read. e passion
and drama expressed between
17-year-old Elio and 24-year-
old Oliver comes out through
the beautifully written prose
of author André Aciman. (Did
we mention the difference in
endings?) Set in northern Italy
during the summer of 1983,
"Call Me by Your Name" is a
coming-of-age story about first
love and the feelings of fear,
shame, desire and frustration
that follow.
You Think It, I'll Say It
by Curtis Sittenfeld
For most, the perfect romantic
stories walk the line between
believability and fantasy. "You
ink It, I'll Say It" is a short
story collection that explores
the lovelorn daydreams that
make you think, what if ? is
brand new collection premiered
this spring but has been
making a splash in the literary
community. Hailed for keeping
readers on their toes, the stories
that Sittenfeld cras shi
the traditional female-male
power dynamics seen in most
romance novels. Alluded to in
the title, Sittenfeld's purpose is
to illustrate a more artistically
realistic account about the
idyllic visions of romance.
The Outsider
by Stephen King
Considered one of our country's
greatest authors throughout
the last couple of decades,
Stephen King has returned
with "e Outsider" — his
latest mystery-meets-horror
novel that revolves around
the murder of an 11-year-old
boy. e plot quickly escalates
into a whodunit tale when all
signs point to baseball coach
and beloved resident Terry
Maitland as the killer. e
tension builds when the sole
suspect presents an airtight
alibi, leaving the police and
town agonizing between
what's the truth and what
their minds have conjured up.
The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood
e subject of a recent TV
adaptation, "e Handmaid's
Tale" is on its way to
becoming an instantly recognizable classic. Under the umbrella
of dystopian fiction, author Margaret Atwood poses the question,
"What if that crazy cult you heard about on the news last night
staged an overthrow of the American government and reinstated
a set of strict and religiously oppressive new rulers?" Doing away
with women's rights and basically all civil liberties, the "Sons
of Jacob" burn down what was the United States and introduce
the Republic of Gilead. e story paints a terrifying, thought-
provoking and foreboding look into how the intentions of these
groups turn sinister and how the brave, yet tactical women living
under oppression fight against a seemingly immovable force.
Indecent by Corinne Sullivan
What makes a better beach read than a steamy romance novel
about an illicit affair between a teacher and her prep school
student? "Indecent" is author Corrine Sullivan's debut book in
which she immerses readers in the world of introvert Imogene
Abney—who finds herself swept up by the flirtatious (and
underage) Adam Kipling. eir affair reaches a point of obsession,
leaving Imogene spiraling out of control and nearly unrecognizable
from the woman we met at the very beginning. By the end,
"Indecent" will leave you grappling with feelings of self-doubt and
wondering how we can justify our most abhorrent of actions.
Beach Edition
WHAT WE'RE
READING
BY ABBY MONTANEZ AND KELLY EDGEWORTH
V U E N J . C O M
102
ENTERTAINMENT
