Hello,

This week in Editor's Choice, we invite you to enjoy our review of Deepti Kapoor's Age of Vice, an action-packed literary crime novel set in contemporary India and newly released in paperback.

You can also check out a "beyond the book" article accompanying our review of Alice McDermott's Absolution on the pacifists who protested the Cold War-era civil defense drills known as Operation Alert. And browse more pieces in our "People, Eras and Events" category.

Plus, we have new free books for members to request, previews of 70+ February books, and current and upcoming discussions.

With best wishes,

The BookBrowse Team

Deepti Kapoor’s novel Age of Vice is a literary crime thriller set in northern India during the early years of the 21st century. The Wadia Syndicate, headed by brothers Bunty and Vicky, controls a vast and extremely lucrative empire that encompasses all trade in the region — legal and otherwise. Sunny, Bunty’s only child, is the heir apparent to this criminal enterprise. A dissolute, self-indulgent playboy in his 20s, he draws people into his lavish lifestyle, first indulging and then callously discarding them as he grows bored. Among those who care about Sunny in spite of his thoughtlessness are his loyal servant, Ajay, and Neda, his part-time lover.

Although the book unfolds in three parts, told first from Ajay’s perspective, then Neda’s, and finally Sunny’s own point of view, in reality it’s all about Sunny. Kapoor paints him with incredible nuance, and the shifting perceptions among the three help create an exceptionally complex character. ... continued

Alice McDermott's novel about the humanitarian efforts of American corporate wives living in Vietnam in the early '60s, Absolution, takes a detour to New York City in the previous decade, where Tricia, the protagonist, and her radicalized friend Stella participate in sit-ins against the compulsory Cold War duck-and-cover drills.

A group of 27 pacifists sat out the first fifteen-minute exercise on park benches in NYC's City Hall Park, in front of reporters and police, who eventually arrested them. As they put it in the pamphlets they handed out, they recognized the drills to be a sham, "[i]n view of the certain knowledge…that there is no defense in atomic warfare," and "a military act in a cold war to instill fear, to prepare the collective mind for war." ... continued

For every book we review, we also write a "beyond the book" article that focuses on a related cultural, historical or contextual topic — a great way to discover books!

Recent articles in our "People, Eras and Events" category, in addition to our article on the protests against Operation Alert (accompanying Alice McDermott's Absolution) above, include:

🔒Individual members and patrons of subscribing libraries have full access to all articles, while others have limited access.

Members! This month's First Impressions and Book Club books are now available to request. Offer closes end of Saturday, January 20.

Books are provided free of charge to BookBrowse members resident in the U.S. with the understanding that they'll do their best to either write a short review or take part in an online discussion forum (depending on whether the book is assigned for First Impressions or the Book Club). Members who choose to take part generally receive a book about every three months.

Not yet a member? Free books are one of the many benefits of a BookBrowse membership, for just $3.75/month!

Join (or renew a lapsed membership) by end of Saturday, the 20th, and you'll be in time to request book(s) from this month's offer. As we assign based on when a member last received a book, new members always have priority!

We know it can be tough to keep up with all the new books coming out every month, so we do the hard work for you. We've carefully selected 70+ of the most noteworthy books publishing in February and are continually updating our selections — check them out and get yourself on the library wait-list ahead of the crowd!

BookBrowse members can see, sort and download the full list of previews for all months.

Non-subscribers can view books up to the current month and a limited selection of future months. If you don't already, you may also wish to subscribe to our Publishing This Week newsletter.

Discussions are open to all, so do join us!

Currently, we're discussing Lauren Grodstein's We Must Not Think of Ourselves and Evie Woods' The Lost Bookshop. Lynda Rutledge's Mockingbird Summer is scheduled for early February.

If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, you can sign up for a one-time notification.

BookBrowse Highlights is one of our four free newsletters. We also offer Publishing This Week every Sunday, and Book Club News and Librarian News monthly.

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