Need a Good Book?For whatever literary journey you prefer to take—or book club flex you care to make—Bloomberg Pursuits culture critic James Tarmy has pick for you. Capsule reviews below, and a full spring reading list, here.  TRAVEL BACK IN TIME... Tomorrow They Won't Dare to Murder Us by Joseph Andras
In 1956, National Liberation Front member Fernand Iveton planted a bomb near Algiers. The hoped-for explosion was intended only to be a piece of symbolism, and as such, he put it in an unused shed. But its location was academic: He was arrested before it could go off and then mercilessly tortured, brought to trial, and swiftly guillotined. Andras's fictionalized retelling of Iveton's saga was published in French in 2016 to immediate acclaim, winning the prestigious Prix Goncourt. It's now been translated into English by Simon Leser. The book is just 137 pages long, but every one of them is taut and fraught, a nightmare of noble intentions gone horribly wrong. Available now  ...OR SEE THE FUTURE Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
The author of now-classic titles such as The Remains of the Day, When We Were Orphans, and Never Let Me Go is a master at constructing narratives in which the plot is something very different from what the characters believe they understand. In Ishiguro's hands, gaps in a character's memory often are the plot. His latest takes those blind spots to their logical conclusion in the form of a robot named Klara, a so-called Artificial Friend designed to be a child's companion. Klara is intelligent but not all-knowing; what she doesn't know, unfortunately, is exactly what she needs to. Like many of Ishiguro's protagonists, Klara is a tragic figure, pure of heart and doomed to sorrow. Available now  ANYTHING OTHER THAN COVID Letters to Camondo by Edmund de Waal
There are very few commercially successful ceramic artists working today, and even fewer ceramic artists with a side gig as a critically acclaimed author. Best-known for his large-scale installations of exquisitely crafted porcelain and his bestseller The Hare with Amber Eyes, de Waal's latest piece of fiction combines the two sides of his professional life. This book consists of imaginary letters to the real-life Moïse de Camondo, a fabulously rich Jewish banker who ran one of the most successful institutions in the Ottoman Empire and was also an art patron. His collection, now in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, is one of the jewels of Paris's museums. May 11  OR MORE ABOUT PLAGUES The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis
It might seem odd to write the history of a pandemic while it's still going on, but Michael Lewis is something of a master at capturing complex events (Flash Boys, Moneyball, The Big Short) in the very recent past. Here he turns the pandemic into a tale of good and evil: Evil, in this case, is the Trump administration; good is a motley crew of scientists, doctors, and public health experts. The narrative follows three central characters—a biochemist, a public health worker, and a U.S. federal employee. May 4  MAYBE JUST GET ANGRY Citadels of Pride: Sexual Abuse, Accountability, and Reconciliation by Martha Nussbaum A professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago, Nussbaum is uniquely qualified to tackle the moral and philosophical dimensions of sexual violence. In this careful, methodical book, she pinpoints three areas she dubs "citadels of pride"—the judiciary, the arts, and athletics. The Cosby and Weinstein cases are used as examples; her recommendation to completely rethink collegiate sports will surely be the most controversial passage. May 11 | 
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