"The Other Wes Moore" by Wes Moore

An intriguing book, well-written and compelling.  Another in a long list of titles which have been on my "to read" list for far too long, this one should also be required reading.  Wes Moore, a successful man who grew up in challenging circumstances, is shocked to discover another Wes Moore, who grew up in similar circumstances but ended up very differently.  This true story involves both men, looking at snapshots of their lives.  The author attempts to track the critical turning points in the lives of him and his namesake, trying to figure out where their lives diverged, and why.  He doesn't come up with a simple answer and he shouldn't.  This is real life stuff, not fiction, and real life is messy.  Crafted carefully and built through multiple interviews with people in their lives, it is an engaging read and one with accessible prose.  The "what-if" question hangs over the entire tale and drives the narrative.  The book doesn't end so much as sum up, leaving the reader to take away what they will.  As for the author he is forever changed by this revelation, the idea that so many people are simple on a knife edge away from tragedy.  The end of the book includes a huge list of resources, organizations dedicated to intervening in the lives of young people.  The hope is clearly that an adult stepping into the course of a life might help someone move in the right direction.  Hugely worthy and very thought-provoking, I'm not sure this is a book you put down and walk away from.

"The Testaments" by Margaret Atwood

The inimatable Ms. Atwood wrote her brilliant "Handmaid's Tale" in 1985, one of my top ten books of all time.  It took 34 years to get the sequel and it is, in my humble opinion, worth it.  There was the bad 1990s film, best forgotten, and the brilliant Hulu show, which brought this important novel back to prominence.  The original story ended in ambiguity, the new novel does not.  That being said it is as rich as the first yet very different.  The setting is 15 years after the end of the first novel.  The characters include two young women -- one in Gilead and one in Canada -- as well as a familiar character, Aunt Lydia.  The three narratives intertwine to build suspense.  The details tiptoe in, providing a powerful picture of the world Gilead has created.  There are tremendous political threads but that is only the frame.  The people, the women, are at the heart of the tale.  Atwood's literary felicity is again hugely evident, as she draws strong characters and relatable stories which are layered and complex but easy to "get".  The ending, as all definitive endings do, could cause some controversy but it will make you think about the big picture.  Atwood had made it clear that she draws her inspiration from real-world events and that what some might see as an extremist society is anything but.  In a time of tremendous upheaval in the United States these days (which was clearly part of the impetus for the sequel) this book is a great reminder that we should not allow the voices of hate to become the "new normal" or allow the little attacks to pass, as they foreshadow much worse.  Not just a great novel, an important one.  Should be required reading.