Dear Great Book Guru, I am planning on attending a book lover's delight: Long Island Reads on Tuesday, April 12 from 7-8:30pm at the Metropolitan in Glen Cove. Readers from all over the North Shore area join together to discuss one book- this year Jodie Picoult’s LEAVING TIME.  Well, while I enjoyed this book,  I am now looking for my next read, something perhaps that will help me understand the current geopolitical scene.  Any suggestions?    

Long Island Reads Reader

Dear L.I.R.R., I am looking forward to this event too and- yes, indeed- I have a great book for you to read next: THE ASSOCIATION OF SMALL BOMBS by Karan Mahajan. The novel opens in 1996 (chapter 0) with a bomb detonating in a crowded open air market in Delhi and concludes sometime post- 2016.  It is a small bomb and thirteen people are killed. The rest of the book deals with the lives impacted- the parents of two young victims, their young friend who survives, his family, the bomber, the wrongly accused, those who defend the accused, and those who torture them.  The inner lives of all these players are explored and we find a myriad of emotions and motivations- mundane and sublime in each of them.  In beautiful prose, the author shows us these small bombings which go unheralded have far, far reaching effects on victim, perpetrator, and… all of us. Highly recommended!