Book covers for five novels about current issues includes I Am Lemonade Lucy by Kenneth Womack, Keep Her Safe by K. A. Tucker, The Wife by Alafair Burke, The Pyongyang Option by A.C. Frieden, and Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones

Sometimes the fiction I read feels ripped straight from the headlines.

Here are five new (or newer) novels that address serious issues currently facing us.

  1. Lives Laid Away, by Stephen Mack Jones. My full review of this terrific novel is here. Big topics: Immigration, racism.
  2. The Pyongyang Option, by A. C. Frieden. If you read about North Korea and scratch your head, thinking, what on earth is that place like? here’s help. Back when I taught ESL, I read that Western culture (especially American) and Korean worldviews are polar opposites. I don’t know if that’s true. What I do know is that my Korean students thought differently than I did. With North Korea, you’re adding isolation and a totalitarian government to the mix, and the result can be baffling to Westerners. Frieden’s novel helped shed some light on the culture of this nation. Big topic: North Korea.
  3. The Wife, by Alafair Burke. Big topics: rape, #MeToo
  4. Keep Her Safe, by K.A. Tucker. I reviewed this book here. Big topics: drug addiction, police corruption
  5. I Am Lemonade Lucy! by Kenneth Womack. Netgalley was kind enough to give me a review copy. I’m a third of the way through this delightful novel, which addresses Islamophobia, prejudice, and cross-cultural communication (or miscommunication!). So far the characters feel real and the writing voice is strong. Plus, it features a geeky teen obsessed with Rutherford B. Hayes and his Presidential museum. He spouts off Hayes-related trivia at the slightest provocation. What’s not to love? The book will be released May 9, 2019.