Unassimilated by Michael Benzehabe

Zoe Mousa thinks immigrating to the U.S. is her key to happiness. After arriving, she works hard to repay an emotional debt owed to Sarah and Jamileh, two Muslim sisters who provided love and family after her Jewish parents were murdered in Iran. Despite Zoe’s best efforts, their reunion is sidetracked when she uncovers an emerging cyber war.

Immigration isn’t the solution to everything. Her unrealistic expectations melt away with time and maturity. “Why did I bother to come,” Zoe asks. "In a world on fire, maybe America is nothing more than the last burning house on the block."

I kept turning pages because of the humor, but half way through, I realized I was knee-deep in a plot as exciting as the Fight Club.

Purchase $12.92: https://www.amazon.com/Unassimilated-Michael-Benzehabe/dp/1535350318

Release date: August 16, 2016

The Child in Time by Ian McEwan

Stephen Lewis, a successful writer of children's books, is confronted with the unthinkable: his only child, three-year-old Kate, is snatched from him in a supermarket. In one horrifying moment that replays itself over the years that follow, Stephen realizes his daughter is gone.

Ian McEwan takes us into the dark territory of a marriage devastated by the loss of a child. Kate's absence sets Stephen and his wife, Julie, on diverging paths as they each struggle with a grief that only seems to intensify with the passage of time. Eloquent and passionate, the novel concludes in a triumphant scene of love and hope that gives full rein to the author's remarkable gifts. The Child in Time is a serious novel.

Purchase $16.99: https://www.amazon.com/Child-Time-Ian-McEwan/dp/0385497520

Release date: November 11, 1999