In Alligator Candy, David Kushner revisits his brother Jon's disappearance in October of 1973. His memory of the events are those of a 4-year-old struggling to make sense of what was going on around him. The way he recalls the event and the days and months after differ from what his family remembers. In this striking memoir, Kushner realizes he must revisit the events of the past through a different lens – that of a reporter – to find out what really happened on that fat

This is a small book that packs a big punch. One of the most impactful books I have read this year is A Meal in Winter by Hubert Mingarelli. This book follows a single meal between three German soliders, a Polish man and a Jew during the harsh Polish winter set against the backdrop of World War II. I had no idea a 138-page book could emtionally impact me as much as this one did.

I will remember the year 2013 as the year I sat in on the trial of the first woman sentenced to die by the electric chair (The Trails of Maria Barbella: The True Story of a 19th-Century Crime of Passion by Idanna Pucci)...