What are you reading? Every month at our Open Book Hour at Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street, readers meet to exchange fiction and nonfiction book recommendations. If you'd like to join us at the Mid-Manhattan Library—Open Book Hour is the second Friday of each month—we'll meet at a new time and place starting this month: 1-2 PM, in the alcove outside the Program Room (room 78).

Next up: On Friday, May 10 at 1 PM, we'll talk about the World of Work in literature. You can see information on upcoming discussion themes, and check out our past reading lists (and printable versions.)

At our April session, Open Book Hour readers shared reading recommendations that featured inspiring real-life journeys, fictional treks, personal reinventions and border crossings.

April Open Book Hour: Migrations and Peregrinations

Crossing in Berlin by Fletcher Knebel (1981)

Joan described this suspenseful spy novel, taking place when the Berlin Wall divided East and West Germany. The book paints an interesting picture of what it was like to work in East Germany, and what might happen if you wanted to leave East Germany. Joan enjoys how historical novels can cover different time periods and different countries.

A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen (2018)

Helen admires the storytelling in this novel that reads like a memoir. A young man at loose ends in New York returns to Moscow to care for his grandmother. He feels dislocated in both countries and must eventually decide how each place fits into his future. The story evokes Helen’s sympathy toward people who feel they don’t belong anywhere.

Bombay Time by Thrity Umrigar (2001)

Although this novel depicts a middle-class family in Bombay, it reminds Yuko that sometimes people will go to great lengths to leave a society or situation they don’t want to be in. Yuko marvels at the strong survival skills demonstrated by immigrants and feels pride when they achieve success despite seemingly overwhelming odds. She relates to Umrigar’s writing about relationships and how difficult it is to live in a country that’s not your own.