Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead

This book is an engaging and provocative reflection on nomenclature. The story is silly at times (a nomenclature consultant who loses a toe because the bandaid he used made him forget that it was hurt?) and at other times moving and historically relevant (the deals that various townspeople made and reneged on in attempts to secure their freedom and prosperity). But most of all, the book is about names, and their meaning and significance. I also really enjoyed digging out the hidden history of the town of Winthrop. A quick read that's quite delightful.

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel

This book tells the story of the French Revolution from the perspective of three of its leaders: Danton, Robespierre, and Desmoulins. I had always taken them as the bad guys--the ones who did all the beheading. This epic story made them human to me. The plot was fascinating, the prose crisp, and the characterization marvelous.

A New England Nun and Other Stories by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

This collection of stories offers many pleasures. Freeman writes masterful short fiction, often demonstrating the triumph of the human spirit over circumstances that threaten to cause people to choose their worst instincts. The stories value the ability to live in honesty with oneself, while trying to treat others with as much love and charity as possible, above all else. I particularly liked "Dear Annie," The Jamesons, and "The Lost Ghost." I am definitely planning on reading more of this author in the future.