This week, we feature a popular man-and-dog detective duo in search of a missing cat and a classic military fiction spotlighting the Marines in the Pacific theater.
Dining
‘Champagne Uncorked: The House of Krug and the Timeless Allure of the World’s Most Celebrated Drink’
By Alan Tardi
Champagne is the king of wines; perhaps of all the alcoholic beverages, it is the drink of celebration. The book tells the story of Champagne, traveling along two tracks. It follows the progress of the 2013 vintage as it passes through the creation process. Interspersed with this, the book relates the history of France’s Champagne region. As effervescent and fascinating as Champagne, this book gives readers insight into a world as complex as the blending of a fine bottle of bubbly.
PublicAffairs, 2016, 296 pages
Fiction
‘Elegy in Blue’
By Mark Helprin
Here, one of America’s best novelists gives us a nameless narrator, age 82, whose life took a horrible turn just a few years earlier when he killed a machete-wielding maniac attacking a New York City Jewish school. The narrator’s wife dies while trying to help him. When social media targets him as the villain, he also loses his home and his reputation, yet when he discovers evil men out to destroy another family, he again steps into the fight. It’s Helprin’s elegy to memory, loss, and love.
Abrams Press, 256 pages, 2026
Mystery
‘Cat on a Hot Tin Woof: A Chet & Bernie Mystery’
By Spencer Quinn
At the Little Detective Agency, Bernie Little and his dog, Chet, have a new case: find Miss Kitty—a cat with a massive social media following has disappeared. The case seems trivial. Yet Miss Kitty and Bitty, her teenaged owner, are major internet influencers, bringing in $75,000 a month through advertising. Plus, Bitty is a sweet kid, and Bernie wants to help her. The investigation takes a darker turn when suspects start getting murdered. Narrated by Chet, this is the series’ 16th book.
Minotaur Books, 2026, 320 pages
Ancient Literature
‘The Greek Tragedies: Seventeen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides’
Edited by David Grene and Richard Lattimore
Grene and Lattimore became giants of ancient Greek literary translations during the 20th century. Their labor was not in vain, as their efforts resulted in one of the most respected and arguably the best English translation of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Published by the University of Chicago Press, their prints became the American standard, if not the English language standard, for the works. This new collection of all 17 plays puts Classical Greece at readers’ fingertips.
University of Chicago Press, 2025, 1,136 pages
Classics
‘The Big War’
By Anton Myrer
Originally published in 1957, this novel was a commercial and critical success. It features three Marines, each from a very different background, fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific. Myrer’s delight in description may annoy some readers, but it is a fine account of both combat and the home front and recreates the culture of wartime America. As in his better known “Once an Eagle,” Myrer paints a realistic portrait of the young men who fought and bled in a violent time and place.
Harper Perennial, 512 pages, 2001
For Kids
‘Little Toot’
By Hardie Gramatky
In this classic read-aloud about the “cutest, silliest little tugboat you ever saw,” “Little Toot” is a small tugboat who would rather play than work, until a great storm at sea gives him the chance to prove his worth. A beloved picture book first published in 1939 about growing up, facing fear, and discovering the courage and capability within.
G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007, 104 pages
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