I picked this one because it was on the New York Times 100 Notable books for 2016, and while I am not always in agreement about what is left off that list, what is on it is almost always quite good. This is one that is set in NewYork City, which can be a bit dicey, because the Times does have a bit of a bias when it comes to books about its city, but this one is very good, conveying the immigrant experience in a city that continues to be a mishmash melting pot of people from all sorts of backgrounds. The four immigrants in this tale are all from Russia, so there is a particular kind of story being told, through the lens of one culture, and one that is very relevant right now, given the talk that the American elections were interfered with by the Russians. So it has a particular kind of resonance, as well as being entirely ordinary, in that all immigrant stories have a common underlying theme.
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