A Field of My Own
Cynthia McVay
Living in a Place Press, 2025, $59.88
In the winter of 2000, desperate for an escape from New York City, Cynthia McVay, a working, single mother, bought an old, 300-acre orchard in Esopus. At that time, she was, as the title hints, simply looking for a field to call her own. This memoir is part ode to the land, part retelling of how she worked to create her sustainable home, and part gallery for her wide collection of photographs. Every page is a surprise: from her description of the reconstruction of a 180-year-old Amish barn on her property to a photo of the decapitated head of a rabbit killed by her dog Dexter.
Writers and Liars
Carol Goodman
HarperCollins Publishing, 2025, $27.99
Maia Gold is a bitter author, still looking for the big break she should have gotten 15 years ago with the book she wrote at a prestigious writers’ retreat in Greece. Now she has a second chance. When invited to return for a second retreat, Maia is ready for redemption. However, Maia’s path to success is strewn with a dead host and the question about just how far one will go to win literary acclaim. Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author, Red Hook resident, and beloved SUNY New Paltz professor Carol Goodman’s new novel is sure to keep the reader on their toes and make them question just how truthful writers are.
Pink Unicorn’s Magical Day
Written by Nicole Hughes, Illustrated by Chris Ams
Beacon Unicorn Fund, 2025, $28
Not all heroes wear capes: Some wear big, bright pink unicorn costumes. This children’s book is based on the incredible life of David Shelly, a Beacon resident who was often seen walking around Main Street in a pink unicorn costume. He brings joy to everyone he meets by doing all the things Shelly once did, such as handing out free flowers and ice cream vouchers and starting spontaneous sidewalk dance parties. At the end of the book, a virtual kindness kit gives detailed descriptions of how to bring a little joy to the world and teaches the reader how to be their very own Pink Unicorn. All proceeds go to the Beacon Unicorn Fund.
Hick
Sarah Miller
Penguin Random House, 2025, $20.99
Lorena Hickok, fondly known as Hick, was a renowned journalist who rose from a childhood littered with abuse at the hand of her alcoholic father and the death of her mother from a stroke, and right into the arms of first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Her incredible talent with words led to her covering Roosevelt during her husband’s first campaign. Their relationship unfolded in the years after, set against the backdrop of Hyde Park at Val-Kill Cottage, where Eleanor Roosevelt lived. After reading over 3,000 letters between the two women, Sarah Miller is able to give the reader an intimate look into their relationship.
Vera, or Faith
Gary Shteyngart
Penguin Random House, 2025, $28
Much like the world they live in, the Bradford-Shmulkin family is falling apart at the seams. The family is a blend of Jewish, Korean, Russian, and New England cultures. Daddy, Anne Mom, and their son Dylan are all flawed and struggling, seen most vividly by Vera, the narrator of the novel. She is Daddy’s daughter and Anne Mom’s stepdaughter. Struggling to make friends, keep her Daddy and Anne Mom together, and manage her overwhelming desire to connect with her birth mom, she is also keenly observant. Red Hook resident Gary Shteyngart’s sixth novel is eye-opening and bitterly witty.
This article appears in July 2025.
