10 best books of April 2014, according to Amazon's editors

Spring is all about the new, and according to Amazon editors, these titles are the best of the new April releases. From a look at the life of legendary writer John Updike to the story of a sculptor living in the time of the de Medicis, these titles will keep you engaged as the weather warms outside. Here's the full list, with thoughts on each book from Amazon editorial director Sara Nelson shared during an interview with Monitor staffer Molly Driscoll.

1. 'In Paradise,' by Peter Matthiessen

"The Snow Leopard" author Matthiessen tells the story of a group of people of all nationalities, religions, and backgrounds who arrive at former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz to take part in a retreat. During the weeklong stay, the group plans to meditate and pray as well as to take all their meals and to sleep in the buildings once occupied by Nazi officers. "It's less grim than it sounds," Nelson says of the novel. "There's much more thoughtful spiritualism.... [I]t's a really strong portrait of these people and spirituality."

1 of 11

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.