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Letters to the Editor for Oct. 1

“The Last Thing He Told Me”

“Killing the Mob:

494 pages Honestly, I think part of the huge buzz about this excellent book is that eager readers are ready to sign up for whatever comes next from this author. The story is told through the perspective of Daunis Fontaine, an 18-year-old college freshman. Her coming-of-age story is seamlessly woven into a masterfully plotted mystery, for a read that’s satisfying on all levels. Though the book was selected for Reese Witherspoon’s YA Bookclub, it has great crossover appeal for older adults: for readers of Frederick Backman’s “Beartown” certainly, and especially for read...

“The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win” By Maria Konnikova 326 pages Konnikova is a psychologist with an interest in con artistry and game theory. She approached her publisher inspired by Colson Whitehead’s Noble Shuffle, where a magazine gave a novelist 10K to play a Vegas poker tournament. It was an entertainment. Konnikova does another take — ultimately as entertaining, and more helpful to the novice. The author wasn’t a player when she pitched the idea to her publisher, but gave herself a year to try to win at a Vegas tournament...