Chris' Picks

In November, 1977, 13-year-old Megumi Yokota vanishes without a trace. Her parents search for her for years until one day, they encounter shocking news: Megumi was kidnapped by North Korean secret agents. What began as a simple missing persons case becomes a battle between two nations at the highest levels. Suddenly, an ordinary banker and his housewife find themselves entangled in an extraordinary conspiracy.

"Babylon Berlin is one of the most critically acclaimed European televisions shows of the decade, a sumptuously paranoid thriller set in 1929 Berlin, a metropolis in turmoil. In Seasons 1 and 2, the glittering excesses of the city's nightlife sparkle while an army of the impoverished strives for a better life. Organized crime and political extremists take advantage, extending their power throughout town. Gereon Rath, a young cop from Cologne, is transferred...

Widely hailed as the Nobel Prize-winning author’s greatest work, this novel takes us into the life of a young Indian man who moves to an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation. • "Brilliant." —The New York Times

In this haunting masterpiece of postcolonial literature, short-listed for the Booker Prize in 1979, Naipaul gives us a convincing and disturbing vision...

When Alice transfers to a new middle school, she hears an urban legend about a student who disappeared the previous year and is suspected to have been killed by his fellow students. Even worse, Alice discovers that she lives next door to his former house, a supposedly haunted home now occupied by a reclusive classmate named Hana. Hana and Alice decide to investigate this “murder case” together, but soon find their lack of detective skills may...

Beginning with World War II and ending with the collapse of the Soviet Union, this is a new account of the strategic dynamics that drove the age, with portraits of its major personalities and much fresh insight into its most crucial events. It contains much new information drawn from newly opened Soviet, East European, and Chinese archives. Now, as America once again finds itself in a global confrontation with an implacable ideological enemy, this...

Frustrated by hearing loss and his messy personal life, retired linguistics professor Desmond Bates reluctantly journeys to London to check up on his elderly father and finds his hearing problems resulting in an unintended relationship with a young woman

A young artist reconstructs a historical event from 1941, in which the Romanian Army carried out ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front.

An idyllic family skiing vacation takes a stunning turn when an avalanche threatens the ski lodge restaurant, sending people fleeing and demanding quick decisions that change the course of family dynamics and trust.

Alma (Eggert) is a scientist coerced into participating in an extraordinary study in order to obtain research funds for her work. For three weeks, she has to live with a humanoid robot tailored to her character and needs, whose artificial intelligence is designed to be the perfect life partner for her. Enter Tom (Stevens), a machine in human form in a class of its own, created solely to make her happy. The film is a humorous tale about the questions...

"A fast-paced political thriller.... Wrong's gripping, thoughtful book stands as both a tribute to Githongo's courage and a cautionary tale." -New York Times Book Review "On one level, It's Our Turn to Eat reads like a John Le Carré novel.... On a deeper and much richer level, the book is an analysis of how and why Kenya descended into political violence." - Washington Post Called "urgent and important" by Harper's magazine, It's Our Turn to Eat...