'Beautiful Ruins' is Kerri's book pick

Kerri says she found the novel purely by accident while browsing The Daily Circuit's book table. She says she was drawn in by the cover.

"The storyline behind the book could've gone in I think a really traditional way," Kerri said. "A traditional novelist would've done something pretty different and nowhere near as exciting."

The book follows a number of characters in Hollywood and jumps back in time to the Italian coastal village of Porto Vergogna.

From Fresh Air's review:

We read a chapter of a World War II novel left behind in Pasquale's hotel by a failed American writer; and we tag along on the Fellini-esque adventures of Richard Burton, as he drunkenly teams up with Pasquale in Porto Vergogna -- a town so small that, as Burton crudely remarks, "I've left bigger settlements in my rank trousers." The test for a novel like this one is whether all these storylines ultimately snap together or whether they simply feel busy and self-indulgent. The verdict here is an emotionally satisfying "snap."

Stephanie also recommended "The Child Exchange," a Reuters investigation into the underground market of adopted children in the United States. The series shows how American families adopt overseas and eventually abandon the children by selling them online.

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

1 of 1

Next Slide