Sandra M. Brown of Minnetonka writes:

I just finished an amazingly beautiful first novel by Darragh McKeon. The book, "All That Is Solid Melts Into Air," tells the story of the demise of the Soviet Union in conjunction with the nuclear accident at Chernobyl. Although the story is sad, the telling is poetic prose.

What's on your bedside table? E-mail us at books@startribune.com.