Share your thoughts on our staffers' historical (and futuristic) picks – and let us know what you're reading.
Moira Bailey, News Administration Director
Her Pick: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
I'm fascinated by the Tudors, but before tackling Mantel's hefty novel I didn't have a firm fix on Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's close advisor. Though the book's many names can be confusing, the payoff is in personal and palace intrigue. It's like The West Wing only on the Thames, with torches. You feel you're really there – not just witnessing history but hearing and smelling it.
Liz Kelly, Ad Sales Account Manager
Her Pick: Winter of the World by Ken Follett
If you want a big meaty novel, this is it! It's the second book of a trilogy that began with Fall of Giants, all about World War I. Winter of the World follows several different families in the States, England, Germany and Russia as World War II consumes the globe. It's exciting and suspenseful – the ultimate beach read.
Aaron Parsley, Senior Editor
His Pick: Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
I'm re-reading the first two books in Atwood's dystopian trilogy as I eagerly await the release (finally!) of the third book, MaddAddam, in September. I couldn't put these books down the first time around. They take place in the near future – before, during and after a "waterless flood" levels humanity. Atwood calls them "speculative fiction" because the themes (extreme economic inequality, genetic engineering, the impact of mega-corporations) already exist. It may sound heavy – but the books are a lot of fun, suspenseful and full of unusual characters.
Check back every Thursday for another round of staff picks, and see more book reviews each week in PEOPLE magazine, on newsstands now. Plus, check out last week's big fat beach books and more great book finds here .
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