The short stories that make up Omer Friedlander’s “The Man Who Sold Air in the Holy Land,” this year’s selection for the Jewish Community Library’s One Bay One Book program, are tightly written, intimate portraits of lives lived in Israel. Not accounts of larger-than-life heroic lives or devastatingly tragic lives bound up in the constant political violence, but beautifully crafted tales of individuals from many backgrounds reaching out for love and connection across ethnic and religious boundaries.

It can be difficult to recommend books one finds deeply upsetting. But as I call attention to two new books that cast light on sexual abuse in the Jewish world, I’m cognizant of the importance of not looking away when it comes to this extremely difficult topic.

Stephen Mills, the author of “Chosen: A Memoir of Stolen Boyhood,” experienced hardship from the beginning of his life. His father, a World War II vet, had developed multiple sclerosis and died when Mills was 4 years old. When Mills’ mother remarried, adjusting to the new situation was painful.

For many of us, summer reading involves books that engage us but don’t feel like work to get through. One genre that frequently fits the bill is mystery. Cases in point: two new Jewish-flavored mystery novels.

Matt Goldman is known for his books featuring Minneapolis detective Nils Shapiro. Goldman takes a break from the series with his most recent novel, the atmospheric “Carolina Moonset,” which captures the impact of the past on a family as well as a town in South Carolina.