Turning to Stone
Marcia Bjornerud
Flatiron Books, $28.99
Marcia Bjornerud sits in the basement of a soon-to-be-demolished building at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis. The sole faculty member remaining in a depleted geology department, she sorts through castaway lab equipment, books and rocks. Anything she doesn’t save is destined for the dumpster. One of her student helpers moves a display case, revealing a hidden door leading to a secret storage room crammed with crates of granite.