LAST NIGHT AT THE BLUE ANGEL * THE ILLUSION OF SEPARATENESS

Last Night at the Blue Angel by Rebecca Rotert - The best thing about Last Night at the Blue Angel is that it's not formulaic in any way. For me it is a fresh story, resembling a story in an old movie more than a story in a novel. It takes place in Chicago in the 1960s, and is written in the present tense by a 10 year old girl whose single mother is hoping to hit it big as a singer. Sophia is quite precocious, but not treated that way by the adults in her life, who we know only as she knows them. Except there's a back story told by her mom that tells us who everyone is as it leads the reader to the present time.  It's excellent. 
The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy - I read these short stories with a connection in one morning. They read backward and forward in time, and although you think you know how they connect, you really don't know how Martin and Mr. Hugo connect until the very end when it all comes full circle just as you'd hoped it would. It's existential and powerful in its simplicity and thoughtfulness.