“Imagine having a mother who worries that you read too much. The question is, what is it that’s supposed to happen to people who read too much? How can you tell when someone’s crossed the line?” – Helen Oyeyemi, Boy, Snow, Bird
FICTION
Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins ★
Laila desperately wants to become a mother, but each of her previous pregnancies has ended in heartbreak. This time has to be different, so she turns to the Melancons, an old and powerful Harlem family known for their caul, a precious layer of skin that is the secret source of their healing power.
When a deal for Laila to acquire a piece of caul falls through, she is heartbroken, but when the child is stillborn, she is overcome with grief and rage. What she doesn’t know is that a baby will soon be delivered in her family—by her niece, Amara, an ambitious college student—and delivered to the Melancons to raise as one of their own. Hallow is special: she’s born with a caul, and their matriarch, Maman, predicts the girl will restore the family’s prosperity.
Growing up, Hallow feels that something in her life is not right. Did Josephine, the woman she calls mother, really bring her into the world? Why does her cousin Helena get to go to school and roam the streets of New York freely while she’s confined to the family’s decrepit brownstone?
As the Melancons’ thirst to maintain their status grows, Amara, now a successful lawyer running for district attorney, looks for a way to avenge her longstanding grudge against the family. When mother and daughter cross paths, Hallow will be forced to decide where she truly belongs.
Engrossing, unique, and page-turning, Caul Baby illuminates the search for familial connection, the enduring power of tradition, and the dark corners of the human heart.
Description from Goodreads.
“Morgan Jerkins is a literary force… an unforgettable portrait of Black motherhood. While it’s easy to wax poetic about her command of language, it’s the narrative of this novel that will grip your mind and punch your heart.” – Amazon Book Review
“[A] page-turning tale of familial intrigue that’s sure to appeal to fans of Jacqueline Woodson and Isabel Allende.” – Chicago Review of Books
“The writing is sharp with an empathetic undertone, encouraging readers to understand characters’ choices even if they don’t agree. Readers are taken through a spectrum of emotions with a satisfying payoff. On the heels of her excellent memoir Wandering in Strange Lands (2020), Jerkins solidifies herself as one of our guiding literary lights, no matter the genre.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“[An] ambitious novel about gentrification, exploitation, generational trauma, and Black identity.” – AudioFile
Available Formats:
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Good Company by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney ★
Flora Mancini has been happily married for more than twenty years. But everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margot, is upended when she stumbles upon an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring—the one he claimed he lost one summer when their daughter, Ruby, was five.
Flora and Julian struggled for years, scraping together just enough acting work to raise Ruby in Manhattan and keep Julian’s small theater company—Good Company—afloat. A move to Los Angeles brought their first real career successes, a chance to breathe easier, and a reunion with Margot, now a bona fide television star. But has their new life been built on lies? What happened that summer all those years ago? And what happens now?
With Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s signature tenderness, humor, and insight, Good Company tells a bighearted story of the lifelong relationships that both wound and heal us.
Description from Goodreads.
“There are few writers who explore the depths of family and friendship with as much care and nuance as Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, whose new novel is a generous, empathetic portrayal of a marriage and friendship thrown into disarray by an accidental discovery… D’Aprix Sweeney interrogates all that goes into building a life together — the messiness, the heartache, and the joy.” – Refinery29
“From the bestselling author of The Nest comes another charming yet deceptively sharp tale of friendship, family, and all the things that get in the way of both… This is a perfect book for a quick weekend read—warm, funny, yet full of insight.” – Elle
“The vivacious and tender second novel by the bestselling author of The Nest is an absorbing, wise, and tender tale of a marriage in mid-life.” – O, the Oprah Magazine
“Masterfully building character… and dropping revelations through flashbacks, D’Aprix Sweeney’s writing is smooth and propelling. Readers of introspective, relational novels will devour this.” – Booklist
Available Formats:
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Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi ★
When Otto and Xavier Shin declare their love, an aunt gifts them a trip on a sleeper train to mark their new commitment–and to get them out of her house. Setting off with their pet mongoose, Otto and Xavier arrive at their sleepy local train station, but quickly deduce that The Lucky Day is no ordinary locomotive. Their trip on this former tea-smuggling train has been curated beyond their wildest imaginations, complete with mysterious and welcoming touches, like ingredients for their favorite breakfast. They seem to be the only people onboard, until Otto discovers a secretive woman who issues a surprising message. As further clues and questions pile up, and the trip upends everything they thought they knew, Otto and Xavier begin to see connections to their own pasts, connections that now bind them together.
A spellbinding tale from a star author, Peaces is about what it means to be seen by another person–whether it’s your lover or a stranger on a train–and what happens when things you thought were firmly in the past turn out to be right beside you.
Description from Goodreads.
“Enchanting… the most surprising, confounding, and oddly insightful couple’s trip in recent literary history.” – Entertainment Weekly
“[P]ractically mind altering… Oyeyemi trains her irresistible prose and considerable powers of perception on the uncanny valley that forms between one person’s experience and another’s interpretation, divergences that cast eerie shadows on the course of relationships past, present and future. A superbly fun Rorschach test of staggering creativity.” – Shelf Awareness
“Oyeyemi once again pushes the boundaries of the novel… A surrealist tale of love, heartbreak, and being haunted by the past.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Curious characters, strange events, and mysteries abound in Oyeyemi’s delightfully bonkers latest… this exciting and inventive novel brims with unusual insights.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
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Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer ★
Security consultant “Jane Smith” receives an envelope with a key to a storage unit that holds a taxidermied hummingbird and clues leading her to a taxidermied salamander. Silvina, the dead woman who left the note, is a reputed ecoterrorist and the daughter of an Argentine industrialist. By taking the hummingbird from the storage unit, Jane sets in motion a series of events that quickly spin beyond her control.
Soon, Jane and her family are in danger, with few allies to help her make sense of the true scope of the peril. Is the only way to safety to follow in Silvina’s footsteps? Is it too late to stop? As she desperately seeks answers about why Silvina contacted her, time is running out—for her and possibly for the world.
Hummingbird Salamander is Jeff VanderMeer at his brilliant, cinematic best, wrapping profound questions about climate change, identity, and the world we live in into a tightly plotted thriller full of unexpected twists and elaborate conspiracy.
Description from Goodreads.
“Riveting… VanderMeer is a marvelous craftsman. Every word here feels carefully chosen; every sentence has a purpose; every plot point causes ripples felt through the rest of the story… The author’s devoted fans will flock to this novel, and they will be richly rewarded. Switching genres with aplomb, VanderMeer knocks his conspiracy thriller out of the park.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Set in a world far along the path to ecological and political breakdown, this striking mix of thriller and biotech speculative fiction from VanderMeer charts a seemingly mad quest by its anonymous narrator… Exquisite prose pulls the reader deep into the labyrinthine plot. VanderMeer reinforces his place as one of today’s most innovative writers.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“A daring change of genres, and an entertaining whirlwind at that.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
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Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian ★
A floundering second-generation teenager growing up in the Bush-era Atlanta suburbs, Neil Narayan is authentic, funny, and smart. He just doesn’t share the same drive as everyone around him. His perfect older sister is headed to Duke. His parents’ expectations for him are just as high. He tries to want this version of success, but mostly, Neil just wants his neighbor across the cul-de-sac, Anita Dayal.
But Anita has a secret: she and her mother Anjali have been brewing an ancient alchemical potion from stolen gold that harnesses the ambition of the jewelry’s original owner. Anjali’s own mother in Bombay didn’t waste the precious potion on her daughter, favoring her sons instead. Anita, on the other hand, just needs a little boost to get into Harvard. But when Neil–who needs a whole lot more–joins in the plot, events spiral into a tragedy that rips their community apart.
Ten years later, Neil is an oft-stoned Berkeley history grad student studying the California gold rush. His high school cohort has migrated to Silicon Valley, where he reunites with Anita and resurrects their old habit of gold theft–only now, the stakes are higher. Anita’s mother is in trouble, and only gold can save her. Anita and Neil must pull off one last heist.
Gold Diggers is a fine-grained, profoundly intelligent, and bitingly funny investigation in to questions of identity and coming of age–that tears down American shibboleths.
Description from Goodreads.
“A dazzling and delightful work of fiction by an exciting new literary talent… Sathian has produced a beguiling elixir with Gold Diggers, skillfully stirring myth into a playful yet powerful modern-day examination of the American dream and the second-generation citizens who pursue it. A fabulist amalgam of The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye, it’s an engrossing cautionary tale as well as a shrewd appraisal of what we consider success—and the moral sacrifices we make to achieve it. Imaginative and intoxicating, Gold Diggers richly rewards its readers.” – BookPage
“Out of [a] nugget of magical realism, Sathian spins pure magic… Filled with pathos, humor, slices of American history, and an adrenaline-pumping heist, Sathian’s spectacular debut also highlights the steep costs of the all-American dream… Pure gold… [readers] will find much to embrace in Neeraj’s dynamite and touching quest to find himself.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Dazzling… the sharp characterizations bring humor and contemplation in equal measure, touching on the pressures Neil and Anita face to produce a legacy that honors their parents’ sacrifices. Sathian’s bildungsroman isn’t one to miss.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
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Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson
Growing up poor in rural Georgia, Bree Cabbat was warned by her single mother that the world was a dark and scary place. Bree rejected her mother’s fearful outlook, and life has proved her right. Having married into a family with wealth, power, and connections, Bree now has all a woman could ever dream of: a loving lawyer husband, two talented teenage daughters, a new baby boy, a gorgeous home, and every opportunity in the world.
Until the day she awakens and sees a witch peering into her bedroom window—an old gray-haired woman dressed all in black who vanishes as quickly as she appears. It must be a play of the early morning light or the remnant of a waking dream, Bree tells herself, shaking off the bad feeling that overcomes her.
Later that day though, she spies the old woman again, in the parking lot of her daughters’ private school… just minutes before Bree’s infant son, asleep in his car seat only a few feet away, vanishes. It happened so quickly—Bree looked away only for a second. There is a note left in his place, warning her that she is being watched; if she wants her baby back, she must not call the police or deviate in any way from the instructions that will follow.
The mysterious woman makes contact, and Bree learns she, too, is a mother. Why would another mother do this? What does she want? And why has she targeted Bree? Of course Bree will pay anything, do anything. It’s her child.
To get her baby back, Bree must complete one small—but critical—task. It seems harmless enough, but her action comes with a devastating price, making her complicit in a tangled web of tragedy and shocking secrets that could destroy everything she loves. It is the beginning of an odyssey that will lead Bree to dangerous places, explosive confrontations, and chilling truths.
Bree will do whatever it takes to protect her family—but what if the cost tears their world apart?
Description from Goodreads.
“Suspense readers will enjoy plot twists and motivations that hit close to home… The novel’s depth lies in exploring the role of a mother to protect and teach her children… Fans of Mary Kubica… will appreciate the mixture of suspense with complex characters.” – Booklist
“The tension is skillfully built… a thriller with a sharp #MeToo edge.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Gripping… The dark secret at the novel’s heart rings all too true. Jackson knows how to ratchet up the suspense.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
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Astrid Sees All by Natalie Standiford
New York, 1984: Twenty-two-year-old Phoebe Hayes is a young woman in search of excitement and adventure. But the recent death of her father has so devastated her that her mother wants her to remain home in Baltimore to recover. Phoebe wants to return to New York, not only to chase the glamorous life she so desperately craves but also to confront Ivan, the older man who painfully wronged her.
With her best friend Carmen, she escapes to the East Village, disappearing into an underworld haunted by artists, It Girls, and lost souls trying to party their pain away. Carmen juggles her junkie-poet boyfriend and a sexy painter while, as Astrid the Star Girl, Phoebe tells fortunes in a nightclub and plots her revenge on Ivan.
When the intoxicating brew of sex, drugs, and self-destruction leads Phoebe to betray her friend, Carmen disappears, and Phoebe begins an unstoppable descent into darkness. She may have a chance to save herself—and Carmen, if she can find her—but to do it she must face what’s hiding in the shadows she’s been running from—within her heart and in the dangerous midnight streets.
A love letter to gritty 1980s New York City, Astrid Sees All is an irresistible, original novel about female friendship, sex and romance, and what it’s like to be a young woman searching for an identity.
Description from Goodreads.
“The author’s glee in evoking the zeitgeist of the 1980s is infectious… Smart details, lively digressions, and spot-on period snapshots.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Guiding readers on a descent into clubland… with the gusto of a certain Musto.” – The Millions
“Standiford captures a beating, smoky world… There is page-turning plot aplenty here, dealing with the pains of grief, addiction, and simply growing up, all made endurable by love and friendship.” – Booklist
Available Formats:
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The Bookstore on the Beach by Brenda Novak
How do you start a new chapter of your life when you haven’t closed the book on the previous one?
Eighteen months ago, Autumn Divac’s husband went missing. Her desperate search has yielded no answers, and she can’t imagine moving forward without him. But for the sake of their two teenage children, she has to try.
Autumn takes her kids home for the summer to the charming beachside town where she was raised. She seeks comfort working alongside her mother and aunt at their bookshop, only to learn that her daughter is facing a huge life change and her mother has been hiding a terrible secret for years. And when she runs into the boy who stole her heart in high school, old feelings start to bubble up again. Is she free to love him, or should she hold out hope for her husband’s return? She can only trust her heart… and hope it won’t lead her astray.
Description from Goodreads.
“Novak handles difficult topics with sensitivity, making for a heart-tugging romance. Readers are sure to be sucked in.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Filled with mystery and drama, coupled with themes of family ties and secrets. This page-turner will not disappoint.” – Booklist
“The prose is fast-paced and exciting making this a breathless page-turner with the conclusion proving no problems are too difficult to solve.” – New York Journal of Books
Available Formats:
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A Perfect Cemetery by Federico Falco
Childhood does not last long in the Argentine mountains of Córdoba, and adult lives fall apart quickly.
In disarming, darkly humorous stories, Federico Falco explores themes of obsessive love, romantic attachment and the strategies we must find to cope with death and painful longing
In the middle of a blizzard a widow watches the ruin of her late-husband’s garden, until suddenly she sees a woman running naked in the falling snow. After telling her parents she is abandoning her Christian faith, a girl becomes infatuated with a Mormon missionary who reminds her of a boy killed in her village years before. When his family’s home is lost, a father desperately offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone who will take them in. And a town’s mayor tries to fulfill his father’s dying wish – to design the perfect cemetery.
Description from Goodreads.
“Each powerful story captivates and I cannot recommend this collection enough.” – Morning Star
“Expansive and ingeniously crafted―an unforgettable collection.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“The quiet assurance with which Falco addresses rural environments represents a departure recalling the perspectives of writers from the northern hemisphere such as Denis Johnson, Knut Hamsun or Tobias Wolff.” – The Times Literary Supplement
Available Formats:
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SUSPENSE
You Love Me by Caroline Kepnes ★
Joe is done with the cities. He’s done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he’s saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cozy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.
He gets a job at the local library—he does know a thing or two about books—and that’s where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco. Librarian. Joe won’t meddle, he will not obsess. He’ll win her the old-fashioned way… by providing a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand. Over time, they’ll both heal their wounds and begin their happily ever after in this sleepy town.
The trouble is… Mary Kay already has a life. She’s a mother. She’s a friend. She’s… busy.
True love can only triumph if both people are willing to make room for the real thing. Joe cleared his decks. He’s ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kay will do the right thing and make room for him.
Description from Goodreads.
“A strange delight… Series fans will eat this up.” – Publishers Weekly
“Kepnes’s series continues to be a sly, subversive exploration of what people choose to reveal and what they hide in their relationships, and just how difficult it is to truly know another person. That Kepnes manages to limn such heady subjects in such a compulsively readable way while serving up twists aplenty is the reason the series still feels fresh three books in… There’s never been a better time to get acquainted with Kepnes’s dangerously appealing leading man.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“[Caroline] Kepnes’s savage takedowns of pretentious blowhards continue to make Joe a more culturally aware Dexter, or perhaps a more romantic and humorous Hannibal, as he pillories the bad taste of his rivals and victims.” – Literary Hub
“Part stalker romance, part thriller… fans of the You series will be delighted.” – Kirkus Reviews
Available Formats:
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Northern Spy by Flynn Berry
A producer at the Belfast bureau of the BBC, Tessa is at work one day when the news of another raid comes on the air. The IRA may have gone underground after the Good Friday agreement, but they never really went away, and lately, bomb threats, arms drops, and helicopters floating ominously over the city have become features of everyday life. As the anchor requests the public’s help in locating those responsible for this latest raid – a robbery at a gas station – Tessa’s sister appears on the screen. Tessa watches in shock as Marian pulls a black mask over her face.
The police believe Marian has joined the IRA, but Tessa knows this is impossible. They were raised to oppose Republicanism, and the violence enacted in its name. They’ve attended peace vigils together. And besides, Marian is vacationing by the sea. Tessa just spoke to her yesterday.
When the truth of what has happened to Marian reveals itself, Tessa will be forced to choose: between her ideals and her family, between bystanderism and action. Walking an increasingly perilous road, she fears nothing more than endangering the one person she loves more fiercely than her sister: her infant son.
A riveting and exquisite novel about family, terror, motherhood, betrayal, and the staggering human costs of an intractable conflict, Northern Spy cements Flynn Berry’s status as one of the most sophisticated and accomplished authors of crime and suspense novels working today.
Description from Goodreads.
“In her thrillingly good third novel, Flynn Berry shows a le Carré-like flair for making you wonder what’s really going on at any given moment… Berry won an Edgar for Under the Harrow in 2017. Here comes another contender.” – Washington Post
“[A] twisting… emotional thriller… Berry’s portrayal of Irish life is uncannily accurate… dropping readers headfirst into the emotions of living in conflict.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“A taut and compassionate thriller… [and a] reflection on personal choice and consequence… A poignant and lyrical novel that asks what is worth sacrificing for peace.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
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Northern Heist by Richard O’Rawe
Nobody robs banks in Belfast without the IRA getting a cut — not even former Provo James ‘Ructions’ O’Hare. But when word gets around O’Hare may be up to something, the pressure from the IRA begins.
Ructions’ trusts his crack squad of former paramilitary compadres, and has full confidence in his audacious plan: To literally empty the biggest bank in Belfast by kidnapping the families of two employees – known as a “tiger” kidnapping — in order to force them to help Ructions and his crew get into the bank’s vault.
But keeping the plan — and the money — from the IRA is another plan entirely, one requiring all Ruction’s cunning and skill.
In this stunning debut novel, as audacious and well-executed as Ructions’ plan to rob the National Bank itself, Richard O’Rawe — a former IRA bank robber himself – unleashes a story that will shock, surprise and thrill as he takes you on a white-knuckle ride through Belfast’s criminal underbelly. Enter the deadly world of tiger kidnappings, kangaroo courts, money laundering, drug deals and double-crosses.
Description from Goodreads.
“A real page-turner with a polish unusual in a debut.” – Belfast Telegraph
“O’Rawe channels both Elmore Leonard and Guy Ritchie in this heist thriller full of sharp twists and gritty dialogue, emerging with a style all his own. His reimagining of the real-life bank heist feels so authentic readers will hope he has a strong alibi. Ken Bruen fans won’t want to miss this one.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Gripping… A hugely impressive and skillfully crafted debut novel… Its dialogue is sharp and venomous… O’Rawe’s confidence as a storyteller takes off as the heist begins, dropping you in all kinds of damned places.” – The Irish Times
Available Formats:
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MYSTERY
The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.
In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.
Description from Goodreads.
“[A] taut supernatural thriller… McMahon’s skills in crafting captivating plots and building suspense shine.” – Publishers Weekly
“This streamlined supernatural thriller is built on gifted storytelling and has the atmosphere of a fireside ghost tale, woven with strands of longing and regret.” – Booklist
“McMahon has a gift for creating creepy atmosphere and letting spooky suggestions linger in the mind. She’s also adept at weaving legends and stories into the fabric of what feels like real life, because her characters are so believably vulnerable. For best results, read it on a dark and stormy night—in a well-lit room, far away from the water.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
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Deadly Editions by Paige Shelton
Bookseller Delaney Nichols receives a mysterious cloaked visitor one evening at the Cracked Spine Bookshop. He presents to her an even more perplexing note: an invitation to an exclusive treasure hunt hosted by eccentric socialite Shelaigh O’Connor. Delaney is intrigued, but also cautious: Shelaigh, while charming in person, has a reputation for her hijinks as a wealthy young woman in the ’70s. She was even once suspected for the murder of a former boyfriend, though ultimately cleared of all charges.
But Delaney is enticed by the grand prize at the end of the treasure hunt: a highly valuable first edition copy of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson. The winner is also to receive the contents of Shelaigh’s vast library, and an unspecified sum of cash.
The night after the first meeting of the treasure hunters, however, several homes in Edinburgh are robbed in a manner reminiscent of Shelaigh’s old tricks. And when a man connected to Shelaigh is killed, suspicion builds. Except Sheilagh herself has disappeared from her home, seemingly kidnapped by the villain.
Terror mounts throughout the city as Delaney attempts to solve the mystery, while trying to stay out of the killer’s clutches. For she, it seems, is his next target.
Description from Goodreads.
“Captivating… Ghostly pubs and blustery winter scenes help create a suitably sinister atmosphere, while distinctive characters and judicious use of Scottish dialect add to the story’s appeal.” – Publishers Weekly
“Filled with literary references that will tickle bibliophiles.” – Kirkus Reviews
“[A] well written novel, one that keeps the reader guessing until the very end.” – Mystery & Suspense
Available Formats:
eBook
Animal Instinct by David Rosenfelt
Corey Douglas and his K-9 partner, a German shepherd named Simon Garfunkel, are recently retired police officers turned private investigators. Along with fellow former cop Laurie Collins and her investigating partner, Marcus, they call themselves the K Team, in honor of Simon.
The K Team’s latest case – a recent unsolved murder – gives Corey a chance to solve the one that got away. Corey knew the murder victim from his time on the force, when he was unable to protect her in a domestic dispute. Now, he is convinced the same abusive boyfriend is responsible for her murder. With some help from Laurie’s lawyer husband, Andy Carpenter, the K Team is determined to prove what the police could not, no matter the cost. What they uncover is much more sinister than they could have imagined.
Known for his dog-loving stories and addictive characters, bestselling mystery author David Rosenfelt presents Animal Instinct, the second installment in this engrossing new series about a dynamite investigative team and their canine partner.
Description from Goodreads.
“The believable plot takes surprising twists… Rosenfelt smoothly mixes humor with a sharp plot and appealing characters. This series deserves a long run.” – Publishers Weekly
“A second outing for Paterson’s preeminent investigators ensnares one of their own members in uncomfortable ways… Though the case is a hot mess, the criminals’ sublimely simple central concept is worth all those subsidiary homicides.” – Kirkus Reviews
“These characters are so well-written (especially Marcus) and the stories are always fun…” – Red Carpet Crash
Available Formats:
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ROMANCE
Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez
Vanessa lives life on her own terms — one day at a time, every day to its fullest. She isn’t willing to waste a moment or miss out on an experience when she has no idea whether she shares the same fatal genetic condition as her mother. Besides, she has way too much to do, traveling the globe and showing her millions of YouTube followers the joy in seizing every moment.
But after her half-sister suddenly leaves Vanessa in custody of her infant daughter, she is housebound, on mommy duty for the foreseeable future, and feeling totally out of her element.
The last person she expects to show up offering help is the unbelievably hot lawyer who lives next door, Adrian Copeland. After all, she barely knows him. But as they get closer, Vanessa realizes that her carefree ways and his need for a structured plan could never be compatible for the long term. Then again, she should know better than anyone that life’s too short to fear taking the biggest risk of all…
Description from Goodreads.
“Heartfelt and swoony… Jimenez masterfully blends heavy issues and humor, lacing the tear-jerking heartache with sass and sarcasm. Series fans and newcomers alike will be moved by this emotional rom-com.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“An effervescent romantic comedy about taking chances, living life to the fullest, and how love can overcome anything, Life’s Too Short finds author Abby Jimenez at her most heartfelt and hilarious yet.” – Harlequin Junkie
“… nearly flawless… a swoonworthy romance with dashing characters and a reminder to live each day to its fullest!” – The NERD Daily
Available Formats:
eBook
Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle
Can you find real love when you’ve always got your head in the clouds?
Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start.
Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn’t the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who’s as grouchy as he is gorgeous—and it turns out he has very different vision for the property’s future.
Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley’s scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one’s comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.
Description from Goodreads.
“The perfect springtime romance.” – PopSugar
“Hogle did a marvelous job of turning what could be a heavy and predictable tale into a lighthearted story full of surprises, redemption and love.” – USA Today
“Hogle’s story takes a gentle, knowing look at anxiety, its debilitating effects, and the importance of stepping outside our comfort zones in this slow-burn romance with plenty of charm and witty banter.” – Country Living
Available Formats:
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HISTORICAL FICTION
Leonora in the Morning Light by Michaela Carter
1940. A train carrying exiled German prisoners from a labor camp arrives in southern France. Within moments, word spreads that Nazi capture is imminent, and the men flee for the woods, desperate to disappear across the Spanish border. One stays behind, determined to ride the train until he reaches home, to find a woman he refers to simply as “her.”
1937. Leonora Carrington is a twenty-year-old British socialite and painter dreaming of independence when she meets Max Ernst, an older, married artist whose work has captivated Europe. She follows him to Paris, into the vibrant revolutionary world of studios and cafes where rising visionaries of the Surrealist movement like Andre Breton, Pablo Picasso, Lee Miller, Man Ray, and Salvador Dali are challenging conventional approaches to art and life. Inspired by their freedom, Leonora begins to experiment with her own work, translating vivid stories of her youth onto canvas and gaining recognition under her own name. It is a bright and glorious age of enlightenment—until the shadow of war looms over Europe and headlines emerge denouncing Max and his circle as “degenerates,” leading to his arrest and imprisonment. Left alone as occupation spreads throughout the countryside, Leonora battles terrifying circumstances to survive, reawakening past demons that threaten to consume her.
As Leonora and Max embark on remarkable journeys together and apart, the full story of their tumultuous and passionate love affair unfolds, spanning time and borders as they seek to reunite and reclaim their creative power in a world shattered by war. When their paths cross with Peggy Guggenheim, an art collector and socialite working to help artists escape to America, nothing will be the same.
Based on true events and historical figures, Leonora in the Morning Light is an unforgettable story of love, art, and destiny that restores a twentieth-century heroine to her rightful place in our collective imagination.
Description from Goodreads.
“Deeply empathic… Carter has written a refulgent and deeply involving historical tale of tragic lost love, determined survival, the sanctuary of art, and the evolution of a muse into an artist of powerfully provocative feminist expression.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“A satisfying historical novel about love, art, and war… Carter meditates beautifully on the unique difficulties of being a woman artist.” – Kirkus Reviews
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The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
August 1939: London prepares for war as Hitler’s forces sweep across Europe. Grace Bennett has always dreamed of moving to the city, but the bunkers and blackout curtains that she finds on her arrival were not what she expected. And she certainly never imagined she’d wind up working at Primrose Hill, a dusty old bookshop nestled in the heart of London.
Through blackouts and air raids as the Blitz intensifies, Grace discovers the power of storytelling to unite her community in ways she never dreamed—a force that triumphs over even the darkest nights of the war.
Description from Goodreads.
“A great historical novel.” – Red Carpet Crash
“An amusing, suspenseful, and uplifting historical with heart-warming motifs that have never felt more topical or vital.” – Amazon Book Review
“This engaging mix of books, romance, and war is not without tragedy, but the unapologetically uplifting ending will find booklovers wiping away a tear or two.” – Booklist
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SCI-FI & FANTASY
A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
The Ark was built to save the lives of the many, but rapidly became a refuge for the elite, the entrance closed without warning.
Years after the Ark was cut off from the world, a chance of survival within its confines is granted to a select few who can prove their worth. Among their number is Markriss Denny, whose path to future excellence is marred only by a closely guarded secret: without warning, his spirit leaves his body, allowing him to see and experience a world far beyond his physical limitations.
Once inside the Ark, Denny learns of another with the same power, whose existence could spell catastrophe for humanity. He is forced into a desperate race to understand his abilities, and in doing so uncovers the truth about the Ark, himself and the people he thought he once knew.
Description from Goodreads.
“Newland has produced a text that piques and provokes, providing a guidebook to worlds both uncomfortably familiar and radically new.” – Strange Horizons
“Courttia Newland is a formidable writer… And his latest work, A River Called Time, is an extraordinary piece of speculative fiction… Newland offers a brilliant remix of history… This may be a work of speculative fiction but its critical lens is present and prescient.” – Financial Times
“Newland subtly and smoothly incorporates elements of Egyptian mythology into his alternative landscape, building an altered history that is entirely believable… This kind of thing is not easy to portray well in fiction, but Courttia Newland does so with a confident hand, leading the reader through different worlds with aplomb.” – The Big Issue
Available Formats:
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NONFICTION
The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020 by Rachel Kushner ★
Rachel Kushner has established herself as a master of the essay form. In The Hard Crowd, she gathers a selection of her writing from over the course of the last twenty years that addresses the most pressing political, artistic, and cultural issues of our times—and illuminates the themes and real-life terrain that underpin her fiction.
In nineteen razor-sharp essays, The Hard Crowd spans literary journalism, memoir, cultural criticism, and writing about art and literature, including pieces on Jeff Koons, Denis Johnson, and Marguerite Duras. Kushner takes us on a journey through a Palestinian refugee camp, an illegal motorcycle race down the Baja Peninsula, 1970s wildcat strikes in Fiat factories, her love of classic cars, and her young life in the music scene of her hometown, San Francisco. The closing, eponymous essay is her manifesto on nostalgia, doom, and writing.
These pieces, new and old, are electric, phosphorescently vivid, and wry, and they provide an opportunity to witness the evolution and range of one of our most dazzling and fearless writers.
Description from Goodreads.
“The Hard Crowd is wild, wide-ranging, and unsparingly intelligent throughout.” – Vogue
“Kushner proves as shrewd and daring in her essays as she is in her fiction, and a reader gets the same sense of tagging along with an author who has slept rough, thought hard, and gotten into her car to drive out and witness an event with her own two eyes… [a] dazzling collection.” – Interview
“[Kushner] seems to work with a muse and a nail gun, so surprisingly yet forcefully do her sentences pin reality to the page.” – New York
“Readers of Kushner’s high-voltage novels, including The Mars Room, can’t help but wonder about the source of her far-roaming and omnivorous imagination. Much is revealed in this vitalizing essay collection. Kushner’s autobiographical pieces illuminate complicated aspects of her adventurous life and why and how she developed the skills to write about it with such breath-catching clarity and polished rigor, the literary equivalent of the fine-tuned mechanics of the motorcycles and classic cars she treasures… riveting… astute and vigorous… tell she does, steering her way through perilous curves with steely agility and purpose, leaving her passengers exultant and enlightened.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
eBook
Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson
As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, Jenny brings readers along on her mental and physical health journey, offering heartbreaking and hilarious anecdotes along the way.
With people experiencing anxiety and depression now more than ever, Jenny humanizes what we all face in an all-too-real way, reassuring us that we’re not alone and making us laugh while doing it. From the business ideas that she wants to pitch to Shark Tank to the reason why Jenny can never go back to the post office, Broken leaves nothing to the imagination in the most satisfying way. And of course, Jenny’s long-suffering husband Victor―the Ricky to Jenny’s Lucille Ball―is present throughout.
A treat for Jenny Lawson’s already existing fans, and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter when we all need it most.
Description from Goodreads.
“Lawson’s self-deprecating humor is not only gaspingly funny and wonderfully inappropriate; it allows her to speak… in a real and raw way.” – O, the Oprah Magazine
“Longtime fans of the author’s prose know that the destinations really aren’t the point; it’s the laugh-out-loud, tears-streaming-down-your-face journeys that make her writing so irresistible… [A] winning mix of shameless irreverence, wicked humor, and vulnerability.” – Kirkus Reviews
“[Lawson]… makes others laugh. Her delivery is zany, clever, and raunchy. Her conversations with party guests, her long-suffering husband, her sister, and even herself are flat-out hilarious. And the situations she finds herself in are comic gold. Beneath the banter, however, is a heartbreaking chronicle of what goes on in the mind of a person dealing with anxiety and depression.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
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The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos by Judy Batalion
Witnesses to the brutal murder of their families and neighbors and the violent destruction of their communities, a cadre of Jewish women in Poland—some still in their teens—helped transform the Jewish youth groups into resistance cells to fight the Nazis. With courage, guile, and nerves of steel, these “ghetto girls” paid off Gestapo guards, hid revolvers in loaves of bread and jars of marmalade, and helped build systems of underground bunkers. They flirted with German soldiers, bribed them with wine, whiskey, and home cooking, used their Aryan looks to seduce them, and shot and killed them. They bombed German train lines and blew up a town’s water supply. They also nursed the sick and taught children.
Yet the exploits of these courageous resistance fighters have remained virtually unknown.
As propulsive and thrilling as Hidden Figures, In the Garden of Beasts, Band of Brothers, and A Train in Winter, The Light of Days at last tells the true story of these incredible women whose courageous yet little-known feats have been eclipsed by time. Judy Batalion—the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors—takes us back to 1939 and introduces us to Renia Kukielka, a weapons smuggler and messenger who risked death traveling across occupied Poland on foot and by train. Joining Renia are other women who served as couriers, armed fighters, intelligence agents, and saboteurs, all who put their lives in mortal danger to carry out their missions. Batalion follows these women through the savage destruction of the ghettos, arrest and internment in Gestapo prisons and concentration camps, and for a lucky few—like Renia, who orchestrated her own audacious escape from a brutal Nazi jail—into the late 20th century and beyond.
Powerful and inspiring, featuring twenty black-and-white photographs, The Light of Days is an unforgettable true tale of war, the fight for freedom, exceptional bravery, female friendship, and survival in the face of staggering odds.
Description from Goodreads.
“Resounding history of Jewish women who fought the German invaders in World War II. In a vigorous narrative that draws on interviews, diaries, and other sources, Batalion delivers an objective view of past events that are too quickly being forgotten—and a story much in need of telling.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“A remarkable portrait of young Jewish women who fought in the Polish resistance during WWII… pays vivid tribute to `the breadth and scope of female courage.'” – Publishers Weekly
“In [Batalion’s] capable hands, [these women’s] disparate voices are successfully woven together to create a gripping and horrifying narrative… It’s essential to tell more stories like The Light of Days if we are going to have a complete, truthful historical record, with women portrayed not just as girlfriends, assistants, or supporting characters, but as the powerful and effective leaders they are.” – Jewish Book Council
Available Formats:
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Beautiful Things: A Memoir by Hunter Biden
“I come from a family forged by tragedies and bound by a remarkable, unbreakable love,” Hunter Biden writes in this deeply moving memoir of addiction, loss, and survival.
When he was two-years-old, Hunter Biden was badly injured in a car accident that killed his mother and baby sister. In 2015, he suffered the devastating loss of his beloved big brother, Beau, who died of brain cancer at the age of forty-six. These hardships were compounded by the collapse of his marriage and a years-long battle with drug and alcohol addiction.
In Beautiful Things, Hunter recounts his descent into substance abuse and his tortuous path to sobriety. The story ends with where Hunter is today—a sober married man with a new baby, finally able to appreciate the beautiful things in life.
Description from Goodreads.
“[A] singular memoir of grief and addiction… harrowing, relentless…” Washington Post
“…equal parts family saga, grief narrative and addict’s howl… Biden bluntly describes his progression from smoking crack to cooking it; his abusive relationships with unsavory dealers and sticky-fingered hangers on; and the desperate tricks he used when faced with drug tests…” – New York Times
“…at times a harrowing journey. Readers who make it all the way through may feel they have completed something of a 12-step rehab program themselves… This memoir is surely a confession, but it seems to seek something other than conventional forgiveness – something other than sympathy.” – NPR
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It’s Always Freezer Season: How to Freeze Like a Chef with 100 Make-Ahead Recipes by Ashley Christensen & Kaitlyn Goalen
Transform the way you use your freezer with 100 flavorful meal prep recipes that can be brought to the table in fewer than 30 minutes, from a two-time James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur.
The freezer is the secret weapon in the home kitchen of renowned Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen and her wife, cookbook author Kaitlyn Goalen. It makes a convenient fifteen-minute meal more delicious; it makes project cooking worth the effort; it makes grocery shopping less wasteful and more economical; and it enables them to use food to support their friends and community. In It’s Always Freezer Season, Christensen and Goalen reveal how the freezer can easily become the single most important kitchen tool for a home cook.
Discover make-ahead meal prep solutions to help you transform your kitchen workhorse into a fully provisioned pantry. Stock it with freezer pantry staples–items that you make and then use later as elements of more complicated recipes–and use those staples to make Cornbread Panzanella with Watermelon, Cucumber, and Za’atar Vinaigrette; Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Preserved Lemon-Garlic Butter; and Braised Short Ribs with Cauliflower Fonduta. Create fully prepared make-ahead dishes for every meal of the day to keep in your freezer, like Pistachio Croissant French Toast with Orange Blossom Soft Cream, Chicken and Kale Tortilla Soup, and Pimento Mac and Cheese Custard, plus snacks, sweets, and drinks ready to be enjoyed at a moment’s notice.
With delicious recipes, bright photography, helpful technical information, and tips on stocking a freezer pantry, this book will change the way you think about your freezer.
Description from Goodreads.
“Christensen and Goalen combine professional chefs’ tricks of the trade with practical advice in this clever guide to making the most of one’s freezer… This book will spur even experienced home cooks to see their freezers in a new light.” – Publishers Weekly
“This fabulous cookbook will make readers seriously rethink what they store in their freezers so they can assemble restaurant-quality meals quickly and easily. Recommended for anyone with freezer space.” – Library Journal
“…full of practical storage suggestions and shortcuts… present[s] time management as one way to make complicated recipes less stressful.” – Eater
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Jungalow: Decorate Wild by Justina Blakeney
Justina Blakeney’s new book is her biggest, boldest, and most beautiful volume yet, filled with irresistible style, original patterns, and artwork—lushly photographed by Dabito. In each chapter, Justina shares her distinctive point of view on everything design fans want to know—how to make bold choices with color and pattern, how to take cues from nature, how to authentically glean inspiration from their heritage and travels, how to break rules, and all the other paths to truly begin to decorate wild. Along the way, Justina also shares personal narratives, practical advice, and nuanced insight into how she lives in her own space—how she reconnects with nature, how she plays and stays inspired, how she gives herself permission to feel free and wild, and how readers can do the same.
Jungalow is the term coined by Justina for the brand that embodies her wild, but cozy and homey, style. Copycats abound, but there is no other book like this one—offering Justina’s authentic, encouraging voice and approachable, signature style.
Description from Goodreads.
“Designer Blakeney offers uplifting inspiration in this combo of memoir, DIY instruction, and interior design philosophy… Blakeney’s bold tips are sure to leave readers eager to find inspiration in the world, and to bring bright color into their homes.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Do you love lots of color, patterns, and bold style? If so, this is definitely for you… You’ll learn to include elements from your heritage and travels while — perhaps most importantly — breaking all the rules.” – Greatist