“Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic. It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live.” –
FICTION
Heaven by Mieko Kawakami ★
Hailed as a bold foray into new literary territory, Kawakami’s novel is told in the voice of a 14-year-old student who is subjected to relentless torment for having a lazy eye. Instead of resisting, the boy chooses to suffer in complete resignation. The only person who understands what he is going through is a female classmate who suffers similar treatment at the hands of her tormentors.
These raw and realistic portrayals of bullying are counterbalanced by textured exposition of the philosophical and religious debates concerning violence to which the weak are subjected.
Kawakami’s simple yet profound new work stands as a dazzling testament to her literary talent. There can be little doubt that it has cemented her reputation as one of the most important young authors working to expand the boundaries of contemporary Japanese literature.
Description from Goodreads.
“Kawakami unflinchingly takes the reader through the abyss of depraved, dehumanizing behavior with keen psychological insight, brilliant sensitivity, and compassionate understanding. With this, the author’s star continues to rise.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“This sharp new novel from Mieko Kawakami [is] a sucker-punch of a story that implores you to question even your own morality.” – Cosmopolitan
“The author of Breasts and Eggs takes on another subject seldom tapped in literary fiction and blows it open with raw and eloquent intensity… An unexpected classic.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Taking two outcast teens as its unhappy protagonists, Heaven is an expertly told, deeply unsettling tale of adolescent violence that will, no doubt, only grow the author’s fan base.” – Vogue
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook
Impostor Syndrome by Kathy Wang ★
In 2006 Julia Lerner is living in Moscow, a recent university graduate in computer science, when she’s recruited by Russia’s largest intelligence agency. By 2018 she’s in Silicon Valley as COO of Tangerine, one of America’s most famous technology companies. In between her executive management (make offers to promising startups, crush them and copy their features if they refuse); self promotion (check out her latest op-ed in the WSJ, on Work/Life Balance 2.0); and work in gender equality (transfer the most annoying females from her team), she funnels intelligence back to the motherland. But now Russia’s asking for more, and Julia’s getting nervous.
Alice is a first generation Chinese American whose parents are delighted she’s working at Tangerine (such a successful company!). Too bad she’s slogging away in the lower echelons, recently dumped, and now sharing her expensive two-bedroom apartment with her cousin Cheri, a perennial “founder’s girlfriend”. One afternoon, while performing a server check, Alice discovers some unusual activity, and now she’s burdened with two powerful but distressing suspicions: Tangerine’s privacy settings aren’t as rigorous as the company claims they are, and the person abusing this loophole might be Julia Lerner herself.
The closer Alice gets to Julia, the more Julia questions her own loyalties. Russia may have placed her in the Valley, but she’s the one who built her career; isn’t she entitled to protect the lifestyle she’s earned? Part page-turning cat-and-mouse chase, part sharp and hilarious satire, Impostor Syndrome is a shrewdly-observed examination of women in tech, Silicon Valley hubris, and the rarely fulfilled but ever-attractive promise of the American Dream.
Description from Goodreads.
“[A]bout to be your summer must-read.” – Entertainment Weekly
“Like John le Carré filtered through Tom Wolfe, Impostor Syndrome encapsulates our Facebook anxieties perfectly.” – The Millions
“Wang leavens this glossy tale of corporate espionage with savvy takes on cultural assimilation in contemporary America… The story builds to a number of dramatic moments… Wang’s depictions of office politics and geopolitical dynamics are spot-on. This offers plenty of grist for reader rumination.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
Version Zero by David Yoon
Reboot the present. Save the future.
Max, a data whiz at the Facebook-like social media company Wren, has gotten a firsthand glimpse of the dark side of big tech. When he starts asking questions about what his company is doing with the data they collect, he finds himself fired… and then blackballed across all of Silicon Valley.
With time on his hands and inside knowledge about the biggest tech companies, Max and his longtime friend—and sometime crush—Akiko, decide to get even by… essentially, rebooting the internet. After all, in order to fix things, sometimes you have to break them. But when Max and Akiko join forces with a reclusive tech baron, they learn that breaking things can have unintended—and disastrous—consequences. And those consequences will ripple across the world, effecting every level of society in ways no one could have imagined.
Description from Goodreads.
“[The] Silicon Valley story of your nightmares.” – Entertainment Weekly
“The novel is at its best when satirizing the high-tech business world and internet culture… fans of dystopian fiction will want to check this one out.” – Publishers Weekly
“For his first adult novel, YA superstar Yoon draws on his decades in the tech industry to envision a takedown of the digital world so complete that paper comes back into fashion… A fast-paced, contemporary take on The Monkey Wrench Gang, blowing up digital infrastructure instead of dams.” – Kirkus Reviews
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is honestly a bit out of his league.
So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting—even if temporary—isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you’re unfailingly human.
With the humor and heart we’ve come to expect from bestselling author Steven Rowley, The Guncle is a moving tribute to the power of love, patience, and family in even the most trying of times.
Description from Goodreads.
“A laugh-out-loud heartwarmer.” – O, the Oprah Magazine
“The author of Lily and The Octopus and The Editor delivers arguably his funniest and most poignant novel yet.” – E! News
“Influenced by comic dialogue that would make Neil Simon jealous, the novel’s serious undercurrent of loss gives way, in the end, to a warmth that will make readers smile… A funny, gentle tale of family and friends, and a salve for the wounds they often cause.” – Library Journal
Available Formats:
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The Stepsisters by Susan Mallery
Once upon a time, when her dad married Sage’s mom, Daisy was thrilled to get a bright and shiny new sister. But Sage was beautiful and popular, everything Daisy was not, and she made sure Daisy knew it.
Sage didn’t have Daisy’s smarts—she had to go back a grade to enroll in the fancy rich-kid school. So she used her popularity as a weapon, putting Daisy down to elevate herself. After the divorce, the stepsisters’ rivalry continued until the final, improbable straw: Daisy married Sage’s first love, and Sage fled California.
Eighteen years, two kids and one troubled marriage later, Daisy never expects—or wants—to see Sage again. But when the little sister they have in common needs them both, they put aside their differences to care for Cassidy. As long-buried truths are revealed, no one is more surprised than they when friendship blossoms.
Their fragile truce is threatened by one careless act that could have devastating consequences. They could turn their backs on each other again… or they could learn to forgive once and for all and finally become true sisters of the heart.
Description from Goodreads.
“This engaging character study by Mallery is sure to please her many fans as well as readers of similar authors such as Nancy Thayer and Debbie Macomber.” – Library Journal
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook | Hoopla eAudiobook
SUSPENSE
The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter
WHEN PERFECT IMAGES
As a photographer, Delta Dawn observes the seemingly perfect lives of New York City’s elite: snapping photos of their children’s birthday parties, transforming images of stiff hugs and tearstained faces into visions of pure joy, and creating moments these parents long for.
ARE MADE OF BEAUTIFUL LIES
But when Delta is hired for Natalie Straub’s eleventh birthday, she finds herself wishing she wasn’t behind the lens but a part of the scene―in the Straub family’s gorgeous home and elegant life.
THE TRUTH WILL BE EXPOSED
That’s when Delta puts her plan in place, by babysitting for Natalie; befriending her mother, Amelia; finding chances to listen to her father, Fritz. Soon she’s bathing in the master bathtub, drinking their expensive wine, and eyeing the beautifully finished garden apartment in their townhouse. It seems she can never get close enough, until she discovers that photos aren’t all she can manipulate.
Description from Goodreads.
“Brace for hold-your-breath suspense from this dazzlingly devious newcomer.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“As sharply focused and mesmerizing as a magic trick and a good deal creepier than most.” – Kirkus Reviews
“The sense of impending disaster is palpable, as the suspense and tension grow, and what happens at the end is unexpected and odd. Creepy, dark, and suspenseful… A gripping read.” – Booklist
Available Formats:
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The Saboteurs by Clive Cussler & Jack Du Brul
Detective Isaac Bell’s wife has said that he is always in the wrong place at the right time. This is certainly the case when Bell thwarts the assassination of a U.S. Senator shortly after meeting the man. This heroic rescue is just the start of the mystery for Bell, who suspects that the would-be assassins have a much larger and more dangerous agenda–one involving the nearly-constructed Panama Canal. While the senator supports the building of the canal, there are many, including a local Panamanian insurgency known as the Red Vipers, who never want to see its completion.
With millions of dollars and the fates of two nations at stake, Bell heads to Panama to find answers. After a deadly bombing at the canal’s construction site, he is determined to stop the insurgents–or whoever is funding them–before they can attack again.
Description from Goodreads.
“Fast-paced fun that’s fraught with peril.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Top-notch… Cussler fans will be well-satisfied.” – Publishers Weekly
“Thrilling… [An] excellent read.” – Mystery & Suspense
Available Formats:
Print Book | Large Print Book | Audiobook | eBook | eAudiobook
Arctic Storm Rising by Dale Brown
After a CIA covert mission goes badly awry, U.S. Air Force intelligence officer Nicholas Flynn is exiled to guard a remote radar post along Alaska’s Arctic frontier. This dead-end assignment is designed to put his career permanently on ice, but Flynn’s not the type to fade quietly into obscurity…
As winter storms pound Alaska and northern Canada, Russian aircraft begin penetrating deep into friendly airspace. Are these rehearsals for a possible first strike, using Russia’s new long-range stealth cruise missiles? Or is some other motive driving the Kremlin to take ever-increasing risks along the hostile Arctic frontier separating two of the world’s great powers?
When an American F-22 collides with one of the Russian interlopers, things go south fast—in seconds, missiles are fired. There are no survivors. Despite horrific weather, Flynn and his security team are ordered to parachute into the area in a desperate bid to reach the crash sites ahead of the Russians. It’s now obvious that the Pentagon and CIA are withholding vital information, but Flynn and his men have no choice but to make the dangerous jump.
Soon they’re caught in a deadly game of hide-and-seek with Spetsnaz commandos operating covertly on American soil. It seems that the F-22s and their Russian counterparts aren’t the first aircraft to have gone missing in these desolate mountains. The Kremlin is hunting for the first prototype of its new stealth bomber—which vanished on what was supposed to be a test flight… while loaded with nuclear-armed stealth cruise missiles.
As Russia and the U.S. square off on the brink of all-out-war, it’s up to Nick to find the missing bomber… and prevent a potential nuclear holocaust.
Description from Goodreads.
“[A] strong series launch… Brown consistently entertains.” – Publishers Weekly
“Filled with detailed descriptions of weapons and aircraft, as well as Brown’s trademark action and suspense, this series starter should take off like its numerous predecessors.” – Library Journal
Available Formats:
Print Book | Audiobook | Playaway | eBook
MYSTERY
Pint of No Return by Dana Mentink
After her divorce from her thrice-married embezzler husband, Trinidad Jones is finally ready for a fresh start. So when she’s left one of ex’s businesses in Upper Sprocket, Oregon, she decides to pack up her dog, cash in her settlement, and open her dream business: the Shimmy and Shake Shop, introducing the world to her monster milkshakes. And even with a couple sticky situations underway, namely that the other two ex-wives also call Sprocket home, Trinidad’s life seems to be churning along smoothly.
That is, until she discovers her neighbor, the Popcorn King, head down in his giant popcorn kettle. When one of Trinidad’s fellow ex-wives is accused of the murder and Upper Sprocket descends into mayhem, it’s going to take a supersized scoop of courage to flush out the killer.
Description from Goodreads.
“Murder offers the heroine a surprisingly fresh start in this charming series kickoff from the prolific Mentink… Plenty of suspicious-looking new neighbors give spunky Trinidad a chance to add detective to her resume.” – Kirkus Reviews
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook
ROMANCE
How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole
Makeda Hicks has lost her job and her girlfriend in one fell swoop. The last thing she’s in the mood for is to rehash the story of her grandmother’s infamous summer fling with a runaway prince from Ibarania, or the investigator from the World Federation of Monarchies tasked with searching for Ibarania’s missing heir.
Yet when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, the sleek and sexy investigator exudes exactly the kind of chaos that organized and efficient Makeda finds irresistible, even if Bez is determined to drag her into a world of royal duty Makeda wants nothing to do with.
When a threat to her grandmother’s livelihood pushes Makeda to agree to return to Ibarania, Bez takes her on a transatlantic adventure with a crew of lovable weirdos, a fake marriage, and one-bed hijinks on the high seas. When they finally make it to Ibarania, they realize there’s more at stake than just cash and crown, and Makeda must learn what it means to fight for what she desires and not what she feels bound to by duty.
Description from Goodreads.
“Cole’s characters are delightful, and her prose brims with humor and sexy, romantic tension… charming… An effervescent queer romance that challenges the institutions of monarchy and marriage.” – Kirkus Reviews
“…heartwarming… Cole convincingly demonstrates why fake relationships and forced proximity remain rom-com staples: on neutral ground, within clear boundaries they set together, guards fall, and chemistry takes flight. This is a charmer.” – Publishers Weekly
“Cole’s humorous and delightful romance is perfect for those looking for a fun read with a memorable cast of characters and neurodivergent representation, whether the reader is new to Cole’s work or an established fan.” – Library Journal
Available Formats:
eBook
Legacy by Nora Roberts
Adrian Rizzo was seven when she met her father for the first time. That was the day he nearly killed her—before her mother, Lina, stepped in.
Soon after, Adrian was dropped off at her grandparents’ house in Maryland, where she spent a long summer drinking lemonade, playing with dogs, making a new best friend—and developing the stirrings of a crush on her friend’s ten-year-old brother. Lina, meanwhile, traveled the country promoting her fitness brand and turning it into a billion-dollar business. There was no point in dwelling on the past.
A decade later, Adrian has created her own line of yoga and workout videos, following in Lina’s footsteps but intent on maintaining creative control. And she’s just as cool-headed and ambitious as her mother. They aren’t close, but they’re cordial—as long as neither crosses the other.
But while Lina dismisses the death threats that Adrian starts getting as a routine part of her daughter’s growing celebrity, Adrian can’t help but find the vicious rhymes unsettling. Year after year, they keep arriving—the postmarks changing, but the menacing tone the same. They continue after she returns to Maryland and becomes reacquainted with Raylan, her childhood crush, all grown up and as gorgeously green-eyed as ever. Sometimes it even seems like the terrifying messages are indeed routine, like nothing will come of them. Until the murders start, and the escalation begins…
Description from Goodreads.
“Roberts knows how to entertain.” – Publishers Weekly
“Once again, Roberts effectively parlays her literary superpower into creating compelling, all-too-human characters and crafting plots composed of realistic domestic details and unflinching suspense. Legacy is another page-turning hit for supreme storyteller Roberts.” – Booklist
“Roberts’ strength has always been her ability to create likable, complex characters, and this crew is even more appealing than most―they are never whiny in insecurity or snobbish in success; rather, they provide unwavering support for each other’s ups and downs. The most comforting of comfort-food reading―with a few chills for fun.” – Kirkus Reviews
Available Formats:
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Talk Bookish to Me by Kate Bromley
Inspiration can come from the most unlikely—and inconvenient—sources.
Kara Sullivan’s life is full of love—albeit fictional. As a bestselling romance novelist and influential bookstagrammer, she’s fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book.
But right now? Not only is Kara’s best friend getting married next week—which means big wedding stress—but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn’t written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan’s unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver.
With her wedding duties intensifying, her deadline getting closer by the second and her bills not paying themselves, Kara knows there’s only one way for her to finish her book and to give her characters the ever-after they deserve. But can she embrace the unlikely, ruggedly handsome muse—who pushes every one of her buttons—to save the wedding, her career and, just maybe, write her own happy ending?
Description from Goodreads.
“An ode to romance novels and the people who write them.” – PopSugar
“A sweet look at what it really takes to get to happily-ever-after.” – Kirkus Reviews
“I fell head over heels for the premise of Kate Bromley’s debut Talk Bookish to Me… the perfect blend of emotional and sexy. Kate Bromley’s witty, heartfelt, and laugh-out-loud writing will slingshot this book to your favorites list, guaranteed.” – Entertainment Weekly
Available Formats:
Hoopla eAudiobook
NONFICTION
My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir by Katherine Johnson with Joylette Hylick and Katherine Moore
In 2015, at the age of 97, Katherine Johnson became a global celebrity. President Barack Obama awarded her the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor—for her pioneering work as a mathematician on NASA’s first flights into space. Her contributions to America’s space program were celebrated in a blockbuster and Academy-award nominated movie.
In this memoir, Katherine shares her personal journey from child prodigy in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia to NASA human computer. In her life after retirement, she served as a beacon of light for her family and community alike. Her story is centered around the basic tenets of her life—no one is better than you, education is paramount, and asking questions can break barriers. The memoir captures the many facets of this unique woman: the curious “daddy’s girl,” pioneering professional, and sage elder.
This multidimensional portrait is also the record of a century of racial history that reveals the influential role educators at segregated schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities played in nurturing the dreams of trailblazers like Katherine. The author pays homage to her mentor—the African American professor who inspired her to become a research mathematician despite having his own dream crushed by racism.
Infused with the uplifting wisdom of a woman who handled great fame with genuine humility and great tragedy with enduring hope, My Remarkable Journey ultimately brings into focus a determined woman who navigated tough racial terrain with soft-spoken grace—and the unrelenting grit required to make history and inspire future generations.
Description from Goodreads.
“Math prodigy, human computer, groundbreaking contributor to NASA’s first missions into space, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, focus of the film Hidden Figures and hopeful inspiration to all who knew her, Katherine Johnson is the definition of remarkable.” – Ms.
“Readers will enjoy Johnson’s personal accounts of the space race and the roles of Black women in STEM. This wonderful, insightful memoir is the perfect companion piece to Margot Lee Shetterly’s best-selling Hidden Figures, which recounted the lives of Johnson and her colleagues Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.” – Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
Print Book | Large Print Book | Audiobook | eBook | eAudiobook
The Secret World of Weather: How to Read Signs in Every Cloud, Breeze, Hill, Street, Plant, Animal, and Dewdrop by Tristan Gooley
In The Secret World of Weather, bestselling author Tristan Gooley turns his gaze up to the sky, bringing his signature brand of close observation and eye-opening deduction to the fascinating world of weather. Every cloud, every change in temperature, every raindrop, every sunbeam, every breeze reveals something about our weather—if you know what to look for. Before you know it, you’ll be able to forecast impending storms, sunny days, and everything in between, all without needing to consult your smartphone.
But The Secret World of Weather goes far beyond mere weather prediction, changing the very way we think about weather itself. Weather is not something that blankets an area; rather, it is something that changes constantly as you walk through woods or turn down a street. The weather is never identical on two sides of a tree—or even beneath it. Take, for example, Gooley’s remarkable discovery that breezes accelerate beneath a tree. To Gooley, this is “weather,” a tiny microclimate that explains why people sit beneath a tree to cool down—not only for the shade but, subconsciously, for cooler breeze. And so Gooley shows us not only what the weather will be like five days from now, but also what to expect about the weather around every corner.
By carefully observing the subtle interplay of wind, cloud, fog, temperature, rain and many other phenomena, we not only form a deeper understanding of weather patterns, but we also unlock secrets about our environment. Weather forms our landscape, and landscape forms our weather. Everything we see in the sky reflects where we are. When we learn to read weather’s signs, Gooley shows us, the weather becomes our map, revealing to us how it has made our towns, cities, woods, and hills what they are. You’ll never see your surroundings the same way again.
Description from Goodreads.
“Gooley marshals a riveting compendium of weather-reading skills… He has plenty of facts at his fingertips with which to excite.” – The Times
“A timely book to help us as we get back into the outdoors. The Secret World of Weather is a thrill-ride through the signs and secrets of clouds, winds, dewdrops and sunlight. A fascinating read in itself, it’s also as practical as ever.” – Country Walking
“This breezy new book reveals how to read nature’s very own weather forecast… Full of fascinating trivia.” – The Daily Mail