“There is always light.
Only if we are brave enough to see it.
There is always light.
Only if we are brave enough to be it.” – Amanda Gorman
NOTE: Hi again! After the first Tuesday of the month there aren’t many more books being released in December, so we have condensed the whole month into one post. We will have some “Best of the Year” posts coming up though, so keep an eye out for those, and then we will resume normal weekly coverage in January. Have a happy holiday season and we’ll see you in 2022!
The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Fiction / Mystery / Suspense.
Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she’s been away… and some secrets can’t stay buried forever.
Moving between the trio’s adolescent years and the present day, The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won’t see coming, with magnetic characters you won’t soon forget.
Description from Goodreads.
“You’ll never look at ballet the same.” – BookRiot
“A standing ovation to this debut.” – E! News
“The ways in which women torture their bodies in pursuit of creative dreams make for enthralling fictional drama. This terrain proves irresistible in The Ballerinas, a debut novel set in the hothouse atmosphere of the Paris Opera Ballet academy as three students grow up, compete, forge friendships and embark on a trail of destruction… Kapelke-Dale has thought through the larger picture, and examined how trauma and asymmetries of power derail so many dancers.” – New York Times
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook | eAudiobook
Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim ★
Fiction / Historical Fiction.
In 1917, deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. In an instant, their fates are connected—and from this encounter unfolds a saga that spans half a century.
In the aftermath, a young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss Silver’s courtesan school, an act of desperation that will cement her place in the lowest social status. When she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, who scrapes together a living begging on the streets of Seoul, they form a deep friendship. As they come of age, JungHo is swept up in the revolutionary fight for independence, and Jade becomes a sought-after performer with a new romantic prospect of noble birth. Soon Jade must decide whether she will risk everything for the one who would do the same for her.
From the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the glamorous cafes of a modernizing Seoul and the boreal forests of Manchuria, where battles rage, Juhea Kim’s unforgettable characters forge their own destinies as they wager their nation’s. Immersive and elegant, Beasts of a Little Land unveils a world where friends become enemies, enemies become saviors, heroes are persecuted, and beasts take many shapes.
Description from Goodreads.
“Unrequited love, class warfare, scandal… this novel has it all.” – Real Simple
“An epic novel brings complex 20th-century Korean history to life… Extraordinary… Gorgeous prose and unforgettable characters combine to make a literary masterpiece.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Beautiful… The writing has a dreamlike quality that immerses the reader in a fascinating world… Not only is this a gorgeously written story, but Kim also gives us insight into a historical period with which many Westerners will be unfamiliar.” – Historical Novels Review
“Kim’s debut novel wondrously reveals broken families and surprising alliances created by uncontrollable circumstances… [A] richly alluring and significant first novel.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
Print Book | Large Print Book | Audiobook | eBook | eAudiobook
Bright Burning Things by Lisa Harding ★
Fiction.
Sonya used to perform on stage. She attended glamorous parties, dated handsome men, rode in fast cars. But somewhere along the way, the stage lights Sonya lived for dimmed to black. In their absence, came darkness—blackouts, empty cupboards, hazy nights she could not remember.
Haunted by her failed career and lingering trauma from her childhood, Sonya fell deep into an alcoholic abyss. What kept her from losing herself completely was Tommy, her son. But her love for Tommy rivaled her love for the bottle. Addiction amplified her fear of losing her child; every maternal misstep compelled her to drink. Tommy’s precious life was in her shaky hands.
Eventually Sonya was forced to make a choice. Give up drinking or lose Tommy—forever.
Bright Burning Things is an emotional tour-de-force—a devastating and nuanced look at an addict’s journey towards rehabilitation and redemption.
Description from Goodreads.
“Quietly devastating… Reminded me repeatedly of Shuggie Bain.” – The Observer
“[A] wild ride, culminating in a final scene that combines hope, fear and beauty.” – The Guardian
“[A] propulsive heart-wrencher… an alarming yet tender portrayal of the slow-burn impact of long-repressed grief.” – The Daily Mail
“In Irish writer Harding’s blistering U.S. debut, a former London stage actress finds her life in Dublin derailed by disappointment and alcoholism… Harding brilliantly captures both the hilarity and wisdom of Sonya’s 12-step program, with her time in rehab poignantly complicated by Sonya’s separation from Tommy and her fear she might not be reunited with him… This unflinching portrait of a troubled, tender soul takes readers to the depths of the human heart.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
Print Book | Playaway | eBook | eAudiobook
Call Us What We Carry: Poems by Amanda Gorman ★
Poetry.
Formerly titled The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, Amanda Gorman’s remarkable new collection reveals an energizing and unforgettable voice in American poetry.
Call Us What We Carry is Gorman at her finest. Including “The Hill We Climb,” the stirring poem read at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, and bursting with musical language and exploring themes of identity, grief, and memory, this lyric of hope and healing captures an important moment in our country’s consciousness while being utterly timeless.
Description from Goodreads.
“…breathtaking… This beautiful collection is full of light, hope, and is a perfect gift for readers this holiday season.” – The Young Folks
“…poignant and impactful… Gorman’s latest collection of poems, Call Us What We Carry, is a continuation of her voice, which remains relevant long after Inauguration Day.” – PopSugar
“Her new poetry collection explores themes of memory, identity, and grief on the personal and societal level. Gorman has been praised as a major new voice in American poetry, and her energizing spirit is just what we need right about now.” – Goodreads
“Weighty and sober as they may be, Gorman’s poems are full of grace and hope.” – Alta
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook | eAudiobook
The Comfortable Kitchen: 105 Laid-Back, Healthy, and Wholesome Recipes by Alex Snodgrass
Nonfiction / Cooking.
With her beloved brand of “cleaned up” comfort food, Alex Snodgrass believes that healthy enjoyment is the key to meals that work, night after night. Her eagerly awaited new book will make that goal a reality.
What does comfort mean in The Comfortable Kitchen? These are recipes you’ll feel comfortable making and comfortable feeding your family—and although these meals may fit the bill when it comes to “comfort food,” Alex’s eager audience expects a healthy angle from her cooking. Though many of her meals are fully Whole30, or at the very least Whole30-ish, they are recipes with simple ingredient swaps for a cleaner meal everyone will love and perfect for people who are on the “food freedom” stage of their Whole30 health journey as well. She provides food for every occasion, from one-pot meals to not-so-junky junk food, even including cocktails and desserts, with recipes including:
- Cajun Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
- Green Curry Poached Halibut with Herbs
- Spicy Chicken Dan Dan Noodles
- Texas Style Brisket Tacos
- Sheet Pan Honey-Sesame Cauliflower
- Clayton’s Margarita
- 7-Ingredient Almond Butter Cookies
With 105 approachable and nutritious recipes for real, busy life, The Comfortable Kitchen is a must-have cookbook for everyone who cares about what they eat and what they make.
Description from Goodreads.
“Snodgrass puts a modern spin on comfort food in this versatile collection of nourishing dishes that never fall short on flavor… This is perfect for busy home cooks who want to expand their repertoire of healthy recipes.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
A Dire Isle by RV Raman
Fiction / Mystery.
An archaeological expedition is excavating in the heart of Bundelkhand, a place rich in history and legend. When an archaeologist defies a local legend, the fallout is swift and deadly.
Like many others over the centuries, is this death too a manifestation of the legend? Or is there something more down-to-earth and sinister behind it?
Is there more to the lovely lady who is a spitting image of a long-dead heroine of a tragic tale? What secrets lurk within the leafy confines of the haunted islet?
When Harith Athreya, an investigator with vivid imagination, asks these questions, he begins to uncover a mystery where the past and present meld into each other.
Description from Goodreads.
“The second novel in the Harith Athreya series firmly establishes RV Raman as an author on the rise and an impressive force in the world of whodunnits.” – CrimeReads
“Enjoyable… Raman does a good job weaving in the mystery with a possibility of the supernatural, all while juggling a large cast of characters. Armchair travelers and fans of traditional mysteries should take note.” – Publishers Weekly
“Raman continues to channel Agatha Christie in book two of his India-based Harith Athreya series. For fans of Golden Age mysteries, as well as those who love the venerated Inspector Ghote series by H.M.F. Keating.” – Booklist
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook
Fishing the Wild Waters: An Angler’s Search for Peace and Adventure in the Wilderness by Conor Sullivan
Nonfiction / Sports / Travel / Nature.
Fishing the Wild Waters invites us to traverse America and visit three distant and distinct dream destinations for any serious angler—and anyone who aspires to someday become one. Sullivan’s marvelous debut illuminates the often profound nature of fishing as a vehicle that connects those who practice it with reverence to a world beyond the one humans created.
As we travel along with Sullivan, he reveals what goes into the pursuit of select fish in the region with humor and personal stories as well as deep knowledge. Hawaii, Alaska and New England are some of the last frontiers of fishing in America. They are full of danger, big fish, and extraordinary adventure. To fish these places is to reach back and stand alongside the First Nations of fishermen—our ancestors who lived there for thousands of years before us—as well as those early Americans who built this country using species like cod as their currency.
These cultural and fishing outposts will tell us something if we can just be quiet and listen. To hear that message requires an intrinsic respect for these ancient fishing grounds and our connection to them. This mindset is in lock-step with a growing movement of anglers who fish these wildest of waters as a way to turn down the noise of modern living and tune into their fundamental, hands-on relationship with the sea, finding not only the solace, but the sustenance the fish provides to those who take the time to learn its lessons. Plus, filling a freezer with the world’s healthiest protein just feels right.
By turns funny, thrilling, and lyric, Fishing the Wild Waters celebrates these special places where each fisherman can pull back the curtain, connect to the sea, and gaze into their own soul – the soul of a fisherman.
Description from Goodreads.
“A former Coast Guard officer and lifelong outdoorsman takes readers to three of the remaining wild fishing destinations in the United States, in Hawaii, Alaska and New England. Yes, he’s concerned with environmental matters and sustainable consumption, but he’s also after the kind of serenity found when humans connect with the natural world.” – Washington Post
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook
A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw ★
Fiction / Mystery / Suspense / Fantasy.
Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James—a well-known author of dark, macabre children’s books—he’s led to a place many believed to be only a legend.
Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it… he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James.
Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis’s abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there’s a risk of bringing a disease—rot—into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn’t as safe as they believed—and that darkness takes many forms.
Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind.
Description from Goodreads.
“A richly embroidered tapestry deepens in hues as the story turns darker. Readers will sink into this one, and although they might question details of the resolution, they will be moved by the novel’s power.” – Booklist
“A lurid, fast-paced story of a reclusive commune… The twisty plot brims with tension. There’s plenty of fodder here for a miniseries.” – Publishers Weekly
“[A] beautifully written story of gradually mounting suspense… hauntingly beautiful, pulls the reader in, and had me torn between desperately wanting to reach the end, and just as certainly wanting to be able to keep reading it for longer. It’s the best kind of dilemma – one I’d recommend in a heartbeat.” – Mystery & Suspense
“For the lover of fairy tales who most wants, this holiday season, to be pinned to their chair by a great novel… hypnotic…” – Literary Hub
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
Learwife by J.R. Thorpe
Fiction / Historical Fiction.
“I am the queen of two crowns, banished fifteen years, the famed and gilded woman, bad-luck baleful girl, mother of three small animals, now gone. I am fifty-five years old. I am Lear’s wife. I am here.”
Word has come. Care-bent King Lear is dead, driven mad and betrayed. His three daughters too, broken in battle. But someone has survived: Lear’s queen. Exiled to a nunnery years ago, written out of history, her name forgotten. Now she can tell her story.
Though her grief and rage may threaten to crack the earth open, she knows she must seek answers. Why was she sent away in shame and disgrace? What has happened to Kent, her oldest friend and ally? And what will become of her now, in this place of women? To find peace she must reckon with her past and make a terrible choice – one upon which her destiny, and that of the entire abbey, rests.
Giving unforgettable voice to a woman whose absence has been a tantalizing mystery, Learwife is a breathtaking novel of loss, renewal and how history bleeds into the present.
Description from Amazon.
“Learwife is a novel that joins the likes of Pat Barker, Natalie Haynes and Margaret Atwood in seeking to unearth hidden female stories left unexplored by literary history. Its tale of pestilence and seclusion also has a powerful contemporary relevance. Written in luminous, lyrical prose, it’s a book that defies easy description, being neither historical novel nor fantasy, but mining the best bits from each genre.” – The Observer
“Thorp’s poetic prose contrasts with the steely character of a queen at once sympathetic and fearsome. This literary novel offers an intriguing new take on an old story—the play itself and the power dynamics between men and women, mothers and daughters.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths
Fiction / Mystery / Historical Fiction.
Brighton, 1965
When theatrical impresario Bert Billington is found dead in his retirement home, no one suspects foul play. But when the postmortem reveals that he was poisoned, suspicion falls on his wife, eccentric ex-Music Hall star Verity Malone.
Frustrated by the police response to Bert’s death and determined to prove her innocence, Verity calls in private detective duo Emma Holmes and Sam Collins. This is their first real case, but as luck would have it they have a friend on the inside: Max Mephisto is filming a remake of Dracula, starring Seth Bellington, Bert’s son. But when they question Max, they feel he isn’t telling them the whole story.
Emma and Sam must vie with the police to untangle the case and bring the killer to justice. They’re sure the answers must lie in Bert’s dark past and in the glamorous, occasionally deadly, days of Music Hall. But the closer they get to the truth, the more danger they find themselves in…
Description from Goodreads.
“Halloween provides the perfect setting for another triumph of misdirection from Griffiths in this sixth Brighton Mystery.” – Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“Griffiths fans and new readers alike will enjoy their time with the Brighton mysteries crowd.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
My Darling Husband by Kimberly Belle
Fiction / Suspense / Mystery.
Everyone is about to know what her husband isn’t telling her…
Jade and Cam Lasky are by all accounts a happily married couple with two adorable kids, a spacious home and a rapidly growing restaurant business. But their world is tipped upside down when Jade is confronted by a masked home invader. As Cam scrambles to gather the ransom money, Jade starts to wonder if they’re as financially secure as their lifestyle suggests, and what other secrets her husband is keeping from her.
Cam may be a good father, a celebrity chef and a darling husband, but there’s another side he’s kept hidden from Jade that has put their family in danger. Unbeknownst to Cam and Jade, the home invader has been watching them and is about to turn their family secrets into a public scandal.
With riveting twists and a breakneck pace, My Darling Husband is an utterly compelling thriller that once again showcases Kimberly Belle’s exceptional talent for domestic suspense.
Description from Goodreads.
“…captivating… Several well-placed twists deliciously shake up the brisk plot, which smoothly moves among the viewpoints of Jade, Cam, and the kidnapper. Belle knows how to keep the pages turning.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook | eAudiobook
Oddball: A “Sarah’s Scribbles” Collection by Sarah Andersen
Fiction / Graphic Novel / Comedy.
The fourth book in the enormously popular graphic novel series, the latest collection of Sarah’s Scribbles comics explores the evils of procrastination, the trials of the creative process, the cuteness of kittens, and the beauty of not caring about your appearance as much as you did when you were younger. When it comes to humorous illustrations of the awkwardness and hilarity of millennial life, Sarah’s Scribbles is without peer.
Description from Goodreads.
“…my favorite [collection] yet… She’s also very good at showing cats (which are from hell) and introverted behavior (and yet friendship). I like the comfort I get from some of these strips, the reminder that one’s not alone in feeling this way.” – Comics Worth Reading
“[A] joy from cover to cover.” – Red Hat Cat Book Blog
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook
One Night, New York by Lara Thompson
Fiction / Mystery / Historical Fiction.
For the hundredth time since they’d made their promise, she wondered if she and Agnes were really going to go through with it, if she was brave and terrible enough…
At the top of the Empire State Building on a freezing December night, two women hold their breath. Frances and Agnes are waiting for the man who has wronged them. They plan to seek the ultimate revenge.
Set over the course of a single night, One Night, New York is a detective story, a romance and a coming-of-age tale. It is also a story of old New York, of bohemian Greenwich Village between the wars, of floozies and artists and addicts—lighting up the world, while all around them America burned with the Great Depression.
Description from Goodreads.
“An assured debut so evocative you can almost smell the bathtub gin wafting off the pages.” – Red
“Lara Thompson’s portrayal of stubborn, brave Frances is enthralling; this page-turning thriller marks her as a writer to watch.” – The Times
“From the destitute war veterans who inhabit the shanty towns to the ritzy nightclubs selling illegal booze, this is an atmospheric portrait of a city in the grip of the Great Depression as well as a compelling crime story.” – The Guardian
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook
Out of Office: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home by Charlie Warzel & Anne Helen Petersen
Nonfiction / Business / Sociology / Current Events.
If you think you’ve been working from home during the pandemic, Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen are here to tell you otherwise. What we’ve been doing is something else entirely, a jury-rigged compromise made under the duress of a national crisis that’s satisfactory for neither the worker nor the employer. For Warzel and Petersen, the past year has revealed that there may be another path forward for work, one that doesn’t involve hellish daily commutes and the demands of jam-packed work schedules that no longer make sense. As a society, we have talked for decades about flexible work arrangements. In this book, the authors make clear that we are at an inflection point where this becomes possible for many companies and their employees.
Out of Office combines groundbreaking reporting and the couple’s own experiences after they made the decision to leave their desk jobs in New York City for Montana. They describe how workers and employers across America, and around the world, are finding new ways of working that make people happier and more productive, and make companies more profitable. This is a book that aims to reshape our entire relationship to the office.
Description from Goodreads.
“Insightful and timely… Never sacrificing meaningful analysis for easy answers, this is a remarkable examination of the rapidly-changing workplace.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“If you believe there’s a better way to live than refreshing your work email until you close your eyes at night, you’ll appreciate this deep dive into how workers relate to the office.” – Washington Post
“Based on a historical review of workforce expectations, journalists Warzel and Petersen focus on four key areas for strategic change to improve working conditions, employee satisfaction, and wellness… Prior to the pandemic, worker burnout, transience, and dissatisfaction were culminating in a call for change. The pandemic and remote-work chaos heightened awareness of the need for change, the return to work now occurring provides the opportunity, and this book provides a roadmap.” – Booklist
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane
Fiction / Suspense / Mystery.
Elisa Wright is a mom and wife, living a nice, quiet life in a nice, quiet town. She’s also convinced her brother-in-law is a murderer. Josh has one dead wife and one missing fiancée, and though he grieved for them he starts dating someone new. Elisa fears for that woman’s safety, and she desperately wants to know what happened to her friend, Josh’s missing fiancée.
Searching for clues means investigating her own family. And she doesn’t like what she finds. A laptop filled with incriminating information. Other women.
But when Elisa becomes friends with Josh’s new girlfriend and starts to question things she thinks are true, Elisa wonders if the memories of a horrible incident a year ago have finally pushed her over the edge and Josh is really innocent. With so much at stake, Elisa fights off panic attacks and a strange illness. Is it a breakdown or something more? The race is on to get to the truth before another disappearance because there’s a killer in the family… or is there?
Description from Goodreads.
“[A] thriller to keep you up at night…” – E! News
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
Rogue Asset by Brian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson
Fiction / Suspense.
Secretary of State Frank Malone has been kidnapped from his Cairo hotel–his security detail wiped out. President Natalie Cohen is left with several unacceptable options. It’s time to think outside the box, and that can only mean one thing: the revival of the Presidential Agent program.
Cohen calls for Charley Castillo to come out of retirement to direct a new Presidential Agent, one Captain P. K. Pick McCoy, USMC. Charley may be too old to kick down doors and take names, but Killer McCoy is just the man to get the job done.
Together, they will track the kidnapped secretary from Cairo to sub-Saharan Africa. The only problem is that one man can’t hope to win against an army of terrorists…good thing there are two of them.
Description from Goodreads.
“If you’re a fan of the action-thriller genre, this is a perfect way to end the year.” – Red Carpet Crash
“There’s red-hot action from the get-go in the ninth novel in the late W.E.B. Griffin’s newly revived Presidential Agent series… A kick-ass thriller from start to finish.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Fans of bestseller W.E.B. Griffin [will] welcome the return of Griffin’s hero C.G. “Charley” Castillo [in] the capable ninth Presidential Agent novel… Andrews and Wilson supply plenty of credible action in the Griffin mold, while the mentoring subplot provides extra interest. Readers will look forward to how the succession angle is handled in the sequel.” – Publishers Weekly
Available Formats:
Print Book | Audiobook | eBook | eAudiobook
Tell Me How to Be by Neel Patel
Fiction.
Renu Amin always seemed perfect: doting husband, beautiful house, healthy sons. But as the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death approaches, Renu is binge-watching soap operas and simmering with old resentments. She can’t stop wondering if, thirty-five years ago, she chose the wrong life. In Los Angeles, her son, Akash, has everything he ever wanted, but as he tries to kickstart his songwriting career and commit to his boyfriend, he is haunted by the painful memories he fled a decade ago. When his mother tells him she is selling the family home, Akash returns to Illinois, hoping to finally say goodbye and move on.
Together, Renu and Akash pack up the house, retreating further into the secrets that stand between them. Renu sends an innocent Facebook message to the man she almost married, sparking an emotional affair that calls into question everything she thought she knew about herself. Akash slips back into bad habits as he confronts his darkest secrets―including what really happened between him and the first boy who broke his heart. When their pasts catch up to them, Renu and Akash must decide between the lives they left behind and the ones they’ve since created, between making each other happy and setting themselves free.
By turns irreverent and tender, filled with the beats of ’90s R&B, Tell Me How to Be is about our earliest betrayals and the cost of reconciliation. But most of all, it is the love story of a mother and son each trying to figure out how to be in the world.
Description from Goodreads.
“Both irreverent and tender, this story of a recently widowed mother and grown son going through the motions of selling the family home, each trying to figure out how to best make each other happy while learning to accept their mistakes and each other, is a love story at its heart.” – Reader’s Digest
“A funny and moving story about forgiveness and learning to move forward.” – BookRiot
“[A] resplendent debut… Patel skillfully maneuvers through the treacherous territory of abandoned dreams, family squabbles, and cultural clashes before finding a resounding catharsis for mother and son. The result is noteworthy and memorable.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
They Can’t Take Your Name by Robert Justice
Fiction / Mystery / Suspense.
What happens to a dream deferred–especially when an innocent man’s life hangs in the balance? Langston Brown is out of time and options for clearing his name. Wrongfully convicted of the gruesome Mother’s Day Massacre, he prepares to face his death. His final hope for salvation lies with his daughter, Liza, who dreamed of a life of music and song but left the prestigious Juilliard School to get a law degree with the intention of clearing her father’s name. Just as she comes close to succeeding, it’s annouced that Langston will be put to death in thirty days.
In a desperate bid to find freedom for her father, Liza enlists the help of Eli Stone, a jazz club owner she met at the classic Five Points venue The Rossonian. Devastated by the tragic loss of his wife, Eli is trying to find solace by reviving the club–but still, he thinks longingly of joining her in death.
Everyone has a dream that might come true–but as the dark shadows of the past converge, could Langston, Eli, and Liza be facing a danger that could shatter those dreams forever?
Description from Goodreads.
“[A] sensitive legal drama… The countdown to Langston’s execution adds a propulsive tension, while the slowly growing tenderness between Eli and Liza balances out the grim story. This is a taut tale of perverted justice.” – Publishers Weekly
“[Justice] develops the ticking-clock story in ways that will surprise most readers. A soulful study of dreams deferred…” – Kirkus Reviews
“[A] taut and transfixing story told with a deep reverence for a place and its people, bolstered by a belief that miscarriages of justice can be righted by an informed and passionate citizenry.” – Chicago Review of Books
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook | Hoopla eAudiobook
True Crime Story by Joseph Knox
Fiction / Mystery / Suspense.
In 2011, Zoe Nolan walked out of her dormitory in Manchester and was never seen or heard from again. Her case went cold. Her story was sad, certainly, but hardly sensational, crime writer Joseph Knox thought. He wouldn’t have given her any more thought were it not for his friend, Evelyn Mitchell. Another writer struggling to come up with a new idea, Evelyn was wondering just what happened to all the girls who go missing. What happened to the Zoe Nolans of the world?
Evelyn began investigating herself, interviewing Zoe’s family and friends, and emailing Joseph with chapters of the book she was writing with her findings. Uneasy with the corkscrew twists and turns, Joseph Knox embedded himself in the case, ultimately discovering a truth more tragic and shocking than he could have possibly imagined…
Description from Goodreads.
“The impressively twisty plot drops one bombshell revelation after another. Twin Peaks fans won’t want to miss this one.” – Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW
“Knox the author pulls off a hybrid triumph: at once an old-fashioned whodunnit and a smart postmodern literary novel asking questions about the ethics of all editing, as well as the true-crime genre.” – The Sunday Times
“The gifted Joseph Knox continues his upwards trajectory with True Crime Story forging something original and innovative.” – Financial Times
Available Formats:
Hoopla eBook
Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea
Fiction / Suspense / Mystery.
Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience’s attention. Her latest story–a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal–is guaranteed to be ratings gold. New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner’s office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover. In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence.
Emma Ford has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won’t be complete until she can clear Victoria’s name. Alone she’s had no luck, but she’s convinced that Avery’s connections and fame will help. Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive. Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria’s DNA.
But the twisted puzzle of Victoria’s private life belies a much darker mystery. And what Avery doesn’t realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery’s own secret past–one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried…
Description from Goodreads.
“Breathtaking pacing and clever plot twists… Donlea’s fans will be satisfied.” – Publishers Weekly
“An entertaining thriller… surprises lurking around every corner.” – Kirkus Reviews
“The plot is deep with several sub-plots that keep you guessing about how it will all come together. The ending is very unexpected on several fronts. Any good crime and mystery fan will enjoy this book.” – The Southern Bookseller Review
Available Formats:
Print Book | eBook
White on White by Ayşegül Savaş ★
Fiction.
A student moves to the city to research Gothic nudes. She rents an apartment from a painter, Agnes, who lives in another town with her husband. One day, Agnes arrives in the city and settles into the upstairs studio.
In their meetings on the stairs, in the studio, at the corner café, the kitchen at dawn, Agnes tells stories of her youth, her family, her marriage, and ideas for her art – which is always just about to be created. As the months pass, it becomes clear that Agnes might not have a place to return to. The student is increasingly aware of Agnes’s disintegration. Her stories are frenetic; her art scattered and unfinished, white paint on a white canvas.
What emerges is the menacing sense that every life is always at the edge of disaster, no matter its seeming stability. Alongside the research into human figures, the student is learning, from a cool distance, about the narrow divide between happiness and resentment, creativity and madness, contentment and chaos.
White on White is a sharp exploration of empathy and cruelty, and the stunning discovery of what it means to be truly vulnerable, and laid bare.
Description from Goodreads.
“Despite the thriller-ish underpinning of the novel and the propulsive unfolding of the relationship at the book’s heart, Savas’ graceful and intellectual prose is the star of the show here. It makes air-light what might otherwise be a novel ponderous with weighty questions: What is the nature of art? Does it reveal or conceal? What is the nature of human connection?… Like a prism, this novel brilliantly illuminates the human spectrum of connection and longing.” – Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
“Alluring… [T]he account of the perfect Agnes’s slow crumbling builds to an unsettling conclusion. Fans of Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy will appreciate this striking portrait.” – Publishers Weekly
“Savas expertly crafts another slim, quiet yet deep novel that will attract readers who seek well-written, character-driven fiction.” – Booklist
“Their conversations are rendered in Savaş’s restrained and spare prose, which perfectly explores the relationship between the blank narrator and self-portrait painting Agnes. And the writing’s steady sparsity echoes thematically throughout the novel. The most compelling is the narrator’s study of medieval nudity… goes deep into human experience, beautiful and fraught, delivering a renewed perception of what it means to be a person among other people.” – Ploughshares