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Fiction A to Z January 2024 |
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| The New Naturals by Gabriel BumpAfter the death of their newborn daughter, two Black academics from Boston create a subterranean utopia in western Massachusetts that appeals to an intriguing cast of characters. If you enjoy this timely, lyrical novel, try The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood, NW by Zadie Smith, or My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. |
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| The General and Julia by Jon ClinchIn this "superb" (Booklist) biographical novel, Ulysses S. Grant, who's dying of cancer, doggedly writes his memoirs and reflects on his past, including courting his beloved wife, leading the Union Army, serving eight years as president, and losing money to a con man. Read-alikes: Varina by Charles Frazier; Black Cloud Rising by David Wright Faladé. |
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| A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle PorterNarrated by a variety of voices, including five generations of Métis women (one of whom lives in the Afterlife) as well as a bison, the Canadian grassland, and more, this moving debut novel examines healing, connection, and family bonds. Read-alike: Mona Susan Power's A Council of Dolls. |
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| Flores and Miss Paula by Melissa RiveroThree years after the death of her beloved father, 30-something Monica Flores works a punishing startup job while living in Brooklyn with her Peruvian immigrant mother. But their relationship is tested by secrets, grudges, and their uncertain futures. For other moving mother-daughter novels, try Tom Lake by Ann Patchett or Holding Pattern by Jenny Xie. |
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Books You May Have Missed
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| I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca MakkaiCalifornia film professor and podcaster Bodie Kane's marriage has recently ended, so she's back at her New Hampshire boarding school to teach a podcasting class to high schoolers. The project they all agree on: investigating the long-ago murder of Bodie's roommate. Read-alikes: Liz Moore's Long Bright River; Paula McLain's When the Stars Go Dark. |
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| Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo MoyesTwo women's lives intersect after a gym bag mix-up finds sensible Sam Kemp wearing red Louboutin slingbacks to important business meetings and glamorous Nisha Cantor left with flipflops just as her husband unexpectedly starts divorce proceedings and cuts her off. Try these other fun reads on for size: The Switch by Beth O'Leary or The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev. |
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| The Celebrants by Steven RowleyThis "hilarious and richly affecting" (Booklist) novel follows five college friends decades after graduation who reunite for living "funerals" for each other during times of need. But when one's cancer returns, they may be facing a real funeral too. Reunion-centered read-alikes: Tomi Obaro's Dele Weds Destiny; Elyssa Friedland's The Most Likely Club. |
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| Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa SeeTan Yunxian, who's based on a real 15th-century woman, grows up in an aristocratic family where her feet are bound and so is her future. Though she agrees to an arranged marriage, she chafes at social restrictions that say she can't work as a physician or be friends with the midwife's daughter in this richly detailed historical novel. For fans of: Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray's The Personal Librarian; Lecia Cornwall's The Woman at the Front. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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