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Fiction A to Z February 2017
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Selection Day by Aravind AdigaRadha and Manjunath Kumar have been raised by their controlling father to become cricket stars -- the only thing that will get them out of their Mumbai slum. And in fact they are very good, good enough to have journalists and scouts following their every move. But their father's strict rules have both brothers rebelling in their own, sometimes unexpected ways. Though set in a world (and a sport) unfamiliar to many, this complex novel from Booker Prize-winning Aravind Adiga is truly about common themes -- sibling relationships, family dynamics, and loyalty.
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The Red Carby Marcy Dermansky Leah is living in Queens with a possessive husband she doesn’t love and a long list of unfulfilled ambitions, when she’s jolted from a thick ennui by a call from the past. Her beloved former boss and friend, Judy, has died in a car accident and left Leah her most prized possession and, as it turns out, the instrument of Judy’s death: a red sports car. Judy encouraged Leah’s dreams, analyzed her love life, and eased her into adulthood over long lunches away from the office. Facing the jarring disconnect between the life she expected and the one she is now actually living, Leah takes off for San Francisco to claim Judy’s car. In sprawling days defined by sex, sorrow, and unexpected delight, Leah revisits past lives and loves in search of a self she abandoned long ago. Piercing through Leah’s surreal haze is the enigmatic voice of Judy, as sharp as ever, providing wry commentary on Leah’s every move.
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The Most Dangerous Place on Earthby Lindsey Lee JohnsonThe wealthy enclaves north of San Francisco are not the paradise they appear to be, and nobody knows this better than the students of a local high school. Despite being raised with all the opportunities money can buy, these vulnerable kids are navigating a treacherous adolescence in which every action, every rumor, every feeling, is potentially postable, shareable, viral. Into this complicated web, an idealistic young English teacher arrives from a poorer, scruffier part of California. Molly Nicoll strives to connect with her students—without understanding the middle school tragedy that played out online and has continued to reverberate in different ways for all of them.
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I'll Sell You a Dog by Juan Pablo VillalobosLong before he was the taco seller whose ‘Gringo Dog’ recipe made him famous throughout Mexico City, our hero was an aspiring artist: an artist, that is, till his would-be girlfriend was stolen by Diego Rivera, and his dreams snuffed out by his hypochondriac mother. Now our hero is resident in a retirement home, where fending off boredom is far more grueling than making tacos. Plagued by the literary salon that bumps about his building’s lobby and haunted by the self-pitying ghost of a neglected artist, Villalobos’s old man can’t help but misbehave: he antagonises his neighbors, tortures American missionaries with passages from Adorno, and flirts with the revolutionary greengrocer.
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Dark at the Crossingby Elliot AckermanHaris Abadi is a man in search of a cause. An Arab American with a conflicted past, he is now in Turkey, attempting to cross into Syria and join the fight against Bashar al-Assad's regime. But he is robbed before he can make it, and is taken in by Amir, a charismatic Syrian refugee and former revolutionary, and Amir's wife, Daphne, a sophisticated beauty haunted by grief. As it becomes clear that Daphne is also desperate to return to Syria, Haris's choices become ever more wrenching: Whose side is he really on? Is he a true radical or simply an idealist? And will he be able to bring meaning to a life of increasing frustration and helplessness?
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4 3 2 1 by Paul AusterNearly two weeks early, on March 3, 1947, in the maternity ward of Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, Archibald Isaac Ferguson, the one and only child of Rose and Stanley Ferguson, is born. From that single beginning, Ferguson’s life will take four simultaneous and independent fictional paths. Four identical Fergusons made of the same DNA, four boys who are the same boy, go on to lead four parallel and entirely different lives. Family fortunes diverge. Athletic skills and sex lives and friendships and intellectual passions contrast. Each Ferguson falls under the spell of the magnificent Amy Schneiderman, yet each Amy and each Ferguson have a relationship like no other. Meanwhile, readers will take in each Ferguson’s pleasures and ache from each Ferguson’s pains, as the mortal plot of each Ferguson’s life rushes on.
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| Love Letters by Debbie MacomberJo Marie Rose never thought she'd run a bed-and-breakfast, but she never thought she'd be a widow at 36, either. Two years have passed since her husband died, and Jo Marie is expecting guests at her Cedar Cove, Washington inn: a couple whose marriage is in trouble (can an old love letter help?) and a young woman meeting a man she only knows through online missives (against her mother's wishes). Meanwhile, Jo Marie's solitary handyman, Mark, has her curious, and he's not pleased by her probing. This heartwarming, romantic novel is the 3rd in a series set in the Rose Harbor Inn. |
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| The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo MoyesIn 1960, Jennifer Stirling awakes in the hospital, suffering from memory loss brought on by a car accident. Struggling to adjust, she realizes that she does not love her husband; the discovery of a letter that suggests she'd been having an affair with a man identified only as "B" provides some answers. Fast-forward 43 years, when reporter Ellie Haworth finds several more letters from "B" to Jennifer and is captivated by his passionate words. Unfolding in parallel narratives, heartache and romance abounds in both of their stories and create a clever comparison between the two eras. |
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| A Strangeness in My Mind: A Novel by Orhan PamukAs much about Istanbul's rapid transformation over the second half of the 20th century as it is the tale of a street peddler, A Strangeness in My Mind offers both a strong sense of the city and a sweeping story told by multiple narrators. It follows Mevlut Karatas as he arrives in the city as a boy, follows his father's trade selling yogurt door to door, and spends three years writing love letters to a young woman he spotted only briefly. As he forms a deep understanding of his city, marries, and raises a family, Melvut's working life provides a way to understand Istanbul's changing landscape. "Rich, complex, and pulsing with urban life," says Kirkus Reviews. |
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| The House at the End of Hope Streetby Menna van PraagIn this fairytale-like novel, the house at the end of Hope Street is magical, seen only by those who need its help. And the women who are invited to stay can spend only 99 nights there -- just enough time to turn their lives around. In addition to sanctuary, the house also provides gifts and advice (in the form of notes, but also talking portraits of previous visitors), as ruined academic Alba Ashby finds when she moves in. In addition to her career, Alba is struggling with family issues and the feeling that she's wasted her life, but a box of letters between her mother and her (unknown) father gives her some focus. This delightful tale will appeal to fans of Sarah Addison Allen's similarly fantastical stories. |
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Saturday, February 22 Spring Sports Assessment 6:30 p.m. Gauri Sabnis of Synergex Physical Therapy will present information regarding toning-up for Spring sports. For student athletes' parents. Thursday, February 16 Intro to Microsoft Excel 1:00 p.m. Learn how to create spreadsheets using Excel. This class will be a demonstration for beginner users of Excel and will cover basic operation. Saturday, February 18 The Importance of Jackie Robinson 1:00 p.m. The talk will examine how his career in Major League Baseball fit in the broader range of the Civil Rights Movement and the extent to which he became an influential force in it. With Cranbury resident Frank Marlowe. Saturday, March 4 The Home Buying Process 10:00 a.m. Be a prepared home seller or buyer. Learn what you need to know for a smooth transaction.
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Saturday, March 25 NJ Makers Day 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Come participate in the 3rd annual NJ Makers Day! Come to imagine, create, tinker, and learn. This is an all-ages family event to complete several STEM challenges throughout the library, including our first ever Escape Room activity! Tuesday, March 28 Bites for Books 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Join library friends and neighbors for dinner at Teddy's Restaurant. Teddy's will donate 20% of your bill to the Cranbury Library Foundation. Friday, April 27 Foods and Flavors of Thailand 6:30 p.m. Join Jen Diamond for a tour and taste of Thailand! Saturday, April 29 Stamp Roadshow 10:30 a.m. The Hamilton Township Philatelic Society will be on hand to evaluate the worth of your stamp collection! They'll also give pointers to the novice collector.
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Cranbury Public Library
23 North Main Street ~
Cranbury, NJ 08512 ~ Phone: 609-655-0555 ~ Contact Us
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