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| The Ascent by Allison BuccolaTwenty years after being the sole survivor of a now-vanished doomsday commune whose members vanished overnight, Lee Burton’s carefully built life begins to unravel. A stranger's sudden offer of answers pulls her back into the mystery she’s long tried to forget, forcing her to confront secrets, rising paranoia, and the fragility of motherhood and identity. |
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| Once Was Willem by M.R. CareyIn 12th century England, recently deceased 12-year-old Willem returns from the grave in the village of Cosham, only to be ostracized and outcast to the forest. As Once-Was-Willem befriends other supernatural creatures, the sorcerer who brought him back claws for more magic and more power...even if it means the lives of all the children of Cosham. M.R. Carey's latest is "a dark and hopeful fable with obvious contemporary resonance" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Maine characters : a novel
by Hannah Orenstein
"From beloved author Hannah Orenstein, this love letter to lake life is "the Parent Trap for adults," the story of two half-sisters who meet for the first time at their father's cabin in Maine after his unexpected death"
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History lessons
by Zoe B. Wallbrook
A college history professor must solve her superstar colleague's murder before she becomes the next target.
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Seesaw monster
by Kōtarō Isaka
"A gripping novel mixing mythology, family drama, espionage, and high technology from the international bestselling author of Bullet Train, already in development for a major film starring Anne Hathaway and Salma Hayek In Seesaw Monster, international bestselling author Kotaro Isaka employs his hallmarks of kinetic pacing, high-stakes action, and great characters to explore the nature of conflict, the power of close relationships, and the idea of progress. Poor Naoto. A pharmaceutical salesman in Japan in the booming 1980s, his job has him working long hours, answering to his demanding boss and entertaining entitled customers. And at home, his wife, Miyako, and his mother are always feuding, making each other miserable. Why can't the two just get along? Then one day a mysterious visitor shows up at their door with a possible answer. Their conflict is larger-and far more ancient-than it might appear. When Naoto uncovers something wrong at work and his life is suddenly in danger, can the two women set aside their differences to save him? Decades later, in our near-future, surveillance, facial-recognition software, and AI dominate Japan. The most sensitive information lives only on paper, and Mito makes his living delivering it. When a chance meeting with astranger on a train draws Mito into a possible conspiracy, he finds himself face-to-face with his own enemy, a tragic double whose life has been intertwined with his own. Is this another instance of the ancient feud? And what role will Miyako, now in hernineties, play in this deadly game?"
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| Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-OpokuRecently widowed Savvy Summers runs a Chicago soul food restaurant and catering business in this engaging series opener that includes recipes. But after a customer dies and people blame her, she must figure out what really killed the man to save herself and her livelihood. Thankfully she has help from her gossipy sous-chef and her cop ex-husband. Try this next: Abby Collette’s Books and Biscuits Mysteries; Danielle Arceneaux’s Glory Broussard Mysteries. |
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| Fonseca by Jessica Francis KaneMining a real 1952 trip to Mexico by Penelope Fitzgerald, this “masterful” (Publishers Weekly) novel follows the acclaimed English writer as she travels with her six-year-old son while broke and pregnant. She’s come at the behest of the eccentric Delaney sisters, who’ve dangled an inheritance before her, but it turns out, she's not the only one. For fans of: Penelope Fitzgerald; witty stories starring real people. |
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| People Like Us by Jason MottJason Mott follows up his National Book Award-winning Hell of a Book with this funny, moving, and surreal tale of two Black writers pondering race, loss, and survival. One of them, who specializes in grief, is at a Minnesota college where a shooting recently occurred, and the other, who just won a big award, is on a book tour in Europe. Try this next: Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour. |
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| Love Is A War Song by Danica NavaAfter Muscogee pop star Avery Fox becomes a pariah following an ill-advised Rolling Stone photoshoot, she retreats to her grandmother's horse ranch in Oklahoma to learn more about her heritage. When grumpy ranch hand Lucas Iron Eyes catches her eye, she finds herself torn between returning to the life she thought she wanted and the one she's just now getting to explore. For fans of: Colton Gentry's Third Act by Jeff Zentner. |
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| The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo NicholsElderly Mrs. B. rents her Santa Barbara, California, cottages to people who need help in this charming 1st in a series. When her newest renter, an ex-convict, is blamed when a body is found nearby, Mrs. B. sets out to prove his innocence with help from other tenants, including a single mom and her kids, an agoraphobic man, and a workaholic perfectionist. For fans of: Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building; Richard Osman; Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Vera Wong Mysteries. |
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| Greenteeth by Molly O'NeillWhen Temperance, falsely accused of witchcraft, is thrown into a lake, she is unexpectedly rescued by a sharp-toothed monster lurking within its depths. This monster, Jenny Greenteeth, forms an unlikely alliance with Temperance to save the town and Britain from an encroaching evil. For fans of: richly detailed fantasy laden with monsters who are more than their fangs, such as Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher. |
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| The Original by Nell StevensIn 1899, 25-year-old Grace Inderwick, who has face blindness, travels with her aunt to Rome to meet someone claiming to be her cousin Charles, thought to have been lost at sea years ago. While Grace ponders growing up with her cold relatives and her remarkable ability to copy paintings, she and others wonder if the man is an imposter hoping to inherit a sizeable English estate. For fans of: captivating, evocative stories about art forgery; Sarah Waters; Emma Donoghue. |
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| The Satisfaction Café by Kathy WangHaving left Taiwan in the 1970s to attend Stanford graduate school, Joan marries a fellow student, but that lasts mere weeks. She stays in California, unexpectedly drawn to a wealthy, thrice-divorced older man. They marry, and in this quietly powerful portrait, Joan becomes a stepmother, a mother, a widow, and the owner of café designed to combat loneliness. For fans of: The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin; Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum. |
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| The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. WhiteThe Nazis have been banning and burning books for years, and now they’re in 1940 Paris. Sorbonne professor Corrine Bastien works to save what she can, pitting her against Christian Bauer, the German Sonderführer in charge of “relocating” certain books. But he never wanted the job and is a man with his own secrets. For fans of: World War II-era Christian novels, like Sarah Sundin’s Until Leaves Fall in Paris or Renee Ryan’s The Paris Housekeeper. |
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| Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas BoggsDrawing on interviews and previously unreleased archival materials, National Humanities Center fellow Nicholas Boggs’ moving and intimate biography of writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin examines how his personal relationships impacted his life and career. Further reading: James Baldwin: Living in Fire by Bill V. Mullen. |
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| A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought... by Haley Cohen GillilandYale Journalism Initiative director Haley Cohen Gilliland’s compelling debut spotlights the Argentinian grandmothers who founded the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo in 1977 and stood up to their government’s military dictatorship to help locate their kidnapped grandchildren. Further reading: The Disappeared by Rebecca J. Sanford, a historical fiction novel about the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo. |
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| Black Genius: Essays on an American Legacy by Tre JohnsonCultural critic Tre Johnson's impassioned debut essay collection examines the ways in which Black genius is overlooked and undervalued, revealing how gentrification, cultural appropriation and extraction, and policy undermine Black creatives' accomplishments. For fans of: How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft, Practice, and Skill edited by Jericho Brown. |
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| Dream On by Shannon Hale; illustrated by Marcela CespedesWith a too-big family, too-intense emotions, and a too-cool best friend, life feels like too much for fourth-grader Cassie. When a letter from a magazine contest declares that she’s a winner, Cassie immediately starts fantasizing about how the promised prizes could fix all her problems. For fans of: author Shannon Hale’s Friends series and other honest, heartfelt graphic novels about the ups and downs of everyday life. |
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| Fateless by Julie KagawaForced to steal an ancient artifact, skilled thief Sparrow accidentally releases a mythical Deathless King bent on destruction. Though she and assassin Raithe make an unlikely team, they may be able to challenge their fates and stop the devastation. Read-alikes: Tahereh Mafi’s This Woven Kingdom; Katy Rose Pool’s There Will Come a Darkness. |
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| Sundust by Zeke PeñaFollowing a blazing pink streak of sundust into the desert outside their city, two siblings marvel at the wonders they find there. Illustrated in sun-soaked earth tones, this tale blends fantasy with real-life beauty to create a “surreal exploration of the way the natural world endures and transforms” (Publishers Weekly). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Rochester Hills Public Library 500 Olde Towne Rd Rochester, Michigan 48307 248-656-2900www.rhpl.org/ |
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