| Names Have Been Changed by Yu-Mei BalasingamchowOphir (one of our flawed-but-likeable narrator's many names) fled Singapore ten years ago. She'd agreed to hold $60,000 for a friend who was subsequently arrested, and, desperate to keep her own freedom, Ophir took the money and ran. Using fake identities, she found work in Japan, England, and the United States, before starting the confessional podcast that comprises this memorable debut. Try these next: Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang; Ruth Run by Elizabeth Kaufman. |
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| Lady X by Molly FaderAfter her Hollywood actor husband cheats, devastated Margot heads to Pittsburgh with her teen daughter to escape the press. In her childhood home, she finds information about 1970s vigilante Lady X, including a blurry news photo. In troubled 1977 New York City, Ginger and her two roommates stick together, so when one is assaulted, they get a bit of payback. Signing their handiwork Lady X, they inspire copycats. For fans of: atmospheric dual-timeline novels; fast-paced stories of fed-up women. |
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| Rasputin Swims the Potomac by Ben FountainIn the near future, reporter Clarence Thomas, Jr. (no relation) is at an unnamed U.S. president's political rally when a crying illness hits. At the White House, reality star turned comms aide Faith Spack helps handle the crisis. Then, charismatic pro wrestler Rasputin discovers he can cure the weeping. Running for his third term, the president sees Rasputin as a running mate...but Rasputin wants more in this "brilliant satire" (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: Lawrence Wright's Mr. Texas. |
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Sunrise
by Téa Obreht
In 2024, Nina's small-engine plane crashes into a lake in the Wyoming mountains. Her boyfriend Ben, who was flying it, is nowhere to be found. Lost and freezing on the shore, Nina is armed with only a few old protein bars, a phone with no service, and a vague hope of rescue. It is up to her to survive in the vast wilderness. But then she stumbles upon Sunrise--a town of the Old West that is strangely well maintained, but seemingly abandoned. A place that holds the missing link to a ghost story one hundred years in the making.
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| The Great Wherever by Shannon SandersUnderpaid 32-year-old Aubrey Lamb is still mourning her father when her boyfriend breaks up with her. Learning that she's inherited her dad's stake in a large Tennessee farm, she leaves D.C. to meet her three cousin co-owners, who explain their relative was one of the state's first Black landowners. Meanwhile, their ghostly ancestors watch, gossip, and discuss it all in this sweeping, witty, and moving debut. Read-alikes: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers's The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois; John Vercher's Devil Is Fine. |
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Etna
by Paul Yoon
Paul Yoon, is back with the unforgettable story of a working dog, Etna, who, after a devastating war, embarks on an odyssey in the hopes of returning home. After surviving years of a devastating war, Etna decides one night to leave the men he has fought alongside for years and return home. Along the way, he encounters other animals and humans who are attempting to figure out how to start again.
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| Cool Machine by Colson WhiteheadTaking place in the 1980s, this lyrical, atmospheric 3rd in Colson Whitehead's acclaimed Harlem trilogy focuses on successful businessman and sometime criminal Ray Carney. First, Ray agrees to a heist in order to finance his wife's business. Five years later, he risks everything to help his dead cousin's son, who's mixed up with the wrong people. In 1983, Ray's friend Pepper finds himself looking for an expensive African mask in the East Village's gritty art and club scene. For fans of: atmospheric New York novels; Walter Mosley. |
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| The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa YangMarine biologist Dr. Jo Ness is mourning the loss of her best friend when she gets a call from one of the only other people she's ever been close to, inviting her to a small Maine island to investigate a strange jellyfish. When Jo arrives, her friend isn't there and the community members have different ideas about the giant, glowing animal they call Clementine and her strange effect on them. For fans of: novels about grief, friendship, and marine life, such as Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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