|
|
|
|
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle BurdenIt was a great love story, one for the ages. The speed of our beginning and the speed of our ending felt like matching bookends. They both came out of nowhere. He wanted it, he wanted me. And then he didn't. In March 2020, Belle Burden was safe and secure with her family at their house on Martha's Vineyard, navigating the early days of the pandemic together, then, with no warning or explanation, her husband of twenty years announced that he was leaving her. Overnight, her caring, steady partner became a man she hardly recognized. He exited his life with her like an actor shrugging off a costume. In Strangers, Burden revisits her marriage, searching for clues that her husband was not who she always thought he was. As she examines her relationship through a new lens, she reckons with her own family history and the lessons she intuited about how a woman is expected to behave in the face of betrayal. With unflinching honesty and profound grace, Burden charts a path through heartbreak to show the power of a woman who refuses to give up on love.
|
|
|
|
The Briars by Sarah CrouchWhen Annie accepted a job as park ranger in the small town of Lake Lumin, she was desperate to get away from a relationship gone bad. Her first order of business is to track down a cougar that's been spotted in the area. As she warns neighbors of the looming threat, she quickly discovers not everyone in this tight-knit community is welcoming of a woman park ranger, except for Daniel, a reclusive carpenter who lives on the edge of town. They form a quick bond. When birdwatchers stumble upon the body of a young woman amidst the foggy peaks of Mount St. Helens, all eyes turn to Daniel as a suspect. Annie, who is helping the local sheriff with the case, must rely on her extensive wilderness training and trust her instincts to piece together what happened, while the murderer watches her every move.
|
|
|
|
Familiar Face by Michael DeforgeIn a thoroughly modernized, constantly updating society, where can true connection be found? The bodies of citizens and the infrastructure surrounding them is constantly updating. People can't recognize themselves in old pictures, and they wake up in apartments of completely different sizes and shapes. The citizens struggle with adaptability as updates happen too quickly, and the changes are far too radical to be intuitive. The narrator of Familiar Face works in the government's department of complaints, reading through citizens' reports of the issues they've had with the system updates. The job isn't to fix anything but rather to be the sole human sounding board, a comfort in a system so decidedly impersonal. These complaints aren't mere bug reports--they can be anything: existential, petty, just plain heartbreaking. Michael DeForge's ability to find the humanity and emotional truth within the outlandish bureaucracy of everyday life is unparalleled. Familiar Face is a masterful and deeply funny exploration of how we define our sense of self, and how we cope when so much of life is out of our control.
|
|
|
|
Satantango by László KrasznahorkaiWINNER OF THE 2025 NOBEL PRIZE. Set in an isolated hamlet, the novel unfolds over the course of a few rain-soaked days. Only a dozen inhabitants remain in the bleak village, rank with the stench of failed schemes, betrayals, failure, infidelity, sudden hopes, and aborted dreams. "Their world," in the words of the renowned translator George Szirtes is "rough and ready, lost somewhere between the cosmic and tragic, in one small insignificant corner of the cosmos. Theirs is the dance of death." Into this world comes, it seems, a messiah...
|
|
|
|
Vol. 1 by Beth BrowerThe Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian's. But Emma's plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian's. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of novella-length volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House. Available on Hoopla |
|
|
|
Sheets by Brenna ThummlerMarjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen-year-old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything she's worked for. Also available on Libby |
|
|
|
Tall Water: A Graphic Novel by Sj SinduEver since she turned sixteen, Nimmi has wanted to see her mother. Though she has a loving but overprotective father, she yearns to travel to Sri Lanka to confront the mother who refused to leave the island during a war, not even for Nimmi's sake. Her father is going back for the first time as a reporter on assignment, but he refuses to take her, deeming Sri Lanka too dangerous. But then Nimmi's mother appears to her in a dream, asking her to come find her, and Nimmi knows she must go. In Sri Lanka, Nimmi tags along with her father, past checkpoints and armed soldiers and hints of the war that rages there. However, disaster strikes and a tsunami ravages the island. Stranded amid the devastation and destruction, can Nimmi reunite with her mother? Also available on Libby |
|
|
|
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins ReidAging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Also available on Libby |
|
|
|
Finding Me: A Memoir by Viola DavisThe emotionally-charged debut memoir from award-winning actor and icon Viola Davis. "This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me. Finding Me is the story of my journey, but it is also an invitation to own your own past with radical honesty:" Also available on Libby and Hoopla |
|
|
|
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady HendrixThey call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they're sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened. Fern arrives at the home in the summer of 1970, pregnant, frightened, and alone. Under the watchful eye of Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they're allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by the adults who claim they know what's best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it's never given freely. There's always a price to be paid . . . and it's usually paid in blood. Also available on Libby |
|
|
|
For generations, children around the world have come of age with Louisa May Alcott's March girls: hardworking eldest sister Meg, headstrong, impulsive Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. With their father away at war, and their loving mother Marmee working to support the family, the four sisters have to rely on one another for support as they endure the hardships of wartime and poverty. We witness the sisters growing up, figuring out what role each wants to play in the world, and, along the way, join them on countless unforgettable adventures Also available on Libby |
|
|
|
The Art of LovingMulti-BRIT Award and Mercury Prize nominee Olivia Dean presents her highly anticipated second album via Capitol Records. It is a tender, intentional deep dive into the many dimensions of love; romantic, platonic, self, and everything in between. The album features Olivia's new single, "Nice To Each Other." Available to listen on Hoopla |
|
|
|
Theft by Abdulrazak GurnahAt the turn of the twenty-first century, three young people come of age in Tanzania. Karim returns to his sleepy hometown after university in Dar es Salaam with a new swagger and sense of ambition. There he catches the eye of Fauzia, who sees in him a chance at escape from a smothering upbringing. When the two of them offer a haven to Badar, a poor boy still unsure if the future holds anything for him at all, they little imagine how deeply their fates will entwine and diverge. As rapidly accelerating global change reaches even their quiet corner of the world, bringing tourists, technology, and unexpected opportunities and perils, each arrives at a different understanding of what it means to take your fate into your own hands.
|
|
|
|
The Wolf and His Kingby Finn LongmanA noble knight hiding the beast inside. A lonely king isolated by his courtiers. Between them an impossible gulf surmountable only by the twists and turns of relentless destiny in this spellbinding tale of romance and adventure. The wolf-sickness strikes always without warning, stealing Bisclavret's body and confusing his mind. Since boyhood, he hasn't dared leave his isolated holdings. But when a new king ascends, Bisclavret must deliver his kiss of fealty or answer for the failure. Half an exile himself, the young king is intrigued by this uneasy, rough-hewn nobleman. Bisclavret seems a perfect knight: bold, strong, and merciful. As his fascination grows, the barriers between them multiply, until one day Bisclavret vanishes beyond reach. Battling desperation and grief, the king stands alone to face the greatest threats to his kingdom, with only duty to his people between him and ruin. Available on Hoopla |
|
|
|
Hadestown (Original Broadway Cast Recording)Alternative folk singer/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell originally presented her epic musical version of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as a recording in 2010. The album featured Mitchell herself as Eurydice, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon as Orpheus, and Ani DiFranco as Persephone, among other role players and a band of over a dozen musicians. After being reworked by Mitchell with Broadway in mind, Hadestown ran off-Broadway in 2016, then in Edmonton and London before receiving its Broadway premiere in March of 2019. Marked by alternatively soulful and playful acoustic arrangements and rich harmony vocals, the over-two-hour cast album features performances by an all-star ensemble. Available on Hoopla |
|
|
|
|
|
