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Fiction A to Z October 2020
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| Homeland Elegies by Ayad AkhtarWhat it is: a thought-provoking literary novel-in-stories about being Pakistani-American before and after 9/11, with clear parallels to the author's own life.
About the author: Ayad Akhtar is, like his protagonist, the son of Muslim immigrants from Pakistan and a Pulitzer-winning playwright known for a complex, controversial play about being Muslim-American after 9/11.
What reviewers say: It's "a provocative and urgent examination of the political and economic conditions that shape personal identity, especially for immigrants and communities of color" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke
The only people in the world: "Piranesi," the narrator, and his mysterious mentor, known as "the Other," who dwell in the House, a surreal labyrinthine building full of impossible things.
Why you might like it: This long-awaited novel by the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell offers a puzzle box of a plot and metafictional magical realism wrapped up in lyrical prose.
Reviewers say: "a tenebrous study in solitude" (The Guardian).
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A Rogue of One's Own
by Evie Dunmore
What it's about: To promote the cause of women's suffrage, Lady Lucie Tedbury acquires a partial ownership stake in a publishing house only to discover that her new business partner is none other than her childhood nemesis, Lord Tristan Ballentine.
Want a taste? "No, she was a political activist approaching the age of 30. She was not just left on the shelf, she was the shelf."
Series alert: A Rogue of One's Own is the 2nd book in the League of Extraordinary Women series, after Bringing Down the Duke.
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Northernmost
by Peter Geye
What it's about: the parallel narratives of two members of a Norwegian family living a century apart -- tundra-stranded 19th-century fisherman Odd Einar and modern day Minnesota journalist Greta Nansen -- and their shared struggles with isolation, grief, and marital problems.
Series alert: This is the 3rd and final entry in Peter Geye's series following the Eide family, preceded by The Lighthouse Road and Wintering.
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| Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa GyasiStarring: Ghanaian American Gifty, a neuroscience PhD candidate studying neural pathways in mice as a way of understanding the loss and suffering in her family -- though she insists that's not what she's doing.
Why you might like it: Gifty's a reflective and observant narrator, nimbly moving from analyzing previous relationships or her childhood church's entrenched racism to noting her lab mate's quirks or her mother's struggles.
Read it for: a complex, non-linear story that examines faith and science, addiction and grief. |
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And Now She's Gone
by Rachel Howzell Hall
What it's about: After years doing research at a firm, 39-year-old African American Grayson Sykes has her first solo job as a PI for the group.
The case: A doctor's girlfriend has been missing for weeks and the cops think she left of her own accord. Now, Gray, who has secrets and troubles of her own, must find the truth. But it's all more complicated than it first appears...and that's before Gray's past catches up with her.
Read it for: the captivating characters; the wry humor; the atmospheric setting; the suspenseful, twisty plot.
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We Are All the Same in the Dark
by Julia Heaberlin
What it's about: This intricately plotted and heartwrenching story centers on the disappearance of a young woman and her father, an unresolved case that still haunts the small West Texas town where they were last seen.
Starring: Wyatt Branson, the missing girl's brother who is ostracized after the court of public opinion decides he must have committed the crime; sheriff's deputy Odette Tucker, who visits Wyatt's farm after rumors spread that a teenage girl has been seen on the property; Angel, the traumatized teen whom Odette bonds with immediately.
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| Sisters by Daisy JohnsonStarring: September and July, teen sisters who are perceived to be abnormally close by their teachers. After an incident so destructive that July, who helps narrate, cannot remember it, their mother moves them back to a tumbledown family home on England's North York Moors.
What happens: essentially abandoned by their mother, who is fighting her own demons, the relationship between the two girls shifts...but to say more would ruin this unsettling novel.
For fans of: dark, character-driven stories with overtones of Gothic fiction or horror. |
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The Four Profound Weaves: A Birdverse Book
by R.B. Lemberg
Introducing: Uiziya e Lali, a weaver of the nomadic Surun' people, who searches for her exiled aunt Benesret so that she may complete her training in the Four Profound Weaves; and the outcast nameless man who accompanies her in hopes of receiving a name from Benesret.
Read it for: a pair of elderly transgender leads on a quest for mystical knowledge, immersive world-building, and lush, lyrical prose.
Can you start here? Although Nebula award-nominated author R.B. Lemberg has published numerous short stories set in the Birdverse, this stand-alone novel provides newcomers with sufficient context.
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Like Lovers Do
by Tracey Livesay
Starring: orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nicole Allen, who agrees to help out her old pal Benjamin Reed Van Mont by pretending to be his girlfriend.
Why it can't work: Despite some steamy hammock sex, Nicole can't afford distractions as she begins her fellowship, while Ben, the child of workaholic parents, is wary of dating someone so devoted to her career.
Series alert: Like Lovers Do is the 2nd installment (after Sweet Talkin' Lover) of the Girls Trip series, which follows a quartet of Black college friends as they search for love and career success.
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The Vacation
by T. M. Logan
Picture it: A lavish villa in the south of France, where college friends Kate, Rowan, Izzy, and Jennifer have all gathered (families in tow) for a long overdue reunion.
The problem? Between the financial disparities between the gathered families to the constant bickering of their children, things quickly grow tense. Then Kate discovers evidence that there might be a romantic connection between her husband and one of her friends.
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You Lucky Dog
by Julia London
What happens: Due to a mix-up on the part of Brant the dog-walker, spunky publicist Carly Kennedy and shy neuroscience professor Tobias Maxwell "Max" Sheffington now have each other's basset hounds.
And then: Pups Baxter and Hazel fall in love, paving the way for Carly and Max's own unlikely romance.
Read it for: likable leads, a witty opposites-attract romance, and a zany supporting cast.
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| The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie LyonsWhat it's about: the end-of-life decisions of a world-weary octogenarian, who unexpectedly forges a bond with an exuberant child, who drags her out into a brighter world.
Read it if: you can't get enough of cantankerous older characters and their unlikely friendships, such as in Frederik Backman's A Man Called Ove, Elizabeth Berg's The Story of Arthur Truluv, or Beth Morrey's The Love Story of Missy Carmichael. |
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The Memory of Souls
by Jenn Lyons
What it is: the 3rd installment of the Chorus of Dragons series, after The Ruin of Kings and The Name of All Things.
What's at stake: the wards that confine Vol Karoth, king of demons, are weakening and that's bad news.
Read it for: inventive world-building, an intricately plotted story that unfolds from multiple perspectives, and a genderfluid trio of leads whose will-they-won't-they relationship evolves throughout the series.
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| His Only Wife by Peace Adzo MedieStarring: young Ghanaian Afi Tekple, who escapes poverty with an arranged marriage to wealthy Eli, who does not attend his own wedding and prioritizes his business (and his mistress) over Afi.
What happens: Making full use of her new family's connections, Afi learns new skills and gains confidence -- and soon wants to be the only woman in her husband's life.
What reviewers say: "an emotional rollercoaster" (Booklist). |
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The Thursday Murder Club
by Richard Osman
What it's about: When a contractor at an English luxury retirement village is murdered, four members of its crime club try to crack the case.
Reviewers say: "British TV celebrity [Richard] Osman mixes mirth and murder in his exceptional debut" (Publishers Weekly); "A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters" (Kirkus Reviews).
Read this next: If you like witty, unorthodox British police detectives, try Christopher Fowler’s delightful Bryant & May books; for short stories involving a mystery-solving group, grab Agatha Christie's Tuesday Night Club.
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Better Than People
by Roan Parrish
The situation: Sweet-natured graphic designer Simon Burke, who prefers animals to people, volunteers to assist grouchy illustrator Jack Matheson with pet care after an accident leaves Jack with a broken leg.
The complications: Simon's severe anxiety and Jack's reluctance to trust anyone following a crushing betrayal by his former best friend and creative collaborator.
Why you might like it: This character-driven romance emphasizes both its leads' individual emotional growth and their sweet yet steamy relationship; a well-drawn supporting cast cheers them on.
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Jack
by Marilynne Robinson
Series alert: Jack is the 4th novel starring the characters from the Gilead series, which began as a letter from dying Presbyterian minister John Ames Broughton to his son and spans events from the Civil War to the 1950s.
This time with more...moving, star-crossed romance (it's 1957 and the titular Jack's love interest is Della, a Black woman he met in St. Louis); well-crafted dialogue (much of the story unfolds in conversations between Jack and Della); and reflections on faith (in the divine and in each other).
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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
by V.E. Schwab
What it's about: Village girl Addie is chafing at the restrictions of life as a woman in early 17th-century France, so she makes a deal with the devil for "a chance to live and be free."
The problem: The devil grants her wish...literally. So now Addie is immortal, and for 300 years everyone she meets forgets her. Everyone but the man who just caught her returning some books she previously "borrowed" from a New York bookshop.
For fans of: other time-focused tales of loss, love, and loneliness such as Kate Atkinson's Life After Life or Laura Barnett's The Versions of Us.
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Here We Are
by Graham Swift
What it is: an engaging, character-driven story set in postwar Brighton, where a dying artform has one last great summer thanks to an equally doomed variety act.
The players: show emcee Jack Robinson, the "Compere Comedian"; Jack's army buddy Ronnie Deane, who performs sleight-of-hand as "The Great Pablo"; Evie White, newly hired as the proverbial magician's "lovely assistant" until she becomes much more than that to both men she shares the stage with.
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Little Disasters
by Sarah Vaughan
What it's about: Emergency room doctor Liz Trenchard is on duty one night when her friend Jess arrives with her ten-month-old daughter. The baby's injuries are consistent with child abuse, but Liz cannot believe her friend is capable of that and resolves to look for the truth, only to discover more than either woman bargained for.
Reviewers say: "The brisk plot gracefully touches on postpartum depression, female friendships, and the difficulties of parenting" (Publishers Weekly).
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Hench
by Natalie Zina Walschots
In a world... where supervillains rely on a thriving gig economy to supply them with cheap, expendable minions, freelance "hench" Anna Tromedlov survives an encounter with a superhero and decides to use her data analysis skills to reveal who the real bad guys are.
Reviewers say: "A fiendishly clever novel that fizzes with moxie and malice" (Kirkus Reviews).
For fans of: Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible, V.E. Schwab's Vicious, or the Amazon series The Boys.
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A Deception at Thornecrest
by Ashley Weaver
1934 England: Heavily pregnant Amory Ames is at her Kent Country house when a nice young lady arrives...claiming to be married to Amory's handsome husband, Milo.
What happens: As Amory is dealing with one newcomer, another visitor appears in the village who upends the town and its Springtide Festival in a case involving secret identities, seduction, and murder.
Series alert: Like the earlier entries, this 7th in the Amory Ames series has a pleasing mystery, witty banter, and a dashing couple.
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| The Turner House by Angela FlournoyWhere it's set: The Turner family has owned their home on Detroit's East Side for more than 50 years, but their historically Black, working-class neighborhood has deteriorated badly and it may be time to let go of the now empty house.
What it's about: focusing on three of the 13 Turner siblings, this engaging family saga traces both family and social history, incorporating a family ghost and flashbacks of their late father's early years in Detroit after the Great Migration.
For fans of: the sweep of history found in Ayana Mathis' The Twelve Tribes of Hattie; the importance of home in Naima Coster's Halsey Street and Ann Patchett's The Dutch House. |
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| Lost and Wanted by Nell FreudenbergerWhat it's about: Wealthy, stylish Charlie (who is Black) and nerdy scholarship student Helen (who is white) were best friends and roommates in college. Twenty years later, Charlie is dead...but Helen continues to receive texts from her.
Is it for you? This complex, leisurely paced novel is as much a character study of Helen, now a respected scientist, as it is a story of female friendship. Deep discussions of physics add an intriguing layer of appeal. |
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| Night Theater by Vikram ParalkarStarring: a village surgeon somewhere in rural India, whose last three patients of the night are a family recently killed by highwaymen. They've been told by an angel that if the doctor can fix their bodies by dawn, they will live again.
Why you might like it: With a fable-like feel -- albeit with realistic medical descriptions, fairly straightforward writing style, and some clever humor -- this curious tale tackles big questions of mortality and death. |
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| This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. StaplesWhat happens: Marion Lafournier, a young Ojibwe man in a relationship with a deeply closeted white man, follows the ghost of a dog to the grave of a local basketball star murdered ten years previously, launching him on a quest to find the truth -- and to repair ties within his own family.
Why you might like it: Wry humor and a nonlinear narrative distinguish Ojibwe author Dennis Staples' debut, which captures the crushing lack of options in his Minnesota reservation hometown from multiple perspectives. |
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| Past Perfect by Danielle SteelWhat it's about: a wealthy family has moved from Manhattan to San Francisco, but their new home, grand as it is, seems still to be occupied by a family who used to live there...a century ago.
What happens: The 21st-century Gregory family and the ghostly Butterfields of the early 1900s get along just fine, dressing for dinner, sharing the gossip of their day, and learning about each other's times.
Read it for: a story of family and friendship, and detailed depictions of life for the rich and famous in 1917 -- just be willing to suspend your disbelief before jumping in to this fantastical tale. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Morton Grove Public Library 6140 Lincoln Ave Morton Grove, Illinois 60053 (847) 965-4220www.mgpl.org/ |
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