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Fiction A to Z August 2025 |
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Bear
by Julia Phillips
In Washington's San Juan Islands, two 20-something sisters work dead-end jobs and care for their dying mother. They talk about a future on the mainland, but when a bear suddenly shows up, one sister sees danger, while the other sees a magical beacon of hope, leading to the unraveling of their plans in this unsettling tale. Read-alikes: The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes; The Blue Window by Suzanne Berne.
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The Names
by Florence Knapp
Cora Atkin is off to register her baby's name when nine-year-old Maia suggests they call the baby Bear instead of Gordon, which her father has insisted upon. Cora's pick? Julian. Tracing the results of each choice over 35 years, this thought-provoking novel and Read with Jenna selection presents a complex story about fate, family, and abuse. Read-alike: The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas.
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| Kakigori Summer by Emily ItamiThree sisters -- ambitious London finance expert Rei; single mom Kiki, who works at a care home; and young pop star Ai -- reunite at their Japanese childhood home after Ai is caught up in a scandal. Over the summer, they support each other and navigate memories of their troubled mother and their early years, where being half-British and half-Japanese made them outsiders. For fans of: Emily Giffin's The Summer Pact. |
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Long after we are gone : a novel
by Terah Shelton Harris
Told from alternating points of view from all four siblings, this emotional story about the power of family and letting go follows CeCe, Junior, Nance and Angeline, each fighting their own personal battles, as they return home to save their ancestral land—and themselves—after the death of their father.
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Sandwich
by Catherine Newman
Rocky, her husband, her two kids, and her mom and dad have been going to the same Cape Cod rental for 20 years. This year, things feel different as Rocky navigates hot flashes, aging parents, nostalgia for her kids' youth, and old secrets in a funny, fast-paced, and moving novel that's perfect for beach reading. Read-alikes: Vacationland by Meg Mitchell Moore; A Good Life by Virginie Grimaldi; Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.
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| These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLeanAfter their billionaire patriarch's death, the Storms come together at their New England island. There, they are introduced to Jack, their father's right-hand man and daughter Alice's recent one-night-stand, who says they must all complete individual tasks or no one inherits anything. Bestselling historical romance author Sarah MacLean delivers a fun contemporary family novel that will please fans of HBO's Succession. |
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| The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila MottleyIn the Florida Panhandle, young mothers support each other amid upheavals while others judge and put obstacles in their paths. Three of them narrate: de facto leader Simone, a 20-year-old mother of twins who's pregnant again; newcomer Adela, a champion teen swimmer from Indiana who's been sent to live with her grandmother; and determined Emory, who brings her infant to high school with her. Read-alikes: Sarai Johnson's Grown Women; Brit Bennett's The Mothers. |
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| Endling by Maria RevaIn 2022 Ukraine, two sisters talk a scientist intent on saving an endangered snail species into helping them kidnap Western men on so-called "romance" tours looking for docile brides. But Russia invades, changing everything in this "page-turning, genre-bending meta-novel as entertaining as it is gut-wrenching" (Library Journal). For fans of: inventive, stylistically complex literary debuts, like Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated.
*If you'd like to request this book, please visit your library and ask for assistance! |
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All the men I've loved again : a novel
by Christine Pride
"From Christine Pride, the beloved coauthor of the Good Morning America Book Club Pick We Are Not Like Them, comes a dazzling solo debut novel about a woman who finds herself in a love triangle with two men in her early twenties, and then again, in her forties. It's 1999, TLC's "No Scrubs" is topping the charts, y2k is looming on everyone's mind, and Cora Belle has arrived at college ready to change her life. She's determined to grow out of the shy, sheltered girl who attended an all-white prep in her all-white suburb. Cora is ready to conquer her fears and find her people, her place in the world, and herself. What she's totally unprepared for is Lincoln, with his dark skin, charming southern drawl, and that smile. Because how can you ever prepare yourself for the rollercoaster of first love with all its glorious, bewildering contradictions? Just when Cora thinks she's got things figured out, a series of surprises and secrets threaten to upend everything she thought she understood about love and loyalty.In the wake of these developments and a shocking tragedy, a new man enters Cora's life-Aaron-further complicating everything. He's the only one who seems to get her, and the letters she writes to him when the two are separated reveal the truth of their inescapable connection. There's only one problem-how can she fall in love with one man when her heart belongs to another? Twenty years later, and Cora is all grown up, or mostly, and has cloaked herself in loneliness like a warm blanket. It's the safest choice. But then an unexpected reconnection and a chance encounter puts her right back where she started. The same two men, the same agonizing decision. Finding herself in this position-again-will test everything Cora thought she knew about fate, love, and most importantly, herself. All The Men I've Loved Again is a big-hearted coming-of-age story for anyone who's thought what if about a past love and what it would be like to have a second chance"
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| Vera, or Faith by Gary ShteyngartHighly intelligent ten-year-old Vera loves words and lists. She also worries a lot, including about money, her Jewish dad and WASP stepmother divorcing, that they love her brother more, and how to find her Korean mom. This highly anticipated satirical latest from an acclaimed author explores a modern New York family in a politically troubled world. Read-alike: Alice Franklin's Life Hacks for a Little Alien; Eiren Caffall's All the Water in the World. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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