Supporting COMMUNITY. Inspiring DISCOVERY. Promoting LITERACY. |
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| Happy Medium by Sarah AdlerHired to perform a spiritual cleanse on a goat farm, fraudulent medium Gretchen Acorn encounters skeptical farmer Charlie Waybill and his cousin Everett, a ghost who wants her to lift a century-old curse on the property. Read-alikes: Rosie Danan's Do Your Worst; Claire Kann's Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places. |
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A calamity of souls
by David Baldacci
In a Virginia courtroom in 1968, a reluctant white lawyer and a dedicated black attorney must bridge their differences to fight for a Black man's life against racial prejudice and powerful forces seeking to undo civil rights progress.
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| A Lonesome Place for Dying by Nolan ChaseEthan Brand's first day as Blaine, Washington's chief of police is a doozy, starting with a threatening note and animal heart on his porch and quickly followed by the discovery of the town's first murder victim in years. For fans of: Craig Johnson, William Kent Krueger; Northwoods by Amy Pease. |
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| Cold to the Touch by Kerri HakodaAnchorage homicide detective DeHavilland Beans tries to find the killer of his favorite barista, who, like him, grew up a multiracial kid in small-town Alaska. When another barista dies, Beans' ex is also assigned to the case, and then the FBI show up. For other suspenseful Alaskan crime novels, try Iris Yamashita's City Under One Roof, Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak novels, and Page Shelton's Alaska mysteries. |
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The lady with the dark hair : a novel
by Erin Bartels
"Esther's family has always believed they were descended from a great, though scandalously underappreciated Impressionist-era artist. But when questions arise about her ancestor's greatest work--The Lady with the Dark Hair--her once-solid family history rests on shaky ground as a search for the truth begins"
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| Road to Ruin by Hana LeeMagebike courier Jin-Lu traverses the wastelands, delivering letters between star-crossed lovers Prince Kadrin of Kerina Sol and Princess Yi-Nereen of Kerina Rut while pining for them both. This action-packed science fantasy debut, the 1st installment of a planned series, is "savage, sexy, and deliciously screwed up" (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: the Mad Max franchise; Al Hess' World Running Down. |
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| Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies OkungbowaThe inhabitants of the Pinnacle, a partially submerged high-rise building in a future Lagos transformed by sea-level rise, find their lives upended by the arrival of an ancient monster. Read-alikes: Lev AC Rosen's Depth, Andrew F. Sullivan's The Marigold; J.G. Ballard's High-Rise. |
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| I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie SueJolene deals with a soul-crushing job by venting about coworkers in white text at the end of her emails to them. After she's caught, HR makes her take a sensitivity class and restricts her communications...but she's also accidentally given access to coworkers' emails and DMs, with surprising results. If you'd like more smart, witty looks at workplaces, try Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman, The Cleaner by Brandi Wells, or Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. |
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Victim : a novel
by Andrew Boryga
A hustler from a family of hustlers, Javi Perez, after college graduation, writes a viral essay embellishing his life story, which lands him a gig at a legendary magazine, but when his childhood best friend is released from prison, Javi offers to cut him in on the deal in exchange for his silence.
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| The Gathering by C.J. TudorIn rural Deadheart, Alaska, detective Barbara Atkins investigates the death of a teenager who was found with all the blood drained from his body. Could members of the Colony, an ostracized community of (mostly harmless) vampyres, be at fault? For fans of: Red Moon by Benjamin Percy. |
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American mother
by Colum McCann
"In late 2021, Diane Foley sat at a table across from her son's killer, Alexanda Kotey, a member of the ISIS group known as "The Beatles" who plead guilty to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her son seven years before. Kotey was about to go serve life imprisonment and this was Diane's chance to talk to the man who had been involved with brutally taking her son's last breath. What would she say to his killer? What would he reveal to her? Might she even be able to summon forgiveness for him? So begins American Mother-- which reads alternately like a thriller, a biography, a mystery, a memoir, and a literary examination of grace. Diane looks back on the early days when Jim was a child and his journey to journalism, and the killing fields of the world where he reports with indefatigable determination and insight on the plight of those caught up in the agonies of war. She guides us through her family history and the difficulties they faced when Jim was captured. And she also charts the tenacity it takesto turn her grief into grace as she seeks to give voice to those who are still being kidnapped and wrongfully detained around the world. Few journeys are more worthy than this and, in this astonishing book, we are all invited to celebrate the lives of those who are never, in the end, gone"
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| The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of... by Hampton SidesHistorian Hampton Sides' compelling, you-are-there latest offers an atmospheric account of controversial British cartographer James Cook's final Pacific voyage, which began in 1776 and ended three years later when he was killed by a group of Native Hawaiians whom he had exploited. Try this next: The Last Island: Discovery, Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tribe on Earth by Adam Goodheart. |
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| The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy TanAcclaimed author Amy Tan presents her lovingly illustrated bird journal, which captures a parade of avian visitors to her northern California backyard. For fans of: Priyanka Kumar's Conversations with Birds; Susan Fox Rogers' Learning the Birds; Joan Strassman's Slow Birding. |
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| The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their... by Karen ValbyKaren Valby's inspiring expansion of her 2021 New York Times article profiles the trailblazing accomplishments of Black ballerinas Lydia Abarca-Mitchell, Gayle McKinney-Griffith, Sheila Rohan, Marcia Sells, and Karyla Shelton-Benjamin, who were among the first company members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem in the 1960s and '70s. Further reading: Dance Theatre of Harlem: A History, A Movement, A Celebration by Judy Tyrus and Paul Novosel. |
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| The Secret Library by Kekla MagoonWhile grieving for her much-loved Grandpa, adventure-loving 11-year-old Dally discovers a magical library that can transport her to the lives of her ancestors. From the excitement of sailing with pirates to the bittersweetness of family history, this time-travel story is filled with thought-provoking twists. |
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| Kill Her Twice by Stacey LeeIn 1932, movie star Lulu Wong’s body is discovered in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. Fearing the police may not deliver justice, three Chinese American sisters endeavor to solve their friend’s murder themselves. This noir-tinged historical mystery will appeal to fans of immersive settings and twisty plots. |
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Trouble at the Tangerine
by Gillian McDunn
"Determined to make his family's latest apartment in the Tangerine Pines his forever home and finally put down roots, Simon is determined to crack the case of a priceless stolen necklace when clues point to another neighbor. "
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Mary Riley Styles Public Library
120 N. Virginia Ave, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 703-248-5030 (TTY 711) www.mrspl.org
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