|
|
Fiction A to Z August 2025 |
|
|
|
|
| What Kind of Paradise by Janelle BrownTeenage Jane lives isolated from the outside world in a remote cabin with her beloved father, an enigmatic genius. After discovering disturbing information about him, she flees, finding herself in Silicon Valley in the 1990s. This twisty coming-of-age novel offers intriguing looks at extremism, technology, and humanity.
Read-alike: Godshot by Chelsea Jean Bieker. |
|
| The Catch by Yrsa Daley-WardAfter their mother's belongings were found near the Thames River in 1995, young twins Clara and Dempsey were adopted by different families. Now 30, successful author Clara meets a woman who looks exactly as their mom did in the 1990s. While Clara thinks somehow this woman is their mom, administrative clerk Dempsey doesn't, leading to tension between the estranged sisters in this thought-provoking debut novel by a poet and memoirist.
Read-alike: August Blue by Deborah Levy. |
|
|
|
The Sunflower Boys
by Sam Wachman
A poignant coming-of-age story about a young boy wrestling with his sexuality as war breaks out in modern Ukraine.
Read-alike: Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski.
|
|
| 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. |
|
| The Homemade God by Rachel JoyceNot long after their larger-than-life 76-year-old artist father suddenly marries a 27-year-old they've never met, the four Kemp siblings learn he has drowned in an Italian lake he'd swam in for decades. Descending on the vacation villa during a sweltering heatwave, they meet their enigmatic stepmother, question their dad's mysterious death, hunt for his unfinished masterpiece, and confront long-hidden familial wounds.
Read-alike: Lynn Steger Strong's Flight. |
|
|
|
These Memories Do Not Belong to Us
by Yiming Ma
In the future, China is the sole global superpower and citizens can record and transfer memories between minds.
Read-alike: The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
|
|
| 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.
For fans of: More Than Words by Jill Santopolo.
|
|
| 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. |
|
| 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-alikes: Alice Franklin's Life Hacks for a Little Alien; Eiren Caffall's All the Water in the World. |
|
|
|
The Incredible Kindness of Paper
by Evelyn Skye
Decades after a mysterious childhood bond is severed, Chloe and Oliver navigate adult loneliness and lingering trauma in New York City, until a trail of yellow origami roses rekindles memories, hope, and the possibility of reconnection.
Read-alike: You Are Here by David Nicholls.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|