|
|
Summerland Cove by Ellen BakerLindy has the summer of a lifetime planned at her family's beloved cottage in Summerland Cove, Maine. She's slated big events three weekends in a row: Her husband David's fiftieth birthday party, her parents' fiftieth anniversary party, and her oldest daughter Hailey's wedding. But when David doesn't show up for his own party, everything about the life they've created together is thrown into question. Has he been in an accident? Or is it something more cliché--a midlife crisis, an affair? Surely, he'll show up for his beloved daughter's wedding--won't he? The agonizing days tick by and still no David. Lindy's four nearly grown children are panicked. Lindy struggles to remain calm, and Hailey wrestles with whether she should get married at all--even if her father does turn up. For fans of The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr.
|
|
| Names Have Been Changed by Yu-Mei BalasingamchowOphir (one of our flawed-but-likeable narrator's many names) fled Singapore ten years ago. She'd agreed to hold $60,000 for a friend who was subsequently arrested, and, desperate to keep her own freedom, Ophir took the money and ran. Using fake identities, she found work in Japan, England, and the United States, before starting the confessional podcast that comprises this memorable debut. Try these next: Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang; Ruth Run by Elizabeth Kaufman. |
|
| Lady X by Molly FaderAfter her Hollywood actor husband cheats, devastated Margot heads to Pittsburgh with her teen daughter to escape the press. In her childhood home, she finds information about 1970s vigilante Lady X, including a blurry news photo. In troubled 1977 New York City, Ginger and her two roommates stick together, so when one is assaulted, they get a bit of payback. Signing their handiwork Lady X, they inspire copycats. Read-alike: The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman. |
|
| Rasputin Swims the Potomac by Ben FountainIn the near future, reporter Clarence Thomas, Jr. (no relation) is at an unnamed U.S. president's political rally when a crying illness hits. At the White House, reality star turned comms aide Faith Spack helps handle the crisis. Then, charismatic pro wrestler Rasputin discovers he can cure the weeping. Running for his third term, the president sees Rasputin as a running mate...but Rasputin wants more in this "brilliant satire" (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: Lawrence Wright's Mr. Texas. |
|
|
|
New Orleans, 1944. Odette has always been one of the Honore sisters, glamorous and admired in their Creole community. It is only with her beloved cousin, Delphine, that Odette can tell her secret: she is in love with a woman, and she longs to be an artist. Delphine has a secret lover, too, a white man. In the hidden garden they’ve discovered, Odette and Delphine can dream of futures full of passion and freedom. But five years later, Odette's life is nothing like what she'd planned. She's a widowed mother, living in Los Angeles, and she and Delphine, who is passing as white, have spiraled away from each other. When Delphine reaches a breaking point, Odette must make a shattering choice to try to hold her family together. Try this next: Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow. |
|
|
|
Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim1940s Hong Kong. When Japanese soldiers invade her hometown, Ha Yut Ying makes an unlikely escape--by turning invisible. After the war is over, she's sent to Hong Kong to live with her distant father and glamorous stepmother, who end her dreams of becoming a singer and turn her into the family's servant. 1960s San Francisco. Marigold has always had a knack for uncovering secrets, but nothing prepares her for the day she accidentally witnesses her mother vanish before her eyes. The moment fractures their bond, but when her mother's condition suddenly deteriorates, Marigold is convinced she's the only person who can save her. To do so, she must journey into the secrets her mother never shared and uncover the tragic, fairytale-tinged history their family has fought to forget. For fans of The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan.
|
|
|
|
Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn MoriartyOn a bustling road in Sydney, Australia, lies a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency. Inside, you'll be welcomed by the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, a selection of baked goods...and the question, Where in time do you wish to go? Have tea with Jane Austen, scream at a Beatles concert, witness the Olympics in ancient Greece. Perhaps a more personal trip? Is it a hoax? And if it's real, what's the catch? When single mother Anna is offered a job at the agency, she glimpses the possibility of happiness. Meanwhile, Teddy's a customer hoping to untangle his recently imploded marriage. And Jade, who has a deeply buried secret, despises the agency for offering false hope. Try this if you liked The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.
|
|
| The Lake Club by Lina PattonIn a wealthy Minnesota lakeside community, 32-year-old Danika Crawley seems to have it all with her successful husband and two adorable preschoolers, but she's an outsider with no real friends. Augie Elling, reeling from a post-grad scandal in New York, has come home to recover and keep her head down. But both are drawn to Danika's handsome new male nanny, producing waves of gossip and surfacing buried secrets. For fans of: Emma Rosenblum's Bad Summer People. |
|
|
|
Sisters of a Halved Heart by Nayantara RoyMira Guhathakurta is a poetry editor at a distinguished literary magazine in New York, a dream job that has given her nearly everything she's always wanted. And then she reconnects with Jack from college--kind, funny, intelligent Jack--and suddenly Mira feels as if she might have found her soulmate. They've woven their lives together so thoroughly; all that remains is for Jack to meet her family: her beloved father and dear sister Joy. But when Joy commits an unthinkable act of betrayal, the sisters are impossibly fractured and their father's heart is broken. As the sisters navigate their tumultuous relationship and Mira starts over, it turns out that Joy isn't the only one who has been--or continues to be--dishonest. Read-alike: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano.
|
|
|
|
The Seekers of Deer Creek by Thao ThaiAside from the fact they are sisters, Vivi and Calla Nguyn have little in common. Vivi, the eldest, lives an orderly and predictable life. She works as an art conservator at a museum in Chicago, carefully preserving pieces of the past, all the while refusing to examine her own dark history. Calla leads a much bolder, if occasionally reckless, existence. She's an accomplished artist with a flair for the dramatic, charming and intriguing everyone she meets. Months after the two fall out in the wake of their father's death, Calla appears on the steps of the museum with a sketch and a letter she found in their father's belongings. Intrigued yet reluctant to follow her capricious sister, Vivi must decide whether she's willing to face or shut the door to the past. Try this next: Dust Child by Nguyẽ̂n Phan Qué̂ Mai.
|
|
| Earth 7 by Deb Olin UnferthAfter Earth's depopulation, scientist Rosemary works to preserve DNA from various organisms. Her home is an underwater pod, where her daughter Dylan's only friend, online or otherwise, is Zee, part of a group on Mars. As Dylan grows older and lonelier, Rosemary takes a new job and the two move to a desert location where Dylan feels more at home, lands a job, and falls in love in this novel that spans decades. "A quirky, bold, and endearing masterpiece of climate fiction," raves Kirkus Reviews. Read-alike: World Running Down by Al Hess. |
|
| The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa YangMarine biologist Dr. Jo Ness is mourning the loss of her best friend when she gets a call from one of the only other people she's ever been close to, inviting her to a small Maine island to investigate a strange jellyfish. When Jo arrives, her friend isn't there and the community members have different ideas about the giant, glowing animal they call Clementine and her strange effect on them. For fans of: novels about grief, friendship, and marine life, such as Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|