Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May |
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| The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai; translated by Jesse KirkwoodThe Kamogawa Food Detectives is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese series, for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.
In an unmarked Kyoto restaurant, a father and daughter work to recreate special dishes from a person's past. They help a widower who wants a dish like one his wife used to make, a student requesting one of her grandmother's meals, and more in this charming Japanese bestseller. For fans of: Michiko Aoyama's What You Are Looking for Is in the Library. |
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The Band
by Christine Ma-Kellams
"This could very well be the first great K-Pop literary phenomenon." --Debutiful, Most Anticipated Books of 2024
A K-pop idol on the verge of global superstardom, Sang Duri, when his solo single causes him to be cancelled, hides out in the home of a psychologist with a savior complex, while his music producer spirals into violence, forever changing the fates of both the band members and the music industry.
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One Last Word
by Suzanne Park
What would you say to your meddling parents, your ex-best friend, your toxic boss, or your high school crush if you didn't have to face the consequences?
The founder of the One Last Word app, which allows you to send messages to whomever you want after you pass, Sara Chae, when she accidentally sends her final words to the important people in her life, including her former crush, with whom she now works, finds her life turned upside down.
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The Phoenix Crown
by Kate Quinn & Janie Chang
A thrilling and unforgettable narrative about the intertwined lives of two wronged women, spanning from the chaos of the San Francisco earthquake to the glittering palaces of Versailles.
Offered patronage by Henry Thornton, a charming railroad magnate, in 1906, Gemma, a silver-voiced soprano, and Suling, a Chinatown embroideress, when Henry disappears, along with the fabled Phoenix Crown, are brought together five years later in one last desperate quest for justice. Original.
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The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties
by Jesse Q. Sutanto
What should have been a family celebration of Chinese New Year descends into chaos when longtime foes crash the party in this hilariously entertaining novel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties.
While in Jakarta to spend Chinese New Year with her family, newlywed Meddy Chan, when a former beau of Second Aunt crashes the party, is unwittingly drawn into a decades-long war between Jakarta's most powerful business factions, along with her Aunties, and must come with a plan to save them all.
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Celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month in May
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Mother Doll
by Katya Apekina
* A Most Anticipated Book of 2024 Selected By * The Millions * Chicago Review of Books * Hey Alma * Stylecaster * And Many More! *
Mother Doll is a sharp and visceral nesting doll of a novel, about four generations of mothers and daughters and the inherited trauma cast by Russian history.
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City of Laughter
by Temim Fruchter
A rich and riveting debut spanning four generations of Eastern European Jewish women bound by blood, half-hidden secrets, and the fantastical visitation of a shapeshifting stranger over the course of 100 years.
Recovering from the breakup of her first queer relationship and grieving the death of her father. Shiva Margolin, a student of Jewish folklore, decides to visit Poland to walk in the footsteps of the family members who went before her.
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On Her Own
by Lihie Lapid
A moving, page-turning story of two families in crisis and the unexpected places from which love can grow.
In a novel set between the eve of Passover and Israel's Independence Day a tense story about two families looking for redemption, the transformative bonds between strangers and the unexpected places from which love can grow.
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Worry
by Alexandra Tanner
A "dryly witty" (New Yorker) and "fabulously revealing" (The New York Times Book Review) debut about two siblings-turned-roommates navigating an absurd world on the verge of calamity--a Seinfeldian novel of existentialism and sisterhood.
Twentysomething narrator Jules knows that when her younger sister, Poppy, shows up in Brooklyn for a visit, she won't be leaving anytime soon. As days become weeks become months, the sisters, sure enough, become roommates. Jules experiences a breakup and job woes but prefers to fixate on her sister who, as only Jules knows, recently attempted suicide. Poppy suffers from maladies internal (depression) and external (hives), but mostly she suffers as perpetual younger sister to Jules..
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Klara's Truth
by Susan Weissbach Friedman
“An intelligent and nuanced story of reunion.” —Kirkus Reviews It is May 2014, and Dr. Klara Lieberman—forty-nine, single, professor of archaeology at a small liberal arts college in Maine, has just received a letter from her estranged mother, Bessie, that will dramatically change her life. Her father, she learns is dead and has been for many years, in fact, which Bessie clearly knew. But now the Polish government is giving financial reparations for land it stole from its Jewish citizens during WWII, and Bessie wants the money. Klara has little interest in the money—but she does want answers about her father.
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| American Spirits by Russell BanksFrom one of America's most celebrated storytellers come three dark, interlocking tales about the residents of a rural New York town, and the shocking headlines that become their local mythologies.
The last book by the late great Russell Banks offers three gritty, character-driven tales set in rural Sam Dent, New York, where his acclaimed novel The Sweet Hereafter took place. The elegiac stories explore a kidnapping, the loss of family land, and problems with new neighbors. Read-alikes: Richard Russo's novels; Mariana Enriquez's Things We Lost in the Fire. |
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| Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó CrucetScarface meets Moby Dick in this groundbreaking, darkly comic novel about a young man's attempt to capitalize on his mother's murky legacy--a story steeped in Miami's marvelous and sinister magic.
In Miami, 20-year-old Cuban American narrator Ismael "Izzy" Reyes is ordered to stop impersonating rapper Pitbull at parties, so he has a new goal: becoming his own version of Scarface's Tony Montana. Also narrating this creative, compelling novel is Lolita, a captive orca with a mental connection to Izzy. Read-alike: Sea Change by Gina Chung. |
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| The Adversary by Michael Crummey" A FLAWLESSLY CRAFTED NARRATIVE" --Wall Street Journal "MASTERPIECE" --Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review) "CEASELESSLY ENTERTAINING" -- Kirkus (Starred Review)
In an early 19th-century coastal Newfoundland town, Abe Strapp's grand plan to marry well and combine two businesses is sabotaged by his smarter widowed sister. Furious, Abe seeks revenge, which divides loyalties and causes devastating consequences in this "enthralling masterpiece" (Kirkus Reviews). Read-alikes: Macbeth by Jo Nesbo; Chenneville by Paulette Jiles. |
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| Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford"As cozy as a cup of tea and cake."--People
This sweet debut follows 77-year-old Jenny Quinn as she applies for and competes on a British baking show, where making old recipes has her recalling events from the past, including a 60-year-old secret she's never shared with her beloved husband. Read-alikes: Hazel Prior's How the Penguins Saved Veronica; Bonnie Garmus' Lessons in Chemistry. |
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| Anita de Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl GonzalezIn the 1980s, up-and-coming artist Anita de Monte is married to Jack, an established white artist, when she dies after a suspicious fall. In the 1990s, Brown University student Raquel Toro researches a project on Jack while starting her own relationship with a wealthy white man. This Reese's Book Club pick presents a witty, thought-provoking look at art, race, class, and gender. Read-alike: Hernan Diaz's Trust. |
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| The Other Valley by Scott Alexander HowardA Goodreads Most Anticipated Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror Book of 2024 Jimmy Fallon's Book Club Top Four Pick
Teenage Odile lives in a remote valley that's bordered by itself -- 20 years earlier on one side and 20 years later on the other -- and travel between them is rarely allowed. One day while in the woods with a friend, Odile sees something she shouldn't in this buzzy, thought-provoking debut novel and inspiration for an upcoming TV series. Read-alikes: Kazuo Ishiguro's novels; This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. |
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| How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. OrdoricaA tender debut novel about the beauty and pain of first love.
In 2011-2012, nerdy first-generation college student Daniel de La Luna meets and grows ever closer to his freshman roommate, soccer star Sam Morris. But Sam's sudden death the following summer leaves Daniel trying to make sense of it all while visiting his family in Mexico. For fans of: powerful and moving first novels; Bryan Washington's Family Meal. |
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| Dixon, Descending by Karen OutenA powerful, heart-wrenching debut novel about ambition, survival, and our responsibility toward one another.
Formerly an Olympic hopeful, Dixon Bryant is now a devoted school psychologist with a daughter in college. Still, he wants something more, and agrees to climb Mount Everest with his brother in an attempt to become the first Black American men to summit. But things don't go as planned in this engrossing, evocative debut. For fans of: vivid adventure stories with fascinating, well-drawn characters. |
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| Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. ReillyA New York Times Editors' Choice "Say hello to your new favorite fictional family" (Kirkus Reviews).
In Auckland, New Zealand, queer 20-something siblings Greta and Valdin navigate adulthood, explore their Russian and Māori family history, and long for love in this witty first novel that also includes a sojourn in Argentina when Valdin meets up with his ex. For fans of: The Guncle by Steven Rowley; Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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