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Must-Read Books February 2022
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| Yonder by Jabari AsimWhat it is: A haunting and mystical story about enslaved people fighting to preserve their humanity and their dreams of freedom from the oppressive chattel slavery system they live under.
Starring: The Stolen, which is how the enslaved people of the Placid Hall plantation describe themselves as they share narration duties; the Thieves, which is how they refer to their White captors; and an itinerant preacher who provides an enticing glimpse of the possibility of freedom. |
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| The Love Con by Seressia GlassShe didn't come here to make friends... As a finalist on the reality competition show Cosplay or No Way, single girl Kenya Davenport needs a partner for the couples' challenge.
She came here to win: Kenya's best shot at claiming the $100,000 prize is teaming up with her friend and business partner, Cameron Lassiter, who agrees to pose as her on-camera boyfriend.
Also available in eAudiobook on CloudLibrary |
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| The Leopard is Loose by Stephen HarriganWhat it's about: A single frightening, thrilling summer day in 1952, when the escape of the Oklahoma City Zoo's leopard sends the city -- and one little boy's family -- into a furor.
Read it for: The compelling, innocent voice of narrator five-year-old Grady McClarty, who provides an imperfect yet insightful perspective on adult issues like postwar anxiety, grief, and the city's simmering racial tension, which threatens to boil over.
Also available in eAudiobook on CloudLibrary |
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| The Goodbye Coast by Joe IdeWhat it is: A contemporary take on Raymond Chandler's hardboiled detective Philip Marlowe, by the award-winning author of the compelling IQ mystery novels.
What it's about: In a vividly described present-day Los Angeles, PI Marlowe takes on two missing persons cases -- but to solve them, he's going to need the help of his ex-LAPD detective dad, with whom he has a tense relationship. |
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| Watch Her Fall by Erin KellyWhat it is: An intricately plotted work of psychological suspense about the elite world of professional ballet that delves into the sweat, tears, and (especially) blood behind the glamour.
Reviewers say: Watch Her Fall is a "daring" thriller featuring "an inventive ending that's both thematically and narratively satisfying" |
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| How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia NagamatsuWhat it is: An "epic and deeply intimate" (Booklist) mosaic novel that charts the devastating course of the Arctic Plague, an infectious disease that emerges from melting permafrost in 2030 and transforms society.
Read it for: Realistically flawed characters, an intricate narrative structure, a bleak yet hopeful apocalyptic tale.
Also available in eBook & eAudiobook on Libby |
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| Final Spin by Jocko WillinkWhat it is: A fast-paced, gritty crime novel about life on the run and the American Dream deferred.
Starring: Increasingly desperate 23-year-old Johnny, who works a soul-crushing, dead-end job as a stock clerk; his disabled younger brother Arty, for whom Johnny is driven to commit a robbery; Goat, Johnny's best friend, partner in crime, and fellow fugitive. |
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| Garbo by Robert GottliebWhat it is: A revealing and extensively researched biography of Greta Garbo, who rose above her impoverished Swedish origins to become one of Classic Hollywood's most enigmatic (and reclusive) stars.
Featuring: "A Garbo Reader," which compiles profiles, quotes, and articles about Garbo; hundreds of eye-catching photographs. |
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| You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurston; introduction and edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Genevieve WestWhat it is: A sweeping essay collection of pieces penned by author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960).
Read it for: An irreverent chronicle of Black life, culture, and creativity from the birth of the Harlem Renaissance to the civil rights movement. |
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| South to America: A Journey below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani PerryWhat it's about: Princeton professor Imani Perry, who was born in Alabama, traveled throughout the southern United States using the region's history and culture as a lens to view the country as a whole.
Why you might like it: Along with travel and history, South to America weaves together musings on race and place and details about Perry's family and life. |
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| Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha LeeStarring: Juhwang Sebin, a shapeshifting, nonbinary, 13-year-old tiger spirit who longs to captain a battle cruiser in the Space Forces.
What happens: Just as Sebin's finally joins the Space Forces, their Uncle Hwan is exposed as a traitor, forcing the new cadet to prove their clan's honor.
Also available in eBook & eAudiobook on Hoopla |
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| Solimar: The Sword of the Monarchs by Pam Muñoz RyanGreat power: Just before her quinceañera and coronation as princess of San Gregorio, Solimar Guadalupe has a magical encounter that gives her the power to predict the near future.
Great responsibility: With her new ability, Solimar is also tasked with protecting her kingdom's fragile monarch butterflies...and, when a neighboring king invades, with protecting the kingdom itself. |
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| Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds; artwork by Jason GriffinWhat it is: A timely, collaborative, multimedia work with text and art exploring Black lives simultaneously threatened by police violence and the COVID-19 pandemic.
How it's told: In three sections called "Breaths" that invite readers to identify their own sources of oxygen, the people and things they hold dear.
Also available in eBook on Libby |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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