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| The Age of Calamities: Stories by Senaa AhmadThese inventive, absurdist short stories explore historical figures in various times and guises (Joan of Arc's ghost in the 1920s, for instance) as odd events occur (such as Anne Boleyn's inability to die, despite Henry VIII's best efforts). Stories include: "Let's Play Dead," "The Napoleons Are Multiplying," and "Choose Your Own Apocalypse." For fans of: offbeat alternate histories; innovative debut story collections. |
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| Lost Lambs by Madeline CashA suburban family is in trouble in this buzzy, funny first novel. Bud and Catherine's relationship is sputtering, while their three girls have their own issues: Abigail, 17, is dating a security guard nicknamed "War Crimes Wes," Louise, 15, has an online boyfriend who encourages her to make bombs, and super-smart Harper, 13, investigates a sketchy local billionaire, who is her dad's employer. Read-alike: Paul Murray's The Bee Sting |
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| The Old Fire by Elisa Shua DusapinTranslated from French, this "delicate and elegant novel" (Kirkus Reviews) explores the knotty relationship between two sisters as 30-year-old New York screenwriter Agathe visits rural France to help 27-year-old Vera clean out their childhood home within nine days. But the task causes them to revisit their troubled early years, when their mother left and Vera stopped speaking. Try these next: The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes; Bear by Julia Phillips. |
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| Family Drama by Rebecca FallonAs actress Susan Bliss finds stardom on a soap opera in the 1980s and '90s, she commutes from Massachusetts, where her college professor husband works, to filming in California. This continues even after she becomes a mother, causing tension, and then when her twins are seven, she dies. As they grow into adulthood, artist Sebastian clings to his mother's memory while Viola ignores it, until she falls for her mom's former costar. Try this next: The Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen. |
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| So Old, So Young by Grant GinderOver the course of 20 years, six college friends find jobs, partners, and challenges as they move in and out of each other's lives. Organized around five get-togethers, the first on New Year's Eve in 2007 New York and the last at a funeral, this character-driven latest from Grant Ginder (The People We Hate at the Wedding) explores change, friendship, and growing older. Read-alikes: Steven Rowley's The Celebrants; Angela Flournoy's The Wilderness. |
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| This Is Not about Us by Allegra GoodmanThis "unsparingly frank, wryly funny" (Kirkus Reviews) linked story collection is narrated by three generations of the Rubenstein family as they navigate 74-year-old Jeanne's death, a feud between her older sisters over apple cake, and various other gatherings for holidays, divorces, a bat mitzvah, and more. Read-alike: The Family Izquierdo by Ruben Degollado. |
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| This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby PageWhen her new husband Joe dies of cancer, grief-stricken London book editor Tilly learns from their local bookseller that Joe has arranged for her to receive a book -- along with a note -- every month for a year. As the weeks pass, Tilly becomes friends with struggling bookstore owner Alfie and tries new things with Joe's literary encouragement in this charming read. For fans of: Mikki Brammer's The Collected Regrets of Clover. |
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| Discipline by Larissa PhamOn a cross-country book tour for her autofictional novel that's based on her bad relationship with her college art professor, Christine ponders life and creativity while talking with strangers and people from her past. Then she hears from the professor, leading her to visit his island home in Maine. Reflective and suspenseful, this debut novel thoughtfully examines art, ambition, and relationships. |
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My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel Deloache WilliamsNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF TIME'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR Sex and the City meets Bad Blood and Catch Me if You Can in this riveting true crime memoir that tells the astonishing firsthand story of Anna Delvey--the fake heiress who conned New York's elite--and the friend she betrayed. When Rachel DeLoache Williams meets Anna Delvey, Anna claims to be a wealthy German heiress with boundless ambition and an extravagant lifestyle. She treats generously, covering lavish dinners, luxury hotels, high-end workouts, and nights out across Manhattan. Drawn into Anna's orbit, Rachel is flattered by the friendship and dazzled by the access it provides. The illusion shatters during a dream trip to Marrakech, when Anna's credit cards suddenly stop working. Anna insists the problem is temporary and persuades Rachel to front the costs--first flights, then meals and shopping, and ultimately a private villa costing thousands per night. By the time they return to New York, Rachel has been charged more than $62,000, and Anna's promises of repayment quickly unravel. As Rachel pieces together the truth, she discovers Anna has left a trail of unpaid bills and deception throughout the city. Determined to reclaim her life and dignity, Rachel goes to the authorities and finds herself at the center of the investigation that brings down one of the most infamous con artists of the decade. Fast-paced, immersive, and deeply personal, this memoir offers an insider's account of fraud, privilege, and the seductive power of ambition--told by the woman who lived it. Saturday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m. Denmark Library |
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We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia HunterIt is the spring of 1939, and three generations of the Kurc family are doing their best to live normal lives, even as the shadow of war grows ever closer. The talk around the family Seder table is of new babies and budding romance, not of the increasing hardships facing Jews in their hometown of Radom, Poland. As the horrors overtaking Europe become inescapable, the Kurc family will be flung to the far corners of the earth, each desperately trying to chart his or her own path toward safety. Driven by an extraordinary will to survive, the Kurcs must rely on hope, ingenuity, and inner strength to persevere.--Provided by publisher. Wednesday, April 8 at 10:00 a.m. Post Road Library |
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This Cold War era classic science fiction story revolves around a doomsday invention and offers a darkly humorous warning about environmental destruction. First published in 1963, Cat's Cradle is a satirical commentary on man's hubris by one of America's best known humorists. Tuesday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m. Sharon Forks Library |
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I, Robot by Isaac AsimovThis classic science fiction masterwork by Isaac Asimov weaves stories about robots, humanity, and the deep questions of existence into a novel of shocking intelligence and heart. A must-read for science-fiction buffs and literature enjoyers alike.--The Guardian I, Robot, the first and most widely read book in Asimov's Robot series, forever changed the world's perception of artificial intelligence. Here are stories of robots gone mad, of mind-reading robots, and robots with a sense of humor. Of robot politicians, and robots who secretly run the world--all told with the dramatic blend of science fact and science fiction that has become Asimov's trademark. The Three Laws of Robotics: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.2) A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. With these three, simple directives, Isaac Asimov formulated the laws governing robots' behavior. In I, Robot, Asimov chronicles the development of the robot from its primitive origins in the present to its ultimate perfection in the not-so-distant future--a future in which humanity itself may be rendered obsolete. Tremendously exciting and entertaining . . . Asimov dramatizes an interesting question: How can we live with machines that, generation by generation, grow more intelligent than their creators and not eventually clash with our own invention?--The Chicago Tribune Saturday, April 18 at 10:30 a.m. Hampton Park Library |
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Meet Me at the Museum by Anne YoungsonFrom 70-year-old debut author Anne Youngson, this novel about a farmer's wife and a museum curator seeking second chances has been shortlisted for the Coast First Novel Award and hailed by NPR as the charmer of the summer. In Denmark, Professor Anders Larsen, an urbane man of facts, has lost his wife and his hopes for the future. On an isolated English farm, Tina Hopgood is trapped in a life she doesn't remember choosing. Both believe their love stories are over. Brought together by a shared fascination with the Tollund Man, subject of Seamus Heaney's famous poem, they begin writing letters to one another. And from their vastly different worlds, they find they have more in common than they could have imagined. As they open up to one another about their lives, an unexpected friendship blooms. But then Tina's letters stop coming, and Anders is thrown into despair. How far are they willing to go to write a new story for themselves? Thursday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. Cumming Library |
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One Perfect Couple by Ruth WareLyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she's pretty sure they won't extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren't going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him. A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla find herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples--Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana--in order to win a cash prize. But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real--and the stakes are life or death. Tuesday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m. Post Road Library |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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