|
|
|
|
Fiction A to Z February 2026 |
|
|
|
|
|
Vigil
by George Saunders
Not for the first time, Jill Doll Blaine finds herself hurtling toward earth, reconstituting as she falls, right down to her favorite black pumps. She plummets towards her newest charge, yet another soul she must usher into the afterlife, and lands headfirst in the circular drive of his ornate mansion. She has performed this sacred duty 343 times since her own death. Her charges, as a rule, have been greatly comforted in their final moments. But this charge, she soon discovers, isn't like the others. The powerful K. J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold, epic life, and the world is better for it. Isn't it? Vigil transports us, careening, through the wild final evening of a complicated man. Visitors begin to arrive (worldly and otherworldly, alive and dead), clamoring for a reckoning. Birds swarm the dying man's room; a black calf grazes on the love seat; a man from a distant, drought-ravaged village materializes; two oil-business cronies from decades past show up with chilling plans for Boone's postdeath future. With the wisdom, playfulness, and explosive imagination we've come to expect, George Saunders takes on the gravest issues of our time--the menace of corporate greed, the toll of capitalism, the environmental perils of progress--and, in the process, spins a tale that encompasses life and death, good and evil, and the thorny question of absolution.
|
|
| Scavengers by Kathleen BolandAfter losing her New York finance job, lonely Bea Macon visits her estranged free-spirited mom, Christy, who's a member of an internet forum devoted to finding a hidden treasure. With an online boyfriend and a plan, Christy heads to the desert and Bea tags along. This character-driven debut novel explores mother-daughter relationships and has an evocative Utah setting and romantic elements. For a more romance-forward treasure hunting tale, try Christina Lauren's Something Wilder. |
|
|
|
The Memory Gardener: Magic Blooms in This Cozy Novel
by Meg Donohue
Lucy Barnes is a gardener with an uncanny ability to know exactly which scent among her flowers will illuminate to a person a key from their past that might change their future. Sadly, after a tragedy ten years ago, she no longer uses her gift and has fled her hometown. But six months after her mother's death, Lucy awakens to find her mother's unmistakable scent drifting over her, and she knows that she is being called home. And when a mysterious note leads her to take a job as the gardener at the Oceanview Home, a senior-living residence, Lucy finds herself wondering if there is more to her gift--and her mother's past--than she ever knew. Her work among the lush gardens of Oceanview Home soon awakens the entire community, unearthing memories that will forever change all who cross Lucy's path. But not everyone is happy to see how her presence has transformed the Oceanview Home, and when a secret comes to light that threatens to shatter the entire community, the future suddenly looks uncertain. Have the memories that Lucy has unearthed awakened something wonderful...or are some memories better left buried?--
|
|
| The Hitch by Sara LevineOpinionated Rose Cutler is excited to watch her six-year-old nephew Nathan and feed him vegan food while his parents vacation in Mexico. But things go bad when Rose's Newfoundland dog kills a corgi at the park, leading Nathan to proclaim the corgi is actually alive, its soul melded to his own. As Nathan acts strangely, Rose wonders if he might be right in this darkly humorous, offbeat tale. For fans of: the author's Treasure Island!!!; Melissa Broder. |
|
| How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigleyGrowing up in 1980s Wyoming as Reagan rules and the tabloids follow Charles and Diana's engagement, sisters Georgie and Aggie face racism as the only Brown kids around. Then, when their uncle and his family leave India and move in with them, the sexual abuse starts. The girls blame the abuse on various things as they plot to kill their uncle in this inventive, short debut novel featuring magazine-style quizzes. Try these next: Essie Chambers' Swift River; Tiffany McDaniel's Betty. |
|
| This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal MueenuddinSpanning decades, this moving, lyrical look at life and social class in modern-day Pakistan follows memorable characters, from orphaned Bayazid, who rises to the position of chauffeur to Hisham, who's the heir to a large estate, to Hisham himself, who attended college in the United States, as well as others connected to these two. "This is a masterpiece," raves Publishers Weekly. Read-alikes: When the Fireflies Dance by Aisha Hassan; Aravind Adiga's novels. |
|
| The Award by Matthew PearlIn Cambridge, Massachusetts, aspiring author David Trent and his girlfriend rent the upper floor in a house belonging to well-known writer Silas Hale. But while David dreams of mentorship, he gets the cold shoulder. That is, until he wins an award and Silas invites him to a literary party, which leads to murder and more in this witty send-up of the writing life. Read-alikes: Daniel Aleman's I Might Be in Trouble; R.F. Kuang's Yellowface. |
|
| Crux by Gabriel TallentIn California's Mojave Desert, two high school seniors share a tight friendship and a passion for rock climbing, though neither has money for good gear. While Dan dreams of college and his mom sacrifices to pay for it, Tamma wants to be a pro climber but must help her troubled family. For fans of: Allegra Goodman's Sam; suspenseful, richly detailed novels; character-driven stories about friendship. |
|
|
|
The Wayfinder
by Adam Johnson
Talking corpses, poetic parrots, and a fan that wafts the breath of life--this is the world young Krero finds herself thrust into when a mysterious visitor lands on her island, a place so remote its inhabitants have forgotten the word for stranger. Her people are desperate and on the brink of starvation, and the wayward stranger offers them an impossible choice: they can remain in the only home they've ever known and await the uncertainty to come, or Krero can join him and venture into unfamiliar waters, guided by only the night sky and his assurance of a bountiful future in the Kingdom of Tonga. What Krero and her people don't know is that the promised refuge is no utopia--instead, Tonga is an empire at war and on the verge of collapse, a place where brains are regularly liberated from skulls and souls get trapped in coconuts with some frequency. The perils of Tonga are compounded by a royal feud: loyalties are shifting, graves are being opened, and everyone lives in fear of a jellyfish tattoo. Here, survival can rest on a perfectly performed dance or the acceptance of a cup of kava. Together, the stranger and Krero embark upon an epic voyage--one that will deliver them either to salvation or to the depths of the Pacific. Evoking the grandeur of Wolf Hall and the splendor of Shgun, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Adam Johnson conjures oral history, restores the natural world, and locates what's best in humanity. Toweringly ambitious and breathtakingly immersive, The Wayfinder is an instant, timeless classic.
|
|
|
|
The Time Hop Coffee Shop
by Phaedra Patrick
Greta Perks was once the shining star of the iconic Maple Gold coffee commercials, the quintessential TV wife and mom. Now fame has faded, her marriage is on the rocks, her teenage daughter has become distant, and Greta's once-glittering career feels like a distant memory. When Greta stumbles upon a mysterious coffee shop serving a magical brew, she wishes for the perfect life in those past Maple Gold commercials. Next thing she knows, Greta wakes in the idyllic make-believe town of Mapleville, where the sun always shines and the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and second chances fill the air--
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books! |
|
|
|
|
|