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The Sable Cloak
by Gail Milissa Grant
In 1940s St. Louis, Jordan Sable, a prosperous undertaker turned political boss, has controlled the Black vote in St. Louis for decades. Sara, his equally formidable wife, runs the renowned funeral establishment that put the Sable name on the map. Agile and pragmatic, she is known for the careful, deliberate way in which she powders, dresses, and embalms the community's dead. Together, in a true partnership built on trust, mutual respect, and a shared vision for a better future, they have pushed through several obstacles in order to create a legacy for their children through a business that serves as a source of unity and stability for their friends and neighbors.
When tragedy bursts their carefully constructed empire of dignity and safety, the family rallies around an unconventional solution. But at what cost?
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Fun for the Whole Family : A Novel
by Jennifer E. Smith
The four Endicott siblings--Gemma, Connor, Roddy, and Jude--were once inseparable, a bond created by the absence of their dazzling, mercurial mother, who would return for a few weeks each summer to whisk them off on sprawling road trips around the country. Decades later, the unthinkable has happened: the Endicotts haven't spoken in years . . . until an out-of-the-blue text arrives from Jude, now a famous actress, summoning them to a small town in North Dakota. They're each at a crossroads: Gemma, who put her own ambitions aside to raise the others, now isn't sure if she wants to be a mother herself; Connor, a celebrated novelist, is floundering after his recent divorce and suffering from an epic case of writer's block; and Roddy, at the tail end of a professional soccer career, is dangerously close to losing his future husband for the chance at one last season. Jude is the only Endicott who seems to have it all together--but appearances can be deceiving. As the weekend unfolds, and the siblings wrestle with their shared past and uncertain futures, they'll discover that Jude has been keeping three secrets . . . each of which could change everything.
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The Last Days of Kira Mullan : A Novel
by Nicci French
Nancy North is ready to put her life back together. After suffering a psychotic break that ruined friendships, stalled her fledgling restaurant, and forced her to move out of her comfortable flat, she’ll do anything to get back to normal. She and her partner Felix—who has been a saint through her recent troubles—move into a new flat for a fresh start. On the first day in the new flat, she hears them again; the mysterious voices that triggered her first episode. Her fears are confirmed when the young woman in the downstairs flat, Kira, is found dead. Felix, her neighbors, and even the police insist it’s a tragic suicide, but the pieces aren’t adding up for Nancy. Can she trust her own instincts, or is it all in her head?
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Jane and Dan At the End of the World
by Colleen Oakley
While celebrating their anniversary at La Fin du Monde, unhappy couple Jane and Dan find themselves taken hostage by bumbling climate activists whose actions are eerily similar to those in Jane's failed novel, so only they know what will happen and how to stop it.
Jane and Dan have been married for nineteen years, but Jane isn’t sure they’re going to make it to twenty. Feeling unneeded by her teenagers and disheartened by her unsuccessful writing career, she's pretty sure Dan is cheating on her. When the unhappy couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their anniversary, Jane thinks it’s as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce.
But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group takes them hostage. Jane is shocked to realize that nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of her failed book.
Which means Dan and Jane are the only ones who know what’s going to happen next. And they’re the only ones who can stop it. This wasn’t what Jane was thinking of when she said “’til death do us part” all those years ago, but if they can survive this, maybe they can survive anything—even marriage.
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The Bones Beneath My Skin
by TJ Klune
In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he's been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family's summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It's not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary little girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn't exactly as she appears.
Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.
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| Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieChiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets. Zikora, her best friend, is a lawyer who has been successful at everything until — betrayed and brokenhearted — she must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Omelogor, Chiamaka’s bold, outspoken cousin, is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria who begins to question how well she knows herself. And Kadiatou, Chiamaka’s housekeeper, is proudly raising her daughter in America – but faces an unthinkable hardship that threatens all she has worked to achieve. |
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Flirting Lessons
by Jasmine Guillory
Fresh off a breakup, Avery Jensen wants to do all the fun stuff normal people do in their twenties, but she lacks confidence in romance. Enter Taylor Cameron, Napa Valley's biggest flirt and champion heartbreaker. Taylor just broke up with her girlfriend, and so she offers to give Avery flirting lessons. With Taylor’s help, Avery finally has the life she always wanted - but now what she wants is Taylor. Their attraction grows, despite them both insisting to themselves and everyone else that it isn't serious. When Taylor is forced to confront her feelings for Avery, she doesn't know what to do - and most importantly, if she's already ruined the best thing she's ever had.
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| Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghyOn a remote island between Australia and Antarctica, widowed dad Dominic Salt and his three kids live in an old lighthouse and try to keep a United Nations seed vault safe. During a powerful storm caused by climate change, a mysterious woman washes ashore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together. |
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| Beartooth by Callan WinkIn an aging timber house hand-built into the Absaroka-Beartooth mountains, two brothers are struggling to keep up with their debts. They live off the grid on the fringe of Yellowstone, surviving after the death of their father. Thad, the elder, is more capable of engaging with things like the truck registration and the medical bills from their father’s fatal illness and the tax lien on the cabin their grandfather built, while Hazen is... different, more instinctual, deeply attuned to the natural world. Desperate for money, they are approached by a shadowy out-of-towner with a proposition and agree to attempt a heist of natural resources from Yellowstone, a federal crime. |
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The Unwanted : A Novel
by Boris Fishman
Susanna, George, and their eight-year-old daughter, Dina, have been lucky, so far, in these four years since war broke out in their country. Even as their fellow "minority-sect" neighbors and classmates are murdered or imprisoned, George’s loyal work teaching "dominant-sect" literature has kept them fed and protected. But then the day the university fires George—despite his years of collaboration, he is no longer safe. Left without money or allies, it is time for the family to run.
Embarking on a harrowing trip through refugee camps and across the sea, both George and Susanna are forced in their own ways to make sacrifices to keep Dina safe, while Dina fights to understand the chaotic world crashing down around her. But with each member of the family struggling to survive in circumstances beyond their control, lies and betrayals multiply until it seems impossible for any of them to reach across the abyss.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Albert Lea Public Library
211 E Clark St.
Albert Lea, Minnesota 56007
(507) 377-4350alplonline.org |
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