|
|
|
|
The Night Watchman
by Louise Erdrich
A novel based on the life of Erdrich's grandfather, who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C.
|
|
|
|
When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky
by Margaret Verble
Set in 1926 Nashville, a death-defying young Cherokee horse-diver who—with her companions from the Glendale Park Zoo—must get to the bottom of a mystery that spans centuries.
|
|
|
|
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
Growing up as the only child of affluent and overprotective parents, Norma, troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination, searches for the truth, leading her to the blueberry fields of Maine, where a family secret is finally revealed.
|
|
|
|
Crooked Hallelujah
by Kelli Jo Ford
The remarkable debut from Plimpton Prize Winner Kelli Jo Ford, Crooked Hallelujah follows four generations of Cherokee women across four decades
|
|
|
|
Even as We Breathe
by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
However, prejudice and persecution in the white world of the resort eventually compel Cowney to free himself from larger forces that hold him back as he struggles to unearth evidence of his innocence and clear his name.
|
|
|
|
The Round House
by Louise Erdrich
In this powerful coming-of-age story that is part mystery, part tender tale of family, history, and culture, a boy on the cusp of manhood is seeking justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family
|
|
|
|
The Hounding
by Xenobe Purvis
In 18th-century Oxfordshire, a ferryman claims he saw one of the Mansfield girls turn into a dog. Soon villagers blame the girl and her four sisters, aged between six and 19, for the terrible heat, failing crops, and the dead body at the edge of the Thames River. Menacing and atmospheric, this timely Gothic-tinged debut explores misogyny, herd mentality, and resentment.
|
|
| Amity by Nathan HarrisIn 1866 Louisiana, formerly enslaved siblings Coleman and June continue to work for the Harper family after the war. When Mr. Harper heads to Mexico hoping to get rich via silver mines, he takes June with him. Soon Mrs. Harper, her adult daughter, bookish Coleman, and a dog follow them, but no one's journey is smooth in this incisive, intricately plotted western. |
|
|
|
North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther
by Ethan Rutherford
Setting out from New Bedford in 1878, the crew of the Esther is cruising the Pacific for whale and intends to hunt the teeming northern grounds before the ice closes. But as they sail to their final destination in the Chukchi Sea, their encounters with the natural world become more brutal, harrowing, ghostly, and strange.
|
|
|
|
The Lack of Light: A Novel of Georgia
by Nino Haratischwili
In the turbulent years leading up to and after Georgia's independence from the Soviet Union, four inseparable women who grew up together rise to challenges both personal and political. Decades later, a photography exhibition tells the story not only of their country but also of their friendship and staggering loss.
|
|
|
|
The Collector of Burned Books
by Roseanna M. White
In this gripping World War II historical about the power of words, two people form an unlikely friendship amid the Nazi occupation in Paris and fight to preserve the truth that enemies of freedom long to destroy.
|
|
|
|
The Guest in Room 120
by Sara Ackerman
It's 1905, and the iron-willed mother of Stanford University has made her share of enemies. After a health scare, she escapes to a fashionable new hotel in Honolulu, where she strikes up a friendship with a newly hired staff member recovering from a recent loss. But as fate would have it, the island is not as safe as it seems. 100 years later, a mystery writer and bestselling author race to uncover the truth behind a tragedy buried by secrets and betrayal.
|
|
| The Wayfinder by Adam JohnsonIn an evocative South Pacific setting, teenage Kōrero wants to be her small island’s storyteller. She meets two brothers, a navigator and a poet, who are part of the Tongan empire. Her people are desperate and on the brink of starvation, and the wayward strangers offer them an impossible choice: they can remain in the only home they've ever known and await the uncertainty to come, or Kōrero 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. |
|
|
|
Queen Esther
by John Irving
Esther Nacht is born in Vienna in 1905, only for her father to die on board the ship to Portland, Maine, and her mother to be murdered by anti-Semites upon arrival. Just before becoming a ward of the state, she is taken in by the Winslows, a philanthropic New England family with a history of providing foster care for unadopted orphans.
|
|
| Bad Bad Girl by Gish JenBased on the life of the author’s mother, this “heartbreaking and stunning” (Library Journal) story follows Loo Shu-hsin, from her privileged but abusive childhood in Shanghai to 1947 Chicago, where she studies for an advanced degree. Marrying a fellow immigrant, she settles in New York, but she isn’t happy and mistreats her eldest daughter. |
|
|
|
Boleyn Traitor
by Philippa Gregory
Jane Boleyn watches from the shadows of the Tudor court, where secrets are currency, every choice is dangerous, and even the faintest whisper can seal the fate of queens. In a court ruled by ambition and a tyrant's sword, Jane must rely on her sharp wit and skillful maneuvering to outthink those around her, knowing that one wrong move could cost her everything.
|
|
| Circle of Days by Ken FollettSeft, a flint miner who's physically abused by his widowed father, falls for Neen and embraces by her herding family. In the buildup to the creation of what we now call Stonehenge, Seft helps Neen's priestess sister bring her vision for a massive stone circle to life while facing weather issues, tribal conflicts, and logistical problems. |
|
|
|
Our next discussion:
Tuesday, December 16, 6:30 pm
Library Meeting Room on Lower Level
If you're a regular reader of contemporary and historical fiction, consider joining our Fiction Book Club! The club usually meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 6:30, but we do recommend confirming details on our events calendar in case of changes. Copies of our next book are on reserve at the Circulation Desk. We hope to see you there!
|
|
|
|
James
by Percival Everett
When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place, Jim's agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.
|
|
|
|
Our next discussion:
Tuesday, December 30, 6:30 pm
Library Conference Room on the Lower Level
If you're a history buff and enjoy reading non-fiction, you might enjoy our new History Book Club! The club plans to meet on the last Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm, but we do recommend confirming details on our events calendar in case of changes. Copies of our next book are on reserve at the Circulation Desk. We hope to see you there!
|
|
|
|
Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
by H. W. Brands
A fast-paced, often riveting account of the military and political events leading up to the Declaration of Independence and those that followed during the war, reminding us that before America could win its revolution against Britain, the Patriots had to win a bitter civil war against family, neighbors, and friends.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|