|
|
| Here and Now and Then by Mike ChenStarring: time-traveling special agent Kin Stewart, stranded in the 1990s.
What happens: Stuck in the past, Kin eventually makes a life for himself, so it's a shock when, 18 years later, he's "rescued" -- and forced to give up everything, including his daughter, whose life (as a timeline "error") is suddenly in danger.
Why you might like it: A quick pace, a fair amount of humor, and the brain-bending rules of time travel make for a "smart, fun, and affectionate" debut (Kirkus Reviews). |
|
|
Little faith : a novel
by Nickolas Butler
What happens: In this moving new novel from celebrated author Nickolas Butler, a Wisconsin family grapples with the power and limitations of faith when one of their own falls under the influence of a radical church Lyle Hovde is at the onset of his golden years, living a mostly content life in rural Wisconsin with his wife, Peg, daughter, Shiloh, and six-year old grandson, Isaac. After a troubled adolescence and subsequent estrangement from her parents, Shiloh has finally come home. But while Lyle is thrilled to have his whole family reunited, he's also uneasy: in Shiloh's absence, she has become deeply involved with an extremist church, and the devout pastor courting her is convinced Isaac has the spiritual ability to heal the sick.
Why you might like it: “Powerful.... [Butler] skillfully handles the complicated—and heartbreaking—psychological and emotional complexities of this story, crafting a deeply moving novel about love, faith, and loss.... A beautifully realized meditation on the nature of parenting and living in a perplexing (and often cruel) world.” (Library Journal (starred review))
|
|
|
The book of dreams
by Nina George
What happens: Henri Skinner is a hardened ex-war reporter on the run from his past. On his way to see his son, Sam, for the first time in years, Henri steps into the road without looking and collides with oncoming traffic. He is rushed to a nearby hospital where he floats, comatose, between dreams, reliving the fairytales of his childhood and the secrets that made him run away in the first place. After the accident, Sam—a thirteen-year old synesthete with an IQ of 144 and an appetite for science fiction—waits by his father’s bedside every day.
Why you might like it: By the author of The Little Paris Bookshop and The Little French Bistro
|
|
| The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa GrayWhat it's about: Two sisters, each struggling with their own personal problems, step up when their oldest sister and her husband face jail time.
Why you might like it: A closely knit group of strong female characters stand out in this family drama, which stars an African American family in a mostly white Michigan town.
For fans of: Brit Bennett's The Mothers; Tayari Jones' An American Marriage; Caroline Leavitt's Cruel Beautiful World. |
|
|
The river : a novel
by Peter Heller
What happens: Experienced wilderness instructors, Jack and Wynn paddle through creeks, white water, and a river in northern Ontario and soon encounter a creepy pair of drunk campers, whom they try to warn about the oncoming wildfire. When they hear a couple arguing at another campsite, they decide not to interfere, but the husband, Pierre, later arrives at their campsite disoriented and disheveled because wife Maia has disappeared into the woods after their argument and never returned. When Jack and Wynn travel back upstream to search for her, they find her barely alive, but how was she injured?
Why you might like it: The author's experience as a writer about the outdoors in magazines adds a taste of reality to this novel.
|
|
|
The second coming : a thriller
by John Heubusch
What happens: n this “sensational sequel” (Steve Forbes), a fallen angel is mistakenly resurrected from the blood of an evil “Watcher” taken from the Shroud of Turin, and the fiend bestows an unstoppable plague on the world. Dr. Jon Bondurant, the forensic anthropologist and avowed atheist, joins with devout Domenika Josef to bring another child of the Shroud into the world to save it, this one borne of DNA believed to be that of Jesus Christ. Can this child be the answer to their—and mankind’s—prayers?
Why you might like it: “Like The Shroud Conspiracy, this story is equally thrilling for its plausibility in today’s technology-driven world…. Bondurant is dashing and cerebral, and leaves the door open for future “mysteries of the Vatican” that Dan Brown fans will love.” (Library Journal (starred review))
|
|
| Lost Children Archive by Valeria LuiselliWhat happens: An educational road trip to the U.S.-Mexico border turns harrowing when the children of the unnamed narrators disappear into the desert.
Book buzz: With immigration a hot topic, this complex novel is timely. Author Valeria Luiselli illuminates the devastating plight of migrants by mixing Apache history, contemporary stories of immigrant families separated at the border, and ephemera such as poems, photos, and scraps of music. |
|
|
Crown jewel
by Christopher Reich
What happens: Stolen sports cars, brilliant casino heists, and the brazen kidnapping of a prince: only the shadowy spy-for-hire Simon Riske can stop the mastermind behind it all. Monte Carlo's lavish casinos have become the target of a sophisticated and brutal team of professional gamblers; a casino dealer has been beaten to death; a German heiress's son has been kidnapped. Who better to connect the crimes and foil a daringly brilliant plot than Simon Riske, freelance industrial spy?
Why you might like it: Riske is part Bond, part Reacher
|
|
|
The fifth doctrine
by Karen Robards
What happens: With her back against the wall, everything's on the line for Bianca St. Ives. She's either going to save the world--or die trying. It took one hell of an effort for the authorities to finally get the jump on master manipulator Bianca St. Ives, but now that they have, it's far from the capture she expected. Instead of taking her in, there's an offer on the table, a one-shot deal that would allow Bianca to walk away scot-free as if they'd never found her. And all she has to do is run one last mission--the kind she might never return from. But if Bianca wants to go back to her normal life in Savannah, it's not like she has a choice.
Why you might like it: Book 3 in this adrenaline fueled series
|
|
|
A woman is no man : a novel
by Etaf Rum
What happens: Palestine, 1990. Seventeen-year-old Isra prefers reading books to entertaining the suitors her father has chosen for her. Over the course of a week, the naïve and dreamy girl finds herself quickly betrothed and married, and is soon living in Brooklyn. There Isra struggles to adapt to the expectations of her oppressive mother-in-law Fareeda and strange new husband Adam, a pressure that intensifies as she begins to have children--four daughters instead of the sons Fareeda tells Isra she must bear. Brooklyn, 2008. Eighteen-year-old Deya, Isra's oldest daughter, must meet with potential husbands at her grandmother Fareeda's insistence, though her only desire is to go to college.
For fans of: Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns
|
|
| The Heart's Invisible Furies by John BoyneStarring: Cyril Avery, born in 1945 to an unmarried teenager and adopted by a wealthy if rather eccentric Dublin couple.
What happens: Every seven years, we get to peek into Cyril's life as he comes to terms with his homosexuality in a violently repressive Ireland, flees his home country, and falls in love.
Why you might like it: With richly drawn characters, plausibly life-altering choices, and an absorbing, often humorous writing style, The Heart's Invisible Furies may well appeal to fans of John Irving's work (it is, in fact, dedicated to him). |
|
| Milkman by Anna BurnsWhat it's about: Though trying to keep her head down amid the Troubles, the young female narrator nevertheless attracts the unwelcome attention of a man -- a powerful dissident, as it turns out -- known as "the milkman."
Is it for you? While it's a challenging read, the conversational writing style beautifully depicts the dangers of living in a paramilitary state, caught between the government, its opposition, and a culture too ready to blame the victim.
Book Buzz: Anna Burns won the 2018 Man Booker Prize for Milkman, the first Northern Irish author to do so in the award's history. |
|
| The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoyFeaturing: unhappy bookmobile driver Hanna-Mariah Casey, who's so eager to move out of her mother's home that she tackles renovating an old family cabin, with unexpected results.
Read it for: quirky characters, a growing sense of community, and Ireland's scenic west coast (Finfarran might not actually exist, but it sure feels real).
For fans of: the equally prickly protagonist of Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. |
|
| Solar Bones by Mike McCormackWhat it is: a philosophical reflection of one man's life, from family and career to the beauty this man found in ordinary things.
What sets it apart: Written as one long, poetic sentence, Solar Bones sets a challenge that -- once you adjust to it -- rewards with quiet humor and insight.
Book buzz: winner of the Goldsmiths Prize (2016) and the International Dublin Literary Award (2018); a Man Booker Prize nominee (2017). |
|
| The Love Object: Selected Stories by Edna O'BrienWhat it is: More than 30 stories, collected together for the first time and representing decades of author Edna O'Brien's psychologically powerful work.
Why you might like it: first-person narratives from strong female characters make the stories come alive.
Don't miss: "Irish Revel," "The Love Object," "The Widow," "A Rose in the Heart of New York." |
|
| This Must Be the Place by Maggie O'FarrellWhat it is: a wide-ranging, globe-trotting, timeline-jumping, narrator-switching tale of relationships -- fraught or strong, romantic, or familial.
Read it for: a vast web of realistically flawed characters; complex relationships; the heady role of fate.
Reviewers say: "sheer reading pleasure" (The Washington Post); "juicy and cool" (Kirkus Reviews) |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|