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Oona Out of Order
by Margarita Montimore
Who it's about: 18-year-old Oona, who passes out on New Year's Eve and awakens the next day, aged 51 but with only 18 years of experience behind her. And as each new year starts, she wakes in a different, non-chronological year of her life.
Reviewers say: "delightfully freewheeling" (Booklist).
For fans of: other time-warped stories like Liane Moriarty's What Alice Forgot, Rebecca Serle's In Five Years, and, of course, Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife.
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The Love Story of Missy Carmichael
by Beth Morrey
Starring: 79-year-old Missy Carmichael, whose isolated and lonely life has the potential to be changed by unexpected connections with strangers (and a lovable mutt), if only she'll let them.
Want a taste? "Best to end the conversation before I wanted to instead of after she did."
For fans of: Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove or Elizabeth Berg's The Story of Arthur Truluv.
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New Waves
by Kevin Nguyen
What happens: Fed up with constant discrimination, an unfulfilled Asian American sales rep and a talented black programmer steal their employer’s user database. Though this act of revenge is successful, things quickly start going very, very wrong.
Read it for: the workplace satire, a send-up of start-up culture, and pointed commentary on racism, privilege, and technology, all told in sales rep Lucas' engaging and sometimes humorous, sometimes regretful voice.
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The Coyotes of Carthage
by Steven Wright
What it is: a dark (and darkly humorous) tale of political and financial skulduggery in a small South Carolina town.
What happens: Dispatched to rural Carthage County, SC, by his elite Washington, D.C. firm, black political consultant Andre Ross is determined that nothing is going to stop him from separating the county from its assets by manipulating an upcoming election, no matter how torn about it he is.
Read it if: you enjoy the television show Scandal or are intrigued by "dark money" campaigns.
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| My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan BraithwaiteStarring: hardworking, practical Korede; her beautiful sister Ayoola, who seems to have developed a habit of killing her boyfriends.
What it's about: Korede is the one who disposes of the bodies and keeps her sister out of jail. But when the handsome doctor with whom Korede has fallen in love notices Ayoola and asks for her number, Korede faces a dilemma.
Why you might like it: This darkly funny debut captures the crowded streets of Lagos, Nigeria and complex family relationships with equal skill. |
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| Little Gods by Meng JinWhat it is: a debut novel that follows grief-stricken 17-year-old Liya as she travels to China to learn more about her recently deceased mother Su Lan -- a complex, remote woman obsessed with her research in theoretical physics.
Narrated by: Liya herself; Su Lan's former neighbor, who remembers a happy woman at odds with Liya's understanding of her mother; and Yongzong, Su Lan's husband and father to Liya, who he never knew.
Read it for: the slowly pieced-together picture you'll form of Su Lan; the experimental writing style. |
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| Machines Like Me by Ian McEwanWhat it's about: the relationships that develop between young Londoner Charlie, his girlfriend Miranda, and the android Adam, one of the first 26 "manufactured humans" who can pass as real.
Why you might like it: Readers curious about artificial intelligence and fans of the HBO show Westworld will appreciate the novel's playful, intriguing approach to coexisting with "robots." The alternate version of the 1980s, in which Alan Turing has had a greater influence, is fun too. |
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| The Ultimate Betrayal by Kimberla Lawson RobyWhat happens: In this 12th in the Reverend Curtis Black series, his daughter Alicia is about to remarry her first husband...but isn't quite ready to give up the man who broke up her marriage.
What else? Alicia's best friend, Melanie, is busy with her own serious problems -- and their stories alternate as they spiral out of control.
Read it for: lots of tension, plenty of drama, and a direct writing style, all of which makes for a "compellingly readable" (Kirkus Reviews) novel. |
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| Tin Man by Sarah WinmanThe perspectives: A middle-aged widower reflects on the loss of his much-loved wife, and on the intense relationship he'd formed with another boy, Michael, as a teen, but from whom he's now estranged. In the second half of the novel, Michael has his turn.
What it's about: love in all its forms; art as driving force; grief.
Read this next: Per Petterson's Out Stealing Horses, Moshik Sakal's The Diamond Setter, James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, or John Boyne's The Heart's Invisible Furies. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Michigan City Public Library 100 E. 4th Street Michigan City, Indiana 46360 219-873-3044mclib.org/ |
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