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Country People
by Daniel Mason
Miles Krzelewski is a devoted husband, a doting father beloved for his outlandish bedtime stories, and the proud owner of a truffle-hunting dog in a land with no truffles. He is also a bit lost, twelve years late with his PhD on Russian folktales and increasingly haunted by a sense that he's become a disappointment to his family. So when his wife, Kate, accepts a visiting professorship at a prestigious college in the faraway forests of Vermont, he decides that this will be the year to finally move forward with his life. That is until Miles stumbles upon a bizarre--perhaps ridiculous--local legend, which, he soon suspects, might not be just a legend after all.
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| Homebound by Portia ElanWhat do two genius programmers in 1980s Ohio, a Berkeley scientist in 2086, a sentient robot she creates, and a sea captain in the 2500s all have in common? Homebound, a video game created after a teenager finished the coding started by her beloved late uncle, which goes on to influence humanity for epochs. This buzzy, intricately plotted debut explores grief, love, and loneliness. For fans of: Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land; Jennifer Egan's The Candy House. |
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A Real Animal
by Emeline Atwood
In this unforgettable debut, a moment of metaphysical transformation launches a woman's beautiful and terrifying journey through her twenties, through loneliness and complicated love that takes her from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the plains of Texas. A Real Animal follows Lucy through the decade dividing college and real adulthood, as she navigates three distinct romantic relationships, reckons with the false promise of family intimacy, and seeks connection with the sublime and natural worlds.
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| Elegy In Blue by Mark HelprinAn unnamed 82-year-old narrator revisits his life, from his childhood and his Wall Street career, to his happy marriage and life as a father. Over the years, violence takes loved ones, leaving him alone in an apartment in his beloved Brooklyn, where he contemplates helping others and his own death. Lyrical and complex, this introspective literary tale digs into intriguing questions of mortality and morality. "Expect to see this on many best-of-2026 lists," raves Library Journal. |
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Beginning Middle End
by Valeria Luiselli
Beginning Middle End is the tale of a mother and daughter traveling together after the collapse of a marriage and the dissolution of their traditional family structure. The novel opens the morning a mother and her teenage daughter arrive in Sicily, during a summer of rapidly-changing winds, volcanic rumbles, and sudden tempests. They've landed near the ancient ruins where the narrator's grandmother worked long ago on an archaeological dig. How do you begin again, the mother wonders, pondering her family line, and what if the new beginning you're imagining is actually the end?
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| Alan Opts Out by Courtney MaumAdvertising exec Alan Anderson lives the good life in suburban Connecticut with his wife and two girls. But after he messes up a big presentation, he has an epiphany and decides to opt out of capitalism. His wife wants a pool and isn't happy when Alan moves into their backyard playhouse to live off the land. But instead of shocking the neighbors, Alan's lifestyle might catch on. Try this next: Gabriel Bump's The New Naturals. |
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| Ghalen by Walter MosleyIn 1999, when Jamilah, an advanced medical genetics student, meets Robert, a neurodivergent chef at a vegan restaurant, they fall for each other, marry, and have son Ghalen. But Jamilah gets cancer, leaving the two on their own. Ghalen grows up, becoming a high school valedictorian at 15, but faces hurdles, including racism. For fans of: moving, thought-provoking coming-of-age novels, like Jacqueline Woodson's Red at the Bone and Barbara Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead. |
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The Good Parts
by Evann Normandin
When Landon receives a letter from Rose--the woman he once planned forever with--he learns their love story is over. She's undergone a radical memory-erasing treatment, leaving behind her grief, her past... and him. But Landon can't bear to lose the love of his life. If she fell for him once, couldn't she fall for him again? An epic, unforgettable love story about a woman who takes a memory-erasing pill and the man she once loved who returns as a stranger, hoping to make her fall for him all over again--for fans of One Day and In Five Years.
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| The Radiant Dark by Alexandra OlivaIn 1980, young new mom Carol Girard struggles in her Adirondacks hometown. But when a flickering light in the sky is believed to be intelligent life communicating from star Ross 128, humanity adapts, and the Girards change too. Carol, fascinated with the discovery, finds like-minded people, while her husband raises their kids alone. This slow-burn novel covers decades, later following Carol's daughter Ro, who becomes an interstellar communication expert. Read-alikes: Meg Charlton's Voyagers; Eliana Ramage's To the Moon and Back. |
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| Returns And Exchanges by Kayla Rae WhitakerWith four young kids and a successful retail store in 1979 Lexington, Kentucky, Fred and Fran have worked hard to achieve the American Dream. But as the years go by, the love that united them diminishes as insecure Fred looks to high-society groups for approval and business-minded Fran develops feelings for store manager Wendy. Meanwhile, their kids have their own dreams and problems. Read-alikes: Lake Effect by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney; The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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