|
|
Fiction A to Z January 2025 |
|
|
|
|
| The Voyage Home by Pat BarkerThe Trojan War is over. Forced to be Agamemnon's concubine, Cassandra, along with her servant Ritsa (who often narrates), is taken by the victors to Mycenae, where Agamemnon's wife awaits his return with murder in her heart. Readers can begin here with Booker winner Pat Barker's 3rd Women of Troy book or with the 1st entry, The Silence of the Girls. Read-alikes: Circe by Madeline Miller; Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. |
|
| Only Here, Only Now by Tom NewlandsIn 1990s Scotland, teenage Cora Mowat struggles with undiagnosed ADHD and dreams of escaping her poverty-stricken small town. She lives with her disabled mom and her mom's new boyfriend, but after a tragedy, Cora ends up in other locales, including Glasgow, in this atmospheric debut novel. Read-alikes: Michelle Gallen's Big Girl, Small Town; Brad Zellar's Till the Wheels Fall Off. |
|
| Rental House by Weike WangWell-paid consultant Keru, the daughter of frugal Chinese immigrants, and Nate, the son of conservative North Carolinians, rent vacation places in Cape Cod and the Catskills to host their in-laws at different times, but tensions and unexpected guests also arrive. Examining family dynamics, classism, and racism, this witty novel will please fans of Sandwich by Catherine Newman, Real Americans by Rachel Khong, or Long After We Are Gone by Terah Shelton Harris. |
|
Books You May Have Missed
|
|
| Wandering Stars by Tommy OrangeThis haunting follow-up to There There spans centuries, following Jude Star, who survives the horrors of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre and imprisonment in Florida, as well as his descendants, who endure the Carlisle Indian School, addiction, PTSD, and more. Read-alikes: Oscar Hokeah's Calling for a Blanket Dance; Michelle Good's Five Little Indians; Mona Susan Power's A Council of Dolls. |
|
| Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi ThorpeAfter 19-year-old Margo gets pregnant by her English professor and ignores his request for an abortion, she starts a successful OnlyFans to pay the bills. With her former pro-wrestler dad helping with the baby, she's managing...until the professor reappears in this funny, entertaining novel. Try these next: Green Dot by Madeleine Gray; Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair by June Gervais. |
|
| Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz WilliamsThe lives of Mallory in modern-day New England and unhappily married British diplomat's wife Hannah in 1950s Cairo, Egypt, connect in this moving dual-timeline novel. Mallory's 13-year-old son needs a kidney transplant, so she reaches out to the famous singer who doesn't know he's a father. Meanwhile, her sister digs into their mother's adoption history. Read-alikes: novels by Lauren Willig (who's co-written books with Beatriz Williams); A Million Reasons Why by Jessica Strawser. |
|
| A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia WilliamsAgainst her wealthy family's wishes, floral designer Ricki Wilde opens a flower shop in Harlem and befriends jazz musician Ezra "Breeze" Walker, a man who's fallen out of time. Light speculative elements and dual timelines add intrigue to this sweeping romance by the author of Seven Days in June. For fans of: Donna Hill's I Am Ayah: The Way Home; Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
Byron Public Library District
100 S. Washington St.
Byron, Illinois 61010
(815) 234-5107byronlibrary.org |
|
|
|