 Supporting COMMUNITY. Inspiring DISCOVERY. Promoting LITERACY. |
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Cleopatra
by Saara El-Arifi
Cleopatra tells her own story in this evocative and sensuous historical epic from the bestselling and award-winning author of Faebound and The Final Strife. Enchanting, smart, and subversive--this is El-Arifi's masterpiece.--R.F. Kuang, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Katabasis This stunning edition includes designed endpapers and a custom case stamp. YOU KNOW MY NAME, BUT YOU DO NOT KNOW ME. Your historians call me seductress, but I was ever in love's thrall. Your playwrights speak of witchcraft, but my talents came from the gods themselves. Your poets sing of my bloodlust, but I was always protecting my children. How wilfully they refuse to concede that a woman could be powerful, strategic, and divinely blessed to rule. Death will silence me no longer. This is not the story of how I died. But how I lived.
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| Lost Lambs by Madeline CashA suburban family is in trouble in this buzzy, funny first novel. Bud and Catherine's relationship is sputtering, while their three girls have their own issues: Abigail, 17, is dating a security guard nicknamed "War Crimes Wes," Louise, 15, has an online boyfriend who encourages her to make bombs, and super-smart Harper, 13, investigates a sketchy local billionaire, who is her dad's employer. Read-alikes: Kevin Wilson's The Family Fang; Paul Murray's The Bee Sting |
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Bad Asians
by Lillian Li
Diana, Justin, Errol, and Vivian were always told that success is guaranteed by following a simple checklist. They worked hard, got A's, and attended a good university--only to graduate into the Great Recession of 2008. Now, despite their newly minted degrees, they're unemployed and stuck again under their parents' roofs in a hypercompetitive Chinese American community. So when Grace--once the neighborhood golden child, now a Harvard Law School dropout--asks to make a documentary about the crew, they agree. It's not like her little movie will ever see the light of day. But then the video, Bad Asians, goes viral on an up-and-coming media platform (YouTube, anyone?). Suddenly, millions of people know them as cruel caricatures, each full of pent-up frustrations with the others. And after a desperate attempt at spin control further derails their plans for the lives they'd always imagined, the friends must face harsh truths about themselves and coming of age in the new millennium.
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| Family Drama by Rebecca FallonAs actress Susan Bliss finds stardom on a soap opera in the 1980s and '90s, she commutes from Massachusetts, where her college professor husband works, to filming in California. This continues even after she becomes a mother, causing tension, and then when her twins are seven, she dies. As they grow into adulthood, artist Sebastian clings to his mother's memory while Viola ignores it, until she falls for her mom's former costar. Try this next: The Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen. |
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| So Old, So Young by Grant GinderOver the course of 20 years, six college friends find jobs, partners, and challenges as they move in and out of each other's lives. Organized around five get-togethers, the first on New Year's Eve in 2007 New York and the last at a funeral, this character-driven latest from Grant Ginder (The People We Hate at the Wedding) explores change, friendship, and growing older. Read-alikes: Steven Rowley's The Celebrants; Angela Flournoy's The Wilderness. |
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| This Is Not about Us by Allegra GoodmanThis "unsparingly frank, wryly funny" (Kirkus Reviews) linked story collection is narrated by three generations of the Rubenstein family as they navigate 74-year-old Jeanne's death, a feud between her older sisters over apple cake, and various other gatherings for holidays, divorces, a bat mitzvah, and more. Read-alikes: The Family Izquierdo by Ruben Degollado; Underburn by Bill Gaythwaite. |
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| This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby PageWhen her new husband Joe dies of cancer, grief-stricken London book editor Tilly learns from their local bookseller that Joe has arranged for her to receive a book -- along with a note -- every month for a year. As the weeks pass, Tilly becomes friends with struggling bookstore owner Alfie and tries new things with Joe's literary encouragement in this charming read. For fans of: Mikki Brammer's The Collected Regrets of Clover. |
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| Discipline by Larissa PhamOn a cross-country book tour for her autofictional novel that's based on her bad relationship with her college art professor, Christine ponders life and creativity while talking with strangers and people from her past. Then she hears from the professor, leading her to visit his island home in Maine. Reflective and suspenseful, this debut novel thoughtfully examines art, ambition, and relationships. Try this next: A Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Mary Riley Styles Public Library
120 N. Virginia Ave, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 703-248-5030 (TTY 711) www.mrspl.org
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