Fiction A to Z
October 2025

Recent Releases
Moderation
by Elaine Castillo

Working as a video content moderator for a social media company, Girlie Delmundo has seen horrific things. Burnt out, she takes a promotion working on a new virtual reality product. While she now can better help her mother financially, she also falls for her new boss and questions the suspicious death of the VR company’s founder in this “brilliant novel” (Kirkus Reviews). For fans of: Hanna Bervoets' We Had to Remove This Post.
A Dog in Georgia
by Lauren Grodstein

With her stepson at college and her husband probably cheating on her again, middle-aged Amy Webb focuses on internet videos of Angel, a dog in Tbilisi, Georgia. When Angel goes missing, Amy heads to Eastern Europe to help find him, and maybe herself too. For fans of: complex characters and geopolitical themes; Rebecca Serle's One Italian Summer.
Songs for Other People's Weddings
by David Levithan; with songs by Jens Lekman

Swedish singer and songwriter J performs at weddings, penning a bespoke song for each couple. But when his girlfriend’s job takes her to New York indefinitely and she pulls away despite his best efforts, he's no longer sure about love or marriage. This moving look at relationships has touches of humor, plus ten songs by Swedish songwriter Jens Lekman . For fans of: Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts.
These Memories Do Not Belong to Us
by Yiming Ma

In a dystopian future, the only superpower left is the Qin Empire (formerly China), which rules a world where technology allows people to record, store, and transfer memories. Told via interconnected short stories, this thought-provoking, timely tale centers a young man who inherits illegal memories from his mother, which depict interracial couples, dissenters, and more. For fans of: Yoko Ogawa's The Memory Police.
What We Can Know
by Ian McEwan

In 2119, rising seas have changed the landscape of the United Kingdom, where professor Thomas Metcalfe studies every detail he can find about “A Corona for Vivien,” a lost masterpiece read by an esteemed poet at his wife’s 2014 birthday party. In the second half of this eloquent novel, Vivien herself narrates. Try these next: C. Pam Zhang’s Land of Milk and Honey; Eiren Caffall’s All the Water in the World.
An Oral History of Atlantis
by Ed Park

This latest offering from Pulitzer Prize finalist Ed Park is an intriguing collection of 16 short stories, some lightly connected to others and four of which are new. Exploring humanity, technology, and literary themes, this book works for readers who enjoy unconventional, witty, and open-ended tales. For fans of: George Saunders.
When the Cranes Fly South
by Lisa Ridzén

Bo’s wife, an Alzheimer’s patient, went to a care center three years ago, leaving him alone. Now, he has caregivers who visit daily, an estranged son who thinks he can’t take care of his beloved dog, balance issues, and memories that are sometimes out of reach. Notes from Bo's carers add other viewpoints to this poignant debut novel by a Swedish author, which is already an international bestseller. For fans of: Fredrik Backman; The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.
Full Bloom
by Francesca Serritella

At a crossroads after the end of a relationship and her lack of career progress, 35-year-old Iris is gifted a special perfume by an older French friend. Wearing the scent, she discovers newfound power and multiple love interests, but things don’t always go as planned. Great for book clubs, this novel mixes romance and mystery as it explores friendship, ambition, and self-confidence.
The Incredible Kindness of Paper
by Evelyn Skye

As a lonely child, Chloe makes a yellow origami rose for her new pen pal, whispering details about herself to the paper. When Oliver receives it, he somehow understands. The correspondents grow close as they grow up, until they lose touch. Years later, Chloe leaves flowers across Manhattan, where Oliver finds one in this heartwarming tale enveloped in love, belonging, and magical realism. For fans of: Lynda Cohen Loigman’s The Matchmaker’s Gift.
Upcoming Book Clubs
A gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
A Gentleman in Moscow
by Amor Towles

Deemed unrepentant by a Bolshevik tribunal in 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest in a hotel across the street from the Kremlin, where he lives in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold.
 
Novel Diversions
Wednesday, November 12 at 10:00 a.m.
Post Road Library
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
The Marlow Murder Club
by Robert Thorogood

After witnessing a murder while out for a swim in the Thames river, 77-year-old Judith Potts, when the police don't believe her story, investigates for herself with the help of a salt-of-the-earth dog walker and the prim and proper wife of the local vicar, forming the Marlow Murder Club.
 
Hooked on Books
Saturday, November 15 at 10:30 a.m. 
Hampton Park Library

 
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman

A curmudgeon hides a terrible personal loss beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior while clashing with new neighbors, a boisterous family whose chattiness and habits lead to unexpected friendship.

Page 2 Screen
Tuesday, November 18 at 6:30 p.m.
Denmark Library

 
The last murder at the end of the world : a novel by Stuart Turton
The Last Murder at the End of the World
by Stuart Turton

On an isolated island where 122 villagers and three scientists live in peaceful harmony, one of the scientists is found brutally murdered, which triggers a security system, giving the islanders only 107 hours to solve the murder or be smothered by the fog that destroyed the planet.

Novel Realities
Tuesday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Sharon Forks Library
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters

While a Mi'kmaq family from Novia Scotia picks blueberries in 1962 Maine, four-year-old Ruthie goes missing. Her disappearance reverberates for decades, as seen in the narration of Joe, Ruthie's brother who never gets over the loss, and Norma, a lonely only child with a connection to Ruthie. Read-alikes:  A Council of Dolls  by Mona Susan Power;  Stealing  by Margaret Verble.
 
overBOOKed
Thursday, November 20 at 10:00 a.m.
Cumming Library
The busy body by Kemper Donovan
The Busy Body
by Kemper Donovan

After a very public defeat, former Senator Dorothy Gibson retreats to her home in rural Maine, inviting her ghostwriter to join her, and soon the two women are drawn into a mystery when a neighbor dies under suspicious circumstances and find their investigation unfolding in a way no one could've ever expected.
 
Book Sleuths
Tuesday, November 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Post Road Library
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Forsyth County Public Library
770-781-9840 | ForsythPL.org