Evelyn in Transit
by David Guterson

Radically open-minded, formidably strong, and unusually clear-eyed about herself and others, Evelyn Bednarz has always been a misfit. Seeking to be true to herself, she hitchhikes across the American West taking odd jobs. In distant Tibet, another life unfolds as remote from Evelyn’s as can be: the life of a boy named Tsering, raised as a Buddhist monk in the mountains of Tibet, who eventually becomes a high lama. And yet, their lives are strangely linked—as Evelyn discovers when a trio of Buddhist lamas show up at her door to announce that her five-year-old son Cliff is the seventh reincarnation of the illustrious Norbu Rinpoche, recently deceased. The lamas’ visit sets off a family crisis and a media firestorm over Cliff’s future.

Lost Lambs
by Madeline Cash

The Flynn family is coming undone. Catherine and Bud's open marriage has reached its breaking point as their daughters spiral in their own chaotic orbits. Casting a shadow across their lives, and their small coastal town, is Paul Alabaster, a billionaire shipping magnate. Rumors of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except the youngest Flynn daughter, whose obsession with a mysterious shipping container sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy—one that may just bring them closer together.

Workhorse
by Caroline Palmer

In the early 2000s, editorial assistant Clodagh “Clo” Harmon is determined to move up the ranks at the prestigious New York fashion magazine where she works. But she’s from suburban Philly and her competitors are the children of the rich and famous. Funny, biting, and fast-paced, this richly drawn novel will please fans of fashion-centric novels like Lauren Weisberger's The Devil Wears Prada and smart looks at upper-class privilege.

Discipline
by Larissa Pham

Christine is on tour for her novel, a revenge fantasy based on a real-life relationship gone bad with an older professor ten years prior. Now on the road, she's seeking answers—about how to live a good life and what it means to make art—through intimate conversations with strangers, past lovers, and friends. But when the antagonist of her novel reaches out in a series of sly communiques to tell her he's read her book, Christine must reckon with what it means to lose the reins of a narrative she wrote precisely to maintain control. When her professor invites her to join him at his remote house off the coast of Maine, their encounter threatens to change the very foundations of her life as she's imagined it.

The Future Saints
by Ashley Winstead

When record executive Theo meets the Future Saints, they’re bombing at a dive bar in their hometown. Since the tragic death of their manager, the band has been in a downward spiral and Theo has been dispatched to coax a new—and successful—album out of them, or else let them go. Immediately, Theo is struck by Hannah, the group’s impetuous lead singer, who’s gone off script by debuting a whole new sound, replacing their California pop with gut-wrenching rock. When this new music goes viral, striking an unexpected chord with fans, Theo puts his career on the line to give the Saints one last shot at success with a new tour, new record, and new start. But Hannah’s grief has larger consequences for the group, and her increasingly destructive antics become a distraction as she and her sister Ginny—her lifelong partner in crime—undermine Theo at every turn.

Vigil
by George Saunders

Not for the first time, Jill Doll Blaine finds herself hurtling toward earth, reconstituting as she falls, right down to her favorite black pumps. She plummets towards her newest charge—yet another soul she must usher into the afterlife—and lands headfirst in the circular drive of his ornate mansion. She has performed this sacred duty 343 times since her own death. Her charges, as a rule, have been greatly comforted in their final moments. But this charge, she soon discovers, isn't like the others. The powerful K. J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold, epic life, and the world is better for it. Isn't it? Then, visitors begin to arrive (worldly and otherworldly, alive and dead), clamoring for a reckoning...

Beckomberga
by Sara Stridsberg

Jackie's father, Jim, lives at Beckomberga—Stockholm’s famous, infamous mental hospital.. She takes the bus to visit him, though sometimes he refuses to see her and so instead she gets to know his fellow inmates. The doctor sometimes takes the residents for a night out—champagne in the backseat of the car, parties in town; he says: One night beyond the confines of the hospital makes you human again. Over the years, Jackie’s family also falls apart, as her mother, Lone, tries to escape the oppressive hold Jim’s illness has on her, as Jim himself tries to escape in any way possible. What follows is an extraordinarily beautiful, stirring portrait of a family and the ways in which our flaws, yearnings, and the unreachable parts of ourselves shape those we love.

A Spell of Good Things
by Ayobami Adebayo

Eniola is tall for his age, a boy who looks like a man. His father has lost his job, so Eniola spends his days running errands for the local tailor, collecting newspapers and begging, dreaming of a big future. Wuraola is a golden girl, the perfect child of a wealthy family. Now an exhausted young doctor in her first year of practice, she is beloved by Kunle, the volatile son of family friends. When a local politician takes an interest in Eniola and sudden violence shatters a family party, Wuraola and Eniola’s lives become intertwined.

Tremor
by Teju Cole

A weekend spent antiquing is shadowed by the colonial atrocities that occurred on that land. A walk at dusk is interrupted by casual racism. A loving marriage is riven by mysterious tensions. And a remarkable cascade of voices speaks out from a pulsing metropolis. We're invited to experience these events and others through the eyes and ears of Tunde, a West African man working as a teacher of photography on a renowned New England campus. He is a reader, a listener, a traveler, drawn to many different kinds of stories, which together these stories make up his days. In aggregate these days comprise a life. Tremor is a startling work of realism and invention that engages brilliantly with literature, music, race, and history as it examines the passage of time and how we mark it.

Small Worlds
by Caleb Azumah Nelson

Set over the course of three summers, Small Worlds follows Stephen, a first-generation Londoner born to Ghanaian immigrant parents, brother to Ray, and best friend to Adeline. On the cusp of big life changes, Stephen feels pressured to follow a certain track-a university degree, a move out of home-but when he decides instead to follow his first love, music, his world and family fracture in ways he didn't foresee. Now Stephen must find a path and peace for himself: a space he can feel beautiful, a space he can feel free.

Someday, Maybe
by Onyi Nwabineli

Here are three things you should know about my husband: 
He was the great love of my life despite his penchant for going incommunicado. He was, as far as I and everyone else could tell, perfectly happy. Which is significant because...On New Year's Eve, he committed suicide. And here is one thing you should know about me: I found him. Bonus fact: No. I am not okay. 

A stunning and witty debut novel about a young woman's emotional journey through unimaginable loss, pulled along by her tight-knit Nigerian family, a posse of new friends, and the love and laughter she shared with her husband.

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions: A Novel in Interlocking Stories
by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi

Nigerian author Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi makes her American debut with this dazzling novel which explores her homeland's past, present, and possible future through the interconnected stories of four fearless globe-trotting women. Moving between Nigeria and America, Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions is a window into the world of accomplished Nigerian women, illuminating the challenges they face and the risks they take to control their destinies.

Sankofa
by Chibundu Onuzo

Anna grew up in England with her white mother and knowing very little about her African father. In middle age, after separating from her husband and with her daughter all grown up, she finds herself alone and wondering who she really is. Her mother's death leads her to find her father's student diaries, chronicling his involvement in radical politics in 1970s London. She discovers that he eventually became the president—some would say the dictator—of Bamana in West Africa. She also discovers that he is still alive. She decides to track him down and so begins a funny, painful, fascinating journey, and an exploration of race, identity and what we pass on to our children.

Such a Fun Age: Reese's Book Club
by Kiley Reid

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when a video goes viral of a supermarket security guard confronting her Emira Tucke, her two-year-old son Briar's babysitter. The white guard sees a young black woman out late with a white child, and accuses Emira of kidnapping. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right. But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix's desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.

Our next discussion
Tuesday, March 17, 6:30 pm
Library Meeting Room on Lower Level
If you're a regular reader of contemporary and historical fiction, consider joining our Fiction Book Club! The club usually meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 6:30, but we do recommend confirming details on our events calendar in case of changes. Copies of our next book are on reserve at the Circulation Desk. We hope to see you there!

The Thirteenth Tale
by Diane Setterfield

Reclusive author Vida Winter has spent the past six decades penning a series of alternate lives for herself. Now old and ailing, she is ready to reveal the truth about her extraordinary existence and the violent and tragic past she has kept secret for so long. Calling on Margaret Lea, a young biographer troubled by her own painful history, Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good. Margaret is mesmerized by the author's tale of gothic strangeness. Together, Margaret and Vida confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.