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New Fiction Arrivals at MPL |
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Welcome to NEXTREADS, the Mobile Public Library's e-mail newsletter service. Are you looking for a few good books to read? Sign up for our e-newsletters and get great book suggestions by email. We'll deliver reading lists right to your inbox along with new gems, bestsellers and related titles. You'll also be able to check immediately whether the items are available at your favorite Mobile Public Library Location or whether they've been checked out.
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Here are our new arrivals, click the title to view in our catalog:
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Agrippa: A Novel of Ancient Rome's Descent Into Dictatorship
by Robert Harris
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of Conclave and Dictator, a gripping tale of ancient Rome's descent into dictatorship He was born feet first, a dangerous way to enter the world. His mother did not survive, and the nickname, Agrippa--mother killer--stuck. But the schoolyard taunting only served to harden his resolve and hone his predilection for aggression. In time, the name lost its sting and became instead a mark of his invincibility. It came to shape his destiny. Agrippa was a mere commoner, a plebeian, his father a humble Stoic, but he earned the respect and fear of his peers. He defended a bullied young boy, Octavius, who turned out to be the nephew of Caesar himself, a chance encounter that would change the trajectory of his life. He eventually joined the ranks of the legionnaires and marched against their enemies. His prowess on the battlefield spoke for itself, and Caesar relied on him to protect his favored nephew. When Caesar was murdered in the Senate, Octavius inherited the empire in name only. To assume the mantle he would have to fight for it, and Agrippa, forever by his side, would be his closest advisor and the merciless agent of his military will. As gripping and full of intrigue as his bestselling novel Conclave, Agrippa is Robert Harris's monumental return to the world of ancient Rome on the precipice of dictatorship, a novel for our times.
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American Hagwon
by Min Jin Lee
The National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Pachinko returns with a breathtaking contemporary epic: a masterpiece by turns sweeping and intimate, that reckons with ambition and moderation, lust and loyalty, personal dreams and familial duty. Min Jin Lee brings grand ambition, fierce heart, and the tenderest hope to a novel I didn't want to end. --Roxane Gay, bestselling author of Bad Feminist and Hunger In schools and churches, hotel rooms and nail salons, law firms and fried-fish shops; in cramped, dingy apartments and luxury, gated communities, the men, women, and children in American Hagwon struggle to find satisfaction and meaning in a world that seems to grow less forgiving with each passing year. Once comfortably middle class in Korea, John and Helen Koh and their three children--Bo, DH, and Mido--find their lives upended, first by a shocking betrayal by John's oldest friend, then by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Desperately striving to regain their footing, they leave Seoul for Sydney and eventually settle in Southern California--where new vistas of opportunity open up for the children as their parents, strangers in a strange land, must adjust to a new life in which their experience and education mean little, and they set their sights on whatever it takes to provide for their children's futures. The Kohs, their friends, relatives, and even their foes move in and out of each other's lives as they navigate new courses across the years, always nursing the almost all-consuming faith that education will lead the next generation to success and security. In American Hagwon, Min Jin Lee has crafted an unforgettable, panoramic novel where the smallest of gestures can have enormous repercussions, where the bonds of family and of memory twist and fray but rarely break, and where willful self-sacrifice--for the benefit of loved ones and even strangers--is a kind of prayer. An immersive, engrossing novel ... this is panorama told in brilliant detail.--Colm T ib n, bestselling author ofLong IslandandBrooklyn
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The Birthing Tree
by Amanda Peters
NATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHORCarnegie-Winning Author - Winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize - A New Yorker Best Book of the Year From the bestselling author of The Berry Pickers, an unforgettable novel about a woman who must confront her family's buried truths and memories of passionate young love when her grandmother's death leaves her as the only guide to her community's future Born under the shadow of a birthing tree sacred to generations of Mi'kmaq women, Aliet Paul grows up outside a small Nova Scotia town with her fierce, loving grandmother Kiju. Her mother died bringing Aliet into the world under that very tree; her father remains a mystery no one will name. Aliet's childhood is shaped by seasonal apple pickers, the medicinal wisdom of the old ways, and the quiet, steadfast presence of John, a boy who becomes her anchor. But the world beyond their community is changing. Traditional midwifery is condemned, prejudice deepens, and when the wrong person witnesses a birth, the consequences are disastrous. As Aliet comes of age, she navigates love, loss, and a personal tragedy that veers her from the path her grandmother wanted for her. She becomes a nurse trained in modern medicine, yet she carries Kiju's teachings close, tucked beside memories of the tree that once welcomed new life. Years later, when the call comes that Kiju has died, Aliet returns home to a crumbling house, a community scattered, and a past she thought she'd outrun. As Aliet restores the house room by room, something inside her stirs awake: the threads of her lineage, the old ways of her grandmother, and the mystery of her own bloodline. As Aliet digs to uncover who her family really is, each revelation pulls her deeper into a web of long-guarded silences, dangerous loyalties, and generational wounds that refuse to stay buried: Someone knew the truth about her mother's final moments. Someone knew what happened in the orchard all those years ago. And someone wants the past to remain undisturbed. Spanning decades of loss and reclamation, this sweeping yet intimate novel follows one woman's journey to protect the land, the traditions, and the memory of the women who came before her--and to decide which parts of her inheritance she will carry into the future.
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The Chase: A Dick Francis Novel
by Felix Francis
When an art dealer's misfortunes start to look premeditated, Sid Halley is back to investigate in the next Dick Francis novel--perfect for fans of Harlan Coben. Forty-nine-year-old Fabian Tulley is only trying to run his own art gallery in London's Mayfair in peace. But someone seems determined to ruin his life. Accused of selling a fake Alfred Munnings painting, he is unable to prove his innocence because the police are holding the piece as evidence. While running a retail sale at Cheltenham Racecourse, some of his other paintings are vandalized. Then a couple of men try to run him down in the racecourse parking lot. To make matters even worse, his clients are being threatened to stay away from his gallery, and his landlords are trying to cancel his lease. Everything is against him, but with someone threatening his life's work, Fabian is determined to fight back. With the help of Sid Halley, saving his business will prove to be the fight of his life.
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Die Famous
by Michael Koryta
The Four Winds meets Bonnie and Clyde in this exhilarating historical thriller in which an unforgettable mother races to find the gangster she once loved--before the law gets to him first.
also available in audio
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Double Tap: A Mitch Rapp Novel by Don Bentley
by Vince Flynn
Vince Flynn's #1 New York Times bestselling series continues the American Assassin storyline taking a young Mitch Rapp on his first deep cover mission in which he infiltrates a jihadi organization bent on unleashing a weapon of mass destruction--written by Don Bentley. Mitch Rapp signed up to be an assassin. A lone wolf who hunts and kills his nation's enemies on their turf. Now, he has a new mission. When Mitch's target--a Pakistani chemical weapons scientist for hire--is snatched from the streets of Verona, the American Assassin must penetrate the jihadi cell responsible for the brazen kidnapping before they can make use of the scientist's deadly expertise. But Mitch isn't the only one interested in the scientist. The Pakistani represents an existential threat. A threat that will fray alliances, force enemies to seek common ground, and resurrect long settled vendettas. As the events triggered by the kidnapping cascade out of control, Mitch Rapp must stop the chain reaction before the Middle East reaches critical mass.
also available in audio
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The Dying Light: A Detective Matthew Venn Novel
by Ann Cleeves
Everything Ann Cleeves writes is incredible.--Richard OsmanDI Matthew Venn peels back layer upon layer to discover the dark secrets one family is keeping in this searing new novel, brimming with energy and taut with claustrophobic tension.A scorching heatwave marks the start of the summer in Devon. Detective Matthew Venn is called in to investigate a puzzling death, when the body of a young woman, Lottie, is found in the swimming pool of a luxurious holiday home. The girl's best friend, Hannah, whose family owns the house, is missing. The girls had arrived a few days earlier to celebrate the end of their school exams, quickly stirring unrest in the small community with incendiary social media videos mocking the place as parochial. When further tragedy strikes, Venn and his team begin questioning a community filled with secrets. The fact that Hannah's father, Paul Armstrong, is a rising political star with powerful enemies draws intense media scrutiny to the case. With the summer heat come holidaymakers, and it emerges that some of them may have stronger connections with the Armstrong family than first thought. Venn knows all too well that the real answers lie not in what people say, but in the silences that they keep. Taut, atmospheric, and brimming with suspense, this searing new novel finds DI Matthew Venn caught between a powerful family's secrets and a powder keg of local tensions.
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Fair Are the Meadows
by Lauraine Snelling
Schoolteacher Helen Stenerson has planted her roots in the community of Green Creek, Iowa, and poured her heart into teaching. Seminary student Ødger Gunderson is interested in her, but Helen is determined to avoid romantic entanglement. When her aging aunt shares secrets with Helen about the past, can she open her heart to love and the path God has for her?
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The French Illusion
by John Grisham
#1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham delivers a gripping, suspenseful page-turner about a Paris honeymoon gone horribly wrong--and the nightmare that follows. After Paul and Chelsea Tanner's fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would target them, and why? It turns out this is not the first crime of its kind. The search for clues soon stretches across borders, with the FBI, CIA, and French Intelligence trying to work together to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Struggling to find answers, a young lawyer is recruited to be the bait in an elaborate CIA operation. Propulsive and surprising, The French Illusion is an unmistakable Grisham thrill ride--gripping and impossible to put down.
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Fury in Death
by J. D. Robb
In the new crime thriller from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author, Lt. Eve Dallas journeys into the darkness where murder is born...NYSPD lieutenant Eve Dallas never knows what to expect when she gets word of a body. It could be an elderly man who made the mistake of climbing a ladder in slippery footwear. And the next call could be a wealthy biotech executive beaten to death in his home office--but what was Larry Chu's mistake? The victim's corpse is so mangled and damaged it's hard to believe a lone, unarmed assailant could have managed it. The killer was clearly unnaturally strong--and smart enough to find a way into Chu's highly secure building. Most of all, whoever did this was very, very angry. The excessive violence leads Dallas to conclude that this was a deeply personal act, born of a rage that she can't excuse but can understand thanks to her own traumatic past. And though the motive seems rooted in heated emotion rather than cold hard cash, she can't ignore the suspicious bank account in the Cayman Islands, or the shadowy, profit-hungry company Chu worked for. The mystery only grows when it turns out Chu isn't the only victim--and Dallas will need to tear through one layer of secrecy after another to reveal what lies behind this explosion of fury...
also available in audio
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Galinda: A Charmed Childhood
by Gregory Maguire
#1 New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Gregory Maguire shares the eagerly awaited origin story of Galinda, the pink-clad, effervescent, and popular favorite character in this sister volume to Elphie. Who was Glinda the Good Witch before she floated down in her bubble to greet Dorothy? Who was Glinda before she became Elphaba Thropp's magnetic and popular roommate at Shiz University?Well, before then, she was Galinda. With a ga.The youngest of four children in a high-born family down on their luck, Galinda is both pampered and ignored. Her natural grace promises to elevate her in the district dance competitions--but these efforts distract her from seeing the growing resentments of local merchants who disapprove of her family's business strategies. Enmired in the self-satisfactions and unnamed timidities of childhood, Galinda finds in herself neither canniness nor the need to cultivate it. However, as her father deftly pivots around the snares and nets laid for him by his competitors, Galinda begins to dance toward a life that might lift her above her proud, if hardscrabble, childhood.Galinda reveals the girl behind the bubbly, shallow clich --offering fans of Wicked their first richer glimpse into the life of a beloved and iconic character.
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Hollow Bones
by Jodi Picoult
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name comes a riveting novel about the risks we take to protect the ones we love in a world where crisis is always just around the corner. On September 11, 2001, when Molly Fitzgerald was only two months old, her mother went to an appointment at the World Trade Center and never came home. Her father and the stepmother who raised her couldn't have loved her more, but she still grew up with a healthy dread of disasters. Now an adult, she runs the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, mapping out ways to save lives during storms, epidemics, and airplane crashes. She and her husband, Jesse--a police polygraph expert with his own history of crisis--have found a love that is a solace in a dangerous world. But then the unexpected upends their new marriage, leading them both to question everything they thought they knew. Moving between past and present, Hollow Bones is an epic story of the lies we tell ourselves as we write the narratives of our lives, the plans we design to protect ourselves at the worst moments, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters.
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Lover Enthroned
by J. R. Ward
In #1 New York Times bestseller J.R. Ward's newest Black Dagger Brotherhood installment, star-crossed lovers face the battles of their lives...in the midst of war with the Lessening Society. A Hidden Past Allhan, a computer genius who works for the Brotherhood, has a deadly secret. Torn between what he must do, and his increasing attachment to Vishous, he's not looking for any more complications in his life. He's not going to survive the one he has. A Royal Future Princess Dennesha, heir to the throne of the Shadows, is a live and let die kind of female. At least until she finds herself tangling in the destiny of a human--even though it goes against every instinct of hers and all common sense. A Terrible Choice When Allhan and Denne meet by chance, their passion is undeniable. But a rare astrological event triggers a crossroads for the Princess. Either mate a male she doesn't love and assume the throne, or stay true to her heart and condemn the Territory to destruction. With Allhan fighting his conscience--and a lesser who's after Wrath and the Brothers--can the two find a way out of their fates? Or are they doomed to grieve a love that could never be for eternity...
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The Munich Affair
by James Patterson
A suspenseful thriller from the world's #1 bestselling author, James Patterson, that spans a century--set in motion by the murder of Adolf Hitler's young lover by his own hand. A determined detective, Thomas Bauer, obsessively pursues Hitler--putting Bauer's Jewish wife and children in grave danger. A courageous journalist, Fritz Gerlich, writes story after story detailing the murder--making Gerlich a target for Hitler's Gestapo. An American professor, Eleanor Robbins, picks up the trail of evidence from present-day Neo-Nazis guarding the F hrer's long-held secrets to the death. Much more than a historical murder mystery, this lively and engaging story--from two masters at the top of their game--reminds us that 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' You need to read this one and never forget. --Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author
also available in audio
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Our Noble Selves
by Kate Atkinson
A thrilling tale of post-World War II London, where the peace proves as tricky to navigate as the past, from the #1 international bestselling author of Life After Life. When crime correspondent turned war reporter Harry Flynn returns to Britain from Singapore in 1945, he takes a quiet job with the Festival of Britain, a government-funded endeavor aimed at celebrating the nation's creativity, grit, and ingenuity. There, he joins a team of misfits and eccentrics as they help to ready the Festival for launch. When a Frenchwoman goes missing, Flynn becomes the central suspect in her disappearance--and possible murder. He was the last person to see her alive, yet he has no memory of the evening they spent together. As evidence against him mounts, Flynn begins to wonder if he might actually be to blame. To make matters worse, he is surrounded by people who have their own secret agenda. There may be a carnival atmosphere in London as the country attempts to throw off the drab privations of war, yet beneath the frivolity there is also a worthy attempt to hold up a mirror to both its history and its future. With her unique voice and her skill at conjuring the past, Kate Atkinson turns her light on a nation reconstructing its image and the lengths to which some might go to manipulate the outcome. Witty, brilliantly plotted, and with an unforgettable cast of characters, Our Noble Selves paints a vivid portrait of a former empire struggling with its identity in the aftermath of war.
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The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
by Ariel Lawhon
A sweeping historical adventure inspired by the life of Grace O'Malley, the legendary Irish folk heroine who risked everything to defend her people. Venture onto the high seas with the thrilling latest from the New York Times bestselling author of The Frozen River and I Was Anastasia. Grace O'Malley was born to be a sea captain. But despite her natural skill on the water, Grace learns early that her dreams of a life at the helm are not compatible with the expectations of her noble family. As the only daughter of a powerful chieftain, her role is to secure a strong alliance and bear children. But when she's sent to foster with a nearby clan, Grace falls for a clever and open-minded second son--a man she cannot have. Married off against her will to a brutal warrior, Grace performs her duty, all the while gathering followers loyal to her, and consolidating her husband's power, only to be ousted from his lands. But this betrayal offers Grace the opportunity to return to sea, finally leading clan O'Malley's mighty fleet. Just as she finds true independence, Queen Elizabeth's incursions into Ireland grow bolder and Grace must fight to defend her land, her ships, and the people she loves most against the cruel and power-hungry English deputies, who will stop at nothing to check her influence. Keenly observed and fiercely written, Ariel Lawhon's new action-packed novel channels the untamed beauty and harsh realities of sixteenth-century Ireland, as seen through the eyes of an unforgettable heroine who rightly became the Pirate Queen of Ireland.
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Ruthless
by Danielle Steel
A journalist and the powerful man she is assigned to profile find themselves on a collision course in this powerful novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel. Shipping magnate John Randall Williams is feared by his competitors, loathed by his only daughter, Gabby, and at sea after the recent death of his devoted wife. About to face his first Christmas alone, John meets a young woman named Lillith at a dinner party and is immediately drawn to her beauty. He invites her to share the holiday with him on his 350-foot sailboat in Saint Barts, and Lillith allows herself to be swept away. Charlotte Ramsay, a senior editor at Vanity Fair, is on assignment in Saint Barts during the holidays. Known for her integrity as a journalist, she has come to the island to interview another powerful man: the elusive high-tech billionaire Ben Sharpe, whose luxury yacht is also anchored in the harbor. Though the first interview goes badly, she eventually agrees to have dinner with him and becomes intrigued by the real man behind the facade. A chance encounter between the two couples sets the stage for a face-off between the Charlotte and John. He might have a well-earned reputation for ruthlessness, but when she is in pursuit of her story, she never backs down. From the power corridors of Manhattan to the sunsets in Saint Barts, Danielle Steel masterfully pulls back the curtain on the private lives of the wealthy elite, where all is not always what it seems.
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A Season of Secrets
by Fern Michaels
In search of long-lost family and a little holiday magic, a young woman and her adopted mother go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to London for Christmas in this humorous, heartwarming standalone novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels. A Simultaneous Hardcover Edition--Also Available in a Paperback Original Signing up for an ancestry report starts as a fun diversion for Ashley Chandler, but the results throw her life into upheaval. Ashley is not biologically related to the people she's always assumed were her parents. Finally, the truth emerges--Ashley was adopted, and her real birth family is in England. She's due to travel there soon to start a research position at Oxford, but first, she'll take time to try and answer the questions that matter most. Across the ocean, Emily Evans has found something shocking in a box of papers--a birth certificate that proves she has a twin. The discovery leads to hard conversations and an admission from her mother: Emily's sister was put up for private adoption, and there seems to be no way to trace her. Meanwhile Emily's father, Henry, has spent years on the run after witnessing a murder and being implicated in the crime. He's kept himself estranged from his loved ones to protect them, relying on a police officer to act as a go-between. Now these different strands start to come together, and Ashley and Emily's lives intersect in extraordinary ways. It will be a holiday season like no other, offering the chance for a remarkable family reunion, and the promise of reconciliations and joyful new beginnings . . .
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The Thoroughbreds
by Elin Hilderbrand
Class is back in session New York Times bestselling authors of The Academy Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham return with The Thoroughbreds: what has more high-stakes drama, tension, and intrigue than senior year at a New England boarding school? September at Tiffin Academy is always a heady time, especially for the senior class--sixth formers, in Tiffin-speak--a season of college applications and intense pressure, of partying hard and last hurrahs. As the chapel bells ring in students and staff, everyone has something to look forward to--but in the midst of the anticipation and excitement, nagging questions and dark secrets lurk beneath the surface... Are Tiffin's It Couple, Charley and East, on the rocks? What sparked the rift between football star Dub and his best friend Hakeem? Will Pippa Sacks, posh day student, topple the delicate social hierarchy--or wreak even worse havoc? Can Head of School Audre Robinson save her job--and the school--after a disastrous financial mistake? And what was in that email attachment Cinnamon Peters sent to Dub before she died? Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter Shelby Cunningham answer these questions and more in The Thoroughbreds, a page-turning story about friendship, treachery, ambition, and growing up, at any age.
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Threshing Day (Wing and Claw Collection)
by Rebecca Yarros
The next book in the blockbuster Empyrean series, Threshing Day contains thirteen stories starring your favorite characters and their dragons. The deluxe first edition includes sixteen beautiful original full-color illustrations by artist Joe Requeza. This breathtaking collectible is available only in the US and Canada while supplies last. Full blurb to be revealed soon
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Tom Clancy Pressure Depth
by Jack Stewart
Some secrets are best left at the bottom of the ocean. But since that's not in Jack Ryan, Jr.'s nature, he'll battle all of China to stop them from finding a weapon of immense destructive power in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Jack Ryan Jr. is on Guam to work on a project for Hendley Associates. It's a perfectly ordinary insurance matter, but trouble finds the Ryans wherever they go. So, it's no surprise when Jack's involvement with a US Navy dive team working off the coast uncovers a threat to international security. For years, rumors persisted that the Soviets had placed a device for tracking American submarines on the sea floor. By now, the technology should be outdated. But the Americans are still interested in recovering it. It's a seemingly routine mission until they make a shocking discovery: the defensive network they thought they were looking for is actually a weapon unlike anything they've ever seen. That explains the arrival of a Chinese special operations team who seem determined to get their hands on the aging tech, even if they have to kill to do it. They're sure they can handle the Americans. But they don't know Jack.
also available in audio
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The Witches of Cambridge
by Alice Hoffman
The brand-new series from the bestselling author of Practical Magic, following two brilliant young women in 1950s Cambridge, Massachusetts, as they become immersed in a mysterious secret group of witches at Radcliffe known as the Lilith Society. Once upon a time, women were drowned in the river and the only witnesses were the crows in the trees. The Puritans blamed Eve for the sins of the world. That was when we began to meet in the name of Lilith, Adam's first wife--banished for refusing to do as she was told. We Fly Together... By the 1950s, Cambridge, Massachusetts feels far removed from the legendary witch trials that marked its early days as a colony. Ava, a bright young woman from a small town in Maine, arrives for her first year at Radcliffe College. There, she meets Lauren, her opposite in every way--the wild and brazen daughter of a wealthy and well-established Cambridge family. But the two have more in common than they think. Both are recruited by the Lilith Society, a secret organization of witches at Radcliffe dating back to colonial times. As they learn more about their legacy, Ava and Lauren form a close bond that is put to the test as they learn to navigate their new power, friendship, and love. While Radcliffe seems like a safe haven, the shadow of McCarthyism looms large, an ever-present threat to the flourishing creative and intellectual life in Cambridge. And as girls from the Lilith Society begin to go missing, Ava and Lauren realize the witch trials of the past may not be as deeply buried as they once believed.
also available in audio
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Hollywood, Ending
by John Green
#1 bestselling author John Green makes his much-anticipated return to fiction with a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story about finding someone to trust in an untrustworthy world. For rising young actors Kai Laramie and Juniper Castillo, being cast in the buzzy biopic Andy Warhol Never Gets Old is the opportunity they've both been waiting for. They're on the verge of breaking out, and maybe even falling in love. Soon, the movie is blowing up, and so are their lives--in exciting, but also terrifying, ways. John Green artfully blends a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story with an unflinching examination of the insatiable attention economy. Told through dual points of view, the novel follows Kai and Juniper from the first days on location to the movie's premiere, brilliantly juxtaposing their story with the on-screen study of Warhol's life at the dawn of celebrity culture.Hollywood, Ending is a deeply observed novel about the tension between a public and a private life, and finding your safe someone to hold onto. Tender, heartbreaking, and shrewdly funny, this is a story as only John Green can tell it.
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