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The Chestnut Man
by Soren Sveistrup
Mystery: A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen. His calling card is a "chestnut man"--a handmade doll-which he leaves at each bloody crime scene. Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery, a fingerprint belonging to a government minister's daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago. To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must piece together the Chestnut Man's gruesome clues.
Recommended by Lisa, Ewing Branch
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Other Birds
by Sarah Addison Allen
Fiction: Right off the coast of South Carolina, on Mallow Island, The Dellawisp sits--a stunning cobblestone building shaped like a horeshoe and named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside [their] human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy. When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother's apartment on Mallow Island, she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a girl on the run, two estranged middle-aged sisters, a lonely chef, a legendary writer, and three ghosts. Each with their own story, each with their own longings, each whose ending isn't written yet--
Recommended by Patricia, Hickory Corner Branch
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Darling Girls
by Sally Hepworth
Fiction: Get ready for another twisty domestic thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of THE SOULMATE. From the outside, Alicia, Jessica and Norah might seem like ordinary women you'd meet on the street any day of the week. Sure, Jessica has a little OCD and Norah has some anger issues. And Alicia has low self-esteem that manifests itself in surprising ways. But these three have a bond that no one can fully understand. It's a bond that takes them back decades, to when they were girls, and they lived on a farm with a foster mother named Miss Fairchild. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild, and they thought they were free. But the reach of someone with such power is long, and even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When bones are discovered buried under the farmhouse of their childhood, they are called in by the police to tell what they know. Against their will, they are brought back to the past, and to Miss Fairchild herself. DARLING GIRLS asks the questions: what are we capable of when in a desperate place? How much can we hide the demons inside us? And can the past ever truly be buried?
Recommended by Liz, Hightstown Memorial Branch
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Midnight at the Houdini
by Delilah S. Dawson
Young Adult Fiction: Anna enters a surreal hotel where no one ever leaves, and when the clock strikes midnight, she will be trapped there forever, unless she decides to break all her rules to break free from its magic.
Recommended by Alyssa, Hollowbrook Branch
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In Love & Trouble: Stories of Black Women
by Alice Walker
Short Stories: Short fiction about the female experience from the New York Times best-selling author of The Color Purple, one of the best American writers of today.
Recommended by Anna, Hopewell Branch
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Girls on the Rise
by Amanda Gorman
Easy Non-fiction: An electrifying picture book by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman Who are we? We are a billion voices, bright and brave; we are light, standing together in the fight. Girls are strong and powerful alone, but even stronger when they work to uplift one another. In this galvanizing original poem by presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, girls and girlhood are celebrated in their many forms, all beautiful, not for how they look but for how they look into the face of fear. Creating a rousing rallying cry with vivid illustrations by Love is Wise, Gorman reminds us how girls have shaped our history while marching boldly into the future.
Recommended by Lauren, Lawrence Headquarters Branch
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The Teller of Small Fortunes
by Julie Leong
Science Fiction: A fortune teller finds an unexpected family on her journeys in this heartwarming and charming fantasy debut. Tao, an immigrant fortune teller, lives in a wagon and roams the dusty outskirts of the kingdom of Eshtera. Fleeing a troubled past, she travels between villages telling only small fortunes: whether it will hail next Thursday; what boy will kiss which barmaid; when the cow will calve. Big fortunes come with big consequences...which she wants to avoid at all costs. Life on the road can be lonely but, to Tao's surprise, companionship comes unexpectedly. She encounters Mash and Silt, an ex-mercenary and semi-reformed thief; the oddball pair endear themselves to Tao and enlist her in the search for Mash's lost daughter. Next the trio finds Kina, a brilliant baker, with a knead for adventure. And, finally, Fidelitus rounds out their party, a cat smart enough to mark the travelers as ready suppliers of fish. As they journey together across Eshtera, confronting small-minded villagers and philosophizing trolls alike, Tao's unlikely new friends break down her walls and unravel her secrets. Ultimately, Tao must decide what's more important: her hard-won freedom, or reuniting a family not her own
Recommended by Jamie, Robbinsville Branch
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Last Twilight in Paris
by Pam Jenoff
Fiction: London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before, when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe--and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war. Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history. The necklace leads them to discover the dark history of Lévitan--a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi prison, and Helaine, a woman who was imprisoned there, torn apart from her husband when the Germans invaded France. Louise races to find the connection between the necklace, the department store and Franny's death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever. Inspired by the true story of Lévitan, Last Twilight in Paris is both a gripping mystery and an unforgettable story about sacrifice, resistance and the power of love to transcend in even the darkest hours.
Recommended by Hope, Twin Rivers Branch
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Fantastic Four / Iron Man: Big in Japan
by Book Author
Graphic Novel: While attending the opening of Tokyo's new Kaiju Museum, a museum chronicling the many monsters that have ravaged Tokyo through the years, the Fantastic Four and Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, find themselves suddenly defending the city once again from hordes of monsters
Recommended by Dennis, West Windsor Branch
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Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books
by Kirsten Miller
Fiction: When Lula Dean, trying to rid public libraries of "pornographic" books, starts her own lending library in front of her home, Lindsay, the daughter of Lula's arch nemesis, sneaks in nightly, secretly filling it with banned books wrapped in "wholesome" dust jackets, changing the lives of those who borrow them in unexpected ways.
Recommended by Ellen, Library Director
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Mercer County Library System
2751 Brunswick Pike Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648 609-882-9246
https://mcl.org
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