The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
One list, with eight book recommendations on it, is discovered by different characters. Their interactions with each other help them to connect in meaningful ways, and invite the reader to join is as well. I loved the ending.
—Lisa, Membership Services
We Know You Remember by Tove Alsterdal
Tove Alsterdal is a find for fans of Scandinavian crime novels. We Know You Remember, her U.S. debut and second novel to be translated into English, introduces a conscientious female detective who, against the advice of colleagues, reopens 23-year-old cold case files to help prove the innocence of a young man who was wrongly convicted of a past crime and is now under suspicion in the recent death of his father. Set in a small town in rural northeast Sweden, this fast-paced and suspenseful novel is part psychological study, part police procedural.
—Karen, Information & Reader Services
Darling by K. Ancrum
A satisfying twist of Peter Pan in a contemporary Chicago setting, where fantasy meets reality with noir-like consequences.
—Lisa, Membership Services
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
A donut shop owner has a meet-cute with a violin instructor, and they slowly develop feelings for each other. The only complicating factors are that the donut shop owner is an alien outrunning a plague of nihilism, and the violin instructor sold her soul to a devil and needs to deliver just one more violin prodigy to him to escape. Meanwhile, a teen girl runs away from home, survives homelessness, and only finds joy in her violin playing in a park—which gets the attention of the instructor. The tension between all these characters, their hopes to do better, and their struggles to find meaning and hope in a time of hopelessness power the story. It's an incredibly kind and utterly original book that everyone should read.
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour
This is a hilarious satire on startup culture, the commodification of Blackness, and the way people of color have to fight to blend in and get ahead in an industry that doesn't care about them. Great if you liked the movie Sorry to Bother You.
—Julia, Information & Reader Services
Darren "Buck" Vender gets caught up in the insanity of the Somwun start-up company while trying to improve his prospects. He imparts his wisdom of all that he learned while trying to survive, and shows the consequences of his decisions while blazing the path through a new frontier.
—Lisa, Membership Services
Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews
Florence Darrow has high hopes of becoming a well-known novelist. Working as a low-level assistant at a New York publishing house, she is thrilled when she receives an offer to work for her favorite author. She jumps at the chance to upgrade her status and live the life her mother always envisioned for her. However, the one caveat is that she must not reveal her boss’s identity. Can she keep the secret? This is a perfectly paced thriller by newcomer, Alexandra Andrews! You will not want to put this book down, as there are surprising twists and turns around every corner.
—Jayme, Administration
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Briseis has an uncanny ability to nurture plant life. When she inherits a mysterious estate full of unusual surprises, she discovers her ancient and powerful lineage. I love the descriptions of the various plants and the way they react to her presence, as well as the way she reacts to them.
—Lisa, Membership Services
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
I don't even know how to describe this one. It's about being a lesbian, it's about having mother issues, it's about having body issues, it's about finding comfort through someone else. It's a tough read and a little bit twisted, which I like, but I think Broder depicts body issues and how it permeates one's everyday life in a way that's both funny and powerful.
—Julia, Information & Reader Services
Rachel carries the weight of her emotionally abusive mother and a resultant eating disorder. Then her therapist persuades her to put her maternal relationship on hold and, in the meantime, she meets Miriam, who carries the weight of her religious family and her literally large body, but does so quite happily. Rachel finds herself letting go, hanging on, exploring a new territory of emotional connections. Broder’s novels are offbeat and smart.
—Catherine, Technical Services
Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi
Jayne and June are two estranged sisters living in New York City. June is wealthy with a fancy finance job, and Jayne is barely scraping by with fashion school, bad anxiety, and an eating disorder she isn't dealing with. The sisters are brought together, suddenly living with each other, when June is diagnosed with uterine cancer. Jayne and June are two of my favorite characters I've read about in a while; they feel so lived-in, and I adore their relationship and their crazy sister dialog.
—Kelly, Youth Services
A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark
Cairo, 1912. Agent Fatma, who works for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities, tries to find out how the members of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Al-Jahiz died so mysteriously and why. She encounters djinn, thieves, angels, and a new partner. It was an exceedingly satisfying investigation from beginning to end.
—Lisa, Membership Services
The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan
A Jewish inspirational romance! A young rabbi with a flagging congregation and a sex-positive startup owner work together on a daring Modern Intimacy workshop series—it'll attract young people to his shul and clean up her start-up's image. But things start to go wrong when their series goes viral and they can't fight their attraction to each other.
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
I've read other books by Laura Dave and really liked Eight Hundred Grapes. I wasn't sure that this one would appeal to me, though, as mysteries aren't my usual genre. I'm glad that I decided to read it, and since then, I've been recommending it to everyone! The Last Thing He Told Me is a page turner! Hannah, a new wife is trying to figure out why her husband disappeared and left her and his daughter. Together, the two embark on a journey to discover what happened. The plot will keep you reading into the night. It's a great book to curl up with during a snowy weekend or while on vacation.
—Beth, Administration
Paradise, Nevada by Dario Diofebi
The novel begins with a bomb going off in a Las Vegas resort and casino. It then flashes back six months to tell the story of four very different characters whose lives will eventually converge that night. There's Ray, the high stakes professional poker player; Mary Ann, the depressed cocktail waitress; Tom, an Italian tourist who overstays his visa to stay a gambler in America; and Lindsay, a journalist who'd rather have a literary career. The author really is an Italian who played professional high stakes poker, and that authenticity shows. Additionally, the writing is lively, the characters read as fleshed out people you really care about, and the story is genuinely suspenseful. Highly recommended!
—Michelle, Technical Services
For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing
Teddy Crutcher is teacher of the year at the exclusive private school Belmont Academy. His only goal is to help his students fulfill their potential greatness at any cost. When other teachers and colleagues get in his way, he decides that he must teach them a lesson. Does that make him a murderer or savior? For Your Own Good is an unputdownable, unpredictable, twisty thriller. It is so completely original, quirky, and creepy. Prepare to fall in love with the characters, even though you should hate them. The short chapters further the plot with every turn of the page and the cat and mouse game is so completely addicting!
—Jayme, Administration
Mrs. March by Virginia Feito
Mrs. March is a self-proclaimed observer who is caught up in appearances. She even married her husband because everyone said he was the most attractive man on campus. But, who is George March? How well does she really know her husband? When Mrs. March visits her favorite shop for her usual loaf of olive bread, the shopkeeper insinuates that the main character in her husband’s new best-selling book is based on her. Mrs. March is horrified! How can that be? George’s book is about a prostitute, right? Why would he humiliate her like that? Or did he? You see, she hasn’t read the book. Mrs. March snoops around in George’s office for clues about herself in his book and comes across an article he saved about a woman who was recently murdered. She soon becomes increasingly convinced that she doesn’t really know her husband. Could he be capable of murder? Virginia Feito’s Hitchcockian, character driven, suspenseful, dark psychological thriller will keep you guessing until the very last page. Mrs. March is an expertly flawed complex character. This is one of those books that makes you think, What did I just read? What just happened? What is real? What is imagined?
—Jayme, Administration
Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale by Tim Fielder
This brilliant graphic novel presents a vibrant narrative in powerful images that left me stunned in admiration.
—Lisa, Membership Services
Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
Based on a real-life accused witch whose son is a still a household name four hundred years later (hint: his first name is Johannes), this story was a lot of fun because its portrayal of small-town life really rang true to me, an originally small-town reader. Rivka Galchen is one of my favorite writers.
—Catherine, Technical Services
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney
Quinn's journal, full of lists about very private thoughts, is misplaced. It's found by another student at her school who starts posting it online. As Quinn tries to find out who her blackmailer is, she hooks up with some new friends who help her discover her true self. It's full of surprises, and lots of love.
—Lisa, Membership Services
The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
One of many books re-imagining mythology through the points of view of female characters, this book looks at the story of Angrboda and following her perspective through Ragnarok. Great read if you're a fan of Madeline Miller or Norse mythology.
—Julia, Information & Reader Services
The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel
A gripping World War II story about a young woman who helps others evade the Nazis by surviving in the forest. The book opens with an old woman stealing a young child from her German parents in the middle of the night. I found the beginning of the book weak, but the book gets better! The woman and the child live in the forest where the young child grows up learning how to survive in the wilderness. When she's older and now on her own as the old woman has died, she comes across groups hiding from the Nazis and uses her skills and knowledge of the forest to help them survive. It's a good story!
—Beth, Administration
When You Look Like Us by Pamela N. Harris
Jay Murphy can't stop blaming himself about his sister Nicole's disappearance. As he frantically tries to find her, his life tips from one crisis to another. Luckily, he has several people to help him through all those challenges, and he discovers an alternative path he can choose in life.
—Lisa, Membership Services
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
The men of the Trojan War have always been called heroes, but what about the women? In this story all women: Trojan and Greek, Goddess and Mortal, get their stories told, no matter how short they are. I hope this trend of telling the women of the Iliad's stories continue because I find them the most interesting. Also great on audiobook!
—Michelle, Information & Reader Services
Bacchanal by Veronica Henry
Eliza Meeks joins a mysterious and sinister carnival that travels across the South during the Depression. When her own supernatural heritage is revealed, she discovers her powers and follows her destiny to its gripping finale.
—Lisa, Membership Services
The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
Two sisters. Two versions of the truth.
Rose and Fern are fraternal twin sisters, each with their own personality. Rose is responsible, while Fern is quirky. They have always looked out for one another, especially from their overbearing mother. When Rose is unable to get pregnant, Fern decides to become her surrogate in order to give her the baby that she desires. However, Fern soon realizes that Rose may not be looking out for Fern’s best interests. Rose is hiding secrets that could change everything. The Good Sister is an absolutely unputdownable fast-paced thriller with many cleverly crafted twists. Prepare to fall in love with all the characters. Hepworth masterfully deals with issues of abuse, sensory disorders, and sibling rivalry.
—Jayme, Administration
The Removed by Brandon Hobson
A Cherokee family consisting of aging parents—one with Alzheimer’s—and two adult children plans a memorial bonfire in honor of the third child, who died by a police shooting. While the two remaining children make their own journeys, the parents take in a foster child who begins to seem preternatural. Heartfelt and strange, this book kept me thinking even after I finished it.
—Catherine, Technical Services
The Moon, the Stars, and Madame Burova by Ruth Hogan
If you haven't read anything by Hogan, you're in for a treat. Hogan writes once again of quirky British characters who come together as family in this heartening novel.
—Laurie, Information & Reader Services
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
This book got plenty of attention and may need no introduction. Ishiguro isn’t strictly a science fiction writer, but he goes where his interests take him. Here, Klara is an Artificial Friend who allows Ishiguro to explore what emotional needs humans are hoping to fill with AI, and what emotional needs AI may have. Another great book from a great writer.
—Catherine, Technical Services
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
A real family saga—the kind with a family tree at the front—this book covers several generations, but focuses on Ailey Pearl Garfield, born in 1973. Ailey lives in the city but spends her summers with her mother’s family in Chicasetta, Georgia, where they have lived for generations, beginning when some members were kidnapped in Africa. As Ailey grows up, continues her education, and begins to find her way in the world, the past echoes around her, through older relatives still living and some long dead. As she eventually discovers history work at the university level, the book rolls in an academic mystery just as a bonus. This is a long book, but I’m hoping for additional ones about some of the characters whose stories don’t get told here, like sister Coco and cousin Veronica.
—Catherine, Technical Services
After the Rain by John Jennings, David Brame, Nnedi Okorafor
This was my first introduction to Nnedi Okorafor's extraordinary writing. I was inspired to read the collection, Kabu-Kabu, that this story came from. Jennings does an excellent job of catching her rare imagination.
—Lisa, Membership Services
Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson
A beautiful sad sweet story about two young women, Olivia and Toni, who collide at a music festival. I was touched by their personal stories, and felt uplifted by the ending.
—Lisa, Membership Services
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (Indian Lake Trilogy #1)
Part horror, part mystery, part coming-of-age, part revenge, quarts of blood, and a whole lot of school essays about slasher films—it doesn't sound like it should work, but it absolutely does. Jade is a slasher devotee, and believes she sees the signs of a classic slasher film in the making around her small town of Proofrock. Now she just has to figure out how to get people to take it seriously while also protecting the perfect new Final Girl that she's sure the killer will target. What happens when it turns out that she's right, and that no one else can help?
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi (Jaipur Trilogy, #2)
For those who love stories about beautiful India, I recommend the "Jaipur Trilogy Series" by Alka Joshi. In The Henna Artist, Lakshi, a seventeen-year-old courageous woman escapes from an abusive marriage and moves to Jaipur, the pink city, to become the best henna artist in town and confidante of the wealthy women. However, gossip and the sudden surprise of an unknown sister threaten her dreams of becoming an independent woman. In The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, Lakshmi now moves to the foothills of the Himalayan mountains and marries Dr. Kumar. Her protégé, Malik, is now back in Jaipur working on the construction of a movie theater that tragically collapses. Corruption is the main cause and Lakshmi reveals the secrets of Jaipur, so justice prevails during this scandal. I cannot wait to read The Perfumist of Paris which will be released in 2023!
—Cary, Administration
On the Origin of Species and Other Stories by Bo-Young Kim
If you like science fiction and you're not reading Bo-Young Kim, something has gone horribly wrong with your life. But don't worry this is reversible if you hurry. Bo-Young Kim is like Ted Chiang for people who liked the non-science parts of Liu Cixin, except less sexist. Her stories are thoughtful and fascinating and moving, and my favorite was about robots trying to invent biology by trying to prove that organic matter counts as life. It's a horribly stereotypical statement, but her stories really do ask what it means to be human, and I'd recommend this to anyone who likes Ted Chiang.
—Julia, Information & Reader Services
The War for Gloria by Atticus Lish
Teenaged Corey Goltz lives with his mom, Gloria, in the working-class outskirts of Boston. They aren't rich, but they get by. Gloria once had big dreams, but they got derailed in college when she met Corey's father, Leonard, and got pregnant. Leonard, an MIT security guard and self-proclaimed physics genius with questionable morals, eventually disappears from their lives, but he reappears when Gloria receives a diagnosis of ALS when Corey is fifteen. This return is not good news. This is a brutal, raw and devastating book. Reading about Corey and Gloria's struggles to survive through unbearable circumstances left me in tears. Additionally, the author's mother was diagnosed with ALS when he was a teenager, and the authenticity shows. Lish holds nothing back, and the book is all the better for it.
—Michelle, Technical Services
Reprieve by James Han Mattson
A literary fiction glimpsed between the moments of a courtroom drama. The book opens with court documents showing that something terrible has happened inside a full-contact haunted house that offers a prize to those who can finish without saying the safe word "reprieve". Finding out whodunnit, what they did, and why takes a backseat to fully exploring the characters that went into the house, their obsessions, and their connections with each other.
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
This page-turner pits a small African village against a big American company that is polluting their land. When children get sick and start dying, and the men who set out to plead their case disappear, the villagers resort to kidnapping. And that’s just the beginning of the attempts to save the village, which stretch out over years. Some of the children grow up in the struggle. This book deals with problems of environmental degradation that happen the world over, but its language was a pleasure to read.
—Catherine, Technical Services
Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children #6)
It's the latest book in her Wayward Children series, but each one generally acts as a solid standalone. I'm a big fan of this series, which is a love letter to every book featuring a child being whisked away on a fantastical adventure. If you loved books like Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz or any such books, I definitely recommend the series as a whole.
—Julia, Information & Reader Services
In by Will McPhail
*Lady Gaga meme* Brilliant, phenomenal, fantastic, genius. McPhail is a stupidly talented cartoonist, his book is funny as hell and heartwarming, the use of color and lineart is phenomenal, I bought a copy of my own like days after I read this. It's about connecting with people, about overcoming the rituals that dictate everyday life and forging a real relationship with people, it's about opening up in turn, read this book or else.
—Julia, Information & Reader Services
When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
It's horror set at a modern-day plantation wedding, where the main character Mira is one of two black people invited—you know where this is going, right? Actually, you might not. McQueen keeps you on your toes the whole way through, leaning into standard horror tropes one minute and dodging them the next. It perfectly blends the horrors of the supernatural and the horrors of humanity. And at under 250 pages, it's short enough to keep you completely invested the whole way through.
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body by Megan Milks
If you've ever had a difficult relationship with your body, this is a book for you. It's several things at once, and all of them are weird. At first, it's a satire of middle-grade book series with can-do heroines that never age, with this club having a regular client who's a disembodied brain. But what happens if you're a regular person and you do age, and it changes your body, your friends, and your relationships in ways that you hate? If you're Margaret, you develop an eating disorder. The second part is an insiders' view of an eating disorder recovery clinic, haunted by ghosts mental and real, which lets you out once you go on a carnival-ride tour of a body. The third part tears away the fantastic and turns into a fictionalized memoir of Milks, using Margaret as a mouthpiece. This is a fantastic example of using unreality to make something more powerful and honest than the strictly real—because of the fun and whimsy of the first two sections, the third section hits particularly hard. Anyone who's struggled with their physical self will find something that resonates with them in this book.
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
The Night Singer by Johanna Mo
A police detective returns to her hometown in this novel set on the Swedish island of Öland. Hanna Duncker returns to Öland to join their police force, though she's not exactly eagerly welcomed back, as her father was found guilty of brutally murdering an old woman when she was a teenager. After a local teenage boy is found dead, Hanna and her very chatty new partner have to solve the case. What I loved about this book was its focus on the humanity of all the characters, from victim to police to perpetrator. There are no monsters in this book—just deeply flawed people. The real standout for me, though, was Mo's decision to show us the teenage victim's entire last day over the course of the book. By the time I reached the end, I was in tears. A deeply satisfying psychological mystery.
—Michelle, Technical Services
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno
A man who just lost his wife mourns her passing while also trying to figure out what caused it. His smart speaker talks to people who aren't there and orders mysterious packages. He hears scratches through the walls and feels himself sleepwalk. Some sinister presence is haunting him, but the lines of reality start to bend as he investigates what it might be.
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris
Alex Rufus is cursed with visions of the future. When he sees a fatal ending for his brother Isaiah, he questions the choices he made in a previous tragedy, and tries to make better ones this time. The powerful ending was unforgettable.
—Lisa, Membership Services
Summerwater by Sarah Moss
For holiday, several families are staying in cabins on a loch where there’s no cell service and it’s raining a lot, even for Scotland. Very subtly, we start to feel that something isn’t quite right. This book is a good one for those who like books that are unsettling but not outright scary. It’s a short novel told in a stream-of-consciousness style, but every chapter is told from a different character’s point of view. The book didn’t end like I thought it would—and that was probably the point!
—Catherine, Technical Services
Hot Stew by Fiona Mozley
Gentrification is stalking London’s Soho neighborhood, as a wealthy building owner attempts to evict the residents, and the residents fight back. This book is like a group portrait of a close-knit neighborhood. If you like books with a large cast of characters, like Deacon King Kong or The Great Believers, check this one out.
—Catherine, Technical Services
Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza
A new mystery author! Suburban New Jersey mom Andie Stern stumbles into a gas station murder scene when one of her kids has to pee—which she proceeds to do, all over the place. Well, good thing that before mom life, Andie was a top profiler. And good thing that she can team up with down-on-his-luck reporter (and former classmate) Kenneth Lee. The diverse cast of characters makes this mystery a lot of fun, as does Andie’s inner seething, which is worthy of any hardboiled detective who doesn’t have to usher five kids safely through life while also catching killers.
—Catherine, Technical Services
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
A great debut novel, it is both a spooky and tense thriller. What do you get when you have estranged siblings meeting at a remote hotel which once was a sanatorium, run by siblings who have different vested interest? You get a cat and mouse game of who is telling the truth, what are they hiding, who will survive.
—Stephanie, Information & Reader Services
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
The Lost Apothecary takes the reader between the past and the present as two very different women grapple with their identity after being betrayed by the men they love. What secrets does the old apothecary vile hold, is it linked to murder? Will an aspiring historian be able to piece together the past while finding a new future for herself?
—Stephanie, Information & Reader Services
The Five Wounds: A Novel by Kirstin Valdez Quade
A matriarch oversees the lives of her troubled, adult children and grandchildren in their tiny New Mexico town. Of particular concern is her son, Amadeo, who struggles with employment, addiction, his teenage daughter, and relationships. Life is just hard for him. When he receives the high honor of portraying Jesus in the town's Good Friday procession, he sees this as his chance to redeem himself in the eyes of others and himself. Though I inwardly groaned at some of his dubious choices, I loved this family. I was sorry to leave them.
—Cynthia, Youth Services
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
A great follow up to Normal People, Rooney's next entry is another millennial-centric slice of life. Following novelist Alice and her best friend Eileen through a series of meetings and emails, we watch the two grow in relationships and come to terms with an ever-tumultuous world. This is especially poignant as a (somewhat) post Covid-19 novel.
—Marissa, Youth Services
Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell (Simon Snow trilogy, book 3)
I love this series on audiobook. This emotional conclusion was rocky and challenging, but absolutely worth the read. Beautiful characters with layers of emotion and experience. Includes some potentially triggering scenes.
—Heidi, Administration
The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan
This delightful book features four British women during World War II who compete in a cooking contest. They can only use ingredients from the rationing guidelines set up by the government. Reading about their triumphs, and mishaps, was a treat. I love that the author included their recipes.
—Lisa, Membership Services
Meet Me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey
Two strangers keep meeting each other over separate lifetimes in the same city. Once they realize their connection, they set out to find the reason behind it. Along the way, they find out what happens when you know someone completely in all their contexts—you start to not know where one person ends and the other begins.
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford
The day I heard that this novel had been nominated for the Booker Prize, I felt lucky to find it on the New Fiction shelf and checked it out. The book was inspired by a plaque the author saw in London as he walked to work. The plaque commemorated the 168 people who died in the 1944 bombing of a South London Woolworths store. Fifteen of the victims were children who “lost their chance to experience the rest of the twentieth century,” Spufford writes. After a brief description of the bombing, Spufford imagines how the lives of five of these children might’ve turned out if they’d lived, visiting them at 15-year intervals till 2009.
—Karen, Information & Reader Services
Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater (Dreamer Trilogy, book 2)
I can’t even talk about this book, it was so good! I can say I didn’t like the audiobook. The narrator was fantastic with the Raven Cycle, but his English accent for Hennessy, Jordan, et al., is distracting. I can’t wait for the 3rd book!
—Heidi, Administration
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
A romantic farce featuring meddling family, a romantic encounter from the past, and one woman trying desperately to do her job and hide a dead body. I thought the book was delightful, and I especially loved the maternal relationships explored between the protagonist and her many aunts.
—Julia, Information & Reader Services
Lady Joker. Volume 1 by Kaoru Takamura
This slowly unfolding crime novel was hard to put down, and I'm eagerly anticipating volume 2 so I can find out what happens! First the characters are set up—the men who form a criminal crime ring at a racetrack, and the beer company executive who becomes their kidnapping victim—then the crime is executed, and by the end the screws are starting to tighten as the kidnappers pull the threads to extract their payment, while police and journalists circle for clues. This book is great for fans of the shows "The Wire" and "Luck."
—Catherine, Technical Services
There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura
This novel tells the story of a young, unnamed woman in Japan who, after suffering from career burnout, works a series of unusual jobs in search of something altogether different and more meaningful. These jobs, which include observing an author suspected of criminal activity for hours at a time via a hidden camera feed and writing an advice column which appears on rice cracker wrappers, are monotonous and bizarre and yet somehow riveting to read about. Ultimately, this is a book about how we live and how we spend our lives, and I found it incredibly moving.
—Michelle, Technical Services
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
A serial killer lives inside the last house on Needless Street. Or does he? What secrets lie buried in the forest? This is a very dark and uncomfortable read told by multiple unreliable narrators (one is even a cat!) It will mess with your sense of time and place and have you questioning everything you think you know and understand. Things are not always as they seem. Meet Ted.
—Jayme, Administration
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead switches gears (again) and gives us a crime thriller / sociogram of civil rights-era Harlem. Think Langston Hughes meets Frank Miller.
—Chad, Administration
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
If you ever wondered what the perfect intersection of literary fiction and romance is, it's this book. Two deeply troubled teens met 15 years ago, spend an unforgettable week together, and leave with the path of their lives forever changed. In the present day, they meet up again as fellow authors and start to discover that their feelings for each other are complicated, but haven't lost any passion at all.
—Katie, Information & Reader Services
Covet by Tracy Wolff (Crave, book 3)
The Crave series is a moody, fun, dark high-school vampire/dragon/werewolf boarding school romantic series, reminiscent of Twilight with some overt references to that series. Book 4 comes out in February and Book 5 in May!
—Heidi, Administration
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
The unnamed mother has given up her art career to be a stay-at-home mom to her toddler son, and she is less than thrilled about it. While her husband is away at work all week every week, the mother starts experiencing confusing feelings of rage and developing canine impulses. She believes she is turning into a dog. This novel is a fascinating, brutal, and vital commentary on modern motherhood.
—Kelly, Youth Services
