|
|
| All Grown Up by Jami AttenbergAndrea Bern is about to turn 40 -- and though she's got a good-enough career in advertising, she's convinced that everyone else is doing a better job at being an adult than she is. Or, at least, she's convinced that by not having the husband and the baby that provide benchmarks for adulthood (neither of which she really wants), others don't see her as properly grown up. "Deeply perceptive and dryly hilarious" (Kirkus Reviews), this novel of a woman's desire to find meaning in life is told in a series of raw and honest vignettes. Fans of stories that take place in New York City will also appreciate the dynamic setting. |
|
| The River of Kings: A Novel by Taylor BrownIn this powerful, character-driven narrative, two brothers (one a college student, the other a Navy SEAL), are kayaking down the wild Altamaha River, also known as Georgia's "Little Amazon," in order to scatter their father's ashes at sea. In addition to enduring threats from wild animals and dangerous men living along the river, the brothers question whether their father's death was accidental. Scenes from his own hard life appear within the novel, as do episodes set in 1564, when the first French settlers clashed with Native Americans in the area. The three eras -- and their sometimes deadly adventures -- provide vivid imagery of the river, creating a sort of tribute to the waterway; the novel itself has been compared both to James Dickey's Deliverance and Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain. |
|
| Sorry to Disrupt the Peace by Patty Yumi CottrellHelen Moran is 32, single, childless, and underemployed when she learns that her brother has killed himself. Like Helen, her brother was Korean; both were adopted by the same white couple, albeit from different families. As she searches their Milwaukee childhood home for answers, we see her understanding of herself is no more secure than her understanding of her brother's pain, nor is her connection to her past (she's been estranged from her adoptive family for years). Complex, clever, darkly comic, and grieving, Helen is entirely unique; this debut's treatment of suicide and those it leaves behind is done with "stunning wit, humor, and yes, tender sadness" (The Rumpus). |
|
| Exit West: A Novel by Mohsin HamidBestselling author Mohsin Hamid has been a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award (Moth Smoke) and short-listed for the Man Booker Prize (The Reluctant Fundamentalist); we're curious to see where this incredibly timely fourth novel will go. Set in an unnamed country torn apart by violence and repression, it follows two young lovers: independent Nadia, and quiet Saeed, who keep their heads down until the day comes that they must flee for their own safety. For the right price, they are allowed access to portals that lead them to a crowded refugee camp, a cramped London apartment, and a home in California. It's an interesting take on migration (instantaneous!) that those curious about the subject may enjoy exploring. |
|
| Edgar & Lucy by Victor LodatoEdgar's father died when he was a baby. Since then Edgar, now eight, has been living with his grandmother and his self-destructive mother. It's not the happiest of situations (the two women fight a lot), but it gets worse when his grandmother (and primary caregiver) dies. Saying much more than that may spoil the plot for some readers; you should know that this two-hankie book is mostly a story of loss, grief, love, and maybe a bit of madness. Engaging, realistic characters populate the dark and emotional tale, told primarily from Edgar's insightful and unusual viewpoint. |
|
|
The Underground Railroad: A Novel
by Colson Whitehead
Some authors stick to similar formulas, but Colson Whitehead never writes the same book twice. From a coming-of-age story (Sag Harbor) to a post-apocalyptic tale of zombies (Zone One), the only thing you can expect is evocative writing and sharp social commentary, plus some pop culture references and biting humor. Most of that is in play here, in an unconventional, literal take on the underground railroad. Brutally abused on the Georgia plantation where she is enslaved, Cora escapes -- only to find that the Railroad doesn't guarantee freedom. Traveling ever northward, threatened by a slave-catcher behind her and new challenges around her, Cora's journey is "hard-driving, laser-sharp, artistically superlative, and deeply compassionate" (Booklist).
|
|
|
The cauliflower : a novel
by Nicola Barker
From Man Booker-shortlisted, IMPAC Award-winning author Nicola Barker, comes an exuberant, multi-voiced new novel mapping the extraordinary life and legacy of a 19th-century Hindu saint. To the world, he is Sri Ramakrishna--godly avatar, esteemed spiritual master, beloved guru. To Rani Rashmoni, she of low caste and large inheritance, he is the brahmin fated to defy tradition. But to Hriday, his nephew and longtime caretaker, he is just Uncle--maddening, bewildering Uncle, prone to entering trances at the most inconvenient of times, known to sneak out to the forest at midnight to perform dangerous acts of self-effacement, who must be vigilantly safeguarded not only against jealous enemies and devotees with ulterior motives, but also against that most treasured yet insidious of sulfur-rich vegetables: the cauliflower. Rather than puzzling the shards of history and legend together, Barker shatters the mirror again and rearranges the pieces. The result is a biographical novel viewed through a kaleidoscope. Dazzlingly inventive and brilliantly comic, irreverent and mischievous, The Cauliflower delivers us into the divine playfulness of a twenty-first-century literary master.
|
|
| Absalom's Daughters: A Novel by Suzanne FeldmanCassie and Judith have just learned that they're sisters (well, half-sisters), and that they may be due a sizable inheritance through their wayward father. Collecting it won't be easy: Cassie is black, Judith is white, they live in Mississippi, it's the 1950s, and they must arrive in Virginia by an appointed date. Their road trip (in a stolen car) is their first step in creating their own futures, and they encounter both the grim reality of racism and the kindness of strangers. Not strictly historical fiction -- there are some elements of magical realism -- this debut novel nevertheless offers a compelling look at the Jim Crow South. |
|
|
What belongs to you
by Garth Greenwell
On an unseasonably warm autumn day, an American teacher enters a public bathroom beneath Sofia's National Palace of Culture. There he meets Mitko, a charismatic young hustler, and pays him for sex. He returns to Mitko again and again over the next few months, drawn by hunger and loneliness and risk, and finds himself ensnared in a relationship in which lust leads to mutual predation, and tenderness can transform into violence. As he struggles to reconcile his longing with the anguish it creates, he's forced to grapple with his own fraught history, the world of his southern childhood where to be queer was to be a pariah. There are unnerving similarities between his past and the foreign country he finds himself in, a country whose geography and griefs he discovers as he learns more of Mitko's own narrative, his private history of illness, exploitation, and want. Long-listed for the 2016 National Book Award in fiction, What Belongs to You is a stunning debut novel of desire and its consequences. With lyric intensity and startling eroticism, Garth Greenwell has created an indelible story about the ways in which our pasts and cultures, our scars and shames can shape who we are and determine how we love.
|
|
| Orhan's Inheritance: A Novel by Aline OhanesianDepicting a Turkish family caught up in the legacy of the Armenian genocide, this reflective novel follows Orhan, who has inherited the family's kilim rug dynasty in place of his father (breaking with tradition as well as with Turkish inheritance laws). Another surprise in his grandfather's will: the family home has been left to an unfamiliar Armenian woman living in an American nursing home. Orhan has been tasked with convincing her (and her son) to sign the house over, but Orhan is more interested in figuring out her connection to his grandfather. What he learns opens his eyes to some dark and terrible truths; while parts of the story set in 1915 are brutal, the novel ends with "a tenuous sense of hope" (Kirkus Reviews). |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Guelph Public Library at (519)-824-6220, 100 Norfolk Street Guelph, ON N1H 4J6
|
|
|
|