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Fiction A to Z January 2017
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I'll Take You There : a novel
by Wally Lamb
Film scholar Felix Funicello from Wishin' and Hopin' is confronted by the ghost of a Hollywood silent film director who invites him to revisit scenes from his past and gain insights into the lives of three women who indelibly shaped his life. 250,000 first printing.
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Moonglow : a novel
by Michael Chabon
A tale inspired by long-buried family history imparts the deathbed revelation of an ancestor's involvement in a mail-order novelty company famed for ads in mid-20th-century periodicals and the family's experiences around World War II and the space program in culturally divided regions of America. 350,000 first printing.
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| The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie FlaggElmwood Springs, Missouri, was founded in 1889 by Lordor Nordstrom and the mail-order bride he fell in love with. When he died, he was buried, like all citizens before and after him, in Still Meadows Cemetery. But it turns out that both Elmwood Springs and its cemetery have a flourishing social scene -- everyone buried there quickly "wakes up" to chit-chat and catch up with long-departed friends and family members. Tracing both communities throughout their history (and up until 2021), this is an epic family saga that combines historical detail with an intriguing set up and a teasing murder mystery. |
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| How Will I Know You? by Jessica TreadwayA month after high school senior Joy Enright disappears and is thought to have drowned, her body is found near a lake in her upstate New York hometown. But while Joy's murder (and the ensuing investigation) form the plot of this suspenseful novel, it's really the relationships among the main characters (and the role of racism in the search for justice) that keep the pages turning. Told out of chronological order and by a variety of characters who expose a web of tangled connections, this is a "smart take on 21st-century adolescence, parenting and justice" (People). |
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The House at the Edge of Night
by Catherine Banner
Four generations of women on a Mediterranean island fight to safeguard their family against the forces of history and bitterness that divide them from World War I through the 2008 recession. A first adult novel by the author of the Last Descendants trilogy.
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| Youngblood: A Novel by Matt GallagherWhile Youngblood is author Matt Gallagher's first novel, he's no stranger to writing. As a U.S. Army captain deployed to Iraq, he wrote for a popular blog that eventually formed the basis of his memoir, Kaboom. For this novel, he once again draws on his military experience to tell the story of Army lieutenant Jack Porter, who becomes dangerously obsessed with the story of a missing American soldier who had a love affair with the daughter of a local sheikh, while at the same time battling a confrontational new sergeant for command of his own men. Combining the trials of war with a mystery, this powerful debut is "one of the best modern war novels since Tim O’Brien’s Vietnam classic, The Things They Carried" (Booklist). |
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| Homegoing by Yaa GyasiThough it runs through the present day, Homegoing opens in 18th-century West Africa by introducing two half-sisters whose fates could not be more different. There's Effia, who becomes the mistress of a British slave-trader, and Esi, who survives the Middle Passage only to live out her days in bondage on an American plantation. In the centuries that follow, Effia's family witnesses the destructive legacies of British imperialism and warfare between the Fante and Asante people, while Esi's descendants live through the Civil War, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights Movement. Fans of family sagas such as Alex Haley's Roots or Annie Proulx's Barkskins will want to read this powerful debut by Ghanaian author Yaa Gyasi. |
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| Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L. RosenEvery girl needs a little black dress -- versatile, affordable, essential. And in the case of the nine women of the title, it's the same little black dress. Whether they're modeling it, borrowing it, buying and returning it, or simply trying it on, their stories are told through their association with the LBD of the season. Most of the action swirls through Manhattan landmarks such as Bloomingdales, but it expands beyond the women to the men in their lives, and beyond present-day NYC to events that took place decades ago. Quickly paced, charming, and humorous, this debut is sure to please fans looking for a grown-up version of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. |
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| Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil YapaThis gripping novel takes readers through Seattle's 1999 World Trade Organization protests through the perspectives of seven different people, all involved in different ways. There's an idealistic protester, the protective police chief, and a WTO delegate from a small and relatively powerless country, as well as a runaway pot dealer, a self-appointed medic, and a couple of cops with very different views of the protesters. Though the riots happened more than 15 years ago, this novel's take on police responsiveness to public protest is just as relevant in today's political climate. |
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| Shelter by Jung YunThough Kyung Cho makes decent money as a tenure-track professor, he and his wife Gillian have always spent more than they earned. They're now in a tough situation that may necessitate renting out their over-mortgaged house and moving in with his wealthy parents, whom Kyung holds at arm's length despite their physical proximity. But a shocking act of violence committed against his parents changes things in an instant, forcing Kyung to come to terms with the anger, resentment, and distrust he feels towards them. Emotionally complex and deftly plotted, this debut novel also addresses aspects of race and culture in modern-day America. |
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Contact your Reader Services librarians at 847-720-3280 for more great books! |
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