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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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The idiot
by Elif Batuman
Embarking on her freshman year at Harvard in the early tech days of the 1990s, a young artist and daughter of Turkish immigrants begins a correspondence with an older mathematics student from Hungary while struggling with her changing sense of self, first love and a daunting career prospect.
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| 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). |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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The tea girl of Hummingbird Lane
by Lisa See
Explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter, who has been adopted by an American couple, tracing the very different cultural factors that compel them to consume a rare native tea that has shaped their family's destiny for generations.
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Ill will : a novel
by Dan Chaon
A psychologist is unwittingly embroiled in two spectacular unsolved murders, three decades apart, when the foster brother convicted of killing their family years earlier is exonerated, making him question the testimony that led to the conviction. By the award-winning author of Among the Missing.
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One of the boys : a novel
by Daniel Magariel
Leaving Kansas with the father who won a bitter custody dispute, a 12-year-old boy and his older brother start over in Albuquerque only to be dismayed by the odd and sinister characters that make up their father's new social circle.
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Rabbit cake
by Annie Hartnett
Twelve-year-old Elvis Babbitt has a head for the facts: she knows science proves yellow is the happiest color, she knows a healthy male giraffe weighs about 3,000 pounds, and she knows that the naked mole rat is the longest living rodent. She knows she should plan to grieve her mother, who has recently drowned while sleepwalking, for exactly eighteen months. But there are things Elvis doesn’t yet know―like how to keep her sister Lizzie from poisoning herself while sleep-eating or why her father has started wearing her mother's silk bathrobe around the house. Elvis investigates the strange circumstances of her mother's death and finds comfort, if not answers, in the people (and animals) of Freedom, Alabama. As hilarious a storyteller as she is heartbreakingly honest, Elvis is a truly original voice in this exploration of grief, family, and the endurance of humor after loss.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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