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"It's in literature that true life can be found. It's under the mask of fiction that you can tell the truth." ~ Chinese author Gao Xingjian
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New and Recently Released!
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| The Turner House by Angela FlournoyThe Turner family has owned their home on Detroit's East Side for more than 50 years, but their traditionally black, working-class neighborhood has deteriorated and they now owe more on their mortgage than the building is worth. Focusing on three of the 13 Turner siblings, this engaging family saga traces both family and social history, incorporating flashbacks of their now-deceased father's early years in Detroit after the Great Migration. If you enjoyed the sweep of history found in Ayana Mathis' The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, you'll likely enjoy this engrossing, character-driven debut as well. |
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| Girl Underwater by Claire KellsA plane crashes in a Rocky Mountains lake, leaving only five survivors. One is 19-year-old college swimmer Avery Delacorte, along with her teammate Colin Shea; the others are three small, now-orphaned boys. Scenes from their five days in the dangerous, icy wilderness alternate with scenes from Avery's life post-rescue, where she fights to regain equilibrium, refuses to accept a diagnosis of PTSD, and battles new phobias of airports and water. Though the ordeal in the sub-zero temperatures of the Colorado wilderness is suspenseful, the real appeal of this debut novel is Avery and her tenuous, difficult recovery. |
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| Oh! You Pretty Things by Shanna MahinThis engaging debut follows the story of 29-year-old Jess Dunne, daughter of a fame-hungry failed actress, who's reaching for success in Hollywood herself. Trying to bounce back from a divorce, she takes a job as a personal assistant and chef to a demanding celebrity, which keeps her more than busy -- and allows readers to see Tinseltown stardom from Jess' snarky, sardonic seat in the fringes. But when her best friend suffers a crisis and her narcissistic mother returns to L.A., Jess will have to stop basking in the reflected glow of Hollywood and confront the consequences of her actions. |
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| The Children's Crusade by Ann PackerThere are four adult Blair children, though there were only supposed to be three. At some point after the birth of the unexpected fourth child, mother Penny decided her art career was more important than her family; this decision, of course, has long-lasting consequences. When the youngest child, unsettled James, returns home as an adult, his visit unlocks old secrets and resentments. Narrated in first- and third-person from the point of view of all four kids, The Children's Crusade is a moving tale of family intimacy and dysfunction. |
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| The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story... by Sydney PaduaNow for something completely different: a graphic novel (originally a webcomic) set in Victorian England, featuring real historical figures and the (not really very true at all) story of the world's first computer. As envisioned in this book, Ada Lovelace (who in real life died not long after writing the first paper on computer science) and Charles Babbage (who created, but never built, the first calculating machine) fight crime and financial collapse using a steam-powered Analytical Engine. Tidbits of actual history along with dynamic drawings and plenty of wit and whimsy make this "an early candidate for the year's best" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Celebrate Asian-Pacific Heritage Month |
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The Lowland: A Novel
by Jhumpa Lahiri
Born just fifteen months apart, Subhash and Udayan Mitra are inseparable brothers, often mistaken for the other in the Calcutta neighborhood where they grow up. But they are also opposites, with gravely different futures ahead. Masterly suspenseful, sweeping, piercingly intimate, The Lowland is a work of great beauty and complex emotion; an engrossing family saga and a story steeped in history that spans generations and geographies.
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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng“Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.” So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand.
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China Dolls: A Novel
by Lisa See
It's 1938 in San Francisco; a world's fair is preparing to open on Treasure Island, a war is brewing overseas, and the city is alive with possibilities. Grace, Helen, and Ruby, three young women from very different backgrounds, meet by chance and become fast friends. As they overcome their respective pasts to audition for showgirl roles at an exclusive San Francisco nightclub, they rely on each other for survival to reach their dreams.
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I'll Be Right There: A Novel
by Kyæong-suk Sin
Set in 1980s South Korea amid the tremors of political revolution, I'll Be Right There follows Jung Yoon, a highly literate, 20-something woman as is forced to re-live the most intense period of her life, including the death of her beloved mother, first love and friendship, when she receives a distressing phone call from her ex-boyfriend after eight years of separation. The LA Times declares, "I'll Be Right There is a hopeful work about the power of art, friendship and empathy to provide meaning to people's lives."
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Diamond Head: A Novel
by Cecily Wong
At the turn of the nineteenth century, Frank Leong, a fabulously wealthy shipping industrialist, moves his family from China to the island of Oahu. When Frank is murdered, his family is thrown into a perilous downward spiral. Told through the eyes of the Leong's secret-keeping daughter and wives and spanning the Boxer Rebellion, Pearl Harbor, and 1960s Hawaii, Diamond Head is an exploration of love, lies, loss, and -- most astounding of all -- hope.
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Read Along with Us! Book Clubs @ HPL
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Literary & Classics Book Club
Monday, May 18, 6:30 PM
Heights Neighborhood Library, Meeting Room
Discuss a classic title or a work by a contemporary master. May selection is Bark by Lorrie Moore.
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Collier Regional Library Book Club
Thursday, May 21, 1 PM
Collier Regional Library, Conference Room
You are invited to join in a lively discussion for adults. May selection is Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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Meyer Neighborhood Library Book Club
Thursday, May 21, 1 PM
Meyer Neighborhood Library
Join us for a lively discussion of Taking Eve by Iris Johansen.
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Looscan Neighborhood Library Book Lovers
Thursday, May 21, 2 PM
Looscan Neighborhood Library, Conference Room
Join us for a lively discussion of The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell.
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Not Your Mama's Book Club
Thursday, May 21, 6 PM
Bracewell Neighborhood Library, Conference Room
Join us for a discussion of Wild by Cheryl Strayed.
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Kendall Neighborhood Library Book Club
Tuesday, May 26, 1 PM
Kendall Neighborhood Library, 1st Floor Meeting Room
Join the discussion with the Kendall Book Club, celebrating 25 years of reading and talking about books. This month's selection is The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan.
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Heights Neighborhood Library Readers Group
Monday, June 1, 6:15 PM
Heights Neighborhood Library, Meeting Room
Book discussion of Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris.
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Roaring 20s/30s Book Club
Wednesday, June 3, 6:30 PM
Heights Neighborhood Library, Meeting Room
Join us for a book club geared for young adults, ages 25 to 35. June's selection is The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro.
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Kendall Neighborhood Library Mystery Book Club
Thursday, June 4, 1 PM
Kendall Neighborhood Library, 1st Floor Meeting Room
Join us for a lively discussion of Cop Town by Karen Slaughter.
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Book It! Book Club
Saturday, June 6, 2 PM
Oak Forest Neighborhood Library, Conference Room
Join us for a book discussion of best seller and popular fiction. June's selection is The Boy in the Suticase by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis.
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Classic Literature Book Club
Tuesday, June 9, Noon
Central Library, Room 479
Do your reading tendencies lean toward the classics? If you enjoy reading and discussing classic literature, please join us to discuss Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene.
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Ring Neighborhood Library Mystery Book Club
Thursday, June 11, 1 PM
Ring Neighborhood Library, Meeting Room
Join us for a discussion of Vertigo 42 by Martha Grimes.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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