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Fiction A to Z October 2018
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| Ordinary People by Diana EvansSet in: South London and its suburbs, and featuring two couples during a year of relationship crises.
Why you might like it: Pop culture and historical moments (John Legend's music, the election of Barack Obama) populate this tale of modern life.
For fans of: Zadie Smith's multicultural NW, or Richard Yates' mid-life crisis novel Revolutionary Road. |
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War of the Wolf
by Bernard Cornwell
Traces the warrior Uhtred of Bebbanburg's struggles with duty, devotion and treachery as he returns to the frontlines to battle for the destiny of England. By the New York Times best-selling author of The Flame Bearer 100,000 first printing. TV tie-in
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The Dream Daughter
by Diane Chamberlain
Learning that her unborn child has a heart defect, a 1970s family woman is urged by her physicist brother-in-law to pursue a solution that pushes the boundaries of science and faith. By the New York Times best-selling author of The Silent Sister.
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Rose Gallagher might dream of bigger things, but she’s content enough with her life as a housemaid. After all, it’s not every girl from Five Points who gets to spend her days in a posh Fifth Avenue brownstone, even if only to sweep its floors. But all that changes on the day her boss, Mr. Thomas Wiltshire, disappears. Rose is certain Mr. Wiltshire is in trouble, but the police treat his disappearance as nothing more than the whims of a rich young man behaving badly. Meanwhile, the friend who reported him missing is suspiciously unhelpful. With nowhere left to turn, Rose takes it upon herself to find her handsome young employer. The investigation takes her from the marble palaces of Fifth Avenue to the sordid streets of Five Points. When a ghostly apparition accosts her on the street, Rose begins to realize that the world around her isn’t at all as it seems―and her place in it is about to change forever.--from Amazon
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The Secrets We Carried
by Mary McNear
Years after a high school tragedy, successful Chicago writer Quinn LaPointe returns home to Butternut Lake to find both old friends and old flames have changed and are harboring secrets. By a New York Times best-selling author.
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| The Golden State by Lydia KieslingStarring: anxious mother Daphne, who struggles to raise her young daughter alone when her husband is barred from returning to the U.S.
What happens: Seeking solace, Daphne leaves San Francisco for the rural mobile home she inherited from her grandparents. But what she finds in Paiute County is just more loneliness and strife.
Why you might like it: From the new-mother blues to immigration issues, this insightful debut provides a sensitive -- and occasionally humorous -- glimpse of modern community. |
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Your Duck Is My Duck: Stories
by Deborah Eisenberg
A collection of stories features characters that are either swimming or drowning in a disintegrating environment, including some Hollywood actors and an entitled young man who falls in love with a human rights worker on a mysterious quest.
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| The Dinner List by Rebecca SerleWhat it's about: In this wish-fulfillment tale, Sabrina Nielsen arrives at her 30th birthday party to see that the guests are her answers to the ice-breaking question, "Who in all of history would you like to share a meal with?"
The guests: sentimental best friend Jessica; the father who abandoned Sabrina as a child (and who has since died); her on-again, off-again lover, Tobias; a college philosophy professor...and Audrey Hepburn, who adds some class and magic to the proceedings. |
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Vengeful
by V. E. Schwab
A conclusion to the story that began with Vicious finds Marcella Riggins targeting the city of Merit while manipulating Victor Vale and Eli Ever into a battle against one another. By the best-selling author of the Shades of Magic series.
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The Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel Vasquez The Shape of the Ruins is a masterly story of conspiracy, political obsession, and literary investigation. When a man is arrested at a museum for attempting to steal the bullet-ridden suit of a murdered Colombian politician, few notice. But soon this thwarted theft takes on greater meaning as it becomes a thread in a widening web of popular fixations with conspiracy theories, assassinations, and historical secrets; and it haunts those who feel that only they know the real truth behind these killings. This novel explores the darkest moments of a country's past and brings to life the ways in which past violence shapes our present lives. A compulsive read, beautiful and profound, eerily relevant to our times and deeply personal, The Shape of the Ruins is a tour-de-force story by a master at uncovering the incisive wounds of our memories.--from Amazon
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| I Liked My Life by Abby FabiaschiStarring: recently deceased wife and mother Maddy, who begins meddling from beyond the grave when she sees how her suicide shattered her family's lives.
Why you might like it: Sprinkled with humor, this sympathetic take on coping with death offers the perspectives of several complex characters and a moving view on marriage and parenthood.
Want a taste? "I found the perfect wife for my husband." |
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| The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie FlaggWhat it's about: Founded in 1889, Elmwood Springs, Missouri has flourished over the last 150 years. As has the town cemetery -- everyone buried there quickly "wakes up" to catch up with long-departed friends and family members!
Don't miss: quirky characters, warm humor, and a close-knit community.
Why you might like it: This epic family saga combines historical detail with an intriguing premise and a teasing murder mystery. |
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| Secondhand Souls by Christopher MooreThe set-up: In A Dirty Job, secondhand-shop owner Charlie Asher learned he worked for Death, collecting souls in San Francisco. In Secondhand Souls, those souls are being stolen, and Charlie himself is trapped without a body.
Is it for you? As with anything by Christopher Moore, an appreciation of the absurd, for jokes both clever and rude, and of outsize characters are all necessary to enjoy this irreverent take on life after death. |
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| The Afterlives by Thomas PierceStarring: small-town loan officer Jim Byrd, who was technically dead for five minutes before reviving. He's rather disappointed that nothing profound accompanied the experience.
Why that matters: Seeking answers, Jim turns to investigating ghost sightings, psychic readings, and other potentially supernatural activities that now appear commonplace.
Why you might like it: Numerous plots, a breezy tone, and an accessible tinge of science fiction bring light to that common question -- what happens to us after we die? |
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| The Lovely Bones by Alice SeboldThe premise: For nearly ten years after her violent murder, 14-year-old Susie Salmon watches over her family and friends from a kind of interim heaven, observing as they try to come to terms with her death.
Did you know? First published in 2002, this delicate debut novel, which received high praise for its treatment of a difficult subject was a long-running bestseller (and an Oscar-nominated film).
What to read next: The Good Sister by Jamie Kain. Though written for teens, it's another emotionally powerful tale of an untimely death. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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