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New & Coming Soon FictionAugust 2018
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Click on the title to check availability, and to log in and place holds online. To place holds by phone, please call us at (708) 366-5205. During open hours, you can also chat with us at www.riverforestlibrary.org. It's easy!
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All These Beautiful Strangers by Elizabeth KlehfothSeventeen-year-old Charlie seeks to become a member of an elite secret society at her school by playing The Game, a semester-long, high-stakes scavenger hunt that will reveal the terrible truth about her family, her school, and her own life.
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All Your Perfects by Colleen HooverQuinn and Graham's perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair. All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?
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The Amazing Adventures of Aaron Broom by A. E. HotchnerIn Depression-era St. Louis, almost-thirteen-year-old Aaron Broom witnesses a robbery gone wrong and teams up with an unlikely band of friends and helpful adults to clear suspicion from his father's name.
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America for Beginners by Leah Franqui A widow from India travels to California to learn the truth about what happened to the son who was declared dead shortly after he revealed his sexual orientation to their traditional family.
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Baby teeth : a novel by Zoje StageEstranged from her own mother, Suzette is determined to raise her beautiful daughter with the love, care, and support she was denied. But Hanna proves to be a difficult child. Now seven-years-old, she has yet to utter a word, despite being able to read and write. Suzette knows her clever and manipulative daughter doesn't love her. She can see the hatred and jealousy in her eyes. And as Hanna's subtle acts of cruelty threaten to tear her and Alex apart, Suzette fears her very life may be in grave danger...
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The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al RawiThis poignant debut novel will spirit readers away to a world they know only from the television, revealing just what it is like to grow up in a city that is slowly disappearing in front of your eyes, and showing how in the toughest times, children can build up the greatest resilience.
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Beautiful Exiles by Meg Waite ClaytonOn the heels of best-selling author Paula McLain's Love and Ruin, Clayton (The Wednesday Sisters; The Race for Paris) delves into the tumultuous relationship between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, his third wife. The writing is rich with detail; the exotic locales-from Madrid during the Spanish Civil War to D-day on Normandy's Omaha Beach to the couple's home in Cuba-are vividly portrayed; and major figures of the day from Eleanor Roosevelt to Gary Cooper make an appearance.
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The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy MeyersonA woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.
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Charlotte Walsh likes to win : a novel by Jo PiazzaFrom Jo Piazza, the bestselling author of The Knock Off, How to Be Married, and Fitness Junkies, comes an exciting, insightful novel about what happens when a woman wants it all--political power, marriage, and happiness--but isn't sure just how much she's willing to sacrifice to get it.
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Convenience store woman by Sayaka MurataKeiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers' style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society's expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko's contented stasis--but will it be for the better?
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Eagle & Crane by Suzanne RindellLouis Thorn and Haruto "Harry" Yamada--Eagle and Crane--are the star attractions of Earl Shaw's Flying Circus, a daredevil (and not exactly legal) flying act that traverses Depression-era California. The young men have a complicated relationship, thanks to the Thorn family's belief that the Yamadas--Japanese immigrants--stole land that should have stayed in the Thorn family.
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The Family Tabor by Cherise Wolas Set over the course of a single weekend, and deftly alternating between the five Tabors, this provocative, gorgeously rendered novel reckons with the nature of the stories we tell ourselves and our family and the price we pay for second chances.
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Fruit of the drunken tree : a novel by Ingrid Rojas ContrerasInspired by the author's own life, and told through the alternating perspectives of the willful Chula and the achingly hopeful Petrona, Fruit of the Drunken Tree contrasts two very different, but inextricable coming-of-age stories. In lush prose, Rojas Contreras sheds light on the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation.
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The Garden Party by Grace Dane MazurThe Cohens are wildly impractical intellectuals--academics, activists, and artists. The Barlows are Wall Street Journal -reading lawyers steeped in trusts and copyrights, golf and tennis. The two families are reserved with and wary of each other, but tonight, the evening before the wedding that is supposed to unite them in marriage, they will attempt to set aside their differences over dinner in the garden.
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Ghosted by Rosie WalshWhen Sarah meets Eddie, they connect instantly and fall in love. To Sarah, it seems as though her life has finally begun. And it's mutual: It's as though Eddie has been waiting for her, too. Sarah has never been so certain of anything. So when Eddie leaves for a long-booked vacation and promises to call from the airport, she has no cause to doubt him. But he doesn't call.
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Hey Ladies! : The Story of 8 Best Friends, 1 Year, and Way, Way Too Many Emails by Michelle MarkowitzBased on the column of the same name that appeared in The Toast, Hey Ladies! is a laugh-out-loud read that follows a fictitious group of eight 20-and-30-something female friends for one year of holidays, summer house rentals, dates, brunches, breakups, and, of course, the planning of a disastrous wedding.
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How to Be Famous by Caitlin MoranMoran followed her award-winning, New York Times best-selling feminist memoir, How To Be a Woman, with the widely and hand-clappingly reviewed debut novel, How To Build a Girl. In this sequel, 18-year-old Johanna Morrigan (aka Dolly Wilde) lives in London and writes for an of-the-moment music magazine. She's jealous of friend John's big BritPop music success-until she has the idea of writing a column about the ups and down of getting and being famous.
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How to Love a Jamaican : Stories by Alexia ArthursPresents a collection of stories set in Jamaica, New York City, and a Midwestern university, where multicultural main characters and their families navigate evolving senses of race, racism, family, and tradition.
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The Incendiaries by R. O. KwonA powerful, darkly glittering novel of violence, love, faith, and loss, as a young woman at an elite American university is drawn into acts of domestic terrorism by a cult tied to North Korea.
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The Intermission by Elyssa FriedlandAfter five long years, the unshakable confidence Cass Coyne felt as a bride is gone. Her husband, on the other hand, is still smitten. It's true that the quirks Jonathan once found charming in his wife-her high standards, her refusal to wash the dishes-are beginning to grate. But for him, these are minor challenges in a healthy relationship. So it comes as a complete shock to Jonathan when Cass suddenly requests a marital "intermission": a six-month separation during which they'll decide if the comfortable life they've built is still the one they both want.
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The King's Witch by Tracy BormanIn March of 1603, as she helps to nurse the dying Queen Elizabeth of England, Frances Gorges dreams of her parents' country estate, where she learned to use flowers and herbs to become a much-loved healer. When King James of Scotland succeeds to the throne Frances is only too happy to stay at home. His court may be shockingly decadent, but his intolerant Puritanism see witchcraft in many of the old customs -- punishable by death. Yet when her ambitious uncle forces Frances to return to the royal palace, having bought her a position as a lady in the bedchamber of the young Princess Elizabeth, she becomes a ready target for the twisted scheming of the Privy Seal, Lord Cecil. As a dark campaign to destroy both King and Parliament gathers pace, culminating in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Frances is surrounded by danger, finding happiness only with the King's precocious young daughter and with Tom Wintour, the one courtier she feels she can trust. But Wintour has a secret that, when revealed, places Frances in conflict with her royal charge and in fear for her own family.
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The Last Cruise by Kate ChristensenThe 1950s vintage ocean liner Queen Isabella is making her final voyage before heading to the scrapyard. For the guests on board, among them Christine Thorne, a former journalist turned Maine farmer, it's a chance to experience the bygone mid-20th century era of decadent luxury cruising, complete with fine dining, classic highballs, string quartets, and sophisticated jazz. Smoking is allowed but not cell phones--or children, for that matter. The Isabella sets sail from Long Beach, CA into calm seas on a two-week retro cruise to Hawaii and back. But this is the second decade of an uncertain new millennium, not the sunny, heedless fifties, and certain disquieting signs of strife and malfunction above and below decks intrude on the festivities. Down in the main galley, Mick Szabo, a battle-weary Hungarian executive sous-chef, watches escalating tensions among the crew. Meanwhile, Miriam Koslow, an elderly Israeli violinist with the Sabra Quartet, becomes increasingly aware of the age-related vulnerabilities of the ship herself and the cynical corners cut by the cruise ship company, Cabaret. When a time of crisis begins, Christine, Mick, and Miriam find themselves facing the unknown together in an unexpected and startling test of their characters.
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The Late Bloomers' Club by Louise MillerNora, the owner of the Miss Guthrie Diner, is perfectly happy serving up apple cider donuts, coffee, and eggs-any-way-you-like-em to her regulars, and she takes great pleasure in knowing exactly what's "the usual." But her life is soon shaken when she discovers she and her free-spirited, younger sister Kit stand to inherit the home and land of the town's beloved cake lady, Peggy Johnson.
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The lido by Libby PageA tender, joyous debut novel about a cub reporter and her eighty-six-year-old subject--and the unlikely and life-changing friendship that develops between them.
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Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie DawsonMarnie MacGraw wants an ordinary life- a husband, kids, and a minivan in the suburbs. Now that she's marrying the man of her dreams, she's sure this is the life she'll get. Then Marnie meets Blix Holliday, her finance's irascible matchmaking great-aunt who's dying, and everything changes- just as Blix told her it would.
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The mere wife by Maria Dahvana HeadleyFrom the perspective of those who live in Herot Hall, the suburb is a paradise. Picket fences divide buildings--high and gabled--and the community is entirely self-sustaining. Each house has its own fireplace, each fireplace is fitted with a container of lighter fluid, and outside--in lawns and on playgrounds--wildflowers seed themselves in neat rows. But for those who live surreptitiously along Herot Hall's periphery, the subdivision is a fortress guarded by an intense network of gates, surveillance cameras, and motion-activated lights. For Willa, the wife of Roger Herot (heir of Herot Hall), life moves at a charmingly slow pace. She flits between mommy groups, playdates, cocktail hour, and dinner parties, always with her son, Dylan, in tow. Meanwhile, in a cave in the mountains just beyond the limits of Herot Hall lives Gren, short for Grendel, as well as his mother, Dana, a former soldier who gave birth as if by chance. Dana didn't want Gren, didn't plan Gren, and doesn't know how she got Gren, but when she returned from war, there he was. When Gren, unaware of the borders erected to keep him at bay, ventures into Herot Hall and runs off with Dylan, Dana's and Willa's worlds collide.
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My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa MoshfeghOur narrator should be happy, shouldn't she? She's young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn't just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It's the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong? My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be.
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A noise downstairs : a novel by Linwood BarclayThe New York Times bestselling author of No Time for Goodbye returns with a haunting psychological thriller that blends the twists and turns of Gillian Flynn with the driving suspense of Harlan Coben, in which a man is troubled by odd sounds for which there is no rational explanation.
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The Occasional Virgin by Hanan Al-Shaykh In this frank and fearless novel, acclaimed writer Hanan al-Shaykh follows the tumultuous lives and sometimes shocking choices of women successful in their careers but unlucky in love.
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An ocean of minutes by Thea LimIn the vein of The Time Traveler's Wife and Station Eleven, a sweeping literary love story about two people who are at once mere weeks and many years apart. America is in the grip of a deadly flu pandemic. When Frank catches the virus, his girlfriend Polly will do whatever it takes to save him, even if it means risking everything. She agrees to a radical plan--time travel has been invented in the future to thwart the virus. If she signs up for a one-way-trip into the future to work as a bonded laborer,the company will pay for the life-saving treatment Frank needs. Polly promises to meet Frank again in Galveston, Texas, where she will arrive in twelve years. But when Polly is re-routed an extra five years into the future, Frank is nowhere to be found.Alone in a changed and divided America, with no status and no money, Polly must navigate a new life and find a way to locate Frank, to discover if he is alive, and if their love has endured. An Ocean of Minutes is a gorgeous and heartbreaking story about the endurance and complexity of human relationships and the cost of holding onto the past--and the price of letting it go.
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The Other Woman by Daniel SilvaGabriel Allon, the art restorer, spy, and assassin is poised to become the chief of Israel's secret intelligence service. But on the eve of his promotion, events conspire to lure him into the field for one final operation. ISIS has detonated a massive bomb in the Marais district of Paris, and a desperate French government wants Gabriel to eliminate the man responsible before he can strike again.
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Sail Away by Celia ImrieThe phone hasn't rung for months. Suzy Marshall is discovering that work can be sluggish for an actress over sixty--even for the star of a wildly popular 1980s TV series. So when her agent offers her the plum role of Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest in Zurich, it seems like a godsend. Until, that is, the play is abruptly cancelled under suspicious circumstances and Suzy is forced to take a job on a cruise ship to get home.
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Secrets of a Happy Marriage by Cathy Kelly Bess is happy and in love with her new husband Edward. However, when she plans his birthday party, everything goes into a tailspin. Joining a family will not be as easy as she thought, especially getting along with her step daughter. Is there time for the Brannigans to discover the secrets of a happy family and marriage?
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Silent Hearts by Gwen FlorioFor fans of A Thousand Splendid Suns comes a stirring novel set in Afghanistan & about two women--an American aid worker and her local interpreter--who form an unexpected friendship despite their utterly different life experiences and the ever-increasing violence that surrounds them in Kabul.
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Southernmost by Silas HouseWhen an evangelical preacher in Tennessee offers shelter to two gay men after a catastrophic flood, he's met with resistance by his wife and congregation, and eventually loses custody of his son. He decides to kidnap his son and flee to Key West, where he suspects his estranged gay brother is living.
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Spinning Silver by Naomi NovikA fresh and imaginative retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale from the bestselling author of Uprooted, called "a very enjoyable fantasy with the air of a modern classic" by The New York Times Book Review.
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The Subway Girls by Susie Orman Schnall In 1949, dutiful and ambitious Charlotte's dream of a career in advertising is shattered when her father demands she help out with the family business. Meanwhile, Charlotte is swept into the glamorous world of the Miss Subways beauty contest, which promises irresistible opportunities with its Park Avenue luster and local fame status.
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The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather MorrisThe incredible story of the Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist and the woman he loved. Lale Sokolov is well-dressed, a charmer, a ladies' man. He is also a Jew. On the first transport from Slovakia to Auschwitz in 1942, Lale immediately stands out to his fellow prisoners. In the camp, he is looked up to, looked out for, and put to work in the privileged position of Tätowierer- the tattooist - to mark his fellow prisoners, forever. One of them is a young woman, Gita, who steals his heart at first glance. His life given new purpose, Lale does his best through the struggle and suffering to use his position for good. This story, full of beauty and hope, is based on years of interviews author Heather Morris conducted with real-life Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov. It is heart-wrenching, illuminating, and unforgettable.
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The Third Hotel by Laura Van Den Berg In Havana, Cuba, a widow tries to come to terms with her husband's death--and the truth about their marriage--in Laura van den Berg's surreal, mystifying story of psychological reflection and metaphysical mystery.
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Those Other Women by Nicola MoriartyReeling from deceptions involving the people she loves, Poppy feels as if her world has tipped sideways. Maybe her colleague Annalise is right - Poppy needs to let loose and blow off some steam. What better way to vent than social media? With Annalise, she creates a private Facebook group that quickly takes off. Suddenly, Poppy feels like she's back in control. She has a place in the world again and she's learning that her life choices are worth celebrating - until someone begins leaking the group's private posts and stirring up a nasty backlash, shattering her confidence. Feeling judged by disapproving female colleagues and her own disappointed children, Frankie, too, is careening toward a breaking point. She also knows something about her boss - sensitive knowledge that she feels guilty holding back. As things begin to slide disastrously out of control, carefully concealed secrets and lies are exposed with devastating consequences - forcing these women to face painful truths about their lives and the things they do to survive.
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The Washington Decree by Jussi Adler-OlsenThe New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of the Department Q series is back, with a terrifyingly relevant stand-alone novel about an America in chaos.
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What We Were Promised by Lucy TanSet in modern Shanghai, a debut by a Chinese-American writer about a prodigal son whose unexpected return forces his newly wealthy family to confront painful secrets and unfulfilled promises.
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White Rose, Black Forest by Eoin DempseyDecember 1943. In the years before the rise of Hitler, the Gerber family's summer cottage was filled with laughter. Now, as deep drifts of snow blanket the Black Forest, German dissenter Franka Gerber is alone and hopeless. Fervor and brutality have swept through her homeland, taking away both her father and her brother and leaving her with no reason to live. That is, until she discovers an unconscious airman lying in the snow wearing a Luftwaffe uniform, his parachute flapping in the wind. Unwilling to let him die, Franka takes him to her family's isolated cabin despite her hatred for the regime he represents. But when it turns out that he is not who he seems, Franka begins a race against time to unravel the mystery of the airman's true identity. Their tenuous bond becomes as inseparable as it is dangerous. Hunted by the Gestapo, can they trust each other enough to join forces on a mission that could change the face of the war and their own lives forever?
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Awakened by James S. MurrayAfter years of waiting, New York's newest subway line is finally ready. Many dignitaries, including the American President, are in attendance for the inaugural run. When the train pulls into the station, they see that all the train cars are empty and the cars' interiors are drenched in blood. As chaos descends, all those in the pavilion scramble to get out. But the horror is only beginning. There's something living beneath New York City, and it's not happy we've woken it up.
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Ubik by Philip K. DickA dead man sends haunting warnings back from the grave, and Joe Chip must solve these mysteries to determine his own real or surreal existence.
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