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Fiction A to Z November 2018
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Family trust : a novel
by Kathy Wang
Struggling to fulfill a terminally ill father's final bequest, a privileged Chinese-American family in Silicon Valley is forced to contend with the realities of their ambitions and actual desires. 200,000 first printing.
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| Virgil Wander by Leif EngerWhen Midwestern movie house owner Virgil Wander's car flies off the road into icy Lake Superior he survives, but his language and memory are altered and he emerges into a world no longer familiar to him. Virgil begins to piece together his personal history and the lore of his broken town, with the help of a cast of affable and curious locals. Into this community returns a prodigal son, Adam Leer, who may hold the key to reviving their town. |
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The proposal
by Jasmine Guillory
"When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn't the hard part--they've only been dating for five months, and he can't even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans... At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik's rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He's even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik's social media blows up--in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can't be looking foranything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes.."
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The rain watcher : a novel
by Tatiana de Rosnay
A patriarch's birthday gathering in Paris is violently disrupted by a natural disaster, revealing to a charismatic young photographer hidden fears and secrets that test the limits of family bonds. By the best-selling author of Sarah's Key
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Eat, Drink, and Be Merry (Or Not)
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| The Last Days of Café Leila by Donia BijanWhat it's about: Reeling from a broken marriage, expat Noor returns to her native Iran for the first time in decades, with her rebellious teenage daughter in tow. There, she finds a changed Tehran and a father in ill health.
Read it for: strong family ties, mouthwatering Persian cuisine, and multiple perspectives on Iran's recent history.
Author alert: Donia Bijan is also a successful chef whose memoir is called Maman's Homesick Pie. |
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| Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian LiWhat happens: After its hardworking owner dies, the future of the Beijing Duck House is unclear as various family members (and long-time employees) bicker about its prospects.
Read it for: the behind-the-scenes insight into a bustling, family-owned Chinese restaurant; the interplay of Chinese tradition and American capitalism; canny nine-fingered Uncle Pang. |
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| Women in Sunlight by Frances MayesWhat it's about: For Camille, Susan, and Julia, traditional retirement communities hold no appeal; on a bit of a whim the four near-strangers decide to rent a Tuscan home for a year, where they meet a younger American expat and become fast friends.
Why you might like it: an upbeat, engaging novel, Women in Sunlight features lushly described settings and meals -- bringing Tuscany's best to your living room. |
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| The Recipe Box: A Novel with Recipes by Viola ShipmanWhat it's about: Sam is a recent culinary school graduate whose career goes up in smoke when her volatile boss pushes her too far. Seeking refuge at her family's Michigan farm, she reconnects with her roots with the help of the family recipe box.
For fans of: delectable, sweet cookies, confections and pies; The Great British Baking Show; heartwarming, sentimental novels starring strong female characters who come to understand the value of family ties. |
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| Sourdough by Robin SloanStarring: solitary software engineer Lois, whose primary social contact is with her food delivery service.
What happens: When Lois is gifted a strange and seemingly semi-sentient sourdough starter, her life changes in unexpected ways.
Why you might like it: Both a parody of and a paean to food-centric novels (and Silicon Valley start-ups), Sourdough teems with humor and quirky characters. |
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| Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan StradalWhat it is: a collection of chronological short stories told from different perspectives, illuminating the influences on young Midwesterner Eva Thorvald, whose path to culinary stardom is crooked.
Who it's for: foodies...and those who love to satirize foodie culture.
Why you might like it: This charming debut novel is a bit like Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, but with a lot more quirky humor. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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