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| Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev BalasubramanyamStarring: ambitious, internationally known economics professor P.R. Chandrasekhar (known to all as Chandra), who -- in a move that is wholly out of character -- decides to attend a meditation retreat.
What happens: An accumulation of tiny epiphanies ultimately challenges Chandra's perspective on his long-time prioritization of career over family.
Why you might like it: This is a complex book about an analytical man rethinking his choices, told with dry (and sometimes acerbic) humor. |
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| Lights All Night Long by Lydia FitzpatrickFeaturing: Russian exchange student Ilya, who's consumed with fear for Vladimir, the brother he left behind -- incarcerated for murders that Ilya does not believe he committed.
What happens: Overwhelmed by American excess, Ilya struggles to adjust, but with the help of his host family's daughter (who's got secrets of her own), he begins to uncover the path that led Vladimir to jail.
Reviewers say: "an absorbing tale imparted with tenderness and compassion" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Cheer Up, Mr. Widdicombe by Evan JamesWhat it is: a comedy of manners skewering the idle rich and their pursuits -- among them tennis, watercolors, creating a showplace home, and following motivational gurus.
Why you might like it: Quirky (in some cases laughably dysfunctional) characters abound in this dry, wry debut set in the Pacific Northwest.
Read it for: the entertainment value -- if you enjoyed Maria Semple's Today Will Be Different, you'll likely enjoy Cheer Up Mr. Widdicombe. |
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| Miracle Creek by Angie KimWhat happens: a deadly explosion at an experimental medical treatment facility exposes cracks in a rural Virginia community -- and the courtroom case that follows turns out not to be as clear-cut as it first appears.
For fans of: the uncovering of untruths that drives Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, or the compelling legal drama and family tragedy of William Landay's Defending Jacob. |
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| Normal People by Sally RooneyWhat's it's about: the surprising (and secret) relationship between a wealthy high school outcast and a popular (but poor) athlete, and what happens when they go off to college.
Why you might like it: Set in Ireland and covering powerful themes of class and power, this novel offers complex characters and well-crafted dialogue.
For fans of: tales of first love, betrayal, self-discovery, and redemption.
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We set the dark on fire
by Tehlor Kay Mejia
A society wife-in-training has an uncomfortable awakening about her strictly polarized society after being recruited into a band of rebel spies and falling for her biggest rival. A first novel. 40,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook.
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Who slays the wicked : a Sebastian St. Cyr mystery
by C. S Harris
Assisting Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy when a dissolute young gentleman is brutally murdered, Sebastian St. Cyr scrambles to find the killer to exonerate his wrongly implicated niece. By the author of Why Kill the Innocent
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Kings, queens, and in-betweens
by Tanya Boteju
Struggling with her mother's sudden departure and a hopeless crush on a straight friend, a socially awkward teen is haphazardly enmeshed in the drag scene on the other side of her insular community, where she navigates questions of identity and self-acceptance. A first novel. 50,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook.
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