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Fiction A to Z January 2019
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| The Dakota Winters by Tom BarbashWhat happens: 23-year-old Anton Winter comes of age, with a little help from his friends.
What it includes: father-son dynamics, television talk shows, John Lennon, Manhattan in the 1980s, and Ted Kennedy's presidential campaign.
Why you might like it: Chock-full of '80s culture and sprinkled with celebrities (both real and imagined), this engaging and imaginative novel casts a nostalgic spell. |
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| The Adults by Caroline HulseStarring: Matt (and his girlfriend, Alex), Claire (and her boyfriend, Patrick), and Matt and Claire's seven-year-old daughter, Scarlett, all of whom are spending Christmas together at a family amusement park.
What happens: As the cover image suggests, it doesn't go well. Someone is shot with a bow and arrow, but before we get to that point in this entertaining debut, tension and jealousy abound.
Read it for: the police interviews and fun-park brochures that are interspersed with scenes of the quickly deteriorating situation; the astringent, dry wit; plenty of British slang; and a giant invisible rabbit named Posey. |
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Miracle Creek
by Angie Kim
How far will we go to protect our families and our deepest secrets? In rural Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine - a pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic "dives" with the hopes of curing issues like autism or infertility. But when the Miracle Submarine mysteriously explodes, killing two people, a dramatic murder trial upends the Yoos' small community. The ensuing trial uncovers unimaginable secrets from that night as well as tense rivalries and alliances among a group of people driven to extraordinary degrees of desperation
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| Come With Me by Helen SchulmanChoose your own adventure: For breadwinning mom Amy, it's a real option when her boss enlists her to try out cutting-edge software that will allow her to experience what her life might have been had she made different choices. With a faltering marriage and three challenging kids, that's mighty appealing for Amy.
For fans of: other domestic dramas that add a fantastical element to the age-old question of "What if?," like Leigh Himes' The One That Got Away or Taylor Jenkin Reid's Maybe in Another Life. |
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Normal People
by Sally Rooney
Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a novel that explores the subtleties of class. Connell Waldron is one of the most popular boys in his small-town high school - he is a star of the football team and never wanting for attention from girls. The one thing he doesn't have is money. Marianne Sheridan has the opposite problem. There is, however, a deep and undeniable connection between the two teenagers
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| The Summer List by Amy Mason DoanThen: Laura and Casey were inseparable as teenagers, spending their time following elaborate scavenger hunts that Casey's young, free-spirited mother created for them.
Now: As adults, Laura and Casey are estranged, but they can't resist one last scavenger hunt. As they slowly rekindle their friendship, not only will misunderstandings be cleared up, but secrets long kept hidden will be revealed.
Read it for: themes of motherhood, acceptance, and first loves. |
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| Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. LeeWhat it's about: the relationship between responsible Miranda and her irrepressible younger sister Lucia, which is severely tested by Lucia's wild behavioral swings and cycles of depression and delusion.
Read if for: an astute, compassionate picture of what it's like to struggle with mental illness or to love someone who does; vividly described settings, including New York City in the 1990s and several locations in Ecuador; the complex intermingling of cultures.
Reviewers say: "powerfully hopeful" (Bust Magazine). |
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| Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas ContrerasWhat it's about: In Pablo Escobar's unstable, violent Colombia, two very different girls form a bond that ultimately threatens to be their undoing.
Featuring: seven-year-old Chula, precocious and sheltered by her family's money; 13-year-old Petrona, who works as a maid after her family is destroyed by guerrillas.
Reviewers say: "dazzling and devastating" (San Francisco Chronicle). |
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| Cherry by Nico WalkerStarring: an unnamed Army medic who turns to heroin to cope with PTSD, and takes to robbing banks to support his addiction.
Is it for you? Raw, brutal writing depicts the horrors of war and the harrowing traumas of addiction.
About the author: Like his main character, debut author Nico Walker is an Army veteran, recovering heroin addict, and is currently in prison for bank robbery. |
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| Meet Me at the Museum by Anne YoungsonFeaturing: a disenchanted farmer's wife in England and a widowed museum curator in Denmark.
What's inside: a series of thoughtful, reflective letters, through which the lonely pair begins to build an unexpected yet meaningful connection.
Why you might like it: This leisurely paced debut is both hopeful and calming, and may best be enjoyed in a cozy spot on a rainy afternoon. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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