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Fiction A to Z January 2021
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| The Opium Prince by Jasmine AimaqStarring: Afghan-born American Daniel Abdullah Sajadi, posted to Kabul in 1970 to help eradicate the opium trade; Taj Maleki, local drug kingpin.
What happens: The accidental death of a young girl forces Daniel to compromise his mission; both men must contend with rising Soviet influence and increasing political chaos within their chosen realms.
Why you might like it: This debut -- by an author who grew up in Afghanistan and who has a background in foreign affairs -- effectively captures the dynamics of a complex nation. |
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| Nights When Nothing Happened by Simon HanWhat it is: The sobering story of a hardworking Chinese family in Texas, whose fragile, happy-enough façade falls apart in the wake of a misunderstanding.
Read it for: Themes of belonging and loyalty; fully realized characters suffering through discontent and disillusion; a leisurely paced unfolding of an immigrant experience in the United States.
What to read next: Akhil Sharma's Family Life, about an Indian family whose immigration to the U.S. is similarly challenged by tragedy. |
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| Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi; translated by Geoffrey TrousselotIs time travel possible? It is in a tiny Tokyo café, where one particular chair allows its occupants to visit past experiences (though several rules apply).
Is it for you? The physics of time travel is not addressed here; instead, four characters simply get a second chance to revisit lost loved ones.
Book buzz: This English-language debut by Japanese playwright Toshikazu Kawaguchi was a bestseller in Japan. |
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Under the Tulip Tree
by Michelle Shocklee
Starring: Rena, an unemployed newspaper reporter in the midst of the Great Depression.
What it's about: Rena reluctantly accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers' Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.
For fans of: Haunting and heart-wrenching stories such as Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate and Grace by Natashia Deon.
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Pianos and Flowers: Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind
by Alexander McCall Smith
What it is: An illustrated anthology of 14 short stories by the best-selling author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series.
The inspiration: Smith imagines the lives and loves of everyday people featured in pictures from the London Sunday Times photograph archives.
You may also enjoy: Engaging short stories such as Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson or Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank
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The Sun Collective
by Charles Baxter
What happens: A once promising actor has gone missing, and his parents search for him in the streets of Minneapolis. A young woman is becoming addicted to a boutique drug. Their lives are altered by the enigmatic leader of a local activist group more dangerous than it appears.
Is it for you? This compelling, yet menacing novel will appeal to fans of Jeffrey Eugenides, Elizabeth Strout, or Iris Murdoch.
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Sisters
by Daisy Johnson
Starring: September and July, teen sisters who are perceived to be abnormally close by their teachers. After an incident so destructive that July, who helps narrate, cannot remember it, their mother moves them back to a tumbledown family home on England's North York Moors.
What happens: Essentially abandoned by their mother, who is fighting her own demons, the relationship between the two girls shifts...but to say more would ruin this unsettling novel.
For fans of: Dark, character-driven stories with overtones of Gothic fiction or horror.
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White Ivy
by Susie Yang
What it is: A coming-to-America and coming-of-age story that explores love, race, class, and identity.
What happens: Years after she is sent away from Boston to China for shoplifting, Ivy, a conflicted Chinese-American woman, reconnects with her golden-boy childhood crush before a ghost from the past threatens her ambitions.
Who will like it: Fans of character-driven and suspenseful stories featuring flawed characters will enjoy this intricately plotted debut.
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The Paris Library
by Janet Skeslien Charles
Paris, 1939: Odile Souchet has a handsome beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris when World War II breaks out, threatening all she holds dear.
Montana, 1983: Lily, a lonely teenager longing for adventure, befriends Odile. While Odile helps Lily through adolescence, Lily will be the one to help Odile reckon with her own terrible secret from the past.
What happens: Based on a true story, Lily uncovers Odile's past as a member of the Resistance, fighting the Nazis with the perfect weapon for a librarian; books.
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Big Girl, Small Town
by Michelle Gallen
What it is: A U.S. debut by an award-winning writer from Ireland.
What it's about: The experiences of a plucky chip-shop worker whose coming-of-age in the post-Troubles years is upended by abandonment and growing tensions between local Catholics and Protestants.
Award alert: Finalist for the Irish Book Award for Newcomer of the Year.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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