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Fiction A to Z February 2021
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| Black Buck by Mateo AskaripourWhat it is: a debut novel with a biting take on racism in corporate America and the story of a man who may have found success at the expense of his sense of self.
Starring: Darren, a college graduate who takes a job at a cult-like NYC startup. The longer he stays and the greater his success, the more the corporate excesses push him toward helping other young Black people succeed in America's sales force.
Why you might like it: styled like a self-help manual, this provocative satire exposes a lot of hypocrisy and prejudice and speaks to the current moment in American history. |
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| Before the Ruins by Victoria GoslingThe set up: Four best friends become five with the arrival of a mysterious stranger in their tiny English town. But their group fractures and, decades later, one member has disappeared.
What happens: Ringleader Andy sets out to find her oldest pal, with whom things have long been strained. In so doing, she uncovers long-hidden secrets.
For fans of: atmospheric, menacing tales like Donna Tartt's The Secret History or Elisabeth Thomas' Catherine House. |
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Nights When Nothing Happened
by Simon Han
What 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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The art of falling : a novel
by Danielle McLaughlin
A woman finds her precarious marriage and career thrown into turmoil by a reckoning with an old friend and an enigmatic woman’s claim that she is the true creator of a famous work of art. A first novel.
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Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line
by Deepa Anappara
Starring: nine-year-old Jai, who turns detective when his classmate disappears from their unnamed Indian slum, and the two friends he charms into helping him, Pari and Faiz.
Why you might like it: The characters are engagingly complex; the neighborhood is poverty-stricken but full of life; the writing is descriptive, warm, and witty despite the heartbreaking lack of support for India's poor.
Read it if: Katherine Boo's depiction of a Mumbai slum in Behind the Beautiful Forevers stayed with you long after finishing.
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| In the Valley: Stories and a Novella Based on Serena by Ron RashWhat it is: ten tales set in North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains and spanning a century and a half, from the Civil War to the modern era.
Don't miss: "Sad Man in the Sky," in which an ex-con finds a creative way to show his love for the children he helped raise.
Who should you read next? Rick Bragg, Jesmyn Ward, Tom Franklin, and Wiley Cash all write atmospheric stories set in the South. |
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| I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories by Laura Van den BergWhat it is: a collection of stories in which women, often in Florida, often already struggling with grief or anxiety, must cope with loss and strained relationships.
Why you might like it: While some stories have an element of the absurd, others are deeply layered; a sense of menace pervades but does not overwhelm a sense of empathy for these women, especially those who are suffering at the hands of men.
Want a taste? "I want to tell you about the night I got hit by a train and died. The thing is -- it never happened." |
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| Verge: Stories by Lidia YuknavitchWhat it is: 20 short stories which, in their surrealism and darkness, may appeal to horror readers.
Don't miss: "Street Walker," which holds many surprises; the deeply cynical cop in "A Woman Refusing;" and the 160 or so words that make up "Two Girls."
Reviewers say: "Disturbing and delightful all at once" (BookRiot).
Is it for you? The collection's intimate approach to trauma and violence may make for difficult reading for some. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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