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Fiction A to Z Ebooks 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.
[also available as a physical book] |
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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.
[also available as a physical book] |
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| The Center of Everything by Jamie HarrisonStarring: Montana restaurant owner Polly, who is beset by migraines and memory problems (including painful flashbacks from her childhood) after a head injury. The troubling disappearance of her children's babysitter adds an additional stressor.
What it is: Set in the present (the 4th of July weekend in 2002) and the past (a family reunion in 1968), this family drama of mental illness and loss is told by an unwittingly unreliable narrator.
For fans of: slow-burning, character-driven novels.
[also available as a physical book] |
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| Detransition, Baby by Torrey PetersWhat happens: Trans woman Reese, her detransitioned ex Ames and his cisgender lover (and boss) Katrina build an unconventional family in response to an unplanned pregnancy.
Read it for: loving, engaging, and relatably complicated characters; abundant wit; and the understanding that there are many ways to build a family.
About the author: Torrey Peters is herself a trans woman; this "smart, funny, and bighearted" novel (Kirkus Reviews) is her full-length debut after three novellas.
[also available as a physical book] |
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| The Liar's Dictionary by Eley WilliamsWhat it is: a tale of two parallel stories, both set in the offices of a dictionary publisher. In the 19th century, a lexicographer adds made-up words to the New Encyclopaedic Dictionary; in the modern day, an intern is tasked with finding them.
Why you might like it: Puns and wordplay make this a linguistic delight, while the romantic adventures in both eras humanize it.
Reviewers say: "A sweet and diverting story, witty and sincere" (Kirkus Reviews).
[also available as a physical book] |
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The color master : stories
by Aimee Bender
What it is: A volume of tales featuring characters who pursue connections through love, sex and family, including a golden-haired girl who appears in an orchard to apple-eating attendants, a woman who cannot resume normal life after sharing a fantasy with her husband and an unattractive woman who stays with her ogre husband after he accidentally eats their children.
Why you might like it: a wondrous collection of dreamy, strange, and magical stories by the best-selling author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.
[also available as a physical book]
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East, West: Stories
by Salman Rushdie
What it is: Nine intriguing stories from the award-winning author of The Satanic Verses explore both the vast differences and unexpected intimacies that exist between East and West, reflecting the shifting perspectives and realities of diverse cultures.
Why you might like it: Daring, extravagant, comical and humane, this book renews Rushdie's stature as a storyteller who can enthrall and instruct us with the same sentence.
[also available as a physical book]
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What it means when a man falls from the sky: Stories
by Lesley Nneka Arimah
What it is: A dazzlingly accomplished debut collection that explores the ties that bind parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends to one another and to the places they call home.
Why to read it: These stories are evocative, playful, subversive, and incredibly human.
[also available as a physical book]
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Going to Meet the Man
by James Baldwin
What it is: The men and women in these eight short fictions grasp this truth on an elemental level, and their stories detail the ingenious and often desperate ways in which they try to keep their head above water.
Why to read it: By turns haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying, this is a major work by one of our most important writers.
[also available as a physical book]
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Animal spirit: stories
by Francesca Marciano
What it is: A story collection set primarily in the exotic locales of Rome, where violent seagulls, magical snakes, an abandoned dog and other animal characters witness the unfolding of poignant human interactions.
Why to read it: These stories chronicle deeply human moments of realization and recognition, indelible instants of irrevocable change—epiphanies sometimes sparked by our connection with animals and the primal power they show us.
[also available as a physical book]
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