November 2017 list by Trish Hull
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| The Floating World by C. Morgan BabstAs Hurricane Katrina approaches the Louisiana coast, the Boisdoré family only partially evacuates -- Creole artisan cabinetmaker Joe and his high-society white wife flee for Houston, while their eldest daughter, Cora, refuses to leave. Six weeks later, the family is in pieces: Joe and Tess have separated, and Cora, who's always struggled with mental illness, is nearly catatonic. When her sister finds a body in the house that Cora had sheltered in during the storm, the question morphs from "What happened to Cora?" to "What did Cora do?" Set in a vividly depicted, devastated, and racially divided New Orleans, The Floating World is a complex, reflective debut. |
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| Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom HanksYou already know Tom Hanks as a two-time Oscar-winning actor; now get to know him as a short story writer obsessed with typewriters. Well, let's be honest -- while it's true that a typewriter features in each tale (and there are 14 photos of the typewriters in question), the focus is actually on the all-too-human characters and the situations they find themselves in. From a tale of four friends building a rocket to visit the moon ("Alan Bean Plus Four") to an ultimately doomed romantic relationship ("Three Exhausting Weeks"), Hanks "writes like a writer, not a movie star" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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Paris in the Present Tense
by Mark Helprin
When faced with a series of challenges to his principles, livelihood and home, Jules—a 74-year-old maître at Paris-Sorbonne, cellist, widow, veteran of the war in Algeria and child of the Holocaust—must confront his complex past and find a way forward. By the author of Winter's Tale and A Soldier of the Great War.
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The Velveteen Daughter
by Laurel Davis Huber
.Presents a novelization of the lives of Margery Williams, the author of "The Velveteen Rabbit," and her daughter Pamela, a world-renowned child prodigy artist that struggles with depression, an overbearing father, and a misguided marriage.
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We Were Strangers Once
by Betsy Carter
Escaping Germany on the eve of World War II, a successful Jewish doctor and son of two famous naturalists finds himself in a tight-knit group of fellow immigrants in Manhattan who share the stories of respective degradations and triumphs. By the author of Swim to Me.
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The Dead Go to Seattle
by Vivian Faith Prescott
In Prescott's debut collection, a young Native American woman confronts colonialism, homophobia, and a history of erasure by reclaiming the stories of her people. Tossed out of her father's house on Wrangell Island in Alaska, Tova Agard strikes out on her own. When she meets a man collecting Native stories for the Smithsonian on the ferry to Seattle, it's unclear whether he's been sailing through the Gulf of Alaska for generations or only a few days. "Sometimes our stories take more than our lifetime to tell, you know," Tova reveals, kicking off a cycle of tales about the Agards that stretches--and possibly disrupts--time itself.
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The Relive Box: and Other Stories
by T. Coraghessan Boyle
A raucous collection of one dozen short stories by the best-selling author of The Terranauts includes the title piece, in which a "relive box" allows users to re-experience almost any moment from their past.
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Fresh Complaint: Stories
by Jeffrey Eugenides
A first collection of short fiction by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Virgin Suicides features some of his most acclaimed pieces, including the title story, in which a high school student, desperate to escape the strictures of her immigrant family, makes a drastic decision that upends the life of a British physicist.
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| Seven Days of Us by Francesca HornakFor the first time in years, the Birch family will be spending the holidays together in their drafty old home in the English countryside. While the plan is to quarantine themselves (following eldest daughter Olivia's time treating highly contagious patients in Liberia), nothing is simple in this semi-dysfunctional family. Each of the four is hiding a secret -- and their blinkered understanding of each other leads to constant bickering. Quarantine is going to be hard enough, but when youngest daughter Phoebe's fiancé crashes the party (as does a visiting American), all bets are off. Warmly funny, with shifting perspectives and believably flawed characters, Seven Days of Us is a quick, enjoyable read for the pre-holiday run-up. |
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| Hanna Who Fell from the Sky by Christopher MeadesIn her isolated town of Clearhaven, polygamy is the norm, so 17-year-old Hanna has never questioned the tradition that dictates that on her 18th birthday she'll become the fifth wife to a man three times her age. But a chance meeting with a stranger -- and a revelation from her mother -- has her thinking about other options. With a touch of the fantastical and plenty of menace, Canadian author Christopher Meades has created an unusual coming-of-age novel. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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