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Friday, May 4 at 10:00 South Manatee Library 6081 26th Street West, Bradenton 941-755-3892 Little Fires Everywhere: A Novelby Celeste NgUgliness seethes under a placid suburban surface in this multilayered novel, which features two families that grow too close for comfort. It begins when itinerant artist Mia and her teenage daughter Pearl rent a Shaker Heights, Ohio, house from the Richardsons, who have four kids around Pearl's age. Three of the four become Pearl's constant companions; the fourth becomes Mia's. But it's a custody suit elsewhere in the community that threatens everything -- and calls into being the "little fires everywhere." Told backwards through time through multiple narrators, this insightful book will appeal to fans of complex family dramas like Ann Patchett's Commonwealth or Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies.
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Tuesday, May 8 at 6:30 Braden River Library 4915 53rd Avenue East, Bradenton 941-727-6079 Quiet : the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talkingby Susan CainDemonstrates how introverted people are misunderstood and undervalued in today's culture, charting the rise of extrovert ideology while sharing anecdotal examples to counsel readers on how to use introvert talents to adapt to various situations and empower introverted children. Reprint. 150,000 first printing.
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Wednesday, May 9 at 10:30 Palmetto Library 923 6th Street West, Palmetto 941-722-3333 Fool me onceby Harlan CobenHorrified when she spots the husband who was reported dead weeks earlier playing with their toddler on her nanny cam, former special ops pilot Maya confronts deep secrets and deceit in her own past in order to discern the truth. By the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Stranger.
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Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 Rocky Bluff Library 6740 US Highway 301 North, Ellenton 941-723-4821 The woman in cabin 10by Ruth WareAssigned to review an exclusive North Sea luxury cruise, travel journalist Lo Blacklock witnesses a woman being thrown overboard and is baffled when all passengers remain unruffled and accounted for, a nightmare that unravels as Lo struggles to convince everyone that what she saw was real.
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Thursday, May 10 at 1:15 Braden River Library 4915 53rd Avenue East, Bradenton 941-727-6079 Saints of the Shadow Bibleby Ian RankinReinstated on the force, demoted, and wearing a chip on his shoulder, Rebus reteams with internal affairs officer, Malcolm Fox, to solve a cold case from 30 years ago in the 19th book in the Rebus series and the third one featuring Fox.
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Thursday, May 17 at 10:15 Island Library 5701 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach 941-778-6341 The Underground Railroad: A Novelby Colson WhiteheadSome authors stick to similar formulas, but Colson Whitehead never writes the same book twice. From a coming-of-age story (Sag Harbor) to a post-apocalyptic tale of zombies (Zone One), the only thing you can expect is evocative writing and sharp social commentary, plus some pop culture references and biting humor. Most of that is in play here, in an unconventional, literal take on the underground railroad. Brutally abused on the Georgia plantation where she is enslaved, Cora escapes -- only to find that the Railroad doesn't guarantee freedom. Traveling ever northward, threatened by a slave-catcher behind her and new challenges around her, Cora's journey is "hard-driving, laser-sharp, artistically superlative, and deeply compassionate" (Booklist).
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Tuesday, May 22 at 3:00 Braden River Library 4915 53rd Avenue East, Bradenton 941-727-6079 Crime and punishmentby Fyodor DostoyevskyThis Russian literature masterpiece follows an impoverished former student who commits a random and unremorseful murder in the slums of St. Petersburg as he plays cat and mouse with a police investigator.
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| Census by Jesse BallWhat it's about: The widowed father of young man with Down syndrome is dying -- and must figure out how to provide for his son after his death.
Why you might like it: Consider this a non-traditional road novel; the unnamed narrator takes a long-postponed cross-country trip with his son, paid for by his role as census-taker for a mysterious governmental agency.
What reviewers say: "strange and wonderful" (LitHub); "an understated feat" (The Washington Post). |
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| Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue HalpernWhat it's about: A trio of oddballs finds a home of sorts in the Carnegie library of a declining industrial town in New Hampshire.
Why you might like it: Authentic characters, unexpected and evolving relationships, and multiple narrators keep the story moving forward.
For fans of: other book-oriented novels with quirky characters, like Felicity Hayes-McCoy's The Library at the Edge of the World or Rebecca Makkai's The Borrower. |
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| Speak No Evil by Uzodinma IwealaWhat it's about: Star athlete Niru is bound for the Ivy League...until his loving but traditional Nigerian parents discover that he's gay. The repercussions are violent and far-reaching.
Why you should read it: Cross-generational misunderstandings, as well as cross-cultural complications, are sensitively portrayed. Niru is a complex young man trying to come to terms with being a young gay black man.
Is it for you? Readers who prefer happy endings will want to look elsewhere. |
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| Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha RaoStarring: motherless Poornima and penniless Savitha, whose deep friendship sustains them in their rural Indian town.
What it's about: Separated by acts of cruelty and abuse, the two young women must navigate the world alone, each searching for the other.
Why you might like it: Narrated in the girls' alternating voices, this debut novel offers a vivid portrayal of contemporary India, as well as a devastating exploration of gender inequalities and human trafficking. |
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The Arctic & the Antarctic
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In cold pursuit
by Sarah Andrews
Heading for Antarctica to study glaciology with her venerable mentor, Dr. Emmett Vanderzee, Valena Walker, a masters student in geology, finds herself thrust into the role of amateur sleuth when Vanderzee is arrested for the killing of a reporter, who died in Antarctica the previous winter, supposedly from exposure. 17,500 first printing.
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The brief history of the dead
by Kevin Brockmeier
In The City, an afterlife world inhabited by the recently departed as long as they remain in the memories of the living, Marion and Phillip Byrd find themselves falling in love again after decades of marriage, while on Earth, their daughter, Laura, is stranded alone in an Antarctic research station, cut off by extreme weather. By tthe author of The Truth About Celia.
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| The Sunlit Night by Rebecca DinersteinDid you know? The sun never sets if you're above the Arctic Circle in summer, as both 21-year-old Frances and 17-year-old Yasha learn when they arrive in remote Lofoten, Norway. She's there to take up residency in an artists' colony; he's there to bury his father.
Why you might like it: With a cast of quirky supporting characters, poetic language, and vivid descriptions of the harsh and melancholy landscape, this not-quite-romance offers an intriguing portrait of family, uncertainty, and loss. |
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| I Am Radar by Reif LarsenWhat it is: a sprawling novel that involves a black boy named Radar born inexplicably to white parents and a secretive group of physicist puppeteers who stage experimental performances in the world's war zones.
You might also like: Kevin Wilson's The Family Fang, another character-centered tale with performance artists in starring roles.
Where does the Arctic come in? Radar meets the puppeteers in northern Norway, above the Arctic Circle. |
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| Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria SempleWhat it's about: Eighth-grader Bee Branch has been promised a trip to Antarctica by her parents, tech guru Elgin Branch and architect Bernadette Fox. Until Bernadette -- whose creative genius is outstripped only by her social anxiety and agoraphobia -- disappears.
Why you might like it: A compilation of emails, faxes, official documents, and letters forms the basis of this delightful, charming, witty novel. |
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The Comet Seekers
by Helen Sedgwick
In this complex, multi-layered novel, two peripatetic individuals meet at a remote research base in Antarctica, both driven by loss and drawn by a comet. As their stories unfold, it becomes clear that they have a centuries-old connection, thanks in part to their ancestors, some of whom make appearances throughout this debut, which spans nearly a thousand years. Though it is French chef François and Irish astronomer Róisín who connect, his mother and her cousin play important roles too, as do the ghosts -- and comets -- that surround them. Check this debut out if you enjoy introspective stories (or want to learn more about comets).
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| South Pole Station by Ashley ShelbyStarring: floundering but talented painter Cooper Gosling, who gets to spend a year at an artists' colony in Antarctica, where she is drawn into the complex social and political dynamics of the isolated station.
Why you might like it: This humorous, inventive debut novel combines science, art, and the politics of climate change -- with plenty of quirky characters to drum up complications.
For fans of: oddball workplace comedies, exotic locations, and complex social situations. For a warmer setting, try T.C. Boyle's The Terranauts. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Manatee County Public Library System 1301 Barcarrota Boulevard West Bradenton, Florida 34205 (941) 748-5555www.mymanatee.org/library |
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