Learning at our libraries
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New and Recently Released!
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Before, during, after: a novel
by Richard Bausch
Falling passionately in love with an Episcopalian priest who is struggling with his faith, Natasha plans an autumn 2001 wedding that is shattered by the September 11 attacks before she endures private trauma at the hands of a young man while stranded in Jamaica.
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Lucky us : a novel
by Amy Bloom
Forging a life together after being abandoned by their parents, half sisters Eva and Iris share decades in and out of the spotlight in golden-era Hollywood and mid-20th-century Long Island.
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Chasing shadows
by
Leila Yusuf Chung
Story of Lavi, a middle-aged Polish Jew who, desperate to have children, flees his barren marriage and moves to British Palestine in 1945. He converts to Islam and is soon arranged to marry a beautiful young Palestinian girl, Keira. Months after the birth of their daughter, the Jewish state of Israel is created and Lavi and his young family are forced to settle amid the chaos of a refugee camp in Lebanon.
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Academy Street
by
Mary Costello
Heart-breaking and evocative story of one woman's life spanning six decades. Tess's childhood in 1940s rural Ireland is defined by the sudden death of her mother. Later, in New York, she encounters the ferocious power and calamity of love, and the effects of catastrophic fate. There has been a lot of pre-publication buzz for this novel.
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Season of the dragonflies: a novel
by
Sarah Creech
Generations ago, the Lenore women learned that they could influence the flowers that grew on their Blue Ridge Mountain property. Now, their perfume company, which depends on those flowers, is in trouble. The current owner's younger daughter has returned after a long absence, sharing troubling visions (also part of the Lenore skillset), upsetting the status quo, and threatening her older sister's career hopes. Just as worrisome, a client has threatened to expose their secret ability, and the flowers that sustain the company seem to be dying. Complex family relationships (especially between sisters), a hint of romance, and a little magic in the garden will entice fans of Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spells.
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All I love and know: a novel
by
Judith Frank
In this complex, deeply felt novel, staid Daniel Rosen and his opposites-attract husband Matthew are confronted with unexpected challenges when Daniel's twin brother and sister-in-law are killed in a bombing in Jerusalem. Daniel has been named as the guardian for their children, which neither set of grandparents supports and the Israeli courts have the power to override. On top of legal battles, Daniel is dealing with terrible grief and instant parenthood to a baby and an overwhelmed child; Matthew is supportive but their relationship is nevertheless affected. Peopled by finely wrought characters, this novel is "heartbreaking, yet jubilantly hopeful" (Publishers Weekly). Available only as a downloadable audiobook.
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The eye of the sheep
by Sofie Laguna
Told from the mesmerising point of view and in the inimitable voice of Jimmy, this is an extraordinary novel about a poor family struggling to cope with a different and difficult child.
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Dirty work: a novel
by
Gabriel Weston
Nancy Mullion is a skilled OB/GYN who also performs abortions; after a patient in her care nearly dies, she is suspended from her duties at her London hospital. With little to do but worry about her patient and her career, she spends her time considering her path thus far, from childhood on. A reflective, introspective novel, Dirty Work addresses a controversial topic and provides unusual perspectives on it -- both of an ambivalent practitioner and of those who will judge Nancy's actions at her hearing without having performed the work themselves. Publishers Weekly calls this fiction debut from the author of the medical memoir Direct Red a "medical and moral tour de force."
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Small blessings: a novel
by
Martha Woodroof
In this character-driven debut novel, English professor Tom Putnam is resigned to a quiet, small life spent caring for his heavily dependent wife, Marjory, whose neuroses were exacerbated by his infidelity a decade ago. But in short order, Tom's life is upended by Marjory's sudden death, a new friendship with the charming new bookstore manager, and the arrival of the son he never knew about. (This last is especially complicated -- it is immediately obvious that Henry is not Tom's kid, but he needs a home, and his backpack contains only one change of clothes and half a million dollars.) With help from his spirited mother-in-law, Tom builds a stable home environment for Henry and a new life for himself. Fans of Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry or Helen Simonson's Major Pettigrew's Last Stand may enjoy this humorous story of the creation of an unusual new family. Available only as a downloadable audiobook.
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Each year, the National Book Foundation honours five writers under the age of 35. The 2014 honorees will be announced in mid-September; until we learn who they are, enjoy the selections below, which reflect previous years' choices.
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"I'd heard those stories so many times that they became only that to me: stories."
~ from Molly Antopol's
The UnAmericans
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The UnAmericans: stories
by
Molly Antopol
This complex debut collection of short stories traces the experiences of deeply flawed and painfully human characters from a range of backgrounds, including a Czechoslovakian dissident, a McCarthy-era communist/actor, and an Israeli journalist. Exploring themes of estrangement, family, and politics, these stories span much of the 20th century and take place in locations as varied as Maine and Kiev. "Often sharply funny and always intelligent" (Library Journal), The UnAmericans was honored in 2013.
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The orchardist
by
Amanda Coplin
When two feral girls--one of which is very pregnant--appear on his homestead, solitary orchardist Talmadge, who carefully tends the grove of fruit trees he has cultivated for nearly half a century, vows to save and protect them while trying to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past. The Orchardist was selected by the National Book Foundation in 2013.
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Vaclav & Lena: A Novel
by
Haley Tanner
Honored in 2012, this debut novel takes place in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach as two children of Russian émigrés bond over their desire to create Houdini-like magic acts. As kids, Vaclav and Lena are inseparable, but as adolescence looms, Lena's horrific home situation leads to seven years in the foster system. When the two are finally reunited, they tread carefully, unsure if the other still feels as strongly as they do. Powerful and haunting, Vaclav & Lena is an emotional love story set in a well-depicted world of Brooklyn's Russian immigrants.
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We the animals: a novel
by
Justin Torres
In this energetic collection of linked short stories, three brothers grow up in a chaotic home marked by poverty and their parents' turbulent relationship. The boys, nearly indistinguishable at first as they play and fight and bond, understand little of their parents' instability, but the youngest, who narrates, soon realises that he is different from his brothers and that this difference will set him apart. This "subtle, shimmering and emotionally devastating" (Kirkus Reviews) debut novel was selected by the National Book Foundation in 2012.
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Battleborn
by
Claire Vaye Watkins
The ten short stories that make up this debut collection all take place in Nevada, from the glittering streets and shady back alleys of Las Vegas to the rural towns on the other side of the mountains to the trails blazed by gold diggers in 1849. Reimagining the mythology of the American West, author Claire Watkins puts her protagonists through hardship and violence, whether it's a small-town girl getting into trouble -- and encouraging her friend to do the same -- in Las Vegas or a foreigner's experiences at a brothel. These characters may be "prickly as barbed wire" (Kirkus Reviews), but they're also fully human, and their stories will resonate with fans of Joan Didion or Annie Proulx. Battleborn was honored in 2012.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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