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Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer
by Jamie Figueroa
What happens: After their mother’s death, two siblings in a tourist town deal with depression and try to make enough money performing for the wealthy visitors to afford a plane ticket out while dealing with the ghosts of their ancestors.
Why you might like it: This character-driven, lyrical debut novel explores themes such as grief, family secrets, and intergenerational conflict.
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Libertie
by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Starring: Libertie Sampson, coming of age as a free-born Black woman in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn.
What it's about: Libertie feels stifled by her mother's plans for her and is constantly reminded that, unlike her mother, Libertie has skin that is too dark. As she tries to parse what freedom actually means for a Black woman, Libertie struggles with where she might find it--for herself and for generations to come.
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| Early Morning Riser by Katherine HeinyWhat it's about: The ever-evolving relationship between second-grade teacher Jane and the local Casanova, Duncan. Over 17 years, they form an unconventional family that includes his ex-wife and a childlike coworker.
Why you might like it: Buzzing with humor and peopled with characters who are easy to root for, this engaging tale of quotidian small-town life is a heartwarming portrayal of community.
For fans of: Emma Straub's All Adults Here; Amy Poeppel's Musical Chairs. |
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Sunflower Sisters
by Martha Hall Kelly
Starring: Union nurse Georgeanna Woolsey, an ancestor of Caroline Ferriday, who was introduced in Kelly's Lilac Girls.
What happens: Georgeanna travels with her sister to Gettysburg, where they cross paths with a slave-turned-army conscript and her cruel plantation mistress.
What else to try: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom or My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira
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The Souvenir Museum: Stories
by Elizabeth McCracken
What it is: A collection of short stories where the mysterious bonds of family are tested, transformed, fractured, and fortified.
What's inside: A recent widower and his adult son ferry to a craggy Scottish island in search of puffins--A mother pining for her children, feasts on loaves of challah to fill the void--And more.
For fans of: Bittersweet, moving stories about family relationships such as Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson or Binocular Vison by Edith Pearlman.
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Margreete's Harbor
by Eleanor Lincoln Morse
What's inside: Ten years in the history of a family: a novel of small moments, intimate betrayals, arrivals and disappearances that coincide with America during the late 1950s through the turbulent 1960s.
What happens: Opening her coastal Maine home to relatives when she realizes she can no longer remain independent, a thrice-widowed woman reflects on her past.
Who will like it: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane or Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf.
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First Person Singular: Stories
by Haruki Murakami
What it is: A new collection of short stories told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator that explores the boundaries of the mind.
What's inside: Subjects ranging from youth and music to baseball and solitude--all touch beautifully on love and loss, childhood and death.
For fans of: Richly detailed and compelling stories such as 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster or Your Duck is My Duck by Deborah Eisenberg.
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| Gold Diggers by Sanjena SathianStarring: Indian American Neeraj "Neil" Narayan, who has never felt anything more than average at his high-achieving high school in Hammond Creek, Georgia.
But wait! Neil's neighbor, who's into alchemy, has learned that if you eat their gold jewelry, you can absorb the potential of gifted individuals. So of course that's what Neil begins to do.
Then what happens? Well, you'll have to read it for yourself, but in this layered coming-of-age story, comedy and tragedy go hand in hand. |
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Under the Wave at Waimea
by Paul Theroux
Starring: Now in his sixties, big-wave surfer Joe Sharkey has passed his prime and is losing his 'stoke.'
What happens: When he accidentally kills a man, Joe confronts aging, privilege and mortality and makes an astonishing discovery about his personal link to the victim.
Who will like it: Fans of Bill Bryson's travel accounts or Ken Kesey's cutting social commentary.
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| The Night Always Comes by Willy VlautinStarring: 30-year-old Portland, Oregon waitress Lynette, who's been working multiple jobs to buy the house that she, her mother, and her disabled brother are living in.
What happens: This is a heart-wrenching novel from an author who specializes in the downtrodden, so it will come as no surprise that the initial deal Lynette has worked out fails...and she's moved by desperation to consider other, more dangerous options to secure housing for her family.
Read it for: An exploration of the perils of gentrification; the fully realized and sympathetic characters; Lynette's inner strength. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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