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Fiction A to Z August 2024 |
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| The Heart in Winter by Kevin BarryIn 1891 Montana, young Irish poet Tom Rourke drinks, takes drugs, and falls for Polly Gillespie, the devout mine leader’s new bride. The lovers commit arson, steal money and a horse, and then head west...but a posse is hot on their trail. This buzzy, critically acclaimed novel “is brutal, hilarious, and fabulously entertaining" (Booklist). For fans of: lyrical Irish writers; Cormac McCarthy. |
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| Becoming Ted by Matt CainWhen his husband of 20 years cheats and leaves, Ted Ainsworth is at a loss, at first. Encouraged by his best friend Denise, who also has romantic problems, he takes chances, pursues new interests, and meets a new man. This heartwarming latest from the author of The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle will please fans of Kinky Boots and Steven Rowley's The Guncle. |
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| Swift River by Essie ChambersIn 1987, 16-year-old Diamond Newberry is the only Black person in Swift River. Her Pop disappeared and her financially struggling white mom can’t get a death benefit until seven years have passed. With that date approaching, her mom has plans for the future, but Diamond has plans, too, and some secrets, including a job and correspondence with her dad’s aunt. Read-alikes: Alice Pung's One Hundred Days; Tiffany McDaniel's Betty. |
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| Parade by Rachel CuskThis unconventional latest from award winner Rachel Cusk follows various artists named G: one paints his wife upside down to much acclaim, another marries and becomes a mother, and four others live equally intriguing lives. Shifting perspectives and narrators, this stylistically complex offering examines art, family, love, and gender. Read-alikes: Eliza Barry Callahan's The Hearing Test; Sheila Heti's Pure Colour. |
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| The Wedding People by Alison EspachHopeless, Phoebe Stone is ready to end her life at a gorgeous Rhode Island inn. But she’s the only one not there for an expensive wedding, and when the bride learns Phoebe’s plan, she refuses to let Phoebe ruin her nuptials. The two become confidants as surprising events and characters propel this funny, poignant story forward. Read-alikes: This Disaster Loves You by Richard Roper; Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason. |
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| Four Squares by Bobby FingerThis tender character-driven novel depicts New York writer Artie Anderson in the 1990s when he turns 30, falls for a married man, and lives through the AIDS crisis, and in the 2020s, when he turns 60 and finds much-needed connections at the local center for queer seniors. This latest by the author of The Old Place is “a big-hearted and relatable read” (Kirkus Reviews). For fans of: The Kingdom of Sand by Andrew Holleran. |
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| Malas by Marcela FuentesIn 1994, high schooler Lulu, who has a strict dad and secretly sings in a punk band, befriends a glamorous older woman at her beloved abuela's funeral. Back in the 1950s, a young mother struggles after her husband's first wife curses her. This "entrancing debut" (Kirkus Reviews) is sprinkled with Spanish phrases and richly describes life in a Texas border town. Read-alike: Elba Iris Perez's The Things We Didn't Know. |
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| The God of the Woods by Liz MooreA 13-year-old girl disappears in 1975 from the Adirondack summer camp that her wealthy parents own...just as her brother did 14 years earlier. This intricately plotted literary mystery includes various points of view as it compellingly details the searches for each of the siblings while exploring family, crime, and class. For fans of: All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers; The Last Child by John Hart. |
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| How to Age Disgracefully by Clare PooleyTo save their local London community center, a group of eclectic seniors and their empty-nester social leader team up with a 17-year-old single dad from the nursery school group in this funny, feel-good novel. Read-alikes: Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson; The Thursday Murder Club mysteries by Richard Osman. |
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| God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer by Joseph Earl ThomasNarrated in a stream-of-consciousness style, this first novel by the author of the acclaimed memoir Sink gets into the head of Joseph Thomas (who shares the author's name). While working a shift at a Philadelphia hospital trauma center, Thomas riffs on his Army days, patients, his family, his PhD studies, and more, touching on race, life, and love. For fans of: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar; Hell of a Book by Jason Mott. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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