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Celebrate Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15 |
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Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories
by Agustina Marâia Bazterrica
What is it: From celebrated author Agustina Bazterrica, this collection of nineteen brutal, darkly funny short stories takes into our deepest fears and through our most disturbing fantasies. Through stories about violence, alienation, and dystopia, Bazterrica's vision of the human experience emerges in complex, unexpected ways--often unsettling, sometimes thrilling, and always profound.
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The Haunting of Alejandra
by V. Castro
What happens: Struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her, Alejandra discovers she, like the women in her family before her, is being haunted by La Llorona, the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican Legend, and must summon everything she's inherited from her foremothers to banish this demon forever.
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The Mimicking of Known Successes
by Malka Older
What it's about: Investigator Mossa's latest case involves a return to her alma mater, Jupiter's Valdegeld University, where her success will depend on convincing Pleiti, her ex-girlfriend, to assist her inquiries.
Read it for: a classic mystery feel, a detecting duo reminiscent of Holmes and Watson, and evocative world-building.
For fans of: Mary Robinette Kowal's The Spare Man or Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night.
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The Shamshine Blind
by Paz Pardo
What it's about: In an alternate 2009 where“psychopigments”—colorful chemicals that produce almost any human emotion upon contact—are both pharmaceutical cure-alls and popular recreational drugs, Psychopigment Enforcement Agent Kay Curtida, while working on a career-making case, is led to an overdue reckoning with the truth of her own emotions.
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The Sun and the Void
by Gabriela Romero Lacruz
Welcome to... Venazia, the ancestral home of the antlered valcos and tailed nozariels, who were once enslaved and remain oppressed by their human colonizers.
Where you'll meet: part-nozariel servant Reina Duvianos and half-valco geomancer Eva Kesaré, young women from different worlds whose paths cross as others seek to use them to harness the power of a god.
Why you might like it: This "spellbinding sapphic epic fantasy" (Publishers Weekly), the 1st book in the Warring Gods series, draws inspiration from Latin American history and folklore.
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Thief Liar Lady
by Destiny Soria
What is it: In this clever reimagining of the Cinderella fairytale, the narrator, taught how to get everything she wants in the world, is distracted from her true purpose by waning magic, looming war and a handsome—and strictly forbidden—hostage prince who could ruin everything.
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| Bridge by Lauren BeukesWhat happens: While sorting through her late mother's possessions, Bridget Kittinger finds the "dreamworm," a mysterious object that facilitates interdimensional travel.
Why you might like it: This mind-bending thriller by the author of The Shining Girls follows its determined heroine through multiple selves and realities to solve a mystery.
For fans of: the complex mother-daughter relationship in Aimee Pokwatka's Self-Portrait With Nothing; the multiverse-related intrigue of Micaiah Johnson's The Space Between Worlds. |
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| The Water Outlaws by S.L. HuangStarring: disgraced weapons instructor Lin Chong, dismissed from the Emperor's service and recruited by the legendary Bandits of Liangshan.
Why you might like it: Inspired by the classic Chinese novel Water Margin, this short novel by the author of Burning Roses should appeal to readers who enjoy wuxia-inspired fantasy epics.
For fans of: Wesley Chu's War Arts series or Jin Yong's Legends of the Condor Heroes books. |
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| The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle by T.L. HuchuWhat it's about: Teenage ghosttalker Ropa arrives on the Isle of Skye to attend the Society of Skeptical Enquirers’ conference shortly before a valuable magical scroll disappears.
Why you might like it: This 3rd book in the Edinburgh Nights series (after Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments) takes its heroine away from her usual haunts to solve a locked room mystery in a creepy old castle.
For fans of: Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. |
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| Thornhedge by T. KingfisherOnce upon a time... Toadling, a changeling child, was tasked with guarding a sleeping princess in a bramble-covered castle.
And then... two centuries after Toadling begins her solitary vigil, a knight arrives at the castle to break a curse that should not be broken.
Why you might like it: This fractured fairy tale turns Sleeping Beauty on its head in ways that may appeal to fans of Alix E. Harrow's A Spindle Splintered or Tamsyn Muir's Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower. |
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| Whalefall by Daniel KrausWhat happens: While diving in the Pacific, Jay Gardiner is swallowed by an 80-foot-long sperm whale and has just one hour to escape before his oxygen supply runs out.
Reviewers say: The "scientific and biological accuracy enhances the disturbing realism" (Publishers Weekly) of this "moving character study disguised as a riveting, cinematic survival thriller" (Booklist).
For fans of: tense SF survival stories, such as Andy Weir's The Martian. |
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| Prophet by Sin Blaché and Helen MacdonaldWhat happens: Unexplained phenomena on a military base prompt an investigation by ex-MI6 agent Sunil Rao and American intelligence officer Adam Rubinstein.
Reviewers say: This collaboration between musician Sin Blaché and author Helen Macdonald (H is for Hawk) is "shrewdly imagined, sharply crafted, witty, chilling, psychologically lush, grotesque, and romantic" (Booklist). |
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| More Perfect by Temi OhWhat it is: a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in a near-future dystopian London where the popular Pulse brain implant connects people to the Panopticon network.
Why you might like it: This novel by the author of Do You Dream of Terra-Two? offers a tightly plotted, thought-provoking story of love and augmented reality.
For fans of: Philip K. Dick's Minority Report or Sarah Pinsker's We Are Satellites. |
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| Forged by Blood by Ehigbor OkosunWhat it's about: Living under an oppressive regime, Dèmi secretly works to reclaim her blood magic and liberate her people.
Why you might like it: This debut, which kicks off the Tainted Blood duology, "puts a Nigerian spin on epic fantasy tropes" (Library Journal) as it introduces a compelling young heroine and her intriguing world.
For fans of: Tomi Adeyemi's Legacy of Orisha series, or Namina Forna's The Gilded Ones. |
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| He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-ChanWhat it's about: Following her victory over the Mongol army, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, sets her sights on becoming emperor -- but she's not the only one eyeing the throne.
Series alert: He Who Drowned the World is the sweeping 2nd book in the Radiant Emperor duology; newcomers are advised to start with book 1, She Who Became the Sun. |
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| Where Peace Is Lost by Valerie ValdesWhat it's about: Retired supersoldier Kelana Gardavros lives a quiet life on a backwater planet as a refugee "Kel Garda"...until her past comes back to haunt her.
Is it for you? Less humorous than author Valerie Valdes' Chilling Effect series, this standalone novel offers an adventure story with a side of romance. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Dakota County Library
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