Fiction A to Z
March 2024
Recent Releases
Martyr!
by Kaveh Akbar

As a kid, Cyrus moved from Iran to Indiana with his dad after the plane his mother was on was accidentally shot down by the U.S. military. Now nearly 30 and recovering from addiction, Cyrus' obsession with martyrs leads him to a dying artist in Brooklyn in this highly anticipated debut. Read-alikes: Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous; Zeyn Joukhadar's The Thirty Names of Night; Salar Abdoh's A Nearby Country Called Love. 
The Fox Wife: A Novel
by Yangsze Choo

In 1908 Manchuria, Bao, a detective with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth, is hired to uncover the identity of a dead courtesan, while a secretive woman named Snow, seeking vengeance for her lost child, navigates the myths and misconceptions of fox spirits to find a murderer.
You Only Call When You're in Trouble
by Stephen McCauley

Stephen McCauley's character-driven latest introduces Tom, a Boston architect with money issues whose partner has just left him; his flighty sister, Dorothy, who's trying to open a self-help retreat in Woodstock; and her 34-year-old college professor daughter, Cecily, who's facing a Title IX investigation. For fans of: The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson; The Celebrants by Steven Rowley. 
Held
by Anne Michaels

Beginning with John, an English soldier in 1917 France, and then visiting him again several years later in Yorkshire where he's running a photography studio, this leisurely paced, poetic novel follows him and generations of his family from the early 1900s to 2025. Reviewers say: a "masterpiece" (Publishers Weekly); "exquisite, deeply moving" (Booklist).
Dixon, Descending: A Novel
by Karen Outen

A powerful, heart-wrenching debut novel about ambition, survival, and our responsibility toward one another. Dixon was once an Olympic-level runner. But he missed the team by two-tenths of a second, and ever since that pain decades ago, he hasn't allowed a goal to consume him. But when his charming older brother, Nate, suggests that they attempt to be the first Black American men to summit Mount Everest, Dixon can't refuse. The brothers are determined to prove something--to themselves and to each other. Dixon interrupts his orderly life as a school psychologist, leaving behind disapproving friends, family, and one particularly fragile student, Marcus. Once on the mountain, they are met with extreme weather conditions, oxygen deprivation, and precarious terrain. But as much as they've prepared for this, Mt. Everest is always fickle. And in one devastating moment, Dixon's world is upended. Dixon returns home and attempts to resume his job, but things have shifted: for him and for the students he left behind when he chose Mt. Everest. Ultimately, Dixon must confront the truth of what happened on the mountain and come to terms with who can and cannot be saved.
The Parliament
by Aimee Pokwatka

When tens of thousands of owls descend on her hometown library, rending and tearing at anyone foolish enough to step outside, Madigan Purdy, tasked with keeping her students safe, seeks inspiration from her favorite childhood book, The Silent Queen, to find a solution to their dilemma.
Hard by a Great Forest
by Leo Vardiashvili

As a child, Saba fled civil war in the former Soviet republic of Georgia for London. Nearly 20 years later, his father and brother return to the war-torn country and disappear. Using cryptic clues they've left behind, Saba searches for them in this lyrical, mystical, and funny debut. Don't miss the references to fairy tales and classics.
Focus on: Short Stories
Old Babes in the Wood
by Margaret Atwood

These 15 stories by the acclaimed Canadian author of The Handmaid's Tale showcase a couple named Nell and Tig at different points in their marriage as well as several unrelated tales (including one where the author is a character communicating with George Orwell via a medium). For other collections which explore relationships and loss, try: Family Furnishings by Alice Munro; Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. 
Hotel California: An Anthology of New Mystery Short Stories by Heather Graham, Andrew Child, John Gilstrap, Reed Farrel Coleman, Don Bruns, [and 3 others] ; Edited by Don Bruns.
by Don Bruns

Eight deliciously talented mystery authors have lent their skills of crafting murder and suspense to this collection of gripping short stories. Each of these eight provocative tales is designed to entertain and mystify--and maybe even chill you to your core.
Wilderness Tales: Forty Stories of the North American Wild
by Diana Fuss

Featuring the works of Wallace Stegner, Annie Proulx, Ernest Hemingway, Margaret Atwood, L Frank Baum, William Faulkner and Ray Bradbury, this masterful collection of short stories about North American outdoor life—both classic and contemporary—summons our close and imagined encounters with all things wild.
Endless Summer
by Elin Hilderbrand

In these nine stories, set mostly in Nantucket, Elin Hilderbrand's fans will find many familiar characters (story introductions tell which bestselling book the stories connect to and other fun details). Stories include: "The Surfing Lesson," "The Workshop," "Summer of '79," and "Summer of '89."  Look for Hilderbrand's newest novel, Swan Song, in June.
The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour : Frontier Stories Volume 5, Frontier Stories
by Louis L'Amour

Presents a collection of twenty-eight tales of danger, hardship, and adventure on the Western frontier, including "The Sixth Shotgun," "Big Medicine," and "Love and the Cactus Kid."
Death Note: Short Stories
by Tsugumi Oba

Is Kira's story truly over, or does his influence linger? In this complete collection of Death Note short stories penned by the series' creators, discover tales of lives irrevocably changed by the sinister influence of the Death Note, with surprising and thrilling answers to the question of what it truly takes to use the Death Note...or fight it.
Night of the Living Rez
by Morgan Talty

These 12 interlinked stories capture snapshots in the life of a Penobscot man in Maine, detailing his childhood on the reservation with his mom and her medicine man boyfriend, as well as his later life, as he struggles with addiction, helps a friend, steals artifacts, and more. Penobscot author Morgan Talty's highly anticipated debut novel, Fire Exit, arrives in June.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Michigan City Public Library
100 E. 4th Street
Michigan City, Indiana 46360
219-873-3044
mclib.org/