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| A Rip Through Time by Kelley ArmstrongAway from home: In Edinburgh visiting her dying grandmother, Canadian homicide detective Mallory Atkinson is attacked and wakes up in 1869 as an injured housemaid.
Living in the past: Mallory's doctor employer, with help from a police officer, investigates a murder. Believing it's linked to her own attack, Mallory thinks if they can find the killer, she'll also find a way back home.
For fans of: other British-set mysteries with well-wrought supernatural elements, like Julie McElwain's Kendra Donovan mysteries (starting with A Murder in Time), Paraic O'Donnell's Gothic-tinged The House on Vesper Sands, or Oscar de Muriel's Frey and McGray novels. |
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| The Hacienda by Isabel Canas1820s Mexico: Seeking a fresh start after the Mexican War of Independence, impoverished Beatriz marries widower Don Rodolfo Solórzano and moves into his country estate, the Hacienda San Isidro.
Welcome home? Plagued by strange dreams and superstitious staff, Beatriz suspects that Rodolfo's first wife was murdered, and, with the help of a priest, begins investigating the hacienda's haunted history.
For fans of: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. |
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Like a Sister
by Kellye Garrett
First lines: "I found out my sister was back in New York from Instagram. I found out she'd died from the New York Daily News."
What it's about: Columbia grad student Lena Scott believes her estranged reality star half-sister Desiree didn't accidentally overdose -- but who would kill her? And why was she found near Lena's Bronx home? Lena investigates, which means dealing with her and Desiree's rap mogul dad, glitzy influencers and reality stars, and deadly secrets.
Read it for: authentic New York City locations, twisty plotting, and probing looks at social media, reality TV, racism, and sexism.
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| Shadows of Berlin by David R. GillhamThe setup: In her postwar life in 1950s New York, Holocaust survivor Rachel Perlman struggles to carry the weight of her survivor's guilt, which her American-born husband and in-laws -- despite being Jewish themselves -- can't seem to understand.
What happens next: Her estranged uncle Fritz announces that he's found a painting by Rachel's mother, who perished in a concentration camp, and the memories associated with the artwork and its subject force Rachel to contend with everything she did to survive the war.
Read it for: the haunting depiction of Rachel hiding in plain sight in Berlin during the war and the disarmingly poetic turns of phrase that she uses to tell her story. |
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| By the Book by Jasmine GuilloryWhat it is: a charming Beauty and the Beast retelling by the author of the Wedding Date series.
Starring: Isabelle "Izzy" Marlowe, the only Black editorial assistant at Tale as Old as Time publishing; author Beau Towers, who owes her a manuscript, which Izzy is going to retrieve no matter what.
Series alert: By the Book marks the 2nd standalone installment of the fairy tale-inspired Meant to Be series, which begins with Julie Murphy's If the Shoe Fits. |
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| Book Lovers by Emily HenryIntroducing: New York literary agent Nora Stephens, who's practically a Hallmark movie villain after being "dumped in a full lifestyle-swap three times" by men who leave her for small-town bakers and florists.
What happens: Nora agrees to a girls' trip with her pregnant sister to quaint Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, where she can't escape grumpy editor Charlie Lastra, who brutally rejected her client's last book.
About the author: Emily Henry is the bestselling author of Beach Read and The People We Meet on Vacation. |
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| The Fervor by Alma KatsuWhat it's about: A deadly disease sweeps through a Japanese American internment camp in 1944, connecting the fates of a handful of characters in the camp and elsewhere.
Why you might like it: Told from multiple perspectives, this compelling horror novel inspired by Japanese folklore will keep readers turning the pages to see how the characters' lives intersect.
Featuring: the shape-shifting jorogumo spider demon. |
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| A Woman of Endurance by Dahlma Llanos-FigueroaWhat it's about: the role of Puerto Rico in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, explored through the story of Pola, an African woman who is used, abused, and force to bear children that her captors can sell for profit.
Why you should read it: Although Pola's heartwrenching ordeal is a major part of her story, her characterization is made even more compelling by her tenacious hold on her humanity and the rare moments of love and happiness she seizes for herself.
Try these next: The Prophets by Robert Jones or Things Past Telling by Sheila J. Williams, which both explore the rich inner lives enslaved people live despite their violent circumstances. |
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| Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation by Kris ManjapraWhat it's about: how 18th- and 19th-century emancipation efforts in North America, Europe, Haiti, and Sub-Saharan Africa exacerbated racial tensions and reinforced white supremacy.
Why you should read it: Tufts University historian Kris Manjapra's sweeping and thought-provoking study informs ongoing conversations about reparatory justice.
Reviewers say: "an essential contribution to understanding the legacy of slavery" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The High Sierra: A Love Story by Kim Stanley RobinsonWhat it's about: science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson's lifelong love affair with California's majestic Sierra Nevada mountains.
Why you might like it: Fans of Robinson's award-winning novels will appreciate the author's vast knowledge and characteristic attention to detail, which includes maps of the region, advice on hiking gear, deep dives into geology, and more than 100 photographs. |
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Those Kids From Fawn Creek
by Erin Entrada Kelly
What it's about: In tiny Fawn Creek, Louisiana, the arrival of mysterious, well-traveled new girl Orchid shakes up the boring routine and strictly separate friend groups in the seventh grade.
How it's told: from several different kids' points of view, allowing you to gather clues about Orchid (who might be lying) and to understand not only who each character seems to be, but who they really are.
Who it's for: anyone who's dreamed of a change, or a chance to defy expectations.
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| I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuistonThe search: for Shara Wheeler begins shortly before graduation, after she kisses Chloe Green and vanishes. Chloe needs her rival for valedictorian back so she can win fair and square.
The search party: Chloe plus two other students Shara kissed, who collect cryptic notes and untangle the mystery of Shara's disappearance and Shara herself.
Author alert: I Kissed Shara Wheeler is the YA debut from author Casey McQuiston, whose adult romcom Red, White & Royal Blue found a wide audience. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Michigan City Public Library
100 E. 4th Street
Michigan City, Indiana 46360
219-873-3044mclib.org/ |
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