Great recent titles you may have missed, selected by our librarians.
July - September 2023 Issue
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See also:
- Featured Review: Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina
- Nonfiction Recommendations
- Previous Issues
Aboulela, Leila. River Spirit.
In this novel depicting the lives of ordinary people set against the turbulence of politics and religion in Sudan in the 1880s, an orphaned girl whose village has been destroyed is rescued by a young merchant, but, unable to control her life, she is later sold into slavery. Ebook
Agbaje-Williams, Ore. The Three of Us.
This comedy of manners takes place during one long day of heavy drinking, and is told from three points of view: that of a wealthy British Nigerian woman and two people fighting over her - her husband, and her best friend.
Ausubel, Ramona. The Last Animal.
A widowed scientist brings her two daughters on a research trip to Siberia, where they find a baby wooly mammoth preserved in ice, leading to her attempt to resurrect the species.
Barry, Dave. Swamp Story.
In this wild, funny, complicated crime caper set in Florida, a young woman living in the Everglades with her no-good boyfriend, who's busy trying to sell a reality TV show to a network, finds a stash of Civil War-era gold bars, and needs help to escape with the loot.
Barry, Sebastian. Old God’s Time.
A retired Irish police detective, struggling with the loss of his wife and children, as well his memory, is called upon to assist in the investigation of a long-ago murder of an abusive priest.
Beanland, Rachel. The House Is on Fire.
This historical novel describes an actual deadly fire in a Richmond, Virginia theater in 1811, and explores the consequences for the survivors, including Patrick Henry's daughter, and an enslaved blacksmith. Ebook
Boyle, T. C. Blue Skies.
In this grimly humorous story, the members of an extended and well-off family find their plans disrupted by a series of ecological disasters, including wind, wildfires, torrential rain, flooding on both coasts, and a massive global insect die-off.
Charry, Brinda. The East Indian.
In this novel set in the 17th century, a boy born in India to an Indian mother and a British father is sent to London after his mother dies, but is then kidnapped and shipped off to Jamestown, Virginia, to labor in the fields as an indentured servant.
Chong, Jinwoo. Flux.
In this multilayered puzzle of a novel with three seemingly unrelated stories, an 8-year-old boy loses his mother, a 28-year-old man loses his job, and a 48-year-old man, who has been mute for many years, regains his power of speech. A 1980s TV detective show may provide the connection. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Guns, Priya. Your Driver Is Waiting.
A young queer woman who drives for a ride-share company endures constant harassment and is barely making ends meet when she meets a privileged white woman and they have an affair. Downloadable audiobook
Halperin, Hanna. I Could Live Here Forever.
In this star-crossed love story, a lonely Boston woman attending a fiction-writing program at UW-Madison is drawn to a good-looking and gentle young musician, who is battling heroin addiction. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Haynes, Natalie. Stone Blind.
In this retelling of the Greek myth of Medusa, a woman grows up as the only mortal in a loving gorgon family, is traumatized by being raped by Poseidon, and is then punished by Poseidon's wife, Athene, who turns her into a snake-haired monster.
Heng, Rachel. The Great Reclamation.
This historical novel portraying the many changes that Singapore experienced in the 20th century begins in 1941, when a young village boy goes fishing with his father and discovers a mysterious group of islands unknown to anyone else. Ebook
Hoffs, Susanna. This Bird Has Flown.
In this lively romance written by a co-founder of the The Bangles, a musician who just broke up with her boyfriend, and whose career is going nowhere, meets an Oxford literature professor on a flight to London. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Holland, Jacqueline. The God of Endings.
This philosophical novel, which spans more than two centuries, begins in New York state in the 1830s, when a young girl loses her family in a tuberculosis epidemic; just as she herself is dying, a man who says he is her grandfather appears and changes her into a vampire, like himself.
Jain, Vibhuti. Our Best Intentions.
After an Indian-American teenaged girl discovers her best friend's older brother lying stabbed on the high school football field, a Black teenager is accused of the crime, and their affluent suburb is thrown into an uproar. Ebook
Jimenez, Claire. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez.
In this novel set in a Pentecostal Puerto Rican community in Staten Island, a 13-year-old girl disappears after track practice; twelve years later, her two sisters think they spot her on a reality TV series, and the family sets off to find her. Ebook
Kang, Han. Greek Lessons.
In this novel from South Korea, a woman who has left an abusive marriage and lost custody of her son discovers that she has also lost the ability to speak. In the hope that studying a new language may help, she signs up for a class in Greek, taught by a man who has steadily been losing his sight for decades.
LaValle, Victor. Lone Women.
In this unusual Western/suspense/horror novel set in 1914, a Black woman leaves California after the death of her parents and homesteads in Montana, bringing with her a mysterious steamer trunk that she keeps locked at all times. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Link, Kelly. White Cat, Black Dog: Stories.
A collection of seven modern fairy tales, some of them based on traditional stories, that include fantasy, horror, and wild imagination.
McKenzie, Elizabeth. The Dog of the North.
In this zany novel, a woman goes to Santa Barbara to protect her mad-scientist grandmother, who has been accused of threatening a Meals on Wheels delivery person, leading to a series of unexpected misadventures.
Moore, Susanna. The Lost Wife.
This historical novel, based in part on a true story, follows a woman who left an abusive husband in Rhode Island and moved to the Minnesota Territory in 1855. She then married a new husband, who became the resident doctor at an Indian Agency near a Sioux reservation.
Novey, Idra. Take What You Need.
In this book about family relationships, an older woman living alone in the Alleghenies devotes her time to creating towers made of welded scrap metal, which her stepdaughter inherits after the artist dies in an accident.
Pochoda, Ivy. Sing Her Down.
In this suspenseful noir novel, two women serving time in an Arizona prison are released early due to the Covid-19 pandemic and take off for Los Angeles, leaving behind a dead body, and are trailed by an LA police officer.
Ryan, Donal. The Queen of Dirt Island.
This Irish novel about the joys and sorrows of the women in a County Tipperary family over several decades centers on the relationships between a grandmother, her widowed daughter-in-law, and her teenaged granddaughter. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Schine, Cathleen. Künstlers in Paradise.
In this witty novel of manners, a woman who escaped from Vienna with her family at the beginning of World War II and settled in Hollywood takes in her grandson during the Covid-19 lockdown and entertains him with stories of her childhood growing up among celebrities. Ebook
Slocumb, Brendan. Symphony of Secrets.
In this mystery thriller, a musicologist is asked to prepare a long-lost opera manuscript for performance decades after the work's disastrous premiere in the 1930s, and is puzzled by the composer's cryptic notation. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Sternbergh, Adam. The Eden Test.
In this psychological thriller, an actress with a troubled marriage signs herself and her husband up for a weeklong program, called The Eden Test, which takes them to a remote cabin in upstate New York to repair their relationship. Ebook
Törzs, Emma. Ink Blood Sister Scribe.
In this suspenseful dark fantasy, two estranged half-sisters, the daughters of a man who collected magical books, are joined by a scribe and his bodyguard to try to uncover family secrets that could protect all of them from a malevolent spell. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Varadarajan, Deepa. Late Bloomers.
After 36 years of marriage, an Indian-American woman decides to live her own life and divorces her husband, causing confusion and adjustments for her husband and their two grown children. Ebook
Varela, Alejandro. The People Who Report More Stress: Stories.
A collection of interconnected stories that center on their characters' everyday experiences of homophobia and racism; a number of the stories explore the many possible relationships between two men, one white, one Latino, who are married to each other and live in New York City.
Winn, Alice. In Memoriam.
Two young Englishmen meet at a boarding school and fall in love, each without knowing how the other man feels; later, after World War I starts, they meet again in Flanders after joining the Army. Ebook, downloadable audiobook