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library book suggestion lists~ 2022
------ Civilizations
by Laurent Binet
What it is: an engaging and thought-provoking alternate history of contact between Europe and the Americas that meditates on tantalizing what if questions about colonialism.
Starring: Freydis, daughter of Eric the Red, whose contact with Indigenous people in the year 1000 introduces new disease resistance and sailing technology; Atahualpa, ruler of the Inca Empire, who captures the ships of Christopher Columbus and uses them to travel to Europe.
About the author: French author Laurent Binet writes about politics and history and is best known in the English-speaking world for HHhH, his Prix Goncourt-winning debut novel.
------ Small Pleasures
by Clare Chambers
What it's about: Journalist Jean Swinney's dull life in the suburbs of 1950s London gets turned upside down (for good and ill) when she's sent to report on Gretchen Tilbury, a woman who claims her daughter is the result of a virgin birth.
For fans of: The Wonder by Emma Donoghue; The Stolen Child by Lisa Carey.
Reviewers say: The characters in Small Pleasures "provoke so much empathy, readers may have trouble remembering that they’re fictional" (Booklist).
------ The Lost Notebook of Édouard Manet
by Maureen Gibbon
What it is: a character-driven and reflective story that imagines the final days of French artist Édouard Manet, who created his final masterpieces like A Bar at the Folies-Bergère while his body was ravaged by syphilis.
Read it for: the lush writing style, which deftly captures Manet's visceral, frenetic passion for life, love, and art.
You might also like: Alyssa Palombo's The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence, about Sandro Botticelli's muse Simonetta Vespucci.
------ The Prince of the Skies
by Antonio Iturbe
What it's about: the life and work of French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of the renowned novella The Little Prince.
Why you might like it: Author Antonio Iturbe portrays the glamour and drama in Saint-Exupéry's life in an atmospheric tone and rich details.
Reviewers say: "Saint-Ex, his colleagues, and their loves come to life in a novel that would do the author of The Little Prince proud" (Publishers Weekly).
------ Palmares
by Gayl Jones
What it is: the haunting and incisive story of Almeyda, a young Black woman living in the titular Palmares, a settlement for escaped slaves in 17th-century Brazil.
Why you should read it: Palmares is another vibrant addition to the canon of historical fiction about the rich inner lives of people living in (and escaping from) slavery, and its setting underlines the wide breadth of experiences in the African diaspora.
About the author: Novelist, poet, and academic Gayl Jones is best known for her books Corregiadora and Eva's Man. Palmares marks her first release in 20 years.
------ The Mad Women's Ball
by Victoria Mas
What it's about: the disturbing world of 19th-century attempts to treat "hysteria" and the harrowing experiences of women living in a Parisian asylum.
Who it's for: gothic fiction fans; anyone interested in spiritualism and stories of women's autonomy.
You might also like: The Painted Bridge by Wendy Wallace; The Lines We Leave Behind by Eliza Graham.
------ Tenderness
by Alison MacLeod
What it is: a character-driven and stylistically complex reimagining of the origins, publication, and legacy of D.H. Lawrence's classic Lady Chatterley's Lover.
About the author: Canadian writer Alison MacLeod is best known for her novel Unexploded, which was longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize.
Try this next: The posthumously published Maurice by E.M. Forster, which some critics argue might have inspired Lawrence to write Lady Chatterley.
------- The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven
by Nathaniel Ian Miller
What it's about: the solitary life of Sven Ormson, a Swede who banishes himself to life in the Arctic after a disfiguring polar bear attack, and the people (and dog!) who change his life for the better when they arrive some time in 1916.
Read it for: the reflective tone, leisurely pace, and Sven's likeable, introspective narration.
Reviewers say: "Sven’s ugliness is only skin-deep, and readers will love the beauty and depth of his story" (Kirkus Reviews).
------ Rizzio
by Denise Mina
What it is: a compelling, atmospheric thriller that revisits the violent murder of David Rizzio, the Italian secretary and royal favorite of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Why you might like it: Despite its fast pace and intricate plotting, Rizzio also presents readers with a cast of well-developed characters and explores what led them to commit their fateful crime.
For fans of: The King at the Edge of the World by Arthur Phillips, another tale of an outsider moving in Scottish royal circles.
----- The Stolen Lady
by Laura Morelli
What it's about: the efforts of two women, living centuries apart, who are charged with safeguarding one of the most famous paintings in the world, the Mona Lisa.
Starring: Bellina Sardi, a Florentine servant who decides to save the unfinished portrait of her employer from the chaos of an anti-Medici uprising; Louvre archivist Anne Guichard, who partners with the Resistance to save the painting from falling into Nazi hands.
Reviewers say: "This will pull in readers from the very first page" (Publishers Weekly).
What a tempting list of books, Alias. From the mystery list, i found a couple which continue series i read but am far behind. What i will endorse is the mystery, Winter Counts--David Heska Wanbli Weiden. Set on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, Virgil Wounded Horse is a strong character and the book offers an honest look at reservation life and the impact drugs and alcohol have had, as well as how justice works.
----- The Maid: A Novel
by Nita Prose
“As a maid in a posh hotel, Molly is very proud of her work and the care she takes of the guests, even though she often has difficulty navigating social cues. When she finds a wealthy guest dead, she never imagines she has the keys to uncover a killer, and finds, after the death of her beloved Gran, there are many people willing to help her. For fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and How Lucky.�
Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, Flemington, NJ
NoveList read-alike: Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth Little
------ The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections: A Novel
by Eva Jurczyk
“When the director of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections suffers a stroke, Liesl is put in charge. Then a newly acquired manuscript goes missing, and Liesl’s leadership is questioned. A fast read that features older and imperfect characters, and addresses mental illness. For fans of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore and The Lions of Fifth Avenue.�
Alison Zaya, Lowell Library, Lowell, MA
NoveList read-alike: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
----- Electric Idol
by Katee Robert
“A fantastic, modern retelling of the old myth of Psyche and Eros. Their romance is lovely, exploring the trope of fake relationships and forced marriage while both characters are struggling to make it out alive. For those who loved Neon Gods and Lore Olympus.�
Brenna Timm, High Plains Library District, Greeley, CO
NoveList read-alike: Dark Desires series by Zara Cox
----- A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel
by Stacy Willingham
“Chloe knows what it’s like to be judged and whispered about, and how it feels to have your family torn apart by a serial killer: your own father. Now on the 20th anniversary of the murders, bodies start turning up, and she finds herself in the middle of the investigation. Unique, riveting, and thrilling. For fans of Jennifer McMahon and Laura Lippman.�
Shellie Taylor, Iredell County Library, Statesville, NC
NoveList read-alike: Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
------ Must Love Books
by Shauna Robinson
“An inspiring romcom debut that tackles the question “Are you happy?�. After five years of working for a publisher, Nora gets a pay cut instead of an expected promotion. She decides to work freelance on the side for a competitor, which leads to a hectic juggling of business and personal relationships. For fans of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill and Beach Read.�
Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Library, Austin, TX
NoveList read-alike: My Salinger Year by Joanna Smith Rakoff
----- The Overnight Guest: A Novel
by Heather Gudenkauf
“A violent, suspenseful page turner with a compelling plot: A young girl narrowly escapes harm when her parents are shot dead in their home and her brother and best friend (who was sleeping over) disappear. The story then toggles to follow a true-crime writer investigating the town years later. For fans of Dark Places and When You See Me.�
Heidi Sandiford, Hillsdale Free Public Library, Hillsdale, NJ
NoveList read-alike: Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
----- Reckless Girls: A Novel
by Rachel Hawkins
“When Lux and her boyfriend agree to ferry two women to a beautiful island near Hawaii, it seems like the perfect refuge for Lux, who’s still grieving her mother’s death. But then more people join them on the island and they find danger lurking everywhere. Give this inventive slow-burn thriller to fans of Ruth Ware and Riley Sager.�
Cari Dubiel, Twinsburg Public Library, Twinsburg, OH
NoveList read-alike: The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
------ The Roughest Draft
by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
“In this bookish romance, two estranged co-authors are pressured into fulfilling the last book on their contract after their relationship goes haywire. It's always fun to read about the writing/publishing process, and there’s great chemistry between the leads. For fans of Christina Lauren and Emily Henry.�
Rebecca Swanson, Fitchburg Public Library, Fitchburg, WI
NoveList read-alike: Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
------ The School for Good Mothers: A Novel
by Jessamine Chan
“When recently-divorced Frida leaves her daughter home alone, she’s sentenced to a reeducation center where she must prove she's a good mom by bonding with a lifelike doll. This chilling dystopian novel highlights how performative and competitive parenting can be; for readers of The Handmaid’s Tale and Klara and the Sun.�
Elizabeth Zielinski, Olathe Public Library, Olathe, KS
NoveList read-alike: Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh
------ Weather Girl
by Rachel Lynn Solomon
“Ari and Russell scheme to get their feuding divorced bosses back together, Parent Trap-style, and regain peace in the workplace. Instead, they find love. A touching, surprisingly weighty romance, exploring issues of depression and body image and incorporating glimpses of Jewish faith. For fans of Get a Life, Chloe Brown and The Matzah Ball.�
Alicia Ahlvers, Henrico County Public Library, Henrico, VA
NoveList read-alike: The Marriage Code by Brooke Burroughs
----- A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919
by Claire Hartford
On a hot day in July 1919, three black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the “white� beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one. Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations.
------- A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
by Holly Jackson
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town. But she can’t shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. Now Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn’t want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.
------ All Boys Aren’t Blue
by George M. Johnson
In a series of personal essays, George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.
------ An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
by Hank Green
Roaming through New York City at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship April and her best friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight. Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships, her safety, and her own identity. And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.
-------- The Assignment
by Liza Weimer
When an assignment given by a favorite teacher instructs a group of students to argue for the Final Solution, a euphemism used to describe the Nazi plan for the genocide of the Jewish people, Logan March and Cade Crawford are horrified. Their teacher cannot seriously expect anyone to complete an assignment that fuels intolerance and discrimination. Logan and Cade decide they must take a stand. As the school administration addressed the teens� refusal to participate in the appalling debate, the student body, their parents, and the larger community are forced to face the issue as well. The situation explodes, and acrimony and anger result. What does it take for tolerance, justice, and love to prevail?
------- The Black Kids
by Christina Hammonds Reed
This novel explores issues of race, class, and violence through the eyes of a wealthy black teenager whose family gets caught in the vortex of the 1992 Rodney King Riots. Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year. Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids. As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal.
------- Cemetery Boys
by Aiden Thomas
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.
------ Clap When You Land
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people� In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.
------ Clown in a Cornfield
by Adam Cesare
Quinn and her father moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs to find a fresh start. But ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half. On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out of Kettle Springs as quick as they can. Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It’s a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown in a pork-pie hat, goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now.
------ Concrete Rose
by Angie Thomas
If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.
Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control. Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father. Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different. When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can’t just walk away.
------- Dear Justyce
by Nic Stone
Vernell LaQuan Banks and Justyce McAllister grew up a block apart in the Southwest Atlanta neighborhood of Wynwood Heights. Years later, though, Justyce walks the illustrious halls of Yale University . . . and Quan sits behind bars at the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Center. Through a series of flashbacks, vignettes, and letters to Justyce–the protagonist of Dear Martin–Quan’s story takes form. Troubles at home and misunderstandings at school give rise to police encounters and tough decisions. But then there’s a dead cop and a weapon with Quan’s prints on it. What leads a bright kid down a road to a murder charge?
------- Displacement
by Kiku Hughes
Japanese American Kiku Hughes, 16, feels disconnected from her Japanese heritage, and she knows little about her family’s history, which includes internment in Utah’s Topaz Relocation Center. On a trip to San Francisco with her mother, an ephemeral fog transports Kiku from the site of her maternal grandmother’s childhood home to the past. Later, pulled from her Seattle home during the Trump Muslim ban, Kiku spends more than a year interned as a Japanese prisoner alongside her then-living maternal grandmother. She struggles over whether to introduce herself and manages to cope with the help of fellow prisoners Aiko Mifune and love-interest May Ide.
------ The Downstairs Girl
by Stacey Lee
By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.� When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta’s most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she is ready to step into the light.
------ Dragon Hoops
by Gene Luen Yang
Gene understands stories—comic book stories, in particular. Big action. Bigger thrills. And the hero always wins. But Gene doesn’t get sports. As a kid, his friends called him “Stick� and every basketball game he played ended in pain. He lost interest in basketball long ago, but at the high school where he now teaches, it’s all anyone can talk about. The men’s varsity team, the Dragons, is having a phenomenal season that’s been decades in the making. Each victory brings them closer to their ultimate goal: the California State Championships. Once Gene gets to know these young all-stars, he realizes that their story is just as thrilling as anything he’s seen on a comic book page. He knows he has to follow this epic to its end. What he doesn’t know yet is that this season is not only going to change the Dragons’s lives, but his own life as well.
------ Everybody Looking
by Candice Iloh
Every Body Looking is a heavily autobiographical novel of a young woman’s struggle to carve a place for herself–for her black female body–in a world of deeply conflicting messages. Told entirely in verse, Ada’s story encompasses her earliest memories as a child, including her abuse at the hands of a young cousin, her mother’s rejection and descent into addiction, and her father’s attempts to create a home for his American daughter more like the one he knew in Nigeria.
------- The Female of the Species
by Mindy McGinnis
Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone. As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.
------Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future � to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire � both scientists and scholars � and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a future generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation. But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. Mankind’s last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and be overrun � or fight them and be destroyed.
------ Game Changer
by Neal Shusterman
All it takes is one hit on the football field, and suddenly Ash’s life doesn’t look quite the way he remembers it. Impossible though it seems, he’s been hit into another dimension—and keeps on bouncing through worlds that are almost-but-not-really his own. The changes start small, but they quickly spiral out of control as Ash slides into universes where he has everything he’s ever wanted, universes where society is stuck in the past…universes where he finds himself looking at life through entirely different eyes. And if he isn’t careful, the world he’s learning to see more clearly could blink out of existence.
-------- Grown
by Tiffany Jackson
When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one—the police and Korey’s fans included—has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn’t how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted’s ticket to stardom. Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as the lone Black girl in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition. And suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight. Behind Korey’s charm and star power hides a dark side, one that wants to control her every move, with rage and consequences. Except now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields?
-------- The House in the Cerulean Sea
by TJ Klune
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages. When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days. But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.
------- Inheritance Game
by Jennifer Lynne Barnes
Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why–or even who Tobias Hawthorne is. To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man’s touch–and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.
------- Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio
by Derf Backderf
On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard gunned down unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University. In a deadly barrage of 67 shots, 4 students were killed and 9 shot and wounded. It was the day America turned guns on its own children—a shocking event burned into our national memory.
------- Legendborn
by Tracy Deonn
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.
A flying demon feeding on human energies. A secret society of so called “Legendborn� students that hunt the creatures down. And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin� attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw. The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.
------ Moxie
by Jennifer Mathieu
Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes and hallway harassment. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules. Viv’s mom was a punk rock Riot Grrrl in the �90s, so now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. Pretty soon Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.
------- Red, White and Royal Blue
by Casey McQuiston
First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations.
----- Atlas of the Invisible: Maps and Graphics That Will Change How You See the World
by James Cheshire & Oliver Uberti
What it is: a thought-provoking and engaging atlas offering "an ode to the unseen, to a world of information that cannot be conveyed through text or numbers alone."
What's inside: colorful, eye-opening maps and infographics that chart everything from airplane turbulence and melting glaciers to happiness levels and use of bike share programs.
----- Justice on the Brink: The Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Rise of Amy Coney Barrett, and...
by Linda Greenhouse
What it's about: the tumultuous 2020-2021 Supreme Court term, which began shortly after the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her replacement by Amy Coney Barrett.
Author alert: Pulitzer Prize-winning legal journalist Linda Greenhouse has spent nearly four decades covering the Supreme Court for the New York Times.
Reviewers say: "a revelatory study of the Supreme Court in flux" (Publishers Weekly).
------ An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States
by Kyle T. Mays
What it is: a sweeping revisionist account exploring the intersection of Black and Indigenous history in the United States, written by Black and Saginaw Chippewa scholar Kyle T. Mays.
Read it for: a nuanced discussion of how settler colonialism and white supremacy has contributed to the complex tensions between -- and solidary among -- Black and Indigenous people.
Series alert: This thought-provoking chronicle is the latest entry in the ReVisioning History series.
----- Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing
by Peter Robison
What happened: In 2018 and 2019, two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashed within months of each other, causing the deaths of 346 people.
Is it for you? This disturbing and well-researched exposé from Bloomberg reporter Peter Robison reveals how corporate malfeasance, executive infighting, and changing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations led to these preventable tragedies.
----- Year of the Hawk: America's Descent into Vietnam, 1965
by James A. Warren
What it is: a concise and accessible history exploring the escalation of the United States' military involvement in the Vietnam War.
Featuring: a well-researched narrative offering diverse perspectives on the conflict, including participants on both sides as well as antiwar protestors.
Don't miss: the sobering parallels to contemporary conflicts, including the War in Afghanistan.
📚📚📚📚📚 Focus on: Firsts 📚📚📚📚📚
------ Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine
by Olivia Campbell
Starring: Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, and Sophia Jex-Black, the first three women physicians to receive medical licenses in the United Kingdom.
Read it for: an inspiring tribute to pioneering women who broke barriers and made pivotal advancements in the 19th-century medical field.
Try this next: Janice P. Nimura's The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine.
----- The First Wave: The D-Day Warriors Who Led the Way to Victory in World War II
by Alex Kershaw
What it's about: the Allied soldiers who were the first to take part in the Normandy landings on D-Day.
Why you might like it: Published in 2019 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the event, journalist Alex Kershaw's immersive account offers a fast-paced and dramatic recreation of the invasion.
Featuring: interviews and firsthand accounts from participants.
------ Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon
by Jeffrey Kluger
What it is: an exciting account of the Apollo 8 mission that blends technical details of the mission with profiles of its participants.
Why you might like it: Science writer Jeffrey Kluger draws on interviews with crew members Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders, as well as materials from the NASA Oral History Project, to recreate the mission.
You might also like: Robert Poole's Earthrise, which examines the creation of the iconic photograph of Earth as seen from space.
------ Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to...
by Kate Masur
What it is: historian Kate Masur's scholarly yet accessible history of America's "first civil rights revolution."
Read it for: a compelling and eye-opening chronicle of free Black peoples' fight for civil rights between the American Revolution and the Civil War.
Reviewers say: "An essential book" (Library Journal).
------ Yale Needs Women: How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant
by Anne Gardiner Perkins
What it's about: In 1969, 268 years after its founding, Yale University admitted women undergraduates for the first time (of the 575 accepted into the elite Ivy, 90% were white).
What happened next: Isolated from (yet harassed by) their male peers and professors, the women of Yale advocated for institutional reforms like gender-blind admissions, racial equality, and inclusive healthcare.
Who it's for: Yalies; fans of inspiring women's histories like Hidden Figures and Rise of the Rocket Girls.
What fascinating topics for books, Alias. You've wowed me. As it happens i just got Nita Prose's The Maid this week. I'm looking forward to it once my eyes are ready. I managed to read two chapters before i needed to stop. Hurry, Healing!
Glad you are enjoying the lists, deb. Wishing you a speedy recovery so you can back to enjoying reading.
Alias Reader wrote: "------Foundationby Isaac Asimov..."
I read the trilogy when I was in high school and loved it. That was many, many years ago and I remember the trilogy warmly, without remembering any of the storyline.
Lately I've been thinking about reading the books again. This post may be a hint.
madrano wrote: "I'm looking forward to it once my eyes are ready. I managed to read two chapters before i needed to stop. Hurry, Healing!.."Deb, I hope your eyes heal quickly and fully.
Thank you, Petra for the healing hopes. Your comment about the Isaac Asimov trilogy reminds me that i am pleased when i see older titles on these lists. First, it's just neat to know they are still appreciated, published and read. On the personal level, it reminds me of the pleasure a book gave me, even if i'm fuzzy on the details. And, as you noted, somewhat asks if you want to read it again. Lovely.
----- Bittman Bread: No-Knead Whole-Grain Baking for Every Day
by Mark Bittman and Kerri Conan
What it is: a thorough guide to making healthy everyday breads using whole grains and starters, plus information on a variety of grains and flours, a "Beyond the Basics" chapter, and helpful photographs.
Recipes include: Whole Wheat Starter, Buckwheat Pancakes, Baguettes, Amazing Cheddar Biscuits, Olive Bread, Savory Hand Pies, Focaccia, Cinnamon Rolls, Crumby Oatmeal Cookies, Berry Torte.
----- The Tunisian Crochet Handbook: A Beginner's Guide
by Toni Lipsey
What's inside: instructions for newcomers to Tunisian crochet (aka Afghan crochet or shepherd's knitting); details on tools, yarns, and materials; stitch information; 20 pretty projects; and a resource list.
Projects include: Kensington Tote Bag, Empire Tea Towels, Oxford Floor Pouf, Elm Slouch Hat, Motley Blanket, Pemba Cardi, Pinwheel Pet Bed.
----- Wonder Walls: How to Transform Your Space with Colorful Geometrics, Graphic Lettering...
by Roxy Prima & Phoebe Cornog
What it is: a vibrant, encouraging guide to painting a mural (simple or complex, small or large) that's illustrated with color photos and offers 26 projects, eco-friendly tips, tool details, and information on color theory.
Projects include: Ocean Scene, Polka Dots, Clean Diamonds, Simple Typography, Complex Flowers, Faux Tile Pattern, Mailbox Glow Up.
----- Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America
by Mayukh Sen
What it is: a thoughtful, well-researched group biography of seven women who, throughout the 20th century, brought flavors and foods from their homelands to the United States, changing the way Americans eat.
Don't miss: Award-winning author Mayukh Sen also discusses Julia Child, Craig Claiborne, food journalism, and fame.
The seven women: Chao Yang Buwei from China, Elena Zelayeta from Mexico, Madeleine Kamman from France, Marcella Hazan from Italy, Julie Sahni from India, Najmieh Batmanglij from Iran, and Norma Shirley from Jamaica.
----- Mend It, Wear It, Love It! Stitch Your Way to a Sustainable Wardrobe
by Zoe Edwards
What it is: a friendly guide to making your clothes last longer that includes a materials list, hand sewing how-tos (repairing hems, mending holes, zipper helps, etc.), details on using a sewing machine (if you have one), and tips on how and when to do laundry.
Don't miss: the section on "fast fashion," which may inspire you to put the book's tips into action.
Did you know? There are approximately 40 million garment workers in the world, but only 2% of them make a living wage.
----- Little and Often: A Memoir
by Trent Preszler
What happened: Estranged from his father (a Vietnam vet and South Dakota rancher who had trouble accepting him as gay), Trent Preszler returned home when his dad was dying. Weeks later, Preszler took his inheritance -- his father's toolbox, containing tools he knew nothing about -- and began building a canoe.
Reviewers say: an "impeccably written, loving memoir" (Kirkus Reviews); "a tale as well crafted as the beautiful canoe" (Booklist).
For fans of: Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford; Why We Make Things and Why It Matters by Peter Korn; Bettyville: A Memoir by George Hodgman.
----- The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained + More Than 100 Essential...
by Nik Sharma
What's inside: a fascinating scientific exploration of the elements that make up flavor by a talented cook/molecular biologist; over 100 recipes.
Topics include: making food crispy, aroma in cooking, brightness boosters, how fieriness works, common salt and varieties, chilies (fresh and dried), cooking with fats and oils, pantry essentials.
Recipes include: Potato Pancakes, Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad, Vegetable Pakoras, Masala Shrimp, "Pizza" Toast, Chicken Kanji, Hazelnut Flan, Sweet Potato Honey Beer Pie.
----- Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden
by Jessica Walliser
What it is: an approachable science-based guide to beneficial plant pairings, by horticulturalist and garden educator Jessica Walliser.
Why you might like it: An American Horticultural Society Book Award winner, Plant Partners encourages readers to view gardens as ecosystems and offers specific plant combinations.
Reviewers say: "a new look at a popular subject that has long relied on folklore and conjecture rather than research" (The New York Times).
------ Everything We Didn't Say
by Nicole Baart
Then: After graduating high school, Juniper Baker is enjoying the summer in her small Iowa town when her neighbors are brutally murdered and her younger brother becomes the prime suspect.
Now: Librarian Juniper reluctantly returns to the home town she fled to help her terminally ill friend manage the local library. Her timing coincides with the production of a true crime podcast about the murders, and now Juniper must decide what she's willing to do (and risk) to uncover the ugly truth.
Reviewers say: This novel about "familial ties, betrayals, and long-overdue confrontations" should "keep any Paula Hawkins, Mary Kubica, or Janelle Brown fan satisfied" (Booklist).
----- Every Hidden Thing
by Ted Flanagan
What it is: a gritty and intricately plotted debut about ambition, political corruption, and tying up loose ends set in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Featuring: shady mayor John O'Toole; graveyard shift paramedic Thomas Archer; former cop Eamon Conroy; pregnant City Hall clerk Daisy Fontana; local journalist Lu McCarthy; and conspiracy theorist Gerry Knak.
Why you might like it: This mismatched cast of characters and their disparate, competing interests are all united by an unexpected and compelling thread that readers won't see coming.
----- Sleepless
by Romy Hausmann
What it's about: Nadja Kulka gets a job at one of Berlin's top law firms working for defense attorney Gero van Hoven. Lonely Nadja is grateful for the friendship offered by Gero's wife Laura, at least until a shocking crime that hits close to the van Hoven home forces Nadja into an impossible position.
For fans of: Karin Fossum and Fiona Barton.
Reviewers say: Author Romy Hausmann "masterfully uses restraint, inserting a continual flow of small but significant clues to create tension and a heavy tone" (Library Journal).
----- The Ballerinas
by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
What it's about: Aspiring ballerinas Delphine, Lindsay, and Margaux first met as teens at the Palais Garnier Opera in Paris. Now 36-year-old Delphine is returning to the Palais as a choreographer, unaware that things have changed between her old friends and that a decades old secret threatens to unravel everything she's built.
Read it for: the intricate plotting and a look inside the glamorous yet cutthroat world of professional ballet.
You might also like: Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland; The Showrunner by Kim Moritsugu.
------ Lemon
by Kwon Yeo-sun
What it is: a thought-provoking and atmospheric crime novel about the devastating ripple effects of a young woman's unresolved murder case and the long road to finding the truth.
Who it's for: suspense fans who like nontraditional storytelling styles, hauntingly dark stories, and novels that explore complex questions about grief, revenge, and trauma.
About the author: Kwon Yeo-sun is one of the most celebrated writers in the Korean language whose work includes the political novel Niche of Green and the short story collections Maiden's Skirt and The Days of Pink Ribbon.
----- The Mother Next Door
by Tara Laskowski
What it's about: In an affluent D.C. suburb, a four seemingly perfect women are planning their annual lavish Halloween block party. When a new arrival to the neighborhood joins their clique, she sets off an unanticipated chain of events that exposes the fault lines in their friend group -- and in the carefully constructed facades of their lives.
Read it for: the twisty "too good to be true" plot, which is narrated from multiple perspectives.
Reviewers say: The Mother Next Door is "smartly paced, menacing," and offers readers a "collection of thoroughly fascinating (if sometimes a mite loathsome) characters" (Booklist).
------ Litani
by Jess Lourey
Starring: California teen Frankie, who is struggling to adjust to her new life in the small town of Litani, Minnesota; Frankie's estranged mother Linda, an attorney who takes her daughter in after the death of her ex-husband, Frankie's father.
Wanna play? Disaffected Frankie doesn't fit in anywhere, at least not until a group of girls draw her into something they call "The Game" and put her on a path that leads to somewhere dark, disturbing, and definitely criminal.
Inspired by: the so-called "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s and early 90s.
------ I Am Not Who You Think I Am
by Eric Rickstad
What it is: a fast-paced, compelling thriller about childhood trauma, family secrets, and the violence hiding in plain sight in a small town in Vermont.
The setup: In 1976, eight-year-old Wayland Maynard witnesses his father's suicide and finds a cryptic note that he doesn't reveal to anyone. In 1984, a now 16-year-old Wayland decides to find out what really happened with his father and discovers a connection to the town's wealthiest (and creepiest) family, the Vanders.
Who it's for: "Recommended for readers who like their thrillers dark and twisted" (Library Journal).
----- And They Lived Happily Ever After
by Therese Beharrie
Introducing: Romance novelist Gaia Anders, who has a special gift: the stories she writes during the day become dreams that she can control.
What happens: Shortly after Gaia kisses Jacob Scott, her best friend's younger brother, she discovers that they're sharing the same dreams. But can their nocturnal connection withstand the light of day?
Why you might like it: Light paranormal elements leaven the emotionally weighty themes of this debut set in Cape Town, South Africa.
----- An Heiress's Guide to Deception and Desire
by Manda Collins
What it's about: Once betrothed, now estranged, newspaper columnist Caroline Hardcastle and Lord Valentine Thorn reluctantly reunite to solve the disappearance of a missing actress with ties to both of them.
Reviewers say: This 2nd Lady's Guide novel (after A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem) is a "thoroughly enjoyable mix of mystery and romance" (Kirkus Reviews).
For fans of: Evie Dunmore's League of Extraordinary Women series or Victoria Alexander's Lady Travelers Society books.
----- The Singles Table
by Sara Desai
Matchmaker, matchmaker: Although she has no plans to marry, fun-loving lawyer Zara Patel has a knack for pairing up other people. However, gruff security specialist Jay Dayal may prove unmatchable. (Or will he?)
Why you might like it: Opposites attract in this fast-paced romantic comedy that's "full of laughs, heart, and scorching sexual tension" (Kirkus Reviews).
For fans of: the grumpy/sunshine pairings in Talia Hibbert's Act Your Age, Eve Brown or Alexandria Bellefleur's Written in the Stars.
----- Read Between the Lines
by Rachel Lacey
Starring: Rosie Taft, who spends her days running an independent Manhattan bookstore and her evenings conducting a flirtatious online correspondence with Brie, a reclusive author of lesbian romances.
What happens: When her landlord terminates her lease in order to build a condo complex, Rosie's attempts to save her shop bring her face-to-face with property manager Jane Breslin -- a.k.a. Brie.
Series alert: This sapphic spin on You've Got Mail kicks off the Ms. Right series, which will continue this spring with No Rings Attached.
----- The Life Revamp
by Kris Ripper
When Mason met Diego... he felt an instant connection with the sweet-natured fashion designer. But Diego is in an open marriage with Mason's friend Claris, which complicates Mason's goal of a traditional happily-ever-after complete with marriage, kids, and a white picket fence.
What sets it apart: This gentle, low-drama 3rd installment of the Love Study series, after The Hate Project, offers a sensitive portrayal of a polyamorous V.
----- Someone to Cherish: A Westcott Novel
by Mary Balogh
Starring: widow Lydia Tavernor, who seeks intimate companionship that won't jeopardize her newfound freedom, and Harry Westcott, the reclusive army veteran she chooses as her lover.
Reviewers say: This "sublimely satisfying" (Booklist) 8th installment of the Westcott series offers "seamless plotting and enticing characters" (Library Journal).
----- The Summer Job
by Lizzy Dent
Fake it 'til you make it: When her sommelier friend ghosts her new employer, Scotland's Loch Dorn hotel, Elizabeth "Birdy" Finch, broke and between jobs, impulsively takes her place.
How hard could it be... to impersonate a wine expert? Although she's hopelessly out of her depth, Birdy is determined to brazen it out, and not just because of attractive sous chef James.
Want a taste? "I don't think one is ever a fan of the bagpipes, are they? A bagpiper never headlined Glastonbury is all I'm saying."
----- Hard Sell
by Hudson Lin
Starring: corporate raider Danny Ip and Tobin Lok, his best friend's younger brother, who's a consultant for the tech startup that Danny's firm intends to acquire.
What happens: In the seven years since their one-night stand, both men have done a lot of growing up. But can their relationship withstand the scrutiny of Tobin's over-protective family?
Series alert: Hard Sell is the 1st installment of the Jade Harbour Capital series, which continues with Going Public.
----- The Hellion's Waltz
by Olivia Waite
A fresh start: After her father loses everything to a swindler, London-born musician Sophie Roseingrave moves with her family to the small town of Carrisford, where she meets lovely silk-weaver and con artist Madeline "Maddie" Crewe.
Series alert: The Hellion's Waltz is the 3rd book in the Feminine Pursuits series, after The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows.
Be gay, do crime: For more caper-themed LGBTQIA historical romance, check out Cat Sebastian's The Queer Principles of Kit Webb.
------ Seven Days in June
by Tia Williams
Together again: A literary event reunites Shane Hall, an award-winning novelist, and Eva Mercy, a bestselling writer of erotica, 20 years after their brief but passionate teenage romance ended in heartbreak.
A second chance? Over the course of a week, the two reconnect and revisit their complicated history.
Media buzz: This "tour de force" (Kirkus Reviews) of a novel was both a New York Times bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.
That Bittman Bread: No-Knead Whole-Grain Baking for Every Day sounds good and quite up to date. I am still quite fond of what i call my "Standard" bread book--Our Daily Bread: 365 Recipes for Wonderful Breads, compiled and written by Stella Standard. Over the decades i've tried other bread bake books but hers is the one i use most often.ANYway, memories!
Little and Often: A Memoir sounds appealing on a couple of levels. First of all, Vietnamese immigrants in South Dakota were few & far between. Secondly, i like reading about crafts, such as building a canoe. I look forward to this Trent Preszler book.
Thank you for the other titles as well, Alias.
----- Out of character
by Annabeth Albert
When Milo Lionetti loses his brother's prized deck of Odyssey cards, he'll do anything to replace them-including begging for help from his ex-best friend, Jasper Quigley. Jasper's got bigger things to worry about than the boy who broke his young heart, and if Milo wants his help, he's going to have to join Jasper in making the children's hospital charity ball the best ever. But as the two boys don cosplay for the kids and hunt for rare cards, nostalgia for their lost friendship may turn into something even warmer...
----- Do you speak fish?
by D. J. Corchin
A child learns a lesson in communication when he tries to talk to a fish, in this simple yet heartwarming story that shows young readers how to better understand those who come from different backgrounds and cultures.
----- The bestseller
by Olivia Goldsmith
In a scathingly wicked and irreverent portrait of the publishing world, five authors and their books--all handled by big-time New York City publishing house Davis and Dash--compete for a position on the New York Times bestseller list.
------ Later
by Stephen King
Jamie Conklin, a boy born with an unnatural ability to see and learn things no one else can, is enlisted to help an NYPD detective pursue a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.
----- The house in the cerulean sea
by TJ Klune
Given a curious classified assignment to evaluate the potential risks posed by six supernatural orphans, a case worker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth bonds with an enigmatic caregiver who hides dangerous secrets.
------ Gilded
by Marissa Meyer
Ordered by the king to spin straw into gold or be killed for telling falsehoods, Serilda, known for her fantastical tales, unwittingly summons a mysterious boy to help her—for a price, in this haunting retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.
----- The kingdoms
by Natasha Pulley
Diagnosed with a form of epilepsy that causes amnesia and hallucinations, Joe Tournier, in an England that is a peaceful colony under the Republic of France, leaves London to repair a Scottish lighthouse, which changes the way he sees the world, its history and himself.
----- Iron widow
by Xiran Jay Zhao
Offering herself up as a concubine-pilot to assassinate the man responsible for her sister’s death, 18-year-old Zetian discovers her true destiny as an Iron Widow and must use her strength to force her society to stop failing its women and girls.
----- Perestroika In Paris
by Jane Smiley
Coexisting in the lush hidden spaces of Paris until cold weather arrives, an escaped racehorse and her companion, a German shorthaired pointer, forge a bond with a boy living in seclusion with his nonagenarian grandmother in an ivy-covered house.
------ The round house
by Louise Erdrich
When his mother, a tribal enrollment specialist living on a reservation in North Dakota, slips into an abyss of depression after being brutally attacked, 14-year-old Joe Coutz sets out with his three friends to find the person that destroyed his family.
----- Different seasons
by Stephen King
A collection of four tales of outlandish, commonplace, and surprising terror includes such stories as "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body."
------- Life as we knew it
by Susan Beth Pfeffer
When a meteor pushes the moon closer to the earth, setting into motion a series of destructive weather events that wipe out coasts, rock the continents, and block out the sun, Miranda and her family must find a way to survive in a desperate and unfamiliar world.
I haven't read any books by Stephen King but Later sounds very good. The premise intrigues me.As i've read all the books in Susan Beth Pfeffer's Last Survivors Series ( /series/4157... ), i thought i'd mention that this series addresses YAs facing a worldwide catastrophe. The first book, listed above, Life As We Knew It, was the best for me because it introduced the problem and how some survived. The second, The Dead and the Gone, covers the same time period but in another city, across the US.
Several books from the list piqued my imagination. Thanks.
madrano wrote: "I haven't read any books by Stephen King but Later sounds very good. The premise intrigues me.As i've read all the books in Susan Beth Pfeffer's Last S..."
I haven't read any Stephen King in a long time. I did enjoy his earlier stuff. My favorite is The Stand.
------ Bright Burning Things
by Lisa Harding
Starring: Sonya, a former stage actress whose unplanned pregnancy brings her career to a screeching halt -- leading to escalating bouts of blackout drinking that put her young son's life at risk.
What happens: Neighbors, family, strangers, and fellow addicts all step in to aid Sonya's rehabilitation. She must confront both present-day disappointments and unresolved childhood trauma to be reunited with her beloved son. The lingering question: is it too little, too late?
Hot take: Dubbed a "a blistering US debut" by Publishers Weekly, this Irish writer's deeply moving novel is also a Jenna Bush Hager book club pick.
------- A Little Hope
by Ethan Joella
What's inside: Multiple residents of small-town Wharton, Connecticut draw readers into stories of their everyday lives. Their interconnected choices -- and relatable experiences of love, grief, triumph, and loss -- weave a compelling narrative that is far greater than the sum of its parts
Who it's for: Fans of character-driven stories that pack an emotional punch without becoming maudlin (think Meg Wolitzer, Matthew Norman, or Thornton Wilder's classic play Our Town).
------ People from My Neighborhood
by Hiromi Kawakami
Prepare for: a collection of stories that delightfully blend absurdist elements and magical realism -- each narrated by the unnamed residents of a small Japanese town. From the lottery winners whose prize is to care for a child in need to a woman advised for decades by a strange imp that inexplicably just appears, each story is its own microcosm of page-turning weirdness.
Why you'll like it: Brevity (some stories are only 2-3 pages long) and witty, offbeat humor make these thought-provoking tales surprisingly accessible rather than stuffy. Fans of Italo Calvino, Helen Oyeyemi, and/or Ludmilla Petrushevskaya will be most intrigued.
------ Small Things Like These
by Claire Keegan
Setting: the small town of New Ross, Ireland, 1985 -- a place firmly controlled by the Catholic church during Margaret Thatcher's tenure as prime minister.
The set up: While delivering coal to a local convent -- also allegedly a "training school" for underprivileged girls -- a devout Catholic father of five daughters (and himself the son of an unwed, teenage mother) discovers a ragged teen girl locked in a shed. Although she begs for his help, he at first demurs. Disgusted by church's continued exploitation of lower-class girls and his own complicity, he must confront the risks of going against the grain of entrenched local authorities.
------ The Family
by Naomi Krupitsky
Featuring: Best friends since childhood, Sophia Colicchio and Antonia Russo are actually Family -- as in, their fathers are mafioso.
What happens: Inevitably, their coming-of-age stories become family dramas in this sweeping novel of a stalwart female friendship spanning the 1920s-1940s. Along the way the two women confront exactly what "family" really means, each choosing different paths but never truly drifting apart.
The buzz: "Mario Puzo meets Elena Ferrante in Krupitsky’s dynamite debut novel" (Booklist).
------- The Making of Incarnation
by Tom McCarthy
Introducing: Mark Phocan, a chief engineer hired as a consultant by a studio filming a new SF movie, Incarnation.
Whoa, dude: Drawing upon the work of pioneering motion and efficiency expert Lillian Gilbreth (see also Cheaper by the Dozen) this nonlinear, unconventional literary novel treads the line between metafiction, metaphysics, and hard SF as it delves ever-deeper into the intersection of existentialism and technological advances.
High praise: "Pynchonian asides are filtered through a Joycean love of language....yet imbued with wry humor and devastating satire approaching profundity" (Booklist).
------ Dava Shastri's Last Day
by Kirthana Ramisetti
Introducing: incredibly wealthy 70-year-old Dava Shastri, whose terminal diagnosis prompts her to organize one last family gathering -- while leading the media to believe she is already dead.
Things don't go as planned: Dava looks forward to reading obituaries praising her philanthropy and other accomplishments. However, several dirty little secrets are revealed leading to family drama and forcing her to reconcile with her past mistakes.
What to read next: Maisy Card's These Ghosts Are Family.
------- Blue-Skinned Gods
by SJ Sindu
What happens: Blue-skinned boy Kalki, believed to be the final incarnation of the god Vishnu, lives in an ashram organized by his father -- that is, until he fails the third test that would affirm his godhood. By age 21, Kalki is living a hard-partying life New York City, where the conflict between his past and present isn't going away.
Read it for: A leisurely paced, stylistically complex story that Kirkus Reviews calls "Remarkably moving in its explorations of faith, doubt, and what it might mean to be a charlatan."
Check out the new titles for the new year!
----- The City of Mist
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Filled with unforgettable characters, unique situations and a gothic atmosphere reminiscent of his beloved Cemetery of Forgotten Books quartet, this posthumous collection offers imaginative and enchanting stories that sum up the career of this amazing writer.
----- Arctic Sea : a Dan Lenson novel
by David Poyer
Admiral Dan Lenson tries to set up a US Navy base on the North Slope of Alaska and Blair Titus runs Jim Yangerhans’s campaign for president in the latest addition to the series following Violent Peace.
----- Honey roasted
by Cleo Coyle
Clare Cosi is busy as a bee planning her honeymoon when murder buzzes into the Village Blend in this all-new mystery in the beloved New York Times bestselling Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle.
------ Silent parade
by Keigo Higashino
When the suspected killer of two young girls�20 years apart—dies during the annual street festival, Detective Chief Inspector Kusanagi turns to his friend Detective Galileo to help solve the string of impossible to prove murders.
----- Desolation canyon
by P. J. Tracy
With P.J. Tracy's dazzling new series, set in Desolation Canyon, fans get a deeper look into the complex characters who call Los Angeles home.
----- The accomplice : a novel
by Lisa Lutz
Owen's wife was murdered. His best friend, Luna, found the body. Everything and everyone is thrown into question in this riveting suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Passenger.
----- Violeta
by Isabel Allende
This sweeping novel from the New York Times best-selling author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta Del Valle, a woman whose life spans 100 years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the 20th century.
----- Easter Bonnet Murder
by Leslie Meier
Easter meets murder in the latest book in New York Times bestselling author Leslie Meier’s ever-popular Lucy Stone mystery series set in Tinker’s Cove, Maine!
------ Mercy street : a novel
by Jennifer Haigh
The highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Haigh is a tense, riveting story about the disparate lives that intersect at a woman's clinic in Boston"
------ Death of a Green-eyed Monster
by M. C. Beaton
Sergeant Hamish Macbeth—Scotland's most quick-witted but unambitious policeman—is back and may have finally met the woman of his dreams in this new mystery in M.C. Beaton's beloved, New York Times bestselling series.
----- Becoming My Sister
by V. C. Andrews
Two sisters face love, rivalry, and a shocking disappearance amidst the luxury of Palm Springs from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic series and Landry series
------- City of the dead
by Jonathan Kellerman
Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis must uncover the connection between a brutally murdered psychologist and a victim they're unable to identify in this electrifying thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.
------ Steal
by James Patterson
Art galleries and casinos, mansions and brothels, billionaires and thieves—only James Patterson could create a triple-cross this decadent and suspenseful.
----- The Lady’s Mine
by Francine Rivers
New York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers returns to the California frontier in this sweeping, romantic tale of a displaced New England suffragette, a former Union soldier disinherited by his Southern family, and the town they join forces to save.
----- Abandoned in death
by J. D. Robb
"Homicide detective Eve Dallas races to untangle a twisted family history while a hostage's life hangs in the balance-in the new novel in the New York Times bestselling series"
------ Diablo Mesa
by Douglas Preston
#1 New York Times bestselling authors Preston & Child continue with the next book featuring archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson.
------ Gwendy's Final Task
by Stephen King
When Gwendy Peterson was twelve, a mysterious stranger named Richard Farris gave her a mysterious box for safekeeping. It offered treats and vintage coins, but it was dangerous. Pushing any of its seven colored buttons promised death and destruction.
Years later, the button box entered Gwendy’s life again. A successful novelist and a rising political star, she was once again forced to deal with the temptation that box represented.
------ Calder Grit
by Janet Dailey
During the summer of 1909, a battle rages in Blue Moon, Montana, between immigrant homesteaders and cattlemen determined to keep the range free. In a fierce struggle that echoes the challenges of today, history is made.
----- The Silent Sisters
by Robert Dugoni
In this pulse-racing thriller by the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Agent, an American sleeper cell in Russia goes silent—and it’s one man’s duty to find them.
------ Caramel Pecan Roll Murder
by Joanne Fluke
In this scrumptious cozy mystery from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Joanne Fluke, baker Hannah Swensen is tempted by a high-profile tournament in Lake Eden that quickly turns deadly . . .
------ The Recovery Agent
by Janet Evanovich
#1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich returns with the launch of a blockbuster new series that blends wild adventure, hugely appealing characters, and pitch-perfect humor, proving once again why she’s “the most popular mystery writer alive�
------ Run, Rose, Run
by James Patterson
From America’s most beloved superstar and its greatest storyteller—a thriller about a young singer-songwriter on the rise and on the run, and determined to do whatever it takes to survive.
------ High stakes : a novel
by Danielle Steel
"A gripping new novel from Danielle Steel, whose countless #1 New York Times bestsellers have made her one of America's favorite storytellers"
------ Nothing to Lose
by Judith A. Jance
The newest thrilling Beaumont suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance, in which Beaumont is approached by a visitor from the past and finds himself drawn into a missing person’s case where danger is lurking and family secrets are exposed.
------ The Berlin exchange : a novel
by Joseph Kanon
Berlin. 1963. The height of the Cold War. An early morning spy swap, The Communists are trading two American students caught helping people to escape over the wall and a lower level CIA operative. On the other side of the trade: Martin Keller, a physicist who once made headlines, but who then disappeared into the English prison s
Thanks, Alias, for adding to my TBR today! *rolling eyes*People from My Neighborhood--Hiromi Kawakami sounds neat. I so enjoyed her Strange Weather in Tokyo last year.
And i'm excited for Keigo Higashino's Silent Parade. I truly relish his mysteries, which feature Detective Chief Inspector Kusanagi turns to fans call "Detective Galileo", Manabu Yukawa, whose vocation is as a physics professor.
It's been awhile since i read Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone cozy mysteries but i have enjoyed them quite a bit. In this family the children actually grow up. Easter Bonnet Murder.
madrano wrote: "Thanks, Alias, for adding to my TBR today! *rolling eyes*People from My Neighborhood--Hiromi Kawakami sounds neat. I so enjoyed her [book:Strange Weather in Tokyo|..."
:) I enjoyed Strange Weather in Tokyo also. There was only a very brief bit of magical realism. My Neighborhood sounds like it has a lot more so I'll take a pass.
I respect that, Alias. My fancy was tickled by the GR description, "...twenty-six “palm of the hand� stories." This caught my interest in the latest Kawakami.
------ Leviathan Falls
by James S.A. Corey
They're back! Once again, Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante face daunting odds as they attempt to save humanity.
What a long, strange trip it's been: Leviathan Falls is the 9th and final installment of the Expanse series, which began in 2011 with Leviathan Wakes and has since become a popular television series.
Reviewers say: a "fitting conclusion to one of the best space opera series in many years" (Booklist).
------ The God of Lost Words
by A.J. Hackwith
Starring: Arcanist Claire, escaped fictional character Hero, fallen angel Ramiel, and muse-turned-librarian Brevity, who must once again join forces to defend the Unwritten Wing, this time from the demon Malphas.
Series alert: This novel concludes the Hell's Library trilogy, following The Library of the Unwritten and The Archive of the Forgotten.
For fans of: Genevieve Cogman's Invisible Library series.
------- The Undertakers
by Nicole Glover
Starring: Henrietta "Hetty" Rhodes and her husband, Benjy, who use magic to investigate crimes against Black people in 1870s Philadelphia.
Why you might like it: This sequel to The Conductors offers well-drawn protagonists, their lovingly depicted Seventh Ward community, and a magic system based on the constellations.
For fans of: the alternate history of P. Djèli Clark's The Black God's Drums; the unique magic of Alaya Dawn Johnson's Trouble the Saints.
------ Jade Legacy
by Fonda Lee
What it is: the conclusion of the Green Bone Saga, which picks up where Jade War left off and spans a period of 20 years.
Featuring: the No Peak Kaul and the Mountain Ayt families, rival crime syndicates whose long-running conflict over control of the jade that is the source of their power at last comes to a head.
Why you might like it: Magic and martial arts enhance this gritty crime drama, which revolves around gang warfare in a setting reminiscent of contemporary Hong Kong.
------ A Swift and Savage Tide
by Chloe Neill
Introducing: Captain Kit Brightling, an officer of the Saxon Navy, whose magic is Aligned with the sea; and Rian Grant, Viscount Queenscliffe, the intelligence operative with whom she must work to thwart a plot by Gallic Emperor-in-exile Gerard Rousseau.
Why you might like it: This fantasy series opener offers a magic-infused alternate version of the Napoleonic Wars.
For fans of: Naomi Novik's Temeraire series.
**Series Starters***
------- Black Leopard, Red Wolf
by Marlon James
What it is: a lush and, at times, surreal Afrofantasy novel by the author of A Brief History of Seven Killings.
Reviewers say: The New York Times' Michiko Kakutani describes the novel's African-inspired setting as "a place mapped by Gabriel García Márquez and Hieronymus Bosch with an assist from Salvador Dalí."
You might also like: Charles Saunders' Imaro, Kai Ashante Wilson's The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.
------- A Memory Called Empire
by Arkady Martine
What it's about: Newly appointed ambassador Mahit Dzmare investigates the suspicious death of her predecessor while navigating political intrigue within the expansionist Teixcalaanli Empire.
Why you might like it: This series opener (and its sequel, A Desolation Called Peace) boasts an intricately layered, slowly unfolding plot as well as detailed depictions of alien cultures.
For fans of: Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy, Seth Dickinson's Masquerade series, or Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor.
------- Velocity Weapon
by Megan E. O'Keefe
The premise: After her ship is destroyed in battle, Sgt. Sanda Greeve wakes up two centuries later on an uncrewed enemy vessel, The Light of Berossus.
Read it for: exciting space battles, intergalactic political intrigue, and a multi-stranded narrative that shifts between past and present.
Series alert: This Philip K. Dick Award nominee kicks off the Protectorate series, which continues with Chaos Vector and concludes with Catalyst Gate.
------- A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians
by H.G. Parry
What it is: a richly detailed alternate history of the French and Haitian Revolutions for fans of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
Starring: necromancer Robespierre, who foments revolution in France; and weather mage Toussaint L’Ouverture, who leads the enslaved people of Haiti as they liberate themselves from bondage.
Series alert: This "impeccably researched and epically written" (Booklist) novel marks the opening installment of the Shadow Histories series, which continues with A Radical Act of Free Magic.
------- Deal With the Devil
by Kit Rocha
Atlanta, 2086: Mercenary librarian Nina's quest for information puts her on a collision course with Captain Garrett Knox, leader of the rogue supersoldier group the Silver Devils.
Crossover alert: Deal with the Devil and its sequel, The Devil You Know, are set in the same post-apocalyptic world as author-duo Kit Rocha's BDSM-themed Beyond erotic romance series.
For fans of: the action-oriented storylines and strong heroine of Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels fantasies.
------- Apparently There Were Complaints
by Sharon Gless
What it is: two-time Emmy Award-winning actress Sharon Gless' dishy and moving memoir reflecting on her five decades in showbiz.
Topics include: Gless' rocky path to stardom; mental health and addiction battles; groundbreaking roles on TV's Cagney & Lacey and Queer as Folk, and more.
Don't miss: the author's ill-fated date in the early 1970s with up-and-coming director Steven Spielberg.
------- The Churchill Sisters: The Extraordinary Lives of Winston and Clementine's Daughters
by Rachel Trethewey
What it is: an engaging collective biography that explores Winston Churchill's relationships with his daughters.
Read it for: a richly detailed portrait of how the three Churchill sisters aided in their father's political campaigns and the war effort, supplemented with archival materials and previously unpublished letters.
Further reading: Josh Ireland's Churchill & Son, which examines Churchill's turbulent bond with his only son, Randolph.
------- The Deeper the Roots: A Memoir of Hope and Home
by Michael Tubbs
What it's about: Michael Tubbs' political ascent, from his days interning in the Obama White House to his election as Stockton, California's first Black mayor and its youngest in history.
Why you might like it: Tubbs' candid and moving debut chronicles his triumphs against "the soft bigotry of low expectations" and his efforts to give back to the community that raised him.
Reviewers say: "an inspiring look at what it means to serve a community from a young political mind on the rise" (Publishers Weekly).
------ Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's...
by Gayle Jessup White
How it began: Spurred to investigate her family's claims that they were descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Gayle Jessup White spent years researching her family history, and in 2014 DNA tests confirmed her lineage.
What happened next: White now serves as the Public Relations & Community Engagement Officer at Monticello, where she works to reframe the narratives surrounding Jefferson's legacy and incorporate the stories of the people he enslaved.
*** Now or Never **
------ Let's Never Talk About This Again
by Sara Faith Alterman
What it's about: At 12, Sara Faith Alterman discovered that her seemingly straitlaced father, Ira, was the author of pornographic books. Though she kept her discovery secret for years, she was later entrusted to help Ira with his career after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
Read it for: an unforgettable memoir of love and loss that's equal parts funny and cringe-inducing.
For fans of: the My Dad Wrote a Porno podcast and its tie-in book of the same name.
------ The Perpetual Now: A Story of Amnesia, Memory, and Love
by Michael D. Lemonick
What it is: a moving biography of multi-hyphenate artist Lonni Sue Johnson, who developed severe amnesia after contracting encephalitis in 2007 and lives her life in the "perpetual now."
Who it's for: Scientific American journalist Michael D. Lemonick's compassionate and accessible portrait will appeal to fans of Oliver Sacks, science lovers interested in memory and the brain, and biography readers who enjoy life-affirming reads.
------ Never Look an American in the Eye: Flying Turtles, Colonial Ghosts, and the Making of a...
by Okey Ndibe
What it is: an engaging account of Nigerian novelist Okey Ndibe's early immigrant experiences in America.
Topics include: Ndibe's culture shock and how he navigated stereotypes and racial profiling; his friendships with fellow Nigerian authors Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka.
Don't miss: the author's charming and evocative writing style.
------ And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready
by Meaghan O'Connell
What it's about: how author Meaghan O'Connell navigated an unexpected pregnancy in her 20s.
Is it for you? O'Connell's frank and darkly humorous debut doesn't shy away from the anxieties and resentments of new motherhood.
Try this next: I'm Just Happy to Be Here: A Memoir of Renegade Mothering by Janelle Hanchett.
While i'm not at all into magic, nor reading about it, i must say the novel The Undertakers--Nicole Glover sounds different. It appears to be a blending of history with magic. Who'da thunk it?The title Apparently There Were Complaints: A Memoir caught my eye before i saw it was written by actress Sharon Gless. Now i'm more interested, as i've long liked her work.
Plenty of tempting titles, Alias, as usual. Temptress!
------- The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars, and Caliphs
by Marc David Baer
What it is: a sweeping and richly detailed exploration of cultural and religious tolerance (and intolerance) during the centuries of Ottoman rule in the Middle East and parts of Europe.
Read it for: author Marc David Baer's efforts to encourage readers (and some Western historians) to stop treating the Ottomans as an "other" and minimizing their cultural and religious influence on Europe.
You might also like: Marc Mazower's examination of the Ottoman religious melting pot through the story of one city -- Salonica, City of Ghosts.
------ The Vanishing: Faith, Loss, and the Twilight of Christianity in the Land of the Prophets
by Janine Di Giovanni
What it's about: the dwindling number of Christians in regions where the religion first took hold, such as Syria and Egypt, and the forces behind the disappearance of communities that have existed for centuries.
About the author: War correspondent Janine Di Giovanni is a fellow of both the Guggenheim Foundation and Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. Her previous work includes The Quick and the Dead (about the siege of Sarajevo) and The Morning They Came For Us (about the war in Syria).
----- The Jesus I Know: Honest Conversations and Diverse Opinions About Him
by Kathie Lee Gifford
What it is: a heartwarming and engaging collection of conversations about Jesus between television personality Kathie Lee Gifford and celebrities from a diverse group of religious traditions.
Featuring: Kris Jenner, Jimmie Allen, Megyn Kelly, and Kristen Chenowith, and many more.
For fans of: The God Factor by Cathleen Falsani.
------ Muhammad, the World-Changer: An Intimate Portrait
by Mohamad Jebara
What it is: an accessible and inspiring biography of the Prophet Muhammad, with a focus on the more personal aspects of his life story.
Read it for: the discussion of Muhammad's story in a wider historical context and as possible inspiration for readers to go on their own journeys to change the world.
Try these next: For more reflections on Muhammad try The First Muslim by Lesley Hazelton; for another intimate biography of a world-changing religious leader try Zealot by Reza Aslan or Martin Luther by Eric Metaxas.
----- Sex Cult Nun: Breaking Away from the Children of God, a Wild, Radical Religious Cult
by Faith Jones
What it is: a candid and thought-provoking memoir about author Faith Jones's childhood in and escape from the Children of God (now called The Family International).
Is it for you? Accounts of life within the Children of God regularly involve physical and/or sexual abuse, something potential readers may want to know in advance.
Reviewers say: "A must-read memoir of self-discovery and reinvention that readers will find impossible to put down" (Publishers Weekly).
----- Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness that Can Heal the World
by Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis
What it's about: spiritual practices that will foster forgiveness and empathy in our communities, including for our own selves.
About the author: Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is a theologian and senior minister at the Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan also known for hosting the MSNBC show Just Faith and Faith and Justice on PBS.
You might also like: Sit Down and Rise Up by Shelly Tygielski; He Saw That It Was Good by Sho Baraka; Parable of the Brown Girl by Khristi Lauren Adams.
------ Twelve Tribes: Promise and Peril in the New Israel
by Ethan Michaeli
What it is: a compelling and descriptive portrait of the complex ethnic, political, and religious forces in modern Israel, with a focus on individual stories and everyday life.
Want a taste? “Neither a cautionary tale nor an international role model, Israel is a microcosm, a tiny domain that contains the truth of how the world really works."
Reviewers say: Author Ethan Michaeli's "diligently gathered series of personal stories" manage to reveal "aspects of the country’s character that historians and journalists have been unable to capture" (Kirkus Reviews).
----- Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet
by Thich Nhat Hanh
What it's about: ways to practice mindfulness and find moments of peace amidst the struggle to mitigate the fallout of climate change and the social upheaval that follows in its wake.
About the author: One of the world's most revered spiritual leaders, Thich Naht Hanh is a Vietnamese monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village school of Engaged Buddhism.
High praise: Naht Hanh's "empowering voice and example will be valuable to those seeking wisdom in a frenetic, threatened world" (Publishers Weekly).
----- Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle
by Danté Stewart
What it is: a lyrical and thought-provoking blend of memoir and social meditation that delves into topics like anti-Blackness, identity, and the complex relationship that evangelical Christianity has with racism.
Don't miss: the moving interspersed stories author Danté Stewart gathered from his grandmother about her personal experiences with prejudice.
You might also like: Faith After Ferguson by Leah Gunning Francis; If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I? by Angela N. Parker.
----- The poisoner's handbook : murder and the birth of forensic medicine in jazz age New York
Blum, Deborah, 1954-
The untold story of how poison rocked Jazz Age New York City. A pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime.
------ A short history of nearly everything
Bryson, Bill.
In this book Bill Bryson explores the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer and attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the world's most profound scientific minds, living and dead. His challenge is to take subjects like geology, chemistry, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics and see if there isn't some way to render them comprehensible to people, like himself, made bored (or scared) stiff of science by school. His interest is not simply to discover what we know but to find out how we know it. How do we know what is in the center of the earth, thousands of miles beneath the surface? How can we know the extent and the composition of the universe, or what a black hole is? How can we know where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out? On his travels through space and time, Bill Bryson encounters a splendid gallery of the most fascinating, eccentric, competitive, and foolish personalities ever to ask a hard question. In their company, he undertakes a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge.
------ Storm in a teacup : the physics of everyday life
Czerski, Helen, 1978- author.
"A physicist explains daily phenomena from the mundane to the magisterial. Take a look up at the stars on a clear night and you get a sense that the universe is vast and untouchable, full of mysteries beyond comprehension. But did you know that the key to unveiling the secrets of the cosmos is as close as the nearest toaster? In Storm in a Teacup, Helen Czerski provides the tools to alter the way we see everything around us by linking ordinary objects and occurrences, like popcorn popping, coffee stains, and fridge magnets, to big ideas like climate change, the energy crisis, or innovative medical testing. She guides us through the principles of gases ("Explosions in the kitchen are generally considered a bad idea. But just occasionally a small one can produce something delicious"); gravity (drop some raisins in a bottle of carbonated lemonade and watch the whoosh of bubbles and the dancing raisins at the bottom bumping into each other); size (Czerski explains the action of the water molecules that cause the crime-scene stain left by a puddle of dried coffee); and time (why it takes so long for ketchup to come out of a bottle). Along the way, she provides answers to vexing questions: How does water travel from the roots of a redwood tree to its crown? How do ducks keep their feet warm when walking on ice? Why does milk, when added to tea, look like billowing storm clouds? In an engaging voice at once warm and witty, Czerski shares her stunning breadth of knowledge to lift the veil of familiarity from the ordinary. You may never look at your toaster the same way"--
------ The age of wonder : how the romantic generation discovered the beauty and terror of science
Holmes, Richard, 1945-
"The Age of Wonder" explores the earliest ideas of deep time and space, and the explorers of "dynamic science": an infinite, mysterious Nature waiting to be discovered. Three lives dominate the book: William Herschel, his sister Caroline, and Humphry Davy.
----- The boy who harnessed the wind : creating currents of electricity and hope
Kamkwamba, William, 1987-
An enterprising teenager in Malawi builds a windmill from scraps he finds around his village and brings electricity, and a future, to his family.
----- Braiding sweetgrass : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall.
"An inspired weaving of indigenous knowledge, plant science, and personal narrative from a distinguished professor of science and a Native American whose previous book, Gathering Moss, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to reveal what it means to see humans as "the younger brothers of creation." As she explores these themes she circles toward a central argument: the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the world. Once we begin to listen for the languages of other beings, we can begin to understand the innumerable life-giving gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks, our care, and our own gifts in return"--
----- Rosalind Franklin : the dark lady of DNA
Maddox, Brenda, author.
In 1962, Maurice Wilkins, Francis Crick, and James Watson received the Nobel Prize, but it was Rosalind Franklin's data and photographs of DNA that led to their discovery. Brenda Maddox tells a powerful story of a remarkably single-minded, forthright, and tempestuous young woman who, at the age of fifteen, decided she was going to be a scientist, but who was airbrushed out of the greatest scientific discovery of the twentieth century.
------ Annals of the former world
McPhee, John, 1931-
"Twenty years ago, when John McPhee began his journeys back and forth across the United States, he planned to describe a cross-section of North America at about the fortieth parallel and, in the process, come to an understanding not only of the science but of the style of the geologists he traveled with."--BOOK JACKET. "Like the terrain it covers, Annals of the Former World tells a many-layered tale, and the reader may choose one of many paths through it, guided by twenty-five new maps and the "Narrative Table of Contents" (an essay outlining the history and structure of the project). Read sequentially, the book is an organic succession of set pieces, flashbacks, biographical sketches, and histories of the human and lithic kind; approached systematically, it can be a North American geology primer, an exploration of plate tectonics, or a study of geologic time and the development of the time scale."-
------ Working stiff : two years, 262 bodies, and the making of a medical examiner
Melinek, Judy.
"The fearless memoir of a young forensic pathologist's "rookie season" as a NYC medical examiner, and the cases--hair-raising and heartbreaking and impossibly complex--that shaped her as both a physician and a mother. Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. With her husband T.J. and their toddler Daniel holding down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation--performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy's two years of training, taking readers behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple, including a firsthand account of the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax bio-terrorism attack, and the disastrous crash of American Airlines flight 587. Lively, action-packed, and loaded with mordant wit, Working Stiff offers a firsthand account of daily life in one of America's most arduous professions, and the unexpected challenges of shuttling between the domains of the living and the dead. The body never lies--and through the murders, accidents, and suicides that land on her table, Dr. Melinek lays bare the truth behind the glamorized depictions of autopsy work on shows like CSI and Law & Order to reveal the secret story of the real morgue"
----- The soul of an octopus : a joyful exploration into the wonder of consciousness
Montgomery, Sy, author.
"In this astonishing book from the author of the bestselling memoir The Good Good Pig, Sy Montgomery explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus--a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature--and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. Sy Montgomery's popular 2011 Orion magazine piece, "Deep Intellect," about her friendship with a sensitive, sweet-natured octopus named Athena and the grief she felt at her death, went viral, indicating the widespread fascination with these mysterious, almost alien-like creatures. Since then Sy has practiced true immersion journalism, from New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, pursuing these wild, solitary shape-shifters. Octopuses have varied personalities and intelligence they show in myriad ways: endless trickery to escape enclosures and get food; jetting water playfully to bounce objects like balls; and evading caretakers by using a scoop net as a trampoline and running around the floor on eight arms. But with a beak like a parrot, venom like a snake, and a tongue covered with teeth, how can such a being know anything? And what sort of thoughts could it think? The intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees was only recently accepted by scientists, who now are establishing the intelligence of the octopus, watching them solve problems and deciphering the meaning of their color-changing camouflage techniques. Montgomery chronicles this growing appreciation of the octopus, but also tells a love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about consciousness and the meeting of two very different minds"-
------River of lost souls : the science, politics, and greed behind the Gold King Mine disaster
Thompson, Jonathan P. (Journalist)
In 2015, a flood of thick yellow sludge from a long-abandoned mine in Silverton, Colorado, made headlines as it flowed down the Animas River towards the Navajo Nation and the mighty Colorado River. Perhaps the most charismatic environmental disaster of our time, the Gold King Mine spill illustrates the devastating potential waiting in hundreds of abandoned mines throughout the Rocky Mountains. With disarming storytelling, award-winning journalist Jonathan P. Thompson unearths a litany of impacts wrought by a century and a half of mining, energy development, and fracking in southwestern Colorado. Amid these harsh realities, Thompson explores how a new generation is setting out to make amends.
Muhammad, the World-Changer: An Intimate Portrait sounds like a good biography of the man. I'm sure Mohamad Jebara had his work cut out for him in keeping it under 400 pages.All the science books sound good to me. Having read a small bio & science history of Franklin ( Rosalind Franklin and DNA--Anne Sayre ), i am glad to see a fuller bio is now available in Brenda Maddox's Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA.
Annals of the Former World--John McPhee sounds as though it would answer all my questions about US geology from our travels. We live in a country of vastly different terrains, so it's neat to have this info in one book. While it is over 700 pages, i see that it is really the final in a five part series, beginning with Basin and Range.
Last year i was charmed by his The Pine Barrens. Prior to that, his Oranges. So i know i'll like his writing. Good list, Alias.
I'm glad you enjoyed the list, deb. I thought the science list was interesting. The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness caught my eye as I only recently learned that they have 9 brains !
I missed that information. Remarkable.
madrano wrote: "Annals of the Former World--John McPhee sounds as though it would answer all my questions about US geology from our travels. We live in a country of vastly different terrains, so it's neat to have this info in one book. While it is over 700 pages, i see that it is really the final in a five part series, beginning with Basin and Range. ..."Deb, here's an explanation of the McPhee book ... how it relates to the other geology books ... I still need to read it .., I love McPhee's writing and have the collection. I just haven't read it. I have looked at the short Narrative Table of Contents described below and it's really neat.
"Annals of the Former World is a book on geology written by John McPhee and published in 1998 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.[1] It won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.[2]
The book presents a geological history of North America, and was researched and written over the course of two decades beginning in 1978. It consists of a compilation of five books, the first four of which were previously published as Basin and Range (1981), In Suspect Terrain (1983), Rising from the Plains (1986), and Assembling California (1993), plus a final book, Crossing the Craton. A narrative table of contents provides an overview of the project, which largely consisted of a series of road journeys by McPhee across the North American continent in the company of noted geologists. "
SOURCE:
madrano wrote: "Last year i was charmed by [McPhee's] The Pine Barrens. Prior to that, his Oranges. So i know i'll like his writing.. ..."I really enjoyed those two books by McPhee. I never knew about the wild part of New Jersey described in The Pine Barrens until I read that books. And I thought so much of the Oranges book that I gave my copy to the citrus analyst who worked for me when I was in charge of Horticultural analysis for USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. She liked it so much that she never gave it back to me.
I couldn't fit all the science books on the last post. So I'll continue here.
----- Invisible women : data bias in a world designed for men
Criado-Perez, Caroline, author.
"Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development, to healthcare, to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias, in time, money, and often with their lives. Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates the shocking root cause of gender inequality and research in Invisible Women�, diving into women's lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor's office, and more. Built on hundreds of studies in the US, the UK, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, unforgettable exposé that will change the way you look at the world."--provided by publisher.
----- Voyage of the Beagle : Charles Darwin's Journal of researches
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
An account of the five years that English naturalist Charles Darwin spent traveling around the world on the HMS Beagle, a voyage that led him to develop his theory of the evolution of the species.
----- The selfish gene
Dawkins, Richard, 1941-
The million copy international bestseller, critically acclaimed and translated into over 25 languages.
As influential today as when it was first published, The Selfish Gene has become a classic exposition of evolutionary thought. Professor Dawkins articulates a gene's eye view of evolution - a view giving centre stage to these persistent units of information, and in which organisms can be seen as vehicles for their replication. This imaginative, powerful, and stylistically brilliant work not only brought the insights of Neo-Darwinism to a wide audience, but galvanized the biology community, generating much debate and stimulating whole new areas of research. Forty years later, its insights remain as relevant today as on the day it was published.
----- Six easy pieces : essentials of physics explained by its most brilliant teacher
Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988.
"It was Feynman's outrageous and scintillating method of teaching that earned him legendary status among students and professors of physics. From 1961 to 1963, Feynman delivered a series of lectures at the California Institute of Technology that revolutionized the teaching of physics around the world. 'Six not-so-easy pieces', taken from these famous 'Lectures on physics', represent some the most stimulating material from the series. In these classic lessons, Feynman introduces the general reader to the following topics: atoms, basic physics, energy, gravitation, quantum mechanics, and the relationship of physics to other topics..."--P. [4] of cover.
----- Being mortal : medicine and what matters in the end
Gawande, Atul, author.
In Being Mortal, bestselling author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending
------ The boom : how fracking ignited the American energy revolution and changed the world
Gold, Russell, author.
"Fracking has vociferous critics and fervent defenders, but the debate between these camps has obscured the actual story: Fracking has become a fixture of the American landscape and the global economy. It has upended the business models of energy companies around the globe, and it has started to change geopolitics and global energy markets in profound ways. Gold tells the story of this once-obscure oilfield technology--a story with an incredible cast of tycoons and geologists, dreamers and drillers, speculators and skeptics, a story that answers a critical question of our time: Where will the energy come from to power our world--and what price will we have to pay for it?" -- from publisher's web site.
----- Hope for animals and their world : how endangered species are being rescued from the brink
Goodall, Jane, 1934-
From world-renowned scientist Jane Goodall, as seen in the new National Geographic documentary Jane, comes an inspiring message about the future of the animal kingdom.
With the insatiable curiosity and conversational prose that have made her a bestselling author, Goodall - along with Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard - shares fascinating survival stories about the American Crocodile, the California Condor, the Black-Footed Ferret, and more; all formerly endangered species and species once on the verge of extinction whose populations are now being regenerated.
Interweaving her own first-hand experiences in the field with the compelling research of premier scientists, Goodall illuminates the heroic efforts of dedicated environmentalists and the truly critical need to protect the habitats of these beloved species. At once a celebration of the animal kingdom and a passionate call to arms, Hope For Animals Their World presents an uplifting, hopeful message for the future of animal-human coexistence.
------- Sapiens : a brief history of humankind
Harari, Yuval N.
"From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution--a #1 international bestseller--that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be "human." One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one--homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas .Dr. Harari also compels us to look ahead, because over the last few decades humans have begun to bend laws of natural selection that have governed life for the past four billion years. We are acquiring the ability to design not only the world around us, but also ourselves. Where is this leading us, and what do we want to become? Featuring 27 photographs, 6 maps, and 25 illustrations/diagrams, this provocative and insightful work is sure to spark debate and is essential reading for aficionados of Jared Diamond, James Gleick, Matt Ridley, Robert Wright, and Sharon Moalem"-- Provided by publisher.
------- The illustrated a brief history of time
Hawking, Stephen, 1942-2018
"In the years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time has established itself as a landmark volume in scientific writing. It has become an international publishing phenomenon, translated into forty languages and selling over nine million copies. The book was on the cutting edge of what was then known about the nature of the universe, but since that time there have been extraordinary advances in the technology of observing both the micro- and the macrocosmic worlds. These observations have confirmed many of Professor Hawking's theoretical predictions in the first edition of his book, including the recent discoveries of the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite (COBE), which probed back in time to within 300,000 years of the universe's beginning and revealed wrinkles in the fabric of space-time that he had projected."--BOOK JACKET. "Eager to bring to his original text the new knowledge revealed by these many observations, as well as his most recent research, for this expanded edition Professor Hawking has prepared a new introduction to the book, written an entirely new chapter on the fascinating subject of wormholes and time travel, and updated the original chapters."--BOOK JACKET. "In addition, to heighten understanding of complex concepts that readers may have found difficult to grasp despite the clarity and wit of Professor Hawking's writing, this edition is enhanced throughout with more than 240 full-color illustrations, including satellite images, photographs made possible by spectacular technological advances such as the Hubble Space Telescope, and computer-generated images of three- and four-dimensional realities. Detailed captions clarify these illustrations, enabling readers to experience the vastness of intergalactic space, the nature of black holes, and the microcosmic world of particle physics in which matter and antimatter collide."--BOOK JACKET.
------ Science matters : achieving scientific literacy
Hazen, Robert M., 1948-
Knowledge of the basic ideas and principles of science is fundamental to cultural literacy. But most books on science are often too obscure or too specialized to do the general reader much good.
Science Matters is a rare exception-a science book for the general reader that is informative enough to be a popular textbook for introductory courses in high school and college, and yet well-written enough to appeal to general readers uncomfortable with scientific jargon and complicated mathematics. And now, revised and expanded for the first time in nearly two decades, it is up-to-date, so that readers can enjoy Hazen and Trefil's refreshingly accessible explanations of the most recent developments in science, from particle physics to biotechnology.
------ The age of wonder : how the romantic generation discovered the beauty and terror of science
Holmes, Richard, 1945-
"The Age of Wonder" explores the earliest ideas of deep time and space, and the explorers of "dynamic science": an infinite, mysterious Nature waiting to be discovered. Three lives dominate the book: William Herschel, his sister Caroline, and Humphry Davy.
----Full body burden : growing up in the nuclear shadow of Rocky Flats
Iversen, Kristen.
An intimate and deeply human memoir that shows why we should all be concerned about nuclear safety, and the dangers of ignoring science in the name of national security.”—Rebecca Skloot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
----- The dialogues : conversations about the nature of the universe
Johnson, Clifford V. (Clifford Victor), 1968- author.
"In this graphic book/novel, readers eavesdrop on conversations about contemporary science and learn about how scientists uncover the secrets of the universe. Topics in the book range from black holes, to the multiverse, to string theory, to food science. The book is structured as a set of 9 conversations in 11 chapters. The people in the conversations include non-experts and experts in physics, both adults and children, both male and female. These characters are fictional. The locations are in cities around the world, in cafes, train stations, on the street, buses, museums, libraries. The book is, uniquely for this subject matter, a fully graphic book. A graphic novel, but NOT science fiction. The science is real, and often concerns research topics that have been highlighted in general-interest media outlets"-- Provided by publisher.
------ Ghost map : the story of London's deadliest epidemic-- and how it changed the way we think about disease, cities, science, and the modern world
Johnson, Steven, 1968-
A National Bestseller, a New York Times Notable Book, and an Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year from the author of Extra Life
“By turns a medical thriller, detective story, and paean to city life, Johnson's account of the outbreak and its modern implications is a true page-turner.� —The Washington Post
“Thought-provoking.� —Entertainment Weekly
It's the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure-garbage removal, clean water, sewers-necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold, a physician and a local curate are spurred to action-and ultimately solve the most pressing medical riddle of their time.
In a triumph of multidisciplinary thinking, Johnson illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of disease, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry, offering both a riveting history and a powerful explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in.
------ Strange contagion : inside the surprising science of infectious behaviors and viral emotions and what they tell us about ourselves
Kravetz, Lee Daniel, author.
"Picking up where The Tipping Point leaves off, respected journalist Lee Daniel Kravetz's Strange Contagion is a provocative look at both the science and lived experience of social contagion. In 2009, tragedy struck the town of Palo Alto: A student from the local high school had died by suicide by stepping in front of an oncoming train. Grief-stricken, the community mourned what they thought was an isolated loss. Until, a few weeks later, it happened again. And again. And again. In six months, the high school lost five students to suicide at those train tracks. A recent transplant to the community and a new father himself, Lee Daniel Kravetz's experience as a science journalist kicked in: what was causing this tragedy? More important, how was it possible that a suicide cluster could develop in a community of concerned, aware, hyper-vigilant adults? The answer? Social contagion. We all know that ideas, emotions, and actions are communicable -- from mirroring someone's posture to mimicking their speech patterns, we are all driven by unconscious motivations triggered by our environment. But when just the right physiological, psychological, and social factors come together, we get what Kravetz calls a "strange contagion:" a perfect storm of highly common social viruses that, combined, form a highly volatile condition. Strange Contagion is simultaneously a moving account of one community's tragedy and a rigorous investigation of social phenomenon, as Kravetz draws on research and insights from experts worldwide to unlock the mystery of how ideas spread, why they take hold, and offer thoughts on our responsibility to one another as citizens of a globally and perpetually connected world"-- Provided by publisher.
------ Rise of wolf 8 : witnessing the triumph of Yellowstone's underdog
McIntyre, Rick, author.
Yellowstone National Park was once home to an abundance of wild wolves--but park rangers killed the last of their kind in the 1920s. Decades later, the rangers brought them back, with the first wolves arriving from Canada in 1995. This is the incredible true story of one of those wolves. Wolf 8 struggles at first--he is smaller than the other pups, and often bullied--but soon he bonds with an alpha female whose mate was shot. An unusually young alpha male, barely a teenager in human years, Wolf 8 rises to the occasion, hunting skillfully, and even defending his family from the wolf who killed his father. But soon he faces a new opponent: his adopted son, who mates with a violent alpha female. Can Wolf 8 protect his valley without harming his protégé? Authored by a renowned wolf researcher and gifted storyteller, The Rise of Wolf 8 marks the beginning of an original and bold new trilogy, which will transform our view of wolves forever.
----- Stuff matters : exploring the marvelous materials that shape our manmade world
Miodownik, Mark, author.
"Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? Why does a paperclip bend? Why does any material look and behave the way it does?With clarity and humor, world-leading materials scientist Mark Miodownik answers all the questions you've ever had about your pens, spoons, and razor blades, while also introducing a whole world full of materials you've never even heard of: the diamond five times the size of Earth; concrete cloth that can be molded into any shape; and graphene, the thinnest, strongest, stiffest material in existence--only a single atom thick.Stuff Matters tells enthralling stories that explain the science and history of materials. From the teacup to the jet engine, the silicon chip to the paper clip, the plastic in our appliances to the elastic in our underpants, Miodownik reveals the miracles of engineering that permeate our lives. As engaging as it is incisive, Stuff Matters will make you see the materials that surround you with new eyes"-- Provided by publisher.
------ Where the water goes : life and death along the Colorado River
Owen, David, 1955- author.
The Colorado River is a crucial resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado's headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert. He takes readers on an adventure downriver, along a labyrinth of waterways, reservoirs, power plants, farms, fracking sites, ghost towns, and RV parks, to the spot near the U.S.Mexico border where the river runs dry. Water problems in the western United States can seem tantalizingly easy to solve: just turn off the fountains at the Bellagio, stop selling hay to China, ban golf, cut down the almond trees, and kill all the lawyers. But a closer look reveals a vast man-made ecosystem that is far more complex and more interesting than the headlines let on.
------ Spillover : animal infections and the next human pandemic
Quammen, David, 1948- author.
Examines the emergence and causes of new diseases all over the world, describing a process called "spillover" where illness originates in wild animals before being passed to humans and discusses the potential for the next huge pandemic. The author illuminates the dynamics of Ebola, SARS, bird flu, Lyme disease, and other emerging threats and tells the story of AIDS and its origins as it has never before been told.
Larry wrote: "A narrative table of contents provides an overview of the project, which largely consisted of a series of road journeys by McPhee across the North American continent in the company of noted geologists...."Larry, this sounds exactly what i'd like to know (or have on hand) as we drive around the US. The varied formations need more explanation to appreciate. Highway signs seldom offer much at all.
It's neat that you have the entire series. They almost sound as though students of geology would benefit enormously but i'm sure more folks like me, just plain interested, would acquire the set.
Larry wrote: "I really enjoyed those two books by McPhee. I never knew about the wild part of New Jersey described in The Pine Barrens until I read that books. ..."I'm glad to see that fact, Larry. When i read the book, it seemed as though everyone i wanted to tell about the Pine Barrens already knew about them. I puzzled over how i could have missed them, particularly knowing about similar tracts and "personalities" of such peopled landscapes in the south.
Sweet story about the Oranges. While i try to be charmed that folks so liked a lent book that they neglected to return it, i don't always see it that way. "It's Mine!", i want to shout. I actually did that at my sister-in-laws home years ago. She couldn't recall who had loaned it to her. Sure, sure.
Two great lists, Alias, for readers who enjoy reading more about science. I'm heartened by the fact several of the titles have been around for decades. Quality survives. Among those i recall are Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle and The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins, which i found fascinating. It was also neat to see that there is an illustrated version of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time--The Illustrated A Brief History of Time.The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science--Richard Holmes caught my eye for the Hershell sibling's biographies. I have heard of both with regards to their scientific contributions but know little about their lives and that era. And what a "romantic era" it was.
When we were in New Mexico last summer, we had several questions about the Colorado, as well as the Rio Grande. It seems this book,Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River, will answer many. Although i noted in the GR reviews those living in that part of the west were not very impressed with David Owen work.
Great list, Alias. Thanks for sharing with us.
madrano wrote: She couldn't recall who had loaned it to her. Sure, sure."Amazon has a lot of different book name plates. They are great for books you want to keep in your collection or loan out.
You're welcome, Deb. I had to start my Zoom exercise class so didn't finish. Here is the rest. 
------ The emperor of all maladies : a biography of cancer
Mukherjee, Siddhartha.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS, this New York Times bestseller is “an extraordinary achievement� (The New Yorker)—a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography� of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.
Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years.
-------The gene : an intimate history
Mukherjee, Siddhartha, author.
“Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee dazzled readers with his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Emperor of All Maladies in 2010. That achievement was evidently just a warm-up for his virtuoso performance in The Gene: An Intimate History, in which he braids science, history, and memoir into an epic with all the range and biblical thunder of Paradise Lost� (The New York Times). In this biography Mukherjee brings to life the quest to understand human heredity and its surprising influence on our lives, personalities, identities, fates, and choices.
------ Salt, fat, acid, heat : mastering the elements of good cooking
Nosrat, Samin, author.
Whether you've never picked up a knife or you're an accomplished chef, there are only four basic factors that determine how good your food will taste. Salt, Fat, Acid, and Heat are the four cardinal directions of cooking, and they will guide you as you choose which ingredients to use and how to cook them, and they will tell you why last minute adjustments will ensure that food tastes exactly as it should. This book will change the way you think about cooking and eating, and help you find your bearings in any kitchen, with any ingredients, while cooking any meal. -- adapted from introduction.
----- The skeptics' guide to the universe : how to know what's really real in a world increasingly full of fake
Novella, Steven, author.
An all-encompassing guide to skeptical thinking from podcast host and academic neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine Steven Novella and his SGU co-hosts, which Richard Wiseman calls "the perfect primer for anyone who wants to separate fact from fiction."
---- Farming while Black : Soul Fire Farm's practical guide to liberation on the land
Penniman, Leah, author.
In 1920, 14 percent of all land-owning US farmers were black. Today less than 2 percent of farms are controlled by black people—a loss of over 14 million acres and the result of discrimination and dispossession. While farm management is among the whitest of professions, farm labor is predominantly brown and exploited, and people of color disproportionately live in “food apartheid� neighborhoods and suffer from diet-related illness. The system is built on stolen land and stolen labor and needs a redesign.
----- Reality check : how science deniers threaten our future
Prothero, Donald R.
A thought-provoking look at science denialism “for popular science readers who want better to be able to explain and defend science and scientific methods to others� (Library Journal).
The battles over evolution, climate change, childhood vaccinations, and the causes of AIDS, alternative medicine, oil shortages, population growth, and the place of science in our country—all are reaching a fevered pitch. Many people and institutions have exerted enormous efforts to misrepresent or flatly deny demonstrable scientific reality to protect their nonscientific ideology, their power, or their bottom line. To shed light on this darkness, Donald R. Prothero explains the scientific process and why society has come to rely on science not only to provide a better life but also to reach verifiable truths no other method can obtain. He describes how major scientific ideas that are accepted by the entire scientific community (evolution, anthropogenic global warming, vaccination, the HIV cause of AIDS, and others) have been attacked with totally unscientific arguments and methods. Prothero argues that science deniers pose a serious threat to society, as their attempts to subvert the truth have resulted in widespread scientific ignorance, increased risk of global catastrophes, and deaths due to the spread of diseases that could have been prevented.
------ Climate justice : hope, resilience, and the fight for a sustainable future
Robinson, Mary, 1944- author.
"Holding her first grandchild in her arms in 2003, Mary Robinson was struck by the uncertainty of the world he had been born into. Before his fiftieth birthday, he would share the planet with more than nine billion people--people battling for food, water, and shelter in an increasingly volatile climate. The faceless, shadowy menace of climate change had become, in an instant, deeply personal. Mary Robinson's mission would lead her all over the world, from Malawi to Mongolia, and to a heartening revelation: that an irrepressible driving force in the battle for climate justice could be found at the grassroots level, mainly among women, many of them mothers and grandmothers like herself. From Sharon Hanshaw, the Mississippi matriarch whose campaign began in her East Biloxi hair salon and culminated in her speaking at the United Nations, to Constance Okollet, a small farmer who transformed the fortunes of her ailing community in rural Uganda, Robinson met with ordinary people whose resilience and ingenuity had already unlocked extraordinary change. Powerful and deeply humane, Climate Justice is a stirring manifesto on one of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our time, and a lucid, affirmative, and well-argued case for hope."--Dust jacket.
------ A brief history of everyone who ever lived : the human story retold through our genes
Rutherford, Adam, author.
Nothing less than a tour de force—a heady amalgam of science, history, a little bit of anthropology and plenty of nuanced, captivating storytelling.”—The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Choice
A National Geographic Best Book of 2017
In our unique genomes, every one of us carries the story of our species—births, deaths, disease, war, famine, migration, and a lot of sex. But those stories have always been locked away—until now. Who are our ancestors? Where did they come from? Geneticists have suddenly become historians, and the hard evidence in our DNA has blown the lid off what we thought we knew. Acclaimed science writer Adam Rutherford explains exactly how genomics is completely rewriting the human story—from 100,000 years ago to the present.
------ The noonday demon : an atlas of depression
Solomon, Andrew, 1963-
The author offers a look at depression in which he draws on his own battle with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, researchers, doctors, and others to assess the complexities of the disease, its causes and symptoms, and available therapies. This book examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact the malady has on various demographic populations, around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness. He takes readers on a journey into the most pervasive of family secrets and contributes to our understanding not only of mental illness but also of the human condition.
------ River of lost souls : the science, politics, and greed behind the Gold King Mine disaster
Thompson, Jonathan P. (Journalist)
In 2015, a flood of thick yellow sludge from a long-abandoned mine in Silverton, Colorado, made headlines as it flowed down the Animas River towards the Navajo Nation and the mighty Colorado River. Perhaps the most charismatic environmental disaster of our time, the Gold King Mine spill illustrates the devastating potential waiting in hundreds of abandoned mines throughout the Rocky Mountains. With disarming storytelling, award-winning journalist Jonathan P. Thompson unearths a litany of impacts wrought by a century and a half of mining, energy development, and fracking in southwestern Colorado. Amid these harsh realities, Thompson explores how a new generation is setting out to make amends.
------ Antarctica : an intimate portrait of a mysterious continent
Walker, Gabrielle.
The acclaimed science writer presents a wide-ranging exploration of Antarctica’s history, nature, and global significance in this “rollicking good read� (Kirkus).
From the early expeditions of Ernest Shackleton to David Attenborough’s documentary series Frozen Planet, the continent of Antarctica has captured the world’s imagination. After the Antarctic Treaty of 1961, decades of scientific research revealed the true extent of its many mysteries. Now former Nature magazine staff writer Gabrielle Walker tells the full story of Antarctica—from its fascinating history to its uncertain future and the international teams of researchers who brave its forbidding climate.
Drawing on her broad travels across the continent, Walker weaves all the significant threads of life on the vast ice sheet into a multifaceted narrative, illuminating what it really feels like to be there and why it draws so many different kinds of people. She chronicles cutting-edge science experiments, visits to the South Pole, and unsettling portents about our future in an age of global warming.
----- I contain multitudes : the microbes within us and a grander view of life
Yong, Ed, author.
This book lets us peer into the world of microbes -- not as germs to be eradicated, but as invaluable parts of our lives -- allowing us to see how ubiquitous and vital microbes are: they sculpt our organs, defend us from disease, break down our food, educate our immune systems, guide our behavior, bombard our genomes with their genes, and grant us incredible abilities. While much of the prevailing discussion around the microbiome has focused on its implications for human health, Yong broadens this focus to the entire animal kingdom, prompting us to look at ourselves and our fellow animals in a new light: less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we are. I Contain Multitudes is the story of extraordinary partnerships between the familiar creatures of our world and those we never knew existed. It will change both our view of nature and our sense of where we belong in it. -- adapted from book jacket.
Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land--Leah Penniman has been on my TBR since its release. The stats i've read in reviews surprised me.Imagine the task for Adam Rutherford approaching A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes! And to do it in under 500 pages!
There are some fascinating titles listed. Thanks for the overwhelming list. :-)
I´ve read the two books by Siddharta Mukherjee that you mentioned. And I really liked them. He writes about a medicinal topic in a chronological order. In the book about cancer he started in the ancient past, then went to the modern past were only surgical options were undertaken and came then to the era of chemotherapy. It was an interesting read as he combines the science with history. And with the book about genes he did the same.And the other books sound interesting as well. Probably I might take a look on the book about depression, antarctica and the microbes.
And, because in on of the previous lists a book about Rosalinda Franklin was mentioned: James Watson, who got the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the DNA, wrote a book about the strucutre elucidation: DNA: The Story of the Genetic Revolution, where he also mentioned her. She did the famous x-ray-picture of a DNA crystal and Watson/Crick got it without her consent and then described the structure out of the image. The book from Watson was also interesting in a way that he is a biologist and had never befor anything to do with x-ray structure elucidation, whereas Crick was a physicist working in that field and had never before anything to do with biology. -but somehow they found together and got then the Nobel Prize for that.
Florian wrote: "I´ve read the two books by Siddharta Mukherjee that you mentioned. And I really liked them. He writes about a medicinal topic in a chronological order. In the book about cancer he..."I've had his Gene book on my TBR list for a long time.
When reading nonfiction, particularly science, i appreciate a chronological approach the way you describe Siddharta Mukherjee as doing, Florian. It helps readers understand how the changes occur over the decades, as well as helping us keep things in order. Thank you for the good description of the way he works.I read James D. Watson's The Double Helix years ago. It really helped me understand the structure, as well as process he and Francis Crick explored. Recently i added Crick's Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul to my TBR, as i thought a scientist's approach might be useful.
------ The Hidden Child
by Louise Fein
What it is: a thoughtful story about the intersection of a woman's love for her disabled child and her husband's contradictory career ambitions.
The setup: Eleanor Hamilton is concerned when her four-year-old daughter Mabel begins having seizures, but not nearly as concerned as she becomes when her husband Edward, a professor in the rising field of eugenics, suggests hiding Mabel in an asylum.
Is it for you? Some readers may struggle to sympathize with Eleanor at first, as she didn't question her husband's career field until it effected her own family.
------- Orphans of the Storm
by Celia Imrie
Inspired by: the true story of two small children caught between their separated parents, a situation that lead to their father booking them second-class tickets on the brand new ocean liner the RMS Titanic.
Narrated by: the boys' mother Marcella, who was already pursuing them after their father Michael absconded with them during a visit.
About the author: Celia Imrie is best known for her acting work, including appearances in Nanny McPhee, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Absolutely Fabulous. This is her 6th novel.
------- A Net for Small Fishes
by Lucy Jago
What it is: an engaging story of desperation and court intrigue, inspired by the 1613 poisoning of English courtier Sir Thomas Overbury.
Starring: Frances Howard, the unhappily married Countess of Essex, who develops a scandalous extramarital connection with the king's favorite Robert Carr; Anne Turner, a doctor's widow who, after forming an unlikely bond with Frances, reveals her potentially useful set of skills.
Reviewers say: Author Lucy Jago presents "a remarkable exploration of the power, limits, and price of women’s friendship" (Publishers Weekly).
------ The Winter Guest
by Pam Jenoff
What it's about: In Nazi-occupied Poland, 18-year-old twins Ruth and Helena are raising their younger siblings in their small mountain town, which puts a strain on their once close relationship. It only gets worse after Helena comes across a stranded American soldier and secretly agrees hide him, a choice that puts their whole family in danger.
Read it for: the multifaceted characterization of each twin, who show courage and resolve in the face of their adversity but are still flawed in believable, relatable ways.
------ Beasts of a Little Land
by Juhea Kim
What it is: an atmospheric, intricately plotted debut novel that chronicles the unlikely bonds between and defining life experiences of a group of young Koreans living through the Japanese occupation of their country, which ended in 1945.
Starring: Jade, who was sold to a courtesan school at age ten by her desperate parents; sisters Lotus and Luna, daughters of the school's proprietor who dream of following in their mother's footsteps; and JungHo, an orphan who leads a child street gang.
Read it for: the multiple perspectives on colonialism and revolution offered by the large cast of compelling characters.
------ The French Gift
by Kirsty Manning
The setup: Evie Black arrives on the French Riviera to attend a retrospective for her deceased aunt Joséphine Murant, a celebrated but reclusive novelist.
What follows: an unanticipated dive into Aunt Joséphine's mysterious life, including the long-hidden story of her experiences during the Nazi occupation of France.
About the author: Kirsty Manning is a bestselling Australian writer whose previous historical novels include The Song of the Jade Lily, The Lost Jewels, and The Midsummer Garden.
------ The Last Checkmate
by Gabriella Saab
What it is: the suspenseful, richly detailed story of Maria, a young woman sent to Auschwitz for working with the Polish Resistance who is spared execution after a camp commandant learns she is a chess master.
Read it for: Maria's deeply moving emotional journey as she tries to survive the camp's horrors and lives each day on a knife's edge.
Reviewers say: Author Gabriella Saab "offers a fresh and riveting take on fortitude in an oft-dramatized hell of inexplicable loss" (Booklist).
------ The Sisters Sweet
by Elizabeth Weiss
What it's about: Harriet Szász has only ever known life pretending to be a conjoined twin with her sister Josephine. But Josephine runs away to Hollywood to work in the newly burgeoning film industry. Left behind, Harriet is now faced with supporting her washed-up vaudevillian parents and for the first time, discovering her own identity.
For fans of: The Distance Home by Paula Saunders or Miller's Valley by Anna Quindlen.
------- Still Life
by Sarah Winman
What it is: a compelling, character-driven story of war, art, and survival; a loving portrayal of and homage to the city of Florence and its postwar expat community.
Starring: Evelyn Skinner, a 64-year-old English art historian trying to save Tuscan artworks from Nazi destruction; Ulysses Temper, a 24-year-old soldier who meets Evelyn as they shelter together in a wine cellar, waiting out the latest bombing raid.
Who it's for: fans of E.M. Forster and Evelyn Waugh; anyone who enjoys stories about unlikely friendships and bonds forged by fire.
------- The Perishing
by Natashia Deón
What it's about: the decade-spanning, unexplained connection between three Black women: a light-skinned woman in a forbidden relationship living in the 1870s; a Prohibition-era Los Angeles Times journalist with no memories of her past and disturbing premonitions of the future; and a murderer living a century later.
Compare it to: the work of legendary science fiction author Octavia Butler, especially the novel Kindred.
The Perishing--Natashia Deón sounds very good to me. Comparing it to Octavia E. Butler's Kindred was the first thing to catch my eye. Then i read the GR synopsis & i was sold!Thanks for the list, Alias.
Always glad to expand your TBR list, deb. 😉
----- Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All With the Greatest Chef in the World
by Jeff Gordinier
What it is: a memoir, biography, and culinary travelogue all in one evocative, innovative book.
What it's about: With his marriage ending, food critic Jeff Gordinier traveled with charismatic, celebrated Danish chef and restaurateur René Redzepi, who was himself restless and at loose ends, on various adventures to discover local ingredients and interesting flavors.
Locations visited: Mexico, Australia, the U.S., Denmark, and Norway.
----- Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver
by Jill Heinerth
What it's about: Professional cave diver Jill Heinerth describes overcoming her fears and exploring underwater areas from Florida to the Antarctic as well as discussing scientific and historical discoveries.
Did you know? "Cave diving is so risky that even the most casual enthusiasts can't get life insurance at any price."
Why you might like it: Into the Planet is a thrilling combination of adventure and science as well as the inspiring memoir of a trailblazing woman working in a male-dominated profession.
----- Ten Years a Nomad: A Traveler's Journey Home
by Matt Kepnes
What it is: a thoughtful memoir by a recent college graduate who left his unfulfilling corporate life behind to travel...and didn't stop for ten years.
Is it for you? Ten Years a Nomad covers Matt Kepnes' personal growth over the course of the decade as much as his adventures, so those who appreciate reflective travelers will enjoy it the most.
About the author: Kepnes, a blogger and the bestselling author of How to Travel the World on $50 a Day, has traveled to over 90 countries.
----- Escalante's Dream: On the Trail of the Spanish Discovery of the Southwest
by David Roberts
July 1776: Led by two Franciscan priests, the 12-man Domínguez-Escalante expedition set out for Monterey and traveled 1,700 miles across what is now New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.
September 2017: Accompanied by his wife of nearly five decades, mountaineer and author David Roberts, weak from cancer treatment, retraced the Franciscans' little-remembered journey over the course of six weeks, contemplating the expedition's historical importance and poignantly examining his own life.
Autumn 2019: As of this writing, Roberts is still traveling and just completed a trip to Quebec City.
Going "Under"
----- Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
by Alexandra Fuller
What it's about: In this evocative sequel to Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, author Alexandra Fuller focuses on her parents, covering the deaths of three of their children, her mother's childhood in Kenya, her mother's mental illness, and more.
Why you might like it: Fuller movingly evokes the hardships of living in the beautiful and wild African countryside as well as her parents' personal flaws, including their racism.
Reviewers say: "beautifully wrought" (Publishers Weekly).
----- Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath our Feet
by Will Hunt
What it is: a brisk, panoramic exploration of the history, science, and mythology of subterranean spaces, written by a self-proclaimed urban explorer and underworld enthusiast.
Featuring: Paris catacombs, Australian ochre mines, New York City subway tunnels, and Turkish underground cities.
For fans of: unique and offbeat travelogues.
----- Under the Same Sky: From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America
by Joseph Kim with Stephan Talty
What it's about: Joseph Kim's family, like many others in North Korea, was devastated by the 1990s famine: his father died, his mother sold his sister...and he became a starving street child, who did what he had to do to survive before escaping to China and eventually the United States.
Read it for: the searing, matter-of-fact look at life in an authoritarian country.
Who it's for: readers moved by the depictions of North Korean life found in Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy, Suki Kim's Without You, There Is No Us, and Blaine Harden's Escape from Camp 14.
----- Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy
by Frances Mayes
What it's about: First published in 1986, this delightful book chronicles poet Frances Mayes' purchase of a Tuscan villa in need of refurbishing. Relating experiences from her Italian life, Mayes describes spending time with her neighbors, dealing with repairs, and dining on delicious foods (recipes included).
The movie: The 2003 Under the Tuscan Sun film is quite different from the book but features luminous scenery and a compelling Diane Lane as Mayes.
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Books mentioned in this topic
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Peter Høeg (other topics)David Laskin (other topics)
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----- Judgment at Santa Monica
by E.J. Copperman
Starring: former New Jersey prosecutor Sandy Moss, now a Los Angeles family lawyer who's friends with Hollywood star Patrick McNabb.
What happens: Sandy agrees to help Patrick's friend, actress Cynthia Sutton, who's divorcing her husband -- but then Cynthia is found over the dead body of her mother-in-law. Sandy tries to clear Cynthia's name, and Patrick, who's playing a detective on TV, thinks he can help.
Series alert: This is the wackily fun 2nd entry in the Jersey Girl Legal Mysteries by E.J. Copperman, who also writes as Jeff Cohen; the 3rd book, Witness for the Persecution, comes out in April.
----- The Deathwatch Beetle
by Kjell Eriksson
What it's about: Even though she's retired to a small village, former Swedish police detective Ann Lindell can't help getting involved in a missing person's case while she's visiting her boyfriend on the small island of Gräsö.
Series alert: This is the slow-burning, atmospheric 9th Ann Lindell mystery. Though newcomers can start here, those who'd like to begin with the 1st book should pick up The Princess of Burundi.
Read this next: other Swedish crime novels, such as those by Henning Mankell, Camilla Läckberg, Åsa Larsson, and Helene Tursten.
------ All Her Little Secrets
by Wanda M. Morris
Starring: Ellice Littlejohn, the only Black lawyer at her Atlanta company, who's also having an affair with her married white boss, Michael.
Early morning surprise: Ellice shows up for an office tryst and finds Michael dead. She thinks it's suicide, panics, and leaves -- but Michael was murdered. After she's unexpectedly given his job, Ellice faces office scrutiny and gossip, and realizes she needs to figure out what happened to Michael, even as old secrets from her past threaten her future.
Why you might like it: All Her Little Secrets is a compelling debut that weaves in poignant flashbacks to Ellice's troubled childhood and thoughtfully covers racism, sexism, abuse, and corporate politics.
------ Grave Reservations
by Cherie Priest
Introducing: Leda Foley, a Seattle travel agent and psychic whose fiancé's murder has never been solved.
What happens: After she gets a bad feeling and changes Seattle police detective Grady Merritt's flight, which saves his life, the two team up to solve a cold case...which might also be related to Leda's fiancé's death.
Did you know? Cherie Priest is a Locus Award winner who's best known for writing horror and steampunk; Grave Reservations is her first adult mystery and the charming 1st in a planned series.
------ Miss Moriarty, I Presume?
by Sherry Thomas
The premise: Sherlock Holmes doesn't exist; he's an alter ego made up by socially ruined Charlotte Holmes, who uses her extraordinary powers of deduction to succeed as an inquiry agent in Victorian England.
Enemy at the gates: Moriarty arranges a meeting to request Charlotte's help finding his daughter, who was last seen at a community of occult practitioners. Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to the remote locale, finding lies and liars, and Charlotte wonders if it's all a setup.
Series alert: The richly detailed 6th Lady Sherlock book works best for fans (who'll be interested in romantic developments); newcomers can start with an earlier entry, like the 1st one, A Study in Scarlet Women.
------ Midnight Hour
by Abby L. Vandiver, editor; foreword by Stephen Mack Jones
What it is: a wide-ranging collection, from cozy to noir, of 20 original stories centered around the midnight hour, showcasing authors of color and edited by Abby L. Vandiver (aka Abby Collette).
Authors include: Jennifer Chow, Tracy Clark, E.A. Aymar, Raquel V. Reyes, Gigi Pandian, V.M. Burns, and David Heska Wanbli Weiden.
Reviewers say: "must reading for mystery aficionados" (Publishers Weekly); "an excellent collection" (Kirkus Reviews).
❄❄❄❄❄❄� "Winter" Reads ❄❄❄❄❄❄❄❄
------- Depth of Winter
by Craig Johnson
A change of scenery: Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire arrives in northern Mexico alone, on the hunt for his kidnapped adult daughter, who's been taken by a ruthless drug cartel leader.
Series alert: Newcomers who'd like a gritty Western crime story can start with this compelling 14th Longmire outing. Those who want to begin in Wyoming, where most of the books take place, can pick up the 1st novel, The Cold Dish, or his short story collection, Look for Signs.
Reviewers say: "the celebratory Mexican festivals are vivid and complement the unfolding plot" (Library Journal); "a rip-roaring adventure" (Kirkus Reviews).
------- The Dead of Winter
by S.J. Parris
What it is: a collection of three novellas set in the 1560s featuring (real-life historical figure) Giordano Bruno as a youthful monk in Italy.
What's inside: two previously published stories ("The Secret Dead" and "The Academy of Secrets") and one new one ("A Christmas Requiem").
Who it's for: fans of the Giordano Bruno novels, which detail Bruno's adventures in England as a spy for Queen Elizabeth I; those who like intricately plotted historical stories and fascinating characters.
------- The Secrets of Winter
by Nicola Upson
Starring: real-life British Golden Age mystery author Josephine Tey; her partner Marta Fox; and Tey's longtime friend, Scotland Yard detective Archie Penrose.
What happens: In 1938, the trio head to St. Michael's Mount, a tidal island in Cornwall, for a Christmas house party -- but the festivities are interrupted by two brutal deaths.
Did you know? This cleverly plotted, atmospheric 9th entry in the Tey mysteries includes film star Marlene Dietrich as a character and was published as The Dead of Winter in the U.K.
------- Winter Counts
by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
What happens: Virgil Wounded Horse, a vigilante enforcer on South Dakota's Rosebud Indian Reservation, works with the ex-girlfriend he still loves in order to figure out who's bringing heroin to the rez. Virgil's also raising his teenage nephew, who's bullied for his mixed-race heritage.
For fans of: S.A. Cosby, Craig Johnson, C.J. Box, and others who write gritty, compelling crime novels with rural settings.
Did you know? With his 2021 win for Best First Novel for Winter Counts, David Heska Wanbi Weiden became the first Native American writer to win an Anthony Award.