New in September!

 

September Fiction 

There are a LOT of new books due out in September, including a many big name authors like Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, James Patterson, John Green, Danielle Steel, Jeneva Rose, James Patterson, Alice Hoffman, Chloe Benjamin, James Patterson, Emily St. John Mandel, Alexander McCall Smith, and James Patterson.

Staff members are especially looking forward to books by Sarah Addison Allen, John Green, Chloe Benjamin, and Richar Osman.  Whatever genre you read, there is probably a new book for you in this list!

Adler-Olsen, Jussi  No Song for the Dead (Dept. Q)

Alderman, Naomi  The Strangers

Alexander, Tasha  Murder on the Sacred River  (Lady Emily Mystery)

Allen, Sarah Addison  Paper Ghosts

Bardugo, Leigh Dead Beat (9^th House)

Barrett, Lorna   A Critical Conjunction                           

Benjamin, Chloe Under Story

Bentley, Don Double Tap:  A Mitch Rapp Novel

Cahn, Jonathan  The Altar of Pergamon: the Mystery of the Dark Angel & the Future of the World

Cleeves, Ann The Dying Light (Matthew Venn)

Cline, Emma Switzy

Diaz, Hernan  Ply

Due, Tananarive  Mazywood

Foley, Lucy  Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel: The New Miss Marple Mystery

Francis, Felix  The Chase: A Dick Francis Novel

Green, John  Hollywood Ending

Grisham, John  The French Illusion

Hale, Shannon  Christmas in Austenland

Harris, Robert  Agrippa: A Novel of Ancient Rome’s Descent into Dictatorship

Hoffman, Alice  The Witches of Cambridge

Ishida, Syou  Welcome to the Kokoro Cat Clinic (We’ll Prescribe You a Cat)

King, Laurie R. Those Who Are Gone (Raquel Laing)

Koryta, Michael  Die Famous

Kuang, R.F. Taipei Story

Lawhon, Ariel  The Pirate Queen

Lee, Min Jin  American Hagwon

Mackintosh, Clare It’s Not What You Think

Mandel, Emily St. John Exit Party

Mason, Meg  Sophie, Standing There

McCall Smith, Alexander  The Big Cats Dance Party (No. 1 Ladies

Michaels, Fern A Season of Secrets

Mizushima, Margaret Fighting Edge (Timber Creek K-9)

MrBeast and James Patterson  The Most Dangerous Games

Osman, Richard We Chase Shadows (We Solve Murders)

Patterson, James  The Munich Affair

Peters, Amanda  The Birthing Tree

Picoult, Jodi Hollow Bones

Robb, J.D.  Fury in Death

Rose, Jeneva Sometimes I Scare Myself:  A Collection of Horror

Snelling, Lauraine  Fair Are the Meadows (Home to Green Creek)

Steel, Danielle Ruthless

Stewart, Jack  Tom Clancy Pressure Depth (Jack Ryan, Jr.)

Our Favorite Books Read in 2023: Rita and Tonia

 

Rita

 

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz - This is a book that I have read multiple times. I find the insights to be enlightening, and I manage to take away something new with each read. 

 

Baggage by Alan Cumming - This is a very intimate look into the life of the Hollywood actor. He shares the tragedies and adversities he has overcome as well as many joyous moments. It is a very personal look at how life events shape the person one becomes.

 

Dolly Parton, Songteller by Dolly Parton  - I highly recommend listening to the audiobook and hearing the stories from Dolly herself.  It reads like the ultimate liner note with all of the stories behind the songs and the inspirations and influences. I believe this book is not just for fans of Dolly Parton, but for fans of music in general.

 

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boyle - I was, at first, drawn in by the abundance of amazing facts about bees. There is a wealth of knowledge about honeybees and beekeeping throughout the novel, but it also a story of love and acceptance woven into a murder mystery. With good character development and surprising twists, this book really held my attention.

 

Where the Deer and Antelope Play by Nick Offerman - There is a lot to enjoy in this book, from historical facts about the creation of the National Parks to humorous and often irreverent observations about the human spirit. Nick Offerman tells of three different trips taken across the country. One of those trips included Jeff Tweedy from the band Wilco and American writer George Saunders. I cannot read a Nick Offerman book without laughing out loud, and this was no exception.

 

Tonia

1.       Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

2.       The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson

3.       Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

4.       The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

5.       Messy Roots by Laura Gao

6.       The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

7.       At The Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft

8.       The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

9.       The Devil Wears Scrubs by Freida McFadden

10.   We Used to Live Here by Daniel Hurst

11.   The Coal Tattoo by Silas House

12.   The Crossroads at Midnight by Abby Howard

13.   Ikigai by Hector Garcia Puigcerver

14.   Eerie Tales from the School of Screams by Graham Annable

15.   Pattern Behavior:  The Seamy Side of Fashion by Natalie Kossar

Our Favorite Books Read in 2023: Christina, Laura

Here are two more staff members with lists of their favorite books read in 2023!

Christina:  A black hole is not a hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano (Juvenile audiobook from Libby)

Starter Villain by  John Scalzi (Libby audiobook)

Vera Wong’s unsolicited advice for murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Audiobook)

Losers club by Yvonne Vincent

No better friend by Robert Weintraub

When the corn is waist high by Jeremy Scott (audiobook) This one involves a serial killer and has an extremely unexpected twist.

Nala’s world by Dean Nicholson

The coworker by Freida McFadden

The bandit queens by Parini Shroff

Remarkably bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is my favorite of the year. It is a very poignant and well written work of fiction (only a tiny bit unbelievable).

 

Laura:  I made a list of 10. Mostly, I like thrillers, but I love books that tell fabulous stories. Mitch Albom is my favorite author of all time and he did not disappoint with his new one!

 

1. The Little Liar by Mitch Albom (As always, broke my heart and then put it back together. Fabulous book!)

 

2. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (I kept avoiding this one thinking it would be sad, but it was fabulous!)

 

3. Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden (Wonderful book, I'll have to own it!)

 

4. Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult (Fascinating book and I learned so much about bees!)

 

5. This Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp (YA book about a school shooting-very well done.)

 

6. Everyone Here is Lying by Shari Lapena

7. You Look Beautiful Tonight by L. R. Jones

8. My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon (Creepy, but really good!)

9. Dirty Thirty by Janet Evanovich (I had about gotten over the Stephanie Plum series, (too repetitive), but this one made me laugh out loud!)

10. Episode Thirteen by Craig Dilouie (Another scary one. A little wild, but sure kept me interested).

Nevermore: Nearly Normal Family, Homecoming, Quarry Girls, Mad Honey

 

Nevermore August 15, 2023

Reported by Rita

A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson is a Swedish murder mystery with three narrators: 18-year-old Stella, accused of killing her 33-year-old boyfriend; her pastor father who believes she is innocent; and her defense attorney mother who believes everyone is lying. Our reader described this as an enjoyable, easy read available from Tennessee READS (and also can be placed on reserve from other libraries in our consortium!) DC

Homecoming by Kate Morton spans generations. When Australian journalist Jess finds herself unemployed in London and gets a call to come back home to Sydney, she discovers a true crime book about the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959 in her grandmother’s attic. Jess begins to investigate the cold case of the mysterious death of a mother and her three kids and finds the case has ties to her family. Our reader thought it a wonderful distraction but hard to follow and better suited for astute mystery readers. AH

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey is set in 1977 Minnesota where Heather and Brenda have a secret. The best friends are among the small town’s teens who play and party in the tunnels under the town. One night they see something in the tunnels they vow never to tell…that is, until girls start going missing. This was a fast read—a real page turner with plenty of twists and turns. KM

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan is about two mothers and their two young adult children in a small New Hampshire town. Teens Asher and Lily are in high school when they fall in love. Both of them have histories of abusive fathers, and when Lily is found dead, Asher is the prime suspect. Our reader said that there are huge plot twists, and that the pain of both Lily’s and Asher’s mothers was heartbreakingly well written. KP

 

Also Mentioned:

A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls 2 by Elena Favilli, Francesca Cavallo, and others

Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by Nina Totenberg

Nanny Ogg's Cookbook by Terry Pratchett

Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship by Terrence Real

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

New Books:

The Last Ranger by Peter Heller

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

Mrs. Plansky's Revenge by Spencer Quinn

Nevermore: Where the Red Fern Grows, Galatea, Plain Truth

 

Reported by Garry

Get out the tissues for Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Set during the Great Depression in the Ozarks and based on the author’s own childhood, this multi-award winning classic story of a boy and his dogs has wrenched hearts since it was first published in 1961.  Billy Coleman is a 10 year old boy who dreams of owning a pair of hounds for coon hunting, and works for two years to save up enough to buy a pair.  He and the dogs become Ozarks famous for coon hunting, but tragedy seems to stalk them through forested hollows of the mountains.  Nearly everyone in the Nevermore group had read this book and all praised its powerful, evocative writing and compelling storyline.  CD

 

Galatea:  A Short Story by Madeline Miller is a re-telling of the Pygmalion myth, set in ancient Greece.  Pygmalion is a talented sculptor who creates a statue of the most beautiful woman possible.  He falls in love with the statue, and in response to his prayers, the goddess Aphrodite brings Galatea to life.  Pygmalion wants (and expects) his devotion to be returned by Galatea, but she has her own mind and ideas.  This short story (62 pages long) is told from Galatea’s perspective, and explores themes such as patriarchy, misogyny, feminine desire and autonomy, and much more.  Our reader was very taken with this brief story and highly recommends it.  MS

 

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult is a murder mystery set in an Amish community.  A dead baby is discovered in a barn, and Katie Fisher, an 18 year old Amish girl is the presumed mother and murderer– but she claims she was never pregnant.  Ellie Hathaway is a Philadelphia defense lawyer who impulsively takes on Katie’s case, only to discover that her modern life-style is at odds with the Plain life lived by the Amish – no electricity, work is valued over leisure, church rules override legal rules, etc.  As with other Picoult books, the research that went into this book shows on every page as it delves deeply into the lifestyle and belief system of the Amish people.  Our reader says that this book is extremely well-written with not only a great murder mystery, but an insightful examination of the social issues that arise from a society that is at odds with the “typical” society.  NH

 Other titles mentioned:

John Vance Journal by John Vance

Southwest Saga:  The Way It Really Was by William C. McGaw

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult

The Need to Be Whole by Wendell Berry

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Nights of Plague by Orhan Pamuk

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

JD Vance is A Fake Hillbilly by Frank Kilgore

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

The Messy Lives of Book People by Phaedra Patrick

On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton

Rise and Shine Benedict Stone by Phaedra Patrick

Letters from Home by Kristina McMorris

Midnight at the Blackbird Café by Heather Webber

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

The 12 Hour Art Expert:  Everything You Need to Know about Art in a Dozen Masterpieces by Noah Charney

The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir by Michele Harper

Visual Thinking by Temple Grandin

Ted Kennedy – A Life by John Farrell

Sissy:  A Coming of Gender Story by Jacob Tobia

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Nevermore: Gordon, Segovia, Epstein, Picoult, Getty, Cep, Golding, LeGuin, Cooper, Flagg

This week our readers reviewed some classics, some new books, and we learned a thing or two that we didn’t know (and may not have wanted to know) about vultures.

 

Our first reader reviewed Matters of Choice by Noah Gordon, the third book in the historical fiction Cole Trilogy. This book talks about wanting proper health care and freedom of choice.  The main character, Roberta, comes from a long line of physicians and continues the family tradition.   After a personal crisis, she ends up in a small town in Massachusetts and she takes care of the local people and they take care of her.  Our reader liked this book so much that she will look for the initial books in the series.   The trilogy starts with The Physician and is followed by Shaman.   Many of our other readers who have read the first two thought they were far better than this last book, but highly recommend the entire series. 

 

The next book was The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia, a historical fiction book about a family in Mexico during the flu and also about the revolution and the time that they were banning priests.  At the time of this writing, our reader was about two-thirds of the way through the book and wasn’t yet sure it is headed – it is kind of mysterious yet thoroughly enjoyable. 

 

Next up was a biography of early 20^th century writer Edna St. Vincent Millay who was considered one of the most romantic modern poets. What Lips My Lips Have Kissed by Daniel Mark Epstein details Millay’s life and real romances and explores some of her best-know works.  Our reader felt the book was very well written and thinks that if you like Millay’s works, you will love this book.

 

The next book reviewed was The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult.   This book goes back and forth in time so much that our reader found it confusing to keep the timelines straight and wished the book had been written in a more straightforward fashion.  Overall, she found it to be a very good book due to the writing, but confusing with the jumping timelines.  The main character, Dawn Edelstein is a death doula and the story centers on her relationships in both America where she has a husband and family, and in Egypt with her former lover.  Our reader’s opinion that the book would be easier to read if it were written linearly was echoed by other readers that had also read the book.

 

Our next reader told us a hilarious and revolting story about a time in 1876 when meat rained from the sky over Mrs. Crouch’s farm near Ranking in Kentucky.  This mysterious happening gathered widespread attention, including that of a local chemistry professor Kirk Gohde who had the taste of the meat duplicated by a lab and put into jelly beans for the locals to safely sample at the local yearly festival.  It turns out that the meat was from vultures – a whole flock of vultures who had thrown-up over the Crouch farm!  The story came from the website https://www.atlasobscura.com/ which is a travel site featuring strange stories from around the world.  There is also a book by the same title which collects some of these essays.

 

Next up was another reader of How to They/Them by Stuart Getty.  As with our previous reviewer of this book, it opened our reader’s mind to things that she had not taken into account before.  She thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a phenomenal amount from How to They/Them.  This book makes you very aware of how gender terms are used today.

 

Furious Hours by Casey Cep is a true-crime book about the intersection of one of America’s most honored authors, Harper Lee, and a possible real-life serial killer, Reverend Willie Maxwell.  Maxwell was an African-American preacher and voodoo practitioner whose relatives seemed to have a habit of dying violently, but not until after Maxwell took out insurance policies on them. Lee covered his trial with the idea of writing a true-crime book (she had helped research the groundbreaking In Cold Blood for her childhood friend Truman Capote) but that book never came into being and instead Lee became famous for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Furious Hours paints an unflattering portrayal of Lee.  Some feel that To Kill a Mockingbird would never have been published if Lee had not had such a good editor who did a lot of editing and rewriting for her. 

 

Speaking of classics, the same reader re-read Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and she could keep thinking about was how prescient the book was - we have two sets of people now, and so many of us are shocked to find out who our friends are; they are not who we thought they were.  It is sort of like the two groups in the book.  While our reader liked the suspense and writing in the book, she just kept thinking about it mirrors today’s society – and not in a good way.

 

Another of our readers highly recommended two young adult series that are touchstones for him:  The Earthsea Cycle and The Dark Is Rising series.  The Earthsea Cycle, written by Ursula LeGuin has become a classic in young adult literature – it follows the life of Ged, a young wizard, through his life and trials, and finishes with the story of Tehanu a mysterious young woman who does not know her past. The first book in the series is A Wizard of Earthsea.  The Dark Is Rising Series by Susan Cooper is a five book series based in England and is steeped in Aurthurian and pre-Christian British Isles mythology.  The series focuses on Will Stanton, the last of the Old Ones, born into this world to do battle with The Dark for the future of humanity.  While technically the first book is Over Sea, Under Stone, some readers prefer to start with The Dark Is Rising.

 

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fanny Flagg won effusive praise from our next reviewer.  This long awaited sequel to the beloved Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café was deemed a fitting sequel.  She loved the book and now wants to go back and read the first book again – it is like visiting with family you haven’t seen in a long while.  Definitely recommend.