Staff Picks
LibraryReads for December 2021
- Sarah C.
- Thursday, December 02, 2021
Collection
Each month, LibraryReads lists the top upcoming titles recommended by librarians across the country. All these books will be published in December 2021, so stay ahead of the curve and get on the holds list now!
A History of Wild Places
A Novel
Published in 2021
"The New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep weaves a richly atmospheric adult debut following three residents of a secluded, seemingly peaceful commune as they investigate the disappearances of two outsiders. Travis Wren has an unusual talent for locating missing people. Hired by families as a last resort, he requires only a single object to find the person who has vanished. When he takes on the case of Maggie St. James-a well-known author of dark, macabre children's books-he's led to a place many believed to be only a legend. Called Pastoral, this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn't exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it...he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James. Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis's abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there's a risk of bringing a disease-rot-into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn't as safe as they believed-and that darkness takes many forms. Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind"-- Provided by publisher.
The Love Con
Published in 2021
"He's cosplaying as her boyfriend but their feelings for each other are real in this romantic comedy from Seressia Glass. Sometimes Kenya Davenport believes she was switched at the hospital-how else could a lover of anime, gaming, and cosplay come from STEM parents? Still, Kenya dreams of being able to turn her creative hobby into a career. She finally has a chance to make it big when she joins the reality show competition Cosplay or No Way. There's just one catch: the challenge for the final round is allabout iconic pairs, and the judges want the contestants' significant others to participate. Unfortunately, Kenya is as single as can be at the moment. Luckily her best friend, Cameron Lassiter, agrees to be her fake boyfriend for the show. Role-playing acouple in love will force them to explore what they're hiding under the mask of friendship. Can Kenya and Cam fake it until she makes it, or will she be real about her feelings, knowing it could cost her the best friend she's ever had?"-- Provided by publisher.
Bright Burning Things
A Novel
Published in 2021
"Sonya used to perform on stage. She used to attend glamorous parties, date handsome men, ride in fast cars. But somewhere along the way, the stage lights Sonya lived for dimmed for good. And then, in their absence, came darkness--blackouts, empty cupboards, hazy nights she can't remember. Haunted by her failed career and unresolved childhood trauma, Sonya has fallen deep into an alcoholic abyss. What keeps Sonya from losing herself completely is Tommy, her son. But her love for Tommy is in fierce conflict with her love of the bottle. Addiction preys on her fear of losing Tommy, as every maternal misstep compels her to drink. But soon, Sonya will be forced to make a choice. Give up drinking or lose Tommy--forever. Bright Burning Things is an emotional tour-de-force, offering a devastating and nuanced look at an addict's journey towards rehabilitation and redemption"-- Provided by publisher.
The Ballerinas
A Novel
Published in 2021
"Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School. Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the ParisOpera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg--taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career--and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can'tstay buried forever. Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, Rachel Kapelke-Dale's The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside--all culminating in a twist you won't see coming, with magnetic characters you won't soon forget"-- Provided by publisher.
True Crime Story
Published in 2021
"A strikingly original novel in the vein of DAISY JONES AND THE SIX meets Riley Sager, TRUE CRIME STORY twists together transcripts, emails, and documents into an investigation of a missing college girl, also weaving in the mysteries of how the narrator "Joseph Knox" came to be in possession of these files and what fate befell the original author, as well as why Knox might not be telling us everything he knows. Zoe Nolan disappeared from Manchester University in 2011. Her story was sad, certainly, but hardly sensational, Joseph Knox thought. As a crime writer, he felt that dead girls were everywhere, and the missing ones just didn't cut it. He wouldn't have given her any more thought were it not for Evelyn Mitchell. Another writer struggling to come up with a new idea, Evelyn attended one of Joseph's publicity events, and she was wondering just what happened to all the girls who go missing. What were the stories there? What happened to Zoe? So Evelyn began investigating herself, and sending Joseph emailswith chapters of the novel she was writing with her findings. Uneasy with the novel's corkscrew twists and turns, Joseph pays closer attention to the real story... TRUE CRIME STORY is an ambitious, sharp exploration of our obsession with all things true crime, from a former crime bookseller"-- Provided by publisher.
The Cat Who Saved Books
Published in 2021
"Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he has inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. However, one day, a talking cat named Tiger appears and asks Rintaro to save books with him. Of course, "ask" is putting it politely -- Tiger is demanding Rintaro's help. The world is full of lonely books, left unread and unloved, and only Tiger and Rintaro can liberate them from their neglectful owners. And so, the odd couple begin an amazing journey, entering different mazes to set books free. Through their travels, Tiger and Rintaro meet a man who leaves his books to rot on his bookshelf, a book torturer who cuts books to clips to help people read as fast as they can, and a publishing drone who only wants to create bestsellers. And then, the last maze that awaits leads Rintaro down a realm only the bravest readers would dare enter... Books, cats, first love, fantasy -- THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS is a story for those who know books are so much more than words on paper."-- Provided by publisher.
Murder Under Her Skin
A Pentecost and Parker Mystery
Published in 2021
"READERS OF ANTHONY HOROWITZ AND JACQUELINE WINSPEAR, WITH A DASH OF AGATHA CHRISTIE, step right up! Murder Under Her Skin is a delightfully hardboiled high-wire act starring two daring heroines dead set on justice. Someone's put a blade in the back of the Amazing Tattooed Woman, and Willowjean "Will" Parker's former knife-throwing mentor has been stitched up for the crime. To uncover the truth, Will and her boss, world-famous detective Lillian Pentecost , travel south to the circus where they find a snakepit of old grudges, small-town crime, and secrets worth killing for. New York, 1946: The last time Will Parker let a case get personal, she walked away with a broken face, a bruised ego, and the solemn promise never again to let her heart get in the wayof her job. But she called Hart and Halloway's Travelling Circus and Sideshow home for five years, and Ruby Donner, the circus's tattooed ingenue, was her friend. To make matters worse the prime suspect is Valentin Kalishenko, the man who taught Will everything she knows about putting a knife where it needs to go. To uncover the real killer and keep Kalishenko from a date with the electric chair, Will and Ms. Pentecost join the circus in sleepy Stoppard, Virginia, where the locals like their cocktails mild, the past buried, and big-city detectives not at all. The two swiftly find themselves lost in a funhouse of lies as Will begins to realize that her former circus compatriots aren't playing it straight, and that her murdered friend might have been hidinga lot of secrets beneath all that ink. Dodging fistfights, firebombs, and flying lead, Will puts a lot more than her heart on the line in the search of the truth. Can she find it before someone stops her ticker for good?"-- Provided by publisher.