Staff Picks
LibraryReads for December 2019
- Sarah C.
- Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Collection
Each month, LibraryReads lists the top upcoming titles recommended by librarians across the country. All these books will be published in December 2019, so stay ahead of the curve and get on the holds list now!
This month's LibraryReads features our own Rebecca K.! She reviewed The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters, saying:
“An engaging story, full of twists and turns. Chapters alternate from Heather's childhood experiences to her present to form the whole story. More creepy than scary, pick this up if you want a story full of dread, suspense, childhood memories, death, and plenty of surprises. For fans of The Turn of the Key and The Silent Patient.”
Africaville
A Novel
Published in 2019
"A ferociously talented writer makes his stunning debut with this richly woven tapestry, set in a small Nova Scotia town settled by former slaves, that depicts several generations of one family bound together and torn apart by blood, faith, time, and fate. Structured as a triptych, Africaville chronicles the lives of three generations of the Sebolt family--Kath Ella, her son Omar/Etienne, and her grandson Warner--whose lives unfold against the tumultuous events of the twentieth century from the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the social protests of the 1960s to the economic upheavals in the 1980s. A century earlier, Kath Ella's ancestors established a new home in Nova Scotia. Like her ancestors, Kath Ella's life is shaped by hardship--she struggles to conceive and to provide for her family during the long, bitter Canadian winters. She must also contend with the locals' lingering suspicions about the dark-skinned "outsiders" who live in their midst. Kath Ella's fierce love for her son, Omar, cannot help her overcome the racial prejudices that linger in this remote, tight-knit place. As he grows up, the rebellious Omar refutes the past and decides to break from the family, threatening to upend all that Kath Ella and her people have tried to build. Over the decades, each successive generation drifts further from Africaville, yet they take a piece of this indelible place with them as they make their way to Montreal, Vermont, and beyond, to the deep South of America. As it explores notions of identity, passing, cross-racial relationships, the importance of place, and the meaning of home, Africaville tells the larger story of the black experience in parts of Canada and the United States. Vibrant and lyrical, filled with colorful details, and told in a powerful, haunting voice, this extraordinary novel--as atmospheric and steeped in history as The Known World, Barracoon, The Underground Railroad, and The Twelve Tribes of Hattie--is a landmark work from a sure-to-be major literary talent"-- Provided by publisher.
Meg & Jo
Published in 2019
"From New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra comes a heartwarming modern novel inspired by the timeless classic Little Women. The March sisters-reliable Meg, independent Jo, stylish Amy and shy Beth-have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought her career in journalism would come crashing down, leaving her struggling to stay afloat in a gig economy as a prep cook-slash-secret food blogger. Meg appears to have the life she always planned-the handsome husband, the adorable toddlers, the house in a charming subdivision. But sometimes getting everything you ever wanted isn't all it's cracked up to be... When their mother's illness forces the sisters home to North Carolina for the holidays, they'll rediscover what really matters. One thing's for sure-they'll need the strength of family and the power of sisterhood to remake their lives and reimagine their dreams"-- Provided by publisher.
Reputation
A Novel
Published in 2019
Aldrich University is rocked to its core with scandal and intrigue when a hacker dumps 40,000 people's emails--the entire faculty, staff, students, alums--onto an easily searchable database. Affairs and scandals immediately start leaking, but these emailsbecome ticking time bombs that explode when Kit Manning's handsome husband, Dr. Greg Strasser, is murdered. Kit's sister, Willa, flies home to help, returning to a hometown she fled fifteen years ago...after a night she wishes she could forget. Willa, aninvestigative reporter, knows something is not quite right and is determined to find the truth--of what happened the night Greg was murdered, and of the secrets that are hiding in every house in town. With a killer on the loose, and families breaking apart seemingly by the minute, Willa and Kit have to figure out who killed Greg before the body count starts to rise.
A Madness of Sunshine
Published in 2019
"Anahera Rawiri left New Zealand at twenty-one, fleeing small-town poverty and the ghosts of her childhood with no plans to look back. But eight years later, she returns, seeking familiarity as respite from the shattered remains of her new life. And despite the changes brought on by a bump in tourism--the shiny new welcome sign at the town line and a decidedly less shiny new police presence--Golden Cove appears much as it ever was: a small settlement on the savage West Coast of the South Island, populated by all the remembered faces and set against a backdrop of lush greenery, jagged cliffs, and crashing waves. Detective Will Gallagher knows all about ghosts; his own chased him out of a promising career in Christchurch, landing him as the sole cop in a quaint town where his most pressing concerns are petty theft and the occasional drunk. When Golden Cove resident Miri Hinewai goes out for a run and fails to return, Will finds himself heading up a missing person's search that rapidly escalates into an official investigation after this case is connected with similar ones from the past. As an outsider, Will begins to rely on Anahera's knowledge of the area and its residents to help him delve into Golden Cove's secrets, and to determine whether it shelters something far more dangerous than just an unforgiving landscape"-- Provided by publisher.
The Dead Girls Club
A Novel
Published in 2019
"In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it. That belief got Becca killed. It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died. The night Heather killed her. Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay" -- Amazon.com