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The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Hiram Walker was born into the hell of slavery
in Virginia. His father was the master of the plantation.
His mother left while he was a child. Hiram possessed
an extraordinary gift and he would use it to bring others
trapped in the dark misery of bondage into the light of
freedom in the North. This is a powerful and eloquent
chronicle of the devastation wrought by an institution
that should still shame the nation’s consciousness. The
novel is infused with mysticism and the redeeming
power of love and family. Coates constantly reminds
us that man’s capacity for inflicting cruelty is only
surpassed by the indomitable will and determination
of the victims of that inhumanity to triumph over it. ~ Alden GravesFICTION
HARDCOVER
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste. The Shadow
King is an expertly written, meaty, and sublime novel about
the Italian invasion of Ethiopia during World War II. It is a
complex book that flows with ease while exploring hard subjects—
slavery, rape, gender dynamics, racism and, of course,
the horrors of war. You will find yourself reading sentences
twice for the sheer beauty of them, and wading deeper into
the layered meanings of Mengiste’s world. The characters are
fantastic and ring true. Highly recommended. ~ Chris Morrow 
Someone We Know: A Novel by Shari Lapena. How well do
you know your neighbors? In a small suburb, a teenager has
been sneaking into houses and a woman is found murdered.
Smiles come undone, dark secrets are exposed, and everybody
becomes a suspect in this whodunit. Like a real-life Clue game,
you sift through the stories and the evidence alongside the detectives,
trying to figure out the truth. Fast-paced and twisting;
I read this entire book in one day. I couldn’t put it down! ~ Angela Turon 
The World That We Knew: A Novel by Alice Hoffman. A
Jewish woman summons up a golem to protect her daughter
during the child’s perilous journey from Berlin to escape Nazi
persecution. Although the girl resents her guardian assuming a
role that once belonged to her beloved parent, a bond develops
between the pair, making her mother’s final admonition to her
even more difficult to obey. The author, as she did in The Museum of Extraordinary Things, seamlessly weaves history with
thrilling fiction, adding an element of folklore to this moving
story of tenacity, courage, and faith. ~ Alden Graves 
The Dutch House: A Novel by Ann Patchett. After the
death of their wealthy father, a brother and his sister are
told by their wicked stepmother to leave the amazing glass
house in which they were raised. The pair devise an ingenious
scheme to get even. The author adds some deft contemporary
touches to a story that seems to have garnered
its inspiration from classic fairy tales. The relationship that
exists between the siblings is touching, infuriating, frustrating,
and, if you have a brother or a sister, often familiar.
As she demonstrated in Commonwealth, Patchett’s gift for
creating strong emotional bonds between the reader and her characters is again
on dazzling display. ~ Alden Graves 
A Bitter Feast: A Novel by Deborah Crombie. The latest
from an author who has become a favorite of mine. What
starts as a simple—and rare—family vacation morphs into a
fatal accident that leads to murder. Set in idyllic Cotswolds
with its gorgeous countryside replete with sheep and border
collies, local pubs, amazing food and libations. The author has
developed multiple storylines and points of view which were
never confusing, only intriguing. The characters are deep and
complex. You will be absorbed in it to the very end. ~ Tambra Johnson Reap PAPERBACK
Black Light: Stories by Kimberly King Parsons. Set in Texas, these
short stories are odd scraps of
messy relationships told with
one of the strongest debut voices
I’ve read in a long while. Parsons’
sparse descriptions and
intimate details are immediately
satisfying. Whether they’re discovering
their sexual selves in scuzzy motels or
searching roadside cow pastures for hallucinogenic
mushrooms, her characters are boldly and seductively
amplified. Keep an eye on this one. ~ Joe Michon-HuneauFANTASY
David Mogo, Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. A fun urban fantasy but
with the twist of being “Nigerian
God-Punk.” Pantheons of gods
have fallen to earth. It’s up to David
Mogo to see if he can at least
save Lagos. ~ Ben Parker
A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness #1) by Joe Abercrombie. The beauty
of Abercombie’s work is that
all of the books are interlaced,
allowing flavor to be
layered. A minor character
in one book is the central
figure in another. Now we
have a new series introducing the next generation
of characters. Two of my favorites: Savine dan
Glokta, daughter of the Arch Lector, and Rikke,
Dogman’s daughter. ~ Ben ParkerPOETRY
Season of the Sorceress: Poetry and Prose by Melody Lee. Dive into
modern poetry with relatable
and comfortable poems.
Lee makes you feel like you
could be a poet, too, as she
knows the words we feel and
want to say. Accessible to almost
anyone, Lee deals with
life, love, nature and more. Sketches throughout
the book accent the sections of poetry. ~ JeanetteOLD FAVORITES
Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Bohumil Hrabal. This modernist Czech novel takes the form of a monologue by an aging philanderer to a group of young women. Highly digressive, sex-obsessed and full of interesting characters from his life, the narrator gradually reveals himself, his life, loves, and military career in an attempt at a pick-up. Little flashes of his Czech acquaintances, characters, and village life delight. ~ Dafydd Wood
Housekeeping: A Novel by Marilynne Robinson. After the death of both their mother and grandmother,
two children, Lucille & Ruth, are left to endure the resentful mercies of two great aunts
until the appearance of their mother’s free-spirited sister, Sylvie. Marilynne Robinson’s first novel is a
beautifully woven amalgam of loss and discovery, conformity and eccentricity, and the truth that no
matter what the physical distance may be between family members, they are never really far away from each other. Deeply
moving with insightful, lyrical passages that heralded the arrival of a major talent in the literary firmament. ~ Alden GravesYOUNG ADULT/MIDCHILD
Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo. Another wonderful character brought to life by Kate DiCamillo. Beverly embarks on an adventure in search of a new life after her dog dies-finding more than she knew she was looking for. Fast paced, touching, and humorous, readers will jump right in with Beverly. ~ Jessie DeGarmo
There Will Come a Darkness (The Age of Darkness #1) by Katy Rose Pool. This is a unique take on the classic
“chosen one” tale. With not one, but five prophesied individuals, the reader can expect multiple
POVs through which the story is told. This young adult fantasy novel features excellent worldbuilding,
complex characters with different ethnicities and sexual orientations, and a well-developed
magic system. If those elements don’t make you want to read this book immediately, there’s just
one thing left to say: are the chosen ones destined to save the world or end it? ~ Cassidy WashburnNONFICTION
HARDCOVER
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe. In How To, Randall Munroe stays true to form as he takes serious real-world tasks and ponders the most
absurd—yet still scientifically rigorous—processes to complete them. Many solutions cross-reference each other,
and a few reference What If?, this book’s predecessor. This makes for delightful reading and flipping back and
forth—the closest I’ve come to falling down a Wikipedia hole in print media in a long time. I’d expect nothing
less. ~ Andrew Bugenis
Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet by Will Hunt. This book is an interdisciplinary tour de force. It weaves edge-of-your-seat biographic adventure
narrative with a fascinating tapestry of intellectual delights: the neuroscience of sensory
deprivation, religious studies, cross-cultural mythology from across space and time, anthropology,
art history, and even a wonderful detour into the world of the legendary graffiti artist
Revs. The result is an immensely fulfilling journey into an often forgotten and unfairly denigrated
dimension of our human experience: the dark world beneath our feet. ~ Sam Baker
How to Catch a Mole: Wisdom from a Life Lived in Nature by Marc Hamer. An entirely unique book, and one not to be
missed. Hamer’s observational skills are second to none, and the quiet, gentle way this book
reads is a sheer delight. His life, though at times challenging, has been spent mostly in solitude in the natural world,
learning what it means to live a mole’s life. This may well be the most we have ever known about how this small
velvety creature really lives in its dark underground world. Sprinkled throughout the book are the most beautiful illustrations
by Joe McLaren, and poems by Hamer himself, making this a total gem of a book. ~ Becky Doherty PAPERBACK
The Real Lolita: A Lost Girl, an Unthinkable Crime, and a Scandalous Masterpiece by Sarah Weinman. Eleven-year-old Sally Horner disappeared from her home in Camden,
New Jersey in 1948, lured away by a man posing as an FBI agent who threatened her with arrest if she didn’t do
what he said. Nearly two years later, an observant woman in a California trailer park decided to voice her doubts
about the strange man—and the girl claiming to be his daughter—to the police. Vladimir Nabokov was adamant
that the Horner case didn’t influence his groundbreaking masterpiece, Lolita, but Wineman
painstakingly traces the similarities between the now forgotten abduction and the notorious
novel. A fascinating, disturbing book. ~ Alden Graves
Wilding: Returning Nature to Our Farm by Isabella Tree. This is the story of how a multi-generational intensive-
method farm went from a barren desert to the lush, thriving land that it is today.
It is ultimately, a story of hope. Faced with economic hardship created by a method of farming that is expensive
to maintain, Charlie Burrell decided to plunge into an epic project to see what would happen if they stepped
back from the land. Could it rewild itself? To his delight, the over 8,000 acres of land very quickly reestablished
itself to a diverse ecosystem. This is such an important book, I cannot recommend it highly enough. ~ Becky Doherty
