April 2021

Hello, librarians. We're very excited to share our latest episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast, featuring a conversation between LLF's Chris Connolly and Matt Bell, author of Appleseed, on sale July 13th.

If you're a fan of Neal Stephenson, Blake Crouch, or Jeff VanderMeer, then you're going to love the ambitious, sweeping arc of Appleseed. It takes place over the course of more than a thousand years, with three distinct but interconnected storylines: two brothers seeking riches and glory in eighteenth-century Ohio as they plant apple seeds in the vast, untamed wilderness; a group of resistance fighters in a ravaged near-future Earth who are plotting to topple a mega-corporation before it enacts a vast geo-engineering project; and, finally, a mysterious sentient being roaming an ice-covered North America a thousand years in the future who goes on a daring quest to track a homing beacon after centuries of solitude. 

Make no mistake, this is very much an environmental novel, and approaches the issue in a fresh, unique way that feels particular to the best of speculative fiction. Matt Bell seamlessly combines myth, fairytale, science, and the very real issues facing our planet while keeping the reader totally engrossed with beautiful prose, a breakneck pace, and carefully rendered characters.

You can listen to the interview below. And keep reading to see some of the praise for Appleseed!

"The reason you’ve never read a book like Appleseed is that there’s never been a book like Appleseed. The scary thing, though, is this is a world you might recognize. This premise, this content, this form, this language—only Matt Bell could have given us this novel."
—Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians

"Woven together out of the strands of myth, science fiction, and ecological warning, Matt Bell’s Appleseed is as urgent as it is audacious."
—Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble

"This is a fiercely original book—at once intimate and epic, visceral and philosophical—that sent me scurrying for adjectives, for precedents, for cover. Matt Bell commands the page with bold, vigorous prose and may well have invented the pulse-pounding novel of ideas."
—Jess Walter, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions

Today we welcome a guest blog post from Lawrence Lessig, author of They Don't Represent Us, on the day of the paperback release. They Don't Represent Us argues with insight and urgency that our democracy no longer represents us and shows that reform is both necessary and possible. The paperback includes a new afterword about the 2020 election as well as a guide to HR1, the major voting rights bill currently in the Senate. 

 

 

 

 

There's so much praise for They Don't Represent Us, including:

“A thoughtful, illuminating, nonpartisan, and pragmatic analysis of the changes needed to restore power to the public… this a must-read and a much-needed wake up call.”
—Booklist

Now, a note from Lawrence:

***

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, “to one who is striking at the root.” What is, for us, and for our democracy, that root? 

In this book, I show how a single idea explains the rest. That a core promise of any democracy — that it be “representative” — is broken by the institutions of our democracy. Whether through gerrymandering, the suppression of the vote, the Electoral College, the Senate, or, certainly most extremely, the way money dominates the attention of politicians, we have allowed this, “the greatest democracy in the world,” as our leaders style it, to be corrupted because we have allowed this democracy to become radically unrepresentative.

And not just our government: even worse, we have allowed us, the people, to become unrepresentative. “We, the People” speak in our democracy. But how we get rendered, by the institutions of modern media, is deeply unrepresentative as well. 

This point, I fear, most are missing. For much of human history, “the people” were invisible, because, for most of human history, there was no such thing as scientific polling. Polling was born less than a century ago, and when it grew up, we were living in a historically strange media environment. From roughly the middle of the 1950s through the middle of the 1980s, we lived within, as Princeton political scientist Marcus Prior names it, a “broadcast democracy,” where most were focused on a common story, grounded in a common set of facts. That point of view was not unbiased, or even necessarily true, but it made democracy possible in the age of a legible public. 

That common ground has fallen away. And not just through accident, or temporarily. Rather, as I argue in this book, the business model of modern media, from cable television to the dominant Internet platforms, is set against the nurturing of any common ground. Instead, our media profits the more they render us as crazy. The business model of hate is not just what politicians do. Rather in the details of the incentives that make modern media profitable, they profit more the more they tribalize us. 

That argument seemed clear enough to me when this book was first published in November 2019. Everything that has happened since only confirms its worst fears. Not surprisingly, the first Impeachment of President Trump got rendered in a tribal way. But astonishingly, even to me, so too did a global pandemic, and then the reporting and understanding of whether a clear and certain presidential election had in fact been “stolen.”

History will look back at us and wonder how this was possible. I am proud to look back at this book and to see in it the first answers to that question. We have an extraordinary challenge before us, not just to render them—the government—representative if not again, then for the first time, but also, and more difficultly, us. 

How they get fixed is easier to see. The “For the People Act,” aka HR1, now being considered in the Senate, and summarized in an appendix to this edition, would be a critical first step. How we get fixed, or more precisely, how we fix how we get represented, is a much greater challenge. First steps are sketched here, but there are many more that we need to invent. 

***

Thank you so much for taking the time to write for the blog, Lawrence!
Get a copy of They Don't Represent Us here.

-Lainey

We're back with another wonderful podcast episode! This week, we welcome Katy Hamilton, Senior Editor at HarperOne, to the podcast to speak with Propaganda—author, musician, speaker, and activist. He also has a podcast of his own! He co-hosts The Red Couch Podcast with his wife, Dr. Alma Zaragoza-Petty.

On this podcast episode, Katy and Propaganda spoke about his upcoming publication Terraform, a debut collection of essays and poetry that inspires us to create a better, more equitable world. Listening to this discussion is the perfect way to celebrate Earth Day—the book looks at the ways in which our world is broken and Propaganda uses the metaphor of terraforming—creating a livable world out of an inhospitable one—to show how we can begin to reshape our homes, friendships, communities, and politics.

Listen to the episode below: 

Terraform goes on sale June 8, 2021. LibraryReads votes are due May 1st. Download an egalley on Edelweiss+ or NetGalley. Be sure to check out some of the interior spreads on Edelweiss+ here. 

-Lainey

Today, we welcome Maryanne O'Hara, author of Little Matches, to the blog. Little Matches published today, April 20th. It is an emotionally raw and inspiring memoir that illuminates a mother’s grief over the loss of her adult child and considers the hope of soulful connections that transcend the boundary of life and death. We were so fortunate to have Maryanne on our Door to Door episode to speak about this special book and learn more about Caitlin and their relationship. Read a note from Maryanne below.

 

 

***

today i went to the british library with my mom
and there were all kinds of exhibits
and i saw the original lyrics written for
In my life by john lennon
   Caitlin O’Hara, texting a friend in 2012

One of the delights of being a mother was realizing that I was going to have a second childhood. All of the things I had loved, outgrown, and forgotten—the toy trains and fingerpaints, the chubby books and blue popsicles—I could enjoy anew, made even better this time around because I would experience everything with an exquisite little child.

Life became Proust’s madeleine. It was like living inside lost time. And the best place to live inside lost time was the library.

I don’t remember exactly when I first discovered the children’s room at my own library, growing up, but I remember my wonder. A room in this big, important-looking building just for kids? Full of kids’ books? Could there be anything better?

I read to Caitlin from her earliest days. I wanted language and stories to be second-nature so that she would easily become a reader herself. When she was two and diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a disease that would mean she would spend much of her life in the hospital, books meant she was never really trapped in a room. Suitcases packed for two-week inpatient stays always included a pile of new books. Inside of them, she could be anywhere she wanted to be. Reading whet her appetite for real adventure. She loved traveling, and her father and I brought her on every trip we ever planned.

Caitlin’s health declined as she grew older, but she was able to attend college and work and live mostly independently through much of her twenties. We were close and when apart, kept in constant touch via text. Those texts are long scrolling records of the random and wonderful moments of the everyday:

there is a brush fire in the fens

so im going to the dr at 220

are you making dinner Sunday?

i was driving home thinking how much i love 'in my life' love john lennon

did you book the st john tickets yet?

For every three trips we planned, we usually canceled at least one. The year she was a junior in college, we booked a springtime visit to Cambridge, England. A week before our flight, her cough worsened, her pulmonary function numbers went down, and instead of boarding that British Airways jet, she checked into the hospital for two weeks.

But 2012 was a magical summer. A novel I’d been writing for ten years was about to be published by Viking. Caitlin had begun to take a new gene-modifying drug that helped her feel well enough to rent an apartment in Paris, something she’d long fantasized about, for a few weeks. And before she left for Paris, she and I were able to spend a week in London.

One day we visited the British Library. Its exhibits were as enchanted as objects in any fairytale. There was Charlotte Bronte’s hand-written fair copy manuscript of Jane Eyre. Right there in front of our eyes, the sentences as neat and orderly as Jane herself. And over there, look—Kazuo Ishiguro’s handwriting, ideas for a book that would become one of my ever-favorites, The Remains of the Day. I read the accompanying notes, which pointed out that he liked to lock himself away, for days, to write undisturbed. “Just like you,” Caitlin said.

Her attention drifted over to another case and she called me over, delighted, her eyes shining. Behind the glass, perched on a plinth, sat a heavily scratched-out version of the original lyrics to In My Life, in John Lennon’s handwriting from 1965.

In one of Lennon’s final interviews, he described the song as a remembrance of people of the past. In the original draft, he connected that love of people to concrete places. He wrote about Penny Lane, and tramsheds with no trams, and the “circle of the Abbey” where he had seen happy hours, all glimpsed from the number 5 bus into town.

Place grounds us, connects us. And libraries do that better than anywhere. With their books and their inherent reverence for words, and for records of what was, they connect us viscerally to the past and the future while immersing us utterly inside the present. That immersion stops time. It’s magic.

Recently I found a photo from that day, of Caitlin’s smiling self posing in front of the library. Until the end, her disease was invisible. Looking at that photo you would never know that her lung function was thirty percent of normal. You would never know that she only had a few years left to live. You see only her joy in the moment.

The next time I am in London, I plan to make a trip to the British Library. It will be painful and poignant and it will also be comforting. I am grateful for our human ability to remember, and grateful that humans maintain libraries. I will immerse myself inside lost time, look upon that John Lennon manuscript, and imagine my daughter beside me. I will conjure the memory of her utter delight.

Caitlin O'Hara

***

Thank you, Maryanne, for this beautiful piece and for all of your insight on our Door to Door episode. Watch the replay below:

Thanks for writing and sharing this wonderful book.

-Lainey

Check out these upcoming Summer reads that were featured in the April issue of Booklist:

• Palm Beach by Mary Adkins
• Capture the Crown by Jennifer Estep
• Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard
• The Fiancée by Kate White
• Maps for the Getaway by Annie England Noblin
• Sunrise by the Sea by Jenny Colgan
• Imagine Summer by Shelley Noble
• Painting the Light by Sally Cabot Gunning
• Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson
• Her Heart for a Compass by Sarah Ferguson
• So We Meet Again by Suzanne Park
• Island Queen by Vanessa Riley
• Vortex by Catherine Coulter
• Lights Out in Lincolnwood by Geoff Rodkey
• Love on the Line by Laura Castoro
• Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
• It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
• Love for Beginners by Jill Shalvis
• The Cellist by Daniel Silva
• False Witness by Karin Slaughter
• Her Turn by Katherine Ashenburg
• I Couldn't Love You More by Esther Freud
• Summer on the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin
• Home Stretch by Graham Norton
• Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn, illustrated by Violet Charles

More Summer titles not included in the ad:

• The Mothers by Genevieve Gannon
• Kingdom of Bones by James Rollins
• Just Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane
• Lost and Found Family by Jennifer Ryan
• Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
• All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
• The Last Goodbye by Fiona Lucas
• The Last Debutantes by Georgie Blalock
• The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
• Should We Stay or Should We Go by Lionel Shriver
• A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams
• Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor
• The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
• Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
• Dream Girl by Laura Lippman
• The Godmothers by Camille Aubray

-LLF

Hello, librarians!

You voted, they counted, and the winners have finally been announced!

This month, we are thrilled to share that Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau has been selected for the May LibraryReads List! We're also excited to announce that Alyssa Cole officially joins the LibraryReads Hall of Fame with the selection of How to Find a Princess!

Want to hear how our authors reacted to the big news? Listen to our latest episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast below to hear their responses!

Click here to see the full May LibraryReads List!

***

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau:
Almost Famous meets Daisy Jones and the Six in this funny, wise, and tender novel about a fourteen-year-old girl’s coming of age in 1970s Baltimore, caught between her straight-laced family and the progressive family she nannies for—who happen to be secretly hiding a famous rock star and his movie star wife for the summer.

"Blau’s intelligent, witty novel captures the essence of the '70s with humor and immensely appealing characters. Highly recommended."
—Library Journal ⭐ review

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Listen to the Mary Jane playlist on Spotify

Watch Jessica Anya Blau on Door to Door!

 

How to Find a Princess
by Alyssa Cole: New York Times and USA Today bestseller Alyssa Cole’s second Runaway Royals novel is a queer Anastasia retelling, featuring a long-lost princess who finds love with the female investigator tasked with tracking her down.

"An impressive ending to a series featuring an international cast of complex, multicultural characters balancing their royal responsibilities with their modern lives and loves."
—Booklist ⭐ review

Previous LibraryReads Selections:
How to Catch a Queen (Dec. 2020)
When No One Is Watching (Sept. 2020)

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***

Thanks to all who participated and submitted votes for the May LibraryReads List! Be sure to submit your votes for the June LibraryReads List by May 1st. Click here to find out what we're recommending!  

Click here to learn more about LibraryReads.

-Chris

We have a new interview from Carol Fitzgerald, President of the Book Report Network! She recently interviewed Nadia Hashimi, author of Sparks Like Stars—on sale now. Nadia is the bestselling author of The Pearl That Broke Its Shell, The House Without Windows, and When the Moon Is Low. In her latest book, Sparks Like Stars, an Afghan American woman returns to Kabul to learn the truth about her family and the tragedy that destroyed their lives. NPR said: “Suspenseful…emotionally compelling. I found myself eagerly following in a way I hadn’t remembered for a long time, impatient for the next twist and turn of the story."

You can watch Carol's video interview or listen to the audio on Carol’s podcast!

Be sure to visit The Book Report Network and Bookreporter.com for more great content! 

Watch Nadia's Door to Door episode:

-Lainey

The Minister Primarily by John Oliver Killens: A major literary event—the eagerly anticipated publication of a long-lost novel from legendary writer and three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee John Oliver Killens, hailed as the founding father of the Black Arts Movement and mentor to celebrated writers, including Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Arthur Flowers, and Terry McMillan.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

Appleseed by Matt Bell: A "work of incandescent imagination" (Karen Russell) from Young Lions Fiction Award–finalist Matt Bell,
a breakout book that explores climate change, manifest destiny, humanity's unchecked exploitation of natural resources, and the small but powerful magic contained within every single apple. 

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

Nobody, Somebody, Anybody by Kelly McClorey: A moving and darkly comic debut novel about an anxious young woman who administers a self-made "placebo" treatment in a last-ditch attempt to rebuild her life.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

The Stranger in the MIrror by Liv Constantine: A diabolically twisty, psychologically unsettling novel about a woman with no recollection of her past from the authors of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick The Last Mrs. Parrish and The Wife Stalker.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers: The 2020 National Book Award–nominated poet makes her fiction debut with this magisterial epic—an intimate yet sweeping novel with all the luminescence and force of Homegoing; Sing, Unburied, Sing; and The Water Dancer—that chronicles the journey of one American family, from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to our own tumultuous era. 

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

The Comfort of Monsters by Willa C. Richards: Set in Milwaukee during the "Dahmer summer" of 1991, a remarkable debut novel for fans of Mary Gaitskill and Gillian Flynn about two sisters—one who disappears, and one who is left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

Vessel by Cai Chongda: An unprecedented and heartfelt memoir that illuminates the lives of rural Chinese workers, offering a portrait of generational strife, family, love, and loss that crosses cultures and time.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

 

False Witness by Karin Slaughter: From the New York Times bestselling author of Pieces of Her and The Silent Wife, an electrifying standalone thriller about a successful defense attorney whose latest case has chilling ties to a decades-old secret.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

The Women's March by Jennifer Chiaverini: New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini returns with The Women’s March, an enthralling historical novel of the woman’s suffrage movement inspired by three courageous women who bravely risked their lives and liberty in the fight to win the vote.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

Island Queen by Vanessa Riley: A remarkable, sweeping historical novel based on the incredible true life story of Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, a free woman of color who rose from slavery to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in the colonial West Indies. 

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

An Irish Hostage by Charles Todd: In the uneasy peace following World War I, nurse Bess Crawford runs into trouble and treachery in Ireland—in this twelfth book in the New York Times bestselling mystery series.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

 

London's Number-One Dog Walking Agency by Kate MacDougall: The irresistibly charming memoir of a young woman who started her own business as a dog walker for London’s busy, well-heeled dog lovers. A true love letter to London, dogs, and growing up. 

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey: Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who’s cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town… where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong. 

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

I Couldn't Love You More by Esther Freud: A sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past. 

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton: From the internationally bestselling and beloved author of the critically acclaimed Boy Swallows Universe, a mesmerizing, uplifting novel of adventure and unlikely friendships in World War II Australia—calling to mind The Wizard of Oz as directed by Baz Luhrmann.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

Lights Out in Lincolnwood by Geoff Rodkey: A mordantly funny, all-too-real novel in the vein of Tom Perotta and Emma Straub about a suburban American family who have to figure out how to survive themselves and their neighbors in the wake of a global calamity that upends all of modern life.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev: The author of Recipe for Persuasion—"not only one of the best but one of the bravest romance novelists working today" (Shelf Awareness)—adds an Indian American twist to Jane Austen's classic Sense and Sensibility in this delightful retelling that is a feast for the senses.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb: From Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, the bestselling authors of Meet Me in Monaco, comes a coming-of-age novel set in pre-WWII Europe, perfect for fans of Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Kate Quinn.  

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

Lost and Found Family by Jennifer Ryan: If you love Jill Shalvis, Lori Wilde, and Susan Mallery, then you won't want to miss New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ryan’s riveting new novel about family, secrets, and a woman ready to embrace who she really is by facing down her past.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

 

The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman: In the tradition of Daphne du Maurier and Shari Lapena, comes the newest mystery thriller from New York Times bestselling author Carol Goodman—a twisty, chilling story set in a former Magdalen Laundry in Manhattan that explores today’s #MeToo complexities.

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LibraryReads Votes Due: 6/1/2021

The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker
For fans of: Inland by Téa Obreht and 
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
In this enthralling historical epic, set in New York City and the Middle East in the years leading to World War I—the long-awaited follow-up to the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Golem and the Jinni—Helene Wecker revisits her beloved characters Chava and Ahmad as they confront unexpected new challenges in a rapidly changing human world.

"A blend of romance, Mary Shelley-esque horror, and folklore…. Wecker skillfully combines the storylines of Chava the Golem and Ahmad the Jinni and numerous other players, good and evil, in an enchanting tale that pleases on every page."
—Kirkus Reviews ⭐ review

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021

Listen to a podcast interview between LLF's Chris Connolly and Helene Wecker!

 

Impostor Syndrome by Kathy Wang
For fans of: Followers by Megan Angelo and 
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
From the critically acclaimed author of Family Trust comes a new Silicon Valley satire, exploring the cutthroat world of women in tech through the lens of a thrilling tale of foreign espionage and secrets.

"Kathy Wang’s Impostor Syndrome is a smart, ambitious, and hugely original novel that succeeds on every level. It’s part gripping spy thriller, part sharp-eyed Silicon Valley satire, part nuanced character study—and fully, deeply entertaining every step of the way."
—Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of November Road

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021

Listen to a podcast interview between LLF's Chris Connolly and Kathy Wang!

 

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot
by Marianne Cronin
For fans of: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
A charming, fiercely alive and disarmingly funny debut novel in the vein of John Green, Rachel Joyce, and Jojo Moyes—about the unexpected friendship between 17-year-old Lenni, living on the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, and Margot, an 83-year-old, purple-pajama-wearing, fruitcake-eating rebel, who transforms Lenni in ways she never imagined.

"With a sensibility that's as compassionate and quirky as those of her two indelible heroines, Marianne Cronin offers a deceptively lighthearted response to life’s heaviest questions. As Lenni and Margot leave their mark on one another, so too does this tearjerker of a book leave its mark on the reader."
—Kathleen Rooney, author of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021

 

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman
Also from the author: Lady in the Lake 
and Sunburn
Following up on her acclaimed and wildly successful New York Times bestseller Lady in the Lake—one of the top selling books of her career—Laura Lippman returns with a dark, complex tale of psychological suspense with echoes of Misery involving a novelist, incapacitated by injury, who is plagued by mysterious phone calls.

"My dream novel. I devoured this in three days. The sharpest, clearest-eyed take on our #MeToo reckoning yet. Plus: enthralling."
—Megan Abbott, Edgar Award-winning author of Dare Me and The Fever

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021

Previous LibraryReads Selections:
Lady in the Lake (July 2019)
Sunburn (March 2018)
Wilde Lake (May 2016)
After I'm Gone (February 2014)

Watch Laura Lippman on Door to Door!

 

 

When Stars Collide 
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Also from the author:
Dance Away with Me and
First Star I See Tonight
#1 New York Times bestseller Susan Elizabeth Phillips returns to her beloved Chicago Stars series with a romance between a Chicago Stars quarterback and one of the world’s greatest opera singers—and a major diva.

"Re-entering the world of the Chicago Stars is like a beloved friend come to call."
—Robyn Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021 

Previous LibraryReads Selections:
Dance Away with Me (June 2020)
First Star I See Tonight (August 2016)
Heroes Are My Weakness (August 2014)

 

An Unlikely Spy by Rebecca Starford
For fans of: The Last Train to London by Meg Waite Clayton
A twisting, sophisticated World War II novel following a spy who goes undercover as a part of MI5—in chasing the secrets of others, how much will she lose of herself?

"Readers will travel breathlessly along with Evelyn as she navigates the treacherous waters of lifelong allegiances and new alliances, foreign dangers and secrets uncovered much closer to home. Starford has penned both a beguiling tale of espionage and a noteworthy commentary on torn loyalties and the unthinkable choices of war."
—Pam Jenoff, author of The Orphan's Tale and The Lost Girls of Paris

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021

 

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams
For fans of: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
From the author of the "full-throttle thriller" (A. J. Finn) No Exit—a riveting new psychological page-turner featuring a fierce and unforgettable heroine who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth behind her estranged twin sister's supposed suicide. But as her twin’s final hours come into focus, her search turns into a harrowing, tooth-and-nail fight for her own survival—one that will test everything she thought she knew about her sister and herself…

"A shot of adrenaline straight to the heart! Propulsive and unpredictable, Hairpin Bridge will have you on edge from the first page to the last."
—Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of Home Before Dark

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021 

 

The Fiancée by Kate White
For fans of: Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle
The New York Times bestselling author returns with an unsettling but riveting psychological thriller about a captivating woman who joins a family and threatens to upend their picture-perfect lives.

"A skillfully constructed page-turner…. Expert pacing, characters readers can love to hate, and an intelligent heroine make this a winner. White consistently entertains."
—Publishers Weekly

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021 

Watch Kate White on Door to Door!

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
For fans of: The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden and
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
In the vein of Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestseller Spinning Silver, this unforgettable debut— inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology—follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen as they form an unlikely alliance to thwart a tyrant.

"A thought-provoking, thrilling magical twist on the history of religion and politics that I couldn't put down. In her stunningly rendered–and frankly terrifying–forbidden forests, Reid conjures up some of the ghastliest monsters I've ever read, and yet never lets us forget the worst horrors are perpetuated by human hands."
—S.A. Chakraborty, bestselling author of The Empire of Gold

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LibraryReads Votes Due: May 1, 2021  

 

A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams
For fans of: The Summer Deal by Jill Shalvis and 
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
A heartwarming Avon debut of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings set in the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry about a bridal gown designer returned home and a military veteran and widowed father trying to keep his business afloat. 

"With superb character development and great emotional depth, Afro Filipina writer Williams stitches together a quietly powerful love story that is beautifully enriched by the deft and insightful incorporation of weighty issues such as grief and medical conditions into the compelling plot and brightly enhanced by glimpses into the vibrant culture and history of Charleston."
—Booklist ⭐ review

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How to Kidnap the Rich by Rahul Raina
For fans of: Beijing Payback by Daniel Nieh and 
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
An exhilarating and propulsive debut novel from an emerging talent—a fresh, bitingly hilarious, sweeping satire of modern-day India for fans of Aravind Adiga, Trent Dalton, and Mohsin Hamid.

"Rahul Raina’s voice crackles with wit and the affecting exuberance of youth. His ripping good story grabs you on page one and doesn’t let go, taking you on a monstrously funny and unpredictable wild ride through a thousand different Delhis at top speed. How To Kidnap the Rich roars with brilliance, freshness and so much heart."
—Kevin Kwan, New York Times bestselling author of the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy

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The Metal Heart by Caroline Lea
For fans of: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
In the dark days of World War II, an unlikely romance blossoms between a Scottish woman and an Italian prisoner of war in this haunting novel with the emotional complexity of The Boat Runner and All the Light We Cannot See—a powerful and atmospheric story of love, jealousy, and conscience that illuminates the beauty of the human spirit from the author of
The Glass Woman.

"The story of true innocents caught up in the machinery of war. Exquisitely researched, beautifully told, this tiny corner of Scotland came alive for me in all of my senses and I found myself rooting for the central characters with all my heart."
—Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again,Yes

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Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams
Also from the author: The Golden Hour and The Summer Wives
The New York Times bestselling author of Her Last Flight returns with a gripping and profoundly human story of Cold War espionage and family devotion that proves again why Elin Hilderbrand says Beatriz Williams "is writing the best historical fiction out there."

"Williams sharply observes the inequities women faced at the end of WWII and the simmering suspense of the Cold War. Historical fiction fans will be riveted by the complex family relationships and the intriguing portrayal of espionage."
—Publishers Weekly

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The Godmothers by Camille Aubray
For fans of: The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams and
Tony's Wife by Adriana Trigiani 
Big Little Lies set in World War II Greenwich Village! From the author of Cooking for Picasso, an irresistible, suspenseful novel about four women who marry into an elegant, prosperous Italian family, and then must take charge of the family’s business when their husbands are forced to leave them during the war.

Praise for Cooking for Picasso:
"With lively characters and a twisting plot, Aubray’s novel is a smart and satisfying tale of family, creativity, romance and intrigue."
—Booklist

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The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian 
Also from the author: Two Rogues Make a Right and 
Unmasked by the Marquess
Critically acclaimed author Cat Sebastian makes her trade paperback debut in a stunning historical romance about a reluctantly reformed highwayman and the aristocrat who threatens to steal his heart.

"Sebastian’s prose is entertaining and delightful, with many steamy scenes…. It’s also full of intelligent and thought-provoking political debates…. An irresistible story of love and adventure that will delight both newcomers and regular readers of queer romance."
—Kirkus Reviews ⭐ review

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Watch LLF's Lainey Mays Interview Cat Sebastian
on ALA's Diverse Characters Panel!

 

Sisters of the Resistance by Christine Wells
For fans of: The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel
Set in the thick of the Paris Resistance movement during WWII, this exciting novel tells of the deep involvement of Catherine Dior and two young women who risked their lives to support her efforts—perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Jennifer Chiaverini.

"As dazzling as a Dior gown! Sisters of the Resistance tells the fascinating story of two sisters working with Catherine Dior and the French Resistance during WWII. With a gorgeous blend of fashion, heartbreak, heroism, and love this book will transport you to France…"
—Natasha Lester, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Secret 

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The Vixen by Francine Prose
For fans of: The Burning Girl by Claire Messud
 Critically acclaimed, bestselling author Francine Prose returns with a dazzling new novel set in the glamorous world of 1950s New York publishing, the story of a young man tasked with editing a steamy bodice-ripper based on the recent trial and execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg—an assignment that will reveal the true cost of entering that seductive, dangerous new world.

"A rollicking trickster of a novel, wondrously funny
and wickedly addictive."
—Maria Semple, New York Times bestselling author of Today Will Be Different

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Painting the Light by Sally Cabot Gunning
For fans of: Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini
From the critically acclaimed author of Monticello and The Widow’s War comes a vividly rendered historical novel of love, loss, and reinvention, set on Martha’s Vineyard at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Praise for Monticello:
"Gunning’s writing is elegant, the period details exact."
—USA Today

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Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard
For fans of: Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars. 
by Joyce Carol Oates
In her most ambitious novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard takes on the story of a family from the hopeful early days of young marriage to parenthood, divorce, and its costly aftermath—to illuminate how the mistakes of parents are passed down through generations to fester, or to be healed.

"How did Maynard know that this is exactly the book we all need now? This exhilaratingly brilliant novel isn’t just an indelible story of the falling dominoes of a family struggling through crisis and through generations, it’s also about the times we live through…. This gorgeous story reminds us that love is always, always worth it."
—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of With or Without You

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Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler
For fans of: Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey
L. M. Montgomery’s classic tale, Anne of Green Gables, gets a romantic, charming, and hilarious modern adaptation, set in New York City.

"Adaptations of beloved children’s books are difficult to pull off, but Starler’s debut—a romantic, modern-day riff on Anne of Green Gables—brings impressive heart and sensuality to a classic."
—Publishers Weekly

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***

We hope you enjoy the books! For more information about LibraryReads, visit their website. Remember: Vote early! Vote often!

-Chris

Last week, we featured a podcast episode with Dianna Rostad, author of You Belong Here Now, in conversation with her editor. This week, we are so excited to feature a guest blog post from Dianna on the day of publication! You Belong Here Now tells a story of three orphans as they journey westward from New York City to the Big Sky Country of Montana, hoping for a better life where beautiful wild horses roam free. 

 

 

***

My earliest remembrance of the library was at seven. I had been given my special library time and found a book: James and The Giant Peach. I sat down right there and leaned against the shelves reading that fantastical book, letting it draw me into a totally different world. I come from the Pacific Northwest where Jack London is a fixture, so I read books like White Fang and Call of the Wild, and from there, Judy Blume’s books like Blubber. As a teenager, I worked in my school library. I enjoyed the quiet, the order of the Dewey Decimal System and all its mysterious little drawers. Libraries are dependable things, like family.

You Belong Here Now is a story deeply rooted in my family’s lore. The passion for the story began when my father came to Christmas one year and brought with him all these amazing old pictures from my grandfather’s time of the ranch houses and life in Montana. On the backs of these photos were all these anecdotes. It broke open a whole big world where I could see my characters and their lives. So, it seemed pretty natural to base many of the characters on family members. The voices you hear are echoes of my father and his father. People I love and have lost.

When I told my father I wanted to set my new book in Montana, we went to the library straight away to research. Later on, he gave me a list of recommendations for books by writers from Montana like Larry Watson and Ivan Doig. These stories helped me frame the mindset and everyday lives of people living in this quiet, rural place. 

As the manuscript began to take shape, he would often read for me. One time, he came back with the advice to cut the man fight out of the book, as he didn’t think guys would really believe it. I told him I needed it, and could he help me make it better. We argued about whether butane was available in 1925. Throughout the process of bringing this book into the world, my father was there, giving me advice on rifles vs. shotguns, how they were loaded, cocked, etc. He and my Uncle Jim gave me lots of good feedback on old cars from that era, which they both own and restore. My Aunt Dee Dee dug up old pictures from the family archives, which you’ll see here of my grandfather. He sang and played the guitar, all the songs in the book were his or songs that were sung in Montana in the early 20^th century. My Aunt Marilyn found old reels of music or just remembered the lines from grandpa’s old songs. My eldest daughter Jessica read for me many times over, and she helped me greatly with the ending. Jessica is the basis for Nara in my story. You Belong Here Now has been a family project and always, always, we’ll go to the library.

My grandfather’s cousins

My grandfather in boots with chickens

My grandfather’s old ranch house with a windmill he put on top of the roof to power a light bulb

My grandfather and his brother after church or school

***

Listen to the podcast episode with Dianna here:

Thanks so much and Happy Book Birthday, Dianna! You can get a copy of You Belong Here Now here.

-Lainey

It's no secret that we love librarians, libraries, and all the books that call the library home. We wanted to give librarians, authors, and patrons a chance to tell the world how much they love their local library during National Library Week.

To start things off, we're so excited to share a video message to librarians from Julia Quinn, bestselling author of the Bridgerton series!

Some information on National Library Week:

• National Library Week takes place this year from April 4-10.

• The theme for National Library Week this year is “Welcome to Your Library.” The theme promotes the idea that libraries extend far beyond the four walls of a building—and that everyone is welcome to use their services.

• Natalie Portman is the 2021 National Library Week Honorary Chair.

• Tuesday, April 6 is National Library Workers Day, Wednesday, April 7 is National LIbrary Outreach Day, and Thursday, April 8 is Take Action for Libraries Day.

Find out more about how to celebrate or different ways to get involved on the American Library Association website here.

How LLF is Celebrating National Library Week:

During the week, we will be featuring authors' thoughts on what libraries mean to them. We kicked off this #librarylove on our Door to Door episode on Tuesday, April 6th with Laura Lippman, author of Dream Girl, and Kate White, author of The Fiancée—both daughters of librarians!

This is Laura Lippman's quote about libraries: "So, yes, the pandemic sucks. But a bright light in our lives is that the Baltimore city branches of the Enoch Pratt are open—and my branch is literally four blocks from where I live. My daughter, who is almost 11, and is desirous of independence, can walk there and back. Her face when she comes through the door shines with happiness and reminds me of myself at the same age, how excited I was for our weekly trips to the library."

Watch the replay on Facebook or YouTube.

_______________

We continued reading the authors' statements (and heard audio clips!) on our podcast that was posted on Wednesday, April 7th. We heard from authors: Laura Lippman, Rumaan Alam, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Sarah McCoy, Andrew J. Graff, Mia Mercado, Morgan Jerkins, Lori Rader-Day, Sarah MacLean, Catherine Coulter, Gail Tsukiyama, Jacqueline Winspear, emily danforth, Rebekah Taussig, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Kimberly McCreight, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Wiley Cash, and Wanda M. Morris.

Listen to the episode on our SoundCloud feed:

_______________

Lastly, we would like to continue to invite librarians and patrons alike to leave a comment on our interactive message board, answering the prompt "I love my library because…" and we'll feature the messages throughout the week. Leave a message/gif/photo here.

_______________

Check back for more information and updates! We are so excited to share the wonderful sentiments about libraries and we thank you for all the hard work you do to uplift authors, promote free information, and rise up to serve your community in dark times. Thank you.

-LLF

Check out these mysterious reads we featured in our April Library Journal ad:

• Homegrown Hero by Khurrum Rahman
• The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine
• Vortex by Catherine Coulter
• The Fiancée by Kate White
• The Anatomy of Desire by L.R. Dorn
• The Sister-in-Law by Pamela Crane
• An Irish Hostage by Charles Todd
• The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman
• What to Do When Someone Dies by Nicci French
• Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams
• Arctic Storm Rising by Dale Brown
• The Cellist by Daniel Silva
• Down Range by Taylor Moore
• Island of Thieves by Glen Erik Hamilton
• False Witness by Karin Slaughter
• Find You First by Linwood Barclay
• Then She Vanishes by Claire Douglas
• The Secret Talker by Geling Yan
• Dream Girl by Laura Lippman
• A Double Life by Charlotte Philby

More Mysterious Reads:

• Safe and Sound by Philippa East
• Kingdom of Bones by James Rollins
• Girl in the Walls by A.J. Gnuse
• How Lucky by Will Leitch

-LLF

This week's episode of The Library Love Fest Podcast features a conversation between Lucia Macro, VP/Executive Editor at William Morrow, and Dianna Rostad, author of You Belong Here Now. They discuss how the author/editor relationship began, the editing process (including an extended original opening scene in NYC), and the rich history behind this book. 

More about You Belong Here Now (on sale April 6, 2021):
In this brilliant debut three orphans journey westward from New York City to the Big Sky Country of Montana, hoping for a better life where beautiful wild horses roam free.

William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land said:
"Set against the harsh backdrop of Montana, You Belong Here Now is a novel as straightforward and powerful as the characters who populate it. I love this book, and I guarantee you won’t find a finer debut work anywhere.” 

Listen to the episode here: 

Listen to a clip from the audiobook here: 

A big thank you to Lucia and Dianna for a wonderful episode!

-Lainey

Check out some of our upcoming debut novels!

• An Unlikely Spy by Rebecca Starford: A twisting, sophisticated World War II novel following a spy who goes undercover as a part of MI5.
• Nobody, Somebody, Anybody by Kelly McClorey: A darkly comic novel about a young woman who administers a self-made “placebo” treatment in an attempt to rebuild her life.
• Down Range by Taylor Moore: An action-packed thriller featuring a DEA agent’s fight to protect his home on the Texas High Plains from a vicious criminal enterprise.
• Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen: A young Black woman must rely on courage, laughter, and love—and the support of her two longtime friends—to overcome an unexpected setback that threatens the most precious thing she’s ever wanted.
• The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers: An intimate yet sweeping novel that chronicles the journey of one American family from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to our own tumultuous time.
• The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid: Inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology, a young pagan woman is betrayed by her village to a vengeful cleric seeking to exploit her magic in a quest of religious purity.
• God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney: Set in northern Texas, two sisters discover a dark secret about their father, the head pastor of an evangelical megachurch, that upends their lives and community.
• Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson: A novel that reveals the untold, true story of the only all-Black battalion of the Women’s Army Corps and their dangerous voyage to Europe during World War II.
• In Polite Company by Gervais Hagerty: A captivating novel that looks inside the private lives of Charleston aristocracy, where a former debutante learns that sometimes good behavior leads to bad decisions.
• All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris: A twisty mystery about a Black lawyer who is thrust into her employer’s shady executive circle after her boss mysteriously dies.

Additional debuts:

• The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams: A chance encounter and a list of library books help forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people—a lonely London widower and a troubled teenager.
• Fault Lines by Emily Itami: A witty, sharp, and moving novel exploring the frustrations of motherhood, the imbalance of a marriage, and the loss of self as a family builds around you.
• The Comfort of Monsters by Willa C. Richards: Set in Milwaukee during the “Dahmer summer” of 1991, a remarkable novel for fans of Mary Gaitskill and Gillian Flynn about two sisters—one who disappears and one who is left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath.
• Edge Case by YZ Chin: When her husband suddenly disappears, a young woman must uncover where he went—and who she might be without him—in this striking novel of immigration, identity, and marriage.
• The Radio Operator by Ulla Lenze: Based on a true story, a gripping historical novel about a German immigrant who becomes embroiled in a Nazi spy ring operating in New York City in the early days of World War II.
• The Anatomy of Desire by L.R. Dorn: A modern tale of American striving, social media stardom, a fatal love triangle, and a young woman on trial for murder—a mesmerizing reimagining of Theodore Dreiser's classic novel of crime and punishment, An American Tragedy.
• We Two Alone by Jack Wang: A bold and brilliant collection, in the vein of The Refugees, which dramatizes the Chinese diaspora across the globe over the past hundred years.
• Happy Endings by Thien-Kim Lam: When working together reignites their passion, will these former flames sizzle or get burned all over again?
• The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin: A brave testament to the power of living each day to the fullest, a tribute to the stories that we live, and a reminder of our unlimited capacity for friendship and love.
• How to Kidnap the Rich by Rahul Raina: A fresh, bitingly hilarious, sweeping satire of modern-day India.
• Lights Out in Lincolnwood by Geoff Rodkey: A suburban American family have to figure out how to survive themselves and their neighbors in the wake of a global calamity that upends all of modern life.
• When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen: A haunting novel about a black woman who returns to her hometown for a plantation wedding and the horror that ensues as she reconnects with the blood-soaked history of the land and the best friends she left behind.
• Her Turn by Katherine Ashenburg: A journalist who stumbles into an unusual relationship with the woman married to her former husband.
• A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams: A heartwarming Avon debut of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings set in the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry.

-LLF