Hello, librarians. Happy May! Random fact: the UK celebrates National Smile Month beginning May 17th. Why do we bring this up? Well, nothing makes us smile more than a great book…and with our staff suggestions for the July LibraryReads List, there are plenty of smiles to go around. Keep reading to learn (and smile) more! Remember to submit your votes by June 1st.
Happy reading!
-The LLF Team (Virginia, Chris, and Lainey)
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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
For fans of: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The award-winning poet and essayist makes her fiction debut with this magisterial epic—an intimate yet sweeping novel with the freshness and forcefulness of Homegoing, The Turner House, 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 time.
"Themes of family, class, higher education, feminism, and colorism yield many rich layers. Readers will be floored."
—Publishers Weekly ⭐ review
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
The Women's March by Jennifer Chiaverini
Also from the author: Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters and
Resistance Women
New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini returns with 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.
Praise for Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters:
"Through meticulously researched historical detail and sympathetic portrayal of each character, including Mary herself, Chiaverini provides a fascinating glimpse into the women of an influential family on the front lines of some of the most important moments of that indelible time."
—Booklist
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
False Witness by Karin Slaughter
Also from the author: The Last Widow and The Good Daughter
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.
"Slaughter shines an intense spotlight on a new normal laced with COVID-19 protocols and a cast of survivors battling a ruthless pandemic, a serial sadist, and a lifetime of unbeatable odds…. Equal parts hyperrealistic thriller and epic tragedy, Slaughter’s latest is pitch-perfect storytelling."
—Booklist ⭐ review
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
Appleseed by Matt Bell
For fans of: Recursion by Blake Crouch and
Fall; or, Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson
In the vein of Neal Stephenson and Jeff VanderMeer, an epic speculative novel 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.
"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
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
Listen to a podcast interview between LLF's Chris Connolly and Matt Bell!
The Minister Primarily by John Oliver Killens
For fans of: Baracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
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.
"Killens (1916–1987), a member of the Black Arts movement and author of And Then We Heard the Thunder, cleverly satirizes 1960s American politics in this sharp thriller…. Killens maximizes the potential of his plot with outrageous humor. Readers will be glad to find this gem unearthed."
—Publishers Weekly
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine
For fans of: When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica
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.
"Gripping! Equal parts character study and domestic thriller, The Stranger in the Mirror makes for a perfect weekend read—a highly enjoyable page-turner where you race to the end, breathless to discover the shocking truth."
—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When You See Me
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
Nobody, Somebody, Anybody by Kelly McClorey
For fans of: Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
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.
"I read Nobody, Somebody, Anybody the way I watch horror films: half-hiding behind my fingers, both worried for the anxious young protagonist and eager to know what trouble she’d find herself in next. Kelly McClorey’s voice is funny, heartbreaking, and singular—unlike anything I’ve ever read. This is a book for anyone who’s ever been sad or stuck, or longed to be somewhere or someone else. I loved it."
—Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
Island Queen by Vanessa Riley
For fans of: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
and The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
The mainstream breakout book for acclaimed African-American romance novelist 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.
"Island Queen is what you would get if you were to drop Olivia Pope and all the men who lusted after her into the 18th Century Caribbean…. With prose that reads like poetry, Vanessa Riley expertly steers the reader through Dolly’s heartbreaking lows all the way into her triumphant emergence as the richest free woman of color in the islands." —Kaia Alderson, author of Sisters in Arms
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
For fans of: We Must Be Brave by Frances Liardet and
The Baker's Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan
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.
"Achingly beautiful and poetic in its melancholy, All Our Shimmering Skies is a majestic and riveting tale of curses and the true meaning of treasure."
—Booklist ⭐ review
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
I Couldn't Love You More by Esther Freud
For fans of: Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley
and Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
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.
"Beautiful and insightful…. As Freud delves into the three women's lives, the reader is taken on a journey of heartbreak as desperate actions taken to protect loved ones are revealed. This eloquent exploration of the ineffable ties between mothers and daughters delivers the goods."
—Publishers Weekly ⭐ review
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
London's Number One Dog-Walking Agency
by Kate MacDougall
For fans of: Everybody Died, So I Got a Dog by Emily Dean
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.
"It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me long for a dog! Incredibly moving, very funny and wonderfully wise, this is a brilliant debut memoir and a beacon of hope when we need it most. I shall be recommending it to everyone I know, dog-loving or otherwise."
—Annie Lyons, bestselling author of The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
It Happened One Summer
by Tessa Bailey
For fans of: Beach Read by Emily Henry
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.
"Bailey delivers on her usual trifecta of sharp banter, instant chemistry, and high-heat sex scenes, but they are coupled with intense soul-searching for both Piper and Brendan… Another winning romance from an author at the top of her game."
—Kirkus Reviews ⭐ review
Previous LibraryReads Selections:
Tools of Engagement (Sept. 2020)
Love Her or Lose Her (Jan. 2020)
Fix Her Up (June 2019)
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
Vessel by Cai Chongda
For fans of: Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan
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.
"Chongda paints a tantalizing portrait of a changing China in his dazzling English-language debut…. Looking back on his life, he concludes, 'I have lived in the gap between worlds.' It's in this space that his writing glows, juxtaposing the beauty of both small-town living and urban life. [Vessel] shines with the bright talent of an excellent storyteller."
—Publishers Weekly
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev
For fans of: Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
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.
"Incense and Sensibility is a tender, well-crafted novel, as much about finding purpose as it is about falling in love. Dev writes with such rare empathy and humor that I often found myself holding my breath on one page only to be giggling by the next. This is the kind of book you finish with a whole-body, happy sigh and a warm ache in your chest where the characters will live on."
—Emily Henry, New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas
Also from the author: Chasing Cassandra and Devil's Daughter
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas returns with an enthralling and steaming romance between a widowed lady and a Scot on the run—who may have connections to one of London's most noble families.
Praise for Devil's Daughter:
"Long-time fans of RITA Award-winning Kleypas will relish the cameo appearances of so many of her beloved characters, while readers new and returning alike will revel in her stylish prose, sharp wit, and swoon-worthy sensuality as she successfully merges the worlds of her Wallflower and the Ravenels series in a splendid Victorian-set historical romance."
—Booklist ⭐ review
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
The Comfort of Monsters by Willa C. Richards
For fans of: Long Bright River by Liz Moore
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.
"On its face, The Comfort of Monsters is a riveting page-turner that begs to be read quickly, compulsively. But page by page, this electrifying debut by Willa Richards weaves an increasingly complicated and dark tale of guilt, fury, and the danger of building stories on that shakiest of foundations, memory. Every sentence is a delight in this taut and thrilling debut…."
—Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
The Stranger Behind You by Carol Goodman
Also from the author: The Sea of Lost Girls and
The Night Visitors
In the tradition of Daphne du Maurier, Michelle Richmond, and Shari Lapena, comes the newest mystery thriller from Edgar Award–winning, bestselling author Carol Goodman—a twisty, chilling story set in a former Magdalene Laundry in Manhattan that explores today’s #MeToo complexities.
"Carol Goodman’s The Stranger Behind You is at once a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller, a powerful meditation on the deep bonds and power of female friendship, and a colorful glimpse of New York City old and new."
—Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Confessions on the 7:45
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
Lights Out in Lincolnwood by Geoff Rodkey
For fans of: Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta
A mordantly funny, all-too-real novel in the vein of 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.
"Lights Out in Lincolnwood is an instantly addictive, high-velocity tale of domestic tumult set against the beginning of the end of the world. Teeming with suburban pathos, crackling humor, and disarming tenderness, this novel brilliantly reveals that nothing—not even the impending collapse of civilization as we know it—imperils us more than our own weaknesses and desires."
—Cassidy Lucas, author of Santa Monica
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LibraryReads Votes Due: June 1, 2021
The deadline to submit your votes is June 1!
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We hope you enjoy the books! For more information about LibraryReads, visit their website. Remember: Vote early! Vote often!
-Chris
This week on the podcast, we are featuring a conversation between critically acclaimed historical romance author Cat Sebastian and Elle Keck, Editor at Avon and William Morrow. They discuss Cat's new book (her paperback debut), The Queer Principles of Kit Webb, a stunning historical romance about a reluctantly reformed highwayman and the aristocrat who threatens to steal his heart. This conversation was fantastic! You will hear more about Cat's journey to publishing her first book, the writing process, and why it's important to feature many different kinds of relationships throughout history.
