Library Love Fest

The November LibraryReads List is Here!

Hello, librarians!

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

This month, we are thrilled to share that Wanda Morris' All Her Little Secrets (the #1 selection!), Julie Tieu's The Donut Trap, and Louise Erdrich's The Sentence have been selected for the November LibraryReads list! AND—Ann Patchett adds to her Hall of Fame list with the selection of her upcoming essay collection These Precious Days!

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

Click here to see the full November LibraryReads List!

 

#1 Pick — All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris: In this fast-paced thriller, Wanda M. Morris crafts a twisty mystery about a black lawyer who gets caught in a dangerous conspiracy after the sudden death of her boss. A debut perfect for fans of Attica Locke, Alyssa Cole, Harlan Coben, and Celeste Ng, with shades of How to Get Away with Murder and John Grisham’s The Firm.


“All Her Little Secrets is a brilliantly nuanced but powerhouse exploration of race, the legal system, and the crushing pressure of keeping secrets. Morris brings a vibrant and welcome new voice to the thriller space.”
—Karin Slaughter, New York Times and international bestselling author

"In her debut thriller, corporate attorney Morris deftly combines a creepy Nazi-esque sect with a murderous plot and rounds out the intrigue with a striking commentary on racism, sexual assault, and misogyny."
—Library Journal

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Watch Wanda on Door to Door.

Watch Wanda's reaction to be selected for the LibraryReads list:

 

 

The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu: Julie Tieu sparkles in this debut romantic comedy, which is charmingly reminiscent of the TV show Kim’s Convenience and Frankly in Love by David Yoon, about a young woman who feels caught in the life her parents have made for her until she falls in love and finds a way out of the donut trap.

"While Jasmine and Alex’s swift romance is adorable, Jasmine's post-college struggles and feelings of uncertainty carry Tieu's thoughtful debut. The Donut Trap isn't just a tale where a boy meets a girl, and they fall in love. It’s a family story in which Tieu perfectly builds tension between Jasmine and her parents as she tries to find her own path."
—Booklist 

"Donut miss this tasty treat! Julie Tieu is going on my auto-buy list. Her writing is as fresh and warm as a newly baked glazed. You need this book now."
—Meg Cabot, author of the Little Bridge Island and Princess Diaries series

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The Sentence by Louise Erdrich: In this stunning and timely novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning author Louise Erdrich creates a wickedly funny ghost story, a tale of passion, of a complex marriage, and of a woman's relentless errors.

“The many-hued, finely patterned weave of Erdrich’s funny, evocative, painful, and redemptive ghost story includes strands of autobiography…Erdrich’s insights into what her city Minneapolis experienced in 2020 are piercing; all her characters are enthralling, and her dramatization of why books are essential to our well-being is resounding.”
—Booklist ⭐️ review

"The Sentence is a novel that reckons with ghosts—of both specific people but also the shadows resulting from America’s violent, dark habits."
—Kirkus ⭐️ review

“Scintillating…More than a gripping ghost story, The Sentence offers profound insights into the effects of the global pandemic and the collateral damage of systemic racism. It adds up to one of Erdrich’s most…illuminating works to date.”        
—Publishers Weekly ⭐️ review

Previous LibraryReads Selections:
Future Home of the Living God (November 2017)

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Welcome to the Hall of Fame:

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett: The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays.  

"The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike."
—Publishers Weekly ⭐️ review

"An enviable life shared with candor, emotion, and knockout storytelling power."
—Kirkus ⭐️ review

Previous LibraryReads Selections:
Commonwealth (September 2016)
The Dutch House (September 2019)

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Watch Ann Patchett on Door to Door:

***

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

Click here to learn more about LibraryReads.

-Lainey

Join us on Door to Door next week to hear from Jillian Cantor, author of BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS

Step back in time on Door to Door next Tuesday, October 19th at 2 PM ET! LLF welcomes USA Today bestselling author Jillian Cantor to the program. Hear all about Beautiful Little Fools, a reimagining of the literary classic The Great Gatsby. An atmospheric historical novel with echoes of Big Little Lies, told in three women’s alternating voices.

Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue says: “Jillian Cantor’s shifting kaleidoscope of female perspectives makes F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale of Jazz Age longing and lust feel utterly modern. A breathtaking accomplishment.”

You can watch the interview on Facebook here but if you don't have Facebook, not to worry! The video will also be available on our YouTube account shortly after the event. 

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-Lainey

Happy Book Birthday to Lori Rader-Day's DEATH AT GREENWAY!

The day has arrived! Lori Rader-Day's new novel, Death at Greenway, is on sale today, October 12th! Death at Greenway is a captivating suspense novel about nurses during World War II who come to Agatha Christie’s holiday estate to care for evacuated children, but when a body is discovered nearby, the idyllic setting becomes host to a deadly mystery.

 

 

Check out all of the love for this book:

"Richly nuanced mystery...Rader-Day nicely evokes the isolation and dislocations of people in WWII Britain while revealing her characters’ complexities. Despite the many allusions to Christie’s life and work, she eschews an artificially neat conclusion. Fans of both Christie and Rader-Day will relish this."
—Publishers Weekly ⭐️review

 

"Irresistible... a Golden Age homage, an elegantly constructed mystery that on every page reinforces the message that everyone counts."
—New York Times Book Review

 

"Rader-Day, known for masterfully weaving historical elements into her female-focused literary thrillers, imbues this wartime whodunit with palpable emotion as Bridey reconciles her family’s bombing deaths through a plan to save another life."
—Booklist

 

"Death at Greenway is a book Lori Rader-Day was born to write. The characters are deeply moving, the suspense and World War II research are impeccable. The language, as is always the case with Rader-Day, is beautiful, but in Greenway, she shows her suppleness: her pitch-perfect dialogue brings England in the Blitz to life."
—Sara Paretsky, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Land

 

“A wonderfully atmospheric, beautifully written and entirely credible evocation of wartime Britain.”
—Ann Cleeves, internationally bestselling author of the Shetland and Vera series

 

See ALL of the rave reviews here.

 

Death at Greenway was also selected as a LibraryReads pick for October! Hear Lori's reaction to making the list:

Happy publication day, Lori!

 

-Lainey