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BONITA AVENUE by Peter Buwalda (Fiction)
Siem Sigerius is a beloved, brilliant professor of mathematics with a promising future in politics. But there are elements of Siem's past that threaten to upend the peace and stability that he has achieved. When he stumbles upon a deception that’s painfully close to home, things begin to fall apart. A cataclysmic explosion in a fireworks factory, the advent of Internet pornography, and the reappearances of a discarded, dangerous son all play a terrible role in the spectacular fragmentation of the Sigerius clan. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.
THE BOOK OF LOVE: Improvisations on a Crazy Little Thing by Roger Rosenblatt (Love & Romance)
In THE BOOK OF LOVE, Roger Rosenblatt explores love in all its moods and variations --- romantic love, courtship, battle, mystery, marriage, heartbreak, fury, confusion, melancholy, delirium, ecstasy; love of family, of friends; love of home, of country, of work, of writing, of solitude, of art; love of nature; love of life itself. Rosenblatt is on a quest to illuminate this elusive and essential emotion, to define this thing called love. Reviewed by Miriam Tuliao.
THE CARRIER: A Zailer and Waterhouse Mystery by Sophie Hannah (Psychological Thriller)
When Gaby’s plane is delayed, she is forced to share a hotel room with a stranger: Lauren, who is terrified of her. But why is she scared of Gaby in particular? Lauren won’t explain. Instead, she blurts out something about an innocent man going to prison for murder. Gaby soon suspects that Lauren’s presence on her flight isn’t a coincidence, because the murder victim is Francine Breary, the wife of the only man Gaby has ever truly loved. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
AS CHIMNEY SWEEPERS COME TO DUST: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley (Historical Mystery)
Shortly after 12-year-old Flavia de Luce arrives at Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy boarding school, a charred and mummified body tumbles out of a bedroom chimney. Now, while attending classes, making friends (and enemies), and assessing the school’s stern headmistress and faculty (one of whom is an acquitted murderess), Flavia is on the hunt for the victim’s identity and time of death, as well as suspects, motives and means. Reviewed by Amie Taylor.
COLD COLD HEART by Tami Hoag (Psychological Thriller)
Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until a notorious serial killer tried to add her to his list of victims. Struggling with the torment of post-traumatic stress syndrome, Dana returns to her hometown in an attempt to begin to put her life back together. Her harrowing story and return to small town life have rekindled police and media interest in the unsolved case of her childhood best friend, Casey Grant, who disappeared without a trace the summer after their graduation from high school. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.
THE DEEP by Nick Cutter (Horror)
A strange plague called the ’Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget, and then their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a heretofore unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia” has been discovered --- possibly a universal healer. It’s up to a brave few to descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
THE DRESS SHOP OF DREAMS by Menna van Praag (Fiction)
Tucked away on a winding Cambridge street, Etta’s charming dress shop appears quite ordinary to passersby. But with just a few stitches from Etta’s needle, these gorgeous gowns have the power to free a woman’s deepest desires. Etta’s dearest wish is to work her magic on her granddaughter. Before she knows it, she has set in motion a series of astonishing events that will transform Cora’s life in extraordinary and unexpected ways. Reviewed by Sara J.
ETTA AND OTTO AND RUSSELL AND JAMES by Emma Hooper (Fiction)
Otto finds a note left by his wife in the kitchen of their farmhouse in windswept Saskatchewan. Eighty-three-year-old Etta will be walking 3,200 kilometers to see the ocean, but somehow, Otto understands. He took his own journey once before, to fight in a faraway land. With Etta gone, Otto struggles with his demons of war, while their friend Russell initially pursues the woman he has loved from afar. And James --- well, James you have to meet on the page. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
FEAR THE DARKNESS by Becky Masterman (Thriller)
After her sister-in-law dies, retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn’s niece, Gemma Kate, comes to live with her and her husband, Carlo. There's always been something unsettling about Gemma Kate, but family is family. Meanwhile, Brigid agrees to help a local couple by investigating the death of their son --- until dangerous things start to happen. As the menace comes closer and closer to home, Brigid begins to wonder if she can trust anyone. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE FIRST BAD MAN by Miranda July (Fiction)
Cheryl is haunted by a baby boy she met when she was six, who sometimes recurs as other people’s babies. She is also obsessed with Phillip, a philandering board member at the women’s self-defense nonprofit where she works. She believes they’ve been making love for many lifetimes, though they have yet to consummate in this one. When Cheryl’s bosses ask if their 21-year-old daughter, Clee, can move into her house for a little while, Cheryl’s eccentrically ordered world explodes. Reviewed by Jane Krebs.
FIRST FROST by Sarah Addison Allen (Fiction)
Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies, though it’s costing her the everyday joys of her family. With each passing day, her half-sister, Sydney, longs more for a baby, while her daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins (Psychological Thriller)
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Their life --- as she sees it --- is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything has changed. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
GOLDEN SON: Book II of the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown (Science Fiction/Dystopian Thriller)
Darrow, a leader among the elite and a favorite of the masses, is nothing but a fake. Born into the lowest class of society, physically altered to infiltrate the upper echelon and bring about the fall of society, he’s now having doubts about his mission. It’s the memory of his dead wife that keeps him going, the same memory that might also bring about society’s downfall --- if he can stay alive long enough to see it. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.
IF I FALL, IF I DIE by Michael Christie (Fiction)
Will has never been outside, at least not since he can remember. And he has certainly never gotten to know anyone other than his mother, a fiercely loving yet wildly eccentric agoraphobe who drowns in panic at the thought of opening the front door. But Will’s thirst for adventure can’t be contained. Clad in a protective helmet and unsure of how to talk to other kids, he finally ventures outside and is thrust headfirst into the throes of early adulthood and the dangers that everyday life offers. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.
THE LAST AMERICAN VAMPIRE by Seth Grahame-Smith (Horror)
In Reconstruction-era America, vampire Henry Sturges is searching for renewed purpose in the wake of his friend Abraham Lincoln's shocking death. It will be an expansive journey that will send him first to England for an unexpected encounter with Jack the Ripper, then to New York City for the birth of a new American century, the dawn of the electric era of Tesla and Edison, and the blazing disaster of the 1937 Hindenburg crash. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
THE MAGICIAN’S LIE by Greer Macallister (Historical Mystery)
The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of her day, renowned for her notorious trick of sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt watching from the audience, she swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden's husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear, and she has only one night to convince a small-town policeman of her innocence. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
MARCH: Book Two written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (Graphic Memoir)
Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, continues his award-winning graphic novel trilogy with co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell. After the success of the Nashville sit-in campaign, Lewis is more committed than ever to changing the world through nonviolence --- but as he and his fellow Freedom Riders board a bus into the vicious heart of the deep south, they will be tested like never before. Reviewed by John Maher.
MORT(E) by Robert Repino (Science Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic Thriller)
Former housecat turned war hero, Mort(e) is famous for taking on the most dangerous missions and fighting the dreaded human bio-weapon EMSAH. But the true motivation behind his recklessness is his ongoing search for a pre-transformation friend --- a dog named Sheba. When he receives a mysterious message from the dwindling human resistance claiming Sheba is alive, he begins a journey that will take him from the remaining human strongholds to the heart of the Colony, where he will discover the source of EMSAH and the ultimate fate of all of earth's creatures. Reviewed by Pauline Finch.
A PLEASURE AND A CALLING by Phil Hogan (Psychological Thriller)
Mr. Heming is a real estate agent who has the keys to every home he's ever sold in town. He has kept them all so he can observe his neighbors, not just on the street, but also behind locked doors. His disturbing hobby soon begins to form a clear pattern, and the reasons behind it come into focus. But when the quiet routine of the village is disrupted by strange occurrences, including a dead body found in the backyard of a client's home, Mr. Heming realizes it may be only a matter of time before his secrets are found out. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE ROSIE EFFECT by Graeme Simsion (Romance)
The Wife Project is complete, and Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are happily married and living in New York. But they’re about to face a new challenge because Rosie is pregnant. Fortunately, Don’s best friend, Gene, is on hand to offer advice: he’s left Claudia and moved in with Don and Rosie. As Don tries to schedule time for pregnancy research, and getting Gene and Claudia to reconcile, he almost misses the biggest problem of all: he might lose Rosie when she needs him the most. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.
SAINT ODD: An Odd Thomas Novel by Dean Koontz (Supernatural Thriller)
Two years after the cataclysmic events that sent him journeying into mystery, Odd Thomas has traveled full circle, back to his beloved hometown of Pico Mundo and the people he loves. Odd has come to save them --- and perhaps humanity --- from the full flowering of evil. He prepares to confront the terrible forces arrayed against him and possibly to journey still farther, to his long-awaited reunion with his lost love, Stormy Llewellyn. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
THE SAME SKY by Amanda Eyre Ward (Fiction)
Alice and her husband, Jake, have a loving marriage and thriving business, but Alice still feels that something is missing. Carla is a strong-willed young girl who is acting as caretaker to her six-year-old brother, Junior. Years ago, her mother left the family behind in Honduras to make the arduous, illegal journey to Texas. But when her grandmother dies, Carla takes fate into her own hands. The lives of Alice and Carla will intersect in a profound and surprising way. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
UNBECOMING by Rebecca Scherm (Psychological Thriller)
In Garland, Tennessee, two young men have just been paroled. Both were jailed for a crime that Grace planned in exacting detail. The heist went bad, but not before she was on a plane to Prague with a stolen canvas rolled in her bag. And so, in Paris, begins a cat-and-mouse waiting game as Grace’s web of deception and lies unravels --- and she becomes another young woman entirely. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
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