September 2021 Staff PicksLike this list

15 items

• Beautiful World, Where Are You

  Rooney, Sally,

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  After moving to the west of Ireland, Alice meets a warehouse worker named Simon on a dating app. They hit it off, but Simon's behavior becomes somewhat strange after he learns she's a highly successful novelist. In Dublin, Alice's friend Eileen, a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Bombshell

  MacLean, Sarah,

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  Lady Sesily Talbot has always been the most scandalous of her sisters. And while they've all settled down with husbands and children, Sesily knows that is not the path for her. So, when given the opportunity to join a group of fellow misfits who…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Chasing the Boogeyman

  a Novel

  Chizmar, Richard, 1965-

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  Author Richard Chizmar (co-author with Stephen King of Gwendy's Button Box) plays with the boundaries between fiction and true crime in his new novel. In this seemingly nonfiction account complete with black and white photos throughout, Rich Chizmar…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Crying in H Mart

  a Memoir

  Zauner, Michelle,

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  Musician, director, and author Michelle Zauner has taken the literary year by storm and rightfully so. Crying in Hmart opens up with Zauner doing just that- crying in an Hmart food court as she connects with the memories of her mother through the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• If the Shoe Fits

  Murphy, Julie, 1985-

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  Cindy just graduated from design school with a focus on shoes. While figuring out what to do next, she moves in with her stepfamily. When her stepmom, a TV producer, needs replacement contestants for her reality dating show, Before Midnight, Cindy…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

  a Novel

  Córdova, Zoraida,

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  In her first book for adults, fans of Cordova will recognize the trademark ethereal imagery and supernatural elements of her YA novels. The Montoya family gathers in the enchanted house of their matriarch, Orquidea Divina, as she's about to die.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Intimacies

  Kitamura, Katie, 1979-

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  Kitamura's introspective, multilayered novel follows an unnamed multilingual woman who has taken a one-year contract as an interpreter at the International Court in the Hague. A sense of home and security seems to be what our rootless, disoriented…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Magician

  a Novel

  Tóibín, Colm, 1955-

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  As in The Master, his acclaimed and wonderful novel about the writer Henry James, Toibin centers The Magician on the life of a real writer, Thomas Mann (the German author of Death in Venice), in this sweeping biographical fiction. Mann lived through…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Martita, I Remember You

  Martita, Te Recuerdo

  Cisneros, Sandra,

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  In this short novella, a Chicago woman named Corina rediscovers a cache of old letters that transport her back to her youthful adventures in Paris when she dreamed of establishing a literary career. There, as a young Mexican American who struggles…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Matrix

  Groff, Lauren,

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  Set in 12th-century Europe, Matrix was inspired by Marie de France, the first known female French poet. There is very little known about Marie de France, but Groff has constructed a vivid and sensual novel of what her life may have been. Eleanor of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• No Gods, No Monsters

  a Novel

  Turnbull, Cadwell, 1987-

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  Turnbull returns with a spectacular second novel after his critically praised debut (The Lesson). In No Gods, No Monsters, he uses his incredible talent to craft a deep and layered urban fantasy about what happens when society finds out that…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Plague Year

  America in the Time of COVID

  Wright, Lawrence, 1947-

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  Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wright (The Looming Tower) turns his erudite lens to a year unlike any other: 2020. In straightforward prose, Wright soberly recounts the series of missteps and missed opportunities that caused the United States, with 4…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Seek You

  a Journey Through American Loneliness

  Radtke, Kristen,

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  This is a gorgeous exploration of the American experience of loneliness: how we think about it, how we see it, and why we seem so willing to continue to propagate lifestyles that guarantee it. This work of graphic nonfiction does not ignore what's…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Velvet Was the Night

  Moreno-Garcia, Silvia,

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  Velvet Was The Night is a noir set in 1970s Mexico, during a time of student protest and echoes of the Cold War. Maite is a dreamy secretary who listens to old records and reads romantic comics. When a fashionable neighbor asks Maite to watch her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Wayward

  Spiotta, Dana, 1966-

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  It's March of 2017, and 53-year-old Sam Raymond is reeling from the results of the 2016 election. When Sam goes to an open house in downtown Syracuse, NY, the run-down Arts and Crafts bungalow she sees triggers a powerful longing in her, and on a…Read moreRead more of this annotation