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15TH AFFAIR by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Suspense/Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by January LaVoy
Lindsay Boxer thinks she has found domestic bliss. But when an alluring blonde woman with links to the CIA disappears from the scene of a brutal murder at a luxury hotel, Lindsay's life begins to unravel. Before she can track down the woman for questioning, a plane crash plunges San Francisco into chaos and Lindsay's husband Joe vanishes. The deeper she digs, the more Lindsay suspects that Joe shares a secret past with the mystery blonde. Thrown into a tailspin and questioning everything she thought she knew, Lindsay turns to the Women's Murder Club for help as she tries to uncover the truth. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
ALICE & OLIVER by Charles Bock (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Rebecca Lowman and MacLeod Andrews
New York, 1993. Alice Culvert is a caring wife, a doting new mother, a loyal friend and a soulful artist --- a fashion designer who wears a baby carrier and haute couture with equal aplomb. In their loft in Manhattan’s gritty Meatpacking District, Alice and her husband, Oliver, are raising their infant daughter, Doe, delighting in the wonders of early parenthood. Their life together feels so vital and full of promise, which makes Alice’s sudden cancer diagnosis especially staggering. In the span of a single day, the couple’s focus narrows to the basic question of her survival. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
THE BED MOVED: Stories by Rebecca Schiff (Fiction)
A New Yorker, trying not to be jaded, accompanies a cash-strapped pot grower to a “clothing optional resort” in California. A nerdy high-schooler has her first sexual experience at Geology Camp. A college student, on the night of her father’s funeral, watches a video of her bat mitzvah, hypnotized by the image of the girl she used to be. Frank and irreverent, Rebecca Schiff’s stories offer a singular view of growing up (or not) and finding love (or not) in today’s ever-uncertain landscape. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Engelman.
DAREDEVILS by Shawn Vestal (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Rick Holmes
Fifteen-year-old Loretta slips out of her bedroom every evening to meet her so-called gentile boyfriend. Her strict Mormon parents catch her returning one night, and promptly marry her off to Dean Harder, a devout yet materialistic fundamentalist who already has a wife and a brood of kids. The Harders relocate to his native Idaho, where Dean’s teenage nephew Jason falls hard for Loretta. A Zeppelin and Tolkien fan, Jason worships Evel Knievel and longs to leave his close-minded community. When he and Loretta finally make a break for it, someone Loretta left behind is on their trail. Reviewed by Alex Bowditch.
THE EXCELLENT LOMBARDS by Jane Hamilton (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Erin Cottrell
Mary Frances "Frankie" Lombard is fiercely in love with her family's sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave. Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie's roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.
EXTREME PREY by John Sandford (Suspense/Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Richard Ferrone
After the events in GATHERING PREY, Lucas Davenport finds himself in a very unusual situation --- no longer employed by the Minnesota BCA. His friend the governor is just cranking up a presidential campaign, though, and he invites Lucas to come along as part of his campaign staff. “Should be fun!” Lucas says, and it kind of is --- until they find they have a shadow: an armed man intent on killing the governor…and anyone who gets in the way. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
FIRST WOMEN: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower(History)
Audiobook available, narrated by Karen White
One of the most underestimated --- and challenging --- positions in the world, the First Lady of the United States must be many things: an inspiring leader with a forward-thinking agenda of her own; a savvy politician, skilled at navigating the treacherous rapids of Washington; a wife and mother operating under constant scrutiny; and an able CEO responsible for the smooth operation of countless services and special events at the White House. Former White House correspondent Kate Andersen Brower draws on a wide array of untapped, candid sources to tell the stories of the 10 remarkable women who have defined that role since 1960. Reviewed by Carole Turner.
I LET YOU GO by Clare Mackintosh (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Nicola Barber and Steven Crossley
I LET YOU GO follows Jenna Gray as she moves to a ramshackle cottage on the remote Welsh coast, trying to escape the memory of the car accident that plays again and again in her mind and desperate to heal from the loss of her child and the rest of her painful past. At the same time, the novel tracks the pair of Bristol police investigators trying to get to the bottom of this hit-and-run. As they chase down one hopeless lead after another, they find themselves as drawn to each other as they are to the frustrating, twist-filled case before them. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
MOCKINGBIRD: A Portrait of Harper Lee: From Scout to Go Set a Watchman by Charles J. Shields (Biography)
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD --- the 20th century's most widely read American novel --- has sold 30 million copies and still sells a million yearly. In this in-depth biography, first published in 2006, Charles J. Shields brings to life the woman who gave us two of American literature's most unforgettable characters: Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout. Now, 10 years after its initial publication --- with revisions throughout the book and a new epilogue --- Shields finishes the story of Harper Lee's life, up to its end. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
MURDER AT THE 42ND STREET LIBRARY by Con Lehane (Mystery)
MURDER AT THE 42nd STREET LIBRARY follows librarian (and reluctant sleuth) Raymond Ambler and his partners in crime-solving as they track down a killer, shining a light on the dark deeds and secret relationships that are hidden deep inside the famous flagship building at the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. In their search for the reasons behind the murder, Ambler and his crew uncover sinister, and profoundly disturbing, relationships among the scholars studying in the iconic library. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.
THE RAINBOW COMES AND GOES: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt (Memoir)
Audiobook available, narrated by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
Though Anderson Cooper has always considered himself close to his mother, his intensely busy career as a journalist for CNN and CBS affords him little time to spend with her. After she suffers a brief but serious illness at the age of 91, they resolve to change their relationship by beginning a year-long conversation unlike any they had ever had before. The result is a correspondence of surprising honesty and depth in which they discuss their lives, the things that matter to them, and what they still want to learn about each other. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.
REDEMPTION ROAD by John Hart (Suspense/Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Scott Shepherd
After a five-year absence, John Hart, the first and only author to win back-to-back Edgars for Best Novel, makes his triumphant return with REDEMPTION ROAD. A boy with a gun waits for the man who killed his mother. A troubled detective confronts her past in the aftermath of a brutal shooting. After 13 years in prison, a good cop walks free as deep in the forest, on the altar of an abandoned church, a body cools in pale linen. This is a town on the brink. This is Redemption Road. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
ROBERT B. PARKER'S SLOW BURN: A Spenser Novel by Ace Atkins (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Joe Mantegna
The fire at a boarded-up Catholic church killed three firefighters who were trapped in the inferno. A year later, there are still no answers about how the deadly fire started. Boston firefighter Jack McGee, who lost his best friend in the blaze, suspects arson. McGee is convinced that department investigators aren’t sufficiently connected to the city’s lowlifes to get a handle on who's behind the blaze, so he takes the case to Spenser. Spenser quickly learns that the fire might be linked to a rash of new arsons spreading through the city, burning faster and hotter every night. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
SWEET LAMB OF HEAVEN by Lydia Millet (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Lydia Millet
SWEET LAMB OF HEAVEN is the first-person account of a young mother, Anna, escaping her cold and unfaithful husband, a businessman who has just launched his first campaign for political office. When Ned chases Anna and their six-year-old daughter from Alaska to Maine, the two go into hiding in a run-down motel on the coast. But the longer they stay, the less the guests in the dingy motel look like typical tourists --- and the less Ned resembles a typical candidate. As his pursuit of Anna and their child moves from threatening to criminal, Ned begins to alter his wife’s world in ways she never could have imagined. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
TUESDAY NIGHTS IN 1980 by Molly Prentiss (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by George Newbern
Welcome to SoHo at the onset of the ’80s: a gritty, not-yet-gentrified playground for artists and writers looking to make it in the big city. Among them are James Bennett, a synesthetic art critic for the New York Times whose unlikely condition enables him to describe art in profound, magical ways, and Raul Engales, an exiled Argentinian painter running from his past and the Dirty War that has enveloped his country. As the two men ascend in the downtown arts scene, dual tragedies strike, and each is faced with a loss that acutely affects his relationship to life and to art. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.
THE VERSIONS OF US by Laura Barnett (Fiction)
The one thing that’s certain is they met on a Cambridge street by chance and felt a connection that would last a lifetime. But as for what happened next... They fell wildly in love, or went their separate ways. They kissed, or they thought better of it. They married soon after, or were together for a few weeks before splitting up. They grew distracted and disappointed with their daily lives together, or found solace together only after hard years spent apart. THE VERSIONS OF US is a tale of possibilities and consequences that rings across the shifting decades, showing how even the smallest choices can define the course of our lives. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
WILDE LAKE by Laura Lippman (Suspense/Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Kathleen McInerney and Nicole Poole
Luisa “Lu” Brant is the newly elected --- and first female --- state’s attorney of Howard County, Maryland. She sees an opportunity to make her name by trying a mentally disturbed drifter accused of beating a woman to death. The case dredges up painful memories, reminding her family of the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man’s life. Lu now wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. What details might have been withheld when she was a child? The more she learns about the case, the more questions arise. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
THE YOGA OF MAX'S DISCONTENT by Karan Bajaj (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Neil Shah
The child of Greek immigrants who grew up in a dangerous New York housing project, Max Pzoras triumphed over his upbringing and became a successful Wall Street analyst. Yet on the night he’s involved in a violent street scuffle, Max begins to confront questions about suffering and mortality that have dogged him since his mother’s death. In an ultimate bid for answers, he embarks on a dangerous solitary meditation in a freezing Himalayan cave, where his physical and spiritual endurance is put to its most extreme test. Reviewed by Maya Gittelman.
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