Imbolo Mbue, author of How Beautiful We Were

Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, HOW BEAUTIFUL WE WERE tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made --- and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price.

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Kate Quinn, author of The Rose Code

1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. But war, loss and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear them apart. 1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, Osla, Mab and Beth are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter --- the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now the trio must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger --- and their true enemy --- closer.

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Kazuo Ishiguro, author of Klara and the Sun

KLARA AND THE SUN, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. The book offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator and explores the fundamental question: What does it mean to love?

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Stephen King, author of Later

The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability that his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine --- as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.

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We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

March 2021

WE BEGIN AT THE END by Chris Whitaker is one of my favorite new books. Set in both California and Montana, the plot revolves around 13-year-old Duchess Radley and a fortysomething sheriff named Walk, both of whom have tons of baggage between them. Duchess is rebellious, tough and fiercely protective of her brother, Robin; she calls herself an outlaw. Duchess’ mother, Star, has substance abuse issues and harbors a lot of guilt over the death of her sister, Sissy.

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