Liz Recommends
Aging artist Julian Jessop often wonders what the world would be like if everyone didn’t always feel the need to pretend to be someone that they weren’t. One day, he decides to find out: he writes about his life in a small green notebook and leaves it in a local café for its owner Monica to find. Monica reads Julian’s story and then writes about her own life and how lonely she is. She leaves the book at the wine bar across the street for someone else to find and write in. With this plot device, we meet six different characters who are brought together into a kind of found family. This is a funny, heartwarming novel for readers who could use a pick me up, as well as a solid book club selection.
Try it if you liked: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, or A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.
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True crime buffs will find lots to like in this debut biography of Frances Glessner Lee, the mother of modern forensics. Born in Chicago in the 1870s, Lee was a wealthy socialite when she began to develop an interest in crime. When she learned that detectives received no real training in working with crime scenes and routinely destroyed evidence, she was inspired to begin her life’s work, the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. This series of dollhouses appears normal until you spot the small details; overturned chairs, blood stained carpets, and tiny bodies that wore clothing that she knit on sewing pins. Because of this work, detectives for the first time had a chance to study and practice their craft, and procedures were finally developed to standardize the way that scenes were investigated. Goldfarb is the current curator of the Nutshell Studies, and he’s written a fascinating, hard to put down portrait of an early feminist and formidable thinker.
Try it if you liked: Netflix’s Mindhunter, Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, or Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.
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This is the highly anticipated second novel in the Children of Orisha duology (after Children of Blood and Bone), an award winning young adult fantasy series. Once, the world of Orisha had magic running through it, and the maji who wielded this power were treated with respect and care. When the magic suddenly disappeared and a new monarch took power, the maji were systematically punished and driven underground. At the beginning of Children of Blood and Bone, Zelie Adebola happens upon an object that could change the course of the world (as seems to often be the case in YA fantasy). This is a fabulous series, but one that DOES need to be read in order.
Try it if you liked: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova, or The Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie Dao.
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Longtime Preston & Child readers will be delighted to see some old favorite characters in this series launch. Nora Kelly (previously seen in The Cabinet of Curiosities and other Pendergast novels) is now a curator at the Santa Fe Institute of Archaeology. When historian Clive Benton comes to her with a long lost diary pointing to the location of the notorious Lost Camp of the Donner party, she can’t resist the temptation to investigate. Once at the site, though, a series of present day murders brings in rookie agent Corrie Swanson (Still Life with Crows). Like most of the Pendergast novels it's all very implausible and rather bloody, but also great fun. This is the perfect pick for a hard to put down holiday weekend read.
Try it if you liked: The Pendergast novels, or anything by Steve Berry, Raymond Khoury, or Robert Masello.
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Two boys are sentenced to reform school in the deep south in the 1960s. With racism and abuse rampant throughout the school, Elwoods’ nonviolent ideals sharply-and disastrously-conflict with the pragmatism of his friend Turner. Whitehead is the author of the runaway hit The Underground Railroad, and his new book is not to be missed. Click here to place your hold.
Try it if you liked: Delicious Foods by James Hannaham (which is fabulous!), The Good Lord Bird by James McBride, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, or anything by Toni Morrison.
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All across the country, people are waking up to different lives than those they had when they went to sleep. Is it a disease? A trick of reality? Crouch has written several books, but didn’t really make it to the big time until Dark Matter. His new book is a tricky mix of science fiction and thriller that’s almost certain to be one of the biggest books of the summer. Try it if you liked: The Punch Escrow by Tal M Klein, Sleeping Giants by Sylvian Neuvel, or Artemis by Andy Weir.
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Brilliant neurosurgeon Dr Trish Raje might be considered brainy and accomplished to most people, but in her traditional Indian family, she still has much to prove. When she meets chef DJ, she has to figure out how-and if-to incorporate him into her life. Dev writes books that are sweet and funny with plots and themes that often feel much more substantial than lots of other romances. Click here to place your hold.
Try it if you liked: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, The Wangs Vs. The World by Jade Chang, or The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger.
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Longtime fans will be thrilled to visit with the iconic Bernie Gunther, hero of this historical detective series, one more time. It’s 1928, and Vice cop Bernie has been promoted just in time to take part in an investigation of a rash of violent murders throughout Berlin. Kerr died last year, so unless there are more manuscripts squirreled away, this will be the last Gunther novel. Click here to place your hold.
Try if you liked: Novels by Alan Furst, David Downing, or Joseph Kanon.
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It’s 1946, and Grace Healey is rushing through Grand Central Station to get to work on time when she notices an abandoned suitcase under a bench. Curious, she opens it up (???!!!) and finds the pictures of a dozen women, each of whom was a secret agent during the war and has disappeared since. Who were they and what happened? Click here to put a hold on a copy.
Try it if you liked: Novels by Marie Benedict, Heather Morris, or Kate Quinn.
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The author of Columbine returns with an investigation of the shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. On February 18, 2018, a gunman shot and killed 17, and injured 17 more. That was just the beginning of the story, though. In Parkland, Cullen discusses the way that the shooting galvanized a movement of students who have gone on to draw attention to issues of gun control and violence in schools. Essential reading, no matter where you stand on the issue of gun control. Click here to put a hold on a copy.
Try it if you liked: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson or A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold.
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Famous painter Alicia Berenson seems to be living a dream. She loves her work and adores her husband Gabriel and the life they've created together in London. One night, Gabriel returns home late from work, and Alicia inexplicably shoots him five times. She never speaks again. Enter Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist. He’s determined to discover what happened, and why Alicia killed her husband. This is THE thriller of the spring. Get your hold on it today!
Try it if you liked: The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn, An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, or The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell.
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Sixteen years ago, Brennert hit it big with book club favorite Moloka'i, the story of a little girl who was quarantined and forced to live in a leper colony during the late 1800s in Hawaii. Daughter of Molokai focuses on Rachel’s child, Ruth. Seperated from her mother at birth, Ruth is first sent to a home for girls, then to live with a Japanese family. She ultimately marries, but then is interred with thousands of other Japanese Americans during WWII. After the war, she receives a letter from her birth mother, launching a correspondence that covers decades. Lots of readers probably still want to know how Rachel’s story with Ruth ends, so place your hold today!
Try it if you liked: Novels by Lisa See, Jean Kwok, or Amy Tan.
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