Librarians pick their favorite reads from 2024! All book descriptions come from Novelist.

Scott, Head of Adult Services

Anita De Monte Laughs Last by Xochitl Gonzalez- Xochitl Gonzalez delivers a mesmerizing novel about a first-generation Ivy League student who uncovers the genius work of a female artist decades after her suspicious death. Moving back and forth through time and told from the perspectives of both women, Anita de Monte Laughs Last is a propulsive, witty examination of power, love, and art, daring to ask who gets to be remembered and who is left behind in the rarefied world of the elite.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros- Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

God of the Woods by Liz Moore- Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride- When a skeleton is unearthed in the small, close-knit community of Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1972, an unforgettable cast of characters, living on the margins of white, Christian America closely guard a secret, especially when the truth is revealed about what happened and the part the town's white establishment played in it.

Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley- An employee of  the Ministry of Time  becomes a "bridge", helping a Polar explorer adjust to modern life after being rescued from a lost expedition in 1845. But as she begins to grow closer to him, she finds herself wondering who she can trust, what the real reason for pulling people out of time  may be, and whether her life might be in danger. Totally gripping with great character development.

Valerie, Youth Services Librarian
Bletchley Riddle by Ruth Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin- A stunning collaboration between two award-winning and best-selling authors follows siblings Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie as they find themselves at Bletchley Park, the home of WWII codebreakers working to decrypt the Nazi's Enigma cipher, where the two struggle to unravel a mystery surrounding their mother's disappearance against the backdrop of the Battle of Britain and Hitler's feared invasion.

Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker- Surviving his stepfather's plot to have him killed during a raiding voyage, Ragnvald Eysteinsson vows to seek revenge and reclaim his stolen birthright. The young warrior pledges his loyalty to Harald of Vestfold, a king determined to unite Norway under his rule, while Ragnvald's sister Svanhild, faced with an arranged marriage, must make a difficult decision about her future. This 1st of a projected trilogy presents an exciting Viking saga with appeal for fans of Cecilia Holland's Corban Loosestrife novels or Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories. -- Description by Gillian Speace.

Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson- When their apartments in Shelley House face demolition, sworn enemies 25-year-old Kat and 77-year-old Dorothy put their differences aside to save their historic building, but when one of its residents is murdered, the duo seek justice to restore peace in their community.

Reformatory by Tananarive Due- A novel set in Jim Crow Florida follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he's sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

Snowglobe by Soyoung Park- In a world of constant winter, only the citizens of the climate-controlled city of Snowglobe can escape the bitter cold—but this perfect society is hiding dark and dangerous secrets within its frozen heart.
 

Ina, Adult Services Librarian

Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon- In 1789 Maine, midwife and healer Martha Ballard, who is good at keeping secrets, investigates a shocking murder linked to an alleged rape that has shaken her small town, especially when her diary lands at the center of the scandal, threatening to tear both her family and her community apart.

Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea- After D-Day, two heroic Red Cross women, Irene Woodward and Dorothy Dunford join the Allied soldiers streaming into France where they are embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald, and where Irene learns to trust again through their friendship.

Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel- As WWII ends, Elise returns to Paris to reunite with her daughter only to find her friend Juliette, the woman she entrusted her daughter with, has seemingly vanished without a trace, which leads Elise on a desperate search to New York -- and to Juliette -- one final, fateful time.
 
Roman Year by André Aciman- "A memoir of the author's time in Rome after his family was made to leave Egypt, before moving to America"--From CountyCat

Table for Two by Amor Towles- Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood.

Sharon, Adult Services Librarian

Horse by Geraldine Brooks- A scientist from Australia and a Nigerian-American art historian become connected by their shared interest in a 19th century race horse, one studying its remains, the other uncovering the history of the Black horsemen who were critical to its success.

James by Percival Everett- When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of Twain's original novel remain in place, Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo- Finally at age 57, Julie Ames feels she has a firm handle on things, but a surprise announcement from her straight-arrow son, an impending separation from her teenaged daughter and a seductive resurgence of the past threaten to draw her back into the patterns that had previously kept her on a razor's edge.

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy- Over the course of a single week in a small English village, a widowed octogenarian who has spent her last years alone, ready to die, discovers an unexpected reason to live. Helen's life takes a sudden turn when an unexpected guest arrives: a small, good-natured mouse.

Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel- In the Sweet Spot, a dive bar at the heart of Greenwich Village, three women, when a baby lands on their collective doorstep, rise to the occasion in order to forgive, to forget and to track down the wayward parents, unexpectedly finding their own happily-ever-afters along the way.

Theresa, Head of Circulation
Run by Blake Crouch- A gripping apocalyptic thriller about a man and his family running for their lives in an America gone mad-from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion.

Wedding People by Alison Espach- A group of surprising people help an unexpected wedding guest start anew.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman- Investigator Steve Wheeler comes out of retirement when his daughter-in-law, Amy, needs help finding out who left a dead body on a remote island with a huge bag of money.

While You Were Out by Meg Kissinger- "Growing up in the 1960s in the suburbs of Chicago, Meg Kissinger's family seemed to live a charmed life. With eight kids and two loving parents, the Kissingers always knew how to live large and play hard. But behind closed doors, a harsher reality was unfolding--a heavily medicated mother hospitalized for anxiety and depression, a manic father prone to violence, and children in the throes of bipolar disorder and depression, two of whom would take their own lives. Powerful, candid and filled with surprising humor, While You Were Out is the story of one family's love and resilience in face of great loss"--,Back cover.
 

Betty, Circulation Assistant/Reference Assistant Sub
Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt- "From New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind, an essential investigation into the collapse of youth mental health--and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.- From CountyCat

Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis- "The election happened," remembers Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, then deputy secretary of the Department of Energy. "And then there was radio silence." Across all departments, similar stories were playing out: Trump appointees were few and far between; those that did show up were shockingly uninformed about the functions of their new workplace. Some even threw away the briefing books that had been prepared for them. Michael Lewis takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its own leaders. -From CountyCat

James by Percival Everett- When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of Twain's original novel remain in place, Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland- Meeting his closest friends for a summer lunch on a cafe terrace along the Seine, master Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir undertakes the most challenging project of his career while struggling with the issues that are polarizing post-Franco-Prussian War France.

Part two coming next week!