Adult Fiction
These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall.
Mickie Lambert creates "digital scrapbooks" for clients, ensuring that precious souvenirs aren't forgotten or lost. When her latest client, Nadia Denham, a curio shop owner, dies from an apparent suicide, Mickie honors the old woman's last wish and begins curating her peculiar objects d'art. A music box, a hair clip, a key chain--twelve mementos in all that must have meant so much to Nadia, who collected them on her flea market scavenges across the country. But these tokens mean a lot to someone else, too. Mickie has been receiving threatening messages to leave Nadia's past alone. It's becoming a mystery Mickie is driven to solve. Who once owned these odd treasures? How did Nadia really come to possess them? Discovering the truth means crossing paths with a long-dormant serial killer and navigating the secrets of a sinister past. One that might, Mickie fears, be inescapably entwined with her own.
Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente.
Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect. It's just that he's away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect. But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband's face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can't quite meet her gaze.... But everything is perfect. Isn't it?
Monogamy by Sue Miller.
Graham and Annie have been married for nearly thirty years. Their seemingly effortless devotion has long been the envy of their circle of friends and acquaintances. By all appearances, they are a golden couple. Graham is a bookseller, a big, gregarious man with large appetites--curious, eager to please, a lover of life, and the convivial host of frequent, lively parties at his and Annie's comfortable house in Cambridge. Annie, more reserved and introspective, is a photographer. She is about to have her first gallery show after a six-year lull and is worried that the best years of her career may be behind her. They have two adult children; Lucas, Graham's son with his first wife, Frieda, works in New York. Annie and Graham's daughter, Sarah, lives in San Francisco. Though Frieda is an integral part of this far-flung, loving family, Annie feels confident in the knowledge that she is Graham's last and greatest love. When Graham suddenly dies--this man whose enormous presence has seemed to dominate their lives together--Annie is lost. What is the point of going on, she wonders, without him? Then, while she is still mourning Graham intensely, she discovers a ruinous secret, one that will spiral her into darkness and force her to question whether she ever truly knew the man who loved her.
Adult Non-Fiction
Early Native Americans in West Virginia by Darla Spencer.
Once thought of as Indian hunting grounds with no permanent inhabitants, West Virginia is teeming with evidence of a thriving early native population. Today's farmers can hardly plow their fields without uncovering ancient artifacts, evidence of at least ten thousand years of occupation. Members of the Fort Ancient culture resided along the rich bottomlands of southern West Virginia during the Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric periods. Lost to time and rediscovered in the 1880s, Fort Ancient sites dot the West Virginia landscape. This volume explores sixteen of these sites, including Buffalo, Logan and Orchard. Archaeologist Darla Spencer excavates the fascinating lives of some of the Mountain State's earliest inhabitants in search of who these people were, what languages they spoke and who their descendants may be.
A Letter of Love by Kailyn Lowry.
Words of the heart must never be left unspoken. A Letter of Love reveals the innermost sentiments of love, life, and relationships as penned by New York Times Best Selling Author Kailyn Lowry. Best known as a cast member of MTV's Teen Mom 2, Kailyn was determined to apologize to her sons Isaac, Lincoln, and Lux for not giving them the ideal family. A profoundly moving, sensitive family portrait, uncovers her quest to redefine how love is given and received while leaving a carefully crafted legacy of words and declarations for the world. Through self-realization, we recognize that love has no boundaries and the ideal family is the one that we create in our hearts.
Easy/Juvenile/Young Adult/Graphic Novel
Nadia and Nadir: Lunch in the Leaves by Marzieh Abbas. J
Nadia and Nadir spend a fun autumn day playing in the leaves. After things get a little too rough, they decide to create natural art while waiting for their Abu and Ammi to make a cozy barbecue lunch.
Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey. E
Everyone knows that piranhas don't eat bananas -- except for Brian. This little fish loves to munch not only on bananas, but on fruit of all kinds! Brian's piranha friends think he's crazy. Piranhas don't eat bananas -- their sharp teeth are for eating meat! And there's a scrumptious pair of feet dangling in the water nearby...
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