Staff Picks Audience: Adults

The Glass House by Beatrice Colin [Book]

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Disappointed artist Antonia McCulloch is going through the motions with her distant husband when her previously unknown sister-in-law and niece unexpectedly arrive on her doorstep. Antonia has been managing Balmarra, the family estate, since her father’s death, and never expected to hear from her estranged brother again. Cicely Pick has packed herself and her daughter Kitty up to travel from Darjeeling, India to Scotland in pursuit of her husband’s right to the family home. He’s in need of financial support, and she intends to sell Balmarra and the assets therein to fund his continued botanical expeditions in Asia. As Antonia and Cicely become acquainted, their mutual suspicions give way to tentative friendship. Cicely is a novel addition to village society, and strikes up an ill-advised flirtation with a wealthy neighbor. Neither of the women’s husbands seems invested in the future of the estate, and none of them anticipate what they eventually learn from the family solicitors. Balmarra itself is another character in the story, filled with family treasures and portraits, with a spectacular glass house on the grounds containing rare plant specimens from all over the world.

Offer this to fans of historical fiction, women’s stories, botany, and Scotland.

Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin [Book]

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Austin’s debut novel expands on scholarly speculation that Branwell Brontë (brother to authors Anne, Charlotte, and Emily) had a passionate affair with Lydia Robinson, a married lady whose son Branwell tutored while Anne was governess to her daughters. Lydia is vain, aging, and longs for excitement. Branwell is young, passionate, and misguided. The story is told from Lydia’s viewpoint; we learn she grieves the recent losses of her mother and her youngest daughter, and is challenged by the management of her living children, interference from her mother-in-law, and her disinterested husband. We are privy to her flights of fancy as she imagines becoming involved with the much-younger Branwell and resists her urges, until she doesn’t. They begin an affair, communicating through a servant and meeting in an abandoned cottage to indulge their attraction. The scandal that follows exacerbates Branwell’s mental fragility and changes the lives of both families.

Offer this to fans of Victorian literature, readers who like their historical fiction populated with real people, and those who prefer their romances without happy endings.

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life) by George Saunders [Book]

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Reading this book is like getting to take author George Saunders’ MFA writing course on the Russian short story, as he takes you through reading seven of his favorites by Russian giants Tolstoy, Chekov, Gogol, and Turgenov. And while this might seem like a daunting hurdle, or something only helpful for aspiring writers – Saunders’ engaging examinations into how these greats are doing what they do, make for an accessible exploration into the importance of fiction and in turn: a revelatory experience of becoming a better reader AND an inspiration for finding one’s voice in any form of expression (not just writing). A non-fiction extension from what Saunders achieves with his own award winning fiction, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is appearing on many “Best of…” lists for good reason – an essential read for anyone who loves stories!

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan [Book]

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In 14th-century China, a fortune-teller reveals to twelve-year-old Zhu Chongba that he is destined to achieve greatness. But when he dies in a bandit raid on their impoverished village, his younger sister assumes his identity and his fate in order to achieve the thing she wants above all else: to survive. She Who Became the Sun is a beautifully written, character-driven story that follows the new Zhu Chongba as she fights to keep her secret and her life in a world upended by war and rebellion in the aftermath of the collapse of the Mongol Empire. Shelley Parker-Chan seamlessly weaves fantasy, humor, and romance into a queer historical military fantasy unlike anything else on the shelf.

Well-Behaved Indian Women by Saumya Dave [Book]

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Three generations of Indian women living in India, New Jersey, and Manhattan try in vain to do what is expected of them and all fail, in the same year, by following their dreams instead.

Simran is finishing her master’s degree in psychology and planning her wedding to Kunal, an altruistic medical student, when she meets someone who changes the way she sees herself. Nandini is anticipating her empty nest with a sense of dissatisfaction with her distant husband and her job in a family practice clinic where the bottom line is everything, when a former colleague gets in touch about an amazing opportunity. Mimi is enjoying a peaceful widowhood in her village in India, visiting the local school to teach girls around the edges of what the curriculum offers, when parental complaints bring her to the attention of the superintendent. All three of them face these surprises with their own strength and the support of the others, in ways they didn’t realize were possible.

A compelling and complicated family story filled with secrets, assumptions, and growth through communication, Saumya Dave’s debut renders these women’s lives realistically, with stumbles and corrections as they go along.

This debut is a good fit for readers who like layered stories of women’s lives, complex social structures, and families finding balance between tradition and progressiveness.

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde [Book]

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The Big Over Easy is a nonsensical but compelling police procedural. Detective Inspector Jack Spratt heads the Nursery Crimes Division, an underfunded and overworked department of the Reading Police Department, with jurisdiction over People of Dubious Reality. In this alternate universe, Reading, Berkshire, is home to a not insignificant number of characters from nursery rhymes, fables, fairy tales, and the like. From the the three little pigs to Old Mother Hubbard and a substantial number of woodcutters and millers’ sons, Reading is full of folks whose identities as storybook characters are obvious to everyone but themselves.

The story begins when Sergeant Mary Mary is assigned to work with DI Spratt on what seems a straightforward case: Humperdinck Jehoshaphat Aloysius Stuyvesant van Dumpty has fallen off a wall. Their investigation soon reveals, however, that Humpty’s death was anything but accidental. Forensics quickly reveals that Humpty was shot, but further conclusions are harder to come by due to the lack of ballistics research on large egg. Inquiries into Humpty’s past reveal all sorts of shady dealings, including involvement in a straw-into-gold racket. And interviews with Solomon Grundy, Rapunzel, and Wee Willie Winkie bring up more questions than answers.

The Big Over Easy is a delightful read, prefect for when you want something both clever and silly.

Fast Girls by Elise Hooper [Book]

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Elise Hooper (The Other Alcott, 2017) finds three unheralded female athletes to share in a tale spanning three Olympiads: 1928 Amsterdam, when the first women’s delegation competed in track and field; 1932 Los Angeles, when runners of color were unjustly left out of competition; and 1936 Berlin, where Jesse Owens outshone all other American athletes. Betty Robinson, Louise Stokes, and Helen Stephens have different backgrounds and a shared talent: running like the wind. Their challenges, compounded by the Great Depression, vary as well. Betty is a classic golden girl with doting parents and a bright future and the first female gold medal winner in track and field, but is nearly killed in a plane crash just weeks before the 1932 games. Louise is the oldest daughter in a poor black family, leaving school for domestic work to help support her younger siblings. Helen is an awkward farm girl with few prospects beyond working the family farm until her potential is seen by the local track coach at a church basketball game. Each makes her own way to excellence, with support outside of family, making history along the way. Social commentary is provided by fictitious news articles written in the style of the period, with condescending awe that women could accomplish these things.

For fans of The Boys in the Boat, historical fiction about real people, and stories about little-known female heroes breaking through barriers.

Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho [Book]

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Andrea Tang, at 33, is living the life she is supposed to live in Singapore: up for partner at her law firm, in possession of the latest designer handbag, surrounded by devoted friends, living in a posh apartment. The only thing she hasn’t successfully accomplished is landing a husband. When her cousin’s engagement leaves her the titular last Tang standing (unmarried), things start to get real. Competing with her office mate Suresh for promotion while dating handsome and wealthy marriage-minded entrepreneur Eric, Andrea has to decide what she wants from her life and what happiness means to her. Does she make partner, marry Eric, and live lavishly ever after? Does she quit her job and redirect her life entirely? Is her rivalry with Suresh shifting from antagonism to civility to friendship to something else?

Ho’s debut novel is a charming and witty diary of a year in the life of Andrea Tang. It’s a good match for fans of The Hating Game, Crazy Rich Asians, and misguided young professional women.

Summer Longing by Jamie Brenner [Book]

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Brenner returns to Provincetown, setting of The Forever Summer (2017), with new central characters and a familiar supporting cast of residents and locations. Ruth Cooperman rents Shell House from Elise and Fern for the summer, only to find a baby girl abandoned on the doorstep her first morning there. Rather than reporting the baby to the authorities, Elise begins taking care of her (and growing attached) while they all wait to see if someone they know is missing a baby.

Between a disenchanted career woman, an unhappy widow, a college student home for the summer, a real estate agent and his handyman husband, restless retirees, evolving marriages, estranged daughters, complicated relationships, and summer lovers, there’s sure to be someone for readers to relate to.

Seemingly impossible situations resolve themselves by the end of the summer in the tidiest ways, allowing some to change their lives for the better and others to continue living golden-tinged existences in a charming and artistic community.

Fans of Elin Hilderbrand, beaches, summer, and family are sure to enjoy this perfect-for-your-vacation read.

Dead West by Matt Goldman [Book]

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Nils Shapiro appears in his fourth mystery, this time taking his private investigation skills to Los Angeles when Ebben Mayer’s grandmother Beverly asks Nils to check up on her grandson and make certain he’s not squandering his fortune. Nils agrees, thinking a short trip to sunny southern California to solve a nonproblem is just what he needs to break up a Minnesota January. He takes his friend Jameson White along as muscle, and to get him out of the dark winter and his own troubles. When they arrive, Nils suspects foul play in the recent death of Ebben’s fiancée and can’t help but follow his instincts into an investigation far more complex than his original assignment. It seems everyone involved–Hollywood industry players on several levels–is potentially in danger, and looking out for their own interests. Meanwhile, Jameson’s attentions are divided between protecting Ebben (and Nils) and dealing with his own issues, and Nils worries he may be losing his edge as a happily affianced new father, avoiding risks he would have otherwise taken in past cases.

Goldman continues to please with interesting twists, great peripheral characters, insights into specific communities, and enough peril to keep readers turning pages past bedtime. Offer this to fans of lone wolves finding their pack, readers who love LA settings, and private investigators both amateur and professional.

For Love and Country by Candace Waters [Book]

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During the months following the Pearl Harbor attack and full involvement of the United States in World War II, Lottie Palmer (of the Detroit Palmers) decides she wants to do something that matters with her life. When she informs her fiancé the day before their wedding, he doesn’t understand at all why she might willingly leave her privileged life, so the next morning she tells her mother, packs a bag, and runs away to join the Navy WAVES. Lottie’s mechanical skills are confirmed during basic training, where she and her assigned roommate Maggie have so little in common they can’t have a civil conversation. After further training, Lottie’s assigned to an airplane mechanic division in Pearl Harbor, where she is the only female (and best mechanic) on a team repairing and restoring aircraft for deployment. After repeatedly being assigned together, Lottie and Maggie develop from nemeses to friends, experiencing the war at closer range than most. After the battle at Iwo Jima, the base is filled with wounded–including Lottie’s erstwhile fiancé, forcing her to deal with their relationship and her feelings for a superior officer. When Lottie defies orders to undertake a daring rescue, her military career ends and the rest of her life begins.

Well researched and engaging, Waters tells a tale that’s a good fit for fans of Therese Anne Fowler and Marie Benedict, and others who enjoy historical fiction centering women’s experiences.

The Shallows by Matt Goldman [Book]

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Nils Shapiro returns in his third adventure (Gone to Dust 2017, Broken Ice 2018), this time investigating the murder of a lawyer. Everyone involved seems to want to hire Nils to protect their own interests, while he wants to solve the crime. As usual, there’s more to the story than we first imagine. Goldman’s flair for dialogue and skill in weaving improbable circumstances into the central story continue to elevate Nils Shapiro from a standard private detective to a compelling character surrounded by good friends and better enemies. The law firm for which the deceased was a partner is affiliated with a rising politician and the story doesn’t entirely check out. The bereaved widow is dallying with a freethinking artist. The FBI is somehow involved. No one will tell Nils the whole story, so he has to work it out on his own, putting himself at risk while managing some interesting developments in his personal life.

Fans will be delighted to see Nils Shapiro again, and the mystery stands alone as a lure to new readers and future fans. For those who enjoy the lighter side of Michael Connelly and Robert Crais.