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Libraryreads May 2015 TOP ! UPROOTED PICK by Naomi Novik (Del Rey) “A young girl is unexpectedly uprooted from her family and becomes involved in a centuries-old battle with The Wood, a malevolent entity which destroys anyone it touches. Fast-paced, with magic, mystery and romance, Novik’s stand-alone novel is a fairy tale for adults.” —Lucy Lockley, St. Charles City-County Library, St. Peters, MO The top ten books published this month that librarians across the country love. MAY 2015 A COURT OF THORNS A GOD IN RUINS THE WATER KNIFE AND ROSES A Novel A Novel by Sarah J. Maas by Kate Atkinson by Paolo Bacigalupi (Bloomsbury USA Children’s) (Little, Brown and Company) (Knopf) “The human world is in peril. “In A God in Ruins, we “Bacigalupi’s novel looks Feyre, a semi-literate girl, become reacquainted with at the possible struggle for hunts for her family’s survival. Teddy Todd, the beloved little water rights in the south- After she kills an enormous brother of Ursula from western United States. wolf, a fierce fey shows up Atkinson’s last book. As with Reading Bacigalupi’s novel at her doorstep seeking Life After Life, this novel made me thankful for the retribution. Feyre is led to skims back and forth in time, current easy access to beautiful eternal springs, but and we see the last half of clean drinking water, yet the journey is not without danger. Maas masterfully the 20th century through Ted’s eyes and the eyes fearful for our future. A great read for any fan of pulls the reader into this new dark fantasy series of his loved ones. At times funny and at others dystopian fiction.” which feels like a mix of fairy tales, from Beauty and heartbreaking, Atkinson revels in the beauty and —Lindsay Atwood, Chandler Public Library, the Beast to Tam Lin.” horror of life in all its messiness.” Chandler, AZ —Jessica C. Williams, Westlake Porter Public —Jennifer Dayton, Darien Library, Darien, CT Library, Westlake, OH THE KNOCKOFF EARLY WARNING SEVENEVES A Novel A Novel A Novel by Lucy Sykes and by Jane Smiley by Neal Stephenson Jo Piazza (Knopf) (William Morrow) (Doubleday) “In the second book of the “Stephenson’s back in “The Knockoff is a digital-age Langdon trilogy, the Pulitzer fine form with this hard mash-up of old-school movies Prize winning novelist follows science fiction masterpiece, The Women and All About the next generation of the combining the detail of Eve, set in the Devil Wears unforgettable Iowa family Cryptonomicon with the Prada world of a high fashion introduced in Some Luck. fast-paced action of Reamde. magazine. I absolutely loved Beginning with the death of Fans of Anathem will this fresh, charming, addictive the patriarch Walter in 1953, appreciate Stephenson’s and ultimately heroic story of 40-something cancer Smiley chronicles the social consciousness in America speculation about the possibilities of human evolution. survivor Imogen’s quest to rescue and rebuild her of the 1960s. The book goes up to events in the 1970s This book is a great follow-up for readers who enjoyed career, despite the machinations of a younger and early 1980s that touch each family member in the science of Weir’s The Martian. I heartily tech-wiz rival.” unforeseen ways.” recommend Seveneves to SF readers.” —Janet Schneider, Bryant Library, Roslyn, NY —Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, —Keith Hayes, Wake County Public Libraries, Flemington, NJ Cary, NC THE GHOST FIELDS OUR SOULS AT LITTLE BLACK LIES A Novel NIGHT by Sharon Bolton by Elly Griffiths A Novel (Minotaur Books) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Kent Haruf “Set in the Falkland Islands, “Griffiths has written another (Knopf) this novel grabs you from strong entry in her excellent “Beautiful, elegant and the opening paragraph. A child Ruth Galloway series. Here, poignant, this novel is is missing, and he’s not the Ruth is called in when a distilled experience of first. The incident sets off a a World War II plane is Haruf’s writing. The story chain of events leading to excavated, complete with of how two elders attempt multiple characters confessing pilot—but the pilot is in the to poke at the loneliness to murder. Accustomed to wrong plane. Strong and isolation that surrounds living in an idyllic community, characters combine with an absorbing puzzle to them will stick with me for a long time to come. I’m fear and anger escalate among the locals. Bolton has create a hard-to-put-down mystery.” amazed at how Haruf says so much with such spare created a page-turner of a story with a surprise ending.” —Beth Mills, New Rochelle Public Library, prose. He will be missed.” —Elizabeth Kanouse, Denville Public Library, New Rochelle, NY —Alison Kastner, Multnomah County Library, Denville, NJ Portland, OR Find out more at www.LibraryReads.org.
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