Adult Fiction Heroes of the Frontier The Woman in Cabin 10 Dave Eggers Ruth Ware When travel journalist Lo Blacklock is Josie is on the run with her invited on a boutique luxury cruise children. She's left her husband, around the Norwegian fjords, it seems her failing dental practice, and the like a dream job. But the trip takes a rest of her Ohio town to explore nightmarish turn when she wakes in Alaska in a rickety RV. the middle of the night to hear a body being thrown overboard. With his trademark insight, humor, and pathos, Dave Eggers explores Brit Ruth Ware has crafted her second this woman's truly heroic gripping, dark thriller in the Christie adventure, all the while exploring tradition. This page-turner toys with the concept of heroism in general. the classic plot of "the woman no one Brilliant, unpretentious, and highly would believe" with incredible language readable. and fun twists. Also a terrific, ~Alan’s and Leslie’s pick unabridged audiobook. ~Alan’s pick They May Not Mean To, But Barkskins They Do Annie Proulx Cathleen Schine Spanning hundreds of years, this When Joy Bergman's husband dies, ambitious work tells the often brutal her children are shocked that she story of the Canadian and New doesn't agree with their ideas for England lumber industry and all her. The book's title is from a those whom it enriched or displaced. Philip Larkin poem, and this funny and compassionate look at the Annie Proulx’s writing never ceases Bergman family brings Larkin's to thrill me. The weaving together of poem to life. the stories of multiple characters and the reader’s gradual realization of Schine captures the reality of aging, the impact one person’s fate can as well as how difficult it is for have on future generations is simply families to communicate — even amazing. when they love each other. ~Elizabeth’s pick ~Eileen’s pick Pond An Unattractive Vampire Claire-Louise Bennett Jim McDoniel Very hard to describe, Pond is made After a 300-year slumber, vampire up of connected short stories: musings Yuric Bile wakes to a world where on both the beauty and the hassles the modern undead are beautiful, of everyday things, the tiresomeness young and hiding in plain sight on of town life and the meddling of TV shows. With help from two neighbors, laziness, broken things, humans, he decides to track down and the gorgeousness of fruit. and show the glamorous undead how a real monster behaves. Why is this so good? It’s just beautifully written and I couldn’t Mingling darkness and humor, this put it down. I felt like I was completely debut fantasy fiction is original, in the narrator’s mind, and her mighty in its depiction of cultural observations on life and nature differences, and mostly very funny. never failed to keep me entertained. ~Joyce’s pick ~Elizabeth’s pick Adult Fiction Before the Wind Lilac Girls Jim Lynch Martha Hall Kelly Growing up on the Puget Sound, Set during WWII, we have the the Johannssen family has sailing stories of three very different in their blood, but the oldest women in separate locations brother, Josh, is left puzzling over being told simultaneously. what caused his siblings to flee, one to Africa, the other to points The characters were very unknown as a fugitive and pirate. endearing. ~Linda’s pick If you love the Puget Sound or sailing, you'll love Lynch's latest novel. ~Leslie’s pick My Name is Lucy Barton What was Mine Elizabeth Strout Helen Klein Ross Lucy doesn’t come from much; One lie leads to another until 20 growing up poor has left scars and years later when the truth comes caused division. Lucy is lonely and out and carefully guarded secrets vulnerable, missing her family, are unraveled. In one impulsive confined to the hospital for nine moment multiple lives become weeks, and then her mother altered. When shock and tragedy unexpectedly shows up. strike some manage to move on with their lives while others The genuineness with which Strout choose to live in the lie, all of writes is familiar and comforting. which takes a toll. I find myself coming to care deeply for her characters. The past catches An intriguing read and exposé of up with the present in this tender the human psyche. heartfelt story of life and death ~Margo’s pick pain and sorrow. ~Margo’s pick Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of The Underground Railroad a Fist Colson Whitehead Sunil Yapa A fellow slave encourages Cora to This book is set against the run away, and they head north on backdrop of the 1999 World Trade a functional underground railroad, Organization protests in Seattle. complete with tracks and cars. Sunil Yapa invokes empathy and consideration for all sides involved. Whitehead details the terrors of slavery and recounts this brutal Yapa's plot builds substantially, piece of American history. as the violence in the protests ~Sarah’s pick escalates, and his characters’ flaws are revealed with superb timing. ~Sarah’s pick Adult Fiction Adult Graphic Novels An Unrestored Woman Shobha Rao Faith 01: Hollywood and Vine In 1947, the Indian subcontinent was Jody Houser partitioned into two countries, India When she's not typing up listicles and Pakistan. This collection of stories about cat videos, Faith makes a examines how this political decision secret transformation to patrol the forced a mass migration of humanity night as the City of Angels' own and how little control a person may leading superhero — the sky-soaring have over his/her own destiny. Zephyr. Months after finishing this collection A superhero comic series for people of short stories, I found myself thinking who hate superhero comics, Faith about the characters and how they is a body-positive series where managed to survive and adapt to size is never mentioned, but we their new circumstances. The characters can see our large heroine wear are well developed and often normal clothes and live a life free connected from story to story. of fat-shaming. And she kicks-butt! ~Teri’s pick ~Carol’s pick Adulthood is a Myth: a Hip Hop Family Tree Volume 4 "Sarah Scribbles" Collection Ed Piskor Sarah Andersen Piskor continues his work telling Confronts head-on the horrors, the "origin stories" of hip hop's anxiety, and awkwardness of most important artists and of the modern adult life. genre itself. This book covers 1984 -1985 and has a large focus on the I hadn't heard of Sarah Andersen Def Jam record label. until I cataloged this book. Now I can't stop reading The large format, rough paper, everything she's ever written. and muted colors make reading Her comics are highly relatable about 80s hip hop feel closer than to any millennial, woman, or the 30 years that separate it from person in the world. It's also the present. Every book in this a fast read. series is worth a read, yet each ~Carol’s pick stands on its own equally well. ~Zac’s pick Faster than Light Dark Night: a True Batman Story Brian Haberlin Paul Dini Human beings have finally Author Paul Dini tells his personal discovered how to travel faster story of physical and psychological than the speed of light. This book, recovery after being seriously with the help of an iOS/Android beaten while walking home. companion app, tells the story of I grew up watching the animated the first crew to venture deep into Batman cartoons that Dini created our universe. in the 90s. It’s fascinating to see Unlike what you might see on Star how those fictional characters Trek, the technology in this sci-fi became very real players in the title feels a little clunky, which author’s personal struggles. adds a layer of suspense to the ~Zac’s pick storytelling. ~Zac’s pick Adult Fiction Adult Graphic Novels Goodnight Punpun We Stand on Guard Inio Asano Brian K. Vaughan This manga centers around In a dystopian future, Canada has Onodera Punpun (drawn as a been attacked by its aggressive mostly formless bird to project a neighbors to the south. One group neutral character) as he grows up of Canadian citizens dares to defy in a very dysfunctional family. the American invaders. There's much complexity in The book's premise drew me in, and Punpun's family situation, and this it works really well in this short, manga does not hesitate to show one-volume format. Overall, it was the darker side of life and dabble in the gritty art style (a little reminiscent very serious topics. It is at once a of Frank Miller's Robocop) that kept heavy and delightful read. me fully engaged to the end. ~Zac’s pick ~Zac’s pick Adult Nonfiction Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman Hogs Wild Lindy West Ian Frazier Shrill is an uproarious memoir, a A decade's worth of Frazier's feminist rallying cry in a world that delightful essays in which he goes thinks gender politics are tedious and wherever his curiosity takes him. that women, especially feminists, Whether the subject is wild hogs can't be funny. (they're gaining ground!), or making a Styrofoam substitute This book seriously changed my life. from fungus, he makes the reader I gained confidence in my body, my his willing companion. voice, and my own thoughts and opinions. I can't really put into words I enjoyed (or was terrified by — Asian what this book means to me; I just want carp — oh no) all of these essays, but I you to read it now.