Season’s Readings! 
There’s a flurry of great books hitting the library shelves this month – historical fiction, psychological suspense, twisty/comedic family dramas, and nostalgic nods to long gone celebrities (popped into fictional settings).

Add a stop by the library to your list of things to do this holiday season and give yourself the gift of a great read.
Once Upon a River
by Diane Setterfield

Diane Setterfield begins her latest novel on the dark night of the winter solstice in 1887, when a photographer pulls a 4-year-old girl out of the Thames’ icy waters and delivers her apparently dead body to an inn. When the child miraculously revives, the mystery deepens as various families begin to argue about her identity. Fans of Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale will rejoice in her latest offering. (Fiction)

Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners
by Gretchen Anthony

A festive, rambling, funny and often poignant look at how one family disintegrates, copes and flourishes, then carries on with life. This captivating and entertaining title, published in October, deserves a revisit with all the family gatherings over the holidays. For fans of Grisham’s Skipping Christmas and the film Home for the Holidays starring Holly Hunter with a dash of the classic Christmas Vacation added for good measure. (Fiction)
Milkman: A Novel
by Anna Burns

The winner of this year’s Booker Prize was a dark horse, but not a surprise to those who’d read it: at once intimate and universal, historical, fabulistic and timely, unconventional and almost sentimentally hopeful. The narrator identifies herself only as “middle daughter” and her middle-aged tormentor as “milkman” — which he is not. He’s a paramilitary thug in troubles-torn 1970s Belfast. His coercion of this bookish girl has #MeToo echoes but truly reflects the ways social mores, in the absence of actual morals, can spawn abuse in any place at any time. This title has earned a well-deserved spot on pretty much every “best of 2018” published. (Fiction)
The Gown
by Jennifer Robison

From the internationally bestselling author of Somewhere in France comes an enthralling historical novel about one of the most famous wedding dresses of the twentieth century—Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown—and the fascinating women who made it. With its shifting storylines, this heartwarming novel provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of design, the healing power of art and the timeless importance of the friendships between women. A standout choice for fans of Netflix’s The Crown and historical fiction by Kate Morton, Kate Quinn and Susanna Kearsley. (Fiction)
Watching You
by Lisa Jewell

When a murder occurs in Melville Heights, one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England, dangerous obsessions are brought to light involving the headmaster at a local school, in a place where everyone has a secret.  Jewell weaves a taut multi-perspective, domestic/community suspense story that is sure to please fans of Ruth Ware and A.J. Finn and is as unputdownable as anything by Liane Moriarty. (Fiction)
Before We Were Strangers
by Brenda Novak

A woman reeling from a traumatic loss returns to her childhood hometown to uncover the truth about her mother's mysterious disappearance years earlier, a mystery that is complicated by community secrets and questions about her father's innocence. Re alistic, often deeply flawed characters; well-handled multiple viewpoints; and a dark, twisty plot will leave readers unsure until the very end keeping the pages turning in this engrossing, insightful romantic thriller. A great choice for book clubs! For those who enjoy Tana French, David Baldacci and Mary Higgins Clark. (Fiction)
The Dakota Winters
by Tom Barbash

The Dakota depicted in this evocative and wildly absorbing novel is not a western state but, rather, the legendary New York City apartment building, home to such stars as Lauren Bacall and Boris Karloff, and, in Barbash’s imaginative variation, the quick-witted Winter family. As a son comes to reckon with his famous father’s breakdown, he receives a little help from his friend and neighbor – John Lennon. Packed with diverting anecdotes and a beguiling cast, The Dakota Winters is, in short, immensely entertaining. (Fiction)

Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food
by Ann Hood

In this moving collection of essays, Hood ( The Knitting Circle ), now in her 60's, looks back on her life through the lens of her love of food and cooking. The author’s sharp essays emphasize food as emotional nourishment, bringing family and friends together—both to celebrate the joys and to heal the wounds of life. A timely and moving choice for a season where family, food and traditions are at the center of attention. (Non-Fiction)

For Better and Worse
by Margot Hunt

When extreme tensions in their marriage escalate to murder, Nat and Will Clarke are forced to navigate respective suspicions and hostilities to survive the terrible things they have done. A creepy, twisted, psychological thriller – perfect reading for the long, cold nights of December! (Fiction)
Best in Books - 2018

What a whirlwind of great reading the year has been! Check out our list of Best of 2018 titles. Which books have you read? Which books are still on your TBR list? Always available at the library!