September 2021 - Staff Reading Suggestions |
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BEAUTIFUL WORLD, WHERE ARE YOU
by Sally Rooney
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Eileen and Alice have been friends since their university days. Now in their late 20s, Eileen works as an editorial assistant at a literary magazine in Dublin. Alice is a famous novelist recovering from a psychiatric hospitalization and staying in a large empty rectory on the west coast of Ireland. Since Alice’s breakdown, the two have kept in touch primarily through lengthy emails that alternate between recounting their romantic lives and working through their angst about the current social and political climate.
-Kathy
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THREE GIRLS FROM BRONZEVILLE: A UNIQUELY AMERICAN MEMOIR OF RACE, FATE AND SISTERHOOD
by Dawn Turner
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I loved this memoir written by former Chicago Tribune journalist, Dawn Turner. Dawn, her sister Kim and best friend Debra grew up in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. The different ways their paths diverge and come back together throughout their lives makes for compelling reading. The themes of friendship, addiction, forgiveness and second chances make this an excellent choice for book clubs.
-Di
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CLOUD CUCKOO LAND
by Anthony Doerr
(Releases September 28, 2021)
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Anthony Doerr (whose last book All the Light We Cannot See won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015) has a magical new novel set to release in late September. Set in three different time periods this is a story ultimately and brilliantly about the power of a book to transform our lives.
The ancient codex appears and is translated by a poor young seamstress, Anna, during the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The book then appears in modern day Idaho having been translated by Zeno, a Korean War veteran, who decides to turn the ancient story into a play for a group of fifth graders to perform at the local library. Finally the book appears in the hands of Konstance, a girl on a spaceship heading to a new planet sometime in the future. This magnificent tapestry of times and places reflect our vast interconnectedness and transports us to worlds so dramatic and immersive that we forget, for a bit, our own.
This is a beautiful and redemptive novel about our stewardship of stories, of our environment and of the human heart. I haven't loved a book this much in a long time. This is a must read.
-Lisa
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PLUCK: A MEMOIR OF A NEWFOUNDLAND CHILDHOOD AND THE RAUCOUS, TERRIBLE, AMAZING JOURNEY TO BECOMING A NOVELIST
by Donna Morrissey
(Direct to paperback)
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Morley's pick:
When Donna Morrissey left the only home she had ever known, an isolated Newfoundland settlement, at age 16, she was ready for adventure. She had grown up without television or telephones but had absorbed the tragic stories and comic yarns of her close-knit family and community. The death of her infant brother marked the family, and years later, Morrissey suffers devastating guilt about the accidental death of her teenage brother, whom she’d enticed to join her in the oilfields. Her misery was compounded by her own misdiagnosis of a terminal illness, all of which contributed to crippling anxiety and an actual diagnosis of PTSD. Many of those events and themes would eventually be transformed and recast as fictional gold in Morrissey’s novels. A deeply personal account of love’s restorative ability as it leads renowned novelist Donna Morrissey through mental illness, family death, and despair to becoming a writer—told with charm and inimitable humour.
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FINDING FREEDOM: A COOK'S STORY REMAKING A LIFE FROM SCRATCH
by Erin French
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Di, Kathy and Diana's pick:
Make your way to Freedom, Maine, and you will find both an exquisite meal and a vivid memory. After the flood of calls for dinner reservations crashed the restaurant’s phone lines, Erin knew she had to make a change. In this singular, heart-stopping memoir—in many ways a classic American story—restaurateur and cookbook author Erin French invites readers to Freedom, Maine, to witness the struggles that have taken every ounce of her strength to overcome, and that have made both Erin’s life and her wildly successful restaurant, The Lost Kitchen,
triumphant.
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THE GUIDE
by Peter Heller
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Laura C's pick:
Kingfisher Lodge, nestled in a canyon on a mile and a half of the most pristine river water on the planet, is known by locals as "Billionaire’s Mile“ and is locked behind a heavy gate. Sandwiched between barbed wire and a meadow with a sign that reads ”Don’t Get Shot!" the resort boasts boutique fishing at its finest. Safe from viruses that have plagued America for years, Kingfisher offers a respite for wealthy clients. Now it also promises a second chance for Jack, a return to normalcy after a young life filled with loss. When he is assigned to guide a well-known singer, his only job is to rig her line, carry her gear, and steer her to the best trout he can find. But then a human scream pierces the night, and Jack soon realizes that this idyllic fishing lodge may be merely a cover for a far more sinister operation.
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STAFF PICK:
When the world’s largest search engine/social media company, the Circle, merges with the planet’s dominant e-commerce site, it creates the richest and most dangerous–and, oddly enough, most beloved–monopoly ever known: the Every.
Delaney Wells is an unlikely new hire. A former forest ranger and unwavering tech skeptic, she charms her way into an entry-level job with one goal in mind: to take down the company from within. With her compatriot, the not-at-all-ambitious Wes Kavakian, they look for the company’s weaknesses, hoping to free humanity from all-encompassing surveillance and the emoji-driven infantilization of the species. But does anyone want what Delaney is fighting to save? Does humanity truly want to be free?
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MRS. MARCH
by Virginia Feito
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A chilling look at an Upper East Side woman's descent into madness. Told entirely in Mrs. March's voice, the book opens with her fear that the main character in her husband's latest novel, a whore, is modeled on her. That paranoia leads her to believe that her husband is involved in the slaying of a young girl in rural Maine. Feito documents Mrs. March's slide from low self esteem to psychosis in a thoughtful, gripping manner. Mrs. March is already slated to move to the big screen played by Elizabeth Moss.
- Laura S
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FAULT LINES
by Emily Itami
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Di, Kirsten and Katha's pick:
Mizuki is a Japanese housewife. She has a hardworking husband, two adorable children, and a beautiful Tokyo apartment. It’s everything a woman could want, yet sometimes she wonders whether it would be more fun to throw herself off the high-rise balcony than spend another evening not talking to her husband and hanging up laundry.
Then, one rainy night, she meets Kiyoshi, a successful restaurateur. In him, she rediscovers freedom, friendship, and the neon, electric pulse of the city she has always loved. But the further she falls into their relationship, the clearer it becomes that she is living two lives—and in the end, we can choose only one.
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POISON FOR BREAKFAST
by Lemony Snicket
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Lemony is back with a delightful short, stand alone novel that is almost more philosophy treatise than piece of fiction. Upon finishing his morning meal, Lemony discovers a note which informs him that "You had poison for breakfast." Calmly alarmed, Lemony decides to track down the origins of each ingredient of his breakfast to discover the culprit. During his investigations, Lemony finds the opportunity to pontificate on a vast variety of subjects. Lemony's storytelling skills will delight his fans. Appropriate for older children and all adults!
-Laura S
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Children & Young Adult Selections
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TAKE ME WITH YOU WHEN YOU GO
by David Levithan & Jennifer Niven
Two of my favorite YA authors collaborate to create an amazing story of love and resilience. Bea and Ezra are siblings living in an extremely dysfunctional home, when Bea reaches her breaking point and runs away. Told in emails between the siblings, Niven and Levithan beautifully demonstrate a relationship that is strong enough to withstand anything. Follow Bea and Ezra on their remarkable journey through family secrets to self discovery.
-Laura S
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Address:
662 N. Western Avenue
Lake Forest IL 60045
Phone: 847-234-4420
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