Contemporary Fiction
By Ann Leary
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager
A wealthy but unconventional New England family of four stepsiblings struggles to come to terms with their legacy and the myths they have built their lives upon during a lavish family wedding that exposes long-standing resentments and unfortunate truths.
By Kevin Kwan
Recommended By Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian
Feeling incomplete because her unknown birth father cannot walk her down the aisle, Rachel Chu, on the brink of marrying one of Asia's richest bachelors, is brought into the elite circles of Shanghai by a shocking revelation.
By Melody Carlson
Recommended By Nancy Lowenstein, Library Page
“Christmas is approaching, and Lena Markham finds herself penniless, friendless, and nearly hopeless … When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally thinks her luck is changing. But can she keep her past a secret (From the Publisher).”
By Melody Carlson
Recommended By Nancy Lowenstein, Library Page
“When an abandoned dog finds its way to Betty Kowalski's house during the Christmas season, she reluctantly takes it in and learns that Christmas is truly the season of giving (From the Publisher).”
By Charlaine Harris
Series Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires Novels
“When her boyfriend Bill, a vampire who has been rather distracted of late, disappears, Sookie journeys to Mississippi to find her beloved, who has gotten himself caught in a dangerous web of murder and betrayal at Club Dead, an elite underground society (From the Publisher).”
Unaware of the long-standing grievances harbored by their divorced parents, three adult siblings embark on a tumultuous summer when the oldest, a successful Manhattan doctor, investigates his sister's chromosomal disorder against his mother's wishes.
By John Grisham
Recommended By Susan L., Library Page, John Shea, Library Page
“An innocent man is about to be executed. Only a guilty man can save him (From the Publisher).”
“When Julia Lambert, an art professor, settles into her idyllic Maine house for the summer, she plans to spend the time tending her fragile relationships with her father, a repressive neurosurgeon, and her gentle mother, who is descending into Alzheimer’s. But a shattering revelation intrudes: Julia’s son Jack has spiraled into heroin addiction…. Robinson tackles addiction and explores its effects on the bonds of family, dazzling us with her hallmark subtlety and precision in evoking the emotional interiors of her characters (From the Publisher).”
By Kevin Kwan
Recommended By Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian, Sonia Grgas, Reference Librarian, Rosemarie Germaine, Senior Library Clerk
Envisioning a quality-time summer vacation in the humble Singapore home of a boy she hopes to marry, Chinese American Rachel Chu is unexpectedly introduced to a rich and scheming clan that viciously competes against other wealthy families and strongly opposes their son's relationship with an American girl.
By Lisa Lutz
Series Spellman Files
Recommended By Ed Goldberg, Head of Reference
“… Licensed P.I. Isabel "Izzy" Spellman has been arrested for the fourth time in two months, and no one from her oddball family of fellow investigators will bail her out. Her sister, Rae, has run over Izzy's "fiancé," Inspector Henry Stone, during a driving lesson. The senior Spellmans have staged a "disappearance," their term for a vacation where no one can reach them. To complicate Izzy's life further, a man with the suspiciously ordinary name of John Brown has moved next door, and she's absolutely positive he's up to no good. In other words, it's life as usual for the zany Spellmans, and who knows what will happen next (School Library Journal).”
By Nancy Thayer
Recommended By Marie McLaughlin, Head of Circulation
As soon as she is named one of the youngest family court judges in Massachusetts, Kelly McCleod is saddled with a make-or-break case that could change her life.
By Edward Wright
Recommended By Sonia Grgas, Reference Librarian
“The complex plot makes the most of tangled smalltown connections, moving fluidly from nostalgic remembrances, ruminations on friendship and filial devotion, to old-fashioned suspense and violence. Wright captures the rich, earthy essence of the South and wraps up his story with a sweet coda, all the more touching for being understated (Publishers Weekly).”
By Diane Mott Davidson
Series Goldy Bear Mysteries
Recommended By Nancy Lowenstein, Library Page
“When caterer Goldy Schulz stumbles upon a dead paralegal while on her latest catering job at a local law firm, she does her own snooping to find the killer, at the behest of the victim's mother, and is soon knee-deep in suspects (From the Publisher).”
By Laura Zigman
Recommended By Sue Ann R., Head of Children's Services
“Dating Big Bird is funny and convincing enough to penetrate the cynicism of readers who still associate parenthood with " minivans and portacribs and strollers and enormous shoulder-strapped survival bags stuffed with toys and dolls and stickers and hundreds of little Ziploc Baggies (USA Today).”
By Joanna Trollope
Recommended By Rosemarie Germaine, Senior Library Clerk
“After her youngest son, and last one to marry, brings home his wife, Rachel, feels her role of family matriarch slipping away and must deal with the loss that comes with it, while maintaining the relationships she holds dear (From the Publisher).”
By Elizabeth Berg
Recommended By Pam Martin, Assistant Library Director
“A jewel-like collection of short stories … Berg is skilled at depicting the subtle interplay among women, their friends, spouses and families. This collection focuses on quiet, intensely personal discoveries … Berg's writing is so gentle, her people so real, that even these sad stories generate warmth (Kirkus Reviews).”
By Charlaine Harris
Series Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires
“When the body of a were-panther is discovered in the parking lot of Merlotte's, Sookie Stackhouse feels compelled to discover the identity of the killer, but encounters a much greater threat to the human and undead communities of Bon Temps (From the Publisher).”
By David Rosenfelt
Series Andy Carpenter Novels
Recommended By Nancy Lowenstein, Library Page
"Attorney Andy Carpenter reluctantly returns to the side of his Wisconsin cop ex-girlfriend to assist in the defense of a young man who may be innocent, a case that is complicated by the secrets of a mysterious religious group (From the Publisher).”
By Charlaine Harris
Series Sooke Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Novels
Recommended By Megan Kass, Systems Manager
“Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress with a talent for reading minds, comes to the aid of Eric, a sexy vampire with amnesia, as she tries to save him from whoever took his memory and who now wants his life (From the Publisher).”
By Charlaine Harris
Series Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires Novels
Recommended By Stacey Mencher, Technology and Applications Manager
Love blossoms between Sookie Stackhouse, a cocktail waitress who keeps to herself because of her ability to read minds, and Bill, a vampire with ties to a crowd that may be responsible for the death of one of Sookie's coworkers.
“A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses (From the Publisher).”
Became the movie: The Devil Wears Prada.
After Sylvia Gold discovers that her daughter has invited the very wealthy parents of her boyfriend for Seder, she agonizes over making the right impression, but when old memories and grievances surface, she learns the importance of acceptance.
By Deborah Harkness
Recommended By Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian, Arlene Silverman, Library Clerk
Scholar Diana Bishop mistakenly requests a bewitched manuscript for her research. She belongs to a family of witches––but because she's avoiding using her powers in favor of scientific pursuits, she sends the manuscript back into storage. What she doesn't realize is, she's already started down a path toward a life she wants to avoid.
By Val McDermid
Twenty five years after the body of a young barmaid, Rosie Duff, was discovered in the snow banks of a Scottish cemetery the Cold Case file has been reopened. For the only suspects, the investigation has also opened old wounds and new fears. For a stranger has emerged from the shadows with his own ideas about justice. And revenge.
By Laura Dave
Hosting a divorce party on what would have been their thirty-fifth anniversary, amicably separated spouses Gwyn and Thomas Huntington unexpectedly toast their son's engagement to a young woman who inadvertently discovers unsettling secrets about the man she is to marry.
By Spencer Quinn
Series Chet and Bernie Mysteries
Recommended By Ed Goldberg, Head of Reference
“At last, a dog lover's mystery that portrays dogs as they really are… Quinn's characters are endearing, and his narrative is intriguing, fast-moving, and well written (Library Journal Review).”
By Jeff Abbott
Series Sam Capra Novels
Recommended By Jackie, Head of Readers' Services, John Shea, Library Page, Arlene Silverman, Library Clerk
“Compelled to assist a beautiful woman who whispers a plea for help in his San Francisco bar, former CIA agent Sam Capra is pursued by authorities and a secret network of people who owe their wealth and power to a mysterious Faustian figure (From the Publisher).”
By Christie Hodgen
Recommended By Rosemarie Germaine, Senior Library Clerk, Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian
“Mary Murphy searches for identity and purpose as she tells the story of her erratic childhood, her runaway sister, and the histories of people with whom she's crossed paths (From the Publisher).”
Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she’s worked for begins to crumble.
By Kaye Gibbons
Series Ellen Foster
Having suffered abuse and misfortune for much of her life, a young child searches for a better life and finally gets a break in the home of a loving woman with several foster children.
By Balli Kaur Jaswal
Recommended By Sonia Grgas, Reference Librarian
Nikki has spent most of her life distancing herself from the traditional Sikh community. After her father's death she takes a job teaching a creative writing course in the heart of the Punjabi community. When one of the women students brings a book of erotica to class, Nicki use it as the basis for helping these modest women unleash creativity by telling their own stories.
By Meg Goldin
Recommended By Pam Martin, Assistant Library Director
Ordered to participate in a corporate team-building exercise that requires them to escape from a locked elevator, four ruthless Wall Street high-flyers struggle to put aside rivalries shaped by workplace intimidation, deception, and sexual harassment.
By Anna Quindlen
Recommended By Betty Petreshock, Reference Librarian, Evelyn Hershkowitz, Readers' Services Librarian
Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. And so,when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence.
“By turns funny and moving, Tropper's warm, winning tale will appeal to both male and female readers and may draw comparisons to Nick Hornby and John Scott Shepherd (Booklist).”
Keeping a low profile after a painful divorce, Lacey Lancaster spurns the advances of her handsome neighbor, Jack Walker, in spite of their cats' mutual attraction.
By Dani Shapiro
“Rachel Jensen, a woman with New York sensibilities and artistic sensitivity, finds her life in complete turmoil after an unfortunate family incident spirals out of control, leaving her separated from her husband of 15 years and with her teenage daughter in an exclusive reform school. Rachel's past unfolds as she tries to make sense of what has happened and of her growing dysfunction… Shapiro effectively depicts the emotional chaos of a family in pain and the loneliness that results when people are separated from loved ones (Library Journal).”
By Jane Green
As dark truths from the past reveal themselves, two middle-aged women must learn to forgive -- for the sake of their children and themselves.
By Rainbow Rowell
Recommended By Nathalie Levin, Children's Services Librarian
Feeling cast off when her best friend outgrows their shared love for a favorite celebrity, Cath, a dedicated fan-fiction writer, struggles to survive on her own in her first year of college while avoiding a surly roommate, bonding with a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words and worrying about her fragile father.
By Joanne Ramos
Ensconced within a Hudson Valley retreat where expectant birth mothers are given luxurious accommodations and lucrative rewards to produce perfect babies, a Filipino immigrant is forced to choose between a life–changing payment and the outside world.
By Linda Kelsey
Recommended By Rosemarie Germaine, Senior Library Clerk
Refusing to acknowledge her age as her fiftieth anniversary approaches, Hope finds her “have it all” lifestyle compromised when she is surreptitiously fired during the holidays; a situation that is further compromised by the breakup of her marriage, her son’s inappropriate crush, and her mother’s terminal illness.
By E.L. James
Series Fifty Shades Trilogy
When Anastasia Steele, a young literature student, interviews wealthy young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, their initial meeting introduces Anastasia to an exciting new world that will change them both forever.
By James Frey
Recommended By Ralph Guiteau, Readers' Services Librarian
Written from the perspective of his family, friends, and followers, in the same way the story of Jesus Christ was told in the New Testament, The Final Testament of the Holy Bible is the story of Ben Zion Avrohom, also known as Ben Jones, also known as the Messiah, also known as the Lord God.
By Kristin Hannah
Recommended By Rosemarie Germaine, Senior Library Clerk
An exploration of the complicated terrain between best friends - one who chooses marriage and motherhood while the other opts for career and celebrity.
By David Baldacci
Series Sean King and Michelle Maxwell Novels
Recommended By John Shea, Library Page
“Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, back from their harrowing and near-fatal adventure in the bestseller Simple Genius, return in a mesmerizing new thriller (From the Publisher).”
By Danielle Steel
Recommended By Marie McLaughlin, Head of Circulation
“Running a successful fashion empire in Paris and New York that hides the pain of a failed marriage, Timmie O'Neill endures a sequence of meaningless relationships before a surprise bout of appendicitis places her under the care of alluring but married French doctor, Jean-Charles Vernier (From the Publisher).”
By Tash Aw
Recommended By Audrey Honigman, Library Clerk
“Dreaming of love and success in rapidly changing Shanghai, four individuals including a starry-eyed waitress, a wealthy developer’s son, a pop artist and a poetry-loving activist confront unexpected realities in regional challenges, including a billionaire’s complex business strategy (From the Publisher).”
By Mary Kay Andrews
Reluctantly accepting help to refurbish a recently inherited Georgia family home after losing her public relations job, Dempsey Jo Killebrew is quickly overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, which is further hampered by a cantankerous squatter.
By Jennifer Weiner
Recommended By Pam Martin, Assistant Library Director
A politician's wife retreats with her grown daughters to a Connecticut beach house.
By David Baldacci
Series John Puller Novels
Recommended By John Shea, Library Page
"After he receives a posthumous note from his aunt hinting that things are horribly amiss in her Florida Gulf Coast town, Army Special Agent John Puller uncovers a shocking conspiracy (From the Publisher)."
By Catherine Chung
Recommended By Jackie, Head of Readers' Services
With Jackie Ranaldo, Head of Readers' Services
Tuesday, November 27. 1:30 PM.
Learning on the night of her sister's birth that a daughter has been lost in every generation of her Korean family, Janie assumes a protective role over her sister while learning more cautionary stories from her optimistic father and mythology-minded mother until her sister's abrupt defection years later reveals painful family secrets.