Here’s a glimpse of what some of us at the reference desk are reading now!
Beth- Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkin’s most recent murder mystery takes us to a small town in the UK where Nel Abbott spent the majority of her life unfolding the mystery of the ‘drowning pool’. This is a slow moving, eerie tale about love, deceit, and the dark secrets of small town life.
Dori- Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
This novel blends literary fiction and fairytale to tell the story of two young lovers living in an unnamed country immersed in a Civil War. As they become refugees, fleeing through ‘doors’ into Greece, then Britain and then Marin County, California, we are immersed in their journey to reimagine their lives. Frightening, tender, and imaginative, it’s a spell-binding novel. It also was just long-listed for the Booker Prize!
Emma- In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen
Longtime friends Ben Cresswell, Jeremy Prescott, and Lady Pamela Sutton are doing their part for England during World War II. Ben was injured in an airplane crash so he is working for British intelligence. Jeremy is a flying ace who spent time in a prisoner of war camp. Pamela works at Bletchley Park. A solider with a failed parachute falls to his death on the Lord Westerham’s estate. Why was this soldier even in the area? The mystery begins with a standalone novel full of secrets and surprises.
Sara- The Dry by Jane Harper
Amid the worst drought in Australia in a century, Federal agent Aaron Falk goes to his hometown to attend the funeral of his childhood best friend Luke who is assumed to have killed his wife, son and then himself. Emotions are high as crops die and tempers flare. Certain facts don’t add up and Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there’s more to Luke’s death than there seems to be, and long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets. A great debut novel with an unexpected ending.
Andrew- The Dream Colony: a Life in Art by Walter Hopps
This book is a kind of memoir or autobiography, and is made up of interviews with Walter Hopps, a charistmatic and brilliant art curator who was one of the first people to show Pop Art in a museum setting. He also curated famous shows of the artists Joseph Cornell and Marcel Duchamp. Hopps has an amazing memory for the shows he produced and the artists he worked with, and he’s also a wonderful and intense storyteller. If you have an interest in 20th century American art, this is a great read.
