What We’re Reading Now- Summer Edition

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 

The story centers around Tova, a widow and night janitor at an aquarium; Cameron, a young man looking for his long-lost parents; and Marcellus, a wily octopus with a penchant for escaping his tank.  These characters paths cross suddenly and unexpectedly.  An interesting novel about finding closure and clarity after loss.  Bonus- full of interesting facts about octopi! Lisa 

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher 

“After archaeoentomologist Sam Montgomery’s dig gets put on hold, she drives to her deceased grandmother’s house in rural North Carolina to spend some time with her mom. The vulture waiting for her on the mailbox doesn’t seem like a good omen, nor does the strange absence of insect life; her mother’s anxious, odd behavior; or Sam’s new, mysterious bouts of sleep paralysis. Sam digs into her family history in the hopes of discovering medical information and scientific explanations for the weirdness—but instead she finds deeply buried horrors that are out to destroy Sam and her mother.” Linnea 

All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky 

Poet Madievsky’s debut novel follows an unnamed narrator’s meandering mishaps in the LA bar scene as she continually tries and fails to free herself from the toxic sisterhood and intergenerational trauma that, ironically, seem to be all she has.     Annelise 

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo 

Wandering cleric Chih returns in the third adventure in the Singing Hills Cycle, this time taking a journey into the wild riverlands. Accompanied by a motley crew of fellow travelers who may be more than they seem, Chih learns that there is always more than one side to a story. A feminist, wuxia-inspired fantasy from prolific author Nghi Vo. Shannon 

A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing

Wes and Ivy were almost the picture-perfect couple in college, moved in together after graduation, and slowly small irritants became big issues causing them to part ways, so began their cycle of breaking up and making up. And then Ivy reported a stalker to the police, with Wes as the prime suspect. Considering their past relationship, could Ivy’s concerns be true, or did she just go too far in the troublesome game they like to play.  If you enjoyed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and you don’t mind deeply narcissistic characters, this was a fabulously wild ride! Enjoy!! Stacey 

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue.  


Rachel and James become fast friends working at a bookstore in Cork during the Irish recession. Young and broke, they decide to move in together, chasing love and lust as you can only do in your early 20s. When James falls for Dr. Burns, Rachel’s English professor, hiding the secret threatens to ruin their dreams. Laugh out loud funny, touching, and really well-written, it’s a delight that you won’t want to end. Dori 

Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

August Salt vowed never to return to Saorise Island off the coast of Washington state, but his mother’s last wishes changed that. He returned to the place where his first love, Emery, still lives, and where he is still suspected of the murder of a teenage girl and hated by most of the residents. He intends to spread his mother’s ashes and be on the ferry back to the mainland as soon as possible, but the island, an ancient place full of secrets and forces that some of the stronger women can tap into, has different ideas. August must face Emery, who he has never stopped loving, the murder, and the evil secrets that run deep in Saorise while fighting to survive. Sara

Quietly Hostile Essays by Samantha Irby 


The most recent collection of essays from writer Samantha Irby does not disappoint. Quietly Hostile. Irby shares her wide range of experiences; everything from writing for the HBO Just like That to challenges to adopting a dog during the pandemic. Another hilarious collection from Samantha Irby. Greg 

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H (memoir) 

A queer, Muslim, coming of age story about never fully being accepted in any community until they find the strength to make their own community. Christine

Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens 

In this traditional Western, Bridget finds herself, her queer sexuality, and her destiny.  Christine 

Book Review: My Murder

Lou, short for Louise, is the most recent victim of serial killer Edward Early. Early has been arrested and is incarcerated for life. 

But, strangely enough, Lou is alive. Deemed worthy of a second chance by public outcry, Lou and the four other women Early murdered have been brought back to life as clones, reanimated through a governmental project. Now, they meet weekly as members of a serial killer’s survivors group as they acclimate to their former lives.

Lou mostly feels like she is same person as she was before her murder, and knows she should be happy for her second chance, but this new life feels unstable. And there are holes in her memory. What happened in the weeks leading up to the night of her murder? Why did her former self have a bag packed hidden in her closet? Can she trust the government agency responsible for her renewed life? Can she trust her husband? 

As Lou searches for answers, she examines her complicated feelings about her new role as a mother, how victims and killers are sensationalized in the media, and the idea of reinventing oneself.

My Murder by Katie Williams is set in the near-future and is a genre-bending mystery novel with twists and turns, strong female characters, dark humor, and a surprising and satisfying conclusion. You’ll want to read this super-creative, original novel in one sitting. Place your hold today. 

-Carol

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

Here some of the new exciting releases for you to take a look at this week!

IDENTITY

A woman discovers her apartment broken into and her roommate dead after meeting a cold-hearted con artist at the bar where she works in the new novel from the number-one best-selling author of more than 230 novels.

LIAR!

Justice seekers who always have each other’s backs, siblings Luna and her brother Cullen set out to unravel a cold case connected to a mysterious armoire.

ROGUE JUSTICE

Asked by a fellow law clerk to look into his boss’s death, Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene, after another shocking murder, is led to a list of names – all judges on the FISA Court, also known as America’s “secret court” – and must race the clock to stop an unprecedented national crisis.

THE SENATOR’S WIFE

Hiring a health aide to give her the support and independence she needs after hip replacement surgery, DC philanthropist and Senator’s wife Sloane Chase, as weeks go by and she becomes sicker, suspects her seemingly perfect employee is plotting to steal her husband, her reputation and even her life.

FLASH POINT

To stop an unseen enemy from destroying the Campus, Jack Ryan Jr. is led to the South China Sea where he, after a midair collision serves as a flash point, must put the pieces of a conspiracy together to stop the world’s two remaining super powers from going to war.

SUMMER STAGE

Working together to ensure their summer production at a storied Block Island theater is a success, former aspiring playwright Amy Trevino, her daughter Sam and her brother, a well-loved Hollywood actor, must grapple with their desires for fame and fortune and discover what they really want out of life.

THE POISONER’S RING

In 1869 Edinburgh, modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson, adjusting to her new life in Victorian Scotland as an undertaker’s assistant to Dr. Duncan Gray, investigates the case of a serial poisoner targeting men, and all signs point to the grieving widows, the latest of which is Gray’s older sister.

BRAVE THE WILD RIVER

The story of two pioneering female botanists and their historic 1938 boat trip down the Colorado River which led them to be the first to survey and catalog the plant life of the Grand Canyon.

I AM AYAH: THE WAY HOME

Shielding herself from the world behind the safety of her camera lens, photographer Ayah Fleming is pulled into the past when she returns home and uncovers the truth about her descendants with the help of a man who makes her long for a brighter future.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

In this week’s special picks there are new exciting detective, mystery, suspense, and many more genres for you to choose from! Enjoy!

The 23rd Midnight

When an obsessed maniac turns serial killer Evan Burke’s true-crime story into a playbook, adding some of his own gruesome touches, Detective Lindsay Boxer, who put Burke in jail, tracks this elusive suspect, who is determined to put an end to the Murder Club permanently.

The Wedding Planner

Signing up for several lavish affairs, in addition to her mother’s next marriage and her twin sister’s modest ceremony, wildly successful wedding planner Faith Ferguson grapples with private quarrels, unplanned pregnancies, family scandals, dark secrets and almost cancelled ceremonies, proving that there is more than one path to happily ever after.

The Bride Wore White

When she is kidnapped, drugged and wakes up in a bloodstained wedding dress next to a dead man, psychic Prudence Ryland, framed for murder, knows who the real killer is and finds an unexpected ally in Jack Wingate, a crime boss’s associate, who is the only one who believes her.

All the Days of Summer

A divorced empty-nester moves into a cottage on Nantucket and is irritated when her adult son arrives with his serious girlfriend and the two women must learn to overcome their differences to achieve the future they want.

The Half Moon

Longtime bartender Malcolm Gephardt realizes his dream of owning a bar, while his wife Jess, a lawyer struggling with fertility issues, wonders how to reshape her life, in a novel told over the course of one tumultuous week, laying bare the complexities of marriage, family, longing and desire.

In desperate need of a lifeline, 32-year-old Fern Brookbanks finds it in the form of Will Baxter, who rescued her nine years ago, and, believing he is hiding something, but knowing he’s the only one who understands what she’s going through, wonders if she can do the same for him.

The Ferryman

A ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process and, when necessary, enforcing it Proctor Bennet, of the Department of Social Contracts, receives a disturbing and cryptic message from his father, while The Support Staff, who keep Prospera running, organize a revolution that causes Proctor to question everything he once believed.

~Semanur

What We’re Reading Now

Maame by Jessica George

Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Jessica George’s Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures―and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong. Linnea 

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins 

 A strange, twisting novel that resists being pigeonholed into one genre. At its simplest, this is the tale of a girl and her adopted siblings trying to find their missing father. A little bit of horror, fantasy, and science fiction are mixed with metaphysical, philosophical ponderings for a truly excellent, one-of-a-kind reading experience. Shannon 

Looking for the Hidden Folk by Nancy Brown

Part memoir, part travelog, part call for conservation, part investigation into the study of belief on a material, spiritual, and conceptual level, Looking for the Hidden Folk is a book that defies sitting in a single genre. Author Nancy Marie Brown share her decades long love of Iceland by giving a historical and literal background along with her own travels and multiple visits. All of this is centered around the belief in elves. Brown takes multiple approaches to this topic but doesn’t offer a solid answer to emerge. This becomes a strength for the book, allowing readers to make their own decision or to maintain a solid position of ambiguity. A great read for someone who has visited/will visit Iceland. Greg 

 


Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey 

Vera Crowder always loved the house her father built. But the Crowder house was created to hide the secret life of a serial killer. Vera just happened to call him Dad. When her estranged mother Daphne calls to tell her she’s dying, Vera ends up back at the house where it all began. Now a twisted tourist attraction, the house has two occupants: Daphne and Duvall, an artist capitalizing on the family’s dark history. As Daphne packs up the place she once called home, she revisits the haunting moments shared inside the walls. This twisty horror novel gives new meaning to the phrase “home is where the heart is.” Melinda 

 


The Golden Spoon by Jessica Maxwell 

It’s the 10th season of Bake Week and six new amateur bakers have been selected to compete for The Golden Spoon. As before, they’ll gather under a big white tent in the mountains of Vermont on the grounds of Grafton Manor, family estate of legendary baker and host of the competition, Betsy Martin. Surprised by the addition of a co-host, supposedly to bring in younger viewers, Betsy is unhappy with how the season is going long before murder is committed. Quirky characters, fun pop culture references, and a few surprising plot twists, keep the pages turning. Readers who enjoy The Great British Bake Off and classic closed room mysteries should pick this one up asap! Stacey 

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

I loved Sarah Penner’s book The Lost Apothecary so I am eager to crack open her latest The London Séance Society. It opens in 1873, where the unlikely pair of Vaudeline D’Allaire, a renowned spiritualist, and Lenna Wickes, a woman investigating her sister’s death, team up with the powerful men of London’s exclusive Séance Society to solve a high-profile murder. It’s sure to be a spooky and suspenseful read. Carol 

The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels: In 1986, Brian, a gay man who has spent the last six years in NYC, comes home to Ohio. The story is about reconciliation, grief, acceptance, and home. 

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark: In 1912, Agent Fatma of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities, along with her girlfriend, Siti, must solve the murders of a secret brotherhood. The suspected murderer is Al-Jahiz, who opened the veil between the mystical and earthly realms 50 years ago and is now vowing to destroy the world because of it’s social oppressions. 

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy: Saint Sebastian’s School is targeted by a serial arson and it’s up to Sister Holiday, of the Sisters of the Sublime Blood, to solve the case. This punk rocker nun must do all of this while confronting her checkered past and not get caught smoking…. Christine 

Exalted by Anna Dorn

Emily, a jaded Instagram astrologer, becomes obsessed with a client after reading his “perfect” birth chart.  She pursues him romantically, with terrible consequences. In a parallel narrative, Dawn’s decades of unhinged dating behavior turn into a reputation that increasingly precedes her.  Nobody is who they want you to think they are in this dark satire about image, excuses, and taking all the bad advice we can get.  Annelise 

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

A psychological thriller about a desperate mother, Isabelle Drake, who’s son Mason has been missing for a year, taken from his crib while he was sleeping, and the case has never been solved. She hasn’t slept for more than minutes at a time since her son went missing, and she is beginning to lose her grip on reality and to wonder what really happened that night. Her marriage has fallen apart and a true-crime podcaster has come to town offering to interview her and help bring publicity to the case. However, Isabelle has secrets in her past that may not stand up to the scrutiny of a podcast. Isabelle is desperate to know what happened to Mason, but will her deepest fears be true? Sara

Philip K. Dick

In 1982, Philip K. Dick passed away at the age of 53. He was a well-known author, publishing over 40 works, primarily science fiction. He influenced many authors and filmmakers, and some of his works provided the basis for films such as Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report. His fiction explored questions on identity, perception, and human nature. Characters often struggled against science fiction elements such as alternate realities, authoritarian governments, and simulacra.  

If you’ve enjoyed films like Donnie Darko, Inception, or The Truman Show, you can thank Philip K. Dick for influencing those filmmakers. And that means you’re ready to dive into some of his own works! 

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 

Blade Runner 

A Scanner Darkly 

Richard Linklater adapted this novel into a film of the same name

Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick  

This collection includes the short stories that were the basis for the films Total Recall and Minority Report

Total Recall 

Minority Report 

The Man in the High Castle  

-Linnea 

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

Here are some of the new books coming to our shelves this week for you to add to your book list!

Storm Watch

After finding the frozen and mutilated body of a man killed near the location of a mysterious high-tech structure, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett finds his investigation obstructed by federal agents, extremists and the governor and must find away around them to stop the oncoming storm of peril.

Never Never

The #1 New York Times best-selling author of It Starts with Us joins forces with the New York Times best-selling author of The Wives have created a gripping, twisty, romantic mystery.

Stars in an Italian Sky

In 2017 New York, Luca and Cassandra, the perfect match for each other, find their blossoming relationship changed forever when a chance meeting between their grandparents reveals a long-buried family secret linked back to two star-crossed lovers in post-World War II Italy.

The Angel Maker

When her brother, Chris, the survivor of a gruesome attack years ago, goes missing, Katie Shaw must join forces with Detective Laurence Page who believes a recent murder is linked to Chris, and to a notorious serial killer, who legend had it, could see the future.

A Day of Fallen Night

With the younger generation questioning the Priory’s purpose since wyrms haven’t appeared since the Nameless One, Tunuva Melim, a sister of the Priory, finds her calling when humankind needs protection after a new age of terror and violence is ushered in.

The Maltese Iguana

When the only witness to a CIA revenge mission gone wrong is forced to flee his home country, he arrives in the Florida Keys where he runs into the Sunshine State’s most lovable serial killer, Serge A. Storms, and his convoy of hardcore partiers.

The Crane Husband

Taking care of her small Midwestern family while her mother, a talented artist, weaves beautiful tapestries, a 15-year-old girl, when her mom brings home a 6-foot-tall crane, must protect them all from this invasive creature whose demands could destroy everything – unless she changes the story.

Black Candle Women

Follows four generations of the Montrose family, who have been living with a curse that leaves any person they fall in love with dead, stemming back to a Voodoo sorceress in 1950s New Orleans’ French Quarter.

The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist tells the powerful, and inspiring story of Nancy Hopkins, a reluctant feminist who, in 1999, became the leader of 16 female scientists who forced MIT to publicly admit it had been discriminating against its female faculty for years.

~Semanur

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

There are tons of new releases that come to our shelves every week. Here are some books we picked out for you!

The House at the End of the World by Dean Koontz – Alone on Jacob’s Ladder island until two agents arrive in search of someone – or something – they refuse to identify, artist Katie, along with a brave young girl, finds herself in an epic and terrifying battle with a mysterious enemy that could bring about the end of the world.

The Family Business by Carl Weber & La Jill Hunt – When over a million tabs of HEAT, once known as the perfect drug, are stolen, Orlando Duncan discovers that a billionaire, with ties to illegal contraband smuggling rings, is targeting his family, putting them all on a deadly collision course as they try to reach the top.

The Bullet Garden by Stephen Hunter – In 1944 Normandy, when German snipers start picking off hundreds of Allied soldiers every day, Pacific hero Earl Swagger, assigned this crucial and bloody mission, must infiltrate the shadowy corners of London and France to expose the traitor who is tipping off these snipers with the locations of American GIs.

The Devil’s Ransom by Brad Taylor – When his covert company, along with every other entity in the Taskforce, is hit with a ransomware attack linked to the Taliban, Pike must stop a plot to alter the balance of power on the global stage orchestrated by a former NSA specialist in the U.S. government.

Don’t Open the Door by Allison Brennan – Quitting her job and moving in the wake of the shocking murder of her son, Marshal Regan Merritt returns to Virginia to look into her former boss’s death in the second novel of the series following The Sorority Murder.

Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning Is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy by Daniel T. Willingham – Steeped in scientifically backed practical advice, this groundbreaking guide provides real-world practices and the latest research on how to train your brain for better learning.

All Hallows by Christopher Golden – On Halloween night in 1984 Coventry, Massachusetts, four children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup blend in with the neighborhood kids trick-or-treating, begging to be hidden and kept safe from The Cunning Man.

Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System by Jeff Hobbs – From the best-selling and critically acclaimed author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace comes a look at the school-to-prison pipeline and life in the juvenile “justice” system.

~Semanur