Book Club Staff Recommendations 2020 - Squarespace

Book Club Staff Recommendations 2020
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                       Books are listed in alphabetical order by author’s surname.

WHAT IT TAKES: To Live and Lead With Purpose, Laughter and Strength by Zahra Al-Harazi (2019)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, $32.99
Having had the pleasure to spend some time with Zahra, I can assure you she is one of the most
remarkable women I’ve met. The story of how she became an immensely successful business woman is
astounding. Her intelligent resourcefulness shines brightly as we follow her from her birthplace in
Yemen to Minnesota to Calgary and beyond. This stay at home immigrant mother with little education
now ‘has it all’. Truly inspiring. (Mike)

BUNNY by Mona Awad (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $21.00
Mean Girls meets The Secret History in this dark surrealist tale. Samantha is a desperately lonely
scholarship student recruited into a cult of beautiful women in her MFA writing workshop. They dress
like little girls, eat miniature food, braid each other’s hair and call each other “bunny”. Within this coven
Sam is introduced the Bunny’s secret project: through a combination of drugs, magic, and desire, they
turn wild rabbits into boys. But the boys are not quite right. They are flawed deteriorating drafts, but the
Bunnies believe Sam might be the key to creating one that’s just right. At its core, Bunny is about the
calamity of loneliness and suppressed desire, and the lengths we’ll go to be loved. Without
sentimentality, Awad suggests perhaps that’s all we’re made for. (Sarah)

THE LOVELY WAR by Julia Berry (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $15.99
A sweeping, multi-layered romance set in the perilous days of World Wars I and II, where gods hold the
fates--and the hearts--of four mortals in their hands.
They are Hazel, James, Aubrey, and Colette. A classical pianist from London, a British would-be architect
turned soldier, a Harlem-born ragtime genius in the U.S. Army, and a Belgian orphan with a gorgeous
voice and a devastating past. Their story, as told by the goddess Aphrodite, who must spin the tale or
face judgment on Mount Olympus, is filled with hope and heartbreak, prejudice and passion, and reveals
that, though War is a formidable force, it's no match for the transcendent power of Love.
I adored how this book mashes up World War I historical fiction with Greek mythology. It was a beautiful
surprise and a gorgeous read. (Stacey)

WELCOME TO THE PINE AWAY MOTEL AND CABINS by Katarina Bivald (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $24.99
This charming but insightful book has its quirks – the main character meets her end in an accident as the
book begins. Once you have conquered the impossible narrator, this book is an amazing journey through
the past, and how it affects the present. The thought of things left unsaid when others were struggling,
and the attempt to do better in the present is a strong theme. For people who loved “The Readers of
Broken Wheel Recommend”. (Susan)

MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Bratihwaite (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $19.95
Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the
beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola's third boyfriend in a row is dead. Korede's
practicality is the sisters' saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her
car is big enough for a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures of her dinner to Instagram
when she should be mourning her "missing" boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit. Sharp as nails and
full of deadpan wit, Oyinkan Braithwaite's deliciously deadly debut is as fun as it is frightening.
This book is compulsively readable and I fell in love with the voice and substance of this story. (Stacey)

DIARY OF A BOOKSELLER by Shaun Bythell (2017)
Nonfiction, Paperback, $23.99
Shaun Bythell owns the 2nd largest second hand bookstore in Scotland. It has over 100,000 titles spread
through winding corridors, with reading nooks and fireplaces. Setting in Wigtown on Scotland’s west
coast The Bookshop has it’s own particular challenges - finicky customers, antiquated infrastructure,
eccentric staff. Go for a ride with Shaun as he shares his diaries of life as a bookseller. (Michelle)

BECOMING MRS. LEWIS by Patti Callahan (2018)
Fiction, Paperback, $24.99
Becoming Mrs. Lewis is a rich, breathtaking story so beautifully told it will capture your heart. It is the
telling of a literary love story between poet Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis familiarly known as Jack. Joy
was a strong, independent woman in a time when a woman’s voice was not encouraged or appreciated.
Her connection to Jack began when she started to correspond with him during a time of great
questioning and self-doubt. There was an immediate meeting of the minds as these writers found
comfort and inspiration through their shared letters. With wit and charm, Callahan paints a touching,
loving picture as their relationship becomes a marriage founded on a powerful love and mutual respect
that withstands the many tribulations tossed at them. This book was deeply moving and thought
proving, which makes it perfect for an outstanding discussion. (Sue H)

GREENWOOD by Michael Christie (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $35.00 (Paperback August 2020, $21.00)
A multi-generational saga of the Greenwood family, that stems from the dust of the dirty 30’s through
to an imagined future dustbowl in a world without trees- as told down through the generations of a
family whose lives have always been deeply tied to trees, both financially and spiritually. (Tina)

WATCHING YOU WITHOUT ME by Lynn Coady (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $22.95
This is a compelling novel by Scotiabank Giller winner Lynn Coady. It is told to us by Karen, aka Kari
Petrie who has arrived back in her childhood home after several decades away. Her mother has just died
and Kari is now wholly responsible for the care of her developmentally handicapped sister Kelli. Grieving

over the loss of her mother and feeling great guilt for having been estranged from her after a bitter fight
many years before, Kari is in a vulnerable state. This is the background from which the psychological
tension emerges. There were many times I wanted to shout at Kari, trying to warn her about the shakey
ground she was treading on. Her misjudgments got in her way as she was trying her best. The one
constant in Kari’s world is the tenderness and compassion she has for Kelli. Despite frustration and
desperation, Kelli’s needs come first. This is a story about love, loss and rebuilding and a total page
turner. (Sue H)

THE BINDING by Brigit Collins (2019)
Fiction, Trade Paper, $21.99
Imagine a world where all your memories can be pulled from you and bound into a book, where you (or
anyone) can relive them whenever you want. Or where your past mistakes can be taken away and give
you a clean slate. Young Emmett Farmer is sent to apprentice with a Bookbinder, a vocation that is
treated with fear and suspicion in his small community. But when his mentor dies suddenly Emmett is
sent to the big city, where binding is treated as a commodity for the rich and the care and reverence he
was taught is forgone in lieu of gold in the pocket. When Emmett stumbles upon a book with his own
name on it, everything he has ever believed about his life is turned on its head. (Kristi)

WATERMARK by Christy Ann Conlin (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $19.95
My short story contribution this year is Watermark by Christy Ann Conlin. This is a series of linked stories
taking place mostly on the east coast, but we are also taken to the Churchill River and a marina on the
Fraser River. Conlin has been described as a master of North Atlantic Gothic and this collection takes the
reader on dark adventures full of twists and turns. The tales are original and unforgettable. The stories
introduce us to a runaway bride, a young woman accused of murder, and plenty more thrills and chills. If
you are looking for beautifully crafted, darkly compelling stories, this book will get your heart racing.
Travel Light, Move Fast by Alexandra Fuller Memoir, Paperback, $25.00 In this memoir, Fuller reflects on
how she is going to survive the loss of her father. She realizes that she will have to rely on the lessons
her father taught her about how to handle all that life throws at you. This story relates the rollicking
misadventures of her mother and father and the pandemonium that was their life. Fuller is an elegant
writer. This book is moving, profound and infused with love, joy and a great deal of humour. Besides
reading this book, I also listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Fuller herself. Her reading was
absolutely wonderful so I also highly recommend that version available from Libro.fm which is our
audiobook partner. (Sue H)

WHEN WOMEN RULED THE WORLD by Kara Cooney (2018)
Nonfiction, Paperback, $22.99
Female rulers are a rare phenomenon--but thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, women reigned
supreme. Regularly, repeatedly, and with impunity, queens like Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra
controlled the totalitarian state as power-brokers and rulers. But throughout human history, women in
positions of power were more often used as political pawns in male-dominated societies. Why did
ancient Egypt provide women this kind of access to the highest political office? What was it about these
women that allowed them to transcend patriarchal obstacles? What did Egypt gain from its liberal
reliance on female leadership, and could today's world learn from its example?
This book is thought provoking and I loved the way the author paralleled the queens of Egypt with
modern women in power positions today and the effect of the long standing patriarchy on women in
positions of power. Fascinating! (Stacey)

STARS OF ALABAMA by Sean Dietrich (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $21.00
Stories both humorous and heartfelt weave together in a patchwork of characters you will love, as they
each wander the Deep South during the Great Depression trying to find love and meaning in a hard
world. Each separate story will present you with vivid characters and engrossing storylines, and then the
novel treats you with how they all come together. (Tina)

THE RED TSAR by Sam Eastland (2010)
Fiction, Paperback, $16.50
Set against the backdrop of the paranoid and brutal country that Russia became under the rule of Stalin,
Inspector Pekkala - known as the Emerald Eye - was the most famous detective in all Russia. He was the
favourite of the Tsar. Now he is the prisoner of the men he once hunted. Like millions of others, he has
been sent to the gulags in Siberia and, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, he is as good as dead.
But a reprieve comes when he is summoned by Stalin himself to investigate a crime. His mission - to
uncover the men who really killed theTsar and his family, and to locate the Tsar's treasure. The reward
for success will be his freedom and the chance to re-unite with a woman he would have married if the
Revolution had not torn them apart. The price of failure - death.
This is gritty and dark mystery that completely immerses you with its historical detail in the time and
place. (Stacey)

ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS by Roxanna Elden (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $22.99
A year with the teachers at an inner city high school in Houston; a new "celebrity" superintendent,
a principal doing his best to just hang on and personal problems that may enter into the classrooms.
Satire in the workplace. (Sandy)

VIRGIL WANDER by Leif Enger (2018)
Fiction, Paperback, $25.50
Virgil Wander, the local movie house owner, is just drifting through his life when his car careens off an
embankment and into the icy waters below. Virgil survives the accident but suddenly he feels a little out
of place in his apartment, his clothes and his life. As he struggles to regain his equilibrium (and his
adjectives), he sees his dying town, and all of its eccentric characters, in a bright new light. This book
was an absolute page-turner, brimming with comedy, emotion and charm. This is the perfect book for
people who enjoy books with irresistible characters, full of whimsy, heart and often hilarity. (Tina)

ALBATROSS by Terry Fallis (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $22.95
Adam Coryell’s high school gym teachers comes across an article in a kinesiology magazine that can
predict what sport a person’s body is best made for with a few simple measurements. Adam is found to
have an off-the-charts measurement for golf. Of all of the many things Adam loves in his life – his high
school sweetheart, Alli, writing stories, and fountain pens – golf is not one of them. However, as he and
his quirky high school gym coach, skyrocket into instant fame and fortune beyond their imagining, Adam
struggles between squandering a gift and the reward that comes with actually earning your worth. (Tina)

OUT OF DARKNESS, SHINING LIGHT by Petina Gappah (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $36.00
Zimbabwean writer Gappah provides a uniquely African voice to the story of Dr. David Livingstone.
Beginning shortly before his death at Chitambo (modern Chipundu, Zambia) in May 1873, this book

details the travels of the men and women of his party who carried his body, and all of his journals and
maps, 1500 miles to the east coast of Africa so he could be repatriated for burial in England. Our
narrators are his cook Halima, a woman with a quick wit and sharp tongue, and Jacob Wainwright, an
exceedingly pious freed slave. During their travels we see the attitudes of not just the colonial powers of
the time, but the changing dynamics among the party much of which is determined by their places of
origin and sense of status and self. (Michelle)

GOOD MORNING, MONSTER by Catherine Gildiner (2019)
Nonfiction, Paperback, $26.95
Psychologist Catherine Gildiner reflects upon the journey that 5 of her patients undertook to wellness –
such difficult journeys that she considers the patients to be heroic. Told with Cathy’s inimitable
storytelling manner, you are drawn into the lives of these heroes. Along the way, we learn about survival
and thriving, as well as what it takes to be the guide along the journey. There is a lot to discuss in this
book. Warning – some issues are very difficult and may cause discomfort. (Susan)

TALKING TO STRANGERS: What We Should Know About The People We Don’t Know by Malcolm
Gladwell(2019)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, $36.99
Why do so many of us trust people we have never met? Gladwell expounds upon myriads of real-life
scenarios where, in retrospect, it all seems quite obvious. Our predisposition is to trust, but it can go
very wrong. Gladwell’s latest foray into modern day social science is an interesting, entertaining read.
(Mike)

LESS by Andrew Sean Greer (2018)
Fiction, Paaperback, $20.99
Greer’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a terrific story of love, relationships and friendships. Arthur Less is
a 50-year-old man running away from his life as an unsuccessful novelist. Recently jilted by a lover of
many years, he embarks on a journey involving ‘half baked’ literary events. What could possibly go
wrong? Less is an intelligent, endearing, hapless character that I absolutely fell in love with. (Mike)

THE FALCON THIEF by Joshua Hammer (2020)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, $35.00
Falconry is a very ancient hunting practice and together with falcon racing is very popular in many
Middle Eastern and Asian countries today. For years the capture of wild birds or the stealing of eggs
from nests in the wild has been banned by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species
(CITES). However, wild birds are considered superior to captive bred birds and this has lead to a very
lucrative black market in birds and eggs. Following the life story of one particular bird thief and the
detective who tried to stop him and his “colleagues”, Hammer paints a very disturbing picture of the
practice of wild-bird capture and the limited powers of CITES when people are actually charged.
(Michelle)

MURDER BY THE BOOK: the Crime that Shocked Dickens’ London by Claire Harman (2019)
Nonfiction, Paperback, $22.95
Lord William Russell was brutally murdered in his bed in May 1840. The police suspected his valet, but
there was little evidence to support their case. In the years leading to the murder the “novel” had
become popular, in particular true crime stories. The most popular was Jack Sheppard about a
highwayman who evades the law. The “Jack Sheppard phenomena” was seen everywhere. Plays were
based on the story, young men emulated the hero, and when the valet finally confessed he cited this

novel in his defence. Harman provides a view of the rise of a new media form and the affects it had on
society at the time including well know figures – Charles Dickens and William Thackeray – as well as the
publishing industry. (Michelle)

ARIA by Nazanine Hozar (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $24.95
Go inside the Iranian Revolution through the eyes of an orphan girl.
One night, in the early 1950s, a kind man stumbles across a baby girl left out in the cold to die. He brings
the baby home and names her Aria. Through Aria we meet three very different women: her adoptive
father’s wife, the miserable and vindictive Zahra; her adoptive mother, the wealthy and kind Fereshteh;
and Meri, the impoverished woman whose connection to Aria is a mystery to her. Through Aria we see
Iran as it was under the Shah, the corruption and conditions that led to the uprising, and the horrible
conclusion to the revolution that leaves you wondering, did anything actually get better? (Kristi)

RABBIT FOOT BILL by Helen Humphreys (2020)
Fiction, Hardcover, $29.99
Based on a true story. In 1947 Leonard Flint is a lonely boy living in rural Saskatchewan when he
befriends a reclusive man, Rabbit Foot Bill. Bill allows Leonard to accompany him on his rabbit hunts, but
one day Leonard witnesses a brutal murder and nothing is quite the same again. Fast-forward fifteen
years and Leonard is a young psychiatrist at Weyburn Mental Hospital, which is starting experiments
using LSD. He also meets up with Bill who is patient at the facility. This is a glimpse into some of the
darker aspects of 20th Century Canadian history and how people survive one day at a time. (Michelle)

THE WOMAN IN THE WHITE KIMONO by Ana Johns (2018)
Fiction, Paperback, $22.99
This story is about the Japanese women who find themselves pregnant with American soldiers’ babies at
the end of the Second World War. As they are left behind by their men, and shunned by their own
families and communities, many of these young girls are forced to make unimaginable choices. This is a
story that ripples down through a generation. (Tina)

EVERYTHING UNDER by Daisy Johnson (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $19.99
A reimagining of the Oedipus myth exploring a fraught mother-daughter relationship. Gretel is a
lexicographer, updating dictionary definitions for a living. Language means something to her, as does the
acute awareness that she’s forgotten more words than she’ll ever know, among them the secret
language shared with her mother during her indigent childhood raised on a river boat. When her
estranged mother drops into her life again after vanishing without a trace for years, Gretel begins to
remember the words, the motion of the river, and the creature that stalked its muddy depths. (Sarah)

THE BOOK OF LONGING by Sue Monk Kidd (2020)
Fiction, Hardcover, $37.00
What if Jesus was married? And his wife was a scholar? Kidd takes these two threads, and with
impeccable research and storytelling skills, draws you into women’s lives in the 1st century. And the
retelling of the ministry of Christ and his disciples undertakes a whole new meaning when viewed
through the eyes of his wife. A powerful imagination of what might have been, and a book that will
generate hours of discussion. (Susan)

THINGS IN JARS by Jess Kidd (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $24.99
Young widow Bridie Devine is a private inquiry agent in Victorian London, hired to investigate the
disappearance of the daughter of a Sir. However, in Jess Kidd's world, NOTHING is ever as it seems. This
is a book with mystery, love, ghosts, friends, horror, humor and...Things In Jars. (Sandy)

A GOOD FAMILY by A. H. Kim (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $22.99
What would you do to protect your family? In the case of the Min-Lindstroms it appears to be almost
anything. Beth Lindstrom is the highflying marketing executive at a pharmaceutical giant until a whistle
blower case lands her in prison. But, was the nanny the real whistle blower? No one thinks she’s bright
enough to gather the information. Hannah Min, Beth’s sister-in-law, is a sharp-minded legal librarian
who will do whatever it takes to help the family even as everything starts to fall apart around her.
(Michelle)

THE INSTITUTE by Stephen King (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $39.99
I was drawn to King’s latest because of many positive reviews, not the least of which included a place in
the New York Times top 100 books of 2019. In brief, it’s a story about children who go missing and end
up in a rather sinister place. More importantly, “The Institute” is worthy of book club members
attention not just because of the riveting entertainment value, but because the activity of the institute
has a solid grounding in science. Scary stuff. Not for the faint of heart. (Mike)

THE GRACE YEAR by Kim Liggett (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $22.99
In the vein of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Power” comes a new take on a dystopian world where
women are denied their power and forced to fight among themselves.
No one speaks about the grace year. It is the year that all 16-year-old girls are sent away to release their
magic and come back home, purified and ready to take on their roles as demure wives and mothers. But
not all of them will make it home alive.
Tierney James dreams of a better life for herself – a life where she isn’t a pawn to some man’s ambition,
where women aren’t pitted against each other. She has the skills and the knowledge to survive the
elements, the determination to survive the poachers. But as her grace year approaches, Tierney
discovers that the greatest threat to the grace year girls may well be each other. (Kristi)

THE COCKROACH by Ian McEwan (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $14.00
Have you ever been a cockroach and wondered what it might be like to become the Prime Minister of
Britain? In this short, very humourous novella, McEwan takes us on a satirical ride through anti-Brexit
Britain. (Mike)

UNDERLAND: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane (2019)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, $42.95 (Paperback Sept 2020 $22.99)
Part travel journal, part philosophical reflection on the state of the world in the Anthropocene. This is
one man’s perspective seen through what lies beneath our feet. From a salt mine in the Mendips of
Somerset to a climb down a moulin on the Knud Rasmussen glacier in Greenland and many points in
between, Macfarlane uses “deep time” (geologic time) to explore our world. We travel with him from
the origins of the universe to what may lie thousands of years in the future. If you have never read

Macfarlane, he is worth it. Not just for his exquisite language, but also for his use of that language to
connect us to the world as he sees it. (Michelle)

THE WAKE by Linden MacIntyre (2019)
Nonfiction, Hardcover, $32.99
This book will appeal to history buffs and to those who don’t think historical non-fiction is their thing.
MacIntyre writes such a compelling story you will be immersed, and will find you can’t put it down.
Starting with the devastating tsunami that struck the Burin Peninsula of southeastern Newfoundland in
November 1929 MacIntyre traces the history of the area through several decades. The tsunami wiped
out the fishing industry, and MacIntyre goes on to tell about the profound hardship that followed. As
mining became the source of employment, that too brought new life threatening issues. The book
reveals the strength and resiliency fundamental to the character of Newfoundlanders. MacIntyre
weaves the facts and history into a powerful story that is a must read. (Sue H)

THE DOLL FACTORY by Elizabeth MacNeal (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $24.99
In a tale of curiosity and dreams, love and obsession true strength is discovered. Iris, a young woman in
1850s London, wants nothing more than to chase her dreams and becoming a painter. When the Pre-
Raphaelite artist Louis Frost asks her to model in exchange for painting lessons Iris is sure all her dreams
are coming true. But a chance encounter with a curiosity collector may derail all of her plans. (Kristi)

THE MIGRATION by Helen Marshal (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $24.95
Storms and floods are worsening around the world, washing away land masses and exposing previously
buried pathogens, one of which appears to be triggering an autoimmune disorder in adolescents. Sophie
and her afflicted sister Kira are whisked away to Oxford where their Aunt Irene is an epidemiologist
obsessed with the Black Death. When Kira succumbs to her condition, Sophie is devastated. Until she
hears a story of ‘the tremors’. This is not a zombie apocalypse story but a human one, of plague and
recovery. A prescient tale of what we are to do when there is no going back to normal.

WAR WIDOW by Tara Moss (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $24.99
Sydney, Australia 1946.
Billie Walker, recently returned war correspondent, has taken over her late father's inquiry agency.
She is hired to find a missing 17 year old boy, but finds a case much deeper and darker than she could
have imagined.

THE UNLIKELY ESCAPE OF URIAH HEEP by H.G. Parry (2020)
Fiction, Trade Paper, $22.99
Charley Sutherland has an amazing magical ability: he can bring characters from books out of their pages
and into the real world. Despite all the years of practice he’s had at it, Charley’s still not that great at
controlling his ability and often calls on his brother Rob for assistance with putting some of the more
troublesome literary characters back where they belong. But Charley isn’t the only “summoner” around,
and when Charley and Rob unwittingly fall into the middle of a nefarious plan to replace the real world
with one populated with literary characters it’s up to them, along with a cast of unique literary
characters, to stop it before their story reaches ‘The End’. (Kristi)

THE NEED by Helen Philips (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $24.99
Molly is a paleobotanist and one of the lead scientists on an exciting new dig. She’s also the mother of a
toddler and a newborn. Her husband is a musician, often traveling for work. She’s exhilarated by
scientific discovery and the opportunity to make a distinguished contribution to science, all the while
exhausted and pumping breast milk in a supply closet. One night she’s home alone with her children and
wakes to the sound of heavy footsteps in the living room. This intruder knows her intimately, knows her
work, knows her children. In fact, this intruder insists all these things are hers and not Molly’s. In this
existential thriller, Philips explores the duality and desperation of motherhood. (Sarah)

LANNY by Max Porter (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $23.00
A fantastical contemporary take on the Green Man myth. In an eclectic English village, an ancient
consciousness resides in every tree, shrub, crumb of dirt, and blade grass. It has seen wars, famines,
plagues. It feels the thoughts, fears, and desires of every person connected to this land and becomes
enthralled with a little boy named Lanny. When Lanny disappears from his bedroom one night, the
community begins to unravel. This novel is part poem, part fairy tale, part illustration of our dual
existence as human beings. We move over the surface of life believing we are free individuals, seldom
acknowledging how strongly tethered we are to a deep root system that connects us all. (Sarah)

LAMPEDUSA by Steven Price (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $32.00
Shortlisted for the 2019 Giller Prize, Lampedusa is the story of an ageing aristocrat struggling to make
something to be remembered by, prior to his demise. Based on a true story set in the 1950s, Price paints
an elegant portrait of the rapidly changing Sicilian Island of Lampedusa and its inhabitants. As with his
best-selling novel “By Gaslight”, I loved how you become immersed in the time and place of a characters
real and existential existence. (Mike)

SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $35.00
Emira Tucker is a young black woman working as a babysitter for a wealthy white family. When a
security guard at their local high-end supermarket accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A
small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Her employer,
Alix, is determined to make it right. Told from both Alix and Emira’s point of view, Reid portrays a
nuanced critique of white feminism, and where the harm lies in doing the right thing for the wrong
reasons. (Sarah)

CHANCES ARE by Richard Russo (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $35.95 Pb $22 Release Date July 7, 2020
I’ve been a fan of Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Russo (Empire Falls, Everybody’s Fool, The
Straight Man) for years. “Chances Are” does not disappoint. If anything, his always brilliant storytelling is
enhanced by the introduction of a mystery. What happened to the girl who three young men all fell in
love with, back in the 1970s? A modern-day beach house reunion on Martha’s Vineyard sets the scene
for an unravelling of complex lives and motives surrounding the meaning of friendship. (Mike)

A WITCH IN TIME by Constance Sayers (2020)
Fiction, Hardcover (Paperback Aug 18 $22.99), $33.00
When Helen Lambert is set up on a blind date she thinks it’s a great way to get back into the dating pool
after her divorce. Instead she discovers a history of tragic past lives and the dark secret that has cursed
her to continue reliving the same doomed love affair and early death over and over again. But this time,
maybe, Helen can stop the curse and learn what it means to truly live, and love, again. Great for fans of
“A Secret History of Witches” and “Outlander”. (Kristi)

LITTLE WEIRDS by Jenny Slate (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $34.00
Jenny Slate is a treasure. She’s a comedian by trade, and a good human by calling. She believes in
ghosts, is obsessively horny, loves animals and flowers, and remains embarrassed and sad about her
divorce even if it was the right thing for everyone. She looks at the world from an angle that’s a bit off, a
bit whimsical, a bit melancholy. But she finds joy in it and you will too in these quirky essays that will
remind you of the funny genuine goodness of people. (Sarah)

MR. PENUMBRA’S 24 HOUR BOOK STORE by Robin Sloan (2013)
Fiction, Paperback, $16.99
The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a web-design drone, and serendipity,
sheer curiosity and the ability to climb a ladder like a monkey have landed him a new gig working the
night shift at Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. But Clay begins to realize that this store is even more
curious than its name suggests. There are only a few customers, but they come in repeatedly and never
seem to actually buy anything. Instead they “check out” impossibly obscure volumes from strange
corners of the store, all according to some elaborate, long-standing arrangement with the gnomic Mr.
Penumbra. The store must be a front for something larger, Clay concludes, and soon he has embarked
on a complex analysis of the customers’ behaviour and roped his friends into helping him figure out just
what’s going on. But once they take their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the secrets extend far
beyond the walls of the bookstore.
This book is full of quirky characters, is laugh out loud funny, and is an homage to the symbiotic
relationship books and technology can have in our present world. (Stacey)

THE WOMEN IN BLACK by Madeleine St. John (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $22.00
The author is Australia’s only writer to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize. This is a lighthearted look at
the lives of women in Sydney, Australia in the 1950’s. The 4 women work in the ladies’
department of a major department store. This book looks at their lives as they work the Christmas sales.
It is a delightful read, well suited to book clubs who want something light. At the same time, it is a great
book to discuss the difference between women’s lives then and now – how much has changed, and how
much has remained the same. (Susan)

THE LAGER QUEEN OF MINNESOTA by J. Ryan Stradel (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $35.00 (Paperback July 2020, $22.00)
This is story of the women in a family who break apart, come together, forge independence and lift each
other up. When their father leaves their farm to the younger of two sisters it leaves a rift in their
relationship that runs a current through each woman’s lives. As they go about their successes and
struggles, through losses and gains, they never forget who they are and where they came from. With
humour and heart, these funny, lovable characters will keep you laughing, cheering and wanting to
crawl right into the book and join in. (Tina)

OLIVE AGAIN by Elizabeth Strout (2019)
Fiction, Hardcover, $32.40
I am recommending this book thinking that many of you will have met Olive Kitteridge before in Strout’s
Pulitzer winning novel of the same name. Olive is back, older, a little wiser and more self-aware but still
crusty and telling it like it is, in her opinion. The book is a series of stories woven together by the
presence of Olive who appears sometimes as a main character, sometimes peripherally. Taking place in
a little town in Maine, the characters have all the flaws and fears we humans have. Olive, for all her
bluster basically is kind and cares about people and their problems. She helps in her way and has
goodness as her motivation. Through Strout’s masterful storytelling we learn more about the human
condition and enjoy growing in knowledge and insight along with Olive. Bottom line, it’s a really good
story. (Sue H)

MISCONDUCT OF THE HEART by Cordelia Strube (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $22.95
Set in a modern day small chain restaurant we find Stevie, the kitchen manager who is trying to keep her
life from falling apart. Not to mention the lives of her eccentric colleagues, a son suffering from PTSD, a
stray little girl and a geriatric dog. Strube draws us into a world filled with anguish and despair, but the
brilliance of her prose renders all this as an exceedingly funny take on the frailties of life. She is
sometimes thought of as a gritty, modern day Alice Munroe. (Mike and Tina)

BARN 8 by Deb Olin Unferth Fiction Paperback 2020 $21.00
Two auditors for the U.S. egg industry go rogue and conceive a plot to steal a million chickens in the
middle of the night—an entire egg farm’s worth of animals. Janey and Cleveland—a spirited former
runaway and the officious head of audits—assemble a precarious, quarrelsome team and descend on
the farm on a dark spring evening. A series of catastrophes ensues.
This book is equally bonkers and philosophical as it tackles the question of what meaningful action looks
like in a world that is so in need of change. (Stacey)

VALENTINE by Elizabeth Wetmore (2020)
Fiction, Paperback, $23.99
Valentine hauntingly explores the effects a brutal crime has on the women of a small Texas oil-town in
the 1970’s. Told through the alternating points of view of characters that will leave a mark on you,
Valentine is both agonizing and, ultimately, tender and hopeful. (Tina)

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate (2019)
Fiction, Paperback, $23.00
Fiction based on fact. The story of a family whose children were taken by Georgia Tan, supposedly to be
educated but, in reality, to be sold. A riveting, heart-wrenching story. (Sandy)