Spot-Lit for May 2013

Posted on May 7, 2013 by everettpubliclibrary

So, you’ve probably heard that Dan Brown, John Sandford, John Le Carré, Isabel Allende, and Kite Runner author Khaled Hosseini all have new books out or due out this month. Below are some more titles getting a lot of advance review buzz and/or publisher support. Click on the titles to read more or to place holds.

General Fiction / Literary Fiction

A Dual Inheritance by Joanna Hershon
A friendship formed at Harvard in 1962 then abruptly broken off is the focus of this love-triangle novel which spans the past fifty years. Hershon’s novel is being compared to Freedom, Rules of Civility, and The Marriage Plot.

Fools by Joan Silber
Occurring in many locations around the globe, and spanning the 1920s to Occupy Wall Street, these interlinked stories look at the ways people dupe one another – subtly or otherwise – and are likewise duped.

First Novels

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
After her father is abducted, an eight-year-old girl and her neighbor, Akhmed, take refuge in a bombed out hospital in Chechnya where Sonja, the sole remaining doctor, treats the wounded and mourns her missing sister. In writing that is detailed and eloquent, Akhmed and Sonja explore their pasts and the events that have bound them together.

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
Pitting Putin’s SVR against the CIA, this exceptional spy thriller includes a host of villains, hit-men, and politicos while employing such spy-trade techniques as counterintelligence, surveillance, “sexpionage,” cyber-warfare and covert communications. Ex-CIA man Matthews knows his stuff.

Under Tower Peak by Bart Paul
Iraq-war vet Tommy Smith and his wilderness guide partner find themselves in the thick of things when they discover the wreckage of a missing billionaire’s airplane high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Thugs and family members all seek their self-interest and Tommy has to dust off the sniper skills he thought he’d retired for good.

Crime Fiction

The End of the World in Breslau by Marek Krajewski
Hard-drinking Eberhard Mock investigates the grisly murders of two seemingly unrelated victims in the Polish town of Breslau in 1927. Evidence deliberately left at both crime scenes points to a single suspect. Suspicion falls on Mock’s wife when she begins to display unusual behavior.

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø
Renegade detective Harry Hole has little to go on in solving the contract killing of a musician. Flawed, frail human nature is revealed in the characters of The Redeemer – along with their ambiguous quests for redemption. This is masterfully plotted crime writing that explores the darkest corners of the human psyche.

SF / Fantasy / Horror

The Human Division by John Scalzi
A bold, hard-SF novel in which earthlings find their own Colonial Union has deceived them and conscripted humans in a generations-long fight with aliens. Things get interesting when the aliens appeal to the betrayed humans to join them in the fight against the CU… Bradbury and Heinlein fans will want to grab this.

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
Charles Talent Manx has a thing for abducting children. Victoria McQueen is the only victim to ever escape his grasp. That was long ago, but he hasn’t forgotten her. And now he has her son.

Red Moon by Benjamin Percy
This supernatural thriller featuring werewolves (lycans) in a story with strong social and geopolitical undercurrents should attract more than just horror fans. Percy’s book is drawing comparisons to Justin Cronin’s The Passage and Max Brooks’s World War Z.

New (to Me) Short Stories

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Richard

I don’t set out intentionally to read short stories. Really. As I look through reviews and hear of books, I simply write down the titles that seem interesting. When I revisit that list later, though, it becomes painfully obvious that I’ve got a short story addiction. I’m sure it reveals some kind of character flaw, a lack of focus perhaps or maybe an inability to commit. Luckily for me denial is a favorite response to problems. So I’m afraid society will have to pry that copy of Winesburg, Ohio out of my cold dead hands.

If you share my affliction, or simply feel like trying something new, here a few superb recent collections.

We Live in Water by Jess Walter
This is the first collection of short stories from Walter, who has recently become well known for the novel Beautiful Ruins, but let’s hope it is not his last. Each story has a strong sense of place, Spokane for the most part, and the empathy Walter displays for his down-and-out characters is matched only by his ability to bring out the humor in everyday situations. Particular standouts include “Virgo” (the tale of a newspaper editor who makes the horoscope section way too personal), “Wheelbarrow Kings” (detailing a misguied attempt to cash in a big screen TV for drug money), and “Don’t Eat Cat” (a dystopian view of a future Seattle that wants to mainstream drug addicted zombies).

A Thousand Morons by Quim Monzo
Absurdity abounds in this surreal collection of brief stories. Be prepared for a man in a nursing home who decides to take up cross dressing (“Mr. Beneset”), and a woman who methodically tries to rid herself of every memory she has every had (“Saturday”). Interspersed are more meditative stream of consciousness pieces such as “I’m Looking Out of the Window” in which the title accurately describes all of the action. If you can, briefly, abandon your sense of reality this collection is well worth the effort and might lead you to see the world in a different light.

The People of Forever are Not Afraid: A Novel by Shani Boianjiu
I know, I know… this title states it is “A Novel”. But it is really a series of connected short stories, in my view, so I’m going to stretch a point. Each story, or chapter if you must, is a different episode from the lives of three young women who grew up together and were conscripted into the Israeli army. While the stories are connected, there is no linear sense of progression. Instead each serves as a vivid description of a time and place, be it a dusty checkpoint in the middle of nowhere with a group of protestors literally demanding to be tear-gassed, or a Tel Aviv sandwich shop which promises to make a sandwich any way the customer demands. Tying everything together is a direct and effective use of language which brings every scene to life.

Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa
Ogawa is one of my favorite authors and is a prolific writer. Sadly many of her works are not translated into English. Imagine my delight then, when I found out, thanks Spot-Lit, that a collection had just been translated. Revenge is a series of stories that are connected but often in ways that seem oblique at first. I hesitate to describe the plots of the various stories. Let’s just say her language is sparse but very affecting and the overall impact is a quiet foreboding that is ultimately toxic. This may not sound like a compliment but trust me, it is. Here is an example, from the story “Afternoon at the Bakery”, for you to get a feel for her writing:

The kitchen was as neatly arranged as the shop. Bowls, knives, mixers, pastry bags, sifters—everything needed for the work of the day was right where it should be. The dish-towels were clean and dry, the floor spotless. And in the middle of it stood the girl, her sadness perfectly at home in the tidy kitchen. I could hear nothing, not a word, not a sound. Her hair swayed slightly with her sobs. She was looking down at the counter, her body leaning against the oven. Her right hand clutched a napkin. I couldn’t see the expression on her face, but her misery was clear from the clench of her jaw, the pallor of her neck, and the tense grip of her fingers on the telephone.

The reason she was crying didn’t matter to me. Perhaps there was no reason at all. Her tears had that sort of purity.

So there you go: Several short story collections from which you have nothing to fear. Well, be advised, they may be habit forming.

Richard

Spot-Lit for March 2013

Posted on March 8, 2013 by everettpubliclibrary

How exciting for short fiction fans to see George Saunders’ story collection, Tenth of December, rise on national best-seller lists and amass 15 holds on our 5 local copies (we spot-lit it in January). Those of you who enjoyed these stories might want to go on to The Fun Parts, Sam Lipsyte’s new story collection due out this month.

Below are ten forthcoming, full-length novels for you to enjoy. Click the titles to read more and place holds. For all new fiction on order, click here.

General Fiction / Literary Fiction

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
This beguiling story links a suicidal Tokyo teen, a centenarian Buddhist nun and a Vancouver novelist. A poignant, emotional reckoning of meaning, life and time.

Benediction by Kent Haruf
Strained and estranged family relationships along with end-of-life realities are at the center of this humane novel by the acclaimed author of Eventide and Plainsong.

Middle C by William Gass
Joseph Skizzen emigrates from Austria during World War II and grows up in Ohio where he ultimately becomes a piano teacher. It’s impossible to summarize this wide-ranging and language-rich story in a sentence or two, but adventurous readers should be pleased.

First Novels

The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne
Defense attorney Daniel Hunter confronts his own troubled childhood and difficult past while representing an 11-year-old boy accused of killing a younger boy. A legal thriller charged with psychological insight.

Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins
An alternate history set in Stalinist Russia that stirs together revolutionaries, cabaret girls, terrorism, the secret police and elements of the paranormal.

Masterman

Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman
Brigid Quinn has just retired – or so she thought – from a career as a sex-crimes undercover agent when there’s a new lead in the Route 66 serial killer case – the only one she’d left unsolved.

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Moore
Three women and four decades of their close-knit lives – school, marriages, parenthood, and more – all watched over by Big Earl and served with his copious plates of fried chicken. Fans of The Help and Waiting to Exhale should enjoy.

Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill
Welcome to the Limestone Kingdom, a land not easily left behind. This dark literary fantasy in the mold of Neil Gaiman and Lev Grossman offers an intricate plot and exceptionally well-developed characters.

Crime Fiction /Suspense

Death on a Pale Horse by Donald Thomas
As regular readers of areadinglife know, many authors have picked up where Arthur Conan Doyle left off. Donald Thomas offers a worthy addition that has Sherlock Holmes and Watson tracking down an international conspiracy of criminals who have designs on bringing down Britain.

A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths
The recent discovery of King Richard III’s skeleton should give a boost to Griffiths’ fifth forensic mystery, in which King Arthur’s remain have been discovered, a fellow archaeologist is murdered, and a right-wing group is terrorizing a local campus.

Spot-Lit for February 2013

Posted on February 1, 2013 by everettpubliclibrary

February brings books by popular authors ranging from Dave Barry to Danielle Steel, and from literary limelighters such as Ismail Kadare and Jamaica Kincaid (her first novel in 10 years). Find these and more in our complete list of items on order here. Below you’ll find a hand-picked mix of books we think you’ll especially want to know about – click on the links to read more about them or place them on hold.

General Fiction / Literary Fiction

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
Following Russell’s popular and acclaimed novel Swamplandia comes this collection of eight stories, described as strange, stunning, luscious, arresting, unique, mind-blowing, and tender.

Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster
Lissy Ryder no longer rules the halls of her high school – in fact it’s 20 years later, and she’s just lost her job, husband and condo in this whimsical novel of stock-taking and starting over.

The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne
Jonny Valentine is a preadolescent pop star in this sharp, witty and humane satire that looks at our obsession with celebrity worship, fame and star-making’s devastating effects on childhood innocence.

Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa
Previous Shirley Jackson Award-winner Ogawa is in fine form in these eleven interconnected stories. As the publisher puts it, “Revenge is a master class in the macabre that will haunt you to the last page.”

Tirza by Arnon Grunberg
An inept, middle-aged man has already lost his wife, his job, a fortune (to a hedge fund that tanked in the wake of 9/11), and spurred his eldest daughter to flee. Now his youngest daughter, Tirza, wants to travel in Africa with her boyfriend – who looks just like Mohammed Atta. The publisher calls this “a heartrending and masterful story of a man seeking redemption.”

First Fiction

Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
When a big-time casino robbery goes awry, the perps call in a mysterious fixer known only as Jack to help salvage the situation – while staying one step ahead of the FBI. This white-knuckle thriller introduces a strong new talent.

Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason
Under trying circumstances, everyman Jason Getty commits a murder and buries the body in his backyard – but his life gets complicated when a landscaper discovers two more bodies buried on his property. An assured and entertaining debut.

Middle Men by Jim Gavin
One sad sack after another realizes he won’t reach his ideals in this searing, hilarious, and poignant collection of stories set in our current era of diminished expectations.

Bear Is Broken by Lachlan Smith
Leo Maxwell is in for some shocking surprises about his family when he tries to figure out who killed his criminal defense attorney brother – a man as reviled by street thugs as by those working in the police department.

Crime Fiction /Suspense

The Burning Air by Erin Kelly
The MacBrides live a life of upper-class privilege, but upon the death of Lydia, the family matriarch, they discover they have an unknown enemy who claims Lydia was a murderer, and he is intent on taking the family down.

Bad Blood by Dana Stabenow
Stabenow’s mysteries featuring Alaskan sleuth Kate Shugak are popular here in Everett, and her new one about two clans of rival Native Alaskans finds her risking more than ever.

Horror

Last Days by Adam Nevill
A pair of documentary filmmakers find more than they were looking for as they re-examine the 1970s mass suicide by members of the Temple of the Last Days cult. This paranormal thriller may well keep you awake at night.

Winter of Our Discontent

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Richard

With the holidays behind us we now face, let’s be honest, a month or two that can sometimes seem a little bleak. Sure you might get a glimpse of the sun now and again but the cold temperatures will remind you that spring is a ways off. When it comes to selecting what to read this time of year the healthy thing to do, most would say, is to distract yourself with light, humorous or optimistic fiction and be sure in the knowledge that the season will change.

Sadly, I just can’t take that advice. Perhaps it is a case of misery loving company but I always end up selecting titles that are more reflective of the short days and cold nights. If you are of my disposition, or just feel the tug of something dark at your sleeve now and again, you may want to sample a few of these titles. They are a bit strange, disturbing and at times a tad depressing but for your convenience I will list them from least to most despair inducing. If you have to bail early I totally understand.

Tochtli, the young boy at the center of Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos, has his heart set on one thing: A Liberian pygmy hippopotamus. It might seem an impossible choice but Tochtil’s father is a powerful, and paranoid, drug kingpin who denies his son nothing while keeping him, and a few retainers, isolated in a mansion in the desert. More absurdities abound (including a hat collection, samurais and a fascination with the French Revolution) but what humor there is, is definitely dark. This slim novel is told entirely from the boy’s unique perspective and skillfully reflects the isolated nature of his existence while blending the real with the seemingly fantastic.

The characters in the short story collection Stay Awake by Dan Chaon also inhabit a space somewhere between the real and, for lack of a better word, something else. What that “something else” actually is, is left tantalizingly unclear. But you definitely get the feeling it isn’t good. ‘The Bees’ tells the story of a boy’s inexplicable nightmares that trigger his father’s sense of guilt about the family he abandoned. ‘Patrick Lane, Flabbergasted’ is the tale of a directionless 20 something who is living in his dead parents’ house with a growing sense of dread. ‘I Wake Up’ follows a foster child who suddenly starts getting calls in the middle of the night from his long lost sister who wants to talk about a past he can’t remember. Chaon’s characters are sympathetically drawn and artfully reflect the confusion and pain of a personal loss that can lead toward an altered view of reality.

This last book is not for the faint of heart. But with the title of Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Gone that isn’t too surprising. The author, Stefan Kiesbye, has created a seemingly innocuous rural town in Germany, Hemmersmoor , that outsiders see as a bit backward but typical of its type. As the novel opens, several of the children who grew up there have come back later in life for a funeral. Their recollections, some repressed others freely remembered, of what occurred in their childhood are then shown in a series of interconnected stories. The town their tales reveal is a darkly fantastical place full of cruelty, vice, vindictiveness and horror. The best way to think of this chilling book is as a cross between Shirley Jackson and the Brothers Grimm.

You made it. Well done. Apologies if I bummed you out, but hey, it is January after all.

Richard

Spot-Lit for January 2013

Posted on January 14, 2013 by everettpubliclibrary

Whether you want to get the new year going with a new author (the first-time novelists listed here are getting rave reviews) or a returning favorite, there’s a lot to choose from this month.

And if you happen to be a Downton Abbey fan, you’ll want to check out Habits of the House, a new book by Fay Weldon (author of the pilot for Downton-predecessor Upstairs, Downstairs), and the debut novel, Ashenden by Elizabeth Wilhide. You might also take a look at The Tutor’s Daughter by Julie Klassen.

General Fiction / Literary Fiction

Tenth of December by George Saunders
Saunders, known for his sharp, oddball satire, adds deep emotion and compassion to the mix in this knockout collection of 10 new stories.

Ways of Going Home by Alejandro Zambra
A story within a story set in Pinochet’s Chile that reflects on life under dictatorship and explores the nature of writing.

First Novels

Truth in Advertising by John Kenney
This highly anticipated debut from a New Yorker humorist, features a burnt-out 39-year-old ad-man whose long-estranged father has just gone into the hospital – witty, spot-on accounts of work and coworkers, lovers and friends, and a family in crisis.

The Intercept by Dick Wolf
Ground Zero’s new Freedom Tower is threatened – and more – in this high-energy, twisty, terrorism and espionage thriller from the man responsible for TV’s popular Law and Order series.

The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell
Upon their negligent parents’ deaths, Marnie and Nelly bury them in the backyard and try to avoid detection for a year – when Marnie will be old enough to become the guardian of her sister. A compelling coming-of-age novel that is bleak, moving, and at times funny.

Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman
Nora Hamilton’s seemingly happy husband has hung himself. As she struggles through her grief and begins to dig into the circumstances of his death, she discovers shocking secrets about both her spouse and the town in this taut thriller.

Motherlunge by Kirstin Scott
The theme of motherhood winds through this realistic story of two sisters as they tussle with the decision of whether or not to have children while also dealing with their own mentally fragile mother. Likable characters and solid storytelling.

Six-Gun Tarot by R.S. Belcher
An ancient evil comes to inhabit a played out silver mine in Golgotha, Nevada where a host of characters, who are not quite what they appear to be, attempt to reckon with it in this wild-west steampunk debut.

Crime Fiction /Suspense

Gun Machine by Warren Ellis
A lunatic with a shotgun kills detective John Tallow’s partner, and a cache of weapons is discovered with connections to killings that span decades in this noirish twist on forensic detective work.

The Third Bullet by Stephen Hunter
Sniper Bob Lee Swagger is back, and this time he’s tracking down evidence that may indicate the presence of another gunman in the JFK assassination.

Retribution by Adrian Magson
Ex-MI5 agent Harry Tate’s past comes back to haunt him when an assassin begins tracking down all the members who were part of the U.N. close-protection unit during the Kosovo war – one of whom is alleged to be involved in the rape and murder of a young girl.

Science Fiction

Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton
A clone in the extended North family is murdered in 2143, leaving precious little evidence for Sidney Hurst to go on, though what he turns up could connect the murder with a two-decade-old slaughter. Epic, big idea, thrilling science fiction.

Romance

The Tutor’s Daughter by Julie Klassen
Emma Smallwood goes with her father to tutor a baron’s four sons, but mysterious events occur that both threaten and tempt in this suspenseful, gothic, Regency romance.

Spot-Lit for December 2012

Posted on November 29, 2012 by everettpubliclibrary

December brings new releases by a number of favorite authors, including: Jim Butcher, Tom Clancy, Joy Fielding, W.E.B. Griffin, Linda Howard, Karen Robards, Stuart Woods, and the team of Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.

But we wanted to be sure you also heard about the titles below.

General Fiction / Literary Fiction

A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks
Faulks links five remarkable stories across continents and centuries as his characters seek human connection and understanding.

A Thousand Morons by Quim Monzó
Nineteen stories, a mix of longer pieces and flash fiction, that surprise, amuse, horrify, and astonish.

First Novels

Ru by Kim Thúy
A flowing reminiscence of the immigrant experience that takes ten-year-old Nguyen An Tinh from her beloved Saigon to Quebec – and decades later, back to Vietnam. Winner of Canada’s Governor General Award.

Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See by Juliann Garey
A stark exploration of the ravages of mental illness is at the heart of this story of a man who goes off his meds, abandons his family, and travels the world in search of himself.

Crime Fiction /Suspense

Dying on the Vine by Aaron Elkins
In Tuscany, detective Gideon Oliver discovers the remains of a vintner and his wife, and he’s not buying the police’s assertion that it’s a murder-suicide.

Thieves of Legend by Richard Doetsch
In this globe-hopping thriller, reformed thief Michael St. Pierre and his ex-girlfriend must steal two artifacts that, together, will solve one of history’s greatest mysteries.

Come the Fear by Chris Nickson
Constable Richard Nottingham investigates the death of a woman and her unborn fetus in the seedy environs of 18th-century Leeds.

What’s on Ron’s Bookshelf?

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Ron

Today we answer that age-old question, “What’s on Ron’s Bookshelf?” Some people take too much food at a meal because their eyes are bigger than their stomach. I check out far more books than I can actually read because I want to look important and smart.

Rather than tell you about each of the books, I will tell you why they ended up on my bookshelf. If you’re interested in further details click on a link to go to the library’s catalog, which is chalk full of information about each title.

So, without further ado, here’s what’s on Ron’s bookshelf.

The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow
I enjoyed Saintcrow’s series about Jill Kismet, exorcist and demon slayer, not a read that would typically interest me. If Saintcrow can engage me in a topic I don’t care about, then The Iron Wyrm Affair, a novel of Victorian steampunk, should be a shoo-in.

The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
A review of The Map of the Sky by the same author made reference to this first book in the series. Upon further investigation I discovered a mix of time travel, H. G. Wells and Jack the Ripper, and seriously, what more can a fellow ask for?

Scorch by Gina Damico
A glowing review lead me to Croak, the first book in this trilogy (Scorch is second) about grim reapers, their jobs and living conditions. Funny and touching, exciting and poignant. Hoping for more of the same in this follow-up.

Five Novels of the 1940s & 50s by David Goodis
Recently I’ve developed a strong interest in pulp and noir. Goodis is an author I’d not heard of before and I ran across him in research. The stories in this collection are reputed to be superior examples of the genre.

The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper
Victorian England, a plague, zombies, clockwork automatons, pirates…

Guys & Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon by Damon Runyon
No one else uses language or creates a bygone time like Runyon. It is a delight to experience his prose, characters and unforgettable stories.

So You Created a Wormhole: A Time Traveler’s Guide to Time Travel by Phil Hornshaw
This humorous look at the science behind time travel theory provides heady knowledge as well as entertainment. And gossip about Einstein.

False Negative by Joseph Koenig
Recently the Hard Case Crime series has re-released older pulp/noir classics as well as new or unpublished stories. The recently-penned False Negative is the first book by this critically acclaimed author in 20 years.

Death Warmed Over: Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. by Kevin J. Anderson
This is a book I found whilst browsing. Why did I choose it? Three words: Zombie. P. I.

How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees
I encountered this book in a review and its quirky humor appealed to me. Little did I know that it is perhaps the funniest book in existence. The dry text takes an exhaustive and authoritative look at the artisanal craft of pencil sharpening. You will never need another book on the subject.

The Diviners by Libba Bray
I recently finished Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, a humorous look at beauty pageants, and it was one of the more entertaining books I’ve read in some time. The Diviners looks like an entirely different beast, focusing on occult-based murders in 1926.

The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine
Ballantine’s first book, Phoenix Rising, was one of my favorite’s of 2011. It’s a rip-roaring, dynamite ‘splodin’, secret agent whirlwind set in a steampunk Victorian England. I have eagerly awaited the sequel.

So now you know what’s on my bookshelf. Feel free to share your own bookshelf denizens with me. Perhaps we can get together to discuss some titles once I’m done building my time machine.

Ron

Spot-Lit – November 2012

Posted on November 2, 2012 by everettpubliclibrary

General Fiction / Literary Fiction

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg
When Richard Middlestein leaves his wife of thirty years due to her obsession with food and her ever-expanding waistline, the members of the extended, dysfunctional family take sides.

Magnificence by Lydia Millet
Susan Lindley is directionless after the death of her husband, until she inherits an uncle’s mansion and decides to restore his taxidermy collection. A stunning conclusion to the acclaimed trilogy that began with How the Dead Dream.

Dear Life by Alice Munro
Munro is one of the greatest short story writers of our time, and this new collection offers poignant and accessible stories with deeply drawn characters and compelling insights.

Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Philip Pullman
Upon the 200^th anniversary of the publication of the first Grimm’s fairy tales, Philip Pullman retells and comments on 50 of his favorites in this excellent collection.

LoveStar by Andri Snaer Magnason
This young Icelandic author’s futuristic novel has been described as a unique hybrid of Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, George Orwell, Monty Python, and Richard Brautigan, with even a touch of Nicholas Sparks thrown in.

First Fiction

The Trial of Fallen Angels by James Kimmel
The publisher blurbs this one as “The Trial meets The Lovely Bones in this gripping novel about justice and forgiveness, both human and divine.”

The Dark Winter by David Mark
English detective and family man Aector McAvoy has to sacrifice home time when he finds a pattern in a number of suspicious deaths that had evaded other investigators.

Bad Glass by Richard Gropp
Something strange is going on in Spokane, Washington. Videos surface about unusual creatures and unexplained disappearances. A photographer sneaks past the military quarantine to see what he can discover – about the city and about himself.

The Colony by A.J. Colucci
Big, mutated ants have taken over Manhattan in this thriller that has a pair of divorced scientists trying to tackle the problem before the military takes more drastic measures.

Birds of a Lesser Paradise by Megan Mayhew Bergman
Human relationships and the natural world – in both its bucolic and menacing aspects – are at the center of this collection of stories that is being hailed as a spectacular debut.

Crime Fiction

Death in the Small Hours by Charles Finch
Charles Lenox’s quiet time off at his uncle’s Somerset estate turns into a busman’s holiday when a series of small crimes are discovered to have much higher stakes and pose a more personal threat.

The Boy in the Snow by M.J. McGrath
Edie Kiglatuk is in Alaska to help her ex-husband race in the Iditarod, but after discovering a dead baby in the woods she begins an investigation that uncovers human trafficking, political corruption, and a painful secret from her past.

Looking for Yesterday by Marcia Muller
Caro Warrick was acquitted of murdering her best friend but can’t shake the suspicious treatment she receives from everyone around her. Detective Sharon McCone thinks she can help – until Caro herself becomes a victim.

The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle
Sleuth Sam Levitt finds himself between thuggish gangsters and ruthless real-estate developers on the coast of France, where he defends his client’s interest while enjoying the food, wine and sunshine of the region.

Fantasy

Crown of Vengeance by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
The story of Elven Queen Vielissiar Faricarnon – the first elf to ever bond with a dragon and to face the Endarkened in battle.

Krampus: the Yule Lord by Gerald Brom
Songwriter Jesse Walker comes into possession of Santa’s magic gift sack – and comes between Santa and Krampus, the demon trickster who was once betrayed by Santa and imprisoned some 500 years ago.

Romance

A Royal Pain by Megan Mulry
Strong characters and delicious timing mark this fairy tale romance between once-burned Bronte Talbott and Max Heyworth – the pauperish doctoral student who has proposed, though she doesn’t yet know he’s a duke.

‘Twas the Night After Christmas by Sabrina Jeffries
Pierce Waverly, the Earl of Devonmont, is estranged from his mother and is determined never to marry, but Camilla Stuart, his mother’s new companion, tricks him into an extended visit, where reconciliation begins – and romance too.

The Big Names

Spot-Lit focuses on new books that have received a consensus of positive advance reviews, but are by both established and emerging writers who may have eluded your attention. That’s to take nothing away from best-selling authors. Some of the better-known novelists with new releases in November are: Barbara Kingsolver, Vince Flynn, Ian McEwan, Colm Tóibín, Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich, Clive Cussler, and Roberto Bolaño – click their names to read more about their new books or to put them on hold. All on-order titles can be found here.

Spot-Lit for October 2012

Posted on October 1, 2012 by everettpubliclibrary

General Fiction / Literary Fiction

Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories by Sherman Alexie
Northwest favorite Alexie combines 15 of his most popular stories with 15 new ones, showcasing his mordant humor and bracing audacity as he tackles all manner of subjects.

Familiar by J. Robert Lennon
As she is returning from her son’s grave, Elisa Brown enters a twilight zone in which everything changes – her son is suddenly alive again, her marriage happier, she has a new job. To pierce the veil of her new world she must see deeply into her authentic self. Can she do it? Could anyone?

The Twelve by Justin Cronin
A government experiment gone wrong unleashed a deadly virus in Cronin’s 2010 apocalyptic hit, The Passage. This time-skipping sequel finds survivors on the trail of the original twelve virals, and at tremendous risk.

Illuminations by Mary Sharratt
Historical fiction based on the remarkable and resilient 12^th century abbess, composer and visionary Hildegard von Bingen.

First Novels

The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engelmann
Emil Larsson is a self-satisfied bureaucrat and bachelor, but eight cards laid down by a fortune-teller augurs well for his love-life. Or does it? The plot thickens in this character-rich tale set in late 1700s Stockholm as political chaos and rebellion threaten.

The Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles
In this darkly humorous novel a man is asked to house-sit by his more well-to-do friend who leaves quite pointed instructions – particularly regarding his expensive wood floors. The spilling of a glass of wine on the floor is only the beginning of things going disastrously wrong.

Fra Keeler by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
Reality begins to appear uncertain and off-kilter for a man who has moved into a house previously owned by Fra Keeler, who had died in it.

Sutton by J.R. Moehringer
The real life criminal Willie Sutton is the subject of this novel about a man who hated banks and was driven to a life of crime by his first love and accomplice – who later broke his heart. By the author of the memoir The Tender Bar.

Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos
Tochtli is the son of a Mexican drug lord who lives in a palace with hitmen, prostitutes, and other underworld figures. Advance reviews report this mix of childhood innocence and big-time corruption is impeccably narrated from the child’s perspective.

Crime Fiction /Suspense

Unattended Death by Victoria Jenkins
Detective Irene Chavez investigates the case of a woman’s body that is found in a slough of the Puget Sound in this psychologically astute and assured mystery.

Phantom by Jo Nesbo
Renegade lawman Harry Hole returns from Hong Kong to Oslo when he learns the son of the woman he lost but still loves has been arrested for murder. His investigation takes him through an underworld of drugs and politics as well as his own troubled past.

A Private Venus by Giorgio Scerbanenco
This Italian noir classic from 1966, just now being released in English, focuses on Dr. Duca Lamberti who agrees to treat a young patient only to discover a past woven with dark crimes that make him suspect Mafia involvement.

Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
Joe Coughlin goes from committing youthful petty crimes to becoming a full-blown mobster in this vivid account of Prohibition-era America.

SF / Fantasy / Horror

The Hydrogen Sonata by Iain M. Banks
Lieutenant Commander Vyr Cossont tries to clear her name when efforts to join the Culture, an intragalactic league, meet with violence and the Gzilt civilization is imperiled.

Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey
Daisy Johansson, offspring of an incubus, keeps the peace between the regular folk and the supernatural community in a mid-western town, but a drowning raises tensions and threatens the paranormal tourist trade.

Wonders of the Invisible World by Patricia McKillip
Fantastic stories grounded in fairy tales and myth from the multiple award-winning fantasy author.

Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist
An abandoned baby is found, brought home and taught to sing. After singing on television, she is brought together with another young girl who saw the performance – with horrifying consequences.

These promising, hand-picked titles are due to be published in October. To see all the new fiction that’s on order, click here.

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Category Archives: Short Stories

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