Featured Title
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez
Set in 2017 Brooklyn, this delightful debut novel from Xochitl Gonzalez follows the saga of Olga Acevedo, a wedding planner to the rich and powerful, and her brother Pietro, a US Congressman. Into their picture perfect lives crashes their long absent mother, greedy blackmailers, and the overwhelming devastation brought to Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria. It’s a story that brings forth the challenges of gentrification, corruption, family, and what it means to truly weather a storm. A great selection for fans of books like
L.A. Weather or
Halsey Street or authors like J. Courtney Sullivan.
New & Upcoming
The new year brings many exciting new books from debut novels like
The Maid by Francine Prose, a mystery featuring a neurodivergent sleuth who discovers a dead body in a hotel room to a long awaited novel from National Book Award winning author Hanya Yanigahara,
To Paradise.
Nonfiction readers have the pleasure of checking out a newly assembled collection of essays by Zora Neale Hurston,
You Don’t Know Us Negroes. Or check out
The Steal, in which journalists Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague offer a week-by-week, state-by-state account of the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election that culminated with the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol building.
Best Books of 2021
Looking for a good book to read? Our Adult Materials Selector shares the 10 best books she read in 2021.
What We’re Reading
Girly Drinks: a world history of women and alcohol by Mallory O’Meara
This feminist history reveals all of the hidden brewers, distillers, smugglers, and drinkers from history along with plenty more. Once upon a time, women used to control most alcohol production and it was a major means for them to earn money until the forces of the patriarchy and/or colonialism took it, and the power it gave them, away. There is so much to share from the book, but really, you should just read it. It’s delightful! Oh, and check out the author’s first book too,
The Lady From The Black Lagoon, which was equally entertaining and informative.
For More Reading Suggestions: