For the Armchair Time Traveler

THE LAKE ON FIRE BY ROSELLEN BROWN

Two young Jewish immigrants run away from home to make their

way in the seething, harsh tumult of 19th-century Chicago.

THE ROOM ON RUE AMELIE BY KRISTIN HARMEL

An American newlywed, an 11-year-old Jewish girl, and a British Royal Air

Force soldier are brought together by fate and loss in Nazi-occupied Paris.

CIRCE BY MADELINE MILLER

In a lush reimagining of Homer’s Odyssey, powerful witch Circe is banished by

Zeus to a deserted island where she is visited by gods and mortals seeking her aid.

GATEWAY TO THE MOON BY MARY MORRIS

Set in New Mexico, a young amateur astronomer hired as a babysitter finds that

many of the customs of the Jewish family he works for are surprisingly familiar.

LAST HOURS BY MINETTE WALTERS

After learning that the plague is threatening the people of England, Lady Anne of

Develish quarantines her people inside the moat that surrounds her manor home.

For the Hopeless Romantic

A PRINCESS IN THEORY BY ALYSSA COLE

Mistaken as a pauper, a prince decides to keep his identity a secret

as he experiences life and love—until the truth comes out, changing

everything.

THE ROYAL RUNAWAY BY LINDSAY EMORY

A modern-day princess who teams up with a spy to find out what

happened to the fiancé who left her at the altar--and who just might

get her own fairytale in the process.

THE PROPOSAL BY JASMINE GUILLORY

After turning down a scoreboard proposal from her actor boyfriend,

a freelance writer finds herself on the rebound with a handsome

doctor in the wilds of L.A.

THE KISS QUOTIENT BY HELEN HOANG

A 30-year-old math whiz with Asperger’s tries to make her love life

as rich as her career by hiring an escort to help her with her lack of

dating experience.

ONE DAY IN DECEMBER BY JOSIE SILVER

The story of two people, one passing moment, and ten years of

friendship. An exploration of heartbreak, missed opportunities, and

destinies reconsidered.

For the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fan

THE POPPY WAR BY R. F. KUANG

An epic fantasy inspired by 20th-century China

follows a war orphan at an elite military school.

BLACKFISH CITY BY SAM J. MILLER

A woman riding an orca organizes resistance to a corrupt elite

in a floating city built in the Arctic Circle after the climate wars.

SPINNING SILVER BY NAOMI NOVIK

A magical retelling of Rumpelstiltskin set in an endless winter and drawing on

rich imagery and folklore traditions.

THE GREY BASTARDS BY JONATHAN FRENCH

After a deadly showdown, one of the brawling half-orcs that patrol a

no-man’s land between two warring races confronts an ancient threat.

MISS BLAINE'S PREFECT AND THE GOLDEN SAMOVAR BY OLGA WOJTAS

A librarian with hidden talents time-travels to tsarist Russia to prevent a gross

miscarriage of romance and see that only the right people get murdered.

Artwork by Richard Powers

For the Thrill Seeker

A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS BY LINWOOD BARCLAY

Battling PTSD after stumbling onto a murder scene, a professor writes a novel on

a vintage typewriter that he comes to believe is linked to the crime he survived.

THE WOMAN IN THE WOODS BY JOHN CONNOLLY

A discovery in the woods leads a private detective to search for a

missing child, but he is not the only one following the trail left behind.

THE WORD IS MURDER BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ

When a wealthy woman is found dead after planning her own funeral, a disgraced

police detective and his fictional sidekick (author Anthony Horowitz) investigate.

THEN SHE WAS GONE BY LISA JEWELL

A decade after her teenage daughter disappeared, Laurel Mack meets a charming

single man whose daughter bears a striking resemblance to her own lost child.

LET ME LIE BY CLARE MACKINTOSH

Anna is struggling to come to terms with her parents' deaths. The

police say it’s suicide. Anna says it’s murder. They’re both wrong.

For the History Buff

LEADERSHIP IN TURBULENT TIMES BY DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN

An illuminating exploration of the early development and leadership of

presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt,

and Lyndon Johnson.

THESE TRUTHS: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES BY JILL LEPORE

An urgently needed reckoning of the beauty and tragedy of American

history by an award-winning historian and New Yorker writer.

THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR BY BEN MACINTYRE

The story of Russian intelligence operative Oleg Gordievsky and how his

work as an undercover MI6 informant hastened the end of the Cold War.

THE LIBRARY BOOK BY SUSAN ORLEAN

An investigation of the devastating 1986 fire at the L.A. Public Library

inspires a riveting history of the immense impact of libraries and books.

INDIANAPOLIS BY LYNN VINCENT AND SARA VLADIC

A gripping study of the greatest sea disaster in

the history of the U.S. Navy and its aftermath.

For the Deep Thinker

21 LESSONS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI

An innovative thinker takes on today’s most challenging problems, including

technology’s impact on humans and the epidemic of false news.

THE FIFTH RISK: UNDOING DEMOCRACY BY MICHAEL LEWIS

What happens when the people given control over our government have no idea how it

works? And no interest in making it work? From the author of Moneyball and The Big Short.

CALL THEM BY THEIR NAMES: AMERICAN CRISES (AND ESSAYS) BY REBECCA SOLNIT

In this powerful and wide-ranging collection, Solnit turns her attention to battles over

meaning, place, language, and belonging at the heart of the defining crises of our time.

ACCESSORY TO WAR BY NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON AND AVIS LANG

From early celestial navigation to satellite-enabled warfare, a thought-provoking

exploration of the centuries-old relationship between science and military might.

SHE HAS HER MOTHER’S LAUGH BY CARL ZIMMER

A history of the understanding of heredity, how it has shaped

society, and the changes brought about by genetic research.

For the Foodie

THE NEW ESSENTIALS COOKBOOK BY AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN

A step-by-step guide for developing cooking techniques and a knock-out repertoire

of 200 dishes that satisfy the modern palate, from simple meals to dinner parties.

MILK: A 10,000 YEAR FOOD FRACAS BY MARK KURLANSKY

Profoundly intertwined with human civilization, milk has a compelling and a surprisingly

global story to tell, and historian Mark Kurlansky is the perfect person to tell it.

HIPPIE FOOD BY JONATHAN KAUFFMAN

An entertaining look at the colorful origins of once-unconventional foods and the fringe move-

ments, charismatic gurus, and counterculture elements that brought them to the mainstream .

THE PERFECT SCOOP, REVISED AND UPDATED BY DAVID LEBOVITZ

Classic, comforting, and sophisticated recipes take dessert-making skills to the next level.

SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT BY SAMIN NOSRAT

A new master class in cooking that distills decades of

professional experience into just four simple elements.

For the Lover of Literary Fiction

FRIDAY BLACK BY NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH

In stories that dissect the dehumanizing effects of capitalism and racism, Adjei-Brenyah’s

remarkable range and unflagging voice make this a momentous, incisive collection.

HALSEY STREET BY NAIMA COSTER

A modern-day story of family, loss, and renewal, Halsey Street captures the

deeply human need to belong--not only to a place but to one another.

THE GREAT BELIEVERS BY REBECCA MAKKAI

In 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris, the director of an art gallery and a woman looking for

her estranged daughter struggle to come to terms with the impact AIDS has had on their lives.

THERE THERE BY TOMMY ORANGE

A stunningly written account of several urban Native Americans trying to find balance between

tradition and contemporary society as they get ready for a major powwow in Oakland, California.

TELL THE MACHINE GOODNIGHT BY KATIE WILLIAMS

An imaginative, engaging, emotionally resonant vision of a not-too-distant

future in which people find happiness with the help of machines.

For the Cosmopolitan

COMEMADRE BY ROQUE LARRAQUY

TRANSLATED BY HEATHER CLEARY

Shuttling between B-movie horror and exceedingly dark comedy, this novel

is somehow both genuinely scary and genuinely funny, sometimes on the

same page.

THE DAY THE SUN DIED BY YAN LIANKE

TRANSLATED BY CARLOS ROJAS

A rural village devolves into chaos when residents start “dreamwalking,” act-

ing out the desires they suppress during the day. Can the local mortician’s

family save the town before dawn?

KILLING COMMENDATORE BY HARUKI MURAKAMI

TRANSLATED BY PHILIP GABRIEL AND TED GOOSSEN

A reclusive artist is asked to paint a portrait, but the commission turns

surreal when strange characters begin appearing in the middle of the night.

THE GOVERNESSES BY ANNE SERRE

TRANSLATED BY MARK HUTCHINSON

A semi-deranged erotic fairy tale written with the elegance of old French

fables, the dark sensuality of Djuna Barnes, and the subtle comedy of

Robert Walser.

FLIGHTS BY OLGA TOKARCZUK

TRANSLATED BY JENNIFER CROFT

Brilliantly imagined characters and stories, interwoven with haunting, play-

ful, and revelatory meditations, that explore what it means to be a traveler, a

wanderer, and a body in motion not only through space but through time.

For the Curious-Minded

ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW BY NICOLE CHUNG

A Korean adoptee who grew up with a white family in Oregon chronicles

her journey to forge her identity as an Asian American woman and writer.

UNTRUE BY WEDNESDAY MARTIN

Why nearly everything we believe about women, lust, and

infidelity is wrong and how the new science can set us free.

HOW TO BE A GOOD CREATURE BY SY MONTGOMERY

ILLUSTRATED BY REBECCA GREEN

Reflecting on the traits and quirks of thirteen animals, naturalist and adventurer Montgomery

explores empathy, family, loss, and the otherness and sameness of people and animals.

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR MIND BY MICHAEL POLLAN

A groundbreaking investigation into the medical and scientific revolution in the

field of psychedelic drugs, including the treatment of difficult health conditions.

EDUCATED BY TARA WESTOVER

The author traces her experiences as the child of fanatic survivalists, and her resolve to educate

herself enough to be welcomed into a prestigious university and the unfamiliar world beyond.

For the Biography Lover

FREDERICK DOUGLASS: PROPHET OF FREEDOM BY DAVID W. BLIGHT

Blight viscerally depicts the vitality, strength, and determination of his subject,

delivering what is sure to be considered the standard-bearer for years to come.

RUTH BADER GINSBURG: A LIFE BY JANE SHERRON DE HART

The first comprehensive biography of the Supreme Court justice and cultural icon.

NINTH STREET WOMEN BY MARY GABRIEL

Between 1929 and 1959, five women—Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan,

Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler—were central to a profound artistic revolution.

REPORTER: A MEMOIR BY SEYMOUR M. HERSH

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist comes a heartfelt, revealing memoir

of a decades-long career breaking some of the most influential stories of the last half-century.

DE GAULLE BY JULIAN JACKSON

This landmark biography, the first major reconsideration in over twenty years, captures

as never before the titanic figure who refused to accept Nazi domination of France.

This gift guide is based on one created by the Vernon Area Public Library of Lincolnshire, IL.