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Category Archives: Fiction

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

25 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in England, Fiction, Historical Fiction, London

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England, London, orphans, smugglers, smuggling, widows, World War 1939-1945

I’m not sure I’ve ever read a funny World War II book before, until this one. Noel is a 10-year old orphan assigned to live with Vera, a single mother living outside London. Noel is very smart, Vera is very desperate to earn money, and together they make an unlikely duo. This book has a lot of humor, great characters, and just the right amount of emotion.

“I try not to say, ‘If there’s one novel you should read this summer..’ but Crooked Heart tempts me to say it.” (Scott Simon, NPR)

“Crooked Heart explores the Blitz during World War II from two utterly inventive perspectives…. A charming, slanted counterpoint to Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See.” (Library Journal, starred review)

“In ‘Crooked Heart,’ Lissa Evans’s absorbing and atmospheric comic novel, another quietly heroic orphan joins the canon….This is a wonderfully old-fashioned Dickensian novel, with satisfying plot twists….Both darkly funny and deeply touching….It’s a crooked journey, straight to the heart.” (New York Times Book Review)

“The most purely charming read of the summer…. The novel’s heart may be crooked, but it is completely in the right place. And if wanting a happy ending for this offbeat pair is wrong, I can’t imagine a reader on earth who would want to be right.” (Christian Science Monitor)

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The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan

06 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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1939-1945, choirs, diaries, England, music, World War I

This book is recommended by a Weston library patron.

“World War II in an English village seen through the eyes of the most delicious cast of characters you’ll ever meet—The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir is a masterpiece of secrets, misdirection, village gossip, and gleeful disregard for anything but the main chance, as the Home Front learns to carry on. Seldom do you find a writer with such a deft touch—Jennifer Ryan sweeps the reader along to the very last page in a remarkable debut. “
— Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge series

“There’s so much happening in Chilbury: intrigue, romance and an unforgettable cast of characters who aren’t always as they appear. The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir is a charming slice of English wartime life that warms the soul like a hot toddy.”
— Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls

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Circe: a novel by Madeline Miller

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction

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Circel a mythological character, Greek gods, mythology, paranormal

In the vein of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and Ursula Le Guin’s Lavinia, Miller reframes a Greek epic from the point of view of an ancillary female character – the (minor) goddess and witch, Circe.  Her telling is full of atmosphere and empathy, a deep dive into the motivations of a character who got short shrift from Homer.  A good pick for readers of all types, but especially for grown-ups who went through a Greek gods phase as kids.

“Miller’s lush, gold-lit novel – told from the perspective of the witch whose name in Greek has echoes of a hawk and a weaver’s shuttle – paints another picture: of a fierce goddess who, yes, turns men into pigs, but only because they deserve it.”―NPR.org

“A retelling of ancient Greek lore gives exhilarating voice to a witch… [Circe is] a sly, petulant, and finally commanding voice that narrates the entirety of Miller’s dazzling second novel….Readers will relish following the puzzle of this unpromising daughter of the sun god Helios and his wife, Perse, who had negligible use for their child….Expect Miller’s readership to mushroom like one of Circe’s spells. Miller makes Homer pertinent to women facing 21st-century monsters.”―Kirkus, Starred Review

“The goddess of magic is excavated from ‘The Odyssey’ and given an epic of her own.”―Wall Street Journal

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A Crime in the Neighborhood: a Novel by Suzanne Berne

18 Monday Jun 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, murder, mystery

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child witnesses, crime, detective, mystery, Washington D.C

Another Weston Mystery Book Club choice and also a New York Times Notable Book. Set in the Washington, D.C., suburbs during the summer of the Watergate break-ins, Berne’s assured, skillful first novel is about what can happen when a child’s accusation is the only lead in a case of sexual assault and murder.

“A remarkable first novel…that captures the history of child-parent relations for the last quarter of a century.”–The New York Times Book Review “Like Alice McDermott’s That Night and in the tradition of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Suzanne Berne has crafted a child’s disillusionment that mirrors a greater disaffection.”–Newsday

“The ethical issues that unfold as a result are at least as absorbing as Marsha’s own guilt and fascination over her act of false accusation. Berne’s skill with language and her talent for evoking believable, all-too-human characters add to this fascinating story of evil and fear, and the unexpected consequences they engender.” — Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates

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Something Like Happy by Eva Woods

01 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction

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friendship, happiness, life changing

A sweet story of love and friendship with a wonderful overall message; if you liked Jojo Moyes “Me Before You” you’ll like this too.

“Delightful page-turning awaits readers, even with Polly’s inevitable finale. Polly is a wonderful character with a positively infectious attitude-memorable and magnetic, with a healthy dose of gallows humor. Joy shines through the tears, as this novel is a life lesson that should not be ignored.” – Publisher Weekly

“Something like Happy is inspiration in a bottle. Author Woods uses her novel- inspired by a social-media hashtag-to explore the exhilaration of new friendship, the power of loss, and the evergreen tendrils of hope.” –Booklist

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Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

26 Saturday May 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, murder, mystery

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book editors, crime writing, detective, England, London, murder, mystery

This is a fun, twisty murder mystery within a murder mystery.  It’s got some hallmarks of a classic Agatha Christie and a touch of the modern thriller as well.  Two mysteries for the price of one, and both are very engrossing.

Each of the narratives in Magpie Murders is engaging and fluid, each with its own charm, though Horowitz’s joyful act of Christie ventriloquism is, in particular, spectacularly impressive. – Washington Post

Magpie Murders is an ingenious, twisting tribute to the sleepy English countryside murder and will thoroughly entertain readers of old fashioned detective thrillers. – New York Journal of Book

An ingenious funhouse mirror of a novel sets a vintage ‘cozy’ mystery inside a modern frame – Wall Street Journal

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The Power by Naomi Alderman

11 Friday May 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in fantasy, Fiction, Science fiction

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fantasy, muscle strength, sex role, social role, teenage girls, women

What happens when women suddenly inherit unlimited power which allows them to inflict pain and/or death to anyone who tries to attack them? Teenage girls start to run amok and the patriarchy is turned on its head for starters…but is the world where women are in charge more peaceful and less violent? The author goes to the extreme to make some points, but there is very interesting social commentary in this one.

“I was riveted by every page. Alderman’s prose is immersive and, well, electric, and I felt a closed circuit humming between the book and me as I read.”―Amal El-Mohtar, New York Times Book Review

“Sometimes lightning does strike the same place twice. Sometimes it strikes a whole bunch of times. In Orange Award winner Naomi Alderman’s chilling The Power, women across the globe discover a sudden ability to harness their aggression by inflicting electric shocks through their fingertips. Fans of speculative fiction (see also: Margaret Atwood and Ben Marcus) about empowered youth will be struck by Alderman’s speedy and thorough inhabitation of a world just different enough from ours to jolt the imagination.”  – Sloane Crosley, Vanity Fair

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Raven Black by Ann Cleeves

04 Friday May 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, murder, mystery

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crimes against teenage girls, detective, murder investigation, Shetland Scotland, strangling, suspense

When murder strikes a remote hamlet in the Shetland Islands, and the body of a teenage girl turns up in the winter snow, Inspector Jimmy Perez launches an investigation into the killing that takes him into the heart of sinister secrets from the past.

Book One of the Shetland Island Quartet (Shetland Island Mysteries)

“Chilling…enough to freeze the blood.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

“Deserves the top crime writer’s prize in the United States this year. Don’t miss this standout.” —Rocky Mountain News

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The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

20 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction

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aging, brothers and sister, families, fate and fatalism, fortune-tellers, magicians

I loved this book, full of sibling love, magic, and fate. In 1969, 4 siblings (ages 13, 11, 9, and 7) living in NYC hear about a psychic who not only can tell you your fortune, but also the day that you will die. I disagreed with some turns the author took, but overall thought it was very good.

“A family saga about love, destiny, living life and making choices that will cause readers to consider what to do with the time given them on this earth.”—The Huffington Post

“Chloe Benjamin is a novelist to watch….The Immortalists weaves together philosophy and fortune-telling, to great effect….As deft and dizzying as a high-wire act…the reader is beguiled with unexpected twists and stylish, crisp prose….Unwittingly, this ambitious, unorthodox tale may change you too.”—The Economist

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Verdict of Twelve (British Library Crime Classics) by Raymond Postgate

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, murder, mystery

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detectives, jurors, murder trials, mystery, prejudices

Since its first publication in 1940, Verdict of Twelve has been widely hailed as a classic of British crime writing. This edition offers a new generation of readers the chance to find out why so many leading commentators have admired the novel for so long.

“Verdict of Twelve is a superb piece of writing and makes other horror stories seem flat and undiscerning.” — New Yorker

The prosecution and defense present their cases, and the jury retires to consider aspects of the evidence that would startle the court. The characters are well drawn, at times frighteningly so, and the ending is perversely satisfying.  – Publishers Weekly

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