Library Reads: May 2015

Here is the May list.  Click here for past lists.

May 2015 LibraryReads List

Uprooted

by Naomi Novik

Published: 5/19/2015 by Del Rey
ISBN: 9780804179034

“A young girl is unexpectedly uprooted from her family and becomes involved in a centuries-old battle with The Wood, a malevolent entity which destroys anyone it touches. Fast-paced, with magic, mystery and romance, Novik’s stand-alone novel is a fairy tale for adults.”

Lucy Lockley, St. Charles City-County Library, St. Peters, MO

A Court of Thorns and Roses

by Sarah J. Maas

Published: 5/5/2015 by Bloomsbury USA Children’s
ISBN: 9781619634442

“The human world is in peril. Feyre, a semi-literate girl, hunts for her family’s survival. After she kills an enormous wolf, a fierce fey shows up at her doorstep seeking retribution. Feyre is led to beautiful eternal springs, but the journey is not without danger. Maas masterfully pulls the reader into this new dark fantasy series which feels like a mix of fairy tales, from Beauty and the Beast to Tam Lin.”

Jessica C. Williams, Westlake Porter Public Library, Westlake, OH

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A God in Ruins: A Novel

by Kate Atkinson

Published: 5/5/2015 by Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 9780316176538

“In A God in Ruins, we become reacquainted with Teddy Todd, the beloved little brother of Ursula from Atkinson’s last book. As with Life After Life, this novel skims back and forth in time, and we see the last half of the 20th century through Ted’s eyes and the eyes of his loved ones. At times funny and at others heartbreaking, Atkinson revels in the beauty and horror of life in all its messiness.”

Jennifer Dayton, Darien Library, Darien, CT

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The Water Knife: A Novel

by Paolo Bacigalupi

Published: 5/26/2015 by Knopf
ISBN: 9780385352871

“Bacigalupi’s novel looks at the possible struggle for water rights in the southwestern United States. Reading Bacigalupi’s novel made me thankful for the current easy access to clean drinking water, yet fearful for our future. A great read for any fan of dystopian fiction.”

Lindsay Atwood, Chandler Public Library, Chandler, AZ

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The Knockoff: A Novel

by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

Published: 5/19/2015 by Doubleday
ISBN: 9780385539586

“The Knockoff is a digital-age mash-up of old-school movies The Women and All About Eve, set in the Devil Wears Prada world of a high fashion magazine. I absolutely loved this fresh, charming, addictive and ultimately heroic story of 40-something cancer survivor Imogen’s quest to rescue and rebuild her career, despite the machinations of a younger tech-wiz rival.”

Janet Schneider, Bryant Library, Roslyn, NY

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Early Warning: A Novel

by Jane Smiley

Published: 4/28/2015 by Knopf
ISBN: 9780307700322

“In the second book of the Langdon trilogy, the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist follows the next generation of the unforgettable Iowa family introduced in Some Luck. Beginning with the death of the patriarch Walter in 1953, Smiley chronicles the social consciousness in America of the 1960s. The book goes up to events in the 1970s and early 1980s that touch each family member in unforeseen ways.”

Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, Flemington, NJ

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Seveneves: A Novel

by Neal Stephenson

Published: 5/19/2015 by William Morrow
ISBN: 9780062190376

“Stephenson’s back in fine form with this hard science fiction masterpiece, combining the detail of Cryptonomiconwith the fast-paced action of Reamde. Fans of Anathem will appreciate Stephenson’s speculation about the possibilities of human evolution. This book is a great follow-up for readers who enjoyed the science of Weir’sThe Martian. I heartily recommend Seveneves to SF readers.”

Keith Hayes, Wake County Public Libraries, Cary, NC

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The Ghost Fields

by Elly Griffiths

Published: 5/19/2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780544330146

“Griffiths has written another strong entry in her excellent Ruth Galloway series. Here, Ruth is called in when a World War II plane is excavated, complete with pilot–but the pilot is in the wrong plane. Strong characters combine with an absorbing puzzle to create a hard-to-put-down mystery.”

Beth Mills, New Rochelle Public Library, New Rochelle, NY

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Our Souls at Night: A Novel

by Kent Haruf

Published: 5/26/2015 by Knopf
ISBN: 9781101875896

“Beautiful, elegant and poignant, this novel is a distilled experience of Haruf’s writing. The story of how two elders attempt to poke at the loneliness and isolation that surrounds them will stick with me for a long time to come. I’m amazed at how Haruf says so much with such spare prose. He will be missed.”

Alison Kastner, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

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Little Black Lies

by Sharon Bolton

Published: 5/19/2015 by Minotaur Books
ISBN: 9781250028594

“Set in the Falkland Islands, this novel grabs you from the opening paragraph. A child is missing, and he’s not the first. The incident sets off a chain of events leading to multiple characters confessing to murder. Accustomed to living in an idyllic community, fear and anger escalate among the locals. Bolton has created a page-turner of a story with a surprise ending.”