Family dramas, mythological retellings and more await you in February!
2/7: Cold People by Tom Rob Smith
Earth has fallen to an outside force, and the remnants of humanity will only be allowed on Antarctica. Those who make it there confront an urgent challenge: to what extremes are they willing to go to evolve quickly enough to ensure humankind’s survival? (science fiction) A Peak Pick!
2/7: Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein
Two families in 1940s Trinidad, one wealthy and one poor, are inextricably linked by the disappearance of a wealthy landowner. (historical fiction)
2/7: Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell
A woman’s mysterious death puts her husband and son on a collision course with her demonic family, who are determined to pull the son back into the family fold. (horror)
2/7: A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò
Teenage Eniola and doctor Wuraola find themselves caught in the snare of wealth, power, corruption and violence in this story set in contemporary Nigeria. (general fiction)
2/7: Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
This retelling of a classical myth presents Medusa’s story, from growing up as the youngest (and only mortal) of the Gorgon sisters, to her punishment for the crime of another and transformation into a snake-haired monster, to her pursuit by Perseus. (fantasy) A Peak Pick!
2/7: VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
Lucky St. James finds a tarnished silver spoon in the wall of her Toronto apartment, a discovery that sets Lucky and her grandmother on a road trip to New Orleans to connect with a network of witches and forestall a powerful adversary. (fantasy)
2/7: Victory City by Salman Rushdie
In 14th century India, a goddess speaks through nine-year-old Pampa Kampana and breathes into existence the city of Bisnaga, a place where women have equal agency. Over the next 250 years, Pampa Kampana strives to maintain the city in the face of human pride and greed. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
2/7: When Trying to Return Home by Jennifer Maritza McCauley
This short story collection full of Black American and Afro-Puerto Rican characters is a meditation on belonging and the meaning of home. (general fiction)
2/14: The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane
In September 1883, six-year-old Denny Wallace goes missing from a small town in the Australian outback during a dust storm. As community members search for him, the large cast of characters and their daily lives, conflicts, and dreams come into vivid relief. (historical fiction)
2/14: The Wife of Willesden by Zadie Smith
Novelist and essayist Smith turns to playwriting with this adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath, following Jamaican-born British woman Alvita as she tells her life story to a band of strangers in a small pub. (play)
2/21: Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
A reimagining of Antigone in a dystopian future where widespread radiation has led to reproductive oppression. Antigone, living in the last habitable city on Earth under the tyrannical rule of her uncle, is sentenced to death and seeks her revenge. (science fiction)
2/21: The Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff
This sequel to Lovecraft Country finds Atticus Turner and his father facing an old nemesis in North Carolina; Atticus’ uncle George contemplating a deal with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop; Hippolyta and Letitia finding the far end of the universe on a trip to Nevada; and much more. (fantasy)
2/21: I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
Bodie Kane, professor and podcaster, has long put behind her her four years at a New Hampshire boarding school and the murder of her roommate their senior year. When she returns as a visiting instructor, she’s drawn back into the intrigue of the past. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
2/21: The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz
A young author attends an exclusive writer’s retreat, only for it to descend into nightmare. Can she make it out alive? (thriller)
2/28: Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown
Four generations of Black women grapple with a familial curse that sees any person they fall in love with die. When 17-year-old Nickie brings a boy home for the first time, the women are galvanized, set on a course to a New Orleans book shop where they may discover the answers they seek. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
2/28: Homestead by Melinda Moustakis
In 1956 Alaska, two near-strangers are drawn together by a shared dream of homesteading. As they marry and work the rugged land, they must face all they don’t know about one another and the reality of homesteading. (historical fiction)
~ posted by Andrea G.