New fiction roundup, April 2019

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming, and the books actually coming out this April. In the fiction realm, you have several options for revisiting high school and its lasting impacts; stories of immigrants trying to forge their lives in the United States; and much more. Happy Reading!

Bus Reads for March

Commuting to Seattle by bus five days a week gives me a lot of reading time.

Here’s what I read on the bus in March:

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio. On the day that Oliver is released from prison, Detective Colborne, who worked the case and is now retired, has come to ask a question. Oliver agrees to answer, but in his own way. He takes him back 10 years to when he and his classmates at Dellecher Classical Conservatory were working their way through Shakespeare. In their fourth year, the tragedy that was so popular in Shakespeare finally takes its toll. I was a little worried that the Shakespeare would overwhelm me, but the author did an amazing job of making the story accessible for everyone – both those enthralled by the stage and those who prefer to sit in the shadows. I also loved all the characters; they felt so real and flawed.

If You Like Liane Moriarty

Here at the library we love talking with readers, both in person and online via our Your Next Five Books recommendation service. As we do so, there are certain authors who readers will mention to us over and over again. Australian writer Liane Moriarty is one of those authors. For many readers, Moriarty strikes the perfect balance between witty, insightful writing on the challenges of family life and relationships, and mounting tension that builds to a suspenseful climax.

For readers who love Moriarty, we’ve assembled a list of several other titles that have a similar appeal. Here’s a small sampling from our list:

• The Secrets She Keeps, by Deb Caletti. Gathering at their aunt’s once-famous divorce ranch for celebrities, a trio of women confront their own difficulties with love and marriage against the backdrop of the ranch’s tumultuous history.
• The Mother in Law, by Sally Hepworth. A woman’s obsessive fears about how much she disappoints her successful, pillar-of-the-community mother-in-law lead to a controversial disinheritance and a suspicious suicide.
• I Found You, by Lisa Jewell. A lonely single mom who offers shelter to an amnesiac man and a young bride who is told that her missing husband never existed struggle to make sense of their transforming worlds and connection to a sister and brother whose lives where shattered by secrets more than two decades earlier.
• Jean Harley Was Here, by Heather Taylor-Johnson. After Jean Harley is killed accidentally, her husband, mother, two best friends, and the person responsible for the accident all have different perspectives on her life and death.
• Ghosted, by Rosie Walsh. Sarah thinks she has met the love her life in Eddie – until he disappears after leaving for a long-booked vacation. Minutes, days, weeks go by as Sarah becomes increasingly worried. But then she discovers there is a reason for Eddie’s disappearance, and it’s the one thing they didn’t share with each other: the truth.

Check our our full list in the library catalog, and then let us know in the comments below what other great titles for Liane Moriarty fans we’ve missed!

     ~ Posted by David W.

Seattle Rep’s THE WOMAN IN BLACK: Beyond the Theater

Seattle Repertory Theatre presents THE WOMAN IN BLACK adapted by Stephen Mallatratt from the novel by Susan Hill from February 22 to March 24, 2019. The basis for the play, Hill’s novel, is a chilling gothic ghost story set in the remote British moors featuring a solicitor who comes to settle the affairs of a recently deceased client and encounters an unearthly presence terrorizing the townsfolk. For more gothic goodness, check out the novels and films below:

Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
Stewart’s 1958 novel of romantic suspense follows young Linda Martin as she arrives in the French countryside to nanny for nine-year-old Count Philippe de Valmy and encounters his enigmatic adult cousin, Raoul.

Women Spy Writers!

Ian Fleming’s James Bond; John Le Carre’s George Smiley; Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne: the espionage shelves are packed with male spies by male writers. Which makes the following gripping titles and series penned by women a welcome change of pace.

Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht.
A different sort of spy story full of anticipation with an almost sultry atmosphere as we wait along with Vera Kelly.  Set in 1960’s Buenos Aires, Knecht captures the classic Cold War struggle between the CIA and revolutionary, nationalist communists that personified an entire era. Interwoven within the story is how Vera Kelly found herself as a lone spy observing a dangerous coup.  An utterly compelling read that is hard to put down.