recommendations & reviews for adults

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 

Ursula is born in England in 1910 and has many alternate lives, as she keeps being born again and ending up in new situations. Great details about WWII London and Germany; fascinating book. Blurb by Martha.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Alex Stern is a high school dropout heading down a dark path when she is offered a second chance: all she has to do is attend Yale University and monitor the cocult activities of New Haven's secret societies. But her past is not forgotten ... and is this an even darker path for Alex? Blurb by Amy.

The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt

Twin sisters Antonina and Helena Dabrowska resist the Nazis in Poland. Antonina tries to rescue as many Jewish children as possible, while Helena becomes part of Poland's secret army. At the same time, their sisterly bond is challenged because what they are doing has to be kept secret, even from each other. Blurb by Linda.

The Sellout by Paul Beatty 

A satire about race relations and white privilege that somehow will make you laugh while you wince. Blurb by Martha.

House of Cotton by Monica Brashears

Magnolia, 19 and without money, takes a job with con man Cotton, who owns a funeral home. Her job: to model as the spirit of dead women whom customers pay to see. Her situation goes from bad to worse as Cotton's requests become increasingly strange. Blurb by Linda.

Love by Roddy Doyle

Two old friends spend the night in a pub in Dublin, drinking and talking. Lots of Irish humor and melancholy, just like life. Blurb by Martha.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries  by Heather Fawcett

1909 - Emily travels to the Far North to catalog "the Hidden Ones" and partners with a fellow professor in some dangerous and some lighthearted adventures. Blurb by Martha.

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

How does someone manage to steal more than 200 famous works of art, valued at over a billion dollars? And why amass such a collection in the first place? The Art Thief tells the story of Breitwieser and Anne-Catherine as they plunder their way across Europe. Nonfiction. Blurb by Catherine.

Three Junes by Julia Glass

A Scottish widower goes to Greece one June. Six years later his three sons gather at their old home for his funeral. A family story told with compassion and belated understanding. Blurb by Martha.

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Sasha, a middle-class girl from Rhode Island, marries into an ultra-rich Manhattan family and faces misunderstandings and cultural differences. Humorous but with real emotional impact. Blurb by Martha.

The Bone Clocks  by David Mitchell

This one is a slow burn - and so worth it! You're reading the story of Holly Sykes's life, from adolescent angst in 1984 to old age in 2043, from her perspective and those of the (sometimes rather odd) people she encounters. A metaphysical thriller and "chronicle of our self-devouring times". Blurb by Amy.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki 

A writer in Canada finds a lunchbox washed up on the beach that contains a diary of an unhappy Japanese teenager who turns to her zen grandmother for help. Sad but hopeful. Blurb by Martha.

Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce

In WW2 London a young woman gets a job as a typist for an advice columnist - but she doesn't agree with the advice so she starts writing her own. Funny but with wartime realities. Blurb by Martha.

The Overstory by Richard Powers

Trees are our best friends; the book follows several characters who are fighting in the great Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest. Blurb by Martha.

 Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Set in the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln's son is laid to rest, this book is a chorus of voices of the graveyard inhabitants, who want to tell their life stories. Blurb by Martha.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Although magic is common in Red London, Antari magic is not. The Antari are the only ones who can travel between parallel universes - and they’re a dying breed. Kell, a resident of Red London and unofficial member of the Royal Family, is one of the last. But when a routine diplomatic mission takes Kell to Grey London, a chance encounter with a cunning thief named Delilah Bard takes him on an adventure that will upend all his expectations about what is possible - in his London, and in all the others. Blurb by Catherine.

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

Police detective Manon Bradshaw is charged with investigating a missing student. Do you like British procedurals? This is clever, suspenseful and has humor. Blurb by Martha.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

I never imagined that I would describe a book as both utterly disgusting and heartwarmingly wholesome, but here we are. Nightmarish apparitions, mild body horror, gay conversion camp, and the triumph of love - Camp Damascus was absolutely the summer horror novel I didn't know I needed. Blurb by Catherine.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Count Rostou is sentenced to house arrest at a grand hotel across from the Kremlin. As the years go by he makes friends with the staff, runs out of money, and finds a life of purpose. A beautiful book! Blurb by Martha.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

The Taming of the Shrew is updated to current day Baltimore, where reluctant pre-school aide Kate is pressured by her father to marry Pyotr, a scientist whose visa is expiring. Funny, charming, thoughtful. Blurb by Martha.

Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine

Supernatural thriller? Horror novel? A devastating reflection of how women - particularly pregnant women - are so often dismissed as hysterical? Delicate Condition is all of the above. This book is incredibly creepy but also resonated with me deeply, especially as a woman in her late thirties who doesn't have kids but wants to be a parent. Recently adapted for the new season of American Horror Story. Blurb by Catherine.

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

Looking for a book that will keep you up all night? Try this supernatural thriller by Kiersten White. Mister Magic is the perfect scary summer read. Just make sure you don't read it in the same room as a television! Blurb by Catherine.

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

Rural Ireland, 1958, a 17-year-old spends the summer with his grandparents and learns about life, loss, community, and music. A simple story, well told. Blurb by Martha.

An Immense World by Ed Yong 

Bats find insects with a sense called echolocation. Others' fingers are far more sensitive than humans. Whales can communicate across oceans. Read all about animal senses! Nonfiction. Blurb by Martha.