Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For August, we’re looking at historical fiction that ranges from interwar England to 1930s New Jersey to 16th century China, a new Nordic Noir series, a cute romance that hinges on DNA, an eerie audiobook about summer in Long Island, and a nonfiction profile of Arkansas libraries that highlights a couple of our sister branches.
If you love historical fiction:
Joanna Quinn’s The Whalebone Theatre (2022)
This literary coming-of-age book has been described as Downton Abbey meets To Kill A Mockingbird. And your reaction to that blurb is probably a pretty good test of whether or not this book is for you. If you’re intrigued, Quinn’s book has received rave reviews for its lush prose and imaginative setting. Three siblings living in England after WWI build a theater from whalebones that have washed up on the beach near their home. Years later, during WWII, they’ll put those acting skills to work with much higher stakes–as spies.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Marie Benedict.
Mariah Fredericks’s The Lindbergh Nanny (2022)
If you are interested in the same time period as The Whalebone Theatre but prefer a more American setting or a grittier tone, consider this book. A lot of infamous crimes have been billed “The Crime of the Century,” but for people in the US in the 1930s, that was a term for the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Fredericks’s book focuses on the unfortunate Scottish immigrant nanny named Betty who fell under suspicion.
Recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction inspired by real crimes.
Lisa See’s Lady Tan’s Circle of Women (2023)
Lisa See has been writing fascinating, thoughtful historical fiction about Chinese women for years, and her latest book is no exception. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is about a real woman, Tan Yunxian, who was a doctor in the 15th and 16th century. See’s novel provides a fictional framework for following her life, from her privileged upbringing to her early interest in medicine to her restricted life as an upper-class wife in an arranged marriage who’s initially banned from pursuing her passion for healing.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Amy Tan.
If you enjoy Nordic Noir:
Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s The Creak on the Stairs (2020)
If you’re a longtime reader of the blog, you know that I love my Nordic Noir, those bleak, atmospheric Scandinavian murder mysteries that are quite unlike anything that the Americans or British write (though I enjoy those too). This new series from Iceland doesn’t have as much of the murky, philosophical brooding that characterizes other classics of the genre, so it might be a more accessible starting point if you find their heaviness daunting. In this first book of a series, Chief Investigating Officer Elma and her team investigate a dead body found at a lighthouse in a small town that sets off a wave of chaos and suspicion as many hidden secrets come to light.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Arnaldur Indridason.
If you prefer contemporary romance:
Christina Lauren’s The Soulmate Equation (2021)
I initially miswrote this title down as The Soulmaker Equation, which sounds more like a horror novel than a lighthearted romantic comedy. 🙂 Fortunately, no soulmakers here, just soulmates–or at least the promise of them. When single mother Jess is pressured into signing up for a dating app that purports to locate your soulmate via your DNA, she is irritated when her result comes back as the pompous doctor she knows. He is no soulmate of hers, but the company offers her money to get to know him, and well, she needs that more than a soulmate anyway. Complications ensue.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Rachel Lynn Solomon.
If you want an audiobook literary suspense:
Emma Cline’s The Guest (2023)
When Alex gets dumped by her older boyfriend on the tail end of the summer after a disastrous dinner party, she has nowhere to go. She is not a part of the cloistered world of the very rich that comprise this segment of Long Island, and without her relationship, doors are closed to her. Still, she thinks if she can last until Labor Day, she might be welcomed back. That triggers a very long week of her meandering through Long Island like a ghost and leaving destruction in her wake. What could possibly go wrong?
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Jeffrey Eugenides and Curtis Sittenfeld.
If you want nonfiction:
Sabine Schmidt and Don House’s Remote Access: Small Public Libraries in Arkansas (2021)
Cowritten by the director of one of our sister libraries, this stunning University of Arkansas Press book profiles some of the smallest libraries in the state via photographs and essays. Even though we’re a small town, Berryville was too big to make the cut, but our sister libraries in St. Paul, Kingston, and Eureka Springs all did!
Recommended for anyone interested in Arkansas libraries or life in small, rural towns.
What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about these days? Have you read any of these books? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of these items or to place them on hold.
Berryville Book Buzz 