Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For May, we’re looking at a gothic tale complete with atmospheric mansion and family secrets, historical fiction with settings that range from the construction of the Panama Canal to WWII, contemporary fiction set in rural Wisconsin, nonfiction about trees and the animal kingdom, a guide to canning, and an audiobook about an office cleaner.
If you love contemporary gothic fiction:
Rachel Hawkins’ The Heiress (2024)*
Camden has created a new life for himself in Colorado as an English teacher, far from the wealth his adopted mother Ruby and her family has. However, after her death, he reluctantly finds himself back home, in her imposing mansion in Western North Carolina. Camden doesn’t want to stay any longer than necessary, but his wife is intrigued. What happened to all of Ruby’s husbands, who had a habit of turning up dead? What’s the story behind Ruby’s mysterious disappearance as a child? Why did she adopt Camden? Complications ensue.
*Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Lisa Unger, Lisa Jewell, and Ruth Ware.
If you prefer historical fiction:
Cristina Henríquez’s The Great Divide (2024)**
The construction of the Panama Canal brings together a disparate group of characters. Local boy Omar is excited to experience the hustle and bustle of working the project, though his more traditional father strongly disapproves. Meanwhile, Ada–an immigrant from Barbados–is mainly motivated by the money she can make to send home to her family, while scientific researcher John is there in the hopes he can help learn more about eradicating malaria. A series of incidents causes all their lives to intersect.
**Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of C. Pam Zhang.
Jennifer Ryan’s The Underground Library (2023)***
At the Berryville Library, we all know how important of a community hub that libraries are, and that sense of connection is equally important to Juliet, Katie, and Sofie. For each of these characters, the little library at Bethnal Green is a place of solace in the midst of the Blitz, even when they have to relocate it to the subway system for safety reasons.
****Ebook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Marie Benedict, Madeline Martin, and Kim Michele Richardson.
Robin Oliveira’s A Wild and Heavenly Place (2024)****
Scotsman Samuel flees his grinding poverty in 19th century Glasgow both to track down the love of his life, whose once-prosperous father has moved her and her whole family to America, and to seek a better life for himself and his sister. His journey takes him to the Pacific Northwest, which is vividly brought to life in this lyrical historical novel.
*****Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Paulette Jiles and Amy Harmon.
Francis Spufford’s Cahokia Jazz (2023)*****
If you aren’t a fan of more traditional historical fiction, try this intriguing alternative history mystery. In this novel’s 1920s world, there’s still Prohibition, speakeasies, and jazz, but the ancient Native American city of Cahokia is thriving. It’s a peaceful, egalitarian place where everyone comes together. That is, until a dead body touches off further violence.
******Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who enjoy alternative history mysteries.
If you’re curious about Northwoods fiction:
Amy Pease’s Northwoods (2024)
I’ve noticed a recent trend of books set in the Wisconsin Northwoods on our new shelf, so I figured I’d highlight both of them. In this one, troubled veteran Eli works as a deputy, mainly because his mom is the sheriff, and they both struggle to police their idyllic resort community in the wake of the opioid crisis. As with Cahokia Jazz, a dead body surfaces and touches off a crisis.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Eli Cranor, William Kent Krueger, and S.A. Crosby.
Andrew J. Graff’s True North (2024)
If you prefer your rural Wisconsin less crime-riddled and more family-oriented, try this literary drama. Sam Brecht thinks he and his wife Swami and their children need a fresh start, and he knows just how to do it. He relocates them all to the Northwoods rafting operation he inherited from his uncle. Sam and Swami initially met as river rafting guides, so he believes this is the perfect opportunity to reconnect. But the broken-down property, highly competitive business rivals, and historic flooding will make that a far more complicated task than he anticipated.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Chris Bohjalian and Anita Shreve.
If you want nonfiction:
David Toomey’s Kingdom of Play: What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself (2024)
We’re celebrating play all year at the library, and this book celebrates play in the natural world. It profiles how and why animals from across the world engage in play. Along the way, you’ll travel with author David Toomey from Australia to Africa to Alaska and learn about the titular belly-flopping monkeys and mud-sliding elephants, as well as dive-bombing crows and more.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Mary Roach.
Daniel Lewis’s Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future (2024)
If last month’s post on our local plant life piqued your curiosity or you’re a long-time appreciator of the beauty of the natural world, this book is for you. It profiles twelve very different trees while also covering what we know about trees, the research to learn more about what we don’t know, and the environmental challenges trees currently face. Daniel Lewis explores their natural habitats while also visiting research facilities and botanical gardens to tell this story and profile trees ranging from olive trees to redwoods to the Lost Tree of Easter Island.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Rachel Carson.
Diane Roupe’s Blue Ribbon Country Canning: Traditional and New Favorites (2012)
The planting season is well under way here in the Ozarks–and our seed library is open for business!–but you can get a headstart on what to do with the bounty of your harvest with this book. Learn how to make salsas, jams, pickles, and more or find new recipes even if you’re already experienced at food preservation.
Recommended for anyone interested in canning.
If you enjoy audiobooks:
Brandi Wells’s The Cleaner (2024)******
At a nameless office in a nameless city, a nameless woman cleans every night. The employees don’t know she exists, but she does a lot more than just vacuuming and dusting. She knows all the employees’ secrets because she makes it her business to learn them. Cleaning up their scandals and mistakes is also her business, and when she discovers a secret that could potentially bring down the company, you don’t want to be her adversary.
*******Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who enjoy darkly funny and offbeat thrillers.
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 