Book Buzz: Acadians, Forgotten Names, Pirates, Irish Westerns, Dystopian Fiction, Alaskan Fishing, and Organ Transplants

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For November, we’re looking at historical fiction about the Acadians, World War II, pirates, and the American West; an outdoorsy new science fiction dystopia; a tale of commercial fishing in the Bering Sea; and nonfiction about how a heart transplant changed two families.

If you enjoy historical fiction:

Laura Frantz’s The Seamstress of Acadie (2024)*

If you like Christian historical fiction, check out Laura Frantz’s latest. It follows Sylvie Galant and her family, who, like other Acadians during the French-and-Indian War, are removed to the United States. There, her path again crosses with William Blackburn, a former British soldier she also knew in her native Canada. Reluctant sparks fly.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Lori Benton and Ariel Lawhon.

*Ebook also available on Hoopla.

Mario Escobar’s The Forgotten Names: A Tale of Heroism and Reclaiming Identity in Nazi-Occupied France (2024)**

In the 1990s, a French law student named Valérie begins to study the French Jewish children who managed to escape the Holocaust. She soon learns of a robust network of the French Resistance who worked to hide them in plain sight. In this dual timeline novel, Valérie’s work to uncover the full story of what happened and find the surviving children decades after the war is juxtaposed with the World War II story itself.

Recommended for those who enjoyed Georgia Hunter’s We Were the Lucky Ones and Kristin Harmel’s The Book of Lost Names.

**Ebook and audiobook also available on Hoopla.

Katherine Howe’s A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself (2023)

This book features another dual narrative timeline, though this time with pirates. In the 1930s, Marian Beresford, a professor, follows the exploits of a daring female pirate, Hannah Masury, through Hannah’s diary. In the process, she wants to learn if Hannah and the hidden treasure she describes was real after all.

Recommended for those who enjoyed Shannon Chakraborty’s The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, L.A. Meyer’s Bloody Jack, and Susanna Kearsley’s A Desperate Fortune.

If you like literary Westerns:

Kevin Barry’s The Heart in Winter (2024)

Among the Irish copper mining community of 1890s Butte, Montana, Tom and Polly fall in love and then have to go on the run as the flee the town. This funny, gritty novel, which has been described as reminiscent of the TV show Deadwood, is a humorously gothic Western, a love letter to Irish culture, a jaunty love story, and an elegantly written literary novel all at once.

Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Patrick DeWitt.

If you want dystopian fiction:

Peter Heller’s Burn (2024)

Peter Heller knows the outdoors more than your average writer, and he always does a magnificent job of bringing these settings to life. This time, though, he veers into dystopian science fiction as well. Jess and Story spend two weeks in northern Maine just like usual on their annual moose hunt, but when they emerge from the woods, they don’t recognize the scene that greets them. They find abandoned towns and cars and can only begin to piece together what happened while they were cut off from society. Complications ensue.

Recommended for those who enjoyed Waubgeshig Rice’s Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves.

If you prefer modern adventure suspense:

Matt Riordan’s The North Line (2024)***

Though he’s warned that commercial fishing on the Bering Sea is not for the faint of heart, Adam still has little idea what he’s getting himself into when he signs up to do just that for the summer. He sees it as a quick, exciting way to earn money for college. You can imagine how this goes. This debut novel is informed by the author’s own experiences working the Bering Sea fishing boats and, thus, vividly brings the rugged setting to life.

***Ebook also available on Hoopla.

Recommended for those who enjoyed Peter Heller’s The River.

If you love nonfiction:

Rachel Clarke’s The Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle That Saved a Child’s Life (2024)

Written by a physician, this gripping nonfiction book chronicles the history and current state of the organ transplant field while also focusing on two specific families. One loses a daughter to a terrible accident, while another’s son is saved by the daughter’s donated heart. The two families eventually connect in a story that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Recommended for those who enjoyed Bill Bryson’s The Body and Oliver Sacks’s Awakenings.

What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about? 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.