Discover April’s Library Reads

Discover April’s Library Reads

Library Reads announces it's April picks of this month's new releases, chosen by librarians across the country as their favorites. Browse the selections here , or stop by the Main Library, where recent Library Reads can be found on the square shelf beside the New Releases display.

Since April is often a mixed bag weather-wise, kind of spring, kind of winter, kind of ...who knows, we're profiling three Library Reads that creatively blend genres to create unforgettable reads. Whether you're in the mood to laugh, cry, or check that the doors are locked and nothing creepy is hiding under the bed, there's a Library Reads book for you! Don't see what you're looking for? Just ask a friendly Adult Services staffer. We're happy to help.

Mystery/Romance

Moorewood Family Rules by Helenkay Dimon -   Knives Out and Ocean’s 8 meets The Nest in this hilariously twisty novel about a woman who returns home from prison to her dysfunctional con artist family and tries to get them to go legit.
One day a con man met an heiress, wooed her, married her, had two kids…and kept on conning. Jillian Moorewood is the oldest child from that meet-cute-gone-wrong marriage. The stable one. The sensible and dependable one. The one who protects and fixes. The one who went to prison to save their sorry butts. Now, thirty-nine months later, she’s out and she’s more than a little pissed. Finally home she finds the scheming clan in full family fleecing mode. They all claim they didn’t really agree to Jillian’s previous go-legit-or-else ultimatum before she went away. They viewed it as a “suggestion” then ignored it. So, business as usual. But Jillian is done with the lies and fakery. She demands the whole messed-up crew clean up its act, and this time she’s not kidding—she has the leverage to make it happen. Problem is, her life is in shambles, but with the help of a great aunt (crooked but loveable), a bodyguard (who is a nice surprise after three years in prison), and a few allies (all working undercover), Jillian starts to put her life back together. She kicks out a few mooching relatives, sets limits on everyone’s access to the money, ducks from their various attacks, and sees if that bodyguard is maybe interested in sticking around for a while. For the first time, she’s Jillian Moorewood, and she’s ready to figure out who she is.

SciFi/Fantasy

In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune- In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They're a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled "HAP," he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio's former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic's assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Horror/Literary Fiction

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro - Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her.

Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.

When Alejandra visits a therapist, she begins exploring her family’s history, starting with the biological mother she never knew. As she goes deeper into the lives of the women in her family, she learns that heartbreak and tragedy are not the only things she has in common with her ancestors.

Because the crying woman was with them, too. She is La Llorona, the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend. And she will not leave until Alejandra follows her mother, her grandmother, and all the women who came before her into the darkness.

But Alejandra has inherited more than just pain. She has inherited the strength and the courage of her foremothers—and she will have to summon everything they have given her to banish La Llorona forever.

Local History Notes

Local History Notes

Are you researching ancestors who lived in the Algonquin area? The Algonquin Library has many local history publications in the genealogy section that may mention your family members. Here are just some of the titles available:

  • Algonquin the beautiful : history of its pioneers and its settlement
  • Algonquin illustrated
  • Algonquin maps, 1800-2011 : Algonquin Township plat maps, historic maps : collection of Algonquin area maps
  • History of Algonquin : old newspaper articles, timelines for pioneer times (1834-1890), villages expands (1890-1900), new century (1900-now).
  • Historic homes of McHenry County
  • History of McHenry County, Illinois (1885)
  • History and stories of the McHenry County Cemeteries
  • Jacobs High School Yearbook
  • McHenry County, Illinois
  • McHenry County memories : the early years, 1800s-1939
  • McHenry rural survey : Algonquin Township 1998
  • Once upon a town-- : Algonquin, Illinois, the first 160 years

Need help finding information about a specific ancestor from Algonquin? Contact a Genealogy Librarian to ask your genealogy question.

The Seed Library Is Open for 2024!

The Seed Library Is Open for 2024!

Just in time for spring planting, Algonquin Area Public Library, in cooperation with the University of Illinois Agricultural Extension, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Illinois Master Gardeners of McHenry County, is excited to offer the Seed Library,  that provides seeds to local gardeners free of charge!

How Does It Work?

Stop by the Adult Services desk at the Main Library on Harnish Drive to browse our Seed Library catalog, or check it out online. You'll find photos and descriptions of each plant variety, helpful information about when, where and how to sow your seeds, and the number of seeds you'll receive. Quantities range from 2 to 20 seeds per packet, depending on the type of plant.

Find our online request form here, or pick one up at the Adult Services desk. Choose up to 20 different plant varieties, per household, per calendar year. Due to high demand, you cannot make multiple requests for the same seed variety. We'll contact you when your seeds are ready to be picked up. Access planting and care instructions with a QR code included with your order.

What Can I Choose?

Choose from over 130 varieties of vegetable, fruit, flower and herb seeds. You'll find heirloom vegetables, such as the Oxheart and Mortgage Lifter tomatoes, Dixie Queen watermelons and White Icicle radishes. Favorites like pumpkins, mixed color carrots, and various types of green beans can turn this summer's garden into a family project. Brighten your landscaping with colorful Painted Daisies, and the beautiful, exotic Passion Flower.  Add color to your home with classic cutting flowers like zinnia and sunflowers. Select annuals, which are planted each year, or perennials which return year after year.

If It's A Seed Library, Do I Have To Return My Seeds?

While we love the name "Seed Library," it's not a library in the traditional sense. You don't need a library card, nor do you have to return seeds from your personal harvest-- though if you want to send a photo of your garden, or your harvest, we'd love to post it! If you can't use all your seeds this year, no problem!  Store unused seeds in their packets in an airtight glass jar, and keep it in a cool dark place like your basement or garage, until you're ready to plant.

Discover March’s Library Reads

Discover March’s Library Reads

In the mood for an engrossing read to fill the gray days of March? Look no further than the newest Library Reads list! Library Reads are ten new releases chosen by librarians each month as their favorites. Library Reads cover just about every genre, and include both up-and-coming authors and best-sellers.

This month, check out the latest release from Jeannette Walls, author of the best-selling memoir, The Glass Castle. Fans of the Netflix mystery drama series Defending Jacob won't want to miss author William Landay's new novel All That Is Mine I Carry With Me, another compelling thriller about a family in peril. Click here to see this month's Library Reads flyer, or stop by the Main Library, where recent Library Reads can be found on the square shelf beside the New Releases display.

Literary Fiction

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano - William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a future different from the expected path of wife and mother; Cecelia, the family’s artist; and Emeline, who patiently takes care of all of them. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia’s new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable loyalty to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

Vibrating with tenderness, Hello Beautiful is a gorgeous, profoundly moving portrait of what’s possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

Mystery/Thriller

All This Is Mine I Carry With Me - William Landay - One afternoon in November 1975, ten-year-old Miranda Larkin comes home from school to find her house eerily quiet. Her mother is missing. Nothing else is out of place. There is no sign of struggle. Her mom's pocketbook remains in the front hall, in its usual spot.

So begins a mystery that will span a lifetime. What happened to Jane Larkin?

Investigators suspect Jane's husband. A criminal defense attorney, Dan Larkin would surely be an expert in outfoxing the police. But no evidence is found linking him to a crime, and the case fades from the public's memory, a simmering, unresolved riddle. Jane's three children--Alex, Jeff, and Miranda--are left to be raised by the man who may have murdered their mother.

Two decades later, the remains of Jane Larkin are found. The investigation is awakened. The children, now grown, are forced to choose sides. With their father or against him? Guilty or innocent? And what happens if they are wrong?

A tale about family--family secrets and vengeance, but also family love--All That Is Mine I Carry With Me masterfully grapples with a primal question: When does loyalty reach its limit?

Historical Fiction

Hang The Moon by Jeannette Walls - Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out.

Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.

Horror

Lone Women by Victor Lavalle - Blue skies, empty land—and enough room to hide away a horrifying secret. Or is there? Discover a haunting new vision of the American West from the award-winning author of The Changeling.

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk is opened, people around her start to disappear...

The year is 1914, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, and forced her to flee her hometown of Redondo, California, in a hellfire rush, ready to make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will be one of the "lone women" taking advantage of the government's offer of free land for those who can cultivate it—except that Adelaide isn't alone. And the secret she's tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing keeping her alive.

Get Your Craft On with CreativeBug

Get Your Craft On with CreativeBug

If you can't get enough of crafting, be sure to check out one of Algonquin Area Public Library's most exciting online resources, CreativeBug.com . The site contains a plethora of craft ideas, and projects, plus live and recorded classes covering everything from sewing, perfume-making, quilting, sketching, cooking, plant care, creating home decor, and so much more.

Choose from thousands of projects and crafts, access materials lists, and order supplies. There are one-time classes where you can try something new, multi-session classes for more elaborate projects, instruction for beginners, and deep-dives into technique for those who are more advanced. There are even classes for kids! CreativeBug's Resource and Blog pages offer downloadable patterns and instructions. Not sure what you want to create? Settle in with CBTV, and stream documentaries and demonstrations by renowned artists and crafters that are sure to inspire. Turn a dreary winter day into a chance to explore or rediscover your creativity, make a gift for yourself or a loved one, or even start a month-long creativity challenge.

Our Makerspace staff uses CreativeBug to find great ideas for craft programs, AAPLD patrons can access this resource from home, by visiting our Online Resources page, selecting CreativeBug.com, and entering an AAPLD library card number .

Discovering Digital: Black History Month

Discovering Digital: Black History Month

AAPLD's digital collections include hundreds of authors, making it easy to discover a great new voice. In honor of Black History Month, we're highlighting books by Black authors that you can find on our digital platforms, Libby, Hoopla, and Axis360. The platforms are easy to use; just download the free apps, enter your Algonquin Area Public Library District card number, create a password, and you're in!
Not an AAPLD cardholder? Check with your home library to learn which digital platforms you can access.

In addition to ebooks, our digital platforms offer downloadable audiobooks, that you can listen to on your phone, or in the car. Discover the ease and convenience of our digital collections!

Libby/Overdrive

Check out and download up to 15 titles at a time. Find new and bestselling titles and authors from all the major publishers. Titles circulate for 14 days and may be renewed if no one is waiting. If the book you want is already checked out, place a hold, and you will be notified when it is available to checkout.

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb- A mystery about a Black classical musician whose family heirloom violin is stolen on the eve of the most prestigious classical music competition in the world.

Ray McMillian loves playing the violin more than anything, and nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming a professional musician. Not his mother, who thinks he should get a real job, not the fact that he can't afford a high-caliber violin, not the racism inherent in the classical music world. And when he makes the startling discovery that his great-grandfather's fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, his star begins to rise. Then with the international Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—fast approaching, his prized family heirloom is stolen. Ray is determined to get it back. But now his family and the descendants of the man who once enslaved Ray's great-grandfather are each claiming that the violin belongs to them. With the odds stacked against him and the pressure mounting, will Ray ever see his beloved violin again?

Available in ebook and downloadable audiobook.

Hoopla

Checkout up to 15 titles per month with your library card and a free hoopla account. Every title on hoopla is instantly available - no holds or waiting lists!

Black Bottom Saints by Alice Randall - From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Joseph “Ziggy” Johnson, has been the pulse of Detroit’s famous Black Bottom. A celebrated gossip columnist for the city’s African-American newspaper, the Michigan Chronicle, he is also the emcee of one of the hottest night clubs, where he’s rubbed elbows with the legendary black artists of the era, including Ethel Waters, Billy Eckstein, and Count Basie. Ziggy is also the founder and dean of the Ziggy Johnson School of Theater. But now the doyen of Black Bottom is ready to hang up his many dapper hats.

As he lays dying in the black-owned-and-operated Kirkwood Hospital, Ziggy reflects on his life, the community that was the center of his world, and the remarkable people who helped shape it.

Inspired by the Catholic Saints Day Books, Ziggy curates his own list of Black Bottom’s venerable "52 Saints." Among them are a vulnerable Dinah Washington, a defiant Joe Louis, and a raucous Bricktop. Randall balances the stories of these larger-than-life "Saints" with local heroes who became household names, enthralling men and women whose unstoppable ambition, love of style, and faith in community made this black Midwestern neighborhood the rival of New York City’s Harlem.

Accompanying these “tributes” are thoughtfully paired cocktails—special drinks that capture the essence of each of Ziggy’s saints—libations as strong and satisfying as Alice Randall’s wholly original view of a place and time unlike any other.

Available in ebook or downloadable audiobook

Axis360

Axis360 allows you to check out and download up to 5 titles at a time. Find new and bestselling titles and authors from all the major publishers. Titles circulate for 14 days and may be renewed if no one is waiting. If the book you want is already checked out, place a hold, and you will be notified when it is available to checkout.

Three Girls From Bronzeville by Dawn Turner - They were three Black girls. Dawn, tall and studious; her sister, Kim, younger by three years and headstrong; and her best friend, Debra, already prom-queen pretty by third grade. They bonded as they roamed the concrete landscape of Bronzeville, a historic neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, the destination of hundreds of thousands of Black folks who fled the ravages of the Jim Crow South.

These third-generation daughters of the Great Migration come of age in the 1970s, in the warm glow of the recent civil rights movement. It has offered them a promise that they will have more opportunities, rights, and freedoms than any generation of Black Americans in history. But the girls have much more immediate concerns: hiding under the dining room table and eavesdropping on grown folks’ business; collecting secret treasures; and daydreaming about their futures. And then fate intervenes, sending them careening in wildly different directions. There’s heartbreak, loss, displacement, and even murder.

Three Girls from Bronzeville is a memoir that chronicles Dawn’s attempt to find answers. It’s a celebration of sisterhood, a testimony to the unique struggles of Black women, and a tour-de-force about the complex interplay of race, class, and opportunity, and how those forces shape our lives and our capacity for resilience and redemption.

Available in ebook

Genealogy Reads – Memoirs

Genealogy Reads – Memoirs

Look for these memoirs at the library. You will be fascinated by these personal stories of genealogy and family history.

  • The Stranger in My Genes: A Memoir by William C. Griffeth
  • Not My Father's Son: A Memoir by Alan Cumming
  • Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro
  • All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
  • American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Secret History of Adoption by Gabrielle Glaser
  • White Like Her: My Family's Story of Race and Racial Passing by Gail Lukasik

Discover February’s Library Reads

Discover February’s Library Reads

Winter Reading might be over, but there's still plenty of cold weather left, perfect for cozying up with a good book! As always, we at AAPLD have plenty of suggestions, including this month's Library Reads. If you're not familiar with Library Reads, they're ten new releases chosen by librarians each month as their favorites. Library Reads cover just about every genre, and are a great way to discover authors you might not have read before.
This month's selections include an eerie gothic tale of marriage, lies and secrets, a fun and flirty novel perfect for Dancing With The Stars fans, and the latest from best-selling author Rebecca Makkai; a novel about 20-year-old cold case solved by true crime fans, and it's impact on everyone involved.
Click here to see this month's Library Reads flyer, or stop by the Main Library, where recent Library Reads can be found on the square shelf beside the New Releases display.

Mystery/Horror

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi - Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after--and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.

But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor's extravagant rooms and musty halls, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo's dearest childhood friend who suddenly disappeared. As the house slowly reveals his wife's secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives.

Combining the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic with the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a spellbinding and darkly romantic page-turner about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.

Romance

Take The Lead by Alexis Daria - Gina Morales wants to make it big. In her four seasons on The Dance Off, she’s never even made it to the finals. But her latest partner, the sexy star of an Alaskan wilderness show, could be her chance. Who knew the strong, silent, survivalist-type had moves like that? She thinks Stone Nielson is her ticket to win it all—until her producer makes it clear they’re being set up for a showmance.

Joining a celebrity dance competition is the last thing Stone wants. However, he’ll endure anything to help his family, even as he fears revealing their secrets. While the fast pace of Los Angeles makes him long for the peace and privacy of home, he can’t hide his growing attraction for his dance partner. Neither wants to fake a romance for the cameras, but the explosive chemistry that flares between them is undeniable.

As Stone and Gina heat up the dance floor, the tabloids catch on to their developing romance. With the spotlight threatening to ruin everything, will they choose fame and fortune, or let love take the lead?

Mystery

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai - A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie.

But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn’t as much of an outsider at Granby as she’d thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.

In I Have Some Questions for You, award-winning author Rebecca Makkai has crafted her most irresistible novel yet: a stirring investigation into collective memory and a deeply felt examination of one woman’s reckoning with her past, with a transfixing mystery at its heart. Timely, hypnotic, and populated with a cast of unforgettable characters, I Have Some Questions for You is at once a compulsive page-turner and a literary triumph.

Debut Author!

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz - Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn’t dampen her excitement.

But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell—they must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate, including Roza’s erratic behavior, Wren’s cruel mind games, and the alleged haunting of the mansion itself. But when one of the writers vanishes during a snowstorm, Alex realizes that something very sinister is afoot. With the clock running out, she’s desperate to discover the truth and save herself.

Releases February 21.

Genealogy Goals for the New Year

Genealogy Goals for the New Year

Do you have any research goals for the upcoming year? My #1 goal is to become better organized with my genealogy files, so I have more time to focus on actual genealogy research. If you are like me, you know where everything is, but nobody else alive could find anything or even make sense out of your piles of  genealogy research. Are you ready for a change?

Join us for a virtual presentation with Jacqueline Schattner who will share amazing tips on organizing paper and computer genealogy files using a color coding system. You will also be inspired to organize family heirlooms, photos, and more. This is going to be a game-changer!

Register here

2022 In Review: Overlooked Books

2022 In Review: Overlooked Books

Not every great read of 2022 was a best seller! With hundreds of new books released each month, it's not surprising that some don't get the attention they deserve. Our Overlooked Books display in the Adult Services department gives some of these titles a little extra love. Stop in and browse the selections, and make one part of your Winter Reading. We hope you discover a hidden gem.

 

Psychological Suspense

The End of Getting Lost by Robin Kirman - A psychologically suspenseful, cunning love story following a young dancer unable to recall the last year of her life after suffering a head injury on her honeymoon, revealing an intimate portrait of love’s powers—as well as its dangers.

The year is 1996—a time before cell phones, status updates, and location tags—when you could still travel to a remote corner of the world and disappear, if you chose to do so. This is where we meet Gina Reinhold and Duncan Lowy, a young artistic couple madly in love, traveling around Europe on a romantic adventure. It’s a time both thrilling and dizzying for Gina, whose memories are hazy following a head injury—and the growing sense that the man at her side, her one companion on this strange continent, is keeping secrets from her.

Just what is Duncan hiding and how far will he go to keep their pasts at bay? As the pair hop borders across Europe, their former lives threatening to catch up with them while the truth grows more elusive, we witness how love can lead us astray, and what it means to lose oneself in love.

Historical Fiction

The Leopard Is Loose by Stephen Harrigan - The fragile, 1952 postwar tranquility of a five-year-old boy's world explodes one summer day when a leopard escapes from the zoo, throwing all of Oklahoma City into dangerous excitement, in this evocative story of a child's confrontation with his deepest fears.

For Grady McClarty, an ever-watchful but bewildered five-year-old boy, World War II is only a troubling, ungraspable event that occurred before he was born. But he feels its effects all around him. He and his older brother Danny are fatherless, and their mother, Bethie, is still grieving for her fighter-pilot husband. Most of all, Grady sees it in his two uncles: young combat veterans determined to step into a fatherhood role for their nephews, even as they struggle with the psychological scars they carry from the war.

When the news breaks that a leopard has escaped from the Oklahoma City Zoo, the playthings and imagined fears of Grady's childhood begin to give way to real-world terrors--the still-incomprehensible threats of battle fatigue, alcoholism, grief, Jim Crow laws, and, most imminently, the dangerous cat itself. The Leopard Is Loose is a stunning encapsulation of America in the 1950s, and a moving portrait of a young boy's struggle to find his place in his family's, and his nation's, history.

Literary Fiction

The Apartment of Calle Uruguay by Zachary Lazar - Beginning in the first summer of the post-Obama world, Zachary Lazar's bewitching and masterful new novel tells the story of Christopher Bell, a blocked painter on the East End of Long Island, and Ana Ramirez, a journalist who fled the crisis in Venezuela and is looking for work in New York. Bell has always felt marked by his foreignness, having emigrated to the U.S. as a child, and has come to believe that "words like 'identity' and 'American' are somehow very meaningful and very meaningless at the same time.” He has retreated to a modest house near a patch of woods, “a rural nowhere…that sometimes held more meaning for me in its silence than human language.”

In the woods, he encounters Ana, who is trying to “reinvent herself as the kind of person she’d been before” the world she knew disappeared. A complicated romance develops that gradually reveals their buried histories—from the death of Bell’s former partner, Malika Jordan, a fellow artist, to the prison farm where he visits Malika’s incarcerated brother Jesse, to Mexico City, where Ana’s exiled family now lives. All of them have faced the same problem: how to build a new life once the idea you've had of "home" vanishes or becomes unrecognizable.