Mount Prospect Public Library Check It Out Categories Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Are Helene Wecker Books for You?

Posted June 21, 2021 by Cathleen

If You Liked These, Try Helene Wecker book collage

If you’ve enjoyed one or more of these titles, Helene Wecker’s imaginative storytelling may be a great match for your reading moods. She blends folklore, adventure, historical fiction, romance, and fantasy with lush worldbuilding and contemporary style. Learn even more by listening firsthand to a virtual conversation Tuesday, June 22, at 7pm. It’s the perfect opportunity to be enchanted!

The Golem and the Jinni series is for you if you liked….

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Why? Irresistible tales of real life infused with magic told in rich, lyrical style

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Why? Expansive, character-driven stories incorporating both mastery of craft and golem lore

Circe by Madeline Miller

Why? Atmospheric historical fantasy drawing from mythology but translated to innovative frame

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Why? Fantastical epics with mystical soul mates that draw readers in to worlds beyond ours

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Why? Supernatural characters navigate adventures while discovering their place in our world

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Why? Equal parts history and mind-bending fantasy presented in complex, rewarding style

The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman

Why? Full immersion in historical setting combined with thoughtful reimagining of Jewish folklore

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Why? Enchanted tales inspired by myth from parts of world other than Western Europe

Please join us for an inspiring book conversation:

Stay tuned for more information on our Summer of Author Visits!

Witches in Fiction

Posted October 30, 2020 by Chelsea

Double, double, toil, and trouble, witches abound in fiction! Below we have gathered some recommended witchy reads to hold you spellbound. There are witches from different centuries, locales, and practices, and whether they are the cause of troubles or plagued by them, the boil and bubble promise pure story enchantment.

The Year Of The Witching by Alexis Henderson

Observing a life of strict submission to minimize discrimination for her mixed heritage, Immanuelle discovers dark truths about her community’s church and her late mother’s secret relationship with the spirits of four witches.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in a Hugo award-winning author’s novel of magic amid the suffragette movement.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

A tale inspired by Manhattan’s 19th-century witchcraft revival finds a celebrated teahouse proprietress and a gifted medium teaming up with a dream interpreter in the aftermath of a psychic colleague’s disappearance.

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor

Born into post-apocalyptic Africa by a mother who was raped after the slaughter of her entire tribe, Onyesonwu is tutored by a shaman and discovers that her magical destiny is to end the genocide of her people.

The Age of Witches by Louisa Morgan

In Gilded Age New York, a centuries-long clash between two magical families ignites when a young witch must choose between love and loyalty, power and ambition, in this magical novel by Louisa Morgan.

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

In Finnmark, Norway, 1617, after 40 fishermen are drowned in the sea, the women of the tiny Arctic town of Vardo must fend for themselves especially when a sinister figure arrives, bringing with him a mighty evil that threatens their very existence.

What Mount Prospect Is Reading

Posted May 23, 2020 by Cathleen

Mount Prospect, you’ve been reading, and we’ve been talking! Every week we have been extending an open invitation for readers to gather and share the books keeping them company in these odd times. We’ve chatted romance, dark fantasy, nonfiction, mysteries, feel-good, horror, and elegant prose. Check out the titles brought by our attendees, and please consider joining us for this week’s conversation: Let’s Talk Books!

Boy the Mole the Fox and the Horse book cover

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse
Charlie Mackesy

Stay Sweet
Siobhan Vivian

The Age of Witches
Louisa Morgan

The Mockingbirds
Daisy Whitney

The Dutch House
Ann Patchett

The Longing for Less
Kyle Chayka

The Tenant
Katrine Engberg

Headliners
Lucy Parker

Wow, No Thank You
Samantha Irby

You Deserve Each Other
Sarah Hogle

The Beautiful Ones
Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Writers & Lovers
Lily King

Tell the Machine Goodnight
Katie Williams

The Monster of Elendhaven
Jennifer Giesbrecht

Foul Is Fair
Hannah Capin

A Woman Is No Man
Etaf Rum

The Honey-Don’t List
Christina Lauren

The Year of the Witching
Alexis Henderson

Mornings with Rosemary
(also published as The Lido)
Libby Page

The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett

All Adults Here
Emma Straub

New for Book Clubs: Dark Matter, The Name of the Wind, and Redeployment

Posted February 17, 2020 by Cathleen

Book groups come in all sizes and flavors. If you are part of a group that specializes in speculative or gritty stories, or if your ‘traditional’ group is ready for something not quite as traditional, you may be ready to meet one of our newest additions to the Book Discussion collection. These are hand-picked reads ideal for personal enrichment or for group conversation. Check out earlier announcements one, two, and three, and watch for additional announcements each week!

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

suspenseful, intricately plotted, fast-paced
for fans of Peter Clines, R.J. Pineiro, and Harlan Coben

A mind-bending, relentlessly paced science-fiction thriller, in which an ordinary man is kidnapped, knocked unconscious–and awakens in a world inexplicably different from the reality he thought he knew.

Goodreads Choice Award Runner-up: Best Science Fiction
LibraryReads Favorite
Loan Stars Favourite

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

atmospheric, rich world-building, leisurely paced
for fans of Robin Hobb, Brent Weeks, and Terry Goodkind

A hero named Kvothe, now living under an assumed name as the humble proprietor of an inn, recounts his transformation from a magically gifted young man into the most notorious wizard, musician, thief, and assassin in his world.

Publishers Weekly: Best Book of the Year
Alex Award
Reading List Award

Redeployment by Phil Klay

candid, haunting, darkly humorous
for fans of Tim O’Brien, Karl Marlantes, and Joseph Heller

A collection of short stories by a former Marine captain and Iraq veteran focuses on the complexities of life for soldiers on the front lines and after, exploring themes ranging from brutality and faith to guilt and survival.

National Book Award: Best Fiction
National Book Critics Circle Award
Time Magazine: Best Book of the Year

Exciting New Fiction Series to Discover

Posted December 9, 2019 by Cathleen

If you are looking for a new story world to explore and love the guarantee of multiple volumes ready-and-waiting, try one of these recent additions to the MPPL fiction collections:

Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks (5 books)

epic fantasy
for fans of George R.R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss
*recent New York Times bestseller*

Start with The Black Prism
When Gavin Guile–high priest and emperor, the most powerful man in the world known to all as the Prism–discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom after the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he’s willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart.

Winston Brothers series by Penny Reid (7 books)

contemporary romance
for fans of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Rachel Gibson
*Goodreads Choice finalist*

Start with Truth or Beard
Identical twins Beau and Duane Winston share the same devastatingly handsome face, but where Beau is outgoing and sociable, Duane is broody and reserved. This is why Jessica James has spent her whole life paralyzed by the fantasy of Beau and her assumptions of Duane’s disdain. But when she realizes that Duane is interested in her, how much of her level-head heart is she willing to risk?

Wormwood Trilogy by Tade Thompson

science fiction; Afrofuturism
for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and James S.A. Corey

Start with Rosewater
Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless – people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumored healing powers. Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again — but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realization about a horrifying future.

Ram Chandra series by Amish (3 books)

historical fantasy; mythological fiction
for fans of Saladin Ahmed and G. Willow Wilson

Start with Scion of Ikshvaku
3400 BCE. India. A terrible war has taken its toll. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He, instead, imposes his trade. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that a leader, a tortured and ostracized prince, is among them.

Check It Out Category: Fantasy & Sci-Fi