Check It Out Category: New and Recent Additions

Spring has sprung and so have new books! Peruse this collection of recent additions and find more, here. Rain or shine, a new book will surely put a spring in your step. Step to it and start browsing or if these titles aren’t your particular ray of sunshine, call Fiction/AV/Teen services at 847/590-4070 or fill out this form for some personalized suggestions!

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

When Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP) for short, takes on the role of primary guardian for his young niece and nephew, he sets “Guncle Rules,” but soon learn that parenting isn’t solved with treats or jokes as his eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility.

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

Plunged into an explosive role she never anticipated, Avery Keene, now the legal guardian of power of attorney for the legendary Justice Howard Wynn, must unravel the clues he left behind in regards to a dangerous conspiracy that has infiltrated the highest power corridors of Washington.

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes—one that might just be killer….

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

When Delilah, who disappeared 11 years earlier when she was only 6 years old, shockingly returns, the residents of a quiet suburban neighborhood want to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find.

The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan

March 1944, as Stalin’s forces push into Ukraine, Emil and Adeline Martel must make a terrible decision: Do they wait for the Soviet bear’s intrusion and risk being sent to Siberia? Or do they reluctantly follow the wolves – murderous Nazi officers who have pledged to protect “pure-blood” Germans? The Martels are one of many families of German heritage whose ancestors have farmed in Ukraine for over a century. But after already living under Stalin’s regime, they decide they must run with the wolves they despise to escape the Soviets and go in search of freedom.

Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng

Set against the backdrop of China’s Cultural Revolution, this lyrical novel follows a father’s determination to reunite his family before his daughter Junie’s 12th birthday, even if it means bringing painful family secrets to light.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there’s only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she’s determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god–and she’s decided Jess is going to help her do it.

April showers bring…new books! Fresh books have come in this month, and below is just a sprinkling of titles that might get your reading sprouted this spring. We’ve also got a longer list of new titles to browse here. If the right spring book isn’t here for you, feel free to contact the Fiction/AV/Teen desk at 847/590-4070 or email us at readers@mppl.org for personalized suggestions.

Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Accidentally causing the death of a blind date, Meddy is persuaded by her meddlesome Chinese-Indonesian mother and aunts to dispose of the body, which upends a billionaire’s wedding and Meddy’s reunion with a former flame.

Funny; Offbeat

In The Company of Killers by Bryan Christy

An investigative wildlife reporter and secret CIA spy pursues a vengeful opportunity to capture the man responsible for a friend’s death by infiltrating the offices of a woman he once loved.

Spy Fiction; Intricately Plotted

The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik

A novel of one of America’s most celebrated photographers, Dorothea Lange, explores the wild years in San Francisco that awakened her career-defining grit, compassion, and daring.

Historical Fiction; Atmospheric

Caul Baby by Morgan Jenkins

Finds a would-be mother rendered the unexpected caregiver of a niece’s unplanned baby, who a matriarch predicts will restore their family’s prosperity.

Magical Realism; Stylistically Complex

The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas

A woman who never wanted to be a mother reconnects with her estranged husband in the wake of unexpected news and is challenged to reevaluate herself in an unanticipated role.

Reflective; Engaging

Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian

A satirical coming-of-age story follows the experiences of an Indian-American teen in the Bush-era Atlanta suburbs, who joins his crush’s plot to use an ancient alchemical potion to meet high parental expectations, triggering devastating consequences.

Coming-of-Age; Fast-Paced

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff Vandermeer

Sent taxidermied specimens of two endangered species, a software manager becomes the target of the ecoterrorists and wildlife traffickers behind a catastrophic global conspiracy.

Dystopian Fiction; Intricately Plotted

March is marching in with some new books! With spring practically here, you could march on by to pick up fresh titles. A hint of what’s new may be browsed below and we’ve got a more bountiful list of March titles here. As always, if you find none of these titles suit you, we welcome you to call Fiction/AV/Teen services at 847/590-4070 or fill out this form for some personalized suggestions!

The Conductors by Nicole Glover

As a conductor on the Underground Railroad, Hetty helped usher dozens north with her wits and magic. Now that the Civil War is over, Hetty and her husband, Benjy, have settled in Philadelphia, solving murders and mysteries that the white authorities won’t touch. When they find one of their friends slain in an alley, Hetty and Benjy bury the body and set off to find answers. But the secrets of the elites of Black Philadelphia only serve to dredge up more questions. To solve this mystery, they will have to face ugly truths all around them, including the ones about each other.

Red Widow by Alma Katsu

Recruited by the CIA’s Chief of the Russian Division amid rumors of a department mole, former Moscow Field Station handler Lyndsey Duncan teams up with a murdered director’s widow to expose a life-threatening web of secrets.

The Dating Plan by Sara Desai 

Without rules, these fake fiancés might accidentally fall for each other in this romantic comedy.

The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Committed follows the unnamed Sympathizer as he arrives in Paris in the early 1980s with his blood brother Bon. The pair try to overcome their pasts and ensure their futures by engaging in capitalism in one of its purest forms: drug dealing.

The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett

The first book in a highly original and clever new crime series featuring Queen Elizabeth II as an amateur detective who solves crimes in secret and behind the scenes, in between her royal duties.

What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster

Integrated into a predominantly white high school, an anxious young Black student and a half-Latina whose mother would have her pass as white join a bridge-building school play that shapes the trajectory of their adult lives.

We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker

Thirty years ago, a teenage Vincent was sent to prison. But now, he’s served his time and is returning to his hometown–where his childhood best friend, Walk, is now the chief of police. The town where his childhood sweetheart, Star, still lives. Star, whose sister he killed. Duchess, Star’s daughter, is a self-proclaimed outlaw. She needs to be. Who else is going to take care of her and her brother? And too often it’s Duchess and Walk who are the ones taking care of Star. But when Duchess exacts her own vigilante revenge, she will set into motion a series of events that threatens not only her own family, but everyone she grows close to.

2020 was a year that had a lot going on! And the publishing train still kept on going! We have gathered titles that may have missed your book radar last year. More titles to explore can be found here.

The Boy Toy by Nicola Marsh

A woman ready to give up on love meets her match in a man she never expected to fall for.

Germania: A Novel of Nazi Berlin by Harald Gilbers

Reactivated against his will by the Gestapo in the bombed-out capital of the Reich in 1944, Jewish detective Richard Oppenheimer investigates a serial killer who has been leaving Nazi-connected victims at war memorials.

Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

A midwife and conjurer of curses reflects on her life before and after the Civil War, her relationships with the families she serves and the secrets she has learned about a plantation owner’s daughter.

The Bright Lands by John Fram

Reluctantly returning to his small hometown when his star football player brother goes missing, a disgraced older sibling reconnects with the local sheriff, who begins to suspect former classmates in her search for her own missing brother.

The Royal Governess: a Novel of Queen Elizabeth II’s Childhood by Wendy Holden

Accepting the position of a lifetime tutoring the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, young Marion Crawford defies protocol to introduce the princesses to the experiences of everyday people while witnessing some of the 20th century’s most seismic events.

Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo

Unexpectedly falling in love with a white man after her mother’s latest disastrous matchmaking effort, a young Nigerian woman struggles to follow her heart without breaking her mother’s or compromising her own identity.

The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons

Wanting to organize an assisted death on her own terms, a world-weary octogenarian forges an unexpected bond with an exuberant 10-year-old who drags her to tea parties, shopping sprees and other social excursions.