Jumpin' July Staff Picks

A “superb” (The Guardian) novel about two sisters fighting for survival in Dark Ages Britain that weaves “a dazzling blend of history and fantasy” (BuzzFeed)
 
“Rich in history and folklore . . . Stott is astute on the use of stories to control others and maintain power. . . . Female defiance blazes through as her women reclaim this brutal... Read more »

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy

“Jamie Ford explores the relationship of mind, spirit, and personal history in this gorgeous, multigenerational novel. The descendants of Afong Moy dig into their inherited pasts with astonishing results. A hopeful, beautiful read!”

Beth Mynhier, Lake Forest Book Store

The Latecomer

“The Latecomer is a story about the most dysfunctional family you will ever meet. Salo and his triplets can not relate at all to each other or to strangers and each has a weird obsession that others find hard to understand. Salo at least has a reason for his behavior… a tragic accident during college, for which he has never forgiven himself. Joanna is so preoccupied with trying to create the perfect family that she thinks should exist that she also is totally unconnected to the real world. I loved listening to each character's internal dialogue when faced with something new or unexpected. I normally do not like overly descriptive writing or lots of unnecessary dialogue but their conversations with themselves are hysterical and very educational and enlightening. This, for me, was a wonderful break from the mysteries and thrillers I normally read. The ending to this epic family saga, which included surprises for the reader and most of the main characters, was very powerful and quite satisfying.”

Nancy, Fiction Addiction

Nora Goes Off Script

“I ABSOLUTELY loved this book! Nora writes scripts for movies on the romance channel-until her life blows up, her self-centered husband walks out leaving her with a mountain of debt and two kids to raise. She then writes a script about her life and it becomes a big budget film starring two of Hollywood's best. When they arrive for a two day shoot she doesn’t expect to find an obvious spark with star Leo Vance who’s life is at a crossroads also. Can they overcome their baggage to find what they’re both looking for?”

Kathleen, A Great Good Place for Books

“Cultural clashes, political satire, Oedipal conflicts, elegant prose—they’re all here in this romp of a book.” —Oprah Daily

A Phenomenal Book Club Pick and a New York Times Book Review Group Text Selection, Love Marriage is a glorious moving novel from Booker Prize shortlisted Monica Ali, who has “an inborn generosity that cannot be learned”... Read more »

From highly acclaimed, bestselling author Ava Reid comes a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place within the world of The Wolf and the Woodsman, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her abusive wizard father, perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson and Catherynne M....

After more than two years on the bestseller lists, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel of enormous contemporary relevance.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban... Read more »

From the New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10 and In a Dark, Dark Wood—a novel about the slipperiness of truth and the price of friendships.

“I need you.” Three small words that change everything.

Isa Wilde knows something terrible has happened when she receives this text from an old friend. Why else... Read more »

Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow."-- Scott Sigler Pierce Brown' s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender' s Game by Orson Scott Card. " I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. " That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father... Read more »

The Way of Kings

“I have a love of hefty fantasy, partnered with a lack of the time usually needed to invest into the genre. The Way of Kings is the peak of everything that has made fantasy my go-to genre for enjoyment, and my ability to proclaim it as such lay directly with the audiobook. Reading and Kramer deliver the world with a clear poise, and give shape to the phenomenon Sanderson evokes within his description. A masterful novel by itself, The Way of Kings and its audiobook reading are perfect examples of literary mutualism.”

Rayne, The Liberty Book Company

BONUS FEATURE: Conversation between the author and the editor, David Fickling.

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing... Read more »

National Bestseller!

A sharply funny and moving debut novel about a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school, while falling in love and learning to celebrate her true self. Perfect for fans of Erika L. Sánchez, Leah Johnson, and Gabby Rivera.

Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being...

The highly anticipated next book in the New York Times bestselling, award-winning Graceling Realm series, which has sold 1.3 million copies.

For the past five years, Bitterblue has reigned as Queen of Monsea, heroically rebuilding her nation after her father's horrific rule. After learning about the land of Torla in the east, she sends envoys to... Read more »

Perfect for fans of the Twisted Tales series and Doll Bones, this thrilling, “cleverly original” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade fantasy follows a girl without a face as she battles a deadly enchanted forest and learns the truth behind her world’s fairy tales.

Appearances are always deceiving…

Fable has been cursed by what the people in her village... Read more »

James Patterson and award-winning author Ellen Banda-Aaku deliver an unforgettable story of a girl, an elephant, and their life-changing friendship. 
 
Clever, sensitive Jama likes elephants better than people. While her classmates gossip—especially about the new boy, Leku—twelve-year-old Jama takes refuge at the watering hole outside her village.... Read more »

The List of Things That Will Not Change

“Rebecca Stead has written yet another layered novel about familial love in its myriad of forms. When her parents divorce, Bea is given a journal to write down things that will remain constant in her life. When her dad announces that he is marrying his boyfriend Jesse, Bea is excited to gain a sister. With the help of her notebook and her kind therapist, Bea is ahor.ble to work through her feelings (mostly her anger management ones). It's a quiet book that will resonate with Stead’s fans and hopefully garner new ones.”

Valerie, Blue Willow Bookshop

From a historian and senior editor at Atlas Obscura, a fascinating account of the daring nineteenth-century women who moved to South Dakota to divorce their husbands and start living on their own terms

For a woman traveling without her husband in the late nineteenth century, there was only one reason to take the train all the way to Sioux Falls,...

Learn to look inward and find strength by learning to use your warrior spirit in this guide from D.J. Eagle Bear Vanas, star and host of the PBS special, Discovering Your Warrior Spirit.

Why seek outside answers when you already possess the resources and power you need? In a world moving faster than ever, the challenge to stay connected to... Read more »

An emotional, page-turning account of unhealed trauma and personal transformation that will break your heart and change your mind, in the tradition of Somebody's Daughter, A Piece of Cake, and Jesmyn Ward's Men We Reaped

Riveting, honest, and raw, I Can Take It From Here recounts Lisa Forbes's harrowing journey into darkness — including a ... Read more »

An astonishing collection about interconnectedness—between the human and nonhuman, ancestors and ourselves—from National Book Critics Circle Award winner and National Book Award finalist Ada Limón.

“I have always been too sensitive, a weeper / from a long line of weepers,” writes Limón. “I am the hurting kind.” What does it mean to be the hurting... Read more »