Featured Books
New Releases
January 23
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
An alcoholic, addict and poet, Cyrus Shams, the orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, finds his obsession with martyrs leading him to examine the mysteries of his past and to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum.
The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
In 1964, when Jaime Sonoro, Mexico’s most renowned actor and singer, discovers a book telling of the multitude of horrific crimes committed by his ancestors, he must pay for their crimes unless he can uncover the truth about his grandfather, the legendary bandido El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower.
Family Family by Laurie Frankel
An actress who makes a film about adoption starts a media storm after admitting to a journalist that it’s a bad movie and that she gave up a baby for adoption during her senior year.
Isaac’s Top Reads of 2023
December 2
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system’s unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means.
Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb
When he is asked to authenticate a newly discovered piece from famed 20th-century composer Frederick Delaney, Bern Hendricks uncovers clues that indicate Delaney may have had help composing his most successful work, which makes him a target of a powerful organization that will stop at nothing to keep its secret hidden.
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a “man of two minds,” a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.
Isaac’s Top Reads of 2023
December 2
The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen
Cursed to live in her sister Clara’s shadow, Natasha gets her chance at revenge when an enchanted Nutcracker offers entry into a deceptively beautiful world where she uncovers her dark destiny and, reckoning with forces both earthly and magical, must decide to which world she truly belongs.
Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
Agreeing to see her adult daughter’s best friend in a community theatre production, a professor of women’s and gender studies becomes entranced with her in the new novel by the New York Times best-selling author of Red Riding Hood.
The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose
When a world-renowned mystery author drops dead, Molly Gray, the esteemed Head Maid of the 5-star Regency Grand Hotel, must solve the case, which not only threatens the hotel’s pristine reputation but may be linked to her own past.
November 21
A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates Written by Herself by Katherine Howe
A 1930s professor uncovers the story of a young woman who disguised herself as a cabin boy in the crew of a notorious 18th century pirate to hunt down a treasure and decides to continue her quest.
There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh
Gathering at their late friend Bea’s family estate in New Zealand’s Southern Alps for a reunion, a group of friends are plagued by long-buried grief, bitterness and rage, revealing that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be—and that the truth will finally be unleashed no matter the cost.
Sailing the Graveyard Sea: The Deathly Voyage of the Somers, the U.S. Navy’s Only Mutiny, and the Trial That Gripped the Nation by Richard Snow
Part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, this gripping true account of the only mutiny in U.S. Navy history follows Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie who, while leading a training cruise, ended the lives of three innocent young men and was put on trial for his own life.
