Literal Beach Reads

Literal Beach Reads

Stephanie

These books will literally whisk you away to the beach!

Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hotel Nantucket : After tragedy strikes, Hollis Shaw gathers four friends from different stages in her life to spend an unforgettable weekend on Nantucket.

 

Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum

Emma Rosenblum’s Bad Summer People is a whip-smart, propulsive debut about infidelity, backstabbing, and murderous intrigue, set against an exclusive summer haven on Fire Island.

 

The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton

New York heiress Catherine Dohan seemingly has it all. There’s only one problem. It’s a lie. As soon as the Morro Castle leaves port, Catherine’s past returns with a vengeance and threatens her life. Joining forces with a charismatic jewel thief, Catherine must discover who wants her dead – and why.

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises–especially to ourselves–by the bestselling and beloved author of The Guncle.

 

Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay

When a woman who’d rather do anything than read meets a swoon-worthy bookworm, sparks fly, making for one hot-summer fling in New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay’s new rom-com.

 

Quick Read Classics

Lynne

Are you thinking of tackling a classic book this summer?  Not quite ready for War and Peace or Middlemarch?  How about a short classic?  Check out one of those well-known books you’ve always meant to read!  And all are under 200 pages!

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

This best-selling sensation when first published in 1934, is still one of the best, most important, and most interesting crime novels in the canon.

 

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

A controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression — and a gateway into the work of  Steinbeck.

 

 

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Set among the bohemian bars and nightclubs of 1950s Paris, this groundbreaking novel about love and the fear of love is “a book that belongs in the top rank of fiction.”

 

 

O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

The novel that first made Willa Cather famous–a powerfully mythic tale of the American frontier told through the life of one extraordinary woman.

 

 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

Holly Golightly knows that nothing bad can ever happen to you at Tiffany’s. In this seductive, wistful masterpiece, Capote created a woman whose name has entered the American idiom and whose style is a part of the literary landscape–her poignancy, wit, and naïveté continue to charm.

 

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

The most widely read book in modern African literature tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a fearless Igbo warrior in Nigeria.

 

 

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

One of the most important and enduring works of the twentieth century.  A southern love story told with wit and pathos — perhaps one of the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the cannon of African-American literature.

 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers.

 

Page 1The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark

The girls of Spark’s novel live in the May of Teck Club in London, disturbed but not destroyed by WWII—both the Club, that is, and the girls.

Upcoming Spring Mysteries & Thrillers

Stephanie

APRIL

City of Dreams by Don Winslow – April 18

Following the epic, ambitious, instant New York Times bestseller City on Fire, “The Godfather for our generation” (Adrian McKinty), comes the dramatic second novel in an epic crime trilogy from Don Winslow, #1 internationally bestselling author of the Cartel trilogy (The Power of the Dog, The Cartel and The Border).

Where are the Children Now? by Mary Higgins Clark – April 18

The legacy of the “Queen of Suspense” continues with the highly anticipated follow-up to Mary Higgins Clark’s iconic novel Where Are The Children? , featuring the children of Nancy Harmon, facing peril once again as adults.

The Tip Line by Vanessa Cuti – April 18

Eager to get married, thirty-year-old Virginia Carey lands a job as an operator at a police tip line, where she thinks finding a husband will be easy. There’s Charlie Ford, a surprisingly sweet homicide detective, and charming police chief Declan “Deck” Brady. But just as Virginia’s plans begin to fall into place and she can almost picture a ring on her finger, she answers a call from Verona-a mysterious woman who provides a tip about four bodies on a remote local beach.

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane – April 25

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River–an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.

The Eden Test by Adam Sternbergh – April 25

From Edgar Award-finalist Adam Sternbergh, an electrifying domestic suspense novel for fans of The Perfect Marriage and Rock Paper Scissors , about a couple who are forced to the ultimate extremes to save their marriage–and themselves.

MAY

The 23rd Midnight by James Patterson – May 1

The latest in this “successful and suspenseful” ( Entertainment Weekly ) series: an attention-seeking copycat is recreating murders by a famous killer from the Women’s Murder Club’s past–with devastating new twists.

 

The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis – May 23

A dream girls trip to a luxurious French chateau devolves into a deadly nightmare of secrets and murder in this stylish, twisty thriller for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell.

 

Beware the Woman by Megan Abbot – May 30

By the “master of thinly veiled secrets often kept by women who rage underneath their delicate exteriors” (Kirkus Reviews), Beware the Woman is Megan Abbott at the height of her game.

 

Drowning by T. J. Newman – May 30

Flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author T. J. Newman–whose first book Falling was an instant #1 national bestseller and the biggest thriller debut of 2021–returns for her second book, an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean, and sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside, and the extraordinary rescue operation to save them.

Killing Moon by Joe Nesbo – May 30

This killer will get inside your head. * Brilliant rogue police investigator Harry Hole is back, this time as an outsider assembling his own team to help find a serial killer who is murdering young women in Oslo in the next novel in the New York Times best-selling series.

 

 

Novels Set in Western PA

Novels Set in Western PA

Richelle
Pittsburgh Novels interactive map example

Example of the interactive map feature

We are excited to announce that the Penn State University Libraries’ Open Publishing program has launched “The Pittsburgh Novel: Western Pennsylvania in Fiction and Drama, 1792–2022.” This online annotated bibliography compiled by Peter Oresick and Jake Oresick includes all known fiction with a significant geographical setting in any of Pennsylvania’s 26 westernmost counties published between 1792 and 2022 – more than 1,500 works.

The searchable bibliography organizes content using keywords, genres and place settings and includes abstracts and notes for each entry. Places are nested in each entry by county, municipality, neighborhood, sub-neighborhood and landmark. A unique feature of the bibliography is the interactive map. Clicking on a region in the map provides a list of titles associated with that region or zone with links to that title in the bibliography.

The bibliography includes national bestsellers, award-winning films and screenplays of popular motion pictures, children’s and young adult works, scripts of plays and television series, and obscure and self-published titles.

Read more about this project here:  Penn State University Libraries launches online bibliography of western Pa. fiction (PSU News – January 31, 2023)

Search the database here.

New Documentary DVDS

New Documentary DVDS

Cheryl

Consider adding a documentary to your DVD viewing queue; here are some of the recent additions to our nonfiction DVD collection.

Cover ImageHonk. The power of love shines in this heartwarming tale of friendship and inspiration between an unlikely duo. Cheryl inadvertently befriends a mourning goose, Honk, while recycling in the local park. As the budding friendship blossoms and Cheryl seeks Honk a new home, he becomes a viral sensation capturing the hearts and minds of millions.

Cover ImageSo Late So Soon. Half a century into their marriage, Chicago artists Jackie and Don Seiden approach the fragility of their elderly lives in their own distinct ways. Jackie, notorious for her unbounded energy, is constantly on the move, inspired to create works of art while also maintaining the couple’s multistory, brightly-painted Victorian house. Don steadily sketches in his notebook while facing alarming interruptions to his health. Director Daniel Hymanson filmed the Seidens, on-and-off for five years, capturing the hardships of aging as well as a view into enduring companionship, in this charming character study.

Cover ImageBehind the Stage Door. Explores the life and work of Pittsburgh concert promoter Rich Engler, one of the top concert promoters in the United States.

 

Cover ImageExposing Muybridge. Examines the life and work of groundbreaking 19th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, best known for his studies of humans and animal locomotion.

Cover ImageFrom Where They Stood. At Auschwitz and a few other Nazi death camps, a small number of prisoners managed to take photographs of life inside. Using the surviving photographs as evidence, director Christophe Cognet pieces together the stories of the brave men and women who took them.

Cover ImageMaking Black America Through the Grapevine. The four-part series hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chronicles the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people beyond the reach of the “White gaze.” The series recounts the establishment of the Prince Hall Masons in 1775 through the formation of all-Black towns and business districts, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, destinations for leisure, and the social media phenomenon of Black Twitter. Professor Gates sits with noted scholars, politicians, cultural leaders, and old friends to discuss this world behind the color line and what it looks like today. It takes viewers into an extraordinary world that showcased Black people’s ability to collectively prosper, defy white supremacy and define Blackness in ways that transformed America itself.

Cover ImageMuseum Town. Tells the story of a unique museum, the small town it calls home, and the great risk, hope, and power of art to transform a desolate post-industrial city. MASS MoCA is the largest museum for contemporary art in the world, but just three decades before, its vast brick buildings were the abandoned relics of a massive shuttered factory. Threaded with interviews of a diverse cast, a tattooed curator, a fabricator, former factory worker, and shopkeepers, the film also looks at the artistic process itself, tracking the work and ideas of celebrated artist Nick Cave as he creates his groundbreaking installation at MASS MoCA, UNTIL. With appearances by artists ranging from James Turrell to David Byrne, narration by Meryl Streep, and a soundtrack from John Stirratt of Wilco, the film captures the meeting of small-town USA and the global art world as it tells a tale that is, like any great artwork, soulful, thought-provoking and unforgettable.

Cover ImageHarriet Tubman Visions of Freedom. Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom is a rich and nuanced portrait of the woman known as a conductor of the Underground Railroad, who repeatedly risked her life and freedom to liberate others from slavery.

 

Cover ImageHiding in Plain Sight Youth Mental Illness. A two-part, four-hour documentary that explores America’s youth mental health crisis through the eyes of more than twenty young people, who speak about their lived experience with mental health challenges, from depression to addiction to suicide ideation. Includes Spanish SDH subtitles.

New Holiday DVDS

New Holiday DVDS

Cheryl

Whether it’s a holiday classic or one of these new titles, you are sure to find something festive to enjoy this holiday season.

Cover ImageA Mrs. Miracle Christmas. When a family faces loneliness and loss of faith, Mrs. Miracle swoops in to renew their Christmas Spirit, and they experience a holiday of heavenly proportions. Based on the book “A Mrs. Miracle Christmas” by author Debbie Macomber.

 

Cover Image

Dear Santa. As thousands of letters to Santa Claus flood post offices during the holiday season, it’s up to the US Postal Service’s 107-year-old Operation Santa to deliver them to Kris Kringle himself.

 

Cover ImageChristmas in Harmony. Harmony is tricked into auditioning for the Holiday Chorus – directed by an ex-boyfriend. By Christmas Eve, they could be harmonizing in the key of love. Starring Ashleigh Murray, Luke James, Basil Wallace, Michelle Williams, and Loretta Devine.

 

Cover ImageA Dickens of a Holiday. Boyfriends of Christmas Past. A Hallmark 2-movie collection. A Dickens of a Holiday!: To make the 100th anniversary of her hometown’s Victorian festival a success, Cassie invites action movie star and former high school classmate Jake to play Scrooge in ‘A Christmas Carol.’Boyfriends of Christmas Past: Leading up to Christmas, marketing executive, Lauren, is visited by the ghosts of four ex-boyfriends. She must learn to open her heart or risk losing her best friend, Nate.

Cover ImageThe Mistletoe Promise. A chance meeting between two strangers who share a disdain for Christmas results in The Mistletoe Promise, a pact to help them navigate their holiday complications together. But as they spend more time with each other and experience the magic of Christmas the phony couple discovers there may be more to their contract than business.

Cover ImageChristmas on the Square. An embittered scrooge of a woman plans to sell her small town, regardless of the consequences to the people who live there. However, a kindhearted angel arrives and shows her what would happen before she mends her ways and redeems herself. Starring Dolly Parton, Jenifer Lewis, Josh Segarra, Jeanine Mason, Mary Lane Haskell, Treat Williams, Christine Baranski.

Cover ImageEight Gifts of Hanukkah. An anonymous suitor sends optometrist Sara a gift for each night of Hanukkah. On her journey to find her secret admirer, she learns her one true love might be someone she never expected. Starring Inbar Lavi, Jake Epstein, Sheila Tyson, Barry Levy, David Kaye, Natalie Malaika, Doron Bell.

 

Cover ImageChristmas in Paradise. Joanna’s holiday is shattered when her sisters tell her that their dad has been dumped by his fiancée, he isn’t responding to any calls and disappeared to a Caribbean island. The sisters decide to go to save their father and bring him home for Christmas. Starring Kelsey Grammer, Elizabeth Hurley, Billy Ray Cyrus, Nathalie Cox, Naomi Frederick, Ray Fearon, Victoria Ekanoye.

Cover ImageThe Christmas Promise ; Christmas for Keeps. In “The Christmas Promise,” a woman learns to deal with grief with the help of her grandfather and a carpenter named Joe, who she hires to renovate the home she was to share with her fiancé. And in “Christmas for Keeps,” close-knit childhood friends return home for Christmas after 10 years to take part in a celebration of life for their beloved high school teacher.

 

Library Lovers Book Picks

Dustin

Love Your LibraryWhat do Sewickley Public Library users love to read?  During Love Your Library month we asked you, and received about 100 responses on our display.  Here is a highlight of some of the responses, maybe you can find something new that would spark your interest!

 

Where’d You Go Bernadette / Maria Semple

When her notorious, hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled and agoraphobic mother goes missing, teenage Bee begins a trip that takes her to the ends of the earth to find her.

Where the Crawdads Sing / Delia Owens

Viewed with suspicion in the aftermath of a tragedy, a beautiful hermit who has survived for years in a marsh becomes targeted by unthinkable forces.

The Handmaid’s Tale / Margaret Atwood

Offred, a Handmaid, describes life in what was once the United States, now the Republic of Gilead, a shockingly repressive and intolerant monotheocracy, in a satirical tour de force set in the near future.

100 Years of Solitude / Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The evolution and eventual decadence of a small South American town is mirrored in the family history of the Buendias.

The Godfather / Mario Puzo

The Godfather is an extraordinary novel which has become a modern day classic. Puzo pulls us inside the violent society of the Mafia and its gang wars. The leader, Vito Corleone, is the Godfather. He is a benevolent despot who stops at nothing to gain and hold power. His command post is a fortress on Long Island from which he presides over a vast underground empire that includes the rackets, gambling, bookmaking, and unions. His influence runs through all levels of American society, from the cop on the beat to the nation’s mighty.

Ten Thousand Doors of January / Alix Harrow

A woman navigating the out-of-place artifacts in her caretaker’s sprawling early 20th-century mansion discovers a mysterious book that reveals impossible truths about the world and her own past.

And Then There Were None / Agatha Christie

Ten houseguests, trapped on an isolated island, are the prey of a diabolical killer. A famous nursery rhyme is framed and hung in every room of the mansion: Ten little Indian boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine–When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale?

The Thursday Murder Club / Richard Osman

Meeting weekly in their retirement village’s Jigsaw Room to exchange theories about unsolved crimes, four savvy septuagenarians propose a daring but unorthodox plan to help a woman rookie cop solve her first big murder case.

7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle / Stuart Turton

Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden Bishop must solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle in order to escape the curse in a world filled with enemies where nothing and no one are quite what they seem

Cloud Cuckoo Land / Anthony Doerr

Follows four young dreamers and outcasts through time and space, from 1453 Constantinople to the future, as they discover resourcefulness and hope amidst peril in the new novel by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author All the Light We Cannot See.

Running with Scissors / Augusten Burroughs

The author describes his bizarre coming-of-age years after his adoption by his mother’s psychiatrist, during which he witnessed such misadventures as a fake suicide attempt and front-lawn family/patient sleepovers.

President’s Club / Nancy Gibbs

Traces the history of the presidential fraternity conceived by Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover during Eisenhower’s inauguration, exploring the ways in which the nation’s presidents depended on, sabotaged, and formed alliances that had world-changing impacts.

 

 

New Television Series

New Television Series

Cheryl

Looking for a new television series to start? Find these new titles in SPL’s DVD collection.

Hotel Portofino. Season One

Follows a British family who open a hotel for upper class travelers on the magical Italian Riviera during the Roaring ’20s.

Starring Natascha McElhone, Lucy Akhurst, Louisa Binder, Elizabeth Carling, Oliver Dench, Pasquale Esposito, Rocco Fasano, Lily Frazer, Adam James, Anna Chancellor.

Cover ImageThe Chelsea Detective. Series 1

Max Arnold is a detective whose lifestyle on a battered houseboat in Chelsea’s Cheyne Walk contrasts sharply with the affluent elite whose crimes he helps solve alongside his partner Priya Shamsie.

Starring Adrian Scarborough, Sonita Henry, Peter Bankolé, Lucy Phelps, Sophie Stone, Frances Barber, Davood Ghadami, Anamaria Marinca.

Cover ImageHidden Assets. Series 1

Follows Detective Emer Berry of the Criminal Assets Bureau in Ireland and Chief Inspector Christian de Jong of the anti-terrorism squad in Belgium as they team up to investigate an international conspiracy after diamonds are found during a drug raid that are linked to a series of bombings.

Starring Angeline Ball, Wouter Hendrickx, Simone Kirby, Michael Ironside.

Cover Image61st Street. Season 1

61st Street follows Moses Johnson, a promising Black high school athlete who is swept up into the infamously corrupt Chicago criminal justice system, and Franklin Roberts, the public defender who takes up his case. While Roberts has promised his wife he’ll retire, he takes on this case because he recognizes its potential to upend the entire Chicago judicial system, challenging the institutional racism and endemic corruption at its heart.

Starring Courtney B. Vance, Aunjanue Ellis.

Cover ImageMayor of Kingstown. Season one

From Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan, co-creator of Yellowstone, and Hugh Dillon, it follows the McLusky family – power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.

Starring Jeremy Renner, Dianne Wiest, Hugh Dillon, Tobi Bamtefa, Taylor Handley, Emma Laird, Derek Webster, Hamish Allan-Headley, Pha’rez Lass, Aidan Gillen, Kyle Chandler.

White Lotus. The Complete First Season

As the newest set of high class vacationers check into the exclusive White Lotus resort in Hawaii, manager Armand finds himself facing more than the usual excessive demands of one-percenters. He takes on momma’s boys and workaholics with a professional facade, his coping mechanisms become as extreme as the pressure he’s under, while the guests themselves unravel inside their toxic dynamics until the situations collide with incredible consequences.

Starring s Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, Jake Lacy, Brittany O’Grady, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney, Steve Zahn.

Cover ImageClose to Me

The story of a Danish translator who loses a year of her memory following a fall. As she tries to piece her memories back together, she realizes that her life wasn’t as perfect as she was led to believe.

Starring Connie Nielsen, Christopher Eccleston, Rosy McEwen, Tom Taylor, Leanne Best, Nick Blood, Oliver Gatz, Ellie Haddington, Susan Lynch, Jamie Flatters.

Cover ImageThe Split. Season One

The Split examines the fast paced circuit of high-powered female divorce lawyers in London through the lens of three sisters, Hannah, Nina and the youngest, Rose. Exposing the complex realities of high end divorce and broken marriage through female divorce lawyers and sisters embattled and bound by their own troubled past.

Starring Nicola Walker, Stephen Mangan, Annabel Scholey, Fiona Button, Barry Atsma, Stephen Tompkinson, Meera Syal, Anthony Head, Deborah Findlay.

Cover ImageSignora Volpe. Series 1

Top British spy Sylvia Fox is in Italy for her niece’s wedding when the groom goes missing, leaving a dead body behind him. Sylvia solves the mystery and falls in love with Italy, and with a crumbling old house on a hillside. Disillusioned with her job and longing to reconnect with her family, Sylvia decides to stay on and start a new life in the little town of Panicale. But trouble has a habit of seeking Sylvia out and she finds herself tackling a fresh mystery every week and in the process, becoming increasingly close to handsome local cop Giovanni Riva.

Starring Emilia Fox, Tara Fitzgerald, Giovanni Cirfiera, Jamie Bamber, Matteo Carlomagno, Issy Knopfler, Imma Piro.

Cover ImageLa Brea. Season One

An epic adventure begins when a massive sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles, pulling hundreds of people and buildings into its depths. Those who fell in find themselves in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land, where they have no choice but to band together to survive. Meanwhile, the rest of the world desperately seeks to understand what happened. In the search for answers, one family torn apart by this disaster will have to unlock the secrets of this inexplicable event to find a way back to each other.

Starring Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Chiké Okonkwo, Karina Logue, Zyra Gorecki, Jack Martin, Veronica St. Clair, Rohan Mirchandaney, Lily Santiago, Chloe De Los Santos, Josh McKenzie, Nicholas Gonzalez, Jon Seda.

New Books for October

New Books for October

Stephanie

The Shadow Murders by Jussi Adler-Olsen

On her sixtieth birthday, a woman takes her own life. When the case lands on Detective Carl Mørck’s desk, he can’t imagine what this has to do with Department Q, Copenhagen’s cold cases division since the cause of death seems apparent. However, his superior, Marcus Jacobsen, is convinced that this is related to an unsolved case that has been plaguing him since 1988.

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

The #1 bestselling, award-winning author of Life after Life transports us to a restless London in the wake of the Great War–a city fizzing with money, glamour, and corruption–in this spellbinding tale of seduction and betrayal.

 

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

A breathtaking new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People and A Man Called Ove , The Winners returns to the close-knit, resilient community of Beartown for a story about first loves, second chances, and last goodbyes.

The Old Place by Bobby Finger

A few months into her retirement Mary Alice Roth does not know how to fill her days. At least there’s Ellie, who stops by each morning for coffee and whose re-emergence in Mary Alice’s life is the one thing soothing the sting of retirement.  But when Mary Alice’s sister arrives on her doorstep with a staggering piece of news, it jeopardizes the careful shell she’s built around her life.

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher–for that world or ours.

 

Mother Daughter Traitor Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal

A mother and daughter find the courage to go undercover after stumbling upon a Nazi cell in Los Angeles during the early days of World War II–a tantalizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series.

 

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

In a society consumed by fear, 12-year-old Bird Gardner, after receiving a mysterious letter, sets out on a quest to find his mother, a Chinese-American poet who left when he was 9 years old, leading him to NYC where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult

Her life upended when her husband revealed a darker side, Olivia MacAfee and her teenage son Asher move back to her New Hampshire hometown for a new beginning, until Asher is implicated in the death of his girlfriend and she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and on-again, off-again friend, William. For the next several months, it’s just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea.

Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne

The younger sister of Victor Frankenstein embarks on her own project, resurrecting an intended beau who is more intent on uncovering his forgotten identity than in romance in the new novel from the best-selling author of The Hating Game.