For Readers: Blog

Fall into a great read

Are you clinging to the last days of summer, or are you ready for the splendor of fall? These book covers feature the autumnal colors that are just around the corner.

Book clubbers won’t want to miss Ashton Lattimore’s All We Were Promised, a rich and moving novel about three young Black women whose fates become entwined in 1837 Philadelphia. Despite escaping slavery, Charlotte still feels confined, passing as a white housekeeper, but finds hope in her new friendship with a wealthy abolitionist. After running into someone she left behind on the plantation, Charlotte must decide how much of her new life she is willing to risk. [e-book | print | audiobook]

Inspired by the myth of Persephone, Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi is a cinematic tale of court intrigue set in a vividly reimagined 15th-century West Africa. When Òdòdó is abducted from her blacksmith guild and brought to the capital, she is shocked to find her kidnapper is a warrior king, and he expects them to wed. As Òdòdó navigates her sudden rise in status, she must fight to turn vicious political rivalries and endless scheming to her advantage. [e-book | print]

Love a locked-room mystery? Death in the Air by Ram Murali is a high-drama debut about a lawyer forced to investigate a string of murders at a luxury resort in the Indian Himalayas. After a sudden departure from his job, Ro heads to an elite spa to reevaluate his life and mingle with the rich and famous, until a murderer shakes things up. This is a fun and fast-paced take on the classic whodunnit. [e-book | print | large type]

Crow Talk by Eileen Garvin is a leisurely character-driven story about an ornithologist and a musician who find healing in nature and each other. Retreating to a remote lakeside community after the death of loved ones, two neighbors cautiously reach out and find unexpected solace and understanding in their friendship. This read is a great fit for the Lost and Found category in our 2024 Branch Out reading challenge. [e-book | print | large type]

Morgan Talty’s Fire Exit is a lyrical and melancholy work for our literary fiction fans. Charles is a sympathetic but flawed man who watches life unfold across the river on the Penobscot Reservation. After leaving when he turned eighteen due to his lineage, Charles now watches his daughter grow up without him on the reservation, unaware of her parentage. Will Charles reveal himself and risk his daughter’s place in her community? [e-book | print]

Carole Hopson’s A Pair of Wings paints a spirited portrait of a trailblazer in early aviation. Bessie Coleman leaves the South for Chicago in 1915, making powerful allies and securing the resources she needs to achieve her dream of becoming a pilot. No American flight school will train a Black woman, but opportunities await in Europe. This inspiring story is based on the life of the first African American woman to earn her pilot’s license. [e-book | print | audiobook]
 

⏤Laura