Welcome to #FDL! #FDL is an update with book recommendations to help you find your next great read! Lists are curated based on popular authors and novels, trending topics, seasons, and holidays. And don’t miss our occasional book giveaways!
#FDL: Science Fiction & Fantasy – April Giveaway
Not constrained by current scientific knowledge or imagination, science fiction and fantasy can offer an otherworldly escape from the day-to-day grind. Here are three new & upcoming titles in this genre.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Expected publication: 05/07/24
An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks the universal What happens if you put a disaffected millennial and a Victorian polar explorer in a house together?
In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.
She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machine,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But he adjusts quickly; he is, after all, an explorer by trade. Soon, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a seriously uncomfortable housemate dynamic, evolves into something much more. Over the course of an unprecedented year, Gore and the bridge fall haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences they never could have imagined.
Supported by a chaotic and charming cast of characters—including a 17th-century cinephile who can’t get enough of Tinder, a painfully shy World War I captain, and a former spy with an ever-changing series of cosmetic surgery alterations and a belligerent attitude to HR—the bridge will be forced to confront the past that shaped her choices, and the choices that will shape the future.
Welcome to Forever by Nathan Tavares
Expected Publication: 03/12/24
A sweeping, psychedelic romance of two men caught in a looping world of artificial realities, edited memories, secretive cabals and conspiracies to push humanity to the next step in its evolution. For fans of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Ubik, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Evangelion.
Fox is a memory editor – one of the best – gifted with the skill to create real life in the digital world. When he wakes up in Field of Reeds Center for Memory Reconstruction with no idea how he got there, the therapists tell him he was a victim in a terrorist bombing by Khadija Banks, the pioneer of memory editing technology turned revolutionary. A bombing which shredded the memory archives of all its victims, including his husband Gabe.
Thrust into reconstructions of his memories exploded from the fragments that survived the blast, Fox tries to rebuild his life, his marriage and himself. But he quickly realizes his world is changing, unreliable, and echoing around itself over and over. As he unearths endless cycles of meeting Gabe, falling in love and breaking up, Fox digs deep into his past, his time in the refugee nation of Aaru, and the exact nature of his relationship with Khadija. Because, in a world tearing itself apart to forget all its sadness, saving the man he loves might be the key to saving us all.
Expected publication: 05/28/24
The Devil knows your name, David Aristarkhov.
As a teen, David Aristarkhov was a psychic prodigy, operating under the shadow of his oppressive occultist father. Now, years after his father’s death and rapidly approaching his thirtieth birthday, he is content with the high-powered life he’s curated as a Boston attorney, moonlighting as a powerful medium for his secret society.
But with power comes a price, and the Devil has come to collect on an ancestral deal. David’s days are numbered, and death looms at his door.
Reluctantly, he reaches out to the only person he’s ever trusted, his ex-boyfriend and secret Society rival Rhys, for help. However, the only way to get to Rhys is through his wife, Moira. Thrust into each other’s care, emotions once buried deep resurface, and the trio race to figure out their feelings for one another before the Devil steals David away for good…
Annotations from the publishers
-Post by Melissa Friedlund, Reference Specialist
Giveaway
Enter your name here for a chance to win ARCs of the books mentioned in this post. One entry per person. Drawing to be held approximately 7 days after this post.
ARCs are “advanced reading copies.” These are free copies of a new books given by a publisher to librarians and other reviewers before the book is printed for mass distribution.
#FDL is a weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and East Peoria.
#FDL: Poetry Collections for Poetry Month
April is Poetry Month. Check out one of these newer collections of poetry at our library!
In an intimate and non-traditional (or “new-fashioned”) memoir, Kwame Alexander shares snapshots of a man learning how to love. He takes us through stories of his parents: from being awkward newlyweds in the sticky Chicago summer of 1967, to the sometimes-confusing ways they showed their love to each other, and for him. He explores his own relationships—his difficulties as a newly wedded, 22-year-old father, and the precariousness of his early marriage working in a jazz club with his second wife. Alexander attempts to deal with the unravelling of his marriage and the grief of his mother’s recent passing while sharing the solace he found in learning how to perfect her famous fried chicken dish. Alexander weaves together memories of his past to try and understand his greatest love: his daughters.
Sing a Black Girl’s Song: The Unpublished Work of Ntozake Shange By Ntozake Shange
Sing a Black Girl’s Song is a new posthumous collection of Shange’s unpublished poems, essays, and plays from throughout the life of the seminal Black feminist writer. In these pages we meet young Shange, learn the moments that inspired for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf…, travel with an eclectic family of musicians, sit on “The Couch” opposite Shange’s therapist, and discover plays written after for colored girls’ international success. Sing a Black Girl’s Song houses, in their original form, the literary rebel’s politically charged verses from the Black Arts Movement era alongside her signature tender rhythm and cadence that capture the minutia and nuance of Black life.
Chosen as the winner of the 2021 APR/Honickman First Book Prize by Guggenheim Fellow Ada Limón, Natasha Rao’s debut collection Latitude abounds with sensory delights, rich in colors, flavors, and sounds. These poems explore the complexities of family, cultural identity, and coming of age. By turns vulnerable and bold, Latitude indulges in desire: “In my next life let me be a tomato/lusting and unafraid,” Rao writes, “…knowing I’ll end up in an eager mouth.”
*Annotations from the publishers
Posted by Susie Rivera, Reference Specialist
#FDL is an update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.
#FDL: Mystery Thrillers – March Giveaway!
Mystery Thrillers – March Giveaway
If you crave fast-paced action laced with riddles and danger, these upcoming titles are for you.
The Memory Bank by Brian Shea & Raquel ByrnesMarcie R. Rendon
Expected publication: 03/19/24
When a series of high-profile deaths is linked to a lethal conspiracy, Detective Morgan Reed must risk everything to uncover the truth. Technology pioneer Dr. Gerard Price is at the height of his scientific career. After years of research in the field of memory augmentation, he’s just made a world-changing breakthrough. But his life’s work is mysteriously cut short by a fatal overdose in a seedy motel. All evidence points to a suicide, and the case is closed…until Detective Morgan Reed begins working a series of similarly strange deaths.
As Reed joins forces with Detective Natalie De La Cruz to expose the lies and corporate treachery at the heart of the suicides, they discover a shocking plot that will put thousands of lives at risk. In a world where cutting-edge technology meets dirty money, Reed and De La Cruz must navigate the labyrinths of an impenetrable network to save countless innocents from certain death…as their own lives hang in the balance. Former detective and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Brian Shea teams up with Raquel Byrnes for this explosive techno-thriller that will keep you up all night—perfect for fans of Michael Crichton and David Baldacci.
The North Line by Matt Riordan
Expected Publication: 04/02/24
In Matt Riordan’s debut novel, a college student in need of quick money finds work on an Alaskan fishing boat in the unforgiving Bering Sea. Even at the ragged edge of civilization, some lines should not be crossed. Riordan pairs personal experiences with a master storyteller’s eye in a piercing examination of the quest for identity in the face of tempests within and without.
Everyone believes Adam to be something he’s not. Sometimes that’s because he’s told them a story. Sometimes he’s told himself one. But when Adam joins an Alaskan fishing crew that’s promising quick money, the dangerous work and harsh lifestyle strip away all fabrications and force a dark-hearted exploration of who he really is.
On the unforgiving Bering Sea, Adam finds the adventure and authenticity of a fisherman’s life revelatory. The labor required to seize bounty from the ocean invigorates him, and the often crude comradery accompanies a welcome, hard-earned wisdom. But when a strike threatens the entire season and violence stalks the waves, Adam is thrust into a struggle for survival at the edge of the world, where evolutionary and social forces collide for outcomes beyond anyone’s control.
The General’s Gold by LynDee Walker & Bruce Robert Coffin
Expected publication: 04/16/24
A treasure so priceless, it’s worth killing for… When Mark Hawkins is found dead in a seedy motel, police deem it an accidental overdose. But billionaire computer genius Avery Turner suspects there might be more to the story. Her old friend was on the trail of the legendary General’s Gold, and now Avery is determined to pick up where he left off… Teaming up with Carter Mosley, a deep-sea shipwreck diver and adrenaline junkie turned social media sensation, Avery embarks on a dangerous quest for the treasure—and the truth.
From Florida to Maine, and from the mountains of Virginia to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, they face treacherous gangs, man-eating sharks, and a world of deception and double-crosses. As they navigate hidden clues and uncertain allies, Avery and Carter must outwit their deadly adversaries and unravel the mystery surrounding the General’s Gold. But in this high-stakes game, losing the treasure could cost them their lives. Unearth the year’s most exhilarating treasure-hunting thriller. Join bestselling authors LynDee Walker and Bruce Robert Coffin in a pulse-pounding action-adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you love the action of Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt series and the intrigue of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, dive into The General’s Gold today!
The Deepest Lake by Andromeda Romano-Lax
Expected publication: 05/07/24
In this atmospheric thriller set at a luxury memoir-writing workshop on the shores of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, a grieving mother goes undercover to investigate her daughter’s mysterious death.
Rose, the mother of 20-something aspiring writer Jules, has waited three months for answers about her daughter’s death. Why was she swimming alone when she feared the water? Why did she stop texting days before she was last seen? When the official investigation rules the death an accidental drowning, the body possibly lost forever in Central America’s deepest lake, an unsatisfied Rose travels to the memoir workshop herself. She hopes to draw her own conclusion—and find closure.
When Rose arrives, she is swept into the curious world created by her daughter’s literary hero, the famous writing teacher Eva Marshall, a charismatic woman known for her candid—and controversial—memoirs. As Rose uncovers details about the days leading up to Jules’s disappearance, she begins to suspect that this glamorous retreat package is hiding ugly truths. Is Lake Atitlan a place where traumatized women come to heal or a place where deeper injury is inflicted?
Perfect for fans of Delia Owens, Celeste Ng, and Julia Bartz, The Deepest Lake is both a sharp look at the sometimes toxic, exclusionary world of high-class writing workshops and an achingly poignant view of a mother’s grief.
-Annotations from the publishers
–Post by Melissa Friedlund, Reference Specialist
Giveaway
Enter your name here for a chance to win ARCs of the books mentioned in this post. One entry per person. Drawing to be held approximately 7 days after this post.
ARCs are “advanced reading copies.” These are free copies of a new books given by a publisher to librarians and other reviewers before the book is printed for mass distribution.
#FDL is a weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and East Peoria.
#FDL: Nonfiction for Women’s History Month
Check out one of these fascinating nonfiction books about remarkable women for Women’s History Month! Try one these or find more available through our collection.
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez
She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History by Philippa Gregory
The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Denise Kiernan
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong
The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos by Judy Batalion
A Black Women’s History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry
Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine by Olivia Campbell
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon
Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All by Martha S. Jones
The Genius of Women: From Overlooked to Changing the World by Janice Kaplan
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O’Brien
The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang
– Post by Susie Rivera, Reference Specialist
#FDL is an update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.
#FDL: Nonfiction Highlights for Black History Month
From the Civil War, to the 1960s Civils Rights Movement, to Black Lives Matter—these books from our nonfiction collection are essential reads for Black History Month.
Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad by Eric Foner
– Feminist, Activism, Social Justice in the 1960s
In Vanguard, acclaimed historian Martha S. Jones offers a new history of African American women’s political lives in America. She recounts how they defied both racism and sexism to fight for the ballot, and how they wielded political power to secure the equality and dignity of all persons. From the earliest days of the republic to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and beyond, Jones excavates the lives and work of black women—Maria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Fannie Lou Hamer, and more—who were the vanguard of women’s rights, calling on America to realize its best ideals.
-George Floyd Murder, Racial disparity, Ferguson, societal change
For many, the story of the weeks of protests in the summer of 2020 began with the horrific nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds when Police Officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd on camera, and it ended with the sweeping federal, state, and intrapersonal changes that followed. It is a simple story, wherein white America finally witnessed enough brutality to move their collective consciousness. The only problem is that it isn’t true. George Floyd was not the first Black man to be killed by police—he wasn’t even the first to inspire nation-wide protests—yet his death came at a time when America was already at a tipping point.
In Say Their Names, five seasoned journalists probe this critical shift. With a piercing examination of how inequality has been propagated throughout history, from Black imprisonment and the Convict Leasing program to long-standing predatory medical practices to over-policing, the authors highlight the disparities that have long characterized the dangers of being Black in America. They examine the many moderate attempts to counteract these inequalities, from the modern Civil Rights movement to Ferguson, and how the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others pushed compliance with an unjust system to its breaking point. Finally, they outline the momentous changes that have resulted from this movement, while at the same time proposing necessary next steps to move forward.
-Emancipation, Slavery around the world, social justice, racial caste system
Ranging across the Americas, Europe and Africa, Manjapra unearths disturbing truths about the Age of Emancipations, 1780-1880. In Britain, reparations were given to wealthy slaveowners, not the enslaved, a vast debt that was only paid off in 2015, and the crucial role of Black abolitionists and rebellions in bringing an end to slavery has been overlooked. In Jamaica, Black people were liberated only to enter into an apprenticeship period harsher than slavery itself. In the American South, the formerly enslaved were ‘freed’ into a system of white supremacy and racial terror. Across Africa, emancipation served as an alibi for colonization. None of these emancipations involved atonement by the enslavers and their governments for wrongs committed, or reparative justice for the formerly enslaved-an omission that grassroots Black organizers and activists are rightly seeking to address today.
#FDL is a weekly update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.
#FDL: Contemporary Romance Authors
In the mood for romance? Try one of these authors who set their novels during modern times. These are character-driven stories that typically focus on the emotional growth of the protagonist who finds a new and exciting relationship, not without its challenges.
-Post by Susie Rivera, Adult Services Specialist
#FDL is an update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.