New Arrivals

October 2023

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus, FICTION KRAUS [AMER]—See New Books Display  

Narrator Jay Gardiner is an accomplished deep-sea diver and soon-to-be modern Jonah from the Bible.  Struggling with his father’s presumed death at sea and trying to deal with a barrage of confusing and unresolved father-son issues that are tormenting him, Jay decides that finding his father’s body will bring him clarity and closure and allow him to move on. He is convinced that this last effort on his father’s behalf will heal his wounds, but what he doesn’t plan for is that the depths that claimed his father might claim his own life too. Consulting his father’s notes, he makes a diving plan, one he believes will lead him to his father’s remains.  Instead, it leads him into the path of two monsters seldom seen by humans, a giant squid and massive whale.  Plucked out of his diving pattern by the squid, he manages to escape, only to be swallowed by the whale and begin his journey through the whale’s digestive system.  With a dwindling supply of oxygen and no idea where the whale is taking him, Jay is desperate to find a way to escape, while reflecting on his years with his father and contemplating his own possible death.  This suspenseful adventure novel may remind some of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Moby Dick, or The Deep, or more modern films such as 47 Meters Down, The Shallows, or The Meg.

 

What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., and Oprah Winfrey, 616.852/1 PER—See New Books Display

Dr. Bruce D. Perry has spent his career studying how trauma impacts the structure of our brain and in this book, the reader sees his findings through deeply personal conversations with Oprah Winfrey. The average person at least experiences some hardship in their life, and the first few years of life shape the foundation of your brain and who you are as a person. Winfrey shares adversity she faced in her childhood, and Dr. Perry can filter in science with it to create a nice blend of storytelling and facts. The book is written in interview style with Oprah’s answers in blue and Perry’s in black and told in various aspects of our life like finding pleasure, rewards/punishments, abusive behaviors, etc. By the end of the book, the reader is inclined to shift their mindset from constantly tearing themselves down and looking at their flaws to learning how to work through the trauma and accepting that what was done to them was not their fault.

 

Weyward by Emilia Hart, FICTION HART [BRIT]—See New Books Display

This debut novel by British author Emilia Hart is especially recommended for fans of magical realism, historical women’s fiction, and books that explore the themes of independence and being true to oneself. Weyward weaves together the stories of three women living in England during three different centuries: Kate, a 21st-century Londoner running away from her abusive boyfriend after discovering, to her dismay, that she is carrying his baby; Violet, a motherless teenager living in World War II Lancashire, rebelling against a cold and unloving father who demands that she forget her dreams of a scientific career in favor of the more socially acceptable roles of wife and mother; and Altha, a natural healer awaiting trial in 1619 for allegedly killing her former best friend’s husband by witchcraft. Though separated by centuries, the women are bound by their shared ancestry, their intuitive connection to the natural world, and their gifts for healing the sick and communicating with animals. Their lives intersect at a secluded, enchanted cottage in rural Lancashire where each discovers the secrets of the Weyward family and the key to her own destiny.

 

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent, FICTION NUGEN [BRIT]—See New Books Display

Sally Diamond is the reluctant heroine of this novel, and while she may seem “strange” at the outset of this story, she slowly reveals herself to not be strange at all, rather the victim of a tangled web of family secrets and the misunderstandings of her neighbors.  Sally is a 43-year-old autistic woman, living in a rural village on the outskirts of Dublin with her psychiatrist father.  As her father’s health begins to fail and he realizes the end is near, he writes letters to Sally, telling her how she should live on after his death and sharing in detail a past she never knew she had. In fact, his home office is filled with file cabinets full of Sally’s story, mysterious, unknown, and shocking. His instructions create a life-altering national notoriety for Sally as she and her community grapple with the secrets the letters divulge.  He’d always said that when he died, “Sally, just put me out with the trash.”  Sally’s understanding of the world is so literal that when she discovers her father’s deceased body, she puts him in the largest garbage bag on hand and stuffs him into the incinerator, and fires it up, just as she has always done with the trash.  When a neighbor visits Sally, concerned about a putrid smell, Sally discovers that bodies don’t burn like trash, and she must call for help to deal with the charred and rotting remains of her father. This act bursts the sheltered bubble Sally has lived in her entire life as the media descends on her home. This gripping novel explores the world through the lens of a remarkable woman trying to find her place in the world, while navigating interactions with people, legal matters, and ensuing emotions she never knew existed.  This rare novel has elements of family drama and mystery, accompanied by many twists, and stands apart from others due to the heroine’s well-written and unique perspective.

 

Under Alien Skies by Philip Plait, 522.220 PLA—See New Books Display

Have you ever wished you could explore the universe firsthand? Philip Plait’s new book gives readers the closest thing possible to an immersive experience in outer space. Using powerful, poetic descriptions, he takes readers on an armchair voyage to some of the most breathtaking destinations in the universe. Hike the red hills of Mars, explore the spectacular rings of Saturn, visit the dwarf planet Pluto on the dim and frozen outskirts of our solar system, marvel at the sunrise on a planet with a million suns, journey inside a black hole—and more. This book is both poetry and science, its stunning imagery blended with enough physics and astronomy to provide a glimpse of how it all works. Readers who did not enjoy math or science in school need not fear that the book will become too dense or academic. The prose is light and entertaining throughout, while still illuminating basic concepts, leaving the reader not only with a greater appreciation of the immensity and wonder of the universe, but also with a greater knowledge of how the universe works.

 

Happy Place by Emily Henry, FICTION HENRY [AMER]—See New Books Display

To all their friends, Harriet and Wyn are peanut butter and jelly. You can’t make a sandwich without the other. Until one day, they aren’t, and the engagement is off, but they can’t tell anyone that. When their annual vacation to Maine rolls around and neither of them have told their friends that they are done, they devise the perfect plan: let’s just pretend we’re still engaged, and they won’t know a thing. Feelings of longing and attraction are bubbling to the surface when they are forced to spend almost every waking minute with one another and pretend that things haven’t changed. What will happen when the plan crumbles and everything comes to a head? Told in past and present, the story follows Harriet and Wyn for many years of their life and various lifestyle changes. In this novel, Emily Henry explores themes of a found family, never feeling good enough in your everyday life, having to always cover up the cracks in your façade, and constantly doing things to make other people happy. Henry will have you rooting for every single character and flipping the pages until Harriet and Wyn find their way back to each other. “In every universe, it’s you for me. Even if it’s not me for you.”

 

The MCC Collection’s Best Titles

 

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez, FICTION JIMEN [AMER]

TW: infertility, motorcycle accident, death of a loved one

Kristen Petersen is content with her life. She steadily goes through the motions while spending time with her friends and avoiding drama at all costs. There’s one thing she is hiding from everyone, though: she needs surgery and after the surgery, she won’t be able to have children. Her future is crumbling around her as she must plan her best friend’s wedding, that is, until she meets the best man: Josh Copeland. Josh brings color into Kristen’s life with his goofy manner, tolerance of her dark sarcasm, and a cute dog named Stuntman Mike. The only thing stopping Kristen from making things serious is that Josh wants children. Follow this charming and emotional journey and fight the inner turmoil alongside Kristen of putting people you love ahead of yourself while also learning to accept yourself and all your flaws.

 

Great Tales of Horror and the Supernatural, compiled by Bill Pronzini and Barry Malzbert, et al., FICTION GRE

This compact volume holds some of the spookiest horror stories ever written, including creepy classics from the Romantic period, spine-chilling Victorian ghost stories, and popular tales of terror from the 1980s and 90s. Some of the stories are well-known masterpieces that readers may have encountered in school, including “Hop-Frog” by Edgar Allan Poe, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, and “The Doll” by Joyce Carol Oates. Others are relatively obscure works by famous authors—for example, “The Squaw” by Bram Stoker, “The Crate” by Stephen King, and “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” by Robert Bloch (author of Psycho). Old or modern, famous or undeservedly overlooked, every offering in this collection was chosen for its proven ability to terrify. Whether you’re still young in years or just young at heart, reading scary stories is always one of the coolest ways to celebrate Halloween, and it’s even more fun when you are relaxing by the MCC Library fireplace with a friend or two and a cup of freshly brewed Novel Coffee (the Toasted Marshmallow Mocha and Caramel Pumpkin flavors are particularly recommended).

 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, FICTION KESEY [AMER]

When you hear someone mention One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, often the first thought is of Jack Nicholson in his black knit hat, roaming the halls of a mental institution in Oregon, upsetting the apple cart and inspiring inmates in his quest to take down Nurse Ratched. Many critics consider this film to be a classic, and the book it’s based on is one too.  Ken Kesey’s novel was published in 1962, and while the setting and language may seem a bit dated, the characters’ feelings of oppression, loneliness, low self-esteem and confidence, heroism, self-worth, and the need for friendship, love, and respect are right on.  The story revolves around McMurphy, a “voluntary” inmate who faked mental illness to beat a prison term, sure this was the better way to spend a few years.  He was wrong! He soon identifies Nurse Ratched as the bully dictator of the ward, as she crushes the souls of the men she tends to and generously hands out brutal punishments through medicine, deprivation, or electroshock.  McMurphy becomes a hero to the inmates, rallying them to find themselves and fight against the nurse.  This leads to hilarious and horrifying consequences.  Reading this novel is intense and the ending supreme.  This book is based on the author’s experiences as a young man working in a mental institution. In a which-is-better debate, the book or the movie, as outstanding as the movie is, the book still wins.

More New Books (See New Books Display)

 

Nonfiction

• Behold the Monster: Confronting America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer by Jillian Lauren, 364.152/155 LAU
• Built to Move: The Ten Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully by Kelly Starrett, 615.414 STA
• Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America’s Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed by Jim Popkin, 327.123/1 POP
• The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland, 362.41 LEL
• Disruptive Thinking: A Daring Strategy to Change How We Live, Lead, and Love by T.D. Jakes, 153.8 JAK
• Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke, 303.485 LEM
• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake, 582.2 SHE
• A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan, 364.102/2 EGA
• For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want to Be by Marcus Collins, 653 COL
• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman, 153.8 BUR
• The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss by Mary Frances O’Connor, 155.937 OCO
• The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos, 155.94 VLA
• Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief by Jordan Peterson, 170 PET
• On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen, 230.055/1 LOE
• Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity by Peter Attia, 615.3 ATT
• Outrage Machine: How Tech Amplifies Discontent, Disrupts Democracy—and What We Can Do About It by Tobias Rose-Stockwell, 326.983/4 ROS
• The Pornography Wars: The Past, Present, and Future of America’s Obscene Obsession by Kelsy Burke, 363.311 BUR
• The Return of the Gods by Jonathan Cahn, 277.46 CAH
• The Road Less Stupid: Advice from the Chairman of the Board by Keith J. Cunningham, 650.1 CUN
• Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food by Chris van Tulleken, 647.950/5 TUL
• Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World by Olga Khazan, 155.22 KHA
• Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began by Leah Hazard, 610.733/07 HAZ
• You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham that Changed America by Paul Kix, 973.923/507 KIX

Fiction

• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, FICTION QUINN [AMER]
• All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham, FICTION WILLI [AMER]
• The Beast You Are: Stories by Paul Tremblay, FICTION TREMB [AMER]
• The Block Party by Jamie Day, FICTION DAY [AMER]
• Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke, FICTION BURKE [AMER]
• Fourth Wing (book 1 of Empyrean series) by Rebecca Yarros, SF/FAN YARRO [AMER]
• Fractalverse series (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and Fractal Noise) by Christopher Paolini, SF/FAN PAOLI [AMER]
• Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls, FICTION WALLS [AMER]
• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, FICTION MCBRI [AMER]
• The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson, FICTION JOHNS [AMER]
• Knockemout series (Things We Never Got Over, Things We Hide from the Light, and Things We Left Behind) by Lucy Score, FICTION SCORE [AMER]
• The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, SF/FAN HAWKI [AMER]
• Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica, MYS KUBIC [AMER]
• Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall, FICTION MARSH [CANA]
• The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart, FICTION STUAR [AMER]
• Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story by Julia Quinn, FICTION QUINN [AMER]
• Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck, FICTION HABEC [AMER]
• Witness by Karen Hesse, FICTION HESSE [AMER]