by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian
Spring is here, at least officially. We may not have flowers and warm temperatures
for a while yet, so there’s plenty of time to keep reading before we have too
many outside activities. The Litchfield Library
is getting a number of new books that are generating buzz this spring.
Bestselling author Harlan Coben has a new book, Run Away, that just came out this past week. It’s a parent’s nightmare: a daughter who
becomes addicted to drugs with an abusive boyfriend and leaves her family. In order to save her, the parent follows her
into the dangerous world she lives in.
Reviews say it’s an exciting thriller you’ll want to read in one sitting.
The Silent Patient is in demand in our library system, and
everywhere else, right now. This
psychological thriller is about a famous artist who murders her fashion
photographer husband and then refuses to speak another word. A criminal psychologist becomes obsessed with
the notorious case and begins to treat her.
Brad Pitt has purchased the film rights to this first novel by Alex
Michaelides.
Lisa See’s new book, The Island of Sea Women, covers the
history of a unique place, the Korean island of Jeju. Women there have been the primary breadwinners
for centuries, even now diving into the sea to gather shellfish without oxygen
masks. This novel centers on two friends
who begin diving together as children, and it follows them through Japanese
colonialism in the ‘30s and ‘40s, World War II, and the Korean War, bringing
them to the current era of cell phones and wet suits. If you enjoy novels about history and female
friendship, this is for you.
Written as though it’s a celebrity memoir, the novel Daisy Jones and The Six is the story of a wildly-successful band in the ‘70s. Author Taylor Jenkins Reid captures the sex,
drugs, and rock and roll of the era through Daisy’s rise to superstardom when
she joins the band The Six. Reviewers
have said that the characters feel so real that they want to find their albums.
British author Helen Oyeyemi has won awards for her
inventive novels and short stories. Her
latest is called Gingerbread, and it builds on the special place gingerbread
has in fairy tales. A mother and daughter
live in a London apartment with talking plants, and the mother’s mysterious friend
Gretel loves the family’s famous gingerbread, a recipe passed down through the
generations.
Figuring is a nonfiction book about the interconnected
lives of a number of prominent people over four centuries, beginning with
astronomer Johannes Kepler and ending with biologist and author Rachel
Carson. Writer Maria Popova examines the
lives of these artists, writers, and scientists, most of them women and many of
them LGBT, who have made important public contributions while going through
struggles in their private relationships.
The Altruists by Andrew Ridker is a funny novel about a
dysfunctional family. A Missouri
professor invites his estranged adult children home in a supposed attempt at
reconciliation. His late wife had kept
her small fortune a secret and left it directly to their children. People Magazine recently named it their book
of the week, saying “it’s a relatable, unforgettable view of regular people
making mistakes and somehow finding their way back to each other.”
The world is full of interesting books. Settle in with one while the cold weather
lasts.
