This December the Mid-Manhattan librarians gathered together to create a list of their favorite reads of 2019. If you follow us on social media, then you’ve probably seen our posts highlighting one daily selection from the list under the #GiftofReading. If not, then you’re in luck because we have the whole list gathered below. Be sure to let us know which were some of your favorite titles and follow us on social media (@midmanhattanlib) for even more recommendations!

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

Recommended by Michelle Malone

Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances--in their house, on the roadway, in the market. Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron has spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, independent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly, he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace. Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye.

Why I loved it: Not your ordinary grieving novel; a thoroughly logical man learns to come to terms with his emotions. In the end, I think that's what most of us would try to do. -MM

Yukarism story and art by Chika Shiomi

Recommended by Amanda Pagan

Yukari Kobayakawa, an accomplished author at the age of 17, writes with amazingly accurate details about historical Japan. It turns out he has the ability to travel back in time…to his past life as a renowned courtesan in the Edo period! As he goes back and forth between the past and present, he unravels the karmic relationship he has with his beautiful classmate Mahoro Tachibana…

Why I loved it: It’s a relatively short series at only 4 volumes, but in that time span we manage to uncover a centuries-old story of soul mates, vengeance, murder, and so much more! -AP

 

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Recommended by Victoria James

A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today's racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide. In So You Want to Talk About Race, Editor at Large of The Establishment, Ijeoma Oluo offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the "N" word. Perfectly positioned to bridge the gap between people of color and white Americans struggling with race complexities, Oluo answers the questions readers don't dare ask, and explains the concepts that continue to elude everyday Americans. 

Why I loved it: In this breakout book, Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today's racial landscape--from white privilege and police brutality to systemic discrimination and the Black Lives Matter movement--offering straightforward clarity that readers need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide. -VJ

 

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi 

Recommended by Michelle Malone

Young Ada is troubled, prone to violent fits. Born "with one foot on the other side," she begins to develop separate selves within her as she grows into adulthood. And when she travels to America for college, a traumatic event on campus crystallizes the selves into something powerful and potentially dangerous, making Ada fade into the background of her own mind as these alters―now protective, now hedonistic―move into control.

Why I loved it: A Gut wrenching read that really transports you into the world of a young Nigerian woman named Ada. -MM

 

House of Nutter: The Rebel Tailor of Savile Row by Lance Richardson

Recommended by Alison Quammie

House of Nutter tells the stunning true story of two gay men who influenced some of the most iconic styles and pop images of the twentieth century. Drawing on interviews with more than seventy people—and taking advantage of unparalleled access to never-before-seen pictures, letters, sketches, and diaries—journalist Lance Richardson presents a dual portrait of brothers improvising their way through five decades of extraordinary events, their personal struggles playing out against vivid backdrops of the Blitz, an obscenity trial, the birth of disco, and the devastation of the AIDS crisis. 

Why I loved it: Think of an invitation to the party of your life! The Nutter brothers, Tommy, the Savile Row tailor, and David, the photographer, serve up their life in all its glamour, sophistication, and heartbreak with all their special friends. -ANQ

 

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

Recommended by Amanda Pagan

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos. But when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave. Beautiful, manipulative, and deadly, his new master, Prince Laurent, epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.

For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else...

Why I loved it: Between the tense and thrilling action and the love/hate relationship between the leads, you will not be able to put this down!  I recommend you gather together the entire series if you’re going to start reading this because you will not be able to relax until you finish the trilogy. -AP

 

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

Recommended by Julia Perham

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.

Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.

Why I loved it: An LGBTQ+ masterpiece that alternates between a group of male friends deeply impacted by the 1980's AIDS epidemic in Chicago, and 2015 Paris, in which a mother is tracking down her estranged daughter who has escaped into a cult. This story seamlessly intertwines the two timelines-- both heartbreaking in their own ways-- and reminds readers that family isn't always decided by blood. -JP

 

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Recommended by Moriba Jackson

It's 1947 and American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a fervent belief that her beloved French cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive somewhere. So when Charlie's family banishes her to Europe to have her "little problem" take care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

In 1915, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance to serve when she's recruited to work as a spy for the English. Sent into enemy-occupied France during The Great War, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents, right under the enemy's nose. Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launching them both on a mission to find the truth ... no matter where it leads.

Why I loved it: I never thought spy novels would be so interesting. This tale of love, betrayal and determination, inspired by the actual "Queen of Spies", made me jittery.-MJ

 

Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama; translation: Stephen Kohler; lettering, Lys Blakeslee.

Recommended by Amanda Pagan

In a world where everyone takes wonders like magic spells and dragons for granted, Coco is a girl with a simple dream: She wants to be a witch. But everybody knows magicians are born, not made, and Coco was not born with a gift for magic. Resigned to her un-magical life, Coco is about to give up on her dream to become a witch...until the day she meets Qifrey, a mysterious, traveling magician. After secretly seeing Qifrey perform magic in a way she's never seen before, Coco soon learns what everybody "knows" might not be the truth, and discovers that her magical dream may not be as far away as it may seem…

Why I loved it: The art style is beautiful, the characters are great, and the world sucks you in immediately! I ordered the next volume right away. -AP

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Recommended by Victoria James and Wilsa Rhuma

Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?

Between the World and Me is Coates's attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children's lives were taken as American plunder.

Why I loved it: Very passionate and powerfully written! Coates provides readers a thrillingly illuminating new framework for understanding race: its history, our contemporary dilemma, and where we go from here. This is a MUST read.-VJ

An in depth analysis of race discrimination, race relation in America. Timelessly relevant, a must read. -WR

The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck

Recommended by Wilsa Rhuma

Written in a voice that is timeless in its message of understanding, The Road Less Traveled continues to help us explore the very nature of loving relationships and leads us toward a new serenity and fullness of life. It helps us learn how to distinguish dependency from love; how to become a more sensitive parent; and ultimately how to become one’s own true self.

Recognizing that, as in the famous opening line of his book, "Life is difficult" and that the journey to spiritual growth is a long one, Dr. Peck never bullies his readers, but rather guides them gently through the hard and often painful process of change toward a higher level of self-understanding.

Why I love it: Each chapter offers lessons based on various, unique and complex situations in life. A very deep and informative book that everyone can get through. -WR

 

The Secret War: Spies, Ciphers, and Guerrillas, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings

Recommended by Theodore Malter

An examination of one of the most important yet underexplored aspects of World War II—intelligence—shows how espionage successes and failures by the United States, Britain, Russia, Germany, and Japan influenced the course of the war and its final outcome.

Why I love it:  A fascinating overview of the role of spies, codes and irregular fighters in the Second World War. (With the admittedly dispiriting possible conclusion that they mostly didn't matter that much. -TM

 

 

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

Recommended by Julia Perham

From one of our boldest, most celebrated new literary voices, a shocking and tender novel about a young woman's efforts to sustain a state of deep hibernation over the course of a year on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Our narrator should be happy, shouldn't she? She's young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn't just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It's the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong? 

My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.

Why I love it:  An allegory of millennial commercialism and addiction (often to social status). Gritty and satirical with a deeply unlikeable character, as many of us can be when not receiving the proper healthcare treatment necessary to function. -JP

Paper Girls, Vol. 1 - 5 writer, Brian K. Vaughan ; artist, Cliff Chiang ; colors, Matt Wilson ; letters, Jared K. Fletcher.

Recommended by Michelle Malone

In the early hours after Halloween on 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and supernatural mysteries collide in this series about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood.

Why I love it: It's the 80's, and the future! Take Back to the Future, They Live, and Stand By Me...shake them up, add some young girls and you've got a fun adventure! -MM

 

 

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale

Recommended by Victoria James

Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #Not Your Princess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art that combine to express the experience of being a Native woman. Stories of abuse, humiliation, and stereotyping are countered by the voices of passionate women making themselves heard and demanding change. Sometimes angry, often reflective, but always strong, the women in this book will give teen readers insight into the lives of women who, for so long, have been virtually invisible.

Why I loved it: Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. -VJ

I Hear the Sunspot written and illustrated by Yuki Fumino

Recommended by Amanda Pagan

Because of a hearing disability, Kohei is often misunderstood and has trouble integrating into life on campus, so he learns to keep his distance. That is until he meets the outspoken and cheerful Taichi. He tells Kohei that his hearing loss is not his fault. Taichi's words cut through Kohei's usual defense mechanisms and open his heart. More than friends, less than lovers, their relationship changes Kohei forever.

Why I love it: This is a slow burn that takes you through the main characters’ journeys as they come to terms with their identity and their feelings towards each other. I recommend ordering Vol. 2 the minute you pick up Vol. 1 because you’re going to want to read it right away! -AP

 

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. translated by Alan R. Clarke.

Recommended by Wilsa Rhuma

 Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams. 

Why I love it: It’s a work of fiction and spirituality. The story will mesmerize you, will make you feel optimistic. Once you read it you’ll see why millions of readers all over the world embrace it.  -WR
 

Mycroft and Sherlock by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse

Recommended by Alison Quammie

The new novel by NBA All-Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, starring brothers Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. It is 1872, and a series of gruesome murders is the talk of London. Mycroft Holmes, now twenty-six and a force to be reckoned with at the War Office, has no interest in the killings; however his brother Sherlock has developed a distasteful fascination for the macabre to the detriment of his studies, much to Mycroft's frustration.

When a ship carrying cargo belonging to Mycroft's best friend Cyrus Douglas runs aground, Mycroft persuades Sherlock to serve as a tutor at the orphanage that Douglas runs as a charity, so that Douglas might travel to see what can be salvaged. Sherlock finds himself at home among the street urchins, and when a boy dies of a suspected drug overdose, he decides to investigate, following a trail of strange subterranean symbols to the squalid opium dens of the London docks. Meanwhile a meeting with a beautiful Chinese woman leads Mycroft to the very same mystery, one that forces him to examine the underbelly of the opium trade that is enriching his beloved Britain's coffers. As the stakes rise, the brothers find that they need one another's assistance and counsel. But a lifetime of keeping secrets from each other may have catastrophic consequences.

Why I loved book: An eerie read that puts the spotlight on the supernatural powers of Mycroft, the older brother of Sherlock Holmes. NBA Hall of Fame/author, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar weaves an international cast of characters from Trinidad, to China to Ireland on the hunt to solve mysterious murders. -ANQ

 

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

Recommended by Julia Perham

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

Why I love it: One of the most chilling investigative journalism pieces, which came to fruition as a result of Michelle McNamara's true crime blog, True Crime Diary. Published before the capturing of The Golden State Killer, 72 year old Joseph James DeAngelo, but after the sudden death of McNamara, this book was completed by Crime writer Paul Haynes, investigative journalist Billy Jensen. -JP

 

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld

Recommended by Michelle Malone

For the narrator locked inside an ancient prison, waiting for death, life is full of magic, from the golden horses that stampede underground to the tiny men who hammer away inside the stone walls. That the enchanted place is a death row matters less to him than the people he watches from the bars of his cage: the lady, an investigator hired to help the men escape execution; the fallen priest, brought by shame to work the row; and the kindly warden, who ushers men to death.

As the lady digs deep into the past of one of the men on the row, she finds secrets that ring chillingly familiar, and begins a journey that will bring all of them to an unexpected salvation.

Why I love it: The enchanted place is an ancient stone prison, viewed through the eyes of a death row inmate who finds escape in his books and in re-imagining life around him. Beautiful, and sorrowful. -MM

 

The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists by Naomi Klein

Recommended by Victoria James

In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich "Puertopians" are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling investigation, New York Times bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation's radical, resilient vision for a just recovery.

Why I loved it: #disastercapitalism #environmentalism “Fearless necessary reporting. Klein exposes the 'battle of utopias' that is currently unfolding in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico—a battle that pits a pitilessly neoliberal plutocratic 'paradise' against a community movement with Puerto Rican sovereignty at its center. -VJ

Exit West: A Novel  by Mohsin Hamid

Recommended by Wilsa Rhuma

 In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair, thrust into premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors--doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price.

As violence and the threat of violence escalate, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through. Exit West is an epic compressed into a slender page-turner--both completely of our time and for all time, Mohsin Hamid's most ambitious and electrifying novel yet.

Why I love it: The writing is amazing. The story will take you to expecting turns and twists. Relevant to current state of the world. It’s a story about love, courage and resilience portrayed in the lives of refugees. -WR

 

My Brother's Husband  by Gengoroh Tagame; translated from the Japanese by Anne Ishii.

Recommended by Amanda Pagan

Yaichi is a work-at-home suburban dad in contemporary Tokyo; formerly married to Natsuki, father to their young daughter, Kana. Their lives suddenly change with the arrival at their doorstep of a hulking, affable Canadian named Mike Flanagan, who declares himself the widower of Yaichi's estranged gay twin, Ryoji. Mike is on a quest to explore Ryoji's past, and the family reluctantly but dutifully takes him in. What follows is an unprecedented and heartbreaking look at the state of a largely still-closeted Japanese gay culture: how it's been affected by the West, and how the next generation can change the preconceptions about it and prejudices against it.

Why I love it: This was such a sweet but powerful story of one family coming together by overcoming their own prejudices and preconceived notions of sexuality and morality. The only villain here is homophobia, but it’s still a tough fight. -AP

Map Drawn by a Spy by Guillermo Cabrera Infante; translated by Mark Fried

Recommended by Alison Quammie

Found in an envelope in Guillermo Cabrera Infante's house after his death in 2005, Map Drawn by a Spy is the world-renowned writer's autobiographical account of the last four months he spent in his country. In 1965, following his mother's death, Infante returns to Cuba from Brussels, where he is employed as a cultural attache at the Cuban embassy. When a few days later his permission to return to Europe is revoked, Infante begins a period of suspicion, uncertainty, and disillusion. Unable to leave the country, denied access to party officials, yet still receiving checks for his work in Belgium, Infante discovers the reality of Cuba under Fidel Castro: imprisonment of homosexuals, silencing of writers, the closing of libraries and newspapers, and the consolidation of power. Both lucid and sincere, Map Drawn by a Spy is a moving portrayal of a fractured society and a writer's struggles to come to terms with his national identity.

Why I loved book: This mesmerizing account captures the fine line between the human condition, and national identity. And personally, it was core reading for expanding my knowledge on the Cuban experience. -ANQ

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Recommended by Julia Perham

At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He's popular and well-adjusted, star of the school football team, while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her job at Marianne's house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers—one they are determined to conceal. A year later, they're both studying at Trinity College in Dublin.

Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Why I love it: Normal People is a realistic take on what it is like to date in the 21st century; that is to say, this is a love story-- with very little romance. Two lives continue to weave into each other throughout their budding adulthood. Sometimes uncomfortable, but only due to its uncanny relatability. -JP

 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Recommended by Michelle Malone

Keiko Furukura had always been considered a strange child, and her parents always worried how she would get on in the real world, so when she takes on a job in a convenience store while at university, they are delighted for her. For her part, in the convenience store she finds a predictable world mandated by the store manual, which dictates how the workers should act and what they should say, and she copies her coworkers' style of dress and speech patterns so that she can play the part of a normal person. However, eighteen years later, at age 36, she is still in the same job, has never had a boyfriend, and has only few friends. She feels comfortable in her life, but is aware that she is not living up to society's expectations and causing her family to worry about her. When a similarly alienated but cynical and bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko's contented stasis—but will it be for the better? 

Why I love it: A strange woman has a job as a retail clerk trying to fake her way to being "normal". A weird dark tale, providing a sharp look into the cultural pressures of conformity and femininity in Japan. -MM

An American Marriage: A Novel by Tayari Jones

Recommended by Wilsa Rhuma

Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a young executive and she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn't commit.

Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy's time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy's conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.

Why I love it: Fascinating characters and plot. It’s a story of our time. I can see it made into a great movie. -WR

 

Spy of the First Person by Sam Shepard

Recommended by Alison Quammie

In searing, beautiful prose, Sam Shepard's extraordinary narrative leaps off the page with its immediacy and power. It tells in a brilliant braid of voices the story of an unnamed narrator who traces, before our rapt eyes, his memories of work, adventure, and travel as he undergoes medical tests and treatments for a condition that is rendering him more and more dependent on the loved ones who are caring for him.

The narrator's memories and preoccupations often echo those of our current moment—or here are stories of immigration and community, inclusion and exclusion, suspicion and trust. But at the book's core, and his, is family—his relationships with those he loved, and with the natural world around him.

Vivid, haunting, and deeply moving, Spy of the First Person takes us from the sculpted gardens of a renowned clinic in Arizona to the blue waters surrounding Alcatraz, from a New Mexico border town to a condemned building on New York City's Avenue C. It is an unflinching expression of the vulnerabilities that make us human--and an unbound celebration of family and life.

Why I love it: If we could only describe our own narrative as Shepard so humanly does, we’d open more familial ties with community and family. A must read! -SS

 

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Recommended by Moriba Jackson

1946, Manhattan. One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs—each of a different woman. In a moment of impulse, Grace takes the photographs and quickly leaves the station.

Grace soon learns that the suitcase belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg, leader of a network of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home, their fates a mystery. Setting out to learn the truth behind the women in the photographs, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent named Marie, whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal.

Why I love it: Their unsuspected and unsupported work helped turn the tides of an ill fated war. An unbelievable story based on the "incredible heroics of the brave women" of WWII. -MJ

 

Dengeki Daisy story & art by Kyousuke Motomi ; [translation and adaptation, JN Productions ; touch-up art & lettering, Rina Mapa].

Recommended by Amanda Pagan

After orphan Teru Kurebayashi loses her beloved older brother, she finds solace in the messages she exchanges with Daisy, an enigmatic figure who can only be reached through the cell phone her brother left her. Meanwhile, mysterious Tasuku Kurosaki always seems to be around whenever Teru needs help. Could Daisy be a lot closer than Teru thinks?

Why I love it: At its core, this is a romantic comedy, but the amount of action and thrills that pop up every story arc made me forget that sometimes. The characters are fantastic, and Teru is one of those rare protagonists that learns from her mistakes and grows as the series progresses.I read through the entire series in a month! -AP

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Recommended by Alison Quammie

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage—and lost his mother and all memory of her when he was a child—but he is also gifted with a mysterious power. Hiram almost drowns when he crashes a carriage into a river, but is saved from the depths by a force he doesn't understand, a blue light that lifts him up and lands him a mile away. This strange brush with death forces a new urgency on Hiram's private rebellion.

Spurred on by his improvised plantation family, Thena, his chosen mother, a woman of few words and many secrets, and Sophia, a young woman fighting her own war even as she and Hiram fall in love, he becomes determined to escape the only home he's ever known. So begins an unexpected journey into the covert war on slavery that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia's proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the deep South to dangerously utopic movements in the North. Even as he's enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, all Hiram wants is to return to the Walker Plantation to free the family he left behind--but to do so, he must first master his magical gift and reconstruct the story of his greatest loss.

This is a bracingly original vision of the world of slavery, written with the narrative force of a great adventure. Driven by the author's bold imagination and striking ability to bring readers deep into the interior lives of his brilliantly rendered characters, The Water Dancer is the story of America's oldest struggle—the struggle to tell the truth—from one of our most exciting thinkers and beautiful writers.

Why I love it: The magical road to freedom is illuminated by historical figures and those conjured up by the acclaimed author.  -ANQ

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Book summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.

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