Fiction
The art of catching feelings
Alicia Thompson
FICTION Thompson Alicia
Fiction, Romance, Sports
"Daphne Brink doesn't follow baseball, but watching "America's Snoozefest" certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message. Chris doesn't usually respond to random fans on social media, but he's grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from "Duckie" catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does. Daphne isn't sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she's out?"--
I really enjoyed Alicia Thompson's Love in a Cold World, finding it clever, funny, and tender. I listened to the audiobook for that one, and for her new novel, I picked up the paperback. This is a similar enemies-to-lovers workplace romance, and I found it had just the right amount of tension to keep me reading. There are some heavy topics involved, like the emotional and mental health needs following the suicide of a loved one. I guess emotional heaviness in romance is my thing? But it's kinda the best when those big, hurt feelings find their light and space to breathe--there's freedom in figuring out one's feelings! And I love it when the characters find that joy and lightness for themselves. For a sports romance book, I enjoyed getting a sense of what traveling baseball players might experience. There's some sex in it but it doesn't overwhelm the plot. I'd give it a 1 out of a 5 Hot Chili Pepper rating. Not very spicy. -Melody
Small Things Like These
Clair Keegan
"It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church." --
Ooh! Excited for this film adaption of a book that unfolded like a movie in my mind! Here's a description of the film: While making a delivery to the local convent, devoted father and coal merchant Bill Furlong (Cillian Murphy) makes a shocking discovery. Christmas 1985 in small town Ireland is going to take a turn for this working class family. In this unflinching look at the Magdalene laundries, workhouses for unwed mothers run by the Catholic Church, Bill must confront the complicity of his town and the harm done by the church he was raised in. Adapted from Claire Keegan's award-winning historical fiction novel of the same name by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Enda Walsh, this powerful drama examines the personal and historical truths that shaped a people. -Katie
Nightbitch
Rachel Yoder
An artist turned stay-at-home mom becomes convinced that she is turning into a dog and, as her symptoms intensify, struggles to keep her alter-canine-identity a secret, until she meets a group of mothers who may also be more than what they seem.
This is one of my favorite books I've read in the last decade. As an artist and mother, I saw myself in it. The feminist rants were spot-on and relatable and it will be fun to see how those play out on film. It's also been a joy to see Iowa City writer Rachel Yoder have the movie rights for her book bought by Amy Adams before the book was even released! Seeing this film on the festival's opening night with other rabid fans will be great fun! About the 2024 film: Adapted from the celebrated novel by Iowa City author Rachel Yoder, director Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) tells the story of a small city artist-turned-stay-at-home-mom (Amy Adams), trapped by her domestic duties and the weight of motherhood. With a well-meaning yet oblivious husband (Scoot MCnairy) and a group of new mom friends she can't relate to, she is overwhelmed, exhausted, and longing for more. Her heightened sentiments begin to manifest physically. As her body begins to change, she is seized by strange appetites and desires—getting in touch with a more animalistic side of her being in a comedic nightmare of motherhood infused magical realism that takes a turn for the canine. -Katie
All the King's Men
Robert Penn Warren
Set in the 1930s, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel traces the rise and fall of demagogue Willie Stark, who begins his political career as an idealistic man of the people but soon becomes corrupted by success and caught between dreams of service and an insatiable lust for power.
Part of the presentation of classic films, come see the 1949 film on the big screen! More about the film: Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford with a powerhouse Oscar-winning performance) is a dynamic backwoods personality who rides a wave of populist fervor straight into the governor's mansion, only to fall prey to the corruption and influence peddling that he pledged to fight. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren, this dynamic political noir took home the Academy Award for Best Picture. The timeless story of corruption remains as vital and engaging today as it did 75 years ago—a somber reminder of the intoxicating influence of our political machine. -Katie
The rom-commers
Katherine Center
FICTION Center Katherin
Fiction, Humor, Romance
"She's rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own? Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She's spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies-good ones! That win contests! But she's also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates-The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!-it's a break too big to pass up. Emma's younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don't meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn't want to write with anyone-much less "a failed, nobody screenwriter." Worse, the romantic comedy he's written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn't even care about the script-it's just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme. But Emma's not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter-even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they're writing breaks all Emma's rules-and comes true?"--
This is the second Katherine Center book I've read, and I think I like this one even more. While her first book was all about learning new wilderness skills and unpacking her emotional "backpack," The Rom-Commers took another forced situation trope and wrote a script with it. Emma is a fish-out-of-water kind of protagonist, having been plucked from her town and flown to L.A. to write with someone way more famous than her. Sound familiar? If you've read Curtis Sittenfeld's Romantic Comedy, which pairs a writer and musician and is also hysterically funny at times, you'll hear echoes of the plot setup and Hollywood setting. I feel like I laughed a bit more at Rom-Commers. Katherine Center is one of those romance writers that has mass appeal. Give me a good story, great characters, and a happy ending, and I'll fall in book-love. -Melody
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas
If you search the ICPL collection for this title, you'll find many adaptations of this story, from films, to audio books, and ebooks, even a comic book! Ripe for adaptation "Alexandre Dumas's novel of justice, retribution, and self-discovery" is a great adventure. Originally translated from French, "This novel tells the story of Edmond Dantes, wrongfully imprisoned for life in the supposedly impregnable sea fortress the Chateau d'If." A tale of escape, treasure, and revenge, reading this newly edited version in advance of seeing the film, will enhance your screening! -Katie
Sandwich : a novel
Catherine Newman
FICTION Newman Catherin
Fiction
While on her family's yearly escape to Cape Cod, Rocky, sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, relives the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers, coming face-to-face with her family's history and future and accepting she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.
Both affecting and funny, Catherine Newman deftly portrays how nostalgia may bring up those lovely, wistful feelings--but these can also lead to thinking about old wounds. Vacations sometimes brings up all these thoughts. -Anne M
The lost boy of Santa Chionia
Juliet Grames
FICTION Grames Juliet
Fiction, Mystery
"Calabria, 1960. Francesca Loftfield, a twenty-seven-year-old, starry-eyed American, arrives in the isolated mountain village of Santa Chionia tasked with opening a nursery school. There is no road, no doctor, no running water or electricity. And thanks to a recent flood that swept away the post office, there's no mail, either. Most troubling, though, is the human skeleton that surfaced after the flood waters receded. Who is it? And why don't the police come and investigate? When an old woman begs Francesca to help determine if the remains are those of her long-missing son, Francesca begins to ask a lot of inconvenient questions. As an outsider, she might be the only person who can uncover the truth. Or she might be getting in over her head. As she attempts to juggle a nosy landlady, a suspiciously dashing shepherd, and a network of local families bound together by a code of silence, Francesca finds herself forced to choose between the charitable mission that brought her to Santa Chionia, and her future happiness, between truth and survival. Set in the wild heart of Calabria, a land of sheer cliff faces, ancient tradition, dazzling sunlight--and one of the world's most ruthless criminal syndicates--The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia is a suspenseful puzzle mystery, a captivating romance, and an affecting portrait of a young woman in search of a meaningful life"--
There are many things I really loved about this book--the early-60s time period, the remote location in the mountains of southern Italy, the insular community the protagonist finds herself in, and of course, the missing people that she tries to track down. Author Juliet Grames takes her time telling the story, giving the reader succinct and vivid descriptions of the place and the people, and her writing feels fresh--nothing gets glossed over, nothing feels improbable, and it's all interesting. -Candice
The wedding people : a novel
Alison Espach
FICTION Espach Alison
Fiction
"It's a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn't here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she's dreamed of coming for years--she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she's here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan--which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can't stop confiding in each other. In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach's The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined--and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us."--
I loved this book. It is so sweet, and endearing, and funny, and relatable. I have talked about this book to anyone who will listen to me. The premise is sad and serious. But it is what comes next that’s the gift—to Phoebe Stone, our heroine, to the other characters she builds relationships with, and to us the reader. Espach has a fantastic way of showing absurdity and awkwardness, but the laughter at these situations is meant to grow connections to the characters. [In this book, Phoebe experiences suicidal thoughts and she learns that she isn't alone in grief. If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide, help is available by calling or texting 988.] -Anne M
Added by Jason