Fiction
Once upon a river : a novel
Diane Setterfield
FICTION Setterfield, Diane
Fiction, Suspense, Historical Fiction
On a dark midwinter's night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, a wounded stranger carries in the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later the girl stirs, and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Magic? As the days pass the child remains mute and unable to answer questions. Three families are keen to claim her: the wealthy mother of a kidnapped daughter missing for two years; a farming family sure it is their son's secret daughter; a parson's housekeeper, reminded of her younger sister. Each family has secrets, must be revealed before the girl's identity can be known. -- adapted from jacket
Codename Villanelle
Luke Jennings
FICTION Jennings Luke
Fiction, Suspense
Villanelle (a codename, of course) is one of the world's most skilled assassins. A catlike psychopath whose love for the creature comforts of her luxurious lifestyle is second only to her love of the game, she specializes in murdering the world's richest and most powerful. But when she murders an influential Russian politician, she draws a relentless foe to her tail.
Season 2 of Killing Eve returns this April to BBC America, based on Luke Jennings' "Codename Villanelle" novel about the complex cat-and-mouse relationship between assassin Oxana Vorontsova and former British MI5 agent Eve Polastri. -Jason
Pet sematary
Stephen King
FICTION King, Stephen
Fiction, Horror
A new adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel about a pet cemetery that reanimates the dead comes to theaters in April. My coworkers were scared just watching the trailer. -Jason
A discovery of witches
Deborah E. Harkness
SCIENCE FICTION Harkness, Deborah E.
Fiction, Fantasy
Witch and Yale historian Diana Bishop discovers an enchanted manuscript, attracting the attention of 1,500-year-old vampire Matthew Clairmont. The orphaned daughter of two powerful witches, Bishop prefers intellect, but relies on magic when her discovery of a palimpsest documenting the origin of supernatural species releases an assortment of undead who threaten, stalk, and harass her.
AMC will run season 1 of this adaptation of Deborah Harkness’s bestselling fantasy book series in April. -Jason
Transit
Anna Seghers
FICTION Seghers Anna
Fiction
A new film adaptation by German filmmaker Christian Petzold (included in the Criterion Collection for "Phoenix") of Anna Seghers’s novel. NYRB Classics calls her book "an existential, political, literary thriller that explores the agonies of boredom, the vitality of storytelling, and the plight of the exile with extraordinary compassion and insight." -Jason
Donnybrook
Frank Bill
FICTION Bill Frank
Fiction
A film adaptation of this dark novel about an underground, no-holds-barred fighting tournament in southern Indiana will be distributed by IFC this year. -Jason
What in God's name : a novel
Simon Rich
FICTION Rich Simon
Fiction
The new TBS series "Miracle Workers" starring Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi was created by Simon Rich and based on his novel "What in God's Name". -Jason
The haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson
FICTION Jackson, Shirley
Fiction
With the new Netflix rendition of this chilling classic, now is the perfect time to pick up this quick read. -Shawna
Rebecca
Daphne Du Maurier
FICTION DuMaurier, Daphne
Fiction
A young girl becomes the second Mrs. Max de Winter, only to find that she is not the mistress of Manderley. Instead the house and its occupants are dominated by the memory of Rebecca, her predecessor.
With several of Author Daphne du Maurier's books and short stories turned into films, it is likely that you are already familiar with some of her work. Alfred Hitchcock in particular loved her work, creating three films based on her ideas, including The Birds in 1960. -Shawna
The dreamers : a novel
Karen Thompson Walker
FICTION Walker Karen
Fiction, Science Fiction
One night in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a first-year student stumbles into her dorm room, falls asleep, and doesn't wake up. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate, Mei, cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital. When a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, Mei finds herself thrust together with an eccentric classmate as panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. A young couple tries to protect their newborn baby as the once-quiet streets descend into chaos. Two sisters turn to each other for comfort as their survivalist father prepares for disaster. Those affected by the illness, doctors discover, are displaying unusual levels of brain activity, higher than has ever been recorded before. They are dreaming heightened dreams, but of what? Written in luminous prose, The Dreamers is a breathtaking and beautiful novel, startling and provocative, about the possibilities contained within a human life, if only we are awakened to them.
Every page of this book made me uncomfortable and anxious. What book on a contagion wouldn't? The loss of individual control, the breakdown of society, the baffled experts...this is not for pleasure-reading. But I've been thinking about the book a lot after finishing it, particularly the ethics and beliefs the characters subscribe to that are tested when the virus hits. It was worth the quickening pace of my heart. -Anne M
I loved this book! It has everything I want in a good read: great writing, a crescendo of narrative, interesting characters with intertwined lives, a sense of place, and an absorbing mystery--all wrapped up in historical fiction. This is a story about storytelling--the characters tell stories, the narrator tells stories, so if you like feeling very much the reader--feeling like you are listening to someone tell you a story, this is a good pick for you. It will get you through the last few weeks of winter. -Anne M