fiction

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LITERATURE 2023

Imagine you want to write about the opioid epidemic in Appalachia, a place you are from and have loved your whole life. Then imagine you are on a book tour in England and stay in Charles Dickens’s house, Bleak House, and you sit at his desk and lay your head down and ask the master writer, how? And you receive the answer, “let the orphan tell the story.” And with that, Demon Copperhead, a retelling of David Copperfield, is born. 

This is the origin story of Barbara Kingsolver's newest book, Demon Copperhead. The author of numerous stunning works

True Biz by Sara Nović is a book that taught me so much about Deaf culture and the breadth of deaf experiences. The narrative follows several characters at the fictional River Valley School for the Deaf. In between chapters, Nović includes excerpts of nonfiction about Deaf history and American Sign Language (ASL), complete with drawn diagrams of signing. This spotlight on Deaf culture is what makes True Biz a gem of a book, even if I thought some of the storytelling was less than perfect.

Nović has given us several characters who all experience deafness in different ways; there are three main

“There was no honor among thieves. Boys in the game only respected you in direct proportion to how much they needed you divided by how much they feared you.”

Blacktop Wasteland is full of action and suspense.  Just when you think it may let up, S.A. Cosby shifts the action into another gear.  It is a nonstop adrenaline rush (You know it’s going to be good when the book starts out with a drag race). 

We ride along with Beauregard “Bug” Montage, who is a complex character with many titles: father, husband, son, car mechanic, and getaway driver. He struggles providing an honest living for his

Listed as one of the top 10 most anticipated books of 2020 by Goodreads members, American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins tells the fictional story of Lydia and Luca, a mother and her young son, as they flee from Acapulco Mexico and attempt to cross the US border. Lydia’s journalist husband, Sebastian, publishes an expose about Javier, the head of the drug cartel, which causes all 16 members of their family to be brutally killed. Lydia is acquainted with Javier through her bookstore and knows she and her son were also supposed to die with the rest of her family. As Lydia and Luca journey north to

Hello and welcome to our look at some new releases this month at the Johnson County Library! Every month we look at five fiction titles making their debut that we think you absolutely need to know about. You might not find these books on the bestseller lists, but that's okay, as we love putting the spotlight on books you might not have heard about. Give one - or more - of these titles a chance to make it in your hold list. We hope you find something new!

A delightful historical romance set in 1879, BRINGING DOWN THE DUKE by Evie Dunmore is about a headstrong daughter of a local vicar who is

Fannie Flagg's The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion CD-Audio read by the author

I really enjoyed listening to Fannie Flagg read. She had the perfect accent to tell this story about the history of some women working during WWII as pilots. I was not aware they even existed. I had never heard about them in any history class that I took.

The book begins with an older southern woman, living in Point Clear, Alabama, named Sookie Poole that finds out by accident that she is adopted. Sookies’ children are grown and married so she has the time to search for her background. As Sookie looks for

Aiden was six when he went missing during a bad rainstorm which flooded the banks of the river that runs through their village. His family and police believed he had been swept away by the river and drowned, having only found his jacket floating in the river and no body. Ten years later his mom is married and in her last month of pregnancy when she gets the incredible news that Aiden is alive. Told from the viewpoint of Aiden's mom, Emma, the Silent Child is a psychological thriller that will engulf you in the chaos of Emma's intense emotions as she tries to figure out who took Aiden.

What

Hello and welcome to this month’s look at some new releases at Johnson County Library. Since February is the shortest month of the year, today we’ll be doing some short, quick reviews, hopefully exposing you to some great books to warm up with in the cold weather. Plus, we know you made all those New Year’s Resolutions about reading more books that you haven’t lived up to. There’s still time! The Johnson County Library can help! We might not be able to get you to the gym, but we can certainly help you with your reading lists.

If you love an epic, sweeping, multi-generational family saga, be

It turns out that Molly Arnett is a good liar. For years, Molly has told a lie that could destroy every bit of happiness she has with the man she adores. Pretending to Dance is a story told in two distinct time periods in Molly's life. The story starts in 2014, in San Diego, California, where Molly and her spouse, Aidan James, are meeting with their social worker in preparation for becoming adoptive parents. After losing their birth daughter, Molly had to have a hysterectomy, and that loss has led to an adoption process that for Molly is frightening. Molly herself had an adoptive mother and a

Former Marine Jake Porter has PTSD symptoms, and the scar on his face is a constant reminder of his time at war. And one big reason he avoids any type of relationship. But along comes his childhood best friend, Lyndie James, with a heart as big as the sky. She is fiercely determined, and her experience with horses gives her an edge, but she has a tender heart.

Despite being leery about hiring Lyndie on at his horse ranch in Holley, Texas, Jake does. He pairs her with Silverleaf, a horse that has great potential but is lacking in motivation. Lyndie is eager to take the job head-on and solve

Jack Till is a private investigator who helped a woman disappear six years ago. Now the woman’s ex-boyfriend is being set up for her murder, and Till must find her to prove to the District Attorney that she is alive. I really enjoyed the intelligent plot (in many ways, it resembles Narrow Margin, the 1990 film written and directed by Peter Hyams and starring Gene Hackman). When Till finds her, they have to avoid several attempts on their lives as they make their way back to Los Angeles. It is nonstop action as Jack Till negotiates his way against a full cast of tawdry characters.