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Kaitlyn Greenidge's Libertie (2021) might be called a coming of age novel, given the fact that the book explores the issues and challenges of establishing and sustaining identity against all odds.

In Planning Perfect there is Felicity,  a type A personality who pushes herself too hard. Do to a prior accident she has to learn to take it easy this upcoming summer, but when her mom becomes engaged, she quickly throws herself into planning the perfect wedding.

Clue meets The Great British Baking Show: when I read that description, I knew I had to read The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell (2023). It is the tenth season of Bake Week, a reality competition filmed at the home of “America’s Grandmother,” longtime host Betsy Martin.

I loved this bittersweet epic love story that covers history spanning from WWI through to the present day. The Book of Everlasting Things (2022) follows the story of Samir, a Hindu perfumist, and Firdaus, a Muslim calligrapher, who fall in love in Lahore just before it is torn apart by the partition of India and Pakistan.

Ready to start your side hustle? Looking to switch career paths? Meet Tricia, WPL’s new Business & Career Specialist! As the Business & Career Specialist, Tricia handles all things Ignite, our approach to providing resources and programs for business, career, and lifelong learning. Get to know Tricia a little better below, and don’t forget to stay up-to-date with all things Ignite by signing up for our newsletter.

Last summer Alice disappeared. After her ex-boyfriend started dating her (now also ex) best-friend, Brooke, Alice took everything she had learned about Agatha Christie and staged her own disappearance. Now she's back at school facing rumors and ridicule and stuck with a tutor to catch up on her school work. Iris, desperate for extra cash to escape to a new life, gets the tutoring gig. When Brooke disappears though and Alice's ex-boyfriend ends up the prime suspect for alleged murder none of the puzzle pieces seem to fit together quite the way the police say.

If you’re looking for a sprawling novel that spans much of the twentieth-century and enters the twenty-first, features an array of distinctive points of view and complex relationships, ventures to far-flung places, and explores big ideas, then I invite you to consider reading Maggie Shipstead’s most recent release, Great Circle (2021).

There is something about Margaret Atwood's writing that I just find eminently readable, and this selection of short stories is no exception. Old Babes in the Wood (2023) is a mixed collection of stories. Many of them follow the lives of an elderly couple – Nell and Tig, with themes of aging, death, and loneliness.

If you love Carrie by Stephen King, you should read this book! I enjoyed this book a lot. The book is laid out like a mystery podcast with pieces of the story. I spend most of the book rooting for Madison and wishing that she didn’t meet the same fate as Carrie.

The Pallbearers Club (2022) by Paul Tremblay is a compelling "memoir" of an unlikely friendship between nebbishy, self-conscious teenager Art Barbara and his mysterious new friend, beginning with the first few meetings of the actual Pallbearers Club and continuing through the next several decades.

In 1880s London, Charlotte Holmes is an outlier. With no desire to follow the traditional path for society women, she sets a plan in motion that leads to unexpected consequences. Charlotte is an absolute delight, as is the cast of characters aiding in her quest to uncover the truth. This series launch by Sherry Thomas puts a fresh spin on Sherlock Holmes.

There's More to the Story 

Join us in the annual celebration of libraries, their workers, and the many services they provide during National Library Week (April 23 – 29)! There is so much more to the story when it comes to libraries and what they offer, and this year’s NLW theme is all about that.