Mandel Public Library Of West Palm Beach: Holiday Gift Guide For Every Reader

West Palm Beach FL

16 December, 2021

9:48 AM

Description

Press release from Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach: 12/15/2021 1:40 PM Scrambling for a last-minute gift? We're here with the perfect book for every one of your friends and family members. Check out our favorite bookish gifts for this year below!   For Your Best Friend Who Embraces Spooky Season All Year Long The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward What do a possible serial killer, a teenage girl, and a talking cat have in common? The answer is an address; they all live in the last house on Needless Street. Years ago, Dee's sister went missing during a family trip to a lake in Washington. Now, Dee believes that she may have tracked down the person responsible. However, everything in the boarded-up house on Needless Street is not as it seems. This compelling psychological horror novel will pull you in and keep you guessing up until the final pages, and we promise it isn't like anything you've ever read before. Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon Vern is just a teenager when she escapes, pregnant with twins, from the cult compound called Cainland. From there Vern must learn to survive in the wilderness and provide for her newly growing family all while trying to escape the clutches of the cult that is desperately trying to get her back. All the while, Vern is undergoing some incredible changes of her own that defy rational explanation and that finally reveal to her the true nature of the cult she has escaped. This dark, strange novel will take you on a journey unlike any you've ever encountered before. You won't be able to put this one down until you uncover the truth of Vern's past, and her future. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix A final girl is the one who survives the brutal killer and makes it all the way to the end of the movie, but what happens to her then? Lynette Tarkington is a final girl who has survived a real-life massacre and has spent the next ten years of her life meeting with a therapy group of fellow final girls while trying to construct a life for herself. However, when one of the final girls misses a group therapy session, Lynette is immediately suspicious, and her worst fears are confirmed when one of the final girls is found murdered. This surprisingly humorous, fast-paced, and action-packed horror novel pays homage to popular horror films in a way that's incredibly fun for any slasher fan. The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling Practical, reliable Jane Shoringfield finds herself in sudden need of a husband and Dr. Augustine Lawrence looks just right for a marriage of convenience. However, this marriage comes with a strange caveat: Dr. Lawrence must spend every single night at his home Lindridge Hall, and Jane must never spend a night there. After a mix-up on their wedding night involving a carriage accident and some bad weather, Jane is forced to spend the night at Lindridge Hall and is surprised to find Dr. Lawrence terrified. Jane knows that something is going on at Lindridge Hall and is determined to get to the bottom of it. This spooky, gothic romance is perfect for anyone who enjoyed Mexican Gothic, The Girl from Rawblood, or Rebecca. For Your Sister Who Loves Her Books Short and Sweet Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw An abandoned Japanese mansion seems like the perfect setting for a group of friends to gather and perform a wedding ceremony. Interpersonal tensions are already running high in the group when the house starts to reveal its secrets in ways ever more gruesome and frightening. This is a great twist on a traditional haunted house tale and packs a lot of punch for such a small book. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow Zinnia Gray is about to turn 21 which, for her, is a death sentence. Zinnia has a rare illness that no one has ever survived past the age of 21 and her best friend Charm is determined to make this the best birthday party possible. Charm pulls elements of Zinnia's favorite fairy tale, "Sleeping Beauty," together including a spinning wheel and a tower together to celebrate Zinnia's big day. When Zinnia pricks her finger on the spinning wheel, she finds herself transported to another world where another girl is trying to escape her fate. A fun multiverse twist on the original "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale, this novella is a grand adventure in a small package. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers Sibling Dex feels that their life needs a change, so they decide to go from a monk living in the city to a tea monk roaming the outer villages providing tea services to everyone who needs them. When Dex decides one day to venture even further out into the countryside than normal, they encounter a robot. Robots have not been seen in Panga for hundreds of years since they gained sentience and disappeared to live in the wilderness. However, this robot has come to seek out humans and find the answer to what seems to be a simple question: what do humans need? Dex and the robot will find that the answer to this question is far more complex than either could have imagined. The world-building and character development in this short book are a true accomplishment and you'll find yourself clamoring for more of Dex and the robot. Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket Over the course of his long and suspicious career, Mr. Snicket has investigated many things, including villainy, treachery, conspiracy, ennui, and various suspicious fires. In this book, he is investigating his own death. Poison for Breakfast is a different sort of book than others we have published, and from others you may have read. It is different from other books Mr. Snicket has written. It could be said to be a book of philosophy, something almost no one likes, but it is also a mystery, and many people claim to like those. Certainly, Mr. Snicket didn't relish the dreadful task of solving it, but he had no choice. It was put in front of him, right there, on his plate. -Publisher's Description For Your Aunt Who Can't Resist an Award Winner Hell of a Book by Jason Mott In Jason Mott's Hell of a Book, a Black author sets out on a cross-country publicity tour to promote his bestselling novel. That storyline drives Hell of a Book and is the scaffolding of something much larger and urgent: since Mott's novel also tells the story of Soot, a young Black boy living in a rural town in the recent past, and The Kid, a possibly imaginary child who appears to the author on his tour. Unforgettably told, with characters who burn into your mind and an electrifying plot ideal for book club discussion, Hell of a Book is the novel Mott has been writing in his head for the last ten years. And in its final twists, it truly becomes its title. Hell of a Book won the National Book Award in 2021. -Publisher's Description Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe The Sackler name adorns the walls of many-storied institutions – Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations to the arts and the sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing a blockbuster painkiller that was the catalyst for the opioid crisis. This is the saga of three generations of a single-family and the mark they would leave on the world. Empire of Pain chronicles the multiple investigations of the Sacklers and their company, and the scorched-earth legal tactics that the family has used to evade accountability. Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling. It is a portrait of the excesses of America's second Gilded Age, a study of impunity among the super-elite and a relentless investigation of the naked greed and indifference to human suffering that built one of the world's great fortunes. Empire of Pain won the 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. -Publisher's Description The Promise by Damon Galgut Haunted by an unmet promise, the Swart family loses touch after the death of their matriarch. Adrift, the lives of the three siblings move separately through the uncharted waters of South Africa; Anton, the golden boy who bitterly resents his life's unfulfilled potential; Astrid, whose beauty is her power; and the youngest, Amor, whose life is shaped by a nebulous feeling of guilt. Reunited by four funerals over three decades, the dwindling family reflects the atmosphere of its country – one of resentment, renewal, and, ultimately, hope. The Promise is an epic drama that unfurls against the unrelenting march of national history, sure to please current fans and attract many new ones. The Promise won the 2021 Booker Prize. -Publisher's Description The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. Since graduating high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice. Determined to find her sister Vera and her child, Patrice makes a fateful trip to Minnesota that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence and endangers her life. Thomas and Patrice live in this impoverished reservation community along with young Chippewa boxer Wood Mountain and his mother Juggie Blue, her niece and Patrice's best friend Valentine, and Stack Barnes, the white high school math teacher and boxing coach who is hopelessly in love with Patrice. In The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich creates a fictional world populated with memorable characters who are forced to grapple with the worst and best impulses of human nature. Illuminating the loves and lives, the desires and ambitions of these characters with compassion, wit, and intelligence, The Night Watchman is a majestic work of fiction from this revered cultural treasure. The Night Watchman won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. -Publisher's Description For Your Mom Who Loves Historical Fiction Matrix by Lauren Groff Marie de France is too ugly to be married off and far too coarse for the court life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. So, at 17 years old, Marie is sent to England to be the prioress of a failing abbey. Marie steps boldly into her role as prioress and brings the abbey to new heights of success as she finds joy and satisfaction in her life with her sisters all the while hoping that she one day might be reunited with Eleanor. Marie leads the abbey through times of lean and plenty and lives a remarkable life complete with religious visions and grand projects. This is a fascinating story about one of the lesser-known women in medieval history. Lauren Groff does not disappoint in creating a truly interesting character out of Marie de France. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner In an alley in 18th century London there is a secret apothecary shop. It does not treat boils or bruises or stomach ailments, but rather helps women solve their problems in a more permanent manner – through well-placed poisons to eliminate troublesome men in their lives. The secret of the shop is guarded carefully until the apothecary, Nella, takes in a young apprentice who makes a mistake and puts the business and Nella's life in danger. In modern-day London, Caroline Parcewell is on vacation contemplating her failing marriage. She takes a tour that leads her to discover a small apothecary's bottle from a very special shop. What further secrets will she uncover? This is an interesting piece of historical fiction that explores both 18th century and modern London while following a fast-paced mystery. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white – her complexion is dark because she is African American. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to – for the protection of her family and her legacy – to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives. -Publisher's Description The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman's only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows. By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa's tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive. In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa – like so many of her neighbors –must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family. -Publisher's Description For Your Cousin Who Loves a Good Contemporary Romance Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert Chaos goddess Eve Brown has caused yet another unfortunate situation this time ruining an expensive wedding. Her parents have had enough of her disasters and put their foot down demanding that she grow up and choose a career. Control-freak Jacob Wayne is down one chef at his meticulously run bed and breakfast, but he certainly isn't considering hiring whirlwind Eve Brown until she accidentally hits him with her car leaving him not only short-staffed but temporarily incapable of running the bed and breakfast on his own. Eve and Jacob are natural opposites, but the more time they spend together the more they find they can't get enough of each other. Warm and hilariously funny, this third entry in the Brown Sisters series by author Talia Hibbert is sure to have you smiling all the way through. The Singles Table by Sara Desai Zara Patel is a bright, sunny, celebrity-obsessed, lawyer who likes to practice matchmaking in her free time. Jay Donavan is a serious, focused former military security specialist with absolutely no time or space in his life for love. When Zara and Jay meet during the wedding season, Jay agrees to introduce Zara to some of his celebrity security clients in exchange for Zara finding his perfect match. However, the more time Jay spends with charismatic Zara, the more he finds sunshine creeping into his life and his frosty exterior melting. This third book from author Sara Desai is heartwarming and fun with just enough spice to be really enjoyable for any romance reader. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston Jane is a woman out of time – literally. She's actually from the 1970s and is trapped on the subway in modern-day New York. August is a cynical young woman who has just moved to New York to finish her college education and figure out what to do with her life. August doesn't know what to expect from New York, but it certainly isn't to develop a serious crush on a girl from the subway only to discover that said girl is actually from the 1970s and trapped on the subway. August and Jane develop a fast friendship and then something more as they try to figure out how Jane became stuck and how to get her free again from her traveling prison. This magical and heartwarming romance is a great read for anyone who enjoyed McQuiston's former novel, Red, White, and Royal Blue. If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy After having just graduated with a degree in shoe design, and trying to get her feet on the ground, Cindy is working for her stepmother, who happens to be the executive producer of America's favorite reality show, Before Midnight. When a spot on the show needs filling ASAP, Cindy volunteers, hoping it might help jump-start her fashion career, or at least give her something to do while her peers land jobs in the world of high fashion. Turns out being the only plus-size woman on a reality dating competition makes a splash, and soon Cindy becomes a body positivity icon for women everywhere. What she doesn't expect? That she may just find inspiration – and love – in the process. Ultimately, Cindy learns that if the shoe doesn't fit, maybe it's time to design your own. This is a fun Cinderella retelling that will have you cheering for the two main characters from the very beginning. -Publisher's Description This press release was produced by Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach. The views expressed here are the author's own.