All Books Considered

Once and Again by Rebecca Serle Blurb from Goodreads : The women of the Novak family were each born with a they can, just once, turn back time. Lauren has known since she was fifteen that her mother Marcella saved Lauren’s father from a deadly car accident. Dave is alive and happy, and out on the Malibu waves. But ever since, Marcella, her power spent, has lived in fear of what she won’t be able to reverse. Her own mother, Sylvia, is her polar a free-spirited iconoclast with a glamorous past she only hints at. Lauren has spent her life between these two role models—and waiting for her own catastrophe to strike. Then one summer, Lauren’s husband takes a job in New York and she moves back to Broad Beach Road, back into her childhood home on the shores of Malibu. Lauren looks forward to surfing with her dad again and perhaps repairing an unspoken fracture...

Frida's Cook by Florencia Etcheves Blurb from Goodreads : This colorful, emotive historical debut whisks us to the home of Frida Kahlo, where food, art, and love weave together an unforgettable story of friendship and loyalty, with a bright Coyoacán as a vivid background. A hidden painting. A buried past. A legacy waiting to be uncovered. Mexico City, 1939: Young and determined Nayeli Cruz flees from her Oaxaca home to arrive in Mexico City with neither friends nor prospects. Alone and armed only with her sharp wit and extraordinary talent in the kitchen, she finds herself in front of La Caza Azul, the home of Frida Kahlo. As she begins work as the artist’s cook, Nayeli is pulled into Frida’s world of pain, passion, and defiance. But it isn’t long before amid the vibrant tapestry of flavors, scents, and colors, the two women form a deep bond—one th...

Ruby Falls by Gin Phillips Blurb from Goodreads : One body. Five suspects. Total darkness. A tense, claustrophobic historical mystery set almost entirely underground at the onset of the Great Depression about the discovery of a 150-foot waterfall in the middle of a mountain, the unthinkable crime that happens in its caves, and a woman who’s never felt more alive.    In 1928, a Chattanooga man disappears down a hole in the ground and discovers a 150-foot waterfall in the middle of a mountain that he names after his wife: Ruby Falls. Within months, visitors can buy tickets to see the falls for themselves. Ada Smith has been sneaking into the caves at night, entranced by the natural wonders around her and the freedom granted by this new underground world. But it’s tough timing for a natural wonder. As the country flounders in the Great Depression, a shrewd public relations ploy seems like the only way to save Ru...

The Social Circle by Sophie Wan Blurb from Goodreads : When Maggie Tang arrives as a transfer-student at UC Berkeley in 2005, she has no idea how her life is about to change. In the hallway of her dingy apartment building, she meets Adam, Charles, and Hari, the friends with whom she’ll create Circle, the world’s first major social media platform. But navigating her ambitions alongside love and friendship isn’t so simple, and when they inevitably collide, Maggie exits Circle in dramatic fashion. A decade later, Maggie is struggling with a new professional venture when she receives an invitation to celebrate Circle’s 10th anniversary on a private island in Norway, with the three people she has tried hardest to forget. While she’s still bitter about how things ended, her company desperately needs the publicity, and deep down, Maggie can’t resist the h...

Gunk by Saba Sams Blurb from Goodreads : An electrifying first novel from one of Britain’s most celebrated young writers, the story of two women circling one another—working side-by-side, sleeping with the same man, inching toward friendship—until an unplanned pregnancy reveals the true nature of their connection. Jules has been divorced from her ex-husband Leon for five years, but she still works with him at Gunk, the grotty student nightclub he owns in central Brighton. She spends her nights serving shots and watching, from behind the bar, as Leon flirts with students on the dancefloor. In the early hours of the morning, she trudges home to sleep alone. But then Leon hires nineteen-year-old Nim to work the bar with Jules—Nim, with her shaved head and steady pour, her disarming sweetness and sudden distance—and Jules finds herself jolted awake. Wh...

I Came Back for You by Kate White Blurb from Goodreads : A mother begins to challenge everything she’s been told about her daughter’s murder in a shocking novel of suspense by a New York Times bestselling author. Ten years after her daughter, Melanie, was murdered, Bree Winter is finally moving on with a new love, a new home, and a new beginning. Then a deathbed confession from the convicted killer throws Bree’s life into a tailspin all over again. He readily confesses to murdering four girls. But not Melanie. At first, Bree and her ex-husband don’t buy a word of it. Until inconsistencies about the crime emerge. So does the dreadful feeling that the monster who shattered Bree’s family isn’t lying. The only way she can get to the truth is to power through the trauma and return to the town in upstate New York where Melanie’s life came to a brutal end. B...

The Fall of Iris Henley by Jennifer Graham Blurb from Goodreads : For fans of Megan Lally and Kara Thomas, a twisty thriller about a Texas teen accused of murder who's desperate to clear her name. All it takes to ruin someone’s life is the stroke of a key. Just ask Iris Henley. Her life is destroyed when someone posts an anonymous message on her high school’s subreddit thread: “Iris Henley is a killer. I’ve been too scared to come forward until now, but I saw her murder Rocky and Lynette last summer.” Just like that, Iris loses everything. Her reputation. Her friends. Her hope of getting into college on scholarship. Even, possibly, her freedom, once the police start to investigate. After all, she’s the perfect suspect: Rocky was her boyfriend, and Lynette was her ex-best friend—and the girl he was cheating on her with. But Iris didn’t do it, and...

Cleaner by Jess Shannon Blurb from Goodreads : A disaffected young woman’s work as a cleaner takes her on an increasingly surreal search for a creative fulfillment, gainful employment, and the meaning of life in this sharp, tragicomic debut—perfect for fans of Melissa Broder, Jen Beagin, and Alexandra Tanner. A young artist returns to her childhood home, with a host of degrees and diplomas in her back pocket. But when forced to confront the reality that the world sees no use for her scholarly exploits, she must find a job—and quickly. Overqualified, underemployed, and idle, she starts a job as a cleaner for a gallery, where she meets another aspiring artist—Isabella—and they begin a passionate affair. Isabella could not be more different from the she’s elegant, successful…and living with her filthy rich boyfriend Paul. Isabella sneaks the cleaner into her life by hiring her to scrub the apartment she shares with Paul....

Motor City Love Song by Lisa Peers Blurb from Goodreads : No one knows why the queen of indie rock vanished from the Detroit scene twenty years ago. Now, her ex-girlfriend is determined to track her down—and what she uncovers will change everything. Detroit, 1997. At the Artemis Club, Paloma is chasing rock-and-roll stardom, with her girlfriend and manager Jace committed to making her a worldwide indie sensation. But when Paloma suddenly disappears from the public eye in 2001, Jace is left to pick up the pieces.  Two decades later, Jace thought she’d left music for good. Yet when the Artemis Club is threatened, she commits to saving the venue even though she’ll have to track down Paloma, whose early-career hit just went viral. Paloma has her reasons for not wanting to be found, and Jace isn’t eager to reopen old wounds. Still, each keeps measu...