November Adult Reading Challenge
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All Adults Here
Astrid Strick realizes she was not quite the parent she thought she'd been to her three, now-grown children. Astrid's youngest son is drifting and unfocused, making parenting mistakes of his own. Her daughter is pregnant yet struggling to give up her own adolescence. And her eldest seems to measure his adult life according to standards no one else shares. But who gets to decide, so many years later, which long-ago lapses were the ones that mattered? It might be that only Astrid's thirteen-year-old granddaughter and her new friend really understand the courage it takes to tell the truth to the people you love the most.
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A Fatal Inheritance
Ingrassia lost his mother, two sisters, brother, and nephew to cancer—different cancers developing at different points throughout their lives. And while highly unusual, his family is not the only one to wonder whether their heartbreak is the result of unbelievable bad luck, or if there might be another explanation. Through meticulous research and riveting storytelling, Ingrassia takes us from the 1960s—when Dr. Frederick Pei Li and Dr. Joseph Fraumeni Jr. first met, not yet knowing that they would help make a groundbreaking discovery that would affect cancer patients for decades to come—to present day, as Ingrassia and countless others continue to unpack and build upon Li and Fraumeni’s initial discoveries, and to understand what this means for their families.
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Black Cake: A Read with Jenna Pick
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
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Fun Home
Meet Alison's father, a historic preservation expert and obsessive restorer of the family's Victorian home, a third-generation funeral home director, a high school English teacher, an icily distant parent, and a closeted homosexual who, as it turns out, is involved with his male students and a family babysitter. Apart from assigned stints dusting caskets at the family-owned "fun home," as Alison and her brothers call it, this parental relationship achieves its most intimate expression through the shared code of books. When Alison comes out as homosexual herself in late adolescense, the denouement is swift, graphic -- and redemptive.
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One Hundred Years of Solitude
The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. It is a rich and brilliant chronicle of life and death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the noble, ridiculous, beautiful, and tawdry story of the Buendía family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.
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Dial A for Aunties
When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy's great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos.
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The Most Fun We Ever Had
Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator turned stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects.
With the unexpected arrival of young Jonah Bendt—a child placed for adoption by one of the daughters fifteen years before—the Sorensons will be forced to reckon with the rich and varied tapestry of their past. -
The Wangs Vs. the World
Charles Wang, a brash, lovable businessman who built a cosmetics empire and made a fortune, has just lost everything in the financial crisis. So he rounds up two of his children from schools that he can no longer afford and packs them into the only car that wasn't repossessed. Together with their wealth-addicted stepmother, Barbra, they head on a cross-country journey from their foreclosed Bel-Air home to the Upstate New York retreat of the eldest Wang daughter, Saina.
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This Cursed House
In the fall of 1962, twenty-seven-year-old Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago—and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over. Light enough to pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. And soon the shocking truth comes out: The Duchons are under a curse. And they think Jemma has the power to break it.
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The Guncle
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, Patrick is, honestly, overwhelmed. So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of "Guncle Rules" ready to go, Patrick quickly realizes that parenting--even if temporary--isn't solved with treats and jokes. His eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you're unfailingly human.
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Familia
Gabby DiMarco believes in absolute, verifiable Truths. But the genealogy test she took as research for an article has yielded a baffling result: Gabby has a sister—one who’s been desperately trying to find her. Isabella Ruiz can still picture the face of her baby sister, who disappeared from the streets of San Juan twenty-five years ago. At last, she’s found a match, and Gabby has agreed to come to Puerto Rico. With nothing—or perhaps so much—in common, Gabby and Isabella set out to find the truth, though it means risking everything they’ve known for an uncertain future—and a past that harbors yet more surprises.
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Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?
Séamas O'Reilly's mother died when he was five, leaving him, his ten (!) brothers and sisters, and their beloved father in their sprawling bungalow in rural Derry. It was the 1990s; the Troubles were a background rumble, but Séamas was more preoccupied with dinosaurs, Star Wars, and the actual location of heaven than the political climate. This family of loud, argumentative, musical, sarcastic, grief-stricken siblings was then shepherded into adulthood by a man whose foibles and reticence were matched only by his love for his children and his determination that they would flourish.
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The Lowland
The Lowland is an engrossing family saga steeped in history: the story of two very different brothers bound by tragedy, a fiercely brilliant woman haunted by her past, a country torn apart by revolution, and a love that endures long past death. Moving from the 1960s to the present, and from India to America and across generations, this dazzling novel is Jhumpa Lahiri at the height of her considerable powers.
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The Family Fang
Annie and Buster Fang have spent most of their adult lives trying to distance themselves from their famous artist parents, Caleb and Camille. But when a bad economy and a few bad personal decisions converge, the two siblings have nowhere to turn but their family home. Reunited under one roof for the first time in more than a decade and surrounded by the souvenirs of their unusual upbringing, Buster and Annie are forced to confront not only their creatively ambitious parents, but the chaos and confusion of their childhood.
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Family Family
India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actor. Armed with a stack of index cards (for research/line memorization/make-shift confetti), she goes from awkward sixteen-year-old to Broadway ingenue to TV superhero. Her new movie is a prestige picture about adoption, but its spin is the same old tired story of tragedy. An adoptive mom herself, the one thing India knows for sure is what makes a family isn’t blood. And it isn’t love. No matter how they’re formed, the truth about family is this: it's complicated.
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The Waiting
When Renee Ballard and her LAPD Open-Unsolved Unit team move in on their suspect for the Pillowcase Rapist, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles. Then Ballard's badge, gun, and ID are stolen, and her enemies in the department will use the burglary against her if she doesn't get them back soon. Renee Ballard knocks on the door of Harry Bosch to solicit his help. At the same time, she takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit: Bosch's daughter Maddie, now a patrol officer, who has ulterior motives for this assignment.
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Murder Island
When professor turned crime-fighter Brandt "Doc" Savage and his girlfriend Kira Sunlight land on a desert island in the middle of the Atlantic, they think they've found a perfect utopia. An escape from their tumultuous pasts. But they don't have long to enjoy their newfound peace before they are violently separated and dragged to opposite ends of the Earth. Doc's search for Kira takes him from the coast of Brazil to northern Europe and the jungles of the Congo, and he discovers they are entangled in a global conspiracy that is bigger he ever could have imagined.
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Lethal Prey
Confronted with the possibility of her own death, Lara Grandfelt’s determined to find the unknown killer of her sister Doris once and for all. She dumps the entire investigative file on every true crime site in the world and offers a $5 million reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. When one of the true crime bloggers locates the murder weapon, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers begin to uncover vital details about the killer’s identity. As the nation maneuvers the detectives closer to the truth, Lucas and Virgil will find that digging up Doris’s harrowing past might just get them buried instead.
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Blood Moon
Detective John Bowie does all that he can to cope with the actions taken (or not taken) during the investigation of Crissy Mellin, a teenage girl who disappeared more than three years prior. But now, Crisis Point, a long-running true crime television series, is soon to air an episode documenting the unsolved Mellin case. Beth Collins, a senior producer on Crisis Point, is convinced that Crissy Mellin's disappearance was not an isolated incident. Beth enlists Detective Bowie to help her figure out what happened to Crissy and find the true culprit before he acts on the next blood moon--in four days' time.
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The Winds from Further West
Dr. Neil Anderson has just started a new position at the University of Edinburgh. Things seem to be going well for him until an accusation of insensitive comments lands him in hot water with the university and he discovers a troubling secret about his relationship. Neil leaves his unraveling life behind for the remote and secluded beauty of the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland. When a ship comes in to the harbor with two wolf cubs, his life will change drastically once again.
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Better Than Friends
When Olive Porter's off-the-grid parents go missing, she reluctantly seeks out Noah Turner, her ex and the only person she both trusts implicitly and not at all. As a special investigative agent for the National Park Service, Noah's unhappily recuperating at home after he got injured on the job. He'd love nothing more than a good distraction. But when Olive shows up looking like a million bucks, he can't fall for her again, the woman who once blew up his entire life and never looked back.
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25 Alive
SFPD homicide detective Lindsay Boxer knows her way around a crime scene. But nothing can prepare her for the shock of recognition: the victim is Warren Jacobi, Lindsay's onetime partner who rose to chief of police. A top investigator until the end, Jacobi managed to leave Lindsay a clue. Following a trail of evidence along the west coast, the Women's Murder Club pledges to avenge Jacobi's death before the killer can take another one of their own.
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Iron Flame (Standard Edition)
In her second year at Basgiath War College, the real training begins. Violet Sorrengail’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves. But Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
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Nightshade
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Stilwell has been "exiled" to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island. While following up the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body, a Jane Doe identifiable only by a streak of purple dye in her hair. At the same time, a report of poaching on a protected reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger. Stilwell doggedly works both cases, convinced he is the only one who can bring justice to the woman known as "Nightshade."
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Strangers in Time
Fourteen-year-old orphan Charlie Matters steals what he needs, living day-to-day until he's old enough to enlist to fight the Germans. Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to London after five years away as an evacuee. Upon return, she's confronted by a devastating reality: neither of her parents are there. Without guardians and stability, Charlie and Molly find an unexpected ally and protector in Ignatius Oliver, and solace at his bookshop, The Book Keep. As bombs continue to bear down on the city, Charlie, Molly, and Ignatius learn that their coming together and trusting one another may be the only way for them to survive.
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Hidden Nature
Natural Resources police officer Sloan Coope pulled in at a convenience store and walked right into a robbery in progress and subsequent gunshot. After being shocked back to life on the operating table, she moves back to her parents’ peaceful house in Heron’s Rest. When a woman vanishes, leaving her car behind in a supermarket parking lot, Sloan searches online for similar cases. She finds them: Men and women, old and young, with nothing apparent in common. And the abductions keep happening.
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The Grey Wolf
Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband, Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, refuses to pick up relentless phone. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "this might interest you", a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching.
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Nobody's Fool
Sami Kierce, a young college grad backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up covered in blood with a knife in his hand. Beside him, the dead body of his girlfriend Anna. His screams drown out his thoughts and then he runs. Twenty-two years later, Kierce, now a private investigator, is teaching wannabe sleuths at a night school in New York City. One evening, he recognizes Anna at the back of the classroom. She bolts when they make eye contact. Kierce knows he must find this woman and solve the impossible mystery that has haunted his every waking moment.
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Now Or Never
She said yes to Morelli. She said yes to Ranger. Now Stephanie Plum has two fiancés and no idea what to do about it. While Stephanie stalls for time, she buries herself in her work as a bounty hunter, tracking down an unusually varied assortment of fugitives from justice. With timely assists from her stalwart supporters Lula, Connie, and Grandma Mazur, Stephanie uses every trick in the book to reel in these men. But she can’t hold Ranger and Morelli at bay for long, and she’s keeping a secret from them that is the biggest bombshell of all.
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To Die for
Travis Devine is hoping to keep off the radar of an enemy -- the girl on the train. He's sent to Seattle to aid the FBI to escort orphaned, twelve-year-old Betsy Odom to a meeting with her uncle, who's under investigation for RICO charges. En route, Betsy is adamant that her parents never used drugs, but the police insist the Odoms died of an overdose. When Devine starts digging for answers, he finds a conspiracy bigger than he could've ever imagined. The question is, how do Betsy, her uncle, and various government agencies all fit into it.