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WSIRN: 2022 Team Summer Favorites

A page-turning literary mystery with a dynamite premise and a little bit of magic. Seven years ago, cartographer Nell Young lost everything—her career, her reputation, her fiancé, and her family—because of an argument over a cheap gas station map. After her esteemed cartographer father unexpectedly dies, Nell learns he’d been working on some sort of secret project connected to the map, which isn’t junk at all but an incredibly rare and hotly sought-after artifact—and her knowledge of its existence may put her very life in danger. A sophisticated scavenger hunt ensues, leading Nell to a secretive and powerful band of mapmakers called The Cartographers, and to closely guarded secrets held by her own family. A gripping and inventive story of family secrets, found family, second chances, and cartography, set against the backdrop of the storied New York Public Library. For fans of Shepherd’s The Book of M and Alix E. Harrow’s The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
From Donna: Oh my gosh, I loved this book so much. This rom-com sets up screenwriter Nora, who unexpectedly falls for the lead actor on her newest production. It was sweet, funny, smart, and soothing, and I just wanted to live in this book. It's the perfect escapist read!
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From Brenna: This nonfiction book from well-known sci-fi author Charlie Jane Anders is a very different kind of book about writing, offering encouragement to write through hardship in ways that are healing and cathartic.
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From Leigh: I was absolutely riveted by this YA Fantasy. A retelling of the King Arthur legend, it follows a 16-year-old Black girl as she goes off to an early college program. She discovers that magic exists, and that someone's messed with her memory about a major event in her life. She wants to get to the bottom of what actually happened, which includes infiltrating a secret society on campus. There are so many layers and great twists to this story, which examines racism, complicated grief, and generational trauma.
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I sat down with this book on a Saturday and read the entire thing because I didn't want to put it down. It is a pandemic story, following Lucy as she escapes with her companion from New York City to the coast of Maine. The conversations in this book are about the pandemic, but also about the fragility of life and what it means to be in relationship with others, and I found it touching, sad, but ultimately life-affirming.
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From Holly: This collection of short stories featuring women in the wilds of Alaska was incredibly immersive and featured a strong sense of place, while exploring stories of love, family, heartbreak, and home. Newman makes you feel like you're right there along with the characters. Some of the stories are interwoven across time, so you have the chance to revisit some of the characters and learn more about what happened to them next.
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From Shannan: I've become a P. Djèlí Clark completist, and this is his first full-length novel that dives into an alternate history that places Egypt as a major superpower in the world, with Cairo a major city on par with London and Paris. It follows Agent Fatma el-Sha'arawi, the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, as she investigates a murder that threatens both the city and the world. I love how the author meshes worlds, mythologies and history in a seamless and beautiful way.
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When Beth recommended this in a Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club discussion thread, my husband Will happened to be logged in and added it to his TBR right away. The horror genre isn't my jam, but when Beth compared this to Sarah Gailey and Ralph Ellison, it piqued my interest, too. Described as "dark historical fantasy," this novella takes place in Prohibition Georgia, where the Ku Klux Klan members literally become demons after watching The Birth of a Nation. Bootlegger Maryse Boudreaux and a motley crew of fighters set out to save the world from this hellish nightmare come to life.
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