Catherine Coles
Coles’ Notes
Even though we are basking in the glory days of summer, library staff are busy prepping for fall by researching and getting orders in for the titles that will be must-reads later this year. It goes without saying that all of the usual suspects will be well-represented (Patterson, Steel, Connelly, Evanovich, Roberts, Grisham, a new Chief Inspector Gamache, and the annual installment in the Reacher series) but readers should also take note of the following 15 releases that are perhaps less expected, but still hotly anticipated.
The Apollo Murders is Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s first foray into fiction. It’s a Cold War thriller that takes place in (you guessed it) outer space.
Binge, the latest book by offbeat Canadian writer Douglas Coupland, consists of 60 stories that are said to offer funny yet profound observations about life’s big questions, and the existential worry we all experience from time to time.
Never is an 800-page thriller from master of literary tomes, Ken Follett. It’s an action-packed spy thriller that is international in scope and considers what could put us on the brink of the next world war.
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon is the ninth installment in the Outlander series and perhaps the most eagerly anticipated book of the year. It follows Jamie and Claire on the eve of the Revolutionary War, which threatens to tear them apart like they were by the Jacobite Rising in 1743.
The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell is a mystery that involves a young woman and her boyfriend disappearing after partying at the country estate of a new college friend. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage that borders the same estate. On a walk one night, she stumbles upon a mysterious note that reads, “DIG HERE.” Could this be a clue towards what has happened to the missing couple?
Harlem Shuffle by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Colson Whitehead is described as “a gloriously entertaining novel of heists, shakedowns and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.”
State of Terror by Hilary Clinton and beloved Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny is about a series of terrorist attacks that throw the global order into disarray. The U.S. Secretary of State is tasked with assembling a team to unravel the conspiracy.
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian is a fun thriller about a group of college students who are psychopaths, drawn together through their participation in a secret research study. One by one, the study participants turn up murdered. Is someone hunting them? I was able to get my hands on an advance copy of this book, and it was an engaging read. It did have hints of You by Caroline Kepnes (because the narrators are young, sexy psychopaths) but it mostly just reminded me of the kind of cheesy television show one might find on CW.
Oh, William by Pulitzer Prize-winning Elizabeth Strout is described as a poignant novel that traces the relationship of a divorced couple.
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty follows golden couple Joy and Stan Delaney and their four children. They seem to have the perfect lives but when Joy disappears, we start to see the cracks in their marriage and in their children’s challenged lives. Domestic drama with bites of humour – classic Moriarty.
Fight Night by Toronto-based Miriam Toews is described by the publisher as “a funny, smart, headlong rush of a novel full of wit, flawless writing, and a tribute to perseverance and love in an unusual family.”
Em by Canadian literary darling Kim Thuy is a novel that takes its inspiration from Operation Babylift, which evacuated thousands of biracial orphans from Saigon in April 1975, and the remarkable growth of the nail salon industry, dominated by Vietnamese expatriates.
Operation Angus by fan-favourite Terry Fallis marks the return of Angus McLintock, now working as the junior global affairs minister.
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, set in 1954, follows 18-year-old Emmett. Emmett plans to start a new life in L.A. after serving 15 months in a juvenile work farm for involuntary manslaughter. But two friends from the work farm have a different plan for Emmett’s future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction – to New York City.
August into Winter is award-winning Canadian writer Guy Vanderhaeghe’s first novel in nearly a decade. It is described as “epic story of crime and retribution, of war and its long shadow, and of the redemptive possibilities of love.”
All of these items can be reserved now (or if not now, very soon!) at the County of L&A Libraries at CountyLibrary.ca.