The Girl Who Slept with God

Set in Arco, Idaho, in 1970, Val Brelinski’s powerfully affecting first novel tells the story of three sisters: young Frances, gregarious and strong-willed Jory, and moral-minded Grace. Their father, Oren, is a respected member of the community and science professor at the local college. Yet their mother’s depression and Grace’s religious fervor threaten the seemingly perfect family, whose world is upended when Grace returns from a missionary trip to Mexico and discovers she’s pregnant with—she believes—the child of God.

Distraught, Oren sends Jory and Grace to an isolated home at the edge of the town. There, they prepare for the much-awaited arrival of the baby while building a makeshift family that includes an elderly eccentric neighbor and a tattooed social outcast who drives an ice cream truck.

The Girl Who Slept with God is a literary achievement about a family’s desperate need for truth, love, purity, and redemption.

Priest struggles with faith in debut 'Variations'

John Donatich's The Variations is "a powerful debut novel about a priest who has lost his church, his mentor, and, most upsetting, his ability to pray." How can Father Dominic guide his parish, counsel a troubled teen, or inspire a budding pianist when everything he loves falls away?  Reserve a copy of this new release using your Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library card, the smartest card in your wallet.

Selected New Fiction & Mystery

Why not try some of these newly published fiction/mystery books? Prolific author James Patterson has just released 10th Anniversary, the next installment in the Women's Murder Club series, in which Detective Lindsay Boxer races to investigate the case of a badly injured teenage girl's missing newborn. Set in Boston, Sixkill is another fast-paced mystery from a well-known series; detective Spenser investigates a suspicious charge against a notorious actor. Readers can also visit Boston in another newly-published book, Faith: A Novel, in which Sheila McCann returns home to defend her older brother Art, a Catholic priest embroiled in a scandal. Stay closer to home but travel back in time in Secret of the White Rose, set in 1900s New York City when the judge presiding over the high-profile trial of a notorious bomber is murdered and Detective Simon Ziele is asked to help solve the case. Finally, for those readers who enjoy social commentary mixed with a touch of romance, The Story of a Beautiful Girl describes the love story between a developmentally disabled young white woman and a deaf African American after being institutionalized in 1968. Have you read any good new releases lately? Share your suggestions by commenting or by reviewing what you've read (using the "send us your review link" on the right).