Exciting Books to look for in 2015

A Kim Jong-II Production by Paul Fischer
Documents the former North Korean dictator's 1978 kidnapping of South Korean actress Madam Choi and her filmmaker ex-husband Shin Sang-Ok, describing how they were imprisoned, forced to remarry and compelled to make films for their captor before their daring escape. "A meticulously detailed feat of rare footage inside the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's propaganda machinery." ~KIRKUS

Funny Girl by Nick HornbySet in 1960's London, Funny Girl is a lively account of the adventures of the intrepid young Sophie Straw as she navigates her transformation from provincial ingenue to television starlet amid a constellation of eccentric characters. "Hornby makes the reader care for his characters as much as he does and retains a light touch with the deeper social implications, as women, gays, popular entertainment and the culture in general experience social upheaval."~KIRKUS

Ghettoside by Jill LeovyOn a warm spring evening in South Los Angeles, a young man is shot and killed on a sidewalk minutes away from his home, one of the thousands of black Americans murdered that year. Ghettoside discusses the hundreds of murders that occur in Los Angeles each year, and focuses on the story of the dedicated group of detectives who pursued justice at any cost in the killing of Bryant Tennelle. "In her debut, the author journeys where most fear to tread: the perennially mean streets of South Central LA, where she uses the senseless murder of a policeman's progeny as a jumping-off point to investigate broader issues of why...that urban area sees so many of its people dying by tragically violent means." ~KIRKUS

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper

Embarking on a more than 3,000-kilometer walking journey from rural Canada to the East coast so that she can see the ocean for the first time in her life, an octogenarian woman has experiences that blur her perspectives between illusion, memory and reality. "Hooper's debut is a novel of memory and longing and desires too long denied. A masterful near homage to Pilgrim's Progress: souls redeemed through struggle."~KIRKUS

Disgruntled by Asali Solomon

A coming-of-age tale that also doubles as a portrait of Philadelphia in the late 80s and early 90s, Kenya Curtis, who knows that she is different, but can't put her finger on why, grows increasingly disgruntled by her inability to find any place, thing or person that feels like home. "In this witty take on 1980s Philadelphia, a young girl comes of age and learns to navigate love, loss, school and family. Blackness, feminism and the loss of virginity have never been analyzed by a more astute and witty main character." ~KIRKUS

Remember Me Like This

Four years have passed since Justin Campbell’s disappearance, a tragedy that rocked the small town of Southport, Texas. Did he run away? Was he kidnapped? Did he drown in the bay? As the Campbells search for answers, they struggle to hold what’s left of their family together.

Then, one afternoon, the impossible happens. The police call to report that Justin has been found only miles away, in the neighboring town, and, most important, he appears to be fine. 

Though the reunion is a miracle, Justin’s homecoming exposes the deep rifts that have diminished his family, the wounds they all carry that may never fully heal. Trying to return to normal, his parents do their best to ease Justin back into his old life. But as thick summer heat takes hold, violent storms churn in the Gulf and in the Campbells’ hearts. When a reversal of fortune lays bare the family’s greatest fears—and offers perhaps the only hope for recovery—each of them must fight to keep the ties that bind them from permanently tearing apart.

Bret Anthony Johnston's Remember Me Like This is “an admirable achievement . . . The story starts where other stories might end. . . . [Readers] will find their expectations continually defied as characters refuse to follow a formulaic plot trajectory. . . . This is ultimately an uplifting reading experience owing to the believable love and warmth of the family.”—Library Journal (starred review)

New Sci-Fi Trilogy

From the author of the Magister trilogy comes Dreamwalker, the first book in a new science fiction series by C.S. Friedman.

Jessica Drake has dreamed of other worlds throughout her entire life. Some of these worlds are strikingly similar to her own, others are disturbingly foreign. She only shares the details of her dreams with her younger brother, Tommy, but now a stranger has been asking about Jessica and her dreams, and an unknown woman has been keeping watching over her house. 

As Jessica begins to search for answers it becomes clear that whoever is watching her does not want her to learn the truth. When her brother is kidnapped she knows she must get to the bottom of what is going on, and quickly, if she and her family are to be safe.