Before you stroll the streets of First Friday, check out these book suggestions, courtesy of Dudley's Bookshop Cafe. Then head down to the shop for a discount on the books!
"The Ten Thousand Doors of January"
by Alix E. Harrow
If you loved "Night Circus" or "Shadow of the Wind," two personal favorites, this is a must read. Books within books, stories within stories, portals to other worlds, and January, a young girl fighting against the odds who you'll immediately fall in love with—it's all here in a world that leaps off the page with a story you won't want to end. To say more would ruin this turn-of-the-century tale that's a real contender for my favorite book of the year.
"How to Catch a Mole" by Marc Hamer
Once homeless, Hamer made his living as a mole-catcher in the British countryside until he finally gives it up after wearying of the trapping and killing. His shift in perspective and his love for nature make for a beautifully written, effortlessly read homage to our fraught relationship with our landscapes and the creatures that make it their home.
"Ninth House" by Leigh Bardugo
The first adult fantasy from Bardugo (of "Six of Crows") is reminiscent of Donna Tartt's "Secret History," but with a very clever supernatural flair. Our gritty antihero Galaxy Stern sees ghosts. Lots of them. This ability leads her to being tasked with infiltrating the secret societies of Yale, the palaces of the rich and privileged with their own eldritch horrors. Whip-smart dialogue and an intricate plot make this a fantastic read. (on sale 10/8)
On Everyone's Radar:
"The Testaments" by Margaret AtwoodShortlisted for the Booker Prize. Set 15 years after "The Handmaid's Tale."
"The Water Dancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A first fiction for Coates (of "Between the World and Me") is the latest Oprah's Book Club pick.
"The Dutch House" by Ann Patchett
No one consistently writes a better family saga than Patchett.