Librarian Picks: 12 Books I Love to Recommend

February 18 2020
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Carol Ann Tack, who is Head of Reader Services at Merrick Library, first shared these terrific recommendations with us in early 2020, but we’re thinking about them again ahead of National Library Week! We hope you’ll find a few new-to-you books to check out at your local library.

Carol Ann Tack is the host of the popular podcast, Top Shelf at Merrick Library. She also hosts Top Shelf Live! on YouTube.  When she is not interviewing or editing, you can find her with a glass of cabernet and the latest horror, sci-fi, or thriller. Find out more here!

2019 was such a great year for reading, and with books flying off the shelves, I never want patrons to leave empty-handed. So, here are my favorite fiction titles. My proven winners, aka my ICYMI go-tos. The only problem? Since I book-talk them often, they in fact just might be off the shelf! 

Mornings with Rosemary
by Libby Page

Libby Page was a delight when I hosted her for the Top Shelf at the Merrick Library podcast, and this book is even more delightful! When young news reporter Kate is sent on assignment to cover the closing of the local town pool, she meets eighty-seven-year-old Rosemary, and Kateentire story begins to change. 

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Mornings with Rosemary
Libby Page

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Heft
by Liz Moore

Moore weaves together the lives of five-hundred-pound Arthur Opp with seventeen-year-old Kel Keller in this terrific spot-on novel of the different paths people take to become a family. 

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Heft
Liz Moore

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MENTIONED IN:

Librarian Picks: 12 Books I Love to Recommend

By Carol Ann Tack | February 18, 2020

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The Child Finder
by Rene Denfeld

PI Naomi Cottle, aka the Child Finder, has the incredible gift of intuition when it comes to locating missing children. This debut introduces us to Cottle as she helps locate a missing eight-year-old girl in the dense, wintry forest of the Pacific Northwest. Don't miss Denfeld's 2019 follow-up, The Butterfly Girl.

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The Child Finder
Rene Denfeld

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MENTIONED IN:

Librarian Picks: 12 Books I Love to Recommend

By Carol Ann Tack | February 18, 2020

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Apple Tree Yard
by Louise Doughty

Is Yvonne Carmichael, mother of two, a murderer? This steamy thriller opens with Carmichael sitting in the witness box defending herself, and it was such a page-turner that the BBC gave it a turn as a miniseries. Before the rage of psychological dramas that proliferate, this one-two punch of a book was there early on, and its psychological drama at it's best. Settle in and hold on to your hat. 

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Apple Tree Yard
Louise Doughty

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MENTIONED IN:

Librarian Picks: 12 Books I Love to Recommend

By Carol Ann Tack | February 18, 2020

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Silent Hearts
by Gwen Florio

Journalist and author Gwen Florio brings us two unforgettable characters: Farida and Liv. The way Florio weaves this post-9/11 story around these two women is nothing short of magical. (The comparisons to Khaled Hosseini are true.)

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Silent Hearts
Gwen Florio

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The Silent Wife
by A. S. A. Harrison

This book is told with startling frankness by alternating the voices of the wife and the husband. This wife, though? She's not so silent. The book was published the same year as Apple Tree Yard, so it was obviously a good year for thrillers. 

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The Silent Wife
A. S. A. Harrison

Told in alternating voices, The Silent Wife is about a marriage in the throes of dissolution, a couple headed for catastrophe, concessions that can’t be made, and promises that won’t be kept. Expertly plotted and reminiscent of Gone Girl, The Silent Wife ensnares the reader from page one and does not let go.

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MENTIONED IN:

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Indiscretion
by Charles Dubow

With lush writing, luxurious settings, and beautiful people, this debut makes you wish you could hop a jitney to the Hamptons. There is a Gatsby feel to this sumptuous page-turner. Dubow knows how to turn a phrase, create snappy dialogue, and convey the essence of the "Hamptonian" experience wrapped in edgy drama, where things are not as they seem. 

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Indiscretion
Charles Dubow

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MENTIONED IN:

Librarian Picks: 12 Books I Love to Recommend

By Carol Ann Tack | February 18, 2020

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This Is The Water
by Yannick Murphy

A girls high school swim team, a crumbling marriage, family tragedy, and . . . a serial killer. Told in the second-person point of view, Murphy does astounding things in this chilling novel.

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This Is The Water
Yannick Murphy

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MENTIONED IN:

Librarian Picks: 12 Books I Love to Recommend

By Carol Ann Tack | February 18, 2020

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Meet Me at the Museum
by Anne Youngson

This little gem of an epistolary novel starts as a simple query between two people that turns therapeutic and then becomes something so much more, yet not at all what you would expect. Its delightful.

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Meet Me at the Museum
Anne Youngson

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MENTIONED IN:

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The Fall of Lisa Bellow
by Susan Perabo

Eighth-grader Meredith stops for a snack at the local deli and finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time when a man comes in to rob the store. The most popular girl in the eighth grade, Lisa Bellow, is also in the store. One of them is abducted and taken hostage, and so starts a chain of events that will speed you right through this book. 

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The Fall of Lisa Bellow
Susan Perabo

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MENTIONED IN:

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Lawn Boy
by Jonathan Evison

I will read anything Evison writes. From This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! to The Revised Fundamentals of CaregivingEvison always delivers. With Lawn Boy he gives us Mike Muñoz, who is trying to live the American Dream despite all the obstacles. Lately, though, Mike just cannot catch a break. Go on this journey with Mike because it's a gem and I don't mind saying that I cried at the end.

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Lawn Boy
Jonathan Evison

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MENTIONED IN:

Librarian Picks: 12 Books I Love to Recommend

By Carol Ann Tack | February 18, 2020

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The Which Way Tree
by Elizabeth Crook

In Civil Warera Texas, young Samantha is on a mission for revenge to capture a deadly puma. I know what you're thinking, but hang on to your hat for this tale that gathers a madcap cast of characters to help Samantha with her hunt in this rollicking adventure story.

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The Which Way Tree
Elizabeth Crook

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Photo Credit: Punchim/iStock

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