Abbot Public Library Assistant Director Morgan Yeo recommends this list of fiction titles. She has worked at the Abbot Public Library for 3 1/2 years and has been responsible for curating the library’s fiction collection since she started. Many titles on this list, such as “Horse” and “Mad Honey,” have been enjoyed by the library’s Adult Fiction Book Club.
“Horse” by Geraldine Brooks
Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, who became America’s greatest stud sire, “Horse” is a gripping, multi-layered reckoning with the legacy of enslavement and racism in America.
“Mad Honey” by Jodi Picoult
“Mad Honey” is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.
“Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
Set in 1960s California, this blockbuster debut is the hilarious, idiosyncratic and uplifting story of a female scientist whose career is constantly derailed by the idea that a woman’s place is in the home, only to find herself starring as the host of America’s most beloved TV cooking show.
“The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles
Spanning just 10 days and told from multiple points of view, Towles’ third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters and themes.
“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
The teenage son of an Appalachian single mother who dies when he is 11 uses his good looks, wit and instincts to survive foster care, child labor, addiction, disastrous loves and crushing losses.
“The Hotel Nantucket” by Elin Hilderbrand
Fresh off a bad breakup with a longtime boyfriend, Nantucket sweetheart Lizbet Keaton is desperately seeking a second act. When she’s named the new general manager of the Hotel Nantucket — a once Gilded Age gem turned abandoned eyesore — she hopes that her local expertise and charismatic staff can win the favor of their new London billionaire owner, Xavier Darling, as well as that of Shelly Carpenter, the wildly popular Instagram tastemaker who can help put them back on the map.
“Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
A luminous debut novel about a widow’s unlikely friendship with a curmudgeonly giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium — and, when a mysterious grifter comes to town, the truths all three unlock about her son’s disappearance 30 years ago.
“Trust” by Hernan Diaz
At once an immersive story and a brilliant literary puzzle, “Trust” engages the reader in a quest for the truth while confronting the deceptions that often live at the heart of personal relationships, the reality-warping force of capital and the ease with which power can manipulate facts.
“Small Mercies” by Dennis Lehane
Set against the hot, tumultuous months when Boston’s desegregation of its public schools exploded in violence, “Small Mercies” is a superb thriller, a brutal depiction of criminality and power and an unflinching portrait of the dark heart of American racism.
“This Time Tomorrow” by Emma Straub
With her celebrated humor, insight and heart, Emma Straub cleverly turns all the traditional time-travel tropes on their head and delivers a different kind of love story — about the lifelong, reverberating relationship between a parent and child.
