Staff Picks

Tell Me an Ending – Jo Harkin

Several characters get a notice that they have the opportunity to have a memory restored. First off, they were not aware that they’d had a memory erased. Would you opt to restore it or leave it buried forever?

Read Alike: Black Mirror, The Candy House
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Fiction
  • A thought-provoking, fast read

The Candy House – Jennifer Egan

Upload your memories (anonymously) in exchange to share others’ memories. Does it work if some opt out of sharing? Is it just another version of the Minority Report? Half the fun of this book is how Egan introduces characters using an vast & creative array of narrative styles – first person plural, a chapter of tweets, an epistolary chapter.

Read Alike: Tell me an Ending by Jo Harkin, The Invisible Circus, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan,
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Fiction

Ordinary Monsters – J.M. Miro

Magical orphans must save England in the late 1800’s. A delightful and dark twist on Harry Potter with some Annie Oakley heroism thrown in. Good and Evil get mixed up and its the no-nonsense matrons of the orphanage that really shine in this page-turner!

Read Alike: Deadly Education, Harry Potter series, The Umbrella Academy
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Four children of a famed singer, Mick Riva, throw the biggest party in Hollywood every year. The book takes place in Malibu, California over a span of 24 hours in the 1980s. It has many surprising twists that will keep you hooked!

Read Alike: Daisy Jones and The Six
Reviewed by: Halle

This book is:

  • Historical Fiction

When Women Were Dragons – Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill’s first adult novel is a total delight. Oppressed, sometimes gay housewives in the 1950s get so angry they transform into dragons and eat their oppressive husbands before flying off.

Read Alike: Stepford Wives, Pete’s Dragon, an uplifting version of the Handmaid’s Tale
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Fiction

Burn Down, Rise Up – Vincent Tirado

For over a year, the Bronx has been plagued by sudden, mysterious disappearances. An urban legend rumored to be responsible. And one group of friends determined to save their city at any cost. A story about place – what is your community and where is that place?

Read Alike: The City We Became, Rabbits, Stranger Things
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Young Adult

The Golden Couple – Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

An unconventional therapist takes on the so-called “golden couple” when they start having marital issues. Part literature, part romance, part thriller, this book was impossible to put down and full of totally unprecedented twists and turns.

Read Alike: The Wife Upstairs (Rachel Hawkins), Ghosted (Rosie Walsh)
Reviewed by: Brooke

This book is:

  • Mystery
  • Thriller
  • Horror

All Systems Red – Martha Wells

These books are short but pack in a lot of adventure and humor. Murderbot’s internal dialogue is just so funny even perhaps especially when things are going spectacularly wrong. Murderbot would really just like everyone to leave it alone so it can watch media, but someone keeps trying to kill its humans, and it is up to Murderbot to save them.

Read Alike: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Reviewed by: Robin

This book is:

  • Sci-Fi / Fantasy

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” In this soliloquy, Macbeth mourns his meaningless life. But this story story of a friendship spanning 30 years, shows us the opposite; that it’s the minutiae of life that makes it whole and meaningful. It is a love story, but not like any you have read before.

Read Alike: The Start-Up Wife, World According to Garp
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Fiction

Staff Picks

This book is:

  • Fiction
  • A thought-provoking, fast read

Tell Me an Ending – Jo Harkin

Several characters get a notice that they have the opportunity to have a memory restored. First off, they were not aware that they’d had a memory erased. Would you opt to restore it or leave it buried forever?

Read Alike: Black Mirror, The Candy House
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Fiction

The Candy House – Jennifer Egan

Upload your memories (anonymously) in exchange to share others’ memories. Does it work if some opt out of sharing? Is it just another version of the Minority Report? Half the fun of this book is how Egan introduces characters using an vast & creative array of narrative styles – first person plural, a chapter of tweets, an epistolary chapter.

Read Alike: Tell me an Ending by Jo Harkin, The Invisible Circus, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan,
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Ordinary Monsters – J.M. Miro

Magical orphans must save England in the late 1800’s. A delightful and dark twist on Harry Potter with some Annie Oakley heroism thrown in. Good and Evil get mixed up and its the no-nonsense matrons of the orphanage that really shine in this page-turner!

Read Alike: Deadly Education, Harry Potter series, The Umbrella Academy
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Historical Fiction

Malibu Rising – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Four children of a famed singer, Mick Riva, throw the biggest party in Hollywood every year. The book takes place in Malibu, California over a span of 24 hours in the 1980s. It has many surprising twists that will keep you hooked!

Read Alike: Daisy Jones and The Six
Reviewed by: Halle

This book is:

  • Fiction

When Women Were Dragons – Kelly Barnhill

Kelly Barnhill’s first adult novel is a total delight. Oppressed, sometimes gay housewives in the 1950s get so angry they transform into dragons and eat their oppressive husbands before flying off.

Read Alike: Stepford Wives, Pete’s Dragon, an uplifting version of the Handmaid’s Tale
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Young Adult

Burn Down, Rise Up – Vincent Tirado

For over a year, the Bronx has been plagued by sudden, mysterious disappearances. An urban legend rumored to be responsible. And one group of friends determined to save their city at any cost. A story about place – what is your community and where is that place?

Read Alike: The City We Became, Rabbits, Stranger Things
Reviewed by: Barb

This book is:

  • Mystery
  • Thriller
  • Horror

The Golden Couple – Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

An unconventional therapist takes on the so-called “golden couple” when they start having marital issues. Part literature, part romance, part thriller, this book was impossible to put down and full of totally unprecedented twists and turns.

Read Alike: The Wife Upstairs (Rachel Hawkins), Ghosted (Rosie Walsh)
Reviewed by: Brooke

This book is:

  • Sci-Fi / Fantasy

All Systems Red – Martha Wells

These books are short but pack in a lot of adventure and humor. Murderbot’s internal dialogue is just so funny even perhaps especially when things are going spectacularly wrong. Murderbot would really just like everyone to leave it alone so it can watch media, but someone keeps trying to kill its humans, and it is up to Murderbot to save them.

Read Alike: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Reviewed by: Robin

This book is:

  • Fiction

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” In this soliloquy, Macbeth mourns his meaningless life. But this story story of a friendship spanning 30 years, shows us the opposite; that it’s the minutiae of life that makes it whole and meaningful. It is a love story, but not like any you have read before.

Read Alike: The Start-Up Wife, World According to Garp
Reviewed by: Barb