Great Reads: Someplace Else
Great Reads is a series of posts featuring recent books that are highly recommended by Toronto Public Library staff.
Sometimes you just want to escape with a book that takes you away from familiar locations. These books do just that – they transport the reader to parts unknown on Earth or beyond into the farthest reaches of the imagination.
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Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer Annihilation is a foray into the New Weird. Members of the 12th expedition in a mysterious and pristine wilderness called Area X experience topographic anomalies and life forms that defy understanding, but it’s the secrets they keep from each other that changes everything. The first title in the Southern Reach Trilogy followed by Authority and Acceptance. Regular Print |
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A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James Marlon uses the attempted assassination of Bob Marley as the vortex around which swirls his sweeping fictional portrait of Jamaica in the turbulent 70s, a country fractured by rival political parties and their gangs. Regular Print |
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Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone Centred around a wronged priest and a street rat, this science fiction novel is steeped in religion and conspiracy. Gladstone expertly weaves an allegory of ruthless corporations, and the often brutal ways they keep their secrets hidden. |
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The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris The rise and fall of the Norse gods, from their creation to the Twilight of the Gods, is retold by the trickster, Loki. Norse mythology comes alive in this darkly humorous first-person narrative drawn from medieval texts, folklore and popular culture. |
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The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen Nineteen-year-old Kelsea ascends the throne in Tear, a Utopia gone bad. She has many enemies that want her dead but Kelsea has a mysterious ally and some magic up her sleeve. The story is an exciting roller coaster ride with a strong heroine and other likeable characters. The first book in a trilogy, followed by The Invasion of the Tearling and The Fate of the Tearling. Regular Print |
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Snake Ropes by Jess Richards A dual coming-of-age story of two girls who grow up in a dystopian island society. The author combines a page-turning narrative and a startlingly original voice with the creation and subversion of myths. |
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Tampa by Alissa Nutting Celeste Price is an attractive young eighth-grade English teacher. She’s also a sociopathic pedophile obsessed with her male students. This sexually-graphic black comedy is disturbing, satirical and not for the faint of heart. |
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Ticket to Childhood by Nguyễn Nhẩt Ánh A man looks back at his childhood in Vietnam, bringing back memories of long-lost friends and the innocence of earlier times. |
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An Untamed State by Roxane Gay Mirielle Duval Johnson, an American-born Haitian, is kidnapped in front of her husband and child and held for ransom – a ransom her wealthy father refuses to pay. Told from Mirielle’s perspective, the novel describes her life before, during and after the kidnapping. This is a powerful and brutal debut novel that readers won’t soon forget. |
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