January Peer Picks
Topping the LibraryReads list for January, released today, is a book that has been popular on our GalleyChats, Elizabeth Strout’s latest, My Name Is Lucy Barton, (PRH/ Random House; Jan 12). Catherine Coyne, Mansfield Public Library, Mansfield, MA writes the annotation,
Set in the mid-1980s, Lucy Barton, hospitalized for nine weeks, is surprised when her estranged mother shows up at her bedside. Her mother talks of local gossip, but underneath the banalities, Lucy senses the love that cannot be expressed. This is the story that Lucy must write about, the one story that has shaped her entire life. A beautiful lyrical story of a mother and daughter and the love they share.
It is also picked by booksellers for the Indie Next January list. the recommendation credits Strout with “the incredible ability to take ordinary, even mundane situations and use them to make acute observations on the human condition.”
Topping the Indie Next list is a book that was heavily promoted at BEA, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald (Sourcebooks Landmark; Jan 19). Also on the LibraryReads list, it is describes by Barbara Clark-Greene, Groton Public Library, Groton, CT:
Sara arrives in the small town of Broken Wheel to visit her pen pal Amy, only to discover Amy has just died. The tale of how she brings the love of books and reading that she shared with Amy to the residents of Broken Wheel is just a lovely read. Any book lover will enjoy Sara’s story and that of the friends she makes in Broken Wheel. If ever a town needed a bookstore, it is Broken Wheel; the healing power of books and reading is made evident by this heartwarming book.
There’s little crossover between the rest of the titles on the lists, giving readers advisors 29 titles to know and recommend (check for digital galleys on Edelweiss and NetGalley).