THE ART OF CRASH LANDING Tops September LibraryReads List
The debut novel The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo (Harper Paperbacks; HarperCollins Publishers and Blackstone Audio) tops the September LibraryReads List.
Patricia Kline-Millard (Bedford Public Library, Bedford, NH) offers this annotation of the paperback original:
“At once tragic and hilarious, this book is a roller coaster of a read. You’ll find yourself rooting for the snarky and impulsive but ultimately lovable Mattie. At the heart of this tale is a beautifully unraveled mystery that has led Mattie to her current circumstances, ultimately bringing her to her first real home.”
Three other debuts also make the list. Bill Clegg’s buzzy Did You Ever Have a Family (S&S/Gallery/Scout Press; S&S Audio), The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young (Penguin/Putnam), and Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart (HMH; Recorded Books).
This is Stewart’s fiction debut, after writing popular nonfiction such as The Drunken Botanist. Maggie Holmes (Richards Memorial Library, North Attleboro, MA ) has this to say of Stewart’s move to novels:
“When the Kopp sisters and their buggy are injured by Henry Kaufmann’s car, Constance Kopp at first just wants him to pay the damages. As she pursues justice, she meets another of Kaufmann’s victims, the young woman Lucy. Stewart creates fully developed characters, including the heroine, Constance, who is fiercely independent as she faces down her fears. The time period and setting are important parts of the story as well, providing a glimpse of 1914 New Jersey.”
More well-known names such as Lee Child, Lauren Groff, and Jonathan Evison also appear, with Arleen Talley (Anne Arundel County Public Library Foundation, Annapolis, MD) offering this annotation of Evison’s This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! (Algonquin; HighBridge Audio).
“Harriet Chance receives word that her recently deceased husband, Bernard, has won an Alaskan cruise. Deciding to go on the trip, she is given a letter from her close friend Mildred, with instructions not to open it until she is on the cruise. The contents of this letter shatter Harriet and she begins to reevaluate her life and her relationships.”
The September Indie Next list is also available and Clegg’s Did You Ever Have a Family is tops for the month among booksellers.
Other LibraryReads picks that overlap with the Indie list include Stewart’s Girl Waits With Gun, Charles Belfoure’s House of Thieves (Sourcebooks Landmark), Young’s The Gates of Evangeline, and Evison’s This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!
Our recent Crystal Ball pick, In A Dark, Dark Wood (S&S/Galley/Scout Press; S&S Audio; OverDrive Sample), also makes the bookseller’s picks.