New Releases: February Edition

Did one of the book covers on our homepage catch your eye? They are all new titles being released in February 2021, and all are well-reviewed and anticipated. You can either watch the video below or read the description of each, then click the linked title to request a copy or get your name on the wait list. And don't forget to watch for more featured releases next month!

Featured Fiction Titles for February

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

When a witch falls in love with the trickster Loki, she risks the wrath of the gods in this debut novel that reimagines Norse myth. Angrboda's story begins with a burning. A punishment from Odin for refusing to give him knowledge of the future, the fire leaves Angrboda injured and powerless. She flees to a remote forest, where she is found by a man who reveals himself to be Loki. Her distrust of him grows into love and their union produces three children with secret destinies. But as Angrboda recovers her prophetic powers, she learns that her blissful life--and possibly all of existence--is in danger. 

The Unwilling by John Hart

Gibby's brothers have been to war. One died there. The other came back a decorated killer with a recent stint in prison. Jason won't speak of the war or his prison time, but he wants a relationship with his younger brother. He coaxes Gibby into a day at the lake: hours of sunshine, whisky, and women. But the day changes when they encounter a prison bus on a stretch of road. Drunk, one of the women taunts the prisoners, leading to a riot on the bus. The woman is murdered soon after. Given his history, suspicion turns to Jason; but when the second woman is kidnapped, the police suspect Gibby, too. 

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

It’s 2008, and the inauguration of Barack Obama brings new hope. In Chicago, Ruth is married to a man who wants to start a family, but she's never gotten over the baby she gave up as a teen. She knows that to move forward she must face the past. Returning home, Ruth discovers the town of her childhood is plagued by unemployment and racism. As she digs into the past, she befriends Midnight, a white boy looking for connection. But just as she is about to uncover a secret her family wants to keep hidden, an incident strains the town’s racial tensions and sends Ruth and Midnight onto a collision course.

Featured Nonfiction Titles for February

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates

Gates shares what he's learned in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations, and shares a vision for how the world can build the tools it needs to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions. He explains why he cares about climate change and what makes him optimistic that we can avoid the most dire effects of the climate crisis. Gates says, "We can work on a local, national, and global level to build the technologies, businesses, and industries to avoid the worst impacts of climate change." 

Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibrim X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

Four Hundred Souls is a “community” history of African Americans. The editors have assembled 90 brilliant writers, each of whom takes on a five-year period. The writers explore their time periods through a variety of ways: essays, stories, vignettes, and polemics. Though themes of resistance, hope, and reinvention course through the book, these pieces from 90 different minds reflect 90 different perspectives, deconstructing the idea that Africans in America are a monolith. Instead it shows the range of experiences and ideas that have always existed within the community of Blackness.

Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob by Russell Shorto

This is the story of the author's search for his grandfather and namesake, delving into the world of the small-town mob, an intricate web that spanned midcentury America and stitched together cities from Yonkers to Fresno. Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is where "Little Joe" Regino and Russ Shorto built a local gambling empire on the earnings of factory workers for whom placing a bet-on a horse or pool game-was their best shot at the American dream. Also a riveting immigrant story, this book is deeply personal, as the author's father helps him piece together their patriarch's troubled past.