New Releases: March 2024 Edition

Check out these highly anticipated new releases featuring fiction and nonfiction titles. Click on the title to request a copy or get your name on the waitlist. Don’t forget to watch for more featured releases next month!

FICTION

A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. Having arrived in the United States from India, the Shahs have achieved success after 20 years of hard work; they live in a gated community in California with spectacular ocean views. But success doesn't mean the same thing to their children, which is made clear on the night their 12-year-old son is arrested. The fallout from that event will shake each family member’s perception of themselves as individuals, as community members, as Americans, and will lead each to consider: how do we define success? At what cost comes ambition? And what is our role and responsibility in the cultural mosaic of modern America?  A Great Country explores themes of immigration, generational conflict, social class and privilege as it reconsiders the myth of the model minority and questions the price of the American dream. Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray.  Frances Perkins, born to well-off parents, arrives at the turn of the 20th century in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood with a fellowship to investigate childhood malnutrition. Enraged at the deplorable living and working conditions she encounters, she is soon ensconced with other powerful women, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, who are equally socially conscious. Shortly after she witnesses women falling to their deaths during the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, Frances is recommended by former president Theodore Roosevelt to a committee on safety in New York State seeking to prevent future workplace tragedies. . . She fights for workers' rights, meets and becomes enthralled with a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and forms a partnership with him that will carry them all the way to the White House.  Dray introduces readers to this real-life trailblazing woman who is the mother of Social Security and became the first woman appointed to a United States presidential cabinet. A fictionalized portrayal of a phenomenal woman who has largely been lost to history.  Copyright 2024 Library Journal.

Pride and Joy by Louisa Onomé.  Onome blends humor and pathos in her captivating adult debut which finds a Nigerian Canadian woman attempting to find redemption by hosting her mother’s 70th birthday party. Joy Okafor Bianchi, a mental health counselor and recently divorced single mother, has taken on the task of hosting her mother Mary Okafor’s weekend celebration in the suburbs of Toronto, and she invites family and friends from across Canada and the U.S. to share in the festivities. The morning of the party, however, Joy’s 12-year-old son, Jamil, discovers that his grandmother has died peacefully in her sleep. The day also happens to be Good Friday, and Mama Mary’s sister, Nancy Akintola, comes to believe—after a premonition involving a brown cow on the side of the road—that her dear sister will rejoin them in the land of the living in an Easter miracle. Joy, despite her skepticism, finds some parts of herself wanting to believe her mother will walk through the door on Easter Sunday. Onome’s rich storytelling is enhanced by authentic descriptions of traditional Nigerian music and foods, such as Egosi soup and chin chin, as her characters come together amid great loss. Readers will savor Onome’s vibrant portrait of a family. Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly.

NONFICTION

The Autoimmune Cure: Healing the Trauma and Other Triggers That Have Turned Your Body Against You by Sara Szal Gottfried. 
New York Times bestselling author Dr. Sara Gottfried reveals how trauma can rewire your body to trigger autoimmune diseases—and provides a comprehensive plan to reset your immune system and finally heal. Emerging research shows that up to 80% of patients with autoimmune disease experienced significant emotional distress before getting sick… Dr. Gottfried has created a powerful program designed to break the vicious cycle of autoimmune disease, reset your immune system, and restore your health, with advice on: diet, sleep, supplements, breathwork, microbiome restoration, somatic therapy, ketamine-assisted treatment, microdosing psilocybin, MDMA-assisted therapy. The Autoimmune Cure offers a roadmap to lasting relief from autoimmune disease by addressing the root cause of the condition and healing the body, mind, and spirit. Publisher: HarperCollins, Copyright 2024

Rabbit Heart: A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Story by Kristine Ervin.  In 1986, when Ervin was eight years old, her mother, Kathy, was kidnapped from an Oklahoma shopping mall. Days later, her body was found in an oil field, but it would be years before the details of her rape and murder were revealed, and decades before a suspect was identified. Ervin writes candidly of the ways her mother’s absence and the lack of closure around the case left her ill-equipped to handle hardships… Then, in 2008, long after Ervin had given up hope for a conviction, a DNA match turned up the name of one of the men who abducted her mother… This will haunt readers long after they’ve turned the last page. Agent: Mary Krienke, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Mar.) Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly

Waiting for the Monsoon by Rod Nordland.  Pulitzer-winning New York Times reporter Nordland (The Lovers) details the fallout from being diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor… In 2019, when Nordland was in India reporting on New Delhi’s monsoon season, he was incapacitated by a seizure. Medical tests revealed that the culprit was a stage four glioblastoma multiforme… Nordland came to consider the news “the best thing that ever happened to me—maybe even if I don’t survive it, but especially if I do.”… Years into his diagnosis, with no new cancer and occasional, manageable seizures, Nordland writes with palpable gratitude for whatever time he has remaining and provides a stirringly clear-eyed perspective on his own mortality. Readers are sure to be moved by this openhearted account. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Jan.) Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly.

WPL Books It! Adult Winter Reading Challenge

 

February 29, 2024 is the last day to log your minutes for the WPL Books It! Adult Reading Challenge. You can log any reading from January 1, 2024 - February 29, 2024. If you forgot to get your registration bag, stop by the library to grab one ASAP! 

For this '90s themed challenge, we're offering readers the opportunity to be entered to win one of the prizes below. Winners will be selected on March 1 and be contacted directly by staff. 

Prize 1: Your Favorite ‘90s CDs and a state of the art CD player alarm clock with a $50 gift card to Joe’s Albums

Prize 2: The Beanie Babies collection of your dreams with a $50 gift card to That’s Entertainment

Prize 3: A VCR and a starter collection of all the best VHS movies from the ‘90s with a $50 gift card to the Elm Draught House Cinema

Prizes sponsored by the Worcester Public Library Foundation

Click here for more information and to log into your Beanstack account to start logging your minutes, activities, and reviews. If you don't have an account, you can create one today!

Looking for another reading challenge? Stay tuned for our Summer Reading Challenge!

Read these patron book reviews submitted by your fellow readers to get an idea of what to read next! And don't forget to log what you read, WPL events you attend, and your book reviews!

Dune by Frank Herbert

It took me over a decade to be able to get into this book, but I kept trying. So worth it. Intricate in politics, ecology, religion, characters and what a future might hold.

-Grace A.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Just as cozy as Legends and Lattes, and a really enjoyable prequel. I love spending time in the world that Baldree has created, and with the characters that populate it.

-Tracy B.

Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons by John Paul Brammer

This book found me as I was walking through the library wondering what to read next. Reading this felt like talking to a friend I wish I had growing up. It is written in an advice column style, but the advice is not very direct. Instead the reader is invited to interpret their own advice via personal anecdotes of the author. The stories are so specific to the authors life and at the same time relatable. I learned a lot about myself and felt less alone reading this piece, and of course I immediately went to check out the rest of the work by this author. I recommend it to all, specially queer and BIPOC people out there that are consistently questioning identity and labels.

-Diana C.

In Search of Our Mother's Gardens by Alice Walker

I've loved all of Walker's work that I've already read. This essay collection is no different. She is regal yet relatable, literary yet accessible. She balances emotion with history, admiration with critique, beautifully.

-Caitlin K.

WPL Books It! Adult Winter Reading Challenge

 

It's not too late to sign up for the WPL Books It! Adult Reading Challenge. Don't forget to grab your registration grab bag full of your favorite ‘90s swag! For this '90s themed challenge, we're offering readers the opportunity to be entered to win three different prizes: 

Prize 1: Your Favorite ‘90s CDs and a state of the art CD player alarm clock with a $50 gift card to Joe’s Albums

Prize 2: The Beanie Babies collection of your dreams with a $50 gift card to That’s Entertainment

Prize 3: A VCR and a starter collection of all the best VHS movies from the ‘90s with a $50 gift card to the Elm Draught House Cinema

Prizes sponsored by the Worcester Public Library Foundation

Click here for more information and to log into your Beanstack account to start logging your minutes, activities, and reviews. If you don't have an account, you can create one today!

Read these patron book reviews submitted by your fellow readers to get an idea of what to read next! And don't forget to log what you read, WPL events you attend, and your book reviews!

Salt & Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho

This book is so sweet! It’s a great little Romeo and Juliet retelling in the form of a bakery rivalry. It’s very cute, and very appropriate for anyone to read. 4/5

-Jessica G.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

After starting this book, I had a hard time putting it down. It is written from the perspective of an AF (Artificial Friend), Klara. The story is set in a dystopian world that is unsettling in both its familiarity and in its bleakness. A lot of what made this novel such a page turner for me was that I, as the reader, only knew as much as Klara did. I think it was also interesting insofar as I've never really considered the possibility of artificially intelligent robots being capable of things like superstition and religion. Kazuo Ishiguro artfully raises the question of whether there is truly anything unique or special about the human condition that cannot someday be reproduced or continued by advancing technology. Science fiction, with a heavy dose of the human condition.

-Carrie B.

Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley

Although this book took some getting used to, it was an interesting historical look at Ireland as Christians entered the land to convert Pagans to their religion and the internal battle present in a nun who remembers the old ways and can't quite leave them for the new, rigid beliefs of early Christianity.

-Tara S.

How Long 'Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin

A really solid and fascinating collection of speculative fiction/sci-fi short stories. Short fiction isn’t always my favorite, but Jemisin is so talented that she encapsulates whole worlds within her shorts. Glad I picked this one up.

-Tracy B. 

WPL Books It! Adult Winter Reading Challenge

 

WPL Books It! Adult Reading Challenge. Don't forget to grab your registration grab bag full of your favorite ‘90s swag! For this '90s themed challenge we're offering readers the opportunity to be entered to win three different prizes. 

Prize 1: Your Favorite ‘90s CDs and a state of the art CD player alarm clock with a $50 gift card to Joe’s Albums

Prize 2: The Beanie Babies collection of your dreams with a $50 gift card to That’s Entertainment

Prize 3: A VCR and a starter collection of all the best VHS movies from the ‘90s with a $50 gift card to the Elm Draught House Cinema

Prizes sponsored by the Worcester Public Library Foundation

Click here for more information and to log into your Beanstack account to start logging your minutes, activities, and reviews. If you don't have an account, you can create one today!

Read these patron book reviews submitted by your fellow readers to get an idea of what to read next! And don't forget to log what you read, WPL events you attend, and your book reviews!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This is one of my favorite books. I recommend reading the book before seeing the movie if you haven’t yet.

-Alice D.

Educated by Tara Westover

This is an amazing memoir. Tara is an incredible writer.

-Rachael D.

The Secret Token by Andrew Lawler

In planning for a trip to Jamestown/Roanoke, my daughter recommended this book as background information on The Lost Colony of Brits who landed off the coast of Virginia during the reign of Elizabeth I. This was not something I would pick up on my own, but it was a fascinating process the author undertook to try and find a definitive answer as to what happened to the community between the time they originally arrived and the long delay in a return ship with supplies. Over the years many theories have been explored, excavations have been done, and a hoax has even been uncovered. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone venturing to that part of our country for travel.

-Linda J.

The Never Wars by David Pedreira

This sci-fi novel was exciting and fast moving. A corporation hides an army beside a black hole, sending them years ahead at a time, to do special operations missions. It is dangerous, but if they can complete 10 missions, the soldiers are guaranteed a new life. Unless....

-Mary R.

WPL Books It! Adult Winter Reading Challenge

 

WPL Books It! Adult Reading Challenge. Don't forget to grab your registration grab bag full of your favorite ‘90s swag! For this '90s themed challenge we're offering readers the opportunity to be entered to win three different prizes. 

Prize 1: Your Favorite ‘90s CDs and a state of the art CD player alarm clock with a $50 gift card to Joe’s Albums

Prize 2: The Beanie Babies collection of your dreams with a $50 gift card to That’s Entertainment

Prize 3: A VCR and a starter collection of all the best VHS movies from the ‘90s with a $50 gift card to the Elm Draught House Cinema

Prizes sponsored by the Worcester Public Library Foundation

Click here for more information and to log into your Beanstack account to start logging your minutes, activities, and reviews. If you don't have an account, you can create one today!

Read these patron book reviews submitted by your fellow readers to get an idea of what to read next! And don't forget to log what you read, WPL events you attend, and your book reviews!

 

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

I read this book as a recommendation. Much of this book took place in 2 separate time periods, which I enjoyed. I wondered how both time periods would converge and was not disappointed. I felt for all the characters who did the things they did because they truly thought it was the right decision. It was a powerful look at the role of women compared to men, both in the 1700s and in today's society.

Tara S.

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

Somehow, 55 pages of text feels more heartbreaking than any movie could be.

Alexis S.

 

Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke

Nine character make up this historical time. Burke expertly renders the rich Louisiana landscape, from the sunsets on the Mississippi River to the dingy saloons of New Orleans to the tree-lined shores of the bayou and the cottonmouth snakes that dwell in its depths. Powerful and deeply moving, Flags on the Bayou is a story of tragic acts of war, class divisions upended, and love enduring through it all.

Abby C.

 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

The narration in this is funny and fresh, and the ending is heartbreaking in a heartwarming sort of way, almost. I absolutely adored this, and I can't wait to dive deeper into the series.

Alexis S.