OverDrive BookBytes

Each year, Book Riot unveils it’s Read Harder Challenge, asking readers around the world to expand their horizons by reading books outside of their comfort zone. The provide 24 different “tasks” to complete including things like, “Read a book about war” or “Read a book set more than 5000 miles from your location.” This challenge is designed to broaden your literary scope and help readers better understand people from different cultures. 

To help you find books that align with these tasks, our Professional Book Nerds are sharing recommendations on their latest episode for five different categories. In this podcast episode you’ll get suggestions for the following:

-Read a Debut Novel

-Read a book published between 1900 & 1950

-Read a book about books

-Read a book that has been banned or frequently challenged

-Read a classic by an author of color

The long weekend will soon be upon us and what better way to spend it than with a book in hand. Whether you’re out on the trail, going on a road trip, staying home, or moseying to the beach, a book will make a great companion. But sometimes you need to feel extra accomplished and finish that book quickly! Well we have a few short books for a long weekend that should satisfy the reader in you, and achiever. But wait…there’s more! Some books, though not short, are hard to put down. Even though you may spend some extra time with these reads, you’ll be wishing there were more pages to flip when you finish. So here is our list of Unputdownables.

Short Reads: Something New by Lucy Knisley is a delight. A graphic memoir about the author’s wedding, it’s a look at what it takes to plan a wedding, deal with family, and what marriage looks like, and all that.

At the Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft. Need a quick read that has set the basis for much weird fantasy/horror? Nothing like some good old Cthulhu to make you want to curl up in bed.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes was made into a movie recently, so maybe you can read the book, then go see the movie and compare! I expect your analysis on my desk by 9am Monday morning.

Unputdownables: You by Caroline Kepnes. Creepy, riveting, and suspenseful, the most terrifying part is that you start feeling for the predator.

Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. Binchy writes strong characters with fully formed emotions that compel those in need of a lovely little treat to continue reading.

(You can borrow this title here.)

Karla Souza (who plays Laurel on “How to Get Away with Murder”) creates a pitch-perfect, youthful narration of Cammi, an ultra-privileged teen whose life is transformed. When Cammi’s Mexican telenovela superstar mom moves the family to the U.S. to play a maid in an American television show, Cammi’s new friends at progressive Polestar Academy assume Cammi is an immigrant kid on scholarship. 

Playing along, Cammi explores the immigrant experience as “cultural undercover crusader.” Souza, who herself has starred in Mexican telenovelas, seamlessly moves from English to Spanish phrases and  beautifully creates a wealth of engaging, clearly delineated characters for Cammi to interact with. This fun yet serious story will entertain a wide array of listeners—while making them think twice about the power of assumptions.

Narrator Robbie Daymond’s soft, calming tone is appropriate for the peaceful world of 17-year-old Sal. Sal's father, Vincente, is a gay Mexican-American who has a thoughtfulness and compassion reminiscent of Atticus Finch’s. Vincente has always cared for Sal, having adopted him at age 3, when his mother died. 

A letter left by his mother leaves Sal wondering about his biological father. Could his genes be the cause of his recent violent tendencies? Or could it be the impending death of his beloved grandmother, or the disasters that have befallen his best friends? 

Daymond’s gentle tones soothe listeners just as Vincente’s tenderness calms the troubled waters through which Sal must pass. Daymond’s narration, though low-key, gives rounded portraits of all the story’s characters and doesn’t minimize Sal’s heartache or his attempts to control his temper.  

If you’ve followed the news in the past few months, or happened to interact with anyone who’s followed the news, you may have noticed that immigration is a very hot topic. There have been attempted immigration bans, heated discussions between lawmakers, stories about the immigrant experience and a whole lot more. While immigration issues are nothing new, trying to understand them is still something we could all benefit from. Here are a few books that give insight on different perspectives.

Funny in Farsi by Fioozeh Dumas This is a refreshingly funny memoir about Fioozeh Dumas’ life growing up in Southern California, where her family ended up settling in the 1970s. Dumas spends her first two years in the United States learning English, with sometimes hilarious results. This book was published in 2004, but its lighthearted take on immigration is one that we need to continue visiting. If you’ve already read this and want another lighthearted memoir by Dumas, try Laughing Without an Accent.

Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang Eddie Huang is famous in the food world. He owns Baohaus, a Taiwanese restaurant in the East Village of Manhattan. He has spent his entire life defying stereotypes, and has paved an incredibly successful path for himself. He found a place within Hip Hop, food culture and an obsession with football. This book serves as a great reminder of how diverse and interesting this country is becoming. For the record, yes, Fresh Off the Boat is a TV series loosely based on this book. Eddie Huang is not a fan.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri It may be a paradox, but reading fiction is a great way to learn about other people’s experiences. Lahiri is a wonderful writer, and I could feel empathy for all the characters I have read in her books. This book is not easy to read, but is broken up into bite-sized short stories. Jhumpa Lahiri is an immigrant (from the UK to the US), and is the child of immigrants (from India to the UK). This story collection is one of her first works in English, but she continues to write excellent novels in English about characters living out the immigrant experience in the Western world.

On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family by Lisa See The title of this book (especially the “One-Hundred-Year Odyssey” part) may make it seem intimidating, but this book is quite lovely. See discusses her childhood in Los Angeles and, like many of the other titles I have already mentioned, she reinforces the fact that immigrants often deal with racism, assumptions based on stereotypes and other hardships simply because these people choose to emigrate from their homes to create a new life somewhere else. On Gold Mountain is perhaps the most tedious of all the titles presented, but also the most scholarly, if you’re interested in that. Lisa See also writes fiction. Her newest is The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, and is also about immigration. It has been receiving glowing reviews by critics, and I encourage you to check this one out, as well!

Toward a Better Life by Peter Morton Coan Are you a decedent of ancestors immigrating to the United States from other countries? I am, and I have often wondered what my ancestors were thinking as they made the long trek to America for a better life. This book is a compilation of images and interviews with many immigrants, including relatives of Annie Moore (an Irish woman who was the first immigrant to arrive to Ellis Island), the Von Trapp family (of The Sound of Music fame), and musician Gloria Estefan. These interviews are intimate and insightful, and give voice to a group of people who are often portrayed not-so-kindly by the media.

The House on Mango Street by Santra Cisneros This title is a classic – you may have read it in school. If you haven’t read it in a while, I encourage you to revisit it soon! It was published in 1984, and is still just as relevant as the day it was released. I remember being incredibly invested in the story of Esperanza, a Latina girl growing up in Chicago. Cisneros does a beautiful job of creating a relatable character, even if you have not experienced emigration before. Esperanza perfectly portrays teenage angst, but as one of the few Hispanic people at her school, also deals with feeling like an outsider in her community. This book is short, and written in vignettes. It’s a quick read, I promise! And whether you’re reading it for the first time or choosing to go back and revisit this title, you’ll be sure to learn something from it.

They Take Our Jobs! And 20 Other Myths about Immigration by Aviva Chomsky This is perhaps the most important book out of any of the titles I have mentioned. The recent discussions about “fake news” and “alternative facts” prompts me to want to make sure that all the facts I state, no matter the topic, are correct. Aviva Chomsky is a professor and scholar at Salem State University, and holds a PhD from the University of California in Berkeley. She has been working with Hispanic immigrants since the 1970s, and has published countless articles, books, and studies about the topic of immigration in the United States. She knows what she’s talking about, and has presented this issue in a way that is accessible and interesting.

Last month, we reported on the rise in popularity of a number of dystopian novels which coincided with sweeping changes to the U.S. government administration and the inauguration of President Trump. While titles like 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale continue to trend among readers, there are many more trending titles whose subject matter reflect our current thoughts, opinions, controversies, social issues, and the world’s state of affairs.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas This newly released YA novel touches on current issues like police brutality, systemic racism, and gang violence—important topics that reflect the world teens live in today.

We’re All Wonders by R.J. Palacio Parents, educators, and kids alike will find much to love in the highly anticipated picture book by R.J. Palacio, author of Wonder, the bestselling book that deals with tough topics like bullying. Her new picture book inspires children to choose empathy and kindness, a message we can all get behind.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders History is hot! And so is fantasy. Saunders magically weaves the two genres together in this moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented.

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay Gay made headlines recently when she pulled an upcoming book from a publisher who was also publishing a book written by Milo Yiannopoulos, a highly controversial figure and former editor for Breitbart News. In this new memoir, the bestselling feminist author offers a searingly honest memoir of food, weight, self-image, and learning how to feed your hunger while taking care of yourself.

The Secrets of My Life by Caitlyin Jenner Previously identifying as male, Jenner revealed her identity as a trans woman in April 2015 and received extensive media coverage for her choice. In this new memoir, Jenner reflects on the inner conflict she experienced growing up in an era of rigidly defined gender identities, and the cruel irony of being hailed by an entire nation as the ultimate symbol of manhood.

Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster McMaster was recently chosen as Trump’s new National Security Adviser. This, his only book, published in 1997, is an explosive and authoritative look at the controversy concerning the United States involvement in Vietnam.

By: Adam Sockel, Marketing & Communications Specialist.

(Ed. Note: All our top spring new book releases can be found here.)

Despite what your thermometer may say, around the United States, Spring has officially sprung. Here in Cleveland, we're anxiously awaiting the weather to start reflecting this change in the seasons but luckily we have a massive selection of new books coming out that are already drawing rave reviews to tide us over. Spring is always a big time for book releases and 2017 is no exception. To help your collection development team, we've created a list at overdrive.com of our staff librarians' favorite and most anticipated new books.

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

This incredible true story highlights the inspiring young women who lost their lives working with radium-based paint and their struggle to prove the gross negligence of their employers. These women, whose lives were cut tragically short, fought tirelessly against impossible odds and led to life-changing workplace regulations, research into nuclear bombs and saved hundreds of thousands of future lives.

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda's bestselling novel Americanah was just chosen as the winner of the One Book, One New York campaign and her latest title is just as wonderful. Several years ago, she received a letter from a close childhood friend asking her hot to raise her baby girl as a feminist. Dear Ijeawele is her empowering, funny and compelling response.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OUR TOP SPRING NEW BOOK RELEASES

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

It wasn't long ago that Paula Hawkins took the literary world by storm with her #1 New York Times bestseller, The Girl on the Train.Now, she's returned with an addictive psychological suspense novel, Into the Water.

As women continue to lose their lives in a river that runs through town, secrets are dredged up that forces the town to face the devastating ways the past can affect the present. This is sure to garner a ton of interest from your readers so be sure to pre-order it today!

American War by Omar El Akkad

Omar El Akkad has spent his life traveling the world to cover important news stories in locations like Afghanistan, Egypt, Guantanamo Bay and Ferguson, Missouri. In his debut novel, American War, Akkad tells the story of a second American Civil War and a devastating plague. In 2074, the country is torn apart again by political and societal beliefs and Sarat Chestnut is caught in the Middle. Akkad portrays the life of a family who knew nothing but war and how their actions decide the fate of an entire nation.

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti

Samuel Hawley has long been a loner living on the run with his daughter, Loo. Hawley is a survivor who has taught Loo how to hunt, shoot a gun, hotwire a car and live a minimalist life. As Loo becomes a teenager, she begins to wonder what happened to her mother and begins to investigate her past. Tinti tells Hawley and Loo's story while peppering in the chapters about how Hawley got the twelve different scars on his body throughout his life. This book keeps you guessing until the very end.

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova 

By: Briana Johnson-Sims, OverDrive Training Specialist and avid YA reader

I am proud to declare that "I read YA," especially when presented with a novel as un-put-down-able as King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard. I was fortunate to have met the Red Queen series after the first two novels, Red Queen and Glass Sword, had already been released. I devoured them and then was simply left to wait with a gaping hole in my spirit. After reading King's Cage, I was completely bereft in the best way possible. King's Cage was as dark as it was light, as tangible as it was magical, and as romantic as it was tragic.

Mare Barrow's world is divided between the oppressed, those with Red blood, and the oppressors, those with Silver blood and magical powers. When Mare found out she had both Red blood and the power to control Lightning, she was whisked to the palace under the guise of a Silver princess while a Red rebellion brewed. Despite escaping the Silver castle and mobilizing her own army for the rebellion, Mare has once again become a slave to the crown, but this time she's more powerless than ever before. This is a familiar dystopian story about class systems, revolution, and survival, but the context and characters make this series stand apart.

Mare's rise and fall has been laden with twists and turns. She’s found love in unlikely places, made impossible decisions, and been betrayed more than once. The trials she faces would be unimaginable if Victoria's writing didn't lead you to believe that anything was possible. That a petty thief could become trained in the ways of a queen. That a rebellious girl and a prince could learn to trust each other under the direst of circumstances. That a lightning tamer could mobilize an army and still be left alone with no one to trust.

Narrator Michael Crouch’s tonal changes are crucial to the story of Carver, a 17-year-old whose texting has contributed to the death of his three best friends. Crouch expresses Carver’s regret and grief. Fear adds to this uncomfortable mix when a judge, one of the boys’ fathers, demands a criminal investigation. Crouch relieves Carver’s anguish with glints of humor that are fully realized in the flashbacks of his adventures with his friends. 

Crouch equally succeeds with the secondary characters. There is wisdom from his therapist and solace in his family—and from Jesmyn, the girlfriend of one of his friends. As Carver spends three “goodbye days” with his friends’ families, there are heartbreaking contrasts of anger and forgiveness. Crouch’s shifting tones highlight the many aspects of grief and the power of connection.  

By: Adam Sockel, Marketing Specialist & co-host of the Professional Book Nerds podcast. 

I consider myself very lucky when it comes to my employment. I’ve always loved the concept of books. If you’ll excuse the pun, the fact that all you need to do to discover a new world is open a book remains such a novel idea to me. Now, I read for a living. Part of my job is to inform our partners about the goings on at OverDrive as well as in the literary world. I also interview authors every week for our podcast and I do my best to read the books of every author I speak with. But that’s not WHY I read…

Lately, I’ve found myself spending most days filled with an anxiousness to get home and dive back into whatever book I’m currently reading. Writing has long been my way to disappear from things, be it my own words or the prose of someone far more talented. Over the last week, I’ve been thinking about why this minor anxiety is stronger than normal. This led me to create this post. There will always be a myriad of reasons why other people lose themselves in stories. These are the reasons why I read.

I read for escapism. I read to hide from the world. Because when I open a book, I can disappear from the questions of my world. It doesn’t matter if that book is the weathered, 100-years-old copy of The Brothers Karamazov lovingly pilfered from my grandmother’s bookshelf when I discovered she shared my love of Russian lit or the brand new masterpiece Pachinko on my state-of-the-art iPhone. For a few fleeting moments, I’m not concerned with politics or what my purpose is in this universe or even what I need to make for dinner. In these moments, I know that to find out what happens next, I need only turn a page.

I read for nostalgia. Growing up, I loved the creations of Jim Henson and Disney as much as any child ever has. This meant that I spent countless hours with Aladdin, The Fraggles, Simba, Buzz and Woody and Kermit and the gang. So when I came across Wintersong, which is described as a cross between the Labyrinth and Beauty and the Beast, I was hooked. I can’t tell you how many times I explored the tangled world of the Goblin King with my sister. This book brought me back to those popcorn-filled afternoons. Books have a way of stirring emotions like few other mediums can. I don’t have the ability to return to the simple perfection of those moments on the couch but while in the pages of this tale I was able to recapture the whimsy of those fond memories.

I read to share stories with those I love. It should come as no surprise that my mother is an avid reader and the woman I married often finds herself lost in the pages of a good book as well. Nearly every conversation I have with mom begins with the books we’re currently reading. Half the fun of reading a wonderful story is being able to close the book and find someone to discuss it with. My wife and I have spent untold hours talking about the books we’ve just finished, the books we’ll be reading next and the books we can’t wait to add to our collection. The fact that I get to chat about these books with the authors who wrote them doesn’t hurt either.

I read to continuously acquire knowledge. To get insight from authors of different cultures than my own. To gain understanding and appreciation for lives and experiences I’ve not had. You don’t need an unlimited travel budget to learn about people who may not look, sound or live like you. Reading diverse books from authors with backgrounds or belief systems that you’re unfamiliar with is a perfect way to have a more informed view of the world. You don’t have to agree with what they believe in or stand for, but that should not stop you from learning why they believe.

I read because I fervently believe that words can and forever will change the world.

I read because I still believe magic is real and that “happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

I read because writers notice the things I wish I did. The simple perfection of the decor on the walls of an Irish pub. The glint of an eye. The weathered cracks of a grandfather’s hand as they rest silently in his lap. Reading descriptive prose about the world an author is building leads me to be more aware of my surroundings. After reading a book that does a particularly good job describing the details of a setting I find myself imminently more aware of beautiful subtleties in the world.

Representation and diversity are essential when it comes to ensuring that a group of people feel welcome and included in a community. Every February our staff librarians at OverDrive select several titles they’ll be reading for Black History Month in an effort to expand their knowledge of the African American experience in America. Here are the books they chose this year:

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass You probably read this one in high school, but it’s definitely worth revisiting. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, became a member of the abolitionist movement, and spent his life fighting for equality.

Difficult Women If you haven’t heard of Roxane Gay yet, you should check out her Twitter feed right now. I’ll give you a moment. …Ready?

I finished this book in two short sittings. It’s is packed full of women who live beautiful, tragic, and difficult lives. The stories are short, but the characters will stay with you for a long time. Trigger Warning: The stories in the book are drawn from Roxane Gay’s own experience with sexual assault. This is not by any means a light read, but it is an eye-opening collection that gives insight as to what it’s like to be a black woman in America.

The Bluest Eye The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison’s first novel, and one of her most memorable. The main character in this novel is a young black girl whose only wish is for her eyes to be blue. Morrison takes questions about what it means to be black and meshes them together with questions about what it means to be beautiful. If you’re looking for more recent Toni Morrison, check out God Help the Child. Morrison is a powerhouse when it comes to beautifully writing about race. You can’t go wrong with any of her titles!

Hidden Figures Movie Buffs: This one’s for you. I have not seen the film yet, but it is next on my list. This is an incredible story of the black, female mathematises who helped launch the United States into the Space Race. I love a good story about strong, intelligent women, and this one does not disappoint.

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks I was late to the bandwagon when I read this one, but if you haven’t gotten to it yet, you really should. Henrietta Lacks, now famous to scientists as HeLa, was a poor tobacco farmer from Virginia who was incorrectly treated when she went to the hospital with cervical cancer in 1951. Her doctor took a sample of her cancer cells, and these cells have been multiplying and are still used in medical testing today. Rebecca Skloot does an amazing job of inserting humanity into what was previously seen as a sterile, pragmatic cell sample. Henrietta’s family was never reimbursed for the cell samples that have been shared between scientists worldwide, but thanks to this book, Henrietta now has a face, a name, and a legacy.

The New Jim Crow I would like to encourage everyone to read this. It will make you uncomfortable, and it will not be a light read. It is, however, an incredibly important aspect of today’s society that needs to be acknowledged. Michelle Alexander is a lawyer and civil rights scholar. She explains that, while the U.S. claims to be a colorblind nation, that there is still a ton of work to be done. She argues that the U.S. criminal justice system targets young black men, by charging these people with crimes that are ignored when committed by people of other races, or by erroneously slapping on felony charges (and stripping away the right to vote). This book is incredibly controversial, but Alexander backs up her anecdotes with facts and figures. This is a book that could be used to generate significant and vital conversations.

Between the World & Me I must confess, I haven’t read this one yet. I choose at least one book to celebrate Black History Month every year, and this is the one I have chosen this year. Between the World and Me has been on every list since its release in 2015. Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a series of essays to his son that recognizes how deeply race has shaped American history. It is spurred on by love for Coates’ son. I’ve heard the audiobook is excellent, and that this is one title that every teenager in America needs to read.

By: Annie Suhy, OverDrive Collection Development Analyst

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, we can all agree that the times they are a-changin’. Regardless of whether you are in favor of the current political changes happening in our country or fearful of them, many of us are turning to books for the answers we seek. For most of us, the books we choose to read strengthen and reinforce our own ideas and opinions. For the brave and open-minded, books can serve as a chance to walk around in someone else’s shoes; to see the world from a different or opposing point of view. In uncertain times, books allow us to arm ourselves with information when we otherwise feel powerless; to connect us to a network and a world beyond ourselves when we might otherwise feel alone. Across the country and even the world, many readers are reaching for books that provide such insight, many of which feature controversial topics, dystopian themes, historical struggles, hot button issues, and books on and by the new President. A few titles currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity include:

*1984 by George Orwell

A prophetic and haunting tale that exposes the worst crimes imaginable: the destruction of freedom and truth.

*Animal Farm by George Orwell

George Orwell’s classic satire of the Russian Revolution has become an intimate part of our contemporary culture, with its treatment of democratic, fascist, and socialist ideals through an animal fable.

*Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

This title emerged as a premier moral apologia for capitalism, a defense that had an electrifying effect on millions of readers who had never heard capitalism defended in other than technical terms.

*Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

With a storyteller’s genius, the author weaves ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 AF (After Ford, the deity).

*Defying Hitler by Sebastian Haffner

When the famous German author Sebastian Haffner died at age ninety-one in 1999, a manuscript was discovered among his unpublished papers that offers a compelling eyewitness account of the rise of Hitler and Nazism.

*It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an alarming look at how fascism could take hold in America.

*The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

A recognized classic, this book traces the emergence of modern racism as an “ideological weapon for imperialism,” begining with the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe in the nineteenth century and continuing through the New Imperialism period from 1884 to World War I.

*Tell the Truth & Shame the Devil by Lezley McSpadden

This revelatory memoir by the mother of Michael Brown, the African American teenager killed by the police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, sheds light on one of the landmark events in recent history.

*The Text of the United States Constitution

Over and over, the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention clashed and compromised. Slavery, a bill of rights, legislative representation—all the battles over these issues are enshrined in the language of the Constitution.

Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump

An unguarded look at Trump in action—how he runs his organization and how he runs his life—as he meets the people he needs to meet, chats with family and friends, clashes with enemies, and challenges conventional thinking.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Audiobooks are wonderful. They take the singular, static activity of reading and enable you to do it while multitasking. You can listen to your books while driving to work, going for a run, cooking dinner or doing a million other things. The amount of books you can add to your “have read” bookshelf is incredible when you realize how much reading time you can add by adding some headphones or speakers to the mix. 

Like anything else, audiobooks are even better when done well and the best of the best each year get nominated for an Audie, the premier awards program for recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment. The Audio Publishers Association won’t announce the winners until June 1, but this week they did unveil the finalists across 26 different categories. This announcement always receives lots of buzz so if you were on Twitter recently you probably noticed that #Audies2017 was trending just about all day. 

By: Jill Grunenwald, OverDrive Collection Development Analyst & co-host of the Professional Book Nerds Podcast

I was fifteen when I first discovered iconic Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was 1997, which I only remember because the Stow Public Library in Stow, Ohio was going through a big renovation that required a temporary move which meant I found Cat’s Eye while perusing the shelves of a local shopping center.

(Some people mark passages of time based on events. I apparently do it with books.)

Five years later, in college, I discovered her poetry and slowly began working my way through her entire catalog (fun fact: one of the characters in The Robber Bride has the last name Grunwald). If pressed, I will tell you my favorite books of hers is Oryx & Crake but like any well-read feminist, there will forever be a special place in my heart for The Handmaid’s Tale.

Set in a near-future New England (based on careful study of landmarks mentioned, most believe it’s Cambridge, MA, outside of Boston), but not the New England that we know now: a totalitarian theocracy has overthrown the United States government and women have been stripped of all rights. Sterility is on the rise, so those women that are still able to reproduce are assigned to households of the ruling class to act as enslaved handmaidens for the men. Our narrator, Offred, is one such handmaiden who is forced into a relationship with The Commander with the goal of producing a child that The Commander and his wife can raise because they are unable to have children of their own.

(There really is no delicate and polite way to describe that, is there?)

In light of recent events, dystopian novels have seen a huge bump. Thanks also in part to the Super Bowl commercial for the upcoming Hulu adaptation, this includes The Handmaid’s Tale, which shot to the top of the Amazon bestseller list virtually overnight and we here at OverDrive have also noticed an increase in demand for this particular title (as I’m sure our library partners have as well).

Personally, I’m fascinated that people are turning to dystopia during a period of unrest and unease. The popularity of such books is something we discussed in our Professional Book Nerds podcast episode about the genre and it seems to be even more timely these days.

Gods, heroes, drinking, battling, and a lot of clever brutes. Thus is Nordic mythology. Literature is informed by oral traditions of long ago like Homer’s works, religion, philosophy, and histories of the ancients. Most of us know a bit about Greek/Roman mythology due to the empire created by those peoples and the impact they made in the centuries they ruled, but what of the Norse? Other than some of D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths, I was relatively unaware of the Norse gods until I fell in love with JRR Tolkein and started finding familiar strains within his work to that of those old Norse tales. It was at that time that I dove into Padriac Colum’s Nordic Gods and Heroes. I never looked back, but instead found that these tales of the mighty and ultimately ill fated gods wove their way into other books I loved. Because these stories came from an older tradition, the books that pointed to these myths became more rounded in my eyes.

When W.W. Norton announced that Neil Gaiman was creating a new version of the Norse myths, the world stopped. Did you feel it too? Gaiman already has the chops as a master storyteller and so he is the perfect fit for the myths of the old vikings whose stories were passed down and (thankfully) collected on the page. Gaiman’s voice as storyteller does the glorious dance between present on the page (reminding the reader that someone is telling you this story) and passive (you are part of this story as it unfolds). Where Padriac Colum broke his volume of mythology into more individualized stories, Gaiman weaves the stories of Thor and Loki in Jotunheim, Loki’s underhanded doings and how he weasels his way out of them, and many more into single chapters. The best part of these myths is they don’t need to be read in a sitting. Because of the oral tradition these originate from, Gaiman has made sure that the chapters remain individualized while coming together to make a beautiful picture.

If you don’t know much about Nordic mythology, you are welcome to come feast with the gods of Asgard and open your horizons. Once you’ve consumed this mythology, you’ll find it hidden throughout literature. If you, like me, are already fond of these legends, let the Valkyrie bring you back to Valhalla where you will witness the gods play out their story for you once more, but with a different teller of their tales.

This book comes at the perfect time. Rick Riordan recently introduced kids to Magnus Chase, which is all about the gods of Asgard. So this is a perfect book for the budding fan of the Norse. Reader beware: Nordic gods and their tales are harsh. Strength, battle and cunning are undertones to all these myths, so make sure the uninitiated are prepared.

Bahni Turpin’s stunning narration of this audiobook at some points seems like a multi-voiced performance. As a 6-year-old, Mary was jailed for killing an infant, and at 16 she’s pregnant, living in a halfway house and ending years of silence. Mary is unsure of many things, and Turpin catches every nuance. More amazing, she expresses the many layers of all the characters. For example, Mary’s mother’s false saccharine tone switches to a restrained explosion when Mary hints at the truth of the past. 

A Medieval Russian village straddles the threshold between Christian and pagan values, while one young woman seeks to bridge the gap between the household spirits who keep the people safe and the changing mindset of her people in Katherine Arden’s debut novel The Bear and the Nightingale. The novel begins before Vasya, our main character, is born with the telling of a fairy story about a young girl who faces the winter demon and is rewarded for her valor while another suffers the consequences of insolence to the demon. This is the basis for the story to come. If you are seeking the PERFECT winter novel, venture no further. This novel literally has a winter demon as a focal point and if you think your winter is miserable you’ll quickly be reminded that northern Russia is not such a pleasant place to be in January.

Vasya is a young woman who has the ability to see and communicate with Russian folk spirits who watch over and care for the house, horses, forest, etc. The villagers offer small offerings to keep the spirits working, but when a new priest comes to town with talk of the wrath of God, villagers begin to forsake the old ways and slowly Vasya becomes an outsider. Little do the villagers know that an evil spirit is beginning to awaken, one that will wreck havoc on the village if he is not fended off by the spirits, but they cannot hold him back when their livelihood (the offerings of food and drink) are no longer available to strengthen them. Vasya never questions what she must do, even while people whisper behind her back and the situation becomes more precarious.

The novel offers a perspective on Russian spirits and demons of nature and household in a wild country that is being forced to lose its traditions and pagan ways for fear of God. Whether Arden, the author, is offering an opinion on religion, nature, or traditional ways is up to the reader’s discretion, but she is certainly using the olde tales to extricate a gorgeous, atmospheric story of family and sacrifice.

There is great beauty in Vasya. She is a wild, free, devoted woman who is imperfect but keeps to her core values even when all is against her. This is especially thrilling when the Medieval world she lives in steadily makes itself known. The place of a woman was marriage or convent and that becomes clear as the novel continues, yet Vasya fights against letting others make choices for her. At several points during the book I thought, “I’d fold. I’d just give in. How is she still fighting against a society who wants her to shut up?”. But Vasya knows that when things are at their bleakest, you must fight harder. It also helps that she has an older brother who trusts and fights alongside her. Sasha is a fabulous male character and while the author could have left Vasya to be totally friendless, she left a few people who stood beside her like Sasha, her brother, and Olga, her little sister.