June 2016 Adult Top 10 Picks

  1. Barkskins
    by Annie Proulx
    Scribner
    Jun 14, 2016
    FICTION / Historical / General
    Hardback
    Barkskins
    by Annie Proulx
    Scribner
    Jun 14, 2016
    FICTION / Historical / General
    Hardback
    Now a television mini-series airing on National Geographic May 2020!
    A Washington Post Best Book of the Year & a New York Times Notable Book


    From the Pulitzer Prize–­­winning author of The Shipping News and “Brokeback Mountain,” comes the New York Times bestselling epic about the demise of the world’s forests: “Barkskins is grand entertainment in the tradition of Dickens and Tolstoy…the crowning achievement of Annie Proulx’s distinguished career, but also perhaps the greatest environmental novel ever written” (San Francisco Chronicle).

    In the late seventeenth century two penniless young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. Bound to a feudal lord, a “seigneur,” for three years in exchange for land, they become wood-cutters—barkskins. René suffers extraordinary hardship, oppressed by the forest he is charged with clearing. He is forced to marry a Mi’kmaw woman and their descendants live trapped between two inimical cultures. But Duquet, crafty and ruthless, runs away from the seigneur, becomes a fur trader, then sets up a timber business. Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years—their travels across North America, to Europe, China, and New Zealand, under stunningly brutal conditions—the revenge of rivals, accidents, pestilence, Indian attacks, and cultural annihilation. Over and over again, they seize what they can of a presumed infinite resource, leaving the modern-day characters face to face with possible ecological collapse.

    Proulx’s inimitable genius is her creation of characters who are so vivid—in their greed, lust, vengefulness, or their simple compassion and hope—that we follow them with fierce attention. Annie Proulx is one of the most formidable and compelling American writers, and Barkskins is her greatest novel, a magnificent marriage of history and imagination.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  2. Vinegar Girl
    by Anne Tyler
    Knopf Canada
    Jun 21, 2016
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    Vinegar Girl
    by Anne Tyler
    Knopf Canada
    Jun 21, 2016
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    Could the taming of Shakespeare's shrew, Katherina, happen today? Find out in this funny, off-beat version from one of our most beloved novelists.


    "You can't get around Kate Battista as easily as all that."
    Kate Battista is feeling stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she's always in trouble at work--her preschool charges adore her, but the adults don't always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner. Dr. Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There's only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr.... When Dr. Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he's relying--as usual--on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he's really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men's touchingly ludicrous campaign to win her round?
    Anne Tyler's retelling of The Taming of the Shrew asks whether a thoroughly modern, independent woman like Kate would ever sacrifice herself for a man. Its answer is as individual, off-beat, and funny as Kate herself.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  3. The Girls in the Garden
    by Lisa Jewell
    Atria Books
    Jun 07, 2016
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    The Girls in the Garden
    by Lisa Jewell
    Atria Books
    Jun 07, 2016
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    One of People’s, Glamour’s, and Buzzfeed's Best Reads of Summer, from the New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone

    “Jewell expertly builds suspense by piling up domestic misunderstandings and more plot twists than an SVU episode. It’s a page-turner for readers who like beach reads on the dark side.” —People

    “Faithful to the thriller genre, Jewell makes liberal use of red herrings and plot twists… The answer to the whodunit is a sly—and satisfying—surprise.” —The New York Times

    Full of suspense yet emotionally grounded…Fans of Liane Moriarty, Paula Hawkins, and Carla Buckley will adore this peek inside a gated community that truly takes care of its own, no matter the consequences." —Booklist (starred review)

    Imagine that you live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses. You’ve known your neighbors for years and you trust them. Implicitly. You think your children are safe. But are they really?

    On a midsummer night, as a festive neighborhood party is taking place, preteen Pip discovers her thirteen-year-old sister Grace lying unconscious and bloody in a hidden corner of a lush rose garden. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?
    View this title on BNC CataList
  4. Homegoing
    by Yaa Gyasi
    Bond Street Books
    Jun 07, 2016
    FICTION / African American & Black / Historical
    Hardback
    Homegoing
    by Yaa Gyasi
    Bond Street Books
    Jun 07, 2016
    FICTION / African American & Black / Historical
    Hardback
    "Homegoing is an inspiration." —Ta-Nehisi Coates

    An unforgettable New York Times bestseller of exceptional scope and sweeping vision that traces the descendants of two sisters across three hundred years in Ghana and America.


    A riveting kaleidoscopic debut novel and the beginning of a major career: Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing is a novel about race, history, ancestry, love and time, charting the course of two sisters torn apart in 18th century Africa through to the present day.
    Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into two different tribal villages in 18th century Ghana. Effia will be married off to an English colonist, and will live in comfort in the sprawling, palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, raising "half-caste" children who will be sent abroad to be educated in England before returning to the Gold Coast to serve as administrators of the Empire. Her sister, Esi, will be imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle's women's dungeon, before being shipped off on a boat bound for America, where she will be sold into slavery.
    Stretching from the tribal wars of Ghana to slavery and Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the north to the Great Migration to the streets of 20th century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi has written a modern masterpiece, a novel that moves through histories and geographies and—with outstanding economy and force—captures the intricacies of the troubled yet hopeful human spirit.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  5. Lily and the Octopus
    by Steven Rowley
    Simon & Schuster
    Jun 07, 2016
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    Lily and the Octopus
    by Steven Rowley
    Simon & Schuster
    Jun 07, 2016
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    Lily and the Octopus is the dog book you must read this summer…a profound experience.” —The Washington Post

    Combining the emotional depth of The Art of Racing in the Rain with the magical spirit of The Life of Pi, Lily and the Octopus is an epic adventure of the heart.

    When you sit down with Lily and the Octopus, you will be taken on an unforgettable ride.

    The magic of this novel is in the read, and we don’t want to spoil it by giving away too many details.

    We can tell you that this is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can’t live without.

    For Ted Flask, that someone special is his aging companion Lily, who happens to be a dog.

    Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

    Remember the last book you told someone they had to read?

    Lily and the Octopus is the next one.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  6. The Acacia Gardens
    by Marie-Claire Blais Canada
    Arachnide Editions
    Jun 04, 2016
    FICTION / Literary
    Paperback / softback
    The Acacia Gardens
    by Marie-Claire Blais Canada
    Arachnide Editions
    Jun 04, 2016
    FICTION / Literary
    Paperback / softback

    What anxiety grips Petites Cendres as he runs towards the sea in the sunshine on a warm tropical morning? Shouldn’t he be reassured by the thought that he now lives at the Acacia Gardens, a comfortable home where all find care, understanding, and healing? How can Fleur, the young musical prodigy, listen to the diabolical confessions of Wrath, the fugitive priest, without shuddering? And, can Daniel the writer finish his novel, the one he has been working on for twenty years, despite his sensitivity and empathy for all creatures, even if they are the most humble, like the lizard he inadvertently crushed under his sandal?

    With this latest novel, Marie-Claire Blais once again gives us a vibrant portrait that embraces the span of life — from birth to death and beyond. Her characters question their purpose and what will come after, as they are confronted by evil that lives and that has taken root.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  7. All the Missing Girls
    by Megan Miranda
    Simon & Schuster
    Jun 28, 2016
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    All the Missing Girls
    by Megan Miranda
    Simon & Schuster
    Jun 28, 2016
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    ***A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER***

    A New York Times Book Review “Editors’ Choice”
    Entertainment Weekly — Thriller Round-Up
    The Wall Street Journal — 5 Killer Books for 2016
    Hollywood Reporter — Hot Summer Books…16 Must Reads

    “This thriller’s all of your fave page-turners (think: Luckiest Girl Alive, The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl) rolled into one.”TheSkimm

    “Both [Gillian] Flynn’s and Miranda’s main characters also reclaim the right of female characters to be more than victim or femme fataleAll the Missing Girls is set to become one of the best books of 2016.”Los Angeles Review of Books

    “Extremely interesting…a novel that will probably be called Hitchcockian.”The New York Times Book Review

    “Are you paying attention? You’ll need to be; this thriller will test your brain with its reverse chronological structure, and it’s a page-turner to boot.” Elle

    Like the spellbinding psychological suspense in The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive, Megan Miranda’s novel is a nail-biting, breathtaking story about the disappearances of two young women—a decade apart—told in reverse.

    It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

    The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

    Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

    Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  8. We're All in This Together
    by Amy Jones Canada
    McClelland & Stewart
    Jun 07, 2016
    FICTION / Family Life / General
    Paperback / softback
    We're All in This Together
    by Amy Jones Canada
    McClelland & Stewart
    Jun 07, 2016
    FICTION / Family Life / General
    Paperback / softback
    Winner of Northern Lit Award

    Finalist for the Leacock Medal for Humour

    Quill & Quire "Books of the Year 2016"

    Globe & Mail "Best Canadian Fiction of 2016"


    A woman goes over a waterfall, a video goes viral, a family goes into meltdown -- life is about to get a lot more complicated for the Parker family.



    Like all families, the Parkers of Thunder Bay have had their share of complications. But when matriarch Kate Parker miraculously survives plummeting over a waterfall in a barrel -- a feat captured on a video that goes viral -- it's Kate's family who tumbles into chaos under the spotlight. Her prodigal daughter returns to town. Her 16-year-old granddaughter gets caught up in an online relationship with a man she has never met. Her husband sifts through their marriage to search for what sent his wife over the falls. Her adopted son fears losing the only family he's ever known. Then there is Kate, who once made a life-changing choice and now fears her advancing dementia will rob her of memories from when she was most herself. Set over the course of four calamitous days, Amy Jones's big-hearted first novel follows the Parkers' misadventures as catastrophe forces them to do something they never thought possible -- act like a family.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  9. Endgame
    by Jeffrey Round Canada
    Dundurn Press
    Jun 18, 2016
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General
    Paperback / softback
    Endgame
    by Jeffrey Round Canada
    Dundurn Press
    Jun 18, 2016
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General
    Paperback / softback
    A modern retelling of the classic Agatha Christie tale of suspense and murder, And Then There Were None.

    When Harvey Keill, ex-manager of the Ladykillers, arranges a reunion for his notorious punk band on a remote island off the coast of Seattle, it seems as though the group’s glory days are about to return.

    One by one, the band members and their guests arrive. Lead singer Spike Anthrax, bassist Pete Doghouse, and guitarist Max Hardcore confront one another for the first time since their well-publicized and highly acrimonious split fifteen years earlier stopped them from finishing their musical testament to punk rock genius: Endgame. They are joined by an entourage of groupies, girlfriends, one of America’s best rock critics, and a real estate agent invited to put the island up for sale.

    But where’s Harvey?

    No matter — a party’s a party, right? Wrong. Once everyone has gathered, a dark secret emerges from the past to haunt them and, one by one, the guests begin to fall prey to a mysterious fate.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  10. I'm Thinking of Ending Things
    by Iain Reid Canada
    Simon & Schuster
    Jun 14, 2016
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    I'm Thinking of Ending Things
    by Iain Reid Canada
    Simon & Schuster
    Jun 14, 2016
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    You will be scared. But you won’t know why…

    I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It’s always there. Always.

    Jake and I have a real connection, a rare and intense attachment. What has it been...a month? I’m very attracted to him. Even though he isn’t striking, not really. I’m going to meet his parents for the first time, at the same time as I’m thinking of ending things.

    Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.”

    And here’s what I’m thinking: I don’t want to be here.

    I’m thinking of ending things.

    Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of José Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, this tense and atmospheric novel will haunt you long after the last page is turned.
    View this title on BNC CataList

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