May 2020 Adult Top 10 Picks

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  1. Ridgerunner
    by Gil Adamson Canada
    House of Anansi Press
    May 12, 2020
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    Ridgerunner
    by Gil Adamson Canada
    House of Anansi Press
    May 12, 2020
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback

    Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize Winner

    Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist

    Part literary Western and part historical mystery, Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize winner Ridgerunner is now available as a paperback.

    November 1917. William Moreland is in mid-flight. After nearly twenty years, the notorious thief, known as the Ridgerunner, has returned. Moving through the Rocky Mountains and across the border to Montana, the solitary drifter, impoverished in means and aged beyond his years, is also a widower and a father. And he is determined to steal enough money to secure his son’s future.

    Twelve-year-old Jack Boulton has been left in the care of Sister Beatrice, a formidable nun who keeps him in cloistered seclusion in her grand old house. Though he knows his father is coming for him, the boy longs to return to his family’s cabin, deep in the woods. When Jack finally breaks free, he takes with him something the nun is determined to get back — at any cost.

    Set against the backdrop of a distant war raging in Europe and a rapidly changing landscape in the West, Gil Adamson’s follow-up to her award-winning debut, The Outlander, is a vivid historical novel that draws from the epic tradition and a literary Western brimming with a cast of unforgettable characters touched with humour and loss, and steeped in the wild of the natural world.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  2. Watershed
    by Doreen Vanderstoop Canada
    Freehand Books
    May 01, 2020
    FICTION / Literary
    Paperback / softback
    Watershed
    by Doreen Vanderstoop Canada
    Freehand Books
    May 01, 2020
    FICTION / Literary
    Paperback / softback
    It is 2058, and the glaciers are gone. A catastrophic drought has hit the prairies. Willa Van Bruggen is desperately trying to keep her family goat farm afloat, hoping against hope that the new water pipeline arrives before the bill collectors do.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  3. Network Effect
    by Martha Wells
    Tor Books
    May 05, 2020
    FICTION / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure
    Hardback
    Network Effect
    by Martha Wells
    Tor Books
    May 05, 2020
    FICTION / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure
    Hardback

    WINNER of the 2021 Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards!

    The first full-length novel in Martha Wells' New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot Diaries series.

    An Amazon Best of the Year So Far Pick

    Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | Book Riot | Polygon

    I caught myself rereading my favorite parts... and I can’t recommend it enough.” —The New York Times


    You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you're a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you're Murderbot.

    Come for the pew-pew space battles, stay for the most relatable A.I. you’ll read this century.



    I’m usually alone in my head, and that’s where 90 plus percent of my problems are.

    When Murderbot's human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

    Drastic action it is, then.

    The Murderbot Diaries
    All Systems Red
    Artificial Condition
    Rogue Protocol
    Exit Strategy
    Network Effect
    Fugitive Telemetry
    System Collapse

    View this title on BNC CataList
  4. Big Summer
    by Jennifer Weiner
    Atria Books
    May 05, 2020
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    Big Summer
    by Jennifer Weiner
    Atria Books
    May 05, 2020
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback
    AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    “Sexy and satisfying, Big Summer is the perfect quarantine read.” —USA TODAY

    “The beach read to end all beach reads.” —Entertainment Weekly

    “Big fun, and then some. It’s empowering and surprising—a reminder to put down the phone and enjoy each moment for what it is.” —The Washington Post

    A deliciously funny, remarkably poignant, and simply unputdownable novel about the power of friendship, the lure of frenemies, and the importance of making peace with yourself through all life’s ups and downs. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Good in Bed and Best Friends Forever, Big Summer is the perfect escape with one of the most lovable heroines to come to the page in years.

    Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn’t spoken one word to Drue in all this time—she doesn’t even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media—so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless.

    Drue was always the one who had everything—except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne’s no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She’s built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend’s siren song.

    A sparkling novel about the complexities of female relationships, the pitfalls of living out loud and online, and the resilience of the human heart, Big Summer is a witty, moving story about family, friendship, and figuring out what matters most.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  5. The Trouble with Hating You
    by Sajni Patel
    Forever
    May 12, 2020
    FICTION / Romance / Romantic Comedy
    Paperback / softback
    The Trouble with Hating You
    by Sajni Patel
    Forever
    May 12, 2020
    FICTION / Romance / Romantic Comedy
    Paperback / softback
    A fiercely independent engineer walks out on the man her parents have set her up with -- only to start working side-by-side with him at her job in this laugh-out-loud debut with "delicious banter, deep wounds, heartwarming friendships, and a path to love that often feels impossibly hard, and [a payoff] satisfying enough to give you a book hangover the size of Texas" (Sonali Dev, USA Today bestselling author of Recipe for Persuasion).

    Liya Thakkar is a successful biochemical engineer, takeout enthusiast, and happily single woman. The moment she realizes her parents' latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she's out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later -- the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What's not surprising: he's not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.

    Jay Shah looks good on paper...and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He's also infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late-night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?
    View this title on BNC CataList
  6. A Children's Bible
    by Lydia Millet
    WW Norton
    May 12, 2020
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    A Children's Bible
    by Lydia Millet
    WW Norton
    May 12, 2020
    FICTION / Literary
    Hardback
    Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet’s sublime new novel—her first since the National Book Award long-listed Sweet Lamb of Heaven—follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion.

    Contemptuous of their parents, who pass their days in a stupor of liquor, drugs, and sex, the children feel neglected and suffocated at the same time. When a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, the group’s ringleaders—including Eve, who narrates the story—decide to run away, leading the younger ones on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside.

    As the scenes of devastation begin to mimic events in the dog-eared picture Bible carried around by her beloved little brother, Eve devotes herself to keeping him safe from harm.

    A Children’s Bible is a prophetic, heartbreaking story of generational divide—and a haunting vision of what awaits us on the far side of Revelation.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  7. Officer Clemmons
    by Dr. Francois S. Clemmons
    Catapult
    May 05, 2020
    BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Entertainment & Performing Arts
    Hardback
    Officer Clemmons
    by Dr. Francois S. Clemmons
    Catapult
    May 05, 2020
    BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Entertainment & Performing Arts
    Hardback
    An intimate debut memoir from Mister Rogers’ most endearing and groundbreaking neighbors—Officer Clemmons, the first African American actor to have a recurring role on a children’s television program.

    “A heartwarming story that explores the power of friendship as well as race, sexuality, talent, and identity.” —Kirkus Reviews

    When he created the role of Officer Clemmons on the award–winning television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, François Clemmons made history as the first African American actor to have a recurring role on a children’s program. A new, wide world opened for Clemmons—but one that also required him to make painful personal choices and sacrifices.

    Officer Clemmons details Clemmons’s incredible life story, beginning with his early years in Alabama and Ohio, marked by family trauma and loss, through his studies as a music major at Oberlin College, where Clemmons began to investigate and embrace his homosexuality, to a chance encounter with Fred Rogers that changed the whole course of both men’s lives, leading to a deep, spiritual friendship and mentorship spanning nearly 40 years.

    From New York to Russia, Berlin to California, Grammy Award–winner Clemmons has performed for audiences around the world and remains a beloved figure. Evocative and intimate, and buoyed by its author’s own vivacious, inimitable energy, Officer Clemmons chronicles a historical and enlightening life and career of a man who has brought joy to millions of adults and children, across generations and borders.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  8. The Goodbye Man
    by Jeffery Deaver
    G.P. Putnam's Sons
    May 12, 2020
    FICTION / Thrillers / Crime
    Hardback
    The Goodbye Man
    by Jeffery Deaver
    G.P. Putnam's Sons
    May 12, 2020
    FICTION / Thrillers / Crime
    Hardback
    In this twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling master of suspense, reward-seeker Colter Shaw infiltrates a sinister cult after learning that the only way to get somebody out . . . is to go in.

    In the wilderness of Washington State, expert tracker Colter Shaw has located two young men accused of a terrible hate crime. But when his pursuit takes a shocking and tragic turn, Shaw becomes desperate to discover what went so horribly wrong and if he is to blame. Shaw's search for answers leads him to a shadowy organization that bills itself as a grief support group. But is it truly it a community that consoles the bereaved? Or a dangerous cult with a growing body count? Undercover, Shaw joins the mysterious group, risking everything despite the fact that no reward is on offer. He soon finds that some people will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden . . . and to make sure that he or those close to him say "goodbye" forever.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  9. Mary Pickford, Queen of the Silent Film Era
    by George A. Walker Canada
    Porcupine's Quill
    Apr 23, 2020
    COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / Nonfiction / General
    Paperback / softback
    Mary Pickford, Queen of the Silent Film Era
    by George A. Walker Canada
    Porcupine's Quill
    Apr 23, 2020
    COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / Nonfiction / General
    Paperback / softback

    In this wordless biography, wood engraver George A. Walker provides a fitting stage to explore the life of Mary Pickford, a silent film star whose groundbreaking contributions to the motion picture industry earned her the title `Queen of the Movies'.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  10. Beach Read
    by Emily Henry
    Berkley
    May 19, 2020
    FICTION / Romance / Romantic Comedy
    Paperback / softback
    Beach Read
    by Emily Henry
    Berkley
    May 19, 2020
    FICTION / Romance / Romantic Comedy
    Paperback / softback
    FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION AND BOOK LOVERS!

    A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.


    Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

    They’re polar opposites.

    In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

    Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
    View this title on BNC CataList

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