Librarians at Baltimore County Public Library are always ready to share their favorite titles, talk about new books hitting the shelves and help you discover your next great read.
We are highlighting Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month as well as Mother’s Day with our new titles for the spring.
For more on new books, join us for Books and Conversation on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 2 p.m.
Find information on that and more on our events page at bcpl.info/events-and-programs.
Lori Hench’s Picks
“The Rivals”
by Jane Pek
Claudia Lin: College grad, viewed by her older brother and sister as forever the baby and their mother’s favorite. Claudia is keeping a secret from all of them — she ditched her respectable job in finance and is working her dream job as an investigator for Veracity, a detective agency for online daters to vet their swipe rights as honest or liars.
But when Veracity also starts investigating the corporate matchmakers themselves, the stakes go through the roof and Claudia’s job gets a mite bit … dangerous.
This clever mystery explores the lucrative world of AI, an industry exploding in scope without much in the way of ethical guardrails and how it can manipulate even the savviest of us.
“The Rivals” is the second book in the delightful Claudia Lin series with the mystery book-loving Claudia navigating her job, potential romance (which definitely does not feature a nice, mother-approved Chinese boy) and her complicated family.
“Happy Land”
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Fact: After the Civil War, there was a mountaintop kingdom spanning the Carolinas that comprised 180 acres, owned and governed by a king and queen descended from slaves and who named their community Kingdom of Happy Land.
In this historical fiction novel, D.C.-based realtor Nikki arrives at the family home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina, having been summoned by her semi-estranged grandmother, Mother Rita.
As Mother Rita gradually reveals their family history, Nikki must try to figure out what parts of this kingdom story she believes and finds the newfound knowledge of her roots may be life-changing for this line of women — Mother Rita, daughter Lorelle, granddaughter Nikki and great-granddaughter Shawnie.
The timelines alternate between contemporary and historical and highlights the role of land ownership in creating generational wealth and the strength of women and mothers. Both American history and a family saga, “Happy Land” informs and inspires.
Paula Gallagher’s Picks
“This Is Your Mother”
by Erika J. Simpson
Simpson examines her relationship with her larger-than-life mother in this engrossing debut memoir, told in two timelines.
In the first, Simpson shares details from a challenging life growing up with her older sister as the daughters of Sallie Carol, a righteous woman who liberally quoted her own version of Bible verse and trusted no one, yet depended on people’s generosity to get by.
A science teacher and single mother who had battled cancer, Sallie Carol hustled, constantly in survival mode as she moved her small family to avoid bill collectors and overdue rent while pursuing her dreams.
In the second timeline, Simpson, now a young adult living in Chicago, struggles with the decision to return to visit her mother, now dying of the cancer that shaped her life.
Readers stay close to this incredible account, told with a mix of heart, humor and palpable embarrassment as both love and respect shine through the narrative.
“Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng”
by Kylie Lee Baker
It’s 2020 and Cora Zeng finds herself laid off from her job at The Met as New York City shuts down during the early days of the pandemic.
Crimes against Asians are on the rise, and she witnesses her own sister pushed onto the subway tracks in a horrible act of racist violence.
Desperate to pay the bills, Cora takes a job as a crime scene cleaner in Chinatown, only to become a firsthand witness to the actions of a serial killer whose calling cards are mutilated bats, a nod to a racist epithet.
Introspective and introverted, she’s forced to confront her own identity as a mixed-race Chinese American who never respected tradition as she is tormented by literal hungry ghosts who demand to be recognized and appeased.
Baker manages to replicate the claustrophobic, psychological atmosphere of pandemic lockdown in a unique literary suspense thriller, full of horror and gore and an unexpected sense of humor.
Highly discussable, this would make a perfect pick for adventurous book clubs.