Vinanti's Picks
Bird box
Malerman, Josh, author
2014
In a world where no one can go outside for fear of something terrifying that when seen drives people to deadly violence, Malorie and her two children must attempt a terrifying twenty-mile trip downriver while blindfolded.
The bridge home
Venkatraman, Padma, author
2019
Four determined homeless children make a life for themselves in Chennai, India.
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine
Honeyman, Gail, author
2017
Eleanor Oliphant struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding unnecessary human contact. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond save Sammy, an elderly man who has fallen, the three rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. Ultimately, it is Raymond's big heart that will help Eleanor find the way to repairing her own profoundly damaged one.
The henna artist
Joshi, Alka, author
2020
Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. She becomes the most highly requested henna artist -- and confidante -- to the wealthy women. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own. As she pursues her dream, she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow -- a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened.
The rules of magic
Hoffman, Alice author
2017
Hoffman weaves a spell around the three Owens children - Franny, Jet, and Vincent - as she provides the backstory to Practical Magic . The family of witches has been cursed since the 17th century, and as the Owens siblings come of age during 1960s, their second sight, magic potions, and other supernatural abilities are not enough to keep them from the danger of falling in love and seeing their beloved die. How each deals with the consequences and learns to fight the curse by loving more, not less, is the key to freedom from the spell and an instruction to readers.
The shape of family
Gowda, Shilpi Somaya, author
2020
The Olanders embody a modern family in a globalized world. Jaya, the cultured daughter of an Indian diplomat and Keith, an ambitious banker from middle-class Philadelphia, meet in a London pub in 1988 and make a life together in suburban California. Their strong marriage is built on shared beliefs and love for their two children: headstrong teenager Karina and young son Prem, the light of their home. But love and prosperity cannot protect them from sudden, unspeakable tragedy, and the family's foundation cracks as each member struggles to seek a way forward.
Such a fun age
Reid, Kiley, author
2019
Alix Chamberlain is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night. Seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, a security guard accuses her of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. Emira is furious and humiliated and Alix resolves to make it right.
The unlikely adventures of the Shergill sisters
Jaswal, Balli Kaur, author
2019
The British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters--Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirina--barely got along growing up, and now as adults, have grown even further apart. On her deathbed, their mother voices one last wish: that her daughters will make a pilgrimage together to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to carry out her final rites. Arriving in India, these sisters will make unexpected discoveries about themselves, their mother, and their lives--and learn the real story behind the trip Rajni took with their Mother long ago--a momentous journey that resulted in Mum never being able to return to India again.
The world we found : a novel
Umrigar, Thrity N.
2012
American divorceĢ Armaiti has six months to live and her last wish is to see her three best friends again--Laleh, Kavita, and Nishta, all in Bombay. But Nishta's husband, Iqbal, a fellow university idealist turned fundamentalist, will be the biggest obstacle to fulfilling Armaiti's final desire.