January 4, 2022
Welcome to the first installment of New This Week, where we share a few of our picks out of the week’s new releases. Our picks are likely to be generating industry buzz, flying below the radar, or be collecting praise from critics, library staff, or the general public. The week of January 4th brings us three exciting books — one with big buzz from libraries, one with high expectations from critics, and a teen novel that’s flying below the radar.
The Maid by Nita Prose
The Maid was selected as the top LibraryReads pick for January, identifying it as the book library staff members nationwide are most excited about. Molly Gray works as a hotel maid and excels at keeping up appearances and keeping everything orderly, although she’s much less adept at reading social cues. When she stumbles on a body in a locked hotel room, her social awkwardness lands her directly on the main suspect list and forces her to try to find the real killer and clear her own name.
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
This debut novel is generating lots of buzz with its near-future dystopia that’s drawing comparisons to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Frida Liu is the daughter of immigrants who’s been unable to live up to their expectations for her career, and who’s been unable to win her husband back from his mistress. Her only achievement of perfection is her daughter, but after a bad day and a mistake she loses parental rights. To get them back, she must enter a re-education institution to prove that even if she is a bad mother she can learn to be good by parenting an artificially intelligent doll.
In Every Generation by Kendare Blake
Kendare Blake is a YA author who’s become known for her dark, scary, and often violent tales of horror and fantasy for teens. Who better to tackle new tales of the vampire slayer? Original fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and newcomers alike will enjoy this return to Sunnydale, which focuses on Willow’s daughter and a new generation of scoobies. When the slayers are attacked and Frankie’s Aunt Buffy goes missing, it’s up to Frankie to suit up in some vintage 90s clothes, carve a stake or two, and step up to save the world.