{"id":52621,"date":"2024-07-17T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=52621"},"modified":"2024-06-21T11:58:45","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T16:58:45","slug":"julys-simply-held-fiction-picks-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/julys-simply-held-fiction-picks-2\/","title":{"rendered":"July’s Simply Held Fiction Picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Four fiction picks are available for you to choose from: diverse debuts, graphic novel, historical fiction, and international fiction. Our fiction picks are chosen quarterly and are available in regular print only. If you would like to update your selections or are a new patron who wants to receive picks from any of those four categories, sign up for Simply Held<\/a>\u00a0through our website!<\/p>\n

Below you will find information provided by the publishers and authors on the titles we have selected for July from the following categories: Diverse Debuts, Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction, and International Fiction.<\/p>\n

Diverse Debuts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Diverse Debuts: Debut fiction novel by a BIPOC author, LGBTQ+ author or an author from another marginalized community.<\/p>\n

No One Dies Yet<\/strong><\/em> <\/a>by Kobby Ben Ben<\/p>\n

A shocking and unsettling tale of murder that is at times funny, at times erotic, always outspoken and iconoclastic. A genre-breaking novel from a powerful new African voice.<\/em><\/p>\n

How do you begin a murder story starring a curious foreigner and an opportunistic local without giving away the entire plot-who died and why? You start with the obvious villain.<\/em><\/p>\n

2019, The Year of Return. It has been exactly 400 years since the first slave ships left Ghana for America. Ghana has now opened its doors to Black diasporans, encouraging them to return and get to know the land of their ancestors.<\/em><\/p>\n

Elton, Vincent, and Scott arrive from America to visit preserved sites from the transatlantic slave route, and to explore the country’s underground queer scene. Their activities are narrated by their two combative guides: Kobby, their way into Accra’s privileged circles; and Nana, the voice of tradition and religious principle. The pair’s tense relationship sets the tone for what becomes a shocking and unsettling tale of murder that is at times funny, at times erotic, yet always outspoken and iconoclastic.<\/em> – Europa Editions<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Graphic Novel:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Graphic Novel: Fiction novel for adults of any subgenre with diverse characters depicted by color illustrations, sketches, and photographs.<\/p>\n

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Kate Beaton<\/p>\n

Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark! A Vagrant, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons, specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where the lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk songs. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta\u2019s oil rush\u2014part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can\u2019t find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Beaton\u2019s natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, northern lights, and boreal forest. Her first full length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people.<\/em> – Drawn and Quarterly<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Historical Fiction:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historical Fiction: Historical fiction novel written by a BIPOC author, LGBTQ+ author or an author from another marginalized community, with main character(s) from a marginalized community.<\/p>\n

The Secret Keeper of Main Street<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>by Trisha R. Thomas<\/p>\n

Acclaimed author Trisha R. Thomas delivers a masterful new tale of scandal and intuition. In 1950s oil-rich Oklahoma, Bailey Dowery, a dressmaker with the gift of \u201csecond sight,\u201d reluctantly reveals the true loves and intentions of her socialite clients, making her a silent witness to a shocking crime.<\/em><\/p>\n

1954: In the quaint town of Mendol, Oklahoma, Bailey Dowery is a Black dressmaker for the wives and daughters of local oil barons. She earns a good living fitting designer gowns and creating custom wedding dresses for the town\u2019s elite. But beyond her needle and thread lies a deeper talent, one passed down from her mother: the gift of insight. With just a fleeting touch or brush against the skin, Bailey has sudden flashes of intuition\u2014 witnessing the other person\u2019s hopes, dreams, and nightmares, as well glimpses of their past and future. To protect herself, she wears gloves to keep from grazing the skin of her clients as she pins them into their gowns.<\/em><\/p>\n

Brides have whispered that Bailey can see if their true love is faithful, or if their marriage will be a success. Her aunt Charlene has always warned her, \u201cIt\u2019s safer to stay out of White folks\u2019 business.\u201d But Bailey will reluctantly provide a reading during a fitting, as long as the bride promises to be discreet.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now Elsa Grimes, daughter of one of the richest oil men in Oklahoma, has come to the Regal Gown as the least joyful bride Bailey has ever seen. Elsa\u2019s big society wedding is imminent and her gown is gorgeous, but what Bailey\u2019s intuition uncovers when she touches Elsa\u2019s hand horrifies her. Against her better judgment, she\u2019s determined to help Elsa in whatever way she can. But when the son of a prominent family turns up dead on the eve of Elsa\u2019s wedding, and the bride-to-be is arrested for his murder, Bailey is suddenly at the center of a firestorm that threatens to overtake her and everyone she loves.<\/em> – William Morrow<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>International Fiction:<\/strong><\/p>\n

International Fiction: Fiction novel originally written in another language with main character(s) from marginalized communities.<\/p>\n

Fury<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>by Clyo Mendoza; translated by Christina MacSweeney<\/p>\n

In a desert dotted with war-torn towns, L\u00e1zaro and Juan are two soldiers from opposing camps who abandon the war and, while fleeing, become lovers and discover a dark truth. Vicente Barrera, a salesman who swept into the lives of women who both hated and revered him, spends his last days tied up like a mad dog. A morgue worker, Salvador, gets lost in the desert and mistakes the cactus for the person he loves. Over the echoes of the stories of these broken men\u2014and of their mothers, lovers and companions\u2014Mendoza explores her characters\u2019 passions in a way that simmers on the page, and then explodes with pain, fear and desire in a landscape that imprisons them.<\/em><\/p>\n

After winning the International Sor Juana In\u00e9s de la Cruz Poetry Prize, Clyo Mendoza has written a novel of extraordinary beauty where language embarks on a hallucinatory trip through eroticism, the transitions of conscience, and the possibility of multiple beings inhabiting a single body. In this journey through madness incest, sexual abuse, infidelity, and silence, Fury offers a moving questioning of the complexity of love and suffering. The desert is where these characters’ destinies become intertwined, where their wounds are inherited and bled dry. Readers will be blown away by the sensitivity of the writing, and will shudder at the way violence conveyed with a poetic forcefulness and a fierce mastery of the Mexican oral tradition.<\/em> – Seven Stories Press<\/p>\n

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Join\u00a0Simply Held<\/em><\/strong><\/a> to have the newest fiction picks automatically put on hold for you every quarter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four fiction picks are available for you to choose from: diverse debuts, graphic novel, historical fiction, and international fiction. Our fiction picks are chosen quarterly and are available in regular print only. If you would like to update your selections or are a new patron who wants to receive picks[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,1,7651,8],"tags":[6553,787,616,6408,6397],"class_list":["post-52621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-reference","category-simply-held","category-staff-picks","tag-diverse-debuts","tag-graphic-novel","tag-historical-fiction","tag-international-fiction","tag-simply-held"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXx-dGJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52621"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52860,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52621\/revisions\/52860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}