#fridayreads (07/07/17)

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Today’s #fridayreads are all debuts!

South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby

A July Indie Next List Selection!

“Shelby’s first novel, based on a short story that won the Third Coast Fiction Prize, skillfully weaves science, climate change, politics, sociology, and art. Competing ideas about the origins of the universe are wrapped in the vagaries of human nature and the dangers of climate extremes. Her characters are a quirky subset of humanity. VERDICT All readers of fiction, particularly those interested in life in extreme climates, will find this appealing.”–Library Journal (starred review)

“Readers will find characters to love, suspect, and identify with among Cooper’s fellow Polies and won’t forget them easily. A good match for readers whose interest in Antarctica was sparked by Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (2014), those who enjoy stories about quirky individuals and made families, and extreme armchair travelers.”–Booklist

“This is a fascinating novel, loaded with interesting history of Antarctic exploration, current scientific operations, and the living and working conditions of those folks brave enough to endure six months of darkness and six months of daylight.”–Publishers Weekly

Tornado Weather by Deborah E. Kennedy

“Kennedy’s moving debut novel, about people living in small-town Indiana, reads like interconnected short stories as each chapter is told from a different character’s perspective…Kennedy has painted a distinctive picture of a Midwestern blue-collar town that will remind readers of Richard Russo’s work. Fans of Did You Ever Have a Family (2015), by Bill Clegg, will also find much to admire.”–Booklist

“Kennedy’s heartbreaking debut novel captures the warped and isolated landscape of today’s American Midwest… Though this story is hung on a child gone missing and a tornado on the horizon, the focus is the flawed folks who people it. The author is a fine mimic, inhabiting her characters in such a way that we know them from the inside out. The denouement, coming as it does from a surreal, bird’s-eye view, is very strange indeed. Kennedy’s superb chorus leaves an indelible impression.”–Publishers Weekly

We Shall Not Sleep by Estep Nagy

“An unusual and compelling debut…a surprising delight. Nagy mixes narrative modes and tones (and generations) nimbly; it’s rare to see suspense and literary lyricism woven together so well.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Nagy neatly juggles his many characters, allowing suspense to develop naturally and working in thought-provoking variations on the themes of betrayal and survival.”–Booklist

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