I'd really prefer not to be here with you : and other stories / Baggott, Julianna
I would really prefer not to be here with you
Presents the author's first-time collection of short stories, including "Backwards," in which a woman reconnects with her estranged father as he de-ages ten years each day they spend together.

Office politics / Sheed, Wilfrid

Ever since college, George Wren has dreamed of working at The Outsider, the prestigious weekly edited by his hero, the suave English expat Gilbert Twining. So when George sees a listing for a junior editor, he trades in his job at CBS for half the salary--and a ringside seat in the unexpectedly cutthroat arena of a small-circulation, highbrow little magazine. To George's surprise and dismay, The Outsider is seething with malcontents and mutineers, at least according to Twining, who keeps cornering George for after-work martinis, pouring out his anxieties--professional and otherwise--while George's family waits for him back in Queens. Is Twining paranoid? Is he insane? Or are George's new office mates truly plotting an insurrection? And if so, what's all of it got to do with George?

The running man / Bachman, Richard

A future world game show offers convicts a chance at freedom if they can run to escape hi-tech killers, and Ben Richards is determined to do so.

Beartooth / Wink, Callan.
Bear tooth
In an aging, timber house hand-built into the Absaroka-Beartooth mountains, two brothers are struggling to keep up with their debts. They live off the grid, on the fringe of Yellowstone, surviving off the wild after the death of their father. Thad, the elder, is more capable of engaging with things like the truck registration, or the medical bills they can't afford from their father's fatal illness, or the tax lien on the cabin their grandfather built, while Hazen is ... different, more instinctual, deeply in tune with the natural world. Desperate for money, they are approached by a shadowy out-of-towner with a dangerous proposition that will change both of their lives forever.

Beautyland / Bertino, Marie-Helene.

"At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different; she also possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of earthlings. For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. But at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she is not alone? A blazing novel of startling originality about the fragility and resilience of life in our universe, Marie-Helene Bertino's Beautyland is a remarkable evocation of feeling in exile at home and introduces a gentle, unforgettable alien for our times."--

Good girl : a novel / Aber, Aria

"In Berlin's artistic underground, where drugs and techno fill warehouses still pockmarked from the wars of the twentieth century, nineteen-year-old Nila at last finds her tribe. Born in Germany to Afghan refugees, raised in public housing graffitied with swastikas, drawn to philosophy, photography, and sex, Nila has spent her adolescence disappointing her family while searching for her voice as a young woman and artist. Then in the haze of Berlin's legendary night life, Nila meets Marlowe, an American writer whose fading literary celebrity opens her eyes to a life of personal and artistic freedom. As Nila finds herself pulled further into Marlowe's controlling orbit, ugly, barely submerged racial tensions begin to roil Germany-and Nila's family and community. After a year of running from her future, Nila's stops to ask herself the most important question: who does she want to be?"--

House of Frank / Synclaire, Kay

Families -- Fiction
Fantasy fiction
Magic -- Fiction
Novels.
Paranormal fiction
Witches -- Fiction
Witch fiction.
Botanical gardens -- Fiction.

The lost evacuee : a novel / Sharp, Cathy (Domestic Fiction Writer)

Will their new lives bring happiness, or heartache? As the Blitz casts a dark shadow over London, Julie Miller, a teenaged orphan, is sent far away to keep her safe. Hoping this will be a new chapter after years of sadness, Julie voyages by ship across the Atlantic, and on the long passage, forges a bond with a young child called Beth, both of them dreaming of their new families and the happy life that awaits them. Upon arrival, Julie quickly realises that reaching their destination is just the start of their journey, with many hardships for the orphans. But taking matters into her own hands, Julie is determined that she and Beth will have their happy ending.

A bluestocking's guide to decadence / Everlee, Jess

"London, 1885 A lesbian in a lavender marriage, Jo Smith cuts a dashing figure in pin-striped trousers, working in her bookshop and keeping impolite company. But her hard-earned stability is about to be upended thanks to her husband's pregnant paramour, who needs medical attention that no reputable doctor will provide. Enter Dr. Emily Clarke, a tantalizing bluestocking working at a quaint village hospital outside the city. Emily has reservations about getting mixed up in Jo's scandalous arrangement, but her flustered, heart-racing response to Jo has her agreeing to help despite herself. There's a world of difference between Jo's community of underground clubs and sapphic societies and Emily's respectable suburbs. Perhaps it's a gap that even fervent desire can't bridge. But for those bold enough to take the risk, who knows what delicious adventures might be in store ... "--Back cover.

Going public / Lin, Hudson

"A boss. His employee. And a scandal that's about to change everything. As an operating partner at Jade Harbour, Raymond Chao prides himself in fixing even the most disastrous of portfolio companies -- no matter the cost. While his colleagues might not always like his methods, they love his results. But his latest business partner isn't cooperating, and what's worse, Raymond's underhanded tactics have landed him in hot water with the law. Elvin Goh has been Raymond's assistant for years, and he's been in love with the charming, ruthless playboy for just as long. There's very little that Elvin won't do -- or hasn't done -- for Raymond. Impossible crush aside, it's his job. But this time, even Elvin can't see a way out. When long nights in the office lead to whispered confessions and a newfound intimacy, it seems like a dream come true -- for both of them. But with the prospect of failure on the horizon, can this dream team beat the odds and come out the victors in the office and in their hearts?"--