September 2019 Adult Top 10 Picks

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  1. The Testaments
    by Margaret Atwood Canada
    McClelland & Stewart
    Sep 10, 2019
    FICTION / Dystopian
    Hardback
    The Testaments
    by Margaret Atwood Canada
    McClelland & Stewart
    Sep 10, 2019
    FICTION / Dystopian
    Hardback
    WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE
    LONGLISTED FOR THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE
    INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

    Margaret Atwood's dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid's Tale, has become a modern classic—and now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel.


    More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.

    Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.

    As Atwood unfolds The Testaments, she opens up the innermost workings of Gilead as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

    "The literary event of the year." —The Guardian

    "The international literary event of the season." —Globe and Mail

    "It’s terrifying and exhilarating." —Judges of the Booker Prize 2019
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  2. The Water Dancer
    by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    One World
    Sep 24, 2019
    FICTION / African American & Black / Historical
    Hardback
    The Water Dancer
    by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    One World
    Sep 24, 2019
    FICTION / African American & Black / Historical
    Hardback
    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From the National Book Award–winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom.

    “This potent book about America’s most disgraceful sin establishes [Ta-Nehisi Coates] as a first-rate novelist.”—San Francisco Chronicle

    IN DEVELOPMENT AS A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Adapted by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Kamilah Forbes, directed by Nia DaCosta, and produced by MGM, Plan B, and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films

    NOMINATED FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD • NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST NOVELS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • The Washington PostChicago TribuneVanity FairEsquire Good Housekeeping PasteTown & Country • The New York Public Library • Kirkus Reviews Library Journal


    Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.

    So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram’s resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.

    This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children—the violent and capricious separation of families—and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today’s most exciting thinkers and writers, The Water Dancer is a propulsive, transcendent work that restores the humanity of those from whom everything was stolen.

    Praise for The Water Dancer

    “Ta-Nehisi Coates is the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race with his 2015 memoir, Between the World and Me. So naturally his debut novel comes with slightly unrealistic expectations—and then proceeds to exceed them. The Water Dancer . . . is a work of both staggering imagination and rich historical significance. . . . What’s most powerful is the way Coates enlists his notions of the fantastic, as well as his fluid prose, to probe a wound that never seems to heal. . . . Timeless and instantly canon-worthy.”Rolling Stone
    View this title on BNC CataList
  3. Had It Coming
    by Robyn Doolittle Canada
    Allen Lane
    Sep 24, 2019
    SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sexual Abuse & Harassment
    Hardback
    Had It Coming
    by Robyn Doolittle Canada
    Allen Lane
    Sep 24, 2019
    SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sexual Abuse & Harassment
    Hardback
    “A decisive snapshot of this moment in history that considers where we were, and sets the stage for where we might go, and will no doubt be used to describe this moment long after we move on to a new normal.” —Zoe Whittall, author of The Best Kind of People

    An illuminating, timely look at the changing landscape of sexual politics by the author of Crazy Town.


    For nearly two years, Globe and Mail reporter Robyn Doolittle investigated how Canadian police handle sexual assault cases. Her findings were shocking: across the country, in big cities and small towns, the system was dismissing a high number of allegations as "unfounded." A police officer would simply view the claim as baseless and no investigation would follow. Of the 26,500 reported cases of sexual assault in 2015, only 1,400 resulted in convictions.

    The response to Doolittle's groundbreaking Unfounded series was swift. Federal ministers immediately vowed to establish better oversight, training, and policies; Prime Minister Trudeau announced $100 million to combat gender-based violence; Statistics Canada began to collect and publish unfounded rates; and to date, about a third of the country's forces have pledged to review more than 10,000 sex-assault cases dating back to 2010.

    Had It Coming picks up where the Unfounded series left off. Doolittle brings a personal voice to what has been a turning point for most women: the #MeToo movement and its aftermath. The world is now increasingly aware of the pervasiveness of rape culture in which powerful men got away with sexual assault and harassment for years: from Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Bill O'Reilly, and Matt Lauer, to Charlie Rose and Jian Ghomeshi. But Doolittle looks beyond specific cases to the big picture. The issue of "consent" figures largely: not only is the public confused about what it means, but an astounding number of police officers and judges do not understand Canadian consent law. The brain's reaction to trauma and how it affects memory is also crucial to understanding victim statements. Surprisingly, Canada has the most progressive sexual assault laws in the developed world, yet the system is failing victims at every stage.

    Had It Coming is not a diatribe or manifesto, but a nuanced and informed look at how attitudes around sexual behaviour have changed and still need to change.
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  4. High School
    by Sara Quin Canada
    Simon & Schuster
    Sep 24, 2019
    BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs
    Hardback
    High School
    by Sara Quin Canada
    Simon & Schuster
    Sep 24, 2019
    BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Memoirs
    Hardback
    First loves, first songs, and the drugs and reckless high school exploits that fueled them—meet music icons Tegan and Sara as you’ve never known them before in this intimate and raw account of their formative years.

    High School is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age story of Sara and Tegan Quin, identical twins from Calgary, Alberta, growing up in the height of grunge and rave culture in the 90s, well before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ icons we know today. While grappling with their identity and sexuality, often alone, they also faced academic meltdown, their parents’ divorce, and the looming pressure of what might come after high school. Written in alternating chapters from both Tegan’s point of view and Sara’s, the book is a raw account of the drugs, alcohol, love, music, and friendships they explored in their formative years. A transcendent story of first loves and first songs, it captures the tangle of discordant and parallel memories of two sisters who grew up in distinct ways even as they lived just down the hall from one another. This is the origin story of Tegan and Sara.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  5. Antoni In The Kitchen
    by Antoni Porowski
    Harvest
    Sep 09, 2019
    Hardback
    Antoni In The Kitchen
    by Antoni Porowski
    Harvest
    Sep 09, 2019
    Hardback

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

    *One of Food & Wine’s Essential New Cookbooks for Fall*

    *One of Eater's Best Fall Cookbooks 2019*

    *One of Amazon's Best Cookbooks for Fall 2020*


    "Antoni has a love of food equal to my own. From his Johnny's Queso Blanco (you can never go wrong with melted cheese) to his Polish Hangover Soup (I'm sure this will come in very handy) and all of his desserts, I can't wait to explore the mind and creativity of this extremely hot chef."

    —Chrissy Teigen


    Antoni Porowski, the food and wine guru on Netflix's sensation Queer Eye, meets people where they live—literally. With appealing vulnerability, he shows cooks of all levels how to become more confident and casual in the kitchen. The verve and naturalness of his approach earned raves from Food & Wine and Bon Appétit to GQ and the New York Times, which noted his dishes prove that “sometimes simple is anything but simplistic.”

    Some of the recipes in this book are weeknight healthyish meals, while others are perfect for off-the-cuff entertaining. Elevated yet simple, they’re often composed of fewer than five ingredients. Whether Bastardized Easy Ramen; Malaysian Chili Shrimp; Roasted Carrots with Carrot-Top Pesto; or Salty Lemon Squares, all are visual stunners and can be carried off with panache, even by beginners.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  6. Darkdawn
    by Jay Kristoff
    St. Martin's Press
    Sep 03, 2019
    FICTION / Fantasy / Action & Adventure
    Hardback
    Darkdawn
    by Jay Kristoff
    St. Martin's Press
    Sep 03, 2019
    FICTION / Fantasy / Action & Adventure
    Hardback

    The epic conclusion to the internationally bestselling Nevernight Chronicle from New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff.

    The greatest games in Godsgrave’s history have ended with the most audacious murders in the history of the Itreyan Republic.

    Mia Corvere, gladiatii, escaped slave and infamous assassin, is on the run. Pursued by Blades of the Red Church and soldiers of the Luminatii legion, she may never escape the City of Bridges and Bones alive. Her mentor Mercurio is now in the clutches of her enemies. Her own family wishes her dead. And her nemesis, Consul Julius Scaeva, stands but a breath from total dominance over the Republic.

    But beneath the city, a dark secret awaits. Together with her lover Ashlinn, brother Jonnen and a mysterious benefactor returned from beyond the veil of death, she must undertake a perilous journey across the Republic, seeking the final answer to the riddle of her life. Truedark approaches. Night is falling on the Republic for perhaps the final time.

    Can Mia survive in a world where even daylight must die?

    New York Times and internationally bestselling author Jay Kristoff’s writing has been praised by critics and readers alike and has won many awards, including four Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, and David Gemmell Morningstar and Legend awards.

    View this title on BNC CataList
  7. Vendetta in Death
    by J. D. Robb
    St. Martin's Press
    Sep 03, 2019
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
    Hardback
    Vendetta in Death
    by J. D. Robb
    St. Martin's Press
    Sep 03, 2019
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
    Hardback

    Lieutenant Eve Dallas must keep the predator from becoming the prey in Vendetta in Death, the newest thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author J.D. Robb.

    She calls herself Lady Justice. And once she has chosen a man as her target, she turns herself into a tall blonde or a curvaceous redhead, makes herself as alluring and seductive as possible to them. Once they are in her grasp, they are powerless.

    The first victim is wealthy businessman Nigel McEnroy. His company’s human resources department has already paid out settlements to a couple of his young victims—but they don’t know that his crimes go far beyond workplace harassment. Lady Justice knows. And in one shocking night of brutality, she makes him pay a much steeper price.

    Now Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, are combing through the evidence of McEnroy’s secret life. His compulsive need to record his misdeeds provides them with a wide range of suspects, but the true identity of Lady Justice remains elusive. It’s a challenging case, made even more difficult by McEnroy’s widow, who reacts to the investigation with fury, denial, and threats. Meanwhile, Lady Justice’s criminal crusade is escalating rapidly, and if Eve can’t stop this vigilante, there’s no telling how much blood may be spilled…

    View this title on BNC CataList
  8. The Ten Thousand Doors of January
    by Alix E. Harrow
    Redhook
    Sep 10, 2019
    FICTION / Fantasy / Historical
    Hardback
    The Ten Thousand Doors of January
    by Alix E. Harrow
    Redhook
    Sep 10, 2019
    FICTION / Fantasy / Historical
    Hardback
    "A gorgeous, aching love letter to stories, storytellers, and the doors they lead us through...absolutely enchanting."—Christina Henry, bestselling author of Alice and Lost Boys

    LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER! Finalist for the 2020 Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards.

    In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut.

    In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

    Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

    Lush and richly imagined, a tale of impossible journeys, unforgettable love, and the enduring power of stories await in Alix E. Harrow's spellbinding debut--step inside and discover its magic.

    Praise for The Ten Thousand Doors of January:

    "One for the favorites shelf... Here is a book to make you happy when you gently close it. Here you will find wonder and questions and an unceasingly gorgeous love of words which compasses even the shape a letter makes against a page."―NPR Books

    "Devastatingly good, a sharp, delicate nested tale of worlds within worlds, stories within stories, and the realm-cracking power of words."―Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author

    "A love letter to imagination, adventure, the written word, and the power of many kinds of love."―Kirkus

    For more from Alix E. Harrow, check out The Once and Future Witches.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  9. To the Lions
    by Holly Watt
    Dutton
    Sep 03, 2019
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    To the Lions
    by Holly Watt
    Dutton
    Sep 03, 2019
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback
    An international thriller featuring a female journalist who stumbles upon a dark conspiracy, and her determination to follow the clues, no matter how far that takes her.

    Casey Benedict, star reporter at the Post, has infiltrated the lives and exposed the lies of countless politicians and power players. Using her network of contacts, and her ability to slip into whatever identity suits the situation, Casey is always on the search for the next big story, no matter how much danger this might place her in, or what the cost might be, emotionally.

    Tipped off by an overheard conversation at an exclusive London nightclub, she begins to investigate the apparent suicide of a wealthy young British man whose death has left his fiancée and family devastated. The young man's death, however, is only the tipping point of a much more sinister and dangerous scandal involving the world's most powerful leaders and magnates—men who are gathering in northern Africa for an extreme and secret hunt. With fellow reporter Miranda and combat veteran Ed by her side, Casey's determined hunt for the truth will take her from the glitz of St. Tropez to the deserts of Libya and on to the very darkest corners of the human mind.
    View this title on BNC CataList
  10. Good Time Party Girl
    by Helen Cromwell
    Feral House
    Sep 13, 2019
    BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women
    Paperback / softback
    Good Time Party Girl
    by Helen Cromwell
    Feral House
    Sep 13, 2019
    BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women
    Paperback / softback
    This long-lost autobiography of a woman who lived life with no regrets from the 1880’s to the 1960’s offers a rare look into the colorful criminal underworld from New York to San Francisco and every whorehouse, tavern, and mining camp in between. Dirty Helen, with the self-assurance of a defrocked debutante, takes you through her life and adventures. Demure, sweet, and wild teenage Helen flees from small-town Indiana to Cincinnati with her first of six husbands. She soon realizesthat the traditional role of wife and mother isn’t for her. She meets cunning millionaires, bank robbers, detectives, and gangsters as she hustles her way through life. Her friends were everyone else’s enemies- Al Capone, Big Jim Colosimo, and Johnny Torrio all spend time with Helen as she bounces from adventure to adventure. It’s the true-life story of a woman who never said “No” and carved out an independent life that transgressed every societal boundary. Her life is a rarely seen look into the reality of a working-class woman who chose sex-work as a path to the good life.
    View this title on BNC CataList

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