Beat the Heat: Cool Picks for #HeatWave2021

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah Historical Fiction Alaska, 1974. Ernt Allbright came home from the Vietnam War a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes the impulsive decision to move his wife and daughter north where they will live off the grid in America's last true frontier. Cora will do anything for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown. Thirteen-year-old Leni, caught in the riptide of her parents' passionate, stormy relationship, has little choice but to go along, daring to hope this new land promises her family a better future. In a wild, remote corner of Alaska, the Allbrights find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the newcomers' lack of preparation and dwindling resources. But as winter approaches and darkness descends, Ernt's fragile mental state deteriorates. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. Check it out:

• Physical copy from RPL: regular print, large print, or CD audiobook
• Digital copy from Hoopla: audiobook
• Digital copy from Libby/Overdrive: ebook or audiobook

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher Contemporary Fiction Elfrida Phipps, once of London's stage, moved to the English village of Dibton in hopes of making a new life for herself. Gradually she settled into the comfortable familiarity of village life-shopkeepers knowing her tastes, neighbors calling her by name-still she finds herself lonely. Oscar Blundell gave up his life as a musician in order to marry Gloria. They have a beautiful daughter, Francesca, and it is only because of their little girl that Oscar views his sacrificed career as worthwhile. Carrie returns from Australia at the end of an ill-fated affair with a married man to find her mother and aunt sharing a home and squabbling endlessly. With Christmas approaching, Carrie agrees to look after her aunt's awkward and quiet teenage daughter, Lucy, so that her mother might enjoy a romantic fling in America. Sam Howard is trying to pull his life back together after his wife has left him for another. He is without home and without roots, all he has is his job. Business takes him to northern Scotland, where he falls in love with the lush, craggy landscape and set his sights on a house. It is the strange rippling effects of a tragedy that will bring these five characters together in a large, neglected estate house near the Scottish fishing town of Creagan. Check it out:

• Digital copy from Libby/Overdrive: audiobook
• Digital copy from Hoopla: audiobook

Manitou Canyon (Cork O'Connor #15) by William Kent Krueger Thriller/Suspense In the extraordinary new Cork O'Connor thriller from New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author William Kent Krueger, the lives of hundreds of innocent people are at stake when Cork vanishes just days before his daughter's wedding. Since the violent deaths of his wife, father, and best friend all occurred in previous Novembers, Cork O'Connor has always considered it to be the cruelest of months. Yet, his daughter has chosen this dismal time of year in which to marry, and Cork is understandably uneasy. His concern comes to a head when a man camping in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness goes missing. As the official search ends with no recovery in sight, Cork is asked by the man's family to stay on the case. Although the wedding is fast approaching and the weather looks threatening, he accepts and returns to that vast wilderness on his own. As the sky darkens and the days pass, Cork's family anxiously awaits his return. Finally certain that something has gone terribly wrong, they fly by floatplane to the lake where the missing man was last seen. Locating Cork's campsite, they find no sign of their father. They do find blood, however. A lot of it. With an early winter storm on the horizon, it's a race against time as Cork's family struggles to uncover the mystery behind these disappearances. Little do they know, not only is Cork's life on the line but so are the lives of hundreds of others. A taut, suspenseful thriller, Manitou Canyon features everything readers love in a Cork O'Connor novel: a dramatic Northwoods setting, an intriguing view of the Objibwe culture, an enigmatic crime, masterful storytelling, and more than a few surprises. Check it out:

• Physical copy from RPL: regular print
• Digital copy from Hoopla: audiobook
• Digital copy from Libby/Overdrive: ebook

1. Iron Lake (1998)
2. Boundary Waters (1999)
3. Purgatory Ridge (2001)
4. Blood Hollow (2004)
5. Mercy Falls (2005)
6. Copper River (2006)
7. Thunder Bay (2007)
8. Red Knife (2008)
9. Heaven's Keep (2009)
10. Vermilion Drift (2010)
11. Northwest Angle (2011)
12. Trickster's Point (2012)
13. Tamarack County (2013)
14. Windigo Island (2014)
15. Manitou Canyon (2016)
16. Sulfur Springs (2017)
17. Desolation Mountain (2018)
18. Lightning Strike (2021)

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende Literary Fiction During the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his sixties, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, and what at first seems an inconvenience takes a more serious turn when Evelyn comes to his house, seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz, a fellow academic from Chile, for her advice. As these three lives intertwine, each will discover truths about how they have been shaped by the tragedies they witnessed, and Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long overdue love. Allende returns here to themes that have propelled some of her finest work: political injustice, the art of survival, and the essential nature of—and our need for—love. Check it out:

• Physical copy from RPL: regular print, large print
• Digital copy from Libby/Overdrive: ebook, audiobook

Early Riser by Jasper Fforde Science Fiction Every Winter, the human population hibernates. During those bitterly cold four months, the nation is a snow-draped landscape of desolate loneliness, devoid of human activity. Well, not quite. Your name is Charlie Worthing and it's your first season with the Winter Consuls, the committed but mildly unhinged group of misfits who are responsible for ensuring the hibernatory safe passage of the sleeping masses. You are investigating an outbreak of viral dreams which you dismiss as nonsense; nothing more than a quirky artefact born of the sleeping mind. When the dreams start to kill people, it's unsettling. When you get the dreams too, it's weird. When they start to come true, you begin to doubt your sanity. But teasing truth from the Winter is never easy: You have to avoid the Villains and their penchant for murder, kidnapping and stamp collecting; ensure you aren't eaten by Nightwalkers, whose thirst for human flesh can only be satisfied by comfort food; and sidestep the increasingly less-than-mythical WinterVolk. But so long as you remember to wrap up warmly, you'll be fine. Check it out:

• Physical copy from RPL: regular print, large print
• Digital copy from Libby/Overdrive: ebook

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan Literary Fiction Perched in the far corner of a run-down New England mall, the Red Lobster hasn't been making its numbers and headquarters has pulled the plug. But manager Manny DeLeon still needs to navigate a tricky last shift—just four days before Christmas and in the midst of a fierce blizzard—with a near-mutinous staff and the final onslaught of hungry retirees, lunatics, and holiday office parties. All the while, he's wondering how to handle the waitress he's still in love with, his pregnant girlfriend, and where to find the present that will make everything better. Check it out:

• Physical copy from RPL: regular print
• Digital copy from Hoopla: audiobook
• Digital copy from Libby/Overdrive: ebook