The After Party by Anton DiSclafani

It's 1957 in Houston, Texas where the days are long, hot, and  money is to be made in the Texan oil fields. While the men are off working in the oilfields or for large oil companies, the women live a high society kind of life focused on debutante balls, garden club meetings, beautiful dresses, and perfectly decorated homes. Living this lavish lifestyle are two best friends Joan and Cece. Joan has always been beautiful and sought after and Cece has always tried to stay out of the limelight, while acting as Joan's protector. When Joan's life begins to spiral out of control shrouded in secrets, Cece is the one left trying to put the pieces back together, even if it risks losing her marriage.

The After Party is a beautifully written photograph of the late 1950s, showcasing secrets, female friendship, love, and sexuality.

Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between) by Lauren Graham

Perhaps best known as Lorelai Gilmore from the beloved TV show Gilmore Girls, Lauren Graham has put together a collection of essays revealing stories about life, love, her successful career in showbusiness, and quite literally, everything in between. Talking As Fast As I Can starts with Lauren looking back on and sharing pictures from her childhood, her relationship with her parents, and starting out as an actress in small plays and shows. In her essays on life and love in showbusiness, Graham writes how difficult it is to be a female in a male dominated profession, shares what it's like falling in love with former Parenthood co-star Peter Krause, and just exactly how her made-up character Old Lady Jackson feels about the constantly connected world we all live in.

Perhaps most exciting of all in Graham's book are the two chapters she writes about what the Gilmore Girls meant to her. For avid Gilmore Girls fans, the chapter entitled "What It Was Like, Part One" features Graham sharing her thoughts about playing Lorelai, her fellow castmates, and life in Stars Hollow the first time around. In true Lorelai fashion, Graham spends the last chapter of her book fast-talking about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and how much it meant to be able to play her beloved Lorelai Gilmore one more time. And whether or not you're pleased with the last four words, take comfort in knowing that Graham continues thinking "that ending was really more of cliffhanger, right?"

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Ruth Jefferson is an extremely competent labor and delivery nurse, with over twenty years of experience, conducting a routine checkup on a newborn named Davis. Shortly after Davis' checkup, Ruth is told that she's no longer responsible for Davis' care. Davis' parents, Turk and Brittany Bauer, are white supremacists and are adamant that they no longer want Ruth, an African American, caring for their son. The hospital follows the parents wishes, and Ruth is no longer allowed to have contact with the patient. When newborn Davis goes into cardiac distress after a routine procedure, Ruth finds herself as the only nurse in the ward. Hesitating between following orders and following the nursing code of ethics, Ruth is reluctant to perform CPR on the baby. When young Davis dies, Ruth is the one charge with a serious crime.

Going to trial, Ruth is unable to afford a lawyer so white, middle-class, public defender Kennedy McQuarrie is assigned to her case. Kennedy insists that arguing this case based solely on racial discrimination is a sure fire way to earn Ruth a conviction. As the trial progresses, Ruth and Kennedy begin to see that they're more alike both in and out of the courtroom.

Jodi Picoult does not disappoint with her new novel Small Great Things tackling tough, current subjects like racism, racial profiling, and the justice system. Told in alternating viewpoints from the major characters, this new novel is definitely one you can't put down.

Paris For One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You, now a major motion picture, is back with a new book, but unlike her previous novels this one is a collection of short stories. The longest story is Paris For One, which features Nell, an analytical and practical girl trying to be more spontaneous. On a whim she plans a spur of the moment trip to Paris for her and her boyfriend. When said boyfriend doesn't meet Nell in Paris as planned, Nell is forced to find her hidden independent side, in the hopes that this getaway weekend doesn't turn out to be a complete letdown.

In true Jojo Moyes fashion, Paris For One and Other Stories is filled with a cast of relatable women in their ordinary lives. Funny and charming these eight short stories are sure to keep you turning the pages.

Blog Break

Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing by Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner, most well-known for her popular chick-lit novels like Good In Bed, In Her Shoes, and Who Do You Love, takes a big jump into the world of non-fiction in this hilarious collection of essays. With no holds barred she takes raw, personal stuff from her own life and offers the reader a glimpse into her world. Starting with her lonely childhood, Weiner writes of the desertion she grappled with when her father left her family and just exactly what if felt like to be the "Lane Bryant outtake in an Abercrombie & Fitch photo shoot." Moving from her childhood to adolescence to life as a twenty-something, Weiner writes about her first job as a journalist to publishing her first novel Good In Bed to having her book adapted for a movie. Along the way, Weiner candidly writes about life as a wife, mother, and writer.

With candor and humility, Weiner's Hungry Heart doesn't stray from topics like feminism, sex, marriage (and divorce), body image, her mother's recent lesbianism, and everything in between. With parts that are literally laugh out loud funny and others that are extremely touching, it's easy to see Weiner's personality shining through this book like it does in her works of fiction.

The Toughest Indian In the World by Sherman Alexie

When one reads realistic fiction, you expect to see the many areas of life with which we all wrestle: love, lust, anger, fear, sadness, joy and so on.  This is why reading books of short stories can be so rewarding.  I felt each of these emotions in turn as I read: Saint Junior describes the love between a man a wife and what that love means as time ticks by.  Assimilation tells about an American Indian woman (Coeur d’Alene) married to a white man who wants to have sex with an Indian man.  Any Indian man. Class gives the reader the story of an Indian man married to “the tenth most beautiful white woman in the room” and how he processes the resentment of her affairs and the loss of their child.  The entirety of Sin Eaters is filled with a terror that steadily creeps along your skin as you read about a future in which American Indians are captured and forced to reproduce.  Indian Country tells of a successful writer who discovers that his long-distance lover has eloped with another man and finds himself in the middle of a tense dinner with mostly strangers. South by Southwest is about a man who holds up an IHOP and takes a hostage, hoping to discover love.  The collection’s final story, One Good Man, ticked all of these boxes while continually asking the question: What is an Indian?

Sherman Alexie’s The Toughest Indian in the World is a book of stories written by a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene man who has spent his life thinking and writing about being an American Indian. It is a heartfelt look at life and the many types of people who inhabit it. Alexie is also the author of many other books of short stories including The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and the acclaimed Young Adult novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Check out some of his fiction at the library today.