Friday, April 25, 2025

This comedic novel follows the story of Haley McGee, who promises Visa that she will pay off her bill by having a yard sale. However, the only items she can sell are gifts from her ex-boyfriends.

The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale combines personal divulgences, mathematics, interviews with Haley’s ex-boyfriends, economics and the politics of commerce in a journey to determine what our romantic relationships are actually worth.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

This relationship-themed book tells the story of Frida Liu, who doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parents’ sacrifices. She also can’t convince her husband to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress.

Only with her daughter named Harriet, does Frida finally achieve the perfection expected of her.

Until Frida has a horrible day.

The government is watching mothers like Frida. The ones who check their phones, letting their children get injured on the playground or who let their children walk home alone.

Due to a single moment of poor judgment, state officials will now determine if Frida is a candidate for a Big Brother-like institution that measures the success or failure of a mother’s devotion.

Faced with the chance of losing Harriet, Frida must prove that a bad mother can be redeemed.

“It’s a beautifully written book but it’s also an interesting commentary on the demands that we put on mothers,” Guertin said.

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

From the author of A Little Life, Yanagihara’s latest novel spans three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia.

In another version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people can live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The young heir of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means.

In a 1993 Manhattan overwhelmed by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his older, richer partner, hiding his problematic childhood and the fate of his father.

Then in 2093, in a world split apart by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him—and uncover the mystery of her husband’s disappearances.

One Night on the Island by Josie Silver

This romantic novel follows the story of a single romance columnist, Cleo Wilder, who plans a solo retreat for her 30th birthday.

She travels to a remote Irish island to spend a week in a luxury cabin and indulge in some self-care while she figures out the next steps in her love life and her career.

Mack Sullivan is also looking forward to some time to himself. With his life in Boston deteriorating, his soul-searching has brought him to the same Irish island to explore his roots and find some clarity.

Unfortunately, the one-room cabin was double-booked for the same date.

Cleo and Mack don’t know how they’re going to manage until the next weekly ferry arrives. But as the days go by, they no longer seem to mind each other’s company quite as much as they thought they would.