December's Recommended Reads
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
by Anissa Gray
Althea, the eldest sister and substitute matriarch, is a force to be reckoned with and her younger sisters have alternately appreciated and chafed at her strong will. They are as stunned as the rest of the small community when she and her husband, Proctor, are arrested, and in a heartbeat the family goes from one of the most respected in town to utter disgrace. The worst part is, not even her sisters are sure exactly what happened.
Word to the Wise
by Jenn McKinlay
Lindsey Norris is finally getting married to the man of her dreams—but it’s not all roses for Briar Creek’s beloved library director, as town newcomer Aaron Grady gives the term “book lover” a whole new meaning. Inappropriate looks and unwelcome late-night visits to Lindsey’s house have everyone from the crafternooners to Lindsey’s fiancé, Sully, on edge.

When Grady’s dead body is found staged outside the library and all the clues point to Sully, Lindsey knows it’s up to her to dig through the hidden chapters of Grady’s previous life to find the real culprit.
How to Stop Time
by Matt Haig
Tom Hazard has just moved back to London, his old home, to settle down and become a high school history teacher. And on his first day at school, he meets a captivating French teacher at his school who seems fascinated by him. But Tom has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries.

Unfortunately for Tom, the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love.
Hollow Kingdom
by Kira Jane Buxton
S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle’s wild crows, and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer.

But when Big Jim’s eyeball falls out of his head, S.T. starts to think something’s not quite right. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world.

Humanity’s extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a cowardly crow.
Grand Union
by Zadie Smith
A dazzling collection of short fiction

In her first short story collection, Zadie Smith combines her power of observation and her inimitable voice to mine the fraught and complex experience of life in the modern world.

Interleaving eleven completely new and unpublished stories with some of her best-loved pieces from  The   New Yorker  and elsewhere, Smith presents a dazzlingly rich and varied collection of fiction.