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Kids & Family

Books to Check Out: A College of Magic and a Real-Life Con Man

Consider one of these great reads from the stacks at the Northbrook Public Library.

Are you looking for your next great book? Check out a few of the hidden gems located at the . Call 847-272-2958 or use the online catalog at www.northbrook.info to place a hold today.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy-Toole
By the standards of everyday people, the morbidly obsese Ignatius J Reilly is pretty much unhinged, but is he bothered by this? No. This misanthropic crusader against an America fallen into vice and ignorance continues to live his sad and strange existence in a near-future New Orleans. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel is now considered a comedic masterpiece, but unfortunately the author never lived to see its popularity. Satire

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Harboring secret preoccupations with a magical land he read about in a childhood fantasy series, Quentin Coldwater is unexpectedly admitted into an exclusive college of magic located in upstate New York and rigorously educated in modern sorcery. This book is often referred to as “Harry Potter for Adults,” and plays with the concept of traditional Fantasy tropes. A must-read of fans of post-modern, and literary fantasies. Fantasy

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Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano
This award-winning novel chronicles a strange journey that follows the steps of two Latin American poets, Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima, as they struggle to escape from an unknown past, in a novel that follows their odyssey as seen through the eyes of the people whose paths they cross in Central America, Europe, Israel, and West Africa. Latin American Fiction

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal

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The Vanity Fair contributing editor and author of Wildflower traces the 30-year con of Clark Rockefeller, a German-born immigrant who assumed numerous identities to charm his way into exclusive clubs and financial institutions before divorcing a Harvard graduate and kidnapping his own daughter. Nonfiction

The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
A teenage girl's disappearance has an indelible impact on the lives of neighborhood boys who throughout subsequent years become increasingly obsessed with rumors and suspicions, while her sister struggles with related emotional fallout. This haunting and skillfully crafted novel is perfect for fans of Jeffery Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides. Psychological Fiction

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