Staff Picks: Audition by Katie Kitamura

Audition by Katie Kitamura

Fiction for Adults

In the opening scene of Audition, an actress meets a younger man for lunch in a trendy Manhattan restaurant and worries that their fellow diners will misconstrue their relationship. But what exactly is their relationship? And why is she so alarmed to see her husband enter the restaurant? 

An unwritten scene in the center of the novel alters the story’s direction and dynamics and redefines the relationship between the characters, essentially breaking the fourth wall of novel format. The effect is unique and disorienting. 

Audition explores the fluidity of human connection, family relationships, and power dynamics while blurring the line between reality and art. Fans of metafiction will love this trippy read that invites reflection and speculation.   

Quilting at Cumming Library

The Cumming Library has had the pleasure of displaying the “Bookshelf Quilt” completed by the members of the Piecemakers Quilt Guild, a representation of their 40 years of quilting together. The guild’s purpose is to promote and perpetuate the art of quilting in the community. The quilt went up in mid-August and will remain up through the end of September. 

Post Road Library Announces Halloween Costume Swap

Halloween is coming! Post Road Library wants your gently used costumes for their first ever Halloween Costume Swap.

Staff Picks Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart

 Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart

One of my favorite recent reads describes a modern dystopia through the eyes of a young girl of Jewish and Korean descent. 

Intelligent and curious, ten-year-old Vera Bradford-Shmulkin’s observations about her father and stepmother raise concerns about her own family's stability and the state of the America in a post-democratic world. Struggling to form lasting friendships while striving for academic success, Vera questions what she's been told about her absent birth mother and forms a plan to locate her. 

Vera, or Faith is witty, insightful and equal parts charming and terrifying in its vision of a radically altered United States. 

Unreadable: Podcast Transcript - September 2025

In this episode, Ross talks with William Kent Krueger about his Cork O'Connor series, including a sneak peak of the next book in the series, God's Country. Krueger discusses his use of a small town setting, spirituality, and a dynamic protagonist to keep his long-running series compelling to readers.

Krueger will be visiting the Sharon Forks Library on October 9 and October 10. Please check our Events Calendar for registration details.

Adult Fiction Staff Picks: The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Jean Hanff Korelitz takes her time developing this complex family drama, beginning before Salo and Johanna, the parents of her main characters, have even met and shifting back and forth in time to explain the dynamics between Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally, triplets born in the early days of IVF. 

A childhood of togetherness leads the three siblings to try to go their own separate ways as teenagers despite the many entanglements that bind them. Struggling to maintain a happy facade after Salo’s infidelity, Johanna Oppenheimer arranges for a surrogate to deliver her fourth child from her remaining frozen embryo, then desperately tries to convince her children to bond with their sister Phoebe, the latecomer, and their biological quadruplet.

The Latecomer is a mesmerizing story that details the ways resentments build, secrets compound, lies unravel, and rifts grow and heal. The novel sets the stage for a dramatic confrontation and delivers it. But that’s by no means the end of the story in this modern family drama.   

At over sixteen hours, the audio version of the The Latecomer  is a great distraction on a long car ride for fans of richly detailed stories that show characters dealing with problems with no easy solutions. 

Jean Hanf Koreliz is the bestselling author of two of my favorite psychological suspense novels, the 2021 The Plot and its 2024 follow-up The Sequel. While it was hard to put down the more fast paced, plot-based psychological suspense novels The Plot and The Sequel, I can tell that the characters in The Latecomer, and their messy, relatable real-world issues will remain with me for much longer. 

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist

PoeFest at the Sharon Forks Library

Once upon a sunny morning, while we waited for autumn's glow,

The Sharon Forks Library brought us great lore.

They announced a fall program series in honor of Edgar Allan Poe,

For writers, poets, horror fanatics, and more,

Featuring publishing tips, a poetry slam, and frights galore!

So answer the tapping, tapping; open the chamber door.

If you've been missing all-things scary like me, then we have a program series for you! For the entire month of October, the Sharon Forks Library will be celebrating PoeFest in honor of the king of horror, Edgar Allan Poe. 

Don't Get Ripped Off: How to Publish Your Book, presented by BookLogix

Thursday, October 2 | 6:30 p.m.

Want to publish your book but don't know where to get started? Come and learn the basics with BookLogix!

Writers' Night of Fright

Thursday, October 16 | 7:00 p.m.

*Registration is required

Love writing and/or listening to spooky tales? Join us for a night of fright - and don't forget to dress in your best gothic attire.

Staff Picks A Line Can Go Anywhere: The Brilliant, Resilient, Life of Artist Ruth Asawa by Caroline McAlister

These illustrated books can teach young readers about Japanese internment and its impact on those who were detained. 

A Line Can Go Anywhere: The Brilliant, Resilient Life of Artist Ruth Asawa by Caroline McAlister; Illustrated by Jamie Green

A Line Can Go Anywhere is a picture book about American artist Ruth Asawa who is best known for her enchanting sculptures. Ruth Asawa used curved lines to craft unique art pieces inspired by natural elements, like bean stalks, tumbleweeds, and the outline of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountain range. Ruth Asawa also incorporated man-made shapes in her pieces, patterning curved lines to resemble wire egg baskets she noticed in Mexico and the barbed wire fencing that was used around the Japanese relocation center where her family and other immigrants were detained during World War II.  

Today, Ruth Asawa's work can be viewed in museums around the world and in public art scupltures and fountains in New York and San Francisco. One of her first pieces, a fountain in San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square, is now an important California landmark

Meet Payton—FCPL's Latest Library Limelight!

Our latest FCPL staff rockstar in the Library Limelight is Valdosta-born Payton Jenson! As a former Collection Support Aide (CSA) at Hampton Park Library, she had the unique task of checking in every book by hand, and enjoyed serving as the “first line of defense when finding damaged items.” While it may seem meticulous to others, she finds genuine joy in being hands-on with the materials, and feels like she is able to gather a deep understanding of what our patrons enjoy reading. Payton greatly valued her experience at Hampton Park Library, and is excited to have recently joined the Outreach Department as the team’s first ever Outreach Collection Support Aide (OCSA)!