We have recently added several new books to our Popular Reading collection, located at the front of the Library. Here are just a few of these exciting new titles! Stop by and browse today!
Did you know?
-MGCC faculty, staff, and students can check out books without a library card!
-You can visit the MGCC Library Guide to access our catalog (and so many other incredible resources). New books scroll along the bottom of the page; clicking on a title will take you to the catalog, where you can see if the book is available for checkout.
The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown:
Accompanying celebrated academic, Katherine
Solomon, to a lecture she’s been invited to give in Prague, Robert
Langdon’s world spirals out of control when she disappears without trace
from their hotel room. Far from home and well out of his comfort zone,
Langdon must pit his wits against forces unknown to recover the woman he
loves.
But Prague is an old and dangerous city, steeped in
folklore and mystery. For over two thousand years, the tides of history
have washed back and forth over it, leaving behind echoes of everything
that has gone before. Little can Langdon know that he is being stalked
by a spectre from that dark past. He must use all of his arcane
knowledge to decipher the world around him before he too is consumed by
the rings of treachery and deception that have swallowed Katherine.
Against
a backdrop of vast castles, towering churches, graveyards buried twelve
deep and labyrinthine underground passages, Langdon must navigate a
shadow city hiding in plain sight, a city which has successfully kept
its secrets for centuries and will not readily deliver them. This is a
battlefield unlike any he has previously experienced, one on which he
must fight not for his only life, but for the future of humanity itself.
The Secret of Secrets
is Dan Brown’s first novel for over eight years and sees the
stunning return of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, this time pitting
his wits against a conspiracy which will test even his considerable
brainpower and take him to the edge of losing all that he holds dear…
Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic:
From “brainrot” memes and incel slang to the
trend of adding “-core” to different influencer aesthetics, the internet
has ushered in an unprecedented linguistic upheaval. We’re entering an
entirely new era of etymology, heralded by the invisible forces driving
social media algorithms. Thankfully, Algospeak is here to
explain. As a professional linguist, Adam Aleksic understands the
gravity of language and the way we use it: he knows the ways it has
morphed and changed, how it reflects society, and how, in its everyday
usage, we carry centuries of human history on our tongues. As a social
media influencer, Aleksic is also intimately familiar with the
internet’s reach and how social media impacts the way we engage with one
another. New slang emerges and goes viral overnight. Accents are shaped
or erased on YouTube. Grammatical rules, loopholes, and patterns
surface and transform language as we know it. Our interactions, social
norms, and habits—both online and in person—shift into something
completely different.
As Aleksic uses original surveys, data, and
internet archival research to usher us through this new linguistic
landscape, he also illuminates how communication is changing in both
familiar and unexpected ways. From our use of emojis to sentence
structure to the ways younger generations talk about sex and death (see
unalive in English and desvivirse in Spanish), we are in a brand-new world, one shaped by algorithms and technology. Algospeak is an energetic, astonishing journey into language, the internet, and what this intersection means for all of us.
Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez:
There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes.
That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods
can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course,
there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong…
.
. . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one
incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living
history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in
crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs
Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect
moment, as crushing as that may be.
Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy:
A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.
Dominic
Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island
not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank,
Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the
Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the
island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
Isolation
has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan,
back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they
need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a
future where she could belong to someone again.
But Rowan isn’t
telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when
she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes
Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather
force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to
protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late―and if
they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create
something new, together.
A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying
beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible
choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around
us disappears.
Never Flinch by Stephen King:
When the Buckeye City Police Department receives
a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen
innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death
of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think.
Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of
retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter
writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for
help.
Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights
activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing
packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently
opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and
disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is
growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging
task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by
wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.
Featuring a
riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous
gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to
murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular
conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.
Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.
The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez:
Manhattan, 1870. Rua knows only two
things: her name, and that she has no memories. So when the wealthy
Harrington family mistakes Rua for their missing daughter, Emma, Rua
goes along with the charade, hoping for answers about who she really is.
As she tries to blend into a society she doesn’t remember, she’s drawn
to a firmly off-limits the Lord of Donore, a newcomer to Manhattan
society who is somehow familiar to Rua.
Finn is new to
this side of the Atlantic and knows that the best way to fit in as Lord
of Donore is to make friends in high places and play by the rules of
society. He knows he shouldn’t become involved with a mysterious,
recently missing debutante, but he’s intrigued by Emma Harrington, and
Finn has an uncanny feeling that this isn’t the first time they’ve met.
With
societal pressures mounting on both sides, Rua is determined to
discover the truth about the missing Harrington daughter and her own
past. But when her memories begin to return, they’re of a world far
stranger than New York and traced in dark magic.
As ancient
secrets unfurl in Rua’s memory, Rua and Finn are forced to uncover the
mystery of their past and try to save their future. In this gritty and
glittering romantasy, nothing and no one is as they seem.
Are You Mad at Me?: How to Stop Focusing on What Others Think and Start Living for You by Meg Josephson:
Are you...
- Constantly worried about what people think of you, if they like you, if they’re mad at you?
- Anxious, a perfectionist, or an overachiever?
- Always overextending yourself (and then resentful)?
- Someone who avoids conflict at all costs?
- Fearful of getting into trouble or being seen as “bad”?
- Silencing your needs for the comfort and happiness of everyone else?
- Prone to overexplain or over apologize?
- Eternally obsessing over why someone texted with a period instead of an exclamation point?
Psychotherapist
Meg Josephson is here to show you that people-pleasing is not a
personality trait. It’s a common survival mechanism known as “fawning”:
an instinct often learned in childhood to become more appealing to a
perceived threat in order to feel safe. Yet many people are stuck in
this way of being for their whole lives. Are You Mad at Me? weaves Josephson’s own moving story with that of fascinating client stories and thought-provoking exercises to show you how to:
-
Identify all the roles you might play—from peacekeeper to performer to
caretaker to lone wolf to perfectionist to chameleon—that keep you far
from yourself.
- Stop fearing your thoughts and emotions, even if they’re unpleasant.
- Rethink conflict and boundaries as an opening for deeper connection.
- Practice “leaning back” in relationships.
-
Recognize when people-pleasing is actually necessary (with your chaotic
boss) and when it’s not (with your close friends) and stop
self-loathing when you slip into old patterns.
- Shift away from the
familiar chaos, anxiety, and resentment you’re used to as you move
closer to yourself and a life that no longer depletes you—but brings you joy.
A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall:
A whirlwind romance.
When Theodora
Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton
family—she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought
her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his
skeptical relatives.
Stay away from Connor Dalton.
Theo
has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she
can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the
strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a
disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a
child. A photo taken at Idlewood.
I’ve been here before.
Theo
has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to
piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a
shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is
in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering
what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.
Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild:
Honor seems to have everything. She adores her
daughter Chloe and her husband Tom (even if he does work one hundred
hours a week). But her longing for another baby threatens to eclipse all
of it―until a shocking event changes their lives forever.
Years
later Tom makes a decision that ripples through their families' lives in
ways he could not have foreseen. As the consequences of that fateful
choice unfold, two women's paths become irrevocably intertwined. But
when old love clashes with new, who will be left standing? And what
happens when your secrets come back to haunt you?
These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Ma:
When I was a boy, my mother used to tell me stories of a world before memories could be shared between strangers…
Decades
from now, the world is run by an authoritarian state called Qin. In
Qin, every citizen is fitted with a Mindbank, an intracranial device
capable of not only recording but transferring memories between minds.
The technology gives birth to a new economy, referred to as Memory
Capitalism, where anyone with means can relive the life experiences of
others. It also unleashes opportunities for manipulation—memories can be
edited, marketed, and even corrupted for personal gain.
When a
man inherits his deceased mother’s Mindbank—a collection of memories
from before, during, and after the global war that landed Qin atop the
international food chain—he’s unsure what he’ll find inside, or whether
the Party has gotten to her memories first, altering the experiences
she left for him. Either way, he is adamant that he must share them with
the world before they are destroyed forever, even if the cost of doing
so is his own life.
Powerful and provocative, These Memories Do Not Belong to Us is
a kaleidoscopic look into the ways in which governments and media
manipulate history and control our collective imagination. It encourages
us to see beyond the sheen of convenient truths to unearth real stories
of struggle, sacrifice, and love that, despite all odds, refuse to be
eradicated.
Book images and descriptions from Goodreads.com.