Shelfology Book Pairing

A Novel

by Sally Rooney

LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE: A wondrously wise, genuinely unputdownable new novel from Sally Rooney, winner of the 2017 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award (at 26, tied with Zadie Smith for the youngest-ever recipient)--the quintessential coming-of-age love story for our time. Connell Waldron is one of the most popular boys in his small-town high school--he is a star of the football team, an excellent student, and never wanting for attention from girls. The one thing he doesn't have is money. Marianne Sheridan, a classmate of Connell's, has the opposite problem. Marianne is plain-looking, odd, and stubborn, and while her family is well-off, she has no friends to speak of. There is, however, a deep and undeniable connection between the two teenagers, one that develops into a secret relationship. Everything changes when both Connell and Marianne are accepted to Trinity College. Suddenly Marianne is well-liked and elegant, holding court with her intellectual friends while Connell hangs at the sidelines, not quite as fluent in language of the elite. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle each other, falling in and out of romance but never straying far from where they started. And as Marianne experiments with an increasingly dangerous string of boyfriends, Connell must decide how far he is willing to go to save his oldest friend. Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a novel that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the inescapable challenges of family and friendships. Normal People is a book that you will read in one sitting, and then immediately share with your friends.

TikTok Made Me Buy It! a Pitch Black Thriller about a Patriarchal Cult, Based on a True Story

by Ashley Winstead

'Will haunt your dreams and change the way you view the world.' JULIE CLARK 'Deliciously unputdownable.' WASHINGTON POST A secret cult. An unsolved murder. How far would you go to discover the truth? While at college in upstate New York, Shay Evans and her friends met a man who seduced them with lies about the world and brought them under his thrall. By senior year, Shay and her friend Laurel were the only ones who managed to escape. Eight years later, Shay has built a new life. But when she hears the horrifying news of Laurel's death, she realises the past she thought she buried is still very much alive. Shay goes back to the place to which she vowed never to return. As she follows the threads of Laurel's life, she's pulled once again into a dark, seductive world, where wealth and privilege shield brutal philosophies that feel all too familiar. And this time, there may be no turning back... 'I barely breathed through most of this engrossing story, so consider yourself warned.' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'A truly terrifying novel.' COSMOPOLITAN 'A stunning, disturbing thriller that will have your mind and heart racing... Had me gasping for air.' SAMANTHA DOWNING