Open Books 2024: Books with an Urban Setting

Updated December 29, 2023
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Midnight riot
Aaronovitch, Ben
Paper Book
"Midnight Riot is what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz. It is a hilarious, keenly imagined caper."--Diana Gabaldon  Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London's Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to...
Queer city : gay London from the Romans to the present day
Ackroyd, Peter
Paper Book
*** A Sunday Times Bestseller *** In Queer City Peter Ackroyd looks at London in a whole new way - through the history and experiences of its gay population. In Roman Londinium the city was dotted with lupanaria ('wolf dens' or public pleasure...
Turn right at Machu Picchu : rediscovering the lost city one step at a time
Adams, Mark
Paper Book
Mark Adams has spent his career editing adventure and travel magazines, polishing hair-raising tales about the exploits of famous explorers. So his plan to investigate the allegations against Bingham by retracing the explorer's perilous path to Machu Picchu isn't completely far-fetched, even if it...
Rome : eternal city
Addis, Ferdinand
Paper Book
The sweeping story of the city of Rome, told through twenty-two moments that shaped its history. ***A Times History Book of the Year*** 'Vivid, pacey... Superb' The Times. 'Grand narrative underpinned by serious reading' Guardian. 'Confident, elegant......
Shrines of gaiety : a novel
Atkinson, Kate
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The award-winning author of Life after Life transports us to a restless London in the wake of the Great War--a city bursting with money, glamour, and corruption--in this spellbinding tale of seduction and betrayal. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR:...
The diviners
Bray, Libba.
Paper Book
A young woman discovers her mysterious powers could help catch a killer in the first book of The Diviners series--a stunning supernatural historical mystery set in 1920s New York City, from Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray. Evangeline O...
The city of brass
Chakraborty, S. A.
Paper Book
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Library Journal | Vulture | The Verge | SYFYWire Step into The City of Brass, the spellbinding debut from S. A. Chakraborty, an imaginative alchemy of The Golem and the Jinni, The Grace of Kings,...
Evicted : poverty and profit in the American city
Desmond, Matthew
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE * ONE OF TIME'S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE * ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY One of the most acclaimed books of our time, this modern classic "has set a...
The great Gatsby
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Paper Book
The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald's family and from his lifelong publisher. This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author's own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book...
City of girls
Gilbert, Elizabeth
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and The Signature of All Things, a delicious novel of glamour, sex, and adventure, about a young woman discovering that you don't have to be a good...
The Vanderbeekers and the hidden garden
Glaser, Karina Yan
Paper Book
Return to Harlem's "wildly entertaining" family in this funny, heartwarming sequel. When catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbors, the Vanderbeeker children set out to build the best, most magical healing garden in Harlem--in spite of a locked fence, thistles and trash, and the...
The Maltese falcon
Holmes, Karen
Paper Book
Pearson English Active Readers present stories carefully written and graded across five levels for teachers of English who want to activate their students' language through reading, .   From original stories, classic and contemporary fiction, to film adaptations...
The city we became
Jemisin, N. K.
Paper Book
An instant NYT Bestseller! Four-time Hugo Award-winning author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, the first book in The Great Cities Duology, a crackling tale of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New...
Palaces for the people : how to build a more equal and united society
Klinenberg, Eric
Paper Book
How can we bring people together? In Palaces for the People Professor Eric Klinenberg presents a simple but transformative idea for health, happiness, safety and healing our divided, unequal society. Too often we take for granted and neglect our libraries, parks, markets, schools...
From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Konigsburg, E. L
Paper Book
A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with E. L. Konigsburg's beloved classic and Newbery Medal­-winning novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler! When Claudia decided to run away, she...
Last stop on Market Street
de la Pen?a, Matt
Paper Book
On Sundays, CJ and his nana ride the bus across town to their stop on Market Street. But today, CJ's not happy about it. Today, he's wondering out loud why they have to wait in the rain and why they don't have a car like his other friends. But it's Nana who opens young CJ's eyes and shows him the...
The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America
Larson, Erik.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death. Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an...
Sidewalk flowers
Lawson, JonArno
Paper Book
Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Illustrated Book A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year In this wordless picture book, a little girl collects wildflowers while her distracted father pays her little attention. Each flower becomes...
Brooklyn crime novel
Lethem, Jonathan
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of the Year by: Boston Globe * New Yorker * NPR * PopMatters From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn comes a sweeping story of community, crime, and gentrification, tracing more than fifty years...
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
McBride, James
Paper Book
In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the...
Make way for ducklings
McCloskey, Robert
Paper Book
Mrs. Mallard was sure that the pond in the Boston Public Gardens would be a perfect place for her and her eight ducklings to live.  The problem was how to get them there through the busy streets of Boston.  But with a little help from the Boston police, Mrs. Mallard and Jack, Kack, Lack,...
One last stop
McQuiston, Casey
Paper Book
*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* *INSTANT USA TODAY BESTSELLER* *INSTANT #1 INDIE BESTSELLER* From the New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue comes a new romantic comedy that will stop readers in their tracks... ...
Act cool
McSmith, Tobly
Ebook
*Named a Rainbow Book List Title and one of Bank Street Children's Best Books of the Year* A trans teen walks the fine line between doing whatever it takes for his acting dream and staying true to himself in this moving, thought-provoking YA novel from the acclaimed author of Stay...
Isla and the happily ever after
Perkins, Stephanie.
Paper Book
"Stephanie Perkins's characters fall in love the way we all want to, in real time and for good." --Rainbow Rowell, Award-winning, bestselling author of Eleanor & Park and Fangirl A New York Times Bestseller  Love ignites in the City That...
Ghost
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
A National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this...
Paris : the novel
Rutherfurd, Edward.
Paper Book
From the grand master of the historical novel comes a dazzling, epic portrait of the City of Light Internationally bestselling author Edward Rutherfurd has enchanted millions of readers with his sweeping, multigenerational dramas that illuminate the great achievements and...
A darker shade of magic
Schwab, Victoria
Paper Book
A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab Kell is one of the last Antari--magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was...
The Joy Luck Club
Tan, Amy.
Paper Book
"The Joy Luck Club is one of my favorite books. From the moment I first started reading it, I knew it was going to be incredible. For me, it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime reading experiences that you cherish forever. It inspired me as a writer and still remains hugely inspirational."...
Fear and loathing in Las Vegas : a savage journey to the heart of the American dream
Thompson, Hunter S
Paper Book
50th Anniversary Edition * With an introduction by Caity Weaver, acclaimed New York Times journalist This cult classic of gonzo journalism is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page.  It is...
Ambergris
VanderMeer, Jeff
Paper Book
From the author of Borne and Annihilation comes the one-volume hardcover reissue of his cult classic Ambergris Trilogy. More than twenty years ago, Jeff VanderMeer first introduced the world to the fictional city of Ambergris, a beautiful and sinister sprawling...
Knuffle Bunny : a cautionary tale
Willems, Mo.
Paper Book
Mo Willems, #1 New York Times best-selling creator and three-time Caldecott Honoree, presents a brilliantly true-to-life tale about what happens when Daddy's in charge and things go terribly, hilariously wrong. Trixie, Daddy, and Knuffle Bunny take a trip to the...

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