Here are few of my favorite recent reads. Library staff would be happy to help you place requests on these or any other titles. If you’d like to place your own request, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Catalog.

Memoir ghostwriter Olivia Dumont is close to financial ruin after a devastating public humiliation. When famed author (and Olivia’s estranged father) Vincent Taylor taps her to ghostwrite his final book, Olivia sees no other option than to accept the job. But Vincent isn’t writing another novel, he’s writing his memoir. And he wants to include what really happened June 13, 1975, when his older brother and younger sister were murdered in their family’s home. The Ghostwriter is a suspense novel with a heart; author Julie Clark explores the way generational trauma shapes a family.

Nora is the newly-minted wife of well-respected – and much older – Will. Will is an attorney in a very affluent Florida community, one that is extremely hesitant to welcome Nora into its moneyed and exclusive fold. The couple has been married less than a year when Will disappears suddenly after his luxurious birthday party, instantly making Nora a person of interest in his disappearance. She must figure out what happened to Will before ranks close against her completely. Happy Wife by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores is perfect for those looking for a quick, entertaining read.

Mad lives a quiet and steady life running a well-regarded organic farm with her mother. They started the farm when Mad’s father was around and built it into a success on their own after he disappeared suddenly when Mad was a child. He hasn’t been in touch since. Mad is stunned when a man visits their farm and claims that he is her older brother, Rube, and that they have two younger siblings; over his lifetime their father formed and abandoned at least four different families in different parts of the country. Rube invites Mad to go on a road trip with him to find their siblings, confront their father, and answer the question plaguing all the siblings: “Why did Dad leave us?” Run for the Hills author Kevin Wilson is skilled at creating entertaining premises with quirky characters and using them to explore deep emotions.

Whether you enjoy her music or can’t stand to see her at your football games (looking at you “dads, Brads, and Chads”), you can’t deny that Taylor Swift is a force. She dominates the Billboard charts for weeks on end, monopolizes the news any time she makes a move, and became a billionaire on her music alone – no brand endorsements needed. Kevin Evers of the Harvard Business Review explores the choices Swift has made throughout her career that have made her such an unstoppable force in the music industry and details how she created such a loyal fan base. There’s Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift is an interesting and accessible look at the business side of the music industry.

If you’d like to request these or any other titles, visit www.newulmlibrary.org and choose Library Catalog, or call the library at 507-359-8331. New Ulm Public Library is located at 17 North Broadway and is open from 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. on Monday-Thursday and 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Friday-Saturday.