Old Firehouse Books suggests entertaining and erudite new releases

Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Old Firehouse Books in Fort Collins recommends a novel set in Olympic figure skating, a cozy mystery, and essays on belonging.

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From the publisher: She might not have a famous name, funding, or her family’s support, but Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Clinging to skating—and each other—to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating the world with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and roller-coaster relationship.

Until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end. As the ten-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Rocha, claiming to uncover the “real story” through interviews with their closest friends and fiercest rivals. Sensational rumors have haunted their every step for years, but the truth may be even more shocking than the headlines.

From Teresa Steele, staff: Bound together with their love for ice dancing and leaving their bad home lives behind them, Katarina and Heath will do whatever it takes to make it. Their toxic love, sheer will & unique style will take the world by storm. Think “Wuthering Heights” set against the Olympics and a documentary that will expose the secrets behind Kat & Heath….I loved every minute of this book.

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From the publisher: Lou Thatcher is haunted by ghosts–friendly ghosts–but when she finds herself involved in a murder investigation, she’s in for the fright of a lifetime in this new cozy mystery, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Ellen Byron.

From Revati Kilaparti, staff: I guess I’ve entered my cozy mystery era! Ava Burke’s first in this wonderful series centers in New Orleans and has everything. Ghosts, weird family, romance, awkwardness, small business woes, enemies, mystery and of course, murder!

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From the publisher: A luminous memoir-in-essays exploring place, identity, and what it means to grow up queer and Asian in the American South. Dai writes of a river that runs only in the mind and a queer map housed on the internet; of love carved on the rocks of Taipei and Arizona; of pounding the racetrack in Wenzhou, watching his grandfather fade from the world. He recounts a relationship that would literally go the distance from the American Southwest to China and back again, and a road trip chasing the memory of Nabokov, the writer and lepidopterist. As he reflects on the paths his parents took to build a life in America, he also asks what it means to “return” to a place he never felt he could claim as his own.

From Sterling Shallbetter, staff: If you read only one book of essays this year, make it this one. Don’t be too intimidated by the intricate subject matter. Or maybe be just a little intimidated, because these essays have the potential to turn the way you see belonging inside out. I’ve never read a work that contained so many enigmatic questions and erudite elements that managed to make it all work together without feeling like an ancient tome that would be a serious risk to life if dropped on oneself while reading. This is partly due to the underlying structure, that of the travelogue, but Dai’s journey weaves across much more than just the land. Through movement, he explores what it truly means to have an identity, for ourselves, for others, and for the world.

Type of Story: Review

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