Have you been "Exercising Your Mind" through our Summer Reading Program? If you haven't, there's still plenty of time to sign up at either of our libraries or on the Bookmobile. If you've already finished the program (good job!), please take a short survey to let us know how you liked the program. There are three…
I loved the blurb from Chris Cleave on this book: "Singular, spectacular, and touchingly tentacular." I don't think I could sum it up any better than that. If you're a dog lover, this moving novel will leave you weeping, or at least a little choked up. If you aren't a dog person, though, don't avoid…
The unassuming, unnamed hero of this book is known simply as the “vinyl detective:” he finds records for a living. When he finds an especially rare title, he flips it for a tidy profit, which allows him to pay the rent and feed his two cats. His world gets upended one day when a beautiful…
Jane Austen fans, rejoice! Here’s a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that really works. It’s one in a series of Austen classics that have been re-written by best-selling authors: so far Val McDermid has written a 21st-century version of Northanger Abbey and Alexander McCall Smith took on Emma. But this book is the best…
How many 17-year-olds could hold it together when their father is institutionalized and their mother disappears? Lucille Bennett, the heroine of this affecting young adult novel, is one tough teen because she has to do just that. Lucille suddenly finds herself having to get through her senior year while taking care of her nine-year-old sister,…
What does it feel like to be a refugee in a foreign country? What does it mean to belong? The Illegal explores these questions within the framework of a thrilling political mystery. Keita Ali is a world-class marathon runner in the fictional state of Zantoroland, which feels like it’s modeled after a troubled African nation.…
I loved this unique, unexpected novel. It starts out almost like a fairy tale, and its heroine, Veblen (don’t ask – read the book) feels just like a fairy-tale character: unconventional, gentlehearted … and she talks to squirrels. Sweet Veblen is moving through her life, working as a temp at Stanford’s School of Medicine, taking…
This is a delightful gem of a book, perfect for a cold winter's day. It’s a hopeful, sweet read that keeps faith in the power of love and the power of books. Sara Lindqvist comes from Sweden to the small town of Broken Wheel, Iowa, to spend two months with her pen pal, Amy Harris.…
I think I have a new favorite mystery heroine: Tannie Maria, from Recipes for Love and Murder. (“Tannie” is the polite way to address a woman older than you in South Africa, kind of like calling someone “auntie”). She is naïve but intelligent, vulnerable yet strong, and one of the best fictional cooks around! And…
Isabel Allende is one of the best and most beloved literary authors of our time, and if you’ve never read her, The Japanese Lover would be a great place to start. In this lovely, lyrical book, Alma Belasco comes to the United States as a young child in 1939, bewildered and sad from having had…
