Spotlight: Announcing RFPL Staff’s 2014 Best Books of the Year!

For the second year in a row, we are pleased to present you with a list of our handpicked, best-of-the-year books from our fabulous staff. Curious to see last year’s picks? Click here.

Some favorites that appeared several times included The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.

For each book, there is a brief description taken from the publisher or library catalog. The link will take you to our records, in many cases we own these books in print, audiobook, e-book and e-audiobook. Read one of our favorites, and then tell us how it was!

Comment with your favorite books of the year in the comments section– we’d love to hear from you!

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Sophia

• ​Marriage and Civilization by William Tucker
  • Monogamous marriage built civilization; will its collapse destroy it? Documents the historical and anthropological story behind how monogamous, lifelong partnerships are the driving force behind the creation and rise of civilization.
• The Oath: The Obama White House and The Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
  • From the moment Chief Justice Roberts botched Barack Obama’s oath of office, the relationship between the Court and the White House has been a fraught one.  Jeffrey Toobin brilliantly portrays key personalities and cases and shows how the President was fatally slow to realize the importance of the judicial branch to his agenda.

Sue

• The Goldfinch  by Donna Tartt
  • A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an accident that takes the life of his mother. Alone and abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by a friend’s family and struggles to make sense of his new life. In the years that follow, he becomes entranced by one of the few things that reminds him of his mother: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the art underworld.
• The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith 
  • A brilliant debut mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel’s suicide. This is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Blaise

• Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
  • For John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, deep wreck diving was more than a sport. Testing themselves against treacherous currents, braving depths that induced hallucinatory effects, navigating through wreckage as perilous as a minefield, they pushed themselves to their limits and beyond, brushing against death more than once in the rusting hulks of sunken ships.
• One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by BJ Novak
  • Across a dazzling range of subjects, themes, tones, and narrative voices, the many pieces in this collection are like nothing else, but they have one thing in common: they share the playful humor, deep heart, sharp eye, inquisitive mind, and altogether electrifying spirit of a writer with a fierce devotion to the entertainment of the reader

Margaret

• The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
  • Engaging the services of a miniaturist to furnish a cabinet-sized replica of her new home, 18-year-old Nella Oortman, the wife of an illustrious merchant trader, soon discovers that the artist’s tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways.
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
  • A stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Dana

• The Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French. First in series: In the Woods
  • Detective Rob Ryan and his partner, Cassie Maddox, investigate the murder of a 12-year-old girl near a Dublin suburb. The case resonates with similarities to a murder committed twenty years before that involved two children and the young Ryan.
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
  • Taking a job as an assistant to extreme sports enthusiast Will, who is wheelchair bound after a motorcycle accident, Louisa struggles with her employer’s acerbic moods and learns of his shocking plans before demonstrating to him that life is still worth living.

Genna

• We Were Liars by E.L. Lockhart
  • Spending the summers on her family’s private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy named Gat, teenaged Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer.
• Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Phillips
  • A down-on-her-luck actress reduced to staging kids’ puppet shows finds herself trapped on a remote island off the coast of Maine with a sexy horror novelist who knows a dozen ways to kill with his bare hands.

Lisa

• The Visitors by Sally Beauman
  • Built around Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, this evocative novel. . . blends fact and fiction to recreate a lost world that’s still fiercely enthralling and relevant today
• Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes by Betsy Woodman
  • Meet Jana Bibi, a Scottish woman helping to save the small town in India she has grown to call home and the oddball characters she considers family.

Richard

• Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming
  • British secret agent James Bond assumes the identity of a captured courier and solicits the help of gorgeous Tiffany Case, the diamond smugglers’ American go-between.
• Against Interpretation by Susan Sontag
  •  Against Interpretation was Susan Sontag’s first collection of essays and is a modern classic. Originally published in 1966, it has never gone out of print and has influenced generations of readers all over the world. It includes the famous essays “Notes on Camp” and “Against Interpretation,” as well as her impassioned discussions of Sartre, Camus, Simone Weil, Godard, Beckett, Levi-Strauss, science-fiction movies, psychoanalysis, and contemporary religious thought.

Victoria

• Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
  • Alice Metcalf was a devoted mother, loving wife, and accomplished scientist who studied grief among elephants. Yet it’s been a decade since she disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind her small daughter, husband, and the animals to which she devoted her life.
• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
  • Follows three mothers, each at a crossroads, and their potential involvement in a riot at a school trivia night that leaves one parent dead in what appears to be a tragic accident, but which evidence shows might have been premeditated.

Karen

• The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker—a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry’s brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father’s money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself
• Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
  • Living in an igloo of ice and trash bags half a year after a cataclysmic nuclear disaster, Emily, convinced that she will be hated as the daughter of the drunken father who caused the meltdown, assumes a fictional identity while protecting a homeless boy.

Mary Ann

• The Circle by Dave Eggers
  • When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world–even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.
• Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman
  • On November 14, 1889, two young female journalists raced against one another, determined to outdo Jules Verne’s fictional hero and circle the globe in less than 80 days. The dramatic race that ensued would span 28,000 miles, captivate the nation, and change both competitors’ lives forever.

Amy

• The Candymakers by Wendy Mass
  • When four twelve-year-olds, including Logan, who has grown up never leaving his parents’ Life Is Sweet candy factory, compete in the Confectionary Association’s annual contest, they unexpectedly become friends and uncover secrets about themselves during the process.
• Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits–smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try

Magdalena

• Grandmaster by David Klass
  • A father-son chess tournament reveals the dark side of the game
• A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
  • The Pickles are new to Midnight Gulch, Tennessee, a town which legend says was once magic–but Felicity is convinced the magic is still there, and with the help of her new friend Jonah the Beedle she hopes to bring the magic back.

Claudia

• The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
  • Catalyzed by a nephew’s thoughtless prank, a pair of brothers confront painful psychological issues surrounding the freak accident that killed their father when they were boys, a loss linked to a heartbreaking deception that shaped their personal and professional lives.
• The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
  • A novel set on a remote Australian island, where a childless couple live quietly running a lighthouse, until a boat carrying a baby washes ashore

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Share your favorite books of 2014 in the comments below, or stop by the library and talk to us about your favorites!

 

Margaret’s October Recommendation

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Margaret says: “As a lover of historical fiction, I have read so many novels set during the second World War.   I wondered when I picked up Doerr’s critically acclaimed new book, whether or not he would be able to tell a fresh story.  And he did! It is wonderful when an author is able to really provide his or her readers with a new perspective on something that they think they know.  Doerr has done this with “All the Light We Cannot See.”  It follows two teenagers: one a blind girl escaping from Paris and a German Hitler Youth. Wondering how their stories come together is intriguing and kept me reading as did a slight mystery element.  What stayed with me, though, were the descriptive images (at times incredibly cinematic) that Doerr painted of the siege of Saint Malo.”

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3 Similar Reads

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson – This historical fiction title is also set during World War II. This book features reincarnation, time-travel, and humor.

Mission to Paris by Alan Furst – Set in France 1939, this spy/suspense novel features foreign correspondents and spies.

Jacob’s Oath by Martin Fletcher – Holocaust survivors are free, and one in particular is determined to find his brother’s murderer – a concentration camp guard.

Spotlight: The First Book We Fell In Love With

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the River Forest Public Library staff have put together a nostalgic list of the books that we first fell in love with. These are the books that hooked us into reading!

Review the list for any that you yourself remember reading and enjoying. Pick up one of these classics again for some light reading.

We encourage you to share these titles with your friends and loved ones – especially those people who have yet to discover their own love of reading!

Watership Down by Richard Adams

• Who Loves It? Fran

Set in England’s Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of brothers, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society. – publisher summary

Here’s what Fran had to say about the book: “I think I was a pre-teen when I read this and was living in England at the time. I remember it brought me to tears. A beautiful book for young readers that has a lot of surprising lessons, considering it’s about rabbits. I think an adult would enjoy it too”

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Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

• Who Loves It? Dana

A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their father’s stories and singing, and share special occasions when they get together with relatives or neighbors. – swan summary

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Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

• Who Loves It? Kim and Sara

A family travels from the big woods of Wisconsin to a new home on the prairie, where they build a house, meet neighboring Indians, build a well, and fight a prairie fire. – swan summary

Kim says, “The Little House on the Prairie Books were the first books I consciously chose to own and cherish.  From 1971, when the yellow paperbacks first were published, I was hooked on reading!”

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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

• Who Loves It? Mary Ann

Published a year before her death at the age of thirty, Emily Bronte’s only novel is set in the wild, bleak Yorkshire Moors. Depicting the relationship of Cathy and Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights creates a world of its own, conceived with an instinct for poetry and for the dark depths of human psychology. -publisher summary

What Mary Ann has to say about it: “All through high school, on the last day of school, I went to the library to check it out.  It was the ritual that signaled summer. —The ghost at the window, the brutality,  “I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!” …opening the grave to lie with Catherine’s corpse!…“I am Heathcliff.” ”

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Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

• Who Loves It? Blaise and Sara

Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her. – swan summary

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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

• Who Loves It? Genna

“The quintessential American family story, Little Women captured readers’ hearts right from the start. A bestseller from the time it was originally published in 1868, it is the story of the four March sisters: Meg, Beth, Jo, and Amy.” – publisher summary

Here’s what Genna says about the book: “Since I don’t have any sisters of my own, the March sisters and their relationships and antics really resonated with me and fulfilled that missing part of my childhood.”

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The Things They Carried  by Tim O’Brien

• Who Loves It? Victoria

A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.

The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. – publisher summary

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Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya

• Who Loves It? Victoria

“Tohru Honda is an orphaned teenager who comes to live with the Sohma family in exchange for housekeeping duties, but she soon comes to know the family secret.”- novelist description

This is printed manga style, and it is read from right to left. There are 23 volumes of the book. “The 136 chapters of Fruits Basket were originally serialized in Japan . . . from July 1998 to November 2006. These were collected in 23 tankōbon volumes. . .” – Wikipedia

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All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

• Who Loves It? Ellen

It’s the turn of the century in New York’s Lower East Side and a sense of adventure and excitement abounds for five young sisters — Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie. Follow along as they search for hidden buttons while dusting Mama’s front parlor, or explore the basement warehouse of Papa’s peddler’s shop on rainy days. The five girls enjoy doing everything together, especially when it involves holidays and surprises. But no one could have prepared them for the biggest surprise of all! – summary from Novelist

Ellen says: “I found New York and the Jewish culture references fascinating and I was one of 5 sisters as well.”

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

• Who Loves It? Sue

The adventures of Christopher Robin and his friends, in which Pooh Bear uses a balloon to get honey, Piglet meets a Heffalump, and Eeyore has a birthday.

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Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M. Martin

• Who Loves It? Katie

This is the first book in the series that was published between 1986- 2000. The first 35 were written by Ann M. Martin but the others were ghost-written.

The first book follows the adventures of Kristy and the other members of the Baby-sitters Club as they deal with crank calls, uncontrollable two-year-olds, wild pets, and parents who do not always tell the truth. – swan summary 

The novel was also adapted into a graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier.

American Girl series

• Who Loves It? Katie

These series of books were published to tell the stories of the popular dolls of the same name. American Girl books told the stories from the perspective of the girls, and each girl lived in a different time period in history. The dolls were first released in 1986.

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Incident at Hawk’s Hill by Allan W. Eckhert

• Who Loves It? Ted

A shy, lonely six-year-old wanders into the Canadian prairie and spends a summer under the protection of a badger. – swan summary.

1972 Nominated Newbery Medal

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When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne and Now We Are Six 

• Who Loves It? Dorothy

A collection of poems reflecting the experiences of a little English boy growing up in the early part of the twentieth century. The books are companions. – swan summary

Dorothy says: “these are the first books I remember reading!”

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Alanna by Tamora Pierce

• Who Loves It? Katie

“Eleven-year-old Alanna, who aspires to be a knight even though she is a girl, disguises herself as a boy to become a royal page, learning many hard lessons along her path to high adventure.” – swan summary

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Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly

• Who Loves It? Margaret

Seventeen-year-old Angie, living with her family in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, finds herself in love for the first time the summer after high school graduation. – swan summary

Margaret says: “this one really grabbed my attention as a younger reader!”

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Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

• Who Loves It? Margaret

“Spirited Elizabeth Bennet is one of a family of five daughters, and with no male heir, the Bennet estate must someday pass to their priggish cousin William Collins. Therefore, the girls must marry well–and thus is launched the story of Elizabeth and the arrogant bachelor Mr. Darcy, in a novel renowned as the epitome of romance and wit.” – publisher summary

Margaret says: “This is the book that made me into a reader.”

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American Short Stories

• Who Loves it? Kim

Kim says: “The first book that made me really fall in love with the study of literature was a collection called American Short Stories that I purchased second hand  in 1977.  I started with “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and kept going until the then-present day work of John Updike. I still reread these books often.”

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Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

• Who Loves it? Dorothy

Eleven-year-old Harriet keeps notes on her classmates and neighbors in a secret notebook, but when some of the students read the notebook, they seek revenge. – swan summary

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A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

• Who Loves It? Anna

Sara Crewe, a pupil at Miss Minchin’s London School, is left in poverty when her father dies, but is later rescued by a mysterious benefactor. – swan summary

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Mandie and the Secret Tunnel by Lois Gladys Leppard

• Who Loves It? Anna

In 1900, Mandie is searching her dead uncle’s mansion for a missing will when she finds a secret tunnel and strangers who claim to be her relatives. – swan summary

Anna says: “I used to read this series all the time! This is the first book in the series.”

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Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene

• Who Loves It? Sophia

Teenage detective Nancy Drew uses her courage and powers of deduction to solve the mysterious happenings in an old stone mansion.

Sophia says: “The entire series of Nancy Drew books was republished in the 60’s. I read this when I was in second grade and was hooked. I could not wait for my mom to bring home all of Nancy’s adventures,  and there were lots of them. My love of reading grew as I learned to read better and more confidently, all the while living vicariously through Nancy’s adventures of courage and smarts!”

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Announcing: RFPL’s Staff Picks 2013

This year, staff at River Forest Library have put together their top 3 book recommendations of the year. These books didn’t have to be published this year, though the majority were. There were three books: Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein that appeared on multiple staff member’s lists.

Each book has a short summary taken from the catalog record. Each title is linked to the catalog so that you can easily request it. Happy reading!

Ted B.

• Blood and Beauty: The Borgias by Sara Dunant
  • A tale inspired by the lives of Borgia siblings Lucretia and Cesare traces the family’s rise in the aftermath of Rodrigo Borgia’s rise to the papacy, during which war, a terrifying sexual plague, and the family’s notorious reputation forge an intimate bond between brother and sister.
• Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
  • Private investigator Cormoran Strike investigates the death of Lula Landry, a celebrity. Written under J.K. Rowling’s pseudonym.
• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
  • Cassie Sullivan, the survivor of an alien invasion, must rescue her young brother from the enemy with help from a boy who may be one of them

Lisa E.

• Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunant
  • A tale inspired by the lives of Borgia siblings Lucretia and Cesare traces the family’s rise in the aftermath of Rodrigo Borgia’s rise to the papacy, during which war, a terrifying sexual plague, and the family’s notorious reputation forge an intimate bond between brother and sister.
• One Summer:America. 1927 by Bill  Bryson
  • Bryson examines closely the events and personalities of the summer of 1927 when America’s story was one of brawling adventure, reckless optimism and delirious energy.
• One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper
  • Drew Silver learns he needs life saving heart surgery, but opts out of it in order to repair family relationships.

Victoria M.

• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
  • Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family’s struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  • When his wife disappears on their anniversary, Nick starts having cringe-worthy daydreams and becomes oddly evasive, eschewing his golden boy past.
• Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
  • In her trademark style, Mary Roach investigates the beginning, and end, of our food, addressing such questions as why crunchy food is so appealing, how much we can eat before our stomachs burst, and whether constipation killed Elvis.

Tara B.

• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
  • This powerful debut novel follows the story of Kvothe, the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.
• Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
  • A mixture of history and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love that only Juliet Marillier could write.
• Savvy by Ingrid Law
  • Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her “savvy”–a magical power unique to each member of her family–just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.

Mary Ann M.

• The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders
  • In this fascinating exploration of murder in the nineteenth century, Judith Flanders examines some of the most gripping cases that captivated the Victorians and gave rise to the first detective fiction.
• The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan
  • In belle époque Paris, the Van Goethem sisters struggle for survival after the sudden death of their father, a situation that prompts young Marie’s ballet training and her introduction to a genius painter.
• The Lady and Her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, Real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley’s by Roseanne Montillo
  • Motillo brings to life the fascinating times, startling science, and real-life horrors behind Mary Shelley’s Gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein.

Ashley W.

• Sugar by Jewel Parker Rhodes
  • In 1870, Reconstruction brings big changes to the Louisiana sugar plantation where spunky ten-year-old Sugar has always lived, including her friendship with Billy, the son of her former master, and the arrival of workmen from China.
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
  • Dellarobia Turnbow, a farm wife, hikes up a mountain road towards a secret tryst, only to discover a forested valley with what looks like a lake of fire.
• The Woods by Harlan Coben
  • Twenty years after Paul Copeland’s sister walked into the woods, never to be seen again, evidence links him to a murder victim who could be the boy who disappeared along with her and raises the possibility that she may still be alive.

Sara B.

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • Feeling cast off when her best friend outgrows their shared love for a favorite celebrity, Cath, a dedicated fan-fiction writer, struggles to survive on her own in her first year of college while avoiding a surly roommate, bonding with a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words and worrying about her fragile father.
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
  • Sixteen-year-old Ruby breaks out of a government-run ‘rehabilitation camp’ for teens who acquired dangerous powers after surviving a virus that wiped out most American children.
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.

Blaise D.

• A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee
  • For readers of Jonathan Franzen and Richard Russo, Dee’s novels are masterful works of literary fiction. In this sharply observed tale of self-invention and public scandal, Dee raises a trenchant question: what do we really want when we ask for forgiveness?
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (audiobook)
  • In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life.
• Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (audiobook)
  • A novel that spans fifty years. The Italian housekeeper and his long-lost American starlet; the producer who once brought them together, and his assistant. A glittering world filled with unforgettable characters.

Anna V.

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  • Feeling cast off when her best friend outgrows their shared love for a favorite celebrity, Cath, a dedicated fan-fiction writer, struggles to survive on her own in her first year of college while avoiding a surly roommate, bonding with a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words and worrying about her fragile father.
• Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton
  • In the summer of 2010, photographer Brandon Stanton set out on an ambitious project: to single-handedly create a photographic census of New York City.
• Parasite by Mira Grant
  • Genetically engineered tapeworms that protect most of the human populace from illness, boost everyone’s immune system, and even secrete designer drugs begin to change and want out of human bodies they occupy.

Genna M.

• Lexicon by Max Barry
  • Emily Ruff belongs to a secretive, influential organization whose “poets” can break down individuals by psychographic markers in order to take control of their thoughts.
• Wool by Hugh Howey
  • In a ruined and toxic landscape, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep.
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
  • A powerful, blazingly honest, inspiring memoir: the story of a 1,100 mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe–and built her back up again.

Dorothy H.

• Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
  • A narrative account of the twentieth president’s political career offers insight into his background as a scholar and Civil War hero, his battles against the corrupt establishment, and Alexander Graham Bell’s failed attempt to save him from an assassin’s bullet.
• Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
  • Curtis Sittenfeld’s debut novel, Prep, is an insightful, achingly funny coming-of-age story as well as a brilliant dissection of class, race, and gender in a hothouse of adolescent angst and ambition.
• After Visiting Friends: A Son’s Story by Michael Hainey
  • A decade in the writing, the haunting story of a son’s quest to understand the mystery of his father’s death– a universal memoir about the secrets families keep and the role they play in making us who we are.

Margaret B.

• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
  • In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.
• Longbourn by Jo Baker
  • In this irresistibly imagined below stairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage.
• The Light Between Oceans M.L. Stedman
  • A novel set on a remote Australian island, where a childless couple live quietly running a lighthouse, until a boat carrying a baby washes ashore.

Dana J.

• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
  • In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.
• The Time Between by Karen White
  • Seeking atonement over her guilt that she caused her sister’s paralysis, Eleanor takes a job caring for an elderly woman and becomes caught up in the woman’s life of passion, danger, heartache, and deception in Hungary during World War II.
• The Lovebird by Natalie Brown
  • Harboring sympathy for helpless creatures, Margie falls in love with her charismatic but troubled Latin professor and joins a group of animal-rights activists whose activities force her to take refuge on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana.

Sue Q.

• Transatlantic by Collum McCann
  • A tale spanning 150 years and two continents reimagines the peace efforts of democracy champion Frederick Douglass, Senator George Mitchell and World War I airmen John Alcock and Teddy Brown through the experiences of four generations of women from a matriarchal clan.
• The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
  • Catalyzed by a nephew’s thoughtless prank, a pair of brothers confront painful psychological issues surrounding the freak accident that killed their father when they were boys, a loss linked to a heartbreaking deception that shaped their personal and professional lives.
• Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits–smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Kim M. (*This was mistakenly left out of the original posting*)

• The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
  • Surviving a pandemic disease that has killed everyone he knows, a pilot establishes a shelter in an abandoned airport hangar before hearing a random radio transmission that compels him to risk his life to seek out other survivors.
• Someone by Alice McDermott
  • “The story of a Brooklyn-born woman’s life – her family, her neighborhood, her daily trials and triumphs – from childhood to old age”–Provided by the publisher.
• The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
  • When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.

Margaret’s November Recommendation

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

“Tom returns to Australia healthy but haunted from WWI to become a lighthouse keeper on an isolated island.  Tom is content to live this solitary life but by chance on a shore visit meets and falls in love with lively, spirited Isabel.  Somewhat remarkably, the two create a happy life together alone on Janus Rock, and Tom realizes he may be able to have a full life despite the guilt and horrors that he has carried since the war.  But, after Isabel suffers two miscarriages and a stillbirth, a heavy sadness descends on the cottage by the lighthouse.  Then, one day a boat washes up on the island with a dead man and a crying infant.  What follows is a heartbreakingly desperate story about right and wrong, family and love.  This is a well-written and affecting novel set in an interesting time and place. Stedman does a good job of catching hold of his readers’ emotions without veering too close to melodrama. Pick it up if you like historical fiction, family stories, or just good literary fiction.”

Read about or request The Light Between Oceans from the library catalog today!

3 Similar Reads (Fiction)

1) The Sea by John Banville

2) Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark

3) Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee

3 Similar Reads (Nonfiction)

1) In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

2) The Keeper of Lime Rock by Lenore Skomal

3) To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild

Margaret’s August Recommendation

The Happiest Baby On the Block by Harvey Karp, M.D.

“I had heard this book profiled on a number of news shows and was a bit sceptical but then our pediatrician recommended it so I gave it a try.  I found it to be a really good, easy to read resource for new and expecting parents.  Although our baby was not particularly fussy, we used a number of Dr. Karp’s strategies regularly.”

 

Read about it or request it from the library catalog!

3 Similar Reads (Nonfiction)

1) The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby From Birth to Age Two by William Sears, M.D. (Access to library catalog here!)

2) Heading Home With Your Newborn: From Birth to Reality by Laura A. Jana, M.D., FAAP (Access to library catalog here!)

3) Baby 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice For Your Baby’s First Year by Denise Fields (Access to library catalog here!)

Margaret’s July Recommendation

American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

“I anxiously awaited the release of this book after reading a blurb or review that said Goodwin’s book would help tide those over who are anxiously awaiting the next installment of Julian Fellows’ addicting TV drama Downton Abbey.  That’s me!

Actually, set a generation before Downton, The American Heiress follows the fabulously rich Cora Cash as she leaves New York to make a splash in England.  A true tale of the gilded age, the book is reminiscent of Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers but it’s original enough to not feel derivative.

I love Edith Wharton and, as is the case with many of my favorite authors, I have read all of her works (a number of them multiple times).  So, the American Heiress felt like a gift.  Now, if only someone could so successfully carry on in Jane Austen’s footsteps, I’d be all set.”

Read about it or request it from the library catalog.

Margaret’s April Recommendation

The Postmistress, by Sarah Blake

“I was excited to read The Postmistress after hearing an interesting radio interview with the author.  I downloaded the ebook from the library’s Media on Demand catalog and was not disappointed.  The lives of three women, a young doctor’s wife, a cape cod postmistress, and an American journalist reporting from the London during the Blitz, intersect in this absorbing novel set just as America was on the cusp of entering the war.  First time author Sarah Blake alternates effectively between life in small town America and the reality unfolding in Europe.  This is a suspenseful pageturner but also a thought provoking story which left me thinking and questioning for quite a while after closing the book.”

Read about it or request it from the online catalog.

You can find this book in the library at CALL # FICTION BLAKE

Margaret’s November Recommendation

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

“Although I do not usually read mysteries, I really enjoyed Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter and had trouble putting this crime novel down.  Set in rural Mississippi and shifting between the past and present, the story follows two men whose lives are intertwined.  Franklin explores race, family, guilt and frienship in interesting ways.”

Read about it or request it from the library catalog.

 

Margaret’s September Recommendation

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

“Collins has written a strong conclusion to her Hunger Games series.  Fans will not be disappointed except in that this is the last book in the popular trilogy.  As in the first two books, there is thrilling adventure, political intrigue, romance, and true friendship.  Yet, this final book also challenges the reader with some bigger questions about the impact of war, even when it is deemed necessary or just.  The book is not,however, weighed down by message, it is a fabulously gripping story.  Teens and adults who haven’t discovered the Hunger Games are in for an intense ride.  As a teen librarian, I am grateful to Collins for writing such a quality series that appeals to both boys and girls, men and women. This series has provided much disucssion and excitement amongst our teens.”

Read about it or request it from the library catalog.

This book is located in the library at the CALL # TEEN FICTION COLLINS.