Connie Recommends "The Girl Who Wrote in Silk"

​Inspired by true events, a heartwarming story you're sure to enjoy!

Recommended for adults or young adults.

Lynn recommends "The Best We Could Do"

“The Best We Could Do” is an illustrated memoir by Thi Bui.  In it, Bui documents the story of her family’s escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970's, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves after all the horrors they endured.  It is appropriate for adults and young adults.

Connie recommends Favorites

Educated by Tara Westover is an amazing and inspiring story of survival and the ability to move forward in spite of insurmountable obstacles.  Recommended for adults.






Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Pence is by a local librarian.  Her debut book is cleverly written and quite funny!  I especially enjoyed the audio book, as the narrator had the same persona as Annie herself. Recommended for teens or adults.

Celia recommends "Her Favorites"

   

Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession by Alice Bolin                    

A collection of sharp, poignant essays that expertly blends the personal and political in an exploration of American culture through the lens of our obsession with dead women. 305.4097 B

Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper

After a spectacular failure at an exclusive event in Chicago, event planner Margot Cary takes a job in Lake Sackett, Georgia. Organizing wakes and fishing trips isn’t exactly her thing, but she starts feeling more at home when she catches the eye of the elementary school principal Kyle Archer. An offer for a big-city job means Margot must decide between her career, and a possible new love. FIC HARPER

The Garden Party by Grace Dane Mazur

The two very different families of an engaged couple meet for a prenuptial dinner in the garden of the groom’s parents’ home in Brookline, Massachusetts. FIC MAZUR

Circe by Madeline Miller

Born into the house of Helios, god of the sun, Circe lacks the power of those around her and prefers human companions. Then she discovers she has the gift of witchcraft and is soon banished to a desert island, where she encounters famed figures in Greek mythology. FIC MILLER

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Mosfegh

A novel about a young woman’s efforts to duck the ills of the world by embarking on an extended hibernation with the help of one of the worst psychiatrists in the annals of literature and the battery of medicines she prescribes. FIC MOSFEGH

Kira recommends "Don't Make Me Pull Over!"

For some of us, road trips were an essential part of our childhood. For others, they were a fad that was quickly fading, with only two or three road trips in our lifetimes. For the youngest, they're legends of a by-gone era, lost to affordable airfare. In the book Don't Make Me Pull Over!: An Informal History of the Family Road Trip by Richard Ratay, you're packed into the back of a 70's station wagon to explore what once was in the days of family road trips. From an introduction to the birth of American roads to the creation of the highways that still exist today, from the shift from mom-and-pop food stands and roadside attractions to the omnipresent McDonald's and Starbucks, and everything else a family road trip might entail, this book covers it all. If you miss the days of road trips, or even if you've never been on one and simply wanted to know what all the fuss is about, this is a good read, rich with American history.

Meghan recommends "Her Favorites"

In our semi-annual book talk program, Chapter One, Popular Materials Librarian Meghan recommended the following titles:

The Arrangement by Sarah Dunn

Lucy and Owen, a progressive New York couple with an autistic son, move to a bucolic Hudson Valley exurb and immerse themselves in the local community. Their bond is tested by an invitation to become an open-marriage couple. FIC DUNN

Little Comfort by Edwin Hill

Harvard librarian Hester Thursby knows that even in the digital age, people still need help finding things. Using her research skills, Hester runs a side business tracking down the lost. Usually, she’s hired to find long-ago prom dates or to reunite adopted children and birth parents. Her new case is finding the handsome and charismatic Sam Blaine. MYS HILL

The Man Who Came Uptown by George Pelecanos

An ex-offender must choose between the man who got him out and the woman who showed him another path. September Hot Read. FIC PELECANOS

Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption by Bryan Stevenson

An unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice. 353.48 S

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Told from the alternating perspectives of nineteen-year-old Sadie, who runs away from her isolated small Colorado town to find her younger sister's killer, and a true crime podcast exploring Sadie's disappearance. YA SUMMERS

Gretchen recommends "Prep-Ahead Breakfasts & Lunches"

Trying to save time now that the kids are back to school?  This prep-ahead cookbook gives easy recipes for breakfasts, quick breads, lunches, one bowl wonders, soups, sandwiches, and desserts. These 75 recipes save time and money; they can be stored and/or frozen and reheated.  Recipes include how to batch cook quinoa, spaghetti squash, and cauliflower rice.  Made-from-scratch seasonings like taco seasoning mix are also included. My fall faves include pumpkin quinoa muffins and carrot soup with lentils.  The peanut butter chocolate chip blender pancakes would be a hit with kids for a weekend post-slumber party breakfast.  No nutritional values are provided in this cookbook, however, if time is more important than calories, this might be the cookbook for your family!