Kathy recommends Favorites

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

Kathy’s Favorites

Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave (2017)

When revelations about her true identity come to light, culinary star Sunshine Mackenzie loses everything and returns to her childhood home in Montauk where she strives to reinvent herself. FIC

Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille (2017)

Throwback Title.  The publication of a book--claiming to document the facts about a massacre of civilians that occurred in a French hospital outside Hue in 1968 under the command of American Lieutenant Ben Tyson--upends Tyson's suburban life and rocky marriage.  FIC

My Sister’s Bones by Nuala Ellwood (2017)

Kate Rafter is a high-flying war reporter. She's the strong one. The one who escaped Herne Bay and their father. Her sister Sally didn't. Instead, she drinks. But when their mother dies, Kate is forced to return to the old family home. And on her first night she is woken by a terrifying scream. What secret has Kate stumbled upon?  FIC

The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz (2017)                         

Hot Summer Read 2017.  Ignoring the troubling behavior of an eccentric crime writer with whom she has worked for years, editor Susan Ryeland is dismayed when a subplot hidden in the author's latest manuscript reveals a real-world murder. MYS

Woman No. 17 by Edan Lepucki (2017)

Hot Summer Read 2017.  Hiring a live-in nanny to attend her family's needs while she attempts to finish writing her book, Lady begins questioning the young woman's agenda when the latter instantly connects with the family and begins acting in suspicious ways. FIC

The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor (2017)

Nearly two decades after surviving a shark attack in the Gulf of Mexico, a world-traveling marine biologist and respected "shark whisperer" harbors private insecurities that compel her to return to her Florida coast home to explore old and new relationships. You may recognize the name.  Ann is the daughter of celebrated author Sue Monk Kidd. FIC

Juliane recommends "Born A Crime" by Trevor Noah

 

This has to be one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to in a while!  I had preconceived notions of who Trevor Noah was since he slipped into hosting The Daily Show so easily – he must have been well-connected, he must have been funny his whole life, he must have had a privileged life; I was not prepared for how sobering and traumatic his early years truly were until reading this book.  Noah spins a masterful tale of growing up in South Africa during and after Apartheid.  He has a beautiful command of at least 4 different languages and a range of accents that transported me to the gritty streets of Alexandra or the lush, suburban community of Soweto.  In his first chapter he hooks you with news that “My mother was shot in the head” upping the stakes for what you are about to read and setting up the rest of the book to spill out in raw, funny, and foreboding narrative.  If you enjoy getting gut punched with unexpected trials and tribulations this is the book for you.  From music piracy to arson, stealing cars to jail, sleeping on cots to eating worms for food, and themes of poverty, racism, religion, and pop culture – this book has it all and then some.  This is a fascinating read, and I highly recommend skipping the print and going directly for the audiobook.  Recommended for adult audiences.

Kate recommends Favorites

In our semi-annual book talk program, Chapter One, Adult Non-Fiction Librarian Kate recommended the following titles:

Kate’s Favorites

Would Everyone Please Stop by Jenny Allen (2017)

A writer and performer whose essays and articles have appeared for years in many magazines, reporting from the potholes midway through life’s journey, presents a hilarious collection of writings on day-to-day, and not-so-day-to-day life as she tries to make sense of the baffling and annoying world around her.  814.6A

Churchill and Orwell: the Fight for Freedom by Thomas Ricks (2017)

A dual biography of Winston Churchill and George Orwell, with a focus on the pivotal years from the mid-1930s through the 1940s, when their farsighted vision and inspired action in the face of the threat of fascism and communism helped preserve democracy for the world.  941.08409R, CD

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See (2017)

Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. There is ritual and routine, and it has been ever thus for generations. Then one day a jeep appears at the village gate—the first automobile any of them have seen—and a stranger arrives. A lush tale infused with clear-eyed compassion, this novel will inspire reflection, discussion and an overwhelming desire to drink rare Chinese tea. FIC, LT, CD, Overdrive

The Birdwatcher by William Shaw (2017)

When a fellow birdwatcher is found murdered in his remote home, Police Sergeant William South, who may have murdered a man when he was a child in Northern Ireland, finds his world turned upside down.  FIC

City of Masks by S.D. Sykes (2017)

Delayed in mid-14th-century Venice while preparing to embark on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Lord Somershill stays at the house of an English merchant before the murder of a man at a carnival draws him into an investigation that exposes dangerous personal secrets. FIC

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware (2017)             

In the wake of a woman's horrifying discovery of human remains along a scenic tidal estuary, the members of a once-inseparable clique from a second-rate boarding school near the English Channel reflect on their participation in a dangerous game of deception that contributed to the death of a teacher.  FIC, LT, CD, Overdrive

Meghan recommends Favorites

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

Meghan’s Favorites

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson (2015)

An account of the Siege of Leningrad reveals the role played by Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich and his Leningrad Symphony in rallying and commemorating their fellow citizens. By the National Book Award-winning author of Feed.  JBIO

Class Mom by Laurie Gelman (2017)             

Frowned upon by conservative fellow PTA members for her past as a single parent, Jen reluctantly agrees to become class mom during her youngest child's kindergarten year, a role that is challenged by parent drama, hypersensitive allergies, and a former flame. FIC

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Graham (2017)             

Presents a true account of the early twentieth-century murders of dozens of wealthy Osage and law-enforcement officials, citing the contributions and missteps of a fledgling FBI that eventually uncovered one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.  976.6004G, CD, Overdrive

The Loving Husband by Christobel Kent (2017)             

Wrongly targeted for her husband's shattering murder, Fran Hall struggles with isolation and paranoia while their claustrophobic community is increasingly unraveled by dark secrets. MYS, Overdrive

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay (2017)                         

In 1880s New York, Beatrice, unaware of her spiritual gifts, applies for a job at a teashop for female occultists run by Adelaide Thom and Eleanor St. Clair and with their help, she faces down the dark forces lurking in the city.   FIC

Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips (2017)                         

Trapped in a closed zoo after witnessing a life-shattering event, a woman and her four-year-old son navigate the zoo's hidden pathways and under-renovation exhibits to stay ahead of a dangerous adversary who tests their survival and the limits of the mother-child bond. FIC

Barkskins by Annie Proulx (2017)

In the late seventeenth century two penniless young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. Their lives take different paths, and Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years. FIC