Alicia recommends "The Blonde Identity" by Ally Carter

What would you do if you woke up with no memory of who you are and there are people shooting at you? Of course, you would run, but it would help if you had a very good looking secret agent to help you!  Zoe is a twin and her identical sister is the agent the bad guys are after. Jake Sawyer is the agent helping Zoe escape. From one hair-raising adventure to the next, the couple jump off bridges, trains and boats.  Who can Zoe trust? Jake, her sister Alex, the CIA, the mob and more. Join Zoe and Jake on a trip across Europe dodging spies, bullets, and fake kissing to thwart the bad guys.

Adult Romance

Catherine recommends "The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity"

If you go to the Louvre today, you would find an ever-present crowd in front of the Mona Lisa – one of the most famous paintings in the world. But at the beginning of the 20^th century, it was not particularly famous or important, and no one paid it much attention. That all changed in 1911, when someone stole the Mona Lisa. Around the world, people were suddenly fascinated by this painting and the numerous theories about who was behind the heist. This middle grade nonfiction book tells both the story of that heist, and the surprising story of how Leonardo da Vinci came to paint the Mona Lisa four hundred years earlier. At first glance, this may seem an unlikely topic for a middle grade audience, but this book has it all: it has mystery, conspiracies, so much humor, and fast pacing that will keep any reader – even adults – turning the pages. It is one of the best things I’ve read all year!

Children, ages 10 and up.

 

 

Justine recommends "Tombs" by Junji Ito

Tombs by Junji Ito is a collection of some of Ito's works, most notably the short story Tombs.  Ito himself is well-known for his horror manga, or Japanese comics. He mostly sticks to short stories, but he occasionally branches out with longer works such as Uzumaki and Tomie. Ito's work has been slowly getting translated into English, and this is just one of the latest of many manga collections the library has to offer by the award-winning author.

If you're looking for something spooky during the month of October, I'd recommend anything by Junji Ito. Even if you're not frightened of his stories, his creepy illustrations will put you in the Halloween mood!

Meghan recommends Chapter One Picks

Twice a year, your CMPL librarians present a book talk, sharing their favorite reads of the last six months. This fall’s program took place last week, but if you missed it, you can pick up a handout with our favorites from any branch, or view the list of titles here.

The list contains all the titles from last week’s recommendation list, as well as the Chapter One event that took place in May. If you are working on wrapping up your Renew Your Reading Challenge, you can pick any title from that list to satisfy the requirement of “Read a book from the May or Septemer 2023 Chapter one handout.”

There’s a good variety of genres, fiction and nonfiction for adults – we found something we loved, and we hope you do too! Happy Reading!