Marlene recommends "Glamorous Illusions"

Glamorous Illusions by Lisa Tawn Bergren is the first book in the Grand Tour series that follows the life of Cora Kensington as she travels Europe in a time when wealthy families often sent their children on grand tours of Europe.  Cora’s life changes when she discovers she is the illegitimate daughter of a copper king.  This is a great read and I can’t wait for the next book.  If you’re looking for a good series to jump into, I’d recommend Glamorous Illusions.  

Kate recommends "Beautiful Ruins"

Jess Walter’s Beautiful Ruins tells the interwoven stories of many realistic characters across several decades and continents.  First we're introduced to Pasquale, the young and hopeful proprietor of a run-down hotel in a sleepy Italian fishing village.  From there we meet Dee, the beautiful American actress who arrives in the village on a boat, like his dream come true, fresh from the set of the 1963 film Cleopatra.  The stories of these characters spin off into those of their friends, relatives, and foes, exploring the reasons and consequences for the choices they make.  Each chapter has a unique narration to reveal more about the characters' paths in life, sometimes even an unconventional one like a screenplay excerpt or a fictitious manuscript chapter.  When aged Pasquale show up to a Hollywood production company in the present day to try to track Dee down through past acquaintances, we get to ride along with the people and events that led them to where they are today. The cast of characters defining their lives for the past 50 years makes this novel difficult to put down.

Recommended for Young Adults and Adults

Jamie recommends "The Happiness Project"

There are a variety of books out there that follow an author's journey to another country or a exploration of a new way of living.  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin is one of those books, but it also has a level of inspiration to it that I wasn't expecting. It's a practical guide to how the author planned to be become happier.  It has the usual anecdotes about focusing on love, asking for help and expressing gratitude, but the thing that was great about this book was that it made me want to clean!  The chapters are laid out like lists and organization was the focus of one chapter.  She so perfectly described how being organized made her feel that I had to go home and clean out some cupboards, a great feat indeed.  She describes how you can put together your own happiness project, but mostly it was just a nice, quick read to remind you of why you're happy and how the little things in life can help you become even more so.

Tracy recommends "Citizen Scientists"

Have you ever wanted to be a scientist?  This book describes four accessible projects that children and adults can do.  It covers a project a season, and gives an extensive bibliography and websites in the back.

Carrie recommends "I Am The Messenger" by Markus Zusak

This is one of Zusak's better books. It is appropriate for any mature teen reader. There is mild language use but it does not distract from the message of the story. The story follows Ed Kennedy around; set in modern-day Australia. The story is easy to follow and interesting enough to make it a page-turner. The unique concept behind the story of sending messages to people Ed does not know makes the book even more interesting! I personally enjoyed the character relationships. By having the characters interact in different ways the story was more relatable and believable. None of the characters were flat making them seem like real people enabling the reader to get lost in the story. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars :)

Carrie Recommends "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones is a page turning mystery with a unique character perspective. The Lovely Bones follows the rape, murder, and investigation around a young girl Susie Salmon. Set in the 1970's this book is hard to put down. There is some graphic images portrayed involving the crimes around Susie. The perspective the story is told in makes it easy to read and unique enough to make the reader want to continue reading.

Juliane recommends "Happens Every Day"

A librarian at the Clinton-Macomb Public Library recommended this to me, and at first I thought – when am I going to be in the mood to read a book about a young mother getting a divorce?  Since I have a 30 minute commute to work each way I decided to listen to it on audiobook (I love when an author reads their own book for the audio version, especially when it is a memoir like this, written in first-person).  Something about the author’s vivid descriptions and deep introspection pulled me in.  Her lilting voice spun a tale of the joys of young motherhood, the adventure of moving to a new city to follow her husband’s academic career, and personal memories of her beloved, albeit enigmatic, husband.  It’s WASP-y in all the right ways – intellectual academic-types, well-bred families, summers in Maine.  The first half plays out like a Pinterest board come to life – the author is moving her family of two young boys and pets to Oberlin, OH where her husband will teach poetry.  The town is funky and fresh.  They make quick friends with the locals, eat at wonderful cafes, drink tea, and she volunteers at a local farmer’s market.  Together they restore an old 19^th century home they lovingly call “Bricky.”  They make fast friends with a new female professor and quickly things change.  Rather suddenly the husband decides he wants out.  The author does a good job of foreshadowing the fact her husband chose to leave her from the beginning of the memoir, but even when it unfolds, I felt undone, unprepared, and raw.  The second and third half of the book put the reader squarely in the author’s shoes as she wrestles with “what’s happening…?” (she repeats this many times as she tries to get her bearings).  The author recounts her attempts to repair and save the marriage, but in the end accepts the fact her husband has fallen out of love with her and their life and there is nothing she can do to change him.  The author never comes across as whiny or meek, but rather very self-introspective and courageous to share her inner-most thoughts. I recommend this work to anyone who can get sucked into reality show marathons or who enjoyed, “Eat, Pray, Love” or “500 Days of Summer” these works share similar themes of personal loss and recovery.

Recommended audience:  adult