Emily recommends Hot Reads for Cold Nights

Looking for a hot read on a cold night? We've got you covered! Here are some great books to pick up in print and even audio and eBook this winter. We've even included with the call number:

Bear and the nightingale by Katherine Arden SF ARDEN

Behind closed doors by B.A. Paris FIC PARIS

Chemist by Stephenie Meyer FIC MEYER

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett FIC PATCHETT

Couple next door by Shari Lapena FIC LAPENA

Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch FIC KOCH

Fall guy by James Lasdun FIC LASDUN

Fractured by Catherine McKenzie FIC MCKENZIE

Girl before by J.P. Delaney  FIC DELANEY

Guineveres by Sarah Domet FIC DOMET

Her every fear by Peter Swanson FIC SWANSON

History of wolves by Emily Fridlund FIC FRIDLUND

Hopefuls by Jennifer Close FIC CLOSE

Jerusalem by Alan Moore FIC MOORE

Man called Ove by Fredrik Backman FIC BACKMAN

Moonglow by Michael Chabon MYS CHABON

Motion of puppets by Keith Donohue FIC DONOHUE

Mothers by Brit Bennett FIC BENNETT

News of the world by Paulette Jiles FIC JILES

Perfect girl by Gilly MacMillan FIC MACMILLAN

Stranded by Bracken MacLeod FIC MCLEOD

Today will be different by Maria Semple FIC SEMPLE

Underground railroad by Colson Whitehead FIC WHITEHEAD

We are unprepared by Meg Little Reilly FIC REILLY

Book of joy: lasting happiness in a changing world by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu 

294.3444 B

Thank you for being late by Thomas Friedman 303.483 F

Shoe dog by Phil Knight 338.76887 K

Perfect horse: the daring U.S. mission to rescue the priceless stallions kidnapped by the Nazis by Elizabeth Letts 940.5421 L

Lost city of the monkey god by Douglas Preston 972.85 P

American dreamer by Tommy Hilfiger BIO HILFIGER

Born to run by Bruce Springsteen BIO SPRINGSTEEN

Good vibrations: my life as a Beach Boy  by Mike Love BIO LOVE

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance BIO VANCE

Love warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton BIO MELTON

Magnolia story by Chip Gaines BIO GAINES

Princess diarist by Carrie Fisher BIO FISHER

Scrappy little nobody by Anna Kendrick BIO KENDRICK

Settle for more by Megyn Kelly BIO KELLY

Talking as fast as I can by Lauren Graham BIO GRAHAM

They’re playing our song: a memoir by Carole Bayer Sager BIO SAGER

Jamie recommends "The Light Between Oceans"

The Light Between Oceans is the story of a husband and wife who live on an isolated island because of his job as a lighthouse operator.  After several miscarriages, Isabel is desperate for a child. When a rowboat containing a baby and dead man washes ashore, it seems that all of Isabel's prayers for a child have been answered, but what of the child's mother? This story was well-written because it made you feel for all the characters involved. You understand Isabel's yearning for a child, but you understand her husband's sense of moral right and wrong. Overall, this was an engrossing book.

Meghan recommends "Big Little Lies"

"Big Little Lies"

by Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty has been on my radar lately. Her latest book (Truly, Madly, Guilty) has been getting great press, and a friend recently recommended her, so I picked up Big Little Lies, which was a library pick several months ago.

Right from the beginning, Big Little Lies grips the reader. We know someone dies, but not who. The circumstances of that death, told from the points of view of various characters, is unraveled over the course of the book. The main plot follows charming busybody Madeline, young single mother Jane, and the effortlessly beautiful Celeste, all parents of kindergartners in a small beachy community. As the women become friends, they become enmeshed in the politics of the playground, and bullying among the kindergartners quickly escalates in the parents’ relationships. Characters sometimes seem straight out of “central casting,” but Moriarty makes you love them anyway.

This book is a fun, fast-paced page-turner with a satisfying ending. Reese Witherspoon optioned the book and stars in the limited series coming to HBO in February of 2017, so read it before it’s on everyone’s list!

Jamie recommends "Poldark"

Poldark

I am recommending the new adaptation of Poldark, currently airing in the U.S. on PBS under Masterpiece Theatre.  Season one of this series, beloved since the 1970s, revolves around the life of Ross Poldark, a gentleman who goes off to war in America in 1776.  When he returns home to Cornwall, he finds his life much changed, including his cousin's engagement to the woman he loves. As he struggles to find his way, he meets a miner's daughter, battles with an up and coming gentleman in town and tries to save his family's copper mine.

Season 2 of Poldark is currently airing on PBS and the 1970s adaptation is also available, including the novels on which this series based!  If you like period pieces, Poldark offers several avenues for you to enjoy the story of Ross Poldark.

Meghan recommends "The Big Short"

The Big Short

You know what I'm going to say. The book was better. That said, director and screenwriter Adam McKay managed to make a film that is entertaining, educational and often quite funny. The Big Short, based on the book by Michael Lewis, tells the story of the 2007 mortgage and banking crisis through the actions of a few men who, working separately, managed to foresee the crash, bet against the mortgage business, and make a bundle in the process. These outcasts and trouble-makers are happy to make a buck at the banks’ expense, but they realize the absurdity of the system they’re working in, and some are troubled by the knowledge that the inevitable crash will have a negative impact on people far beyond Wall Street.

We’re the people far away from Wall Street, and the film does its best to make complex financial transactions comprehensible to lay people. The tone of the movie sparks a strange combination of amusement and outrage, and by the end, we’re shocked and troubled by the absurdity too.

If you’re not interested in the banking industry, you’ll probably still like this movie. If you are interested in what Wall Street gets up to, you should definitely check out this movie (and then read the book.)

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Jeannie recommends "Ink and Bone"

Jeannie recommends “Ink and Bone” by Lisa Unger, available in hard cover and on CD. A fast-paced psychological thriller and ghost story in one. I literally could not put it down, a terrific read!

Kira recommends "Stormdancer"

In an alternate world, Japan has become a steampunk nation reliant on a crop known as 'blood lotus', burned to fuel their amazing technologies. A young girl, Yukiko, is the daughter of a renowned hunter, who has been tasked with the impossible. Her father must find a fantastical beast, an 'arashitora', or 'storm tiger', half white tiger, half eagle. The problem is, with lotus smoke choking the earth and skies, no one has seen an arashitora for decades. With a secret gift, a powerful airship, and will or steel, the two set out to find their arashitora, and find more than they bargained for regarding the beasts, the blood lotus, and the shogunate.

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