Fiction
After the flood : a novel
Kassandra Montag
FICTION Montag Kassandr
Fiction
A little more than a century from now, our world has been utterly transformed. After years of slowly overtaking the continent, rising floodwaters have obliterated America's great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water. Stubbornly independent Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, fish from their small boat, the Bird, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies and information in the few remaining outposts of civilization. For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her oldest daughter, Row, who was stolen by her father after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska. Then, in a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that Row was last seen in a far-off encampment near the Artic Circle. Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra and Pearl embark on a perilous voyage into the icy northern seas, hoping against hope that Row will still be there.
The death of Mrs. Westaway
Ruth Ware
FICTION Ware Ruth
Fiction, Suspense, Mystery
"On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person--but also that the cold-reading skills she's honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money. Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased...where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it."--
I ended up listening to the audio book version of this story (read brilliantly by Imogen Church) and had a hard time setting it aside! Ruth Ware does a fantastic job with pulling in mysterious and suspenseful elements, leaving you anxious to fit together the clues and themes that are woven in throughout the narrative. The Death of Mrs. Westaway was such an engaging story and I would highly recommend the audio book version (available through the Libby App). -Becky
Hello stranger
Lisa Kleypas
Dr. Garrett Gibson, the only female physician in England, is as daring and independent as any man--why not take her pleasures like one? Yet she has never been tempted to embark on an affair, until now. Ethan Ransom, a former detective for Scotland Yard, is as gallant as he is secretive, a rumored assassin whose true loyalties are a mystery. For one exhilarating night, they give in to their potent attraction before becoming strangers again. As a Ravenel by-blow spurned by his father, Ethan has little interest in polite society, yet he is captivated by the bold and beautiful Garrett. Despite their vow to resist each other after that sublime night, she is soon drawn into his most dangerous assignment yet. When the mission goes wrong, it will take all of Garrett's skill and courage to save him. As they face the menace of a treacherous government plot, Ethan is willing to take any risk for the love of the most extraordinary woman he's ever known.
I never would have picked this book based on it's cover. The heroine is wearing a ball gown--how can she kick butt in that?!? BUT, I found the story and plot so very engaging. Perfect combo of intelligent and capable female lead and mysterious secret agent with a swarthy past. And there are even Hamlet references. I listened to the audiobook version and highly recommend it if you are looking to try something new. -Melody
The bookshop
Penelope Fitzgerald
FICTION Fitzgerald, Penelope
Fiction, Literary Fiction
In 1959 Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a small inheritance, risks everything to open a bookshop the only bookshop in the seaside town of Hardborough. By making a success of a business so impractical, she invites the hostility of the town's less prosperous shopkeepers. By daring to enlarge her neighbors lives, she crosses Mrs. Gamart, the local arts doyenne. Florence s warehouse leaks, her cellar seeps, and the shop is apparently haunted. Only too late does she begin to suspect the truth: a town that lacks a bookshop isn t always a town that wants one.
Need a book to put you in the mood for Fall? The Bookshop is a biting, moody little book that takes on the attitudes of the provincial residents of a British coastal town. It is a sad book, but it is also a funny book. And it is a book about books. -Anne M
Ramona and her father
Beverly Cleary
jFICTION Cleary, Beverly
Kids, Fiction
The family routine is upset during Ramona's year in second grade when her father unexpectedly loses his job.
This whole series is my favorite, but this one edges just slightly above the others in enjoyment. No one captures the spirit and feeling of childhood like Beverly Cleary, and Ramona is a funny, spunky, heroine dealing with school and family stuff. -Anne W
The miscalculations of Lightning Girl
Stacy McAnulty
jFICTION Mcanulty Stacy
Fiction, Kids
A lightning strike made Lucy, twelve, a math genius but, after years of homeschooling, her grandmother enrolls her in middle school and she learns that life is more than numbers.
A lightning strike makes 12-year-old Lucy a math genius but when she is forced to go to public middle school after years of home schooling, she learns life is more than numbers. Socially awkward adolescent unwittingly bonds with other misfits and helps dogs at an animal shelter! -Anne W
A case in any case
Ulf Nilsson
jFICTION Nilsson Ulf
Kids, Early Chapter Books, Mystery, Fiction
When Detective Gordon retires and Buffy is left alone at the police station, she hears strange noises and decides to call on Gordon to help her with the mystery.
Sweet, gentle, yet hilariously funny Swedish frog detective and his deputy mouse solve sweet, gentle mysteries in the forest. -Anne W
The Westing game
Ellen Raskin
jFICTION Raskin, Ellen
Mystery, Fiction, Kids
The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.
Mystery classic that centers on the death of an eccentric millionaire and the unlikely assortment of wacky characters all competing to solve the puzzle of his death to claim their inheritance. Funny, offbeat, weird, creepy! -Anne W
The view from Saturday
E. L Konigsburg
jFICTION Konigsburg, E. L.
Mystery, Fiction, Picture Books
Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who choses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.
The stories of four unique students are told and come together at the end, when they develop a special bond with each other and their teacher, who has chosen them to compete in the 6th grade Academic Bowl. Puzzles are woven throughout the narrative! -Anne W
The Watsons go to Birmingham-- 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
jFICTION Curtis, Christopher Paul
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Humor, Kids
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
You will laugh out loud again and again until the end, when you'll cry. A family from Michigan goes to visit relatives down South in Birmingham for the summer. Ten year old Kenny, the protagonist, has a wonderful voice and spirit. -Anne W
Added by Becky