Author: Melinda

Book Review: Death in the Downline

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When journalist Drew returns to her small town with a shrinking bank account and no job prospects, she’s surprised to run into her former best friend Steph. Steph is thriving financially and her skin is absolutely glowing. She’s eager to share her secret- it’s LuminUS, a skincare line that has paid for her seemingly luxurious lifestyle all while allowing her to be her own boss. Drew is hesitant, but the more Steph shares, the more Drew thinks this might be her ticket to turning her life around.

As Drew sends out sales pitches to everyone she’s ever known, she begins taking the LuminUS supplements. Soon it’s time for the annual conference where Drew gets to spend time with the rest of the bleach blonde team. Only things might not be as radiant as the skin of the women around her. Fights break out amongst the team members, and after a late night party, one LuminUS distributor is found dead.

Multilevel marketing is a tale as old as time, but this is a fun twist on your traditional whodunnit. The world of LuminUS shines bright in this lighthearted romp through the scammy world of direct sales. A fast paced and fun read! If you love a cheeky mystery or binged the LuLaRich docuseries, give this one a try.

Request a print copy here or a digital copy here.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Melinda’s Top 10 of 2024

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It’s that time again! All week, your favorite library staff will be sharing their Top Ten Books of 2024. From horror to memoir to fantasy to romance, we have a wide range of book to recommend. Be sure to keep checking back – there will be new Top Ten lists every day this week!

Click on the book cover to request a print copy of the book, or check out Libby or Hoopla for eBook and eAudiobook offerings.

In no particular order, here are my Top Ten!

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at a reformatory for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory. Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory.

The Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee

In a mysterious town hidden in our collective subconscious there’s a department store that sells dreams. Each floor specializes in a specific type of dream: childhood memories, food dreams, ice skating, dreams of stardom.

Full review here.

Youthjuice by E.K. Sathue

Joining HEBE, a luxury skincare/wellness company, 29-year-old Sophia Bannion is soon addicted to her HEBE lifestyle, especially youthjuice, the fatty, soothing moisturizer she’s been asked to test, but when she learns the gruesome secret ingredient, she must decide how far she’s willing to go to stay beautiful forever.

Full review here.

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith

The book begins with one woman’s personal, particular heartbreak, but its circles widen into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood, traditional gender roles, and the power dynamics that persist even in many progressive homes. With the spirit of self-inquiry and empathy she’s known for, Smith interweaves snapshots of a life with meditations on secrets, anger, forgiveness, and narrative itself.

The Farm by Joanne Ramos

Nestled in New York’s Hudson Valley is a luxury retreat boasting every amenity: organic meals, private fitness trainers, daily massages–and all of it for free. In fact, you’re paid big money to stay here–more than you’ve ever dreamed of. The catch? For nine months, you cannot leave the grounds; your movements are monitored, and you are cut off from your former life while you dedicate yourself to the task of producing the perfect baby.

A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter

The story of the unrivaled desire for healing and the power of familial bonds across five generations of Métis women and the land and bison that surround them.

The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels

At eighteen, Brian, like so many other promising young gay men, arrived in New York City without much more than a love for the freedom and release from his past that it promised. But within six short years, AIDS would claim his lover, his friends, and his future. With nothing left in New York but memories of death, Brian decides to write his mother a letter asking to come back to the place, and family, he was once so desperate to escape.

Outofshapeworthlessloser by Gracie Gold

When Gracie Gold stepped onto center stage (or ice, rather) as America’s sweetheart at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, she instantly became the face of America’s most beloved winter sport. Now Gold reveals the exclusive and harrowing story of her struggles in and out of the pressure-packed world of elite figure skating: the battles with her family, her coaches, the powers-that-be at her federation, and her deteriorating mental health.

Mister Lullaby by J.H. Markert

As coma patients are trapped in a world full of evil mythical creatures of sleep, which is linked to an old train tunnel around town, one troubled man finally acts upon the voice in his head called Mr. Lullaby who wants him to kill all the coma patients he can find.

Full review here.

Dolls of Our Lives by Mary Mahoney & Allison Horrocks

Combining history, travelogue, and memoir, Dolls of Our Lives follows Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney on an unforgettable journey to the past as they delve into the origins of this iconic brand.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Romance Novels for Every Hobby

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We’ve noticed a trend this year in our romance books- 2024 has been the year of romance for every reader! If you want a romance featuring a specific hobby, interest, or activity, the publishing world has you covered, and so do we! Take a look at some of the niche romances we have in our collection.

Click on the book title to request a print copy of the book, or check out Libby or Hoopla for eBook and eAudiobook offerings.

For the pickleball enthusiast:

Pickleballers by Ilana Long

Meg Bloomberg is in a pickle. When Meg’s ex turns out to be a total dink, her bestie suggests a mood-lifting pickleball excursion to Bainbridge Island. It’s supposed to be an easy lob, a way to heal–not the opening serve to a new courtside romance that’s doomed to spin out. But no matter how Meg tries, she can’t shake her feelings for Ethan Fine. A charismatic environmental consultant and Bainbridge local, Ethan is eager to play with her on–and off–the court.

For the word game puzzler:

A Five Letter Word for Love by Amy James

Twenty-seven-year-old Emily doesn’t have a lot going well in her life right now. She dreams of a creative career, longs for big city life and craves a close group of friends but is stuck with irritating, car-obsessed coworkers.

What Emily does have is a 300+ day streak on the New York Times Wordle. But one day, with only one guess left and no clue what the answer is, she’s forced to turn to one of her irritating, car-obsessed coworkers, John, for help–and in doing so, realizes that he might not be so irritating after all.

For the beginner birder:

Birding With Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb

Newly-divorced, almost-empty-nester Celeste is finally seeking adventure and putting herself first, cliches be damned. So when a friend asks Celeste to “partner” with his buddy John for an event, Celeste throws herself into the role of his temporary girlfriend. But quiet cinnamon roll John isn’t looking for love, just birds–he needs a partner for Tucson’s biggest bird-watching contest if he’s ever going to launch his own guiding business.

For the aspiring astrologer:

Looking For a Sign by Susie Dumond

Gray feels her biological clock ticking and is determined to meet someone, settle down, and build the loving, accepting family she’s always wanted. When her best friend Cherry suggests Gray look for answers from Madame Nouvelle Lune, an astrologer, Gray’s skeptical. So when Madame encourages her to look to the stars, she finds herself mapping out a plan: go on a date with someone of each sign before her birthday, when Saturn will make its first return to the same celestial alignment as her birth (a major turning point in every person’s life, she’s learned).

For the Olympic fan:

Let the Games Begin by Rufaro Faith Mazarura

Olivia Nkomo has always been ambitious, smart, and an overall go-getter. Now that she’s graduated from university, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to land her dream job at the Summer Games. The first step? Securing her new internship, which will put her in the center of all the action, where she hopes to run into some of her favorite athletes. Ezekiel “Zeke” Moyo, the heartthrob star runner of Team Great Britain, is more than ready to claim his title as the fastest man in the world, following in the footsteps of the greatest athletes of all time.

For the DIYer:

Hannah Tate, Beyond Repair by Laura Piper Lee

Hannah hardly believe her eyes when she finds an engagement ring. Killian, her super responsible, incredibly attractive boyfriend–and the father of her new baby, Bowie–is finally going to propose. But a romantic night out goes horribly wrong when Killian reveals he’s dumping Hannah. Furious and heartbroken, Hannah takes Bowie and moves in with her mama and stepdaddy in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia. Hannah realizes that her parents’ cabin has vacation property gold written all over it. Only problem? The cabin’s décor is . . . mildly terrifying and it’s in desperate need of renovation.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Stories That Go Bump in the Night

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Spooky season is upon us, and the Library has spooky stories of all types to keep you up at night! From vampires to haunted houses and zombies, there’s a scary amount of good books coming out that will haunt you. Grab a blanket to cozy up and get ready to meet the monsters that lurk in the shadows. These chilling reads are waiting for you on our shelves!

Click on the book title to request a print copy of the book, or check out Libby or Hoopla for eBook or eAudiobook offerings.

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

Sloane is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life. Her husband surprises her with a weekend getaway–not with him, but with Sloane’s longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi. But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to really live. So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever.

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister

Since time immemorial, the Haddesley family has tended the cranberry bog. In exchange, the bog sustains them. The staunch seasons of their lives are governed by a strict covenant that is renewed each generation with the ritual sacrifice of their patriarch, and in return, the bog produces a “bog-wife.” Brought to life from vegetation, this woman is meant to carry on the family line. But when the bog fails–or refuses–to honor the bargain, the Haddesleys, a group of discordant siblings still grieving the mother who mysteriously disappeared years earlier, face an unknown future.

William by Mason Coile

Henry is a brilliant engineer who has achieved the breakthrough of his career–he’s created an artificially intelligent consciousness, the half-formed robot William.

No one knows about William. Henry’s agoraphobia and his fixation on his project keeps him up in the attic, away from everyone, including his pregnant wife, Lily.

When Lily’s coworkers show up, wanting to finally meet Henry, he decides to introduce them to William, and things go from strange to much worse.

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen

Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago–and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over. 

Light enough to pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. Their tenuous hold on reality extends to all the members of their eccentric clan. And soon the shocking truth comes out: The Duchons are under a curse.

The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson

Marshall is still trying to put the pieces together after the death of her husband. After she is involved in a terrible accident, her editor sends her to the small, backwards town of Raeford to investigate a clearly ridiculous rumor: that a horse has given birth to a healthy, human baby boy.

When Marshall arrives, she finds an insular town that is kinder to the horses they are famous for breeding than to their own people. But when two horribly mangled bodies are discovered in a field–one a horse, one a human–she realizes that there might be a real story here.

Hampton Heights by Dan Kois

On a cold winter’s evening in 1987, six middle-school paperboys wander an unfamiliar Milwaukee neighborhood, selling newspaper subscriptions, fueled by their manager Kevin’s promises of cash bonuses and dinner at Burger King. But the freaks come out at night in Hampton Heights. Sent out into the neighborhood in pairs, the boys will encounter a host of primordial monsters–and triumph over them.

Happy reading!

-Melinda


From Page to Screen: Fall 2024

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Adaptations of your favorite books and spooky stories are hitting the streaming services this fall! Fall releases include new takes on beloved spooky stories such as Rosemary’s Baby and Salem’s Lot. Looking for more of a non-fiction feel? This fall’s adaptations will take you from life on Navajo land to the battlefield of World War II.

If you want to compare and contrast or just love a good spoiler, pick up the book to read before you start watching! Click on the book title to request a print copy of the book, or check out Libby or Hoopla for eBook or eAudiobook offerings.

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband Guy move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and mostly elderly residents. Neighbors Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building, and despite Rosemary’s reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband takes a special shine to them. Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavets’ circle is not what it seems . . .

Streaming on Paramount +.

The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose

Starting in 1927 in New York, this volume chronicles Lee Miller as she is discovered as a model by Condé Nast, hits the cover of Vogue, and is immortalized by Edward Steichen, George Hoyningen-Huene, Horst P. Horst, and other acclaimed photographers. From there, readers follow Miller to Paris where she, along with Man Ray, invented the solarization technique of photography, and where she developed into a brilliant Surrealist photographer. Finally, this account covers the later chapters of her life, when she became a war correspondent during World WarII, traveling with the Allied armies to cover the siege of Saint-Malo and the liberation of Paris, which lead to her photographs of the Dachau concentration camp that shocked the world.

Coming to theaters.

Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation by Michael Powell

Deep in the heart of northern Arizona, in a small and isolated patch of the vast 17.5-million-acre Navajo reservation, sits Chinle High School. Here, basketball is passion, passed from grandparent to parent to child. Rez Ball is a sport for winters where dark and cold descend fast and there is little else to do but roam mesa tops, work, and wonder what the future holds. The town has 4,500 residents and the high school arena seats 7,000. Fans drive thirty, fifty, even eighty miles to see the fast-paced and highly competitive matchups that are more than just games to players and fans.

Streaming on Netflix.

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

When two young boys venture into the woods, and only one returns alive, Mears begins to realize that something sinister is at work. In fact, his hometown is under siege from forces of darkness far beyond his imagination. And only he, with a small group of allies, can hope to contain the evil that is growing within the borders of this small New England town.

Streaming on Max.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin–no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens.

Coming to theaters.

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

The Jackal. A tall, blond Englishman with opaque, gray eyes. A killer at the top of his profession. A man unknown to any secret service in the world. An assassin with a contract to kill the world’s most heavily guarded man. One man with a rifle who can change the course of history. One man whose mission is so secretive not even his employers know his name. And as the minutes count down to the final act of execution, it seems that there is no power on earth that can stop the Jackal.

Coming to Peacock.

-Happy reading!

Melinda

Book Review: The Dallergut Dream Department Store

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Imagine walking into a glittering version of a department store, wandering around and taking in the magic of merchandising. Except in The Dallergut Dream Department Store, the only merchandise you’ll see are dreams. Imaginative dreams by the finest dream makers are stocked alongside the discount dreams with slight imperfections or lackluster themes. Among it all is Penny, the newest employee at the famed store. Dallergut himself interviews and hires Penny. As she finds her footing, she realizes that the mystical world of sleep can be carefully orchestrated. The regulars come through and purchase dreams of flying, eating, and otherworldly realms as their payments of wonder and flutter are deposited into the store’s vault. Penny gets to know the regulars and suggests dreams for them with practiced specificity. But not all dreams are pleasant. The market for nightmares is also met in this whimsical, mundane, and fantastical world of sleep.

As Penny discovers the business of dreams, intriguing side characters abound. The quiet plot of this book is by no means flashy, but the the world of dreamy magic pulled me in with this enveloping book. Translated from the original Korean bestseller, if you enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold or Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, you’ll enjoy the world of this magical department store.

Request the print book here, or check out the digital collection.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

End of Summer Readalikes

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Summer isn’t quite over yet! Coffee shops may be debuting their fall drink menu but according to the calendar we have a whole month left of summer. In honor of the dog days of summer, here are some of the most-read books of the past few months. If you’ve already read the hottest titles, we’ve got readalikes for them too. So pick up a book and enjoy the summer sun while it lasts!

Click on the title to request the print book, or check out the digital collection.

If you liked Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand

Mysterious wealthy newcomers, the Richardsons, have bought a lavish house. But when it burns to the ground and their employee goes missing, the island is in for plenty of drama.  

Try Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum

None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder?

If you liked The Housemaid is Watching by Freida McFadden

“You must be our new neighbors!” Mrs. Lowell gushes and waves across the picket fence. I clutch my daughter’s hand and smile back- but the second Mrs. Lowell sees my husband a strange expression crosses her face. In that moment I make a promise. We finally have a family home. My past is far, far behind us. And I’ll do anything to keep it that way.

Try The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher

Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son–the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.

If you liked Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo

Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. But Julia has never navigated the world with the equanimity of her current privileged class. Having nearly derailed herself several times, making desperate bids for the kind of connection that always felt inaccessible to her, she finally feels, at age fifty seven, that she has a firm handle on things.

Try Sandwich by Catherine Newman

While on her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod, Rocky, sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, relives the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers, coming face-to-face with her family’s history and future and accepting she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves. 

If you liked This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune

Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long.

Try The Catch by Amy Lea

In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded B and B owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler

If you liked The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan

On a secluded bluff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house, lavender with gingerbread trim, a home that contains a century’s worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned. Twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career and her marriage.

Try Malice House by Megan Shepherd

Deciding to illustrate a disturbing, secret handwritten manuscript from her late Pulitzer Prize-winning father, aspiring artist Haven Marbury is plunged into a nightmarish world when a monstrous creature appears.

If you liked The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways. Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor.

Try Chef’s Choice by TJ Alexander

When Luna O’Shea is unceremoniously fired from her frustrating office job, she tries to count her blessings: she’s a proud trans woman who has plenty of friends, a wonderful roommate, and a good life in New York City. But blessings don’t pay the bills. Enter Jean-Pierre, a laissez-faire trans man and the heir to a huge culinary empire–which he’ll only inherit if he can jump through all the hoops his celebrity chef grandfather has placed in his path. 

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Bookish Travel- European Edition

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Whether you’re in the dreaming phase of vacation planning or on vacation as you’re reading this, if you’d like to add a bookish spin to your time away, here are a few options for your next vacation-inspired read. Pick a book based on the location and enjoy a literary vacation!

Poland

Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

 A woman must return to her native Poland in order to poison her terminally ill high school sweetheart, and a young man slowly descends into madness when his wife and child mysteriously vanish during a vacation and just as suddenly reappear. 

Germany

Empty Hearts by Juli Zeh

Britta is a wife, mother and businesswoman who concentrates on her family and running clinic that specializes in suicide prevention. Meanwhile, her business is connected to an outfit that supplies terrorist organizations looking to employ suicide bombers.  

Croatia

Girl at War by Sara Nović

When her happy life in 1991 Croatia is shattered by civil war, ten-year-old Ana Juric is embroiled in a world of guerilla warfare and child soldiers before making a daring escape to America, where years later she struggles to hide her past.  

France

The Cheffe by Marie Ndiaye

The story of a Great Female Chef, celebrated as one of the best in a world where men dominate, and the way that her pursuit of love, pleasure, and gustatory delights helped shape her life and career.

England

Waterland by Graham Swift

Set in the bleak Fen Country of East Anglia, and spanning some 240 years in the lives of its haunted narrator and his ancestors, Waterland is a book that takes in eels and incest, ale-making and madness, the heartless sweep of history and a family romance as tormented as any in Greek tragedy.

Italy

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant

Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family’s Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter’s abilities.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Olympic Reads

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The 2024 Olympics begin today in Paris, France! The XXXIII Olympiad will be the sixth Olympic Games hosted by France and the third Olympic Games hosted in the “City of Love.” From cardboard beds to the launch of Olympic breakdancing, this Olympic Games is already full of stories. If you’re caught up in the quest for gold, here are a few Olympic-themed reads.

Fiction

Fast Girls by Elise Hooper

In the 1928 Olympics, Chicago’s Betty Robinson competes as a member of the first-ever women’s delegation in track and field. Destined for further glory, she returns home feted as America’s Golden Girl until a nearly-fatal airplane crash threatens to end everything.

The Happiest Girl in the World by Alena Dillon

For Sera Wheeler, the Olympics is the reason for everything. It’s why she trains thirty hours a week, starves herself to under 100 pounds, and pops Advil like Tic Tacs. For her mother, Charlene,  hungry for glory she never had, it’s why she rises before dawn to drive Sera to practice in a different state, and why the family scrimps, saves, and fractures.

Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner

Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. 22-year-old Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t–a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way.

Don’t Tell Me You’re Afraid by Giuseppe Catozzella

At eight years of age, Samia lives to run. She shares her dream with her best friend and neighbor, Ali, who appoints himself her “professional coach.” Eight-year-old Ali trains her, times her, and pushes her to achieve her goals. For both children, Samia’s running is the bright spot in their tumultuous life in Somalia. She is talented, brave, and determined to represent her country in the Olympic Games.

Aquamarine by Carol Anshaw

Jesse Austin, a former Olympic swimmer who, at age 17, lost the gold medal in the Mexico City games–a loss that has haunted her ever since. 

Head Over Heals by Hannah Orenstein

The past seven years have been hard on Avery Abrams: after training her entire life to make the Olympic gymnastics team, a disastrous performance ended her athletic career for good. Her best friend and teammate, Jasmine, went on to become an Olympic champion, then committed the ultimate betrayal by marrying their controversial coach, Dimitri.

Nonfiction

Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance by Simone Biles 

Simone Biles’ entrance into the world of gymnastics may have started on a field trip in her hometown of Spring, Texas, but her God-given talent, along with drive to succeed no matter the obstacle, are what brought her to the national spotlight during the Olympic Games and have catapulted her ever since–including 25 World Championship medals. 

Just Add Water by Katie Ledecky

Katie Ledecky has won more individual Olympic races than any female swimmer in history. She is a three-time Olympian, a seven-time gold medalist, a twenty-one-time world champion, eight-time NCAA Champion, and a world record-holder in individual swimming events. Time and again, the question is posed to her family, her coaches, and to her–what makes her a champion?

Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Growing up in New Jersey as the only African American Muslim at school, Ibtihaj Muhammad always had to find her own way. When she discovered fencing, a sport traditionally reserved for the wealthy, she had to defy expectations and make a place for herself in a sport she grew to love.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Book Review: End of Story

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Reclusive mystery novelist Sebastian Trapp doesn’t have long to live. And before he goes, he’s bound and determined to tell his own story. Enter Nicky Hunter, a detective fiction enthusiast he’s selected to craft his personal memoir. Nicky travels to Sebastian’s stately San Francisco mansion to immerse herself in the daily life of the household: Sebastian, the acclaimed novelist, his artistic second wife, Diana, his doting nephew, Freddy, his adult daughter, Madeleine, and the illustrious sidekick Watson the dog.

As Nicky attempts to uncover Sebastian’s life story, one secret is raised again and again- Sebastian’s biggest secret, over twenty years old. On New Year’s Eve in 1999 his first wife and son disappeared without a trace. No bodies have been found, but no proof of life has been found either. It’s something out of one of Sebastian’s own mystery novels. But it’s a case he hasn’t solved.

This book felt a little slow to start, but as Nicky explores the creaking San Francisco mansion, the plot thickens and really grabs your attention in the last third. Multiple first person narrators add intrigue and blend the past as callbacks to the golden age of detective mysteries are peppered throughout. The desire to find out whodunit kept me reading. If you’re a fan of books about books, you’ll enjoy the literary references!

Request a copy here.

Happy reading!

-Melinda