Discover RRPL’s Shared Shelf. Each week a staff member will share a glimpse into their reading shelf in hopes that you will discover that next great read.
Reconnect @RRPL
Reconnect@RRPL – Another Series to Binge
If you are looking for a thrilling series to watch after the kids go to bed, dive into The Americans and be prepared for six seasons of excitement. This spy thriller series from the FX network is set during the Cold War, and follows Elizabeth (played by Keri Russell) and Philip Jennings (played by Matthew Rhys), two Soviet KGB intelligence officers posing as an American married couple living in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., with their two unsuspecting children.
Season One, which premiered in 2013 begins in the aftermath of the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan in January 1981, and the series’ final season takes place in December 1987, shortly before the leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Not only does the action and suspense in this Golden Globe and Emmy-award winning show refuse to disappoint, the nostalgic treats it delivers with its pitch-perfect 80s soundtrack, outrageous costume design of wigs and clothes and gas-guzzling cars will make you glad the ‘80s are over, even as you can’t help but love this walk down memory lane.
Make no mistake: This show is dark in theme and execution. The protagonists are constantly forced into no-win scenarios, in which they must make choices about how to follow their orders and complete their missions, how to raise their children, and how not to get caught, all while trying to balance their loyalties and maintain their relationship to one another. History says they are the “bad guys” on the losing side but I think you’ll find yourself rooting for them anyway.
Place a hold for the first season on DVD today.
Readalikes for The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult
Any time a new Jodi Picoult book comes out is an event in the literary world. From My Sister’s Keeper to Small Great Things, Picoult is a perennial bestseller. You may have heard that a new book of hers came out last month called The Book of Two Ways – and of course when you tried to put a hold on it at the library, you’re very far down the list. Below we’ve curated some other introspective women’s novels that should keep you occupied while you wait for Picoult’s newest #1 New York Times bestselling book.
Heard of The Book of Two Ways but don’t know what it’s about? Your friendly librarians have got you covered: experiencing memories of a man other than her husband while surviving a plane crash, an end-of-life doula on the brink of a fateful decision envisions two disparate paths that find her staying with her family or reconnecting with the past. Find The Book of Two Ways on Overdrive here.
Click any of the book covers below to be taken to our catalog, where you can request a copy of the book with your library card number and PIN. We’ve also included links to our e-media services Overdrive and Hoopla where available.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Feeling at the top of her game when she is suddenly diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, Harvard psychologist Alice Howland struggles to find meaning and purpose in her life as her concept of self gradually slips away.
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
No relation to the previous Alice, but this is another book about memory, forgetting, and examining one’s life. Suffering an accident that causes her to forget the last ten years of her life, Alice is astonished to discover that she is thirty-nine years old, a mother of three children, and in the midst of an acrimonious divorce from a man she dearly loves.
What Alice Forgot Overdrive link
Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum
Enduring private misery in spite of a well-appointed life in suburban Zurich with her distant Swiss banker husband and young children, Anna Benz experiments with unfulfilling hobbies before engaging in a series of surprising sexual affairs.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Separated by respective ambitions after falling in love in occupied Nigeria, beautiful Ifemelu experiences triumph and defeat in America while exploring new concepts of race, while Obinze endures an undocumented status in London until the pair is reunited in their homeland 15 years later, where they face the toughest decisions of their lives.
Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
After she discovers that her husband has been reading her diary, Irene America turns it into a manipulative farce, while secretly keeping a second diary that includes her true thoughts, through which the reader learns of Irene’s shaky marriage, its affect on her children and her struggles with alcohol.
All plot summaries courtesy of Novelist.
Did you try one these books? What did you think? Let us know in the comments! Next week we’ll be back with another edition of the virtual book club!
Reconnect Ohio@RRPL
I recently drove to North Carolina for a much needed vacation. We passed through many beautiful states, and I imagined what it would be like to live in each one. We spent a week at the beach on Hatteras Island, NC. As I thought about what it would be like to live with the beautiful Atlantic ocean outside my door everyday, I realized the one thing I would really miss is all of Ohio’s deciduous trees and their changing colors. I’d miss the wide expanse of rolling hills that you can see when you drive just a little way from the lake and into nearby farm country. I realized that Ohio is really one of the most beautiful places to live, and that I need to open my eyes and not take for granted the beauty I see around me everyday. Fall leaf season is coming to an end in Ohio (although my neighborhood still looks quite beautiful), but there is still plenty of nature to see and experience in our great state! Take a look at some of the things our amazing state has to offer! https://ohio.org/wps/portal/gov/tourism/home/seasons/fall
Reconnect@RRPL
You do not have to be a dog lover to enjoy the Chet and Bernie mystery series. According to
Chet, he flunked out of K-9 police school on the last day of training thanks to some cat. The stories are told from Chet’s perspective. He is indispensable at catching and taking down “perps”.
Access to water in the desert is a main concern for hydrologist Wendell Nero. Wendell invites Bernie, owner of the Little Detective Agency, and Chet to his trailer at Dollhouse Canyon the next day. Sadly they find Wendell dead with his wallet and computer missing. The local police are certain they have the murderer in custody, but Bernie and Chet don’t think so and continue with the investigation.
#10 in Chet and Bernie mystery series is a delight. Enjoy!
~Emma
Chocolate Day Reads
Try some chocolate themed fiction. We have sweet chocolate stories, dark chocolate stories, and even some hot chocolate stories.
Maybe nonfiction is more to your taste. We’ve got you (chocolate) covered.
Happy Reading (and sweet snacking)!
~Megan
New Books Tuesday @ RRPL
In this week’s special picks there are new exciting romance, mystery, adventure, and many more genres for you to choose from! Enjoy!
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter – Enduring the corruption of their union employment, two young day laborers are respectively drawn to a feminist activist and a vaudeville singer whose experiences reflect an unjust world on the brink of upheaval.
The Noel Letters by Richard Paul Evans – A latest entry in the best-selling series by the award-winning author of The Christmas Box explores themes of faith, love and redemption during an illuminating holiday season.
Inside Story by Martin Amis – An autobiographical novel by the author of Experience draws on his close friendship with the late philosopher Christopher Hitchens and follows their relationships and journalistic endeavors against a backdrop of 20th-century history.
Memorial by Bryan Washington – A Japanese-American chef and a Black daycare teacher begin reevaluating their stale relationship in the wake of a father’s death and the arrival of an acerbic mother-in-law who becomes an unconventional roommate. By the award-winning author of Lot.
Truly, Madly, Deeply by Karen Kingsbury – Dividing his family with his decision to become a police officer, 18-year-old Tommy Baxter falls in love with a girl fighting for her life at the same time he uncovers devastating truths about his late grandfather.
The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg – Taking a final visit to the ghost town where his mother Ruth’s Whistle Stop Café made its famous fried green tomatoes, Bud Threadgoode discovers new friends and surprises about the community’s women while triggering unexpected changes in his daughters’ lives.
Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella – Discarding her dating app to enjoy a post-breakup anonymous writers’ retreat in coastal Italy, Ava shares an idyllic love affair with a fellow romantic before their return to London forces them to acknowledge their true identities.
House of Correction by Nicci French – Attempting to solve her own case from the confines of prison, a reclusive murder suspect from an English village uncovers evidence that calls her own sanity into question. By the best-selling authors of the Frieda Klein mysteries.
The Sentinel by Lee Child & Andrew Child – A latest entry in the best-selling series, co-written with the author’s brother, finds Jack Reacher following his lizard-brain instincts on a seemingly uneventful night in Nashville, where a recently fired man nurses an increasingly violent grudge.
Shakeup by Stuart Woods – Looking forward to relaxing with his girlfriend after returning from a dangerous coastal adventure, Stone Barrington finds his plans thwarted by the arrival of a grisly crime on his doorstep, along with some suspicious new clients eager for his help.
Three Women Disappear by James Patterson & Shan Serafin – When three female suspects in the murder of an accountant, who was a master manipulator, go missing, Detective Sean Walsh, who has a personal connection to the case, discovers why the women have to stay hidden from both the law and each other.
The Forgotten Daughter by Joanna Goodman – The triumphant story of two women divided by their past, but united by love. An assassin’s daughter fights for 1992 Quebec’s independence at the side of the man she loves, a separatist-opposing journalist whose Duplessis Orphan sister joins a reparations coalition. By the best-selling author of The Home for Unwanted Girls.
~Semanur
Reconnect@RRPL – What I’m eating while I’m reading
It’s been a good book week in my house. I just devoured The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, the newest novel by V. E. Schwab. This story is about a young French woman in the 18th-Century, who makes a deal with the Devil in order not to marry. Consequently, she can live forever but cannot be remembered by anyone whose life she touches. It’s a little spooky, a lot romantic and has just the right amount of slow-building tension, making it perfect for these chilly, rainy October days.
What else is good for chilly, rainy days? Baking, of course. I like simple recipes like this Beer Bread from Food.com. Even better that it doesn’t require too many ingredients or too much time spent in the kitchen. This bread will be going into my oven in a couple of hours and will make a delicious and hearty snack along with a hot cup of tea later this evening while I tuck into the new Tana French novel, The Searcher. I can’t wait!
-Carol
Readalikes for Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Everyone fell in love with Fredrik Backman’s breakout #1 bestseller hit, A Man Called Ove, a few years ago. Backman’s back with a new #1 bestselling book called Anxious People which is taking the literary world by storm. Taken hostage by a failed bank robber while attending an open house, eight anxiety-prone strangers—including a redemption-seeking bank director, two couples who would fix their marriages and a plucky octogenarian—discover their unexpected common traits. Find Anxious People on Overdrive here (where there’s another long waiting list!).
While you wait for your precious hold to come in, take a look at these books with a similar feel that you can read while you wait!
Click any of the book covers below to be taken to our catalog, where you can request a copy of the book with your library card number and PIN. We’ve also included links to our e-media services Overdrive and Hoopla where available.
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
Gathering at a remote health resort for a 10-day fitness program, nine strangers and their enigmatic host become subjects of interest to a brokenhearted novelist who develops uncomfortable doubts about the resort’s real agenda.
Nine Perfect Strangers Overdrive link
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Confined to a nursing home and about to turn 100, Allan Karlsson, who has a larger-than-life back story as an explosives expert, climbs out of the window in his slippers and embarks on an unforgettable adventure involving thugs, a murderous elephant and a very friendly hot dog stand operator.
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Overdrive link
The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick
A shy librarian whose kind heart is often exploited receives a mysterious book of fairy tales from the beloved grandmother she believed dead and embarks on a perspective-changing journey of astonishing family secrets.
The Library of Lost and Found Overdrive link
Night of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy
Four strangers, with nothing in common but a need to escape, meet in a Greek taverna high above the small village of Aghia Anna. From Ireland, America, Germany and England, they have each left their homes and their old lives, when a shocking tragedy throws them unexpectedly together.
Night of Rain and Stars Overdrive link
The Summer Guests by Mary Alice Monroe
Taking refuge on a friend’s farm when a hurricane threatens the Southern coast, an eclectic group of evacuees confronts unresolved issues in the face of excruciating losses, discovering new priorities along the way.
The Summer Guests Overdrive link
All plot summaries courtesy of Novelist.
Check back next week for another installment of the Virtual Book Club!
Reconnect@RRPL
Anxious
People
An unemployed bank robber, in the middle of a nasty divorce, desperately needs money to pay rent in order to have access to her children and avoid eviction. She tries to rob a “new-fangled cashless” bank. Escaping from the bank, the would-be robber runs into an apartment open house full of potential buyers and takes them hostage. The local police are a father and son team on duty together this day before New Year’s Eve. The reader slowly learns the personal stories behind the various “hostages” and the two policemen. The robber gradually earns support from those she has taken hostage. They don’t want her hurt and help plan a way out. Also they are not totally forthcoming with the truth when questioned by the police.
A combination of comedy, drama and mystery makes for an unusual read by the author of A Man Called Ove.
~Emma
Read it or Weep 