Book recommendations

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

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


Memoirs for May: AAPI Heritage Month

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May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) Month, celebrating the more than 20 million people who are part of the AAPI community. The month of May was selected in commemoration of the immigration of the first Japanese people to the United States in May 1843 as well as the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869.

In celebration of AAPI stories, here are memoirs written by members of the AAPI community available in our collection. Click on the title to request the print book, or check our digital offerings for more options.

Owner of a Lonely Heart by Beth Nguyen

At the end of the Vietnam War, when Beth Nguyen was eight months old, she and her family fled Saigon for America. Only Beth’s mother stayed–or was left–behind, and they did not meet again until Beth was nineteen. Over the course of her adult life, she and her mother have spent less than twenty-four hours together. A memoir about parenthood, absence, and the condition of being a refugee.

The Worlds I See by Dr. Fei-Fei Li

Known to the world as the creator of ImageNet, a key catalyst of modern artificial intelligence, Dr. Li has spent more than two decades at the forefront of the field. But her career in science was improbable from the start. As immigrants, her family faced a difficult transition from China’s middle class to American poverty. And their lives were made all the harder as they struggled to care for her ailing mother, who was working tirelessly to help them all gain a foothold in their new land.

Stay True by Hua Hsu

In the eyes of eighteen-year-old Hua Hsu, the problem with Ken–with his passion for Dave Matthews, Abercrombie & Fitch, and his fraternity–is that he is exactly like everyone else. Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the United States for generations, is mainstream; for Hua, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, who makes ‘zines and haunts Bay Area record shops, Ken represents all that he defines himself in opposition to. The only thing Hua and Ken have in common is that, however they engage with it, American culture doesn’t seem to have a place for either of them.

A Man of Two Faces by Viet Thanh Nguyen

With insight, humor, formal invention, and lyricism, in A Man of Two Faces Viet Thanh Nguyen rewinds the film of his own life. He expands the genre of personal memoir by acknowledging larger stories of refugeehood, colonization, and ideas about Vietnam and America, writing with his trademark sardonic wit and incisive analysis, as well as a deep emotional openness about his life as a father and a son.

Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin

Nineteen eighties Detroit was a volatile place to live, but above the fray stood a safe haven: Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, where anyone–from the city’s first Black mayor to the local drag queens, from a big-time Hollywood star to elderly Jewish couples–could sit down for a warm, home-cooked meal. Here was where, beneath a bright-red awning and surrounded by his multigenerational family, filmmaker and activist Curtis Chin came of age; where he learned to embrace his identity as a gay ABC, or American-born Chinese.

All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung

Nicole Chung was born severely premature, placed for adoption by her Korean parents, and raised by a white family in a sheltered Oregon town. From childhood, she heard the story of her adoption as a comforting, prepackaged myth. She believed that her biological parents had made the ultimate sacrifice in the hope of giving her a better life, that forever feeling slightly out of place was her fate as a transracial adoptee. But as Nicole grew up-facing prejudice her adoptive family couldn’t see, finding her identity as an Asian American and as a writer, becoming ever more curious about where she came from-she wondered if the story she’d been told was the whole truth.

Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong

Binding these essays together is Hong’s theory of “minor feelings.” As the daughter of Korean immigrants, Cathy Park Hong grew up steeped in shame, suspicion, and melancholy. She would later understand that these “minor feelings” occur when American optimism contradicts your own reality–when you believe the lies you’re told about your own racial identity. Minor feelings are not small, they’re dissonant–and in their tension Hong finds the key to the questions that haunt her. 

What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

In this deeply personal and thoroughly researched account, Foo interviews scientists and psychologists and tries a variety of innovative therapies. She returns to her hometown of San Jose, California, to investigate the effects of immigrant trauma on the community, and she uncovers family secrets in the country of her birth, Malaysia, to learn how trauma can be inherited through generations. Ultimately, she discovers that you don’t move on from trauma–but you can learn to move with it.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Readalikes for The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

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One of the books currently flying off the library shelves is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. When a skeleton is unearthed in the small, close-knit community of Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1972, an unforgettable cast of characters, living on the margins of white, Christian America closely guard a secret, especially when the truth is revealed about what happened and the part the town’s white establishment played in it.

If you’re still waiting to read this one, request the physical book here and the eBook here. But if you’re searching for a similar book, read on for some readalikes.

What’s a readalike? A readalike is a suggested book that has a similar style, plot, or genre to a book that you enjoyed reading. We love to suggest books for you, so stop by the Reference Desk anytime to get a recommendation.

Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks

It’s 1957, and after leaving the only home she has ever known, Alice Young steps off the bus into the all-Black town of New Jessup, Alabama, where residents have largely rejected integration as the means for Black social advancement. Instead, they seek to maintain, and fortify, the community they cherish on their “side of the woods.” In this place, Alice falls in love with Raymond Campbell, whose clandestine organizing activities challenge New Jessup’s longstanding status quo and could lead to the young couple’s expulsion–or worse–from the home they both hold dear

Request it here.

The Evening Road by Laird Hunt

Two women, two secrets: one desperate and extraordinary day. In the high heat of an Indiana summer, news spreads fast. When Marvel, the local county seat, plans to lynch three young black men, word travels faster. It is August, 1930, the height of the Jim Crow era, and the prospect of the spectacle sends shockwaves rumbling through farm country as far as a day’s wagon-ride away.

Request it here.

Promise by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

The Kindred sisters–Ezra and Cinthy–have grown up with an abundance of love. Love from their parents, who let them believe that the stories they tell on stars can come true. Love from their neighbors, the Junketts, the only other Black family in town, whose home is filled with spice-rubbed ribs and ground-shaking hugs. And love for their adopted hometown of Salt Point, a beautiful Maine village perched high up on coastal bluffs.

Request it here.

The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama

Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai’i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel’s mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can’t wait to see Daniel, who he’s always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father.

Request it here.

Decent People by De’Shawn Charles Winslow

In the still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina, in 1976, Marian, Marva, and Lazarus Harmon-three enigmatic siblings-are found shot to death in their home. The people of West Mills- on both sides of the canal that serves as the town’s color line-are in a frenzy of finger-pointing, gossip, and wonder. The crime is the first reported murder in the area in decades, but the white authorities don’t seem to have any interest in solving the case.

Request it here.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Hygge and Beyond: Cozy Vibes All Around

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Photo by Pavan Trikutam on Unsplash

In 2016, one Danish word began to crop up in popularity: hygge (pronounced hooga). Hygge doesn’t have a direct English translation, but according to the official website of Denmark, “hygge is about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about – or even by yourself – to relax and enjoy life’s quieter pleasures.” The general spirit of most translations relate to the feelings of being cozy, relaxed, and grateful, and “reflects the values of Danish society: equality and the well-being of everybody.”

Hygge took the world by storm and quickly begged the question- what other Nordic traditions and concepts are we missing out on? Read on to learn about other practices to build into your daily life to up the cozy factor and bring international practices into your home. As the winter days are around the corner and daylight hours are shrinking, take time to enjoy the season.

The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

Why are Danes the happiest people in the world? The answer, says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, is Hygge. Loosely translated, Hygge–pronounced Hoo-ga–is a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being. “Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience,” Wiking explains. “It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe.”

Cosy: The British Art of Comfort by Laura Weir

Cosy is “the slacker’s guide to staying at home, an antidote to peak frazzle.” With trademark Anglo cheekiness, Laura Weir perfectly captures the British essence of cosy. She celebrates socks, warms to the joys of toasty open fires, and extols the virtues of a quiet walk, ultimately enticing us all to create the British magic of cosy in our everyday lives.

Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing by Olga Mecking

Niksen is not a form of meditation, nor is it a state of laziness or boredom. It’s not scrolling through social media, or wondering what you’re going to cook for dinner. Rather, to niks is to make a conscious choice to sit back, let go, and do nothing at all.

Njuta: Enjoy, Delight In by Niki Brantmark

Do you aspire to live a more peaceful, intentional life of mindfulness, positivity, and gratitude? Njuta (pronounced “nyutah”), which means “enjoy” or “delight in,” is the Swedish art of savoring the moment. Focused on finding happiness in even the smallest things, njuta can be applied to every area of life: 

The Little Book of Lykke by Meik Wiking

In The Little Book of Lykke, Meik identifies the six factors that explain the majority of differences in happiness across the world–togetherness, money, health, freedom, trust, and kindness–and explores what actions we can take to become happier. As he reveals, we can deepen our blissfulness and contentment with little adjustments in our behavior.

The Little Book of Fika by Lynda Balslev

While the Danish concept of hygge as caught on around the globe, so has lagom– its Swedish counterpart. An essential part of the lagom lifestyle, fika  is the simple art of taking a break–sometimes twice a day–to enjoy a warm beverage and sweet treat with friends.

Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World by Isabel Gillies

When we talk about being cozy, most of us think of a favorite sweater or a steaming cup of tea on a rainy day. But to Isabel Gillies, coziness goes beyond mere objects. To be truly cozy, she argues, means learning to identify the innermost truth of yourself and carrying it into the world, no matter your environment.

Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living by Linnea Dunne

The Swedish concept of Lagom (pronounced “lah-gom”) roughly translates to “not too little, not too much, just right.” This charming book introduces readers to a new way of balanced living that promises happiness and sustainability in work and in life.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

National Dog Month

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August has gone to the dogs, it’s National Dog Month!

According to Forbes, over 65 million U.S. households have a canine companion, so chances are if you’re reading this, you’re a dog owner. Or as the old joke goes, maybe your dog actually owns you.

Either way, we hope these reads remind you of your favorite furry family members in the very best way. Take a break from playing fetch, cuddle up with your dog and enjoy a doggo-inspired book this month. Just like our dogs, these books may make you cry, laugh, or throw up your hands in frustration.

But hopefully just like our dogs, they’ll remind you to take a minute, slow down, and enjoy the world around you.

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley

Teddy is unhappily single in L.A. In between sessions with his therapist and dates with men he meets online, Teddy has debates with his dachshund, Lily, who occupies his heart. Unfortunately, he is also able to communicate with the “octupus” attached to Lily’s head, which is soon revealed to be a metaphor for Lily’s lethal cranial tumor.

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. Her own battle against grief is intensified by the mute suffering of the dog, a huge Great Dane traumatized by the inexplicable disappearance of its master, and by the threat of eviction: dogs are prohibited in her apartment building. While others worry that grief has made her a victim of magical thinking, the woman refuses to be separated from the dog except for brief periods of time.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Nearing the end of his life, Enzo, a dog with a philosopher’s soul, tries to bring together the family, pulled apart by a three year custody battle between daughter Zoe’s maternal grandparents and her father Denny, a race car driver.  

Good Boy by Jennifer Finney Boylan

This is a book about dogs: the love we have for them, and the way that love helps us understand the people we have been. It’s in the love of dogs, and my love for them, that I can best now take the measure of the child I once was, and the bottomless, unfathomable desires that once haunted me. There are times when it is hard for me to fully remember that love, which was once so fragile, and so fierce.

I Could Chew on This and Other Poems by Dogs by Francesco Marciuliano

Doggie laureates not only chew on quite a lot of things, they also reveal their creativity, their hidden motives, and their eternal (and sometimes misguided) effervescence through such musings as “I Dropped a Ball,” “I Lose My Mind When You Leave the House,” and “Can You Smell That?” 

Travels with Charley: in Search of America by John Steinbeck

Author John Steinbeck was 58 when he set out to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years. With his elderly French poodle, Charley, he embarked on a quest across America, from the northernmost tip of Maine to California’s Monterey Peninsula.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Barbie Reads for Barbie Girls

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Are you caught up in the Barbie craze sweeping social media? If you’re a Barbie enthusiast who is looking forward to the release of the Barbie movie today, you’re not alone! Box office predictions are at $75 million for the film’s opening weekend.

Barbie has had many iterations throughout the years, including Barbie Color Magic, Twist N Turn Barbie, Surgeon Barbie, Disco Fever Barbie, and of course the iconic original Barbie. With over 60 years of Barbie history, the doll has had many outfits, careers, and impossibly pointed shoes.

With all the Barbie buzz, it left me wondering- what would Barbie read? Here are some of the bestselling Barbies of all times and an accompanying book recommendation based on that doll’s theme!

Astronaut Barbie would read Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt

Totally Hair Barbie would read Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth

Malibu Barbie would read Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Gold Medal Barbie would read The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Superstar Barbie would read Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

For more about the history of the Barbie doll, check out these titles in our catalog:

Barbie Forever

Barbie and Ruth

Dressing Barbie

Happy reading!

-Melinda

National Library Week

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For National Library Week, which runs from April 23-29, the staff at Rocky River Public Library have filled quite a few shelves full of our book recommendations. From nonfiction to graphic novels to fantasy to audiobooks, we’ve got a little bit of everything for every type of reader.  

But if you can’t make it in person to see our staff recommendations, here’s a list of just a few of the books staff have picked out:

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 

A reimagining of the classic gothic suspense novel, Mexican Gothic follows the experiences of a courageous socialite in 1950s Mexico who is drawn into the treacherous secrets of an isolated mansion. 

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis 

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. When her older sister, Anna, was murdered three years ago and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best: The language of violence. 

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara 

An account of the unsolved Golden State Killer case, written by the late author of the TrueCrimeDiary.com website traces the assaults and murders of dozens of victims and the author’s determined efforts to help identify the killer and bring him to justice. 

Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak 

Three Daughters of Eve is set over an evening in contemporary Istanbul and follows the efforts of a woman to navigate cultural, religious and economic tensions during a seaside mansion dinner party while enduring painful memories of her deep multicultural friendships during her Oxford years. 

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff 

Zuboff explores the challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, presenting a detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called “surveillance capitalism,” and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control human behavior. 

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami 

A clerk in a Tokyo of the near future works in an organization that controls the flow of information to society–employing electronic brainwashing and other insidious techniques–a job that contributes to his increasing sense of dehumanization. 

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe 

Keefe documents the notorious abduction and murder of I.R.A. Troubles victim Jean McConville in 1972 Belfast, exploring how the case reflected the brutal conflicts of Northern Ireland and their ongoing repercussions. 

Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan 

Glitter and Glue presents an account of the author’s perspectives on motherhood, which have been shaped by her job as a nanny for a grieving Australian family and her character-testing experiences with her daughters. 

Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything by Viktor E. Frankl 

Despite the unspeakable horrors that Frankl faced in the Nazi concentration camps, he learned from the strength of his fellow inmates that it is always possible to “say yes to life”–a profound and timeless lesson for us all. 

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker 

Kolker tells the heartrending story of a midcentury American family with 12 children, 6 of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science’s great hope in the quest to understand the disease. 

-Linnea 

Book Club Picks

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Are you in a book club? Then you’re one of the 5 million Americans that enjoy getting together with friends and talking books. That’s a lot of readers! Whether you read memoirs, bestsellers or saucy romances, picking a book for your group can be a challenge. Some groups vote on titles while others rotate monthly selectors. If your group is stuck in a reading rut here are recent books making the book club rounds. Or, if you’d rather revisit a perennial book club favorite, I’ve included a few recommendations of tried and true titles.

Recent Titles

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

As a panicked world goes into lockdown, Lucy Barton is uprooted from her life in Manhattan and bundled away to a small town in Maine by her ex-husband and on-again, off-again friend, William. For the next several months, it’s just Lucy, William, and their complex past together in a little house nestled against the moody, swirling sea.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever. Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal—an experience that shocks him to his core. 

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

With humor and heart, Michelle Zauner tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.

Tried and True Titles

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she’s forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Cora is a young slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. An outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is on the cusp of womanhood—where even greater pain awaits. And so when Caesar, a slave who has recently arrived from Virginia, urges her to join him on the Underground Railroad, she seizes the opportunity and escapes with him.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. With nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and she would do it alone.

Looking for further inspiration? Check out previous selections from celebrity book clubs, including the Good Morning America Book Club, Reese’s Book Club, Oprah’s Book Club, Today Show’s Read With Jenna, Book of the Month, or Belletrist BookClub.

Did you know that Rocky River Public Library has book club kits? Take the guess work out of your next title and borrow a book club kit. Each kit contains eight copies of your selected title as well as discussion questions. Call or stop by the library for more information.

-Melinda

Royal Reads for Fans of “The Empress”

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If you’re a fan of The Empress on Netflix, chances are you’re also a fan of historical fiction. The splendor and drama of royal living is present in both the show and the following books. While all three of these women come from different time periods, they share one thing in common: the name Elizabeth. Continue exploring the world of Sisi, or travel to the courts of Russia or England with one of these royal reads.

Elisabeth “Sisi,” Empress of Austria

The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki

Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young Emperor Franz Joseph. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead. Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world.

Elizabeth, Empress of Russia

The Tsarina’s Daughter by Ellen Alpsten

When they took everything from her, they didn’t count on her fighting to get it back. Born into the House of Romanov to the all-powerful Peter the Great and Catherine I, beautiful Tsarevna Elizabeth is the world’s loveliest Princess and the envy of the Russian empire. Insulated by luxury and as a woman free from the burden of statecraft, Elizabeth is seemingly born to pursue her passions. However, when her mother dies; Russia is torn, masks fall, and friends become foes. Elizabeth’s idyllic world is upended. By her twenties she is penniless and powerless, living under constant threat. As times change like quicksand, Elizabeth must decide whether she is willing to take up her role as Russia’s ruler, and what she’s willing to do for her country.

Queen Elizabeth II

The Gown by Jennifer Robson

When Heather Mackenzie discovers that the embroidered flowers among her grandmother’s possessions are the same pattern from Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding gown, she sets out to discover why they were in her possession. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost seventy years before?

-Melinda