Fiction

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

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When Lauren returns home after a night out in London, she is greeted by Michael. This man is a stranger claiming to be her husband. She was definitely not married when she left that evening, but now her own camera roll, the changes to her flat, and her friends all tell a different story. How could this be? When the shocking answer is revealed, it is truly unbelieve-he came from the attic. Lauren quickly discovers that her attic produces a seemingly infinite supply of husbands.

Lauren’s life changes with each new husband. And while the idea of endless possible lives sounds appealing, she eventually starts questioning what she truly wants out of love and life. How will she trust she’s found the right one when she knows she can easily swap him out?

The Husbands is a delightful debut brimming with quirky characters, magical realism, and thought-provoking situations. Lauren’s journey is an emotional rollercoaster for both her and the reader! The audio narration by Miranda Raison made the experience all the more enjoyable.

Fans of witty, romantic comedies, and Brit Lit will want to add The Husbands to their reading lists. Thanks to NetGalley for providing a review copy.

Request a copy of The Husbands here.

Book Review: Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame

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Jenny Quinn has been baking her entire life. From treacle tarts to chocolate teacakes, her baked goods are always sampled by her husband of fifty-nine years, Bernard. The two enjoy a quiet life as pensioners, puttering about the garden and visiting their niece and her children. After almost a lifetime together, there aren’t too many secrets between them. But when her favorite tv show Britain Bakes puts out a casting call for the new season, Jenny impulsively decides to apply without telling Bernard.

After she’s invited to audition, she begins baking up a storm using her trusty old fashioned scale to precisely weigh her ingredients. As she prepares her family recipes for judging, she reflects on the other thing weighing on her…the secret she’s been keeping from Bernard for almost six decades. A secret from long ago, before she even met him.

When Jenny lands a spot on the show she immediately regrets applying, sure that this series will highlight failures galore as she enters the competition. What she finds instead is camaraderie in a fellow baker and a producer whose youth and zest for life remind her of her younger self, forcing her to reflect on what could have been.

This sweet read draws heavily from GBBO, and the descriptions of the baking are so detailed it practically puts you right in the competition tent. Jenny is a lovable grandmotherly type of character and the flashbacks to her young adulthood add layers of interest and a dash of intrigue to an otherwise cozy story. This is a great pick for anybody who enjoys a good bake and a light-hearted read.

Request a copy here.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

Daylight Saving Time

LinneaLeave a comment

Time is a funny thing. This year was a Leap Year and in a couple days, our clocks will spring forward, ushering us into Daylight Saving Time. Those sunny mornings we’ve had? Gone. Instead, we get evenings (hopefully) filled with sunshine and each day warmer than the last.  

I love a good theme and this week here are a bunch of books on various topics, all with the word “time” in the title. Enjoy! 

The Tatami Time Machine Blues by Tomihiko Morimi 

Einstein in Time and Space: A Life in 99 Particles by Samuel Graydon 

Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time by Samantha Friedman 

Yiayia: Time-Perfected Recipes from Greece’s Grandmothers by Anastasia Miari 

The Time of Your Life by Sandra Kitt 

For the First Time, Again by Sylvain Neuvel 

On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory by Thomas Hertog 

Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock by Jenny Odell 

Finding Time Again by Marcel Proust 

In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari 

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister 

Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson 

Happy reading and don’t forget to set your clocks an hour forward in the wee hours of Sunday morning! 

-Linnea 

Book Review: The Heiress

MelindaLeave a comment

Cam and Jules are just an average young couple. But Cam isn’t quite the everyday man he appears to be. As the son of North Carolina’s richest woman, he tries everything to escape both his inheritance and the home of the legendary McTavish family.

When a family death pulls the couple back to the stately Ashby House, Jules is awestruck at the opulent surroundings. And even more awe-inspiring is the life of the woman behind them- Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore, Cam’s late adoptive mother.

Ruby’s storied past began when she was the victim of a famous childhood kidnapping. Her legend continued as she found love, and was widowed…four times over. Amidst the rumors of her husbands mysterious deaths, she earns the moniker “Ruby Killmore.'” Even in death, Ruby oversees Ashby House from a life size oil painting, reminding Cam that one can never run from family. As Cam and Jules unveil the family’s storied past, secrets come to light that threaten their relationship, the inheritance, and the future of the McTavish name.

This was a twisty read told through Ruby’s own letters and the alternating perspectives of Cam and Jules. Rachel Hawkins thrills again with a story of a old money, old secrets, and an even older house. Slightly reminiscent of a gothic novel, The Heiress is a book that will have you flipping pages to find out what happens next.

Put the print copy on hold here.

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

Book Recommendations for The Year of the Dragon

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Lunar New Year takes place on February 10! Tomorrow begins a fifteen day tradition marked with food, family, and celebration. According to Chinese culture, the dragon is one of the luckiest animals in the zodiac. As the year of the dragon commences, may you luck out with a good book or two. Dragons are a popular element in the fantasy genre, so enjoy these recommendations and check out our science fiction and fantasy collection for more fire-breathing friends.

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton

The tale of a family dealing with the death of their father, of a son who goes to law for his inheritance, a son who agonizes over his father’s deathbed confession, a daughter who falls in love, a daughter who becomes involved in the abolition movement, and a daughter sacrificing herself for her husband.

Except that everyone in the story is a dragon, red in tooth and claw.

Request it here.

Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey

On a beautiful world called Pern, an ancient way of life is about to come under attack from a myth that is all too real. Lessa is an outcast survivor–her parents murdered, her birthright stolen–a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat to Pern reemerges, Lessa will rise–upon the back of a great dragon 

Request it here.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door. 

Request it here.

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang


The war is over.

The war has just begun.

Three times throughout its history, Nikan has fought for its survival in the bloody Poppy Wars. Though the third battle has just ended, shaman and warrior Rin cannot forget the atrocity she committed to save her people. Now she is on the run.

Request it here.

Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the “gods” remember, and they do not forgive. 

Request it here.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general–also known as her tough-as-talons mother–has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

Request it here.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

From Page to Screen: Award Season

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Photo by Engin Akyurt: https://www.pexels.com/photo/standing-man-figurine-2098604/

And the Oscar goes too…the books behind the movies. Award season kicked off with the Golden Globes on January 7, with book to film adaptations well represented among the nominees and winners! The Oscars take place on March 10, so there’s plenty of time to pick up a book before the awards ceremony. Here’s what books are buzzing this awards season.

Oppenheimer, nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and based on

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress.

Request the book here.

Killers of the Flower Moon, nominated for ten Academy Awards and based on

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Presents a true account of the early twentieth-century murders of dozens of wealthy Osage and law-enforcement officials, citing the contributions and missteps of a fledgling FBI that eventually uncovered one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. 

Request the book here.

Poor Things, nominated for eleven Academy Awards and based on

Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

Supposedly the product of the fiendish scientist Godwin Baxter, Bella was resurrected for the sole purpose of fulfilling the whims of her benefactor.

Request the book here.

American Fiction, nominated for five Academy Awards and based on 

Erasure by Percival Everett

Thelonius “Monk” Ellison is an erudite, accomplished but seldom-read author who insists on writing obscure literary papers rather than the so-called “ghetto prose” that would make him a commercial success.

Request the book here.

Nyad, nominated for two Academy Awards and based on

Find a Way: The Inspiring Story of One Woman’s Pursuit of a Lifelong Dream by Diana Nyad

On September 2, 2013, at the age of 64, Diana Nyad emerged onto the shores of Key West after completing a 110 mile, 53 hour, record-breaking swim through shark-infested waters from Cuba to Florida

Request the book here.

The Color Purple, nominated for an Academy Award and based on

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance, and silence.

Request the book here.

The Zone of Interest, nominated for five Academy Awards and based on

The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis

A fictionalized look at the Holocaust told from the human perspective of four different characters: Paul Doll, commandant of a concentration camp; his wife, Hannah Doll, who is far more aware of what is going on around her than her husband realizes; Angelus ‘Golo’ Thomsen, the privileged nephew of Hitler’s personal secretary who falls for Hannah; and Szmul, a Jewish prisoner who works at the camp and witnesses all of the atrocities that happen around him.  

Request the book here.

Enjoy these blockbuster reads!

-Melinda

Black History Month

LinneaLeave a comment

Today is the first day of Black History Month! Originally started in February 1926, it spanned one week, encompassing the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The response was incredible: Black organizations formed; teachers demanded materials to teach their students Black history; and progressive white people endorsed the efforts. In 1976, the celebration was officially changed to the entire month of February, to honor the achievements, contributions, and history of Black Americans.  

Here are a few selections of nonfiction and fiction books to start celebrating, learning, and enjoying during Black History Month and beyond: 

Nonfiction 

Dressed in Dreams: A Black Girl’s Love Letter to the Power of Fashion by Tanisha C. Ford 

A Black Women’s History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry 

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot 

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith 

Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen by George McCalman 

Fiction 

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward 

How Long ‘til Black Future Month by N.K Jemisin 

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride 

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson 

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin 

And if you’re local, join us at the Library on February 14 at 7PM for a discussion on Rivers Solomon’s novel An Unkindness of Ghosts. 

-Linnea

Book Review: Mister Lullaby

MelindaLeave a comment

Harrod’s Reach is home to a train tunnel filled with spooky stories. After a fatal train accident in the tunnel, all the kids and adults know- stay away from the tunnel. Bad things happen to those who enter the tunnel, as Gideon Dupree knows all too well. His brother, Sully, ran into the tunnel…and never woke up. Years later, Sully is still in a coma and Gideon is coming home from a tour abroad. His childhood friend, Beth Gardner is now the deputy sheriff of their small town, with a son of her own and a wariness surrounding the tunnel and its lore.

When the tunnel once again begins to beckon to the townspeople, strange figures and phenomena begin to occur. One of the town’s oddballs, “Simple” Simon, is discovered by Beth outside the tunnel. His limited language skills are far outweighed by the vivid drawings in his sketchbook, clutched tightly in his hands and carefully labeled LaLaLand.

This book had an intricately built world which made for a page-turning read. There are multiple first person narrators, but each main character has their own well-developed voice. The uneasiness and horror elements are not too gruesome but are definitely enough to keep you up at night. Likened to Stephen King, J.H. Markert tells a haunting tale that will stick with you long after you finish reading. A return to Harrod’s Reach would be welcome!

Put the print copy on hold here or put the audiobook on hold here.

Happy reading!

-Melinda

From Page to Screen: Winter 2024

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2024 is sure to bring another round of book to film adaptations, and we’re kicking off the year with a few flicks guaranteed to be blockbusters. Some of the films were set to open in Fall 2023 but were delayed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Whether you’re a member of “The Book Was Better” club or enjoy the film version, there is something for everyone. If you want to compare and contrast or just love a good spoiler, pick up the book to read before you start watching!

January

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

Former special ops pilot Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work: her two-year-old daughter playing with Maya’s husband, Joe, To find the answer, Maya must finally come to terms with deep secrets and deceit in her own past before she can face the unbelievable truth about her husband, and herself.  

Coming to Netflix on January 1.

The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee

Three very different American women livie in the same small expat community in Hong Kong. Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, questions her maternal identity in the wake of a shattering loss. Their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all.  

Coming to Amazon Prime on January 26.

February

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most. Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true. Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head.

Coming to theaters on February 9.

March

Dune by Frank Herbert

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of Paul Atreides–who would become known as Muad’Dib–and of a great family’s ambition to bring to fruition mankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.

Dune Part Two is coming to theaters on March 1.

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

Dying isn’t any fun…but at least it’s a living. Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous-even suicidal-the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.

Coming to theaters on March 29.

Happy reading!

-Melinda