Genre Book Discussion

Award Winning Books!

staceyLeave a comment

So many awards, so many choices! As you can see from what everyone said about the book they chose, it was also a crowd pleaser, plus we really covered a whole bunch of genres in this one discussion! Shall we see what everyone had to share?

Megan: Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson, winner of the 2015 Eisner Award for Best New Series and Best Publication for Teens, is the story of best friends, summer camp, and monsters. Welcome to Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types! The camp is home to the Lumberjanes scouts. Best friends and fellow campers Jo, April, Molly, Mal, and Ripley accidentally witness an old lady transform into a bear, and like any group of curious teens, they follow her into the woods. They quickly learn that the bear-woman is not the only mystery surrounding the camp. These clever campers are determined to use their scout skills to unravel these mysteries. This all-ages, female-led comic series is rollicking good fun. Readers will devour the first three volumes and be eager for more Lumberjanes adventures!

Chris: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction in 2005 and in that same year was a finalist of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography/Autobiography. In 2007, it was adapted for a Broadway Play and had a successful run. It tells the story of Joan’s husband, John, suffering a massive fatal coronary while their adopted daughter, Quintana, lies in a coma in the hospital. Sadness and grief all around realistically presented in that unique Didion voice. I particularly liked her reminiscences over the many good times and trying times she and her writer husband, John Gregory Dunne, shared throughout their forty-year marriage. She ends her chronicle with a few of John’s words spoken about timing the swell of the ocean just right: “You had to go with the change.”

Carol: In Scottish author Denise Mina’s mystery novel, Garnethill, which won the John Creasey Award for Best First Crime Novel, Maureen O’Donnell’s psychologist boyfriend Douglas Brady has been found murdered in her apartment. Because of her history of mental illness and the fact that she’d just discovered that Douglas was married, Maureen is the prime suspect. With help from her friend Leslie and her brother Liam, Maureen attempts to find out who the killer is—endangering their lives and her own in this gripping, dark and action-packed read.

Emma: In The Nest, Leo, Beatrice, Jack and Melody Plumb’s father funded a hefty nest egg for his four children to be distributed when the youngest, Melody, turns 40. The siblings are anxious to get their inheritance and each has specific plans for the money. With their mother’s permission, money was used when drunken Leo was in a serious car accident. A 19-year-old waitress was badly injured and much of the money was used to settle her medical bills. Leo promises to eventually repay his siblings. Time will tell in this fast-moving often-funny book debut by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney.

Steve: In Michael Shaara’s classic novel The Killer Angels he takes you inside the minds of the men that fought in the battle of Gettysburg. This work won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and was striking in that it depicted the thoughts of the characters, not just the action and movement of troops and men. This is an excellent novel that humanizes the men and focuses on the leaders, like Robert E. Lee and Joshua Chamberlain.

Lauren: In honor of her latest book, My Life on the Road, Gloria Steinem was award the 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. The Dayton Literary Peace Prize, inaugurated in 2006, is the first and only annual U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace. The Prize invites nominations in adult fiction and nonfiction books published within the past year that have led readers to a better understanding of other cultures, peoples, religions, and political points of view. This memoir recounts Steinem’s nomadic lifestyle from an early age and throughout her life as a writer, activist, and community organizer.

Dori: In The Round House, the second book of a trilogy set on an Ojibwe Reservation in North Dakota, Louise Erdrich brings back Judge Coutts from the first book in the trilogy, The Plague of Doves. The judge is spending a Sunday with his wife Geraldine and their 13-year-old son Joe when Geraldine receives a phone call from work that she is needed. She rushes in but doesn’t return. Joe and his father search everywhere and when they return home, they find Geraldine in the driveway, near death after being assaulted and raped. She won’t speak, won’t accuse her assailant, and her family is devastated. Judge Coutts and Joe go through his case files looking for clues, eventually leading Joe to the probable culprit. Meanwhile, as Joe and his friends live through the summer, meeting girls, riding bikes, and pulling pranks, Joe plans his revenge. Equal parts coming-of-age story, mystery and social commentary, this a compelling and deeply moving novel. The third book in the trilogy, LaRose, is out in May. Winner of the National Book Award in 2012.

Stacey: The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery was a 2015 National Book Award Finalist in the Nonfiction category and also on ALA’s 2016 Notable Books list. This is one of those books that make me equally excited and nervous to read; I can’t wait to find out more about these fascinating creatures but I’m afraid many of them will succumb to a tragic ending. Spoiler Alert: both things happened, I’m now a big fan of this species *and* I used a tissue (or two) while reading. Additionally, the author is able to provide an interesting perspective on how we define the intangible consciousness of any living creature. Be bold, take a risk you might shed a tear, and pick up this winning title!

And next time? We’re headed way out West! If you want to read along with us, you’ll want to select something that evokes a strong feeling of wide open spaces and larger than life characters. Most westerns have a clear hero and villain with the conflict clearly ending with one winner.

Enjoy!
Stacey

How Love(ly)… the Romance genre!

staceyLeave a comment

Who doesn’t love love? Well, for a brief time the boy and the girl in the romance story you’re reading don’t love love but that’s just a plot device -no need to worry! They’ll have their disagreement and then things will (mostly) turn out okay at the end! So are you ready to read about what we read? Me too!

Carol: In Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 29-year-old Hannah Martin flees New York after a relationship disaster and ends up temporarily living with her best friend, Gabby back home in L.A. On her first night in town, Hannah reconnects with her high school sweetheart, Ethan, and at the end of the night, Hannah must  decide whether or not to go home with him. In parallel storylines, Hannah lives out both decisions, and each take her in very different directions. This book about fate, true love and chance tackles some serious issues and at the same time reads like a choose-your-own adventure. Readers will wonder if there really is such a thing as a soul mate and root for (both versions of) Hannah the whole way.

Steve: You Suck by Christopher Moore is the second book in the “Love Story” series, although you could read it as a standalone.  Newly turned vampire C. Thomas Flood and his girlfriend Jody, the vampire who turned him, are being pursued by Tommy’s old work buddies and the very old vampire Elijah, who wants Jodi back.  Lots of witty and offbeat humor and characters in this fast-paced read.  

Megan: Kissing in America by Margo Rabb-When Eva’s crush-turned-new-boyfriend moves from New York to L.A., she is desperate to see him again. She finds the perfect solution. A reality quiz show, The Smartest Girl in America, is holding auditions and Eva’s best friend Annie is a shoe-in. Having secured a spot show and convincing her mother that they would be safe, Eva sets off on a cross-country road trip. Armed with a bus ticket and a supply of romance novels, Eva is ill-prepared to confront the realities of love. This not-so-fluffy romance focuses on love of all types-love for friends and family and of course, love for the cute poetry writing boy!

Emma: Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray is the story of two sixty-something florists. Divorcee Julie Roseman and widower Romeo Cacciamani fall in love despite the feud between their families. Unfortunately the origin of the feud isn’t known to the second and third generations, but they are bound by it. Julie and Romeo’s children are strongly against any relationship between their parents.  Eventually Grandma Cacciamani divulges the secret behind the long-standing dispute.  This is a fun light-hearted romance for adults.

Lauren: My Highland Spy by Victoria Roberts introduces us to Lady Ravenna Walsingham, a spy for the British crown who is sent to Scotland to pose as a governess for the son of a rebellious laird who refuses to send his boy to England for educating.  Ravenna also suspects that Laird Ruiari Sutherland may be part of a plot to band together with other Scottish clansmen to rise up against the monarchy.  Still, even though she is sent to investigate the family, she soon finds herself devoted to her young student and falling in love with Laird Sutherland.  This is classic, formulaic, historic romance—it’s fast-paced and juicy!

Beth: In Joan Johnston’s Shameless, Pippa becomes pregnant with a married man’s child and is taken by surprise when her father uproots her family from their cattle station in Australia to take over his father’s ranch in Wyoming.  Pippa is thrown into family rivalries as she attempts to navigate pregnancy and her desire to learn the truth about her mother.  In desperation, Pippa moves in with one of the family enemies and her emotions start to flare.  The story is packed with exasperated twists and turns, but in a true romance fashion, ends happily ever after.

Dori: Curtis Sittenfeld reimagines Pride and Prejudice in modern America in her new novel Eligible. Lizzy Bennett, a successful New York editor and her sister Jane, a yoga instructor, return home to Cincinnati when their father becomes ill. There, they find the family in disarray; their two youngest sisters are sponging off their father while obsessing over exercise and diets, Mary, their middle sister, has become a bit of a recluse and their mother still has tunnel vision, only wanting marriage to successful men for her daughters. At a neighborhood barbecue, Jane meets Chip Bingley, a doctor fresh off a Bachelor-like TV show and they hit it off. Chip’s friend, neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy, does not make as positive an impression on Jane. At the Bennetts navigate through these various travails, Sittenfeld provides a modern look at gender, class, money, romance, and family. Funny, charming and romantic, it’s a fresh look at Austen’s classic.  

Stacey: Dream a Little Dream by Kerstin Gier, author of Ruby Red Trilogy, is the first in her new The Silver Trilogy -and that couldn’t please me more! Fifteen-year-old Liv and thirteen-year-old Mia have lived all over the world. Their current destination is Oxford to spend the school year with their mom while she teaches for the University, but plans have changed. It looks like they’ll be staying in London with their mom, her boyfriend, and his high school-aged children; and then things really get weird. Liv is able to watch other people’s secret dreams while they sleep. Plus a group of boys in her new school who can do the same… how? why? But that one boy, he seems pretty nice -even if he’s up to no good.

Next time we’ll be reading Award Winners! Another easy category!! All you need to do is find a book that has won a real (legitimate) award -in any genre. (See how easy?!) Happy Spring Reading!

—Stacey

What’s New …in Debut Fiction!

staceyLeave a comment

There’s nothing more satisfying than being the first reader to discover a fabulous new author or series, right?! (If this sounds strange to you? You may be free of one of the most vexing book nerd problems -lucky you!) These are the titles, authors, and/or series we discovered -and- shared at our last genre discussion:

Maureen: In her debut novel What She Knew, Gilly Macmillan’s character Rachel makes the snap judgement to allow her beloved 8-year-old son Ben to run ahead on a late day walk in the English woods. What happens next, she could never imagine…Ben goes missing and she becomes the prime suspect and therefore, the most hated woman in her village. A twisted tale of relationships, how they go wrong, and how people cope with what life has thrown at them. Tons of suspense, a few red herrings and a great detective character make this a gripping read.

Carol: In Angela Flournoy’s debut novel The Turner House, an aging Viola Turner moves into her eldest son Cha-Cha’s house, and her thirteen children must consider selling the family’s practically worthless Detroit, Michigan home. In alternating chapters and flashbacks, readers glimpse into the lives of the Turners, focusing primarily on the struggles of normally level-headed Cha-Cha’s ghostly visions, and the youngest Turner daughter Lelah’s gambling addiction. This powerful novel about family and love kept me up late reading. I’ll be looking forward to Flournoy’s next offering.

Chris: Gilded Age by Claire McMillan tells the story of Eleanor Hart who after living, working, marrying and divorcing in New York returns to her hometown, Cleveland, Ohio. She gets in touch with all of her old friends and tries to make a new life for herself. But keeping her independence and finding love isn’t as easy as she expected. McMillan presents a modern day Edith Wharton heroine, much like Lily Bart in House of Mirth. Enjoyed that, too, and look forward to McMillan’s next one.

Steve: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline finds teen Wade Watts in the not too distant, but very bleak future, in the year 2044. Wade, like most teens, spends almost all of his time in the virtual world known as the OASIS. Wade is on the hunt to find and solve the puzzles hidden within the OASIS by the deceased billionaire creator, who has left instructions in his will to give his massive fortune to whoever can solve the riddles. Readers will love the 80’s pop culture references that run throughout the book.

Beth: In R. J. Palacio’s debut novel, Wonder, she explores the challenges of middle school from a new perspective. August Pullman was born with a facial abnormality and his parents have decided that after years of homeschooling him, it’s time for him to go to a real middle school. Wonder explores what it feels like to be different from others, as well as what it takes to accept those who are different from ourselves. This compelling story is an excellent resource for fostering empathy to people of all ages.

Lauren: Ausma Zehanat Khan’s The Unquiet Dead introduces the detective team of Rachel Getty and her boss Esa Khattak of Canada’s Community Policing Section, designated to handle minority-sensitive cases. A Muslim himself, Khattak is called to investigate the suspicious death of a man who was possibly tied to war crimes during the Bosnian War, specifically the massacre of 8,000 Muslim Bosnians at Srebrenica in 1995. Told partially through flashback, Khan weaves a complex story and cast of characters, each haunted by their past.

Dori: In Julia Claiborne Johnson’s Be Frank with Me, reclusive literary legend “Mimi” Banning is writing a new book for the first time in decades. Alice, her assistant, becomes a companion to Mimi’s 9-year-old son Frank, a boy with the wit of Noel Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star, and very little in common with his fellow fourth-graders. Johnson’s debut is both funny and poignant – and you’ll be rooting for her characters, especially charming, precocious Frank.

Emma: Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, by Swedish author Katerina Bivald, is a heartwarming story for book lovers. Sara Lindqvist from Hannige, Sweden travels to Broken Wheel, Iowa to visit her book loving American pen pal Amy Harris. Unfortunately the ladies never meet. Sara arrives on the day of Amy’s funeral. The townspeople adopt Sara and insist that she stay in Amy’s house. Sara wants to give back to the community, so she opens a free bookstore using Amy’s vast collection of books. With Sara’s tourist visa about to expire, the townspeople conspire to allow her to stay.

Stacey: Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly was one of those rare books that combines actual, laugh-out-loud moments with characters you care about from the moment the first page is turned. Zoe and her Mom moved to a upstate New York suburb after the divorce; the first person she meets is Digby or, as Zoe soon realizes, aka Trouble. Digby drags a semi-reluctant Zoe into the mystery he’s determined to solve and the two find themselves in every kind of wacky situation possible, but mostly with positive results. A great choice for anyone wanting a humorous book full of pop culture references.

Next time? We’ll be feeling all the feels with -Romance! If you want to keep reading with us, you’ll want to find a book that appeals to the emotions and offers at least one misunderstanding that must be overcome in order to reach the Happily Ever After ending.

enjoy!
Stacey

Lots of Wordy Books (aka Literary Fiction!)

staceyLeave a comment

We’re starting off the year with the Literary fiction challenge -were you able to find something that was characterized by a distinctive writing style, focused more on character than plot, or prompted a high degree of interaction between reader and book? If so, then you were a successful participant in our first genre discussion! If not, don’t worry -we still have eleven more genre challenges to come. You’ll get ‘em next time!
Are you wondering what everyone had to say about the books they chose? Here we go…

Maureen: In Dostoyevsky’s final and epic novel, The Brothers Karamazov, he weaves an intricate story surrounding the lives of three brothers who each have a reason to want their philandering father, Fyodor, dead. One brother is not given the inheritance he feels he is due from his deceased mother, one begrudgingly leaves his beloved monastery work at the command of his father, and one is just disgusted with the total lack of morals displayed by his father. When Fyodor is murdered one fateful evening and brother Dmitry is implicated, the secrets, motivations, love affairs, scandals, and crimes of all of the brothers are slowly revealed to build the story to its conclusion. The Brothers Karamazov is considered one of the greatest works of Russian fiction. While not a quick or easy read (it took several months!!) it was an interesting look into Russian society of the time. If you find yourself looking for another great Russian work from a bit later time period, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is another fantastic, though far-fetched, literary Russian read that is worth a look.

Chris: Snobs by Julian Fellowes is Julian’s first novel and it gives us an insider’s look at England’s upper class in the 1990s and those who aspire to become part of it. Like Edith, who marries the Earl Broughton one of the most eligible aristocrats around. From the very beginning his mother, Lady Uckfield, knows why Edith has chosen her son. Will the marriage last? Many of their friends and so-called friends play a part in the outcome. So many characters, so much drama. Much like the beloved PBS series Fellowes went on to write, Downton Abbey. With one difference for this reader: He seems to not much care for the Broughton Hall characters (perhaps he was finding his way back then) whereas he loves his Downton Abbey people. Me, too.

Megan: A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly is a fictional account of a real life murder. The year is 1906 and sixteen-year old Mattie has big dreams. Desperate to earn money and escape her small-town life, she gets a job at the Glenmore Hotel. There she meets Grace Brown, a young guest who asks Mattie to burn a packet of secret letters. When Grace’s body is found in the lake, Mattie realizes that the letters may prove that Grace’s drowning was not a tragic accident but a premeditated murder. Mattie is the product of Donnelly’s imagination, but Grace Brown and her murder are true crimes. Fans of historical fiction and true crime will enjoy this story set in the Anirondaks.

Lauren: Vendela Vida’s The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty is set in exotic Casablanca, Morocco and lures the reader in with elements of mystery/thriller. A woman—you, as the story is told in second person—travels to Morocco on her own and almost immediately her money, passport, and identification are stolen. She is at first panicked and desperate to go to the police and seek to recover her belongings only to run up against bureaucracy and corruption on top of the challenges of navigating a foreign country. Gradually she comes to see her situation—a woman without an identity—as an chance to become someone else entirely and find true liberation.

Beth: Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins takes place in a very plausible distant future semi-relinquished, dried out California landscape. The main characters, Luz and Ray are contently squatting in an abandoned mansion until they cross paths with a child who they bring into their fold. With new found responsibility, they pursue a more sustainable home and discover the ambiguous power of their most treasured relationships.

Dori: In Like Family, a spare, slender novel by Paolo Giordano, a married couple hires a childless widow to care for the wife when she has some problems in her pregnancy. After the baby is born, Mrs. A stays on as a nanny for the baby and as housekeeper for the family. After eight years, however, one day she announces that she’s not feeling well and will not be coming back. Sixteen months later, she has passed away from cancer. The husband, a physicist, narrates, telling us all this within the first few pages of the book. The remainder of the book are his memories of conversations he’s had with Mrs. A, what he learned about her and her life and most importantly, he relays the importance of her to his family. Mrs. A helped them all, smoothing over differences between husband and wife, wholly loving their child, and appreciating and encouraging all of them. Without her, they are all bereft and feeling a hole where she once had been. She had an intimate role within their family, at least from their perspective, even though she was employee; she wasn’t family, but was she? Giordano contemplates the variety of love, the definition of family and the value of relationships, however fleeting, in this melancholy but sweet book.

Emma: In Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf, Addie Moore has lost her husband. One day she invites neighbor widower Louis Waters to spend nights with her. Nights are especially lonely. Nosy neighbors quickly find out what’s going on, but Addie and Louis don’t care. Gene, Addie’s son, leaves his son Jamie with her for the summer. He does not approve of the relationship between Addie and Louis, and eventually forbids Addie to have contact with her grandson unless she breaks contact with Louis. A beautiful story even with Addie’s bullying son’s interference.

Carol: In My name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, the title character is a married New York City writer who reflects on her upbringing by chronicling a few days in the 80s, when as a grown woman, she ends up in the hospital for an extended stay. Lucy’s estranged mother comes to visit during that time, and readers learn about their strange and sad family dynamic from what the two reminisce about and the topics they avoid. This short novel about forgiveness and the bonds of family and love is eloquently written and will be remembered long after its last page has been read.

Steve: The Road by Cormac McCarthy is an excellent but bleak work. In a horrible post-apocalyptic world an unnamed man and his young son are striving to make it to the coast against awful odds. Along the way they elude gangs of violent thugs and scavenge for what little food they can find, all in hopes of finding other good guys.

Stacey: One of my favorite fiction titles to make the list of Notable Books for Adults for 2016 was This Is the Life: A Novel by Alex Shearer. Two brothers, who haven’t always had the easiest of relationships, are brought together again when Louis is diagnosed with a brain tumor and his younger brother provides whatever support he can. A small book with a big impact, there really is something in this book that is likely to make readers laugh, cry, and maybe even pick up the phone to call a loved one…

If you want to keep reading with us, you’ll want to go looking for the first novel of an author you’ve never read before! Finding the debut work of a new author can be pretty exciting, so you might want to start your search …now!

enjoy!
Stacey

Happy Holiday Reads!

staceyLeave a comment

As you may remember from just a few weeks ago, we consider anything featuring a Winter holiday as fair game. So yes, it was absurdly easy to select a book for our recent gathering! And now we’ll make it absurdly easy for you to select one as well…

Dori: In Alexandra Brown’s The Great Christmas Knit-Off, Sybil bolts to the small picturesque English village of Tindledale after she’s jilted at the altar of her Star Wars themed wedding. Her friends run a pub there and soon she’s taken in by the quirky residents, forming fast friendships and even finding an admiring, handsome doctor. When the local craft store, Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, is threatened with closure, her knitting skills come in handy as she rallies the villagers to create holiday themed knitted goods for Hettie to sell so she can keep her business. First in a series, this is a fun and quaint holiday read with a great cast of eccentric characters, a frisson of romance and knitting galore! Includes a pattern for a Christmas pudding holiday decoration.

Chris: Christmas with Rita and Whatsit by Jean-Philippe Arrou-Vignod with the sweetest illustrations by Olivier Tallec tells a charming story about a little girl and her dog getting ready for the big day. Lots of typical activities like writing Santa a letter, baking goodies etc. ensue, but most are done with darling twists. Like Whatsit asking Santa for a police dog uniform and decorating his own little tree with a garland of sausages, salami and bologna to smell just right. On Christmas morning, they find all kinds of wonderful presents left by Santa, but one: A big hug from your best friend. Hugs all arounds. CUTE!

Carol: A Christmas Tragedy is a short story by Agatha Christie. Miss Jane Marple is spending an evening of fun with some friends who are taking turns sharing mysterious stories. The story Miss Marple tells revolves around the suspicions she feels upon meeting Mr. & Mrs. Sanders while at a spa during Christmastime. Miss Marple is immediately convinced that the man means to murder his wife. When Mrs. Sanders is later found dead, it is up to Miss Marple to prove that the husband committed the crime. While this title doesn’t necessarily spread Holiday cheer, it’s like a little gift to read anything by Agatha Christie, the queen of crime!

Megan: Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris is a collection of humorous short stories that a shine light on the dark underbelly of Christmas. These dark, irreverent, and sardonic stories show readers how the Christmas spirit can go awry. Readers looking for a sweet, happily-ever-after story should steer clear, but fans of dark humor will appreciate this slim volume. An 2008 reprint included six new stories.

Emma: Two stories in one comprise The Christmas Bells. One story revolves around Sophia, school music teacher and volunteer children’s choir director at St. Margaret’s Church, who is about to lose her teaching position. Lucas, the choir accompanist, is very interested in Sophia but reluctant to make his feelings known. The father of Alex and Charlotte, two talented choir members, is MIA in Afghanistan. The second story takes place during the 1860’s. This story revolves around Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who is mourning the death of his wife and trying to convince his son not to join the Union army. It showcases Longfellow’s poem “Christmas Bells” written in 1863. The poem is the basis for “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”, one of the songs Sophia’s choir is practicing. The Christmas Bells is a heartfelt story of Christmases past and present.

Steve: Glenn Beck’s The Immortal Nicholas attempts to return Christmas, Santa and St. Nicholas to the origins of Christ, with limited success. The story begins with the main character Agios, forager of frankincense, who has just lost his son and all hope and has turned to wine. He is captured in a drunken stupor by a caravan and brought back to one of the three wise men, who is looking for frankincense to present to the new King who is to be born. From there the story follows the story of Jesus, and not until the end do we see the connection to Nicholas. A good effort that starts out strong but something didn’t quite mesh.

Lauren: Christopher Moore’s The Stupidest Angel brings together a number of quirky (to say the least) characters from other of his books set in the coastal California town of Pine Cove. The townspeople are busy making preparations for the Christmas holiday when young Joshua is devastated to witness the murder of Santa. What has actually played out is a deadly altercation between “evil developer” Dale Pearson dressed and Santa and his ex-wife Lena. Joshua sends up a prayer to the heavens for Santa to be brought back to life in time to save Christmas. Enter archangel Raziel, who has visited Earth to grant a Christmas miracle. Given that Raziel truly is the stupidest angel, he misunderstands Joshua’s request and casts a blanket resurrection over the body of Dale Pearson/Santa as well as all the deceased residents of Pine Cove in the nearby cemetery. The dead rise, and typical of zombies, instantly seek to feast on human flesh. As Moore states, this is “a heartwarming tale of Christmas terror.” Brace yourselves.

Stacey: I didn’t know I needed a sequel to the classic A Christmas Carol -until I read one! Charlie Lovett wrote the ‘spirited’ (pun intended!) novel, The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge, based on the transformed character of Scrooge. When the ghost of his old partner Jacob Marley appears to ask for help shedding the chain he’s been forced to carry, Scrooge is more than happy to do what he can to help. This is a charming story with the positive message giving is better than receiving -one you’ll be sure to enjoy!

Next up is Literary Fiction! If you want to read along -you’ll want to find something characterized by a distinctive writing style. Literary fiction focuses more on character than plot, deals in nuances, and prompt a high degree of interaction between reader and book.

Enjoy!
Stacey

I’m Thrilled by the Suspense of it all…. in the Thriller and Suspense Genre!

staceyLeave a comment

We kept the excitement going by moving from horror to horribly exciting – aka a suspense or thriller book! Se all our books were either: 1. a suspenseful book emphasizing danger faced by a protagonist or 2. a thrilling book set in a specific world such as the courtroom, medical laboratory, or government agency, with an emphasis on the defeat of the villain and his conspirators. As usual, the list of what people read should have something for just about every reader -Are you ready to see which book appeals to you?

Maureen: When Nora decides to accept an invitation to attend her former best friend Clare’s hen (bachelorette) party after not seeing her in years, the ball is set in motion for what is sure to be a very strange weekend indeed in the chilling debut psychological thriller In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. A tiny select group of Clare’s friends gather for the November party at the remote, wooded summer house of party organizer, Flo, who herself seems oddly obsessed with Clare and overly concerned with everyone making sure this is the best weekend ever. As the partygoers drink, play games, and swap stories, long-buried memories are dredged up, secrets that people want to stay hidden are revealed, and emotions run high. Then the unthinkable happens – a horrific accident – that will bring all of the events of the past back to haunt those involved. A smart and top rate thriller that will keep you guessing!

Chris: See How Small by Scott Blackwood begins with three teenage girls finishing up their night shift at the ice cream shop when two men walk in, murder them and set the store on fire. All in two and one-half pages. That’s all the violence in this book which is more than fine with me. The rest of the book tells how family members, friends and the town mourn and grieve their deaths over the years. Wonderfully written and very unique: the first chapter is from the point of view of the deceased girls—Elizabeth, Meredith and Zadie. Alternate points of view join them throughout the story including one of the mothers, a witness, a possible suspect and family members. Just discovered Blackwood and plan on reading his other two novels: In the Shadow of Our House and We Agreed to Meet Just Here.

Lauren:In Mary Higgins Clark’s, The Melody Lingers On, New York City interior designer Lane Harmon is called to assist her boss in redecorating a condominium for a high profile client. The client turns out to be the wife of scam-artist financier, Parker Bennett, who disappeared two years prior after making off with billions of investor dollars. Did Bennett commit suicide or fake his own death in making his escape? Is he innocent of any wrongdoing as his wife believes? And could his son, Eric, who quickly charms Lane, be involved somehow? This latest book from the “Queen of Suspense” was not as enjoyable as some of her classics I remember reading and loving years ago, but loyal fans of her work may find it fun.

Carol: In In Wilderness by Diane Thomas, it is 1966 and advertising executive Katherine Reid has received a terminal diagnosis. She relocates to an isolated cabin deep in the Appalachian Mountains with few provisions, including the loaded gun she plans to use on herself. Once alone and surrounded by only nature, however, Katherine begins to feel better—until she realizes that someone else is watching her every move. Unstable twenty-year-old Vietnam veteran Danny is squatting nearby in a burned out mansion and he’s become fixated on Katherine. When the two eventually meet, both lonely and damaged and ill, they begin a passionate love affair–but it is one that won’t have a happy ending. Despite its creepy premise, this novel is a poignant and compelling read about PTSD, depression, grief, loneliness and mortality. I couldn’t put it down.

Emma: In Black-Eyed Susan: A Novel of Suspense by Julia Heaberline it’s 1995 and 16-year-old Tessa Cartwright is left for dead partially buried with another victim of a serial killer. The convicted killer, Terrell Darcy Goodwin, faces execution after 20 years in prison. Tessa is convinced that the wrong man is in jail and works with Terrell’s defense attorney and a DNA expert to determine the identity of the victims and the true killer. The novel includes lots of twists and turns and an unexpected ending.

Steve: Hot Pursuit by Stuart Woods finds the wealthy and well-connected Stone Barrington back for another adventure. Stone is jet-setting in his new plane to Europe with the beautiful Pat Frank, the pilot that has been assigned to him by his insurance company, and they soon run into trouble. Pat’s stalker ex-boyfriend keeps showing up in all the same locations. Meanwhile, back in Washington Stone’s friends in the government are hunting three Al Qaeda terrorists who have infiltrated the country. There’s not much depth in these characters, but the action is non-stop.

Dori: Vanishing Games by Roger Hobbs, is the second in a trilogy about a fixer, a criminal that lives off the grid and leaves no footprint. Introduced in Ghostman, “Jack” returns in this outing to help Angela, the woman who trained him, whose plan to steal sapphires from a ship in the South China Sea has gone awry. Only one pirate has returned from the operation and he’s hiding something that is far more valuable than sapphires. After she gets a threatening phone call from a mysterious man, she contacts Jack who hasn’t seen Angela since their last crime. After landing in Macau, together they evade gangs, governments and guns. It’s an adrenalin filled ride and takes us behind the scenes and through the ins and outs of criminal life. It’s bloody and graphic; identities are changed, self-surgery is performed and oh yeah, so many guns!

Megan: The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne is a page-turner of a psychological thriller. A year after one of Sarah and Angus’s twin daughters dies, the couple and their surviving daughter move to an isolated island to begin rebuilding their lives as they rebuild the abandoned house on the island. Instead of finding refuge, Sarah finds herself living a nightmare when her daughter Kirstie begins claiming that she is in fact Lydia, the daughter they thought they buried. All their lives unravel as the family struggles to cope with what really happened the day their daughter died. Family dynamics and a slow building tension will keep readers desperate to know which twin survived. Bonus points for the creepy, isolated island setting!

Stacey: The Enemy Inside is Steve Martini’s newest novel featuring Paul Madriani a Southern California lawyer who’s taken on the case of Alex Ives, a young reporter being held responsible for a fatal car accident. The victim was high-powered D.C. attorney Olinda Serna, a woman with shady connections on both coasts. When more ‘accidents’ happen to people connected to her cases, the original car wreck takes on new dimensions. I haven’t read any of the previous books in this series but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the fast-paced action, entertaining characters, and surprising twists the author provided.

Next time? We’ll be reading and sharing Holiday stories! If you want to read along, you’ll want to find a book that features any Winter Holiday…. it’s almost too easy, isn’t it?

enjoy!
Stacey

So Horror(able) -I *did* leave the the lights on!

staceyLeave a comment

Are you getting into the spooky spirit of Halloween? Did you find an unnerving book written to frighten the reader? And did it have supernatural or occult elements that would spotlight the power of the natural world gone awry? Then you read a book from the horror section -just like we did! Maybe you’re even looking for some more suggestions…? How about one of these:

Emma: Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen is a hilarious book with a little something for everyone. Mr. Gabriel is the new librarian at Cynthia’s high school. He is also a demon who has charmed her best friend, Annie, and is sucking the life spirit from the other students. Cynthia has an unusual immunity (she’s a super roach) to his charms. While Cynthia juggles school and the set design for the school’s production of Sweeney Todd, she also has to save her best friend.

Dori: A mix of horror, thriller and fantasy, Stephen Lloyd Jones’ The String Diaries, opens with Hannah frantically driving to one of her safe houses, her young daughter asleep in the back seat, her husband bleeding profusely by her side. She is escaping Jakab, a beast of a man who is one of Hungary’s hozzu eletek, a race of people who can shapeshift, disguising themselves to infiltrate into the lives of humans. Jakab is consumed with finding Hannah, as he was her ancestors before her, because of an incident that occurred when he was a young man. Hannah has been schooled in surviving Jakab through a set of diaries that have been handed down from her family. She, however, wants more than to survive; she wants to put an end to Jakab once and for all. Violent, creepy, page-turning and spooky, I’m looking forward to reading the sequel, Written in the Blood.

Maureen: The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender starts out with the typical teenage angst of best friends, boyfriends, and fights with parents. What is not typical, however, is inheriting a former female mental asylum that looks like a castle from your great-great aunt and dying the first night there with your parents on a planned remodel and flip. So begins the tale of Delia Piven, who along with her parents, go on a visit to her inherited property. What Delia doesn’t know is that the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females has a lot of secrets. After her death, Delia becomes a ghost who is determined to escape Piven and return to her family. Will she make it out? Who is this mysterious male ghost, Theo, who she befriends on the Piven grounds? Will the other ghost girls in the house help her or try to harm her? Why does time speed up and slow down for Delia during various events and why does the house seem to have a particular hold on Delia? A hauntingly good story, especially for teens who like scary but not gory.

Lauren: In Sophie Jaff’s Love is Red the story is told from two points of view: the novel’s central character, Katherine Emerson, and the Sickle Man, a serial killer stalking women in New York City. Katherine is a young woman torn between two lovers. David is smart, kind, and charismatic in stark contrast to Sael who is brooding and serious—but towards whom Katherine has an undeniable attraction. While Katherine is preoccupied with the fate of her love life, the Sickle Man is obsessing over her. Jaff does a spectacular job at keeping the reader guessing at every turn. Love is Red is the first book in a planned trilogy.

Carol: The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon is a combination of a secret-filled mystery, a ghostly supernatural horror tale, and a multi-layered emotional family tragedy. Weaving its tale from the 1960s, to the 1980s and 2013, this creepy and mysterious read tracks the dark events that take place in an old run-down motel and the demise of the seemingly-cursed family who own it. A slow-paced read, this novel reveals just enough in each chapter to keep you reading until its final pages.

Beth: In Donna Andrews’ Lord of the Wings, the town of Caerphilly, VA is transformed into Spooky City, USA. As the head of security, Meg Langslow takes it upon herself to save Halloween as things go from frightfully fun, to downright scary. This was a spooky mystery with passionate and eccentric characters. This is a great read for someone looking to get into the Halloween spirit without the lingering haunts of traditional horror.

Megan: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a 1959 classic horror story. Considered one of the best ghost stories of the 20th century, The Haunting of Hill House is the story of Dr. Montague, an investigator of the supernatural, and his mission to prove the existence of ghosts. To this end, he invites a number of people to accompany him to a famously haunted house for his experiment. In the end only four respond to his invitation. They intend to spend the summer at Hill House, but disturbing things begin to happen immediately. The danger escalates to a final terrifying conclusion. Chilling terror, unreliable characters, and a house with as much personality as the people make this a spine-tingling, emotional read!

Stacey: I went all in with NOS4A2 by Joe Hill -and now I’m pretty confident I will never be accepting a ride in a vintage Rolls-Royce… The son of Stephen and Tabitha King, Joe Hill does a fabulous job of upholding the family tradition of creating a menacing atmosphere in even the most ordinary moments. But it’s the intricately plotted, bloody and brutal struggle between good (Victoria ‘Vic’ McQueen) and evil (Charlie Manx) that will make this story a classic of the genre.

We’re keeping the excitement going by reading a suspense or a thriller! If you want to read along with us you can choose either: 1. a suspenseful book that emphasizes the danger faced by a protagonist or 2. a thrilling book uses a specific world such as the courtroom, medical laboratory, or government agency, with an emphasis on the defeat of the villain and his conspirators.

Enjoy!
Stacey

Will the Spirit Move You to read …Religious Fiction?

staceyLeave a comment

For our discussion this month, everyone selected a book that had religiously-based attitudes, values or actions at it’s core. People found a diverse selection of books to share with the group -and with you! Why not take a moment to read what everyone had to say about their title:

Beth: In Lori Copeland’s Child of Grace, Eva Jean, E.J., returns to her hometown of Cullen’s Corner unannounced and without explanation after 18 years. After enduring a traumatic experience, she’s looking for some escape and answers to her life. Upon returning home she finds a restored faith in god and community and finds a way to navigate the path she is on. I found the story to be unrealistic and forced. There was a heavy pro-life theme that bordered on insulting to the option of adoption, especially considering the circumstances.

Chris: God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours by Regina Brett is filled with life-affirming essays and stories. Each is just a few pages long, so I found myself picking it up often for a quick inspirational message to carry with me throughout the day. A nice, comforting read.

Carol: The Book of Strange New Things is a 2014 genre-bending novel by Michel Faber. In the 21st-century, mankind has set about colonizing its first extraterrestrial planet, calling it Oasis. Peter Leigh is a former addict-turned pastor who is selected by a shadowy organization to travel into deep outer space in order to teach Christianity to the planet’s reclusive native inhabitants. Peter, who has left his wife behind on Earth, sets out to teach about God using his knowledge of the Bible to the Oasans. Peter realizes things are off–colonists have disappeared, most of the humans on the planet act strangely, and the organization is censoring communications from Earth. Through a delayed email system, Peter learns from his wife about major catastrophes that have befallen the Earth in his time away and Peter’s once-strong faith becomes shaken. Ultimately, this is a slow-building suspenseful and thoughtful read you’ll want to savor.

Dori: In Roland Merullo’s Dinner with Buddha, book editor Otto Ringling visits his sister and her husband, Mongolian Monk Volya Rinpoche, at their meditation center in North Dakota. There, he’s urged by his sister to go on a road trip with her husband because her 8-year-old daughter, Shelsa, has had a vision of the journey. Otto, who’s recently lost his wife to illness and his children to adulthood, is ready to spend some time with the beatific monk, so readily agrees. Their quiet, reflective journey changes as they make their way through the Midwest and witness the lives of many Native Americans, and as the meditation center is menaced by men who would like to deny the spiritual potential of little Shelsa.

Emma: In Anna’s Crossing by Suzanne Woods Fisher, it’s 1737 and 19-year-old Anna Konig joins the first wave of Amish to America. Anna can speak English so she translates for the group. Conditions on the “Charming Nancy” are deplorable for the immigrants who are forced to live below the deck. Anna’s charge, young Felix, is not content to stay below deck and explores the entire ship getting into mischief but eventually befriending the ship’s carpenter, Bairn. Bairn and Anna soon develop feelings for each other. Based on actual events, the first entry in the Amish Beginnings series is an interesting tale with lots of period detail.

Steve: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, is a novel written in letters, between the elder demon Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood, detailing the finer points in tempting a man, the “Patient,” and derailing his conversion to Christianity. This is a clever read, and although short in length, just 149 pages, it will leave you pondering what it is to be a Christian and the role of the devil.

Megan: Coming of Age at the End of Days by Alice LaPlante is a dark and quirky exploration of a teen’s search for meaning and a purpose in life. Sixteen-year old Anna has never fit in and her depression has isolated her even further. Her life changes when she meets Lars Goldschmidt, the son of the new neighbors. The Goldschmidts are devout members of a religious cult and Lars invites Anna to join them as they prepare for the violent Tribulations at the End of Days. As she immerses herself in this world of violent prophecies and doomsday preparations she is forced to reexamine her relationship with her liberal, atheist parents. This is an unusual book, offering a fascinating look into the world of fanatic religious cults.

Lauren: Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble introduces us to Libby Holladay, an architectural historian who has traveled to idyllic Hope Beach on the Outer Banks. Libby is there to investigate the disappearance of her best friend, Nicole, and claim an inheritance from her father who she believed had died when she was just a girl. Libby’s inheritance is an old inn, eyed by both her half-siblings and real estate developers looking to cash in on the prized beach property. The news that Tidewater Inn has been left to Libby has made a number of people very angry and put Nicole, and potentially Libby too, in grave danger. She turns to her newly rekindled faith to save her friend, find love, and rediscover her past.

Ann: In The Invisible City by Julia Dahl, Rebekah Roberts, a stringer for a New York City newspaper is assigned to cover the story of a murdered Hasidic woman. Ferreting out information about the story becomes difficult due the close-knit, closed-mouthed society of the Hasidic community. What makes this novel so fascinating is not only the mystery and the murder but the details about the Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn and the fact that Rebekah’s mother was once a part of that community. A debut novel that was a finalist for the Edgar and Mary Higgins Clark Awards.

Stacey: In The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard readers will meet Aron, young Jewish boy trapped in a Polish ghetto at the start of World War II. As his family, and the world, crumble apart before his eyes, Aron is trying hard to survive. This is one of those books that was a little more uncomfortable to read but has really stayed with me in such a powerful way, I encourage you to give it a try!

Next time we’ll be getting ready for the spookiest month of all -October of course!- by reading Horror fiction to share with all of you! If you’d like to join us in with an unnerving book of your own, you’ll want to find a story that has been written to frighten the reader. Supernatural or occult elements distinguish horror and showcase the power of the natural world gone awry. Get ready to leave the lights on!

Enjoy!
Stacey

It’s Summer -and all the reading is fine!

staceyLeave a comment

I think everyone had an easy time picking a title for our last genre book discussion… We discussed what we might read on the beach or on the porch during the lazy days of summer. Unsurprisingly, everyone liked the book they read! And now maybe you’ll be able to find just the right thing to read while you sit in the sun -or shade!

Maureen: Kimberly McCreight’s new novel Where They Found Her opens with the shocking discovery of an unidentified dead newborn in a creek in the well-to-do university town of Ridgedale, New Jersey. Who does the baby belong to? Why would someone do something so unspeakable? New Ridgedale transplant and fledgling local reporter Molly Sanderson uncovers there is much more to the story than anyone previously imagined when she discovers the creek site was also the scene of another mysterious accident several decades ago. Complicating matters further is the fact that Molly herself lost a baby to miscarriage not long ago, causing her doting husband to want her off the story. With a few other characters and plotlines woven in and told in alternating chapters covering their different lives using flashbacks to build the suspense, this is a well-written, compelling novel full of twists!

Beth: In Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter is Dead, Dexter Morgan, full-time forensics investigator for the Miami PD, part-time vigilante serial killer, has his last hoorah in the eighth novel of the Dexter series. As a follow up to a crime scene in Dexter’s Final Cut, the Miami PD is desperate to explain and cover up a messy situation that happened on their clock, pinning blame on Morgan. With the reemergence of a former character, Dexter finds himself fighting for his freedom, and taking on a whole new deadly monster in order to save his remaining family members. You might become infatuated with the monster who is Dexter Morgan in the first few Dexter novels. The series is darkly humors and thoroughly entertaining. Lindsay does a great job wrapping up the series the best way he possibly could.

Carol: Summerlong by Dean Bakopoulos takes place during one hot, steamy summer in the small college town of Grinnell, Iowa where big-city girl Claire attended grad school, but never imagined eventually living and working there as writer in residence, married to Don Lowry, a local boy turned real estate agent. Now 38 and mother to their two children, Claire is dissatisfied with how her life, her career and her marriage have turned out. Both partners begin to stray and things combust in group vacation (including their lovers) at a vacation in northern Minnesota, where all players contemplate their morality and mortality. This family drama novel is complicated and messy but rewarding and magical–just like real life.

Chris: The Book of Joan: Tales of Mirth, Mischief and Manipulation by Melissa Rivers is a fast, fun read. Melissa opens up about her special mother-daughter relationship with stories and life lessons learned from Mom Joan. Melissa also has a good sense of humor and as she relays Joan’s antics and quotes her lines, it kind of takes the edge off of some of those caustic remarks. Finding out more about Joan made me like her more. She knew what was important: education, and so, in the book, you’ll see her grade school and high school report cards. Work was very important to her, too, so you’ll see her first resume which states “Blonde-5’ 3” directly after her name and address. And you’ll see lots of family photos including one with Joan at the age of two with the caption “Even then she tried to pass herself off as one and a half.” I really enjoyed it.

Steve: Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, by Kostya Kennedy, is the story of Rose’s life, with a focus on his career and banishment from baseball. This an excellent book, is well written and gives an even view of Rose. Kennedy makes the case that, in light of steroid users in baseball, who have been given a chance to be on the HOF ballot, Rose’s request for reinstatement should be re-examined.

Lauren: Bonjour Tristesse was written by Francoise Sagan and published in 1954 when she was just 18—it was an instant hit. The short novel is from the perspective of 17-year-old Cécile, summering at a beach house with her widower father on the coast of France. Cécile has become used to her father’s playboy ways and the women who come and go in his life (this summer his companion is a young redhead named Elsa) and enjoys reciprocal freedom to spend her days however she wants, even if they are spent in the company of her lover Cyril or ignoring her studies. Her world is disrupted when they are joined by Anne, who was once a friend of Cécile’s mother, with whom her father falls quickly and seriously in love.

Megan: Armada by Ernest Cline is the book equivalent of the summer blockbuster movie and the perfect page-turner for the beach. Armada is the story of Zack Lightwood, a high school senior who has grown up on a heavy diet of science fiction films, books, and video games. One day reality and fantasy collide when a spaceship appears over Zack’s school. The ship looks exactly like the ones in his favorite video game and it has arrived to take Zack. Because of his gaming skills he has been recruited by a top-secret government agency to help save the world from an imminent alien invasion. This fun alien invasion adventure well-known sci-fi tropes and turns them upside down. Pop culture references to cult classics will please the most enthusiastic fans and the surprise twist will leave readers with plenty to think about long after the adventure has ended.

Dori: Ana of California by Andi Teran is a retelling of Anne of Green Gables set in modern day California. Bright and artistic Ana is in foster care in Los Angeles and her big mouth has made it difficult to place her, but one last option is to stay with two siblings, Abby and Emmett Garber, and work on their farm in Northern California. The experience is eye opening and Ana begins to love the farm and the Garbers, and they her, but will a misunderstanding send her back to danger in L.A.? A great summer read, with romance, cooking, and a charming title character that you’ll be rooting for.

Emma: The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce is the story of Queenie, a patient at St. Bernadine’s Hospice. She learns that her former brewery coworker Harold Fry is coming to visit and she should wait for him. He plans to walk the entire length of England, 600 miles, to come see her. Harold sends postcards along the way so Queenie can track his progress. Eventually the other hospice patients are excited about Harold’s journey and also follow his progress. Unable to speak, Queenie relives their shared past through letters which are never sent. The complement to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a sweet simple story.

Stacey: The Lure of the Moonflower by Lauren Willig is the perfect kind of summertime reading. There’s a little bit of history (learning!) and a mystery (a puzzle for your brain!) plus a light romance (to make your heart go pit-a-pat!) all in an easy to carry softcover book! The only downside is that it’s the very last of a fabulous series, but the upside is that the author is writing plenty of other fabulous books -phew!

Our next genre will be religious fiction! If you want to join us, you will also want to look for a story that has religiously-based attitudes, values or actions at it’s core. It can be any religion and it can be sweet or salty -like a thriller– it’s up to you!

As always -enjoy!
Stacey

Solving the Mystery …of the Mystery Genre!

staceyLeave a comment

Did you find something to read in which a crime was committed? And after the crime occurred, did you witness an amateur or professional detective find the bad guy -or gal? Then you read a mystery book, just like us! If you want to know what we read and enjoyed, then check out these books:

Chris: Sharp Shooter by Nadia Gordon introduces Sunny McCoskey, an independent chef/owner of the organic Wildside café who can’t help but start doing a little investing of her own when one of her Napa Valley customers, Jack Beroni, is found dead. Jack was the heir apparent to the Beroni Vineyard and someone wanted him dead. Was it one of the two Campaglia brothers who worked the estate and named to inherit it? His longtime girlfriend who he wouldn’t marry? His long-ago high school girlfriend with whom he was having an affair? A competing vineyard owner of which there are plenty? Or one of his many, many enemies? Won’t say. Will add there are two sharp shooters present in the book—one, the actual murderer, and then there’s the glassy-winged sharpshooter, an insect that threatens to destroy every organic vineyard in Napa Valley if the estate owners don’t approve using a toxic chemical to kill it.

Maureen: In local author D.M. Pulley’s debut novel The Dead Key, we meet young architect Iris on her first “real” assignment for her firm to survey and sketch the floors of the old, long abandoned First Bank of Cleveland building. As Iris works, she begins to find clues to mysterious things that went on at the bank before its sudden closure in the middle of the night in 1978. Flashbacks in the book simultaneously reveal the story of 17-year old Beatrice, who has moved in with her aunt to pursue a new life on her own in Cleveland. It turns out being a banking secretary can get you into some pretty interesting predicaments at First Bank of Cleveland and Beatrice is determined to uncover the truth of what is going on with missing safe deposit boxes as well as right some wrongs. Fun mentions of local neighborhoods and landmarks add to the story. Pulley is currently working on her second novel.

That’s right -we had another double read! Here’s another take on the same book:

Ann: The Dead Key by D.M. Pulley is a mystery reaching across two decades in a grand old bank in Cleveland. In 1978 the First Bank of Cleveland mysteriously closed, locking out customers and employees. Twenty years later, in 1998 a young engineer, Iris, stumbles upon documents, keys, and safe deposit boxes left as they were decades before. As Iris gets sidetracked from her surveying work in the bank, we also learn the backstory of Beatrice, a clerical worker at the bank in 1978. She discovered many irregularities at the bank at the time and has left clues behind that Iris has discovered. Iris is determined to figure out the mystery of the keys and safe deposit boxes, even if it means she is putting herself in danger. The author, who lives in Cleveland and is a structural engineer, won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2014 for this mystery.

Beth: The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty is set during the Troubles of Northern Ireland. This entertaining, gritty novel focuses on Detective Sean Duffy who is assigned to be the lead investigator in a string of murders in the small village of Carrickfergus outside of Belfast. The murders seem to be independent of the territorial conflicts, but are things ever really what they seem?

Steve: The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler, is the granddaddy of hardboiled mysteries. It was written in 1939, and features main character Philip Marlowe, a Private Investigator, hired by a rich, ailing father to investigate a blackmail scheme involving his wild daughter. It’s set in gritty 1930’s Hollywood, and that and the old school dialogue are worth the read alone, with the twisting plot being the icing on the cake.

Emma: In The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain, when Laure is mugged, she ends up in the hospital in a coma. Bookseller Laurent finds her expensive handbag on top of a trash can minus the wallet and cell phone. He is determined to find the owner and uses items from the bag including a red notebook, a dry-cleaning ticket, and a book signed by Patrick Modiano to assist in the search. While Laure is still in the hospital, Laurent ends up at her apartment posing as a friend and offers to take care of the cat. Laure’s co-worker had been feeding the cat. When Laure wakes up and hears about the mystery man from her co-worker, she decides to track him down. Lighthearted, fun, and a little creepy.

Carol: In The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell, Adrian Wolf thinks he’s a lucky man to have such great relationships with his two ex-wives and five children. In fact, they appear get on so well, they all vacation along with his latest wife, Maya, and himself. All is not what it seems, however, and after Maya is killed in an apparent accident, Adrian sets out to find who might have wanted to force her out of their “blissful” extended family. This psychological mystery grabbed me from its first page.

Lauren: The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths is the first mystery in a series of books featuring Ruth Galloway. Ruth is an archaeologist who gets caught up in a murder investigation as an expert witness for the police and the detective on the case. In the salt marshes of Norfolk near Ruth’s home, human bones have been discovered and Ruth is called in to determine if they are those of either of two missing girls or remnants of an ancient burial site. The bones turn out to be ancient, but Ruth is quickly drawn into the into the hunt for the recently disappeared Scarlet Henderson and for young Lucy Downey who has been missing for ten years.

Megan: Lock In by Jon Scalzi is a thrilling science fiction mystery. In the near future a virus sweeps through the world population. For a small percentage the result of the disease is a condition known as lock in. They are fully awake and aware, but unable to move their bodies. With 1.7 million Americans affected, new medical technologies emerge, including systems that allow the locked in to use the bodies of the healthy. Things get really tricky when an Integrator (a healthy person hosting a lock in) is found at the scene of a murder. Who is the guilty party-the person who’s body committed the crime or the person who was using the body?

Dori: Judith Flanders’ debut mystery A Murder of Magpies stars Samantha Clair, a London book editor who works all the time and has no time for nonsense. She’s busily editing two books: the first is written by her reliable women’s fiction author but is not up to par – how will she tell her author how horrible it is? The other is a gossipy look at impropriety in the fashion industry by her friend Kit – will she be able to publish it without legal implications? When Kit goes missing and a courier delivering his manuscript is murdered, Inspector Field comes calling and they join forces to try to find Kit and why someone does not want his book published. Funny, with a myriad of characters and a plot that gets a little too convoluted.

Stacey: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella isn’t a straightforward, typical kind of mystery. Readers slowly get to know Audrey and her family in the present but very little is said about the criminal incident that took place before the book begins. Whatever it was -it happened at school and it was very, very bad. Aimed at the teen audience, this book will appeal to anyone looking for an unique and suspenseful mystery.

Next time, we’ll be talking about …Beach Reads! A beach read can be any thing that you’d like to take to the beach (as long as you don’t get the Library’s copy all sandy and wet) or you might like to read on the porch during a lazy summer afternoon! -You can think of this category as a big ol’ freebie!- A pretty sweet deal for a pretty sweet time of year!

Enjoy!
Stacey