Book Review: The Heiress

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

Stacey says, “It’s time for the Top Ten of 2023!”

This year I’m really leaning into the popular saying, “So many books, so little time!” My list of possibilities for a Top Ten is longer than usual thanks to my participation on American Library Association’s The Reading List committee. The Reading List is focused on finding great reads in the genres of Adrenaline, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Relationship Fiction, Romance, and Science Fiction -some of these categories aren’t ones I naturally gravitate toward but I’ve enjoyed the entire experience! (Plus -now I have bonus books for this list!)

As always, the books are in alphabetical order in each genre. I’m attempting a three emoji description -🤞 I can make it work. The link will take you to our digital collection but there are print books as well, just give us a call!

General Fiction:

Half-Life of a Stolen Sister by Rachel Cantor 🤔 👀 🔎

Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan 👪🏽 🤐 🎉

Murder Your Employer by Rupert Holmes 🏫 🕵🏼 👫🏽 

Maame by Jessica George 👪🏾 🏠 🏋🏾‍♀️

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim 🏡 🤫 🔍

Adrenaline:

Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose   🤐 😮 🪤 

A Twisted Love Story by Samantha Downing 🕵🏼‍♀️ 👩‍❤️‍👨☠️

Historical Fiction:

Ghost Girl, Banana by Wiz Wharton 🇭🇰 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧

The Beach at Summerly by Beatriz Williams ⚔️ 💘 🏡

The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland 🎭 🔥 💔

Mystery:

The Appeal by Janice Hallett 🤫 🔍 🥸

Better the Blood by Michael Bennett ☠️ 😰 🇳🇿

Killing Me by Michelle Gogan 🙅 😳 🤥

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann 👵 🐢 🪤

Horror:

The September House by Carissa Orlando 🔥 🫠 😵

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix 👻 😱 🥴

Fantasy or Science Fiction:

The Books of Babel series by Josiah Bancroft series ☠️ ⛓️‍💥

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett 🧚 ✨ 📚

The Meister of Decimen City by Brianna 🐉 🦸‍♀️ ⚡

The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis 🗺️ 🛸 😉

and Nonfiction:

Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott 🧒🏾 🏫 💡

The Hospital by Brian Alexander 🏥 🤕 🩺

📚 💖 😊 

– Stacey

Happy Birthday, John le Carré!

Today is the great novelist’s John le Carré’s birthday! Le Carré briefly served in British Intelligence during the Cold War, which no doubt informed his writing. Best known for his espionage novels, he is considered one of the greatest novelists of the postwar era. If you haven’t yet explored his works, here are a few to start with (and the movies based off them as well!): 

The Night Manager (DVD) 

The Night Manager  

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (DVD) 

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold 

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (DVD) 

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy  

A Perfect Spy (DVD) 

A Perfect Spy  

-Linnea

YA Book Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed

Teenager Perry Firekeeper-Birch is hoping to slide through summer unnoticed. Her plan is to spend the summer fishing at all the best spots on Sugar Island. The last thing on her mind is a summer internship. Internships are much better suited to her perfectionist twin sister Pauline, but Perry begrudgingly ends up in the Kinomaage Summer Internship Program alongside her twin.

As the cultural center museum intern, Perry is introduced to the concept of repatriation and is horrified at the number of indigenous ancestors on display in museums and private collections. Her internship supervisor Cooper Turtle encourages her to look into the legal world of reclamation and policies regarding the items that were stolen to begin with.

When Perry works with the other interns, she realizes that the stolen artifacts isn’t the only crime being committed on Sugar Island. As more and more posters for missing women are placed around town, Perry realizes that the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis isn’t limited to the dead bones of her ancestors- it’s all around her.

Perry’s search for ancestral remains, missing women, and answers leads her on a path filled with teenage romance, cultural pride, and danger.

The follow up to Firekeeper’s Daughter, Warrior Girl Unearthed is the second young adult book by Angeline Boulley that follows the Firekeeper family. While the two books are related, each stands on its own and make for a great read. Listening to the audiobook was an immersive reading experience. Correct Anishinaabemowin pronunciations along with the moody atmosphere of the book itself made this a phenomenal reading experience.

Request a print copy here, a digital copy here or the audiobook here.

Happy Reading!

-Melinda

Book Review: Small Game

What do you get when you combine a survival show, wannabe influencers, and a jaded outdoor survival expert? A drama-filled romp through a landscape filled with danger. Small Game is a debut novel that reads like a combination of Castaway, Survivor, and Man vs. Wild.

Mara is used to living life with less than she needs. Living with doomsday prepper parents led Mara to work as an outdoor survival expert at a survival school. When reality TV producers come to the school to scout for talent, Mara signs up with only one thing on her mind: The $100,000 prize.

She lands on a remote island and meets her teammates and the filming crew. As she puts on her rugged tunic and picks her tool, she embraces the TV gimmicks. After all, if it means a payout, she can put up with some cheesy scripted sentences. Time goes on, rations grow short, deadly animals appear, and crew members start mysteriously disappearing. And at the center of it all is Mara and her fellow castmates.

But who will remain standing after the six weeks pass?

This book isn’t quite a true thriller and reads more like a mystery. But if you’ve ever enjoyed outdoor adventure writing, you’ll enjoy this book! Blair Braverman’s debut novel will certainly keep you guessing. And can we talk about Blair’s name for a second? I’m not sure if there’s a better name for an author who writes such adventurous fiction. Braverman’s writing clearly draws from her life as a dogsledder and outdoor adventurer, which adds an interesting component to the book.

Request a print copy here or download a digital copy here.

-Melinda

YA Book Review: Live Your Best Lie by Jessie Weaver

Summer Cartwright is a 16-year-old influencer living a charmed Hollywood, California life. She’s rich, well-connected, and she just signed a massive book deal for an upcoming tell-all style memoir. When a new post from Summer’s Instagram account announces that the social media star will be dead in the next five minutes, the guests are her Halloween party think it’s just part of the entertainment. Her friends know different. That’s not Summer’s brand. Something is wrong. There were right-Summer was actually dead. As the police begin to investigate, those closest to Summer begin their own search for the killer. The suspect list keeps growing as the motive for the murder appears to be the book she was working on. If Summer was dead, would the book and the dark secrets it was set to reveal go away?

Told from the points of view of Summer’s bff, Grace, Summer’s ex-boyfriend Adam, Summer’s number one fan, Cora, and her one-time roommate, Lanie, Live Your Best Lie is a twisted, suspenseful debut. The narrator does an excellent job of juggling the various character points of view as well as flashbacks, but the inclusion of social media posts and comments, police interviews, and newspaper articles make for an interesting read. A delightfully wicked read as well as a timely cautionary tale-social media never tells the whole story and influencers only show what they want you to see.

Hand this to fans of Karen McManus and Maureen Johnson and anyone else who likes to solve the puzzle along with the characters. The clues are there for the clever reader, but so are the red herrings. Readers who make it to the end will be rewarded with a final twist you won’t see coming.

Thank you to Netgalley, Disney Audiobooks, and Melissa de la Cruz Studios for an advanced reader copy.

The Further Adventures of Finlay Donovan

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano is the third book in the Finlay Donovan series. This newest addition picks up where book two leaves off, so it’s best to read them in order. Click on the covers to find these titles in the catalog.

Here’s a quick recap:

Finlay Donovan is a stressed-out writer and mother to two young children with a deadline, writer’s block, and an infuriating ex-husband. She does not need any more drama in her life, but that’s exactly what she gets after a meeting with her agent in a crowded coffee shop. Overhearing Finlay describe the plot of her new book, a customer mistakes her for a contract killer. Before she knows it, Finlay accidentally finds herself involved in a real life crime! Book two brings back Finlay and the motely crew she gathered in the book one-Vero, her nanny with a secret past and Detective Nick Anthony, the dreamy hot cop. This time it appears that Finlay is not the only one who’s done with her Stephen, her ex. On top of everything else, he seems to have attracted the attention of the Russian mob! Which brings us to book three. The unresolved issues of the previous book are still in play, so it seems like a risky move to enroll in the Citizen’s Police Academy, but that’s exactly what Finlay and Vero do. Danger, romance, and hilarity ensue. Vero’s past secret is revealed, as is the identity of the mysterious hitman, EasyClean, but fans will rejoice in the knowledge that there are still loose ends and further adventures of Finlay and Vero to come.

This series is pure addictive escapism. Non-stop shenanigans, close calls, and toddler antics are par for the course with Finlay and Vero. Fans of witty banter, will-they-won’t-they sexual tension, and the ugly realities of parenthood with enjoy this series. Finlay and Vero are quite the dynamic duo and the love interests are dreamy.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is available January 31, 2023. Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

~Megan

National Pinot Noir Day

Today may be National Pinot Noir Day but there are plenty of other wine-related topics to celebrate. If you drink wine, you know that a glass can elevate a dining experience. But between all the varietals and rules, it can be hard to know what exactly you’re drinking and which to drink with which food. Fortunately, there are plenty of books to teach us!  

First off, there is no need to become an expert because as Victoria James’ autobiography Wine Girl explains, the journey to becoming a sommelier (not to mention America’s youngest sommelier!) is quite the intense journey. If that doesn’t scare you off, peruse Rosie Schaap’s book Becoming a Sommelier and really take your wine knowledge to the next level. But if you’d rather take a step back, there’s Aldo Sohm’s book Wine Simple. Sohm takes his expertise and makes it manageable for those of us that just want to know which wine goes best with pizza.

And maybe you don’t want to take it that far and just want to know what wines come from where, learn something, and impress your dinner guests. Around the World in Eighty Wines by Mike Veseth is an excellent resource, broken into continents, countries, and cities, delving into the history and making of their wines. Wine Isn’t Rocket Science by Ophélie Neiman breaks down how to buy and pair every type of wine, so you’re never left wondering if you should have a white or red with dinner.  

And if you’d rather just read wine-themed books, have we got options for you!

Wine Tastings are Murder by Libby Klein
The Winemakers by Jan Moran
Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

-Linnea

I Read YA: That Weekend by Kara Thomas

That weekend was supposed to be a fun, secret getaway. Ditching prom for a weekend of hiking, camping, drinking, just Claire and her best friends, Kat and Jesse sounds like a dream. But something goes horribly wrong and Claire can’t tell anyone what happened. She has no idea why she was the only one to come down from the mountain where all three hiked. Claire struggles to regain her memories and as the months pass with no news of her friends’ whereabouts she grows more frustrated. Taking matters in to her own hands, she resolves to get answers. This was a fun thriller. Complex relationships, plenty of red herrings, and big twist will keep readers wondering about what really happened that weekend. If you like a slow-burning mystery and unreliable narrators and a whole lot of karma, check out That Weekend.

Book Review: The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

It’s been some time since I read a novel that truly surprised me and Catriona Ward’s The Last House on Needless Street not only surprised me, it astonished me. This strikingly original, difficult, and heartfelt novel disguises itself as a horrific story about a serial killer and a missing child, leading readers down disturbing paths and in all the wrong directions as it slowly but surely reveals itself to be much more.

Told through the perspective of multiple narrators, we follow the life of Ted, a strange and lonely man who lives at the end of the forebodingly named Needless Street. He has boarded up all the windows in his house, which sits at the edge of a deeply wooded park and regularly hosts visits with his estranged daughter. His only friend appears to be his cat Olivia- who is also a narrative voice and is quite charming.

The tale opens on the anniversary of the disappearance of a young girl, a disappearance that Ted was initially suspected of causing, and we also meet the vengeful sister of the missing girl who is still trying to track down her sister’s potential murderer years later. This deeply layered plot is revealed little by little with each chapter, and keen readers will note right off the bat that all is not as it seems with each narrator, and we are clearly not getting a complete picture.

The final few twists of this novel are stunning, and absolutely heartbreaking, making this a standout novel of psychological horror, but also an emotional story of trauma and finally, and most importantly, hope. A detailed author’s note at the end further explains Ward’s excellent work on this story and why this is a very realistic tale of trauma. Highly recommended for fans of deeply woven mysteries, unreliable narrators, and psychological horror.

Note: There are some very upsetting and intense scenes in this novel, particularly depicting animal abuse and child abuse, so please proceed with this trigger warning in mind.

Request a copy here or snag a digital copy here!