Lewis & Clark Library Blog

The Premier Book group began its monthly meetings at the Lewis & Clark library in 1999. This book group is open to everyone, and its primary focus is popular fiction and nonfiction. The group meets on the first Thursday of each month from 6:30-7:30 pm. If you’d like more information about this book group, including a reading list, check out this webpage or stop by the public service desk to inquire. Limited copies of each book are available to borrow.

At a recent Premier Book group meeting, in addition to discussing that month’s book selection, group participants discussed other books they’ve recently enjoyed. Read on for some great book recommendations compliments of the Premier Book group:

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another. When Chicky Starr decides to take an old, decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea, everyone thinks she is crazy. Helped by Rigger (a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house) and Orla, her niece (a whiz at business), Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House's big warm kitchen, log fires, and understated elegant bedrooms. John, the American movie star, thinks he has arrived incognito; Winnie and Lillian are forced into taking a holiday together; Nicola and Henry, husband and wife, have been shaken by seeing too much death practicing medicine; Anders hates his father's business, but has a real talent for music; Miss Nell Howe, a retired schoolteacher, criticizes everything and leaves a day early, much to everyone's relief; the Walls are disappointed to have won this second-prize holiday in a contest where first prize was Paris; and Freda, the librarian, is afraid of her own psychic visions. Sharing a week with this unlikely cast of characters is pure joy, full of Maeve's trademark warmth and humor. Once again, she embraces us with her grand storytelling. 
Find books by this delightful author in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout: 
Montana Library2Go/Libby app eBooks and audiobooks
Read about the author Here 
 

West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. "Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes..." Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It's 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California's first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world's first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it's too late.

Available through Interlibrary Loan 
Read about the author Here 

Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon

Bestselling author Diana Gabaldon returns with a new novel in the epic Outlander series. War leaves nobody alone. Neither the past, the present, nor the future offers true safety, and the only refuge is what you can protect: your family, your friends, your home. Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1746, and it took them twenty years of loss and heartbreak to find each other again. Now it's 1779, and Claire and Jamie are finally reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children, and are rebuilding their home on Fraser's Ridge--a fortress that may shelter them against the winds of war as well as weather. But tensions in the Colonies are great: Battles rage from New York to Georgia and, even in the mountains of the backcountry, feelings run hot enough to boil Hell's teakettle. Jamie knows that loyalties among his tenants are split and it won't be long before the war is on his doorstep. Brianna and Roger have their own worry: that the dangers that provoked their escape from the twentieth century might catch up to them. Sometimes they question whether risking the perils of the 1700s--among them disease, starvation, and an impending war--was indeed the safer choice for their family. Not so far away, young William Ransom is coming to terms with the mysteries of his identity, his future, and the family he's never known. His erstwhile father, Lord John Grey, has reconciliations to make and dangers to meet on his son's behalf and on his own, and far to the north, Young Ian Murray fights his own battle between past and future, and the two women he's loved. Meanwhile, the Revolutionary War creeps ever closer to Fraser's Ridge. Jamie sharpens his sword, while Claire whets her surgeon's blade: It is a time for steel.
Find it in the library catalog Here 
Also available for digital checkout: 
Montana Library2Go/Libby app eBook and audiobook 
Axis 360 eBook and audiobook 

Read more about the author Here 

 

The Maid by Nita Prose

A heartwarming mystery with a lovable protagonist, this cozy whodunit introduces a one-of-a-kind heroine who will steal your heart.    Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by. Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter--she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection. But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black--but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late? A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different--and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.

Find it in the library catalog Here 
Also available for digital checkout: 
Montana Library2Go/Libby app eBook and audiobook 
Axis 360 eBook and audiobook 
Read about the author Here 

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

 

Jude the Obscure, the last completed novel by Thomas Hardy, began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895. Its protagonist, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man, a stonemason, who dreams of becoming a scholar. The other main character is his cousin, Sue Bridehead, who is also his central love interest. The novel is concerned in particular with issues of class, education, religion and marriage. Don't be afraid to pick up a classic in British literature.

Find it in the library catalog Here 
Also available for digital checkout: 
Montana Library2Go/Libby app eBook and audiobook 
Hoopla eBook and audiobook 
Read more about the author Here 

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

"Bel Canto should be on the list of every literate music lover. The story is riveting, the participants breathe and feel and are alive, and throughout this elegantly-told novel, music pours forth so splendidly that the reader hears it and is overwhelmed by its beauty." says Lloyd Moss on WXQR, New York's Classical Music radio station. Ann Patchett's award winning novel balances themes of love and crisis as disparate characters learn that music is their only common language. As in Patchett's other books, including Truth & Beauty and The Magician's Assistant, the author's lyrical prose and lucid imagination make Bel Canto a captivating story of strength and frailty, love and imprisonment, and an inspiring tale of transcendent romance.

Find it in the library catalog Here 
Also available for digital checkout: 
Montana Library2Go/Libby app audiobook 
Hoopla eBook and audiobook 
Read more about the author Here 
 

Still Life by Louise Penny

Louis Penny has won so many awards for her novels in the Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series including the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, Agatha and Dilys awards. The first novel in this series is Still Life. Written in 2005, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter. Still Life introduces not only an engaging series hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces---and this series---with integrity and quiet courage, but also a charming, albeit eccentric, collection of characters who reside in Three Pines.  If you find Still Life  to your liking, you'll have seventeen other intriguing mysteries to read with a new book slated for release later this year. 

Find books in this popular series in library catalog Here 
Also available for digital checkout: 
Montana Library2Go/Libby app eBooks and audiobooks 
Hoopla audiobooks 
Axis 360 eBooks and audiobooks 
Read more about the author Here

In addition to the seven fine novels listed above, the Premier Book Group also recommends checking out well-known Montana authors, such as A.B. Guthrie, Wallace Stegner, and Ivan Doig. And remember if you like eBooks and/or audiobooks, Montana Library2Go, Axis 360, and Hoopla are available for online browsing and checkout. Ask at the public service desk if you need assistance utilizing these great resources.

Andrea recommends . . .

Trailed: One Woman's Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murder
by Kathryn Miles

Rachel recommends . . .

Daisy Darker
by Alice Feeney

Clare recommends . . .

A Study in Scarlet Women
by Sherry Thomas

What's a Victorian era girl to do when she is smarter and more inquisitive than society says she ought to be? Take on an assumed identity and start solving crimes of course! I think you'll enjoy this book's clever story line, splashed with a touch of romance and classic Sherlock Holmes mystery, and if you do it's the first in a 7-part series!

Find this book in the library catalog Here
Also available in digital format:
Axis 360 audiobook
Montana Library2Go/Libby app eBook and audiobook
Hoopla audiobook
Read more about the author Here

Beth recommends . . .

Do you have a book recommendation? Go back up to the top of this post to leave a comment and tell us about it.
Just click on 'comments' at the top right of the post.

Our library has some great book discussion groups! The Mystery Book group meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 - 7:30 pm. If you like reading mysteries and would enjoy meeting with people who share your sleuthing interest, check out this webpage for more information. At a recent Mystery Book Group meeting, in addition to discussing the mystery of the month, Reptile Memoirs by Norwegian author Silje Ulstein, group participants also recommended the following titles. (These novels aren't all necessarily in the mystery genre, but of high interest nevertheless.)

This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

There's no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from acclaimed author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains--and friends or enemies--with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books, This Savage Song is a must-have for fans of Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, and Laini Taylor. Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city--a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent--but he's one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who's just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August's secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives. In This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab creates a gritty, seething metropolis, one worthy of being compared to Gotham and to the four versions of London in her critically acclaimed fantasy for adults, A Darker Shade of Magic. Her heroes will face monsters intent on destroying them from every side--including the monsters within.

Find This Savage Song in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Hoopla eBook and audiobook
Read more about the author Here

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

"Don't underestimate this new novelist. She's jump-starting the year with a smart romantic comedy that lures us in with laughter and keeps us hooked with a fantastically engaging story." --The Washington Post 

It's 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro "Prieto" Acevedo, are boldfaced names in their hometown of New York. Prieto is a popular congressman representing their gentrifying Latinx neighborhood in Brooklyn, while Olga is the tony wedding planner for Manhattan's power brokers. Despite their alluring public lives, behind closed doors things are far less rosy. Sure, Olga can orchestrate the love stories of the 1 percent but she can't seem to find her own. . . until she meets Matteo, who forces her to confront the effects of long-held family secrets. Olga and Prieto's mother, Blanca, a Young Lord turned radical, abandoned her children to advance a militant political cause, leaving them to be raised by their grandmother. Now, with the winds of hurricane season, Blanca has come barreling back into their lives. Set against the backdrop of New York City in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, Xochitl Gonzalez's Olga Dies Dreaming is a story that examines political corruption, familial strife, and the very notion of the American dream--all while asking what it really means to weather a storm.

Find Olga Dies Dreaming in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Montana Library2Go (Libby app) eBook and audiobook
Read more about the author Here

 

 

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman's struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel. Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist--and confidante--to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own... Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow--a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does. "Eloquent and moving...Joshi masterfully balances a yearning for self-discovery with the need for familial love."--Publishers Weekly. Also look for The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and a third book in the series due out in March 2023, The Perfumist of Paris.

 

Find The Henna Artist in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Hoopla eBook and audiobook
Montana Library2Go (Libby app) eBook and audiobook

 

 

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Lily is haunted by memories–of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, the women in one remote Hunan county developed their own secret code for communication: nu shu (“women’s writing”). Some girls were paired with laotongs, “old sames,” in emotional matches that lasted throughout their lives. They painted letters on fans, embroidered messages on handkerchiefs, and composed stories, thereby reaching out of their isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. With the arrival of a silk fan on which Snow Flower has composed for Lily a poem of introduction in nu shu, their friendship is sealed and they become “old sames” at the tender age of seven. As the years pass, through famine and rebellion, they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a brilliantly realistic journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful. With the period detail and deep resonance of Memoirs of a Geisha, this lyrical and emotionally charged novel delves into one of the most mysterious of human relationships: female friendship.

 

Find Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in the library catalog Here

Also available for digital checkout:
Montana Library2Go (Libby app) eBook and audiobook
Axis 360 eBook and audiobook
Read more about the author Here

 

 

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny 
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache returns to Three Pines in #1 New York Times bestseller Louise Penny's latest spellbinding novel. "You're a coward," Time and again, as the New Year approaches, that charge is leveled against Armand Gamache. It starts innocently enough. While the residents of the Québec village of Three Pines take advantage of the deep snow to ski and toboggan, to drink hot chocolate in the bistro and share meals together, the Chief Inspector finds his holiday with his family interrupted by a simple request. He's asked to provide security for what promises to be a non-event. A visiting Professor of Statistics will be giving a lecture at the nearby university. While he is perplexed as to why the head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec would be assigned this task, it sounds easy enough. That is until Gamache starts looking into Professor Abigail Robinson and discovers an agenda so repulsive he begs the university to cancel the lecture. They refuse, citing academic freedom, and accuse Gamache of censorship and intellectual cowardice. Before long, Professor Robinson's views start seeping into conversations. Spreading and infecting. So that truth and fact, reality and delusion are so confused it's near impossible to tell them apart. Discussions become debates, debates become arguments, which turn into fights. As sides are declared, a madness takes hold. Abigail Robinson promises that, if they follow her, ça va bien aller, translated "all will be well," but not, Gamache and his team know, for everyone. When a murder is committed it falls to Armand Gamache, his second-in-command Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and their team to investigate the crime as well as this extraordinary popular delusion. And the madness of crowds.

Find The Madness of Crowds in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Hoopla audiobook
Montana Library2Go (Libby app) eBook and audiobook
Read more about the author Here