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Readers Picks -- recently recommended fiction titles by library patrons like you!
08/13/2024
Beth Pofahl
Book Recommendations, Staff Picks, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, History

 

Cover ArtNorth Woods by Daniel Mason                                   LITERARY FICTION

When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave--only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: As the inhabitants confront the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive. This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we're connected to our environment, to history, and to one another. It is not just an unforgettable novel about secrets and destinies, but a way of looking at the world that asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we're gone?
Find North Woods in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Libby eBook and audiobook
Read more about the author Here

 

Cover ArtThe Husbands by Holly Gramazio                ROMANCE

When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There's only one problem--she's not married. She's never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they've been together for years. As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can't remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you've taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?
Find The Husbands in the library catalog Here
Read more about the author Here

 
 

Cover ArtThe Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb           MYSTERY

Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian's life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream--he's determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can't afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music.    When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition--the Olympics of classical music--the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he's lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself--and the world--that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.

Find The Violin Conspiracy in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Libby audiobook
Read more about the author Here
 
 

Cover ArtThe Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling       HISTORICAL

"In my seventh winter, when my head only reached my Appe's rib, a White Man came into camp. Bare trees scratched sky. Cold was endless. He moved through trees like strikes of sunlight. My Bia said he came with bad intentions, like a Water Baby's cry."

Among the most memorialized women in American history, Sacajewea served as interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. In this visionary novel, acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling brings this mythologized figure vividly to life, casting unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and recentering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history. Raised among the Lemhi Shoshone, in this telling the young Sacajewea is bright and bold, growing strong from the hard work of "learning all ways to survive": gathering berries, water, roots, and wood; butchering buffalo, antelope, and deer; catching salmon and snaring rabbits; weaving baskets and listening to the stories of her elders. When her village is raided and her beloved Appe and Bia are killed, Sacajewea is kidnapped and then gambled away to Charbonneau, a French Canadian trapper. Heavy with grief, Sacajewea learns how to survive at the edge of a strange new world teeming with fur trappers and traders. When Lewis and Clark's expedition party arrives, Sacajewea knows she must cross a vast and brutal terrain with her newborn son, the white man who owns her, and a company of men who wish to conquer and commodify the world she loves. 
Find The Lost Journals of Sacajewea in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Libby eBook 
Hoopla eBook 
Read more about the author Here

Cover ArtCode Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon                     HISTORICAL
Told in interweaving timelines organized around the four code names Nancy used during the war, Code Name Hélène is a spellbinding and moving story of enduring love, remarkable sacrifice and unfaltering resolve that chronicles the true exploits of a woman who deserves to be a household name. It is 1936 and Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Paris who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name. As LUCIENNE CARLIER Nancy smuggles people and documents across the border. Her success and her remarkable ability to evade capture  earns her the nickname THE WHITE MOUSE from the Gestapo. With a five million franc bounty on her head, Nancy is forced to escape France and leave Henri behind. When she enters training with the Special Operations Executives in Britain, her new comrades are instructed to call her HÉLÈNE. And finally, with mission in hand, Nancy is airdropped back into France as the deadly MADAM ANDRÉE, where she claims her place as one of the most powerful leaders in the French Resistance, armed with a ferocious wit, her signature red lipstick, and the ability to summon weapons straight from the Allied Forces. But no one can protect Nancy if the enemy finds out these four women are one and the same, and the closer to liberation France gets, the more exposed she--and the people she loves--become.
Find Code Name Hélène in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Libby eBook and audiobook
Read more about the author Here

 

Cover ArtMurder at the Lakeside Library by Holly Danvers         COZY MYSTERY

"Interesting murder mystery inside a setting of a small Wisconsin community. Page turner!"

Rain Wilmot has just returned to her family's waterfront log cabin after the death of her husband. The cabin is peaceful compared to Rain's corporate job and comes with an informal library that her mother used to run. But as Rain prepares for the re-opening of the library, all hopes for a peaceful life are shattered when she discovers the body of Thornton Hughes, a real estate buyer, on the premise. The community of Lofty Pines starts pointing fingers at Willow, and now she has no choice but to catch the killer, clear her name, and save the library.
Find Murder at the Lakeside Library in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Hoopla eBook and audiobook
Read more about the author Here

 

Cover ArtDéjà Dead by Kathy Reichs                               MYSTERY

"Intriguing book about the life of a fictional forensic anthropologist. The TV show "Bones" is based off of this book series."

It's June in Montreal, and Tempe, who has left a shaky marriage back home in North Carolina to take on the challenging assignment of director of forensic anthropology for the province of Quebec, looks forward to a relaxing weekend. First, though, she must stop at a newly uncovered burial site in the heart of the city. One look at the decomposed and decapitated corpse, stored neatly in plastic bags, tells her she'll spend the weekend in the crime lab. This is homicide of the worst kind. To begin to find some answers, Tempe must first identify the victim. Who is this person with the reddish hair and a small bone structure?
Find Déjà Dead in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Libby audiobook
Hoopla audiobook
Read more about the author Here

 

Cover Art

Darkest Fear by Harlan Coben                  MYSTERY
Myron Bolitar faces the most emotionally shattering case of his career.  And it all begins when Myron's ex-girlfriend tells him he is a father--of a dying thirteen-year-old boy.... Myron's sports agency is struggling.  Now more than ever Myron needs to keep his eye on the ball, sign up some big-name clients, and turn away from the amateur detective work that is taking precious time away from the agency.  But life is not going according to plan.  Myron's father, recently recovered from a heart attack, is facing his own mortality--and forcing Myron to face it too.  Then comes another surprise. Emily Downing, Myron's college sweetheart, reappears in his life with devastating news:  Her thirteen-year-old son Jeremy is gravely ill and can be saved only by a bone-marrow transplant--from a donor who has vanished without a trace.  And before Myron can absorb this revelation, Emily hits him with an even bigger shocker:  Jeremy is Myron's son, conceived the night before Emily's wedding to another man. Staggered by the news, Myron plunges into a search for the missing donor.  But for Myron, finding the only person in the world who can save a boy's life means cracking open a mystery as dark as it is heartbreaking--a mystery that involves a broken family, a brutal kidnapping spree, and a cat-and-mouse game between an ambitious reporter and the FBI. Somewhere in the sordid mess is the man who once signed his name to a bone-marrow donor's registry, then disappeared.  And as doubts emerge about Jeremy's true paternity, a child vanishes, igniting a chain reaction of truth and revelation that will change everyone's life forever. 
Find Darkest Fear in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Libby eBook and audiobook
Read more about the author Here
 
 
Cover ArtThe Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher                                  HORROR                        
When Mouse's dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother's house, she says yes. After all, how bad could it be? Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there's more--Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather's journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants...until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself. Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors--because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they're looking for you. And if she doesn't face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale. 
Find The Twisted Ones in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Libby eBook 
Read more about the author Here

 

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Staff Picks - Historical Fiction
08/01/2024
Beth Pofahl
Book Recommendations, Staff Picks, Fiction

Today's Staff Picks blog post features two excellent reading selections, both historical fiction, one by Montana author Debra Magpie Earling, and the other a classic by Tim O'Brien. Thanks to Library Associate Millie for sharing these reading suggestions. 
Thanks Millie!

Cover ArtPerma Red 
by Debra Magpie Earling
“Do not trust anyone who tells you there is only one story. If there were only one story or one way of seeing things all stories would die."
In this award winning novel, Earling explores native identity and personal agency through Louise White Elk. As a Salish and Kootenai woman, Earling feels responsible for the stories of her ancestors and based this historical fiction on accounts of her aunt. This poignant tale embraces the more difficult of native histories, including Catholic boarding schools, forced assimilation, and assault. Most importantly this book stands tribute to how one grows into their own power and identity, despite being trapped in unfortunate systemic and social circumstances. 
Find Perma Red in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout:
Libby eBook and audiobook
Hoopla audiobook
Read more about author Debra Magpie Earling Here

 

Cover ArtThe Things They Carried
by Tim O’Brien
“Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story.”This collection of connected short stories on the Vietnam war blurs the line between fiction and autobiography. O’Brien draws on his own experiences while sculpting a narrative that could fit for every solider. This style lends itself to the overarching themes, and is a testimony to the enduring effects of the moral ambiguities of war on the human psyche. It is a self-aware contemplation on the complexities of memory, reality, and the human mind. 
Find The Things They Carried in the library catalog Here
Also available for digital checkout: 
Libby eBook
Read more about author Tim O'Brien Here

Are you a fan of historical fiction? Leave a comment to share a book recommendation of your own.          

 

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