Blog Entries

Blended by Sharon M. Draper

Recommended for ages 8-12

Isabella is an 11- year-old bi-racial child that is dealing with many social issues and middle school problems. On top of all that her parents have decided to get a divorce.  She begins to split time between two households which starts to make her wonder where does she really fit in? Isabella begins to uestion her racial identity. Switching between houses to her feels like she has to switch identities. The book ends with a shocking incident that occurs due to a racist encounter.  Isabella and her brothe...

That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron

That Churchill Woman is a deep dive into the society lives of American and English ladies in the late 19th and early 20th century.   Our main character is one Lady Randolph Churchill, the American born socialite mother of Winston Churchill.  Jeanette, or Jennie as she was known was a beautiful and magnetic woman.  This fictionalized account is supported by real events and characters and offers a stunning glimpse into her life, her loves, and her triumphs.  She was much more than a wife and a mother.  The c...

Lost Lake written by Emily Littlejohn is a fast paced thriller that is a true whodunit. Four campers decide to camp near the ominous Lost Lake; when the campers wake the next day, one of the campers has vanished. Sari Chesney had a lot going for in life, or so it seemed, so why would she vanish into thin air? Is it foul play or just someone walking away from their past? Detective Gemma Monroe is assigned to the case and as she starts to look for clues to figure out what happened to Sari, a relic at the museum Sari worked at is stolen. Then Sari’s boss, Betty Starbuck, is murdered. Is D...

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Force of Nature is about a corporate team-building retreat gone wrong.  Ten employees are signed up with “Executive Adventures” to take a three day hike through the Australian bush. There are two groups of five men and five women going, including the president of the family run company and his sister. The men make it to the ending point half an hour early. Hours later, only four women limp back.  What happened to Alice? 

The chapters alternate between the women’s experiences each day and Federal Agent Aaron Falk, who is inves...

Devil’s Day by Andrew Michael Hurley

As he does every year around harvest season, John Pentecost is returning to his hometown of the Endlands, a remote farming community in England. This year, he is drawn home earlier than usual when he gets word that his grandfather, the “old Gaffer,” has passed away. Accompanied by his pregnant wife, Kat (who is seeing his hometown for the first time), he finds himself yearning for the rhythm of small-town life. But the rhythm is strange; the land is cold and cruel, and the people are odd. No one believes in God in the Endlands, but they all bel...

The Late Bloomers' Club by Louise Miller

Nora Huckleberry has always tried to be responsible. After her parents died, she took over the running of the family diner in Guthrie, Vermont. She keeps watch over her impulsive younger sister and stays friends with her ex-husband. She doesn’t need the burden of taking over a cake baking business or paying off other people’s creditors, but that’s exactly what happens when her former neighbor lady dies unexpectedly and leaves Nora an executor of her estate.

It turns out no one knew Guthrie’s “cake lady,” Peggy Johnson, as well as ...

Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia

Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia is book with a lot of secrets.  Dark secrets that are cleverly revealed throughout this gripping thriller set in Minnesota’s boundary waters.  The characters are compelling and the scenery is breathtaking.  The story follows Lucas Blackburn, a recently returned from the missing young man looking for help in a society that he does not understand.  Maya Stark is a speech therapist assigned to help him communicate with a past of her own.  They find a voice together and work to piece together the...

The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir

The Book of Essie is the debut novel for Meghan MacLean Weir. The story is based on a teenage girl’s life. The girl has been part of a reality TV series her entire life, as her parents showcase their ultra conservative Christian lifestyle and an abundance of kids. As the story moves along we discover that all that is shown on the screen isn’t the case for Essie. When Essie ends up pregnant the family’s first concern is their image to the public and how to deal with this unplanned pregnancy.  Should they have the baby aborted, pass it o...

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Maggie Hoskie just wants to be left alone. Unfortunately for her, monsters are running around chewing people’s throats out, and they don’t particularly care about what she—or anybody—wants. The needs of the people living on her reservation drag her out of her ennui, calling on her to do what she does best: slay monsters, both human and otherwise. Summoning the powers of her clan ancestors, she can kill with superhuman speed and agility. Maggie meets a sexy, charismatic man named Kai, reluctantly accepting him as a partner as they wander a po...

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

Thirty-eight-year-old Anna Fox is the focus of this gripping novel. As the story begins to unfold, we learn that Anna lives alone in a three-story home in uptown Manhattan. At the beginning of the story, we don’t know why Anna has “chosen” this solitary life, as she speaks with her eight-year-old daughter and husband frequently. As Anna reaches back into her past we learn that there was a defining moment for her and her family that led to Anna’s agoraphobia and depression leading to her attempt at healing herself. She is phobic of going outside, ...

Sick Girl by Rachel Hargrove

This debut novel is a dark and twisted psychological thriller. Sick Girl will appeal to fans of Gone Girl and The Woman in Cabin 10. Aubrey is sick with cancer, and frankly, sick in the head.  She’s having an affair with Tom, whose wife, Melissa, is also dying of cancer.  Tired of Tom’s constant cancelling of their plans to be with his wife, Aubrey decides to take her out of the picture in order to have Tom to herself and live out her last days in the only happy place she knows.  She begins stalking Melissa in an attempt to get close eno...

Robin by Dave Itzkoff

On screen, Robin Williams was larger than life. He showed off his wide-ranging talents in roles ranging from the madcap Mork, to the menacing clerk in One Hour Photo. Along the way, he won Emmys, Grammys, Golden Globes, and a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. But there was a quiet side to the famously zany actor. Many of the colleagues Dave Itzkoff interviewed for this biography said, off-camera, Williams was really an introvert who rarely let others know what he was thinking or feeling. Itzkoff does a good job of balancing these two halves of his subject....

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll is a smart, audacious, and surprisingly funny “who done it” murder mystery.  The story centers around two sisters involved in the fast paced and cutthroat world of reality television.  One of the sisters is murdered but the who, what, where, when, and why are cleverly pealed back in layers told from different perspectives of the colorful cast of characters. Personas are crafted for the cameras and the reader is never really sure if they can truly believe what they see and read.  Ther...

First, you take Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Add in the flavor of Victoria and The Rogue by Meg Cabot with a heavy dose of Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. Sprinkle in a little of Will and Elizabeth from The Pirates of the Caribbean and voila! Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon is formed!

To survive her harsh childhood in London's underworld, Olivia is raised as Oliver and finds friendship in a group of street urchins, led by Jack, the Artful Dodger. Tragedy separates the childhood friends, but fate brings them back together as Olivia and Jack reunite in the realm of polite London soc...

The Other Side of the Sky (originally published as The Story of My Life: An Afghan Girl on the Other Side of the Sky) is the true story of a young girl's life, starting in war torn Kabul and ending up as a refugee in the United States. Farah Ahmedi loses a leg stepping on a land mine and half of her family when a bomb hits her home. Ahmedi travels to Germany for rehabilitation and returns to Afghanistan seeing her childhood home through different eyes. When the opportunity comes to relocate to the United States as a refugee, she is excited to go. With the help of a few who reached...