JULY 2018 BOOK DISCUSSIONS

Looking for your next summer reading book? Check out a book club pick at the Adult Services Desk @Harnish and join the July discussion!

BOOK CLUBBERS

Elizabeth is Missing

By: Emma Healey

Date: Thursday, July 5th, 2018 @Harnish

Start Time: 7:00 pm

ALSO AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD VIA HOOPLA in audio format!

Maud, an aging grandmother, is slowly losing her memory—and her grip on everyday life. Yet she refuses to forget her best friend Elizabeth, who she is convinced is missing and in terrible danger.

But no one will listen to Maud—not her frustrated daughter, Helen, not her caretakers, not the police, and especially not Elizabeth's mercurial son, Peter. Armed with handwritten notes she leaves for herself and an overwhelming feeling that Elizabeth needs her help, Maud resolves to discover the truth and save her beloved friend.

This singular obsession forms a cornerstone of Maud's rapidly dissolving present. But the clues she discovers seem only to lead her deeper into her past, to another unsolved disappearance: her sister, Sukey, who vanished shortly after World War II.

As vivid memories of a tragedy that occurred more than fifty years ago come flooding back, Maud discovers new momentum in her search for her friend. Could the mystery of Sukey's disappearance hold the key to finding Elizabeth? 

SPINECRACKERS

Dragon Teeth

By: Michael Crichton

Date: Friday, July 6th, 2018 @Harnish

Start Time: 10:00 am

The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. In much of the country it is still illegal to espouse evolution. Against this backdrop two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.

Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and entitled William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to survive a summer in the west to win a bet against his arch-rival, William has joined world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition.  But when the paranoid and secretive Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edwin Drinker Cope, he abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice. William is forced to join forces with Cope and soon stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions.  With this extraordinary treasure, however, comes exceptional danger, and William’s newfound resilience will be tested in his struggle to protect his cache, which pits him against some of the West’s most notorious characters.

BOOKALICIOUS

The Naturals

By: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Date: Monday, July 9th, 2018 @Village Vintner

Start Time: 7:00 pm

ALSO AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD VIA HOOPLA in ebook format!

Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But, it's not a skill that she's ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they've begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie. 

What Cassie doesn't realize is that there's more at risk than a few unsolved homicides-especially when she's sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive. 

GREAT BOOKS

Shane

By: Jack Schaefer

Date: Wednesday, July 18th, 2018 @Harnish

Start Time: 7:00 pm

ALSO AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DOWNLOAD VIA HOOPLA in audio format!

A stranger rode out of the heart of the great glowing West, into the small Wyoming valley in the summer of 1889.
It was Shane, who appeared on the horizon and became a friend and guardian to the Starrett family at a time when homesteaders and cattle rangers battled for territory and survival. Jack Schaefer’s classic novel illuminates the spirit of the West through the eyes of a young boy and a hero who changes the lives of everyone around him. Renowned artist Wendell Minor provides stunning images and a moving introduction to this new edition of Shane, the ultimate tale of the Western landscape.

NITE READERS

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

By: Matthew Sullivan

Date: Thursday, July 19th, 2018 @Harnish

Start Time: 7:00 pm

Lydia Smith loves her job at the Bright Ideas bookstore in Denver, puttering among the shelves and hovering over her gentle BookFrogs, the wanderers and dreamers who spend their days among the stacks. When one of her BookFrogs, Joey Molina, hangs himself in the store, she’s devastated and then shocked when she learns he’s bequeathed his meager possessions to her. When she discovers that he’s left messages to her in the pages of his books, she’s puzzled and begins trying to piece together his last days with the help of his friend Lyle. The reappearance of her childhood friend Raj Patel soon puts Joey on the back burner, however, as questions about her estranged father come to light. It all points back to the Hammerman, who, while Lydia was on a sleepover as a child, brutally killed her friend and her friend’s family with a hammer, leaving Lydia alive, hiding under the sink. The Hammerman was never caught, and Lydia seeks answers from the now-retired detective who handled the case, but she may not want to hear what he has to say. Turns out he always suspected her father was the killer but was stopped from pursuing that path, even in the face of some compelling evidence, and he’s never let go of his suspicion. After all, why did the killer let Lydia live after killing a 10-year-old girl and her parents, and could Joey somehow be connected?

June 2018 Library Reads Picks

\"\"

Bring Me Back: A Novel
by B.A. Paris

“Intensifying psychological suspense. Twelve years after Finn’s girlfriend Layla disappeared, a discovery raises new questions.”

Catherine Coyne, Mansfield Public Library, Mansfield, MA

There There
by Tommy Orange

“A large cast of interwoven characters depicts the experience of Native Americans living in urban settings. Perfect for readers of character-driven fiction with a strong sense of place.”

Abby Johnson, New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, New Albany, IN

Us Against You: A Novel
by Fredrik Backman

“The citizens of Beartown are about to lose their beloved hockey team and their rivals could not be happier. The narrator has you wondering who is going to die and why events occur as they do.”

Gail Christensen, Kitsap Regional Library, Bremerton, WA

The Word is Murder: A Novel
by Anthony Horowitz

“A playful commentary on the mystery genre itself and the first in a promising new series. The author, Horowitz, plays the part of the narrator, and gets caught up in solving a murder with Daniel Hawthorne, an out-of-work detective.”

Amy Whitfield, Wake County Public Libraries, Cary, NC

Jar of Hearts
by Jennifer Hillier

“A suspenseful thriller told from multiple perspectives. A Seattle detective must unravel a web of secrets dating back to his high school days.”

Gail Roberts, Fairfax County Public Library, Fairfax, VA

\"\"

Dreams of Falling
by Karen White

“Set in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, this story does what Southern fiction does best: family, lies, and secrets. For fans of Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe.”

Leanne Milliman, Charlevoix Public Library, Charlevoix, MI

The Kiss Quotient
by Helen Hoang

“A wonderfully sweet and erotic romance featuring an autistic heroine who hires a hot male escort to teach her how to enjoy sex, but learns so much more.”

Elizabeth Gabriel, Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee, WI

All We Ever Wanted: A Novel
by Emily Giffin

“Great storyline that is relevant to issues both facing young people today and the people raising them. The story keeps you guessing.”

Sarah Trohoske, Erie County Public Library, Erie, PA

Little Big Love
by Katy Regan

“A portrait of a family and a boy’s search for the father who left them, told from multiple perspectives with authentic, likeable characters.”

Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis County Library, Austin, TX

How Hard Can It Be?: A Novel
by Allison Pearson

“Kate is holding it all together, unemployed husband, kids, and parents. So, she reinvents herself as someone younger to secure a job with the hedge fund.”

Toni Nako, The Public Library of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH