News of the World By Paulette Jiles Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd has lived through the American Civil War. At 72 years old, he deserves a break. He now makes his living traveling throughout 1870s Texas reading the news to small audiences. Small town residents love to hear about European wars, the politics of the American […]
Missing, Presumedby Susie Steiner Missing, Presumed, by Susie Steiner is an armchair mystery novel that tells the tale of a fictional high profile disappearance case in Cambridgeshire, England. Edith Hind, daughter of Lady Miriam Hind and Ian Hind, a prominent London physician, suddenly disappears without a trace. The apartment she shares with her fiancé, Will, […]
The Mountain StoryBy Lori Lansens I love survival stories and Lori Lansens’ The Mountain Story doesn’t disappoint. At 18 years of age, Wolf Truly has faced many challenges in his life. His mother died when he was very young, and his father, Frankie, is a drinker, a gambler, and not much of a dad. After […]
Beartown By Fredrik Backman Beartown is a small town with big dreams. Fredrik Backman takes us into this small community nestled amongst the trees, with a heavier storyline than his usual lighthearted, humorous fiction; maybe that’s because there’s so much riding on the outcome of this tale. Regardless, I was quickly drawn in and I […]
New BoyBy Tracy Chevalier The Shakespearian tragedy of Othello is reimagined in Tracy Chevalier’s mesmerizing book, New Boy. When Osei arrives at his new school in Washington D.C. in the 1970s, he is the only black boy on the playground. This is not a new experience for him. Osei’s father is a diplomat from Ghana […]
Exit West by Moshin Hamid In the futuristic, magical novel Exit West by Moshin Hamid, Saeed and Nadia meet in an evening class in an unidentified country that is under siege and about to explode into war. Saeed is contemplative and reserved while Nadia is fiercely independent and confident. As their friendship develops, the fighting […]
The Night CircusBy Erin Morgenstern Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus is a spellbinding fairy tale of a novel. Jumping back and forth through time, and moving from London to Cairo to Boston to Montreal, The Night Circus makes you feel as though magic is everywhere, if you just know where to look. Hector Bowen makes […]
Station Eleven By Emily St. John Mandel A famous actor has a heart attack on stage as he performs King Lear; a paramedic-in-training jumps out of the audience to perform CPR; and a 7-year-old actress watches her mentor pass away. Outside the theatre, snow is falling, and a deadly flu is quickly spreading across the […]
Miss EmilyBy Nuala O’Connor “Oh, chimerical, perplexing, beautiful words! I love to use the pretty ones like blades and the ugly ones to console. I use dark ones to illuminate and bright ones to mourn. And when I feel as if a tomahawk has scalped me, I know it is poetry then and I leave […]
History of Wolves History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund Told through the perspective of 14 year old Linda/Madeline, History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund is an incredible first novel filled with emotion, power and depth exploring Linda’s coming of age in a remote community in the northeastern US. Linda lives in a shack on the […]