Summer Reading

Welcome to Summer Reading 2011!  At the end of 5 weeks we had 355 people signed up. This week, 11 new people participated and 48 people read 150 books, which brings the totals for the summer to 138 people and 655 books.

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Charley's Web By Fielding, Joy 2008-03 - Atria Books 9780743296014 Check Our Catalog "New York Times" bestselling author Fielding tells the story of an ambitious writer whose foray into the mind of a killer brings her own family into jeopardy, in this richly plotted, mesmerizing thriller. …More

The Raven's Bride By Hart, Lenore 2011-02 - St. Martin's Griffin 9780312604332 Check Our Catalog HPL patron:  Enjoyed it very much-a combination of history and fiction. …More

Waterwoman By Hart, Lenore 2002-06 - Berkley Publishing Group 9780425184714 Check Our Catalog By early childhood, Annie Revels had everyone's role in life figured out but her own. She understood that her mother was ill and needed to be taken care of. That her father was a waterman, and her little sister, Rebecca, was unabashedly beautiful. And she was not. …More

Damsels in Distress By Hess, Joan 2008-03 - St. Martin's Press 9780312989934 Check Our Catalog THE LORDS ARE LEAPING... A Renaissance Fair is coming to the relatively quiet college town of Farberville Arkansas, which is not the sort of news that usually sets local bookseller Claire Malloy's heart racing. But with Claire's daughter, Caron, being the perpetually petulant teenager that she is, and her fiance, Police Lieutenant Peter Rosen, away, she finds herself drawn into the strange inner workings of the group putting on the fair. AND THE LADIES ARE LYING--"DEAD." Stranger still: A Ren Fair volunteer has just been found burned in the wreckage of a rented home. Who is this woman, and why haven't any of her associates ever met her in the flesh? When the fair is set to open, tensions expose the dark secrets and malevolent schemes that lurk beneath the surface. Now, with Claire's dreams of a blissful wedding hanging in the balance, she has no choice but to fling herself into the battle and match wits with the killer... "If you've never spent time with Claire and her crew, I feel sorry for you. Stop reading this nonsense and hop to it. You'll see wit and humanity all wrapped up in a nifty murder mystery."--Harlan Coben, author of "Promise Me" …More

Dead Like You By James, Peter 2010-11 - Minotaur Books 9780312642822 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title A terrific thriller . . . "Dead Like You" is a haunting page-turner that seamlessly blends psychological suspense with police procedure, echoing the heart and voices of such authors as P.D. James and Ian Rankin at their best.--Jeffrey Deaver. …More

A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex By Jericho, Chris With Fornatale, Peter Thomas Foreword by Ross, Jim 2008-10 - Grand Central Publishing 9780446698610 Check Our Catalog Chris Jericho, the first undisputed champion in wrestling history, tells all in an inspiring, no-holds-barred memoir that takes readers around the world on his quest to make it to the WWE. …More

The Liar's Club By Jordan, Layla 2010-12 - Dafina Books 9780758247032 Check Our Catalog Jordan takes a fresh look at love, sex, and marriage in a provocative, sexy page-turner about a woman leading a double life and the price she pays for getting what she wants. HPL patron: I really liked this book and I will check out more books by Layla Jordan. …More

The Girl Who Disappeared Twice By Kane, Andrea 2011-05 - Mira Books 9780778329848 Check Our Catalog A "New York Times"-bestselling author delivers the first novel in a new series centered on a team of unconventional private investigators called Forensic Instincts. HPL patron:  Excellent, exciting to very end. HPL patron: Many twist, turns, and false leads creates a great plot in this book.  I enjoyed the  mix of character personalities.  Great mystery and excellent ending. …More

The Girl's Guide to Homelessness By Karp, Brianna 2011-04 - Harlequin 9780373892358 Check Our Catalog Karp delivers a heartwrenching and darkly funny memoir about her experience becoming homeless after losing her corporate job in the Great Recession. HPL patron: Title is somewhat misleading.  The book has very little to do with helping the homeless and more of a memoir of her life while she's homeless.  A good book, though. …More

The Burnt House By Kellerman, Faye 2007-08 - William Morrow & Company 9780061227325 Check Our Catalog Investigative duo Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, work to determine if a flight attendant's death is an accident or an act of terrorism, in this latest masterwork of suspense by a "New York Times"-bestselling author. HPL patron: Great book-so many switchbacks! …More

Stone Kiss By Kellerman, Faye 2002-07 - Warner Books 9780446530385 Check Our Catalog Rina Lazarus has some shocking news for her husband, LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker. A horrible murder has occurred in the family. Thrust into a maze of deceit, lies, and danger, the couple can't trust anyone, and when salvation is within Decker's grasp, it can only be delivered by a depraved lone wolf, hell-bent on his own personal vengeance. HPL patron: Great summer read! …More

Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Dead and Alive By Koontz, Dean R. Author Gorman, Ed 2009-07 - Random House Large Print Publishing 9780375434723 Check Our Catalog From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the legend, you know only half the truth. Now the mesmerizing saga concludes. . . . As a devastating hurricane approaches, as the benighted creations of Victor Helios begin to spin out of control, as New Orleans descends into chaos and the future of humanity hangs in the balance, the only hope rests with Victor's first, failed attempt to build the perfect human. Deucalion's centuries-old history began as the original manifestation of a soulless vision-and it is fated to end in the ultimate confrontation between a damned creature and his mad creator. But first they must face a monstrosity not even Victor's malignant mind could have conceived-an indestructible entity that steps out of humankind's collective nightmare with powers, and a purpose, beyond imagining. HPL patron:  I love this series.  It is awesome. HPL patron: Good reading.  Need to read series. "From the Paperback edition." …More

Frankenstein: Lost Souls By Koontz, Dean R. 2010-06 - Bantam 9780553808018 Check Our Catalog Every city has secrets, but none as terrible as this. His name is Deucalion, a sleight-of-reality artist who's traveled centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives as a serial killer, one who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that he is missing. Detective Carson O'Connor and her partner Michael Maddison get on the case and may just end up in hell itself. HPL patron: Entirely new  approach to Frankenstein legend.  Good read. …More

One Door Away from Heaven By Koontz, Dean R. 2001-12 - Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group 9780553755237 Check Our Catalog Hailed as "America's most popular suspense novelist" ("Rolling Stone) Dean Koontz has entered a rich new phase of his writing career that is yielding his most imaginative, meaningful, and popular work yet. At the height of his powers as a literary craftsman, he has won the acclaim of critics as well as the allegiance of millions of fans the world over, transforming the greatest fears and hopes of our time into masterworks of dazzling originality and emotional resonance. Now, with the stunning depth and virtuosity of his storytelling, he brings to readers one of his most gripping and richly imagined novels to date -- an intoxicating story of adventure and suspense, mystery and revelation, told with humor, heart, and high art. One Door Away From Heaven In a dusty trailer park on the far edge of the California dream, Michelina Bellsong contemplates the choices she has made. At twenty-eight, she wants to change the direction of her troubled life but can't find her way -- until a new family settles into the rental trailer next door and she meets the young girl who will lead her on a remarkable quest that will change Micky herself and everything she knows -- or thinks she knows -- forever. Despite the brace she must wear on her deformed left leg, and her withered left hand, nine-year-old Leilani Klonk radiates a buoyant and indomitable spirit that inspires Micky. Beneath Leilani's effervescence, however, Micky comes to sense a quiet desperation that the girl dares not express. Leilani's mother is little more than a child herself. And the girl's stepfather, Preston Maddoc, is educated but threatening. He has moved the family from place to place as he fanaticallyinvestigates UFO sightings, striving to make contact, claiming to have had a vision that by Leilani's tenth birthday aliens will either heal her or take her away to a better life on their world. Slowly, ever more troubling details emerge in Leilani's conversations with Micky. Most chilling is Micky's discovery that Leilani had an older brother, also disabled, who vanished after Maddoc took him into the woods one night and is now "gone to the stars." Leilani's tenth birthday is approaching. Micky is convinced the girl will be dead by that day. While the child-protection bureaucracy gives Micky the runaround, the Maddoc family slips away into the night. Micky sets out across America to track and find them, alone and afraid but for the first time living for something bigger than herself. She finds herself pitted against an adversary, Preston Maddoc, as fearsome as he is cunning. The passion and disregard for danger with which Micky pursues her quest bring to her side a burned-out detective who joins her on a journey of incredible peril and startling discoveries, a journey through terrible darkness to unexpected light. One Door Away From Heaven is an incandescent mix of suspense and humor, fear and wonder, a story of redemption and timeless wisdom that will have readers cheering. Filled with tragedy and joy, with terror and hope, it solidifies Dean Koontz's reputation as one of the foremost storytellers of our time. This is Dean Koontz at his very best -- and it doesn't get any better than that. "From the Hardcover edition. HPL patron: Touching read.  Vibrant characters.  Good story. …More

Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella By Lanctot, Neil 2011-03 - Simon & Schuster 9781416547044 Check Our Catalog The authoritative biography of Roy Campanella, famed ballplayer and African-American pioneer who suffered an injury that left him paralyzed for life. …More

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest By Larsson, Stieg 2010-05 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780307269997 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Lisbeth Salander is ready to fight back. "[The trilogy] is intricately plotted, lavishly detailed but written with a breakneck pace and verve . . ["Hornet's Nest"] is a tantalizing double finale--first idyllic, then frenetic . . . Larsson has made the literary moods of saga and soap opera converge--with suspense as the adhesive."--"Independent." HPL patron: Disappointing conclusion to the Stieg Larsson trilogy because the title character spends most of the book in the hospital or in jail.  She doesn't appear in her usual mode until page 463.  Meanwhile, the author (or translator) meanders with complicated, heavy handed backstory about Swedish politics and espionage.  He gives the male here a new girlfriend who is a very thin character. …More

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo By Larsson, Stieg Translator Murray, Steven T. Translator Keeland, Reg 2008-09 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780307269751 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title An Indie Next Selection In this European publishing sensation, a crusading journalist joins forces with a 24-year-old pierced and tattooed genius hacker to investigate the whereabouts of a missing woman from one of the wealthiest families in Sweden. HPL patron:  first 30 pages of back story tough going-once title character appears in chapter 2, it becomes a page turner, with mystery, psychology, danger, and suspense.  I heard the buzz and waited to read this post-modern trilogy in sequence.  Lisbeth Salandar, the girl with the dragon tattoo is a great modern character, computer hacking detective. HPL patron: **** :) …More

Lost By Lichtenstein, Alice 2010-03 - Scribner Book Company 9781439159828 Check Our Catalog "Lost" is a hauntingly beautiful novel about the lengths people will go to save someone and the ways responsibility, love, and sorrow bind people together. …More

The Present By Lindsey, Johanna 1999-11 - Avon Books 9780380804382 Check Our Catalog The remarkable JOHANNA LINDSEY brings together her most beloved creations -- the incorrigible, incomparable Malorys -- for a joyous celebration of passion, tenderness, surprise, wonder, and love in a Christmas story you will never forget. As the entire Malory family gathers at Haverston to celebrate the season, all is not well. Underlying tensions threaten to dampen the holidays spirit -- until a mysterious present that arrives anonymously is opened and shared by all. The gift is an old journal -- a tender and tempestuous account of the love affair between the second Marquis, Christopher Malory, and a dark gypsy beauty named Anastasia, who seeks a love match with a non-gypsy in order to save herself from a prearranged marriage to a brute. Though the dashing English lord Anastasia sets her sights upon burns for the exquisite, exotic miss, Christopher could never consent to wed such a lowborn lady. But miracles have been known to happen in this season of peace and giving and love, as two extraordinary people separated by circumstance of birth begin a passionate dance of will and wiles. And in the miraculous blossoming of a resplendent romance at a long ago Christmastime, there are wise and well-learned lessons that will enrich the hearts of the Malory descendants -- and, indeed, of everyone who has ever dreamed. Open and discover a special gift of love this holiday season. …More

Say You Love Me By Lindsey, Johanna 1997-12 - Avon Books 9780380725717 Check Our Catalog Left penniless after her parents' death, Kelsey Langton must resort to drastic measures in order to safeguard the honor and future of her young sister Jean. So Kelsey enters the infamous House of Eros to be sold at auction, resigned to becoming a gentleman's plaything. The highest bidder is Lord Derek Malory, a dashing rakeshell from a family of charming rogues, who rescues her from an unscrupulous sadist. Lord Derek never expected he would be leaving the house of ill repute with a new mistress, especially one as graceful, sensuous, and spirited as Kelsey. And he never dreamed he would fall in love with her. …More

Big Girls Don't Cry By Linz, Cathie 2007-10 - Berkley Trade Pub 9780425218310 Check Our Catalog After her plus-size modeling career tanks, Leena Riley becomes a receptionist in her hometown veterinarians office. Too bad the vet is Cole Flannigan, a boy who taunted her all through school. Good thing Leena has grown into her curves, because Cole is about to grow very fond of her, in this new novel from the author of "Bad Girls Dont." Original. HPL patron: Amazing!  Finally, a book about a "normal" sized girl falling in love. …More

The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel By Lippman, Laura 2011-01 - Avon A 9780061938368 Check Our Catalog Lippman delivers a new Tess Monaghan novella that first appeared in serial format in "The New York Times." …More

The Bad Mother's Handbook By Long, Kate 2006-06 - Ballantine Books 9780345479662 Check Our Catalog BAD MOTHER RULE #1: NEVER, EVER," DO WHAT I DID! For seventeen-year-old Charlotte Cooper, it's too late. Despite her best efforts to finish school, tune out her angry, slightly hysterical mother, and cope with her loving but dotty grandmother, she is unexpectedly (now that's an understatement) pregnant. And don't even mention the jerk who knocked her up. Charlotte's mother, Karen, is trying to convince herself that there are worse things than becoming a grandmother at thirty-three. For instance, there's wanting to kill Charlotte for the mess she's made of her life. Between struggling to pay the bills and halfheartedly filling out questionnaires on Internet dating sites, Karen uncovers a scandalous family secret involving her own birth, and then falls back into bed with her sexy ex-husband. So much for perfect timing. In the meantime, Karen's mother, Nan, is having a wee bit of trouble with names (sometimes her own). But that doesn't keep her from retaining a few things she'd rather forget. Of course, Nan knows that everything will work out fine for Charlotte and the baby-these things usually do. Now, if only she could put the pieces of her own fragmented memory together, she might have an interesting tale or two to share. In this wickedly funny, disarmingly moving novel, three generations of mothers learn that it's the simplest mistakes that can change your life forever. With wit and wisdom, Kate Long proves that there are as many kinds of mothers as there are daughters, but the love that binds them all is what truly matters. …More