Summer Reading

Welcome to Summer Reading 2011!  At the end of 7 weeks we had 366 people signed up.
This week, 4 new people participated and 41 people read 125 books, which brings the totals for the summer to 158 people and 917 books.

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2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America By Brooks, Albert 2011-05 - St. Martin's Press 9780312583729 Check Our Catalog The first novel from actor, writer, and director Brooks ("Lost in America")--set in the near future where a dramatically aging population combined with an unprecedented natural disaster leads to a nation so hamstrung by debt that the only way out is almost unthinkable. HPL patron: SF:  A dark yet realistic portrayal of a futre where the younter generation is so taxed beyond capacity to sustain the olds. …More

212 By Burke, Alafair 2010-03 - Harper 9780061561221 Check Our Catalog The plot of an Alafair Burke thriller doesn't just rip from the headlines. She's one step ahead of them. "212" scares you and keeps you turning the pages into the wee hours.--Harlan Coben. …More

Long Gone By Burke, Alafair 2011-06 - Harper 9780061999185 Check Our Catalog The acclaimed author's first stand-alone book is a gripping thriller in which an art gallery manager is thrust into a mystery after finding her boss dead and the gallery stripped bare. HPL patron: Suspenseful, riveting, thrilling, and well-written. …More

Suspicions By Campbell, Sasha 2011-05 - Dafina Books 9780012284300 Check Our Catalog Thirty-eight-year-old Noelle Gordon loves running Situations, her popular hair salon in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, but she's distracted by husband Grant's unwillingness to have another child. When someone leaves a baby girl on their doorstep, Noelle is sure their college son, Scott, must be the daddy since "Sierra" looks like a Gordon. Noelle's efforts to find the mother lead to a transformative shock. …More

Miss Wonderful By Chase, Loretta 2004-03 - Berkley 9780425194836 Check Our Catalog A BookPage Notable Title The beloved "USA Today" bestselling author offers her long-awaited new novel--the tale of a bluestocking and a reformed rake who clash over a matter of business, and soon find themselves facing an entirely different sort of tension. Original. …More

The Dark Side of Innocence: Growing Up Bipolar By Cheney, Terri 2011-03 - Atria Books 9781439176214 Check Our Catalog From the "New York Times" bestselling author, a gripping and eloquent account of the awakening and unfolding of Terri Cheney's bipolar disorder. HPL patron: Very good.  An informative, heartfelt depiction of bipolar disorder in a child.  Riveting memories from the childhood of the author. …More

The Enemy By Child, Lee 2009-05 - Dell Publishing Company 9780440245995 Check Our Catalog Jack Reacher. Hero. Loner. Soldier. Soldier's son. An elite military cop, he was one of the army's brightest stars. But in every cop's life there is one case that changes everything. For Jack Reacher, this is that case. New Year's Day, 1990. In a North Carolina motel, a two-star general is found dead. His briefcase is missing. Nobody knows what was in it. Within minutes Reacher has his orders: ""Control the situation. Within hours the general's wife is murdered. Then the dominoes really start to fall. Somewhere inside the vast worldwide fortress that is the U.S. Army, Reacher is being set up as a fall guy with the worst enemies a man can have. But Reacher won't quit. He's fighting a new kind of war-against an enemy he didn't know he had. And against a conspiracy more chilling, ingenious, and treacherous than anyone could have guessed. HPL patron: Another action thriller-suspense start to finish.  Good plot.  Excellent action. …More

The House on Salt Hay Road By Clevidence, Carin 2010-05 - Farrar Straus Giroux 9780374173142 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Suffused with a haunting sense of place--salt marshes in the summer, ice boats on the frozen Great South Bay, Fire Island at the height of a storm--this vivid and emotionally resonant debut captures the golden light of a vanished time, and the hold that home has. …More

The Sorcerers' Plague By Coe, David B. 2007-12 - Tor Books 9780765316387 Check Our Catalog Coe enthralled readers and critics with "Winds of the Forelands," an epic fantasy full of political intrigue, complex characters, and magical conspiracy. Now he takes the hero of that series to new adventures across the sea on a journey to the Southlands. …More

Catching Fire By Collins, Suzanne 2009-09 - Scholastic Press 9780439023498 Check Our Catalog 2010 Children's Choice Award Winner-Teen New York Times bestselling author Collins continues the amazing story of Katniss Everdeen, in this second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy. HPL patron: Very exciting-fast paced book!  Can't wait to read the last one! …More

Book of the Dead By Cornwell, Patricia D. 2008-09 - Large Print Press 9781594132704 Check Our Catalog Kay Scarpetta faces a string of the most baffling and terrifying crimes of her career in the extraordinary new novel from Americas #1 bestselling crime writer. The "book of the dead" is the morgue log in which all cases are entered by hand. For Scarpetta, however, it is about to have a new meaning. HPL patron: Follow Kate as she tries to keep the records straight as others seek to "help" her do her job giving names to and finding out what happened to her victims of violent crime in Virginia. …More

Pirate Latitudes By Crichton, Michael 2010-09 - Harper 9780061929380 Check Our Catalog The Caribbean, 1665. A remote colony of the English Crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses. In this steamy climate there's a living to be made, a living that can end swiftly by disease--or by dagger. For Captain Charles Hunter, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking, and the law of the land rests with those ruthless enough to make it. "Pirate Latitudes" is Michael Crichton at his best: a rollicking adventure tale pulsing with relentless action, crackling atmosphere, and heart-pounding suspense. HPL patron:  I would strongly recommend it if you like pirate stories. HPL patron: Captain Edward Hunter envisions and executes a  bold plan to capture a fully loaded Spanish ship.  That is a ship loaed with gold and silver out of Mexico and Peru. …More

Dogs and Goddesses By Crusie, Jennifer Author Stuart, Anne Author Rich, Lani Diane 2009-02 - St. Martin's Press 9780312944377 Check Our Catalog "Three single women are about to learn that, when it comes to love, you really "can" teach an old dog new tricks..." Abby has just arrived in Summerville, Ohio, with her placid Newfoundland, Bowser. She's reluctantly inherited her grandmother's coffee shop, but it's not long before she's brewing up trouble in the form of magical baked goods and steaming up her life with an exasperating college professor. "Stuart is a consummate mistress of her craft."--"Romantic Times Bookreviews" And then there's Daisy, a web code writer, and her hyperactive Jack Russell, Bailey. Her tightly-wound world spins out of control when she discovers the chaos within and meets a mysterious dog trainer whose teaching style is definitely hands-on. "Rich has a knack for creating memorable characters."--Romance Reader at Heart Finally there's Shar, professor of ancient history at Summerville College, who wakes up one morning to find her neurotic dachshund, Wolfie, snarling at an implacable god sitting at her kitchen table, the first thing in her life she hasn't been able to footnote. "Crusie is a master of fast-paced witty dialogue."--"Seattle"" Times" What on earth is going on in this unearthly little town? It's up to Abby, Daisy, and Shar to find out before an ancient goddess takes over Southern Ohio, and they all end up in the apocalyptic doghouse..." " …More

The Creation of Eve By Cullen, Lynn 2010-03 - Putnam Adult 9780399156106 Check Our Catalog A riveting novel based on the true but little-known story of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first renowned female artist of the Renaissance, "The Creation of Eve" is an expansive, original, and entertaining work of historical fiction. HPL patron: Set in the 16th century Spanish Court-a fascinating story based on Sofonisbay Anguissolo-first famous female Renaissance artist-who studied under Michaelangelo in his last years.  The Inquisitions long reach and near destruction  of the Sistine Chapel painting. …More

Other Eyes By D'Amato, Barbara 2011-01 - Forge 9780765326065 Check Our Catalog Forensic archaeologist Blue Eriksen is convinced that a hallucinogen derived from mushrooms can prevent or cure drug addiction. But a secret international organization that facilitates the production, delivery, and sale of illegal drugs considers Blue a threat and sends one of their enforcers to kill her. …More

The Circus in Winter By Day, Cathy 2004-07 - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) 9780151010486 Check Our Catalog From 1884 to 1939, the Great Porter Circus made the unlikely choice to winter in an Indiana town called Lima. Day follows a colorful cast of circus people into their everyday lives and brings the greatest show on earth to the page. HPL patron: Good read.  You'll like it if you liked Water for Elephants …More

The Raider By Deveraux, Jude 1991-04 - Pocket Books 9780671743819 Check Our Catalog One of the top ten romance authors, Jude Deveraux offers another exciting chapter in the Montgomery family story begun in her bestselling Velvet novels. Alexander Montgomery, the despised drunk in his colonial New England town, is, in reality, the Raider--that fearless, masked patriot whose daring foils the British and whose midnight embrace thrills proud-tempered beauty, Jessica Taggert. …More

Taken by the Prince By Dodd, Christina 2011-04 - Signet Book 9780451413048 Check Our Catalog The newest historical by a "New York Times"-bestselling author matches a proper English governess with a rebel prince. Will he discover too late that a woman's heart is a treasure more priceless than any kingdom? Original. …More

My Formerly Hot Life: Dispatches from Just the Other Side of Young By Dolgoff, Stephanie 2010-08 - Ballantine Books 9780345521453 Check Our Catalog Wildly entertaining and inspiring, "My Formerly Hot Life" offers hilarious observations on getting older in today's society, and proves that growing older most certainly means growing better. …More

One Cowboy, One Christmas By Eagle, Kathleen 2009-12 - Silhouette Books 9780373654932 Check Our Catalog Stranded and half-frozen in a South Dakota snowstorm, bull rider Zach Beaudry reached out for help at the nearest house he could find. And the beautiful rancher-schoolteacher who answered the door was a vision. Zach thanked his lucky stars for the kindness of strangers. But to Ann Drexler, this man was no stranger. Zach didn't seem to remember their shared night of passion all those years ago--but how could Ann forget? Seeing Zach on her doorstep was as shocking as seeing the ghost of Christmas past. And though running her family's wild mustang ranch gave Ann a thing for strays, she tried to keep her distance. Yet as Zach regained his strength and became indispensable with the horses, Ann had to wonder--was a second chance with this cowboy in her Christmas future? …More

Finger Lickin' Fifteen By Evanovich, Janet 2009-06 - St. Martin's Press 9780312383282 Check Our Catalog From #1 bestselling author Evanovich comes the next book in her Stephanie Plum series, in which complications arise, loyalties are tested, cliffhangers are resolved, and donuts are eaten. HPL patron: Laugh out loud fun and an exciting action-packed story line.  Great book! …More

Hell Gate By Fairstein, Linda A. 2010-03 - Dutton Books 9780525951612 Check Our Catalog Head of the Sex Crimes Unit of the district attorney's office in Manhattan for decades, Fairstein is one of the most reliable legal experts on sexual assault and domestic violence. For her 12th novel, Fairstein takes her Alexandra Cooper series inside the world of human trafficking. HPL patron: Follow Alex Cooper with friends and detectives Mike and Mercer as the 3 seek to unravel several possibly related murders of young women destined for the sex trade in the US.  Add to that the obscure NYC trivia and NYC landmarks and you have a great read. …More

Under the Wishing Star By Farr, Diane 2005-02 - Center Point Large Print 9781585475551 Check Our Catalog This first witty novel in a new historical romance trilogy from the author of "Duel of Hearts" demonstrates that wishes do come true--even impractical dreams in the most practical circumstances. Original. HPL patron: This was a good love story. …More