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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Toys By Patterson, James Author McMahon, Neil 2011-03 - Little Brown and Company 9780316097369 Check Our Catalog Hays Baker and his wife Lizbeth possess super-human strength, extraordinary intelligence, stunning looks, a sex life to die for, and two beautiful children. Of course they do--they're Elites, endowed at birth with the very best that the world can offer. The only problems in their perfect world: people, their toys, and the battle to save humanity. …More

Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life By Perry, Tyler 2006-04 - Riverhead Books 9781594489211 Check Our Catalog Now in paperback--this first book from Tyler Perry is a confessional memoir in the voice of Madea, the beloved, sharp-tongued, worldly, pistol-packing grandma who is at the center of his popular stage shows and the star of his #1 hit movie, "Diary of a Mad Black Woman." HPL patron:  Can't quit laughing.  This book is a must read if you need a good laugh.  So many truths contained amongst neverending comedy! …More

Die for Me By Plum, Amy 2011-05 - Harper Teen 9780062004017 Check Our Catalog After their parents are killed in a car accident, 16-year-old Kate Mercier and her older sister Georgia, each grieving in her own way, move to Paris to live with their grandparents and Kate finds herself powerfully drawn to the handsome but elusive Vincent, who seems to harbor a mysterious and dangerous secret. …More

Diamond Playgirls By Poole, Daaimah S. Author Miasha Author King, Deja 2008-01 - Dafina Books 9780758223562 Check Our Catalog Four of today's hottest young female African-American authors--Poole, Miasha, Deja King, and T. Styles--present an exciting new novella collection about four women sharing a Harlem brownstone who discover they have more in common that just their address. HPL patron: This book was ok but it wasn't really what I expected from the authors.  Maybe just all the styles in one book just didn't work for me. …More

I Shall Wear Midnight By Pratchett, Terry 2010-09 - HarperCollins 9780061433047 Check Our Catalog "New York Times"-bestselling author and Printz Honor medalist Pratchett combines comedy and thrilling action in the final breathtaking adventure of Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men. …More

Scars By Rainfield, Cheryl 2011-05 - Westside Books 9781934813577 Check Our Catalog Teen girl cuts to cope with memories of sexual abuse …More

The Perfect Summer By Rice, Luanne 2003-07 - Bantam Books 9780553584042 Check Our Catalog Old friendships--and love--make all things new again. The acclaimed author of Safe Harbor and other "New York Times bestsellers returns to the seaside, delving into the heart of a once happy family facing troubled waters. Bay McCabe relishes life's simple pleasures, her children, her home by the sea. She has never forgotten the values of her Irish granny--the everyday happiness of family, good friends, and hard work. Bay and her husband, Sean, have weathered rough spells and moved on. Now a perfect summer, filled with the scent of beach roses, lies before them. Charming and ambitious, Sean splits his energy between the town bank, his old fishing boat, and the family he seems to adore--until he leaves his young daughter stranded after school. As troubling memories resurface, a phone call confirms that Sean is missing. So begins a season that will change everything. As the door to all Bay cherishes seems to close forever, another opens, and an old love steps through. Embraced by enduring friendships, Bay will discover the truth of who she is--what love is--and how life's deepest mysteries are often those closest to home. …More

Drinker of Blood By Robinson, Lynda S. 1998-11 - Mysterious Press 9780892966738 Check Our Catalog The highly celebrated Lord Meren mystery series featuring historical intrigue during the reign of Pharaoh Tutankhamen continues with the investigation of the murder of Queen Nefertiti. …More

Wagons West Wyoming! By Ross, Dana Fuller 2010-03 - Pinnacle Books 9780786021970 Check Our Catalog In this newly repackaged edition of the third book in the Wagons West saga, readers can rediscover America in the sprawling epic journey that forged a nation's destiny. Reissue. …More

Allure of the Game By Santiago, Danielle 2011-05 - Atria Books 9780743277624 Check Our Catalog Santiago delivers a sexy, action-packed adventure about two sisters whose lives are changed forever as their fate is determined on the mean streets of Harlem. …More

Act of God By Sloan, Susan R. 2002-04 - Warner Books 9780446524513 Check Our Catalog The bestselling author of "Guilt by Association" returns with a gripping legal drama in which a young lawyer must defend a man accused of one of the most shocking crimes in history. …More

Blessed By Smith, Cynthia Leitich 2011-01 - Candlewick Press (MA) 9780763643263 Check Our Catalog With a wink and a nod to Bram Stoker, "New York Times"-bestselling author Smith unites the casts of "Tantalize" and "Eternal" in a delicious new dark fantasy. …More

Dear John By Sparks, Nicholas 2010-01 - Perfection Learning 9781606863626 Check Our Catalog HPL patron: Wonderful book. …More

44 Charles Street By Steel, Danielle 2011-04 - Delacorte Press 9780385343145 Check Our Catalog A magical transformation takes place in "New York Times"-bestselling author Steel's luminous new novel: Strangers become roommates, roommates become friends, and friends become a family in a turn-of-the-century house in Manhattan's West Village. HPL patron: Loved the characters and the heart-warming story. …More

The Help By Stockett, Kathryn 2009-02 - Amy Einhorn Books 9780399155345 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another. HPL patron: Best book I've read in a long time.  Love it. …More

The Heartbreak Lounge By Stroby, Wallace 2005-02 - Minotaur Books 9780312300951 Check Our Catalog Ex-state trooper Harry Rane, who first appeared in Stroby's brilliant debut novel, "The Barbed-Wire Kiss," becomes caught up with Nikki Ellis, a woman desperate for help. Her ex, Johnny Harrow, has just been released from prison, and he's on his way to settle his accounts. HPL patron: Another really good action thriller-suspense, good writing, characters, plot. …More

A Sticky Situation By Swinson, Kiki 2008-06 - Melodrama Publishing 9781934157091 Check Our Catalog As a successful parole officer, Maxine has sent countless parolees back to prison. But, when Maxine lets her guard down, Seth sees a jump off in the works. While ignoring Seths dealing in order to realize her ambitions of owning a small business everything seems to be going smoothly until Seth's codefendent, "ride or die chick" Samantha becomes a distraction. As both women compete for Seth's love and affection -- a sticky situation unfolds. HPL patron: For some reason these ladies let a man bet the better of them.  Or did they?  I love the ending. …More

Final Entries 1945: The Diaries of Joseph Goebbels By Trevor-Roper, H. R. Translator Barry, Richard 2008-03 - Pen & Sword Books 9781844156467 Check Our Catalog Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda kept a diary throughout his time as a member of the Nazi Party and this covers the period of the last weeks of WW2 from February-April, 1945. Edited, Introduced and annotated by Professor Hugh Trevor-Roper, this is a remarkable account from within of the crumbling of the Nazi empire by its arch-apologist. HPL patron: Interesting reading of Hitler's propaganda minister and how he stayed fanatically loyal to the Fuhrer to the bitter end.  Unfortunately, the final 2 weeks of the diaries (April 10-24) are missing--and those might have been the most interesting of all. …More

Fragile By Unger, Lisa 2010-08 - Shaye Areheart Books 9780307393999 Check Our Catalog A stunning new literary thriller from the "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Beautiful Lies, Fragile" examines the small town secrets exposed with a teenager goes missing in circumstances similar to another young girl's disappearance 20 years earlier. …More

Somebody's Sinning in My Bed By G'Orge-Walker, Pat 2010-01 - Thorndike Press 9781410422415 Check Our Catalog In the tradition of Victoria Christopher Murray, G'Orge-Walker moves in a stunning new direction with this powerful, thought-provoking novel about a fallen woman's path to redemption. …More

The Fiddler in the Subway: The True Story of What Happened When a World-Class Violinist Played for Handouts... and Other Virtuoso Performances by By Weingarten, Gene 2010-07 - Simon & Schuster 9781439181591 Check Our Catalog GENE WEINGARTEN IS THE O. HENRY OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM Simply the best storyteller around, Weingarten describes the world as you think it is before revealing how it actually is--in narratives that are by turns hilarious, heartwarming, and provocative, but always memorable. Millions of people know the title piece about violinist Joshua Bell, which originally began as a stunt: What would happen if you put a world-class musician outside a Washington, D.C., subway station to play for spare change? Would anyone even notice? The answer was no. Weingarten's story went viral, becoming a widely referenced lesson about life lived too quickly. Other classic stories--the one about "The Great Zucchini," a wildly popular but personally flawed children's entertainer; the search for the official "Armpit of America"; a profile of the typical American nonvoter--all of them reveal as much about their readers as they do their subjects. HPL patron: Excellent book.  A wonderful collection of feature writing.  Serious, oddball, intelligent, deft touches of humor-above all, always interesting commentaries on a great range of subjects.  I'm recommending this  to several friends and relatives. …More

The Last Lie By White, Stephen 2010-08 - Dutton Books 9780525951773 Check Our Catalog I>New York Times"-bestselling author White returns to his beloved Alan Gregory series with a taut- ripped-from-the-headlines crime story that also features Sam Purdy from the bestseller "The Siege." …More

When God Was a Rabbit By Winman, Sarah 2011-05 - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 9781608195343 Check Our Catalog From Essex and Cornwall to the streets of New York, from 1968 to the events of 9/11, "When God Was a Rabbit" follows the evolving bond of love and secrets between Elly and her brother Joe, and her increasing concern for an unusual best friend, Jenny Penny, who has secrets of her own. …More