Adult Summer Reading Week 8-What Muskegon is reading this summer

One Way or Another By Adler, Elizabeth 2015-07 - Minotaur Books 9781250058188 Check Our Catalog HPL patron: No! Don't bother with Adler's supposed thriller One way or another. This book is poorly written intrique or mystery. When the serial murderer is described as a narcissist instead of a sociopath, it leads me to question the writer's ability with words. None of the characters are well developed and a plot with vengence it is NOT! This …More

Bittersweet By Albert, Susan Wittig 2015-04 - Berkley Books 9780425255629 Check Our Catalog New from the author of "Death Come Quickly "and "Widow's Tears" This Thanksgiving, be grateful for China Bayles who teams up with an old friend to solve a complex case of theft and murder in a South Texas ranching community It's Thanksgiving in Pecan Springs, and China is planning to visit her mother, Leatha, and her mother's husband, Sam, who are enthusiastically embarking …More

The First Phone Call from Heaven By Albom, Mitch 2013-11 - HarperTorch 9780062294371 Check Our Catalog The First Phone Call from Heaven tells the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide attention when its citizens start receiving phone calls from the afterlife. Is it the greatest miracle ever or a massive hoax? Sully Harding, a grief-stricken single father, is determined to find out. An allegory about the power of belief--and a page-turner that will touch your soul--Albom's …More

Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou By Angelou, Maya 2014-10 - Random House 9780812996456 Check Our Catalog HPL patron: Always good, very wise, is a joy to read...excellent writing. …More

The Prada Plan By Antoinette, Ashley 2011-08 - Urban Books 9781601624604 Check Our Catalog Disaya Morgan, a character first introduced in "Girls from Da Hood 4," returns in this gritty tale of a money-hungry woman who finds her life spinning out of control. …More

The Prada Plan 2: Leah's Story By Antoinette, Ashley 2014-01 - Urban Books 9781601626110 Check Our Catalog Street fiction's most infamous bad girl, Leah Richards, holds the fate of an entire family in her hands, in "New York Times"-bestselling author Antoinette's heart-pounding sequel to "The Prada Plan." …More

The Prada Plan 3: Green-Eyed Monster By Antoinette, Ashley 2013-01 - Urban Books 9781601625373 Check Our Catalog Awards: Street Literature Book Award Medal (Slbam) (2014) Leah has been trying for years to get rid of her competition, and all her crazy scheming has finally paid off--or so she thinks. Now that YaYa is out of the picture, she's ready to step into her shoes and have the life she always dreamed of. The scars that she earned in the fire almost seem worth it if they mean she'll finally be able to have all the money, the family, and most importantly, to …More

Northanger Abbey By Austen, Jane 2000-10 - Dover Publications 9780486414126 Check Our Catalog In this spirited, early 19th-century comedy of manners, Catherine Morland meets and falls in love with handsome Henry Tilney while on holiday in Bath. Thinking she is wealthy, his father invites her to be a guest of the family's country estate. …More

Jimmy's Blues and Other Poems By Baldwin, James Introduction by Finney, Nikky 2014-04 - Beacon Press (MA) 9780807084861 Check Our Catalog HPL patron: Great writer, a poet with something to say that's worth reading. …More

The Algebraist By Banks, Iain M. 2005-09 - Night Shade Books 9781597800266 Check Our Catalog Awards: Hugo Award (2005), Locus Awards (2005) 4034 A.D.: Humanity has made it to the stars. Fassin Taak is in search of a secret that's been hidden for half a billion years. But with each day that passes a war draws closer--a war that threatens to overwhelm everything and everyone he's ever known. A "Locus" bestseller. Nominated for a Hugo Award. HPL patron: This is a lo-o-o-ong book, but …More

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism By Baptist, Edward E. 2014-09 - Basic Books (AZ) 9780465002962 Check Our Catalog HPL patron: This was a dense read. The author mixed history with one on one former slave accounts that were recorded in the 1920's-30's via a program called the WPA. It showed how Cotton and all things related to cotton, including slavery, drove American capitalism. It was broken down by years beginning 1783-1937. Eyeopening, informative. …More

There's Something I Want You to Do: Stories By Baxter, Charles 2015-02 - Pantheon Books 9781101870013 Check Our Catalog From one of the great masters of the contemporary short story, here is an astonishing collection that showcases Charles Baxter's unique ability to unveil the remarkable in the seemingly inconsequential moments of an eerie yet familiar life. Penetrating and prophetic, the ten inter-related stories in "There's Something I Want You to Do "are held together by a surreally intricate web of …More

When You Need a Lift: But Don't Want to Eat Chocolate, Pay a Shrink, or Drink a Bottle of Gin By Behar, Joy 2007-09 - Crown Publishing Group (NY) 9780307351715 Check Our Catalog Life is full of ups and downs. And while keeping your chin up may hide a double chin, it won't improve your mood. Looking on the bright side will make you squint, which will lead to crow's feet, and there is nothing cheerful about crow's feet. Listen, if you're feeling down, it's going to take a lot more to set things right than insipid platitudes about a cloud with a silver lining. …More

Breach of Promise By Bell, James Scott 2004-02 - Zondervan Publishing Company 9780310243878 Check Our Catalog How far will a father go to get back his only daughter? And how will he survive in a legal system that crushes those who can't afford to fight back?Mark Gillen has the storybook life other men dream of, complete with a beautiful wife and an adoring five-year-old daughter. Then his wife announces she's leaving him. And taking their daughter with her. The other man is a famous film director with …More

Sins of the Fathers By Bell, James Scott 2005-03 - Zondervan Publishing Company 9780310253303 Check Our Catalog Public defender Lindy Field puts her faith to the test and risks her reputation---and her life---when she defends a young man accused of a series of grisly murders. After all---he may just be innocent. …More

Mutiny: The True Events That Inspired the Hunt for Red October By Hagberg, David Author Gindin, Boris 2008-05 - Forge 9780765313508 Check Our Catalog "Mutiny!" reveals the real-life story behind Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October," and offers an eye-opening look at the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. HPL patron: A good book to read. Interesting story. …More

The Witch Hunter By Boecker, Virginia 2015-06 - Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 9780316327008 Check Our Catalog The magic and suspense of "Graceling" meet the political intrigue and unrest of "Game of Thrones" in this riveting fantasy debut. "Your greatest enemy isn't what you fight, but what you fear." Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a witch herself, Elizabeth is arrested …More

Endangered By Box, C. J. 2015-03 - G.P. Putnam's Sons 9780399160776 Check Our Catalog Joe Pickett has good reason to dislike Dallas Cates, rodeo champion. Now he has even more reason - Joe's eighteen-year-old foster daughter April has run off with him. And then comes even worse news: the body of a girl has been found in a ditch along the highway - alive, but just barely, the victim of blunt force trauma. It is April, and the doctors don't know if she'll recover. Cates denies having …More

Summer Morning, Summer Night By Bradbury, Ray Editor Albright, Donn Editor Eller, Jon 2008-10 - Subterranean Press 9781596062023 Check Our Catalog The 27 new and old stories in this potent collection resonate with timeless power. All set in Green Town, Ill., the vintage highlights include "Miss Bidwell," a sweet romance about a spinster and the delayed homecoming of her first love; the brilliant "The Screaming Woman," featuring the wide-eyed first person narration of a frantic 10-year-old who discovers a woman's premature burial; and "At …More

Power of a Woman By Bradford, Barbara Taylor 2006-07 - HarperTorch 9780061094408 Check Our Catalog Stephanie Jardine is at the apex of her career and life, running the American branch of Jardine's, the prestigious Crown Jewellers of London. A young widow, she has three grown sons and one very precious teenage daughter, Chloe. Then one day, an unexpected act of violence committed by a stranger on the other side of the world plunges Stevie into turmoil and despair. To save her injured …More

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail By Bryson, Bill 1999-05 - Broadway Books 9780767902526 Check Our Catalog Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing land-scape of silent forests and sparkling lakes -- and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic …More

Unbelievably Gluten-Free!: Dinner Dishes You Never Thought You'd Be Able to Eat Again By Byrn, Anne Photographer Schaeffer, Lucy 2012-10 - Workman Publishing 9780761171683 Check Our Catalog For the 30 million Americans who have an allergy or sensitivity to gluten and their families, Byrn creates 125 amazing dishes where the gluten is gone and never missed. HPL patron: This book was pretty good. It had some good recipes. Not enough pictures, though. …More

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking By Cain, Susan 2012-01 - Crown Publishing Group (NY) 9780307352149 Check Our Catalog Awards: ALA Notable Books (2013), Books for a Better Life (2012), Indies Choice Book Awards (2013), L.A. Times Book Prize (2012) Like "You Just Don't Understand" or "Stumbling on Happiness, Quiet" is a paradigm-shifting book that shows how dramatically our culture has come to misunderstand and undervalue introverts, and gives introverts the tools to better understand themselves and take full advantage of their strengths. HPL patron: It will be like reading about yourself for all you …More

Visitors By Card, Orson Scott 2014-11 - Simon Pulse 9781416991786 Check Our Catalog From the internationally bestselling author of "Ender's Game" comes the riveting finale to the story of Rigg, a teenager who possesses a secret talent that allows him to see the paths of people's pasts. In "Pathfinder," Rigg joined forces with another teen with special talents on a quest to find Rigg's sister and discover the true depth and significance of their powers. Then Rigg's …More