Adult Summer Reading

 

During the second week of the Summer Reading Program, 42 people read 107 books, bringing the total to 89 people having read 220 books.  Way to go!
 

Book Reviews by participants for Friday, July 9:

Girl Who Married a Lion by Alexander McCall Smith:  Stores masterfully translated from Africa.  Perfectly creepy endings suitable for the fireside.  Might induce vivid imaginations to nightmares.  Read with caution!

Comforts of a muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith:  Isabel Dalhousie investigates possible fraud on a doctor's part as only a new mother/philosopher can.  Excellent armchair travel and vicarious nosiness.  Highly recommended for a day at the beach!

Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith:  Isabel Dalhousie experiences what many women in corporate society face-plotting, scheming and female bullying.  For a master course in how to deal with this archtype in society-like a lady- read on.  You won't believe the ending.

Inside my heart by Robin McGraw:  Very insightful.  Loved it.

Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson:  Very good-a follow up to "Three Cups of Tea".  It gives the ongoing work of bringing schools to Pakistan and gives a real life story.

9th Judgment by James Patterson:  Another fine Women's Club crime story.  Patterson continues his excellent story-line.

That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo:  This book is all about family and how our parents' voices live inside of us, even into adulthood.  Funny and enjoyable read.

The Judgment of Caesar by Steven Saylor:  Top notch historical novel of the times of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Ptolemy in Egypt.

The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes:  Good book on the history of the Great Depression.  It gives good, helpful info on a period forgotten.

Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells:  Captivating story of a child's life of hardship.  Living for a time as nomads and then in a poor coal-mining town, her family's survival is a testament to the indominable spirit needed to survive and overcome all obstacles to a better life.

Hot on Her Heels By Mallery, Susan 2009-10 - Harlequin Books 9780373773848 Check Our Catalog Dana Birch has vowed to never put herself at the mercy of a powerful man. She has become a sheriff's deputy so she can protect herself. Garth Duncan has sworn revenge on his father for abandoning him and his mother. Now all that stands between him and his goal is Deputy Dana, her gun, and a growing passion that can't be denied. Original. …More

Supreme Justice By Margolin, Phillip 2010-05 - Harper 9780061926518 Check Our Catalog Filled with the fast-paced twists and surprises that propelled "Executive Privilege, Supreme Justice" reunites attorney Brad Miller, FBI agent Keith Evans, and private investigator Dana Cutler to untangle a five-year-old case involving a ghost ship and the president's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. …More

Deep Blue By Martin, Kat 2005-09 - Thorndike Press 9780786277476 Check Our Catalog The "New York Times" bestselling author delivers the sizzling sequel to "Desert Heat." Reporter Hope Sinclair and treasure hunter Conner Reese head to the Caribbean as they connect a search at sea for a lost Spanish treasure to a murderous plot . Original. …More

Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life By Mayes, Frances 2010-05 - Thorndike Press 9781410426468 Check Our Catalog In this sequel to her "New York Times" bestsellers "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Bella Tuscany," the celebrated bard of Tuscany ("New York Times") lyrically chronicles her continuing, two decades-long love affair with the region's people, art, cuisine, and lifestyle. …More

The Girl Who Married a Lion: And Other Tales from Africa By McCall Smith, Alexander 2005-09 - Random House Large Print Publishing 9780739325506 Check Our Catalog Alexander McCall Smith was born in what is now Zimbabwe and grew up hearing stories that so enchanted him, he passed them along to his own children. He now shares them in this jewel of a book. …More

The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday By McCall Smith, Alexander 2008-09 - Knopf Canada 9780307396990 Check Our Catalog …More

Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams By McCall Smith, Alexander 2007-01 - ISIS Large Print Books 9780753177181 Check Our Catalog Divine Angus might grant you sight of your true love in a dream; you might even fall in love with him - but he'll never love you back. He's too busy making mischief, until he is trapped by his own romantic games and falls for an unattainable woman, doomed to seek her forever. In 20th century Scotland, Angus's troubled alter ego searches for his true family; a psychotherapist who helps people understand their dreams, his life seems to parallel that of his mythic namesake. Mesmerically weaving together the tales of the Celtic god and the Scottish scientist, Alexander McCall Smith unites dream and reality, leaving us to wonder: what is life, but the pursuit of our dreams? …More

The Lost Art of Gratitude By McCall Smith, Alexander 2009-09 - Pantheon Books 9780375425141 Check Our Catalog Isabel and her son, Charlie, attend a birthday party, where she finds Minty Auchterlonie, the high-flying financier from "The Sunday Philosophy Club." When Minty confides to Isabel about the troubles at the investment bank she heads, Isabel wonders if Minty can be trusted. …More

Before Redemption By McClain-Watson, Teresa 2009-05 - Urban Books 9781601629890 Check Our Catalog At age 20, Nikki Lewis had fallen for bad boy Dino Cochran and had become pregnant. Now 16 years later, Nikki struggles to raise her rebellious son and is shocked when Dino, now the respected leader of a national church, arrives in her town. …More

Inside My Heart: Choosing to Live with Passion and Purpose By McGraw, Robin 2007-03 - Thorndike Press 9780786293711 Check Our Catalog McGraw speaks directly to the heart of every woman and challenges her to recognize and develop her unique role to lead her to satisfaction with herself, her profession, her family, and anything she pursues. …More

Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan By Mortenson, Greg Foreword by Hosseini, Khaled 2009-12 - Thorndike Press 9781410420350 Check Our Catalog The author of the #1 bestseller" Three Cups of Tea" offers the continuing story of this determined humanitarian's efforts to promote peace through education. Filled with rich, personal stories and insights into the Middle East, this book is an inspiration--and a call to action. …More

Secrets of a Scandalous Bride By Nash, Sophia 2010-03 - Avon Books 9780061493300 Check Our Catalog The fourth book by the wickedly clever, RITA] Award-winning author of "A Dangerous Beauty" and "The Kiss." Original. …More

The 9th Judgment By Patterson, James Author Paetro, Maxine 2010-04 - Little Brown and Company 9780316036276 Check Our Catalog In the most exciting Women's Murder Club novel yet, Detective Lindsay Boxer spends every waking hour working to piece together clues in two area murders. One of the killers forces Lindsay to put her own life on the line--but will that be enough? …More

House Rules By Picoult, Jodi 2010-04 - Center Point Large Print 9781602857100 Check Our Catalog Picoult, the bestselling author of "Handle With Care, Change of Heart," and "My Sister's Keeper," is a rare writer who delivers book after book, a winning combination of the literary and the commercial ("Entertainment Weekly"). …More

Fever Dream By Preston, Douglas J. Author Child, Lincoln 2010-05 - Grand Central Publishing 9780446554961 Check Our Catalog Special Agent Pendergast embarks on a quest to uncover the mystery of his wife's murder. But as Pendergast probes the circumstances of her death, he is faced with an even greater question: Who was the woman he married? …More

Any Rich Man Will Do By Ray, Francis 2006-02 - Thorndike Press 9780786282692 Check Our Catalog In this new novel from the bestselling author of "Somebody's Knocking at My Door," a bad girl falls on hard times, and forgiveness and redemption are the only things she has left. …More

That Old Cape Magic By Russo, Richard 2009-08 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780375414961 Check Our Catalog In this follow-up to "Bridge of Sighs," Russo delivers a novel of deep introspection and every family feeling imaginable, with a middle-aged man confronting his parents and their failed marriage, his own troubled one, his daughter's new life and, finally, what it is he thought he wanted and what in fact he has. …More

The Judgment of Caesar: A Novel of Ancient Rome By Saylor, Steven W. 2004-06 - Minotaur Books 9780312271190 Check Our Catalog In the late days of the Roman civil war, Gordianus the Finder is caught in Egypt in the midst of the last struggle between Pompeii and Julius Caesar, and between Ptolemy and Cleopatra while he searches for his missing wife. …More

The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II By Shaara, Jeff 2008-05 - Ballantine Books 9780345461421 Check Our Catalog The second volume in "New York Times"-bestselling author Shaara's acclaimed World War II trilogy takes readers to the most famous chapter in the war--D-Day and the battle for Normandy. …More

The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi By Shafak, Elif 2010-02 - Viking Books 9780670021451 Check Our Catalog In this lyrical, exuberant follow-up to "The Bastard of Istanbul," acclaimed Turkish author Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives--one contemporary and the other set in the 13th century--that together incarnate the poet Rumi's timeless message of love. …More

The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression By Shlaes, Amity 2007-07 - Harperluxe 9780061285271 Check Our Catalog It's difficult today to imagine how America survived the Great Depression. Only through the stories of the common people who struggled during that era can we really understand how the nation endured. In "The Forgotten Man," Amity Shlaes offers a striking reinterpretation of the Great Depression. Rejecting the old emphasis on the New Deal, she turns to the neglected and moving stories of individual Americans, and shows how they helped establish the steadfast character we developed as a nation. Shlaes also traces the mounting agony of the New Dealers themselves as they discovered their errors. She shows how both Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt failed to understand the prosperity of the 1920s and heaped massive burdens on the country that more than offset the benefit of New Deal programs. The real question about the Depression, she argues, is not whether Roosevelt ended it with World War II. It is why the Depression lasted so long. From 1929 to 1940, federal intervention helped to make the Depression great--in part by forgetting the men and women who sought to help one another. "The Forgotten Man," offers a new look at one of the most important periods in our history, allowing us to understand the strength of American character today. …More

Marriage in Mind By Steele, Jessica 2000-11 - Harlequin Books 9780373036271 Check Our Catalog …More

The Confession By Stine, R. L. 1996-05 - Simon Pulse 9780671894313 Check Our Catalog Julie and her friends hated Al. But that doesn't mean one of them killed him. Julie knows her friends are innocent--until one of them confesses. Julie and her friends promise to keep the killer's secret. After all, they know he would never kill again, or would he? …More

New Girl By Stine, R. L. 1991-08 - Simon Pulse 9780671746490 Check Our Catalog A dead girl returns from the grave and lures a high school student down the road to terror-- to Fear Street-- an isolated block believed to be haunted by shocking curses. …More

The Glass Castle By Walls, Jeannette 2009-09 - Center Point Large Print 9781602855571 Check Our Catalog The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a penetrating look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who hated anything to do with domesticity. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered. …More