Adult Summer Reading

 

We've finished week 3 of the Adult Summer Reading Program!  During this week 49 people read 117 books, for the whole summer, 138 people have read 337 books.  It's not too late to join the program.  Sign up at the circulation desk.  We still have signing prizes available, as well.

To sign have this newsletter arrive in your mailbox, go to our Newsletter sign up page.  You can also see all the newsletters we have available!

Book reviews from participants July 15: 

Viral Loop by Adam Penenberg:  Advertising  has changed.  Newspapers are shriveling and TV is fractured.  On the Internet, pop-ups are dead, and banners are dwindling.  Enter the new ad paradigm:  Viral Loops.  This book explains it all iin an entertaining way.  Recommended reading.

By the time you read this, I'll be dead by Julie Ann Peters:  Amazing!

Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb:  I have read most of J. D. Robb's books and have enjoyed every one.  I think Eve Dallas is a better cop than any TV show.

For Laci by Sharon Rocha:  This was a truly wrenching book.  Beyond the tears I shed while reading it, I learned what a beautiful person Laci was from  her mother's perspective.  Very honest and well written, a plus not ot have a bunch of media hype mixed in.

Paint saves the day by Lucianna Samu:  Ideas on painting furniture, floors, etc.  Not really useful to myself and my smaller projects I have planned.  Thorough descriptions on how/what to do and use for each project.  Neat ideas, but maybe time consuming.

A Gladiator dies only once by Steven Saylor:  A collection of mystery stories set in  ancient Rome.  The protagonist in each investigates like a modern day private eye (he's called "Finder of Truth") and bumps heads with the important figures of that era, such as Cicero.

A Mist of Prophecies by Steven Saylor:  A mystery set in ancient Rome.  While Julius Caesar and Pompey bottle it out to determine who rules Rome, Gordianus (called the Finder of Truth) investigates the murder of a young seeress.  Interesting through-out.

The Reader by Bernard Schlink:  Didn't like.
 

Her Fearful Symmetry By Niffenegger, Audrey 2009-10 - Thorndike Press 9781410422446 Check Our Catalog Another brilliant, original and moving novel from the author of The Time Traveler's Wife. Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers -- normal, at least, for identical "mirror" twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cozy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn't know existed has died and left them her amazing flat in a building by Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin ... but they have no idea that they've been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the OCD-suffering crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt's mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the mother of the girls -- her own twin -- and who can't even seem to quite leave her flat.... …More

All Our Yesterdays By Parker, Robert B. 1995-12 - Dell Publishing Company 9780440221463 Check Our Catalog They were the Sheridan men, ruled by passion, betrayed by love, heirs to a legacy of violence and forbidden desire. Gus, Boston's top homicide cop: he knew equally well the backroom politics of City Hall and the private passions of the very rich, a man haunted by the wanton courage and perilous obsessions he inherited from his father... Conn, the patriarch, a lawless cop who spawned a circle of vengeance and betrayal that would span half a century... and Chris, Gus's beloved son, a Harvard lawyer and criminologist, fated to risk everything to break the chain of obsession and rage... Three generations linked by crime and punishment--cops and heroes, fathers, sons, and lovers united at last by revelations that could bring a family to its knees... …More

Appaloosa By Parker, Robert B. 2005-06 - Putnam Publishing Group 9780399152771 Check Our Catalog When Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch arrive in Appaloosa, they find a small, dusty town suffering at the hands of renegade rancher Randall Bragg, a man who has taken supplies, horses, and women for his own and left the city marshal and a deputy for dead. In Bragg they find an unusually wily adversary who raises the stakes by playing with emotions. …More

Back Story By Parker, Robert B. 2003-03 - G. P. Putnam's Sons 9780399149771 Check Our Catalog Spenser tries to solve a 30-year-old murder as a favor to an old friend in this brilliant new mystery from the Grand Master. The lack of clues and a missing FBI intelligence report force Spenser to reach out in every direction, testing his resourcefulness and his courage. …More

A Catskill Eagle By Parker, Robert B. 1986-06 - Dell Publishing Company 9780440111320 Check Our Catalog It was nearly midnight and I was just getting home from detecting. I had followed an embezzler around on a warm day in early summer trying to observe him spending his ill-gotten gain. The best I'd been able to do was catch him eating a veal cutlet sandwich in a sub shop in Danvers Square across from Security National Bank. …More

The Nobodies Album By Parkhurst, Carolyn 2010-06 - Doubleday Books 9780385527699 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title From the bestselling author of "The Dogs of Babel" comes an emotionally gripping and resonant mystery about a mother and her son, and about the possibility that one can never truly know another person. …More

Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves By Penenberg, Adam 2009-10 - Hyperion Books 9781401323493 Check Our Catalog In this clear-eyed collection of case studies, Fast Company contributing writer and NYU journalism professor Penenberg examines the engine driving the growth of web 2.0 businesses like Flickr, YouTube and eBay to Facebook and Twitter: the viral loop. …More

A Rule Against Murder By Penny, Louise 2009-07 - Thorndike Press 9781410416636 Check Our Catalog "The outskirts of Three Pines might be surrounded by nature, but there is something unnatural looming. ..""" It is the height of summer, and Armand Gamache and his wife are celebrating their wedding anniversary at an isolated, luxurious inn not far from the village of Three Pines. But they're not alone. The Finney family--rich, cultured, and respectable--has also arrived for a celebration of their own... "A RULE AGAINST MURDER" As the heat rises and the humidity closes in, some surprising guests turn up at the Finney reunion...and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body. Now it's up to Chief Inspector Gamache to unearth long-buried secrets and hatreds hidden behind polite smiles. The chase takes him to Three Pines--into the dark corners of his own life, and finally to a harrowing climax. "If you don't give your heart to Gamache, you may have no heart to give." --"Kirkus Reviews "(starred review) "A fine read...in true Christie-like fashion."--"Cleveland Plain Dealer" "Penny tweaks the rules of Golden Age Detective Fiction in a way that is thoroughly modern."--"Los Angeles Times" …More

Do One Green Thing: Saving the Earth Through Simple, Everyday Choices By Pennybacker, Mindy Illustrator Vibbert, Carolyn Foreword by Streep, Meryl 2010-03 - St. Martin's Griffin 9780312559762 Check Our Catalog With a Foreword by Meryl Streep, this guide is for the person who doesn't do or buy everything green, but wants to make a difference in affordable everyday decisions. Including a "Choose It/ Lose It "feature for quick and easy green comparisons. …More

Define "Normal" By Peters, Julie Anne 2000-04 - Little, Brown Young Readers 9780316706315 Check Our Catalog California Young Reader Medal Winner - 2003 Antonia is a "priss", Jazz is a "punk". Antonia belongs to the math club. Jazz hangs out at the tattoo parlor. Antonia's parents are divorced and her mother struggles to pay the rent. Jazz is from a traditional family and lives in a mansion with a pool. But when these two very different girls find themselves facing each other in a peer-counseling program, they discover they have some surprising things in common. Alternately hilarious and heart-wrenching, this is an absorbing read that will keep audiences thinking and laughing. …More

Every Last One By Quindlen, Anna 2010-04 - Random House 9781400065745 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title A moving, suspenseful, and surprising new novel by the #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Rise and Shine, Blessings," and "Black and Blue, Every Last One" follows a suburban family and the disastrous, unintended consequences of what seem like small, casual actions. …More

The Atonement Child By Rivers, Francine 1999-02 - Tyndale House Publishers 9780842300520 Check Our Catalog In one horrific, terrifying moment, Dynah Carey's perfect life is shattered by rape, her future irrevocably altered by an unwanted pregnancy, her doting family torn apart. Her seemingly rock-solid faith is pushed to the limits as she faces the most momentous choice of her life-to embrace or to end the untimely life within her. …More

Kindred in Death By Robb, J. D. 2009-11 - Putnam Adult 9780399155956 Check Our Catalog When the newly promoted captain of the NYPD and his wife return from vacation, they look forward to spending time with their 16-year-old daughter who had stayed behind. Not even their worst nightmares could have prepared them for the crime scene that awaits them instead. …More

Witness in Death By Robb, J. D. 2000-03 - Berkley Publishing Group 9780425173633 Check Our Catalog Writing as J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts presents the tenth book in a captivating futuristic series. Opening night at New York's New Globe Theater turns from stage scene to crime scene when the leading man is stabbed to death center stage. Eve Dallas is not only the lead detective, she's also a wintess--and when the press discovers her husband owns the theater, the spotlight turns on them. As in "USA Today." …More

Blue Dahlia By Roberts, Nora 2005-01 - Large Print Distribution 9781594130618 Check Our Catalog Book 1 of the "In The Garden Trilogy" A New York Times Bestseller #1 bestselling author Nora Roberts presents the first novel of her "In the Garden" trilogy. A Harper has always lived at Harper House, the centuries-old mansion just outside of Memphis. And for as long as anyone alive remembers, the ghostly Harper Bride has walked the halls, singing lullabies at night . . . Trying to escape the ghosts of the past, young widow Stella Rothchild, along with her two energetic little boys, has moved back to her roots in southern Tennessee - and into her new life at Harper House and In the Garden nursery. She isn't intimidated by the house - nor its mistress, local legend Roz Harper. Despite a reputation for being difficult, Roz has been nothing but kind to Stella, offering her a comfortable new place to live and a challenging new job as manager of the flourishing nursery. As Stella settles comfortably into her new life she discovers a fierce attraction with ruggedly handsome landscaper Logan Kitridge. But someone isn't happy about the budding romance . . . the Harper Bride. As the women dig into the history of Harper House, they discover that grief and rage have kept the Bride's spirit alive long past her death. And now, she will do anything to destroy the passion that Logan and Stella share . . . Publishing simultaneously with Large Print hardcover. About the author: Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred novels, including eighteen books in the #1 New York Times bestselling "In Death" series, written under the pen name J. D. Robb. Roberts' work has been optioned and made into films, excerpted in national magazines and translated in overtwenty-five different countries. Book Two of the "In The Garden "trilogy, "Black Rose," will be available July 2005. Book Three of the "In The Garden" trilogy, "Red Lily," will be available January 2006. Nora Roberts now lives in Keedysville, Maryland. …More

The Hollow By Roberts, Nora 2008-05 - Large Print Distribution 9781594132629 Check Our Catalog The #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Blood Brothers" continues the thrilling trilogy of a town plagued by evil--and the three men and three women brought together by fate to fight it. …More

For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, & Justice By Rocha, Sharon 2005-12 - Crown Publishers 9780307338280 Check Our Catalog In this eagerly awaited book, Laci Peterson's mother tells the story of her daughter's life, her disappearance, the trial of her murderer, and the aftermath. …More

The Scottish Welsh Wars, 1200-1400 By Roth, Chris Author Rothero, Christopher Illustrator Rothero, Christopher 1984-07 - Osprey Publishing (UK) 9780850455427 Check Our Catalog On 28 September 1066 William of Normandy landed near Hastings and prepared to meet the Anglo-Saxon army of King Harold Godwinson. On 10 October 1066 the two armies met; and after six hours of fighting the Anglo-Saxon army was crushed and their king slain. The Normans set up castles to control the native population, and four-fifths of all England's land changed ownership. However, despite initial Norman success, it was fully two centuries before the Anglo-Norman kings managed to penetrate the wild interiors of Wales and Scotland, and many more centuries before the countries of Scotland, Wales and England were united under one crown. …More

Color Saves the Day By Samu, Lucianna Photographer Samu, Mark 2010-03 - Creative Homeowner Press 9781580114752 Check Our Catalog "COLOR Saves the Day" is for both the color adventurer and the color shy. Author Lucianna Samu offes advice for trying new ways with color and shows you how to use it as an effective, cost-saving decorating "solution" for design dilemmas. …More

A Gladiator Dies Only Once: The Further Investigations of Gordianus the Finder By Saylor, Steven W. 2005-06 - Minotaur Books 9780312271206 Check Our Catalog This is the second compilation of short pieces featuring Gordianus the Finder, filling in the gaps between the novels "Roman Blood" and "Catilina's Riddle." …More

A Mist of Prophecies Weapons By Saylor, Steven W. 2002-05 - Minotaur Books 9780312271213 Check Our Catalog During the Roman Civil War, Gordanius the Finder investigates the murder of a beautiful young seeress--a confidant of the rich and powerful. As the novel unfolds, he peels away the veils of secrecy to find hidden truths behind her life and death. …More

The Reader By Schlink, Bernhard Translator Janeway, Carol Brown 1999-02 - Vintage Books USA 9780375707971 Check Our Catalog Hailed for its coiled eroticism and the moral claims it makes upon the reader, this mesmerizing novel is a story of love and secrets, horror and compassion, unfolding against the haunted landscape of postwar Germany. When he falls ill on his way home from school, fifteen-year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. In time she becomes his lover--then she inexplicably disappears. When Michael next sees her, he is a young law student, and she is on trial for a hideous crime. As he watches her refuse to defend her innocence, Michael gradually realizes that Hanna may be guarding a secret she considers more shameful than murder. …More

The Necromancer By Scott, Michael 2010-05 - Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers 9780385735315 Check Our Catalog The fourth book in the "New York Times"-bestselling series. While in San Francisco, Josh and Sophie are more confused than ever about their future. Can they trust Nicholas Flamel? …More

Lucky By Sebold, Alice 1999-08 - Scribner Book Company 9780684857824 Check Our Catalog Enormously visceral, emotionally gripping, and imbued with the belief that justice is possible even after the most horrific of crimes, Alice Sebold's compelling memoir of her rape at the age of eighteen is a story that takes hold of you and won't let go. Sebold fulfills a promise that she made to herself in the very tunnel where she was raped: someday she would write a book about her experience. With Lucky she delivers on that promise with mordant wit and an eye for life's absurdities, as she describes what she was like both as a young girl before the rape and how that rape changed but did not sink the woman she later became. It is Alice's indomitable spirit that we come to know in these pages. The same young woman who sets her sights on becoming an Ethel Merman -- style diva one day (despite her braces, bad complexion, and extra weight) encounters what is still thought of today as the crime from which no woman can ever really recover. In an account that is at once heartrending and hilarious, we see Alice's spirit prevail as she struggles to have a normal college experience in the aftermath of this harrowing, life-changing event. No less gripping is the almost unbelievable role that coincidence plays in the unfolding of Sebold's narrative. Her case, placed in the inactive file, is miraculously opened again six months later when she sees her rapist on the street. This begins the long road to what dominates these pages: the struggle for triumph and understanding -- in the courtroom and outside in the world. Lucky is, quite simply, a real-life thriller. In its literary style and narrative tension we never lose sight of why this life story is worth reading. At the end we are leftstanding in the wake of devastating violence, and, like the writer, we have come to know what it means to survive. …More