Summer Reading

Welcome to Summer Reading 2011! At the end of 4 weeks we had 342 people signed up.

This week, 25 new people participated and 55 people read 175 books, which brings the totals for the summer to 127 people and 505 books.

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Trife Life to Lavish Part 2 Genesis & Genevieve Am I My Brother's Keeper By King, Deja 2010-06 - King Productions 9780984332502 Check Our Catalog This explosive sequel ties up the Bitch, Stackin' Paper and Trife Life To Lavish Series. HPL patron: This book has you waiting on the next series that's due to come out. Hurry up Deja!! …More

Duma Key By King, Stephen 2008-01 - Scribner Book Company 9781416552512 Check Our Catalog The #1 bestselling author delivers a new novel about a man whose near-fatal accident gives him access to vast powers of creativity--and destruction. HPL patron: Frightening events in the Florida Keys. Ghosts and gore. Great summer reading. …More

Full Dark, No Stars By King, Stephen 2010-11 - Scribner Book Company 9781439192566 Check Our Catalog 2010 Bram Stoker Award Winner-Collection BookPage Notable Title Following on the heels of his stunning #1 bestseller "Under the Dome," Stephen King delivers a new collection of four original never-before-published stories, all linked by the common theme of retribution. HPL patron: Great read. Stephen does it again. …More

Between Sundays By Kingsbury, Karen 2007-11 - Zondervan Publishing Company 9780310257721 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Two men and the game they love. A woman with a heart for the lonely and lost, and a boy who believes the impossible. Thrown together in a season of self-discovery, they're about to learn lessons in character and grace, love and sacrifice. HPL patron: My second book by Kingsbury. Between Sundays made me a fan. She weaves lives together with just the right amount of drama to make you believe the story and want to see it all end with a smile. …More

Unlocked: A Love Story By Kingsbury, Karen 2010-10 - Zondervan 9780310266235 Check Our Catalog Holden Harris is locked in a prison of autism, bullied by kids who don't understand his quiet, quirky ways. Ella Reynolds, star of the school drama production takes an interest in Holden after she catches him listening to her rehearse for the school play. Will friendship, faith, and the power of song be enough to unlock the miracle that Holden needs? HPL patron: Karen Kingsbury is an excellent writer. She created interesting characters and a story that really draws you in. Unlocked captured my attention and was hard to put down. …More

The Undomestic Goddess By Kinsella, Sophie 2006-04 - Dial Press 9780385338691 Check Our Catalog Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has made a mistake so huge, it'll wreck any chance of a partnership. Going into utter meltdown, she gets on a train, ends up in the middle of nowhere, and is offered a job as housekeeper. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope--and finds love--is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake. …More

Harlot by the Side of the Road By Kirsch, Jonathan 1998-03 - Ballantine Books 9780345418821 Check Our Catalog "The stories you are about to read are some of the most violent and sexually explicit in all of Western literature. They are tales of human passion in all of its infinite variety: adultery, seduction, incest, rape, mutilation, assassination, torture, sacrifice, and murder. . . . " Sex. Violence. Scandal. These are words we rarely associate with the sacred text of the Bible. Yet in this brilliant book, Jonathan Kirsch recounts shocking tales that have been suppressed by religious authorities throughout history. Kirsch places each story within the political and social context of its time, delves into the latest biblical scholarship to explain why each one was originally censored, and shows how these ancient narratives hold valuable lessons for all of us. HPL patron: Great book. Helped explain Biblical euphemisms and sorce of the Bible's more lurid tales. …More

City of Night By Koontz, Dean R. Author Anderson, Kevin J. Author Gorman, Ed 2005-07 - Random House Large Print Publishing 9780375434716 Check Our Catalog From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the legend, you know only half the truth. Here is the mystery, the myth, the terror, and the magic of... DEAN KOONTZ'S CITY OF NIGHT They are stronger, heal better, and think faster than any humans ever created-and they must be destroyed. But not even Victor Helios-once Frankenstein-can stop the engineered killers he's set loose on a reign of terror through modern-day New Orleans. Now the only hope rests in a one-time "monster" and his all-too-human partners, Detectives Carson O'Connor and Michael Maddison. Deucalion's centuries-old history began as Victor's first and failed attempt to build the perfect human-and it is fated to end in the ultimate confrontation between a damned creature and his mad creator. But first Deucalion must destroy a monstrosity not even Victor's malignant mind could have imagined-an indestructible entity that steps out of humankind's collective nightmare with one purpose: to replace us. HPL patron: He is a great author. Love all his books. …More

The Good Guy By Koontz, Dean R. 2007-05 - Bantam Books 9780553804812 Check Our Catalog Timothy Carrier has a dry sense of humor, but his deadpan wit lands him in a precarious situation when a stranger Tim converses with mistakes him for a hit man. HPL patron: Good-ending predictable. …More

Frankenstein: Prodigal Son By Koontz, Dean R. Author Anderson, Kevin J. 2009-07 - Bantam 9780553593327 Check Our Catalog From the celebrated imagination of Dean Koontz comes a powerful reworking of one of the classic stories of all time. If you think you know the legend, you know only half the truth. Here is the mystery, the myth, the terror, and the magic of . . . Every city has its secrets. But none as terrible as this. He is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who has traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives in New Orleans as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Deucalion's path will lead him to cool, tough police detective Carson O'Connor and her devoted partner, Michael Maddison, who are tracking the slayer but will soon discover signs of something far more terrifying: an entire race""of killers who are much more-and less-than human and, deadliest of all, their deranged, near-immortal maker: Victor Helios-once known as Frankenstein. HPL patron: Loved it. I love all of Dean Koontz's work. …More

The Ridge By Koryta, Michael 2011-06 - Little Brown and Company 9780316053662 Check Our Catalog On an isolated ridge in the Kentucky woods stands a homemade lighthouse, hundreds of miles from any substantial body of water. Local reporter Roy Darmus has always found it an amusing oddity--until he is selected as the recipient of a suicide note from its builder. Roy soon has a storytelling assignment more daunting than anything he's seen before. HPL patron: His best yet. He just keeps making books that are better and better. …More

Mustang Man: The Sacketts By L'Amour, Louis 2000-07 - Bantam 9780553276817 Check Our Catalog Filled with action, adventure, mystery, and historical detail, the Sackett saga is an unforgettable achievement by one of America's greatest storytellers. In Mustang Man, Louis L'Amour tells the tale of a man who lived by his own law -- even if it meant being branded an outlaw. LOST GOLD ON THE SANTA FE TRAIL Nolan Sackett was running ahead of a posse when he stopped to help a wagon stuck on the plains. But why was it stranded in the middle of nowhere with a beautiful -- and murderous -- young woman? Nolan was trying to find out when he ran into Penelope Hume, another attractive lady. She was the key to a cache of gold hidden in the mountains. But to get the rightful heiress there first, Nolan would have to help her beat out jealous relations, paid assassins, and a killer without a conscience... all maddened by gold fever. …More

High Lonesome By L'Amour, Louis 1962-09 - Bantam 9780553259728 Check Our Catalog Many a hardcase had died trying to take the bank in Obaro. Considine aimed to break the bank and settle an old score at the same time. But he never counted on meeting a beautiful woman and her trail-savvy but reckless father, headed straight for Apache country. Now Considine and his gang can either ride like hell for the border just ahead of an angry posse, or join the old man and his daughter in a desperate last stand against blood-hungry warriors. …More

Bluford High: Payback By Langan, Paul 2007-06 - Scholastic Paperbacks 9780439904872 Check Our Catalog Tyray Hobbs wants revenge. Weeks ago he was one of the most feared students in Bluford High. But then Darrell Mercer publicly humiliated him, and Tyray lost his reputation. To get it back, he must take down Darrell. But how? With a broken hand, a troubled family, and no friends in sight, Tyray's options are limited. And when the kids he once bullied start threatening him, his world completely unravels. Desperate to settle the score and regain respect, Tyray sees only one solution to his problems--a gun. HPL patron: Very good book. Didn't know what was going to happen next. …More

Mastered by Love By Laurens, Stephanie 2009-08 - Avon Books 9780061246371 Check Our Catalog The men of the Bastion Club have proven their bravery by secretly fighting for their country. Now their leader, Dalziel, faces that most dangerous of all missions: finding a bride. Original. HPL patron: Royce was exiled by his father and then his father died so he came home to be the Duke. He had to find a wife quickly and set his sights on Minerva. Throughout the novel he spent time seducing her to be his wife. She finally said yes. But on her wedding day a traitor from Royce's past kidnapped her to use her to get to Royce. Royce found out and started the search. He found them and by chance Minerva was the one who killed the traitor. Through all that is when Royce realized that he loved Minerva. Something his family had never done-"loved."! …More

Letters of the Dragon: An Anthology of Bruce Lee's Correspondence with Family, Friends, and Fans, 1958-1973 By Lee, Bruce Editor Little, John R. Introduction by Little, John R. 1998-11 - Tuttle Publishing 9780804831116 Check Our Catalog Beginning with Bruce Lee's high school years in Hong Kong, this collection of correspondence offers readers an intimate glimpse into the life of Lee as artist, husband, father, and friend. 60 illustrations. HPL patron: Letters of the Dragon Correspondence 1958-1973 is a glimpse of the private Bruce Lee behindthe public image. John Little is one of the world's foremost authorities on Bruce Lee, his training methods, philosophies. …More

The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount By London, Julia 2010-01 - Pocket Books 9781439187180 Check Our Catalog Lady Phoebe Fairchild is well aware that the ton would be appalled to learn of a young lady of quality involved in a trade. Therefore, she resorts to selling her beautiful handmade gowns under a fictitious name: Madame Dupree. So when circumstances force her to visit the estate of William Darby, the Viscount of Summerfield, to design ball gowns for his sisters, she assumes Madame's identity. Phoebe's discomfort in her new position as hired help is nothing compared to her visceral attraction to the viscount himself. Heathenishly handsome and shamelessly seductive, Will invites her to be his mistress -- and Phoebe is shockingly tempted to accept. But as their desire for each other grows and the risk of exposure becomes even greater, Phoebe is in dire danger of losing her reputation, her livelihood -- and her chance of becoming the bride of the man whose passion has claimed her forever. …More

Highlander in Disguise By London, Julia 2007-02 - Wheeler Publishing 9781597224222 Check Our Catalog On a mission to retrieve the ancient family treasure that eluded his brother in "Highlander Unbound," Griffin Lockhart heads to England disguised as an earl. There he must hobnob with London's elite--including troublesome socialite Miss Anna Addison--in order to secure the precious family heirloom. …More

Highlander in Love By London, Julia 2007-03 - Wheeler Publishing 9781597224239 Check Our Catalog The final novel in London's "USA Today" bestselling trilogy. Mared Lockhart is offered by her brothers to their rival, Payton Douglas, to pay off a debt. Only after Mared convinces Payton to let her work as a servant rather than marry him do sparks begin to ignite. Original. …More

The Apocalypse Watch By Ludlum, Robert 1996-04 - Bantam 9780553569575 Check Our Catalog Deep in the Hausruck Mountains of Austria, there is a remote hideaway-- the fortress-like nerve center of an ominous movement, the Brotherhood of the Watch. American agent Harry Latham has penetrated the movement, a neo-Nazi organization that was born in the days after the Third Reich's defeat and whose deadly tentacles have spread to the United States and beyond. Now, after three years in deep cover, and on the eve of his most spectacular success, Harry Latham has disappeared. Drew Latham, Special Officer for Consular Operations in Paris, is frantic to discover his older brother's fate. But when he receives the sudden good news that Harry has surfaced, gut-twisting doubts arise. Has Harry's cover been blown? And if so, why has the Brotherhood of the Watch let him live? For Harry Latham has emerged with an explosive list: the secret supporters of the movement, among them some of the highest-ranking officials in the United States and its allies, names synonymous with honorable service to their nations. It is a document that could topple governments--but is the list legitimate? Can Drew Latham trust his own brother? To find the answer, Drew Latham decides to take on his brother's identity, stepping directly into the crossfire between the assassins gunning for Harry Latham--and those who want Drew himself dead. From a hushed Alpine valley to the backstreets of Paris, from the ruling chambers of Washington and London to the casinos of Monte Carlo, "The Apocalypse Watch is vintage Robert Ludlum, a superb international thriller from the writer who created the standard for a new kind of entertainment. …More

Hannah's List By Macomber, Debbie 2010-04 - Mira Books 9780778327806 Check Our Catalog Another heartwarming tale of life and love on Blossom Street. On the anniversary of his beloved wife's death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him. In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request: "I want you to marry again." To that end she's chosen three women she asks him to consider. HPL patron: Good book. Very moving. …More

The Borrower By Makkai, Rebecca 2011-06 - Viking Books 9780670022816 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road. The odd pair embarks on a crazy road trip from Missouri to Vermont, with ferrets, an inconvenient boyfriend, and an upsetting family history thrown in their path. HPL patron: I found this book interesting because it is told in first person narrative by a quirky librarian. The storyline is lacking some by constant reference to children's books I've read or still want to read kept me reading. I have a habit of reading the last page of a book before I reach mid-point and was pleasantly surprised to be busted by this author when I did. On page 230 I found one more thing I had in common with the characters in this book. …More

Solomon's Oak By Mapson, Jo-Ann 2010-10 - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 9781608193301 Check Our Catalog In Mapson's deeply felt, wise, and gritty new novel, three broken souls, who have suffered losses that change their lives forever, find in each other an expected comfort, the bond of friendship, and a second chance to see the miracles of everyday life. …More