First Line: She, light-streaky out of the corner of my eye.
Summary: Thirteen-year-old Lizzie and Evie have always been best friends. They know everything about each other, no secrets . . . or at least they thought. Then one day Evie disappears, and Lizzie tries to find out what happened and along the way learns things about herself and her best friend’s “picture-perfect” family that makes her love and hate them even more.
Highlights/Lowlights: Seeing things from a 13-year-old’s perspective is both intriguing and frustrating.
FYI: Not for the faint of heart. It’s dark, raw, and graphic in some parts of the book. If you like Gillian Flynn, you will like this.
“The Family Plot” by Cherie Priest is a great Gothic ghost story.
First line: “Yeah, send her on back. She has an appointment.”
Summary: Music City Salvage in Tennessee is on the cusp of going broke, and then Augusta Withrow comes in with an offer Chuck Dutton can’t refuse. Augusta just wants to be rid of her family’s more-than-a-century-old home and all the property. Chuck sees a goldmine in the house and property, so he sends a four-person crew headed by his daughter Dahlia on the project. Super creepy things start happening, and when the members of the crew start comparing notes, they know something is definitely up. Something angry still lives in the vacant house, and it seems bent on making one member of the crew its permanent company.
Highlights: This book has all the atmosphere, creepiness, and strangeness a really excellent Gothic ghost story needs to be interesting. It’s a page-turner and you probably don’t want to read it late at night when you are all alone in your house and start hearing strange noises. Oh, and that ending. DO NOT READ THE LAST PAGE FIRST! If you do, you will ruin the whole book!
Lowlights (or what could have been better): I felt like this book was just a little bit slow to get started, but I’m glad I stuck with it (and it really didn’t take that long) because it builds to a can’t-put-it-down-but-I-have-to-stop-reading-or-I’ll-have-scary-dreams pitch.
FYI: There is some cursing and references to violence, but nothing gory, gross or descriptive.
First Line: He saw her yellow dress before he saw her, glowing in the fading light; a beacon at the far end of the stables.
Summary: A young girl lives with her grandfather in London. He has been teaching her to ride and do very difficult tricks with her horse. But when her grandfather has a stroke she is in a difficult place. A young lawyer is going through a separation and dealing with high-profile cases. When she finds a young girl stealing from a local minimart she decides to take her in with the help of her soon-to-be ex-husband. The situation becomes harder than anyone expected.
Highlights: Jojo Moyes does such a great job bringing social issues to life in her stories. I was never one for chick lit but Moyes is amazing. I read a majority of this in two days. I know nothing about horses but now I want to go riding.
Lowlights: A little slow in the middle but worth it.
Wow, it’s almost Independence Day, and the year is already half over! Where has the time gone? My reading list has been dented pretty well this year, and I’m staying on track with my Goodreads goal. How about you? Are getting as much reading time in this year as you would like? Let us know how your reading goals are going in the comments below.
And if you need some help finding something new to read, here are a few books that will be released this week and next. Click on the title of the book to find it in the library catalog.
July 4: The Lightkeeper’s Daughter by Jean Pendziwol
This story explores the relationship between an elderly woman, Elizabeth, and a teenager, Morgan, as they explore journals of a lightkeeper written decades before. The journals were written by Elizabeth’s father, and while the discovery sheds light on Morgan’s family mysteries, it makes Elizabeth question who she really is.
“The Reason You’re Alive” tells the story of a Vietnam veteran trying to return something he stole from a fellow soldier.
July 4: The Reason You’re Alive by Matthew Quick
The newest novel from the best-selling author of The Sliver Linings Playbook is the story of Vietnam veteran David Granger. After Davis crashes his BMW, he learns he has a brain tumor, which he attributes to his exposure to agent orange during the war. After surgery, he decides to return something to one of his fellow soldiers, and the journey takes some challenging turns.
July 11: Where the Light Falls by Allison Pataki and Owen Pataki
Paris during the French Revolution, and the lives of Sophie, a young, aristocratic widow; Jean-Luc, a young lawyer; and Andre, a nobleman’s son, become intertwined in this period of hope and freedom. The story moves from the battlefields to the courtrooms and even into the alleyways of Paris, three years after the storming of the Bastille.
“Almost Sisters” is the latest novel from best-selling author Joshilyn Jackson.
July 11: The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson
Leia comes from a conventional Southern family, with everything that entails, and when she finds herself pregnant at 38 after a one-night affair, she is faced with telling her family not only about being pregnant, but that the baby is biracial. On top of that, her sister’s marriage is falling apart and her grandmother has been hiding dementia. When Leia goes home to help put her grandmother’s affairs in order, she learns of a dangerous secret that dates back to the Civil War.
July 11: Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown
Billie Flanagan disappeared a year ago in the Desolation Wilderness a year ago, and her husband, Jonathan, and daughter, Olive, are coping as best they can. Then Olive starts having waking dreams that her mother is still alive. Jonathan is worried about Olive’s mental health, until he learns some secrets about Billie that have him questioning if he ever really knew her.
I don’t know about you, but when I am traveling, I love to visit libraries in the area where I am traveling. I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days with my parents who live in the Phoenix-Mesa area of Arizona, in Apache Junction. We made time to head over to their pretty fantastic library. I snapped a few photos to share with our readers.
I know I’ve arrived at the library!
From the outside the library looks like your average library, then you walk inside. Eh, still nothing spectacular, except the Friends of the library book sale right in the lobby! However, once I entered the library proper, it was so much fun!
Entrance to the children’s area of the library, where you get to walk right through some stacks of books.There are some fun titles on these books!
And once you’re inside the children’s area, there is more fun waiting. Want to read in a castle? You can! Watch out, or the dragon may catch you from above. Find a huge book to sit on or tuck yourself away in a rock cave to enjoy your book.
This castle has lots of little spaces for someone to tuck themselves into and read.I even found a house elf in the castle. Has anyone given him a sock yet?This dragon is pretty sneaky, watching the goings on in its library from up above.Or you can tuck yourself into the little cave in the corner, or sit on a book-shaped seat.
Do you visit other libraries in your travels? Share a picture in the comments!
First Line: Like a latter-day Greek temple, the Schuyler family mansion sat atop a softly rounded hill outside Albany.
Summary: Eliza Schuyler is the daughter of a wealthy general. Alexander Hamilton is the right hand man of General George Washington. When the two meet at Eliza’s home, the first encounter is not the one of fairy tales. However, when they meet up again several months later their friendship grows and a romance for the ages is born in the midst of the American Revolution.
Highlights: This is a very quick read and great for a first book about Alexander Hamilton. With the popularity of the musical, Hamilton, this book is appearing at just the right time. I know very little about the man who had a key role in the establishment of our country. I am a huge fan of Melissa de la Cruz. I think she does a good job of bringing this story to readers in a YA version.
Lowlights: The book is almost more juvenile than YA usually are. I expected a little more surrounding the war. I do plan to read the next one as well.
FYI: Perfect introduction into the story of Alexander Hamilton.
First Line: I am the beginning of a girl: her throat filled with ash, desperately clawing her way from the earth with weak, trembling limbs and an urgent message on her lips.
Summary: In the third book in the Falconer series, Aileana has returned from the dead and with powers given to her by a faery. She knows that in order to return her world to the way it once was is to find the Book and the only way to do that is to enlist the help of the faery who killed her.
Highlights: Very action packed with many fight scenes and witty remarks. This book made me laugh often. I love the character of Derrick. He has been my favorite part since the very first book.
Lowlights: The story seemed a little weaker than the rest. It could have been included in the second book as a short ending. The author seemed to stretch it out at times.
FYI: Perfect for readers of Sarah Maas and Cassandra Clare.
Register for the adult reading program, log your books, and be eligible for great prizes.
Are you participating in our adult summer reading program? If not, you ought to consider it. If you think you will read four books of at least 100 pages each, sign up! You will be entered to win some great prizes with every four books you read and log. Every week there will be a randon drawing for a book bag filled with books and swag. At the end of the program, three lucky random winners will receive a new Kindle HD tablet and a $50 Amazon gift card. Click here to register and log your books through July 23.
If you are looking for some new books to read this summer (then log them as part of summer reading!), here are some new releases scheduled for the second half of June.
June 20: The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz This first book in the new Jane Hawk series promises a new series loaded with the signature suspense of Dean Koontz. Jane Hawk, the widow of a man who committed suicide, does everything in her power, despite her grief and anguish, to learn the truth behind his death. Jane’s husband was just one among a surprising number of people who are happy, talented, accomplished, and of sound mind who are killing themselves. As Jane seeks to learn why so many people are committing suicide, she becomes the most-wanted fugitive in America.
June 20: The Force by Don Winslow
A dirty cop that everyone thinks of as a hero, because he is the highly decorated leader of a special unit that has been given carte blanche to fight gangs, drugs and guns. What he really is has him caught in a trap, trying to avoid getting caught by the Feds while trying to protect his crew, his family and the woman he loves, all while the city is teetering on the brink of a disaster.
“Every Last Lie” is the newest thriller by Mary Kubica.
June 27: Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica
Clara’s husband, Nick, and daughter are in a car accident and Nick is killed. When her daughter, Maisie, starts having night terrors following the accident, Clara starts to wonder if there’s a lot more at play than a simple accident. Driven by a desire to know what really happened, Clara will stop at nothing to learn the truth in this thriller that is told in the alternating voices of Nick in the months leading up to the crash and Clara’s investigation following it.
June 27: The Impossible Vastness of Us by Samantha Young
This young adult novel explores the life and relationships of India, Eloise and Finn. India’s mom is engaged to Eloise’s father, and when India tried to befriend Eloise and become friends with Finn, it becomes apparent that what is visible to the outside world often hides the real truth.
June 27: Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams
A young American woman, Virginia, flees a family secret and becomes an ambulance driver in World War I France. A charming British army surgeon (Simon) pursues her, and they eventually marry. Five years later, the young widow and her daughter, the daughter whose father never met her, are in Florida to settle Simon’s estate. Simon’s brother and sister welcome Virginia to the lovely oasis of Cocoa Beach, but Virginia is determined to find out what really happened to Simon, because she is not convinced he died in the house fire that destroyed the seaside home he built for her.
“The Sisters Chase” promises a whirlwind adventure with the Chase sisters as they cross country looking for a better life.
June 27: The Sisters Chase by Sarah Healy
Mary, Hannah, and their mother Diane run a seaside motel. When Diane is killed in a car accident, the daughters find out the value of the motel is less than the back taxes they owe on it. They set out across the country in the hopes of finding a new and better life, while the secrets Hannah carries threaten an even greater loss.
First Line: She heard the motorbike first, then the galloping horse—two distant points of noise in the darkness, converging on her as she ran.
Summary: England is being ruled by the Equals, people with powers called Skill. They overthrew King Charles and have ruled ever since. When the Equals took power they invoked new laws including the 10-year period of slavery for all the commoners. When the Hadley family decides to start their slave days they are hoping to all be sent to the manor house of Kyneston to work for one of the leading Skilled families. However, Luke, the teenage son, is sent to a slave town instead. As each member of the family works their slave days, they each begin to learn about the Skilled and the world that they live in.
Highlights: Good dystopian storyline. I still cannot figure out what to make of the Jardine brothers. The Hadley family is the straightforward characters of dystopian fiction but the brothers are a little more complex. Are they good? Are they bad? I cannot wait to find out.
Lowlights: Nothing to complain about except that it ended at a cliffhanger. What is going to happen? How are they going to continue?
FYI: Great for readers of Hunger Games and Harry Potter!
If you like classic Gothic novels/ghost stories and haven’t read anything by Wendy Webb, you should! Here is a review of her latest novel, “The End of Temperance Dare.”
First line: They gave her the bed by the window, the one closest to the toy box.
Summary: Former reporter Eleanor Harper becomes the director of a famous artists’ retreat near Lake Superior, Cliffside Manor. Not long after Eleanor’s arrival, she finds the kindly old woman who is the daughter of the founder and who has been director of the retreat dead in her room. Lots of wonderful spookiness ensues. Strange things happen to the artists in residence, and Eleanor herself finds that she has experiences that she can’t explain. Not all those who live at the retreat are as they seem as this story unfolds.
Highlights: Wendy Webb is a master at setting a scene, and creating a wonderful Gothic atmosphere, and she is as good at doing so for Cliffside Manor as in any of her other novels. I love the way she develops her characters in this book, making it difficult to discern a person’s true character. As I was reading I thought I knew exactly what was happening, then she would reveal some small nugget of information and I would begins to second-guess myself. A few or a few dozen pages later the story would take a new twist that would leave me guessing again. I really enjoyed the suspense and the mystery of the characters in this book.
Lowlights (or what could have been better): To be honest, I pretty much never read a book looking for holes, problems or other weaknesses, and I didn’t find any in this book. My greatest critique would be in the setting in the actual building. I could clearly see in my mind the grounds around the building, and the outside of the building, but I had a difficult time imagining what the interior of the building looked like.
FYI: I don’t think there’s anything significant to be aware of about this book. It’s a slightly different feel than Webb’s other books, but I found it satisfying. It has a classic Gothic ghost story feel, but doesn’t cross the line to horror (at least by my definition).
The End of Everything by Megan Abbott
Alex and Eliza
The Fallen Kingdom
Gilded Cage