| Fiction |
Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
A newspaper ad offering the services of an "A-1 housekeeper, sound morals, exceptional disposition" draws the hungry attention of widower Oliver Milliron in the fall of 1909. And so begins the unforgettable season that deposits Rose Llewellyn and her brother in Marias Coulee along with a stampede of homesteaders drawn by promises of the Big Ditch.
Oyster Catchers by Susan Fletcher
Sixteen-year-old Amy lies in a coma. Her elder sister, Moira, sits beside her in the evenings and tells her a story, seeking forgiveness and retribution. She tells of her own life-her secrets, her shameful actions and her link to the accident that has brought her sister to this bed.
The Uncommon Reader by Allan Bennett
From the author of The History Boys and The Clothes They Stood Up In comes a deliciously funny novella that celebrates the pleasure of reading.
Run by Ann Patchett
An argument in a blinding New England snowstorm sets off a 24-hour chain of events that shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from each other and how family can include people you've never even met.
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
Twelve American tourists join an art expedition that begins in the Himalayan foothills of China and heads south into the jungles of Burma. But after the mysterious death of their tour leaders, the carefully laid plans fall part and disharmony breaks out among the pleasure-seekers as they come to discover that the Burma Road is paved with less-than-honorable intentions, questionable food and tribal curses.
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Case One: Olivia Land goes missing in the night and is never seen again. More than 30 years later, two sisters unearth a shocking clue to Olivia's disappearance. Case Two: All of Theo's happiness is tied to his devoted daughter Laura. On her first day on the job at his presitigious law firm, a maniac storms into the office and turns Theo's world upside down. Case Three: Michelle finds herself trapped in a hell of her own making with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband. A fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape. As Private Detective Jackson Brodie investigates all three cases he finds himself inextricably caught up in his clients' lives.
The Gathering
by Anne Enright
The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, guards the secret she shared with him - something that happened in their grandmother's house in the winter of 1968.
Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
The year is 1867, winter has just tightened its grip on Dove River, a tiny isolated settlement in the Northern Territory, when a man is brutally murdered. A local woman, Mrs. Ross, stumbles upon the crime scene. It is her knock on the door of the town's largest house that launches an investigation she will regret within hours, when she makes another discovery: her 17-year-old son has disappeared and is considered a prime suspect.
Cancer Vixen: A True Story by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
Marchetto tells the story of her 11-month, ultimately triumphant, bout with breast cancer--from diagnosis to cure, and every challenging step in between. This graphic memoir is a portrait of one woman's supercharged life in Manhattan and a wonderful love story.
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
Sitka district policeman Meyer Landsman begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, but soon finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, hopefulness, evil and salvation that are his heritage.
Resistance
by Anita Shreve
This novel takes readers on an unforgettable journey into a harrowing world where forbidden passions have catastrophic consequences.
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
When their recently widowed father announces that he plan to remarry, sisters Vera a Nadezhda realizes that they must learn to put aside a lifetime of bitter rivalry in order to save him. Separating their dad from his new love will prove to be no easy feat and all the old secrets come out, including the most deeply buried one that explains why Nadezhda and Vera are so different.
Audiobooks
Austenland by Shannon Hale
A confection of a novel for every woman who read Pride and Prejudice and sighed for Mr. Darcy.
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd, a New Jersey romantic who dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the fukú the ancient curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations.
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Non-Fiction |
Down Came the Rain
by Brooke Shields
In this compelling memoir, Brooke Shields talks candidly about her experience with post-partum depression.
[not at BMPL - place hold]
How Starbucks Saved my Life by Michael Gill
Gill had all the trappings of success--money, possessions, a prestigious job--and then lost it all. This story of how he is finally redeemed by his new job at Starbucks focuses on the lessons learned and the value of hard work.
[B Gill]
A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Deborah Kimmel
Less a formal autobiography than a collection of vignettes comprising the things a small child would remember, this book seems a natural for readers of the Oprah school of women's fiction.
[not at BMPL - place hold]
What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers by Amy Sutherland
The title says it all.
[158.2 S]
Adapted from WLS and Amazon.com
by Laura Jensen and Sally Scudo
August 2008
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Summer 2008