Want to know what types of books people who work in a library Read?
Check out these recommendations by members of the James V. Brown Library staff – and see what we just can’t put down right now!
September Reviews
Glass Houses by Louise Penny
This is the 13th Inspector Gamache novel, and I am an unabashed fan. Gamache is now the head of the Surete de Quebec. He and Reine-Marie live in Three Pines, and are thoroughly integrated into village life. One day, a dark figure, masked and gowned in black, appears...
read moreBehind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
Louise, a single mom, is a secretary in a psychiatrists’ practice. One night, out at a bar, she meets a man, sparks fly, and they share a kiss. The next day, the man, David, shows up in the practice as her new boss. Meanwhile, his wife, Adele, befriends Louise while...
read moreThe Burning Girl by Claire Messud (August 29 release)
Julia and Cassie have been friends since nursery school in their small Massachusetts town. Their family lives are very different, and as they enter adolescence, they grow apart. Cassie’s journey to find her biological father and answers about her background put her...
read moreLilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Based on a true story. New York socialite Caroline Ferriday works at the French consulate at the beginning of World War II and becomes involved in the efforts to help people caught in the war overseas, and with a married French actor. In Germany, Herta Oberhauser is a...
read moreThe Borden Murders by Sarah Miller
This is a thoroughly detailed look into the life of Lizzie Borden and the murder of her parents. Actual black-and-white photographs and reprints of newspaper articles add to the timeless mystery of this crime. I enjoyed the author’s style and recounting of events. I...
read moreSoldier Boy by Keely Hutton
This is the true story of Ricky Richard Anywar, the founder of the international charity Friends of Orphans. Ricky’s story begins at age 14 when he and his brother are kidnapped by rebel fighters and forced to fight government soldiers in the Ugandan civil war. He is...
read moreWhere They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight
The newly discovered body of a female infant is the opening of Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight. This was one of the most stimulating and tantalizing books I have read recently. I loved the authors style of dedicating each chapter to a different character...
read moreThe Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Jeff Zentner’s debut novel, “The Serpent King,” focuses on three teen friends in Forrestville, Tennessee – a town named after the founder of the KKK and full of small-minded people. Dillard “Dill” Early Jr. is struggling to fit in after the arrest of his...
read moreLittle Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
The book is set in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a planned community of upper middle-class residents. Elena Richardson’s family is torn apart after Mia Warren and her teenage daughter, Pearl, move into a rental home owned by Elena. Mia has a mysterious past and doesn’t fit in...
read moreAugust Reviews
Do Humankind’s Best Day’s Lie Ahead? The Munk Debates by Steven Pinker and Matt Ridley vs. Alain De Botton and Malcolm Gladwell
An interesting debate between four leading public intellectuals from different fields of study. So who makes better sense of the world, Pollyanna-ish believers of scientific and technological progress or the Cassandra-ish hand-wringers and moral navel gazers? Most of...
read moreDrawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawken
Instead of one more lengthy treatise explaining how ****ed we are and how close we are to the brink of extinction, Hawken introduces us to a comprehensive plan to utilize data backed and science-based solutions to global warming. It’s not just fossil fuel reduction....
read moreStealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work by Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal
This book is a primer on the science of non-ordinary states of consciousness, known as the experience of “flow” – that optimal mix of focus, performance, and loss of self that propels us into the “zone” to out-perform. It’s not just Silicon Valley entrepreneurs...
read moreThe Gold-Son by Carrie Anne Noble
Montoursville author Carrie Anne Noble has a solid follow-up to her debut book, “The Mermaid’s Sister.” This time, the story takes place in the fantastic world of leprechauns and focuses on 16-year-old Tommin’s curse for gold that has afflicted him since birth....
read moreThe Windfall by Diksha Basu
My brother-in-law is marrying an Indian woman so I have been trying to learn more about Indian culture so I was excited to find this book on many “must-read” lists. This is a story of the Jha family, who for 30 years have lived in a cramped housing complex in East...
read moreReincarnation Blues by Michael Poore
This was a fascinating story about what it’s like to live and die nearly 10,000 times. Milo has had 9,995 times to get it right and “achieve wisdom and become One with Everything.” But he just can’t get it right because he’s in love with Death, or as he calls her,...
read moreMy Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
Elsa is seven years old, and a little different. When her grandmother dies, she loses her best and closest friend, who has created a world of stories for her. Elsa’s grandmother leaves her a letter and a series of clues asking her to apologize to various people in her...
read more