The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

by | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

find this in our catalog

Charlie is a freshman.

And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can’t stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★★ and said, “REALLY good – Part of what I loved was it was set in the same time period as my own high school years and it was fun to have all the pop culture elements that I remembered, all the great songs, etc. Also a very touching and excellent story. Not sure how they’ll make this into a movie though…”

Lorna rated it ★★★★ and said, “I would like to be friends with Charlie.”

Rachel rated it ★★★★★.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

book-to-screenYAfiction

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

by | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

find this in our catalog

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay’s dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

mysteryYAfiction

Deception Point by Dan Brown

Deception Point by Dan Brown

by | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Deception Point

by Dan Brown

find this in our catalog

When a new NASA satellite spots evidence of an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory…a victory that has profound implications for U.S. space policy and the impending presidential election. With the Oval Office in the balance, the President dispatches White House Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the Milne Ice Shelf to verify the authenticity of the find. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic academic Michael Tolland, Rachel uncovers the unthinkable: evidence of scientific trickery—a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy.

But before Rachel can contact the President, she and Michael are attacked by a deadly team of assassins controlled by a mysterious power broker who will stop at nothing to hide the truth. Fleeing for their lives in an environment as desolate as it is lethal, their only hope for survival is to find out who is behind this masterful ploy. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

thrillermysteryfiction

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Persuasion by Jane Austen

by | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Persuasion

by Jane Austen

find this in our catalog

Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen’s most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne’s family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?

Jane Austen once compared her writing to painting on a little bit of ivory, 2 inches square. Readers of Persuasion will discover that neither her skill for delicate, ironic observations on social custom, love, and marriage nor her ability to apply a sharp focus lens to English manners and morals has deserted her in her final finished work.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★★ and said, “I think this is the best of all her books. More mature, and more depth to the story. Beautiful. Better every time I read it!”

Cathy rated it ★★★★.

Rebekah rated it ★★★★★ and said, “Have you ever found that book that isn’t so much a book as a part of you? This is the book I read when I’m surpassingly sad or when I’m surpassingly happy. Every time I wonder if maybe I just imagined how much I love Persuasion, I reread it, and by the last page, I know again that no other book will ever come close to it in my heart.”

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

 book-to-screenromanceclassicsfiction

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

by | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

by Mitch Albom

find this in our catalog

Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination, but an answer.

In heaven, five people explain your life to you. Some you knew, others may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie’s five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his “meaningless” life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: “Why was I here?”

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Lorna rated it ★★★★★.

Cathy rated it ★★★★.

Vivian rated it ★★★.

Rebekah rated it ★★★★★ and said, “This instantly became one of my top five favorite books of all time.”

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

book-to-screenfantasyfiction

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause

by | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Book Title

by Author's Name

find this in our catalog

Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?

Then Vivian falls in love with a human, a meat-boy. Aiden is kind and gentle, a welcome relief from the squabbling pack. He’s fascinated by magic, and Vivian longs to reveal herself to him. Surely he would understand her and delight in the wonder of her dual nature, not fear her as an ordinary human would.

Vivian’s divided loyalties are strained further when a brutal murder threatens to expose the pack. Moving between two worlds, she does not seem to belong in either. What is she really—human or beast? Which tastes sweeter—blood or chocolate?

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Miranda rated it ★★★★.

Lorna rated it ★★★.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

book-to-screenwerewolvesfantasyYAfiction

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

by | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

find this in our catalog

“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime.”

Amir is the son of a wealthy Kabul merchant, a member of the ruling caste of Pashtuns. Hassan, his servant and constant companion, is a Hazara, a despised and impoverished caste. Their uncommon bond is torn by Amir’s choice to abandon his friend amidst the increasing ethnic, religious, and political tensions of the dying years of the Afghan monarchy, wrenching them far apart. But so strong is the bond between the two boys that Amir journeys back to a distant world, to try to right past wrongs against the only true friend he ever had.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Lorna rated it ★★★★★.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

book-to-screenhistoricalfiction

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

by | Dec 2, 2015 | 0 comments

Me Before You

by Jojo Moyes

find this in our catalog

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “This was a very emotional book! I always like a good cry. I liked this twist on the romance genre, with an unconventional plot. Even with the differences, however, there are a lot of typical elements of a good romance. I very much liked the main character, and thought she was quite well done. I also like the main romance interest, not quite as much as the girl, but he was an interesting change from the typical ‘boyfriend’ character. The plot was well done, if a bit predictable. The only thing I didn’t like were the short chapters told from a completely different character’s point of view—the way they were added to the story threw me out of the flow of the narrative. Other than that, this was an enjoyable read. It’s definitely a Girl Book! I would be interested to hear what readers of more conventional romances think of this one.”

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

romancefiction

Life of Pi

Life of Pi

by | Dec 1, 2015 | 0 comments

Life of Pi

by Yann Martel

find this in our catalog

After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbling on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orangutan…and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger.

The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary works of fiction in recent years.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★★ and said, “Wow—this is one fantastic book! Incredible story, but so infused with depth and nuance that it takes on a life of its own. It’s definitely one that will hold up to repeated readings, with new things being discovered with each reading. The ending is completely satisfying! I have no idea how they can possibly put this into a film, but I’m really curious to see now! At any rate, I can’t recommend the book highly enough. This is a fantastic read, and will leave you with much to think about.”

Lorna rated it ★★★★★ and said, “At times it seemed bogged down somewhat with details, but overall I have to give this book 5 stars for character development, theme, language usage and the story. Amazing!”

Cathy rated it ★★★★★.

Timely Topic: Tired of Trilogies?

book-to-screenfantasyfiction

Pin It on Pinterest