Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

by | May 17, 2017 | 0 comments

Lady Midnight

by Cassandra Clare
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In a kingdom by the sea…

In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.

A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.

Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.

Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?

The darkly magical world of Shadowhunters has captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Join the adventure in Lady Midnight, the long-awaited first volume of a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare.

book 1 in the Dark Artifices series

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2017
romancefantasyYAfiction

 

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Baxbaum

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Baxbaum

by | May 17, 2017 | 0 comments

Tell Me Three Things

by Julie Baxbaum
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Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

Julie Buxbaum mixes comedy and tragedy, love and loss, pain and elation, in her debut YA novel filled with characters who will come to feel like friends.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Rebekah rated it ★★★★★ and said “Confession: I borrowed this ARC from my coworker because I’m a sucker for YA chick lit with cute food on the cover.

“Further confession: I am in LOVE.

“I devoured this book in a day. I loved the characters and the story. The prose was pleasurable to read. The dialogue felt natural, like you were sitting with your best friends at lunch. In short, I fell head-over-heels.

“It wasn’t just fun to read, but also relatable, whether you’ve suffered a loss, ever been the new kid, or even just been a teenager in love.

“My one caveat for my more conservative friends: I don’t think I would have been entirely comfortable reading this book when I was still a teen myself. The periodic innuendo is a little too frank for my taste, even now. Still, my love of this book remains undiminished and I am determined to own my own copy. This is one I want to read again!”

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2017

romanceYAfiction

 

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

by | May 17, 2017 | 0 comments

Passenger

by Alexandra Bracken
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Passage, n.
i. A brief section of music composed of a series of notes and flourishes.
ii. A journey by water; a voyage.
iii. The transition from one place to another, across space and time.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them—whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home… forever.

book 1 in the Passenger series

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Miranda rated it ★★★★ and said “What a great new series from Bracken! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this one, but it has great world building and the characters are fully develeoped and likeable. Plus the cover is fabulous.

“Etta has spent years preparing for this moment, and now she is ready to start performing. When she overhears her mother and her beloved mentor arguing about her readiness, she is extremely hurt. And then her world falls apart . . . and she is off on an adventure where lives hang in the balance. Discovering that she descends from a long line of time travelers and that she has the ability to travel herself, Etta is thrown into an unfamiliar world of corruption. Who can she trust? How will she save those she loves?

“A great start, though I could have done without the horrible cliff-hanger ending. Now I have to wait forever to find out what happens next!”

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten Nominees 2017
romancefantasyscience fictionYAfiction

 

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

by | Feb 15, 2017 | 0 comments

Dairy Queen

by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
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The Library Book Club meeting for this book will be Thursday, October 19, 2017, at 6:30 in the entry foyer.

A limited number of book club reading copies will be available for checkout from the circulation desk about a month prior to the meeting.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. Harsh words indeed, from Brian Nelson of all people. But, D. J. can’t help admitting, maybe he’s right.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. Stuff like why her best friend, Amber, isn’t so friendly anymore. Or why her little brother, Curtis, never opens his mouth. Why her mom has two jobs and a big secret. Why her college-football-star brothers won’t even call home. Why her dad would go ballistic if she tried out for the high school football team herself. And why Brian is so, so out of her league.

When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said. Welcome to the summer that fifteen-year-old D. J. Schwenk of Red Bend, Wisconsin, learns to talk, and ends up having an awful lot of stuff to say.

book 1 in the Dairy Queen series

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Miranda rated it ★★★★1/2 and said, “A great story about cultivating relationships, making your own decisions, and growing up.”

Bekka rated it ★★★★ and said, “I really enjoyed this book! D.J. is a strong, compelling character and I thoroughly liked her! She’s got a very sweet aspect about her, and I could empathize with her insecurities and self-image. The plot was great and had some nice twists. I’m not really a football fan, but Murdock’s writing is so great that I found myself anxious with anticipation at the outcome of the big game. I also enjoyed all the passages about the training regime and how much effort D.J. and Brian put into their workouts. The romance was quite realistic, and much more enjoyable than many YA books I’ve read. This is a great read that would appeal to both teens and adults alike!”

Patty rated it ★★★★

Library Book Club Selections
sportsromancefictionYA

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

by | Feb 15, 2017 | 0 comments

Sense and Sensibiity

by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
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The Library Book Club meeting for this book was held Thursday, May 18, 2017, at 6:30 in the entry foyer.

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Cathy rated it ★★★★

Miranda rated it ★★★★

Patty rated it ★★★

Library Book Club Selections
book-to-screenromanceclassicsfiction

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

by | Jul 15, 2016 | 0 comments

For Darkness Shows the Stars

by Diana Peterfreund
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It’s been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot’s estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret—one that could change their society…or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she’s lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

book 1 in the For Darkness Shows the Stars series

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Miranda rated it ★★★★★.

Timely Topic: Classics-Inspired Teen Fiction

romancedystopianscience fictionYAfiction

The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart

The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart

by | Jun 30, 2016 | 0 comments

The Moonspinners

by Mary Stewart
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Young, beautiful, and adventurous Nicola Ferris loves her life as a secretary at the British Embassy on the lush island of Crete. Then on her day off, she links up with two hiking companions who have inadvertently stumbled upon a scene of blood vengeance. And suddenly the life Nicola adores is in danger of coming to an abrupt, brutal, and terrifying end…

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Vivian rated it ★★★ and said, “A vacation to a remote village in Crete turns suddenly to adventure for young Nicola, a British Embassy employee, when she encounters a man who has been shot. She becomes embroiled in an international theft conspiracy through her efforts to assist in a search for the injured man’s younger brother who has been abducted. The writing is evocatively descriptive and the story’s suspense builds to a white knuckle climax. Intermixed with all this is a hint of romance and a sense of “being there” that will be most satisfying to the ‘armchair traveler.’ This was made into a film starring Hayley Mills in 1964.”

Cathy rated it ★★★ and said, “My first reaction after completing Stewart’s novel was, ‘How on earth could anyone at Disney think this was a good story for children?’ The answer of course was that it isn’t, so they made up another one in the same general setting and kept the title, made up different characters, but kept some of the names. Oh my… That being said, I really enjoyed my first taste of Mary Stewart. There was a good balance between humor and suspense. What I liked most was her sense of place. She’s really able to create a world and make you feel a part of it.”

Exercise Your Mind: Brazil & Greece

book-to-screenromancemysteryfiction

Windfall by Nora Roberts

Windfall by Nora Roberts

by | Jun 30, 2016 | 0 comments

Windfall

by Nora Roberts

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Impulse

For once in her life, Rebecca Malone decided to follow her impulses, jettison the familiar and head to Greece to find adventure! So when a sexy stranger began to romance her, she couldn’t resist playing the sophisticated, well-traveled woman. However, falling in love with Stephen Nickodemus was not part of the plan! How on earth could she explain to the man she’d given her heart to that she wasn’t the woman he’d believed her to be? And then convince him that she was still the woman he loved…

Temptation

Socialite Eden Carlborough didn’t expect running a girls’ camp to be easy, but she never thought she’d literally be run up an apple tree by the little monsters. She was equally surprised to come crashing down into the capable arms of orchard owner Chase Elliot. While her handsome neighbor’s overbearing ways were highly irritating, his touch ignited feelings she’d never known. She never imagined she’d be so very…tempted!

Exercise Your Mind: Brazil & Greece

romancefiction

Ruby’s Secret by Heather B. Moore

Ruby’s Secret by Heather B. Moore

by | Jun 30, 2016 | 0 comments

Ruby's Secret

by Heather B. Moore

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At age sixty-two, life is finally beginning for newly widowed Ruby Crenshaw. Her son is grown and gone, and after long years spent as a loyal wife to her charming but unfaithful husband, she’s ready to live the life she’s always dreamed of. Her resolve is firm: she’ll never make the mistake of giving her heart to another man.

The first step in Ruby’s quest for a carefree lifestyle was to create the Newport Ladies Book Club, an unlikely gathering of women who have been her haven. Now she’s ready to take her newfound independence a step further—along with her friends from the local senior center, Ruby is jetting off to a much-needed Greece adventure. What she isn’t prepared for is Gabriel—the group’s tour guide—a native Greek and a true gentleman. His unquestionable charm is hard to resist. But resist she must—because no matter their growing attraction, Ruby is not about to fall for charming again!

part of the Newport Ladies Book Club series

Exercise Your Mind: Brazil & Greece

romancefiction

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