Liane Moriarty is one of the most popular authors around. Besides Big Little Lies, which has become a big HBO miniseries, almost all of her other books have already been optioned for Hollywood. I think people love her work because her characters are so relatable and her stories are so clever. Moriarty succeeds again with…
“Marsh is not swamp. Marsh is a space of light, where grass grows in water, and water flows into the sky.” Author Delia Owens These are the first lines of Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, one of the best books I’ve read this year. The marshes and swamps of coastal North Carolina are…
In 1940 London, as the German army mercilessly bombs the city, young Emmy Lake takes a job at a women’s magazine for the advice columnist Henrietta Bird. Large and intimidating, the elderly Mrs. Bird brooks no complaints and does not accept any letters that involve "Unpleasantness." Her list of unacceptable topics is extensive, covering anything…
I don’t usually read short stories, but I couldn’t resist this collection because Curtis Sittenfeld is one of my favorite authors. The short story format was a good change for me, and I was surprised at how refreshing it was to be able to read in this way. Short stories are also a great format…
Big Angel is the patriarch of a sprawling Mexican-American family. He’s the one everyone looks up to, the one who sets the rules – kind of like the Godfather. However, he is dying of cancer and starting to look at the world a little differently. The House of Broken Angels takes place over two days…
I'm a sucker for a cozy mystery, especially one that involves food, books, and a little bit of magic. The Secret, Book and Scone Society fits that bill perfectly. In the small mountain town of Miracle Springs, North Carolina, people come from near and far to visit the local healing springs, stay at the luxury…
Sometimes we all need to move outside our comfort zones, and what better way to do that than through reading? Of course, the library is ready and willing to help! So this winter, we offered our patrons the Reading without Walls Challenge. It asked them to: Read about a character who doesn’t look like or…
Sometimes you read a book and it affects you so much that you just have to talk about it with someone. That’s how it is for me with Educated, and I’m lucky that one of my colleagues has also just read it and can’t stop talking about it either. We might be boring all the…
Some books stay with you long after you’ve finished reading them. An American Marriage was one of those books for me. I read it with a lump in my throat, feeling deeply for the characters, all of whom are African American and caught in an impossible situation. Here’s the plot: Celestial and Roy are relative…
Sometimes I end up reading books that are unexpectedly timely. Case in point: The Widows of Malabar Hill. I picked it up for the mystery, the exotic setting and the historical time period (India 1916-21), but I ended up really appreciating its relevance to current women's issues. Watching the Golden Globes on Sunday night, I was reminded of the strong, intelligent main…
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