ADULT FICTION
“Beach Read” by Emily Henry — “This will still sweep readers off their feet. January’s first-person narration is suitably poetic and effervescent, the small-town beach setting is charming, and the romance is achingly swoony.”—Booklist
“Epidemic” by J. P. Choquette — “Everett James, a reporter in New England, finds himself in the middle of the most important investigation of his life. When a deadly virus, H1N2, breaks out in the small town of St. Albans, Vermont, James takes the story. …Readers of Dan Brown and Robin Cook will enjoy this medical thriller set in small-town USA.” — Amazon.com
“Lost and Found Sisters” by Jill Shalvis — “Shalvis has crafted a wonderful summer read that will fit right in with beach blankets, flip-flops, and maybe a little moonshine.” — (Library Journal (starred review))
“Marry Me by Sundown” by Johann Lindsey — “New York Times bestselling author Johanna Lindsey takes you on a captivating adventure in 1880s Montana where passions and gold fever run high as an American heiress turns to a rugged mountain man to help her locate her father’s fortune.” — Publisher’s Annotation
“Never Say Never” by Lisa Wingatte — “A sudden shift in a hurricane’s course cancels senior citizen Donetta’s cruise at the last minute. Thrown together with a young woman named Kai, Donetta leads a group of evacuees back to Daily, Texas, where the charm of the town–and the high school coach–has Kai rethinking her drifter existence. Donetta, on the other hand, is contemplating moving on from her floundering marriage. As more people seek refuge in the small town, can they transition from merely surviving to truly thriving?” — Amazon.com
“Second Chance at Two Love Lane” by Kieran Kramer — “Readers who enjoy works by Nora Roberts and Luanne Rice will want to give Kramer a try.”―Library Journal
“The Grammarians” by Cathleen Schine — “Schine’s warmth and wisdom about how families work and don’t work are as reliable as her wry humor, and we often get both together . . . This impossibly endearing and clever novel sets off a depth charge of emotion and meaning.” ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“The Guest List” by Lucy Foley — “No one may have come to the island intending to murder, but this destination wedding spirals into mayhem when it’s slowly revealed that most everyone in attendance is capable of becoming a lusting-for-revenge killer.” — (Washington Post)
“The One Who Stays” by Toni Blake — “Toni Blake’s romances are so delicious, so intoxicating and addictive, a good night’s sleep isn’t even an option…no one does it like Toni Blake.” –New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr
“The Pull of the Stars: A Novel” by Emma Donoghue — “In doing a deep dive into the miseries and terrors of the past, Donoghue presciently anticipated the miseries and terrors of our present. . . . A deft, lyrical and sometimes even cheeky writer . . . she’s given us our first pandemic caregiver novel — an engrossing and inadvertently topical story about health care workers inside small rooms fighting to preserve life.”―Maureen Corrigan, NPR
“The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett — “Irresistible … an intergenerational epic of race and reinvention, love and inheritance, divisions made and crossed, binding trauma, and the ever-present past.” —Booklist, STARRED Review
ADULT MYSTERY
“A Dream to Die For” by Susan Z. Ritz — “A perplexing crime, a rural setting, a cast of quirky characters, and a reluctant amateur sleuth are staples of the cozy mystery genre, and everything comes alive at the tip of Ritz’s pen. Ritz keeps the tone light and amusing―there are powerful messages that ring through the story.” ―OnlineBookClub.org
“Whiskers in the Dark: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery” by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown — “…. Harry and her fellow volunteers are clearing away debris at the National Beagle Club in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains in order to make the grounds safe for a proposed hunt when they find retired Foreign Service officer Jason Holzknect with his throat slit. Another murder at the club ups the ante. Meanwhile, a woman’s skeleton dating to the 18th century and wearing a pearl necklace is discovered in the local cemetery. Flashbacks to the years after the Revolutionary War tell the story of the woman who wore the pearls, which parallels the circumstances that led to the present-day murders. In lieu of detecting, Harry feels and intuits. For series fans, atmosphere is what counts: walking the dogs, stroking the cats, listening to the birds in the meadows, mucking out the stables, all accompanied by the animals’ wise observations. Brown’s love of nature shines through. ” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2019.
ADULT BIOGRAPHY
“Never Caught: The Washington’s Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, One Judge” by Erica Armstron — “Totally engrossing and absolutely necessary for understanding the birth of the American Republic, Never Caught is richly human history from the vantage point of the enslaved fifth of the early American population. Here is Ona Judge’s (successful) quest for freedom, on one side, and, on the other, George and Martha Washington’s (vain) use of federal power to try to keep her enslaved.” — Nell Irvin Painter, author of Sojourner Truth, A Life, A Symbol
ADULT NON-FICTION
“After the Last Border: Two Stories and the Story of Refuge in America” by Jessica Goudeau — “It’s obvious that Goudeau was able to gain the two women’s trust…their histories emerge through alternating chapters broken up by excerpts that provide social and political background about American refugee resettlement from the nineteenth century to the present day. These profiles are sympathetic and ultimately profoundly moving.” —Booklist
“Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art” by James Nestor — “With his entertaining, eerily well-timed new book, James Nestor explains the science behind proper breathing and how we can transform our lungs and our lives. . . . The book is brisk and detailed, a well-written read that is always entertaining, as he melds the personal, the historical, and the scientific.” —The Boston Globe
“Homemade Yogurt & Kefir: 71 Recipes for Making & Using Probiotic-Rich Ferments” by Gianaclis Caldwell — “What sets this yogurt book apart is the global range of yogurts featured—from Russian Ryazhenka and Vietnamese Sữa Chua to Icelandic Skyr and Indian Mishti Doi. So many ways to transform my leftover milk! Caldwell also includes recipes for kefirs, cheeses, sweets, and many dairy-free options. With farmer profiles, bacterial charts and step-by step photos and illustrations, it’s a great primer for those new to fermented dairy, yet still has enough to challenge those whose yogurt making is already a weekly routine. ” — Blyth Meier, Porchlight Books
“In Praise of Paths: Walking through Time and Nature” by Torbjorn Ekelund — “What [Ekelund]’s addressing is the intention to walk one’s way to meaning: the walk as spiritual exercise, a kind of vision quest in which the answers we arrive at are less important than the impulse to seek them.”
—David Ulin, New York Times
“In Praise of Walking : A New Scientific Exploration” by S. M. O’Mara — “In Praise of Walking [is] a backstage tour of what happens in our brains while we perambulate. Walking makes us healthier, happier and brainier…[O’Mara] knows this not only through personal experience, but from cold, hard data.” — Amy Fleming, Guardian
“Making Comics” by Lynda Barry — “The activities, drawn from Barry’s own magical classroom, are fun, flexible, and easy to follow [while] the reality that art drives and sustains us, if we let it, is present on every page… An engaging combination of how-to and why-you-must, perfect for anyone with a story itching to be told.”―Library Journal, Starred Review
“The Fat Kitchen: How to Render, Cure & Cook with Lard, Tallow & Poultry Fat” by Andrea Chesman — “The Fat Kitchen could not be more timely. It’s a guide to preparing and using animal fats, indulgently or sparingly, in all sorts of delectable ways. Tempting recipes … open new horizons.” — New York Times
“Pollage: A Collaboration Between Friends” by Phyllis Rachel Larrabee — “This book of poems begins quietly, like a step into a still, familiar lake on a hot afternoon. There are poems about the seasons, Native Peoples, Judaism, politics and love. ” — Inside note
KIT
Dinosaur Kit
PICTURE BOOK
“Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes” by James Dean
JUVENILE FICTION
“The Secret Rescuers: The Baby Firebird” by Paula Harrison — “The series of simple, formulaic fantasy adventures about children who use “Speaking Stones” to talk to magical creatures continues with this third installment. In the Kingdom of Arramia, young potter Talia uses her new powers to save a flock of firebirds from the evil Lord Fortescue. Muddy grayscale illustrations place the trite story in a generic jungle setting.” — THE HORN BOOK, c2018.
“The Trials of Apollo” The Tyrant’s Tomb” by Rick Riordan — “In his penultimate adventure, a devastated but determined Apollo travels to Camp Jupiter, where he must learn what it is to be a hero, or die trying.” — Amazon.com
YOUNG ADULT
“Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi — “Readers who want to truly understand how deeply embedded racism is in the very fabric of the U.S., its history, and its systems will come away educated and enlightened. Worthy of inclusion in every home and in curricula and libraries everywhere. Impressive and much needed.”
―Kirkus Reviews, starred review