Kylie recommends: Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter
Genre: Romance
Reading level: Adult
Summary: Lifelong best friends say ‘I do’ to a marriage of convenience, trading vows for a financial safety net and benefits.
Kylie says: This book is perfect for fans of friends to lovers romance. If you liked Would You Rather by Allison Ashley this one is for you.
Audrey recommends: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger
Genre: Science fiction
Reading level: Adult
Summary: A futuristic folk tale about a man on a mythological quest across Lake Superior.
Audrey says: I loved reading Rainy’s enthusiastic first-person narration and its unique use of language, and meeting all the charming characters that inhabit this not-too-distant America. Enger’s writing fully inhabits a world that is familiar and yet unfamiliar, and maintains a folkloric quality that resembles an oral tradition tale like The Odyssey or Beowulf.
This title is available at Foster Public Library.
Cathy recommends: The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir (translated by Mary Robinette Kowal)
Genre: Psychological thriller
Reading level: Adult
Summary: One woman’s search for the cause of her chronic fatigue leads to answers she cannot accept.
Cathy says: The reader is brought in with concern for the protagonist’s common malady. One can’t help but follow, with increasing horror, her journey to the shocking conclusion.
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Audrey recommends: Positively 4th Street by David Hajdu
Genre: Nonfiction
Reading level: Adult
Summary: Hajdu expertly captures a brief window of the Folk Revival movement between 1960-1966.
Audrey says: I couldn’t put this book down. Hajdu writes nonfiction like a novel, turning the lives of Richard Fariña, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Mimi Baez into a compelling narrative. He can take you into the infinitesimal interpersonal drama among these creative personalities, and then zoom out to show the nationwide shift from rock n’ roll teenyboppers to folk revival hippies. He uses suspense and foreshadowing brilliantly, keeping the story engaging even if we know how it ends. Most of all, Hajdu treats his subjects as people. He neither excuses their behavior nor condemns them for it. They lie, they take credit for others’ work, they chase partners who are too young for them, they let their egos get in the way of their relationships, but moreover, they are human.
Check it out before the new Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, comes out in December!
This title is available at Foster Public Library or via the eZone as an ebook or audiobook.
Cathy recommends: The Spectacular by Fiona Davis
Genre: Historical fiction
Reading level: Adult
Summary: A thrilling story about the dreams and drive of one woman’s journey in the mid to late 1900s.
Cathy says: I chose this book because I know of one Foster native who became a Rockette, plus I’m always up for a good story. It’s interesting seeing the changing mores of family life during those years, as well as the grueling life of a dance performer. The author opens up the dancer’s life through back and forth visits from 1956 and present day (1992). It has a most satisfying ending.
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Cathy recommends: Home Front by Kristin Hannah
Genre: Fiction
Reading level: Adult
Summary: One family’s journey to peace when the soldier mom goes to war.
Cathy says: Kristin Hannah knows how to wring her readers dry of tears! Each member of this family must deal with the mom’s life as a Black Hawk pilot deployed to a war zone. The characters are strong; from the excitable 4 year old daughter to the calming ever helpful mother-in-law. The joy of a best friend, the peer pressures experienced by an adolescent, as well as marital difficulties are addressed in this book as well. An emotional ride.
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Chris recommends: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Genre: Historical fiction
Reading level: Adult
Summary: The Roosevelts put people out of work by preserving land instead of using it for lumber. A farmer decides to build a Swiss chalet, which becomes a summer camp for rich children. At this camp, the son and daughter of one of the most influential families in the area go missing. This novel combines family secrets with forgotten history.
Cathy recommends: The Love of my Life by Rosie Walsh
Genre: Fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Summary: Well-meaning omissions of the truth will explode at the worst possible times.
Cathy says: It’s a thriller; it’s a mystery which is unravelling one page and one shock after another. This book truly changed and morphed with every revealed factoid. There was never a hint, never foreshadowing, never following to a logical conclusion. This reader could not put it down!
This title is available at Tyler Free Library.
Chris recommends: How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Reading level: Adult
Summary: Three people who are tied to the same drunk-driving accident accidentally meet up at a Portland book shop, and their lives intersect in transformative ways.
This title is available at Foster Public Library.
Anonymous recommends: I Never Said I Love You by Sarah Magee
Genre: Literary fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Summary: A thought provoking exploration of life’s choices.
Anonymous says: Incredibly rich writing, beautiful storytelling, and a book that left me with big questions about life and love.
