Mysteries with a Touch of Romance

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• Mysteries
• Romance

Bubbles Unbound
By Sarah Strohmeyer
MYSTERY STROHMEY
Against all odds, Bubbles Yablonsky has returned to school, but while on her way to journalism school, she happens upon a crime scene and finds herself drawn into a murder investigation.

Tithe
By Holly Black
SCIFI BLACK
Sixteen-year-old Kaye, who has been visited by faeries since childhood, discovers that she herself is a magical faerie creature with a special destiny.

What’s a Girl Gotta Do?
By Sparkle Hayter
MYSTERY HAYTER
quirky romantic suspenseful
While besieged by the inanities of everyday suburban existence, Robin Hudson finds her life further complicated by an accusation of murder, and she must put aside her job as cable television journalist to clear her name.

Naked in Death
By J. D. Robb
MYSTERY ROBB
Eve Dallas, a New York police lieutenant, is in over her head when she breaks the rules and falls in love with a suspect in her most recent case.

April Fool Dead
By Carolyn Hart
MYSTERY HART
Annie Darling, bookstore owner, works with her husband, Max, to unmask an interfering prankster who caused her clever book promotion to backfire, but her search is complicated by her unpredictable mother-in-law, a troubled friend, and a killer.

Woman without a Past
By Phyllis Whitney
MYSTERY WHITNEY
When mystery novelist Molly Hunt is stunned to learn that she is actually the daughter of the aristocratic Mountfort family, she travels to Charleston to unlock the secret of her past.

Fascinating Biographies and Memoirs

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• Fascinating true stories
• Biographies

Joan: The Mysterious Life of the Heretic Who Became a Saint
By Donald Spoto
BIOGRAPHY JOAN OF ARC
Spoto describes the life and character of Joan of Arc, a young woman who knew God had given her a mission. He details her early life and military career and sets the stage for a suspenseful day-by-day account of the final year of her life when she was brought to trial, convicted and executed.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
By Steve Martin
BIOGRAPHY MARTIN
Educated in the fine arts, Steve Martin spent decades perfecting his comedy routine. Barely eking out a living for the first 10 years of his comedic life, he was then hailed as the ‘funniest guy in the world.’ He’s made millions but has now has left his stand-up comedy and movie career behind.

Rowing Without Oars
By Ulla-Carin Lindquist
362.196 LIN
A late newscaster whose final years were marked by her struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease recounts her efforts to document and bring meaning to her life as a way of preparing herself and her family for her death.

Escape
By Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer
BIOGRAPHY JESSOP
A woman forced into a plural marriage as a teenager with a man thirty-two years her senior describes the years of psychological abuse she suffered, her decision to escape with her eight children, and her successful battle with the church over custody of her children.

Apples Are from Kazakhstan: The Land that Disappeared
By Christopher Robbins
915.845 ROB
Travel writer Christopher Robbins offers a look at the little-known country of Kazakhstan. He tells of the Soviet repression, the resources, and most importantly, the people who are working to rebuild their nation.

Fast-paced Suspense

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• Suspense
• Fast pace
• Well-developed characters
• Read-alikes for James Patterson or Harlen Coben

13 Steps Down
By Ruth Rendell
MYSTERY RENDELL
Elderly Gwendolyn Chawcer and her colorful group of friends become increasingly suspicious of her tenant, Michael "Mix" Cellini, an eccentric who idolizes serial killer Reggie Christie, as his odd behavior and obsessions take an ever darker turn.

Blind Justice
By William Bernhardt
F BERNHARD
Formerly a corporate lawyer, Ben Kincaid now works for himself defending the dregs of society, but he begins to see the justice system for what it really is when he defends a friend who has been framed for murder.

Everywhere that Mary Went
By Lisa Scottoline
F SCOTTOLI
While trying to become a partner in the cutthroat Philadelphia law firm where she works, Mary DiNunzio begins to receive threatening phone calls from a dangerous stalker.

A Share in Death
By Deborah Crombie
MYSTERY CROMBIE
Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Duncan Kincaid vacations incognito at a time-share house in the north of England but must assume his true identity once again when a new acquaintance is found murdered in the hotel whirlpool.

Supernatural Stories with Female Protagonists

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• Paranormal
• Fantasy
• Strong female characters
• Suspense

Vampire Kisses
By Ellen Schreiber
YA F SCHREIBE
Sixteen-year-old Raven, an outcast who always wears black and hopes to become a vampire some day, falls in love with the mysterious new boy in town, eager to find out if he can make her dreams come true.

Undead and Unwed
By MaryJanice Davidson
ROMANCE DAVIDSON
After being killed in a car accident, fashion savvy Betsy Taylor becomes one of the undead and, with the help of her newfound friends, the lure of designer shoes, and a sexy vampire, must destroy a dark enemy and fulfill her destiny as the prophesied vampire queen.

Elsewhere
By Gabrielle Zevine
YA F ZEVINE
After fifteen-year-old Liz Hall is hit by a taxi and killed, she finds herself in a place that is both like and unlike Earth, where she must adjust to her new status and figure out how to "live."

Sunshine
By Robin McKinley
F MCKINLEY
All hope for stopping the vampiric elite from controlling earth depends on human SOFs (Special Other Forces) and the success of their attempt to recruit Sunshine, the daughter of legendary sorcerer Onyx Blaise.

Blue Bloods
By Melissa De la Cruz
YA F DE LA CRUZ
Select teenagers from some of New York City's wealthiest and most socially prominent families learn a startling secret about their bloodlines.

Fallen
By Lauren Kate
YA F KATE
Suspected in the death of her boyfriend, seventeen-year-old Luce is sent to a Savannah, Georgia, reform school where she meets two intriguing boys and learns the truth about the strange shadows that have always haunted her.

Teen Fantasy

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• Teen books
• Fantasy

Abarat
By Clive Barker
YA F BARKER
Candy Quackenbush is growing up in Chickentown, Minnesota, yearning for more--which she finds, quite unexpectedly, when a man with eight heads appears from nowhere in the middle of the prairie, being chased by something really monstrous. And so begins Candy's epic adventure to the islands of the Abarat peopled by all manner of creatures, cultures, and customs.

Inkheart
By Cornelia Funke
YA F FUNKE
Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can “read” fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.

A Wrinkle in Time
By Madeleine Lengle
YAF L’ENGLE
One stormy night a strange visitor comes to the Murry house and beckons Meg, her brother, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin OKeefe on a most dangerous and fantastic journey.

Spindle’s End
By Robin McKinley
YA F MCKINLEY
The infant princess Briar Rose is cursed on her name day by Pernicia, an evil fairy, and then whisked away by a young fairy to be raised in a remote part of a magical country, unaware of her real identity and hidden from Pernicia’s vengeful powers.

Once Upon a Curse
By E.D. Baker
YA F BAKER
Esmerelda, who is both a princess and a powerful witch, must travel back in time to end a family curse or risk losing her true love, Prince Eadric, forever.

The Otherwordlies
By Jennifer Anne Kogler
YA F KOGLRE
Eccentric and unusual looking, twelve year-old Fern, secure in her family's love and acceptance, has always been able to cope with the taunts and social ostracism of her schoolmates until a series of unnerving events reveal that she possesses supernatural powers that she barely understands and must learn to control if she is to escape being the pawn of two ancient enemies.

Action Thrillers

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• Action
• Thrillers

The Last Heroes
By W. E. B. Griffin
F GRIFFIN
The World War II adventures of a group of OSS agents, the highlight of which is the abduction of a French engineer from Morocco. The man possesses knowledge vital to the construction of the atom bomb.

Map of Bones
By James Rollins
F ROLLINS
When several people are burned to death during the theft of a religious artifact, Gray Pierce, a new member of the U.S. SIGMA force, pursues a clandestine fraternity of alchemists who would use the artifact to establish a new world order.

Riptide
By Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
F PRESTON
Every expedition mounted to uncover $2 billion worth of pirate treasure off the coast of Maine has failed violently, and even modern technology will not protect the newest hunters from the evil secrets at the bottom of the ocean.

A Game for Heroes
By Jack Higgins
F HIGGINS
Intrepid British spy and soldier of fortune Owen Morgan leads a hard-nosed gang of commandos on a mission to destroy an island fortress of the Third Reich in the English Channel.

Sure Fire
By Higgins, Jack
F HIGGINS
Resentful of having to go and live with their estranged father after the death of their mother, fifteen-year-old twins, Rich and Jade, soon find they have more complicated problems when their father is kidnapped and their attempts to rescue him involve them in a dangerous international plot to control the world's oil.

Honor among Thieves
By Jeffrey Archer
F ARCHER
A suspense novel that blends elements of the political and social upheaval of the Middle East Mafia intrigues and the machinations of Saddam Hussein.

I’d know You Anywhere
By Laura Lippman
F LIPPMAN
Eliza Benedict’s peaceful suburban life is shattered after she is contacted by Walter Bowman, the man who kidnapped and held her hostage as a teen in 1985, and who now claims to want forgiveness while on death row.

Recent Romantic Stories

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• Romance
• Books published in the last 10 years

Daughter of the Forest
By Juliet Marillier
SCIFI MARILLIER
As the only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters, Sorcha grows up protected and pampered by her six older brothers. When a sorceress's evil magic transforms the brothers into swans, only Sorcha's efforts can break the curse.

Secret History of the Pink Carnation
By Lauren Willig
F WILLIG
Leaving Harvard to complete her dissertation on the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian in England, Eloise Kelly discovers information about the most elusive spy of all time, a figure who single-handedly saved England from Napoleon's invasion.

Breath of Snow and Ashes
By Diana Gabaldon
SCIFI GABALDON
In 1772, on the eve of the American Revolution, Jamie Fraser is asked by the governor to help protect the colonies for King and Crown, but, thanks to his time-traveling twentieth-century wife, Claire, Jamie is aware of the ultimate result of the rebellion.

Action-packed Adventures

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• Action
• Adventure

Bourne Identity
By Robert Ludlum
FICTION LUDLUM
A shooting victim, suffering from amnesia, finds himself with a Swiss bank account in the name of Jason Bourne, a professional assassin being manipulated by a top-secret American government organization to kill his arch rival, the dreaded Carlos.

Elantris
By Brandon Sanderson
SCIFI SANDERSO
Arriving in the kingdom of Arelon to enter into a marriage of state, princess Sarene discovers that her intended has died and that she is considered his widow, leaving her a lone force against the imperial ambitions of a religious fanatic.

Fool’s Errand
By Robin Hobb
SCIFI HOBB
FitzChivalry Farseer emerges from seclusion when Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, disappears, and as Fitz sets out to find the Prince before his betrothal ceremony, he is unexpectedly confronted with betrayal and intrigue at every turn.

The Eyre Affair
By Jasper Fforde
SCIFI FFORDE
In a world where one can literally get lost in literature, Thursday Next, a Special Operative in literary detection, tries to stop the world’s Third Most Wanted Criminal from kidnapping characters, including Jane Eyre, from works of literature.

Popular Teen Books

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• Teen books
• Clean reads
• Books published in the last 10 years

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow
By Jessica Day George
YA F GEORGE
Unnamed and rejected by her mother, a girl (known as the lass) jumps at the chance to leave her meager home after a great white bear offers her a deal: if she accompanies him to his ice palace for a year and a day, he will reward her and her family with wealth.

Enthusiasm
By Polly Shulman
YA F SHULMAN
Julie and Ashleigh, high school sophomores and Jane Austen fans, seem to fall for the same Mr. Darcy-like boy and struggle to hide their true feelings from one another while rehearsing for a school musical.

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You
By Ally Carter
YA F CARTER
As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.

My Fair Godmother
By Janette Rallison
YA F RALLISON
High school sophomore Savannah wants to find the perfect prom date after her boyfriend breaks up with her to date her older sister, but when a godmother who is only fair becomes involved, Savannah finds herself in trouble in the Middle Ages, along with a boy who would like to be her charming prince.

Countess below Stairs
By Eva Ibbotson
YA F IBBOTSON
After the Russian revolution turns her world topsy-turvy, Anna, a young Russian countess, has no choice but to flee to England. Penniless, Anna hides her aristocratic background and takes a job as servant in the household of the esteemed Westerholme family, armed only with an outdated housekeeping manual and sheer determination.

Fast-Paced Fiction

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• Fiction
• Fast pace
• Clean reads
• Straightforward style

Bidding for Love
By Katie Fforde
F FFORDE
When Flora Stanza’s uncle dies unexpectedly, leaving her a 51 percent share in the family antiques business, it gives her the perfect chance to leave her glamorous but less than happy London life for the quieter life of the country. Unfortunately, her cousin Charles and his fiancée Annabelle don’t seem pleased to find Flora and her very pregnant cat on their doorstep.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
By Dorothy Gilman
MYSTERY GILMAN
Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent. This time, a quick trip to Mexico City is on her agenda. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroiled in quite a hot Cold War--and her country's enemies find themselves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You
By Ally Carter
YA F CARTER
As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie is sheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillance mission.

Friendship Cake
By Lynne Hinton
F HINTON
When five women from the Hope Springs Community Church in North Carolina form a committee to create a church cookbook, they embark on a project much more meaningful than they could have ever imagined. As novice pastor Charlotte Stewart, no-nonsense Margaret Peele, maverick Louise Fisher, steadfast Jessie Jenkins, and busybody Beatrice Newgarden meet to share recipes, they begin to open their lives and hearts as well.