Brush Up on the Classics

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • classic books
  • great writing style
  • clean reads
The Magic of Ordinary Days 
By Ann Howard Creel
F CREEL
Olivia Dunne, a studious minister's daughter who dreams of becoming an archaeologist, never thought that the drama of World War II would affect her quiet life in Denver. But when an exhilarating flirtation reshapes her life, she finds herself in a rural Colorado outpost, married to a man she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by loneliness, Olivia tentatively tries to establish a new life, finding much needed friendship and solace in two Japanese American sisters who are living at a nearby internment camp. When Olivia unwittingly becomes an accomplice to a crime and is faced with betrayal, she finally confronts her own yearnings and comes to understand what she truly believes about the nature of trust and love.

Vanity Fair 
By William Makepeace Thackeray
F THACKERA
The rise and fall of Becky Sharp, an amoral beauty, who was determined to make a success of herself whatever the cost. 

The Black Tulip 
By Alexandre Dumas
F DUMAS
Cornelius von Baerle lives only to cultivate the elusive black tulip and win a magnificent prize for its creation. But when his powerful godfather is assassinated, the unwitting Cornelius becomes caught up in a deadly political intrigue. Falsely accused of high treason by a bitter rival, Cornelius is condemned to life in prison. His only comfort is Rosa, the jailer's beautiful daughter, who helps him concoct a plan to grow the black tulip in secret. As Robin Buss explains in his informative introduction, Dumas infuses his story with elements from the history of the Dutch Republic (including two brutal murders) and Holland's seventeenth-century "tulipmania" phenomenon.

Cold Sassy Tree 
By Olive Ann Burns
F BURNS
Grandpa Blakeslee marries a young milliner just three weeks after Granny Blakeslee has gone to her reward. Young Will is boggled by this act but becomes the newlyweds' conspirator and confidant; meanwhile he does some growing up on his own.

Thrilling Audiobooks

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • action/thriller stories
  • audiobooks
  • read like Jasper Fforde, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Brown, Dean Koontz
The Angel's Game 
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
BCD F RUIZ ZAFON
Offered a career-making writing deal from an enigmatic publisher in turbulent 1960s Barcelona, David Martin wonders about his capacity for writing a book for which the publisher claims others will live and die.

The Passage 
By Justin Cronin
BCD F CRONIN Passage #1
The latest test subject in a covert government experiment, abandoned six-year-old Amy is rescued by an FBI agent who hides them in the Oregon hills, from which Amy emerges a century later to save the human race from a terrifying virus.

Emotionally Resonant Titles

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • emotionally resonant titles
  • fiction or non-fiction (biography)
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban 
By Malala Yousafzai
BIO YOUSAFZA
When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday October 9, 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price.

Heaven Is Here 
By Stephanie Nielson
BIO NIELSON
A poignant and inspirational memoir that chronicles Stephanie Nielson's life before and after the horrific plane crash that changed her path forever.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight 
By Jennifer E. Smith
YAF SMITH
Hadley and Oliver fall in love on the flight from New York to London, but after a cinematic kiss they lose track of each other at the airport until fate brings them back together on a very momentous day.

Home Front 
By Kristen Hannah
F HANNAH
From a distance, Michael and Joleen Zarkades seem to have it all: a solid marriage, two exciting careers, and children they adore. But after twelve years together, the couple has lost their way; they are unhappy and edging toward divorce. Then the Iraq war starts.

Teen Beach Reads

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • fun plot and story
  • romantic comedy
  • teen reads
  • clean reads
  • reads like Shannon Hale and J.K. Rowling
Better Off Friends 
By Elizabeth Eulberg
YA F EULBERG
Maccallan and Levi are best friends from the first day they meet in seventh grade, but over the years their close friendship keeps interfering with their dating life because everyone else regards them as a couple. I think this may have been one of my favorite reads this year. I also really enjoyed her Prom & Prejudice, The Lonely Hearts Club and Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality.

The Chapel Wars 
By Lindsey Leavitt
YA F LEAVITT
Sixteen-year-old Holly’s grandfather leaves her his financially-strapped Las Vegas wedding chapel in his will, along with a letter asking her to reach out to Dax, the grandson of her family’s mortal enemy and owner of the chapel next door, who is both cute and distracting. I just started this one, but the writing is really good and I have had her other books (Princess for Hire; Sean Griswold’s Head) highly recommended to me.

One or Two Things I Learned About Love 
By Dyan Sheldon
YA F SHELDON
This one may have a little more to think about than the other books I’ve recommended, but I really enjoyed it. It was still light and fun and the writing was phenomenal. “Hildy has only had two-and-a-half dates in her whole life, and she isn’t counting the half. It’s starting to look as if she’s never going to have a third date, or be kissed, or know a boy who is more than just a friend. Then, on an ordinary day, she meets Connor of the melt-that-ice-cap smile – and a summer that was going to be ordinary toast turns into Hildy’s summer of love. But love for Hildy is more complicated than the songs and movies have led her to believe. It’s not so much girl-meets-boy-and-loses-her-heart as boy-meets-girl-and-loses-his-mind. Part cautionary tale and part romantic comedy, Dyan Sheldon’s wry, diary-style novel weighs in on all ends of the relationship scale in a story of first love.” --- Provided by publisher

Dealing with Dragons 
By Patricia C. Wrede
YA F WREDE Enchante #1
Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons’ kingdom. This is a favorite of mine – she really does some fun things with fairy tales and Cimorene is a hilariously-practical protagonist. Definitely read the second book (Searching for Dragons) to get more of the romantic comedy aspect of the series. I also really enjoy her Enchanted Chocolate Pot series (the first one is Sorcery and Cecilia) which she co-wrote with her cousin in letter format.

Real and Fictional Dystopias

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • dystopian literature
  • clean read
  • downloadable ebooks or audiobooks
Mystic City 
By Theo Lawrence
YA F LAWRENCE
In a Manhattan where the streets are under water and outcasts called mystics have paranormal powers, Aria Rose is engaged to Thomas Foster and the powerful Rose and Foster families--long time enemies--are uniting politically; the only trouble is that Aria can not remember ever meeting Thomas, much less falling in love with him. This title is also available as an eBook and downloadable audiobook.

Nothing to Envy 
By Barbara Demick
NF 951.9305 DEM 2010
In this real-life dystopia, Demick follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years, a chaotic period that saw the rise to power of Kim Jong Il and the devastation of a famine that killed one-fifth of the population, illustrating what it means to live under the most repressive totalitarian regime today. This title is also available as an eBook and book on CD.

Squeaky Clean and Contemporary

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • contemporary fiction
  • clean reads
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time 
By Mark Haddon
F HADDON
Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother.

Bee Season 
By Myla Goldberg
F GOLDBERG
Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos. Myla Goldberg's keen eye for detail brings Eliza's journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza's small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt. Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg's first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette 
By Maria Semple
F SEMPLE
When her notorious, hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled, and agoraphobic mother goes missing, teenage Bee begins a trip that takes her to the ends of the earth to find her.

To Battle! Books of War and Espionage

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • action
  • thrillers
  • fantasy
  • adventure
  • emphasis on war and espionage
  • smart characters 
  • realistic tactics
  • some lighthearted moments
Transfer of Power 
By Vince Flynn
F FLYNN Mitch_Ra #1
When a gang of terrorists seizes control of the White House, taking hostages, leaving many dead, and driving the president to a secret bunker, it is up to the CIA's top counterterrorism specialist, Mitch Rapp, to stop the insurrection.

Rules of Deception 
By Christopher Reich
F REICH Jonathan #1
Following the death of his wife in a mountaineering accident, Dr. Jonathan Ransom receives a mysterious message that makes him the subject of an international manhunt as he struggles to unravel the truth behind his wife's secrets.

Under Heaven 
By Guy Gavriel Kay
SCI-FI KAY
Shen Tai, son of an illustrious general, has spent two years honoring the memory of his late father by burying the bones of the dead from the site of one of his father's last great battles. In recognition of his labors, an unlikely source has sent him a dangerous gift: 250 Sardian horses. Two hundred and fifty is an unthinkable gift, a gift to overwhelm an emperor. A gift men would kill for.

For more espionage and action thrillers, you may want to try:
  • The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille 
  • At Risk by Stella Rimington 
  • The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins 
  • Semper Fi by W. E. B. Griffin 
  • Killing Floor by Lee Child 

For more epic fantasy novels with wars and interwoven plots, you may want to try:
  • Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (starting with The Eye of the World
  • The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss 
  • Sabriel by Garth Nix 

For lighter stories with smart characters, you may want to try:
  • The Naming by Alison Croggon 
  • Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown 
  • Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Hot Biographies

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • biographies
Cleopatra: A Life 
By Stacy Schiff
BIO CLEOPATR
Separates fact from fiction to reconstruct the life of the most influential woman of her era, revealing Cleopatra as a complex woman and shrewd monarch whose life and death reshaped the ancient world.

Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance 
By Barack Obama
BIO OBAMA
The son of an African father and white American mother discusses his childhood in Hawaii, his struggle to find his identity as an African American, and his life accomplishments.

Summer Thrills

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • action books
  • thrillers
Bourne Identity 
By Robert Ludlum
F LUDLUM Bourne #1
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.

Conspiracy of Paper 
By David Liss
F LISS
An outsider in eighteenth-century London, Jewish pugilist and hired thug Benjamin Weaver prowls the city's mean streets in the service of England's gentry tracking down debtors and thieves.

Long, Complex Books - and Make Them Downloadable

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • Longer stories
  • Complex plots
  • Mysteries and thrillers
  • Read like Kate Atkinson and Donna Tartt
  • Downloadable audiobook
The Dinner (eBook and downloadable audio)
By Herman Koch
F KOCH
Meeting at an Amsterdam restaurant for dinner, two couples move from small talk to the wrenching shared challenge of their teenage sons' act of violence that has triggered a police investigation and revealed the extent to which each family will go to protect those they love.

The Luminaries (eBook)
By Eleanor Catoon
MYSTERY CATTON
A bold neo-Victorian murder mystery set in a remote gold-mining frontier town in 19th-century New Zealand. In 1866, a weary Englishman lands in a gold-mining frontier town on the coast of New Zealand to make his fortune and forever leave behind his family's shame. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men who have met in secret to investigate what links three crimes that occurred on a single day, events in which each man finds himself implicated in some way.
Night Film (eBook and Downloadable Audiobook)
By Marisha Pessl
MYSTERY PESSL
When the daughter of a cult horror film director is found dead in an abandoned Manhattan warehouse, investigative journalist Scott McGrath, disbelieving the official suicide ruling, probes into the strange circumstances of the young woman's death.

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (eBook and Downloadable Audiobook)
By Anthony Marra
F MARRA
This book is set in rural Chechnya during the region's war with Russia. Though events shift in time, the main focus is a five-day period in 2004, when an eight-year-old girl witnesses her father's abduction by Russian soldiers. Swearing to protect the girl, local doctor Akhmed (whose true passion is portraiture), brings her to a crumbling hospital, run by a hardened but dedicated surgeon, for safety. 

The Golem and the Jinni (eBook and Downloadable Audiobook)
By Helene Wecker
F WECKER
After her creator dies en route to America, Chava, a golem from a Polish shtetl, must navigate the streets of 1899 New York City by herself -- her only ally is a rabbi unsure whether to destroy her, or allow her to fulfill her destiny as the harbinger of destruction. Ahmad, a jinni from Syria's deserts has been released from his thousand-year-old glass bottle by a tinsmith but has little intention of remaining a metalworker, despite his uncanny talent for it. Chava and Ahmad meet and discover that they're soul mates, but a dangerous adversary threatens their future. This vibrant blend of myth, adventure, and romance will enchant fans of stories based on folklore.

The Prisoner of Heaven (eBook)
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
F RUIZ ZAFON
In 1957 Barcelona, Daniel Sempere and his wife are celebrating Christmas with their new baby son when a mysterious stranger visits the Sempere bookshop and threatens to reveal a long-buried secret about the city's dark past.

State of Wonder (eBook)
By Ann Patchett
F PATCHETT
A researcher at a pharmaceutical company, Marina Singh journeys into the heart of the Amazonian delta to check on a field team that has been silent for two years--a dangerous assignment that forces Marina to confront the ghosts of her past.

Romance, Adventure, and Fairy Tales?

Try these books if you're looking for:
  • romance
  • adventure
  • historical fiction, particularly in the Regency era
The Fire Rose 
By Mercedes Lackey
SCI-FI LACKEY
Slightly disturbed that the only contact with her new employer is through a speaking tube, Rosalind soon finds joy in her assignment: to read wonderful literature to him.

Once Upon a Winter’s Night 
By Dennis L. McKiernan
SCI-FI MCKIERNA
Camille, the last daughter of a destitute farmer, gets the chance of a lifetime when Alain, prince of Summerwood (in the land of faery), asks her family for her hand in marriage.

Water Song
By Suzanne Weyn
YA F WEYN
Stranded in war-torn Belgium, Emma Pennington finds a wounded American soldier carrying vital information for the Allies and protects him from the Germans occupying her family estate.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel 
By Louise Murphy
F MURPHY
Set in Nazi-occupied Poland, two Jewish children seek refuge in a dense forest and wander the woods until being taken in by an eccentric old woman.

Spindle’s End 

By Robin McKinley
YA F MICKINLEY
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.