Really Good Historical Fiction

Try these books if you're looking for:

• really good historical fiction!

The Rose Garden 
Susanna Kearsley
ROMANCE KEARSLEY
When Eva Ward moves to an old house on the Cornish coast, she discovers hidden pathways, mysterious voices, and ghosts of the past.

All the Light We Cannot See 
Anthony Doerr
F DOERR
A blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Inspiring Biographies

Try these books if you're looking for:

• biography
• people who overcome exceptional circumstances

Heaven is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy
Stephanie Nielson
BIO NIELSON 2012
Details how the author survived a horrific plane crash that left her with third degree burns over eighty percent of her body and learned to embrace the power of love, motherhood, community, faith, and the simple joys of everyday life.

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated
Alison Arngrim
BIO ARNGRIM 2010
The actress who played the villain Nellie Oleson on the television show "Little House on the Prairie" shares her experiences on the show and discusses her life, from her bohemian childhood in West Hollywood to her recent charity work involving abused children and HIV awareness.

My Story
Elizabeth Smart
BIO SMART 2013
The daughter of a close-knit Mormon family, who was abducted, held captive, and repeatedly raped, recounts the constant fear she endured, her determination to maintain hope, her escape, and her transformation from victim to advocate.

The Answer to the Riddle is Me: A Memoir of Amnesia
David Stuart McLean
BIO MACLEAN 2014
In 2002, at age twenty-eight, David MacLean "woke up" in a foreign land with his memory wiped clean. No money. No passport. No identity. Taken to a mental hospital by the police, MacLean then started to hallucinate so severely he had to be tied down. Soon he could remember song lyrics and scenes from television shows, but not his family, his friends, or the woman he loved. All of these symptoms, it turned out, were the result of the commonly prescribed malarial medication he was taking.

Modern Psychology Reads

Try these books if you're looking for:

• psychology
• contemporary reads

Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking) 
Christian Rudder
155.28 RUD 2014
Rudder looks at how our online lives reveal who we really are, and how this new understanding will transform the science of human behavior.

The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves 
Stephen Grosz
150.195 GRO 2013
Psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz compiles more than 50,000 hours of conversation into pure psychological insight without the jargon. The various stories told show how the analyst learns as much about himself as the patient. Even as people lose themselves, the new understanding Grosz uncovers shows how we can also find ourselves.

Better than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives
Gretchen Craft Rubin
158.1 RUB 2015
Infused with her compelling voice and funny stories, Rubin illustrates the core principles of habit formation with dozens of strategies that she uses herself and tests out on others. Armed with self-knowledge, she shows us how we can pursue habits in ways that will truly work for us, not against us.

Fantasy with Strong Female Leads

Try these books if you're looking for:

• fantasy 
• strong female lead 

The Fairy Godmother 
Mercedes Lackey
SCI-FI Lackey Five Hun #1
A new Fairy Godmother tries to help three princes find the women of their dreams, while fending off an evil sorcerer who is determined to destroy her kingdom.

Poison Study 
Maria V. Snyder
SCI-FI Snyder Study #1
After she is given a reprieve from her death sentence, Yelena faces mounting disasters as rebels plot to seize Ixia, and the chief of security is attempting to poison her.

Troubled Waters 
Sharon Shinn
SCI-FI Shinn Elementa #1
Zoe Ardelay is a coru prime ruled by the elemental sign of water. As Zoe unlocks more of the mysteries of her blood, she must decide how to use her power to rise above the deceptions of the royal court.

City of a Thousand Dolls 
Miriam Forster
YA F FORSTER Bhinian #1
Nisha lives in the City of a Thousand Dolls, a remote estate where orphan girls in the Empire become apprentices as musicians, healers, and courtesans. When girls begin to die, Nisha uncovers the secrets that surround the deathers—jeopardizing not only her own future within the city, but her very life as well.