Uplifting Reads

Try these books if you're looking for:
•    Inspiring stories
•    Uplifting information
•    History
•    Feel-good reads
•    Nonfiction or Fiction

Malcolm Gladwell
302 GLA 2008
Identifies the qualities of successful people, posing theories about the cultural, family, and idiosyncratic factors that shape high achievers, in a resource that covers such topics as the secrets of software billionaires and why the Beatles earned their fame.

Daniel Brown
797.123 BRO 2013
Daniel James Brown’s robust book tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans.

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.

Sue Monk Kidd
Fiction KIDD
Traces more than three decades in the lives of a wealthy Charleston debutante who longs to break free from the strictures of her household and pursue a meaningful life; and the urban slave, Handful, who is placed in her charge as a child before finding courage and a sense of self.

Gretchen Rubin
158 RUB 2009
A thoughtful and prescriptive work on happiness filled with practical advice, sharp insight, charm, and humor.

Jerome E. Groopman
616.0019 GRO 2004
Explores the diverse ways in which hope and other positive emotions influence the healing process, drawing on real-life experiences to analyze the biology of hope, as well as its benefits and limits.

Children's Fantasy and Adventure

Try these books if you're looking for:
•    Fantasy
•    Adventure
•    Mystery
•    Mythical creatures and abnormal worlds
•    Suspense
•    Children’s fiction

Paul Durham
JF DURHAM Luck Ug #1
Eleven-year-old Rye O'Chanter and her two friends delve into the secret lore of their village when mysterious creatures of legend reappear on the night of the Black Moon, leading them to the notorious secret society, the Luck Uglies.

Jasper Fforde
JF FFORDE Kazam #1
Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange runs an agency for underemployed magicians in a world where magic is fading away, but when visions of the death of the world's last dragon begin, all signs point to Jennifer--and Big Magic.

Jaleigh Johnson
JF JOHNSON
Since her father's death in a factory in the Dragonfly territories, thirteen-year-old Piper has eked out a living as a scrapper in Merrow Kingdom, but the arrival of a mysterious girl sends her on a dangerous journey to distant lands.

Kat Falls
JF FALLS Dark Lif #1
When fifteen-year-old Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl, Gemma, in the frontier's underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the government may pose an even greater threat.


John Christopher
JF CHRISTOPH Tripods #1
When fifteen-year-old Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl, Gemma, in the frontier's underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the government may pose an even greater threat.

Teen Adventure and Romance with a Female Protagonist

Try these books if you’re looking for:

•    Young adult fiction
•    Teen female protagonists
•    Adventure
•    Romance

Grave Mercy
Robin LaFevers
YA F LAFEVERS His Fair #1
In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Brittany, seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where she learns that the god of Death has blessed her with dangerous gifts--and a violent destiny.

The Winner’s Curse
Marie Rutkoski
YA F RUTKOSKI Winner’s #1
An aristocratic girl who is a member of a warmongering and enslaving empire purchases a slave, an act that sets in motion a rebellion that might overthrow her world as well as her heart.

We Were Liars
E. Lockhart
YA F LOCKHART
Spending the summers on her family's private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy named Gat, teenaged Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer. This brilliant and heartbreaking novel is full of love, lies, secrets, no shortage of family dysfunction, and a shocking twist that you won’t see coming.

Delirium
Lauren Oliver
YA F OLIVER Delirium #1
Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, she falls in love.

The Kiss of Deception
Mary Pearson
YA F PEARSON Remnant #1
On the morning of her wedding, Princess Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive--and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets--even as she finds herself falling in love.