Clean Historical Fiction

Try these books if you're looking for:

• historical fiction
• clean
• adventurous
• available on CD

A Long Way from Chicago 
By Richard Peck
YA F PECK
A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 
By Christopher Paul Curtis
YA F CURTIS
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond 
By Elizabeth George Speare
YA F Speare
A young woman brought up in Barbados comes to live with her uncle in Connecticut, and finds their Puritan way of life difficult after her unconventional upbringing.





Books not available on Book on CD 

Boston Jane
By Jennifer L. Holm
YA F HOLM
Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of Philadelphia finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the Pacific Northwest and while living among the American traders and Chinook Indians of Washington Territory.

The Shakespeare Stealer 
By Gary L. Blackwood
YA F BLACKWOO Shakespe #1
A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet," but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty.

Action, Romance & Adventure Books

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action
• romance
• adventure

The Secret Adversary 
By Agatha Christie
MYSTERY CHRISTIE Tommy #1
Set in 1919, young couple Tommy Beresford and Tuppence Cowley form a partnership, hiring themselves out as "young adventurers". Their first case, however, is more of an adventure than they expect - working to find documents that, if they were known to the general public, would fuel a communist revolution in Britain. Undercover agents Tommy and Tuppence know that Jane Finn was carrying top secret documents when she disappeared five years ago. What they don't know is that a killer is targeting a sinister older woman because she knows all about Jane. Soon Tommy and Tuppence are in grave danger. Other fun and thrilling titles by Christie include The Pale Horse, The Seven Dials Mystery, and And Then There Were None.

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice: Or, On the Segregation of the Queen 
By Laurie R. King
MYSTERY KING Mary Rus #1
When Mary Russell meets famous detective Sherlock Holmes, she discovers that he is also a beekeeper. Soon she finds herself on the trail of kidnappers and discovers a plot to kill both Holmes and herself.

The Cater Street Hangman 
By Anne Perry
MYSTERY PERRY Charlott #1
Careless of both murder and manners, two determinedly unconventional young sisters ignore Victorian mores and actively join the police investigation into the murder of their servant girl.

The Crocodile on the Sandbank 
By Elizabeth Peters
MYSTERY PETERS Amelia #1
After her father's death, thirty-two-year-old Amelia Peabody eschews the role of Victorian spinster and travels to Egypt, where mysterious intruders, boorish archaeologists, and a disappearing two-thousand-year-old mummy test her sanity and independence.

Thick as Thieves 
By Peter Spiegelman
MYSTERY SPIEGELM
Reluctantly heading a lucrative heist involving diamonds, money laundering, and extortion, former CIA agent Carr worries about the recent death of the con group's former leader, inaccuracies in their bought intelligence, and his lover's personal agenda.

Escapist Fantasy Novels

Try these books if you're looking for:

• escapist fantasy novels

The Darkest Night 
By Gena Showalter
ROMANCE SHOWALTE Lords #1
To silence the voices in her head, Ashlyn Darrow arrives in Budapest where she, seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, is drawn to their most dangerous member, Maddox, who is trapped in a hell of his own. 

Guilty Pleasures 
By Laurel K. Hamilton
F HAMILTON Anita Bl #1
When innocent vampires are found murdered, the city's most powerful vampire hires Anita Blake, a vampire hunter known as "The Executioner," to investigate the crimes.

Dark Lover 
By J.R. Ward
ROMANCE WARD Black Da #1
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed - leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate - Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead - a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

One Bite with a Stranger 
By Christine Warren
ROMANCE WARREN Others #1
When Regina's friends insist on setting her up a "Fantasy Fix" to help her get over her cheating ex, Dmitri Vidame may be just what she wished for ... until she discovers her sexy new lover's bloodsucking secret.

YA Fiction with Fantasy, Romance, and Mythical Creatures

Try these books if you're looking for:

• YA fiction
• fantasy
• romance
• mythical creatures

Shadow and Bone 
By Leigh Bardugo
YA F BARDUGO
Orphaned by the Border Wars, Alina Starkov is taken from obscurity and her only friend, Mal, to become the protégé of the mysterious Darkling, who trains her to join the magical elite in the belief that she is the Sun Summoner, who can destroy the monsters of the Fold.

Dragon Slippers 
By Jessica Day George
YA F GEORGE Dragon #1
Orphaned after a fever epidemic, Creel befriends a dragon and unknowingly inherits an object that can either save or destroy her kingdom.

Shadowfell 
By Juliet Marillier
YA F MARILLIE
Fifteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured, but when she sets out for Shadowfell, a training ground for a rebel group, she meets a mysterious soldier and the Good Folk, who tell her that she, alone, can save Alban.

The Alchemyst: The Immortal Nicholas Flamel 
By Michael Scott
YA F SCOTT Secrets #1
Having discovered the secret to eternal youth, 14th-century alchemist Nicholas Flamel and his wife are alive and well in present-day San Francisco, California. But they won't stay well if 15-year-old twins Sophie and Josh Newman don't fulfill their prophesied role of either saving or destroying the world, starting by getting back an ancient text stolen from Flamel's bookstore. -- Description by Ellen Foreman.

Clockwork Angel 
By Cassandra Clare
YA F CLARE Infernal #1
When sixteen-year-old orphan Tessa Fell's older brother suddenly vanishes, her search for him leads her into Victorian-era London's dangerous supernatural underworld, and when she discovers that she herself is a Downworlder, she must learn to trust the demon-killing Shadowhunters if she ever wants to learn to control her powers and find her brother.

Thrilling YA Fiction Set in the US

Try these books if you're looking for:

• YA fiction
• thrilling
• set in the United States

Divergent 
By Veronica Ruth
YA F ROTH Divergen #1
In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

The Testing 
By Joelle Charbonneau
YA F CHARBONN
At the Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes), Sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale is chosen to participate in The Testing to attend the University; however, Cia is fearful when she figures out her friends who do not pass The Testing are disappearing.

Unwind 
By Neal Shusterman
YA F SHUSTERM Unwind #1
In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, Connor Lassiter runs away from his suburban Ohio home to stand up for his beliefs and save his own life.

Little Brother 
By Cory Doctorow
YA F DOCTOROW
After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right.

Birthmarked 
By Caragh O’Brien
YA F O’BRIEN Birthmar #1
When her midwife mother is forcibly taken away by the very people she serves, sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone starts to question the role of the Enclave, a walled community built on the dried-up beds of the Great Lakes, and whether it deserves the loyalty her family has so faithfully given.

Fantasy with Little Violence

Try these books if you're looking for:

• fantasy
• world building
• little/no violence

Insignia
By S.J. Kincaid
YA F KINCAID
Tom, a fourteen-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military to begin training at the Pentagon Spire as a Combatant in World War III, controlling the mechanized drones that do the actual fighting off-planet.

Mistborn
By Brandon Sanderson
SCI FI SANDERSO Mistborn #1
Experiencing an epiphany within the most daunting prison of the monstrous Lord Ruler, half-Skaa Kelsier finds himself taking on the powers of a Mistborn, and teams up with ragged orphan Vin in a desperate plot to save their world. This fantasy builds an exciting new world.

Airborn 
By Kenneth Oppel
YA F OPPEL Airborn #1
Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface. The book has strong characters in a fantasy world.

Mysteries with Romance and Humor

Try these books if you're looking for:

• mystery
• romance
• humor
• similar to Stieg Larsson and James Patterson

Maybe This Time 
By Jennifer Crusie
ROMANCE CRUSIE
Andie's ex-husband, asks her to become the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already--and live in a haunted house! What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-in-law, and, of course, her jealous fiance.

The Hypnotist 
By Lars Kepler
MYSTERY KEPLER Detectiv #1
Captivated by a triple homicide, Detective Inspector Joona Linna investigates the murder of a family as he searches for the oldest daughter who escaped the carnage but is reported missing. The only surviving witness is the intended victim -- the boy who watched his family be murdered after being stabbed over one hundred times. He is in no condition to be questioned and desperate for information, Linna enlists Dr. Erik Barks to hypnotize the boy so he can discover what he saw.

Gone Girl
By Gillian Flynn
MYSTERY FLYNN
When a woman goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, her diary reveals hidden turmoil in her marriage, while her husband, desperate to clear himself of suspicion, realizes that something more disturbing than murder may have occurred.

Before I Go to Sleep 
By S.J. Watson
FICTION WATSON
Without her husband's knowledge, Christine, whose memory is damaged by a long-ago accident, is treated by a neurologist who helps her to remember her former self through journal entries until inconsistencies begin to emerge, raising disturbing questions.

The Expats 
By Chris Pavone
FICTION PAVONE
An international spy thriller about a former CIA agent who moves with her family to Luxembourg where everything is suspicious and nothing is as it seems.

Adult Adventure

Try these books if you're looking for:

• adventure stories with good pace
• good characters
• action
• clean
• available as ebooks or downloadable audiobooks

Seraphina 
By Rachel Hartman
YA F HARTMAN
In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents. This title is available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Legend 
By Marie Lu
YA F LU
In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy. This title is available as a downloadable audiobook from Overdrive.

Devil in the White City 
By Erik Larson
364.1523 LAR 2004
An account of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 relates the stories of two men who shaped the history of the event--architect Daniel H. Burnham, who coordinated its construction, and serial killer Herman Mudgett. This title is available as an eBook and downloadable audiobook on Overdrive.

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie 
By Alan Bradley
MYST BRADLEY Flavia #1
Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is propelled into a mystery when a man is found murdered on the grounds of her family's decaying English mansion and Flavia's father becomes the main suspect. This title is available as an eBook and downloadable audiobook on Overdrive.

Cinder 
By Marissa Meyer
YA F MEYER Lunar #1
As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth, observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world in this futuristic take on the Cinderella story. This title is available as a downloadable audiobook from Overdrive.

Character-driven Chick Lit

Try these books if you're looking for:

• chick lit
• focused on characters and relationships
• female protagonist between 20 and 40 years old
• published in the last 10 years

Take a Chance on Me 
By Jill Mansell
F MANSELL
Things are looking up for Cleo in the Mr. Right department… apart from one small problem with a rather large ego—Johnny LaVenture, sculptor extraordinaire and her personal childhood nemesis.

Twenties Girl 
By Sophie Kinsella
F KINSELLA
Entreated by the bossy ghost of her great aunt to track down a missing necklace, Lara finds her search challenged by her floundering start-up business, her best friend's defection, and her unfaithful boyfriend.

Austenland 
By Shannon Hale
F HALE
Because her obsession with Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice," is ruining her love life, Jane Hayes is delighted when she gets the chance to take a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women.

The Next Best Thing 
By Jennifer Weiner
F WEINER
Believing she is realizing her dreams when her sitcom is bought, television writer Ruth Saunders finds her happiness threatened by demanding actors and executives as well as an unrequited crush on her boss and her septuagenarian grandmother’s upcoming wedding.

Something Borrowed 
By Emily Giffin
F GIFFIN
After a night of indiscriminate partying, Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan, sleeps with a close friend's fiancé and is consumed with guilt, until the intensity of her feelings forces her to make a difficult choice.

Short, clean romantic classics

Try these books if you're looking for:

• classics
• clean
• short
• romantic

The Warden
By Anthony Trollope
F TROLLOPE
John Bold is an attorney trying to make a name for himself by reforming church finances during Victorian England; the only problem is that he is in love with the clergyman’s daughter that his reform will affect.

Anne of Green Gables 
By L. M. Montgomery
YA F MONTGOME
Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her. (The romance starts later on the series.) 

Persuasion 
By Jane Austen
F AUSTEN
The romance between Captain Wentworth and Anne, the daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, seems doomed because of the young man's family connections and lack of wealth. 

Longer classics that you might also be interested in:

Little Women 
By Louisa May Alcott
YA F ALCOTT
Chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters as they grow into young women in nineteenth-century New England. 

Rebecca 
By Daphne Du Maurier
F DUMAURIE
A classic novel of romantic suspense finds the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter entering the home of her mysterious and enigmatic new husband and learning the story of the house's first mistress, to whom the sinister housekeeper is unnaturally devoted.

Fantasy Books

Try these books if you're looking for:

• fantasy

Peter and the Starcatchers 
By Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
YA F BARRY
In this terrific story—a “prequel” to Peter Pan—Peter is an orphan who sails from England on the ship Never Land. On board he meets Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitants of a remote island. A fast, fun read.

Leviathan 
By Scott Westerfeld
YA F WESTERFE
In this steampunk alternate history World War I is on the horizon, Deryn Sharp is a girl who is masquerading as a boy in order to join the British Air Service, and Alek is a Prince’s son in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Fate brings them together on Leviathan, the British fleet’s largest airship. Leviathan is a genetically-engineered whale that is an airship, in fact, most of the weaponry and equipment used by the British are wondrous genetically-engineered animals which are employed to combat the German’s steam-powered machines.

The Lost Hero
By Rick Riordan
YA F RIORDAN Heroes #1
Jason, Piper, and Leo, three students from a school for "bad kids," find themselves at Camp Half-Blood, where they learn that they are demigods and begin a quest to free Hera, who has been imprisoned by Mother Earth herself.

The Once and Future King 
By T. H. White
SCI-FI WHITE
This is one of the finest versions of the Arthurian tales ever crafted. The Once and Future King is Arthur, who as the unknown “Wart” pulled the sword from the stone and became the King of England, drew unto himself the finest knights who sat at the famous round table.