Reading Ahead: June 2016, part 3

Now that the sun is finally back, it feels like it might be time to start thinking a little harder about books worthy of toting along with you to the beach or on vacation this summer. Here are a few titles that just might fit the bill.

Vinegar Girl, by Anne Tyler. In this modern retelling of Taming of the Shrew from Pulitzer Prize winner Tyler (Breathing Lessons), Kate feels stuck, between running the house for her eccentric scientist father and uppity younger sister and always being in trouble at work (her preschoolers adore her, but their parents tend to object to some of Kate's methods). Her father, Dr. Battista, is in a quandary of his own--his lab technician, Pyotr, is about to be deported. Unless, that is, he marries someone for his greencard. Someone like Kate? Tyler is among America's fiction elite for a reason, and this one sounds like an awful lot of fun, too.

Here’s To Us, by Elin Hilderbrand. Hilderbrand's name has become synonymous with summer, and here she does it again. Celebrity chef Deacon Thorpe has always been a force of nature with an insatiable appetite for life. But after that appetite contributes to Deacon's shocking death in his favorite place on earth, a ramshackle Nantucket summer cottage, his (messy, complicated) family is reeling. Now Deacon's three wives, his children, and his best friend gather on the island he loved to say farewell. The three very different women have long been bitter rivals, each wanting to claim the primary place in Deacon's life and his heart. But as they slowly let go of the resentments they've held onto for years and remember the good times, secrets are revealed, confidences are shared, and improbable bonds are formed as this unlikely family says goodbye to the man who brought them all together, for better or worse--and the women he loved find new ways to love again. Also available in Large Print.

The Cavendon Luck, by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Following previous installments Cavendon Hall (2014) and The Cavendon Women (2015), this epic saga of courage and honor continuesthe story of the aristocratic Inghams and the loyal Swann family who have served them for centuries. It is 1938 in England, and Miles and Cecily Ingham have lead the family in bringing the Cavendon estate back from the brink of disaster. But now, with the arrival of World War II, Cavendon Hall will face its biggest challenge yet. It is a challenge that will push the Inghams and Swanns to protect each other and the villagers, and reveal their true capacity for survival and rebirth.

Reading Ahead: June 2016, part 2

There are lots of different way to look at summer reads. Some like the lightest, easiest, fluffiest reads possible. And some take advantage of the longer days to scare themselves silly before darkness falls. If you fall into the latter category, here are some reads for you coming up next month. Fall into the former category? Stick with me--I've got suggestions for you coming next week.

Dishonorable Intentions, by Stuart Woods. Stone Barrington’s latest lady friend is full of surprises, both good and ill. A sensual woman with unexpected desires, Stone finds her revelations in the boudoir extremely agreeable. But on the other hand, she also has some unfinished business with a temperamental man who believes Stone is an intolerable obstacle in the way of his goals. In a cat-and-mouse game that trails from sun-drenched Bel-Air to a peaceful European estate and gorgeous Santa Fe, Stone and his friend remain just one step ahead of their opponent. But their pursuer is not a man who can stand to be thwarted, and tensions are mounting . . . and may soon reach the boiling point.

Ink and Bone, by Lisa Unger. Twenty-year-old Finley Montgomery is rarely alone.  Visited by people whom others can't see and haunted by prophetic dreams, she has never been able to control or understand the things that happen to her. When Finley's abilities start to become too strong for her to handle, she turns to the only person she knows who can help her: her grandmother Eloise Montgomery, a renowned psychic living in The Hollows, New York.

Merri Gleason is a woman at the end of her tether after a ten-month-long search for her missing daughter, Abbey.  With almost every hope exhausted, she resorts to hiring Jones Cooper, a detective who sometimes works with psychic Eloise Montgomery.  Merri's not a believer, but she's just desperate enough to go down that road, praying that she's not too late.  Time, she knows, is running out.

As a harsh white winter moves into The Hollows, Finley and Eloise are drawn into the investigation, which proves to have much more at stake than even the fate of a missing girl.

End of Watch, by Stephen King. Less scary than his usual fare, this third in King's Bill Hodges trilogy (after Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, both of which I really enjoyed) finds the diabolical “Mercedes Killer” driving his enemies to suicide, and if Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney don’t figure out a way to stop him, they’ll be victims themselves. In Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, something unspeakable has awakened. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the clinic for five years in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room. Definitely more thriller than horror, this will still keep you on the edge of your seat--I've got my copy reserved. Do you?

Reading Ahead: June 2016

Hardly a month goes by without a new novel from James Patterson--I keep track so you don't miss one! And if you need something else to read instead? I've got some suggestions for that, too!

The Games: A Private Novel, by James Patterson & Mark Sullivan. Originally this was slated to be titled Private Rio (in case you're checking our library catalog in the meantime--the title will be updated when our copies come in), and it's particularly timely as this year's Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janiero. Two years after the action nearly spilled from the field to the stands during soccer's championship match, Jack is back in Rio for the Olympics. But before the cauldron is even lit, the only thing more intense than the competition is the security risks. When prominent clients he's supposed to be protecting disappear, and bodies mysteriously start to litter the streets, Jack is drawn deep into the heart of a ruthless underworld populated by disaffected residents trying to crash the world's biggest party.

The House of Secrets, by Brad Meltzer. When Hazel Nash was six years old, her father taught her: mysteries need to be solved. He should know. Hazel's father is Jack Nash, the host of America's favorite conspiracy TV show, The House of Secrets. Even as a child, she loved hearing her dad's tall tales, especially the one about a leather book belonging to Benedict Arnold that was hidden in a corpse. Now, years later, Hazel wakes up in the hospital and remembers nothing, not even her own name. She's told she's been in a car accident that killed her father and injured her brother. But she can't remember any of it, because of her own traumatic brain injury. Then a man from the FBI shows up, asking questions about her dad-and about his connection to the corpse of a man found with an object stuffed into his chest: a priceless book that belonged to Benedict Arnold.

Tom Clancy Duty and Honor, by Grant Blackwood. Even though he’s on forced leave from the clandestine intelligence group known as The Campus, Jack Ryan, Jr., still finds himself caught in the crosshairs after an attempt on his life is thwarted when he turns the tables on his would-be dispatcher. Convinced that the attack is linked to his recent covert actions with the convalescing Iranian national Ysabel Kashini, Jack sets out to find out who wants him dead, and why.

Foreign Agent, by Brad Thor. Scot Harvath has exactly the skills the CIA is looking for. He’s a former U.S. Navy SEAL with extensive experience in espionage. Working for a private intelligence company, he will provide the CIA, and more important, the President, with absolute deniability. But deep within the Russian Caucasus, Moscow also has its own special kind of operative. As a child, Sacha Baseyev endured an unimaginable horror. Today, he lives and breathes for only one reason—to kill. And he will kill as many Americans as it takes to accomplish his mission. As the attacks mount, and terror is brought to the very doorstep of the White House, Harvath finds himself in the race of his life. From Vienna, Brussels, and Berlin, to Malta, Jordan, and Syria—he will push himself beyond the edge in order to confront one of the greatest evils the world has ever known.