Adult Summer Reading

We've finished the first week of reading in the Summer Reading Program. 47 readers read 113 books!

Book Reviews by participants, day 2:

Defining Child Abuse by Jeane Giovannoni: This book is great if you've lost a child due to child abuse.

Ticket to RIde by Ed Gorman: Murder mystery set in the 1960's, with all the movements going on - I enjoyed it.

Natural Laws of Good Luck by Ellen Graf: Very Funny!

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah: It was an excellent beach read. I had a hard time putting it down, recommend to anyone!

Shakespeare's Christmas by Charlaine Harris: Entertaining read, strong female lead.

A Year of Cats and Dogs by Margaret Hawkins: Makes me wish I could communicate with animals!

Karma with a Vengeance by Tash Hawthorne: Woman avenges death of her mom.

Daughters of the King by Gail Hayes: What an awesome book! How to find victory in Jesus with your God-given abilities through your own natural style.

All things bright and beautiful by James Herriot: Another great book from James Herriot. Full of jy, grief, love, and life with all the lessons it brings.

Private Life of Spiders by Paul Hillyard: Interesting different species.

Hawke's harbor by S. E. Hinton: As a young adult I used to read S. E. Hinton's books. I loved them all, but I must say this is not that type of book. I must tell you if you want to read S. E. Hinton, read her old books.

Cranford By Elizabeth C. Gaskell, C. Gaskell 2007-11 - Book Jungle 9781604245318 Check Our Catalog Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell was a Victorian novelist and short story writer. She wrote about the lives of the very poor and those people who had a love of literature. In 1851 Cranford was published in serial form in a magazine called Household Words edited by Charles Dickens. The setting is a fictional town called Cranford where Mary Smith and her friends are introduced through a series of episodes. The most significant event is the return of a beloved brother. …More

Ambrose Bierce By Bierce, Ambrose Author Joshi, S. T. Illustrator Coulthart, John 2003-06 - Eureka Productions 0971246467 Check Our Catalog This volume is the sixth in a series of books which present great literature in comics and heavily illustrated formats, by some of the best artists working today in the fields of comics, book illustration, and fine arts. The book includes war stories, horror, satire, and comedy. Featured are "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," "The Devil's Dictionary," and "Bierce's Fables." …More

I'm in No Mood for Love By Gibson, Rachel 2006-10 - Avon Books 9780060773175 Check Our Catalog "New York Times" Extended bestseller list and RITA( Award-winning author Gibson serves up more of her popular take on modern day love--a slightly cynical and always hilarious heartfelt look at romance. Original. …More

Tangled Up in You By Gibson, Rachel 2007-08 - Avon Books 9780061178030 Check Our Catalog Maddie Dupree is in Truly, Idaho, determined to uncover the untold story about the towns sordid past--her past. Now back at the scene where a scandal occurred--a local establishment owned by the Hennessys--Maddie isnt going to let black-haired, blue-eyed Mick Hennessy stand in her way. Original. …More

Memoirs of a Geisha By Golden, Arthur 1997-01 - Random House Large Print Publishing 9780739326220 Check Our Catalog This literary tour de force follows the life of Sayuri, one of Japan's most celebrated geisha, a woman who is both performer and courtesan, slave and goddess. The story begins when Sayuri is sold to a representative of a geisha house, who is drawn by the child's unusual blue-grey eyes. …More

Ticket to Ride By Gorman, Ed 2009-12 - Pegasus Books 9781605980706 Check Our Catalog Sam McCain, a small-town detective, must solve the murder of two old friends, in this mystery set against the backdrop of the 1960s and America's cultural revolution. …More

The Natural Laws of Good Luck: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage By Graf, Ellen 2009-08 - Trumpeter 9781590306918 Check Our Catalog Graf tells the quirky and funny story of how she marries a man from China whom she barely knows. "The Natural Laws of Good Luck" is a story of acceptance and of love beyond words. It is also a tale of finding renewal at midlife by taking a brave leap into the unknown. …More

Magic Hour By Hannah, Kristin 2006-02 - Ballantine Books 9780345467522 Check Our Catalog Forced to give up her California practice, Julia Cates, fears she will never again do the work that truly makes her happy: healing hearts of troubled young children. But then a young mute girl is found abandoned and scaredin Rain Valley. If Julia's prestigious skills were ever desperately needed, this was the time. She calls the enchanting young girl, Alice. Through their work together, they establish a tender trusting bond. When Dr. Max Cerasin bcomes involved in Alice's case, Julia is drawn to the handsome, talented physician yet wary of his mysterious past. When Alice's hopeful future is threatened, they must fight for the young girl who taught them to tr …More

Shakespeare's Christmas By Harris, Charlaine 1998-10 - Minotaur Books 9780312193300 Check Our Catalog Charlaine Harris's unique spin on the traditional 'cozy has garnered high praise and dedicated fans for her first two books set in Shakespeare, Arkansas. Harris has added a touch of noir to this typical charming Southern town and given a dark past to her heroine, cleaning woman and karate expert Lily Bard. The series debut, Shakespeare's Landlord, was named one of the top ten mysteries of 1996 by Mostly Murder, and Seventeen said of Shakespeare's Champion",We love the heroine of this compelling mystery.... Lily is too cool". In Shakespeare's Christmas, Lily goes home -- always an uncomfortable scenario for the introverted Lily -- for her sister's Christmas wedding. A four-year-old unsolved kidnapping resurfaces to push Lily to act once again as amateur sleuth to protect her sister -- whose new husband is the widowed father of a girl bearing a remarkable resemblance to the vanished child. …More

Shakespeare's Counselor By Harris, Charlaine 2001-11 - Minotaur Books 9780312277628 Check Our Catalog When cleaning woman and karate expert Lily Bard attends a weekly group therapy session, she has no idea that murder is on the agenda. …More

Merry, Merry Ghost By Hart, Carolyn 2009-11 - William Morrow & Company 9780060874377 Check Our Catalog The second book in Hart's new series stars the irrepressible ghost, Bailey Ruth. …More

House of Secrets By Hawke, Richard 2010-05 - Random House 9781400066087 Check Our Catalog From the rarefied halls of Washington to the briny boardwalks of Brighton Beach, Hawke pulls back the curtain in this pulse-pounding thriller to reveal what is taking place inside the hearts and minds of the powerful people we read about every day in the news. …More

A Year of Cats and Dogs By Hawkins, Margaret 2009-10 - Permanent Press 9781579621896 Check Our Catalog What happens when nothing happens? Maryanne wonders in A Year of Cats and Dogs, a darkly funny yet hopeful novel about a woman in midlife who feels surrounded by death. She answers her own question by deciding to find out. …More

Daughters of the King: Finding Victory Through Your God-Given Personal Style By Hayes, Gail M. 2005-05 - Walk Worthy Press 9780446694643 Check Our Catalog Celebrating the individual style and beauty of African-American Christian women, Dr. Hayes helps them to get beyond their "identity crisis" in a fun and empowering way. …More

All Things Bright and Beautiful By Herriot, James 1984-09 - Bantam Books 9780553269703 Check Our Catalog …More

All Creatures Great and Small By Herriot, James 1985-03 - Bantam Books 9780553268126 Check Our Catalog Here is the heartwarming true story of Dr. James Herriot, an English country veterinarian, whose humor and natural storytelling ability have captured the hearts of American readers in a very special way. \Warm …More

Blood Dreams By Hooper, Kay 2007-12 - Bantam 9780553804843 Check Our Catalog From the bestselling author of Sleeping with Fear comes this thriller in her new Blood trilogy. Coupling superb action with the intrigue of agents employing paranormal abilities to solve crimes, Hooper is at her most suspenseful. …More

Hunting Fear By Hooper, Kay 2004-10 - Thorndike Press 9780786262694 Check Our Catalog <>A New York Times Bestselling Author< /b><>In the first book of her "Fear" trilogy, Kay Hooper pulls readers into the depths of absolute terror with a chilling thriller that pits two natural adversaries against each other in the ultimate game of cat and mouse. One is a merciless human predator who strikes again and again, collecting ransom, getting away safely - and leaving his hostages dead. The other is Lucas Jordan, a psychic profiler in the Special Crimes Unit whose specialty is nothing le than . . . hunting fear. …More

Sense of Evil By Hooper, Kay 2004-06 - Bantam 9780553583472 Check Our Catalog Kay Hooper is the brightest new star of suspense fiction. Now the "New York Times bestselling author who's built a reputation for keeping her readers' pulse in the red zone delivers a thriller that will stun the senses--all six of them. This time a psychic special agent and a gritty cop must stop a brutal killer with a chilling M.O. and an unstoppable...Sense of Evil. The victims are always the same: beautiful, successful, and blond. Someone was able to coax these intelligent and confident women away from safety. Someone was able to gain their trust long enough to do the unthinkable. Their shocking murders have terrified the inhabitants of a small, peaceful town where such heinous crimes are simply not supposed to happen. Police Chief Rafe Sullivan knows he has to find answers fast before another woman is lured to her death--but Sullivan literally doesn't have a clue. And when the FBI sends one of their top profilers to help, he's more than a little surprised that his new partner is nothing like the straight-by-the-book "suit" he expects.Special Agent Isabel Adams is tough, fearless, determined, and every bit Sullivan's equal. She's also psychic. And blond.Skeptical of his new partner's ability to get inside the mind of a killer, Sullivan can't deny that Isabel has tuned in to the killer's wavelength, is following the twisted thoughts of a murderer obsessed with stalking, seduction, and death. But in getting so close, Isabel has set herself up as the next victim. Now, with time running out, she and Rafe will find themselves forced to take the greatest risk of all, because this psychopath is playing for keeps and Isabel is the perfect trophy. Unable to turn back, Isabel may havealready gone too far. Smart, savvy, and confident, she may find that the very qualities that have kept her alive could turn out to be her undoing. For Isabel has entered the world of a cold-blooded monster who kills without mercy and eludes every sense but one...the sense of evil. "From the Hardcover edition. …More

Sleeping with Fear By Hooper, Kay 2006-07 - Bantam Books 9780553803181 Check Our Catalog A psychic FBI agent, investigating possible occult activity in South Carolina, comes under attack by someone who can control dark forces. The last volume in Hooper's "Fear" trilogy. …More

Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush: More Political Subversion from Jim Hightower By Hightower, Jim 2004-09 - Viking Books 9780786549641 Check Our Catalog …More

The Private Life of Spiders By Hillyard, Paul 2008-03 - Princeton University Press 9780691135526 Check Our Catalog "Paul Hillyard's "Private Life of Spiders" is enjoyable to read, very informative, and beautifully illustrated. The photographs are truly stunning and make a wonderful complement to the text's excellent information on spider life and biology for the general reader. This book will be a terrific addition to any naturalist's or spider lover's library."--Paula E. Cushing, president of the American Arachnological Society "This is an excellent, engagingly written introduction to the diverse and often incredible world of spiders."--Jonathan Coddington, curator of spiders at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History …More

Hawkes Harbor By Hinton, S. E. 2004-09 - Tom Doherty Associates 9780765305633 Check Our Catalog View Author Video ClipAn orphan and a bastard, Jamie Sommers is tough enough to handle anything, from foreign prisons and pirates to a shark attack. But in a quiet seaside town in Delaware, Jamie discovers something that will drive him insane, for it is in Hawkes Harbor that he comes face to face with the ultimate evil. …More

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda By Hunt, La Jill 2009-01 - Urban Books 9781601621443 Check Our Catalog A man with a crazy ex-wife and a high-strung baby mama is determined to live a drama-free life--until he runs into his brother's ex and realizes that just may not be possible. …More