1
2013 Summer Reading - Great Beach Books
The following books are available in the IMC.
You can download e books to your mobile devices from the
IMC Home Page using Overdrive. You can find directions
for downloading e books to you Nook, Kindle,iPad, and iPod on
the same page.
Adventure and Mystery- These authors have numerous books that you might enjoy. Here are a few of their adventure and mystery books
Arabat (F Barker) - CandyQuackenbush of Chickentown, Minnesota, journeys to the Abarat, an archipelago filled with strange wonders, where it is revealed to her that she has been there before, and that it is her responsibility to save the mysterious place from threatening evil forces.
The Columbus Affair (F Berry) - Zachariah Simon has kidnapped disgraced journalist Steve Berry's daughter and forces him to search for a treasure that involves Christopher Columbus. (Other books by Steve Berry include The Amber Room, The Templer Legacy, The Romanov Prophecy)
Deception Point (F Brown) - White House intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton is thrust into a life-or-death situation when she travels to the Arctic to investigate the discovery of a rare meteorite that might prove the existence of extraterrestrial life, and finds instead evidence of scientific trickery. ( Other books by Dan Brown are Angels and Demons, The Lost Symbol, Digital Fortress)
The Affair (F Child) - Elite military cop Jack Reacher, having arrived undercover in Carter Crossing, Mississippi, to investigate evidence linking a soldier to a murder of a young woman, reluctantly joins forces with local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux and tries to uncover details about a conspiracy which threatens to shatter his faith in the assignment. (Other books by Lee Child are Die Trying, Echo Burning, Gone Tomorrow, Nothing to Lose, One Shot, and Persuader)
The Traitor (F Coonts) - Together in Paris, CIA agent Tommy Carmellini and his boss Jake Grafton work to uncover the French intelligence service's alleged secret agent among Al Queda and the intelligence he or she holds. (Other books by Stephen Coonts are America, Fortunes of War, and Liberty
Thirteen Moons (F Frazier) - At the age of twelve, orphan Will Cooper is sent to work a trading post on the edge of the Cherokee Nation's land, where he spends his life learning about and defending the lives of the Native Americans and desiring the love of Claire Featherstone, the wife of a successful Cherokee landowner and patriarch. (Another book by Charles Frazier is Cold Mountain)
The Lost Gate: a Novel of Mither Mages (F Card) -Danny North, a member of a clan of mages in exile in the human world who grew up in an isolated home in the mountains of West Virginia, finds his family in danger by secrets which were kept from him and enemies who will do anything to keep them in exile. (Other books by Orson Scott Card are Keeper of Dreams, Ender’s Game, Seventh Sun))
The Jungle (F Cussler) - Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the "Oregon" race against time to protect the United States from the greatest security threat it has ever known. (Other books by Clive Cussler include Atlantis Found, Black Wind, Flood Tide, Lost City)
American Assassin (F Flynn) - Mitch Rapp, an operative with the CIA-supported counterterrorism unit the Onion Team, takes on his first assignment.
The Bourne Identity (F Ludlum) - Jason Bourne, having been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea after being shot, awakes with no memory of who he is, and as he races to learn about his past, he begins to uncover clues that lead him to believe he is an international assassin and his life is in danger. (Other books by Ludlum are the Matlock Papers, Icarus Agenda, Promethus Deception, The Bourne series, Amber Warning, Tristan Betrayal)
The Immortalists (F Mills) - Microbiologist Richard Draman is accused of stealing research that was sent to him that could save his daughter from a genetic defect that is aging her rapidly.
Contagious (F Sigler) - While a mysterious, alien virus sweeps across America, transforming people into raging killers, a small group gathers to fight back, but their time is running short, and the infected are forcing the President of the United States to consider releasing nuclear weaponry.
Favorite Authors
Mitch Albom – The Time Keeper (F Albom) - Following his punishment for trying to measure God's greatest gift, Father Time is granted his freedom and is sent on a mission to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time.
Michael Cabon - Telegraph Alley (F Chabon) - Longtime band mates Archy and Nat preside over Brokeland Records, a used-record emporium, but trouble arises when a former NFL quarterback, one of the country's richest African Americans, decides to build his latest Dogpile megastore on nearby Telegraph Avenue which could spell doom for the little shop.
Paulo Coehlo – Veronika Decides to Die (F Coehlo) - Twenty-four-year-old Veronika wakes up in a mental hospital after a failed suicide attempt and learns that the pills she took damaged her heart so severely that she has only days to live, and in the week that follows, Veronika learns some important lessons about life and love.
Nicholas Evans – The Brave (F Evans) - Tom Bedford's life is forever changed by a shocking act of violence that destroys the Hollywood dream he has created while living with his sister and her husband, Tom's childhood idol, but years later, when Tom's son is accused of murder, Tom must face the demons from his past once and for all in order to save his son's life.
John Grisham – Calico Joe (F Grisham) - The careers of a golden boy rookie hitter for the Cubs and a hard-hitting Mets pitcher take very different paths.
Sophie Kinsella – Mini Shopaholic (F Kinsella) - Bargain shopper Becky Brandon is thrilled to be able to dress her two-year-old Minnie in designer clothes, but things get out of control when Minnie learns the word "mine," and a financial crisis requires Minnie and mom to find another outlet for their shopping energy.
Fern Michaels – Southern Comfort - Special agent Kate Rush resigns from the DEA and moves back to her native Miami where she is intrigued by a job offer to watch a property suspected of being a center for human trafficking, and teams up with former homicide detective Patrick "Tick" Kelly, who has been hiding and writing novels since his family was murdered, but through their work together, Kate and Tick find an opportunity for a second chance at happiness.
Toni Morrison – Home (F Morrison) - When Frank Money joined the army to escape his too-small world, he left behind his cherished and fragile little sister, Cee. After the war, his shattered life has no purpose until he hears that Cee is in danger.
Anna Qunidlen - Every Last One (F Quindlen) - Mary Beth Latham puts everything else aside in order to focus on her one son who suffers from severe depression, but she is not prepared for the violence that follows.
Seth Grahame-Smith – Unholy Night (F Graham Smith) - Depicts the lives of the Three Kings of the Nativity, casting them as a set of infamous thieves who accidentally happen upon Joseph, Mary, and the newborn king and help them escape to Egypt
Christina Schwartz (F Schwartz) - Unable to deal with her problems, Amanda Starkey flees to her sister's farm, but when she her sister drowns in a mysterious accident, Amanda is forced to take charge of her young niece, and she soon realizes that she has not left her problems behind, she has merely brought them with her.
Alexander McCall Smith - A Conspiracy of Friends (F McCall Smith) - The residents of Corduroy Mansions are worried about William's terrier Freddie de la Hay, the only dog clever enough to have been recruited by MI6, who has disappeared while on a mystery tour around the Suffolk countryside.
Ann Patchett – Bel Canto (F Patchett) - A group of international guests, taken hostage by terrorists while attending a birthday party at the home of the vice president of a small South American country, form bonds with their captors and enter into an almost idyllic lifestyle, united by the music of Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano.
Nicholas Sparks – Safe Haven (F Sparks) - Katie arrives in the small town of Southport, North Carolina, hoping to hide from her past and avoid raising suspicions, but when she reluctantly begins a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children, and befriends her neighbor Jo, Katie is forced to confront the dark secret she is hiding if she wants to put down roots and find true love.
Anne Tyler – The Beginner’s Goodbye (F Tyler) - Aaron, a middle-aged man ripped apart by the death of his wife Dorothy, is gradually restored by her unexpected appearances--in their house, on the roadway, in the market--helping him to live in the moment and to find some peace.
Lauren Weisberger – Last Night at Hotel Marmot (F Weisberger) - Brooke has always supported her husband Julian's dream of becoming a musician, but when a chance performance on the "Tonight Show" makes Julian an overnight star, the fame becomes too much for the couple to handle and causes Brooke to wonder what she really wants out of life.
If you like Historical Fiction, you will love these books which many staff members enjoyed reading.
The Aviator’s Wife (F Benjamin) - A fictional account of the relationship between famed pilot Charles Lindberg and his wife Anne.
The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln (F Carter) - Tells the alternative history story of Abraham Lincoln's impeachment after he survived the assassination attempt
If you liked Stephen King’s 11/22/63, you will like this book.
Loving Frank (F Horan) - Blends fact and fiction in a historical novel about the love affair between MamahBorthwick Cheney and architect Frank Wright, who was commissioned by Mamah and her husband Edwin in 1903 to design a new home for them. (Get ready for a jolt)
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald (Fowler) - A fictionalized account of Southern belle Zelda Sayre and her relationship with author F. Scott Fitzgerald. (You might want to also read F. Scott Fiztgerald’s Tender is the Night or a biography of Zelda
The Paris Wife (F McClain) - Portrays the love affair and marriage between Ernest Hemingway and Hadley Mowrer from their Chicago meeting in 1920 to their lives during the Jazz Age in Paris, but as Ernest struggles to find his literary voice, Hadley tries to define her role in their relationship as wife, friend, and muse. (This book has been a constant best sellers’ lists)
Wolf Hall (F Mantel) - Henry VIII, anxious about the consequences of dying without a male heir, is denied permission to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn, but the power struggle between the Church and the Crown is mediated by astute politician Thomas Cromwell, who manages to get the king what he wants while keeping his eye on the prize of a free England.
Becoming Madame Mao (F Min) The author takes on the identity of Madame Mao, wife of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong, presenting her as insecure and in need of love instead of simply vindictive and cruel, and uses historical facts, characters, and documents to tell her story.
The Chaperone (F Morarity) - Adolescent, pre-movie-star Louise Brooks, and her thirty-six-year-old chaperone have their lives changed on their visit to New York City in the summer of 1922. (This book is not on any bestseller list, but it should be. It is a book that once you’ve read it, your will recommend it).
The Accursed (F Oates) - In early-twentieth-century Princeton, New Jersey, the brother of a bride who was abducted and seduced right before her wedding by a dangerously compelling man, sets out to find her and crosses paths with Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Upton Sinclair, and other notable people while searching for the woman and the European prince who might actually be the devil.
The End of Baseball (F Schilling) - Promoter Bill Veeck, having hustled his way into buying the Philadelphia Athletics in 1944, has plans to get rid of all the white players and fill his roster with the legendary stars of the Negro Leagues, but bringing the team to the playing field is going to take a lot of behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing that comes to involve even President Roosevelt and J.Edgar Hoover
Mary Coin (F Silver) - Describes the lives of photojournalist Vera Dare and her subject Mary, a migrant worker, whose paths cross in 1936 California.
The Rules of Civility (F Towles) - Twenty-five-year-old KateyKontent, having met banker Tinker Grey while hanging out at a Greenwich Village jazz bar, finds her way into the upper echelons of New York society, and, as she makes new friends and waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her life, she begins to realize she regrets some of the choices she has made.
New Arrivals in the IMC
New Fiction
Life After Life (F Atkinson) - "On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in a variety of ways, while the young century marches on towards its second cataclysmic world war. Does Ursula's apparently infinite number of lives give her the power to save the world from its inevitable destiny? And if she can -- will she?"
The Hit (F Baldacci) - Skilled assassin Will Robie is asked by the U.S. government to track down fellow assassin Jessica Reel, who has gone rogue, but during his pursuit of Reel, Robie realizes that her betrayal may be concealing a larger threat that could impact the whole world.
The Innocent (F Baldacci) - When hit man Will Robie refuses to kill his target he has to go on the run from his own people, and, along the way, he meets up with a fourteen-year-old runaway who is in danger after her parents were murdered.
A Week in Winter - (F Binchy) - Chicky Starr, having transformed a decaying, Irish mansion into a bed and breakfast with the help of handyman Rigger and her niece, Orla, welcomes her first guests, who are all facing different challenges in life.
He’s Gone (F Caletti) - Dani Keller wakes up one Sunday morning to find her husband, Ian, missing and while the police search for him, Dani struggles with decisions about her marriage and fears that Ian has just left for good.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (F Fountain) - A satire set in Texas during America's war in Iraq that explores the gaping national disconnect between the war at home and the war abroad. Follows the surviving members of the heroic Bravo Squad through one exhausting stop in their media-intensive "Victory Tour" at Texas Stadium, football mecca of the Dallas Cowboys, their fans, promoters, and cheerleaders.
Benediction (F Haruf) - A terminally ill cancer patient is attended throughout his final days by his wife and daughter while the trio contemplates their relationships with an estranged son, and a situation that stirs up painful memories for a new next-door neighbor who has recently lost her mother.
Silver Girl (F Hildebrand) - Meredith Martin Delinn, under siege after it is learned her husband cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars, persuades her estranged friend Connie Flute to take her along to Connie's house in Nantucket, where the two women, both nursing their broken hearts, learn lessons of love, healing, and redemption.
Flight Behavior (F Kingsolver) - Tired of living on a failing farm and suffering oppressive poverty, bored housewife DellarobiaTurnbow, on the way to meet a potential lover, is detoured by a miraculous event on the Appalachian mountainside that ignites a media and religious firestorm that changes her life forever.
The Dinner (F Koch) - Meeting at an Amsterdam restaurant for dinner, two couples move from small talk to the wrenching shared challenge of their teenage sons' act of violence that has triggered a police investigation and revealed the extent to which each family will go to protect those they love.
77 Shadow Street (F Koontz) - an ancient evil that inhabits the very essence of the former mansion house on Shadow Hill. Now called the Pendleton and long since converted into luxury apartments, this infamous place known for acts of madness, suicide, murder and much, much worse is ready to have its dark host reawaken for an act of terror that always seems to arrive in 38-year intervals. This time, the 2011 inhabitants of the Pendleton will not be prepared for what “the One” has in store for them.