ADULT SUMMER READING SUGGESTIONS 2016
Provided by Rebecca Sivard
NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER •TODAYSHOW BOOK CLUB PICK •NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYTHE WASHINGTON POSTANDST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
At the age of thirty-five, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne has left her philandering husband in San Francisco to set sail for Belgium—with her three children and nanny in tow—to study art. It is a chance for this adventurous woman to start over, to make a better life for all of them, and to pursue her own desires. Not long after her arrival, however, tragedy strikes, and Fanny and her children repair to a quiet artists’ colony in France where she can recuperate. Emerging from a deep sorrow, she meets a lively Scot, Robert Louis Stevenson, ten years her junior, who falls instantly in love with the earthy, independent, and opinionated “belle Americaine.”Fanny does not immediately take to the slender young lawyer who longs to devote his life to writing—and who would eventually pen such classics asTreasure IslandandThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In time, though, she succumbs to Stevenson’s charms, and the two begin a fierce love affair—marked by intense joy and harrowing darkness—that spans the decades and the globe. The shared life of these two strong-willed individuals unfolds into an adventure as impassioned and unpredictable as any of Stevenson’s own unforgettable tales.
A SUSPENSE THRILLER WITH AN ALMIGHTY TWIST IN THE TALE.
How can an entire family disappear into thin air?An empty house on the edge of a small town . . . a teddy bear abandoned . . . a half drunk glass of wine . . . the TV left on and all the computer equipment missing. Where have Hutchinson Kemp and his wife and two childrengone?Detective Rondeau doesn't think they left by choice. However he is on the verge of cracking up as he pursues the trail of the film-maker and his family who have disappeared without a trace. Rondeau discovers disturbing evidence that big money and government might have something to do with the chilling crime, but no one seems to believe him anymore. Ignoring his skeptical police colleagues, he puts his life at risk as he races to find the family in this twisting-turning crime thriller. Are the family even still alive, and what are their abductors trying to hide?You'll be gripped from start to heart-stopping finish in this unputdown able thriller from international best-selling author T.J. Brearton.
An extraordinary novel about a strong-willed woman who disguises herself as a man in order to fight beside her husband in the Civil War.
Rosetta doesn't want her new husband, Jeremiah, to enlist, but he joins up, hoping to make enough money that they'll be able to afford their own farm someday. When Jeremiah leaves, Rosetta decides her true place is by his side, no matter what that means,and follows him into war.
Rich with historical details and inspired by the many women who fought in the Civil War while disguised as men,I Shall Be Near To Youis a courageous adventure, a woman's search for meaning and individuality, and a poignant story of enduring love.
This inspiring memoir from sports and cultural icon Bill Walton recounts his devastating injuries and amazing recoveries, set in the context of his UCLA triumphs under John Wooden, his storied NBA career, and his affinity for music and the Grateful Dead. In February 2007, Bill Walton suffered a catastrophic spinal collapse - the culmination of a lifetime of injuries - that left him unable to move. He spent three years on the floor of his house, eating his meals there and crawling to the bathroom, where he could barely hoist himself up onto the toilet. The excruciating pain and slow recovery tested Walton to the fullest. But with extraordinary patience, fortitude, determination, and sacrifice - and pioneering surgery - he recovered and now shares his life story in this remarkable and unique memoir. Walton grew up in San Diego in the 1950s and 1960s and was deeply influenced by the political and cultural upheavals of that period. Although he strongly identified with the cool people, particularly in music and politics, his greatest role model outside his family was super-straight UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, a thoughtful, rigorous mentor who seemed immune to the turmoil of the times. Although there was always tension and conflict between them, the two men would speak nearly every day for 43 years, until Wooden's death at age 99. Despite a lifelong stuttering affliction, Walton chose a career in broadcasting after his playing days ended. He eventually won an Emmy Award and other accolades for broadcasting and was recognized as a leading media pundit. John Wooden once said that no greatness ever came without sacrifice. Nothing better illustrates this saying than the real story of Walton's life. In his own words,Back from the Deadshares this dramatic story, including his basketball and broadcasting careers, his many setbacks and rebounds, and his ultimate triumph as the toughest of champions.
Diva Q's (aka Danielle Bennett's) backyard barbecue book is packed with simple recipes for casual, down-to-earth family food. Get started with the six recipes you need to know most, then move to chapters on appetizers, pork, bacon (Diva Q's claim to fame), beef, fowl, seafood, sides, salads, slaws, breads and desserts, that take you from the basics to the best the barbecue world has to offer. Plenty of meatless options are included, including Portobello-Cheddar Burgers, Smokin' Good Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon Butter and The Ultimate Mac and Cheese.With more than just recipes, Diva Q takes all the guesswork out of grilling for you, with guidance on everything from getting great char marks, to picking the right meat--and even points you to her YouTube videos online for extra help. If it's got anything to do with barbecue, Diva Q has got you covered!Diva Q's Barbecueis an indispensable book for every backyard barbecuer, and the perfect companion when cooking for a crowd. So fire up the grill and invite your friends over--because life's too short for bad barbecue!
The author of A Fall of Marigolds journeys from the present day to World War II England, as two sisters are separated by the chaos of wartime ...
She stood at a crossroads, half-aware that her choice would send her down a path from which there could be no turning back. But instead of two choices, she saw only one—because it was all she really wanted to see…Current day, Oxford, England. Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about the war that she has kept for decades...beginning with who she really is. What Kendra receives from Isabel is both a gift and a burden--one that will test her convictions and her heart.
1940s, England. As Hitler wages an unprecedented war against London’s civilian population, hundreds of thousands of children are evacuated to foster homes in the rural countryside. But even as fifteen-year-old Emmy Downtree and her much younger sister Julia find refuge in a charming Cotswold cottage, Emmy’s burning ambition to return to the city and apprentice with a fashion designer pits her against Julia’s profound need for her sister’s presence. Acting at cross purposes just as the Luftwaffe rains down its terrible destruction, the sisters are cruelly separated, and their lives are transformed.
In this stunning new novel, the acclaimed author of The Plum Tree merges the past and present into a haunting story about the nature of love and loyalty--and the lengths we will go to protect those who need us most.Ten years ago, Izzy Stone's mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother's apparent insanity, Izzy, now seventeen, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy's help in cataloging items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades-old journal, and a window into her own past.Clara Cartwright, eighteen years old in 1929, is caught between her overbearing parents and her love for an Italian immigrant. Furious when she rejects an arranged marriage, Clara's father sends her to a genteel home for nervous invalids. But when his fortune is lost in the stock market crash, he can no longer afford her care--and Clara is committed to the public asylum.
Even as Izzy deals with the challenges of yet another new beginning, Clara's story keeps drawing her into the past. If Clara was never really mentally ill, could something else explain her own mother's violent act? Piecing together Clara's fate compels Izzy to re-examine her own choices--with shocking and unexpected results.
Illuminating and provocative,What She Left Behindis a masterful novel about the yearning to belong--and the mysteries that can belie even the most ordinary life.
Nick Mason has already spent five years inside a maximum security prison when an offer comes that will grant his release twenty years early. He accepts -- but the deal comes with a terrible price.
Now, back on the streets, Nick Mason has a new house, a new car, money to burn, and a beautiful roommate. He’s returned to society, but he's still a prisoner. Whenever his cell phone rings, day or night, Nick must answer it and follow whatever order he is given. It’s the deal he made with Darius Cole, a criminal mastermind serving a double-life term who runs an empire from his prison cell.Forced to commit increasingly more dangerous crimes, hunted by the relentless detective who put him behind bars, and desperate to go straight and rebuild his life with his daughter and ex-wife, Nick will ultimately have to risk everything—his family, his sanity, and even his life—to finally break free
The day Aubrey Hamilton's husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn't want to move on. She just wants Josh back. It's been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage - they were happy, weren't they? - screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Five years of emptiness, solitude, loneliness, questions. Why didn't Josh show up at his friend's bachelor party? Who anonymously sent Aubrey her favorite cocktail at the bar where Josh stood her up? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious and strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life? As her heroine faces the possibility that everything she thinks she knows about herself, her marriage, and her husband is a lie,New York Timesbest-selling author J.T. Ellison expertly peels back the layers of a complex woman who is hiding dark secrets beneath her unassuming exterior. In a masterful thriller for listeners who love Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and Paula Hawkins, Ellison pulls you into a you'll-never-guess merry-go-round of danger and deception. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops...no one knows.
The House Girl,the historical fiction debut by Tara Conklin, is an unforgettable story of love, history, and a search for justice, set in modern-day New York and 1852 Virginia.Weaving together the story of an escaped slave in the pre–Civil War South and a determined junior lawyer,The House Girlfollows Lina Sparrow as she looks for an appropriate lead plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking compensation for families of slaves. In her research, she learns about Lu Anne Bell, a renowned prewar artist whose famous works might have actually been painted by her slave, Josephine.Featuring two remarkable, unforgettable heroines, Tara Conklin'sThe House Girlis riveting and powerful, literary fiction at its very best.
From the author of the #1New York Timesbestseller, THE HUSBAND’S SECRET...
A “cheerfully engaging”* novel for anyone who’s ever asked herself, “How did I get here?”
Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATESthe gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old.Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over.
We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn't. And it's what happens afterward that is most important. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.
A towering figure on the field for two decades and destined for the Hall of Fame, Brett Favre was one of the game’s last cowboys, a fastball-throwing, tobacco-chewing gunslinger who refused to give up without a fight. This peerless quarterbackguided the Green Bay Packers to two Super Bowls and one championship win, shattering countless NFL records along the way.Gunslingertells Brett Favre’s full, definitive story for the first time, drawing on more than five hundred interviews, including many from the people closest to Favre. Jeff Pearlman charts Favre’s journey from his rough rural childhood and lackluster high school football career to landing the last roster spot at Southern Mississippi to a late-night car accident that nearly took his life.Favre clawed back, getting drafted into the NFL, first to Atlanta, then to Green Bay, where he restored the Packers to greatness and inspired a fan base as passionate as any in the game. Yet he struggled with demons: addiction, infidelity, the loss of his father the day before he honored him by playing the greatest game of his career, and ultimately a fraught, painfully prolonged exit from the game he loved.Grand, gritty, and revelatory,Gunslingeris a big sports biography of the highest order, a fascinating portrait of the man with the rocket arm whose life has been one of triumph, of fame, of tragedy, of embarrassment, and of redemption.
Seven time bestselling Amazon All-Star author does it again!
What part did mollies and Fireball whiskey play in a murder at a country music festival held outside of Palm Springs, California? Why was the celebrity chef, Jacques Rushon, owner of the French Food Obsession food truck murdered? The suspects at the top of the sheriff's list are Marty Morgan's friends John, the owner of The Red Pony food truck, and his assistant, Max.Or was it the ex-wife who was owed back child support? Food truck competitors John and Max? The owner of the White Stallion Ranch where the music festival was held? Jacques' drug dealer? Jacques' partner in the food truck, Ned? Or Ned's wife, Rita? In order to save her own life, Marty has to solve the murder mystery. Fortunately, she has a little help from Jeff, her police detective fiance.This fast-paced cozy mystery gives the reader a behind the scenes look at music festivals and food trucks. As always, there's lots of food, recipes, and a black Labrador retriever who refuses to give up his pink booties!
Claire Beauchamp Randall’s incredible journey from postwar Britain to eighteenth-century Scotland and France is a feast for all five senses, and taste is no exception. From Claire’s first lonely bowl of porridge at Castle Leoch to the decadent roast beef served after her hasty wedding to Highland warrior Jamie Fraser, from gypsy stew and jam tarts to fried chicken and buttermilk drop biscuits, there are enough mouth-watering meals along the way to whet the appetite of even the most demanding palate.Now professional chef and founder of OutlanderKitchen.com Theresa Carle-Sanders offers up this extraordinary cuisine for your table. Featuring more than one hundred recipes,Outlander Kitchenretells Claire and Jamie’s incredible story through the flavors of the Scottish Highlands, the French Revolution, and beyond. Following the high standards for prodigious research and boundless creativity set by Diana Gabaldon herself, Carle-Sanders draws on the events and characters of the novels to deliver delicious and inventive dishes that highlight local ingredients and traditional cooking techniques. Yet amateur chefs need not fear: These doable, delectable recipes have been updated for today’s modern kitchens. Here are just a few of the dishes that will keep the world of Outlander on your mind morning, noon, andnicht: