Good Reads & Views

The Girls Guide to Rocking: How to Start a Band, Book Gigs, and Get Rolling to Rock Stardom by Jessica Hopper
YA 781.66 HOP

The Girls Guide to Rocking has all the info you need to start your own band. The tone is lively and fun, just as a girl band should be! The book has all the information you’ll ever need on songwriting, band practices, targeting an audience, and touring. The author, Jessica Hopper has had her own band since she was 15, and has been through it all!

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
YA FIC Oliver, Lauren

Samantha Kingston is popular and pretty, and she takes her privileged life for granted. That is, until her life is taken away. Samantha dies in a car accident on her way home from a party. After death, she is forced to relive her last day over and over again, and each time has the ability to change one of her actions. Will Samantha be able to change the end result, though, and get another chance at life? This unique look at life and death will haunt you long after you’ve discovered the answer.

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment by Steve Harvey
306.7 HAR

Steve Harvey lends his comic talents to this book that gives advice to women who either are in a relationship or want to be in a relationship.  Each chapter address a different issue that women face while in a relationship, that they may not even realize they are facing.  He tries to explain, with a humorous tone, why women see the situation one way, and men see the same situation in a whole different light.  He also offers answers to some of the many repeated questions he receives from women on his morning radio show.

Donut Days by Lara Zielin
YA FIC Zielin, Lara

Emma Goiner is the sixteen year old daughter of two pastors. Her parents both preach at the Living Redeemer Church in Minnesota. Emma’s parents are pressuring her to attend a Christian College, but Emma would rather attend anything but a Christian College. A local paper is awarding a scholarship to one student who turns in the best feature story for the paper. Emma decides to write her story about a donut camp. A new donut shop is opening in her town and she finds herself camped out among hundreds of other people waiting for the donut shop to open. While at the camp Emma learns some much needed lessons about life, herself, her friends and family, and the people who are trying to hurt her family.

Kiefer Sutherland: Living Dangerously by Christopher Heard
B Sutherland, Kiefer

A respectful and engaging biography about the man whose life journey has been filled with as much action, danger and trouble as his most famous character, Jack Bauer.  Sutherland is portrayed as a funny, honest and complex man with a lot of integrity. Any fan will really appreciate this portrait of TVs highest paid actor and everyone will gain admiration for the man in spite of his reckless lifestyle.

                                                                           

The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd
FIC Boyd, Noah

In this debut novel, Boyd introduces Steve Vail, ex-FBI agent who was fired for insubordination, but now has been lured back to the Bureau to work a case that is becoming more unsolvable by the hour.  A mysterious organization is blackmailing the FBI and will keep killing their targets until the agency pays them off. Boyd is a pseudonym for a former agent with the Detroit FBI and the authenticity of the story reflects his experience. A fast paced thriller with a masterful ending.

                                                                                                  

The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig

CD Book Willig, Lauren

In this third historical romance in the delightful Pink Carnation series, a young woman finds herself suddenly married—and involved in espionage—all because she was trying to rescue her irresponsible sister from a dreadful faux pas. Due to a situation that appears compromising, early 1800s societal norms dictate that Lord Geoffrey Pinchingdale-Snipe must quickly wed Letty Alsworthy to save her reputation. In addition to the awkwardness of this abrupt marriage, Letty discovers, on their honeymoon, that her new husband is a spy who has been sent to Ireland to stop a rebellion. While this book is primarily a historical romance, it also doubles as a contemporary romance—because in the present day, history graduate student Eloise Kelly, who uncovers the Pinchingdale-Snipe story while researching English spies, is right on the verge of her own romance. Audiobook narrator Kate Reading reads this story with style, moving between the English dialect (historical romance story) and American dialect (current-day romance story) with ease.

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
973.22 PHI

While the basic story of the Pilgrims is widely known, the events of the five decades after their arrival at Plymouth are surprisingly unfamiliar, fascinating, and relevant today. Nathaniel Philbrick brings to life the legendary and less well-known Pilgrims and Native Americans who forged a relationship that eventually was destroyed by war. It’s much more complex and interesting than the story we usually hear.

Outtakes From a Marriage by Ann Leary  
FIC Leary, Ann

Julie, a stay at home mom and the wife of actor Joe Ferraro, her husband who she believes is having an affair, but she’s not sure if it’s just paranoia. She soon goes on the hunt to discover if it is true.  There are mixed reviews on the satisfaction level of its ending, but it is a light quick read.  The author Ann Leary is the wife of actor Dennis Leary. 

After You by Julie Buxbaum  
FIC Du Buxbaum, Julie

After you is the story of grief, recovery and growth.  Ellie’s friend Lucy, who lived in London with her husband and child Sophie, is killed by a mugger in front of her daughter.  Ellie leaves behind her husband, job and life in Boston to stay with Greg, Lucy’s husband, and take care of the little girl who stopped talking as a result of the trauma.  Dealing with her own grief over the death of a child, Ellie finds London a refuge and takes the job of taking care of Sophie and getting her to talk again top priority.  As a result she begins to question her life back home and her future back in Boston.