Category Archives: Popular

Down River

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Title: Down River

Author: John Hart

Summary: Five years ago, Adam Chase was acquitted of murder, even though his own stepmother testified against him. Most people in his hometown believed that he was guilty and that his father’s money paid for the verdict. Adam left home soon after the trial and has been living in New York ever since.

Now Adam has been asked by a childhood friend to come back to his hometown in North Carolina. Adam returns to find that the residents’ feelings toward him have not changed since he left. To make matters worse, many of them are angry with Adam’s father for interfering with a local land deal which could make them all rich. After Adam’s arrival,  violent attacks occur against the people closest to him. Seeds of doubt as to Adam’s innocence are again planted and he must find the true murderer before he/she kills again.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator

The Book of Joe

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Title: The Book of Joe

Author:  Jonathan Tropper

Summary:   Who says you can’t go home again? In “The Book of Joe”, Joe Goffman does just that. Joe returns to his hometown of Bush Falls, CT to see his father who has suffered a serious stroke, but Joe was very busy while he was away. He wrote a best selling novel that was recently made into a movie. Unfortunately, the novel was based on Joe’s life during his senior year in high school, and many residents of his small hometown were not portrayed very favorably.

Some signs that the residents are not too happy with his book? The wife of the high school basketball coach dumps a milkshake in his lap, copies of his novel are strewn across the lawn of his childhood home, and threats of bodily harm are made by the “high school bully”. Joe must must reconnect with the people of Bush Falls that he left behind and come to terms with the actual events of that fateful senior year.

Who will like this book?:Anyone who likes a fun, fast paced read. References to Fairfield, CT including the Stratfield Road area and the Duchess Restaurant make this a fun read for anyone who knows the area.

If you like this, try this:Jonathan Tropper has a written a new novel titled How to Talk to a Widower.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator

Blasphemy

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Title:  Blasphemy

Author:  Douglas Preston

Summary:  Nobel-prizing scientist and merry gang of whiz colleagues go off the deep end, experiment with the world’s largest supercollider computer housed on sacred native land, encounter operational difficulties, and the race to the “end” involves life and death issues.

This book kept me reading as I got caught up in the unfolding drama as computer scientists try to get the super computer to reveal what happened at the moment of creation. Scientist Hazelius and his twelve colleagues force the computer to operate at extreme levels resulting in a remarkable discovery. Or is it? Meanwhile evangelicals get wind of this “dangerous” experiment and build a protest movement against this government-funded project.   Throw in a romance rekindled and you have a nice fast-paced read that grabs and holds the reader’s  interest to the end.

Who will like this book?:  Readers looking for a fast read with some intrigue and an appetite for kirky characters and interesting questions about the beginning of life.

Recommended by: Karen, Administration

Family Acts

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Title: Family Acts

Author: Louise Shaffer

Summary: The author, who is an Emmy-Award winning soap actress for Ryan’s Hope and screenwriter, turns her love of the theater inot a delightful novel set in the Old South. Katharine ‘Kate’ Harder, a New York scriptwriter and Miranda ‘Randa’ Jennings, a Hollywood business writer, seem to have little in common, except names from Shakespearean plays and a thespian parent. A letter from a lawyer brings them the news that they have jointly inherited the Venable Opera House in Massonville, Georgia. After traveling to see the crumbling century-old theatre, the two women, with the help of Randa’s precocious 11 year-old daughter, delve into the lives of the owners who struggled to keep the theatre alive.

The story alternates betwen the present and flashbacks to tell a family epic that is rich in its theatrical setting. The ending links this book to Shaffer’s other two novels: The Three Margarets and Ladies of Garrison Gardens.

Who will like this book? Definately a women’s read, especially lovers of the theater and soaps.

If you like this, try this: Shaffer’s previous novels: The Three Margarets and Ladies of Garrison Gardens.

Recommended by: Sandy, Technical Services

The Godmother

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Title: The Godmother

Author: Carrie Adams

Summary: Thirty-something Tessa King has seven best friends, four godchildren, and no life of her own. Returning home to London after a five-week vacation (or, escape from her harrassing former boss) she is thrown back into her familar role of drinking buddy/fairy godmother/crisis counselor. But will Tessa ever get over her unrequited love, meet her true Prince Charming and have babies of her own?

While this novel sounds like another carbon copy beach book, the plot takes some unexpected turns and becomes something more substantial that traditional chick lit fare.  Tessa is a well-developed, painfully believable heroine, and her circle of friends and godchildren are well-developed but still familiar characters, each with their own secrets that are revealed over the course of the story. These are the sort of characters that stay with you, and leave you wishing for a sequel!

Who will like this book? People with godchildren, nieces and/or nephews whom they adore, and ‘women who do too much.’

If you like this, try this: Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner, Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

The Lottery

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Title: The Lottery

Author: Patricia Wood

Summary: If you are looking for a sure winner, don’t buy a lottery ticket, but check out Patricia Wood’s debut novel. She draws on her own personal experiences with a dad who won the Washington State lottery and a family member who had Down’s syndrome.

Perry L. Crandall, the narrator, has an IQ of 76 but as he says, he is not retarded, just slow.  His wise-cracking grandmother taught him everything he needs to know to survive. When she dies, leaving him an “orphan” at 31 year-old, that family that had abandoned proceed to swindle him out of his house. Imagine what happens they learn he has won 12 million dollars…You will be charmed by Perry’s sweet and often funny personality, and root for him to outwit his thieving ‘new-found’ family.

Who will like this book? All readers from high school to 100 who love light, feel-good novels.

Recommended by: Sandy, Technical Services