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Love and Gelato

Love and Gelato
by Jenna Evans Welch

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. All Lina wants to do is get back home. But then she is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. It contains secrets that will change everything she knew about her mother, her father—and even herself. (Goodreads)

Jenna Evans Welch's debut novel, Love and Gelato, is a sweet, charming romance. It is written for a young adult audience, but with likeable characters and a beautiful Italian backdrop, even adults will enjoy this book. And for any parents looking for a "clean read" for their teenagers, this is the perfect book.

*Received 4 stars on Goodreads

The Luster of Lost Things

The Luster of Lost Things

By Sophie Chen Keller

This is the kind of story where every word feels like it was perfectly chosen, and every turn of phrase just fits and feels so perfect.  In New York there is a sweet little dessert shop that is infused with magic, and with love, and a young boy who doesn't speak. His only friend is a golden retriever and this boy likes to find lost things for other people. He has never stopped searching for his lost father too, and leaves a light burning for him in the dessert shop. When the most important book ever, which holds the story of his mother and father and all things beautiful in it, becomes lost - it is up to Walter ( and Milton - his dog) to begin a search for that most prized possession.  Along the way he finds new friends, new experiences, and truths about himself that will lead him to what he needs most. If you loved A Man Called Ove, you will probably really enjoy this book. The characters are perfection, the writing and story golden, this truly will stay with you

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Becoming Beauty

Becoming  Beauty

By Sarah E. Boucher

This is a fun, unique take on the story of Beauty and the Beast. When we meet Bella she is a spoiled young lady who is broken in her own way which puts her in a perfect position to stand up to the heart-broken Beast. Sarah Boucher’s take on this story adds another young man, Jack to the mix and while devoid of magical roses and a curse, the connection between Bella and the Beast’s lost love provides a unique way of telling two stories at once.  Bella, Jack, and the Beast must come to understand themselves in order to create the possibility of a happily ever after ending.

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Magpie Murders

Magpie Murders
By Anthony Horowitz
The story begins with a murder. A maid has been found dead at the bottom of a staircase in the mansion home she cleans in a picturesque London village. Almost every single person in the town has a reason for killing her. One resident travels to London to enlist the help of the famous Atticus Pund to help find her killer. Much to her dismay, he declines.  He only decides to help a week later when the maid's employer is found murdered at the bottom of the same stairs and he is sure the two cases are connected. He travels to Saxby-on-Avon with his assistant, James Fraser, and begins to investigate. This is a classic "whodunit" filled with a cast of characters, clues and lots of fun trying to solve the case. But, this is actually two books in one. The story "Magpie Murders" is the first half of the book~at which point you find out something horrible has happened to the author of that book. So, you are then, "on the case" to find HIS killer! The 2 murders are similar in a lot of ways and Anthony Horowitz does a great job of helping the reader to see all the clues of each, and ultimately solve 2 murders. The story is a homage to all the classic murder mystery books of days gone by, and in fact Agatha Christie is mentioned several times throughout. There are a few "secret clues lost in the pages  for the reader to discover on their own, and it just really is a fun book to get lost in. Highly recommended!

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Hillbilly Elegy

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

The author grew up in a family of what he describes as "hillbillies" from Kentucky but spent most of his life in Ohio. His family identified as being strongly Christian even though their behavior was frequently not particularly Christian. He was mostly raised by his grandparents along with his half-sister because his mother was an addict who went from husband to husband and he barely knew his father. He did poorly in school and was only redeemed by the fact that a cousin pushed him into joining the Marines. From there he went to Ohio State and then to Yale Law School.

He writes very directly and honestly about the problems with white, working class America and why it is in decline. While part of the problem is societal, he believes there is an internal problem that government cannot do anything about. He suggests that tribalism, mistrust of outsiders and "elites," violence and irresponsibility among family members, parents without ethics and a sense of responsibility, terrible work ethics, and an us-against-them mentality is dooming the people who live that way to becoming poorer, more addicted, and more marginalized. Excellent book and very thought-provoking.

Amazon Review

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Elizabeth is Missing

Elizabeth is Missing
by Emma Healey 

320 Pages

Published in 2015

"Don't worry," I say. "I'll ask Elizabeth." This seems the right thing to say. I smile at Helen for a moment, but there is something not right. I try to remember what it is. An idea keeps slipping away from me. "I can ask her, can't I?" I look through my notes, but I don't even have to read them. I already know. Elizabeth is missing."

Maud is an elderly grandmother whose memory is slipping away due to dementia. She is constantly having to rely on the notes that she writes herself; telling her not to cook because she will burn down the house, or not to leave the house because she will get lost. But there is one thing that Maud can't seem to forget. Her friend Elizabeth is missing, and no one believes her. Elizabeth won't let this mystery go unsolved, like the mystery of her sister's disappearance 60 years ago. So, in desperation, she realizes she will have to solve this mystery on her own.

This book was so fantastic! Reading a mystery through the eyes of a character that can barely remember one minute to the next is a wild ride to say the least. The unique perspective of the character is both fascinating and frightening. While Maud is dealing with the worry that her friend has been murdered, we find ourselves contemplating the reality of what our future may someday hold.

This novel is a perfect read for anyone who enjoys a good mystery, particularly those who have enjoyed mysteries by Kate Morton.

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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, is considered a modern American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century in the slums of Brooklyn.  It follows the life of young Francie Nolan and her family, including her alcoholic father and her hard-working, determined mother. It is often a story full of heartache, poverty, and cruelty, but is also honest, hopeful, and compassionate. This book can move slowly at times, but once you learn to really care about the Nolan family, it is a read that is hard to put down.

Received 4.5 stars on Goodreads

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The Ultimatum

The Ultimatum by Karen Robards

Bianca St. Ives, an international thief with a heart of gold. In this intriguing dance of crooks, cops, and killers, Robards provides us with a harder-than-diamonds heroine who’s soft in all the right places. Although her father taught her ‘the rules’, a code that ensures her survival even at the expense of others, Bianca often finds herself making ‘exceptions’.

Bianca has been trained since childhood by her father to be a master of disguise, thief, con artist, security specialist, martial artist and part of his team. A huge heist goes horribly wrong in Bahrain, leading to an explosion that takes the life of her father. Bianca must pick up the pieces, returning to her ‘cover’ life in Savannah as the head of a her own security firm. Doc, the only surviving member of his team, returns with her and acts in the capacity of her internet and computer expert. While monitoring her father’s email, Doc and Bianca get an offer for a job directed to her dad. Bianca takes the job. When things go from bad to worse, she tries to get out of the job, to no avail, as the lives of others hang in the balance. Bianca’s journey leads her to discover more about her origins, true identity, and her family’s past. The cliffhanger ending readies the reader for the next installment in the series, leaving us wanting more.
For fans of Robards’ previous Romantic Suspense novels, this first installment may leave you feeling the romantic aspect is lacking. Bianca has steamy chemistry in her cat-and-mouse game with Mickey, but it never goes deeper. There is potential for fleshing out a deeper relationship in later books. A lot of questions about Bianca’s past remain unanswered. In this book, you’ll find a lot of descriptive spy activity, suspenseful action, and a couple of interesting twists.

Amazon Review

Book Scavenger

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

           Hide a book somewhere. Anywhere. Create a puzzle that will lead someone to that book. Solve other people's riddles. Find other hidden books. Earn points!

These are the rules for the game that has taken the nation by storm; Book Scavenger. And one of it's players is Emily, a 12 year old girl, who spends every spare minute either reading, or solving a puzzle.

Emily's family has recently moved to San Francisco, home to the eccentric game creator, Garrison Griswald, who is often referred to as the Willy Wonka of Books. They have arrived at the perfect time, because Mr Griswald is expected to announce a new game. However, poor Mr Griswald is attacked on a subway platform on his way to make the big announcement. But before he is sent to the ICU at the hospital, he is able to hide the first clue to his puzzle; a one of a kind book, made by Gary Griswald himself.  He can only hope that the right person will find it.

And Emily, and her new friend James, are the right people. They happen upon the book without knowing what they have found. But, through some serious puzzle solving skill, they begin to solve the mystery of the book, and the game Mr Griswald had intended to give to the world.

Unfortunately, they aren't the only ones trying to solve the puzzle, and things start to get dangerous when they realize  that the stakes are much higher in this game.

Book Scavenger is a Beehive Nominee for 2018, and one intermediate aged readers would really enjoy. There's a little bit of everything. A little danger, a little adventure, a bit of history, lots of puzzling, and some fun lessons about friendship and family.

This is a perfect book to read aloud to your family, or to listen to while on a road trip.

August Book Club This Thursday!

The Alice Network

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Tight narrative focused upon a number of historically based Women spies for the British and French military intelligence during World Wars I & II. The plot begins a few years after the Wars ending and elegantly weaves the reader from early 1900's to peaceful endings for righteous male and female warrior spies and spymasters. Focusing mainly upon female spies who kept the brits apprised of almost daily German military positions.

Amazon Review

Sleeping Giants

Sleeping Giants 

By Sylvain Neuvel

"A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand." -from jacket cover

So begins quite a different story then anything I have read in a while.  This was really cool! It's told in interviews, and journal entries. A giant hand is found under the ground and soon other pieces are found as well, and lots of questions are raised. Where did they come from ? Who buried them? And what are they for? Will the builder come back for them ? A group is assembled to deal with the scientific, military, & ethical aspects of these "pieces" and what it means for humanity. This group is able to assemble these pieces *spoiler alert* and begin to see if this is something that humans can pilot, and try to figure out what it even is for!!?? I really enjoyed this page turning story. I took it as a back up book on a vacation and didn't even crack open the original book I planned on reading. I was hooked from the first.  If you liked "The Martian" by Andy Weir, there is a very good chance this is right up your alley on what to read next. 

Several characters play a role in this... a scentist ( the girl who fell), 2 army soldiers, a linguist from Canada, maybe a really cool robot, and a nameless entity who seems to be behind a lot of what is going on.  I didn't realize it was a series until I finished and I'm super glad it is. There is lots more I want to find out! This title and Book #2 "Waking Gods" are available in our Adult Fiction section. Book #3 in the series has not been released yet. (less)

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The Lonely Lake Monster

The Lonely Lake Monster

by Suzanne Selfors

Only a few people know about the real creatures treated in the small town of Buttonville’s new hospital. Ten year old’s Pearl and Ben begin an apprenticeship caring for imaginary creatures with Dr. Wo, and come face to face with creatures they have only ever heard about in stories. This book is number two in the Imaginary Veterinary series.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford

In the opening pages of Jamie Ford's novel, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel in what used to be Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. This takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship - and innocent love. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.

The reader gets to experience Henry's memories and emotions as an old man, as well as an innocent and frustrated adolescent (through flashbacks). The author does a great job in allowing the reader to feel the loss, hurt, and conflicted loyalties of this time in American history. It gives the reader a glimpse of the damage that is caused by war, even in the lives of the civilians at home. But even in this bitter time in our own history, we can discover something sweet.

Received 4 stars on Goodreads

When breath becomes air

When Breath becomes Air

by Paul Kalanithi

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor making a living treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. Just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated.

We are all dying, but what if we knew when we were going to die. What would we do? What would be most important? and what doesn't matter anymore? When breath becomes air talks alot about death, but then turns to the purpose of life and what matters most.

Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

Received 4.5 stars on Goodreads.

A Gentleman In Moscow

A Gentleman in Moscow

by Amor Towles

In 1922, three years after the Russian Revolution, Count Alexander Rostov, a former aristocrat, is sentenced not to death but to house arrest; he is to live in the confines of Moscow's stylish Hotel Metropol-across the street form the Kremlin-for the rest of his life.

Rostov, a witty and loving erudite has never worked a day in his life and is ever the true gentleman. While living in the attic rooms, Rostov must experience the going's on in Moscow by reading the newspaper and via the reports from his friends on the outside. Unexpectedly, Rostov's reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery. 

Full of humor and charm, with a wonderful cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel weaves an unforgettable story of what it means to be a gentleman with a purpose.

This books is a perfect read for any adult reader who wants to be entertained and uplifted. A Gentleman in Moscow can be found in the adult fiction section of the library and can also be downloaded from the e-book selection on the Overdrive website. 

Don't Forget!! Tonight!

Stories Under the Stars!

The Night Gardener

The Night Gardener

By Jonathan Auxier

Molly and Kip, recently orphaned, travel to England to work as servants in an old manor house.  This Victorian ghost story, is more than just a spooky tale, it's also a moral fable about greed and the power of story telling.

This ghost story is honestly, downright creepy in a good way.  The author says that the inspiration for his story came after reading "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury and the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.

Fourteen year old Molly and her sickly younger brother Kip are newly orphaned, and fresh off the boat from Ireland.  In desperation to keep her and her brother off the streets, Molly is offered a position for them to be servants at an old manor, hidden deep in the woods.  Local villagers warn Molly to stay away from the manor, claiming that the woods are cursed.  But, with the only other option being starvation, Molly accepts, determined to make the best of the situation.

Molly and Kip arrive at Windsor Manor finding it to be a crumbling house that is nearly overrun by an enormous tree, its branches and roots cracking through every surface.  The Windsor family, a couple and their two children, have abnormally pale skin, their eyes and hair are the darkest of black.  Every night anyone sleeping in the house is haunted by nightmares, and Molly has spotted the shadow of a tall thin man who wanders the grounds at night.  But, whenever Molly or Kip mention that anything might be abnormal, the Windsors brush them off.

It is clear that something horrible is happening at this house and to its inhabitants.  Molly and Kip soon realize that if they are going to survive, they will need to solve the mystery of the night gardener, and break the curse that they have become part of.

This book is a perfect read for intermediate aged readers who are looking for something that will keep them up at night.  It also would make a great family Halloween read, if you're into that.  I would not recommend it to children under ten unless they don't seem to be phased by Goosebump books.

The Night Gardener can be found in the intermediate section of the library.  If you are more of a book listener, you can borrow the audio book on Overdrive from the Utah Online Library.

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The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese

The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese

By Michael Paterniti

In 1991, Michael Paterniti, while working in a gourmet deli, encountered a piece of cheese, this innocent encounter will eventually change his life.  Paterniti, as a journalist traveling all over the world for his job, can't stop thinking about that cheese, what made the cheese so special and expensive?  His research takes him to a picturesque village in Spain and introduces him to Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras and his telling room, a cave dug into the hillside, where villagers have gathered for centuries to tell stories, share secrets and drink wine.

The unusual piece of cheese was made from an old family recipe by Ambrosio.  It took him years of trial and error to come up with the perfect cheese. When Michael finally travels to Guzman, Spain, he falls in love with the beautiful village and the people. Ambrosio's cheese was reputed to be among the finest in the world and was said to hold mystical qualities.

This is a captivating story of happiness, friendship and betrayal. You can find The Telling Room in the non-fiction section of the library.

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Learning To Swear In America

Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy

A huge asteroid is heading toward earth, Yuri, a physicist from Russia , has been called by NASA to come to California to help save the earth.  Yuri thinks he knows how to stop the asteroid, because of the research he has been doing on antimatter.  The problem is Yuri is only 17, even though he's a genius it is hard for him to get the other physicists to listen to his plan.  Then Yuri meets Dovie, a normal California teenager who becomes Yuri's friend, and introduces him to a whole different kind of life.

Yuri Strelnikov comes from Russia to the United States, somewhat suddenly, he didn't even tell his mother he was leaving, which is a bit weird, remembering he is only 17. Yuri is lonely here in the USA, although it seems he might have been lonely in Russia too, because he's never had a real friend.  Dovie, and her family befriend Yuri, and introduce him to California culture.  I was prepared for some swear words in this book, because of the title, but I wasn't prepared for the weird sex-related topics that seemed forced and didn't fit with Yuri's personality.

This book had some awkward and funny moments. I did enjoy the science portions of the story, with Yuri having the weight of the world on his shoulders, as he tries to save earth from extinction.

You can find Learning to Swear in America in the Young Adult section of the library.

Puppet Show This Week!

The Women In the Castle

“The Women in the Castle”, by Jessica Shattuck, is a mind-altering historical fiction novel about Marianne, Benita, and Ania, who are surviving wives of resisters and mothers who struggle to overcome the harsh realities brought forth by WWII, while living in a Bavarian castle. The women support and guide each other as they struggle to move forward as changed women. However, love, trust, and family, play a role in the secrets and betrayal that will bring these women together and tear them apart.

It is the plot that alters these women’s lives by one decision that causes a significant impact in the story. It was fascinating to see how the events force an exchange of power between these women and the men involved. This book is an enjoyable story and it offers perspective and a genuine appreciation for our historical heroes. I commend the author for her creative approach. Jessica Shattuck did a fantastic job alternating between the different perspectives of the characters and making their stories very distinguished from one another. The story reads authentic by showing readers realistic cultural changes and how tough life can be when you have no idea where it will take you.

Amazon Review

A Cowboy Melodrama

Just A Reminder...Today between 4 and 6

Lehi Round-Up Week at the Library

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All At Sea

All At Sea by Decca Aitkenhead

On a hot still morning on a beautiful beach in Jamaica, Decca Aitkenhead's life changed forever. Decca's four-year-old son was paddling at the waters edge when a wave pulled him out to sea.  Tony, Decca's partner, swam out and saved her son's life, and then drowned before her eyes.

"The thing to remember about this story is that every word is true.  If I never told it to a soul, and this book did not exist, it would not cease to be true.  I don't mind at all if you forget this."

Decca and Tony met 10 years earlier, in London.  She was an award winning journalist, he was a dread locked criminal with a history of drug dealing and violence.  No one thought the romance would last, but it did.

This is an open, honest, and inspirational story of life in the aftermath of a life-altering loss.  A poignant and beautifully written memoir by a celebrated British journalist.  The reader is taken on a journey of life, love, unthinkable tragedy and finally to a point of healing and peace.  Written with unflinching candor, All At Sea is a fascinating account of one woman's life changing experience, heartbreaking, brilliant and profound.

All At Sea can be found in the adult non-fiction section of the library.

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