Librarian Picks

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

Relocating to a family farm in Connecticut after surviving the Columbine school shootings, Caelum and Maureen discover a cache of family memorabilia dating back five generations, which reveals to Caelum unexpected truths about painful past events. (Publisher Summary)

East of Eden of John Steinbeck

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. (Publisher Summary)

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

Accompanying a future famous actress from her Wichita home to New York, chaperone Cora Carlisle shares a life-changing five-week period with her ambitious teenage charge during which she discovers the promise of the twentieth century and her own purpose in life. (Publisher Summary)

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The book about a migrant family seeking a better life in California during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s was not only banned, it was burned by people citing vulgar words and sexual references, nevertheless the Nobel Prize committee later indicated that the work was one of the prime reasons that its author won the top award in literature. (Publisher Summary)

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

On the sixtieth anniversary of the 1942 roundup of Jews by the French police in the Vel d'Hiv section of Paris, American journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article on this dark episode during World War II and embarks on investigation that leads her to long-hidden family secrets and to the ordeal of Sarah, a young girl caught up in the raid. (Publisher Summary)

Librarian's Picks

Check out our Librarian's Picks display for August! This month's selection includes the following titles, plus many others:

East of Eden by John Steinbeck The masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years, East of Eden is a work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. 

The Red Thread by Ann Hood 

After losing her infant daughter in a freak accident, Maya Lange opens The Red Thread, an adoption agency that specializes in placing baby girls from China with American families. Maya finds some comfort in her work, until a group of six couples share their personal stories of their desire for a child. Their painful and courageous journey toward adoption forces her to confront the lost daughter of her past.

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.

Snow Reads

Only 30 more days until March 20th - the first day of spring! With any luck the days will grow warmer and all the snow will melt way before then, but just in case, here is a list of books that are perfect for getting lost in when all you want to do is stay curled up near the fire with a good read and a warm blanket:

The first novel in the Century trilogy, The Fall of Giants follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English and Welsh - as they move through the earth-shattering dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage. Winter of the World is a phenomenal sequel and don't forget to look for the final book in the trilogy, Edge of Eternity, releasing on September 14th. 

The Invisible Bridge, Julie Orringer's first novel, is an unforgettable historic novel set in 1937 Europe that tells the story of three Hungarian Jewish brothers that bound by history and love, of a marriage tested by catastrophe, of a Jewish family's struggle against eradication by the Nazis and of the dangerous power of art in the time of war.

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe lives a lonely, but ordered life; he is completely devoted to his patients and the painting hobby he loves.  When renowned artist Robert Oliver becomes his patient, Marlow finds his life in chaos as he becomes desperate to understand what is tormenting Oliver. Kostova's masterful and beautifully written novel, The Swan Thieves, is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.

Known as the masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years, East of Eden, is a work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence (Publisher's Summary).

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand is a brilliant story of a gifted architect, Howard Roark who possesses a strong sense of individualism and constantly struggles to maintain his personal vision rather than give in to conventional standards. The novel was published in 1943 and was Rand's first major literary success.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott chronicles the joys and sorrows of the four March sisters,  Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy as they grow into young women in nineteenth-century New England. Praised by Madeleine Stern as "a book on the American home, and hence universal in its appeal," Little Women has been enjoyed by many generations and is a true classic.