August Calls for an American Adventure

Craving an American adventure during the dwindling days of summer? If so, you may like the following books:

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazer

Based on local history and family stories passed down by the author's great-great-grandfather, Cold Mountain is the tale of a wounded soldier Inman, who walks away from the ravages of the war and back home to his prewar sweetheart, Ada. 

Hidden Order by Brad Thor

When a string of high-profile kidnappings in Washington, D.C. escalate upon the discovery that the victims are being murdered, an eventual ransom demand triggers terror throughout the country.

In Calamity's Wake by Natalee Caple

To fufill her adoptive father's dying wish, Miette sets out to meet her mother, the notorious Calamity Jane, and crosses the badlands of the North American West in her quest to find the woman who had forsaken her for a life of danger and adventure.

In the Heart of the Canyon by Elisabeth Hyde

A rafting trip through the Grand Canyon changes the lives of everyone on board, including JT Maroney, a jaded guide; unemployed Peter, who is avoiding his family; septuagenarian veteran rafters Ruth and Lloyd, who know they will never make this trip again; and teenager Amy Van Doren and her mother, who will face the most daunting journey of all.

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

Fleeing her strict grandmother's home in 1963 Mississippi, 9-year-old Starla Claudelle becomes an unlikely companion to an African-American woman at whose side she learns harsh lessons about period segregation and family. By the RITA-winning author of Back Roads.

The Wind is Not a River by Brian Payton

Desperate to understand the war that claimed the life of his brother, journalist John Easley heads to the Territory of Alaska to investigate the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands, a story censored by the U.S. government, while the wife he left behind is forced to reimagine who she is and what she is capable of doing after he disappears.

What is Bildungsroman?

A popular label for our blog posts is bildungsromans. What is it you ask? Per the Oxford English Dictionary, bildungsroman is "a novel that has as its main theme the formative years or spiritual education of one person" Origin of the word bildungsroman is German, "bildung" for education and "roman" for novel. Simply put, it is a coming-of-age tale.

Interested in reading one? Check out one of these titles:

• One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker: Livie faces a new set of challenges as she navigates freshman year at Princeton, a time involving wild parties and Ashton, the gorgeous rowing team captain. Facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, Livie’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father, and, with it, the only identity she’s ever known. 
• Etched on Me by Jenn Crowell: Faced with an unexpected pregnancy in her 20s, Lesley, who has overcome sexual abuse and a troubled adolescence to become a social services success story, must fight for her unborn daughter when the same team that saved her as a teenager questions whether she is fit to be a mother. 
• Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall: Fleeing her strict grandmother's home in 1963 Mississippi, 9-year-old Starla Claudelle becomes an unlikely companion to an African-American woman at whose side she learns harsh lessons about period segregation and family. 
• Rules for Becoming a Legend by Timothy S. Lane: Destined for a legendary future in the NBA, a young basketball prodigy begins suffering the tragedies that have cursed his family for generations and destroyed his father's sports dreams, a situation that compels him to find a way to break the cycle.
• Pelican Point by Donna Kauffman: Hoping to reconnect with herself after suffering a personal tragedy, Alex McFarland agrees to renovate the Pelican Cove lighthouse and finds herself falling in love instead.

Looking for more bildungsromans? Click the label below or stop by the reference desk on the main floor of the library to speak with a reference librarian.