As a kid, I was amazed to learn that roads ran from one end of the country to the other and that electrical and telecommunications cables circled the entire planet. Excess frightened me. The planet could be circled in a matter of hours in a swift-flying jet; how could it also contain so much stuff? I felt like I was missing something. The books on this list speak to all of us who have wondered about what we might be missing… and what we are unable to know. I hope they mean as much to you as they have to me!
Most of Found Audio takes the form of a transcribed interview with an “adventure journalist,” whose story—even without the book’s surrounding architecture—is riveting. He seems to have discovered something mind-bending about the nature of dreams. But this interview is being delivered to the reader by a writer named N.J. Campbell, who received it (on cassette tape) from an audio engineer, who in turn received the tapes from a shady stranger, who refused to say much about them. The book’s overlapping narratives and absence of any “central authority” create a mobius strip. I love fictions that follow the advice of the sculptor Robert Smithson: “Establish enigmas, not explanations.” And Found Audio may be Exhibit A.
* A Best Book of 2017 —Writer's Bone "[A] mysterious work of metafiction... dizzying, arresting and defiantly bold." —Laura Pearson, Chicago Tribune Amrapali Anna Singh is an historian and analyst capable of discerning the most cryptic and trivial details from audio recordings. One day, a mysterious man appears at her office in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, having traveled a great distance to bring her three Type IV audio cassettes that bear the stamp of a library in Buenos Aires that may or may not exist.
On the cassettes is the deposition of an adventure journalist and his obsessive pursuit of an…
The basic premise of this novel is not totally new - it's about getting to relive your life and having the chance to do things differently. However, I enjoyed reading it very much and escaping into the MCs many realities. It's extremely well written and enjoyable!
The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon
Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year
"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."-The Washington Post
The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book.
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of…
My passion is writing. I started writing when I was 10 years old and my passion was reignited by my 11-year-old son. Writing runs in my blood as my late father was a journalist and the first black editor of the Zambia Daily Mail and my late brother was a poet. To date, I have published 17 children's books. I love writing children’s books with a positive message and also to make them laugh and entertained.
Fun poems for the little ones with lovely illustrations. I love the variety of animals she used and the different people as well. Animals are always good for children’s books because kids normally love animals and more often than not one of the animals will be a child’s favourite. I also loved the way she formulated her poems.
Loose Balloons is a humorous children's book that will encourage laughing and the love of reading whether read by the child or when bonding with a loved one. The comical characters and scenarios will encourage your child's curiosity and sense of wonder.
Kim Long loves to write stories with a sense of adventure, a dash of magic, and a hint of science. Her debut, Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament, was a 2021-2022 Texas Bluebonnet Master List Selection. She loves board games, scavenger hunts, and puzzles, so books with aspects of those elements have always appealed to her. Every book recommended below has at least one of those elements, and the great news is that it's also the first in its series, so if you fall in love with the first book, there’s a good chance you’ll love the others, too!
I love the puzzle-solving aspect of this book. The reader can try and solve the puzzles along with the characters or just read along and see how the kids figure it out. Lots of different personalities are represented, and while the library is somewhat “fantastical” in its high-tech visuals and gadgets, the story is very much grounded in our world. It’s a fun ride!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets A Night in the Museum in this the action-packed New York Times bestseller from Chris Grabenstein, coauthor of I Funny and other bestselling series with James Patterson!
Kyle Keeley is a huge fan of all games - board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most famous and creative gamemaker in the world, is the genius behind the town's new library that is as much a home for tech and trickery as it is for stories. Kyle wins a spot at a puzzle-packed lock-in on the library's opening night.…
Baby names are my profession and my obsession. Back when I was naming my own children, I found that the standard dictionaries didn’t capture what makes names so individual and so meaningful. So I set out to write the name book I had wanted to read: a real-world guide rooted in style, trends, culture, and history. I also focused on the decision-making process itself, which is a growing challenge in our era of information overload. An effective guide helps cut through the chaos, freeing you to enjoy the excitement of the journey ahead.
This book ushers you into one of the great joys of parenthood: reading to your child. Peek-a-Who is a marvel, a simple but compelling read-aloud that manages to draw babies into the book experience for the very first time. You’ll read it again and again, as your child comes to know each page and eagerly anticipate what comes ahead. Enjoy.
One of Scholastic Parent & Child magazine's 100 Greatest Books for Kids
With colorful pictures, simple rhyming texts, and sized right for small hands to hold.
Guessing-game board book filled with vibrant, happy images: Peek-a-Who! takes the most loved baby and toddler game and puts it in book form! Colorful pictures and simple rhyming texts help children guess what's peeking through the die-cut windows in this fun board book. The anticipation of what's hiding on the next page and the bright, engaging illustrations will keep little ones guessing and giggling all the way to the surprise ending.
Perfect size for…
Angela Burke Kunkel is an author, school librarian, and former English Language Arts teacher. She has experience working with all types of young readers, from the reluctant to the voracious, and has taught in both alternative and public schools, including a New Mexico middle school with a nationally-recognized dual education program. She is passionate about ensuring equitable book access for all children, and has published articles and participated as a panelist on these issues.
In the dark era of post-World War II Germany, journalist, author, and translator Jella Lepman organized a traveling exhibit of over 2,000 books from 14 countries. The Lady with the Books is a fictionalized account of Lepman’s project, told through the eyes of siblings Annelise and Peter, who enter the exhibit hoping to find food and discover something even more sustaining—books, and the hope of better days to come.
Inspired by true events, a fictionalized retelling of how one woman brought a world of books to children in Germany after World War II, and changed their lives forever. Anneliese and Peter will never be the same after the war that took their father's life. One day, while wandering the ruined streets of Munich, the children follow a line of people entering a building, thinking there may be free food inside. Instead, they are delighted to discover a great hall filled with children's books --- more books than Anneliese can count. Here, they meet the lady with the books, who…
As a military wife, and daughter, sister, mother, and mother-in-law to military members, I gained a strong perspective of what it is like to be behind the scenes, keeping the family together and building my own career while supporting the important missions of the men around me. In my reading, I’m drawn to historical fiction, as I feel it makes the stories come alive for me. I love a good story, and what entertains and informs even better than the documented facts are the dialog, relationships, and emotions of the characters. So it seems only natural to write about the amazing women behind the curtain in history in the engaging and memorable form of novels.
This collection of letters home by Chief Nurse Julia Stimson is an enlightening account of nursing during World War 1.
As a retired Registered Nurse myself, I wanted to learn more about those important and challenging times for the profession. There is nothing like reading a character’s own words to help you understand their daily turmoil and triumph. It provides a window into not only medical and nursing care, but of the vast challenges of the day, putting our own troubles into perspective.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and…
I enjoy reading and writing cozy mysteries, especially ones that feature libraries and cats because I’m a librarian and have three cats of my own. I like cozies because they focus on characters who can become your fictional friends as you learn more about them with each book. I like the fact that there’s a minimum of violence and even though there may be romance, there are no explicit sex scenes. I’ve always enjoyed reading stories with twists and secrets that are revealed slowly to the reader. These are the type of books that you can savor along with a cup of tea seated next to a purring cat.
Like most cozies, the first book of the Village Library Mysteries takes place in a small town, Whitby, North Carolina. The main character, Ann Beckett, like me, is a reference librarian. When a patron sets her up with a blind date and the mystery man turns up dead, Ann steps up to help solve the murder with the help of a few patrons. I loved and related to the library setting and the situations in which Ann found herself and also really enjoyed the addition of Fitz, the rescued library cat. I consider this a purrfect start to the series.
There are no renewals when you’re permanently checked out.
When librarian Ann Beckett finally reluctantly agrees to being set-up on a blind date by one of her over-eager patrons, she figures the worst that could happen would be the two of them wouldn’t hit it off.
Little did she know that she’d be stood up...because her date was murdered.With help from her patrons, Ann tries to find out who might be responsible in the small town of Whitby before more residents are permanently checked out.
I enjoy reading and writing cozy mysteries, especially ones that feature libraries and cats because I’m a librarian and have three cats of my own. I like cozies because they focus on characters who can become your fictional friends as you learn more about them with each book. I like the fact that there’s a minimum of violence and even though there may be romance, there are no explicit sex scenes. I’ve always enjoyed reading stories with twists and secrets that are revealed slowly to the reader. These are the type of books that you can savor along with a cup of tea seated next to a purring cat.
I liked the unique addition of a library ghost in this book. The main character, Carrie Singleton, is hired as a program director in the small town of Clover Ridge, Connecticut. During her first event at the library, she witnesses a murder and is later aided by the library ghost in discovering the killer. I enjoyed the mystery, the characters, and, as a cat lover, I also loved Smoky Joe, the library cat who “adopts” Carrie and also helps her. Great start to a fun, paranormal cozy series.
For fans of Miranda James and Jenn McKinlay comes an enthralling series debut featuring a librarian who solves mysteries with the help of a ghost in the stacks
Carrie Singleton is just about done with Clover Ridge, Connecticut until she's offered a job as the head of programs and events at the spooky local library, complete with its own librarian ghost. Her first major event is a program presented by a retired homicide detective, Al Buckley, who claims he knows who murdered Laura Foster, a much-loved part-time library aide who was bludgeoned to death fifteen years earlier. As he invites…
My father was transferred to Southern California from Charlotte, North Carolina when I was fourteen years old. I was excited and my friends were jealous. At that point, all I knew about California was the music of the Beach Boys and the Gidget television series. I thought everyone lived on the beach and knew movie stars. I didn’t know there were neighborhoods like Reseda and Anaheim and Fountain Valley, places where people live lives that have nothing to do with the glamour and celebrity of Hollywood. California has been my home for more than fifty years. I still find it fascinating and puzzling, and I still feel like an outsider.
Stacy Russo is a librarian, professor, artist, poet, novelist, children’s book writer, vegan baker, punk rock historian, dog whisperer, and a friend. Her novel told in stories is a close observation of modern life in Santa Ana, California where her protagonist, Stella Peabody runs a bakery and bookstore. The lives of her customers intertwine and create an enviably close community. The sense of place is vivid, and the characters are finely drawn. I wish this bookstore was real and in my neighborhood. Recipes included.
Welcome to the magical world of Stella Peabody's Wild Librarian Bakery and Bookstore!
Stella Peabody, an independent and free-spirited "Wild Librarian," follows her dream and opens a vegan bakery/bookstore where she and her literary-inspired baked goods form the heart of a diverse community full of beloved characters, including Robert Gonzales, a romance novel devotee and loving husband, who finds solace in Stella's "Poet's Beer Bread" when his wife goes missing under mysterious circumstances; solitary psychologist Mary Chin who leans upon her experiences with Stella's "Women Who Run With the Wolves" Book Club to find comfort and meaning following a life-changing…
