STAFF PICKS--Fall On Your Knees

Carol's Pick:  Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald

Synopsis: 

They are the Pipers of Cape Breton Island -- a family steeped in lies and unspoken truths that reach out from the past, forever mindful of the tragic secret that could shatter the family to its foundations.

Chronicling five generations of this eccentric clan, Fall On Your Knees follows four remarkable sisters whose lives are filled with driving ambition, inescapable family bonds, and forbidden love. Their experiences will take them from their stormswept homeland, across the battlefields of World War I, to the freedom and independence of Jazz-era New York City.
 
Compellingly written, running the literary gamut from menacingly dark to hilariously funny, this is an epic saga of one family's trials and triumphs in a world of sin, guilt, and redemption.

Carol says:  This book was a wonderful commentary on how a really dysfunctional family can come together to create a real family despite themselves.  Full of mystery and surprises.

PATRON PICKS--The American Heiress

Noel's Pick:  The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin

Synopsis:  Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.

Noel says:  It gave an inside view of the customs and culture of the wealthy in America and in England at the turn of the century.  Lots of strong characters and plot twists.

PATRON PICKS--by the Kids!

Jordyn's Pick:  Tango, The Tale of an Island Dog, by Eileen Beha

Jordyn says:  It was exciting!

Chris' Pick:  Horowitz Horror, by Anthony Horowitz

Chris says:  Awesome!

Jessica's Pick:  Unfriendly Competition, by Jessica Burkhart

Jessica says:  It's for horse lovers!

READ ANY GOOD BOOKS THIS SUMMER?

What's your favorite book so far this summer?

If you'd like to recommend a book, please use the comment box below.  Be sure to include the title & author and tell us why you liked it. 

Thanks!

STAFF PICKS--Sarah's Key

Valerie's Pick:  Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay

The story travels from modern Paris to the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations of Jews.  Julia, an American married to a haughty Frenchman, is drawn to the story of Sarah, the only member of one particular family to survive.  It beautifully conveys Julia's conflicting loyalties, and makes Sarah's trials so riveting, her innocence so absorbing, that the book is hard to put down.

STAFF PICKS--A Discovery of Witches

Elizabeth's Pick:  A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness

Synopsis:

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

Elizabeth says:  A fun summer read.  First of a trilogy.

PATRON PICKS--Of Flesh and Blood

Cheryl's Pick:  Of Flesh and Blood, by Daniel Kalla

Synopsis:
A hundred years ago, Dr. Evan McGrath realized his dream of establishing a hospital in the Pacific Northwest, a hospital that would never turn away a patient in need. But the personal cost was steep: Evan lost the love of his life while making a powerful enemy of the hospital’s financier, Marshall Alfredson.

Today, the Alfredson Medical Center is internationally renowned for its care. The two founding families remain faithful to Evan’s vision, but their history is clouded by forbidden love, conflict, and betrayal. Crisis is besieging the Alfredson. A decision by Dr. Tyler McGrath, a child cancer specialist, leaves a young patient’s family shattered. Dr. Jill Laidlaw, Tyler’s wife, is a researcher poised to offer fresh hope to multiple sclerosis victims—including a former presidential frontrunner—until rumors of research fraud endanger her career. And in the face of temptation and career demands, Tyler and Jill are drifting apart.

Devastating family secrets, doomed relationships, and present-day medical disasters threaten not only the Alfredsons and McGraths but the legendary hospital itself.

Cheryl says:  The author has combined a view of medical history with current day problems facing patients and caregivers to create a page turner.

STAFF PICKS--The Dog Boy

Valerie's Pick:  The Dog Boy, by Eva Hornung

Set in Moscow, this is the gripping story of an abandoned four-year-old who survives when he is adopted into a feral dog clan.  The plot hinges on survival, of the boy and the dogs, who are stalked by other dogs, by the poor and brutal people among whom they live.  An unique, lyrical book, whose story will stay with you long after you finish reading.

STAFF PICKS--The Surrendered

Valerie's Pick:  The Surrendered, by Chang-rae Lee

Lee's novel documents the ravages and indelible effects of war, through the story of June Han, a starving 11-year-old refugee fleeing military combat during the Korean War.  Powerful, deeply felt, compulsively readable.

PATRON PICKS--The Spellman Files

Melanie's Pick:  The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz

Synopsis:

Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors -- but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.

Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends"). But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her go -- a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.

The Spellman Files is the first novel in a winning and hilarious new series featuring the Spellman family in all its lovable chaos.

Melanie says:  It was witty and smart with mysteries you can't solve until close to the end.  Words can't describe how happy I feel when I'm reading it!

PATRON PICKS: Nobody's Princess

Anna's Pick:  Nobody's Princess, by Esther M. Friesner (YA)

Synopsis:

She is beautiful, she is a princess, and Aphrodite is her favorite goddess, but something in Helen of Sparta just itches for more out of life. Not one to count on the gods—or her looks—to take care of her, Helen sets out to get what she wants with steely determination and a sassy attitude. That same attitude makes Helen a few enemies—such as the self-proclaimed "son of Zeus" Theseus—but it also intrigues, charms, and amuses those who become her friends, from the famed huntress Atalanta to the young priestess who is the Oracle of Delphi.
In Nobody's Princess, author Esther Friesner deftly weaves together history and myth as she takes a new look at the girl who will become Helen of Troy. The resulting story offers up adventure, humor, and a fresh and engaging heroine you cannot help but root for.

Anna says:  This is an interesting twist on what people would customarily think about Helen of Troy.  It was very difficult to put down!

PATRON PICKS: Throat

Mary's Pick:  Throat, by R.A. Nelson (YA)

Synopsis:
R. A. Nelson takes us on a supernatural thrill ride, a modern-day vampire story set on a NASA base and filled with space-and-science intrigue. Seventeen-year-old Emma feels cursed by her epilepsy—until the lost night. She's shocked to wake up in the hospital one morning, weak from blood loss. When her memories begin to return, she pieces together that it was a man—a monster—who attacked her: a vampire named Wirtz. And it was her very condition that saved her: a grand mal seizure interrupted Wirtz and left Emma with all the amazing powers of a vampire—heightened senses, rapid speed—but no need to drink blood. Is Emma now a half-vampire girl? One thing soon becomes clear: the vampire Wirtz is fierce and merciless, feared even by his own kind, and won't leave a job undone.

Mary says:  Full of action, a dab of drama, and a sprinkle of romance.

PATRON PICKS--Eragon

Clare's Pick:  Eragon, by Chrostopher Paolini (YA)

Synopsis:
When young Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his adopted family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of inescapable destiny, magical forces, and powerful people. With only an ancient sword and the instruction of an old, mysterious, hermit storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a Emperor whose evil and power knows no bounds. Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands….

Clare's says:  I loved The Lord of the Rings and I think Eragon had the same level of creativity and imagination.

PATRON PICKS--Cutting for Stone

Kay's Pick:  Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese

Synopsis:

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

Kay says she likes it because it's historical!