Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows (2006)
When seven-year-old Bean plays a mean trick on her sister, she finds unexpected support for her antics from Ivy, the new neighbor, who is less boring than Bean first suspected.
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Anatomy of a disappearance by Hisham Matar (2011)
Nuri is a young boy when his mother dies. It seems that nothing will fill the emptiness that her strange death leaves behind in the Cairo apartment he shares with his father. Until Mona. When Nuri first sees Mona, sitting in her bright yellow swimsuit by the pool of the Magda Marina holiday resort, the rest of the world vanishes.
Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle (2006)
Ten years on from The Woman Who Walked into Doors, Roddy Doyle returns to one of his greatest characters, Paula SpencerWhen we first met Paula Spencer – in The Woman Who Walked into Doors – she was thirty-nine, recently widowed, an alcoholic struggling to hold her family together. Paula Spencer begins on the eve of Paula's forty-eighth birthday. She hasn't had a drink for four months and five days. Her youngest children, Jack and Leanne, are still living with her. They're grand kids, but she worries about Leanne.Paula still works as a cleaner, but all the others doing the job now seem to come from Eastern Europe, and the checkout girls in the supermarket are Nigerian. You can get a cappuccino in the cafe, and her sister Carmel is thinking of buying a holiday home in Bulgaria. Paula's got four grandchildren now; two of them are called Marcus and Sapphire.Reviewing The Woman Who Walked into Doors, Mary Gordon wrote: "It is the triumph of this novel that Mr Doyle – entirely without condescension – shows the inner life of this battered house-cleaner to be the same stuff as that of the heroes of the great novels of Europe.' Her words hold true for this new novel. Paula Spencer is brave, tenacious and very funny. The novel that bears her name is another triumph for Roddy Doyle.
Ape House by Sara Gruen (2010)
When a family of bonobo apes who know American Sign Language are kidnapped from a language laboratory, their mysterious appearance on a reality TV show propels scientist Isabel Duncan, together with reporter John Thigpen, on a personal mission to rescue them. An entertaining book that calls into question our assumptions about these animals who share 99.4% of our DNA.
Black Heart by Justin Somper (2007)
There's a new ship of vampirates roaming the seas, leaving a trail of fear and devastation in its wake. When a high-profile pirate is slain, the Pirate Federation takes decisive action and begins training up a ship of dedicated vampire hunters. The team will be led by newly appointed Captain, Cheng Li and will include pirate prodigy Connor Tempest.Meanwhile, Connor's twin sister Grace enjoys a bittersweet reunion with their mother. Sally Tempest has some important and shocking news that will leave the twins facing a very uncertain future.
Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers (2016)
Josie and her husband have split up, she's been sued by a former patient and lost her dental practice, and she's grieving the death of a young man senselessly killed. When her ex asks to take the children to meet his new fiancée's family, Josie makes a run for it, figuring Alaska is about as far as she can get without a passport. Josie and her kids, Paul and Ana, rent a rattling old RV named the Chateau, and at first their trip feels like a vacation: They see bears and bison, they eat hot dogs cooked on a bonfire, and they spend nights parked along icy cold rivers in dark forests. But as they drive, pushed north by the ubiquitous wildfires, Josie is chased by enemies both real and imagined, past mistakes pursuing her tiny family, even to the very edge of civilization.
Tabby McTat, the musical cat by Julia Donaldson (2009)
Fred the street musician and his cat are "purr-fectly" happy, singing together all day long, until Fred gives chase to a thief and the two become separated.
Frog music by Emma Donoghue (2014)
"Emma Donoghue's explosive new novel, based on an unsolved murder in 1876 San Francisco. Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heatwave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman called Jenny Bonnet is shot dead. The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, she will risk everything to bring Jenny's murderer to justice--if he doesn't track her down first. The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women and damaged children. It's the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts. In thrilling, cinematic style, FROG MUSIC digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue's lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boomtown like no other"--
Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta (2012)
Maailmasta on loppumassa vesi. Suunnattoman katastrofin - ehkä ilmastonmuutoksen, ehkä jonkin muun - läpikäynyt ihmiskunta sinnittelee veden vähyyden ja sen säännöstelyä hallitsevan diktatuurin vallan alla. Vain kaatopaikoille hautautunut teknologia ja teemestarien sukupolvien ajan pitämät päiväkirjat muistuttavat entisistä ajoista. Noria on teemestarien sukua, ja pian on hänen vuoronsa ottaa vastaan täysivaltaisen teemestarin arvo - ja edeltäjiensä tarkkaan varjelema salaisuus. Aikana, jona veden kätkeminen on rikoksista pahin, sotilasvallan katseet kiinnittyvät väistämättä teemestarin taloon...
Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (2012)
Fifteen-year-old Ari Mendoza is an angry loner with a brother in prison, but when he meets Dante and they become friends, Ari starts to ask questions about himself, his parents, and his family that he has never asked before.
Ghost Ship by Clive Cussler (2014)
"The dazzling new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series from Clive Cussler, the grand master of adventure. When Kurt Austin is injured attempting to rescue the passengers and crew from a sinking yacht, he wakes with fragmented and conflicted memories. Did he see an old friend and her children drown, or was the yacht abandoned when he came aboard? For reasons he cannot explain, Kurt doesn't trust either version of his recollection. Determined to know the truth, he begins to search for answers, and soon finds himself descending into a shadowy world of state-sponsored cybercrime, and uncovering a pattern of vanishing scientists, suspicious accidents, and a web of human trafficking. With the help of Joe Zavala, he takes on the sinister organization at the heart of this web, facing off with them in locations ranging from Monaco to North Korea to the rugged coasts of Madagascar. But where he will ultimately end up, even he could not begin to guess" Provided by publisher.
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis (2017)
Aventurine is *not* the kind of dragon who can sit inside her family mountain for decades. If she’s cooped up for even one more hour, she might explode! Her family claims she’s too young to leave safely, but she’s fierce and she’s brave, and she’s ready to prove it by capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. Unfortunately, the human she captures turns out to be even sneakier than she was expecting. When he tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, she finds herself transformed into a puny, twelve-year-old human girl with tiny, blunt teeth, no fire, and not a single claw to use in battle. But she’s certain that she’s still the fiercest creature in these mountains – and now she’s found her true passion: *chocolate*. All she has to do is walk on two feet to the human city to find herself an *apprenticeship* (whatever that is) in a *chocolate house* (which sounds delicious), and she’ll be conquering new territory in no time…right? Wild and reckless young Aventurine will bring havoc to the human city – but what she doesn’t expect is that she’ll find real friendship there, too, along with betrayal, deception, delicious chocolate… and a startling new understanding of what it means to be a human (and a dragon) after all.
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (2016)
The elite have everything: money, cars, private jets and beautiful families. David Whitehead and Ben Kipling are the top of the elite, both influential men with jobs in the media and finance, both travelling back to New York on a private jet after a vacation with their families, and both with secrets that could ruin their lives. Invited on a whim by David's wife, Scott Burroughs, a middle-aged painter, finds himself on their plane - he needs to visit New York for a meeting that could spark a revival in his failed career. But sixteen minutes into its journey the plane crashes into the sea, Scott and the Whiteheads' four-year-old son are the only survivors. With a little boy's life in his hands Scott begins to swim - an epic journey to the coast. In the rectifying hours, he cannot imagine how his life will be changed forever. With the SEC, FBI and National Transportation Safety Board investigating what happened to the plane, and the lives of everyone on board - the Whiteheads, the Kiplings and the crew - it is not long before their secrets start to come into the light. It seems as though the crash might be more than a tragic accident ...
The Last by Katherine Applegate (2018)
Fearing she may be the last of her kind, Byx sets off to find a safe haven and to see if the legends of hidden dairnes are true.
The truth according to us by Annie Barrows (2015)
"From the co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes a wise, witty, and exuberant novel, perfect for fans of Lee Smith, that illuminates the power of loyalty and forgiveness, memory and truth, and the courage it takes to do what's right. Annie Barrows once again evokes the charm and eccentricity of a small town filled with extraordinary characters. Her new novel, The Truth According to Us, brings to life an inquisitive young girl, her beloved aunt, and the alluring visitor who changes the course of their destiny forever. In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck's father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers' Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her own opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. However, once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is completely drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is deeply entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty. At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues--ferocity and devotion--a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business with which her charismatic father is always occupied and the reason her adored aunt Jottie never married. Layla's arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a different tale about the Romeyns, and the invisible threads linking them to the heart of Macedonia's history. As Willa peels back the layers of her family's past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed--and their personal histories completely rewritten. Praise for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society "A jewel. poignant and keenly observed. a small masterpiece about love, war, and the immeasurable sustenance to be found in good books and good friends."--People "Affirms the power of books to nourish people enduring hard times."--The Washington Post "This is a book for firesides or long train rides. It's as charming and timeless as the novels for which its characters profess their love."--San Francisco Chronicle "A book-lover's delight, an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary."--Chicago Sun-Times "A poignant, funny novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. This one is a treat."--The Boston Globe "Smart and delightful. Treat yourself to this book, please--I can't recommend it highly enough."--Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and The Signature of All Things"-- "Miss Layla Beck, the daughter of a powerful Senator from Delaware refuses to marry the gentleman her father has chosen for her and is forced to get a job working for the FWP to write the first official account of Maecdonian History. Her notions of real life--the social whirl of Newport and New York--are totally upended and she despairs in rooming with the overly eccentric Romeyn family in such a small backwater town. The Romeyn family is a fixture in the town, their identity tied to its knotty history. Layla enters their lives and lights a match to the family veneer and a truth comes to light that will change each of their lives forever in deeply personal and powerful ways. As Layla embarks on this grand adventure to establish historical moments in print, her first friend, the town librarian Ms. Betts wisely cautions: "There is a problem with history. All of us see a story according to our own lights. None of us is capable of objectivity." Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and told through the incredible voices of three narrators you quickly come to love--Layla Beck, Jottie Romeyn, and her niece, twelve year old Willa--this is an intimate family novel of love and family, of history and truth, and of struggle and hope, filled with the kind of characters once you discover, you'll never forget"--
The empty throne by Bernard Cornwell (2014)
"Britain, early tenth century AD: a time of change. There are new raids by the Vikings from Ireland, and turmoil among the Saxons over the leadership of Mercia. A younger generation is taking over. Æthelred, the ruler of Mercia, is dying, leaving no legitimate heir. The West Saxons want their king, but Uhtred has long supported Æthelflaed, sister to King Edward of Wessex and widow of Æthelred. Widely loved and respected, Æthelflaed has all the makings of a leader--but could Saxon warriors ever accept a woman as their ruler? The stage is set for rivals to fight for the empty throne. Uhtred is still suffering from the wounds he received in battle. To recover his strength he needs to find the sword that caused the injury, but lost amid the battle's blood and mud, how could it be traced and who among the Vikings or Saxons might be holding it? In the end it is one champion, one hero, who will destroy the new Viking threat to Mercia and ultimately decide the fate of England."--
The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett (2013)
The Next--the hyper-intelligent post-humans--realize that the missive they received from the center of the galaxy contains instructions for kick-starting the development of an immense artificial intelligence knows as The Machine. But to build this computer the size of an Earth continent, they must obtain help from the more populous and still industrious worlds of mankind.
Take one by Karen Kingsbury (2009)
Could they change the world---before the world changes them? Filmmakers Chase Ryan and Keith Ellison left the mission field of Indonesia for the mission field of Hollywood with a dream bigger than both of them. Now they have done the impossible: raised enough money to produce a feature film with a message that could change the world. But as Chase and Keith begin shooting, their well-laid plans begin to unravel. With millions of dollars on the line, they make a desperate attempt to keep the film from falling apart---even as a temperamental actress, a botched production schedule, and their own insecurities leave little room for the creative and spiritual passion that once motivated them. Was God really behind this movie after all? A chance meeting and friendship with John Baxter could bring the encouragement they need to stay on mission and produce a movie that will actually change people's lives. In the midst of the questions and the cameras, is it possible to keep things above the line and make a movie unlike anything done before---or is the risk too great for everyone?
The Dilemma by B.A. Paris (2019)
**Knowing the truth will destroy her. Keeping it secret will destroy him.** It’s Livia’s 40th birthday, and her husband Adam is throwing her the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding they never had. Everyone she loves will be there, except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But Livia is secretly glad Marnie won’t be there. Livia has recently uncovered a secret about their daughter which, if revealed, will shake the foundation of their family to its core. She needs to tell Adam, but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together. Adam, meanwhile, has his own surprise for Livia: he’s arranged for Marnie to secretly fly back for the party. But before Marnie arrives, Adam hears some terrible news. Now he too is faced with a dilemma: Does he share what he's learned with his wife? Is hiding the truth the same as telling a lie? And how far are Adam and Livia willing to go to protect the ones they love―and give each other a last few hours of happiness?
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris (2010)
If animals were more like us, if mice kept pets and toads could cuss, if dogs had wives and chipmunks dated, sheep sat still and meditated, then in the forest, field, and dairy you might find this bestiary, read by storks, by rats and kitties, skimmed by cows with milk-stained titties. "I found the book to be most droll," might quip the bear, the owl, the mole. Others, though, would be more coarse. "Bull," could say the pig and horse. As to the scribe, they'd quote the hen: "Trust me, he's no La Fontaine."