Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiction. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman, 353 pages

 An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.


As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.

With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?



Sunday, February 8, 2026

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin, 342 pages

 Toy Town—older, bigger, and certainly not wiser. The Old Rich, who have made their millions from the royalties on their world-famous nursery rhymes, are being murdered one by one. A psychopath is on the loose, and he must be stopped at any cost. It’s a job for Toy Town’s only detective—but he’s missing, leaving only Eddie Bear, and his bestest friend Jack, to track down the mad killer.




Friday, February 6, 2026

Christmas at the Women's Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery, 247 pages

 Christmas at the Biedermeier Hotel means employment, and employment means walking-around money. For ten months out of the year, jobs come fitfully and infrequently to Biedermeier residents, but between Advent and Epiphany any girl who wants something to do between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. has her pick of Holiday window dresser, salesgirl at the card stores on 42nd Street, Broadway usherette, assistant laundress at the Lincoln Center Nutcracker, Pinkerton security at the World’s Fair exhibition halls in Queens.


Katherine considers the possibility of making amends with her siblings in Ohio after a Gaudete Sunday service at Old First Presbyterian. Lucianne goes into business for herself at last, trying to run a telephone-order male escort agency (strictly above-board and Social Register only) out of her room, while Mrs. Mossler attempts to solve the mystery of the Biedermeier’s skyrocketing phone bill and frets over Christmas tips for the hotel’s few remaining employees.

And while the three thieves who stole twenty-four gems worth three million dollars from the American Museum of Natural History on October 29th have recently been caught, not all of the jewels have been recovered—and Patricia and Carol have behaved terribly strangely for the better part of a month. Christmas is a season of wonder and mystery, after all.



Monday, January 26, 2026

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, 475 pages

 Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?


Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.




Monday, January 5, 2026

This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page, 416 pages

 When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her fiancĂ© waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock. Partly because she can’t remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. Mainly because Joe died five months ago…

The gift is simple – twelve carefully-chosen books from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him.
Tilly sets out on a series of reading-inspired adventures that take her around the world. But as she begins to vlog her journey, her story becomes more than her own. With help from Alfie, the bookshop owner, her budding new following and her friends and family, can Tilly’s year of books show her how to love again?



Sunday, December 28, 2025

Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter, 352 pages

 Orphaned and maimed, Freckles' bitterness about his fate is lessened when he is hired to guard a stretch of lumber in the wild Limberlost, and, after meeting the beautiful Swamp Angel, he determines to find out about his past.




Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott, 299 pages

 Rose Campbell, tired and ill, has come to live at "The Aunt Hill" after the death of her beloved father. Six aunts fussing and fretting over her are bad enough, but what is a quiet 13-year-old girl to do with seven boisterous boy cousins? It is the arrival of Uncle Alec that changes everything. Much to the horror of her aunts, Rose's forward-thinking uncle insists that the child get out of the parlor and into the sunshine. And with a little courage and lots of adventures with her mischievous but loving cousins, Rose begins to bloom.


Written by the beloved author of Little Women, Eight Cousins is a masterpiece of children's literature. This endearing novel offers readers of all ages an inspiring story about growing up, making friends, and facing life with strength and kindness.



Thursday, November 27, 2025

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal, 340 pages

 Mariel Prager needs a break. Her husband Ned is having an identity crisis, her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day, and her mother Florence is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she’s been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel’s grandmother embraced the business, seeing it as a saving grace, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed.

Ned is also an heir—to a chain of home-style diners—and while he doesn't have a head for business, he knows his family's chain could provide a better future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance. With their dreams dashed, can one fractured family find a way to rebuild despite their losses, and will the Lakeside Supper Club be their salvation?

In this colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds, J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone.



Thursday, November 20, 2025

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, 404 pages

 Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.


But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.



Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd, 368 pages

 One year has passed since Sally wed her beloved Jack Skellington and stepped into her role as queen of Halloween Town. Even with her Jack at her side, though, being a ruler isn’t easy, and Sally feels uncertain of her future. Her seams are stretched thin with her royal duties, her newfound family in Dream Town, and a desire to bring citizens from across the Hinterlands together.

Then a simple potion demonstration at Sally’s inaugural Halloween exhibition goes horribly wrong, and things unravel fast: Sally and her new rag doll apprentice, Luna, fall through a mysterious portal, landing in a new realm called Time Town. They discover that someone has tampered with the clock that controls Halloween Town, and Sally cannot return to the present-day version of her home unless she finds the culprit and resets time.

Sally and Luna embark on a journey to unmask the truth, encountering more towns, friends, and foes along the way. But time is ticking, and as Sally fights to save Jack and her hometown, she wonders what kind of future she really wants–and what she must sacrifice to get it.



Saturday, August 16, 2025

Redshirts by John Scalzi, 317 pages

 Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.


Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that:
(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces
(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations
(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.



Sunday, August 3, 2025

Cheesecake by Mark Kurlansky, 240 pages

 The Katsikases have found a home in New York. A Greek cheesemaking family who immigrated in hopes of opening a restaurant, they've found the perfect storefront on the up-and-coming Upper West Side. They decide to call it The Katz Brothers. (Close enough, they think.) The diner becomes a neighborhood favorite-until Art Katsikas begins buying up all the real estate he can, forcing out their old “regulars” and scheming to replace the neighborhood's strudel shops and artists with ritzy boutiques and the nouveau riche.


Meanwhile, at The Katz Brothers, the Katsikases rush to prepare for this new clientele by introducing a new “modern classical cuisine,” changing the diner's name to “Mykonos,” and deciding to serve “Cato's Cheesecake,” an ancient Roman recipe known to be the oldest ever found. Sure enough, the enigmatic recipe is a hit, even minted by the New York Times restaurant critic. Soon the cheesecake is all over the Upper West Side, and wild interpretations of Cato's vision appear at the parties, feasts, and bakeries of old New Yorkers struggling to keep their withering community alive. Sometimes laced with green M&Ms, sometimes with sage and spite, the cheesecake becomes a herald of change as the Upper West Side-and New York's food scene-are transformed for good.



Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal, 312 pages

 Kitchens of the Great Midwest, about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country’s most coveted dinner reservation, is the summer’s most hotly anticipated debut.

 
When Lars Thorvald’s wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine—and a dashing sommelier—he’s left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He’s determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter—starting with purĂ©ed pork shoulder. As Eva grows, she finds her solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota. From Scandinavian lutefisk to hydroponic chocolate habaneros, each ingredient represents one part of Eva’s journey as she becomes the star chef behind a legendary and secretive pop-up supper club, culminating in an opulent and emotional feast that’s a testament to her spirit and resilience.
 
Each chapter in J. Ryan Stradal’s startlingly original debut tells the story of a single dish and character, at once capturing the zeitgeist of the Midwest, the rise of foodie culture, and delving into the ways food creates community and a sense of identity. By turns quirky, hilarious, and vividly sensory, Kitchens of the Great Midwest is an unexpected mother-daughter story about the bittersweet nature of life—its missed opportunities and its joyful surprises. It marks the entry of a brilliant new talent.



Sunday, June 29, 2025

A Lady of Quality by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 363 pages

 A Lady of Quality is a novel published in 1896 by Frances Hodgson Burnett that was the second highest best-selling book in the United States in 1896. It was the first of series of successful historical novels by Burnett.




Thursday, June 12, 2025

Murder By Cheesecake by Rachel Ekstrom Courage, 336 pages

 When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf–themed wedding Rose is hosting.


Things are heating up, and not just because of Blanche’s hot flashes. Rose’s cousin is eloping to Miami, and Rose is playing host. If she can't balance the groom’s family’s snobbery against the traditional St. Olaf wedding week guidelines, her hometown may never accept her cousin again!

Dorothy quickly realizes she needs a date with whom she can exchange wedding-related wisecracks. Turning to a newfangled VHS dating service, she believes she’s found the ideal conversationalist. Unfortunately, what looks good on TV can actually be a total jerk in real life. It seems she’ll just have to enjoy the company of Sophia, Blanche, and whomever Blanche has targeted for a hookup.

As the Girls all pitch in, Rose is thrilled that the tea-and-fish-themed kickoff event is perfect, not a herring out of place. That is until Dorothy’s date is found dead—face-planted in an otherwise scrumptious-looking cheesecake. With every guest a suspect (especially Dorothy) and a marriage on the line, the four besties must ID the real killer, get the should-be-happy couple down the aisle, and make sure nobody from St. Olaf gets lost in the wilds of Miami. It’s up to the Golden Girls to sleuth out a way for friendship and love to win the day!



Friday, April 11, 2025

Every Tom, Dick & Harry by Elinor Lipman, 306 pages

 From one of the most beloved comedic writers of our time comes a charming, laugh-out-loud tale of love and criminality, a pitch-perfect romantic comedy from the author of Ms. Demeanor.


Taking over her parents’ estate sale business is more than Emma Lewis bargained for. Coming from a long line of estate liquidators has its challenges but Emma was completely unprepared for the people she would meet. Pimps, prostitutes, crooked cops, art thieves? Should she turn down potential clients in need of decluttering just because they are shady and proud of it?

No.

A girl must make a living—and it could be more fortuitous than she ever imagined . . . 



Tuesday, February 25, 2025

The Memory Library by Kate Storey, 403 pages

 For forty-two years, Sally Harrison has been building a library.


Each year, on her daughter’s birthday, she adds a new book to her shelves – with a note in the front dedicated to her own greatest work.

But Ella – Sally’s only child – fled to Australia twenty-two years ago after a heated exchange, and never looked back. And though Sally still dutifully adds a new paperback to the shelves every time the clock strikes midnight on July 11th, her hopes of her daughter ever thumbing through the pages are starting to dwindle.

Then disaster strikes and Ella is forced to return to the home she once knew.

She is soon to discover that when one chapter ends, another will soon follow…



Monday, February 17, 2025

Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon, 324 pages

 Would you be able to spend a million dollars in cash and leave yourself penniless, if it meant you would then be given many more millions? That's poor Monty Brewster's dilemma in this charming 1903 tale which has been made into a movie six times, the most recent starring Richard Pryor and John Candy.




Monday, December 30, 2024

To Hell With Hallmark by Brad Ricks, 230 pages

 Welcome to Hallmark, Vermont, the setting for every cliched Christmas dream. Idyllic and picturesque, it's where real Christmas magic happens.

Here, a lonely librarian bumps into the man of her dreams and is swept away into a whirlwind romance. A big city girl runs into her high school sweetheart and rekindles a forgotten spark. A secret prince escapes the pressures of royalty - and finds his true love.

Except this year, something sinister has infected Hallmark's Christmas magic, turning Christmas morning dreams into Christmas Eve nightmares.



Wednesday, November 27, 2024

The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton, 293 pages

 Animator and vampire hunter Anita Blake is about to discover that some secrets are better left buried—and some people better off dead.