fiction

When I Was the Greatest

By Jason Reynolds
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Feb 21, 2016

It’s a tale as old as time: teens going to parties far beyond their years. For this Johnson County reader, the interest in Jason Reynold's When I Was the Greatest lies in the microclimate of Bed-Stuy in New York City.

For Ali and his friends Needles and Noodles, an invitation to one of MoMo’s infamous parties must be accepted, for it may never come again. At fifteen, the boys don’t belong there, and they realize it in short order when a fight breaks out and they all, but especially Ali, end up on the most wanted list of some dangerous dudes.

The ensuing events bring Ali and his family closer

If I Was Your Girl

By Meredith Russo

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Feb 19, 2016

This is the story of Amanda and how she overcomes her past and embraces her new life, learning to live with her father, and making new friends. Amanda has a complicated past that she struggles with and does not want people to know about. There are flashbacks, sprinkled throughout the book, which feature Andrew and his battle with everyday life. Andrew and Amanda are connected in ways that most would not understand, as they are the same person only in different versions. Andrew’s life was not easy and neither will Amanda’s be as she navigates life as a transgendered woman searching to find

Thin Ice

By Irene Hannon
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Feb 17, 2016

Christy Reed has had a difficult year. First she lost both of her parents in a car wreck, then just a few months later her sister Ginny dies in a house fire. Just as Christy is starting to pull herself out of her grieving and begins to accept that she is alone in the world, an envelope arrives in the mail. The envelope is addressed in Ginny’s handwriting and is postmarked just a few days ago. What is going on, and where is Ginny?

Brand new FBI Special Agent Lance McGregor receives Christy’s call about the letter and reopens the case. There are many questions that need answers. Is Ginny still

The Passenger

By Lisa Lutz
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Feb 13, 2016

Have you ever wanted to run away and become someone else? When we meet Tanya Dubois at the beginning of The Passenger, she has just discovered her husband lying dead at the bottom of the stairs. While he appears to have fallen, Tanya knows that the police will still take a good hard look at her before deciding whether it was an accident, and she can't have that since her current identity won't stand up to close police scrutiny. So Tanya writes a note declaring her innocence, packs a bag, and stops at the nearest ATM to withdraw as much cash as possible on her way out of town.

As she drives

This Is Where It Ends

By Marieke Nijkamp

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Feb 11, 2016

Four different people, four separate stories, and four unique perspectives are all tied together by fear. As the school-wide assembly ends, the entire school discovers that all the doors are locked as a student starts shooting.  In this fast paced read, which only spans the course of fifty minutes, the reader gets the perspective of four students, who all have reasons to fear the boy holding the gun. Each character reflects on how they are tied to the shooter, decisions they have made, and how they got to this point all while testing their strength in this nerve-wracking, suspenseful book

The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume One: At the Edge of Empire

By Daniel Kraus

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Feb 11, 2016

Zebulon Finch, known as "the Black Hand," is a seventeen-year-old gangster operating on the streets of 19th-century Chicago, dealing death and visiting whorehouses. His lifestyle earns him a bullet in the back of the head and a one-way trip to the bottom of Lake Michigan. Only Finch does not die. His ability to move, think, and speak stays, but his body is slowly decomposing. Think Warm Bodies, but with not as nice a protagonist. With no clue why this has happened, Finch sets off on a long journey in search of... what? Love? Atonement?

Through the rotting eyes of his leading man, Kraus leads

If I Run

By Terri Blackstock
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Feb 10, 2016

Casey Cox was twelve years old when she came home from school and found her father hanging in the garage. While the police investigators officially ruled her father’s death a suicide, Casey never believed that her father would kill himself, knowing she would be the one to find him.  Now, ten years later, Casey walks in to find her best friend murdered just inside his front door. Brent, a journalist, had been investigating her father’s death and the circumstances surrounding it in an effort to help her find peace and move on with her life.

Feeling that she won’t get a fair shake from local law

The Widow

By Fiona Barton
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Feb 6, 2016

When little Bella went missing four years ago, seemingly disappearing into thin air from her front yard, all of England was on the lookout for the precious two year old. As The Widow opens, we meet Jean Taylor, whose husband, Glen, has just been killed in a freak accident. Now that Glen is dead and she is newsworthy again, Jean has been hiding in her house from the reporters who have started camping out on her front walk. In the past Jean and Glen did everything they could to ignore the reporters who hounded them when Glen was accused of Bella’s kidnapping and murder, and again when he was

The House on Fortune Street

By Margot Livesey
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Heather B.
Feb 2, 2016

The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey is a beautifully written novel that explores the lives of four interconnected characters, each with a very different perspective on taking control of their fate versus succumbing to what luck (or misfortune) has to throw at them. 

Sean wants to finish his dissertation on Keats but abandons it to write a commercially commissioned book on euthanasia with his old friend Valentine. His life is disrupted even more when an anonymous letter hints that his girlfriend, Abigail, might be having an affair with Valentine. 

Cameron wants to repair the

All American Boys

By Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Becky C.
Feb 1, 2016

All American Boys is a big-issue book that also makes an excellent character study. Rashad, a sixteen-year-old African-American boy, is the victim of police brutality. Quinn, a sixteen-year-old white boy, is a witness to Rashad's beating. These two guys live in the same city and go to the same school. Quinn plays on the same basketball team as some of Rashad's friends. And yet they barely know each other. The story takes place during the week Rashad recuperates in the hospital. Quinn comes to terms with the fact that he saw the beating that put Rashad there--and that the police officer is his

Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love

By Lara Vapnyar
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Jan 28, 2016

In Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love, Lara Vapnyar brings the lives of recent immigrants to New York into crystal clear focus. Using the universal language of food, Vapnyar illustrates the sadness of Nina’s wilting marriage with the broccoli in her refrigerator; Sergey’s loneliness cured, not by companionship, but by Borscht; Katya crafts her memory of puffed rice and meatballs specifically for her lover’s entertainment.

In these, and other stories, Vapnyar illustrates both experiences unique to Russian immigrants, as well as those universally shared. It’s reminiscent of Will Eisner’s

The Last Dream Keeper

By Amber Benson
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Josh N.
Jan 26, 2016

The second book in the Echo Park Coven series picks up immediately after the end of the first book, The Witches of Echo Park. Lyse and her fellow witches, or blood sisters as they prefer to call themselves, have a major threat called "the Flood" looming over them. It isn't long before the Flood comes in and washes the coven, and the plot, in many different, dangerous directions.

When I reviewed The Witches of Echo Park, I said the book moved at a leisurely pace, slowly introducing the cast of characters and the urban fantasy setting, letting the readers get to know everyone, until the end of

Green Hell

By Ken Bruen

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 21, 2016

It’s not often that you open a book to find the main character quoting author James Crumley. But Ken Bruen is clearly a student of the genre; references to the history of hard-boiled fiction keep dropping, which is a very nice treat for the reader. 

Jack Taylor, a functioning alcoholic, has been kicked out of “the Guards” (Irish National Police) and now makes his living as a private detective. The story is set in Galway and begins when Boru Kennedy, a young American, comes to Ireland to research his thesis on Beckett. But, with Jack’s help, Boru becomes sidetracked by Taylor’s pursuit of a

Pretending to Dance

By Diane Chamberlain

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 19, 2016

It turns out that Molly Arnett is a good liar. For years, Molly has told a lie that could destroy every bit of happiness she has with the man she adores. Pretending to Dance is a story told in two distinct time periods in Molly's life. The story starts in 2014, in San Diego, California, where Molly and her spouse, Aidan James, are meeting with their social worker in preparation for becoming adoptive parents. After losing their birth daughter, Molly had to have a hysterectomy, and that loss has led to an adoption process that for Molly is frightening. Molly herself had an adoptive mother and a

Apple Tree Yard

By Louise Doughty
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Heather B.
Jan 15, 2016

Yvonne Carmichael is a respected public authority on genetics. She's a middle-aged wife and mother. She's certainly normal, perhaps even boring. She is also accused of murder. How did such an unlikely turn of events come to pass? 

At the beginning of Apple Tree Yard, Yvonne is testifying before a Parliamentary committee when she meets the mysterious man she refers to as X. Without much forethought, and completely uncharacteristically (for her), Yvonne and X begin an affair. The affair is an exciting distraction from her settled routine, and X is so incredibly enigmatic that Yvonne deduces he

Friction

By Sandra Brown
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Jan 14, 2016

In Friction, Judge Holly Spencer has been on the bench for less than a year, and she's trying to prove to the governor that she is worthy of the appointment and gain his support to retain her seat in the upcoming election. Texas Ranger Crawford Hunt has had a difficult five years, both personally and professionally, since his wife was killed in an accident. Now he finds himself in Judge Spencer’s court fighting for custody of his five-year-old daughter.  

When a masked gunman opens fire in the courtroom during Crawford’s custody hearing, killing the bailiff before turning his gun on the judge

A Love Like Ours

By Becky Wade

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 13, 2016

Former Marine Jake Porter has PTSD symptoms, and the scar on his face is a constant reminder of his time at war. And one big reason he avoids any type of relationship. But along comes his childhood best friend, Lyndie James, with a heart as big as the sky. She is fiercely determined, and her experience with horses gives her an edge, but she has a tender heart.

Despite being leery about hiring Lyndie on at his horse ranch in Holley, Texas, Jake does. He pairs her with Silverleaf, a horse that has great potential but is lacking in motivation. Lyndie is eager to take the job head-on and solve

Paying the Piper

By Simon Wood
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Jan 11, 2016

Eight years ago newspaper reporter Scott Fleetwood became famous when a kidnapper dubbed "The Piper" used Scott's column to communicate with the FBI. It turns out the person communicating with Scott was a fake and the real "Piper" was able to escape capture.  Now The Piper is back and he's abducted Scott's twins and is leading Scott on a merry chase to safely rescue his sons. Scott's involvement in The Piper's final kidnapping lost him the two million dollar ransom and caused the death of the final young victim. This time The Piper is making it personal.  

Despite his remorse, Scott is an

Enlightened, the Complete First Season

By Laura Dern
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Megan C.
Jan 10, 2016

There are some downsides to HBO’s Enlightened. It is painfully sincere. It riffs on commercialized, New Age-y self-help. It satirizes corporate America in a way that makes you wonder if it is really satire after all. But I find myself recommending the show anyway.

I haven’t really seen anything like it. I cringed a lot. I felt uncomfortable. But I didn’t stop watching. There’s a tension in the show, which totters between rage and earnestness. These extremes are broadcasted on the face of the protagonist, Amy, played by Laura Dern. Everyone is a bit of a caricature, which is the show’s main

Witches of Lychford

By Paul Cornell
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Jan 9, 2016

I happened upon Witches of Lychford as it lurked, unnoticed amongst row upon row of bestsellers, midlist titles, and forgotten classics--not unlike the way Autumn stumbled upon the gateway to another world. It was there all along, simply hidden in plain view.

Cornell, writer of comics like Batman & Robin, Wolverine, and Doctor Who, puts a witch, a reverend, and a non-believer of both in the middle of a clash between quaint little town lovers and the corporations that want to modernize them with big box stores. The threat of modernization is both tantalizing and threatening. The town is

The Bean Trees

By Barbara Kingsolver
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Becky C.
Jan 5, 2016

Taylor Greer has just graduated from high school in rural Kentucky. Born to a poor, single mother and without many of life’s advantages, Taylor manages to talk her way into a lab technician’s job at the hospital, save enough money to buy a beat up Volkswagen Bug, and get out of town before she winds up pregnant or as some tobacco farmer’s wife. Most of Taylor’s pluckiness can be attributed to the roots her mother has provided her—encouragement and faith in her daughter’s abilities that are worth far more than the money she doesn’t have to offer.

Taylor heads west in her Bug without a

Kafka on the Shore

By Haruki Murakami
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Megan C.
Jan 5, 2016

Haruki Murakami is not for everyone, but he’s one of my favorite authors. His indescribable blend of post modernism, magic realism, and surrealism set in his native Japan never fail to provoke rumination on topics ranging from existential to mundane. This novel is translated by the prize-winning J. Philip Gabriel.

Many of Murakami’s protagonists are shy, inward-turning souls seeking something beyond their present circumstances. Kafka on the Shore centers around Kafka Tamura, a 15-year-old who has decided to abandon his home and make it on his own. He is warned by a sort of alter ego, a boy

The Sundown Speech

By Loren D. Estleman

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Dec 24, 2015

The Sundown Speech is the twenty-fifth Amos Walker novel by Loren D. Estleman, and he still has it.  He has set the story in Ann Arbor, a useful change of scenery for our private detective, who is usually based in Detroit. A married couple has invested money in a filmmaker’s latest venture, and they think they have been swindled. They hire Walker to get their money back, but when Walker investigates, he finds the filmmaker dead. Estleman has plenty of fun with the college town culture of Ann Arbor, and you’ll have plenty of fun with the characters, sparkling dialogue, and plot of this novel.

We Were Liars

By E. Lockhart
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Becky C.
Dec 23, 2015

Let me share a secret with you. I'm ashamed to admit, but I'm a total snob when it comes to wealthy characters. I generally find them unlikable, which I know is awful judgy of me. No matter how great John Green says it is, I wanted to barf all the way through The Great Gatsby. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, is a great character despite his upper-class upbringing, but he's had a mental breakdown, which makes him likable in my book. When I was still living at home, my mom used to try to get me to read her favorite romance novels about rich heiresses and their

A Girls Guide to Moving On

By Debbie Macomber
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Lisa J.
Dec 22, 2015

Leanne and Nichole are unlikely friends and confidants. When Leanne learns that her son Jake is cheating on his wife Nichole, she is sorely disappointed to find her son following in his father's footsteps. Sean, Leanne's husband has been cheating on her for years and up to this point she has just accepted and ignored his infidelity. After telling Nichole of Jake's indiscretion she admires the way Nichole instantly refuses to accept Jake's behavior and immediately moves to dissolve their marriage. Leanne draws courage from Nichole and leaves her cheating husband of thirty years. The two women

Challenger Deep

By Neal Shusterman
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Dec 21, 2015

There are two things you know. One: You were there. Two: You couldn't have been there.

Wondering how that can be? So is Caden. Sometimes. When he stops to think about it. Often he just goes along and doesn't question things, just accepts that's the way they are. But other times he feels out of sync with his family, friends, and others around him. He feels confused.

Readers sharing Caden's story from inside his head will feel confused almost all of the time. It skips around from one place to another--one reality to another. Caden is a high school student living a typical life. Caden is on

The House You Pass on the Way

By Jacqueline Woodson
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Becky C.
Dec 18, 2015

The House You Pass on the Way is a short novel--less than 100 pages--but it contains unusual depth and beauty. It's a pre-sexual love story about two fourteen-year-old cousins who don't yet know where they fit in. One girl, Staggerlee, is biracial--black and white. One girl, Trout, is adopted. Both girls are struggling with their budding sexuality. Are they gay? Are they straight? Does it matter? Woodson gracefully captures the confusion these two feel as they explore what it means to grow from girls to women. 

Their intense, platonic relationship reminds me of the two girls in Woodson's

I Crawl Through It

By A.S. King
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Dec 17, 2015

"Challenging" was the first word I heard used to describe this book. I think "surreal" was the next. Following that was "impossible to describe." Even the author herself, when asked to describe the book, talked about the themes and ideas that led to its creation without attempting to describe the plot or characters.

Other descriptions they could have just as accurately used: captivating; insightful; imaginative; perceptive; funny; and enlightening. That this book is unusual isn't the first or most remarkable thing you need to know about it, but that it powerfully and effectively conveys

Once Upon a Summertime

By Melody Carlson

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Dec 9, 2015

Anna Gordan manages the Value Lodge in the small town where she grew up and dreams of bigger things.   When her best friend from high school, Marley Ferris, tells her about a new boutique hotel opening up in New York City, Anna sends in her resume hoping this could be the opportunity she’s been waiting for.

The Art of Crash Landing

By Melissa DeCarlo
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Dec 2, 2015

Despite her best efforts, I love Mattie Wallace. She often behaves badly, and she knows it. But it’s who she believes she is, so she behaves badly.

Finding herself in a delicate condition with nowhere to turn, she embarks on an impossible journey to collect an unlikely inheritance. Immersed in the secret lives of her mother and the grandmother she never met, Mattie unwittingly starts to heal. The wounds of her past begin to scab over, and the broken places start to mend. As she skitters down the road of her family history, she drags an entire town, bucking and skidding, along with her.

Real