Reviews

Staff Review

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.

Staff Review

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.  

Staff Review

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.

Staff Review

Unwanted

By Kristina Ohlsson
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Hilary S.
Jan 8, 2016

A mother has missed getting back on her train, leaving her sleeping child alone onboard. Now someone has taken the child off of the train near Stockholm, snatched from under the nose of the train staff, who were supposed to be looking out for her. What caused the mother to leave the train for so long in the first place, and how could the staff have missed the girl leaving?

Staff Review

Faster, Higher, Stronger Writing Contest Winner

By Anna Francesca
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Jan 8, 2016

The Read Local Committee is pleased to announce Anna Francesca has won our Faster, Higher, Stronger Poetry Contest with her poem Citius, Altius Fortius. We love the poem, especially so close to this time of new year's resolutions, for Francesca's focus on herself and her own strength.

Staff Review

It Was Me All Along

By Andie Mitchell

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 7, 2016

It Was Me All Along is a memoir about a young girl that turned to food for comfort, parenting, homework help, and to fill the empty hole she had deep inside herself. Andie Mitchell's struggle is not just with food, but also with turning her unbalanced childhood world into one she could live in normally.

Staff Review

The Good Life Lab: Radical Experiments in Hands-on Living

By Wendy Jehanara Tremayne
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Megan C.
Jan 6, 2016

The Good Life Lab is the kind of book that makes me suffer, torn between skepticism and hope. It’s the kind of title that draws my interest yet repels me at the same time. My biggest fear was that the author would come across as self-righteous: she does not. The thing I should have feared was the “radical” part. This book has the capacity to cause a watershed (or at least make you want to build a shed out of papercrete). There were times I wanted to run away and start a llama farm: I did not.

Teen Review

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.