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Recommended for Adults

The Last Night in London

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The Last Night in London by Karen White
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Journalist Maddie Warner didn’t know. She didn’t know how a woman’s account of life in wartime London could speak to her today.

Maddie flew to England to interview and photograph “Precious” Dubose and her beautiful collection of vintage fashionwear. Maddie didn’t anticipate running into Colin, the man she dated, liked, then avoided in college.

Ninety-nine year old Precious Dubose still had the grace of a model, yet she battled with her health. Between bouts of rest, Precious described her friendship and modeling career with roommate Eva in 1939, in the midst of glittering party life and escalating political turmoil.  Through her story, Precious introduced Maddie to tall and brave Graham St. John, yet dangerous, and alluring Alex and their roles in the war and in Precious and Eva’s lives.  Like Maddie, who grieved her mother, Precious seemed to be exude a private sorrow.  Was this why Precious clung to life to finish her interview with Maddie?  Along the way, Colin and Maddie began to search for lost people from the past and found some personal answers along the way.

I was immersed in this tale of life 50 years apart yet with common themes.  Karen White’s description of life in 1939 felt so authentic.  I was driven to find out what happened to Precious and Eva and and their circle of loved ones.  Yet when the author described Maddie and Colin in the present, that seemed real too.  The struggles of the characters was relatable.  While the romance between Maddie and Colin seemed inevitable, there was a twist conclusion to the story too.

Find The Last Night in London in the catalog.

Ararat

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Ararat by Christopher Golden
Format:  Book
Who it’s For:  Adults

After a huge avalanche forces Adam Holzer and Meryam Karga, a couple climbing Mount Ararat, to hunt for shelter in one of the mountain’s caves, they stumble upon what they believe to be Noah’s Ark. Thrilled by their finding, the couple visions of turning their luck into a best-selling biography. Inside the ark is a great coffin that rapidly becomes the primary interest of the crew. Speculating who might be inside, with theories stretching from Noah himself to other biblical figures–the crew, after a passing disagreement, makes the choice to break open the coffin. But instead of discovering Noah, a horrible, evil-looking, horned cadaver rests inside.

What could go wrong?

Quite a lot. Particularly when an invading strangeness runs its nails down everybody’s back; when the crew turns abnormally malicious, needy, or fearful. When the crew awakens screaming, mysteriously overwhelmed by long-buried childhood terrors. When people disappear.

Find Ararat in the catalog!

Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder

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Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
by Arianna Huffington
Format:  Audiobook

One evening in 2007, Arianna Huffington dropped to the floor in her home office.  The fall resulted in a horrible cut over her eye and a broken cheekbone.  After months of medical tests, it was determined that Arianna was suffering from exhaustion.  At the time, Huffington was working 18 hour days as the co-founder of The Huffington Post, writing books, appearing at speaking engagements and writing as a syndicated columnist.  Arianna had always thought to herself that these were all indicators of success.  By all accounts she was a successful woman.  But as she recovered from her injuries, Arianna took a step back and began to realize that society’s definition of success was killing her.

Huffington compares society’s drive to the legs of a three-legged stool.  Striving for money and power comprise two of the legs, but without the third leg, or “third metric” the stool will topple over.  As Arianna describes it, we all need a third leg, or “Third Metric” composed of our well-being, our ability to draw on our intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for compassion and giving.

In sharing her story, Huffington encourages us to disconnect from our devices more frequently, get more sleep, cherish the people we are with, enjoy exercise and adventure, and most importantly be kind to one another and ourselves.   Thrive is filled with scientific findings, the personal stories of athletes, quotes from famous philosophers, poets, and entrepreneurs, and Arianna’s own personal stories.  We must all strive to remember the things that truly sustain us, prioritize the people in our lives who really matter, and be aware that we are actually living.

Find Thrive in the catalog.

All Systems Red

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All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Format: Book, eBook, digital audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

Working for a money-hungry interplanetary research company is hard. It’s even harder if you’re a self-aware SecUnit (security unit) AI tasked with keeping humans safe. Humans determined to complete useful research can be extremely annoying by not worrying about their safety on hazardous planets. Murderbot, as the SecUnit secretly refers to itself, just wants its assigned humans to be safe so it can spend its off-hours watching television in peace. When the humans decide to challenge their less than honorable employees, Murderbot wants to just ignore their well-intentioned bravery and go back to its shows. But somehow these aggravating humans have gotten under Murderbot’s armor and it just can’t seem to let them down.

All Systems Red is a great example of a novella done well. Somehow in only a few short chapters, author Martha Wells makes you care about this grumpy AI who would really prefer that you didn’t waste your time doing so. With dark humor and sarcastic wit, you will be looking up book two of the Murderbot Diaries (Artificial Condition) as soon as you finish reading All Systems Red.

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The Ruins

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The Ruins by Scott Smith
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Two young couples decide to take a trip to Mexico.  The group enjoyed the beach, hotel, and making friends with fellow tourists when the brother of one of the couples goes missing.   The group ultimately decides to go searching for the missing brother.  Trekking through the Mexican jungle, the group stumbles upon a village which is only the beginning of the creeping horror; they endure throughout the story.  What started as an exciting day-trip gradually spirals into a terrifying nightmare when they find the remains of an ancient ruins site… and the disturbing presence that lurks there.

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Begin with a Bee

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Begin with a Bee by Liza Ketchum, Briggs Martin, and Phyllis Root
Format: Book
Who’s It For: Children and Adults

What’s the buzz? It’s the life cycle of a bee! Explore the life of the rusty-patched bumble bee, well-known for its fuzzy yellow and black hairs. Did you know that this bee is native to the United States? Have you seen them?  Follow this bumble bee from underground hibernation, to pollination, to colonization. Illustrator Claudia McGehee brings the bee’s story to life with gorgeous woodcut-like (scratchboard) drawings. Did you know that rusty-patched bumble bees are on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s endangered list? This non-fiction book concludes with suggestions of how bee-lovers can “bee” helpful to bees.

Check it out! 🙂