Book of the Week:

 The Bookbinders Secret by A.D. Bell

A young bookbinder begins a hunt for the truth when a confession hidden beneath the binding of a burned book reveals a story of forbidden love, lost fortune, and murder. 

Barry's Picks

Pennies from Heaven by James P. Blaylock

With a 100-year storm threatening the southern California coast, Jane Larkin is approached by a strange, audacious woman who wants to invest much-needed money in Jane’s Old Orange Co-op. Meanwhile Jane’s husband Jerry discovers an ancient excavation beneath the Larkin home. On that ominous morning in autumn, shadows descend over the deceptively quiet neighborhoods of Old Orange, ushering in a flood of chaos, terror, and murder.

 To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild

To End All Wars focuses on the long-ignored moral drama of the war’s critics, alongside its generals and heroes. Many of these dissenters were thrown in jail for their opposition to the war, from a future Nobel Prize winner to an editor behind bars who distributed a clandestine newspaper on toilet paper. These critics were sometimes intimately connected to their enemy hawks: one of Britain’s most prominent women pacifist campaigners had a brother who was commander in chief on the Western Front. Two well-known sisters split so bitterly over the war that they ended up publishing newspapers that attacked each other.

 Guillermo Del Toro Cabinet of Curiosities by Guillermo Del Toro

Cabinet of Curiosities begins with a book-length interview with del Toro by New York Times best-selling author and filmmaker Marc Scott Zicree, in which they identify and discuss del Toro’s reigning themes, citing examples of his signature motifs that have originated in the notebooks and then migrated to the minds of other artists del Toro has worked with, including storyboard artists, concept artists, makeup artists, cinematographers, and comic book artists. Also explored are del Toro’s personal inspirations, including literary references, old films, and figures from mythology.

The Sound of the Dark by Daniel Church

In 1983, experimental artist Tony Mathias began work on a new installation – it was to be a collage of visuals and sounds collected at an abandoned RAF base called Warden Fell. Various stories and rumors swirled around the place, but Tony was interested only in the echoes of history. But soon after visiting the site to tape-record the sounds there, he returned to the caravan where he was staying with his family and killed his wife, his two children and then himself. Another dark twist in Warden Fell’s history?

No Ordinary Time Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Pulitzer Prize–winning classic about the relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, and how it shaped the nation while steering it through the Great Depression and the outset of World War II.

Patty's Picks

   The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary’s fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Marry Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

 January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb.... As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends - and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island - boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever. 

Promised in Fire by Jasmine Walt

A fae with impossible magic and a dragon awoken from slumber. Adara has been an outsider for as long as she can remember. Born and raised in the earth fae realm, she’s a water fae who can’t control her magic, making her not just useless, but downright dangerous at times. When a training mishap accidentally unleashes a hidden magic inside her, Adara suddenly finds herself on the run. The king wants to use her powers for nefarious reasons, and he’ll stop at nothing to obtain her—including kidnapping and torturing Adara’s own mother.

Spell Caster by Jaymin Eve

 Intense enemies-to-lovers romantasy with steamy heat, magical creatures, fast pacing, and stakes that will keep you hooked. Dive into a world where love is as dangerous as power—and nothing is ever as it seems.

 On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn

Welcome to Bloodwing Academy.
Expect magic. Expect competition. Expect blood.

I didn't sign up for this. A half-fae in a school of high blood vampires? That's a recipe for suffering. I'm Medra Pendragon, last of the dragon riders—or so they tell me. Funny thing is, there are no dragons left. Not a single one. But somehow, that hasn't stopped the vampires from deciding I'm worth capturing. Now I'm stuck at Bloodwing Academy, where the high bloods run everything, and blight born like me? We're just blood in their veins, pawns in their games.

Amie's Picks

Bye Forever I Guess by Jodi Meadows

Thirteen-year-old Ingrid’s been living a double life. At school, she’s the Girl with Dead Parents, her popular friend Rachel’s charity case. Online, things are different: she crushes it in her favorite MMORPG, geeks out in her favorite fantasy fandom, and runs a popular social media account. If only real life were that easy. 

 Last Chance Academy A Study in Secrets by Debbi Michiko Florance

Ever since her mom passed away, twelve-year-old Megumi “Meg” Mizuno has been spiraling. After too many low grades and cut classes, she’s been expelled from school—apparently, everyone else has moved past her grief and expects the same from her. Her dad secures her a spot at the prestigious Leland Chase Academy, a boarding school in middle-of-nowhere New York, called the Last Chance Academy by its student body. If Meg can’t make it work there, she’ll be forced to live with her horrible aunt.

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater

January 1942. The Avallon Hotel & Spa has always offered elegant luxury in the wilds of West Virginia, its mountain sweet water washing away all of high society’s troubles. Local girl-turned-general manager June Porter Hudson has guided the Avallon skillfully through the first pangs of war. The Gilfoyles, the hotel’s aristocratic owners, have trained her well. But when the family heir makes a secret deal with the State Department to fill the hotel with captured Axis diplomats, June must persuade her staff—many of whom have sons and husbands heading to the front lines—to offer luxury to Nazis. With a smile.

  The Unexpected Consequence of Bleeding on a Tuesday by Kelsey B. Toney

High school senior Delia Bridges has the most amazing mom and sister, a killer GPA--and periods that are so painful they make her scream, pass out, and throw up. Though she doesn't know it yet, Delia has endometriosis, an affliction plaguing millions of people that is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Pain makes everything harder, but Delia is just one semester away from graduating from Stockwood Prep and pursuing her dream of becoming the kind of doctor she's never had: one who takes her symptoms seriously. But when she breaks a rule for the first time ever and is caught using marijuana at school to manage her pain, Delia is expelled.

 The Red Palace by June Hur

To enter the palace means to walk a path stained in blood...  Joseon (Korea), 1758. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, eighteen-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father's approval. But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon's closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her beloved teacher's innocence, Hyeon launches her own secret investigation.  

Acacia's Picks

 Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

 Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

 The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte