Bad Things Happen
By Harry Dolan

Recommended By: Ed Goldberg, Reference Librarian

“The story takes place in Ann Arbor, Mich., where David Loogan has just accepted a position at Gray Streets mystery magazine—and embarked on an affair with his new boss's wife. It's not long before bodies begin turning up left and right, and a young investigator is involved (Publishers Weekly).”

Mystery Fiction

Beat the Reaper
By Josh Bazell

Recommended By: Ali Tirmazi, Library Clerk

“In this debut thriller, an intern at a run-down Manhattan hospital who's atoning for his former life as a mob hit man encounters in the course of a single day a patient with a mystery illness, a 21-year-old girl about to have a leg amputated, and a former mob associate (Library Journal).”

Suspense Fiction

Beet
By Roger Rosenblatt

Recommended By: Brenda Cherry, Reference Librarian

“In his second novel, Rosenblatt creates a satire about higher education that would be hilarious if it didn't come quite so close to the truth. The essence of college life taken to the extreme will make readers laugh out loud (Library Journal).”

Fictional Satire

The Castaways
By Elin Hilderbrand

Recommended By: Rosemarie Germaine, Senior Library Clerk “Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life (From the Publisher).”

Domestic Fiction

Clara’s War
By Clara Kramer

Recommended By: Jackie Ranaldo, Readers’ Services Librarian

“This heart-stopping story of a young girl hiding from the Nazis is based on Clara Kramer's diary of her years surviving in an underground bunker with seventeen other people (From the Publisher).”

Holocaust Memoir

The Devil Wears Prada
By Lauren Weisberger

Recommended By: Marianne Leavell, Reference Librarian

“A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses (From the Publisher).”

Chick Lit Fiction

Execution Dock
By Anne Perry

Recommended By: Sue Ann Reale, Head of Children’s Services

“Set in 1864, bestseller Perry's outstanding 16th novel to feature William Monk finds Monk suffering from a series of hard knocks, including memory loss (Publishers Weekly).”

Historical Mystery Fiction

Friendly Fire
By Abraham Yehoshua

Recommended By: Judy Lockman, Library Director

“With great artistry, A. B. Yehoshua has once again written a rich, compassionate, rewarding novel in which sharply rendered details of modern Israeli life and age-old mysteries of human existence echo one another in complex and surprising ways (From the Publisher).”

Contemporary Israeli Fiction

A Gate at the Stairs
By Lorrie Moore

Recommended By: Audrey Honigman, Library Clerk

“Ms. Moore has written her most powerful book yet, a book that gives us an indelible portrait of a young woman coming of age in the Midwest in the year after 9/11 and her initiation into the adult world of loss and grief… (New York Times).”

Domestic Fiction

The Gathering Storm
By Robert Jordan

Recommended By: Megan Kass, Reference Librarian

“In this epic novel, Robert Jordan’s international bestselling series begins its dramatic conclusion… The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow (From the Publisher).”

Fantasy Fiction

The Hard Way
By Lee Child

Recommended By: Christine Belling, Systems Manager

“Jack Reacher may know the time to the minute without a watch and bring justice to bear wherever he goes, but this time he does it the hard way… Tension builds through plot twists to another riveting finish by Child, who shows again his mastery of the thriller (Library Journal).”

Mystery Fiction

Have a Little Faith
By Mitch Albom

Recommended By: Marie McLaughlin, Senior Library Clerk

“Have a Little Faith is a book about a life’s purpose; about losing belief and finding it again; about the divine spark inside us all. It is one man’s journey, but it is everyone’s story (From the Publisher).”

Inspirational Non-Fiction

Homer and Langley
By E.L. Doctorow

Recommended By: Susan Santa, Readers’ Services Librarian

“Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously written, this mesmerizing narrative, a free imaginative rendering of the lives of New York’s fabled Collyer brothers, is a family story with the resonance of myth, an astonishing masterwork unlike any that have come before from this great writer (From the Publisher).”

Biographical Fiction

Honolulu
By Alan Brennert

Recommended By: Evelyn Hershkowitz, Librarian Trainee

“With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Honolulu is most of all the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship (From the Publisher).”

Domestic Fiction

Jane Eyre
By Charlotte Bronte

Recommended By: Rosemarie Birofka, Library Clerk

“This classic story shows how a young woman can overcome adversity and find true happiness. It is a story of passionate love, travail, and final triumph (From the Publisher).”

Classic Fiction

John Adams
By David McCullough

Recommended By: Barry Ernst, Reference Librarian

“This life of Adams is an extraordinary portrait of an extraordinary man who has not received his due in America's early political history but whose life work significantly affected his country's future (Library Journal).”

Biography

Juliet, Naked
By Nick Hornby

Recommended By: Nadine Kessler, Children’s Librarian

“Hornby seems, as ever, fascinated by the power of music to guide the heart, and in this very funny, very charming novel, he makes you see why it matters (New York Times).”

Humorous Fiction

Little Heathens
By Mildred Kalish

Recommended By: Lisa Caputo, Head of Adult Services

“Recounted in a luminous narrative filled with tenderness and humor, Kalish’s memoir of her childhood shows how the right stuff can make even the bleakest of times seem like “quite a romp” (From the Publisher).”

Non-Fiction

Little House
By Philippa Gregory

Recommended By: Isabel Zinman, Readers’ Services Librarian

“As circumstances threaten to overwhelm her, Ruth struggles to set her life straight with a precarious mix of good humor and outrage, composure and desperation. The result is an engrossing, tragicomic tale of dysfunction - with an utterly surprising, ironic, and intriguing conclusion (From the Publisher).”

Domestic Fiction

Look Again
By Lisa Scottoline

Recommended By: Pam Martin, Head of Adult Programming

“If you received news that threatened your family, would you ignore it or devote yourself to proving it false …Scottoline's best novel to date will have faithful fans and new readers singing her praises (Library Journal).”

Mystery Fiction

The Lovely Bones
By Alice Sebold

Recommended By: Sharon Long, Young Adult Librarian

“In the hands of a brilliant novelist, this story of seemingly unbearable tragedy is transformed into a suspenseful and touching story about family, memory, love, heaven, and living (From the Publisher).”

Psychological Fiction

Me Talk Pretty One Day
By David Sedaris

Recommended By: Jill Jacobson, Readers’ Services Librarian

“The undisputed champion of the self-conscious and the self-deprecating returns with yet more autobiographical gems from his apparently inexhaustible cache (Kirkus Reviews).”

Humorous Non-Fiction Essays

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
By Frederick Douglass

Recommended By: Jennifer Rottkamp, Library Clerk

“Born a slave in 1818 on a plantation in Maryland, Douglass taught himself to read and write. In 1845, seven years after escaping to the North, he published Narrative, the first of three autobiographies. This book calmly but dramatically recounts the horrors and the accomplishments of his early years (From the Publisher).”

Autobiography

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
By Alexander McCall Smith

Recommended By: Linda Wahl, Library Page

“The No.1 Ladies´ Detective Agency, located in Gaborone, Botswana, consists of one woman, the engaging Precious Ramotswe. A cross between Kinsey Millhone and Miss Marple, this unlikely heroine specializes in missing husbands, wayward daughters, con men and imposters (From the Publisher).”

Mystery Fiction

Outliers
By Malcolm Gladwell

Recommended By: Lisa Jones, Readers’ Services Librarian

“Best-selling author Gladwell presents a fascinating analysis of the factors that lead to success, delving into the backgrounds of business leaders, athletes, artists, and musicians to reveal how their culture, circumstance, timing, birth, and luck have all played a key role in their success (Library Journal).”

Non-Fiction

Reaper Man
By Terry Pratchett

Recommended By: Jessikah Chautin, Children’s Services Librarian

“To get the fresh start he deserves, Windle and the rest of Ankh-Morpork's undead and underemployed set off to find DEATH and save the world for the living and everybody else, of course (From the Publisher).”

Fantasy Fiction

Sarah’s Key
By Tatiana De Rosnay

Recommended By: Susan Lambeck, Library Page

“Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours (From the Publisher).”

Holocaust Fiction

The Scarlet Letter
By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Recommended By: Josephine Amoia, Children’s Services Librarian

“The landscape of this classic novel is uniquely American, but the themes it explores are universal—the nature of sin, guilt, and penitence, the clash between our private and public selves, and the spiritual and psychological cost of living outside society (From the Publisher).”

Classic Fiction

Slip of the Knife
By Denise Mina

Recommended By: Sonia Grgas, Librarian Trainee

“This gripping read, with its intricate plotting and realistic regional dialogue, will leave even the most astute reader guessing until the end (Publishers Weekly).”

Mystery Fiction

Tis
By Frank McCourt

Recommended By: Amy Badagliacca, Children’s Librarian

“And now we have 'Tis, the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant to brilliant teacher and raconteur. The same vulnerable but invincible spirit that captured the hearts of readers in Angela's Ashes comes of age (From the Publisher).”

Biography

Zeitoun
By Dave Eggers

Recommended By: Ralph Guiteau, Readers’ Services Librarian

“Eggers chronicles the tribulations of Syrian-born painting contractor Abdulrahman Zeitoun, who, while aiding in rescue efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, was inexplicably arrested by military personnel and swept into a bureaucratic maelstrom of civil injustices (Library Journal).”

Non-Fiction