The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

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Ruta Sepetys’s latest book, The Bletchley Riddle, is a middle grade historical fiction written with Steve Sheinkin. The cover caught my eye, but the description hooked me even further.

It’s summer 1940 and fourteen-year-old Lizzie Novis has found herself in a quandry. Her grandmother is determined to ship Lizzie from London back to Ohio to live with her, but Lizzie has other plans and believes her nineteen-year-old brother Jakob can help her. They have a shared love of puzzles and riddles, something that Lizzie believes is the key to her current problem.

Jakob is working at Bletchley Park, one of Britain’s codebreaking factories. He is currently working to crack Germany’s Enigma cipher, which isn’t going well. When he is summoned to pick up Lizzie, Jakob is not pleased. When he discovers that Lizzie will also be working at Bletchley Park, he is even more concerned as Lizzie isn’t one to follow rules and the Official Secrets Act binds everyone at Bletchley. Jakob is right to be concerned as Lizzie is determined to solve her own problem: the disappearance of their mother. They have been told that their mother died in Poland, but that story doesn’t seem believable to her at all. When codes and messages start arriving addressed to Jakob and Lizzie, she actively begins searching. Add in a mysterious investigator who is threatening Jakob and Lizzie and her hackles are up. Someone isn’t telling the truth and Lizzie isn’t having any of that. Jakob and Lizzie soon start deciphering codes at work and outside of work as they race to find answers.

What hooked me is that The Bletchley Riddle is told from both Jakob and Lizzie’s points of view. Having dual points of view showcases the emotions each character is feeling as well as their motivations for behaving the way they do. Given the differences in age, gender, and interests between the two characters and this book certainly lends itself relatable and readable to readers of all types! This is one title that I would love to see made into a series! The ending certainly leads itself that way.

This title is also available in large print and as a Playaway audiobook.

Online Reading Challenge – February

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Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge is focusing on mystery. Our main title for February is The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

Inspired by a haunting true story, a gorgeous and atmospheric novel about the mysterious disappearance of three lighthouse keepers from a remote tower miles from the Cornish coast–and about the wives who were left behind.

What strange fate befell these doomed men? The heavy sea whispers their names. Black rocks roll beneath the surface, drowning ghosts. And out of the swell like a finger of light, the salt-scratched tower stands lonely and magnificent.

It’s New Year’s Eve, 1972, when a boat pulls up to the Maiden Rock lighthouse with relief for the keepers. But no one greets them. When the entrance door, locked from the inside, is battered down, rescuers find an empty tower. A table is laid for a meal not eaten. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a storm raging round the tower, but the skies have been clear. And the clocks have all stopped at 8:45.

Two decades later, the keepers’ wives are visited by a writer determined to find the truth about the men’s disappearance. Moving between the women’s stories and the men’s last weeks together in the lighthouse, long-held secrets surface and truths twist into lies as we piece together what happened, why, and who to believe.

In her riveting and suspenseful novel, Emma Stonex writes a story of isolation and obsession, of reality and illusion, and of what it takes to keep the light burning when all else is swallowed by dark. – Penguin Books

Looking for some other books that are mysteries? Try any of the following.

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

Online Reading Challenge – January Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read a literary fiction title that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. This book had been on my radar for awhile, but I knew it would not be one that I would pick up on my own, hence its selection for the Online Reading Challenge!

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is Ocean Vuong’s debut novel. The speaker, Little Dog, is writing a letter to his mother who cannot read English. When the letter starts, Little Dog is in his late twenties and is laying out his family’s history from long before he was born all the way through present day. He spans from Vietnam all the way to the United States and details the lives of many different members of his family and his friends. In his letter, Little Dog also shares parts of his life that his mother was previously not aware of, and with her inability to read, will probably always not know about. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a twisted love letter of sorts, talking about the tense love between Little Dog and his mother, a single mother trying to do her best by her son and her own mother. He talks about how trauma, violence, and addiction have impacted them all and how masculinity, class, and race shape their relationships with others and with themselves. This isn’t a linear story, but is instead the story of people caught between worlds, struggling to find where they truly belong.

This book was gorgeous. It was incredibly well-written and left me reeling when I finished. The author is brutal in their honesty when it came to discussing class, masculinity, race and how those factors affect people of all ages. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous spans decades, ripping into sections of life that may be tender, but need to be discussed. While I reveled in the writing, I did find myself needing to take breaks. Ocean Vuong is clearly a masterful storyteller and poet, but their ability to write poetry made this debut novel a bit much for me. They are an exquisite writer, but instead of pulling me in, their beautiful writing instead didn’t allow me to fully connect with the book. I loved the style of the book, but felt like it was lacking substance, that it was lacking the meat of the story for me to hold on to. However, I’m still glad I picked it up to read!

Next month, we will be reading a mystery!

In addition to following the Online Reading Challenge here on our Info Cafe blog, you can join our Online Reading Challenge group on Goodreads and discuss your reads!

January 2025 QCL (Quad Cities Live) Book Club Selections

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In December, Morgan and I were unable to meet due to circumstances outside of our control. The title that we were slated to read was The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah in honor of Thank a Soldier Week the week of Christmas. Below is a short synopsis of the book provided by Goodreads!

The year is 1974, Ernt Allbright decides to uproot his family to live off the grid in America’s last true frontier, Alaska. Once in Alaska, the family is taken in by generous locals but as the days grow shorter, Ernt’s mental health declines leaving his family to have to fend for themselves.

Morgan and I have a very exciting lineup of book options for January. Below are our 4 options including our winning title: The Last Love Note! Feel free to check them out from Davenport Public Library! 

Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon (In Honor of Global Family Day on January 1st)  

Nothing brings a family together like a murder next door.

A lighthearted whodunnit about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio of amateur sleuths. Gilmore Girls , but with murder.

High-powered businesswoman Lana Rubicon has a lot to be proud her keen intelligence, impeccable taste, and the L.A. real estate empire she’s built. But when she finds herself trapped 300 miles north of the city, convalescing in a sleepy   coastal town with her adult daughter Beth and teenage granddaughter Jack, Lana is stuck counting otters instead of square footage—and hoping that boredom won’t kill her before the cancer does.

Then Jack—tiny in stature but fiercely independent—happens upon a dead body while kayaking. She quickly becomes a suspect in the homicide investigation, and the Rubicon women are thrown into chaos. Beth thinks Lana should focus on recovery, but Lana has a better idea. She’ll pull on her wig, find the true murderer, protect her family, and prove she still has power. With Jack and Beth’s help, Lana uncovers a web of lies, family vendettas, and land disputes lurking beneath the surface of a community populated by folksy conservationists and wealthy ranchers. But as their amateur snooping advances into ever-more dangerous territory, the headstrong Rubicon women must learn to do the one thing they’ve always depend on each other.– provided by Goodreads

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (In Honor of Science Fiction Day on January 2nd)

Dani has it all, a great apartment, a great boyfriend, and a job interview for her dream position. Everything is going according to plan until she wakes up five years in the future in an unfamiliar apartment with an unfamiliar man who is not her new fiancé. What went wrong? Can she fix the future?

I really liked this book but was not prepared for the devastating turn of events. If you read this, please go gently, it is beautifully written but something that hit me hard.– personal review

 

 

 

The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll (In Honor of Morgan loving a Thriller) 

HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE. As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve. But Ani has a secret. There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything. With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that’s bigger than it first appears. The question will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?– provided by our Goodreads

 

 

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey (In Honor of National Handwriting Day on January 23rd)

You may never stop loving the one you lost. But you can still find love again.

Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the ball—and yet clinging to her sense of humor.

Lurching from one comedic crisis to the next, she also navigates an overbearing mom and a Tinder-obsessed best friend who’s determined to matchmake Kate with her hot new neighbor.

When an in-flight problem leaves Kate and her boss, Hugh, stranded for a weekend on the east coast of Australia, she finally has a chance, away from her son, to really process her grief and see what’s right in front of her. Can she let go of the love of her life and risk her heart a second time?

When it becomes clear that Hugh is hiding a secret, Kate turns to the trail of scribbled notes she once used to hold her life together. The first note captured her heart. Will the last note set it free?

The Last Love Note will make listeners laugh, cry, and renew their faith in the resilience of the human heart—and in love itself.– provided by Goodreads

If you are interested in any of these titles, or have read them, I want to talk about them! Please consider leaving a comment!  

Want to converse with other QCL Book Club followers? Consider joining our Goodreads Group!  

You can also access our recorded interviews by visiting the QCL Book Club Page! 

If you missed the segment, you can watch it here!

New Career and Job Hunting Books

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Are you looking for a new career? Are you unsure how to begin job hunting? Lucky for you the Library has many books to help you with your new career and job hunt. Below you will find a sample of our newest books. If you’re looking for more, contact us today! These titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. All descriptions have been provided by the publishers.

Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling: How LGBTQ+ People Can Thrive and Succeed at Work by Layla McCay

A compelling look at the challenges facing LGBTQ+ professionals as they navigate their careers – with advice from many senior figures who have smashed their own rainbow ceilings.

There are currently only four LGBTQ+ CEOs across all Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies who are out at work, and just 0.8% of Fortune 500 board positions are filled by LGBTQ+ people. This deficit, occurring across sectors and around the world, reveals a diversity gap playing out in today’s workplace: LGBTQ+ people are less likely to reach the top jobs. But what is holding LGBTQ+ people back at work – and what can be done?

Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling explores the hidden differences that cause LGBTQ+ people to be underrepresented at the most senior levels of professional life. Combining data with personal insights from over 40 prominent LGBTQ+ trailblazers, from CEOs to Ambassadors, Layla McCay reveals the challenges that LGBTQ+ people commonly encounter as they find their way in work environments, and provides the practical strategies that can help empower LGBTQ+ people to reach their full professional potential.

The book explores how everyone – from boards, CEOs, managers, HR professionals and colleagues, through to LGBTQ+ people navigating their own career paths – can recognize and address the barriers, achieve their career goals, and build a more inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and succeed. – Bloomsbury Publishing

I Hate Job Interviews: Stop Stressing. Start Performing. Get the Job You Want. by Sam Owens

Go into your next job interview with confidence, ready to knock any question they throw at you out of the park!

The key to landing that dream job or big promotion often comes down to how you perform in the job interview. After bombing some interviews early in his career, Sam Owens vowed that would never happen to him again and began work on a system to ensure he was ready for even the most oddball questions in future interviews. The system he developed proved so successful, Sam built a career coaching business around teaching it to others and has now coached thousands of people on how to prepare for interviews.

In I Hate Job Interviews, Sam shares his proven methodology and provides simple frameworks and demonstrations on how to answer any type of job interview question. Using this proven system, job candidates will gain confidence in answering introductory, behavioral, hypothetical, opinion, personal, think-on-your-feet, salary, and self-awareness questions. You will learn:

  • How to craft “power” examples to show how your skills align perfectly with the job you are applying for.
  • To conduct practice interviews so you are ready when the big day arrives.
  • To make a big first impression with that first question.
  • To tell compelling stories that clearly demonstrate your abilities.
  • Simple strategies and frameworks to nail hypothetical and scenario questions.
  • Salary negotiation skills to maximize your job offer.

– HarperCollins Leadership

Where’s Your Buffalo?: A Recruiter’s Guide to Getting the Career You Want, Earning What You’re Worth, and Doing What You Love by Tom Johnston

A veteran recruiter helps create a business plan for your career.

Where’s Your Buffalo? is a career management guide for any age and any career stage. It’s a timely framework for finding, pursuing, and achieving employment that enables any reader to meet their professional and personal life goals. It’s a practical path to help readers choose a career, get the job they want, earn what they are worth, and do what they love (or at least genuinely like).

Where’s Your Buffalo? shares the methodology that author Tom Johnston has developed over 35 years as a search consultant at some of the world’s most influential firms. This book will help readers identify their perfect career (their “Buffalo”) and chart a course to reach it, including how to:

  • Better understand your skills and talents
  • Articulate what is important to you in a job and why
  • Identify industries that will support what is important to you
  • Determine your target destination (we can adjust course as conditions change)
  • Research and understand the companies that can provide you with a path
  • Build a targeted network to help you along the way
  • Learn how to hunt for the job you want

Only 1% to 2% of people in the world will have the chance to be coached by an executive recruiter. Where’s Your Buffalo? is your chance. – Peakpoint Press

The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work by Simone Stolzoff

A challenge to the tyranny of work and a call to reclaim our lives from its clutches.

From the moment we ask children what they want to “be” when they grow up, we exalt the dream job as if it were life’s ultimate objective. Many entangle their identities with their jobs, with predictable damage to happiness, wellbeing, and even professional success.

In The Good Enough Job, journalist Simone Stolzoff traces how work has come to dominate Americans’ lives—and why we find it so difficult to let go. Based on groundbreaking reporting and interviews with Michelin star chefs, Wall Street bankers, overwhelmed teachers and other workers across the American economy, Stolzoff exposes what we lose when we expect work to be more than a job. Rather than treat work as a calling or a dream, he asks what it would take to reframe work as a part of life rather than the entirety of our lives. What does it mean for a job to be good enough?

Through provocative critique and deep reporting, Stolzoff punctures the myths that keep us chained to our jobs. By exposing the lies we–and our employers–tell about the value of our labor, The Good Enough Job makes the urgent case for reclaiming our lives in a world centered around work. – Portfolio

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

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“I stop myself from apologizing-because what would I even be sorry for? Existing too loud?”
― Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Ace of Spades

Niveus Private Academy has ways of making and breaking students’ careers. If you’re able to gain admittance to the school, you’ll discover the students are perfect with scholarly brilliance and wealthy families behind them. If you’re selected to be a prefect, even better. That’ll really make your college applications shine and also give you an edge at becoming valedictorian.

Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo are hoping their senior year will go smoothly. With their individual selections as senior prefects, they have high hopes. A mysterious figure begins a campaign of alienation and destruction shortly after their selections. Someone going by Aces is sending anonymous text messages to the students at Niveus, revealing secrets about both Devon and Chiamaka that have power to destroy their futures (and their presents). As Aces ramps up their attacks, they become more dangerous. Devon and Chiamaka hatch a plan to out Aces, but will they be successful?

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé has written a gorgeous debut novel. Ace of Spades grabs hold of an incredible amount of issues and shoves them at readers in ways that it is impossible to ignore. This book deals with issues of racism, bullying, homophobia, classism, and so much more. Highly recommend.

“I hate how they have the power to kill my future, kill me. They treat my Black skin like a gun or a grenade or a knife that is dangerous and lethal, when really it’s them. The guys at the top powering everything.”
― Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Ace of Spades

This title is also available in large print, CD audiobook, and as part of our book club collection.

January 2025 Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast Wrap!

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In this blog post, I will give you helpful links to area resources, Library resources, and links to the books discussed in our January 2025 episode! If you have not listened to this episode yet, you can listen to Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast online or wherever you get your podcasts!

Online Reading Challenge

Stephanie has a new amazing theme this year for our annual Online Reading Challenge (ORC). For those new to ORC, this is a low stakes, high fun reading challenge that allows members to participate from the comfort of their own home and consume whatever they would like just as long as it fits the monthly prompt. This challenge originated in this blog and has since grown to also be available through beanstack!

This year, the theme is GENRES. Below are the themes for each month as well as a reading suggestion! Make sure to tell us what you are reading each month! We want to know!

January: Literary fiction – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
February:  Mystery – The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex
March: Biographical Fiction – The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
April: Coming of Age/Bildungsroman – The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
May: Graphic Novel – Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
June:  Queer Fiction – Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
July: Domestic Fiction – All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg
August: Classic – Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
September: Young Adult Literature – The Cousins by Karen McManus
October:  Fantasy – She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan
November: Detective/Crime Fiction – The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R King
December: Historical Fiction – Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez 

Cold Weather Reads

As we cozy up inside and outside begins (allegedly) to cool down, we compiled a list of titles that will chill you to the bone! 

Beth’s Books:
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
Blankets by Craig Thompson

Brittany’s Books: 
Goodbye Autumn, Hello Winter by Kenard Pak
Wilfred by Ryan T. Higgins
Snow Falls by Kate Gardner

Stephanie’s Books:
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes
A Haunting in the Arctic by C.J. Cooke
Only One Survives by Hannah Mary McKinnon
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
The Prospectors by Ariel Djanikian

2025 Rock Island Arsenal Series

Join us for a monthly lecture series commemorating the 250th anniversary of the creation of the United States Army in 1775. All talks in this series are presented by a member of Army Sustainment Command’s Office of the Historian, based on the Arsenal

This program is jointly hosted by the Davenport Public Library and the Rock Island Public Library. If you are unable to attend the Davenport Public Library’s session, another session will be offered earlier in the day at 2:00 PM at Rock Island Public Library.

Below are the themes and dates for this year!

January 8th, 2025: Foundations of the Nation and the Revolutionary War
February 12th, 2025: 1784 – 1860: A New Nation, A New Army
March 12th, 2025: 1861 – 1865: The Army and the Civil War
April 9th, 2025: 1866 – 1917: The Army as an Expeditionary Force
May 14th, 2025: The Army and a World at War
June 11th, 2025: The Interwar: Downsizing & Celebration of the Army
August 13th, 2025: World War II, Reorganization, and the Dawn of the Atomic Age
September 10th, 2025: 1949 – 1975: The Army in East Asia
October 8th, 2025: DESERT SHIELD & DESERT STORM
November 12th, 2025: Building the Army of the Future

2025 New Releases and Favorite Reads from 2024!

A new year brings new books to get excited about! Brittany, Beth, and Stephanie discussed titles that they are excited for that are publishing this year and reminisced over some of their favorite reads of the past year!

Beth’s Favorite Read from 2024:
Last Entry Point: Stories of Danger and Death in the Boundary Waters by Joe Friedriches

Brittany’s Favorite Reads from 2024:
The Long Game by Elena Armas
Summertime Punchline by Betty Corello
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino
Love You a Latke by Amanda Elliot

Brittany’s 2025 Excitement:
Ride with Me by Simone Saltani (second book in the Lights Out Series)
32 Days in May by Betty Corrello
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Stephanie’s Favorite Reads from 2024:
Weyward by Emilia Hart
Heartstopper (all volumes) by Alice Osman
Assistant to the Villain Series by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard (5 star nonfiction read! If you follow our discussions, this is a big deal!)

Stephanie’s 2025 Excitement:
Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano (fifth book in the Finlay Donovan Series)
Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (third book in the Assistant to the Villain Series)
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (.5 in The Hunger Games Series)

Board Game and Puzzle Collection!

As it gets cold, people are finding themselves indoors more often. We are here to help beat the cabin fever and winter boredom with our robust board game and puzzle collection at each Davenport Public Library branch! In this episode, Beth, Brittany, and Stephanie each selected a board game and talked about why each sounded appealing! 

Stephanie’s Suggestion:
Hues and Cues

Beth’s Suggestion:
The Floor is Lava

Brittany’s Suggestion:
The Settlers of Catan

2024 Goodreads Choice Award Winners:

Below are the winning titles of 2024! Have you read any??

Fiction – The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Historical Fiction – The Women by Kristin Hannah
Mystery & Thriller – The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Romance – Funny Story by Emily Henry (AND Audiobook – Funny Story by Emily Henry)
Romantasy – House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas
Fantasy – Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune
Science Fiction – The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Horror – You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King
Debut Novel – How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
Young Adult Fantasy – Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
Young Adult Fiction – Heartstopper: Volume 5 by Alice Oseman
Nonfiction – The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
Memoir – The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop
History & Biography – The Bookshop: The History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss

What Our Hosts Read In November

Beth’s Reads:
Navigate Your Stars by Jesmyn Ward
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Hey Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction by Jarrett Krosoczka
What is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth About Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics by Rachel Denhollander
The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity by Axton Betz-Hamilton

Stephanie’s Reads:
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen, narrated by Nicol Zanzarella (second book in the Hart and Mercy Series)
Polar Vortex: A Family Memoir by Denise Dorrance
Games Untold by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, narrated by Christie Moreau, Maxwell Hamilton, and Juliette Goglia (4.5 in The Inheritance Games Series)
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune, narrated by Daniel Henning (second book in the Cerulean Chronicles)
Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult) by Bethany Joy Lenz, narrated by Bethany Joy Lenz
The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood, narrated by Nicolette McKenzie (third book in Marlow Murder Club Series)
A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
The Singer Sisters by Sarah Seltzer, narrated by Barrie Kreinik, Helen Laser, and Stephanie Németh-Parker

Brittany’s Reads:
The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica, narrated by Piper Goodeve and Jeremy Arthur
The Girls in Navy Blue by Alix Rickloff, narrated by Dylan Moore and Carlotta Brentan
The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas (second book in the Long Game Series)
Bad Publicity by Bianca Gillam (releases in 2025)
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler, narrated by Jenna Lamia

If you would like to listen to our episode, it can be found wherever you get your podcasts. If you prefer listening on the web, it can be found here!

We love hearing from our listeners, please feel free to comment on this blog post, on our socials, or email us at checked.in@davenportlibrary.com.

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore

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“She wasn’t so much afraid of dying as she was of forgetting to live her life. Somewhere along the way, she’d forgotten to figure out who she was or what she wanted to be when she grew up.”
― Laurie Gilmore, The Pumpkin Spice Café

Jeanie’s aunt has given her the ultimate gift, ownership of her beloved, Pumpkin Spice Cafe, and the apartment above, located in a small town called Dream Harbor. Needing a break, Jeanie packs up her belongings, leaves the big city, and travels to Dream Harbor, yearning for a new start in the small town. The adjustment period proves a little rough, but Jeanie is determined to be a new person, to break away from her past self and become a bright, bubbly person. Her happy attitude starts to shake when strange noises repeatedly keep her awake at night.

A local farmer who provides the Pumpkin Spice Cafe with some of its produce, Logan is happy to limit his time in Dream Harbor as much as possible. The people in town are gossip happy and his past relationship’s disastrous ending has already given them enough fodder for a lifetime. When he stumbles upon Jeanie, Logan knows that his quiet life is about to change. His routine starts to crumble and he finds himself wanting to get closer to Jeanie. Logan may find Jeanie’s positivity irritating, but he can’t stay away. The two grow closer when issues start to plague Jeanie at the Pumpkin Spice Cafe. Will Logan and Jeanie’s new friendship survive the gossip mill? Or will they separate, leaving their feelings for each other crushed?

I came into this book with no prior knowledge, other than it was very popular on social media and with Davenport patrons. I found The Pumpkin Spice Cafe to be a quick, cozy, cute read. Gilmore introduces some elements of mystery alongside the romance, which I enjoyed. She also features some of my favorite romance tropes: found family, small town feels, and grumpy x sunshine. This is also a spicy romance! If you want to feel like you’re reading a Hallmark movie with some spice, try out The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore.

Dream Harbour series

  1. The Pumpkin Spice Cafe (2023)
  2. The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (2024)
  3. The Christmas Tree Farm (2024)
  4. The Strawberry Patch Pancake House (2025)
  5. The Gingerbread Bakery (2025)

January’s Celebrity Book Club Picks

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It’s a new month which means that Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon have picked new books for their book clubs! Reminder that if you join Simply Held, you can choose to have their selections automatically put on hold for you.

_________________________________

Jenna Bush Hager has selected The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight for her January pick.

Curious what The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

A witty, atmospheric, and brilliantly told novel that offers compelling portraits of womanhood, motherhood and female friendship, along with the irresistible intrigue surrounding an extraordinary British family

Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term, Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she’ll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father’s—now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox—lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lord Lennox’s centuries-old estate with his enveloping, fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents’ secret, just as she’s falling in love for the first time . . .

As Pen experiences the sharp shock of adulthood, she comes to rely on herself for the first time in her life. A rich and rewarding novel of campus life, of sexual awakening, and ultimately, of the many ways women can become mothers in this world, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus asks to what extent we need to look back in order to move forward. – Pamela Dorman Books

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Reese Witherspoon has selected The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan for her January pick.

Curious what The Three Lives of Cate Kay is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins in this electric, voice-driven debut novel about an elusive bestselling author who decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past.

Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.

As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again. – Atria Books

This title is also available in large print.

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Trail of the Lost by Andrea Lankford

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The over 2600 thrilling miles of the Pacific Crest Trail stretches along the west coast of the United States from Mexico to Canada.  Each year thousands of hikers of all abilities attempt to hike the trail either from start to finish or in selected segments.  As author Andrea Lankford quickly discovered and documents in Trail of the Lost, not all who hike the trail complete it successfully.  Lankford has had a lengthy career searching remote areas as a former park ranger in the National Park Service’s law enforcement team.  After her career at the National Park Service ended twelve years prior, Lankford discovered the stories of numerous missing persons hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.   A few stories caught her attention and she continued to dig deeper to find out more.   She discovered the stories of three young men whose disappearances contained some similarities.  The cases had bits and pieces of common threads but occurred in different locations of the trail and the evidence each missing man left behind was vastly different.  All three men disappeared within months of each other and had been missing for years when Lankford decided to start the search anew in an attempt to solve these cold cases.

Lankford starts by organizing an initial search, the first of many, and encounters fellow amateur sleuths eager to assist her in the search on the ground.  An eclectic group starts a quest that will lead down dangerous and heartbreaking paths for the searchers and the men’s families.  There are also moments of bittersweet joy in the search for clues and answers.  Lankford’s group includes family members, as well as others who don’t fit the typical mold of amateur sleuths.  These searchers, regardless of their background, form strong bonds and share the common desire to give the missing hikers’ families the closure they are seeking.   Along the way they encounter and investigate religious cults, possible serial killers along the trail, dubious experts whose intentions are suspect, eyewitnesses who have ulterior motives and quirky trail characters who provide cautious tips and information on the missing hikers.

This is a part fascinating, part heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting account of a group spearheaded by Lankford that did whatever was necessary (including risking their own lives) to find answers for the three missing men’s families.  Even though these men’s cases were long cold and the group had numerous setbacks along the way, it is comforting to know that dozens of people selflessly gave their time and effort to find out what happened to the three missing hikers.  This is a great and compelling read that combines true crime investigations with the harsh reality of nature.

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