Author: Stephanie

The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers by Sarah Tomlinson

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The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers by Sarah Tomlinson is the story of Mari Hawthorn, a ghostwriter hired to write a tell-all memoir that could make or break her career. Her last book contract didn’t end well so when she’s contacted about ghostwriting for Anke Berben, a famous model and fashion/style icon whose fame began in the 1960s, Mari must tread carefully. Anke was associated with three members of the rock band, The Midnight Ramblers. She had romances with all three members, Mal, Dante, and Jack, grabbing headlines and stirring controversies for years. The men were famous on stage and off, weaving tangled webs of relationships, betrayals, and secrets. The biggest mystery: the death of Mal in 1969. Mal was the band’s lead singer and Anke’s husband at the time of his death. He was found floating in a swimming pool with massive quantities of drugs and alcohol in his system.

Coming up on the 50th anniversary of Mal’s death, Anke’s memoir has the possibility to clear up all the rumors. Did he kill himself or was he murdered? Did Anke have something to do with his death or was it someone else in the band? Everyone in the band has kept silent for decades. As Anke’s ghostwriter, Mari needs to convince her to share stories that will make her memoir what people expect. In addition to writing Anke’s story, Mari is determined to find the truth about Mal’s death. After suffering a setback while writing Anke’s memoir, Mari decides to work her way into the world of the band. Their charm and fame enchant Mari, luring her into a false sense of security where she is tempted to compromise herself.

The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers is described as perfect for fans of Daisy Jones & The Six, Almost Famous, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. This doesn’t quite lift to that level for me, but I still enjoyed the stories told by the band members and their entourage. I felt like this book was missing something, but I can’t put my finger on it. I had difficulty connecting to the characters at their current ages, but the stories and flashes to the past hooked me in. It’s not for me, but I know many others who would enjoy this.

April’s Bestsellers Club Fiction and Nonfiction Picks

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Simply Held is rebranding to Bestsellers Club. No change in services, just a name change! If you’ve been with us for a while,  you might notice that this was our original name for this service, and now we’re back to it!

Simply Held is now Bestsellers Club, a service that automatically places you on hold for authors, celebrity picks, nonfiction picks, and fiction picks. Choose any author, celebrity pick, fiction pick, and/or nonfiction pick and The Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! Still have questions? Click here for a list of FAQs.

It’s a new quarter and that means new fiction and nonfiction picks have been selected for you courtesy of Bestsellers Club! Four fiction picks are available for you to choose from: diverse debuts, graphic novel, historical fiction, and international fiction. Four nonfiction picks are available for you to choose from: biographies, cookbooks, social justice, and true crime. Our fiction and nonfiction picks are chosen quarterly and are available in regular print only. If you would like to update your selections or are a new patron who wants to receive picks from any of those four categories, sign up for Bestsellers Club through our website!

Below you will find information provided by the publishers and authors on the titles we have selected for January from the following categories in fiction: diverse debuts, graphic novel, historical fiction, and international fiction and the following categories in nonfiction: biographies, cookbooks, social justice, and true crime.

Acronym definitions
BIPOC: Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
LGBTQ+: Lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, and more.

FICTION PICKS

Diverse Debuts:

Diverse Debuts: Debut fiction novel by a BIPOC author, LGBTQ+ author or an author from another marginalized community.

Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine

Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.

When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests’ coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.

With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind? – Ballantine Books

This title is also available in large print.

Graphic Novel:

Graphic Novel: Fiction novel for adults of any subgenre with diverse characters depicted by color illustrations, sketches, and photographs.

Woman, Life, Freedom edited by Marjane Satrapi

An urgent, groundbreaking and visually stunning new collection of graphic storytelling about the present Iranian revolution, using comics to show what would be censored in photos and film in Iran.

Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, returns to graphic art with this collaboration of over 20 activists, artists, journalists, and academics working together to depict the historic uprising, in solidarity with the Iranian people and in defense of feminism.

On September 13th 2022, a young Iranian student, Mahsa Amini, was arrested by the morality police in Tehran. Her only crime was that she wasn’t properly wearing the headscarf required for women by the Islamic Republic. At the police station, she was beaten so badly she had to be taken to the hospital, where she fell into a deep coma. She died three days later.

A wave of protests soon spread through the whole country, and crowds adopted the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom”—words that have been chanted around the world during solidarity rallies.

In order to tell the story of this major revolution happening in her homeland, Marjane Satrapi has gathered together an array of journalists, activists, academics, artists, and writers from around the world to create this powerful collection of full-color, graphic-novel-style essays and perspectives that bear witness:

  • Contributing artists: Joann Sfar, Coco, Mana Neyastani, Catel, Pascal Rabate, Patricia Bolanos, Paco Roca, Bahareh Akrami, Hippolyte, Shabnam Adiban, Lewis Trondheim, Winshluss, Touka Neyastani, Bee, Deloupy, Nicolas Wild, and Marjane Satrapi.
  • 3 expert perspectives on Iran: long-time journalist for Libération and political scientist Jean-Pierre Perrin; researcher and Iran specialist Farid Vahid; and UC Berkeley historian Abbas Milani, Director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University.

Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrates that this is not an unexpected movement, but a major uprising in a long history of women who have wanted to affirm their rights. It will continue. – Seven Stories Press

Historical Fiction:

Historical Fiction: Historical fiction novel written by a BIPOC author, LGBTQ+ author or an author from another marginalized community, with main character(s) from a marginalized community.

The Filling Station by Vanessa Miller

Two sisters. One unassuming haven. Endless opportunities for grace.

Sisters Margaret and Evelyn Justice have grown up in the prosperous Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma–also known as Black Wall Street. In Greenwood, the Justice sisters had it all–movie theaters and entertainment venues, beauty shops and clothing stores, high-profile businesses like law offices, medical clinics, and banks. While Evelyn aspires to head off to the East Coast to study fashion design, recent college grad Margaret plans to settle in Greenwood, teaching at the local high school and eventually raising a family.

Then the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre upends everything they know and brings them unspeakable loss. Left with nothing but each other, the sisters flee along what would eventually become iconic Route 66 and stumble upon the Threatt Filling Station, a safe haven and the only place where they can find a shred of hope in oppressive Jim Crow America. At the filling station, they are able to process their pain, fill up their souls, and find strength as they wrestle with a faith in God that has left them feeling abandoned.

But they eventually realize that they can’t hide out at the filling station when Greenwood needs to be rebuilt. The search for their father and their former life may not give them easy answers, but it can propel them–and their community–to a place where their voices are stronger . . . strong enough to build a future that honors the legacy of those who were lost. – Thomas Nelson

International Fiction:

International Fiction: Fiction novel originally written in another language with main character(s) from marginalized communities.

Hunchback by Saō Ichikawa

Born with a congenital muscle disorder, Shaka spends her days in her room in a care home outside Tokyo, relying on an electric wheelchair to get around and a ventilator to breathe. But if Shaka’s physical life is limited, her quick, mischievous mind has no boundaries: She takes e-learning courses on her iPad, publishes explicit fantasies on websites, and anonymously troll-tweets to see if anyone is paying attention (“In another life, I’d like to work as a high-class prostitute”). One day, she tweets into the void an offer of an enormous sum of money for a sperm donor. To Shaka’s surprise, her new nurse accepts the dare, unleashing a series of events that will forever change Shaka’s sense of herself as a woman in the world.

Hunchback has shaken Japanese literary culture with its skillful depiction of the physical body and its unrepentant humor. Winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, it’s a feminist story about the dignity of an individual who insists on her right to make choices for herself, no matter the consequences. Formally creative and refreshingly unsentimental, Hunchback depicts the joy, anger, and desires of a woman demanding autonomy in a world that doesn’t always grant it to people like her. Full of wit, bite, and heart, this unforgettable novel reminds us all of the full potential of our lives, regardless of the limitations we experience. – Hogarth

NONFICTION PICKS

Biography pick

Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leapng, Road-racing life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood’s First Stuntwoman by Mallory O’Meara

Helen Gibson was a woman willing to do anything to give audiences a thrill. Advertised as “The Most Daring Actress in Pictures,” Helen emerged in the early days of the twentieth-century silent film scene as a rodeo rider, background actor, stunt double, and eventually one of the era’s biggest action stars. Her exploits on motorcycles, train cars, and horseback were as dangerous as they were glamorous, featured in hundreds of films and serials–yet her legacy was quickly overshadowed by the increasingly hypermasculine and male-dominated evolution of cinema in the decades that would follow her.

Award-winning author Mallory O’Meara presents her life and career in exhilarating detail, including:

  • Helen’s rise to fame in The Hazards of Helen, the longest-running serial in history
  • How Helen became the first-ever stuntwoman in American film
  • The pivotal role of Helen’s contemporaries–including female directors, stars, and stuntwomen who shaped the making of cinema as we know it.

Through the page-turning story of Helen’s pioneering legacy, Mallory O’Meara gives readers a glimpse of the Golden Age of Hollywood that could have been: an industry where women call the shots. – Hanover Square Press

Cookbook pick

Pretty Delicious: Simply, Modern Mediterranean, served with style by Alia and Radwa Elkaffas

Born and raised in the Midwest to parents originally from Egypt, sisters Alia and Radwa Elkaffas created their Food Dolls platform to answer the question of how to put an exciting and healthful meal on the table without spending hours in the kitchen. And that’s what Pretty Delicious is all about: flavor-packed, Mediterranean-inspired, and super simple recipes, all dolled up and plated with style.

Start with the How to Make Your Kitchen Your Happy Place chapter (life-bettering shortcuts! organizing and styling tips!) and then fall in love with dishes like:

  • Breakfast, Brunch, or Anytime: Banana Bread-Baked Oatmeal Three Ways; Baklava Cinnamon Rolls
  • Just Getting Started: Sumac Chicken Wings; Crispy Baked Halloumi with Hot-Honey Drizzle
  • Double-Duty Dips: Whipped Feta; Roasted-Tomato Baba G
  • Pretty Delicious Salads: Mediterranean Cobb Salad; Pasta Salad with Green Goddess Dressing
  • What’s for Dinner?: Shrimp Tagine with Garlicky Tomatoes and Peppers; Spiced Chickpea & Coconut Stew; Chicken Kofta Burgers; Steak Shawarma Bowls
  • Pretty Sweet: Turkish Coffee Tiramisu; Croissant Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

And since serving with style is what Food Dolls perhaps love the most, they also share an entire chapter of menus and inspired ideas to zhush up the dinner table, with 120 beautifully styled photos throughout. Fresh, streamlined, healthful, and proven family-friendly, Pretty Delicious will inspire you with dozens of ingenious ways to level up dinner. – Clarkson Potter

Social Justice pick

Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition by Silky Shah

Drawing from over twenty years of activism on local and national levels, this striking book offers an organizer’s perspective on the intersections of immigrant rights, racial justice, and prison abolition.

In the wake of post-9/11 xenophobia, Obama’s record-level deportations, Trump’s immigration policies, and the 2020 uprisings for racial justice, the US remains entrenched in a circular discourse regarding migrant justice. As organizer Silky Shah argues in Unbuild Walls, we must move beyond building nicer cages or advocating for comprehensive immigration reform. Our only hope for creating a liberated society for all, she insists, is abolition.

Unbuild Walls dives into US immigration policy and its relationship to mass incarceration, from the last forty years up to the present, showing how the prison-industrial complex and immigration enforcement are intertwined systems of repression. Incorporating historical and legal analyses, Shah’s personal experience as an organizer, as well as stories of people, campaigns, organizations, and localities that have resisted detention and deportation, Shah assesses the movement’s strategies, challenges, successes, and shortcomings. Featuring a foreword by Amna A. Akbar, Unbuild Walls is an expansive and radical intervention, bridging the gaps between movements for immigrant rights, racial justice, and prison abolition. – Haymarket Books

True Crime pick

Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II by Abbott Kahler

At the height of the Great Depression, Los Angeles oil mogul George Allan Hancock and his crew of Smithsonian scientists came upon a gruesome scene: two bodies, mummified by the searing heat, on the shore of a remote Galápagos island. For the past four years Hancock and other American elites had traveled the South Seas to collect specimens for scientific research. On one trip to the Galápagos, Hancock was surprised to discover an equally exotic group of humans: European exiles who had fled political and economic unrest, hoping to create a utopian paradise. One was so devoted to a life of isolation that he’d had his teeth extracted and replaced with a set of steel dentures.

As Hancock and his fellow American explorers would witness, paradise had turned into chaos. The three sets of exiles—a Berlin doctor and his lover, a traumatized World War I veteran and his young family, and an Austrian baroness with two adoring paramours—were riven by conflict. Petty slights led to angry confrontations. The baroness, wielding a riding crop and pearl-handled revolver, staged physical fights between her two lovers and unabashedly seduced American tourists. The conclusion was deadly: with two exiles missing and two others dead, the survivors hurled accusations of murder.

Using never-before-published archives, Abbott Kahler weaves a chilling, stranger-than-fiction tale worthy of Agatha Christie. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the march to World War II, with a mystery as alluring and curious as the Galápagos itself, Eden Undone explores the universal and timeless desire to seek utopia—and lays bare the human fallibility that, inevitably, renders such a quest doomed. – Crown

Join Bestsellers Club to have the newest fiction and nonfiction picks automatically put on hold for you every quarter.

Find Her by Ginger Reno

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Have you ever had a book cover capture your interest and demand you read it? That’s how I felt when I saw Find Her by Ginger Reno while scrolling Libby late one night. The red hand covering the mouth is the identifying symbol for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons movement. This movement seeks to bring focus to the alarming issue surrounding the high rate of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the United States, particularly women and girls. Knowing that Find Her is middle grade fiction, I wanted to see how the MMIP movement would be showcased to a younger audience, so I decided to give this a read.

Twelve-year-old Wren’s mother has been missing for over five years. Sadly she is one of the hundreds of missing and murdered Indigenous people in Oklahoma alone. Even though her father is the chief of police in her small town, this hasn’t helped them find her any quicker. Some days it feels like Wren and her grandmother are the only two who care that her mom is missing. Wren has a secret weapon though: her finder sense. Looking for ways to help find her mom, Wren decides she needs to sharpen her finder sense. She starts a pet finding business and soon finds her detective skills tested.

When one of the missing pets is found badly hurt, Wren is devastated. When more are found injured, Wren grows worried. Who is behind this animal abuse? Why aren’t the police moving faster? With the help of a friend, Wren decides she is going to find the person behind these crimes. If she can solve these cases, maybe then she’ll be able to find her mother. Taking this on means Wren is going to have to keep secrets from the two most important people in her family: her grandmother and her father. Hopefully they will understand.

This book destroyed me. Even though Find Her is middle grade fiction, it dealt with heavy topics that had me up late at night wondering why and how people could behave so cruelly to other humans and to animals. While I expected this book to wrap up all its threads in a neat bow, I was pleasantly surprised when the author left some questions unanswered. Definitely recommend for people of all ages!

Arthurian-Related Fantasy Books

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One of my go-to subjects to read about is anything to do with the legend of King Arthur. The stories and legends surrounding King Arthur and his knights has always fascinated me. My latest re-read, Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, had me scrambling for more fantasy reads related to the legend of King Arthur. Below you will find five Arthurian-related fantasy books owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions are provided by the publisher.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight. – Margaret K. McElderry Books

Spear by Nicola Griffith

She left all she knew to find who she could be . . .

She grows up in the wild wood, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake drift to her on the spring breeze, scented with promise. And when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she decides her future lies at his court. So, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and sets out on her bony gelding for Caer Leon.

With her stolen hunting spear and mended armour, she is an unlikely hero, not a chosen one, but one who forges her own bright path. Aflame with determination, she begins a journey of magic and mystery, love, lust and fights to death. On her adventures, she will steal the hearts of beautiful women, fight warriors and sorcerers, and make a place to call home.

The legendary author of Hild returns with an unforgettable hero and a queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era. Nicola Griffith’s Spear is a spellbinding vision of the Camelot we’ve longed for, a Camelot that belongs to us all. – Tordotcom

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices edited by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

From the vast lore surrounding King Arthur, Camelot, and the Knights of the Round Table, comes an anthology of gender-bent, race-bent, LGBTQIA+ inclusive retellings.

Featuring stories by: Alexander Chee • Preeti Chhibber • Roshani Chokshi • Sive Doyle • Maria Dahvana Headley • Ausma Zehanat Khan • Daniel M. Lavery • Ken Liu • Sarah MacLean • Silvia Moreno-Garcia • Jessica Plummer • Anthony Rapp • Waubgeshig Rice • Alex Segura • Nisi Shawl • S. Zainab Williams

Here you’ll find the Lady of the Lake reimagined as an albino Ugandan sorceress and the Lady of Shalott as a wealthy, isolated woman in futuristic Mexico City; you’ll see Excalibur rediscovered as a baseball bat that grants a washed-up minor leaguer a fresh shot at glory and as a lost ceremonial drum that returns to a young First Nations boy the power and the dignity of his people. There are stories set in Gilded Age Chicago, ’80s New York, twenty-first century Singapore, and space; there are lesbian lady knights, Arthur and Merlin reborn in the modern era for a second chance at saving the world and falling in love—even a coffee shop AU.

Brave, bold, and groundbreaking, the stories in Sword Stone Table will bring fresh life to beloved myths and give long-time fans a chance to finally see themselves in their favorite legends. – Vintage

The Once and Future King by T.H. White

T. H. White’s masterful retelling of the saga of King Arthur is a fantasy classic as legendary as the sword Excalibur and city of Camelot that are found within its pages. This magical epic takes Arthur from the glorious lyrical phase of his youth, through the disillusioning early years of his reign, to maturity when his vision of the Round Table develops into the search for the Holy Grail, and finally to his weary old age. With memorable characters like Merlin and Owl and Guinevere, beasts who talk and men who fly, wizardry and war, The Once and Future King has become the fantasy masterpiece against which all others are judged, a poignant story of adventure, romance, and magic that has enchanted readers for generations. – Putnam

The Winter Knight by Jes Battis

Arthurian legends are reborn in this upbeat queer urban fantasy with a mystery at its heart

The knights of the round table are alive in Vancouver, but when one winds up dead, it’s clear the familiar stories have taken a left turn. Hildie, a Valkyrie and the investigator assigned to the case, wants to find the killer — and maybe figure her life out while she’s at it. On her short list of suspects is Wayne, an autistic college student and the reincarnation of Sir Gawain, who these days is just trying to survive in a world that wasn’t made for him. After finding himself at the scene of the crime, Wayne is pulled deeper into his medieval family history while trying to navigate a new relationship with the dean’s charming assistant, Bert — who also happens to be a prime murder suspect. To figure out the truth, Wayne and Hildie have to connect with dangerous forces: fallen knights, tricky runesmiths, the Wyrd Sisters of Gastown. And a hungry beast that stalks Wayne’s dreams.

The Winter Knight is a propulsive urban fairy tale and detective story with queer and trans heroes that asks what it means to be a myth, who gets to star in these tales, and ultimately, how we make our stories our own. – ECW Press

The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom by Shari Franke

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“I wondered how the public’s consumption of others’ pain and suffering cross the line from empathy to voyeurism. How quickly have we, as a society, become numb to the struggles of others, our capacity for compassion eroded by the sheer volume of human drama we’re exposed to daily? We were just characters in a soap opera now, except the drama was real, and the consequences permanent. Our grief had been reduced to a mere commodity, packaged and sold, consumed and discarded.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom

I am fascinated by true crime. What intrigues me is not the violence perpetrated, but the motivations of the abusers. What made them the way that they are? Was it nature or nurture? The case of Ruby Franke, the viral 8 Passengers family vlog, and her eventual arrest on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse in 2023 had me researching family vlogging culture and how manipulative cults can damage their members. When I learned that Shari Franke, Ruby Franke’s eldest child, was releasing a book entitled The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom, I knew I needed to read it, as Shari has become a vocal proponent of the dangers of family vlogging and an advocate against child exploitation in social media.

Shari Franke’s childhood was doomed from the start. Her mother, Ruby Franke, had a severe moral code that grew into even greater delusions of righteousness after she created her popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers. On said channel, which eventually had 2.5 million subscribers, Ruby documented the day-to-day life of raising six children. Everything in the Franke household was orchestrated by Ruby. Subscribers loved Ruby’s wholesome mommy blogger online persona, but Shari knew another side of her mother: the fierce tyrannical parent who did not tolerate disobedience.

Ruby’s behavior changed for the worse after she met relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt. Jodi and Ruby together created inhumane living conditions and were merciless in delivering discipline. Jodi’s influence on Ruby was sadistic. The family relationships and conditions within the family home quickly deteriorated, leaving Jodi and Ruby with eventual complete control of the four youngest Franke children.

All the while, Shari was fighting for the truth. This book is her battle cry. She describes her childhood with Ruby, what life was really like in the Franke household, and how Jodi’s involvement brought out Ruby’s even darker side. While revealing the horrors that befell them once Ruby joined “ConneXions,” Jodi’s cultish life coaching program, Shari draws her own moral line in the sand. She will not disclose her younger siblings’ names or detail the four youngest’s stories. As I mentioned earlier, Shari is a vocal proponent of the dangers of family vlogging and an advocate against child exploitation in social media. Shari talks about how perilous influencer culture is and how her mother’s cruelty destroyed them, but eventually provided a springboard of truth and survival for Shari, her younger siblings, and their father.

“No child should ever have to earn a parent’s affection. And no amount of achievement can ever fill the void where unconditional love should be.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom

All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman

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All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman is the story of Florence Grimes, a broke single mother living in West London trying to figure out what to do with her life. Florence thought she had everything figured out. She was a member of a girl-band, but her career ended in scandal and humiliation. Now she lives in West London with her ten-year-old son Dylan. She spends her says laying on the couch, shuffling Dylan to and from school, and occasionally selling balloon arrangements to wealthy mothers.

When Dylan heads out to a field trip, Florence thinks it’s just another day until the school group chat blows up on her phone. One of the students has gone missing! Alfie, Dylan’s bully and heir to a massive frozen-food fortune, has disappeared while on the field trip. At first Florence is relieved when it isn’t Dylan who has gone missing, but her relief twists into terror when Dylan becomes the police’s main suspect. He couldn’t have done something so heinous, right? Except… Florence starts to think that maybe he could have. Dylan has always been a bit strange, plus Alfie was horrible to him. Maybe Dylan just snapped.

In order to clear Dylan’s name, Florence must find Alfie. She can’t lose Dylan. He is her only reason for living. Florence teams up with another school mom, but Florence has no useful skills to actually solve this crime. Needing to save Dylan and prove her doubts false, Florence has to dive into uncomfortable situations and behave like a responsible grown-up for once.

I checked out this book for two reasons: 1) the cover and 2) this quote, “The missing boy is 10-year-old Alfie Risby, and to be perfectly honest with you, he’s a little shit.” A grown-up describing a kid as a little shit cracked me up, so I knew I would enjoy this book. Florence is erratic and chaotic, while this book is full of dark humor and messy characters struggling to survive daily life. Florence tries to be an amateur sleuth and solve Alfie’s disappearance, but she is oh so very bad at it. After all the cozy mysteries I have read where non-police decide to solve crimes and are successful, it was nice to read about a woman who is a fumbling disaster.

This title is also available in large print.

Beekeeping Books

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Are you interested in beekeeping? Are you curious how adding bees can help your yard and garden? The Davenport Public Library has books to help you out! Below we have gathered a list of nonfiction books about beekeeping, plus a bonus cozy mystery about bees, to get you started.

At the time of this writing, all of these titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions provided by the publishers.

The Backyard Beekeeper: an Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Bees in your Yard and Garden 5th Edition by Kim Flottum

A Comprehensive Guide to Keeping Healthy, Happy, and Productive Bees.

Experience the timeless joy of beekeeping—right in your backyard or on your urban rooftop—with this fully updated and accessible resource for beekeepers of all levels.

More than just a how-to guide, The Backyard Beekeeper offers expert insights and practical advice on every aspect of caring for bees and harvesting their gifts. Learn how to:

  • Set Up and Maintain Hives – Start and care for thriving colonies.
  • Choose the Ideal Location – Ensure the safety of your bees and yourself.
  • Practice Nontoxic Beekeeping – Use natural, sustainable care methods.
  • Manage Swarms – Prevent and control swarming behavior.
  • Work with Top Bar Hives – Explore alternative hive options.
  • Harvest Hive Products – Collect honey, beeswax, and more.
  • Identify and Treat Bee Health Issues – Recognize problems early and apply effective solutions.

What’s New in the 5th Edition:

  • Natural Beekeeping Methods – Learn how to insulate hives for winter, mirroring the natural advantages of wild bee habitats.
  • Updated Treatments for Varroa Mites – Stay ahead in the fight against one of beekeeping’s greatest challenges.
  • Guidance on New Antibiotic Regulations – Navigate the latest recommendations for managing American foulbrood.
  • Modern Recordkeeping Tools – Discover innovative ways to track hive health and productivity.

This expanded edition also features a fresh, user-friendly design with larger, easy-to-read text, a clearer structure for quick reference, and dozens of new, vibrant photos that bring beekeeping to life.

With trusted guidance from Kim Flottum, editor emeritus of Bee Culture magazine, you’ll gain the confidence and know-how to cultivate healthy, productive bees and enjoy the sweet rewards of your own hive.

Start your beekeeping journey today—naturally, sustainably, and successfully. – Quarry Books

Beekeeping for Gardeners: the Complete Step-to-Step Guide to Keeping Bees in your Garden by Richard Rickitt

A comprehensive gardener’s guide to sustainable beekeeping.

Beekeeping has changed. While once it was a hobby that pursued the rich rewards of honey and wax, many new beekeepers now instead seek the gratification of knowing that they are aiding the survival of one of the world’s most important creatures. Keeping bees today is as much about providing the right habitats and resources to help pollinators thrive as it is about chasing every drop of golden honey.

This beautifully illustrated guide to the ancient hobby of beekeeping shows today’s gardeners how to create beautiful gardens that are richly rewarding for people and bees alike. Flowers, shrubs, trees and vegetable plots can provide colourful beauty and delicious produce as well as vital pollen and nectar when bees need it the most. There are lists of the top-performing plants and how and where to grow them, including window boxes, lawns, borders, wild gardens and even ponds.

Beekeeping for Gardeners looks at the pleasures and benefits of keeping honey bees in gardens of all types and sizes, both rural and urban. It explains the practicalities involved in keeping bees in the domestic garden setting, as well as on rooftops, allotments, parks, farmland and other locations. Importantly, and unlike any book before, this guide sets the delightful hobby of beekeeping within the context of the wider environment, asking how it can best serve the needs of all types of pollinator and the local ecology in general.

Whether you’re looking to attract more bumblebees and solitary bees or want to install a beehive, this wonderful book contains all the guidance you’ll need to have a garden buzzing with bees. – Green Books

Buzz: the Nature and Necessity of Bees by Thor Hanson

Bees are like oxygen: ubiquitous, essential, and, for the most part, unseen. While we might overlook them, they lie at the heart of relationships that bind the human and natural worlds. In Buzz, the beloved Thor Hanson takes us on a journey that begins 125 million years ago, when a wasp first dared to feed pollen to its young. From honeybees and bumbles to lesser-known diggers, miners, leafcutters, and masons, bees have long been central to our harvests, our mythologies, and our very existence. They’ve given us sweetness and light, the beauty of flowers, and as much as a third of the foodstuffs we eat. And, alarmingly, they are at risk of disappearing.

As informative and enchanting as the waggle dance of a honeybee, Buzz shows us why all bees are wonders to celebrate and protect. Read this book and you’ll never overlook them again. – Basic Books

A Honeybee Heart has Five Openings: A Year of Keeping Bees by Helen Jukes

A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings begins as the author is entering her thirties and feeling disconnected in her life. Uneasy about her future and struggling to settle into her new house in Oxford with its own small garden, she is brought back to a time of accompanying a friend in London—a beekeeper—on his hive visits. And as a gesture of good fortune for her new life, she is given a colony of honeybees. According to folklore, a colony, freely given, brings good luck, and Helen Jules embarks on a rewarding, perilous journey of becoming a beekeeper.

Jukes writes about what it means to “keep” wild creatures; on how to live alongside beings whose laws and logic are so different from our own . . . She delves into the history of beekeeping and writes about discovering the ancient, haunting, sometimes disturbing relationship between keeper and bee, human and wild thing.

A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings is a book of observation, of the irrepressible wildness of these fascinating creatures, of the ways they seem to evade our categories each time we attempt to define them. Are they wild or domestic? Individual or collective? Is honey an animal product or is it plant-based? As the author’s colony grows, the questions that have, at first compelled her interest to fade away, and the inbetweenness, the unsettledness of honeybees call for a different kind of questioning, of consideration.

A subtle yet urgent mediation on uncertainty and hope, on solitude and friendship, on feelings of restlessness and on home; on how we might better know ourselves. A book that shows us how to be alert to the large and small creatures that flit between and among us and that urge us to learn from this vital force so necessary to be continuation of life on planet Earth. – Pantheon

Bonus Cozy Mystery!

Take the Honey and Run by Jennie Marts (book 1 in the Bee Keeping Mystery series)

As a successful mystery author, Bailey Briggs writes about murder, but nothing prepares her for actually discovering the dead body of the founder of her hometown of Humble Hills, Colorado. Bailey grew up at Honeybuzz Mountain Ranch and was raised by her beekeeping grandmother, Blossom Briggs, aka Granny Bee, and her two eccentric sisters, Aster and Marigold—which is why she drops everything to come home and help Granny Bee after a bad fall.

A broken foot doesn’t stop her grandmother from ruling The Hive, her granny’s book club, or continuing to prepare and package her bee-inspired products. But when Bailey’s grandmother’s infamous “Honey I’m Home” hot spiced honey turns out to “bee” the murder weapon and her granny is now the prime suspect, Bailey has no choice but to use her fictional detective skills to help solve the murder and “smoke out” the real culprit.

With the help of Bailey’s witty bestie, a pair of meddling aunts, the feisty members of The Hive, and her computer-savvy daughter, this amateur sleuth is determined to solve the case. A malicious attack and an ominous threat reveal that someone wants Bailey to butt out of the investigation, but there’s no way she’s backing down. She must use her skills to uncover the truth and catch the clever culprit before her grandmother ends up bee-hind bars. – Crooked Lane Books

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

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“I hope that if you’re called to resist injustice you’ll have the courage to do so. I hope you’ll love fiercely and freely. In those ways I hope you’ll be good Americans”
― Lauren Wilkinson, American Spy

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson has been on my to-read list since it was published in 2019. It is described as a Cold War thriller with elements of family, love, country, and spies.

Marie Mitchell works as an intelligence officer for the FBI. It’s 1986 and even though she’s incredibly talented, she has been relegated to recruiting and managing a network of informants. Marie is constantly overlooked for missions, something that she has come to expect as a black woman working in an all-white male field. Her career has essentially stopped, leaving her stuck filling out paperwork.

When Marie is approached by the CIA with an opportunity to join a task force to take down Thomas Sankara, the president of Burkina Faso, she’s intrigued. Sankara is the revolutionary president of Burkina Faso who caught the attention of the Americans with his Community ideology. When she meets Thomas, Marie realizes this job isn’t what she thought it would be. She admires the work he is doing and suspects that she was recruited for this job because of her appearance and not her talent as an agent. Other factors put Marie on guard, eventually changing her opinion over the year she follows Sankara. Marie grows closer to Sankara, seduces him, and ultimately has a hand in his downfall. Her status as an unwitting and unwilling accomplice lead her to attempt revenge against those who set her up.

I didn’t realize until I finished American Spy that this book was inspired by true events. After I did some research, this book took on a whole other level of meaning for me. It’s a spy thriller, historical fiction, a family drama, and a suspense story. The aspects of race and gender were also fascinating. All in all, a great debut novel.

Everyone is Watching by Heather Gudenkauf

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“Nevertheless, this is a cruel game. It’s twisted, and sick, and dangerous. I don’t know if we’ll ever find out who is really behind the show, but whoever it is, brava, you did it.”
― Heather Gudenkauf, Everyone Is Watching

What would you do if you received an email out of the blue from a high-stakes game show saying that you had been chosen as one of five contestants to compete for a ten million dollar prize? Would you think it was spam and delete it? Or would you take a chance and reply to the email hoping it was real? This dilemma is expanded upon in Heather Gudenkauf’s 2024 novel, Everyone is Watching. 

Five contestants nicknamed the best friend, the confidante, the senator, the boyfriend, and the executive are competing for the chance to win ten million dollars on a newly announced game show called One Lucky Winner. No one knows what to expect, no one knows who is in charge, and the set is closed with a skeleton crew. Taking place on an estate in Northern California, the contestants have been told they cannot leave the property and cannot contact anyone in the outside world. If they leave, they will forfeit their chance to win the money. Their phones are locked in a box. Isolated and sleeping in a room altogether, they are at the whims of whomever is in charge, awoken at random times of day to compete in increasingly dangerous challenges that become more personal as time progresses. Each contestant is harboring secrets which are slowly being revealed. As the game marches on, they realize that this isn’t a normal game show and that someone is determined to destroy them. Who is the mastermind? What is their end goal? Will anyone be alive at the end of this game?

I devoured this book in two days. This thriller bounces between timelines and different points of view, which added levels of drama to the story and necessary background information to flush out the story. Heather Gudenkauf was born in South Dakota, but she currently lives in Iowa with her family. This fact is clear in her thrillers as Iowa features prominently. In Everyone is Watching, one of her characters is from a small town in Iowa. As a Midwest native, seeing a state I work in mentioned was fun! I can’t wait to read more books by this author.

This title is also available in large print and CD audiobook.

Children’s Books about Autistic Characters

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April is Autism Acceptance Month. Even though I’m a firm believer in learning year-round, months that highlight different groups are important to spread the word and showcase positivity and acceptance beyond awareness. To honor the identities and experiences of Autistic individuals, I have been researching children’s books about Autistic characters to share this month. All of the books I chose below are co-written or written by Autistic authors. Bonus, these picture books and middle grade fiction all have Autistic characters! All of these books are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions are provided by the publishers.

A Day with No Words by Tiffany Hammond

Aidan doesn’t talk with words. He uses a tablet, tapping buttons with pictures to show what he means.

When Mama taps “Park . . . now?” Aidan quickly taps back “Yes.” And after Aidan twirls and twirls in the grass until he can no longer stand, he taps, “All done.”

Not everyone understands their family’s unique way of communicating, though. Some think that because Aidan doesn’t say words, he doesn’t know words. But verbal speech isn’t the only way we can connect with others. We can use tablets and letter boards, facial expressions, hand gestures, and written words.

With tenderness and heart, A Day with No Words illuminates the many unique ways people can understand each other, even if they don’t speak. – Bloomsbury Children’s Books

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

Ever since Ms. Murphy told us about the witch trials that happened centuries ago right here in Juniper, I can’t stop thinking about them. Those people weren’t magic. They were like me. Different like me.

I’m autistic. I see things that others do not. I hear sounds that they can ignore. And sometimes I feel things all at once. I think about the witches, with no one to speak for them. Not everyone in our small town understands. But if I keep trying, maybe someone will. I won’t let the witches be forgotten. Because there is more to their story. Just like there is more to mine.

Award-winning and neurodivergent author Elle McNicoll delivers an insightful and stirring debut about the European witch trials and a girl who refuses to relent in the fight for what she knows is right. – Yearling

The View from the Very Best House in Town by Meera Trehan

Sam and Asha. Asha and Sam. Their friendship is so long established, they take it for granted. Just as Asha takes for granted that Donnybrooke, the mansion that sits on the highest hill in Coreville, is the best house in town. But when Sam is accepted into snobbish Castleton Academy as an autistic “Miracle Boy,” he leaves Asha, who is also autistic, to navigate middle school alone. He also leaves her wondering if she can take anything for granted anymore. Because soon Sam is spending time with Prestyn, Asha’s nemesis, whose family owns Donnybrooke and, since a housewarming party gone wrong, has forbidden Asha to set foot inside. Who is Asha without Sam? And who will she be when it becomes clear that Prestyn’s interest in her friend isn’t so friendly? Told from the points of view of Asha, Sam, and Donnybrooke itself, this suspenseful and highly original novel explores issues of ableism and classism as it delves into the mysteries of what makes a person a friend and a house a home. – Walker Books US

Moonwalking by Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Punk rock-loving JJ Pankowski can’t seem to fit in at his new school in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as one of the only white kids. Pie Velez, a math and history geek by day and graffiti artist by night is eager to follow in his idol, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s, footsteps. The boys stumble into an unlikely friendship, swapping notes on their love of music and art, which sees them through a difficult semester at school and at home. But a run-in with the cops threatens to unravel it all.

From authors Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann, Moonwalking is a stunning exploration of class, cross-racial friendships, and two boys’ search for belonging in a city as tumultuous and beautiful as their hearts. – Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Bitsy Bat, School Star by Kaz Windness

Bitsy is a little bat with big star dreams of making friends at her new school. But when she arrives, Bitsy doesn’t feel like she fits in. The other kids sit on their chairs, but sitting upright makes Bitsy dizzy. The other kids paint with their fingers, but Bitsy would rather use her toes. Everyone tells Bitsy she’s doing things wrong-wrong-wrong, so she tries harder…and ends up having a five-star meltdown.

Now Bitsy feels like a very small star and doesn’t want to go back to school. But with help from her family, Bitsy musters her courage, comes up with a new plan, and discovers that being a good friend is just one of the ways she shines bright! – Simon & Schuster / Paula Wiseman Books

It Was Supposed to be Sunny by Samantha Cotterill

Laila feels like her sparkly sunshine birthday celebration is on the brink of ruin when it starts to storm. Then, just as she starts feeling okay with moving her party indoors, an accident with her cake makes her want to call the whole thing off. But with the help of her mom and a little alone time with her service dog, she knows she can handle this.

Changes in routine can be hard for any kid, but especially for kids on the autism spectrum. Samantha Cotterill’s fourth book in the Little Senses series provides gentle guidance along with adorable illustrations to help every kid navigate schedule changes and overwhelming social situations. – Dial Books

Talking is Not My Thing by Rose Robbins

This little sister might not use words, but she’s got plenty to say! Narrated through thought bubbles, this energetic book invites readers into the day of a nonverbal girl with autism. She has so much to do—games to play, spaghetti to eat, and a missing stuffed animal to find! Sometimes life can be noisy and overwhelming, but something new is always around the corner. Talking isn’t the only way to make a joke, ask for Grandma’s help, or surprise your brother…

Illustrated in bright colors, Talking Is Not My Thing is a joyful portrait of neurodiverse family life. – Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Ways to Play by Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Riley has plenty of ways to play; like lining up dolls and stuffies by size and shape. Tearing up newspapers and making piles into mountains, using sharp crayons to draw big swirly patterns. But bossy cousin Emma thinks those ways are wrong, wrong, and wrong. And she makes no bones about letting Riley know exactly what her opinion is. Fortunately, Charlie the dog is on hand to help with a breakthrough demonstration that there are MANY ways to play; and all of them are right.

Based on experiences that Lyn Miller Lachman had growing up as an Autistic child and illustrated with the humor, tenderness and understanding that perhaps only an artist like Gabriel Alborozo, himself an Autistic creator, could bring, here is an empowering validation of the value of individual expression. And a whole lot of fun. – Levine Querido

A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold

The first book in a funny, heartfelt, and irresistible young middle grade series starring an unforgettable young boy on the autism spectrum.

For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises—some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat’s mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter.

But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he’s got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific pet. – Walden Pond Press

Nick and the Brick Builder Challenge by Jen Malia

When the Infinity Rainbow Club at school competes in a brick builder challenge, Nick can’t wait to participate! Until he learns he must have a partner–the new girl. Nick wants to work alone. But to win, he’ll have to figure out how to be part of a team.

A story about the universal struggle of learning to work together on a team, told from the perspective of an autistic child.

The Infinity Rainbow Club is a chapter book series featuring five neurodivergent children in a club at their elementary school. The club provides a safe space for stims and different communication styles to be accepted and celebrated. – Beaming Books

Can You See Me?  by Libby Scott

Things Tally is dreading about sixth grade:

— Being in classes without her best friends

— New (scratchy) uniforms

— Hiding her autism

Tally isn’t ashamed of being autistic — even if it complicates life sometimes, it’s part of who she is. But this is her first year at Kingswood Academy, and her best friend, Layla, is the only one who knows. And while a lot of other people are uncomfortable around Tally, Layla has never been one of them . . . until now.

Something is different about sixth grade, and Tally now feels like she has to act “normal.” But as Tally hides her true self, she starts to wonder what “normal” means after all and whether fitting in is really what matters most.

Inspired by young coauthor Libby Scott’s own experiences with autism, this is an honest and moving middle-school story of friends, family, and finding one’s place. – Scholastic Press

Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass

Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz feels most comfortable when her life is well planned out and people fit neatly into her predefined categories. She attends temple with Abba and Mom every Friday and Saturday. Ellen only gets crushes on girls, never boys, and she knows she can always rely on her best-and-only friend, Laurel, to help navigate social situations at their private Georgia middle school. Laurel has always made Ellen feel like being autistic is no big deal. But lately, Laurel has started making more friends, and cancelling more weekend plans with Ellen than she keeps. A school trip to Barcelona seems like the perfect place for Ellen to get their friendship back on track. Except it doesn’t. Toss in a new nonbinary classmate whose identity has Ellen questioning her very binary way of seeing the world, homesickness, a scavenger hunt-style team project that takes the students through Barcelona to learn about Spanish culture and this trip is anything but what Ellen planned.

Making new friends and letting go of old ones is never easy, but Ellen might just find a comfortable new place for herself if she can learn to embrace the fact that life doesn’t always stick to a planned itinerary. – Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen by Sarah Kapit

Vivy Cohen is determined. She’s had enough of playing catch in the park. She’s ready to pitch for a real baseball team.

But Vivy’s mom is worried about Vivy being the only girl on the team, and the only autistic kid. She wants Vivy to forget about pitching, but Vivy won’t give up. When her social skills teacher makes her write a letter to someone, Vivy knows exactly who to choose: her hero, Major League pitcher VJ Capello. Then two amazing things happen: A coach sees Vivy’s amazing knuckleball and invites her to join his team. And VJ starts writing back!

Now Vivy is a full-fledged pitcher, with a catcher as a new best friend and a steady stream of advice from VJ. But when a big accident puts her back on the bench, Vivy has to fight to stay on the team. – Dial Books

Planet Earth is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos

Twelve-year-old Nova is eagerly awaiting the launch of the space shuttle Challenger–it’s the first time a teacher is going into space, and kids across America will watch the event on live TV in their classrooms. Nova and her big sister, Bridget, share a love of astronomy and the space program. They planned to watch the launch together. But Bridget has disappeared, and Nova is in a new foster home.

While foster families and teachers dismiss Nova as severely autistic and nonverbal, Bridget understands how intelligent and special Nova is, and all that she can’t express. As the liftoff draws closer, Nova’s new foster family and teachers begin to see her potential, and for the first time, she is making friends without Bridget. But every day, she’s counting down to the launch, and to the moment when she’ll see Bridget again. Because as Bridget said, “No matter what, I’ll be there. I promise.” – Yearling

The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla

Charlie’s perfectly ordinary life has been unraveling ever since his war journalist father was injured in Afghanistan.

When his father heads from California to Virginia for medical treatment, Charlie reluctantly travels cross-country with his boy-crazy sister, unruly brothers, and a mysterious new family friend. He decides that if he can spot all the birds that he and his father were hoping to see someday along the way, then everything might just turn out okay.

Debut author Sally J. Pla has written a tale that is equal parts madcap road trip, coming-of-age story for an autistic boy who feels he doesn’t understand the world, and an uplifting portrait of a family overcoming a crisis. – HarperCollins