Category: Audio Books

Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast July Recap

- Brittany Leave a comment

Each month, we release a new episode of Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast. In this blog post, I will give you helpful links to area resources, Library resources, and links to the books discussed in our episode!

Favorite Audiobook Narrators to Celebrate World Listening Day on July 18th 

To celebrate World Listening Day, the hosts came up with a list of some of their favorite audiobook narrators!

Stephanie’s Picks:
Julia Whelan
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Zachary Webber 
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez
The Happy Ever Playlist by Abby Jimenez
Vikas Adam
Evander Mills Series by Lev AC Rosen
Jim Dale
Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Cassandra Campbell
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Full Cast Narrators
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstren
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Sadie by Courtney Summers
One of Us is Dead by Jeneva Rose
American Gods by Neil Gaiman 

Brittany’s Picks
Read by the Author
Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Zeno Robinson
Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour

Beth’s Picks
Full Cast Audiobooks
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff
Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman

woman laying in the sun readingLibby App

Are you struggling to find time to squeeze in a Library visit or to read a physical book? Libby has you covered! Download the Libby App to access thousands of Audiobooks and e-books for free with your Davenport Public Library card! All items will check out for up to 21 days and will automatically return. Place holds on up to 10 titles and check out 5 items at a time to ensure that you are never short on content to read! Download the App today!

National Parks and Recreation Month Interview

During this segment, Brittany and Claire interviewed Becca Niles from Davenport Parks and Recreation about some of their amazing projects. During the interview, they also discussed partnerships between The Library and Parks currently in progress and for those occurring in the future. If you are interested in Parks programming, follow this link to visit their website!

Many Ways to Listen

There are many ways to enrich your life through listening with your Davenport Public Library Card, below are a few of our favorites!

QC Beats
QC Beats is an online streaming audio collection of original music featuring Quad Cities musicians and artists. QC Beats is built in partnership with Davenport Public Library, Bettendorf Public Library, and St. Ambrose University Library.

Freegal
Freegal Music gives you access to millions of songs from over 40,000 labels. Stream 24-hours a day. Download up to 5 songs per week.

Physical Items
The Library has music CD’s, audiobooks on CD, and playaways to check out to listen through your stereo or headphones. By clicking the link above, you can begin searching for your next great listen!

If you are looking for a program to join, consider looking into our Audiophiles Walking Club beginning in August!

three women sitting near podcasting equipment

What Our Hosts Read In June

Beth’s Reads:
If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos
The Boys in the Cave: Deep Inside the Impossible Rescue in Thailand by Matt Gutman

Stephanie’s Reads:
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
Poppy Done to Death (book 8 in the Aurora Teagarden mystery series) by Charlaine Harris
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White
Full of Myself: A Graphic Memoir About Body Image by Siobhan Gallagher
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor (book 1 in Irish Village Mystery series)
The Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson (book 2 in The Agathas Mystery series)
Puzzled: a memoir about growing up with OCD by Pan Cooke
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

Brittany’s Reads:
The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

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 Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

- Stephanie Leave a comment

“I had a theory that we gravitate toward the stories we need in life. Whatever we are looking for- adventure, excitement, emotion, connection-we turn to stories that help us find it. Whatever questions we’re struggling with- sometimes ones so deep, we don’t even really know we’re asking them- we look for answers in stories.”
― Katherine Center, The Rom-Commers

Emma Wheeler wants to be a screenwriter. She has spent her life studying and watching movies, obsessing over different screenwriters, and, most importantly, writing many many romantic comedies. Emma is also the sole caretaker for her dad, who needs full-time care, which cuts into her screenwriting time. However, Emma is able to secure jobs with the help of a friend. When said friend reaches out with a new job, Emma is shocked! She has the chance to rewrite a script for the famous screenwriter Charlie Yates, who is her absolute hero. Emma drops everything, arranges for her younger sister to step in and take care of their dad, and moves to L.A. for six weeks to help Charlie rewrite this script.

As soon as Emma lands in L.A. though, her dreams are dashed. Charlie had no idea she was coming and absolutely, positively doesn’t want to write with anyone, especially not a screenwriter that no one has heard about. Ugh. The kicker: the script that Charlie has written is a romantic comedy so incredibly terrible that Emma isn’t sure there’s even a glimmer of anything good in it. The even bigger kicker: Charlie doesn’t care about the script. He’s only writing it so that someone else will green-light a different script that he actually cares about.

Emma refuses to give up her chance to work with Charlie Yates. She is determined to stand up for romantic comedies everywhere and teach Charlie what is so important about these love stories. She’ll do whatever it takes to get this project off the ground, even if it means she has to kiss Charlie to prove her point. What happens after is anyone’s guess.

This book had me laughing, crying, arguing, cringing, and wishing for more. I listened to the audiobook which was beautifully read and only enhanced the written novel. While this isn’t my favorite Katherine Center book, it was sweet, endearing, and reminded me to be grateful and to focus on the positives. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

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

Here’s Johnny

- Bill Leave a comment

Is one a poseur to be nostalgic for a time period in which they didn’t exist?  Does it count if you were in a diaper?  Then sit back and hear about the 70’s Hollywood scrapes of a skinny charismatic kid born in Iowa (yes, we get the credit).  When we first meet Johnny, he is getting fleeced on multiple fronts from shoddily-crafted contracts and hemorrhaging business deals.  In one such Faustian pact,  William Morris demanded a larger percentage than Johnny’s actual take-home pay.  Enter the author, Henry Bushkin, Esq., Carson’s longtime consigliere, attorney, tennis partner, drinking buddy and personal fixer.   Eventually his fortunes reversed, inking in 1981 a $25 million annual contract for 37 three-day workweeks per year.  This lead us to the unforgivable sin of Jay Leno, but that is neither here nor there.

Johnny kept Bushkin so busy he became his sole client.  Matrimony be damned, Johnny liked the ladies and they liked him right back.  For example, husband Carson was caught flirting with a high-class dame at one of his elite watering holes unaware she was the mistress of mob boss Joseph Colombo.   Johnny called in sick a few days.  Phone calls were made.  Eventually the contract on Johnny’s life was lifted.  However, though a notoriously gifted womanizer and bar hopper, Carson quixotically revered the title of married man.  Occasionally he’d marry one and seek the author’s wise counsel for the costly reverse procedure.

Spiteful, cruel, and mercurial, Johnny contained multitudes.  He was gregarious, yet incredibly guarded in his privacy.  Generous to his friends, Johnny regularly practiced pettiness and self-absorption.  Bushkin covers it all in this unvarnished portrayal, Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin, written after the attorney-client privilege expired along with Johnny in 2005. However if you were expecting any anecdotes about Ed McMahon or Doc Severinsen, this book is not for you.

Consider this an open invitation to watch the reruns on WQAD 8.2 at 9PM M-F (10PM Saturdays)….if you can stay up that late.

Summer Romance Reads

- Stephanie Leave a comment

It’s summer! With the hot weather and vacations on the way, we wanted to highlight some 2024 romances that have the word ‘summer’ in the title. You may remember the Summer Fiction Reads list we posted in June, but this list is all romances. Do you have a favorite summer romance read? Let us know in the comments.

These titles are all owned by Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions are provided by the publisher.

Effie Olsen’s Summer Special by Rochelle Bilow

Effie Olsen thought she’d never live on the tiny Maine island where she grew up, but she’s returning from sixteen years as a professional chef in far-flung countries for one summer and one summer only. Her hometown boasts one of the best restaurants in the US, and lucky for her, Brown Butter needs a sous chef. Effie’s eager for a chance at redemption after her last job went up in flames, but reluctant to set down roots in a place that reminds her of the ghosts of her past.

Until, that is, she runs into Ernie Callahan, her onetime best friend who now works in the very same restaurant. Early morning swims and late-night games of truth or dare with Ernie remind her of what she’s been missing while traveling the world. He knows her better than anyone, and it doesn’t hurt that his smile lights her up brighter than the lighthouses dotting the craggy coastline.

But their restaurant has a secret that’s bursting at the seams, and if Effie doesn’t keep it, her job will vanish into the foggy Maine air. As summer draws to a close, her dream job and the perfect guy are both within reach. Her salty seaside hometown might be the key to Effie’s sweet ending…if she can learn to let her heart lead the way in time. – Berkley

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.

Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together? – Forever

Revisiting Summer Nights by Ashley Bartlett

In their twenties, PJ Addison and Wylie Parsons were hot young actors. Their iconic performances as the final girls in Dangerous Summer Nights launched a slasher franchise, and their real-life relationship only made their characters’ romance—and the film—more popular. But young love rarely lasts, and the Hollywood machine is brutal.

A decade later they are called back to the most recent Dangerous Summer Nights installment. Their days of shifting cultural paradigms are long past. It’s hard enough just to maintain Hollywood careers and pseudo happy lives. PJ’s a director, finally making a name for herself that isn’t attached to having been a sexy starlet. Wylie is on marriage number three and most days doesn’t even mind that she’s a cliché.

Their job is simple: pretend to be wildly in love on film again. Like professionals. But the more they fake it, the more they realize their feelings are anything but an act. – Bold Strokes Books

Summer After Summer by Lauren Bailey

Olivia Taylor’s marriage is in a death spiral when she agrees to come home to the Hamptons to help her father and sisters pack up the family estate. If it looks like she’s running away from her soon-to-be ex, Wes, and New York City, well, she is. But someone has to take care of things and that’s always been Olivia’s role in the family. After years of financial trouble, someone’s finally bailing them out with a huge offer to buy their beachfront property, which is a good thing, although it means losing the home she grew up in, where her mother died, and where she first met Fred, the love of her life.

It’s been five years since the last time things blew up between Olivia and Fred, but much longer since the first time. At this point, Olivia fears it was never meant to be, so there’s no reason to feel butterflies in her stomach at the idea of seeing him again. They’ve already tried, and tried again…and again…but she’s newly single, and she isn’t the same person she was the last time–and Fred has changed too.

This time, things will be different. Maybe, just maybe, the fifth time’s the charm. – Alcove Press

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

Benefits of a summer romance: It’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.

Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose own life is a mess. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember.

No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her…by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. He looks at her like she’s a younger, braver version of herself. The last thing newly single mom Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little summer romance. Is there? – G.P. Putnam’s Sons

The Summer Book Club by Susan Mallery

The rules of summer book club are simple:
No sad books
No pressure
Yessssss, wine!

Besties Laurel and Paris are excited to welcome Cassie to the group. This year, the book club is all about fill-your-heart reads, an escape from the chaos of the everyday—running a business, raising a family, juggling a hundred to-dos. Even the dog is demanding (but the bestest boy).

Since Laurel’s divorce, she feels like the Worst Mom Ever. Her skepticism of men may have scarred her vulnerable daughters. Cassie has an unfortunate habit of falling for ridiculous man-boys who dump her once she fixes them. Paris knows good men exist. She’s still reeling after chasing off the only one brave enough—and foolish enough—to marry her.

Inspired by the heroines who risk everything for fulfillment, Laurel, Paris and Cassie begin to take chances—big chances—in life, in love. Facing an unwritten chapter can be terrifying. But it can be exhilarating, too, if only they can find the courage to change. – Canary Street Press

This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune

This summer they’ll keep their promise. This summer they won’t give into temptation. This summer will be different.

Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.

It’s easier said than done.

Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again.

If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it.

When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is. – Berkley

More 2024 Summer Romance Reads! on-order

QCL Book Club June Wrap-up and July Pick!

- Brittany Leave a comment

In June, Morgan and I read The Celebrants by Steven Rowley to celebrate Best Friends Day on June 8th. Below is a short synopsis of the book and what I thought of it! 

After the tragic death of their friend, 5 recent college grads make a pact to gather during tumultuous events in their lives. The goal of the gatherings is to hold a funeral for the living person to ensure that they know how important they are. Over several years, each friend takes their turn until they are down to two. Now, they are gathered in Big Sur and recount the past few decades as they plan another funeral. 

This book was beautiful and sad! The characters were so complex and lovable in their own ways. I loved it very much and can’t wait to read more by Steven Rowley! – Brittany

Morgan and I have a very exciting lineup of book options for July, below are our four options including our winning title! Feel free to check them out from Davenport Public Library! 

*** QCL Book Club July Pick!  

The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis (In Honor of Cheer Up the Lonely Day on July 11th) 

Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners–an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance. With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers’ tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story–and to the unfinished chapters of her own life — adapted from back cover   

  

Everything Must Go by Camille Pagán (In Honor of Give Something Away Day on July 15th) 

Laine Francis believes there’s a place for everything-and New York, where her family lives, isn’t her place. But no sooner does the professional organizer’s marriage begin to unravel than her sisters drop another bomb on her: their mother, Sally, may have dementia, and they need Laine to come home. Laine agrees to briefly return to Brooklyn. After all, bringing order to chaos is what she does best. To Laine’s relief, Sally seems no more absentminded than usual. So, Laine vows to help her mother maintain her independence, then hightail it back to Michigan. Except, Laine’s plans go awry when she runs into her former best friend, Ben, and realizes she finally has a chance to repair their fractured relationship. Then she discovers that memory loss isn’t the only thing Sally’s been hiding, forcing Laine to decide whether to reveal a devastating truth to her sisters-and whether to follow her heart when it means breaking her mother’s — adapted from back cover 

 

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes (In Honor of Aunts and Uncles Day on July 26th) 

A woman returns to her small Maine hometown, uncovering family secrets that take her on a journey of self-discovery and new love, in this warm and charming novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over. Smarting from her recently cancelled wedding and about to turn forty, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown of Calcasset to handle the estate of her great-aunt Dot, a spirited adventurer who lived to be ninety. Along with boxes of Polaroids and pottery, a mysterious wooden duck shows up at the bottom of a cedar chest. Laurie’s curiosity is piqued, especially after she finds a love letter to the never-married Dot that ends with the line, “And anyway, if you’re ever desperate, there are always ducks, darling.” Laurie is told that the duck has no financial value. But after it disappears under suspicious circumstances, she feels compelled to figure out why anyone would steal a wooden duck-and why Dot kept it hidden away in the first place. Suddenly Laurie finds herself swept up in a righteous caper that has her negotiating with antiques dealers and con artists, going on after-hours dates at the local library, and reconnecting with her oldest friend and first love. Desperate to uncover her great-aunt’s secrets, Laurie must reckon with her past, her future, and ultimately embrace her own vision of flying solo — adapted from back cover 

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney (In Honor of Day of Friendship on July 30th)  

Frances is a cool-headed and darkly observant young woman, vaguely pursuing a career in writing while studying in Dublin. Her best friend and comrade-in-arms is the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi. At a local poetry performance one night, Frances and Bobbi catch the eye of Melissa, a well-known photographer, and as the girls are then gradually drawn into Melissa’s world, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman’s sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband, Nick. However amusing and ironic Frances and Nick’s flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy, and Frances’s friendship with Bobbi begins to fracture. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally, terribly, with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile her inner life to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances’s intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment. Written with gem-like precision and marked by a sly sense of humor, Conversations with Friends is wonderfully alive to the pleasures and dangers of youth, and the messy edges of female friendship. — provided by Amazon  

If you are interested in any of these titles, or have read them, we 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! 

Online Reading Challenge – July

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge travels back in time to the 1980s. Our main title for July is Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

André Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents’ cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks’ duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy.

The psychological maneuvers that accompany attraction have seldom been more shrewdly captured than in André Aciman’s frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion. Call Me by Your Name is clear-eyed, bare-knuckled, and ultimately unforgettable. – Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Looking for some other books set in the 1980s? Try any of the following.

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

2024 Edgar Award Winners

- Stephanie Leave a comment

The 2024 Edgar Award Winners have been announced! I look forward to this event all year. The 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards honor the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television published or produced in 2023. The categories are best novel, best first novel by an American author, best paperback original, best fact crime, best critical/biographical, best short story, best juvenile, best young adult, best television episode teleplay, the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award, the Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, the G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award, and the Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award. As much as I would love to discuss all the winners and finalists in this blog post, I can’t! That’s just too many! Instead, I will be focusing on those that are owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing.

All descriptions provided by the publisher. This is not a complete list of all the 2024 Edgar Award winners and nominees. For a complete list, please visit the Mystery Writers of America website.

BEST NOVEL

Winner

Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke

In the fall of 1863, the Union army is in control of the Mississippi river. Much of Louisiana, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is occupied. The Confederate army is retreating toward Texas, and being replaced by Red Legs, irregulars commanded by a maniacal figure, and enslaved men and women are beginning to glimpse freedom.

When Hannah Laveau, an enslaved woman working on the Lufkin plantation, is accused of murder, she goes on the run with Florence Milton, an abolitionist schoolteacher, dodging the local constable and the slavecatchers that prowl the bayous. Wade Lufkin, haunted by what he observed—and did—as a surgeon on the battlefield, has returned to his uncle’s plantation to convalesce, where he becomes enraptured by Hannah. Flags on the Bayou is an engaging, action-packed narrative that includes a duel that ends in disaster, a brutal encounter with the local Union commander, repeated skirmishes with Confederate irregulars led by a diseased and probably deranged colonel, and a powerful story of love blossoming between an unlikely pair. As the story unfolds, it illuminates a past that reflects our present in sharp relief. – Grove Press

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

Finalists

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR

Winner

The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry –

Shane Collins, a world-weary CIA spy, is ready to come in from the cold. Stationed in Bahrain off the coast of Saudi Arabia for his final tour, he has little use for his mission—uncovering Iranian support for the insurgency against the monarchy. Then Collins meets Almaisa, a beautiful and enigmatic artist, and his eyes are opened to a side of Bahrain most expats never experience, to questions he never thought to ask.

When his trusted informant inside the opposition becomes embroiled in a murder, Collins finds himself drawn deep into the conflict. His budding romance with Almaisa—and his loyalties—are upended; in an instant, he’s caught in the crosswinds of a revolution. Drawing on all his skills as a spymaster, he sets out to learn the truth behind the Arab Spring, win Almaisa’s love, and uncover the murky border where Bahrain’s secrets end and America’s begin. – Atria Books

Finalists

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Winner

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

This title is also available in large print and a discussion box.

Finalists

BEST JUVENILE

Winner

The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto by Adrianna Cuevas

Rafa would rather live in the world of The Forgotten Age, his favorite fantasy role-playing game, than face his father’s increasing restrictions and his mother’s fading presence. But when Rafa and his friends decide to take the game out into the real world and steal their school cafeteria’s slushie machine, his dad concocts a punishment Rafa never could’ve imagined—a month working on a ranch in New Mexico, far away from his friends, their game, and his mom’s quesitos in Miami.

Life at Rancho Espanto isn’t as bad as Rafa initially expected, mostly due to Jennie, a new friend with similarly strong opinions about Cuban and Korean snacks, and Marcus, the veteran barn manager who’s not as gruff as he appears. But when Rafa’s work at the ranch is inexplicably sabotaged by a man (or a ghost) who may not be what he seems, Rafa and Jennie explore what’s behind the strange events at Rancho Espanto—and discover that the greatest mystery may have been with Rafa all along. – Farrar, Straus and Giroux

BEST YOUNG ADULT

Winner

Girl Forgotten by April Henry

Piper Gray starts a true-crime podcast investigating a seventeen-year-old cold case in this thrilling YA murder mystery by New York Times bestselling author April Henry. 

Seventeen years ago, Layla Trello was murdered and her killer was never found. Enter true-crime fan Piper Gray who is determined to reopen Layla’s case and get some answers. With the help of Jonas—who has a secret of his own—Piper starts a podcast investigating Layla’s murder. But as she digs deeper into the mysteries of the past, Piper begins receiving anonymous threats telling her to back off the investigation, or else. The killer is still out there, and Piper must uncover their identity before they silence her forever.  – Christy Ottaviano Books

THE G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS SUE GRAFTON MEMORIAL AWARD – Presented on behalf of G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Winner

An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo

On a crisp autumn day in Painters Mill, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder responds to a call only to discover an Amish man who has been violently killed with a crossbow, his body abandoned on a dirt road. Aden Karn was just twenty years old, well liked, and from an upstanding Amish family. Who would commit such a heinous crime against a young man whose life was just beginning?

The more Kate gets to know his devastated family and the people—both English and Amish—who loved him, the more determined she becomes to solve the case. Aden Karn was funny and hardworking and looking forward to marrying his sweet fiancé, Emily. All the while, Kate’s own wedding day to Tomasetti draws near…

But as she delves into Karn’s past, Kate begins to hear whispers about a dark side. What if Aden Karn wasn’t the wholesome young man everyone admired? Is it possible the rumors are a cruel campaign to blame the victim? Kate pursues every lead with a vengeance, sensing an unspeakable secret no one will broach.

The case spirals out of control when a young Amish woman comes forward with a horrific story that pits Kate against a dangerous and unexpected opponent. When the awful truth is finally uncovered, Kate comes face to face with the terrible consequences of a life lived in all the dark places. – Minotaur Books

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

Finalists

THE LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN MEMORIAL AWARD – Endowed by the estate of Lilian Jackson Braun

Winner

Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux

It’s a hot and sticky Sunday in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Glory has settled into her usual after-church routine, meeting gamblers at the local coffee shop, where she works as a small-time bookie. Sitting at her corner table, Glory hears that her best friend—a nun beloved by the community—has been found dead in her apartment.

When police declare the mysterious death a suicide, Glory is convinced that there must be more to the story. With her reluctant daughter—who has troubles of her own—in tow, Glory launches a shadow investigation into Lafayette’s oil tycoons, church gossips, a rumored voodoo priestess, nosey neighbors, and longtime ne’er-do wells.

As a Black woman of a certain age who grew up in a segregated Louisiana, Glory is used to being minimized and overlooked. But she’s determined to make her presence known as the case leads her deep into a web of intrigue she never realized Lafayette could harbor.

Danielle Arcenaux’s riveting debut brings forth an unforgettable character that will charm and delight crime fans everywhere and leave them hungry for her next adventure. – Pegasus Crime

Finalists

Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Are you looking for a contemporary fiction book with a dash of romance? One that doesn’t have romance as the major theme? If so, I recommend Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman. While there is romance, there are other themes and relationships focused throughout which, in my opinion, lean this title more about friendships and family and less about romance.

Billy Perkins is an independent music teacher working out of his apartment above Charm City Rocks, a record shop in Baltimore. He’s happy. He loves his job and loves being a single dad to his nerdy teenage son, Caleb.

Margot Hammer is the former drummer of the band Burnt Flowers. They used to be famous until Margot had an infamous meltdown on television. Now she is a recluse living alone in New York City. After a new music documentary is released highlighting Burnt Flowers, Margot finds herself somewhat unwillingly thrust back into the spotlight. When a new publicist assigned to her by her label shows up on her doorstep, Margot knows she’s in for quite the life change.

Billy and Caleb have been watching this new music documentary together. When Billy mentions to Caleb that he has always had a crush on Margot, Caleb gets an idea. You see, Caleb is having difficulty choosing what college to go to because he thinks that Billy is lonely. Late one night, Caleb works out a plan to get Margot to visit Charm City Rocks.

In the cold light of day, Caleb thinks his plan is a dream, but imagine his surprise when Margot and her publicist show up in Baltimore. Her label has decided that she needs the publicity, so when the opportunity to play with a young band in Baltimore pops up, they jump at the chance. When they arrive however, they are greeted by Caleb, Billy, and the very confused owner of Charm City Rocks. This messy introduction puts Billy and Margot on a collision course to figuring out what really makes them happy.

What set this book apart for me was its unique storytelling. Norman writes from the perspectives of multiple different characters: Billy, Caleb, Margot, and more. Supporting characters are so much more in this book – readers get a glimpse into their lives and how fully they impact and interact with each other. This was a quick, charming, quirky read, one that is humorous, relatable, and goofy. This book doesn’t focus only on romantic love, which was a relief. Norman writes about family, both found and ones you’re related to, as well as finding yourself and discovering what you really need. Pick up this feel-good contemporary romance for a palette cleanser.

The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt

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“Why read at all? Why does anyone do it in the first place? Why do I? There is the element of escape, which is real enough—that’s a real-enough comfort. But also we read as a way to come to grips with the randomness of our being alive. To read a book by an observant, sympathetic mind is to see the human landscape in all its odd detail, and the reader says to him or herself, Yes, that’s how it is, only I didn’t know it to describe it. There’s a fraternity achieved, then: we are not alone. Sometimes an author’s voice is familiar to us from the first page, first paragraph, even if the author lived in another country, in another century.” Bob held up his stack of Russians. “How can you account for this familiarity? I do believe that, at our best, there is a link connecting us.”
― Patrick deWitt, The Librarianist

In celebration of National Library Week in April, I was on a hunt for a book about librarians that I had not read yet. Enter The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt, a novel that combines my love of senior citizens with my love of librarians. Bob Comet is a retired librarian. He’s spending his retirement surrounded by books in his mint-colored house in Oregon. Bob has his small comforts and his routines. On his daily walk one morning, Bob stumbles upon a confused elderly woman standing lost in a market. She’s staring into the cold sections with a lost look on her face. Lucky for Bob, and the clerk working behind the counter, the lost woman has a note secured around her neck letting people know where she lives. Bob volunteers to escort this lost woman home to the senior center. Once they arrive, Bob is intrigued by the people he meets. He decides to volunteer at the senior center, a decision that changes his whole life. The more Bob interacts with the people at the senior center, the more parts of his past and character are revealed to the reader.

This book felt like a warm hug from a close friend. The characters were charming, full of quirks and colors. Every person Bob met ended up shaping his life in some way. Even though this book was charming and cheerful, it was also full of melancholy and bittersweet with a bit of darkness under the surface. Bob’s past is colorful and complicated. He has a knack for finding bizarre and full-of-life people that he welcomes into his life. The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt reads like a love story to loners, to the outcasts in life who aren’t sure where they fit, to the introverts who want to be left alone amongst the fast-paced world they live in. People’s pasts are a mystery and this book is a prime example to never judge a person by the calm front they present.

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

QCL Book Club April Wrap-Up

- Brittany Leave a comment

In April, Morgan and I read Someone We Know by Shari Lapena to celebrate National Letter Writing Month. Below is a short synopsis of the book and what I thought of it! 

A teenage boy is breaking into neighbors’ homes hacking into their computers and discovering secrets best hidden. When a woman in the neighborhood’s body is discovered in the trunk of her car in the lake, there are many suspicions as to who did it. Was it her husband, a lover, anything could happen.

I have liked every book that I have read by Lapena, she spins a story with so many twists and turns wrapping up each story with a nice little bow. This story, however, left some room for interpretation.  

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

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders by Jessie Q. Sutanto (In Honor of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month) 

Vera is a woman of a certain age who enjoys sipping her tea and running her teashop. When she finds a dead man in the middle of her shop, Vera begins to launch an investigation. As she searches for the perpetrator, Vera forms unlikely friendships with her customers. The hardest part, one of her new friends might be the killer. — adapted from back cover   

 

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill (In Honor of Mystery Month) 

The beautifully ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is completely silent one weekday morning, until a woman’s terrified scream echoes through the room. Security guards immediately appear and instruct everyone inside to stay put until they determine there is no threat. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers who had been sitting in the reading room get to chatting and quickly become friendly. Harriet, Marigold, Whit, and Caine each have their own reasons for being in the reading room that morning–and it just happens that one of them may turn out to be a murderer. — adapted from back cover 

 

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine (In Honor of Brother and Sister Day on May 2nd) 

Merging two multi-generational storylines in Colorado, this is a novel of family love, secrets, and survival. With Fajardo-Anstine’s immense capacity to render characters and paint vivid life, set against the Sange de Cristo mountains, Woman of Light is full of the weight, richness, and complexities of mixed blood and mica clay. It delights like an Old Western, and inspires the hope embedded in histories yet-told. — adapted from back cover 

 

***May QCL Book Club Pick!
Watching You by Lisa Jewell (In honor of National Teachers’ Day on May 7th) 

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you. As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all–including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie–a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5–excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father. One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother–whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years–is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her. Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam… — adapted from back cover 

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!