Category: Read-a-likes

QCL July Wrap-Up

- Brittany Leave a comment

In July, Morgan and I read The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis to celebrate Cheer Up the Lonely Day on July 11th. Below is a short synopsis of the book and what I thought of it! 

Ashlyn operates a used book shop in New Hampshire. Ashlyn has a special ability to sense the echo of the previous owners of the books in her store. When a mysterious beautifully bound book, with no author or publisher listed, lands in Ashlyn’s hands and later a companion, she becomes entranced by the books and must find out where they came from.

This beautiful book told in 3 points of view was exactly what I needed! I don’t want to give too much away so I am going to leave it there!

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

*QCL August Read!* Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino (In Honor of Family Fun Month)  

“When Marilyn Kleinman is caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, her parents ship her off to her great-aunt Ada for the summer. If anyone can save their daughter’s reputation, it’s Philadelphia’s strict premier matchmaker. Either that or Marilyn can kiss college goodbye. To Marilyn’s surprise, Ada’s not the humorless septuagenarian her mother described. Not with that platinum-blonde hair, Hermès scarf, and Cadillac convertible. She’s sharp, straight-talking, takes her job very seriously, and abides by her own rules…mostly. As the summer unfolds, Ada and Marilyn head for the Jersey shore, where Marilyn helps Ada scope out eligible matches–for anyone but Marilyn, that is. Because if there’s one thing Marilyn’s learned from Ada, it’s that she doesn’t have to settle. With the school year quickly approaching and her father threatening to disinherit her, Marilyn must make her choice for her future: return to the comfortable life she knows or embrace a risky, unknown path on her own.” – provided by our catalog 

Vinyl Resting Place by Olivia Blacke (In Honor of National Vinyl Record Day on August 12th) 

“When Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie put all their beans in one basket to open Sip & Spin Records, a record-slash-coffee shop in Cedar River, Texas, they knew there could be some scratches on the track, but no one was expecting to find a body deader than disco in the supply closet. Family is everything to the Jessups, so when their uncle is arrested by Juni’s heartbreaking ex on suspicion of murder, the sisters don’t skip a beat putting Sip & Spin up for bail collateral. But their tune changes abruptly when Uncle Calvin disappears, leaving them in a grind. With their uncle’s freedom and the future of their small business on the line, it’s up to Juni and her sisters to get in the groove and figure out whodunit before the killer’s trail–and the coffee–goes cold. Music and mocha seem like a blend that should be “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” but caught up in a murder investigation with her family and their life savings on the line, Juni wonders if she might be on the “Highway to Hell” instead”- provided by our catalog 

 

She’s Up to No Good by Sara Goodman Confino (In Honor of Senior Citizen’s Day on August 21st) 

“For two women generations apart, going home will change their lives. Four years into her marriage, Jenna is blindsided when her husband asks for a divorce. With time on her hands and her life in flux, she agrees to accompany her eccentric grandmother Evelyn on a road trip to the seaside Massachusetts town where much of their family history was shaped. When they hit the road, Evelyn spins the tale of the star-crossed teenage romance that captured her heart more than seventy years ago and changed the course of her life. She insists the return to her hometown isn’t about that at all–no matter how much she talks about Tony, her unforgettable and forbidden first love. Upon arrival, Jenna meets Tony’s attentive great-nephew Joe. The new friendship and fresh ocean air give her the confidence and distance she needs to begin putting the pain of a broken marriage behind her. As the secrets and truths of Evelyn’s past unfold, Jenna discovers a new side of her grandmother, and of herself, that she never knew existed–and learns that the possibilities for healing can come at the most unexpected times in a woman’s life.” – provided by our catalog

Attached at the Hip by Christine Riccio (In Honor of National Beach Day on August 30th)  

Looking for a change, Orie Lennox unwittingly joins the cast of an experimental romantic reality show on a South Pacific island, where her high school crush is also a contestant, leading to a mix of surprising alliances and blossoming relationships. – provided by our catalog 

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

Red Harvest: A Graphic Novel of the Terror Famine in 1930s Soviet Ukraine by Michael Cherkas

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Have you checked out our new shelves lately? If not, you’re missing out! A bunch of new graphic novels have just hit the shelves! I cannot wait to read the stack of new nonfiction ones on my desk. My newest nonfiction graphic novel read is heavy: Red Harvest: A Graphic Novel of the Terror Famine in 1930s Soviet Ukraine by Michael Cherkas.

Holodomor. Before reading Red Harvest, I had no idea what this was. This terror famine was incited when Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin brought war to the Soviet peasantry. Holodomor, the Ukrainian famine, killed at least four million Ukrainians during the fall and winter of 1932-1933. The ruling Communist Party with Stalin’s directives brought forced large-scale collectivization of individual farms and farmers to the Soviet Ukraine and other parts of the Soviet Union. Red Harvest focuses on events that happened in these places between 1929-1933, specifically focusing on Mykola Kovalenko and his family. Mykola was the only member of his family to survive the famine. The horrors of what happened to his family and fellow villagers are laid bare for readers to see.

Red Harvest by Michael Cherkas is heartbreaking. The author’s decision to focus on Mykola Kovalenko, a Ukranian immigrant to Canada, and his family brings into focus the true terror this famine brought to millions of people in such a short amount of time. Mykola tells his story through a series of flashbacks as he prepares to visit the Ukraine for the first time in decades. I highly recommend you read this graphic nonfiction and then do more research on the Holodomor as their stories should never be forgotten.

Checked In: A Davenport Public Library Podcast August 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!

Nostalgia Reads

We’ve talked a lot about what books we read when we were younger that have stuck with us, but we’re not done with that topic just yet! Below are the titles discussed in the episode!

Stephanie’s Picks:
Amelia’s Notebook by Marissa Moss 
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney 
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka 
Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder 
Stephanie’s Ponytail by Robert Munsch 

 

Brittany’s Picks
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
There was an old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Pam Adams
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae

Beth’s Picks
The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin
Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Cancer Support Community Iowa and NW Illinois at Gilda’s Club

Our resource spotlight shines on Gilda’s Club Quad Cities, newly known as Cancer Support Community Iowa and NW Illinois at Gilda’s Club. Since 1998, Gilda’s Club has been a pillar of hope and support for cancer patients and their families. From its beginnings at the Mansion with the Red Door on River Drive to its current locations inside the Genesis Cancer Center, Gilda’s Club Davenport, and the UnityPoint Health – Trinity Cancer Center, Gilda’s Club Moline has continually expanded its services, reaching nearly 4,500 individuals.

Value Line

Value Line is the most trusted and prestigious name in the investment field. For more than 75 years, Value Line has been synonymous with trust, reliability, objectivity, independence, accurate information, and proven performance for investors. Click on the title to learn more about this free resource!

 

Retellings!

Are you a fan of retellings? Here we have gathered a list of classic literature retellings, reimaginings, and remixes. 

Stephanie’s Favorites:
Jane Eyre retelling
   – The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins
King Arthur legend retelling
   –Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Pride and Prejudice retellings
   –Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin 
   –Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Romeo & Juliet retelling
   –A Pho Love Story by Loan Le 
Sherlock Holmes retelling
   –A Study in Scarlet Women (book 1 in the Lady Sherlock Series) by Sherry Thomas
Trojan War retelling
   –A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
The Odyssey retelling
   –Circe by Madeline Miller
The Wizard of Oz retelling
   –Wicked by Gregory Maguire 

Brittany’s Favorites:
Arsenic and Old Lace 1944 comedy with Cary Grant
   –Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Cinderella
   –Cinder by Marissa Meyer
   –The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark
   –An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
Little Red Riding Hood
   –Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
Dr. Moreau inspired reads
   –The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd
Alice and Wonderland
   –The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Historical Retellings
   –My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
Jane Austen
   –Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
   –Sense and Second Degree Murder by Tirzah Price 

Beth’s Favorites:
Remixes — Classics presented as graphic novels
   –The Alchemist – original by Paulo Coelho; graphic novel by Derek Ruiz
   –Diary of a Young Girl – original by Anne Frank; “Anne Frank’s diary : the graphic adaptation” by Ari Folman
   –The Giver by Lois Lowry ; adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell
   –The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood; art and adaptation by Renee Nault
Little House on the Prairie
   –Caroline by Sarah Miller
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
   –The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Bible – Book of Genesis
   –The Red Tent by Anita Diamant 

FRIENDS

August 17th is National Nonprofit Day! Did you know that we have a non-profit group that raises funds and manages an endowment portfolio to support The Library? The FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library is a 501(c)3 organization powered by members and volunteers that advocates, volunteers, and runs used bookstores in all three locations giving money back to the Library for programming and other services! We are so grateful for their support in enriching the lives of our community! To learn more about the FRIENDS of the Davenport Public Library, click on the title of this section!

Emotional Reads

With the recent box office success of Inside Out 2 and after being inspired by another library, we showcased titles that gave us all of the feels (good and bad!).

  Brittany  Beth  Stephanie 
Joy  Anything by Emily Henry   Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater 
Sadness  Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls  Burial Rites by Hannah Kent 
Anger  Normal People by Sally Rooney Maus by Art Spegelman   Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, illustrated by Hugo Martinez 
Disgust  A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis  Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story by David Alexander Robertson 
Fear  Room by Emma Donoghue Devil in the White City by Erik Larson  American Predator by Maureen Callahan 
Envy  The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Anything by Mindy Kaling  Soulmate Equation & The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
Embarrassment  The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro Really Good Actually by Monica Heisey  Hello Stranger by Katherine Center 
Ennui  Last One Home by Debbie Macomber Blankets by Craig Thompson  The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Anxiety  Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson  Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter 
Nostalgia  A Nice Place on the North Side by George F. Will Landline by Rainbow Rowell  Throwback by Maurene Goo 

 

What Our Hosts Read In June

Beth’s Reads:
Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

Stephanie’s Reads:
Lethal Licorice by (Book 2 in Amish Candy Shop Mystery Series) by Amanda Flower 
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Solomon
The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller
The Red Harvest: A Novel of the Terror Famine in Soviet Ukraine by Michael Cherkas

Brittany’s Reads:
Bear with Me Now by Katie Shepard
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis

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.

Online Reading Challenge – August

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge travels back in time to the 1990s. Our main title for August is Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher:

Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates, where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation.

They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet as they begin to fall in love, they dream of escape, and Mungo must work hard to hide his true self from all those around him . . . – Grove Press/Picador

Looking for some other books set in the 1990s? Try any of the following.

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

Online Reading Challenge – July Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in the 1980s that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman. This is the first book in the Call Me by Your Name series.

Every summer, Elio’s father, a college professor, hosts a young academic. This visiting scholar’s only requirement is to help the professor for an hour each day and then they are free to use the rest of the time however they please. They live in the house, interact with the family, write, roam the area, and visit neighbors for dinner.

The guest this mid-1980s summer is 24-year-old Oliver, a philosophy teacher at Columbia University. Oliver is fiercely intelligent, but what surprises all those who meet him is his charm. The community and family immediately love him – preparing special food, taking him on trips, blanketing him with attention. The one holdout: Elio, the professor’s seventeen-year-old son. His reason: he is utterly infatuated with Oliver.

Elio wants Oliver for himself. He wants Oliver to see him, to understand him, to stay the night with him, to love him. Yet, Elio is fearful. He’s scared of town gossip, but most of all, he’s afraid of losing Oliver’s attention and acceptance. Elio isn’t shy about expressing his feelings, longings, and passions to himself, but saying them out loud to Oliver is terrifying. Elio has spent his life being minimalized by his parents and those around him. He may be intelligent, but as the only child and the youngest person at the dinner table where riveting and stimulating conversations take place amongst brilliant guests every night, he spirals into an obsessive loneliness. When Oliver shows up and shines his attention onto Elio, he explodes with want and need. Elio wants to completely open up to Oliver, but is afraid of losing that one person who actually listens to what he has to say. Crossing that line will change both of their lives forever, whether it’s positive or negative depends on Elio and Oliver alone.

Here are my thoughts: I had a love-hate relationship with Elio throughout this entire book. Elio is obsessive, pouring over and over every little interaction or object. Once Oliver arrives, his obsessive thoughts find a new target. Elio is desperate to be understood by Oliver, which led me to worry about how he would react if/when their relationship ended. Oliver and Elio’s relationship was painful to watch. It was slow at the start, terrifying while it’s happening, and devastating when it ended, a confusion similar to what it’s like to be a teenager in your first romantic relationship. The end of the book gives some closure. After Oliver left, I was finally able to see Oliver as a confused coward, not the perfect being that Elio made him out to be throughout the book. Seeing how their relationship progressed as adults helped me like Elio and Oliver a bit more, providing some reasons for their behaviors as young men. All in all, an interesting, frustrating, and confusing read.

Series list

  1. Call Me by Your Name (2007)
  2. Find Me (2019)

Next month, we are traveling to the 1990s.

Space Opera Books

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Did you watch Dune: Part Two and want more space operas in your life? If so, this post is for you! Space opera books are melodramatic futuristic fantasy adventures that are character driven and mostly set in space. Space operas also typically focus more on relationships than other science fiction books whose emphasis is generally more exploration and technology.

I have gathered a list of space opera books published in 2023 and 2024. Note: this is not a complete of all space opera books. Contact the library for more titles if interested! These titles are all owned by the Davenport Public Library at the time of this writing. Descriptions are provided by the publisher or author.

Cascade Failure by L. M. Sagas (book 1 in Ambit’s Run series)

There are only three real powers in the Spiral: the corporate power of the Trust versus the Union’s labor’s leverage. Between them the Guild tries to keep everyone’s hands above the table. It ain’t easy.

Branded a Guild deserter, Jal “accidentally” lands a ride on a Guild ship. Helmed by an AI, with a ship’s engineer/medic who doesn’t see much of a difference between the two jobs, and a “don’t make me shoot you” XO, the Guild crew of the Ambit is a little . . . different.

They’re also in over their heads. Responding to a distress call from an abandoned planet, they find a mass grave, and a live programmer who knows how it happened. The Trust has plans. This isn’t the first dead planet, and it’s not going to be the last.

Unless the crew of the Ambit can stop it. (Tor Books)

Meru by S.B. Divya

ONE WOMAN AND HER PILOT ARE ABOUT TO CHANGE THE FUTURE OF THE SPECIES IN AN EPIC SPACE OPERA ABOUT ASPIRATION, COMPASSION, AND REDEMPTION.

For five centuries, human life has been restricted to Earth, while posthuman descendants called alloys freely explore the galaxy. But when the Earthlike planet of Meru is discovered, two unlikely companions venture forth to test the habitability of this unoccupied new world and the future of human-alloy relations.

For Jayanthi, the adopted human child of alloy parents, it’s an opportunity to rectify the ancient reputation of her species as avaricious and destructive, and to give humanity a new place in the universe. For Vaha, Jayanthi’s alloy pilot, it’s a daunting yet irresistible adventure to find success as an individual.

As the journey challenges their resolve in unexpected ways, the two form a bond that only deepens with their time alone on Meru. But how can Jayanthi succeed at freeing humanity from its past when she and Vaha have been set up to fail?

Against all odds, hope is human, too. (S.B. Divya)

Star Bringer by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft

The sun is dying…and it’s happening way too damn fast.

With the clock ticking, the Nine Planets’ only hope of survival rests on a fancy space station and the alien artifact it’s carrying. Which is why it really sucks when some jackass doesn’t want the universe saved and blows that station up—while you’re still on it.

So if your only choices are flaming death or stealing a flying hunk of space junk—you pick that busted-ass spaceship. Even if it leaves seven strangers with deadly secrets trapped together: a princess, a prisoner, a con artist, a warrior, a priestess, a mercenary, and an asshole in charge of us all.

Now every faction in the galaxy is hunting this ship—from the Sisterhood to the Corporation, and the rebellion’s joining in on the fun, too. We just need to stop drinking, fighting, and screwing long enough to evade them all and save the freaking universe…somehow.

Because apparently the only thing standing between a dying sun and ultimate salvation is seven unlikely misfits…ahem, heroes. (Red Tower Books)

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

While we live, the enemy shall fear us.

Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the majoda their victory over humanity.

They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.

Alongside her brother’s brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr escapes from everything she’s known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined. (Tordotcom)

The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

The dust may have just settled in the failed war of conquest between the Holy Vaalbaran Empire and the Ominirish Republic, but the last Emperor’s surrender means little to a lowly scribe like Enitan. All she wants is to quit her day job and expand her fledgling tea business. But when her lover is assassinated and her sibling is abducted by Imperial soldiers, Enitan abandons her idyllic plans and weaves her tea tray up through the heart of the Vaalbaran capital. There, she learns just how far she is willing to go to exact vengeance, free her sibling, and perhaps even secure her homeland’s freedom. (S&S / Saga Press)

These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs (book one in The Kingdom Trilogy)

A dangerous cat-and-mouse quest for revenge. An empire that spans star systems, built on the bones of a genocide. A carefully hidden secret that could collapse worlds, hunted by three women with secrets of their own. This is an explosive space opera debut from one of the most powerful new voices in science fiction.

On a dusty backwater planet, occasional thief Jun Ironway has gotten her hands on the score of a lifetime: a secret that could raze the Kindom, the ruling power of the galaxy.

A star system away, preternaturally stoic Chono and brilliant hothead Esek— the two most brutal clerics of the Kindom—are tasked with hunting Jun down.

And tracking all three across the stars is a ghost from their shared past known only as Six. But what Six wants is anyone’s guess. It’s a game of manipulation and betrayal that could destroy them all. And they have no choice but to see it through. (Orbit)

Translation State by Ann Leckie

Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. The realization that they might want something else isn’t “optimal behavior”. It’s the type of behavior that results in elimination.

But Qven rebels. And in doing so, their path collides with those of two others. Enae, a reluctant diplomat whose dead grandmaman has left hir an impossible task as an inheritance: hunting down a fugitive who has been missing for over 200 years. And Reet, an adopted mechanic who is increasingly desperate to learn about his genetic roots—or anything that might explain why he operates so differently from those around him.

As a Conclave of the various species approaches—and the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presger is on the line—the decisions of all three will have ripple effects across the stars.

Masterfully merging space adventure and mystery, and a poignant exploration about relationships and belonging, Translation State is a triumphant new standalone story set in the celebrated Imperial Radch universe. (Orbit)

More Space Opera books

July Picture Book Recommendations: Swimming

- Brittany Leave a comment

Summer months are full of fun in the sun. For this month’s storytimes, I have decided to read books about swimming! Below are titles about swimming and water safety to share with your young readers! If you would like to place a hold on any of the below titles, simply click on the title or the picture! I hope that you enjoy them as much as I have!

Together we Swim by Valerie Bolling and illustrated by Kaylani Juanita
A sweet little one takes his first lessons in the swimming pool with his supportive family.

 

 

 

Who Can Swim by Sebastien Braun
Who can swim? A simple question to ask as you read this lift and flap board book story with your little one.

 

Llama Llama Sand & Sun by Anna Dewdney
Enjoy a day at the beach with beloved character, Llama Llama!

 

 

Swim, Little Wombat, Swim by Charles Fuge
Little Wombat finds a new friend, the only problem, he can’t swim but his new friend can. Swimming can be hard at first but our Little Wombat doesn’t give up.

 

 

 

Don’t Splash the Sasquatch by Kent Redeker and illustrated by Bob Staake
Sasquatch wants a nice day by the pool and just has one request, no splashing. A series of hilarious animals make his dream of a dry day, nearly impossible!

 

Beach Day by Reid Hunter
Learn about everything that you need for a perfect day on the beach through colorful illustrations.

 

 

The Whale in my Swimming Pool by Joyce Wan
A little guy wants to play in his kiddie pool on a hot day but discovers and unlikely roadblock, there is a whale in his swimming pool!

 

 

Dino-Swimming by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Barry Gott
Follow our dinosaur friends as they compete at a dino-swimming meet!

 

Have you read any of these titles? I would love to hear about what you thought of them in the comments!

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua

- Michelle Leave a comment

The Golden Gate by Amy Chua is an historical mystery and thriller that perfectly combines the world’s events at the end of World War with the struggles and issues in the northern California community of Berkeley.  The plot centers around Homicide Detective Al Sullivan, who is enjoying an after dinner drink at the famed Claremont Hotel, when in an upstairs suite, a presidential candidate, Walter Wilkinson, has two assassination attempts on his life within an hour.  The second attempt proves fatal.  The candidate was despised by many and when Sullivan heads up the case, there are a number of suspects and theories that rise to the top of his list.

More than a decade earlier, another scandal at the Claremont Hotel was the talk of the town.  This scandal involved the death of a seven year old child from the renowned Bainbridge family, whose wealth and status were at the peak of San Francisco society.  While investigating the current case of Wilkinson, Detective Sullivan finds clues at the crime scene that harken back to the Bainbridge incident, linking the cases back to the surviving heiresses of the family.

After Wilkinson’s death, another murder occurs that has Sullivan perplexed as to how these events could be tied together and how they may impact the United States national security in the future.  The triangle of evidence grows even more complex when Sullivan discovers an extremely close relationship between Wilkinson and the first lady of China, who has taken up residence in the area just blocks away from the crime scene.  Red herrings abound with Sullivan confident that the case is solved and then being thrown a curveball that makes him question everything he has investigated.  After Sullivan gets a second break in the case all the pieces start to come together yet again or is this another false lead?

Chua takes multiple storylines and weaves an extraordinary plot together that addresses the uncertainties of the time, the difference in social classes and a series of crimes that shocked the community.  I cannot remember another book with such a unique plotline as The Golden Gate.  As in most historical fiction, it perfectly captures the history, struggles and realism of the era.  I particularly enjoyed the historical context and the internal struggles of Homicide Detective Al Sullivan, who tries to come to terms with his childhood while trying to navigate his future.  The Golden Gate also provides a fascinating glimpse at the United States immediately following World War II.  This is Chua’s first fiction novel and I am hopeful that The Golden Gate is the first of many by this author!

 

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

Full of Myself: A Graphic Memoir About Body Image by Siobhán Gallagher

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“To be a girl is to go from being an observer to being observed.”
― Siobhán Gallagher, Full of Myself: A Graphic Memoir About Body Image

Content warnings for this book: anxiety, depression, self-harm, and eating disorders/bulimia, fatphobia, sexual harassment

Siobhán Gallagher has had a complicated relationship with her body since a young age. She explores this relationship in her graphic memoir, Full of Myself: A Graphic Memoir About Body Image. Her journey to self-acceptance and self-love goes through many highs and lows, a roller coaster of emotions and actions that all influenced the person she has become today.

As a teenager, Siobhán struggles with anxiety and diet culture. Constantly comparing herself to others, Siobhán decides all her issues will be solved if she could just be beautiful and smaller. She struggles with her body for years, feeling alone and unwanted, slipping into long periods of depression and anxiety. As an adult, Siobhán isn’t any nicer to herself, but eventually realizes that the person her younger self wanted to be isn’t possible. She starts an arduous process of self-reflection, self-love, and understanding that she acknowledges will never fully end.

This book was eye-opening.  Seeing Siobhán put all of her emotions, inner thoughts, and experiences out for the world to read was heartwarming, helpful, and accessible. She takes readers through the mind of her teenage self, laying out her desperate thoughts and wishes to be tiny, happy, and not alone. While Siobhán’s story is unique to her, some readers may still find content to relate to as they read. This graphic memoir was engaging, the writing was frank, and the illustrations’ cartoon style was cute. The ending tied the book together as Siobhán spoke gently to her younger selves, giving them hope, while also being realistic that her body issues will never fully disappear. Anyone who grew up surrounded by diet culture will relate to Siobhán’s journey in some way.

“i’m proud of the person i’ve become because i fought to become her.”