The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag

Family secrets live at the center of Molly Knox Ostertag’s newest graphic novel, The Deep Dark. A mix of fantasy and romance, Ostertag has written a deeply emotional story of identity, grief, trauma, family, and loss all from the point of view of a high school student with serious adult responsibilities.

Everyone has secrets and high school senior Magdalena Herrera has many. Her secret just happens to be deadly and hidden in the dark basement of her family home. Mags and her family have been keeping this secret for decades, keeping friends at bay while they keep this secret safe and away from others. Mags spends her day working a part-time job, going to school, caring for her sick grandmother, and making out with a girl who already has a boyfriend. Mags wishes that she could have a happy, shiny life, but she is drawn to the basement every night to have her energy drained by her secret.

Mags has been isolated in her small desert community for years, seeming to have everything under control, while really she is slowly unraveling. When childhood friend Nessa walks back into her life, Mags begins to come out of her shell. Nessa brings hope for the future, but her motives aren’t entirely pure. Nessa remembers certain things from their shared past that she has questions about, putting the future that Mags has just started hoping for into question. Quickly Mags realizes that while she wants to be with Nessa, she has to stay behind with her secret without anyone’s help. Mags can’t afford to get attached or be distracted. When Mags’ darkness becomes too big for her to manage, she must decide what she is willing to sacrifice. Will she bring her secret fully into the open or will she remain locked in the dark with her secret, unable to live her life to the fullest?

This queer story with monstrous elements had me hooked from the start with unique page layouts and mixed use of black and white, and color. This is actually the second time I have read this book. This re-read allowed me to catch some foreshadowing that I missed my first read. The tension hit me harder on my second read. This is a story of learning to love and accept the darkest parts of yourself, even when they are angry and have the power to hurt you. Don’t let grief hold you back from overcoming your demons and learning to let other people love all of you no matter what.

Meet Me in Italy: Books Set in Italy

Italy with its rich culture and history has been the backdrop and inspiration for many stories throughout history. Whether to prepare for a trip or to just mentally immerse yourself into the country through the pages of a book, here are some recommendations available here at Davenport Public Library! All descriptions are provided by the publisher.


The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will gather to cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election. They are holy men. But they are not immune to the human temptations of power and glory. And they are not above the tribalism and factionalism that consumes humanity. When all is said and done, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on Earth

 

 

 


Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home. But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father — and even herself. People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.


Eternal By Lisa Scottoline

Enter the Rome of Eternal, where Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro grow up as best friends, despite their differences. Elisabetta is a feisty beauty who dreams of becoming a novelist, Marco a handsome cyclist with a secret, and Sandro a Jewish mathematics prodigy. Soon their friendship ripens to romance, and Marco and Sandro vie to win Elisabetta. Meanwhile war threatens the world, and Mussolini leads Italy down a dark path. Harsh restrictions against Italian Jews take legal root, blocking Sandro from finishing his studies. Marco, who works at the local Fascist office, fears that his party is destroying his best friend, but his loyalty is torn. Caught in the middle, Elisabetta struggles to survive as her life crumbles around her. Then the Nazis invade Rome, and a shocking historical event decides the fate of the threesome, once and for all.


Ciao For Now by Kate Bromley

Fashion means everything to Violet Luciano; so does finishing design school. When she lands a summer internship at an up-and-coming fashion brand in Rome, she knows she’s got to bring her A game. The interns will be competing against each other: whoever creates the best fashion design will be offered a job at a New York label. Violet is at the top of her class, but she’s one of the only students who’s approaching thirty. Chasing her dream has left her broke and buried in student debt. Winning is the only option. At a café in Rome, Violet accidentally knocks into someone’s table, ruining the man’s laptop and drink. He is understandably irate. Violet buys Matt an apology coffee, but there is instant animosity between them. Later, the interns discover they’ll be staying in the lavish villa of an eccentric professor and at their welcome dinner, Violet discovers that Matt (evil café Matt) is Matteo, the professor’s son. They’re horrified to be living together, and their angry/witty antics carry on through daily run-ins, chic fashion parties and adventures through Rome. Eventually, their mutual dislike begins to give way to undeniable chemistry.


Call Me By Your Name by Andrè Aciman

Andre 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’ cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. It is an instant classic and one of the great love stories of our time.

 


The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

In the first volume of Patricia Highsmith’s five-book Ripley series, that we are introduced to the suave Tom Ripley, a young striver seeking to leave behind his past as an orphan bullied for being a “sissy.” Newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan, Ripley meets a wealthy industrialist who hires him to bring his playboy son, Dickie Greenleaf, back from gallivanting in Italy. Soon Ripley’s fascination with Dickie’s debonair lifestyle turns obsessive as he finds himself enraged by Dickie’s ambivalent affections for Marge, a charming American dilettante, and Ripley begins a deadly game.


SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

A prominent classicist explores ancient Rome and how its citizens adapted the notion of imperial rule, invented the concepts of citizenship and nation, and made laws about those traditionally overlooked in history, including women, slaves, and criminals.

 

 

 

 

 


Always Italy by Frances Mayes

This lush guide, featuring more than 350 glorious photographs from National Geographic, showcases the best Italy has to offer from the perspective of two women who have spent their lives reveling in its unique joys. In these illuminating pages, Frances Mayes, the author of Under the Tuscan Sun and many other bestsellers, and New York Times travel writer Ondine Cohane reveal an Italy that only the locals know, filled with top destinations and unforgettable travel experiences in every region. From the colorful coastline of Cinque Terre and the quiet ports of the Aeolian Islands to the Renaissance architecture of Florence and the best pizza in Rome, every section features insider secrets and off-the-beaten-path recommendations (for example, a little restaurant in Piedmont known for its tajarin, a pasta that is the perfect bed for the region’s celebrated truffles). Here are the best places to stay, eat, and tour, paired with the rich history of each city, hillside town, and unique terrain. Along the way, you’ll make stops at the country’s hidden gems–art galleries, local restaurants, little-known hiking trails, spas, and premier spots for R&R. Inspiring and utterly unique, this vivid treasury is a must-have for anyone who wants to experience the best of Italy.

Any more recommendations? Leave them in the comments below!

 

Fake Dating Young Adult Romances

In the 1990s, I watched many movies with fake dating tropes geared to young adults. Think She’s All That10 Things I Hate About You, and Drive Me Crazy. It should come as no surprise that as an adult, I still love the fake dating trope, especially in books. To satisfy my younger self, I have created a list of young adult romances with fake dating tropes. This is not a complete list, instead these are the ones that caught my eye first! As of this writing, all of these books are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions provided by the publishers.


Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce

No one loves musicals more than Riley Morris—her dream is to be a Broadway director. But when the spring show is canceled, Riley has to figure out a way to bring it back. Easier said than done—she’s stuck working at her dad’s game store. The place that means more to him than his family does.

Riley can’t waste time at a dead-end job when her entire future is resting on making a name for herself. So she convinces her co-worker Nathan Wheeler—the floppy-haired, glasses-wearing guy she barely knows from school—to help her. In exchange, she’ll help him make his gamer-girl crush jealous. Plus it won’t hurt to show her egotistical ex, Paul, just what he’s missing without her.

Soon Riley and Nathan are “a couple,” and people seem to believe it. But selling the ruse means joining Nathan’s role-playing game. To Riley’s surprise, the game is almost fun. And even more surprising, flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she thought it would. . . . – Delacorte Press


Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee

Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn.

Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. AKA a distraction. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons.

In Theo’s glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend . . . but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. For real. Then Theo’s relatives reveal their true colors—but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being sidetracked by rich-people problems.

Can Dylan save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both? – Underlined


Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Two friends. One fake dating scheme. What could possibly go wrong?

Frank Li has two names. There’s Frank Li, his American name. Then there’s Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California.

Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl–which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes him laugh like no one else. Brit . . . who is white.

As Frank falls in love for the very first time, he’s forced to confront the fact that while his parents sacrificed everything to raise him in the land of opportunity, their traditional expectations don’t leave a lot of room for him to be a regular American teen. Desperate to be with Brit without his parents finding out, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Frank thinks he’s found the solution to all his problems, but when life throws him a curveball, he’s left wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love—or himself—at all.

In this moving debut novel David Yoon takes on the question of who am I? with a result that is humorous, heartfelt, and ultimately unforgettable. – G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers


Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating  by Adiba Jaigirdar

Everyone likes Hani Khan – she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they don’t believe her, claiming she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship… with a girl her friends can’t stand – Ishu Dey.

Ishu is the polar opposite of Hani. An academic overachiever, she hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for university. Her only problem? Becoming head girl is a popularity contest and Ishu is hardly popular. Pretending to date Hani is the only way she’ll stand a chance of being elected.

Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after. – Hachette


Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

Elouise (Lou) Parker is determined to have the absolute best, most impossibly epic summer of her life. There are just a few things standing in her way:

  • She’s landed a job at Magic Castle Playland . . . as a giant dancing hot dog.
  • Her crush, the dreamy diving pirate Nick, already has a girlfriend, who is literally the princess of the park. But Lou’s never liked anyone, guy or otherwise, this much before, and now she wants a chance at her own happily ever after.
  • Her best friend, Seeley, the carousel operator, has always been up for anything, but she’s decidedly not on board when it comes to Lou’s quest to set her up with the perfect girl or Lou’s scheme to get close to Nick.
  • And it turns out that this will be their last summer at Magic Castle Playland—ever—unless she can find a way to stop it from closing.

Jennifer Dugan’s sparkling debut coming-of-age queer romance stars a princess, a pirate, a hot dog, and a carousel operator who find love—and themselves—in unexpected people and unforgettable places. – G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers


I’ll Pretend You’re Mine by Tashie Bhuiyan

Summer Ali has been making a name for herself in the music industry for years, slowly but surely climbing the charts—but the world doesn’t know her stage parents are the ones who molded her entire public persona. Finally eighteen, Summer breaks free of their control and focuses on creating her own path.

Upon running into writer’s block, Summer grows eager to take any opportunity to shake things up—even if it means agreeing to a PR stunt with child-actor-turned-playboy, Jules Moradi, famous for his tabloid escapades.

At first, Jules keeps his distance, maintaining professional boundaries. But as time passes, his walls come down, and Summer uncovers who he is beyond his reputation, and it’s someone more like her than she ever realized. As the lines blur between fake and real, Summer begins questioning who she is and what she wants—and if her dreams are worth sacrificing her heart. – HarperCollins


Make My Wish Come True by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

Twelve days of fake dates. Two holidays. One chance to convince everyone they’re in love.

Arden James is Hollywood’s hottest teen actor. Infamously reckless, she’s a constant in the tabloids. But when her messy reputation costs her an audition for her dream role, Arden and her publicist make up a lie to flip the script. Only, for the lie to work, she’ll have to head home for the holidays for the first time in four years.

Caroline Beckett has spent those last four years shining up a stellar portfolio that will get her into a top journalism program and convincing herself she could not be less interested in what her former best friend and first crush has been up to since she left without a word. But when Arden suddenly shows up at her doorstep with the promise of a real byline in Cosmopolitan in exchange for a write up on their “secret romance” and twelve snow-covered holidates in their Christmas-obsessed hometown, Caroline can’t help but be tempted into playing along.

It should be easy enough to stand each other for twelve days to make their dreams come true, right? But when old feelings start to bubble up, so do new holiday wishes that might just have Arden and Caroline falling faster than that Christmas Eve snow… – Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers


Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe.

When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.

In this charming novel by Emery Lee, Noah will have to choose between following his own rules for love or discovering that the most romantic endings are the ones that go off script. – Quill Tree Books

August’s Celebrity Book Club Picks

Bestsellers Club is 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 month which means that Jenna Bush Hager and Reese Witherspoon have picked new books for their book clubs! While Reese and Jenna generally announce a new title each month, Oprah’s selections are more sporadic. Reminder that if you join Bestsellers Club, you can choose to have their selections automatically put on hold for you.


Jenna Bush Hager has selected My Other Heart by Emma Nanami Strenner for her August pick.

Curious what My Other Heart is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

A missing child, two girls in search of their true identities–a stunning novel of mothers, daughters and best friends

In June 1998, Mimi Truang is on her way home to Vietnam when her toddler daughter vanishes in the Philadelphia airport.

Seventeen years later, two best friends in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, discuss their summer plans before college. Kit, with the support of her white adoptive parents, will travel to Tokyo to explore her Japanese roots. This dizzying adventure offers her a taste of first love and a new understanding of what it means to belong.

Sabrina had hoped to take a similar trip to China, but money is tight. Her disappointment subsides, however, when she meets a bold, uncompromising new mentor who prompts Sabrina to ask questions she’s avoided all her life. Meanwhile, Mimi purchases a plane ticket to Philadelphia. She finally has a lead in her search for her daughter.

When Mimi, Kit, and Sabrina come face to face, they will confront the people they truly are, in this tremendously moving novel that is propelled to its astonishing climax in a way you will never forget. – Pamela Dorman Books


Reese Witherspoon has selected Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan for her August pick.

Curious what Once Upon a Time in Dollywood is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

A playwright must grapple with her difficult year and writer’s block while falling for the single dad living next door in this emotional debut novel from Ashley Jordan.

Eve Ambroise may be a rising star playwright, but her personal life is falling part. Desperate for a fresh start, she breaks up with her fiancé, cuts off her parents, and heads to the Tennessee mountains. But keeping up the lie that she’s just on a writing retreat becomes near impossible when faced with the well-meaning townspeople and a neighbor who has just as much baggage as she has.

Coming off a contentious custody battle, Jamie Gallagher is restructuring what his life looks like as a single dad, and spending more days at his cabin makes his new “free time” a little less empty. Especially when he meets the beautiful—and prickly—woman next door. The last thing he needs is a new romance to shake up his family dynamics even more, but there’s something about Eve.

What starts out as a fling quickly becomes more serious, and it’s not long before Eve is running scared once again. She’s loved and lost in every possible way, and risking it one more time could finally break her. But like the fireflies that fill the mountains around them, Jamie’s and Eve’s lives keep falling into sync. A fairy-tale ending could be in the cards, but only if the new couple can get out of their heads and put their hearts first. – Berkley


Oprah has selected Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo for her latest pick.

Curious what Bridge of Sighs is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

Lucy is sixty years old and has spent his entire life in Thomaston, New York. Like his late, beloved father, Lucy is an optimist, though he’s had plenty of reasons not to be—chief among them his mother, still indomitably alive. Yet it was her shrewdness, combined with that Lynch optimism, that had propelled them years ago to the right side of the tracks and created an “empire” of convenience stores about to be passed on to the next generation.

Lucy’s oldest friend, once a rival for his wife’s affection, leads a life in Venice far removed from Thomaston. In fact, the exact nature of their friendship is one of the many mysteries Lucy hopes to untangle in the “history” he’s writing of his hometown and family. And with his story interspersed with that of Noonan, the native son who’d fled so long ago, the destinies building up around both of them (and Sarah, too) are relentless, constantly surprising, and utterly revealing. – Vintage


Join Bestsellers Club to have Oprah, Jenna, and Reese’s adult selections automatically put on hold for you!

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

“You can’t just keep doing what you’re doing and wait for it to turn into something happy. You kind of have to look for the happy things along the way.”
― Annabel Monaghan, Summer Romance

When Ali Morris’s husband ask for a divorce a year after her mother dies, Ali is understandably distraught. Not because she particularly cares that her marriage is over, but the audacity of her husband to divorce her while she’s grieving instead of helping her through it. After they have been separated for a year, it shouldn’t be a surprise when he suggests they finalize their divorce, but yet again she’s caught off guard.

Ali’s day job as a professional organizer should mean that her home and her life are pretty put together, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Her life is a mess. Her friends and her three children are concerned about her lack of wearing hard pants and her increasing pattern of wearing the same dirty sweatpants out in public. When one day she decides to take off her wedding ring and put on a pair of overalls, her only plans are to take her dog to the dog park. Imagine her surprise when she meets someone. Well actually, her dog picks this stranger out of the crowd and marks him for her by peeing on him and soaking his shoe. Ethan and Ali immediately hit it off. He looks at her like she is brave, young, and has her life together. The more time they spend together, the more Ali works to find her spark. A summer romance may be just what she needs to get out of this rut. What harm can come from that?

This romance was exactly what I needed. What hooked me was that the characters were older, aka in their late 30s with established careers and families. The character growth portrayed by the main characters and some of the supporting characters was a breath of fresh air. I found myself laughing, crying, and cheering them on, the whole range of emotions throughout this book. I can’t wait to read to more by this author!

This title is also available in large print.

Romance Awareness Month

August is Romance Awareness Month! Set 6 months after Valentine’s Day, Romance Awareness Month is a reminder to invest in your relationships year-round. Check out these recent self-help books on relationships, communication, and romance, available at Davenport Public Library. (Descriptions below provided by publisher.)

Who Deserves Your Love by KC Davis
This bold approach to relationships from celebrated therapist KC Davis will help you determine which relationships are right for you-and which are not-and what to do about them. Is love conditional? What do you do about a relationship where someone’s best efforts are hurting you? When should you step away? KC Davis, the renowned therapist who specializes in difficult relationships, asks and answers these questions. Just as she helps you design a functional home in How to Keep House While Drowning, here she applies the same bold but gentle approach to relationships so that they function, too. She helps you navigate decisions in every type of relationship, whether romantic or platonic. Recognizing that it isn’t always realistic to cut loose the people who rattle you, she explores how to protect yourself in those situations. Who Deserves Your Love is a gentle approach to hard relationships and is written in short bursts of text with visual tools such as lists and diagrams. The writing style is suited for those with ADHD, depression, or anyone who appreciates expertise without being overwhelmed by lengthy descriptions.


The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More by Jefferson Fisher
From communication expert Jefferson Fisher, the definitive book on making your next conversation the one that changes everything. No matter who you’re talking to, The Next Conversation gives you immediately actionable strategies and phrases that will forever change how you communicate. Jefferson Fisher, trial lawyer and one of the leading voices on real-world communication, offers a tried-and-true framework that will show you how to transform your life and your relationships by improving your next conversation.


The Love Habit: Daily Self-Care Practices for a Happier Life and Healthier Relationships by Rainie Howard
There’s a secret that most people don’t know: Our self-image defines our relationship experiences with others. In The Love Habit, author and relationship expert Rainie Howard explores the profound connection between self-image and daily habits–emotional, mental, and physical–and how these actions shape our relationships with others. Whether you’re seeking to enhance communication with loved ones, establish boundaries, or foster greater self-love and acceptance, The Love Habit is a persistent commitment to prioritizing yourself in mind, body, and spirit by aligning yourself with appreciation, peace, and joy above all else.


How to Love Better by Yung Pueblo
“Personal transformation, that is grounded in self-love and has greater inner peace as the goal, will naturally teach you how to love better. Seeing yourself clearly opens the door to compassion for yourself and other people.” Love enters our lives in many forms: friends, family, intimate partners. But all of these relationships are defined by the love we have for ourselves. If we see our relationships as opportunities to be fully present in our healing and learn to love each other better, yung pueblo assures us that we can transform and meet each other with compassion instead of judgment. In How to Love Better, yung pueblo examines all aspects of a relationship, from the rose-colored first days when you may be hesitant to show your full self, to the challenges that can arise without clear communication, to dealing with heartbreak and healing as you close a chapter of your life. The power of looking inward remains at the core of all his teachings. Ego and attachment can become barriers in a relationship, so the more self-aware you become, the more you can support your partner and yourself. yung pueblo’s understandings on embracing change, building a foundation of honesty, and learning to listen selflessly will resonate regardless of where you are in your healing journey. And his unique combination of poetry, personal experience, and thoughtful advice will help you grow and strengthen all your relationships.


How to be Dateable by Julie Krafchick and Yue Xu
Does dating feel like an endless maze with no way out? Find your person with this actionable, compassionate guide that will help you break free from the traps of modern dating and change your approach to love. As creators and hosts of the hit dating podcast Dateable, Julie Krafchick and Yue Xu have made breaking down the nuances of the ever-evolving dating world and empowering the people within it their purpose and passion. Drawing on a decade’s worth of research from speaking to thousands of daters and world-renowned experts, Julie and Yue have learned what it takes to find love in today’s dating world. In How to be Dateable, they’ll show you how to take control of your love life and focus on the levers that actually get you results.


During the month of August, look for the “Romance Awareness” displays at all three branches for more recommendations.

Man o’ War by Cory McCarthy

“Not all trans people started out feeling like a different gender trapped in their skin. Some find themself a little at a time, a door inside that unlocks and reveals new doors, and new doors after that, and so on.”
― Cory McCarthy, Man o’ War

Living in a small landlocked Midwestern town, McIntyre, a seventeen year old Arab American swimmer struggles to figure out who they are in Cory McCarthy’s 2023 Stonewall Honor Book, Man o’ WarMcIntyre isn’t happy. As the inconsistently best swimmer on their high school team, they have always had swimming to fall back on, but their family and friends’ situation is something else entirely. Their relationship with their mom is rocky, their dad is present but quiet, but their brother is close by to help, although he’s dealing with his own issues. Their best friend is off and on again because McIntyre doesn’t always pick the best partners, relationship wise.

While on the annual class field trip to SeaPlanet, McIntyre runs into Indigo ‘Indy’ Watts, someone they used to go to elementary school with. Indy, an affirmed queer person, sparks something in McIntyre, leading them out of the closet and on a journey of self-discovery that spans years chronicled throughout this book. Follow McIntyre over a few years as they work to see who they are and, most importantly, who they want to become. McIntyre must also learn how to be true to themselves in spaces where other people don’t perceive them the way they view themself.

Interested in this book? Man o’ War is the September 2025 See YA Book Club selection. We will be discussing this book on Wednesday, September 3rd at 6:30pm at our Eastern Avenue branch. For more information about future See YA book picks, visit our website.

See YA Book Club

Join our adult book club with a teen book twist. See why so many teen books are being turned into movies and are taking over the best seller lists.

Registration is not required. Books are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Eastern Avenue library. We meet the first Wednesday of the month at Eastern at 6:30pm. Stop by the service desk for more information.

September 3 – Man O’War by Cory McCarthy

October 1 – A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

November 5 – Rez Ball by Byron Graves

December 3 – Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

The Crime Brûlée Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly

The Crime Brûlée Bake Off is the first book in the Claire Walker Mystery series by Rebecca Connolly. This book reminded me of The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell as both are murder mysteries that take place during British baking competitions. Think of a mix between Clue and The Great British Baking Show and that’s exactly what these books are.

Claire Walker has been selected as a contestant on Britain’s Battle of the Bakers, an incredibly popular cooking show. To say she’s thrilled would be an understatement. If she wins, Claire wants to stop teaching and kick off her career as a baker. Turning up at Blackfirth Park where the show is to take place, Claire and the other contestants are introduced to Johnathan Ainsley, the Viscount of Colburn, and the ghost rumors that surround the family and the grounds.

Jonathan is not happy that the cooking competition will be filming on his estate, but the visibility should hopefully help the estate and the town. He doesn’t want to be involved with the show or the contestants and thankfully his staff understands and is keeping them away. When someone is found murdered on the grounds, Jonathan founds himself drawn into the case . . . and drawn to Claire. The two start working together to solve the crime. Through their investigation, they discover similarities between the current case and the death of the tenth Viscountess of Colburn over 200 years ago. Claire and Jonathan also start to feel a romantic connection and can’t stay away from each other. Their budding romance combined with the murder sends the two down a road that could either lead to disaster or happiness.

I am excited to see how the romance progresses in the book and if the characters remain friends in the next books in the series. This was a fun read, but the mystery elements were too predictable for my liking. (ALSO in every other cozy mystery I have read, the police repeatedly tell citizens not to get involved, but in the story, the detective actively sought out two people to help him investigate! What?!)

Inspired by Austen

Are you a Jane Austen fan? Do you like books inspired by Jane Austen? If so, we have a great list for you! I have gathered a list of books inspired by Jane Austen (think Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, or Sense and Sensibility) that were published in 2023, 2024, and 2025. This is by no means a complete list of all books inspired by Jane Austen! If you’re looking for more or have a favorite that you would like to share, let us know in the comments.

As of this writing, all titles are owned by the Davenport Public Library. Descriptions are provided by the publisher.


Emma of 83rd Street by Audrey Bellezza

In this witty and romantic debut novel, Jane Austen’s Emma meets the misadventures of Manhattan’s modern dating scene as two lifelong friends discover that, in the search for love, you sometimes don’t have to look any further than your own backyard.

Beautiful, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse has lived twenty-three years in her tight-knit Upper East Side neighborhood with very little to distress or vex her…that is, until her budding matchmaking hobby results in her sister’s marriage—and subsequent move downtown. Now, with her sister gone and all her friends traveling abroad, Emma must start her final year of grad school grappling with an entirely new emotion: boredom. So when she meets Nadine, a wide-eyed Ohio transplant with a heart of gold and drugstore blonde highlights to match, Emma not only sees a potential new friend but a new project. If only her overbearing neighbor George Knightley would get out of her way.

Handsome, smart, and successful, the only thing that frustrates Knightley more than a corked whiskey is his childhood friend, Emma. Whether it’s her shopping sprees between classes or her revolving door of ill-conceived hobbies, he is only too happy to lecture her on all the finer points of adulthood she’s so hell-bent on ignoring. But despite his gripes—and much to his own chagrin—Knightley can’t help but notice that the girl next door is a woman now…one who he suddenly can’t get out of his head.

As Emma’s best laid plans collide with everyone from hipster baristas to meddling family members to flaky playboy millionaires, these two friends slowly realize their need to always be right has been usurped by a new need entirely, and it’s not long before they discover that even the most familiar stories still have some surprises. – Gallery Books


Good Fortune by C.K. Chau

A whip-smart and charming debut novel that brilliantly reimagines Pride and Prejudice, set in contemporary Chinatown, exploring contemporary issues of class divides, family ties, cultural identity, and the pleasures and frustrations that come with falling in love.

When Elizabeth Chen’s ever-hustling realtor mother finally sells the beloved if derelict community center down the block, the new owners don’t look like typical New York City buyers. Brendan Lee and Darcy Wong are good Chinese boys with Hong Kong money. Clean-cut and charismatic, they say they are committed to cleaning up the neighborhood. To Elizabeth, that only means one thing: Darcy is looking to give the center an uptown makeover.

Elizabeth is determined to fight for community over profit, even if it means confronting the arrogant, uptight man every chance she gets. But where clever, cynical Elizabeth sees lemons, her mother sees lemonade. Eager to get Elizabeth and her other four daughters ahead in the world (and out of their crammed family apartment), Mrs. Chen takes every opportunity to keep her investors close. Closer than Elizabeth likes.

The more time they spend together, the more conflicted Elizabeth feels…until a shocking betrayal forces her to reconsider everything she thought she knew about love, trust, and the kind of person Darcy Wong really is. – HarperVia


Just as You Are by Camille Kellogg

The only thing worse than hating your boss? Being attracted to her.

Liz Baker and her three roommates work at the Nether Fields, a queer magazine in New York that’s on the verge of shutting down—until it’s bought at the last minute by two wealthy lesbians. Liz knows she’s lucky to still have a paycheck but it’s hard to feel grateful with minority investor Daria Fitzgerald slashing budgets, cancelling bagel Fridays, and password protecting the color printer to prevent “frivolous use.” When Liz overhears Daria scoffing at her listicles, she knows that it’s only a matter of time before her impulsive mouth gets herself fired.

But as Liz and Daria wind up having to spend more and more time together, Liz starts to see a softer side to Daria—she’s funny, thoughtful, and likes the way Liz’s gender presentation varies between butch and femme. Despite the evidence that Liz can’t trust her, it’s hard to keep hating Daria—and even harder to resist the chemistry between them.

This page-turning, sexy, and delightfully funny rom-com celebrates queer culture, chosen family, and falling in love against your better judgment. – Dial Press Trade Paperback


Meet the Benedettos by Katie Cotugno

An A-list movie star moves to Los Angeles—next door to a family of five eligible sisters—in this irresistible novel where The Kardashians meets Pride and Prejudice, from the NYT bestselling author of Birds of California

Every family is complicated, and the Benedettos are no exception. A few years after a reality TV show skyrocketed them to pop-culture fame, the five twentysomething sisters are living together in their parents’ crumbling McMansion, nearly broke and teetering towards rock-bottom. Lilly, the sensible second-eldest sister, is all too aware that her family is viewed as a spectacle, but she’s focused on holding herself and her family together, and unlike her siblings she tends not to care what the world thinks.

The Benedettos’ fortunes finally appear to be brightening when Charlie Bingley, the dashing star of Captain Fantastic, moves into their Los Angeles neighborhood with his friend Will Darcy in tow. It isn’t long before Charlie falls for the warm and lovely eldest sister, June. Lilly has no such luck: the arrogant and judgmental Will Darcy, a man plagued by his own private demons, seems ready to clash with her at every turn–yet the two can’t seem to stay away from each other. And while the Benedettos’ matriarch sets to work encouraging a potential match between Charlie and June, there are plenty of others in the community who are determined to steer these eligible young men away from a ridiculous family of reality show has-beens… – Harper Perennial


Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin

A sparkling second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion…

Nada Syed is stuck. On the cusp of thirty, she’s still living at home with her brothers and parents in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood of Toronto, resolutely ignoring her mother’s unsubtle pleas to get married already. While Nada has a good job as an engineer, it’s a far cry from realizing her start-up dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa, the app that launched with a whimper instead of a bang because of a double-crossing business partner. Nothing in her life has turned out the way it was supposed to, and Nada feels like a failure. Something needs to change, but the past is holding on too tightly to let her move forward.

Nada’s best friend Haleema is determined to pry her from her shell…and what better place than at the giant annual Muslim conference held downtown, where Nada can finally meet Haleema’s fiancé, Zayn. And did Haleema mention Zayn’s brother Baz will be there?

What Haleema doesn’t know is that Nada and Baz have a past—some of it good, some of it bad and all of it secret. At the conference, that past all comes hurtling at Nada, bringing new complications and a moment of reckoning. Can Nada truly say goodbye to once was or should she hold tight to her dreams and find their new beginnings? – Berkley


Once Persuaded, Twice Shy: A Modern Reimagining of Persuasion by Melodie Edwards

This modern reimagining of Persuasion is full of witty banter, romantic angst, and compelling characters as it captures the heart of the classic Jane Austen novel.

When Anne Elliott broke up with Ben Wentworth, it seemed like the right thing to do . . . but now, eight years later, she’s not so sure.

In her scenic hometown of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Anne is comfortable focusing on her successful career: filling her late mother’s shoes as town councilor and executive director of her theater company. She certainly keeps busy as the all-around wrangler of eccentric locals, self-centered family members, elaborate festivals, and the occasional attacking goose. But the more she tries to convince herself that her life is fine as is, the more it all feels like a show—and not nearly as good as the ones put on by her theater company. She’s the always responsible Anne, always taken for granted and cleaning up after other people, and the memories of happier times with Ben Wentworth still haunt her.

So when the nearby Kellynch Winery is bought by Ben’s aunt and uncle, Anne’s world is set ablaze as her old flame crashes back into her life—and it’s clear he hasn’t forgiven her for breaking his heart. A joint project between the winery and Anne’s theater forces both Ben and Anne to confront their complicated history, and as they spend more time together, Anne can’t help but wonder if there might be hope for their future after all. – Berkley


Puck & Prejudice by Lia Riley

From the author of Mister Hockey comes a sizzling marriage of convenience romance between a pro hockey player who accidentally travels back in time to Regency Era England and the brazen contemporary of Jane Austen he just can’t help but fall for…

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a modern single man in possession of a hockey jersey may be exactly what a Regency woman needs to avoid the shackles of marriage…

Goalie for the Austin Regals, Tucker Taylor is benched due to health issues. So he decides to visit his sister in England. But an accidental plunge into an icy pond thrusts him back to 1812 where he comes face to face with a captivating blue-eyed woman who regards him as if he’s grown two heads.

Lizzy Wooddash dreams of a life surrounded by books, engaging conversation, the presence of literary icons like Jane Austen, and… nary a husband in sight. But in Regency England, only widows like her cousin Georgie enjoy freedom and solitary pursuits, unencumbered by expectations. The only way to quickly become a widow is by marrying a dying man or killing a perfectly healthy one, neither of which Lizzy desires.

A visitor from the future might just be the husband of her dreams. Once married, they can figure out how to return Tucker to his proper time, and his absence—aka death—will make Lizzy the widow she always dreamed of becoming. Yet as sparks ignite, they soon realize that matters of the heart rarely adhere to carefully laid plans. Can their love stand the test of time, or will Lizzy get exactly what she wanted…as well as a broken heart? – Avon


Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne

Two sisters roll up their sleeves to run a dilapidated inn but must learn to work with the locals in this deliciously spicy novel inspired by Sense and Sensibility.

There’s never a good time to learn you are your father’s secret child—especially not at the reading of his will. With their father’s affairs laid bare and Nora’s sensible reputation in tatters due to a viral video scandal, she and her free-spirited sister have nothing left but a rustic inn in the middle of nowhere and each other. What’s more, they need to revamp the inn before Labor Day or they lose it all. Nora hasn’t even knocked the traveling dust off last season’s designer boots when she’s confronted with three problems:

1. She really should have watched more HGTV.
2. She hasn’t seen another Black person for miles.
3. A tall, dark stranger has already staked a claim on their property.

Native Abenaki eco-tour guide Ennis “Bear” Freeman has seen hapless tourists come and go. When he spots two pampered city girls at his unofficial headquarters, he expects them to catch a flight out of the inhospitable coastal Maine backwoods within a week’s time. But Nora, turns out, is made of sterner stuff. And as she rolls up her sleeves to breathe new life into the inn, she unwittingly reignites a flood of emotions inside of Bear that he had very intentionally suppressed.

Their connection is electric, their desire palpable. But Bear’s silence about his mysterious past might turn out to be the one thing that sends Nora packing. – Berkley

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

“…I don’t owe you a career you admire or a partner you approve of. I need you to hear me, really hear me, when I say that I’m through having my life measured and weighed against your ambition.”
― Rosie Danan, Do Your Worst

Riley Rhodes is an American occult expert, aka curse breaker, wanting to turn her family’s supernatural gifts into a legitimate business. Her clients in the past have been small, but when she is hired to break the curse on an infamous Scottish castle, Riley can’t help to get her hopes up. She usually works alone, relying on internet research and her grandma’s journals. Her choice of career as a curse breaker has the ability to put people on edge, especially the skeptics who think she exists to swindle people out of their hard-earned money. When Riley arrives in town, she meets a handsome stranger at the local pub, who matches her banter and knows how to kiss. Starting the next day at work sleep-deprived after thinking of the stranger all night, imagine Riley’s surprise when the stranger ends up working at the same site as her.

Clark Edgeware is hoping for professional redemption. His last archaeological project ended in scandal, leading Clark to rely on his father’s good name to land this latest job. He may be disgraced, but when he learns that someone else has been hired, particularly a self-proclaimed ‘curse breaker’, Clark is livid. He cannot have this charlatan ruining his chance to get back in the good graces of the world of archaeology. He tried to get Riley fired, but unfortunately for him, she overhears and decides to get even. All Clark wants to do is avoid her, but that is not to be so.

Riley needs Clark’s help researching the curse, while Clark discovers that Riley has an annoyingly easy ability to find artifacts, despite the fact that he has been searching the castle for way longer than she has. Riley has high hopes that the curse will work its magic and scare Clark away from the castle, and from her, but sadly the two of them keep finding themselves in closer and closer proximity. The two have an undeniable attraction though, one they can’t seem to avoid. Teaming up to break this curse might end up breaking the two of them.

This was a fantastic romance read with some of my favorite tropes: forced proximity, enemies to lovers/enemies with benefits, instant lust, and opposites attract, to name a few. Do Your Worst, while not the spiciest book I have read, does have some spice on the page (this is definitely NOT a closed-door romance). The spice was well-written, but the instant love/attraction did seem a bit too instantaneous to me. All in all, I did enjoy the plot, but would have loved more information about the world of curse breaking as a whole.

“We all hurt the ones we love,” he said, softly, pointedly. “It’s why we must learn to make amends.”
― Rosie Danan, Do Your Worst