The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews

A London heiress rides out to the wilds of the English countryside to honor a marriage of convenience with a mysterious and reclusive stranger in The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews.

Tall, dark, and dour, the notorious Captain Jasper Blunt was once hailed a military hero, but tales abound of his bastard children and his haunted estate in Yorkshire. What he requires now is a rich wife to ornament his isolated ruin, and he has his sights set on the enchanting Julia Wychwood.

For Julia, an incurable romantic cursed with a crippling social anxiety, navigating a London ballroom is absolute torture. The only time Julia feels any degree of confidence is when she’s on her horse. Unfortunately, a young lady can’t spend the whole of her life in the saddle, so Julia makes an impetuous decision to take her future by the reins—she proposes to Captain Blunt.

In exchange for her dowry and her hand, Jasper must promise to grant her freedom to do as she pleases. To ride—and to read—as much as she likes without masculine interference. He readily agrees to her conditions, with one provision of his own: Julia is forbidden from going into the tower rooms of his estate and snooping around his affairs. But the more she learns of the beastly former hero, the more intrigued she becomes… (from the publisher)

This fun romance is the second in Matthew’s series “Belles of London” (the first is The Siren of Sussex with more promised). A quick read with a charming, book-loving heroine!

Simply Held January Authors: Vince Flynn and RaeAnne Thayne

Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction and fiction? You should join Simply Held. Choose any author, celebrity pick, nonfiction and/or fiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from Simply Held. January’s authors are Vince Flynn for fiction and RaeAnne Thayne for romance.

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Our January fiction author is Vince Flynn. Flynn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1966, as the fifth of seven children. After college he worked for Kraft General Foods as an account and sales marketing specialist. He then left Kraft to accept an aviation candidate slot with the United States Marine Corps. However, one week before he was supposed to leave for Officers Candidate School, he was medically disqualified due to concussions and seizures he had growing up. While attempting to obtain a medical waiver, he started thinking about writing a book, which was a shock because he was diagnosed with dyslexia in grade school and had trouble reading and writing.

After not getting anywhere with the Marine Corps, he took a job with a commercial real estate company. After two years of working with them, he quit his job, moved to Colorado, and started working full time on his first book, Term Limits. Flynn bartended at night and wrote during the day. He received more than sixty rejection letters and decided to self-publish his first novel after five years. After doing so, he signed a deal with Simon & Schuster. Flynn writes thrillers. Flynn died after a long battle with prostate cancer in 2013 when he was 47. His bestselling Mitch Rapp series was taken over by author Kyle Mills.

Flynn’s latest book is Oath of Loyalty, published in September 2022. This is book 21 in the Mitch Rapp series written by Kyle Mills.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher:

With President Anthony Cook convinced that Mitch Rapp poses a mortal threat to him, CIA Director Irene Kennedy is forced to construct a truce between the two men. The terms are simple: Rapp agrees to leave the country and stay in plain sight for as long as Cook controls the White House. In exchange, the administration agrees not to make any moves against him.

This fragile détente holds until Cook’s power-hungry security adviser convinces him that Rapp has no intention of honoring their agreement. To put him on the defensive, they leak the identity of his partner, Claudia Gould. As Rapp races to neutralize the enemies organizing against her, he discovers that a new type of assassin is on her trail.

Known only as Legion, the shadowy killer has created a business model based on double-blind secrecy. Neither the assassin nor the client knows the other’s identity. Because of this, Legion can’t be called off nor can they afford to fail. No matter how long it takes—weeks, months, years—they won’t stand down until their target is dead. Faced with the seemingly impossible task of finding and stopping Legion, Rapp and his people must close ranks against a world that has turned on them.

This book is also available in the following formats:

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Our January romance author is RaeAnne Thayne. Growing up, Thayne wanted to be an actress, teacher, or lawyer. After her mother made her take a journalism elective in high school, she realized that being a reporter was where she belonged. After college, Thayne took a job at the local daily newspaper where she rose from reporter to editor. While working there, she was writing romance stories in her head. She sold her first book in 1995 and now has written more than sixty books. Thayne writes full-time now while living in the northen Utah mountains. Thayne writes romance and romantic suspense.

Thayne’s newest book is All is Bright, published in September 2022. This is book 8 in the Hope’s Crossing series.

Curious what this book is about? Below is a description provided by the auhtor:

Return to Hope’s Crossing this Christmas in New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne’s latest heartwarming story of matchmaking at the holidays!

Sage McKnight is an ambitious young architect working at her father’s firm who takes on her most challenging client in Mason Tucker. The former pro baseball player is still healing from the physical and emotional scars after a plane crash left him a wheelchair-using single dad, and he’s determined not to let anyone breach his emotional defenses. Sage knows her work on Mason’s new home in Hope’s Crossing is her best work yet, and she won’t let her grumpy client prevent her from showcasing her work personally.

With Sage’s gift for taking broken things and making them better, the matchmaking talent of the quirky locals and a generous sprinkling of Christmas cheer, Mason doesn’t stand a chance against the power of this magical holiday season.

This book is also available in the following format:

Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall

From the  author of Boyfriend Material comes a sweet and scrumptious romantic comedy about facing your insecurities, finding love, and baking it off, no matter what people say in Alexis Hall’s Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble

Paris Daillencourt is a recipe for disaster. Despite his passion for baking, his cat, and his classics degree, constant self-doubt and second-guessing have left him a curdled, directionless mess. So when his roommate enters him in Bake Expectations, the nation’s favorite baking show, Paris is sure he’ll be the first one sent home.

But not only does he win week one’s challenge—he meets fellow contestant Tariq Hassan. Sure, he’s the competition, but he’s also cute and kind, with more confidence than Paris could ever hope to have. Still, neither his growing romance with Tariq nor his own impressive bakes can keep Paris’s fear of failure from spoiling his happiness. And when the show’s vicious fanbase confirms his worst anxieties, Paris’s confidence is torn apart quicker than tear-and-share bread.

But if Paris can find the strength to face his past, his future, and the chorus of hecklers that live in his brain, he’ll realize it’s the sweet things in life that he really deserves. (from the publisher)

If you like baking shows and watching people overcome their fears and find inner strength and value, this lovely, quick-read romance is perfect for you!

Romance Reads: Part of Your World series by Abby Jimenez

“Grace costs you nothing”
― Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

Let me be completely honest here: the reason why I checked out this book is because the title had me singing ‘Part of Your World’ from ‘The Little Mermaid’ movie. One of the main characters also has red hair, so…. it was pretty much a given that I would read this book.

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez is a modern fairy tale, a bit of a reverse Cinderella story. (Bonus: it’s dual points-of-view, so you get to see the story unfold from both main characters’ perspectives, which is a major plus for me in romance novels!) If you like books by Casey McQuiston or Emily Henry, you should like this title (or really anything else by Abby Jimenez). Some content warnings as provided by the author: Emotional abuse by side character, on page gaslighting by side character, and on page physical abuse of a secondary character. Main character is an emergency room doctor – there are brief mentions of fatal accidents of minors, though we don’t see these on the page. Let’s talk about the book!

Alexis Montgomery has grown up knowing exactly what her life will be like. Her parents are extremely wealthy and expect Alexis to carry on the prestigious family legacy of world-renowned surgeons who have been working at the same hospital for 125 years. Alexis is tired though. She’s tired of disappointing her father by being seen as ‘only’ an emergency room doctor in his eyes, even though she does immediate good in her job. Alexis doesn’t want to live up to her family’s dreams anymore, but she doesn’t really have a choice.

On her way from a family funeral, Alexis finds herself stranded outside a small-town. She meets Daniel Grant, a small-town carpenter with his own family legacy. Daniel’s family has lived in the same small town for over 100 years, filling the town’s needs with their giving hearts. He may not have gone to college, but he is perfectly content with his future. When Daniel meets Alexis though, he starts to question what he thought he wanted. After that first night, the two start to spend as much time together as they possibly can. Their lives couldn’t possibly be more different; they are, in fact, worlds apart. From the beginning though, the two feel an instant connection. Living in their happy bubble is not feasible in the long term. It’s only a matter of time before word of their relationship gets out. The fallout of that could destroy everything they have created together.

“Love follows you. It goes where you go. It doesn’t know about social divides or distance or common sense. It doesn’t even stop when the person you love dies. It does what it wants.”
― Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World

This book is also available in the following formats:

Part of Your World series

  1. Part of Your World (2022)
  2. Yours Truly (2023)

The Setup by Lizzy Dent

‘There are two men in my life. But this is not a love triangle.’ – Lizzy Dent, The Setup

The Setup by Lizzy Dent is a romance novel with an interesting twist: the main character, Mara, relies on her horoscope to help guide her in all of her decisions. Mara’s life goals all revolve around her horoscope, but fate, and other people, have other plans for her.

Mara Williams works as a bookkeeper for a crumbling beachside pool club in the English seaside town of Broadgate. Desperate for an escape, Mara and her best friend plan a vacation away. When her best friend backs out at the last minute, Mara decides to go anyway. After a chance meeting with a very pregnant fortune teller, Mara soon finds herself impersonating said fortune teller when Josef, a gorgeous Austrian cellist, walks into the shop for a reading. Convinced that Josef is the one, Mara tells him that his destiny will be in a pub in Broadgate on the last Friday of August. Oh, and her name is Mara.

After coming back home to Broadgate, Mara starts a new project: Project Mara. She has three months to turn herself into the gorgeously stylish and confident woman she has always wanted to be. After all, Josef is her destiny, as proven by her horoscopes. The more she works woards that goal however, the more the universe intervenes. The pool club where Mara works is under threat, so she and her colleagues must work together to save it. Mara’s new flatmate Ash also volunteers to help. He turns out to be funny, kind, and incredibly sexy. Mara starts to doubt whether or not Josef is ‘the one’, but feels as if she must stick to her plan and go to meet Josef at the end of August. The closer she gest to her deadline, the more confused she gets. Will Mara be able to recognize her destiny?

Winners of the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards

The winners of the 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards have been announced! We’ve gathered up the winners and listed them below. We would love to hear your thoughts on the winners in the comments! Summaries of the books have been provided by the publishers and authors.

Best Fiction: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Mystery & Thriller: The Maid by Nita Prose

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Historical Fiction: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked “the Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Fantasy: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

Sarah J. Maas’s sexy, groundbreaking CRESCENT CITY series continues with the second installment.

Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal-they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds.

The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri’s power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels’ plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight for what’s right. And they’ve never been very good at staying silent.

In this sexy, action-packed sequel to the #1 bestseller House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas weaves a captivating story of a world about to explode-and the people who will do anything to save it.

This title is also available in the following format:

Best Romance: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn’t see coming…

Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Science Fiction: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal—an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She’s traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive’s best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Horror: Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Humor: The Office BFFs by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey

An intimate, behind-the-scenes, richly illustrated celebration of beloved The Office co-stars Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey’s friendship, & an insiders’ view of Pam Beesly, Angela Martin, & the unforgettable iconic TV show. Featuring Jenna and Angela’s many personal photos.

Receptionist Pam Beesly and accountant Angela Martin had very little in common when they toiled together at Scranton’s Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. But, in reality, the two bonded in their very first days on set and, over the nine seasons of the series’ run, built a friendship that transcended the show and continues to this day. Sharing everything from what it was like in the early days as the show struggled to gain traction, to walking their first red carpet—plus exclusive stories on the making of milestone episodes and how their lives changed when they became moms — The Office BFFs is full of the same warm and friendly tone Jenna and Angela have brought to their Office Ladies podcast.

This title is also available in the following format:

Best Nonfiction: Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown

In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances—a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.

Over the past two decades, Brown’s extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as on Brown’s singular skills as a storyteller, to show us how accurately naming an experience doesn’t give the experience more power—it gives us the power of understanding, meaning, and choice.

Brown shares, “I want this book to be an atlas for all of us, because I believe that, with an adventurous heart and the right maps, we can travel anywhere and never fear losing ourselves.”

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Memoir & Autobiography: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best History & Biography: Bad Guys by Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller

We all remember Oscar Wilde, but who speaks for Bosie? What about those ‘bad gays’ whose unexemplary lives reveal more than we might expect? Many popular histories seek to establish homosexual heroes, pioneers, and martyrs but, as Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller argue, the past is filled with queer people whose sexualities and dastardly deeds have been overlooked despite their being informative and instructive.

Based on the hugely popular podcast series of the same name, Bad Gays asks what we can learn about LGBTQ+ history, sexuality and identity through its villains, failures, and baddies. With characters such as the Emperor Hadrian, anthropologist Margaret Mead and notorious gangster Ronnie Kray, the authors tell the story of how the figure of the white gay man was born, and how he failed. They examine a cast of kings, fascist thugs, artists and debauched bon viveurs. Imperial-era figures Lawrence of Arabia and Roger Casement get a look-in, as do FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover, lawyer Roy Cohn, and architect Philip Johnson.

Together these amazing life stories expand and challenge mainstream assumptions about sexual identity: showing that homosexuality itself was an idea that emerged in the nineteenth century, one central to major historical events.

Bad Gays is a passionate argument for rethinking gay politics beyond questions of identity, compelling readers to search for solidarity across boundaries.

Best Graphic Novels & Comics: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they’ve never met … until one day when they’re made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance.

But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.

By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Best Poetry: Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman

The breakout poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman

Formerly titled The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, the luminous poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing. In Call Us What We Carry, Gorman explores history, language, identity, and erasure through an imaginative and intimate collage. Harnessing the collective grief of a global pandemic, this beautifully designed volume features poems in many inventive styles and structures and shines a light on a moment of reckoning. Call Us What We Carry reveals that Gorman has become our messenger from the past, our voice for the future.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Best Debut: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Young Adult Fiction: The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Avery’s fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about.

To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets and they know her.

But as the clock ticks down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help—and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.

Secrets upon secrets. Riddles upon riddles. In this game, there are hearts and lives at stake—and there is nothing more Hawthorne than winning.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Young Adult Fantasy: Gallant by V.E. Schwab

Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.

Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.

Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?

New York Times–bestselling author V. E. Schwab crafts a vivid and lush novel that grapples with the demons that are often locked behind closed doors. An eerie, stand-alone saga about life, death, and the young woman beckoned by both. Readers of Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Melissa Albert, and Garth Nix will quickly lose themselves in this novel with crossover appeal for all ages.

This title is also available in the following formats:

Best Middle Grade & Children’s: I Am Quiet by Andie Powers and Betsy Petersen

Emile is not shy—he is quiet.

Emile may seem timid and shy on the outside, but on the inside he is bustling with imagination. While grownups and even other kids may see Emile as the shy kid who doesn’t raise his hand in class, we know that Emile is actually a high-seas adventurer, a daring explorer, and a friend to wild beasts.

This story honors and encourages the beauty of knowing ourselves for exactly who we are. Emile’s world shows us that the mind of a quiet child can be as rich, expansive, and bold as that of any other (more extroverted) child.

Simply Held December Authors: Daniel Silva and Linda Lael Miller

Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction and fiction? You should join Simply Held. Choose any author, celebrity pick, nonfiction and/or fiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from Simply Held. December’s authors are Daniel Silva for fiction and Linda Lael Miller for romance.

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Our December fiction author is Daniel Silva. Silva debuted in 1997 with the thriller, The Unlikely Spy, a story about love and deception during the Allied invasion of France in World War II. However, Silva’s fourth novel, The Kill Artist, really set his career in motion by introducing Gabriel Allon to the world. Gabriel is an art restorer and sometimes Israeli secret agent, whose book series is still being written today. Silva always knew that he wanted to be a writer, but what set his career off was his work as a journalist. Born in Michigan, Silva was raised and educated in California. He was working on his master’s degree in international relations when he began working for United Press International in 1984 to help cover teh Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. He left his studies later that year to work for UPI fulltime, first in San Francisco, then Washington, and then in Cairo and the Persian Gulf. He met Jamie Gangel, NBC Today National Correspondent, in 1987 and they married later that year. He then began to work as an Executive Producer for CNN in Washington. In 1995, Silva confessed to his wife that he wanted to be a novelist. He left CNN in 1997 and began writing full time. All of his books since then have been New York Times and international bestsellers. They have also been translated into more than 30 languages and have been published around the world.

Silva’s newest book is Portrait of an Unknown Woman, book 22 in the Gabriel Allon series. This book was published in July 2022.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the author:

In a spellbinding new masterpiece by #1 New York Times–bestselling author Daniel Silva, Gabriel Allon undertakes a high-stakes search for the greatest art forger who ever lived.

Legendary spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon has at long last severed ties with Israeli intelligence and settled quietly in Venice, the only place he has ever truly known peace. His beautiful wife, Chiara, has taken over day-to-day management of the Tiepolo Restoration Company, and their two young children are clandestinely enrolled in a neighborhood scuola elementare. For his part, Gabriel spends his days wandering the streets and canals of the watery city, parting company with the demons of his tragic, violent past.

But when the eccentric London art dealer Julian Isherwood asks Gabriel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the rediscovery and lucrative sale of a centuries-old painting, he is drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse where nothing is as it seems.

Gabriel soon discovers that the work in question, a portrait of an unidentified woman attributed to Sir Anthony van Dyck, is almost certainly a fiendishly clever fake. To find the mysterious figure who painted it—and uncover a multibillion-dollar fraud at the pinnacle of the art world—Gabriel conceives one of the most elaborate deceptions of his career. If it is to succeed, he must become the very mirror image of the man he seeks: the greatest art forger the world has ever known.

Stylish, sophisticated, and ingeniously plotted, Portrait of an Unknown Woman is a wildly entertaining journey through the dirty side of the art world—a place where unscrupulous dealers routinely deceive their customers, and deep-pocketed investors treat great paintings as though they were just another asset class to be bought and sold at a profit. From its elegant opening passage to the shocking twists of its climax, the novel is a tour de force of storytelling and among the finest pieces of heist fiction ever written. And it is still more proof that, when it comes to international intrigue and suspense, Daniel Silva has no equal.

This book is also available in the following formats:

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Our December romance author is Linda Lael Miller. Linda is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporart novels. Linda was raised in Northport, Washington. She traveled the world, lived in London and Arizona as well, before returning to Washington to live on a horse property outside Spokane. Linda sold Fletcher’s Woman in 1983 to Pocket Books, but before she did that, she went through much rejection. Linda has published historicals, contemporaries, paranormals, mysteries, and thrillers, before she finally decided to concentrate on novels with a more Western flair. She was awarded the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 by the Romance Writers of America.

Miller’s newest book is Country Born, book three in the Painted Pony Creek series. This book was published in April 2022. 

Curious what this book is about? Below is a description provided by the author.

Rancher and military veteran J.P. McCall loves simple pleasures. The satisfaction of working his family’s land. The freedom to come and go as he pleases. But ever since his two closest friends have married and started families of their own, J.P. realizes what he’s been missing. He’s known plenty of women, but now he craves finding The One. And then Sara Worth comes crashing back into his life. She’s his buddy’s sister, the woman who was always out of reach.

Single mom Sara Worth has her hands full. After a disastrous early marriage, she is now writing bestselling books by day and caring for her two teenagers by night. That doesn’t leave a lot of me time. But when an innocent request for J.P.’s help leads to an unforgettable kiss, she’s intrigued—and unsure. Giving love a second chance feels impossible. But when the man from Sara’s past resurfaces, threatening everything she holds dear, J.P. will do whatever it takes to protect the woman who’s stealing his heart.

This book is also available in the following format:

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

“Of course there should be an HEA. I’m so sick of this question. It’s a Romance! That’s the deal we make with our readers. It’s misogyny, plain and simple. You don’t see anyone telling Mystery readers they’re silly and unserious for wanting to know by the end of the book who the murderer was. Fuck off.
–June French in Cosmopolitan”
― Julia Whelan, Thank You for Listening

Julia Whelan is one of my favorite audiobook narrators with over 450 audiobook narrations under her belt (she’s probably much closer to 500 by the time of this posting). She is also an author! In 2018, Whelan debuted My Oxford Year and then followed up with Thank You for Listening in August 2022. Her latest book, Thank You for Listening, caught my interest as soon as I read the premise: an audiobook narrator has a one-night stand in Vegas with a stranger and then embarks upon recording a romance novel by a late author who picked her specifically for the project.

Sewanee Chester never thought she would end up being an audiobook narrator, but after a disastrous accident ended her career as an actress, she somehow found herself narrating. Sewanee found satisfaction working in a sound booth. This job also allows her time to care for her grandmother who is ailing. When her boss falls ill, Sewanee flies to Las Vegas to fill in for him at a book convention where she meets a charming stranger and spends a dizzying night with him.

Once back home, Sewanee learns that a late beloved romance novelist wanted her to perform her last book alongside another audiobook narrator, Brock McNight, considered the industry’s hottest voice. He is also incredibly secretive – no one knows who Brock McNight really is. While Sewanee doesn’t necessarily believe in what romance novels are selling, she owes her audiobook career to her initial success as an audiobook narrator. After much debate, Sewanee decides to take on this project.

The more Sewanee and Brock work on the book, the closer they become. Granted they are hiding behind anonymity as both are operating under their pseudonyms. They make a real connection. The longer they work together, Sewanee finds herself dreaming and hoping again. Reality crashes down yet again when secrets are revealed, leaving Sewanee and Brock left standing unsure in their truths. The two must take their own journeys of acceptance as they work together.

Simply Held November Authors: Clive Cussler and Kat Martin

Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction and fiction? You should join Simply Held. Choose any author, celebrity pick, nonfiction and/or fiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from Simply Held. November’s authors are Clive Cussler for fiction and Kat Martin for romance.

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Our November fiction author is Clive Cussler. Clive passed away in 2020, but works continue being written bearing his name with the help of many other authors. He has five best-selling series including Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files, Isaac Bell, and Fargo. In addition to his fiction works, Clive has also written numerous nonfiction books. His books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries. Clive writes primarily thrillers. In addition to writing, Clive is considered an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks. He was also the founder of the National Underwater Marine Agency, (NUMA), a nonprofit organization that works to preserve American maritime and naval history, searching for lost shops of historic significance. They have discovered over sixty historically significant underwater wreck sites.

Cussler’s newest book is The Sea Wolves, published in November 2022. This is book thirteen in the Isaac Bell Adventure series written by Jack Du BRul.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the author:

Detective Isaac Bell battles foreign spies, German U-boats, and an old nemesis to capture a secret technology that could alter the outcome of World War I in the latest adventure in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Clive Cussler.

As New England swelters in the summer of 1914, Detective Isaac Bell is asked to investigate a cache of missing rifles—only to discover something much more sinister. Whoever broke into this Winchester Factory wasn’t looking to take weapons, they wanted to leave something in the shipping crates: a radio transmitter, set to summon a fleet of dreaded German U-boats. Someone is trying to keep American supplies from reaching British shores, and if Bell doesn’t crack the conspiracy in time, the Atlantic Ocean will run red with blood.

Bell must hunt down a new piece of technology that is allowing the Germans to rule the seas from New York to England. With the outcome of the war at stake and Franklin Roosevelt’s orders on the line, Bell will risk everything to stop the U-Boats before they strike again.

This book is also available in the following formats:

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Our November romance author is Kat Martin. Kat has written over sixty historical and contemporary romantic suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print. She has been published in over twenty countries. Kat currently lives in Missoula, Montana with her husband, L.J. Martin, who writes westerns. Kat writes romantic suspense, historical romance, and paranormal romance.

Martin’s newest book is One Last Chance, published in November 2022. This is book three in Blood Ties, The Logans series.

Curious what this book is about? Below is a description provided by the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin mixes high-octane adventure with sizzling romance for an explosive thriller featuring a dangerous cult, an ex Green Beret, and a female private investigator who will stop at nothing to rescue her missing sister and unmask the high-stakes conspiracy at the heart of the Children of the Sun…

Former Green Beret Edge Logan has made a new life for himself at Nighthawk Security in Denver, using his finely honed skills to neutralize threats of all kinds. When he overhears friend and fellow agent Skye Delaney discussing a new case involving her missing sister and a mysterious cult, he offers himself as backup. With her own military background, Skye is gutsy and more than capable, but a cult like Children of the Sun is too risky for anyone to investigate alone.

Skye is grateful for Edge’s experience, even though she is aware of the attraction simmering between them. Her battle scars make her reluctant to get involved with anyone, much less a coworker—even a warrior like Edge. But infiltrating the cult’s compound is more complicated than expected—and something much more sinister than worship is clearly going on behind its walls. As the pair works against the clock to unearth high-stakes secrets, the personal barriers between them begin to crumble. Together, can they unmask the face of evil before their time runs out?

Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

Turns out that reading nothing but true crime isn’t exactly conducive to modern dating — and one woman is going to have to learn how to give love a chance when she’s used to suspecting the worst. – Alicia Thompson, press for Love in the Time of Serial Killers

Love in the Time of Serial Killers is Alicia Thompson’s first novel, published in August 2022. As soon as I saw the press description of this book as well as the tag line, ‘Can true love survive her true crime obsession?’, this immediately became a must-read. Bonus: it’s a romance, so I knew there were going to be some steamy bits. Let’s get into it!

Phoebe Walsh has been obsessed with true crime since as long as she can remember. As a PhD candidate, Phoebe even managed to finagle the English Department into letting her analyze true crime as a genre for her dissertation. Said dissertation is taking her longer than she thought to finish it though, especially now that she has to head to Florida to deal with some family issues. After the death of her father months ago, Phoebe and her younger brother now need to clean out their childhood home. The bulk of the task falls to Phoebe and she’s none too pleased. In addition to having to clean out the house and deal with her precocious younger brother, Phoebe’s complicated emotions regarding her father surge to the surface. She hasn’t had a relationship with her father in years. Being left to clean out his house may be more than she can deal with.

Writing her dissertation isn’t proving to be as much relief as she thought it would be. Thinking about serial killers has fully infiltrated her life so much so that when she first meets her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, she immediately thinks he is a serial killer. Phoebe believes that Sam’s actions at night are suspicious, so he must be up to something. As their relationship progresses, Phoebe realizes that Sam may be something much worse than a serial killer – he might be a nice guy who is willing to take care of her precious vulnerable heart.