You'll also find our blog featured in a box right on our homepage, with all the same book reviews, library news and highlighted resources.
Monday, November 17, 2014
More Than Books has a new home!
You'll also find our blog featured in a box right on our homepage, with all the same book reviews, library news and highlighted resources.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Looking for... Books about our four-legged friends
Dog lovers have also put their prints on the book world. Travels with Casey takes one man and his dog on a road trip across America - to look at other people and their dogs. The modern classic Marley and Me tells the story of living with "the world's worst dog." Or, you can go back even further and read famous veterinarian James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories.
Find even more dog-related resources at the library:
Dog stories
Dog training
More books on dog ownership: stop in at your branch and look for 636.7 in nonfiction.
Don't forget our other furry and feathered friends! Books on pets of all sorts are found in nonfiction at 636.1 - 636.9.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Book Review: Liar Temptress Soldier Spy
Liar Temptress Soldier Spy tells the stories of these four historical figures, real women who defied the conventions of their time to join the fight for their countries during the Civil War. All of them went undercover at some point during the war, carrying intelligence that affected the outcome of numerous military operations. This fascinating historical account reads like fiction, alternating the stories of the four women with cliffhanger chapter breaks, and speculating on the thoughts and emotions that bring them to life. - Michelle (Sunset)
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Looking for… History Resources?
To access these databases, start at chandlerlibrary.org and hover your mouse over the purple RESEARCH tab. Then click Databases A-Z, and scroll down to choose U.S. History or World History in Context. You’ll need your library card and PIN if you’re signing in from home. Then you can browse popular topics from the main page or use the search bar at the top to search for your own topic. Also - look for the Citation Tools link that goes with each article. It will tell you how to include the resource in a Works Cited page, just like a regular book or magazine.
Monday, November 3, 2014
The 5th Annual Chuck Wagon Cook-Off
Get your wagons hitched up and head to Tumbleweed Ranch at Tumbleweed Park November 7-9 for the 5th Annual Chuck Wagon Cook-Off. There's fun planned for all ages with a campfire glow, live music, gunfighter shows, and delicious food!
For those who want to try their hand at a little campfire cooking, check out a few of the titles below:
- Cabin Cooking: Delicious Easy-to-Fix Recipes for Camp, Cabin, or Trail by Kate Fiduccia
- Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors by Robin Donovan
- Easy Campfire Cooking: 200+ Family Fun Recipes for Cooking Over Coals and in the Flames with a Dutch Oven, Foil Packets, and More!
- A Fork in the Trail: Mouthwatering Meals and Tempting Treats for the Backcountry by Laurie Ann March
- The Outdoor Dutch Oven Cookbook by Sheila Mills
- The Leave-No-Crumbs Camping Cookbook: 150 Delightful, Delicious, and Darn-Near Foolproof Recipes from Two Top Wilderness Chefs by Rick Greenspan
- The One Pan Gourmet: Fresh Food on the Trail by Donald Jacobson The Scout's Dutch Oven Cookbook by Tim Conners
Thursday, October 30, 2014
The November LibraryReads List!
The latest batch of librarian favorites are here! We've included descriptions* below and you can head to the LibraryReads website to see brief reviews submitted by librarians from across the country. We'd love to hear what you think about the titles, let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!
Us: A Novel by David Nicholls
Published: October 28, 2014
Douglas Petersen understands his wife's need to 'rediscover herself' now that their son is leaving home. He just thought they'd be doing their rediscovering together. So when Connie announces that she will be leaving, too, he resolves to make their last family holiday into the trip of a lifetime: one that will draw the three of them closer, and win the respect of his son. One that will make Connie fall in love with him all over again. The hotels are booked, the tickets bought, the itinerary planned and printed. What could possibly go wrong?
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover: The Fourth Rule of Scoundrels by Sarah MacLean
Published: November 25, 2014
By day, she is Lady Georgiana, sister to a Duke, ruined before her first season in the worst kind of scandal. But the truth is far more shocking—in London’s darkest corners, she is Chase, the mysterious, unknown founder of the city’s most legendary gaming hell. For years, her double identity has gone undiscovered . . . until now. Brilliant, driven, handsome-as-sin Duncan West is intrigued by the beautiful, ruined woman who is somehow connected to a world of darkness and sin. He knows she is more than she seems and he vows to uncover all of Georgiana’s secrets, laying bare her past, threatening her present, and risking all she holds dear . . . including her heart.
Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble by Marilyn Johnson Published: November 11, 2014
Pompeii, Machu Picchu, the Valley of the Kings, the Parthenon—the names of these legendary archaeological sites conjure up romance and mystery. The news is full of archaeology: treasures found (British king under parking lot) and treasures lost (looters, bulldozers, natural disaster, and war). Archaeological research tantalizes us with possibilities (are modern humans really part Neandertal?). Where are the archaeologists behind these stories? What kind of work do they actually do, and why does it matter? Marilyn Johnson’s Lives in Ruins is an absorbing and entertaining look at the lives of contemporary archaeologists as they sweat under the sun for clues to the puzzle of our past. Johnson digs and drinks alongside archaeologists, chases them through the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and even Machu Picchu, and excavates their lives. Her subjects share stories we rarely read in history books, about slaves and Ice Age hunters, ordinary soldiers of the American Revolution, children of the first century, Chinese woman warriors, sunken fleets, mummies.
The Burning Room (Harry Bosch #19) by Michael Connelly
Published: November 3, 2014
In the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit, not many murder victims die almost a decade after the crime. So when a man succumbs to complications from being shot by a stray bullet nine years earlier, Bosch catches a case in which the body is still fresh, but any other evidence is virtually nonexistent. Now Bosch and his new partner, rookie Detective Lucia Soto, are tasked with solving what turns out to be a highly charged, politically sensitive case. Starting with the bullet that's been lodged for years in the victim's spine, they must pull new leads from years-old information, which soon reveals that this shooting may have been anything but random.
Mortal Heart: His Fair Assassin Trilogy Book 3 by Robin LaFevers
Published: November 4, 2014
Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own. She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...
The Ship of Brides: A Novel by Jojo Moyes
Published: October 28, 2014
The year is 1946, and all over the world, young women are crossing the seas in the thousands en route to the men they married in wartime - and an unknown future. In Sydney, Australia, four women join 650 other brides on an extraordinary voyage to England, aboard the HMS Victoria, which also carries not just arms and aircraft but 1,000 naval officers and men. Rules of honour, duty, and separation are strictly enforced, from the aircraft carrier's captain down to the lowliest young stoker. But the men and the brides will find their lives intertwined in ways the Navy could never have imagined.
The Forgers by Bradford Morrow
Published: November 4, 2014
The rare book world is stunned when a reclusive collector, Adam Diehl, is found on the floor of his Montauk home: hands severed, surrounded by valuable inscribed books and original manuscripts that have been vandalized beyond repair. Adam's sister, Meghan, and her lover, Will-a convicted if unrepentant literary forger-struggle to come to terms with the seemingly incomprehensible murder. But when Will begins receiving threatening handwritten letters, seemingly penned by long-dead authors, but really from someone who knows secrets about Adam's death and Will's past, he understands his own life is also on the line-and attempts to forge a new beginning for himself and Meg.
In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon Edited by Leslie S. Klinger and Laurie R. King
Published: November 24, 2014
The Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were recently voted as the top mystery series of all time, and they have enthralled generations of readers and writers! Now, Laurie R. King, author of the New York Times-bestselling Mary Russell series (in which Holmes plays a co-starring role), and Leslie S. Klinger, editor of the New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, have assembled a stellar group of contemporary authors from a variety of genres and asked them to create new stories inspired by that canon. Inside you ll find Holmes in times and places previously unimagined, as well as characters who have themselves been affected by the tales of Sherlock Holmes. The game is afoot again!
Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas: Being a Jane Austen Mystery (#12) by Stephanie Barron
Published: October 28, 2014
Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington, DC; and on Christmas Eve, John Quincy Adams signs the Treaty of Ghent, which will end a war nobody in England really wanted. Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide revelers dies in a tragic accident, which Jane immediately views with suspicion. If the accident was in fact murder, the killer is one of Jane’s fellow snow-bound guests. With clues scattered amidst cleverly crafted charades, dark secrets coming to light during parlor games, and old friendships returning to haunt the Christmas parties, whom can Jane trust to help her discover the truth and stop the killer from striking again?
Mermaids in Paradise: A Novel by Lydia Millet
Published: November 3, 2014
On the grounds of a Caribbean island resort, newlyweds Deb and Chip—our opinionated, skeptical narrator and her cheerful jock husband who’s friendly to a fault—meet a marine biologist who says she’s sighted mermaids in a coral reef. As the resort’s “parent company” swoops in to corner the market on mythological creatures, the couple joins forces with other adventurous souls, including an ex–Navy SEAL with a love of explosives and a hipster Tokyo VJ, to save said mermaids from the “Venture of Marvels,” which wants to turn their reef into a theme park.
Which one will you read first?
If you need help placing a hold with your Chandler Public Library card, give us a call at 480-782-2800.
If you'd like more book recommendations, browse our Book Lists page or check out the previous LibraryReads lists.
*Book descriptions from the publisher.
Us: A Novel by David Nicholls
Published: October 28, 2014
Douglas Petersen understands his wife's need to 'rediscover herself' now that their son is leaving home. He just thought they'd be doing their rediscovering together. So when Connie announces that she will be leaving, too, he resolves to make their last family holiday into the trip of a lifetime: one that will draw the three of them closer, and win the respect of his son. One that will make Connie fall in love with him all over again. The hotels are booked, the tickets bought, the itinerary planned and printed. What could possibly go wrong?
Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover: The Fourth Rule of Scoundrels by Sarah MacLean
Published: November 25, 2014
By day, she is Lady Georgiana, sister to a Duke, ruined before her first season in the worst kind of scandal. But the truth is far more shocking—in London’s darkest corners, she is Chase, the mysterious, unknown founder of the city’s most legendary gaming hell. For years, her double identity has gone undiscovered . . . until now. Brilliant, driven, handsome-as-sin Duncan West is intrigued by the beautiful, ruined woman who is somehow connected to a world of darkness and sin. He knows she is more than she seems and he vows to uncover all of Georgiana’s secrets, laying bare her past, threatening her present, and risking all she holds dear . . . including her heart.
Lives in Ruins: Archaeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble by Marilyn Johnson Published: November 11, 2014
Pompeii, Machu Picchu, the Valley of the Kings, the Parthenon—the names of these legendary archaeological sites conjure up romance and mystery. The news is full of archaeology: treasures found (British king under parking lot) and treasures lost (looters, bulldozers, natural disaster, and war). Archaeological research tantalizes us with possibilities (are modern humans really part Neandertal?). Where are the archaeologists behind these stories? What kind of work do they actually do, and why does it matter? Marilyn Johnson’s Lives in Ruins is an absorbing and entertaining look at the lives of contemporary archaeologists as they sweat under the sun for clues to the puzzle of our past. Johnson digs and drinks alongside archaeologists, chases them through the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and even Machu Picchu, and excavates their lives. Her subjects share stories we rarely read in history books, about slaves and Ice Age hunters, ordinary soldiers of the American Revolution, children of the first century, Chinese woman warriors, sunken fleets, mummies.
The Burning Room (Harry Bosch #19) by Michael Connelly
Published: November 3, 2014
In the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit, not many murder victims die almost a decade after the crime. So when a man succumbs to complications from being shot by a stray bullet nine years earlier, Bosch catches a case in which the body is still fresh, but any other evidence is virtually nonexistent. Now Bosch and his new partner, rookie Detective Lucia Soto, are tasked with solving what turns out to be a highly charged, politically sensitive case. Starting with the bullet that's been lodged for years in the victim's spine, they must pull new leads from years-old information, which soon reveals that this shooting may have been anything but random.
Mortal Heart: His Fair Assassin Trilogy Book 3 by Robin LaFevers
Published: November 4, 2014
Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own. She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...
The Ship of Brides: A Novel by Jojo Moyes
Published: October 28, 2014
The year is 1946, and all over the world, young women are crossing the seas in the thousands en route to the men they married in wartime - and an unknown future. In Sydney, Australia, four women join 650 other brides on an extraordinary voyage to England, aboard the HMS Victoria, which also carries not just arms and aircraft but 1,000 naval officers and men. Rules of honour, duty, and separation are strictly enforced, from the aircraft carrier's captain down to the lowliest young stoker. But the men and the brides will find their lives intertwined in ways the Navy could never have imagined.
The Forgers by Bradford Morrow
Published: November 4, 2014
The rare book world is stunned when a reclusive collector, Adam Diehl, is found on the floor of his Montauk home: hands severed, surrounded by valuable inscribed books and original manuscripts that have been vandalized beyond repair. Adam's sister, Meghan, and her lover, Will-a convicted if unrepentant literary forger-struggle to come to terms with the seemingly incomprehensible murder. But when Will begins receiving threatening handwritten letters, seemingly penned by long-dead authors, but really from someone who knows secrets about Adam's death and Will's past, he understands his own life is also on the line-and attempts to forge a new beginning for himself and Meg.
In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon Edited by Leslie S. Klinger and Laurie R. King
Published: November 24, 2014
The Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were recently voted as the top mystery series of all time, and they have enthralled generations of readers and writers! Now, Laurie R. King, author of the New York Times-bestselling Mary Russell series (in which Holmes plays a co-starring role), and Leslie S. Klinger, editor of the New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, have assembled a stellar group of contemporary authors from a variety of genres and asked them to create new stories inspired by that canon. Inside you ll find Holmes in times and places previously unimagined, as well as characters who have themselves been affected by the tales of Sherlock Holmes. The game is afoot again!
Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas: Being a Jane Austen Mystery (#12) by Stephanie Barron
Published: October 28, 2014
Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington, DC; and on Christmas Eve, John Quincy Adams signs the Treaty of Ghent, which will end a war nobody in England really wanted. Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide revelers dies in a tragic accident, which Jane immediately views with suspicion. If the accident was in fact murder, the killer is one of Jane’s fellow snow-bound guests. With clues scattered amidst cleverly crafted charades, dark secrets coming to light during parlor games, and old friendships returning to haunt the Christmas parties, whom can Jane trust to help her discover the truth and stop the killer from striking again?
Mermaids in Paradise: A Novel by Lydia Millet
Published: November 3, 2014
On the grounds of a Caribbean island resort, newlyweds Deb and Chip—our opinionated, skeptical narrator and her cheerful jock husband who’s friendly to a fault—meet a marine biologist who says she’s sighted mermaids in a coral reef. As the resort’s “parent company” swoops in to corner the market on mythological creatures, the couple joins forces with other adventurous souls, including an ex–Navy SEAL with a love of explosives and a hipster Tokyo VJ, to save said mermaids from the “Venture of Marvels,” which wants to turn their reef into a theme park.
Which one will you read first?
If you need help placing a hold with your Chandler Public Library card, give us a call at 480-782-2800.
If you'd like more book recommendations, browse our Book Lists page or check out the previous LibraryReads lists.
*Book descriptions from the publisher.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Book Review: Reunion
"On June 16, at roughly eight thirty in the morning, I get the phone call that my father is dead."
Well, you have to keep reading after that. At least I did.
Kate's life is pretty well in shambles before she finds out about her father's suicide and before her siblings tell her she has to travel to Atlanta for the funeral -- which will also involve coming face-to-face with her four stepmothers and many half-siblings. As Kate haphazardly deals with her distastrous life, she also comes to terms with her relationship with her father.
This is a quick read and a good one for discussion. There's sibling relationships, adultery, childhood issues, and so much more. It's kind of the less-funny, more serious version of This is Where I Leave You. And check out Pittard's previous novel, The Fates Will Find Their Way. - Melissa (Downtown)
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Looking for... Book Group Resources
Visit our Book Clubs page to see what book groups are currently going at our library branches. Locations, times, and book selections for the next two meetings are available at this page. (Check our events calendar to see if your book group has scheduled meetings and book selections past the next two months.)
Also on our Book Clubs page, you can find book suggestions for your own group to read, as well as resources to help with your discussion, such as ReadingGroupGuides. And you can sign up for our Online Book Club to get samples of books by email.
Need even more book suggestions? Check out our Book Lists page for books by genre or category: Popular Book Club Picks, Mystery, Award Winners, and more. Search our catalog for availability and place holds right from these lists.
Do you have a book club that might not be as exciting as it was when you first started? Here's some advice from NoveList (another great resource for reading suggestions) that could help:
Several years ago, I noticed that our discussions were becoming...difficult. There was no easy flow of conversation and ideas. One or two people dominated the conversation and participants were not open-minded to the opinions of others. We were having trouble getting deeper than comments such as, "I liked the book!" The lack of give and take in our discussions was upsetting to everyone. We wanted to get together to have fun and vibrant discussions, but somewhere between our desires and our reality we were missing a critical step. Read more
Monday, October 20, 2014
Staff Picks: Children's Picture Books
Oh No, George!
George wants to be a good dog, but when faced with temptation, what will he do? This is an all-too-human dilemma.
Odd Duck
What if you really like someone but they're different? Even a little odd? Theodora and Chad have to figure it out.
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
Being prim and proper is so boring. Be who you are!
This Is Not My Hat
A little fish steals a big fish's hat. Consequences, anyone?
Cookie, the Walker
A dog gets famous walking on her hind legs. This book takes a jab at celebrity culture.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
@ Your Library: Dig Deeper on International Archaeology Day
Hand of Fire tells the tale of Briseis, the captive woman Achilles and Agamemnon fought over in The Iliad. When Achilles, the half-immortal Greek warrior, takes Briseis captive in the midst of the Trojan War, he gets more than he bargained for: a healing priestess, a strong-willed princess - and a warrior. She raises a sword against Achilles and ignites a passion that seals his fate and changes her destiny.
To learn more, see what books and resources the library has to offer! Search the catalog for books on archaeology, both nonfiction and fiction, for adults and kids. Do even more research in Britannica Online, available for free through your library (with your library card number and PIN). Or, get back to basics and read Homer's Iliad.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Library Closed: Check our our ebooks!
All four Chandler Public Library locations will be closed on Monday, October 13 for system-wide staff training. The libraries will reopen on Tuesday at their regular times.
You can still check out books when the library's closed - with 3M ebooks! All you need to download books is the free 3M Cloud Library app, an internet connection, and your valid Chandler Library card and PIN numbers. There are apps for your PC or Mac, iOS device, Android device, Kindle Fire and Nook. Check out up to 10 items at a time for 2 weeks. Ebooks expire automatically on their due date, so there's nothing to return and no late fines! Take a look at this article to learn more!
Another great reason to get started with 3M Cloud Library now - our subscription to the OverDrive Greater Phoenix Digital Library expires on October 31. Please visit our Digital Media resources page to see how easy it is to use 3M Cloud Library!
Another great reason to get started with 3M Cloud Library now - our subscription to the OverDrive Greater Phoenix Digital Library expires on October 31. Please visit our Digital Media resources page to see how easy it is to use 3M Cloud Library!
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Star Wars Day! October 10-11
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”
It was with these opening lines that Star Wars stole our hearts and minds forever. While most people have heard of the two trilogies, there is a whole Star Wars Expanded Universe, composed of TV shows, computer and video games, comics, and books out there that many people don’t know about. Now, for the third year, Lucas Arts and Disney have worked with libraries and book stores across the nation to bring you Star Wars Reads Day! This Friday and Saturday, October 10-11, 2014, Jedi masters and Sith Lords everywhere will unite to spread their love of reading about all things Star Wars.
So grab a book and celebrate! Here are just a few of Star Wars titles you can find at your Chandler Public Library:
Vader’s Little Princess and its companion book, Darth Vader and Son, explore the trials and tribulations of juggling parenting and being a Sith Lord. Great for parents and their little padawans.
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is the first in a fun new series about sixth grade, origami, pop quizzes, and Star Wars. In this first book, Tommy wonders whether his Origami Yoda really can predict the future…
For those of you eager for more on our intrepid heroes from the original trilogy, look no further than Timothy Zahn’s latest Star Wars: Scoundrels. Join Han, Lando, and Chewie as they work together to pay off Jabba the Hutt’s bounty on Han’s head.
Find these titles and more in our library catalog. Don’t forget to check out one of the Star Wars Reads Day events at your Chandler Library! May a love of reading be with you!
It was with these opening lines that Star Wars stole our hearts and minds forever. While most people have heard of the two trilogies, there is a whole Star Wars Expanded Universe, composed of TV shows, computer and video games, comics, and books out there that many people don’t know about. Now, for the third year, Lucas Arts and Disney have worked with libraries and book stores across the nation to bring you Star Wars Reads Day! This Friday and Saturday, October 10-11, 2014, Jedi masters and Sith Lords everywhere will unite to spread their love of reading about all things Star Wars.
So grab a book and celebrate! Here are just a few of Star Wars titles you can find at your Chandler Public Library:
Vader’s Little Princess and its companion book, Darth Vader and Son, explore the trials and tribulations of juggling parenting and being a Sith Lord. Great for parents and their little padawans.
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is the first in a fun new series about sixth grade, origami, pop quizzes, and Star Wars. In this first book, Tommy wonders whether his Origami Yoda really can predict the future…
For those of you eager for more on our intrepid heroes from the original trilogy, look no further than Timothy Zahn’s latest Star Wars: Scoundrels. Join Han, Lando, and Chewie as they work together to pay off Jabba the Hutt’s bounty on Han’s head.
Find these titles and more in our library catalog. Don’t forget to check out one of the Star Wars Reads Day events at your Chandler Library! May a love of reading be with you!
Monday, October 6, 2014
Book Review: Zac & Mia
Zac & Mia tells the story of how young people face a terrible illness in different ways: optimistically or with embarrassment, hopefully or fearfully, with support from their families or with arguing and misunderstanding. An honest and unflinching novel about learning to accept and fight for life. - Michelle (Sunset)
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Looking for... Resources for Kids' School Reports?
National Geographic Kids is full of articles that appeared in the National Geographic Kids magazine, easy to search by subject. Lots of books published by National Geographic are available, too. Search a book's contents or browse through, page by page.
Kids InfoBits gives you even more articles from a wider selection of magazines, chosen to be the right reading level for elementary-school readers. Searchasaurus offers additional magazine articles for younger grades.
To access all these databases, start at chandlerlibrary.org and hover your mouse over the purple RESEARCH tab. Then click Databases A-Z, and scroll down to choose Kids InfoBits, National Geographic Kids, Searchasaurus - and more! You’ll need your library card and PIN if you’re signing in from home. Then you can browse popular topics from the main page or use the search bar at the top to search for your own topic. Also - look for the citation information that goes with each book or article. It will tell you how to include the resource in a Works Cited page, just like a regular book or magazine.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Book Review: Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
In Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, Therese Anne Fowler gives us the engrossing story of the historically misunderstood Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, written in Zelda's own style and voice. The novel pulls you into a "beautiful and damned" past of Jazz-age parties, glamour, fame, wealth, debt, bootlegged booze, jealousy, and self-destruction.
This novel digs deep to tell the tale of the remarkable woman behind the famous author with the famous friends. Above all, it tells a tale of a dazzling, talented young woman who wanted - more than fame and publicity - to be loved and appreciated for who she really was.
Fowler's meticulous research into Zelda Fitzgerald's life has provided her with the ability to give Zelda a voice, to draw us back into the current of her haunting past. - Becca (Sunset)
Read more: search the library catalog for works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, books about him and his fiction, and adaptations of his stories. Or try Literature Resource Center for journal articles and reference works about this famous literary couple (free login with your library card & PIN).
Thursday, September 25, 2014
The October LibraryReads List!
The latest batch of librarian favorites are here! We've included descriptions* below and you can head to the LibraryReads website to see brief reviews submitted by librarians from across the country. We'd love to hear what you think about the titles, let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!
A Sudden Light: A Novel by Garth Stein
Published: September 30, 2014
In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after. But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own.
Leaving Time: A Novel by Jodi Picoult
Published: October 14, 2014
Alice Metcalf was a devoted mother, loving wife, and accomplished scientist who studied grief among elephants. Yet it's been a decade since she disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind her small daughter, husband, and the animals to which she devoted her life. All signs point to abandonment . . . or worse. Still Jenna--now thirteen years old and truly orphaned by a father maddened by grief--steadfastly refuses to believe in her mother's desertion. So she decides to approach the two people who might still be able to help her find Alice: a disgraced psychic named Serenity Jones, and Virgil Stanhope, the cynical detective who first investigated her mother's disappearance and the death of one of her mother's co-workers. Together these three lonely souls will discover truths destined to forever change their lives.
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden; Foreword by Rob Reiner
Published: October 14, 2014
In a twenty-fifth anniversary, behind-the-scenes account of the making of the cult classic film, the lead actor shares never-before-told stories and exclusive photographs as well as interviews with fellow actors and producers of the film.
Not My Father’s Son: A Memoir by Alan Cumming
Published: October 7, 2014
The acclaimed actor profiles his turbulent relationship with his father and discusses his 2010 appearance in a celebrity genealogy show to solve the disappearance of a WWII hero grandparent and his discovery of astounding family secrets.
Some Luck: A Novel by Jane Smiley
Published: October 7, 2014
On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different yet equally remarkable children: Frank, the brilliant, stubborn first-born; Joe, whose love of animals makes him the natural heir to his family's land; Lillian, an angelic child who enters a fairy-tale marriage with a man only she will fully know; Henry, the bookworm who's not afraid to be different; and Claire, who earns the highest place in her father's heart. Moving from post-World War I America through the early 1950s, Some Luck gives us an intimate look at this family's triumphs and tragedies, zooming in on the realities of farm life, while casting-as the children grow up and scatter to New York, California, and everywhere in between-a panoramic eye on the monumental changes that marked the first half of the twentieth century.
The Boy Who Drew Monsters: A Novel by Keith Donohue
Published: October 7, 2014
Ever since he nearly drowned in the ocean three years earlier, ten-year-old Jack Peter Keenan has been deathly afraid to venture outdoors. Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, Jack Peter spends his time drawing monsters. When those drawings take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror they inspire. His mother, Holly, begins to hear strange sounds in the night coming from the ocean, and she seeks answers from the local Catholic priest and his Japanese housekeeper, who fill her head with stories of shipwrecks and ghosts. His father, Tim, wanders the beach, frantically searching for a strange apparition running wild in the dunes. And the boy’s only friend, Nick, becomes helplessly entangled in the eerie power of the drawings. While those around Jack Peter are haunted by what they think they see, only he knows the truth behind the frightful occurrences as the outside world encroaches upon them all.
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
Published: October 14, 2014
College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Iverson is a dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder. As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict.
Reunion: A Novel by Hannah Pittard
Published: October 7, 2014
Five minutes before her flight is set to take off, Kate Pulaski, failed screenwriter and newly-failed wife, learns that her estranged father killed himself. More shocked than saddened by the news, she reluctantly gives in to her older siblings' request that she join them--and her many half-siblings, and most of her father's five former wives--in Atlanta, their birthplace, for a final farewell.
Malice: A Mystery by Keigo Higashino; Translated by Alexander O. Smith
Published: October 7, 2014
Acclaimed bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is found brutally murdered in his home on the night before he’s planning to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver. His body is found in his office, a locked room, within his locked house, by his wife and his best friend, both of whom have rock solid alibis. Or so it seems. At the crime scene, Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga recognizes Hidaka’s best friend, Osamu Nonoguchi. Years ago when they were both teachers, they were colleagues at the same public school. Kaga went on to join the police force while Nonoguchi eventually left to become a full-time writer, though with not nearly the success of his friend Hidaka. As Kaga investigates, he eventually uncovers evidence that indicates that the two writers’ relationship was very different that they claimed, that they were anything but best friends. But the question before Kaga isn't necessarily who, or how, but why.
Murder at the Brightwell: A Mystery by Ashley Weaver
Published: October 14, 2014
Amory Ames is a wealthy young woman who regrets her marriage to her notoriously charming playboy husband, Milo. Looking for a change, she accepts a request for help from her former fiancé, Gil Trent, not knowing that she’ll soon become embroiled in a murder investigation that will test not only her friendship with Gil, but will upset the status quo with her husband.
Which one will you read first?
If you need help placing a hold with your Chandler Public Library card, give us a call at 480-782-2800.
If you'd like more book recommendations, browse our Book Lists page or check out the previous LibraryReads lists.
*Book descriptions from the publisher.
A Sudden Light: A Novel by Garth Stein
Published: September 30, 2014
In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after. But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own.
Leaving Time: A Novel by Jodi Picoult
Published: October 14, 2014
Alice Metcalf was a devoted mother, loving wife, and accomplished scientist who studied grief among elephants. Yet it's been a decade since she disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind her small daughter, husband, and the animals to which she devoted her life. All signs point to abandonment . . . or worse. Still Jenna--now thirteen years old and truly orphaned by a father maddened by grief--steadfastly refuses to believe in her mother's desertion. So she decides to approach the two people who might still be able to help her find Alice: a disgraced psychic named Serenity Jones, and Virgil Stanhope, the cynical detective who first investigated her mother's disappearance and the death of one of her mother's co-workers. Together these three lonely souls will discover truths destined to forever change their lives.
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden; Foreword by Rob Reiner
Published: October 14, 2014
In a twenty-fifth anniversary, behind-the-scenes account of the making of the cult classic film, the lead actor shares never-before-told stories and exclusive photographs as well as interviews with fellow actors and producers of the film.
Not My Father’s Son: A Memoir by Alan Cumming
Published: October 7, 2014
The acclaimed actor profiles his turbulent relationship with his father and discusses his 2010 appearance in a celebrity genealogy show to solve the disappearance of a WWII hero grandparent and his discovery of astounding family secrets.
Some Luck: A Novel by Jane Smiley
Published: October 7, 2014
On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different yet equally remarkable children: Frank, the brilliant, stubborn first-born; Joe, whose love of animals makes him the natural heir to his family's land; Lillian, an angelic child who enters a fairy-tale marriage with a man only she will fully know; Henry, the bookworm who's not afraid to be different; and Claire, who earns the highest place in her father's heart. Moving from post-World War I America through the early 1950s, Some Luck gives us an intimate look at this family's triumphs and tragedies, zooming in on the realities of farm life, while casting-as the children grow up and scatter to New York, California, and everywhere in between-a panoramic eye on the monumental changes that marked the first half of the twentieth century.
The Boy Who Drew Monsters: A Novel by Keith Donohue
Published: October 7, 2014
Ever since he nearly drowned in the ocean three years earlier, ten-year-old Jack Peter Keenan has been deathly afraid to venture outdoors. Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, Jack Peter spends his time drawing monsters. When those drawings take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror they inspire. His mother, Holly, begins to hear strange sounds in the night coming from the ocean, and she seeks answers from the local Catholic priest and his Japanese housekeeper, who fill her head with stories of shipwrecks and ghosts. His father, Tim, wanders the beach, frantically searching for a strange apparition running wild in the dunes. And the boy’s only friend, Nick, becomes helplessly entangled in the eerie power of the drawings. While those around Jack Peter are haunted by what they think they see, only he knows the truth behind the frightful occurrences as the outside world encroaches upon them all.
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
Published: October 14, 2014
College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Iverson is a dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder. As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict.
Reunion: A Novel by Hannah Pittard
Published: October 7, 2014
Five minutes before her flight is set to take off, Kate Pulaski, failed screenwriter and newly-failed wife, learns that her estranged father killed himself. More shocked than saddened by the news, she reluctantly gives in to her older siblings' request that she join them--and her many half-siblings, and most of her father's five former wives--in Atlanta, their birthplace, for a final farewell.
Malice: A Mystery by Keigo Higashino; Translated by Alexander O. Smith
Published: October 7, 2014
Acclaimed bestselling novelist Kunihiko Hidaka is found brutally murdered in his home on the night before he’s planning to leave Japan and relocate to Vancouver. His body is found in his office, a locked room, within his locked house, by his wife and his best friend, both of whom have rock solid alibis. Or so it seems. At the crime scene, Police Detective Kyochiro Kaga recognizes Hidaka’s best friend, Osamu Nonoguchi. Years ago when they were both teachers, they were colleagues at the same public school. Kaga went on to join the police force while Nonoguchi eventually left to become a full-time writer, though with not nearly the success of his friend Hidaka. As Kaga investigates, he eventually uncovers evidence that indicates that the two writers’ relationship was very different that they claimed, that they were anything but best friends. But the question before Kaga isn't necessarily who, or how, but why.
Murder at the Brightwell: A Mystery by Ashley Weaver
Published: October 14, 2014
Amory Ames is a wealthy young woman who regrets her marriage to her notoriously charming playboy husband, Milo. Looking for a change, she accepts a request for help from her former fiancé, Gil Trent, not knowing that she’ll soon become embroiled in a murder investigation that will test not only her friendship with Gil, but will upset the status quo with her husband.
Which one will you read first?
If you need help placing a hold with your Chandler Public Library card, give us a call at 480-782-2800.
If you'd like more book recommendations, browse our Book Lists page or check out the previous LibraryReads lists.
*Book descriptions from the publisher.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Book Review: Queen of the Tearling
Queen of the Tearling opens with Kelsea Raleigh Glynn saying goodbye to her foster parents on her 19th birthday. She is being whisked away (in secret) to New London by the Queen's Guard to take her spot on the throne. Her husband has been hanging out there for about twenty years and he's really a terrible Regent. Of course, Kelsea doesn't know much about the current situation in the Tearling and she knows nothing about her mother's reign. So as she heads to New London surrounded by the Queen's Guard, she learns bits and pieces, but still not everything -- of course, the Queen's Guard has been sworn to secrecy so they aren't telling her much. That's part of what drives this book: the secrets. I kept reading because I wanted to know what Kelsea didn't.
I found this book to be a mix of Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, and The Lunar Chronicles. It's got violence, a strong heroine, no love triangle, a magic queen, and lots of smart thoughts on censorship, responsibilities of those in power, and so much more. - Melissa (Downtown)
Thursday, September 18, 2014
More Books Like...Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl has been on our shelves for over two years, but it's never sat on any of our shelves for very long. It's been checked out nearly 900 times from Chandler libraries since its publication and it's still checked out regularly. Now a film starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike is set to release in early October and the book's popularity will continue only to grow.
So while you wait (im)patiently for the film or the next copy to come in for you to borrow, we've compiled a list of domestic thrillers to (hopefully) tide you over until Nick and Amy make their next appearance in your life.
So while you wait (im)patiently for the film or the next copy to come in for you to borrow, we've compiled a list of domestic thrillers to (hopefully) tide you over until Nick and Amy make their next appearance in your life.
 |
| Click on the image above for even MORE books similar to Gone Girl. |
Dare Me by Megan Abbott
Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
Line of Vision by David Ellis
Blue Monday by Nicci French
In the Woods by Tana French
The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman
The Dinner by Herman Koch
Sister by Rosamund Lupton
Precious Thing by Colette McBeth
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
Close My Eyes by Sophie McKenzie
Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman
The Playdate by Louise Millar
Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach
The Innocent Sleep by Karen Perry
Watching You by Michael Robotham
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse
If you need help placing a hold with your Chandler Public Library card, give us a call at 480-782-2800. If you'd like more book recommendations, browse our Book Lists page.
Which one will you read first while you wait for Gone Girl to hit the big screen?
Monday, September 15, 2014
Book Review: Wild
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Remembering 9/11 in Fiction & Nonfiction
In Amy Waldman’s The Submission, a Muslim architect is chosen to design a memorial commemorating a tragic terrorist attack. The decision divides not only the country, but families, friends and neighbors. Should a Muslim be allowed to design the memorial to deaths that were caused by other Muslims? Told from the viewpoint of several different characters with a stake in the process – a juror, the wife of a victim, the architect himself – the novel boldly explores the different ways our society changed after 9/11 and encourages vigorous discussion.
Here are other fiction titles that examine the aftermath of 9/11:
NONFICTION
Monday, September 8, 2014
Staff Picks: Nature and Discovery
Every month, staff at our Downtown branch read books in a specific fiction genre or nonfiction subject, to familiarize themselves with titles they might not have discovered otherwise. For August, they read nonfiction in the area of nature, environmentalism, and discovery. Here's what staff members read and what they had to say about it:
A Wolf Called Romeo, by Nick Jans
Nick Jans has been photographing wildlife, and especially wolves, for over 20 years. He tells the story of a wolf they named Romeo who appears suddenly near his home on the outskirts of Juneau, Alaska. It is rare to see a wolf in the wild, never mind having a wolf befriend the local canine community. A good story, well written, and a must-read for someone who knows nothing of wolves. Great recommended resources in the back of the book for more information about wolves. 4 stars
Never Cry Wolf, by Farley Mowat
Naturalist Farley Mowat spent the summer alone studying the wolf population, and developing a deep affection for the wolves. Very well written with great descriptions. 5 stars
The End of Night, by Paul Bogard
A wonderful book, very well written, about the rapid disappearance of darkness. Bogard talks about the issue of light pollution, the benefits of darkness, and what we can do to get it back. 5 stars
There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars, by Bob Crelin
A great children's book that almost mirrors The End of Night for kids. 5 stars
A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold
Published in 1948, this is the precursor to Silent Spring. A Sand County Almanac is often hailed as a foundational work of the modern environmental movement. It’s slow moving, but it talks about preserving the marshlands before anyone else. 3 stars
Cosmos, by Carl Sagan
Written in 1980, this is still an important piece of writing and should be required reading in schools. Carl Sagan is a very gifted writer who has written what is considered “the best-selling science book ever published in the English language... a magnificent overview of the past, present, and future of science.” 5 stars
Nick Jans has been photographing wildlife, and especially wolves, for over 20 years. He tells the story of a wolf they named Romeo who appears suddenly near his home on the outskirts of Juneau, Alaska. It is rare to see a wolf in the wild, never mind having a wolf befriend the local canine community. A good story, well written, and a must-read for someone who knows nothing of wolves. Great recommended resources in the back of the book for more information about wolves. 4 stars
Never Cry Wolf, by Farley Mowat
Naturalist Farley Mowat spent the summer alone studying the wolf population, and developing a deep affection for the wolves. Very well written with great descriptions. 5 stars
The End of Night, by Paul Bogard
A wonderful book, very well written, about the rapid disappearance of darkness. Bogard talks about the issue of light pollution, the benefits of darkness, and what we can do to get it back. 5 stars
There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars, by Bob Crelin
A great children's book that almost mirrors The End of Night for kids. 5 stars
A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold
Published in 1948, this is the precursor to Silent Spring. A Sand County Almanac is often hailed as a foundational work of the modern environmental movement. It’s slow moving, but it talks about preserving the marshlands before anyone else. 3 stars
Cosmos, by Carl Sagan
Written in 1980, this is still an important piece of writing and should be required reading in schools. Carl Sagan is a very gifted writer who has written what is considered “the best-selling science book ever published in the English language... a magnificent overview of the past, present, and future of science.” 5 stars
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Looking for... World News and Issues?
Do
you have a student doing a pro/con issues report? Are you interested in the big
issues around the world and looking for more thorough news coverage? Global Issues in Context brings
together articles from news sources and academic resources on topics such as
the environment, women’s rights, and world conflicts. Most articles are
available in full text, just as they appeared in their original sources,
including copyrighted articles not available in a free Google search.
To
access Global Issues in Context,
start at chandlerlibrary.org and hover your mouse over the purple
RESEARCH tab. Then click Databases A-Z, and scroll down to choose Global Issues
in Context. You’ll need your library card and PIN if you’re signing in from
home. Then you can choose a popular topic from the main page or use the search bar
at the top to find your own topic.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Library Closed: Find reading recommendations!
All four branches of the Chandler Public Library will be closed on Monday, September 1 for Labor Day. We will reopen on Tuesday with normal hours.
Searching the catalog for new books to put on hold while the library's closed? You can still find our new and recommended book lists in our new catalog! Visit chandlerlibrary.org and do any search in the search field. (It can be as simple as "dogs.") Then scroll down to find the Recommended, New, Etc.box in the sidebar on the left. Clicking any book title in any of these lists will take you right to the catalog entry so you can place your hold!
We also have book lists on our website. From our homepage at chandlerlibrary.org, click READ - Book Lists. These lists are also linked to the catalog, so a great new read is just a click away!
We also have book lists on our website. From our homepage at chandlerlibrary.org, click READ - Book Lists. These lists are also linked to the catalog, so a great new read is just a click away!
Thursday, August 28, 2014
The September LibraryReads List!
The latest batch of librarian favorites are here! We've included descriptions* below and you can head to the LibraryReads website to see brief reviews submitted by librarians from across the country. We'd love to hear what you think about the titles, let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
Published: September 15, 2014
Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty—a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre—took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life’s work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters and unforgettable scenes. Caring for dead bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, Caitlin soon becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. She describes how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes) and reveals the strange history of cremation and undertaking, marveling at bizarre and wonderful funeral practices from different cultures.
Station Eleven: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel
Published: September 9, 2014
One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of King Lear. Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur’s chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them. Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten’s arm is a line from Star Trek: “Because survival is insufficient.” But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave.
The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad #5) by Tana French
Published: September 2, 2014
The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, on the grounds of a girls’ boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says, I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin’s Murder Squad—and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. The Secret Place, a board where the girls at St. Kilda’s School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why. But everything they discover leads them back to Holly’s close-knit group of friends and their fierce enemies, a rival clique—and to the tangled web of relationships that bound all the girls to Chris Harper.
Rooms: A Novel by Lauren Oliver
Published: September 23, 2014
Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
Published: September 9, 2014
Fiona Maye is a High Court judge in London presiding over cases in family court. She is fiercely intelligent, well respected, and deeply immersed in the nuances of her particular field of law. Often the outcome of a case seems simple from the outside, the course of action to ensure a child's welfare obvious. But the law requires more rigor than mere pragmatism, and Fiona is expert in considering the sensitivities of culture and religion when handing down her verdicts. But Fiona's professional success belies domestic strife. Her husband, Jack, asks her to consider an open marriage and, after an argument, moves out of their house. His departure leaves her adrift, wondering whether it was not love she had lost so much as a modern form of respectability; whether it was not contempt and ostracism she really fears. She decides to throw herself into her work, especially a complex case involving a seventeen-year-old boy whose parents will not permit a lifesaving blood transfusion because it conflicts with their beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses. But Jack doesn't leave her thoughts, and the pressure to resolve the case—as well as her crumbling marriage—tests Fiona in ways that will keep readers thoroughly enthralled until the last stunning page.
The Distance: A Thriller by Helen Giltrow
Published: September 9, 2014
Charlotte Alton has put her old life behind her. The life where she bought and sold information, unearthing secrets buried too deep for anyone else to find, or fabricating new identities for people who need their histories erased. But now she has been offered one more job. To get a hit-man into an experimental new prison and take out someone who according to the records isn't there at all. It's impossible. A suicide mission. And quite possibly a set-up. So why can't she say no?
Horrorstor: A Novel by Grady Hendrix
Published: September 23, 2014
Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Columbus, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring wardrobes, shattered Brooka glassware, and vandalized Liripip sofa beds—clearly, someone or something is up to no good. To unravel the mystery, five young employees volunteer for a long dusk-till-dawn shift—and they encounter horrors that defy imagination.
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Published: September 16, 2014
It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers. For with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the 'clerk class', the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. And as passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.
The Witch with No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison
Published: September 9, 2014
Rachel Morgan's come a long way from the clutzy runner of Dead Witch Walking. She's faced vampires and werewolves, banshees, witches, and soul-eating demons. She's crossed worlds, channeled gods, and accepted her place as a day-walking demon. She's lost friends and lovers and family, and an old enemy has become something much more. But power demands responsibility, and world-changers must always pay a price. That time is now. To save Ivy's soul and the rest of the living vampires, to keep the demonic ever after and our own world from destruction, Rachel Morgan will risk everything.
Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley
Published: September 2, 2014
In 1921, infamous Italian poet Galeazzo D'Ascanio wrote his last and greatest play, inspired by his muse and mistress, actress Celia Sands. On the eve of opening night, Celia vanished, and the play was never performed. Now, two generations later, Alessandro D'Ascanio plans to stage his grandfather's masterpiece and has offered the lead to a promising young English actress, also named Celia Sands-at the whim of her actress mother, or so she has always thought. When Celia arrives at D'Ascanio's magnificent, isolated Italian villa, she is drawn to the mystery of her namesake's disappearance-and to the compelling, enigmatic Alessandro. But the closer Celia gets to learning the first Celia's fate, the more she is drawn into a web of murder, passion, and the obsession of genius. Though she knows she should let go of the past, in the dark, in her dreams, it comes back...
Which one will you read first?
If you need help placing a hold with your Chandler Public Library card, give us a call at 480-782-2800.
If you'd like more book recommendations, browse our Book Lists page or check out the previous LibraryReads lists.
*Book descriptions from the publisher.
 |
| Top 10 Books Loved by Librarians in September |
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
Published: September 15, 2014
Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty—a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre—took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life’s work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters and unforgettable scenes. Caring for dead bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, Caitlin soon becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. She describes how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes) and reveals the strange history of cremation and undertaking, marveling at bizarre and wonderful funeral practices from different cultures.
Station Eleven: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel
Published: September 9, 2014
One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production of King Lear. Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur’s chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them. Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten’s arm is a line from Star Trek: “Because survival is insufficient.” But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave.
The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad #5) by Tana French
Published: September 2, 2014
The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, on the grounds of a girls’ boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says, I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin’s Murder Squad—and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. The Secret Place, a board where the girls at St. Kilda’s School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why. But everything they discover leads them back to Holly’s close-knit group of friends and their fierce enemies, a rival clique—and to the tangled web of relationships that bound all the girls to Chris Harper.
Rooms: A Novel by Lauren Oliver
Published: September 23, 2014
Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.
The Children Act by Ian McEwan
Published: September 9, 2014
Fiona Maye is a High Court judge in London presiding over cases in family court. She is fiercely intelligent, well respected, and deeply immersed in the nuances of her particular field of law. Often the outcome of a case seems simple from the outside, the course of action to ensure a child's welfare obvious. But the law requires more rigor than mere pragmatism, and Fiona is expert in considering the sensitivities of culture and religion when handing down her verdicts. But Fiona's professional success belies domestic strife. Her husband, Jack, asks her to consider an open marriage and, after an argument, moves out of their house. His departure leaves her adrift, wondering whether it was not love she had lost so much as a modern form of respectability; whether it was not contempt and ostracism she really fears. She decides to throw herself into her work, especially a complex case involving a seventeen-year-old boy whose parents will not permit a lifesaving blood transfusion because it conflicts with their beliefs as Jehovah's Witnesses. But Jack doesn't leave her thoughts, and the pressure to resolve the case—as well as her crumbling marriage—tests Fiona in ways that will keep readers thoroughly enthralled until the last stunning page.
The Distance: A Thriller by Helen Giltrow
Published: September 9, 2014
Charlotte Alton has put her old life behind her. The life where she bought and sold information, unearthing secrets buried too deep for anyone else to find, or fabricating new identities for people who need their histories erased. But now she has been offered one more job. To get a hit-man into an experimental new prison and take out someone who according to the records isn't there at all. It's impossible. A suicide mission. And quite possibly a set-up. So why can't she say no?
Horrorstor: A Novel by Grady Hendrix
Published: September 23, 2014
Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Columbus, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring wardrobes, shattered Brooka glassware, and vandalized Liripip sofa beds—clearly, someone or something is up to no good. To unravel the mystery, five young employees volunteer for a long dusk-till-dawn shift—and they encounter horrors that defy imagination.
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Published: September 16, 2014
It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers. For with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the 'clerk class', the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. And as passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.
The Witch with No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison
Published: September 9, 2014
Rachel Morgan's come a long way from the clutzy runner of Dead Witch Walking. She's faced vampires and werewolves, banshees, witches, and soul-eating demons. She's crossed worlds, channeled gods, and accepted her place as a day-walking demon. She's lost friends and lovers and family, and an old enemy has become something much more. But power demands responsibility, and world-changers must always pay a price. That time is now. To save Ivy's soul and the rest of the living vampires, to keep the demonic ever after and our own world from destruction, Rachel Morgan will risk everything.
Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley
Published: September 2, 2014
In 1921, infamous Italian poet Galeazzo D'Ascanio wrote his last and greatest play, inspired by his muse and mistress, actress Celia Sands. On the eve of opening night, Celia vanished, and the play was never performed. Now, two generations later, Alessandro D'Ascanio plans to stage his grandfather's masterpiece and has offered the lead to a promising young English actress, also named Celia Sands-at the whim of her actress mother, or so she has always thought. When Celia arrives at D'Ascanio's magnificent, isolated Italian villa, she is drawn to the mystery of her namesake's disappearance-and to the compelling, enigmatic Alessandro. But the closer Celia gets to learning the first Celia's fate, the more she is drawn into a web of murder, passion, and the obsession of genius. Though she knows she should let go of the past, in the dark, in her dreams, it comes back...
Which one will you read first?
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*Book descriptions from the publisher.
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