Posted in Adult, Fiction, Film, New & Upcoming, Nonfiction

Read Now, Watch Later

As always, Hollywood is taking from the pages for inspiration! See below for a list of books that are being adapted for the screen.

**Click the book title to be brought directly to our online catalog’s listing to place the title on hold or learn more.

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

This book’s adaption will be released under a shorter name: Oppenheimer. Both mediums are about Physicist J Robert Oppenheimer as he works with a team of scientists during the Manhattan Project, leading to the development of the atomic bomb. The film, directed by Christopher Nolan, has a runtime of 2 hours and 30 minutes. It will explode into theaters on July 21, 2023.

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

This year marks the release of the third Hercule Poirot movie staring Kenneth Branagh as the brainy detective. The movie will be called A Haunting in Venice. The story follows Poirot investigating a murder that happens during a Halloween seance at a haunted palazzo in Venice, Italy. Spooky! The film is set to release September 15, 2023, right before your own Halloween party.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Lessons in Chemistry is a bestseller that has been impossible to keep on our shelves. It follows female chemist Elizabeth Zott in the 1950’s and 60’s. Elizabeth loves science but, when life happens, ends up on a cooking show. On the show, Elizabeth teaches women not just how to cook but to change their lives. This novel is being adapted into a mini-series on Apple-TV staring Captain Marvel‘s Brie Larson. The series is expected to be out in 2023.

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

Another story inspired by real life! Killers of the Flower Moon is about the murders of 24 members of oil-rich Osage tribe in 1920s Oklahoma, all for gold. The film directed by the renowned Martin Scorsese and is set to release on October 6, 2023. While you can take a break between reading chapters, note that the film has announced it has a runtime of 3 hours and 26 minutes. With its star studded cast, subject matter, and big budget, the film is rumored to be expected to win many awards.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

My Lovely Wife is a psychological thriller that hooks readers in. The story is a mixture of Gone Girl meets American Psycho as it follows a couple who, to keep their marriage alive, find murderous ways to spice things up. Of course, things don’t always go as planned. Netflix has the rights and the director lined up, so hopefully more updates will come soon!

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover’s hit book It Ends with Us is in production. Behind the scenes set photos featuring Blake Lively have been popping up online. Some fans are excited while others say that 23 year old main character isn’t perfectly cast. Only time will tell! While there is no release date for the film yet, readers have time to read both the novel and its sequel It Starts With Us. Fun fact: Collen Hoover has sold more books than James Patterson in 2022!

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Set to premiere on Amazon Prime in August 2023, Red, White &Royal Blue is a enemies to lovers rom com. The story centers on the romance between Alex Claremont-Diaz, a first son of the United States, and Prince Henry, a British prince.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple is slated to get its second movie adaption. Currently, the film is expected to premiere on December 25, 2023 in theaters. The film is produced by Oprah Winfrey and stars Fantasia Barrino, Halle Bailey, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji P. Henson. Rumors have already begun that this classic book’s adaptation will be up for numerous Oscars.

Do you think the books will be better than the adaptions? Only one way to find out!

Posted in Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, History, Nonfiction, Romance

While You Wait May 2023: The Five-Star Weekend and The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

Elin Hilderbrand has a new novel out, and that’s topping our fiction holds right now – not too surprising as she’s a very popular author! And on the non-fiction side, we have the dramatic story of an 18th-century shipwreck and the chaos that ensued after one group of survivors washed ashore… only to be followed six months later by a second group accusing them of murder!

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

Hollis Shaw’s life seems picture-perfect. She’s the creator of the popular food blog Hungry with Hollis and is married to Matthew, a dreamy heart surgeon. But after she and Matthew get into a heated argument one snowy morning, he leaves for the airport and is killed in a car accident. The cracks in Hollis’s perfect life—her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline—grow deeper.

So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket. But the weekend doesn’t turn out to be a joyful Hallmark movie.

The husband of Hollis’s childhood friend Tatum arranges for Hollis’s first love, Jack Finigan, to spend time with them, stirring up old feelings. Meanwhile, Tatum is forced to play nice with abrasive and elitist Dru-Ann, Hollis’s best friend from UNC Chapel Hill. Dru-Ann’s career as a prominent Chicago sports agent is on the line after her comments about a client’s mental health issues are misconstrued online. Brooke, Hollis’s friend from their thirties, has just discovered that her husband is having an inappropriate relationship with a woman at work. Again! And then there’s Gigi, a stranger to everyone (including Hollis) who reached out to Hollis through her blog. Gigi embodies an unusual grace and, as it happens, has many secrets.

Continue reading “While You Wait May 2023: The Five-Star Weekend and The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder”
Posted in Fantasy, Film, LGBTQI+, Science Fiction

I Sense a Disturbance in the Force

May the 4th has come and gone. You’ve marathoned the movies. Maybe you’ve read the comics or one of the novels. Perhaps you’re still working through Star Wars: Jedi Survivor. But you’ve still got a hankering for even more content like Star Wars. Don’t worry! I have a few suggestions.

Spaceballs (DVD/Blu-ray)

Spaceballs is a comedy classic. Arguably, it’s my favorite of Mel Brooks’ films. It hits just the right blend of slapstick and satire. There’s a great merchandizing joke in the film that feels so appropriate with just how much Star Wars merch there is these days.

Continue reading “I Sense a Disturbance in the Force”
Posted in Adult, Fantasy, Fiction, Staff Picks, Uncategorized

A Series of Love Affairs

Dear reader, I have a confession. Until several months ago I have never read a romance book. But then, I bought this magical thing called a Kindle and ever since then I’ve been reading books I never would have before…like romance! This is my first Kindle so I don’t know if this phenomenon has happened to other people, or is it just me? Something about reading books on that little screen has opened up a portal into new authors and genres.

The romance series I’m going to be talking about today popped up in the Kindle store. It includes a strong female heroine raised by mercenaries, a handsome and chivalrous male lead, dragons, magic, swords, and sarcasm! What more could you want, right? Immediately hooked, I downloaded it and have now devoured three books in the 12 book series. It is definitely one of those series where the romance bits give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. ‘Twas perfect reading for our extended winter!

What series is this? Well, I’m glad you asked! It is The Nine Kingdoms series by Lynn Kurland. It follows Morgan as she rises from an orphan trained as a lethal wielder of a sword to a woman who just might contain the only power needed to save the nine kingdoms! Along the way she discovers startling revelations about her family, the man she slowly falls in love with, and herself.

Star of the Morning by Lynn Kurland

Darkness covers the north, since the black mage has begun his assault on the kingdom of Neroche. Legend has it that only the two magical swords held by Neroche’s king can defeat the mage. Now the fate of the Nine Kingdoms rests in the hands of a woman destined to wield one of those blades…

In this land of dragons and mages, warrior maids and magical swords, nothing is as it seems. And Morgan will find that the magic in her blood brings her troubles she cannot face with a sword-and a love more powerful than she has ever imagined.

If you love slow-burn romances, then this book – and series – is for you! Are you ready to fall in love with the characters of the nine kingdoms?

Continue reading “A Series of Love Affairs”
Posted in Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Nonfiction

While You Wait April 2023: Pineapple Street and Poverty, By America

I was not familiar with the author of this month’s top fiction book, Jenny Jackson, and taking a look, it looks like this is her debut novel! It’s pretty impressive to end up at the top of the most-requested list with your first book. And in non-fiction, we have a followup book to the popular Evicted by Matthew Desmond.

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected old money Stockton family, followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood but giving up far too much in the process; Sasha, a middle-class New England girl, has married into the Brooklyn Heights family, and finds herself cast as the arriviste outsider; and Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can’t have, and must decide what kind of person she wants to be.

Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, loveable—if fallible—characters, it’s about the peculiar unknowability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love—all wrapped in a story that is a sheer delight.

Continue reading “While You Wait April 2023: Pineapple Street and Poverty, By America”
Posted in Adult, Fiction, Horror, Mystery, New & Upcoming, Science Fiction, Thrillers

April 2023 Library Reads

Every month, librarians from across the country pick the upcoming book releases they’re most excited to get their hands on. This month, we have a re-telling of Pinocchio full of quirky and charming characters, a thriller set in the classical music world, a humorous anti-heist novel, and three tales of horrors that move unseen, including one set aboard a spaceship.

Top Pick: In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune

Clearly if you need a book about a robot that’s guaranteed to have you break out into heaving sobs, this is the novel for you. Klune’s masterful retelling of Pinocchio — a little bit science fiction, a little bit dystopian, and a little bit book-clubby–is a sure-fire winner with so much appeal on so many levels it should prompt readers of all genres to step into something new and original. For fans of The Maker of Swans and The Night Circus. —Douglas Beatty, Baltimore County Public Library

While you wait: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Continue reading “April 2023 Library Reads”
Posted in Adult, Fiction, Mystery, Nonfiction

While You Wait March 2023: I Have Some Questions For You and The Mountain Is You

Our popular non-fiction book this month is actually from 2020, proving the enduring appeal of self-help books. And in fiction, we have an author who hasn’t appeared in this series before, Rebecca Makkai – one of her previous novels, The Great Believers, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2019, however! Take a look at these books below as well as a few to tide you over during the wait in the queue.

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie.

But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn’t as much of an outsider at Granby as she’d thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.

Continue reading “While You Wait March 2023: I Have Some Questions For You and The Mountain Is You”
Posted in Adult, Award Winners, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Horror, New & Upcoming, Romance

Library Reads: March 2023

Every month, librarians across the country highlight the upcoming titles they’re most excited to read. This month’s picks include a horror novel set in early 20th century Montana, a retelling of the Greek myth of Clytemnestra, and a coming-of-age novel set in Prohibition-era Virginia.

Top Pick: Lone Women by Victor LaValle

A homestead far from prying eyes offers Adelaide a fresh start in 1915 Montana. She makes a few female friends–after all, lone women need to stick together. But a secret that won’t be contained or silenced soon threatens her new life. Horror mixed with resilient characters in complex relationships make this a must-read for fans of A Dangerous Business and When Women Were Dragons.

—Kimberly McGee, Lake Travis Community Library, Austin, TX

Continue reading “Library Reads: March 2023”
Posted in Adult, Horror, Mystery, Thrillers

Snowy Thrillers to Unthaw With

Sheboygan has been hit with all the snow and cold! What a great time to curl up with a book and hot beverage. Not sure what to read? Create chills without leaving the comfort of your home with these winter thrillers.

Click the titles below to view the selections in our online catalog.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Think you know the person you married? Think again… Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife. Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts–paper, cotton, pottery, tin–and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after. Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

This book’s twist was impressive!

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods.

Ruth Ware’s debut novel secured her place among the best modern thriller authors.

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway. But when the storm hits, no one is getting away. It’s winter in the Catskills and Mitchell’s Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing maybe even romantic weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge wood burning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity and all contact with the outside world the guests settle in for the long haul. Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic. Within the snowed-in paradise, something or someone is picking off the guests one by one. And there’s nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm.

Reads like a winter And Then There Were None!

Shiver by Allie Reynolds

In this propulsive locked-room thriller debut, a reunion weekend in the French Alps turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at their remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm. When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to Le Rocher, a cozy ski resort in the French Alps, she’s expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. Stranded in the deserted resort, Milla’s not sure what’s worse: the increasingly sinister things happening around her or the looming snowstorm that’s making escape even more impossible. All she knows is that there’s no one on the mountain she can trust.

No Exit by Taylor Adams

On the way home to Utah to see her sick mother, college student Darby Thorne is stranded by a blizzard at a highway rest stop in the Colorado Rockies. She’ll have to spend the night in a rest stop in the middle of nowhere with four complete strangers. Then she stumbles across a little girl locked inside an animal crate in the back of a van. There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, no way out because of the snow, and she doesn’t know which of the other travelers is the kidnapper …

No Exit already has a movie adaption that is available on Hulu.

Happy reading!

Descriptions and images provided by the publisher.

Posted in Adult, Biography & Memoir, Contemporary, Fiction, History, Nonfiction, Romance

While You Wait XII: Someone Else’s Shoes and The Nazi Conspiracy

It’s amazing – this month we have neither a thriller nor a memoir! Instead, our very popular new fiction book is Jojo Moyes’ new novel Someone Else’s Shoes, which seems poised to be a popular book club pick in the future as well. And for non-fiction, The Nazi Conspiracy is topping our charts, filled with spies, assassins, and political intrigue. Get on the waitlists now, and check out our read-alikes while you wait!

Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes

Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes?

Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope–she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in.

That’s because Sam Kemp – in the bleakest point of her life – has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag–she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself.

Continue reading “While You Wait XII: Someone Else’s Shoes and The Nazi Conspiracy”