GREAT READS

Bright Star

A tale of tragic romance, Bright Star is a lush film filled with the texture of shift gowns, the color of wildflowers, and an enchanting soundtrack which weave together to give the film a poetry worthy of the poet who inspired it.  Based on the true story of John Keats, one of the greatest romantic poets of the 19th century, the movie portrays the birth of a great love between Keats and Fanny Brawne.  Students of literary history will know how the story ends, but as a cinematic Keats s......more

Recommended by Megan Willan

Once a Witch

by Carolyn MacCullough.

Everyone wants to fit in, to be normal. But what if being normal made you a family outcast? Tamsin's is a family of witches and each member has a special Talent. Whether it's finding any and all lost items, blinking out of existence in one place only to appear in another, or time travel, they are all special. In a family of special Talents, Tamsin is completely ordinary. Forced to work in her Grandmother's bookshop all summer, one of the customers with a special need mistakes Tamsin for her Tale......more

Recommended by Caroline Barlow

Nella Last's War

edited by Richard Broad and Suzie Fleming.

Who would have ever have thought that an ordinary housewife's diary would be interesting?  When England's "Mass Observation" experiment started in 1937, intending to foster a "science of ourselves" by setting up hundreds of volunteers to write details of their everyday lives, they probably did not foresee that a world war would make such diaries significant historical records. But war did come, and Nella Last's Diary: The Second World War Diaries of a Housewife is a  surprisi......more

Recommended by Betsy Schroeder

The Poisoning in the Pub

Simon Brett.

...more

Recommended by Betsy Schroeder

The Other

David Guterson.

I picked up David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars around 1996, simply due to the cover art and the fact it had a gold sticker on it proclaiming it as a National Book Award winner.  I brought it home and put it in a pile of books to be read.  Shortly thereafter, a thoroughly forgettable movie was made of the book, and my purchased copy got moved from the stack of bedside books to the bookcase which is reserved for read books and those that may get read far it the future. Guterson......more

Recommended by Tim Andrews

The School of Essential Ingredients

Erica Bauermeister.

For Lillian, food is the means by which one expresses love, comfort, and passion. Her culinary career begins after her father walks out and her mother loses herself in books. As Lillian experiments with cooking, she notices that the only thing that returns her mother to the real world is the aroma coming from the kitchen promising something comforting and fulfilling. So Lillian vows to “cook her out” and a chef is born. Forward several years into the future and Lillian is a successfu......more

Recommended by Tracy Miller

Heist Society

Ally Carter.

15-year-old Katarina Bishop has decided that she wants no part of the family business and begins to create a new life for herself. Unfortunately, when the family business is high stakes theft, leaving is easier than staying gone.  Katarina gets called back into action when a powerful man threatens her father's life over his alleged theft of some valuable art work. Kat compiles a team of teenage spies, including her cousin Gabrielle and billionaire Hale, to try to track down the stolen artwo......more

Recommended by Amanda Krumrine

Good Night, Mr. Tom

Michelle Magorian

This is a story about a boy named Willie, a scrawny, scared little thing who, during World War II, is evacuated from London to the English countryside.  He is taken in a bit reluctantly by a gruff old man, a widower, Mr. Tom who soon realizes that Willie's timidity and fears are the result of abuse from his single mother.  Mr. Tom applies his own innate kindness and common sense, and gradually brings Willie out of his shell. Will, as he comes to be known, finds friends and affection a......more

Recommended by Betsy Schroeder

Death: The High Cost of Living

[written by Neil Gaiman ; illustrated by Chris Bachalo, Mark Buckingham, Dave McKean, colored by Steve Oliff/Olyoptics, lettered by Todd Klein].

We all know and celebrate the genius of Neil Gaiman, and Death: The High Cost of Living doesn't disappoint...it's dark and fun at the same time. Enter the irresistable character of Didi, or death in human form, who happens to be a really cool chick who makes even the most mundane everyday things seem exciting. She saves sixteen-year-old Sexton Furnival from the dumpster...and interrupts his plan to commit suicide. In just one night on a twisted journey on New York City streets, Didi an......more

Recommended by Rachel Hannum

American gods : a novel

Neil Gaiman.

If reading or seeing The Lightening Thief has sparked your imagination, you can grab a grown-up version of the Percy Jackson series. The Greco-Roman gods will have to share the literary spotlight with the rest of Europe.  In fact, Gods of all nations have been haunting the back alleys of cities and the in between places of the modern world since 2001 when author Neil Gaiman published American Gods.  In this dark tale, gods of the old world were brought to America in the hearts of the i......more

Recommended by Megan Willan