Langley-Adams Library Recommendations

In the world of  We Set the Dark on Fire , men have two wives – a Primera and a Segunda. Primeras are supposed to be men’s equals in all things public, and Segundas are softer, the ones who have the babies and worry about their home’s aesthetics.  Daniela is about to graduate school, where she has been trained to be a Primera her whole life. When one of her biggest secrets is about to be exposed, she is saved by a member of La Voz, a resistance group that Dani has always been told to fear.  She goes on to graduate and marry Mateo Garcia – a boy whose family is high up in politics. The Segunda, Carmen, was anything but a friend to Dani in school. And when La Voz calls upon Dani to work for them, she knows what she has to do – or else they’ll find a way to expose the secret she’s worked so long to conceal.  I highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for Latinx representation, LGBTQ representation, and a world based on a different kind of mythology.  ...

“Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas. Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs. Yet, against all odds, those labels soon become actual people to Norris. Be it loner Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, or Madison the beta cheerleader, who is so nice that it has to be a trap. Not to mention Aarti the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who might, in fact, be a real love interest in the making. He even starts playing actual hockey with these Texans."  (Goo...

“When the unconventional Durrell family can no longer endure the damp, gray English climate, they do what any sensible family would do: sell their house and relocate to the sunny Greek isle of Corfu. My Family and Other Animals was intended to embrace the natural history of the island but ended up as a delightful account of Durrell’s family’s experiences, from the many eccentric hangers-on to the ceaseless procession of puppies, toads, scorpions, geckoes, ladybugs, glowworms, octopuses, bats, and butterflies into their home.”  (Goodreads.com) I chose to read this book because of the PBS television show “The Durrells in Corfu.” I thoroughly enjoyed the show about the English family who decided to move to Greece. While I waited for the fourth season to come out I needed something to fill the void. I knew the show was based on a series so I started with the first book. Now, I should warn you, if you are infatuated with the relationship between Louisa and Spiro   and ho...

“2018 marks the 150th anniversary of the classic Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Join Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as they are re-envisioned as a blended family living in modern day NYC in this beautiful, full-color graphic novel that's perfect for fans of Raina Telemeier's Smile, Svetlana Chmakova's Awkward, and Victoria Jamieson's Roller Girl.” (Goodreads.com) ‘Little Women’ is near and dear to my heart. I love the book and the films, so naturally I would read the graphic novel. It was interesting to see little women portrayed in the present day. I liked that the characters reflected the diversity of families and addressed the issues that we face today. It wasn’t my favorite adaptation of ‘Little Women’ but I think it would be great for younger readers to be introduced to the March family. I recommend this graphic novel if you are interesred in LGBTQ coming out stories, or if you’d like to read a shortened version of ‘Little Women’ depicted in current day situat...

Having just won the 2019 Mary Higgins Clark award, I was very curious to read this book. Being an avid mystery and historical fiction reader, it was nice reading something that included both of these genres. I also appreciated this mystery’s fresh approach. Set in the 1920’s Bombay, Perveen Mistry is Bombay’s first female lawyer. Earning her law degree from Oxford, Perveen is the daughter of a prominent lawyer and has joined his firm. Mistry’s Law has been appointed to execute the will of, Mr. Omar Farid. Mr. Farid was a wealthy mill owner who left behind 3 Muslim widows -who are living in full purdah . In looking into this will, Perveen finds it strange that each woman has signed over their inheritance to a charity. Perveen decides she must get to the bottom of her suspicion. While investigating this, a murder occurs! Thus…the story becomes …a murder mystery! The Widows of Malabar Hill goes back and forth between 1921 and 1915. I found the back story of Perveen helpful in understan...

"In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time. Suburban drama and otherworldly mysteries collide in this critically acclaimed story about nostalgia, first jobs, and the last days of childhood."* This graphic novel series has it all, amazing artwork, cool characters and an interesting story line. I really enjoyed it because this group of girls unexpectedly comes together to go on the adventure of a lifetime, that none of them had ever expected. There are currently five volumes in this series with more to come. Kelsey Fitzgerald Library Assistant Available  at the Langley Adams Library *Paper Girls - Goodreads

"Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America's rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair's brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country's most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his "World's Fair Hotel" just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium.  What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake."* In this one book there were two interesting stories although the story of H.H Holmes captured my attention more. However, I learned a lot of fascinating facts that I never would have known ot...

Did you know some lizards do push-ups? Did you know some squirt blood from their eyes as a defense mechanism?  Discover 28 different lizard species and their every day behaviors in April Pulley Sayre’s picture book Like a Lizard . Explore the surprising adaptations lizards exhibit in the wild brought to life in vibrant illustrations by Stephanie Laberis. The back of the book lists every lizard featured for interested students, along with the region they are found in and their body length. Perfect book for STEM-inclined readers and lovers of animals. Recommended for reading aloud. Sergei Franson Library Assistant Available at the Langley Adams Library

"Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.  Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.  What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered."* Usually the romance novels don't cover such a long period of time but because it covers a period of 10 years it really sets it apart from other romance novels. It is an angsty and som...

"It’s 1945, and Lorna Anderson’s life on her father’s farm in Scotland consists of endless chores and rationing, knitting Red Cross scarves, and praying for an Allied victory. So when Paul Vogel, a German prisoner of war, is assigned as the new farmhand, Lorna is appalled. How can she possibly work alongside the enemy when her own brothers are risking their lives for their country? But as Lorna reluctantly spends time with Paul, she feels herself changing. The more she learns about him—from his time in the war to his life back home in Germany—the more she sees the boy behind the soldier. Soon Lorna is battling her own warring heart. Loving Paul could mean losing her family and the life she’s always known. With tensions rising all around them, Lorna must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice before the end of the war determines their fate.”  (Goodreads.com) Now, I know what you’re thinking, “not another Prisoner of War story set in World War II!” Here me out. It’s a ...

"Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings. With a relentless female assassin trailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee. Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a series of codes, which are the work of a brilliant scientist whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written, Dante Alighieri's The Inferno."* This is the fourth book in Brown's Robert Langdon series but you don't need to read all of them to know what is happening. He does a great job reintroducing his character at the beginning of each novel and each book is a separate story. I ended up reading this book in one day I enjoyed it so much. The story is exciting and fast paced, it really ma...