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Adult Summer Reading

I am happy to announce that the drawing for the Adult Summer Reading winners happened on Wednesday, August 27th. We had twenty grand prize winners and we issued thirty free ice cream cone coupons for Lizzies. We had one hundred and twelve entries! Thank you to our participants who helped make this a success.

I want to thank the Friends of the Waltham Public Library and Lizzie’s Ice Cream for their generous contributions to the effort.

Prizes included gift certificates to More Than Words , Gourmet Pottery, and Cafe On The Common.

Here are some of the books that our adult summer readers enjoyed along with their reviews:

First, the entries that were submitted online: I asked our readers to rate these titles in beach chairs. One beach chair would be the lowest review and then five beach chairs would be the highest.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Our reader gave this 3 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: The novel is engaging for young adults and adults alike, especially if you have a strong background about the 1980s. However, I am not much of a video gamer so a lot of the references were lost on me. Additionally, I thought the ending did not send a strong message for readers.

The Hunger Games-Mockingjay by Suaznne Collins
Our reader gave this 4 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: While I did not feel that this was the strongest of the three in the Hunger Games trilogy, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Suzanne Collins is a terrific author and I was so pleased to see the path that Katniss, Gale and Peeta took. I would highly recommend this book to others!

I Shall Be Near You: A Novel by Erin Lindsay McCabe
Our reader gave this 3 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: This novel chronicles a woman who follows her husband into battle during the Civil War. I thought it was well written, but dragged on at times.

Track of the Cat: by Nevada Barr
Our reader gave this 3 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: Murder in a national park in the Southwest

The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams
Our reader gave this 5 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: Great story! Starts off with delivery of mysterious suitcase. Story told by two different characters living 50 years apart. Romance, sex, heartbreak, science, intrigue, and history. Violet and Vivian are great characters!

Belle Cora by Philip Margulues
Our reader gave this 4 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: The story of Anabella Godwin, also known as Belle Cora, and the events that shaped her life. The story explains events that led her to choose to become a madame, and why she ultimately chose to stay in this profession. Even though some may question the morality of her career choice, she certainly represented a strong, independent, opinionated woman in an era when women were not expected to be any of these things.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Our reader gave this 4 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: Very interesting style and fun read. Written in the form of letters sent between residents of a small island country where letters of the alphabet are being banned from use after they fall off an important historical sign that displays a short saying using all of the letters in the alphabet. As more letters continue to fall from the sign, the citizens of the island try to get the banning edicts revoked and communicate with less and less words and letters available to them. As the book is written in the form of messages between residents, the writing of the novel reflects the writing of the citizens and letters banned from use by the residents are also gone from the narrative.

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater
Our reader gave this 4 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: This sequel to Maggie’s Lament shifts focus to the main character’s best friend who is trying to go about living his life after discovering that he’s been living in a world full of dangerous fairies his whole life.

In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
Our reader gave this 5 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: This book takes a snapshot view of the rise of Hitler’s power by looking at the experiences of the American ambassador to Germany and his family, beginning in 1933. Rife with intrigue, the reader gets a look at the power struggle going on not only in American political circles, but in Hitler’s organization circles as well. This is a painless way to learn history. We not only learn how pivotal events effect one particular family, but what is going on in the world as well.
Ready

Off Course by Michelle Huneven
Our reader gave this 5 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: I’ve read all of Michelle Huneven’s books and really enjoyed them.

The Last Days of California by Mary Miller
Our reader gave this 4 out of 5 beach chairs
The book summary/review: Unique take on the classic coming of age novel. Jess and her family set out on a road trip leading up the Rapture. This story is told with humor and sympathy. A fresh book from a new author.

Here are some of the highlights from our entries submitted in person:

A Soft Place To Land by Susan Rebecca White
The book summary/review: A beautiful story of the complicated love between two sisters. After the parents’ death they are separated. It’s fun and the ending is sad.

Backwards by Todd Mitchell
The book summary/review: There’s this kid who is trapped inside a dead body and then realizes that the person’s life is going backwards leading up to the suicide. He needs to learn how to find himself before we can repair this kid’s life.

Three Girls and Their Brother by Theresa Rebeck
The book summary/review: An expose of how a mother uses her family to create her own celebrity and ends up pretty much dstorying the children’s lives. They in turn learn how to mend the who sad nastiness and become family again.

Heading Out To Wonderful by Robert Goolrick
The book summary/review: A story of a doomed love affair that ends in the worst way.

The Scent of Jasmine Jude Deveraux
The book summary/review: A naive young woman becomes involved with an escaped “murderer” falls in love with him and helps him clear up the mystery of who the real betrayers are.

His Until Midnight by Nikki Logan
The book summary/review: Quick easy read. Totally unbelievable but fun.

Cross My Heart by James Patterson
The book summary/review: Best and most tense story in the Alex Cross series! Plenty of twists and turns! Fast read…didn’t want to put down!

Seize the Storm by Michael Cadnum
The book summary/review: A rich family finds a pile of cash on board an abandoned yacht which was owned by bad dealers. They then become involved in an illegal transaction which leads into one man being killed by a shark.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
The book summary/review: Despite the sex part, the book showed what the youths think about, and taught not to see us too much, but enjoy being ourselves. (and be smart).

The Girl Who Played With Fire by Steig Larsson
The book summary/review: Lisbeth Salander is accused of murdering Mikael Blankin’s 2 friends, Mia Johanssen and Dag Schenssary, who were going to expose the sex traffickng in Sweden. This is a really awesome thriller!

Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Phillip Sendker
The book summary/review: Easy read, thought provoking love story! Must read!

Sea Glass by Anita Shreve
A romantic novel. Good book!

Walking In Circles Before Lying Down by Merrill Markoe
The book summary/review: “Humorous.” A “talking dog” has more common sense than the protagonist. LA, West Coast, crazies, doggie daycaare, young romance. Doggy knows best! A refreshing diversion.

Third Class Superhero by Charles Yu
The book summary/review: A collection of various of scenarios per chapter that describes one of the character’s tales that is the same as the book’s tale. All of these scenarios depict the reality of the utmost realistic human potential to be a superhero, how it is a very hard job to make a lasting probabilities, choices of possibilities, taking risks, chances in order to develop as a person and going beyond their own boundaries to make a powerful impact to the best of your ability, all while trying to find your true sense of self/identity. Awesome book!

Kiss And Tell by Fern Michaels
The book summary/review: Another great, Fern Michaels, Sisterhood, Revenge novel!

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’Nan
The book summary/review: Good story about the closing of a restaurant. The author captures working class people. Interesting book.

The Light In the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian
The book summary/review: Really good book. Murder mystery. Suspenseful to the very end!

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
Great book. Love story-what else. Easy reading with a twist to a happy ending.

Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham
The book summary/review: First person novel. Narration of literary life. Celebration of deceased novelist and long held secrets. Great book!

How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
The book summary/review: Set in a science fictional universe, Charles Yu attempts to search for his dad after a long time of disappearance. As he finds out, he must make the choice of either living in the time loop for fear of safety and taking risks or to live in the present moment where his former past self (earlier in the book) shoots his present self (later becomes new self). It’s all based on what he chooses to do rather than be determined to live by it. Interesting, fascinating book. Awesome!

The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon by Alexander McCall Smith
The book summary/review: Wonderful, light summer reading. The further adventures of Precious Ramotswe of the #1 Ladies’ Detective agency.

That Perfect Someone by Johanna Lindsey
The book summary/review: Thinking she is finally rid of the person she was contracted to wed as a child, the heroine finds herself falling for a man turned Pirate who is in love with one of her own friends. The plot twists and turns in the usual “Mallory” series the author continues to capture the reader’s delight. An easy, fun read for the beach.

The Drifter by Susan Wiggs
The book summary/review: Wonderful, typical Wiggs! Emotion packed, mystery and suspense. Goodness reigns over evil. Romance between two people hurt when young by parents careless with their own.

Five Fold Happiness: Chinese Concepts of Luck, Prosperity, Longevity, Happiness and Wealth by Vivien Sung
The book summary/review: Various of cultural Chinese things and how they came to be via folklore/legend/myths. Also, association with the symbolic item to attain luck, prosperity, longevity, happiness or wealth can be anything that is similarly, identically pronounced as said.

Temptation Ridge by Robin Carr
The book summary/review: Finding love in a small town

Weekends With Daisy by Sharron Kahn Luttrell Excellent. True Story. Training of a service dog by outside family on weekends and a prison inmate Monday through Friday.

Beach Lane by Sheryl Woods
A must read! Friendship turns to love against past insecurities. A terrifying health situation arises; one that proves their love against tough odds including past relationships. What seems insurmountable takes the love to the TOP.

The Deed by Lynsay Sands The story of a naive but “modern” thinking woman who takes control of her life once her first husband dies. She visits the king asking for a new one and gets more than she bargains for. She avoids the sinister cousin trying to usurp her position.

Arm Candy by Jill KargmanA good description of life style in New York; two different modes. One privileged wealthy, the other, creative artistic. Although I’m glad to have finished the book it would not be the kind I would choose again. The characters lived narcissistic and selfish ways of life. The ending redeemed the protagonists humanity for me.

Killer Ambition by Marcia Clark Great legal read!