River Readers

Astrid is the little thunderbolt of Glimmerdal. She is the only child and her best friend is an elderly neighbor, Gunnvald. Astrid's life on the mountain seems idyllic. She lives with her father; her mother is away in Greenland studying the icebergs. She spends her days with Gunnvald inventing the most amazing sled or just listening to him play his fiddle. She has the run of the mountains and valleys of her home. That all changes when Gunnvald becomes injured and his estranged daughter comes to Glimmerdal. Suddenly things aren't how Astrid thought they would be. 

This is graphic novel adaption of the 2001 novel of the same name. The story is of a girl who endures a traumatic event and the more or less stops speaking. This is a novel of her finding her voice. It is well adapted to the graphic format and the superb artwork by Emily Carroll only adds depth to the story. I read the original novel when it came out in 2001 and I don't remember liking it that well. But the graphic novel was so good, I think I need to revisit the novel.

Rupert is extremely poor. His family lives on oatmeal and kitchen scraps. He sleeps under the bed and wears all three of his shirts in winter. So it is really surprising when he finds himself at the richest house in town on Christmas. The Rivers family is very rich and very eccentric. They play games for their Christmas presents in a cut-throat fashion. Rupert is ecstatic when he whens all the presents; he is especially excited about the new pair of boots since his sneakers are wearing out. But then he loses it all in the final game and is sent home empty handed. 

Hide. That’s all Pippa can do to escape the terror chasing her. But now that she’s off the grid in a safe house, she finds plenty of interesting things to watch through the window. Like her new neighbor, with his startling green eyes, killer smile, and sexy bad-boy tattoo . . .

Run. Malcolm West is fleeing the hell he unleashed in his last assignment as an undercover cop. A backwoods bungalow sounds like the perfect place to start over. Until he discovers he’s been set up . . .

A rookie paramedic pulls a young woman alive from her totaled car, a first rescue that begins a lifelong tangle of love and wreckage. Sheila Arsenault is a gorgeous enigma--streetwise and tough-talking, with haunted eyes, fierce desires, and a never-look-back determination. Peter Webster, as straight an arrow as they come, falls for her instantly and entirely. Soon Sheila and Peter are embroiled in an intense love affair, married, and parents to a baby daughter. Like the crash that brought them together, it all happened so fast.

What first appears to be a random home invasion and brutal attack reveals a family's dark secrets in this domestic ticking-clock suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of See Jane Run.

A voice mail from her estranged sister, Melanie, sends Robin's heart racing and her mind spiraling in a full-blown panic attack. Melanie's message is dire: Their father, his second wife, and his twelve-year-old stepdaughter have been shot--likely in a home invasion--and lie in the hospital in critical condition.

Chaya Lindner is a teenager living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Simply being Jewish places her in danger of being killed or sent to the camps. After her little sister is taken away, her younger brother disappears, and her parents all but give up hope, Chaya is determined to make a difference. Using forged papers and her fair features, Chaya becomes a courier and travels between the Jewish ghettos of Poland, smuggling food, papers, and even people.

Lee was a survivor of a mass shooting at her high school when she was a freshman. Her best friend Sarah was killed in a bathroom stall holding Lee's hand. A story immediately circulated when a cross necklace was found in the bathroom that is was Sarah's and that she died proclaiming her faith. Sarah's story became sensationalized and soon became "the" story of the shooting. However, Lee and one other survivor that was also in the bathroom knew that wasn't what happened. The other survivor, Kellie, tried to set the story straight at the time but no one believed her.

Something is wrong with the Castle Glower. It has been acting strange, adding rooms, shuddering without warning. Then all of a sudden Celie, Lulath, Pogue, Rolf and Lilah were transported in to a world with wild griffins, ruins of the Castle and two deceptive wizards. The five must figure out how they got there and what it will take to get back home.

This is the third in the Castle Glower series and it was just as entertaining and intriguing as the first two. I anxiously await the fourth installment!

*Starred Review* The Mars Room is a seedy San Francisco strip club, a dark little planet where interactions are strictly cash-based, just the way Romy Hall likes it. But one regular customer plunges into obsession, and now Romy is heading to prison for life two times over. In smart, determined, and vigilant Romy, Kushner (The Flamethrowers, 2013), an acclaimed writer of exhilarating skills, has created a seductive narrator of tigerish intensity whose only vulnerability is her young son.

A smart and revealing political memoir from a rising star of the Democratic Party.

"In life and in politics, the most important work is often that which happens outside the wire."

Going "outside the wire" -- military lingo for leaving the safety of a base -- has taught Jason Kander to take risks and make change rather than settling for the easy option. After you've volunteered to put your life on the line with and for your fellow Americans in Afghanistan, cynical politics and empty posturing back home just feel like an insult.

Ragmatic engineer Anna works as a psychic in the Samson Brothers Circus, but she doesn't believe in anything supernatural—until her twin sister Kat is murdered and comes back as a very demanding ghost. Sharing a room with her sister was hard, but now they're sharing a body while trying to identify the killer. With few leads, a troupe full of secretive folk, and strange paranormal occurrences popping up around the circus, solving the case seems near impossible. But the murderer in their midst may be the least of their problems... (Goodreads.com)

Eager for glory and heedless of others, Sir Yvain sets out from King Arthur’s court and defeats a local lord in battle, unknowingly intertwining his future with the lives of two compelling women: Lady Laudine, the beautiful widow of the fallen lord, and her sly maid Lunette. In a stunning visual interpretation of a 12th century epic poem by Chrétien de Troyes, readers are — at first glance — transported into a classic Arthurian romance complete with errant knights, plundering giants, and fire-breathing dragons. A closer look, however, reveals a world rich with unspoken emotion.

To Amy, everyone has a flavor. Her mom is the flavor of mint--sharp and bright. Her dad is like hot chocolate--sweet and full of gentle warmth.

Nice conclusion to the Percy series. Sometimes what you think is planned is way off course. Percy believes he is fated to die on or before his 16th birthday, but is ready to sacrifice himself to save New York. However, this final clash isn't all about him. Luke, Annabeth, Grover and many others all play a part in this final clash. Who knows what the future holds when everyone works together. Life will go on or maybe not!