River Readers

Honor Holland has just been unceremoniously rejected by her lifelong crush. And now—a mere three weeks later—Mr. Perfect is engaged to her best friend. But resilient, reliable Honor is going to pick herself up, dust herself off and get back out there… or she would if dating in Manningsport, New York, population 715, wasn't easier said than done.

Charming, handsome British professor Tom Barlow just wants to do right by his unofficial stepson, Charlie, but his visa is about to expire. Now Tom must either get a green card or leave the States—and leave Charlie behind.

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she’s ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family’s vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there’s some great scenery there....

In the tradition of Elizabeth George, Louise Penny, and P. D. James, "New York Times" bestselling author Deborah Crombie delivers a powerful tale of intrigue, betrayal, and lies that will plunge married London detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James into the unspeakable darkness that lies at the heart of murder.

This is a novel that shifts between the time period of 1938 and 1989, two momentous years. 1938 was the year of Kristallnacht in Germany, the year before the start of World War II. 1989 was the year the wall came down between a divided Germany that had been separated since the end the war in 1945. Kristoff, a young apprentice to master stamp engraver, Frederick Faber, is suddenly forced to engrave stamps for the Nazi government.

Why is there suffering and tragedy? Ronald Higdon takes his 55 years of ministry to wrestle with these questions, helped by writers as diverse as escaped slave Frederick Douglass, Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl, and actor Michael J. Fox. Whether it be the a frustrated, conquered people, the death in a German concentration camp, the death of a child (including his own son), illness. disease, or aging, Higdon avoids easy answers, Instead he suggests some unexpected conclusions.

What happens when you put six special kids in a room, once a week, without a teacher to monitor their conversation? That is the premise of this beautiful book, Harbor Me by Jaqueline Woodson. The six students call the room the ARTT (A Room to Talk) and it becomes their safe space to talk about all that is going on in their lives. This book covers alcoholic parents, incarceration, immigration, racism and many other important topics, as they affect the lives of these twelve year olds.

This graphic novel is a love story of two women who meet in their younger years while playing bingo with their grandmothers at their church. It is story of the resilience of love and family and the plight of same gender relationships in the earlier years in our country. It is well-written and beautifully drawn. I highly recommend it.

In his literary debut, Tommy Orange intertwines the stories of 12 Native people in modern day making their roads converge at a huge powwow in Oakland. The book depicts the plight of Native Americans through the years and their continued struggles today.

So I listened to this one because I heard about this book and was curious. I am always looking for ways to improve myself and have read some really great self-help books. This one does not fall into that category. It wasn't horrible and it did have some good ideas (mostly in the first couple of chapters), but there were definitely some things in here that bothered me. 

Jack Reacher is hitchhiking to Virginia when he's picked up by a threesome on their way to Chicago -- all dressed alike, but after noticing curious discrepancies and encountering several police stops, he quickly realizes something is off. Getting away from the group, he finds himself working with the FBI's Julia Sorenson to investigate the murder of a diplomatic attaché . There's less action in this title in the Reacher series, but still includes deduction, a final confrontation, and a verbal puzzle that all combine to make this a page-turner.

Throughout Lee Child's series, readers are told of Jack Reacher's history as an Army M.P. and his past decision to leave the only life he has ever known to become a wanderer. "The Affair" returns to 1997, when Reacher is assigned an undercover role near a secret base in Mississippi run by a powerful senator's son, where a woman has been murdered. Reacher arrives in town and quickly has his cover blown by local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux who tells him about other women who have been murdered.

Jack Reacher is spending the night as he makes way through rural Nebraska when he's drawn into the problems of a small community. It is run by the Duncan family, who the farmers depend on because of their transportation company and fear because of the college football players who supply their muscle. Reacher's curiosity into the 25-year-old mystery of a little girl's disappearance stirs up trouble that is affecting an important delivery slowly making it's way through Canada and across the border.

When a U.S. Senator and his mistress are in an accident, he calls upon U.S. Marshall Lucas Davenport, who helped him previously, to look into the homicide which he believes was an assassination attempt. The case brings Lucas to Washington and puts him on a collision course with an old nemesis, Taryn Grant, who is attractive, ambitious, and just a little bit crazy -- and with a very real likelihood of a White House run.

U.S. Marshall Lucas Davenport likes to hunt killers and when he comes across a multiple homicide at a drug counting house -- including a child -- he goes on a hunt for Gavin Poole, a killer who's been largely invisible for years.

Henry "Monty" Montague is ready for his Grand Tour of the Continent. It is his last year of gambling and debauchery before he has to settle down and learn how to run the estate from his father. Unfortunately, his father is tired of Monty's ways and sends along a bear-leader (babysitter) to chaperone Monty, his sister Felicity, and his best friend Percy around Europe. Things are not going the way Monty planned until a wild night a Versailles. Monty is caught with his pants down (literally) and sort of steals a little something from the King's prime minister Bourbon.