River Readers

Long before Liane Moriarty was spinning her Big Little Lies, Shreve was spicing up domestic doings..She still is, as effectively as ever, this time with a narrative literally lit from within' New York Times

The brilliantly gripping new novel from the New York Times best-selling author of The Pilot's Wife (an Oprah's Book Club selection).

Hot breath on Grace's face. Claire is screaming, and Grace is on her feet. As she lifts her daughter, a wall of fire fills the window. Perhaps a quarter of a mile back, if even that. Where's Gene? Didn't he come home?

Daughter of a soft-hearted money-lender, Miryem watches her family go hungry, cold, and turn sick, because her father doesn't like to press people. Even though she can see that the townspeople are better off and do have money to splurge on festivities and extras. As the winter's grow longer and colder, and her mother fails to recover from illness, Miryem goes out to collect money and doesn't take no for an answer.

Felicity Montague wants to be a doctor. She knows she will be a great doctor, but she can't get any of the medical schools to take her on. Supposedly women can't be doctors in the 18th century. So Felicity is giving up on Scotland and heading back to London to try and convince her idol, Dr. Platte, to give her a shot. She stays with Percy and Henry while in London, both are trying to make it on their own without the help or support of family. In fact, Percy and Felicity's father has basically disowned both of them. 

Melissa Goodwin's nickname was Mouse. She was shy and always let her friend Olivia take the lead. Olivia could talk her into doing most anything and that was how Melissa (Melly to her friends) found herself going to Camp Rockaway to learn more about playing drums. When Olivia became enamored with a boy Melly had to take a backseat and fend for herself. Could she make friends on her own and come out of her shell?

Toby and Luke have been through everything together, best friends all their lives. Although they have different personalities entirely, their horrific family situations and living conditions formed a bond between them. Their safe haven is an old wreck of an airplane they found in the forest by their North Carolina home. They would sit for hours in the plane, plotting and planning their escape from their lives of abuse, neglect and misery. It all seems possible when Luke has the opportunity for a wrestling scholarship to Iowa. It was their ticket out.

It all started with the disappearance of Mattie Southern and the subsequent discovery of her body. Mattie left behind a sister, Sadie, who was devastated by her death. Their mother survived but she was a drug addict, neglectful at best, absent entirely at her worst. Sadie had done her best to raise Mattie on her own with their surrogate grandmother, May Beth Foster, occasionally looking after them.

Leah Burke is experiencing the typical growing pains of adolescence. She finds solace and unquestioning friendship from playing in her all-girl band for which she is the drummer. Things start to fall apart in the band though when the tensions of college applications, acceptance and scholarships start to emerge. Then there is Leah's own internal conflicts that start to overwhelm her.

This wonderful sequel to Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda is an open, honest look at the painful reality teens face every day. If you loved Simon, you'll love this look into Leah.

The past comes back to haunt Finn McQuaid, who is brought up short by what seems the reappearance of his former lover, Layla, who vanished 12 years earlier. After being cleared of Layla's murder, Finn gradually became close to her older sister, Ellen, and they were recently engaged. Then the appearance of a set of Russian dolls significant to only Layla, Ellen, and Finn suggest that Layla may be alive and nearby.

Love a story with a good moral and none better than remembering who your true friends are. Can't say I'm fond of these stories, but there are interesting science facts included with the grade school humor.

Cute story about bullying. Never imagined amoebas as story characters, but they were funny. Guess I will read on in the interest of bonus points.

This was a cute book. Not a huge mouse fan, but this one is really like any young girl who wants a more exciting life. I will read more because it is our bonus category. Hope the others are entertaining too.

Even though I know what is coming in this book, it still hits hard. There is so much happening in this story that is dark and fore-boding, but also such a forecast of the last book. It is fun to see Harry as Quidditch captain and to see the developing relationships. Ready to finish out the series in audio, but may have to take time to re-read them all now.

This is an intense story which has very sad parts. I loved listening to it because I caught all kinds things I missed when I read it and things that aren't in the movie. Jim Dale is so amazing to listen to that I am eagerly making my way through the series!

Ozzie's parents moved them out to a hidden cabin in Oregon when he was seven. Unfortunately, they never got to explain why or even unpack. They are kidnapped leaving Ozzie on his own. He spends the next several years eating canned food and exploring all the boxes left by his parents. After he meets a girl on the beach he decides to start going to school. Then he sees an ad in the local paper advertising a wizard for hire. Enter Labyrinth or Rin. Rin claims to be a wizard even though he never actually performs any magic. Ozzie and Rin start trying to find his parents.

Ugh! This was brutal and devastating. So many lost in this volume. Not sure we can recover from this one.