Melinda

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Uncle Tom's Cabin (Enriched Classics) By Harriet Beecher Stowe Cover Image
$7.95
ISBN: 9780743487665
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: Simon & Schuster - May 1st, 2004

It’s a good story but sort of confusing in the beginning as it starts with a conversation and then drops back to the narrative.
Can’t you imagine Jo March reading this?
I’m sure she was incensed as she avidly read this anti-slavery novel.
Maybe she read it to her sisters.
Again, it’s a very good story. This might be the perfect summer to read or re-read it.


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Mrs Queen Takes the Train: A Novel By William Kuhn Cover Image
$15.99
ISBN: 9780062208293
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: Harper Perennial - October 8th, 2013

This thoroughly enjoyable what-if revolves around the present queen of England. In her eighties she seizes the very rare opportunity to just walk away from it all into the London she has always been sheltered from. She’s on her way to Scotland but you have to read it to know why. She’s no longer Queen Elizabeth but is now Mrs. Queen.
There are NO sex, drugs, violence or dystopian scenes.
This is just a good story.


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Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour By Lynne Olson Cover Image
$18.99
This title is currently unavailable to order. Please check back, as stock may become available in the future.
ISBN: 9780812979350
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - May 3rd, 2011

This is an absorbing account of Harriman, Murrow and Winnant and that infamous Pamela Digby Churchill. All were in London during the Blitz. If you are blurry on WWII history, read Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile--these two books make a great set.
But that Pamela, she was up to all sorts of things with all sorts of people. I went on to read two biographies of her to find out where this babe came from. Great reading. I know that many book clubs have chosen this title. Deservedly so.


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The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tales of Life on the Road By Finn Murphy Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9780393355871
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - June 5th, 2018

After watching Paul Solomon's interview with Murphy on PBS Newshour, I wanted to read this book.  What an unexpected treat!  Murphy dropped out of college right before graduation and became a long-haul trucker.  He has crossed crossed the USA many times, both North to South and East to West.  He eventually ended up moving the 1%. His tales of whom he moved and whom he hired are great. This present-day memoir is makes for  interesting non-fiction.


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Ordinary Grace: A Novel By William Kent Krueger Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781451645859
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: Atria Books - March 4th, 2014

Remembering back to that summer of 1961 in a small town in Minnesota--how could all of these things happen? But they did.

A friend told me it is her favorite book ever. I think you will feel the same way.

I cannot forget the mother.

This author has a series, the Cork O'Connor mysteries, which are all really good stories--and I'm not a mystery reader. His most recent book, This Tender Land, is also excellent!


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A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel By John Irving Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780062204097
Availability: Usually ships to store in 4-6 days.
Published: Mariner Books Classics - April 3rd, 2012

I'm not a big John Irving fan but this one is exceptional. You will never forget the character Owen Meany.....the rest of the story may blur with time. One keeps reading to find out what happens next. It is a coming of age story set in New England. 
There are probably 20 books in my top ten. This is definitely one of them.  
Don't miss this book.


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The Shell Seekers By Rosamunde Pilcher Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9781250063786
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - May 12th, 2015

This is one of my favorite books of all time. The setting is London and Cornwall, spanning the 1920s to the 1980s . This is the story of a maturing woman dealing with her adult children. There are flashbacks to her Cornish childhood and, then, life during and after the London Blitz. Her father was a famous artist, and so begins the story.


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The Storyteller By Jodi Picoult Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781439102770
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: Atria/Emily Bestler Books - November 5th, 2013

Jodi always tells a good story and this is one of her best in years. The eponymous storyteller is a Holocaust survivor, living in the same small town in New Hampshire as a former Nazi SS officer. The officer has changed his name but he can't change his past. This is only the main storyline - there are many more including a story inside the story. The ending is completely unpredictable--I didn't guess it.


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Autobiography of Mark Twain: Volume 1, Reader’s Edition By Mark Twain, Harriet E. Smith (Editor), Robert Hirst (Editor) Cover Image
By Mark Twain, Harriet E. Smith (Editor), Robert Hirst (Editor)
$28.95
ISBN: 9780520272255
Availability: Usually ships to store in 4-6 days.
Published: University of California Press - March 26th, 2012

Volume Two is very interesting as was the first volume. I'm guessing that most readers ( myself included ) are not familiar with some of the people and events Mark Twain mentions. Some of the big scandals of his time are forgotten now. This volume is as discursive as the first.  I love reading American History written by someone who lived it -- he seems to know everyone!


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When the Emperor Was Divine By Julie Otsuka Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780385721813
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: Anchor - October 14th, 2003

Suppose this happened to you. One day you receive a letter from the US government. You are being notified that you and your family and almost everyone you know are to be evacuated from your homes in two days. You do not know your destination (there have been rumors) or the duration of time that you will be away. Japanese Americans living on our west coast actually had this happen to them after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in what is now called the Japanese internment. This evocative and insightful novel tells the story of one such family. It all happened. It's true. Yes, this happened in the United States of America in the early 1940s. This book would make a great book club selection. I highly recommend it.


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I Capture the Castle By Dodie Smith Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780312201654
Availability: Usually ships to store in 4-6 days.
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - March 15th, 1999

This is the book J.K. Rowling says was her favorite book when she was an adolescent. Once you read it you'll know why she loved it so.


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The Cat's Table (Vintage International) By Michael Ondaatje Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9780307744418
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: Vintage - June 12th, 2012

I would definitely recommend this novel! It takes place in the 1950's with three 11-year-old boys on a ship departing Columbo and heading to England. The voice of the boys is perfect. As the mother of three boys, their timeless antics rang true. Lots of mayhem, some of which is serious mayhem. They are seated at the most lowly table in the dining room, the Cat's Table.


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River of Smoke: A Novel (The Ibis Trilogy #2) By Amitav Ghosh Cover Image
$24.00
ISBN: 9781250013750
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: Picador - October 2nd, 2012

This new novel takes place in China and closely follows the characters and events in Sea of Poppies. The how and why of 19th century China vs. outsiders is the focus in this second volume in the trilogy. What will happen next?


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Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President By Candice Millard Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780767929714
Availability: On our shelves now.
Published: Vintage - June 12th, 2012

So who killed Garfield? The assassin or the doctors? Yes, she wrote that great book about Teddy Roosevelt (River of Doubt). This book is the perfect choice for the history lover in your family.


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Miss Lina's Ballerinas By Christine Davenier (Illustrator), Grace Maccarone Cover Image
$19.99
This title is currently unavailable to order. Please check back, as stock may become available in the future.
ISBN: 9780312382438
Published: Feiwel & Friends - October 26th, 2010

This is the book I gave to my 5 year-old granddaughter! It is fun to read over and over.