June's Top 11 of 2011

 

Instruments of Darkness by Imogene Robertson

Elizabeth I by Margaret George
Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies by Susan Wittig Albert 

An Empty Death by Laura Wilson
Flashback by Dan Simmons
Under the Skin by Vicki Lane
My Dear I Wanted to Tell You by Louisa Young
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory
11/22/63 by Stephen King

Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson

I’d Tell You I Love You but, Then I’d Have to Kill You

I’d Tell You I Love You but, Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. She is surrounded by other girls just as unordinary as herself—girls who can hack into the CIA mainframe, speak in fourteen different languages and have a black belt in martial arts. To the outside world they are simply geniuses, but protected inside the halls of the academy they are spies in training. Being the daughter of a famous Gallagher Girl, Cammie has known her future for as long as she can remember. Her admirable ability to become invisible has given her the perfect skills to be a true “pavement artist”. But when she is sent undercover during covert ops training, Cammie finds herself being spotted…by a real, live boy. Suddenly, a new mission is underway, as Cammie tries to juggle her new “normal girl” identity (and being in love) with her Gallagher Girl self.

Being the first in a series, this novel is full of funny and surprisingly relatable characters. It’ll definitely have you wishing you could Cross Your Heart and Hope to Spy (book two’s title)!

Slash and Burn

Slash and Burn is the eighth book of the Dr. Siri mysteries by Colin Cotterill. It is set in Laos in the 1970s. Dr. Siri Paiboun is the national coroner of the Laos People’s Democratic Republic. This is not a job he sought or wanted. No one else was willing to take the job. Dr. Siri is 78 and has been promised he can retire after one last case. He decides to blackmail the officials into allowing him to bring his wife, his nurse, and morgue attendant along.

The trip north into the mountains is being funded by a United States senator. The senator is looking for his son Boyd Bowry, who has been missing in action for ten years. Also coming along with Dr. Siri and his crew are American soldiers, a Hawaiian pathologist and Auntie Bpoo, a fortune teller. Soon everyone is headed to the hills in a military helicopter.

When the motley crew arrives, news from a village near the hotel says a dragon landed there. Soon members of the group start dropping like flies and Dr. Siri must investigate. This is a unique series of books with history, politics black humor and quirky, amusing characters.

Janaury Mystery Book Club

The library's Mystery Book Club will discuss Jackson Brodie mysteries by Kate Atkinson Thursday, January 12 at 6:45 p.m.  These suspenseful and character-driven mysteries starring the semi-retried detective Brodie are set in England and Scotland. The first in the series is Case Histories. Copies are avaialble on display in the library. Please contact June at 643-8318 with questions. New members are always welcome!

The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment

In his previous books, Author A.J. Jacobs chronicled his quest to read every volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica and wrote of his year spent living “Biblically.” In The Guinea Pig Diaries Jacobs again brings his humor while sharing his various life experiments including attempts to outsource his life to India, be “radically honest,” follow WWGWD—What Would George Washington Do?, and more. I always enjoy reading about the author's experiments with his life and was not disappointed in The Guinea Pig Diaries.