Recommendations for Spring Break reading...

Today I sent out an email to my staff with suggested books and topics for Spring Break reading. Here is that email:

Hey folks, it is that time to start thinking about the vacation ahead and for me that always involves deciding what I will read on the plane/next to the pool/ in my own backyard (depending on my plans.) Consider checking out a book or two from the GKHS library. Here are a few suggestions:

Like something lighthearted?

We have a lot of books by Harlan Coban, John Grisham, Tom Clancey, Jodi Picoult, Michael Crichton, Nicholas Sparks

Want to read what the kids are reading? Here are a few titles of books our teens are reading:

• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K Johnston
• The Memory Book by Lara Avery
• Character, Driven by David Lubar

Prefer nonfiction? I suggest---

• -The Shift: one nurse, twelve hours, four patients by Theresa Brown
• -When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanathi
• -How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare by Ken Ludwig
• -Hidden Figures: the American dream and the untold story of Black women mathematicians who helped win the space race by Margot Shetterly
• -Grunt: the curious science of humans at war by Mary Roach (Pierce Reads 2017! book)
• -Radioactive: how Irene Curie and Lise Meitner revolutionized science and changed the world by Winifred Conkling

Want to read a new book and be the first to tell me what you think?

• The Art of Secrets by James Klise (mystery)
• The Sky Between You and Me by Catherine Alene (written in verse)
• Caravaggio: painter on the run by Marissa Moss (historical fiction)
• City of Saints & Thieves by Natalie Anderson (set in Kenya)
• One by Sarah Crossan (conjoined twins)

Like historical fiction? Me, too, so I suggest:

• -The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry (1200, France, Inquisition)
• -The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (Fractured history of WWII in America...it reminds me of what is happening today in our country)
• -Serena by Ron Rash (before environmentalism; timber barons, 1920s)
• -Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (memoir of the author growing up during Civil Rights era)
• -March, Books 1-3 by John Lewis (a three book set of graphic biographies about the life of an American hero and icon, John Lewis)
• -Boxers/Saints by Gene Luen Yang (a two-book graphic book about the boxer rebellion in China)
• -My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, et al (a fractured history of Lady Jane Gray, queen of England for 9 days; very funny)

Adult books with crossover appeal for teens:

• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
• Shattered Sea series (Half a King, Half the World) by Joe Abercrombie)
• Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (a true-life novel)
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (set in Barcelona, translated from Spanish)
• The Martian by Andy Weir

Anne suggests (I like quirky books, so beware)

• A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly
• The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater (Raven Boys is #1)

Want something to read on your iPad? We have a few eBooks (all YA titles). Here are the steps to find them and check them out:

Go to the GKHS Library home page

Login (top right corner)

Click Catalog tab

Click on Destiny Discover listed on left side column

In Search bar, type eBooks.

See all eBooks

Check out the titles you want to read.

Download Follett Brytewave K-12 Edition from Self Service (Free) as your reader.

Enjoy book!

(My favorites on the list are: The Unlikely Hero of Room 13-B; We are the Ants; All the Bright Places)

Want to know how to get a ebook or audiobook from the Pierce County Library? I have a bookmark with directions. All you need is your library card and you can shop from your iPad or computer. Drop in or send up a student for the bookmark. Or just head over to their website, you should be able to figure it out. http://www.piercecountylibrary.org. 

Still nothing sounds good to you? Come in and I will help you find something.

Happy Spring Break. Happy reading.

-Your beloved (ha!) librarian, Anne