November 2021 Recommendations
November 2021 RECOMMENDATIONS
A Long Shadow by Charles Todd
Someone is leaving carved brass cartridge casings for Scotland Yard’s Inspector Ian Rutledge to find. The shell-shocked veteran of WWI, Rutledge believes he is being hunted. Before finding answers to this mystery, Inspector Rutledge is sent to the small town of Dudlington, in Northampton, England to investigate the slaying of the local constable, and becomes immersed in the three-year-old disappearance of a young girl. This mystery has an absorbing plot with twists and turns, and well written characters, to hold the reader’s attention.
– Bonnie
A Long Shadow is available at the Farmville Library.
Sin Eater by Megan Campisi
Fourteen-year-old May Owens is caught stealing bread and is subsequently sentenced to serve the rest of her life as a Sin Eater. She must alleviate the sins of those on their death beds through a ritual of eating. We follow May as she struggles with the realities of new her life, as she is forced to adopt a new identity, cast aside by society, and thrown into a dangerous mystery pertaining to the Queen’s dark past.
– Chelsea
Sin Eater is available at the Farmville Library and as an eBook on Libby.
Cat in the Stacks (Series) by Maranda James
Looking for a cozy mystery that piqued my interest, I came across the Cat in the Stacks series. Librarian Charlie Harris and his immensely large Maine Coon cat, Diesel, who has uncanny human-like qualities, find themselves in the midst of unsolved murders in the small town of Athena, Mississippi. Unlike other cozies, I enjoyed the author’s writing style (no puns used except for the titles) and that I was challenged by some words requiring a dictionary nearby. A unique and enjoyable cozy!
– Lory
Books One through Five and Books Thirteen and Fourteen of the Cat in the Stacks series
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
It surprised me how much I enjoyed Get a Life, Chloe Brown. Romantic comedies aren’t my go-to reads because the characters are usually intimidatingly perfect, but Chloe and her sisters are so charmingly real that I fell in love with them immediately. If you want to get into rom-coms, but don’t know where or how to begin, I recommend this book and the others in the Brown Sisters trilogy.
– Max
Get a Life, Chloe Brown is available at the Farmville Library, as an eBook on Libby, and as an eBook or audiobook on Hoopla.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
This is only the second book that I’ve read by Sepetys, but her style and depth of historical research has won me over as a reader. In Between Shades of Gray, teenager Lina Vilkas’ deportation to a forced labor camp in Siberia with her family reveals one reality for Eastern Europeans stuck in a tug-of-war between Stalin and Hitler during WWII. Although the narrator, Lina, definitely reads as a teen, the emotional exploration of this little-known aspect of WWII history does make the book a compelling read for adults. Sepetys is skilled at giving small things big emotional weight – whether that is one expertly crafted line spoken at just the right moment or a detail in the background.
– Megan
Between Shades of Gray is available as an eBook on Libby.
Y: The Last Man, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
The year is 2002 and a mysterious plague has come to Earth, suddenly killing every living thing with a Y chromosome. Except for Yorick and his pet monkey, Ampersand, that is. Alas, poor Yorick just wants to find his girlfriend, who is somewhere in the Australian Outback, but before he can do that he has to help Dr. Allison Mann figure out why his life was sparred when every other male creature died. Protected by Agent 355, the trio must travel to California to find Dr. Mann’s research. But it won’t be easy, and not every woman is grateful to learn that there is one last man on Earth.
– Morgan
Y: The Last Man Volume 1 is available at the Farmville Library and as an eBook on Hoopla.
The Fast and the Furious (2001) Directed by Rob Cohen, Starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel
With Halloween having just ended and things slowly gearing up to play Christmas movies from here on out, it can be difficult to find something to watch if you aren’t willing to get into a festive mindset. This is why I recommend watching The Fast and the Furious (2001). Normally, movies in this vein are not quite my cup of tea, but there is something about it that makes it fun to watch, as it reminds me of spectacle sports where the goal isn’t so much about the plot, but to make your actions as cool as possible. If you haven’t seen it before, go ahead and take a ride in the fast lane by checking it out today.
– Noah
The Fast and the Furious is available at the Farmville Library.
How to Survive The End of the World as We Know It by James Wesley, Rawles
First published in 2009, Rawles presents scenarios where in the event of a collapse of infrastructure, we will need to survive without the intra and social structures upon which we have developed our dependence. Rawles asks compelling questions – and gives advice on preparing for long-term outages. Topics include: water, food, fuel, home power, gardening, small livestock, medical supplies, communications, home security, vehicle selection, and building a barter stockpile.
– Virginia
How to Survive The End of the World as We Know It is available at the Farmville Library and as an eBook on Libby.
Enemy at the Gates by Kyle Mills
After a blackout swept the nation, America is resuming life as normal with a new President. When Rapp decides to take a much-needed break, the President questions his loyalty. When it’s discovered that a mole in the CIA has been digging into their systems for information on Nicholas Ward, the world’s first trillionaire and the man personally overseeing cutting-edge medical research in Uganda, Rapp is pulled back onto the job. Protecting Ward, Rapp is completely cut off from the agency as he works to identify and expose the mole. But the situation is complex. And the threat is one he could never have imagined…
– William
Enemy at the Gates is available at the Farmville Library and as an eBook on Libby.