2024 Books
January - Janice: The Dog Under the Bed: Arthur On the Streets by CJ Cowdell
February - Diana - The Girl in the Letter by Emily Gunnis
March - Nancy - The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden
April - Jan
May - Frances
June - Linda
July - Rachelle -
August - Janice - Imaginary Strangers by Minka Kent
September - Nancy
October - Jan
November - Frances
December - Diana (Year End Meeting)
The Dog Under The Bed: Arthur On The Streets (book 2) by DJ Cowdell (107 pages)
Arthur is a little dog, in search of love, missing the lady who loved him most, finding out just how hard life can be for a dog alone. Follow his journey as he goes not only in search of love and a home, but how he learns the truths of life, and how hard it can be for the dog that nobody wants.
From the first fateful moment as he strays away from the only place he has ever known, into the unforgiving streets and back alleys, into a life of hunger, cold and fear.
An exploration of just what made him so wily and smart, how one small dog went from being a deeply loved, important member of a family, to a dog alone, wandering in search of shelter, food and safety.
Find out just how daft one dog can be, the laughter as he discovers his first love of chicken and how his love of food gets him into one mess after another.
As Arthur finally learns the importance of family, through cold hard floors at night, to thunderstorms and rain outside, share each step he takes as he comes face to face with the struggles of life when nobody knows your name.
From snarling voices, to children laughing in the fields, from bitter rain to playful horses, join Arthur once again on an adventure of learning, discovery and sheer excitement.
The Dog Under The Bed: Arthur On The Streets is a joyful mixture of ups and down, all leading to one inevitable fate. Find out just what happened to him, and why , and how he ended up, right under a little boy’s bed.
Book to be discussed in January at Janice's annual pot luck. Janice will let us know what date/s for January and theme for $15 or less gift to draw numbers for selecting.
THE DOG UNDER THE BED by DJ COWDELL (book 1) (121 pages)
This is the remarkable story of one endearing dog's search for a home, but not just a home, simply someone to show him he matters, that he is loved by someone.Arthur is a small dog, lost and alone on the streets of Warrington, simply trying to survive. Afraid and hungry, he runs constantly away from trouble, until he finds an unusual escape, into the house of a family, and underneath a young boy's bed. That is when the fun really begins...Unknown to Stan, Nancy, Abigail and Billy, this little doggy has hidden himself well, and so begins his adventure to stay hidden, for once warm and safe, snug under the bed.Read as Arthur sneaks around the house, barely avoiding being caught as he secretly raids the fridge, drinks from the only source of fresh water, and plays with a room full of cuddly toys.Find out why he was lost and alone, and how he rediscovers himself.The Dog Under The Bed is a heart-warming tale that touches on all of our love and affection for man's and woman's best friend, and how one lucky dog uses all of his wily instincts to find out once and for all what it is to be a part of a loving family.Funny, surprising and full of love, the Dog Under The Bed will remind us all just why we love them so much.
Will discuss in January at Janice's annual pot luck along with Janice's choice (book 2 of same series)
THE WRIGHT BROTHERS by David McCullough
Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize David McCullough tells the dramatic story behind the story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly: Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright's Wright Flyer became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. The Age of Flight had begun. How did they do it? And why? David McCullough tells the extraordinary and truly American story of the two brothers who changed the world.
Sons of an itinerant preacher and a mother who died young, Wilbur and Orville Wright grew up on a small sidestreet in Dayton, Ohio, in a house that lacked indoor plumbing and electricity but was filled with books and a love of learning. The brothers ran a bicycle shop that allowed them to earn enough money to pursue their mission in life: flight. In the 1890s flying was beginning to advance beyond the glider stage, but there were major technical challenges the Wrights were determined to solve. They traveled to North Carolina's remote Outer Banks to test their plane because there they found three indispensable conditions: constant winds, soft surfaces for landings, and privacy.
Flying was exceedingly dangerous; the Wrights risked their lives every time they flew in the years that followed. Orville nearly died in a crash in 1908 but was nursed back to health by his sister, Katharine - an unsung and important part of the brothers' success and of McCullough's book. Despite their achievement the Wrights could not convince the US government to take an interest in their plane until after they demonstrated its success in France, where the government instantly understood the importance of their achievement. Now, in this revelatory book, master historian David McCullough draws on nearly 1,000 letters of family correspondence plus diaries, notebooks, and family scrapbooks in the Library of Congress to tell the full story of the Wright brothers and their heroic achievement.
meeting held at Round Table on Wednesday, November 29th
THE WOMEN OF GREAT HERON LAKE by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Two strong women, generations apart, living parallel lives.
When Marla Madison’s husband dies, she realizes her life has become very small. Her daughter is grown and Marla has spent the past two decades focused on his friends, his interests, and his home. Feeling lost, she throws herself into fixing up the one-hundred and fifty-year-old family lakeside manor. She soon discovers an old journal in a secret drawer and is instantly intrigued. The handwritten book tells the tale of another Mrs. Madison from over a century ago, the first woman to live in the lake manor. As Marla reads the journal, she discovers that her life parallels that of the woman who wrote those words decades ago and Marla finds inspiration from her strength.
1875 - Alaina Carlton was content to become a spinster until her beloved father introduced her to Nathaniel Madison, one of the most prosperous men in St. Paul, Minnesota. Even though she values her independence, Alaina is intrigued by this man who pursues her. When they marry, she believes she’s found a man who will treat her as an equal, but soon realizes that isn’t entirely true. From their mansion on the illustrious Summit Avenue to their manor at Great Heron Lake, where the rich and powerful play, her life is no longer her own. But fifteen years and two children later when Nathaniel grows ill, she takes her rightful place where women weren’t allowed in order to secure her children’s inheritance and her future.
An inspiring family saga of two determined woman who found meaning in their lives by following their passions and not allowing society, or propriety, to hold them back.
Date: TBD
Title: A Thief in Time by Cidney Swanson
He can't stay. She can't let him go.
Halley, stuck covering house-sitting jobs for her self-absorbed mom, has Hollywood dreams but no real life. Until the day covering for her mom leads to a tumble back to London, 1598, where Halley meets a hot, rich earl named Edmund. And accidentally brings him to the 21st century.
Her dull summer just got a whole lot more interesting as she tells Edmund to keep his hands off tech he doesn't understand and a deadly sword he can't use in public brawls. All while trying to keep from falling for him, which definitely can't happen.
Now Halley's job is to get Edmund back where he belongs--while preventing a very scary scientist from suspecting she messed with his time machine. If the evil scientist finds out about Edmund, Edmund's as good as dead. And what might that do to history? Not to mention, Halley would be next in line ...
Summer's not boring anymore.
Halley just needs to keep from getting killed, save Edmund (and history) before it's too late, and not fall for a guy who can't stick around.
No matter how much she want him to.
A THIEF IN TIME is a sweet, clean, time-travel romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers, packed with danger and historical detail.
THE ISLAND by Lilly Mirren
Amazon.com: The Island (Coral Island Book 1) eBook : Mirren, Lilly: Kindle Store
still free on KINDLE as of 6/9/23
Beatrice is starting her life over after her husband broke the news of his affair moments before their anniversary party and vow renewal.
His revelation derails her. Her children have left home and she’d always imagined she and her husband would travel and grow old together. But now she’s unsure of where her life is headed.
With nowhere left to turn, she goes home to Coral Island to visit her estranged father. She stays in the old beach cottage from her childhood years and uncovers a hidden roll of fifty-year-old undeveloped photos. Who put them there and why?
Will she find answers & purpose on the island, rekindling old friendships and rediscovering a long-lost love? Or will she be driven back to the city and her failed marriage?
THE GIRL YOU KILLED by Leslie Wolfe
Free on Kindle Unlimited, $3.99 to buy on Amazon (not sure about library)
MAID by Stephanie Land
At 28, Stephanie Land's dreams of attending a university and becoming a writer quickly dissolved when a summer fling turned into an unplanned pregnancy. Before long, she found herself a single mother, scraping by as a housekeeper to make ends meet.
Maid is an emotionally raw, masterful account of Stephanie's years spent in service to upper middle class America as a "nameless ghost" who quietly shared in her clients' triumphs, tragedies, and deepest secrets. Driven to carve out a better life for her family, she cleaned by day and took online classes by night, writing relentlessly as she worked toward earning a college degree. She wrote of the true stories that weren't being told: of living on food stamps and WIC coupons, of government programs that barely provided housing, of aloof government employees who shamed her for receiving what little assistance she did. Above all else, she wrote about pursuing the myth of the American Dream from the poverty line, all the while slashing through deep-rooted stigmas of the working poor.
Maid is Stephanie's story, but it's not hers alone. It is an inspiring testament to the courage, determination, and ultimate strength of the human spirit.
The Tufts scholarship that put Nora Stuart on the path to becoming a Boston medical specialist was a step forward. Being hit by a car and then overhearing her boyfriend hit on another doctor when she thought she was dying? Two major steps back. Injured in more ways than one, Nora feels her carefully built life cracking at the edges. There's only one place to land: home. But the tiny Maine community she left fifteen years ago doesn't necessarily want her. At every turn, someone holds the prodigal daughter of Scupper Island responsible for small-town drama and big-time disappointments. With a tough islander mother who's always been distant, a wild-child sister in jail and a withdrawn teenage niece as eager to ditch the island as Nora once was, Nora has her work cut out for her if she's going to take what might be her last chance to mend the family. Balancing loss and opportunity, dark events from her past with hope for the future, Nora will discover that tackling old pain makes room for promise...and the chance to begin again.
WEST WITH GIRAFFES by Lynda Rutledge
Once in a great while, a book hits my desk that is so full of memorable characters and scenes that I can’t wait to see it publish! Such was the case with West with Giraffes, the historical novel based on the incredible true story of an unlikely pair transporting two giraffes across the country during the Depression. The author was inspired by the event, which she discovered while working on a nonfiction piece about the San Diego Zoo, and this book contains so many charming details, I felt like I was along for the ride.
I’ll never forget Woody, the young Dust Bowl survivor, and his curmudgeonly older boss. The challenges they endure on the trip end up teaching young Woody indelible life lessons about fate, love, and life. From truck breakdowns to circus con artists, from meeting the woman of your dreams to visions of life in California, this is the kind of laugh, cry, tell-a-friend read that you long for. Grab a blanket and a cup of tea, and enjoy this wild road trip.
PENSION FOR MURDER by Kate Maclean
Virginia Walker fears losing her independence. Mortified to learn she forgot to pay $10K in property taxes, the eighty-year-old spitfire finds herself fighting foreclosure. So when a resident dies under mysterious circumstances at her best friend’s retirement community, she vows to solve the crime and collect a house-saving reward.
Frustrated that everyone else believes the victim’s death was natural, Virginia pushes her investigation into several embarrassing gaffes. But just as she’s ready to admit she was wrong about some of her clues, two of her suspects turn up dead.
Can Virginia stop the homicidal spree before the only roof she needs is six feet under?
Pension for Murder is the humorous first book in the Breeze Village cozy mystery series. If you like eccentric sleuths, charming casts, and surprising twists, then you’ll love Kate Maclean’s delightful whodunit.
TAHOE MOON by Todd Borg
A Young Girl Is Left At A Hotel
Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna is heading to a meeting when he finds a lost, deaf girl. McKenna learns that the girl, Camille Dexter, is 8 years old. Her grandfather, Charlie Dexter, left her to wait for him, but he has disappeared.
The Girl's Grandfather Is Found Dead
McKenna calls Sergeant Jack Santiago. They discover Dexter's body crushed by a recently-cut tree. The cause of death appears to be suicide. But as McKenna investigates, the details don't make sense, and he learns of other apparent suicides that are suspicious.
McKenna's Girlfriend And The Young Girl Are Almost Killed
McKenna's girlfriend Street Casey is driving with Camille Dexter when someone runs them off a steep mountain road. They miraculously survive.
A Killer Is After The Girl
When McKenna finds a common thread to all the deaths, that connection leads to the girl, the only person in the group who's still alive. McKenna thinks he knows the killer's identity, the meanest, most twisted man he's ever met. But before McKenna can find him, the man kidnaps Camille...
