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• Great Reads At Your Library • |
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Looking for your next favorite book?
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Books we just couldn't put down ... |
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Asunder by Kerstin HallKarys Eska is a deathspeaker, locked into an irrevocable compact with Sabaster, a terrifying eldritch being--three-faced, hundred-winged, unforgiving--who has granted her the ability to communicate with the newly departed. She pays the rent by using her abilities to investigate suspicious deaths around the troubled city she calls home. When a job goes sideways, Karys inadvertently binds a dying stranger with some very dangerous secrets to her shadow, an act that may doom them both. Incredible fantasy read - the world building surrounding the clash of old gods and new, and how neither of them was straightforwardly good or bad but simply different from both each other and humanity in a cosmic horror sort of way was fascinating. The main character and the man she’s accidentally bound to her shadow have a really fun relationship development, and she's my favorite type of female character executed excellently - one who struggles with being vulnerable. **Recommended by Megan B. in Bel Air** Available in: Print/ eBook/ eAudio |
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Bog Queen by Anna NorthA strangely well-preserved Iron Age body turns up in an English bog, and the American forensic anthropologist on the case is thrust into an absorbing, complex mystery. A story that blends mystery, ancient druidic history, and modern politics from an anthropological perspective! **Recommended by Meagan K. in Bel Air** Available in: Print/ LP/ eBook/ eAudio |
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A couple in their 60s vanished overnight from their home and mysteriously shuttered their family business, leaving millions of dollars unaccounted for. Initially believed to have absconded with the money, they went from suspects to victims when their bodies were discovered in their car at the bottom of a steep ravine. And then the case turned cold. The incredible true story of a group of moms who, united by a search for new purpose, attempt to solve a fifteen-year-old double murder. A true crime mystery that reads like a novel . . . It can be easy to forget that the underlying case is based on real, not fictional, murder. The Carpool Detectives is the ultimate wish fulfillment for any true crime fanatic, an absolutely thrilling read for armchair sleuths and mystery fans alike. Reads like a true crime podcast - in a good way! **Recommended by Tracy M. in Fallston** Available in: Print |
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Cinder House by Freya MarskeElla is a haunting. Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father's house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters. Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died. Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched. You think you know Ella's story--the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince. You're halfway right, and all-the-way wrong. A wonderfully retold Cinderella! It's a shorter read and an especially fun fit for those who like a little ghostly addition to their fairytales. There are many magic and fairy elements, but nothing so dense as to be off putting if you don't like to go deeply into fae or magic lore. **Recommended by Sarah S. in Havre de Grace** Available in: Print/ eBook/ eAudio |
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Conform by Ariel SullivanCenturies after a catastrophic war nearly decimated humanity, society is now ruled by an elusive and technologically advanced group called the Illum, who constantly monitor the population's health and mandate procreation contracts. But Emeline's bleak existence is shattered when, for the first time in decades, an Illum named Collin takes a Mate: Emeline. Baffled as to why she was chosen, Emeline is swept into the dangerous game of the Courting, where one wrong move can mean elimination. Soon, she discovers a rebellion rising in secret, and that her Mate may be keeping secrets of his own. Collin is confusing, both cold and protective, and worse, she finds herself drawn to the very last person she should be falling for: Hal, one of the resistance leaders. As she draws closer to both Collin and Hal, the Illum exercise their power in increasingly brutal ways, forcing Emeline to question everything--most of all whether she'll have to give up her heart and even her life to stop them. A fast paced story of an underling being brought into the elusive ruling class. It is an environment she does not understand or wish to serve. Maybe she is more comfortable among the resistance. **Recommended by Shannon M. in Joppa** Available in: Print/ LP/ eBook/ eAudio |
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The Correspondent by Virginia EvansSybil is seventy-three years old, in the winter of her life. Sybil has always made sense of the world through writing letters and through this epistolary novel we see how she comes to terms with her past and present and learns forgiveness. Lovely as an audiobook! **Recommended by Tracy M. in Fallston** **Recommended by Linda B. in Havre de Grace** Available in: Print/ LP/ Spanish/ eBook/ eAudio |
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Diavola by Jennifer ThorneAnna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: tread lightly and survive. It isn't easy when she's the only one in the family who doesn't quite fit in. Her twin brother Benny goes with the flow so much he's practically dissolved, and her older sister Nicole is so used to everyone--including her blandly docile husband and two kids--falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question. Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet. The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails--the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself. Family vacation in a remote Tuscan villa with deep family drama and lore, exacerbated by the villa being SUPER haunted. If you love spooky reads, this is a perfect read for you! **Recommended by Sydney B. in Abingdon** Available in: Print/ CD/ eBook/ eAudio |
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Everything We Never Had by Randy RibaySet in the 1930s to today, four generations of Filipino American boys grapple with identity, masculinity, and father-son relationships. Four generations of Filipino American boys and their experiences as young men trying to figure out their way through life, their struggles and successes. **Recommended by Suzanne V. in Whiteford** Available in: Print/ eBook/ eAudio |
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With themes of love, loneliness/isolation, and grief this book is told is alternating perspectives from three different Korean women, a police detective, a vampire hunter, and a nurse, around the main driving plot of elderly patients in a hospital that have been committing suicide only their bodies have been found under suspicious circumstances- drained of all blood. **Recommended by Emily C. in Abingdon** Available in: Print |
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Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate1990. Law enforcement ranger Valerie Boren-Odell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to raise her son. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than a teenage hiker goes missing and the long-hidden burial site of three children is discovered in a cave. Val's quest to uncover the truth wins an ally among the Choctaw Nation's Tribal Police but soon collides with the deadly legacy of the land itself. 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Radley knows that her stepfather is a threat to the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the remote Winding Stair Mountains, the territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, they form an unlikely band with other children struggling to get by on their own. In this gripping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val each leave behind one life in search of another. Interesting Historical Fiction set in Oklahoma in the early 1900's. **Recommended by Dianne D. in Aberdeen** Available in: Print/ LP/ CD/ Playaway/ eBook/ eAudio |
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The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly KennedyOn the surface, Denny Voss's life in rural Minnesota is a quiet one. At thirty years old, he lives at home with his elderly mother and his beloved blind and deaf Saint Bernard, George. He cleans up roadkill to help pay the bills. Though his prospects are limited by a developmental delay--the result of an accident at birth--Denny has always felt that he has 'a good life.' So how did he wind up being charged with the murder of a mayoral candidate--after crashing a sled full of guns into a tree? As Denny awaits trial, his court-appointed therapist walks him through the events of the past year. Denny's had other scuffles with the law, the first for kidnapping a neighbor's cantankerous goose. And then there was the time he accidentally assisted in a bank robbery. It seems like whenever Denny tries to do the right thing, chaos ensues. Untangling the events around the murder reveals even more painful truths about his family's past. He's always been surrounded by people who love him, but now it's up to Denny to set his life on a new course.-- A funny and heartwarming tale about a developmentally challenged man determined to solve the murder he’s been accused of. **Recommended by Jennifer S. in Joppa** Available in: Print |
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That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 1 (Light Novel) by FuseLiving alone and never having had a girlfriend, 37-year-old Satoru Mikami is dissatisfied with how his life has turned out. But after dying at the hands of a robber, he awakens to a fresh start in a new world...as a slime monster. Currently available: Vols. 1-3. A fun Fantasy about a man who was reincarnated as the weakest monster in classic rpg games and came to rule an empire of monsters. Whimsical and entertaining as well as action packed and exciting. **Recommended by Ricky N. in Aberdeen** Available in: Print |
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We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill LeporeWe the People offers a wholly new history of the Constitution. “One of the Constitution’s founding purposes was to prevent change,” Lepore writes. “Another was to allow for change without violence.” Relying on the extraordinary database she has assembled at the Amendments Project, Lepore recounts centuries of attempts, mostly by ordinary Americans, to realize the promise of the Constitution. Yet nearly all those efforts have failed. Although nearly twelve thousand amendments have been introduced in Congress since 1789, and thousands more have been proposed outside its doors, only twenty-seven have ever been ratified. More troubling, the Constitution has not been meaningfully amended since 1971. Without recourse to amendment, she argues, the risk of political violence rises. So does the risk of constitutional change by presidential or judicial fiat.
Challenging both the Supreme Court’s monopoly on constitutional interpretation and the flawed theory of “originalism,” Lepore contends in this “gripping and unfamiliar story of our own past” that the philosophy of amendment is foundational to American constitutionalism. The framers never intended for the Constitution to be preserved, like a butterfly, under glass, Lepore argues, but expected that future generations would be forever tinkering with it, hoping to mend America by amending its Constitution through an orderly deliberative and democratic process. Timely in an age when we the people need to remember what the American experiment is all about. **Recommended by William S. in Bel Air** Available in: Print/ eBook/ eAudio |
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Wrath of the Dragons by Olivia Rose DarlingIn the explosive sequel to the bestselling romantasy Fear the Flames, two fated lovers must unite against warring kingdoms to defend their home and crowns from those who wish to destroy them--Provided by publisher. This is a great book for romance, coming into one's power, and saving the world. I'm drawn to the main characters and their love for each other is so amazing. **Recommended by Alyssia G. in Edgewood** Available in: Print/ eBook/ eAudio |
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Harford County Public Library
1221-A Brass Mill Rd Belcamp, Maryland 21017 410-273-5600
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