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The Good Stuff From the Staff of Driftwood Public Library September 2026 Special Dark & Stormy Night Edition |
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The Book Witch
by Meg Shaffer
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - She can hop into any novel, but she just can't stay there. Come along with the Book Witch in this magical and inspiring love letter to reading from the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game.
March is a proud, third-generation Book Witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew. Book Witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real world; fictional characters belong in works of fiction. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don't even think about it. Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she's ever caught with him again, she'll be expelled from her book coven--and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name. But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there's only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.
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The Wishing Game
by Meg Shaffer
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Years ago, a reclusive mega-bestselling children's author quit writing under mysterious circumstances. Suddenly he resurfaces with a brand-new book and a one-of-a-kind competition, offering a prize that will change the winner's life in this absorbing and whimsical novel.
Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it's like to grow up without parents who loved her. In a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy found her solace in books, namely the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher's aide, she is able to share her love of reading with bright, young students, especially seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, who was left orphaned after the tragic death of his parents. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.But be careful what you wish for. . . . Just when Lucy is about to give up, Jack Masterson announces he's finally written a new book. Even better, he's holding a contest at his home on the real Clock Island, and Lucy is one of the four lucky contestants chosen to compete to win the one and only copy. For Lucy, the chance of winning the most sought-after book in the world means everything to her and Christopher. But first she must contend with ruthless book collectors, wily opponents, and the distractingly handsome (and grumpy) Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island books. Meanwhile, Jack the Mastermind Masterson is plotting the ultimate twist ending that could change all their lives forever.. . . You might just get it.
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The Lost Story
by Meg Shaffer
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Inspired by C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes--just in case--from the author of The Wishing Game.
As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they'd gone or how they'd survived. Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons' investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy. Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie's sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie's sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories. Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months--for only then can they get back everything and everyone they've lost.
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Annihilation
by Jeff VanderMeer
The Southern Reach Trilogy begins with Annihilation, the Nebula Award-winning novel that "reads as if Verne or Wellsian adventurers exploring a mysterious island had warped through into a Kafkaesque nightmare world" (Kim Stanley Robinson). Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition. The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers--they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding--but it's the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.
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City of Saints and Madmen
by Jeff VanderMeer
City of elegance and squalor. Of religious fervor and wanton lusts. And everywhere, on the walls of courtyards and churches, an incandescent fungus of mysterious and ominous origin. In Ambergris, a would-be suitor discovers that a sunlit street can become a killing ground in the blink of an eye. An artist receives an invitation to a beheading--and finds himself enchanted. And a patient in a mental institution is convinced he has made up a city called Ambergris, imagined its every last detail, and that he's really from a place called Chicago.By turns sensuous and terrifying, filled with exotica and eroticism, this interwoven collection of stories, histories, and eyewitness reports invokes a universe within a puzzle box where you can lose--and find--yourself again.
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Borne
by Jeff VanderMeer
In Borne, a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Companya biotech firm now derelictand punished by the unpredictable predations of a giant bear. Rachel ekes out an existence in the shelter of a run-down sanctuary she shares with her partner, Wick, who deals his own homegrown psychoactive biotech.One day, Rachel finds Borne during a scavenging mission and takes him home. Borne as salvage is little more than a green lump--plant or animal?--but exudes a strange charisma. Borne reminds Rachel of the marine life from the island nation of her birth, now lost to rising seas. There is an attachment she resents: in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet, against her instincts--and definitely against Wick's wishes--Rachel keeps Borne. She cannot help herself. Borne, learning to speak, learning about the world, is fun to be with, and in a world so broken that innocence is a precious thing. For Borne makes Rachel see beauty in the desolation around her. She begins to feel a protectiveness she can ill afford. But as Borne grows, he begins to threaten the balance of power in the city and to put the security of her sanctuary with Wick at risk. For the Company, it seems, may not be truly dead, and new enemies are creeping in. What Borne will lay bare to Rachel as he changes is how precarious her existence has been, and how dependent on subterfuge and secrets. In the aftermath, nothing may ever be the same.
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Wife Shaped Bodies
by Laura Cranehill
USA TODAY Bestseller
Sorrowland meets Manhunt in this literary horror debut in which an isolated newlywed, covered in fungal fruiting bodies, strikes a precarious balance between following her husband's strict rules and pursuing an intense connection with a woman who makes her question everything. Forbidden from leaving her house from girlhood until marriage, Nicole has only her mother's lessons and what she can see from her bedroom window to draw on in forming her view of the world, and of herself. Taught that the mushrooms which cover the women in her village are repulsive and dangerous, she conforms to a rigid set of rules to protect herself and those around her. When her wedding day arrives, Nicole moves from one prison to another--an empty mansion on the very outskirts of town belonging to the husband she's been promised to since birth. As she haunts the edges of Silas's unknowable life and decaying home, maintaining control over her own transforming body becomes increasingly impossible. And when another wife with rebellious tendencies pays Nicole an unexpected visit, something within her cracks open. Their furtive explorations yield confusing answers, unearthing the long-buried secrets of the generations of resentful brides that came before. Unmoored, angry, and at last awakened, Nicole must reckon with who she really is, and perhaps, give in to what she truly wants. Raw, visceral, and relentless, Wife Shaped Bodies is an exploration of gender, power, and community through the lens of mycological body horror and an ode to the unsettling beauty of the natural world.
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Hoard It All Before: A Circus of Unusual Creatures Mystery
by Tammie Painter
It's not every day you meet an amateur sleuth... with fangs.Like any traveling circus, Zin's Circus of Unusual Creatures has hair-raising acts and fried food on sticks. But it's also got an aura-spotting centaur, a chain-smoking unicorn, and an omelet-addicted dragon. Oh, and a body in the center ring.After far too many buckets of wine, Duncan -- aka Brutus Fangwrath, Deadliest Dragon in the West -- wakes one morning to find his best friend Porter Kohl isn't just sleeping off a hangover. He's been murdered.Suspicion for the crime quickly turns to the circus's new hire, Cordelia Quinn. After all, she desperately wanted Porter's job and she's got loads of circumstantial evidence stacked against her.But Duncan's not so sure. When it looks like Cordelia's murderous fate is sealed, that she might be sent off to the Pits, and that no one else is willing to uncover the truth, it's up to Duncan to ponder the puzzling clues, prove Cordelia's innocence, and pry open a troubling secret along the way.As soon as he's done with his omelet, that is.If you like comic fantasy whodunnits that combine laughs with murderous mayhem and mythical beasts, you'll love Hoard It All Before, the first of The Circus of Unusual Creatures Mysteries! * * * Set in a 1930s that's just a tad different than what you're used to, The Circus of Unusual Creatures is a delightfully humorous cozy fantasy series that features a detecting dragon, an aura-spotting centaur, a chain-smoking unicorn, and plenty of other quirky characters getting into all kinds of trouble as they stumble their way through clues, crimes, and perfectly cooked omelets.
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The Trials of Hercules: Book One of the Osteria Chronicles
by Tammie Painter
Myths and legends may be reborn, but the whims of the gods never change... In a world where mortals contend with the gods' vengeful jealousy, one man must ask himself if he will risk his life to defend the goddess who has done everything to destroy him. Convicted of three heinous murders, Herc Dion is sentenced to a series of trials that will pit him against formidable monsters, push his physical and mental endurance to the limit, and deliver him to the edge of Hades. Throughout these ordeals, Herc endures the brutal cruelty of Hera, the goddess whose hatred of Herc has blinded her to the near ruin of her realm and to plans that will spell the end of her existence. Realizing Hera has done everything to destroy him, will Herc risk his own life to protect hers? Vividly set in a future Pacific Northwest, this imaginative and absorbing retelling of the legend of Hercules teams with gods and heroes torn between love and jealousy, loyalty and revenge, and rivalry and honor.
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Seven Year Witch
by Angela M. Sanders
Finding your feet in a new job isn't always easy. That goes double for Josie Way, who's settling in as Wilfred, Oregon's, new librarian--and has just discovered she's a witch. But will her fledgling powers be enough to save her from a spell of murder? While Josie develops her witchcraft with the help of letters left by her grandmother, there are other changes happening in her new hometown. A retreat center is being built at the old mill site, and rumor has it that the location is cursed. That piques Josie's interest almost as much as Sam Wilfred, handsome FBI agent and descendent of the town's founder ... When Sam's soon-to-be ex-wife, Fiona, goes missing at the same time that a bloodied weapon is found, Josie enlists her witchy insight, and her cat familiar, to clear Sam's name. But then the mill project's architect is found dead, and it's clear that someone has been drawing up a vicious plan. Now Josie will have to divine her way out of fatal mischief, before this deadly trouble turns double ...
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Witch and Famous
by Angela M. Sanders
Josie and all of Wilfred are buzzing with excitement. A-list movie star Daphne Morris has chosen to interview Roz, assistant librarian and novelist, for her book club. But when the glamorous actress quickly charms both Roz's long-time love and Sheriff Sam, the object of Josie's unrequited affection, Josie turns to the whispers from her beloved books for ideas on revising the plot. Yet soon there's another twist ... At a party to celebrate the interview, Daphne's personal chef is found dead in a scene that all too closely echoes one in Roz's novel. It's clear to Josie that someone's idea of a happy ending means framing her friend. She'll have to read between the lines with the help of the library's enchanted stacks, guidance from her magical grandmother's letters, and her cat familiar, Rodney, to solve this murder before someone decides to stage a deadly sequel--
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Witch and Tell
by Angela M. Sanders
Small-town Wilfred, Oregon, is poised to step into the limelight, and the citizens behind the renovation of the old movie palace--into a brew pub--certainly want that to continue. Until librarian and apprentice witch Josie Way discovers a dead body . . .--Provided by publisher.
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When the Wolf Comes Knocking: A Christian Thriller
by Ken Pratt
Some wolves attack when their prey is at its weakest. Some charge fiercely. Others...knock softly.When Greg Slater returned home from college for winter break, his whole world changed. After rescuing his high-school sweetheart, Tina Dibari, and helping sentence his best friend, Rene Dibari, to life in prison, Greg fell in love for the first time. Fifteen years later, life isn't easy, but Greg and Tina are working on their marriage. But an old fear has come back to haunt them...Rene has escaped prison, and he's thirsty for revenge.As shocking truths unfold, Greg and Tina face a ripple in their faith and in their home. Tina starts doubting her faith and seeks comfort in a friend with lustful intentions. Meanwhile, Greg struggles to navigate this new unrest in their relationship.Unfortunately, evil stops for no one, and three very different wolves are after the Slater family.Will Greg and Tina's love be enough to keep them together, and-more importantly-will their faith hold true when the wolves come knocking?
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Willow Falls
by Ken Pratt
Welcome to Willow Falls. The town young Matthew Bannister ran away from fifteen years before. Now famed U.S. Deputy Marshal Matt Bannister is coming home to reconcile with his family.
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The Jester's Magician: A Christian Western Historical Mystery Novel
by Ken Pratt
From bestselling author Ken Pratt comes a thrilling new chapter in the Jessup County Chronicles.Branson, Missouri, 1884. The Hennessey Brothers' Traveling Show has rolled into town, and with it comes Paul Jandy-The World's Creepiest Magician. A master illusionist with a flair for theatrics and secrets darker than his stage tricks, Jandy captivates the town, especially Mary Washburn. But while Mary is drawn to his charm, another man, watches in quiet despair. Leonard has loved Mary for years...and now he watches her fall for someone else.What begins as a weekend of spectacle and celebration spirals into a slow-burning nightmare. Beneath Jandy's showmanship lies a cruel scheme-a brilliant disguise of manipulation and misdirection that will end in tragedy under the lights of Bella's Dance Hall. Meanwhile, Marshal Matt Bannister plans to enjoy a peaceful weekend with his family. But when his nephew is attacked, a baby's cry leads to bloodshed, and his uncle Solomon mysteriously vanishes, the lawman finds himself at the center of a chilling conspiracy. As Matt uncovers a web of infidelity, arsenic, and attempted murder within his own family, he races against time to save Solomon...and to reach Leonard before a vengeful posse delivers frontier justice without a trial.In a town where everyone smiles but few are innocent, The Jester's Magician blends the suspense of historical mystery with the emotional weight of romantic tragedy, asking: Can truth survive in a world built on illusion? What happens when the villain wears a smile and the hero doesn't know he's being played?
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Driftwood Public Library 801 SW Hwy 101, Second Floor Lincoln City, OR 97367 Phone: 541-996-2277 Email: librarian@lincolncity.org | | |
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Hours: Monday-Saturday: 10:00 AM until 6:00 PM Sunday: 1 PM - 5 PM |
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