READ @ MPL

If you enjoyed Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman or Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel you may want to try these books by Sarah Addison Allen:

Garden Spells
Sisters Claire and Sydney Waverly struggle to accept their family legacy. As the story unfolds the sisters learn to love each other and themselves. An apple tree, garden and recipes with fantastic powers along with colorful local characters help lead the Waverly sisters on their journey and discoveries. Check the catalog for availability.

The Sugar Queen
Quiet, awkward Josey Cirrini's peaceful life--caring for her elderly mother, enjoying romance novels, and indulging in her secret passion for sweets--is turned upside down when Della Lee Baker, a sassy, confident, and bold waitress fleeing an abusive boyfriend, decides to hide out in Josey's home. Check the catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Paula & Jacki @ Central

Dancing Naked At The Edge Of Dawn (2005) by Kris Radish

My cousin recommended this book to me and I'm glad I read it. The life-altering events that occur in Meg's past, present and ultimately her future are simultaneously extraordinary and ordinary. With the guidance of friends both old and new, and a magical trail of clues left behind by her dead aunt, Meg discovers the life she was meant to live and the person she was meant to be. Meg's discoveries are inspiring to readers. Radish enters the psyche of the female mind and reveals it in a realistic humorous fashion.
Check the catalog for availability

This book was fun to read as well as thought provoking.

Submitted by Paula N. @ MPL Central

As the weather gets colder, I love to curl up in my cozy little knitting nook with some heavy wool and a stack of winter-wear patterns. I'm always amazed as striped hats and fair-isle mittens take shape on my needles, seemingly all by themselves. It really does feel like magic! Maybe that's why I love Barbara Bretton's Sugar Maple series so much. In this idyllic small town in Vermont, "your yarn never tangles, your sleeves always come out the same length, and you always, always get gauge." If you think that sounds like magic - well, you'd be right. Chloe Hobbs is the owner of Sticks & Strings, New England's highest-rated knitting shop. She's also half-sorceress. When an all-human cop, Luke MacKenzie, appears in the town to investigate a terrible accident, Chloe must protect Sugar Maple's supernatural denizens from prying eyes. But it may be hard for her to keep secrets from the only man who has ever understood her human side ...

Even if you don't consider yourself a romance reader, this series truly does weave a magical spell. Casting Spells is the first installment, followed by Laced with Magic and Spun by Sorcery.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

Smash Cut by Sandra Brown (c2009)

The extremely wealthy Paul Wheeler is shot in an elevator with Julie Rutledge by his side in what appears to be a robbery. What follows is the fascinating tale of proving "who done it." Evidence points to Ms. Rutledge setting the murder up. The quintessential villain, though not the actual killer, Creighton Wheeler, is a true sociopath who is obsessed with re-enacting scenes from murder mystery films (a smash cut is an abrupt scene in a film). There are many clever turns and twists, most quite believable and logical. I found myself waking in the night and wondering how on earth this clever villain was going to be found out and punished. Very satisfying ending. Check catalog for availability.

- submitted by Kathy R @ Zablocki

Whiplash by Catherine Coulter (c2010)

Lacy Sherlock and Dillon Savich, FBI agents extraordinaire, tackle two tough cases, the murder of a pharmaceutical troubleshooter from Germany and the possible haunting of a US Senator by his dead wife. Is someone trying to kill the senator? Is the shortage of an effective cancer fighting drug a true shortage or has the drug shortage been created to force patients into using another much more expensive drug which is not as effective? Two new characters, private investigator and ballet teacher Erin Pulaski and FBI field agent Bowie Richards are introduced and hopefully we will see more of them. A colorful cast of characters moves the story along quickly. Coincidence plays a little too big a role here, but there's plenty of excitement and the cases are resolved in a highly satisfying manner. Check catalog for availability.

- submitted by Kathy R @ Zablocki

New Orleans. Ghosts. Murder. Romance. Historic Mansion in the French Quarter. Heather Graham uses all of these elements in her book Phantom Evil. Jackson Crowe heads a secret government unit which deals with the paranormal. The members in this unit all have psychic talents and are called in to investigate the death of a Senator's wife. Senator Holloway does not believe that his wife committed suicide. He thinks that his wife was killed by the ghosts in this haunted mansion once inhabited by a serial killer. Suicide, ghosts, or someone or something more sinister?

Perfect for a summer night when you can stay up late, read the whole book, and sleep in the next morning. I have the next book in the series on hold; I'll just have to wait for the right night to read it.

Submitted by Connie @ Central

Elena Alvarez, a chef and the lone survivor of a horrific accident which claimed the lives of two of her cousins, her unborn child, and boyfriend almost 20 years ago is trying to move on. Trying to fulfill a dream of running her own restaurant, she's trying to defy the odds stacked against her. After being fired from her job by the head chef (and her boyfriend), she is offered a chance to start over by owner Julian Liswood, a famous director and restaurant owner in Colorado. Can Elena get a restaurant running from the ground up? Can her battered body withstand the demands of a chef? Will Elena's old ghosts get in her way of finally having happiness? Check the catalog for availability. Grab a comfy blanket and a pen (for jotting down the recipes throughout this novel) and enjoy!
Submitted by Nichole D. @ Villard

Rainwater is a fascinating picture of life in Texas during the depression. A change for Brown, who has been writing thrillers of late, this is a heart-wrenching tale of a young mother, Ella, with an autistic child who runs a boardinghouse to survive after her husband disappears.

David Rainwater comes to her as a boarder. Upfront, she is told by the town doctor that Rainwater is dying and won't be there long. His interest in her son gives her cause for concern as well as hope, and the tale of their relationship is a beautiful one; never cloying. The characters are well-drawn, the town bully Conrad is especially effective and the black preacher Brother Calvin is inspiring. The racial tones of the time are evident and the picture of the program that sent government men to kill the cattle of the farmers who couldn't afford to feed them is well-done. A moving story with a surprise ending that is very plausible. A wonderful tale.

Submitted by Katherine @ Zablocki

Does anything in life ever come easy? For most of us the answer is usually no. This is no different for Kate Appleton the main character in Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly. Her husband left her and she was fired from her job as a magazine editor. She decides the best place to go is to her parents' summer house, The Nutshell, in Keene's Harbor, Michigan. Her goal is to turn The Nutshell into a bed and breakfast. She first needs to find a job especially since The Nutshell is falling apart. Unfortunately, since it is a small tourist town there is not much for employment.

Luck turns around for Kate when she convinces Matt Culhane to hire her at his brewery. Since he doesn't have any typical jobs he hires her to find out who is sabotaging his business. Kate will receive a $20,000 bonus if she finds out who the culprit is. Problem is she does not like beer, her fellow employees do not trust her, and she is falling for her boss Matt. Find out what befalls Kate as she looks for the saboteur. Will she find love with Matt? Will she get hurt or worse trying to find the saboteur? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this entertaining book that contains plenty of humor, romance, and mystery.

Submitted by Collen @ Forest Home

Linda Howard is a prolific writer of suspense, mystery, danger and passion. Here are four of her books that I have read and enjoyed recently.

In Dream Man Marlie Keen lives a quiet and normal life in Orlando, Florida. One night while driving home she has a nightmare or some kind of clairvoyant episode about a local serial killer. Reluctantly, and at the risk of being ridiculed, Marlie goes to the police and tells them what she "saw." Her description matches that of a recent crime, even so Detective Dane Hollister doubts the source of her information. That is until the serial killer starts to hunt Marlie. Dane takes Marlie's safety very seriously and decides to do everything he can to make sure she does not become the serial killer's next victim.

In Prey Angie Powell runs a wilderness guide business in Montana. Unfortunately, her company is slowly failing as a neighboring wilderness guide company run by Dare Callahan seems to be taking away her customers. Her luck worsens when she takes three shady men out on a trip to hunt bear. When she doesn't return home after a torrential rain storm, Dare Callahan worries and goes looking for her. Eventually he finds her only to become the prey of a man-eating bear.

In Ice Gabriel McQueen returns home from the service to visit his family for the holidays only to discover a life-threatening ice storm is about to barrel into town. He doesn't want to leave his family right upon arriving, but his father asks him to go check on a neighbor to make sure she's OK. Unfortunately, that neighbor is Lolly Helton, a girl he never liked when he was younger. Meanwhile, Lolly plans to make a quick stop at her house and then leave town, but two unsavory characters take her hostage and plan to rob her. They all get trapped on the mountain in Lolly's house along with Gabriel who just barely makes it there through the ice. The criminals have guns, are on drugs, and completely irrational. There's nowhere for anyone to go or hide. The dire situation quickly turns into kill or be killed.

Veil of Night is not as serious and dark as the other three novels I've listed here. Wedding planner Jaclyn Wilde has a devil of a client in Carrie Edwards who lives to make others miserable. With several weddings coming up in just a few days, poor Jaclyn doesn't have time for the drama Carrie creates. You'd think life would be better if Carrie just went away, but a simple departure is not in her nature. Someone murders her and everyone's a suspect. From there the mystery unfolds like a game of Clue.

Valerie @ MPL Central

In Anyone But You, recently divorced and forty years old, Nina Askew struggles to make sense of her new single life and career. She's settling in to her one bedroom apartment and is slowly working up the ladder in the publishing world. She decides to get a cute little puppy to liven up her life. However, she comes home from the dog pound with Fred, a depressed basset hound that was on death row. With her best friend's help and encouragement, Nina starts dating, but does not find anyone she's interested in. In the meantime, she passes evenings watching old movies with her neighbor Alex - a younger emergency room doctor. Both love being friends and both are unsure what to do next. Their relationship becomes complicated when Alex starts dating other women and Nina's ex-husband arrives to take her back home.

Valerie @ MPL Central

What a fun story! I've enjoyed reading other books by Jennifer Crusie and thought I'd give this one a go. In Agnes and the Hitman co-author Bob Mayer gives Crusie's writing style a different flavor and lots of action. Obviously one of the main players is Agnes Crandall - cook extraordinaire, columnist, dog owner, and primary target of one murder attempt after another. Then there's Shane Doyle - Agnus's personal 24/7 bodyguard, hitman, love interest, and possibly a mobster.

After that there are too many colorful and unique people to write about, each one playing an integral role in the outcome of the story. The story begins with Agnus having only a few days to put on a wedding for her best friend's daughter. Simple? With the grandmother of the bride sabotaging absolutely everything, the mob dueling it out here, there, and everywhere, a missing fortune of 5 million dollars, dead bodies popping up everywhere, and two honking pink flamingos we see how crazy difficult it can be to pull together a successful event. Who will end up literally swimming with the fishes? And who will still be standing to eat the wedding cake after it's all over?

Valerie @ MPL Central

In The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, Blue Sargent and her psychic mother are sitting through their annual watch on St. Mark's Eve. Her mother is waiting to "see" the spirits pass through the church yard of people who will die in the upcoming twelve months. Something unique happens this year, Blue actually feels a particular spirit for a young man named Gansey, who seems to be one of the "Raven Boys", a nickname used for young men who attend the local Aglionby Academy. Her aunt tells her there are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve - either you're his true love or you killed him. This has Blue in an upheaval.

Soon after this watch the mysterious Gansey makes an appointment to have a psychic reading at Blue's house. Their worlds collide. Gansey and his circle of friends, Adam, Ronan, and Noah join forces with Blue to discover the mystery behind the story of Owain Glendower, a medieval Welsh noble. Gansey will stop at nothing to find him and believes the countryside around Henrietta, Virginia is his final resting place. Murder and intrigue weave through this story to unveil a few shocking plot twists that will have readers clamoring for the next volume!

Katharina, Central Library Children's Room

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - Lola should be an inspiration to young fashion designers that think big and accomplish what they put their mind to! Lola is a seventeen-year-old that knows what she wants, or so she thinks. Her fathers do not quite approve of her latest flame, but she believes she has found her soul mate, who is an older fellow in a punk band. What makes her unique is her wardrobe. She vows NEVER to wear the same outfit twice and each outfit is chosen carefully to make a daily statement.

If you like chick-lit this will keep you turning the pages. Lola is on top of the world until her old neighbors move back into the lavender Victorian next door to her. Will the twins remember her and forget Lola's past mistakes? She can only hope that Cricket, her first love, will leave her alone and his sister Calliope will not be so sinister to her this time. A stitch in time saves nine may be the healing factor in Stephanie Perkins latest novel!

Katharina, Central Library Children's Room

Ever wonder what the library staff are reading? Here's a snapshot of what's currently being read by workers at Central:

Laura P is reading The Summer Queen by Joan D. Vinge

Hilary E is reading Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton

Christine O is reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

John S is reading Deity, Mantra, and Wisdom: Development Stage Meditation in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra by Jigme Lingpa, Patrul Rinpoche, and Getse Mahapandita

Allie S is reading Visa for Avalon by Bryher

Leslie F is reading An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon and listening to The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Gail B is reading Disturbance by Jan Burke

Tom O is reading Dear Life: Stories by Alice Munro

Tom F is reading I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp: An Autobiography by Richard Hell

Mary M is reading Amazing Things Will Happen: A Real-World Guide on Achieving Success and Happiness by C.C. Chapman

Victoria S is reading The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price by Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Kelly K is reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Manuel C is reading Blue-Blooded Vamp by Jaye Wells

Jim B is reading The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Joanne B is reading Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy

Emily K is reading Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose

Pam H is reading Dance of the Gods by Nora Roberts

Roxanne S is reading The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Chris M is reading Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich (a forthcoming title, July 2013)

Kathy B is reading Anjum's Eat Right for Your Body Type: The Super-Healthy Detox Diet Inspired by Ayurveda by Anjum Anand

Watch for future lists of what the staff at the branch locations are reading!