Summer 2011 Good Reads

Caleb's Crossing/ Geraldine Brooks
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin/ Erik Larson
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey/ Walter Mosley
Dear Bess/Letters of Harry Truman edited by Robert Ferrell
West of Here/Jonathan Evison
The Lake Shore Limited/Sue Miller
The Reading Promise/Alice Ozma
Rodin's Debutante/Ward Just
The Long Snapper/ Jeffrey Marx
A Night Too Dark/Dana Stabenow
Extraordinary, Ordinary People/Condoleezza Rice
River of Darkness/ Buddy Levy
Nothing Daunted/ Dorothy Wickenden
The Remembrances of Marietta Lufford/ Virginia Chute
The Slap/ Christos Tsiolkas
Papa Martel/Gerard Robichaud
Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story/ Mitchell Zuckoff
Madam Bovary's Daughter/ Linda Urbach
The Paris Wife/ Paula McLain
Mississipppi Mud/Edward Humes
Clara and Mr. Tiffany/ Susan Vreeland

Winter Reading 2010/2011

The Heretic's Wife/Brenda Vantrease
The Heretic's Daughter/ Kathleen Kent
The Wolves of Andover/ Kathleen Kent
Hannah Coulter/ Wendell Berry
Oxygen/ Carol Cassella
Team of Rivals/ Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Eleventh Man/ Ivan Doig
The Healer/ Carol Cassella
Daniel/ Henning Mankell
Remarkable Creatures/ Tracy Chevalier
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse/Louise Erdrich
Four Souls/Louise Erdrich
The Imperial Cruise/ James Bradley
The Witness House/ Christiane Kohl
A Fierce Radiance/ Lauren Belfer
The Immortal Life of Hennrietta Lacks/ Rebecca Skloot
Walk the Blue Fields/ Claire Keegan
Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful: Poems/ Alice Walker

Summer Reading 2010

Teacher Man/ Frank McCourt
Half Broke Horses /Jeanette Walls
Read My Pins/Madeleine Albright
The Yellow House/Patricia Falvey
Signora DaVinci/Robin Maxwell
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Played with Fire/Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest/Stieg Larsson
Under the Dome/Stephen King
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle/David Winobleski
Work Song/Ivan Doig
Colonel Pettigrew's Last Stand/Helen Simonson
Antarctica/Claire Keegan
A Star Called Henry/Roddy Doyle
Curse the River of Time/Per Petterson
Turbulence/Giles Foden
Last Night in Twisted River/John Irving
Flight/Jan Burke
Stones for Schools/Greg Mortenson
Red Hook Road/Ayelet Waldman
The Last Time I Saw You/ Elizabeth Berg
The Ape House/ Sara Gruen
Band of Angels/ Gregson

November - March Reads

The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation/John Baker Jr
You or Someone Like You/ Chandler Burr
The Ingenious Edgar Jones/Elizabeth Garner
The Help/Kathryn Stockett
The Power of One/Bryce Courtenay
English/Wang Gang
The Tempest - A Brave Vessel/Hobson Woodward
The Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook/Tom Bernardin
The Water's Edge/ Karin Fossum
Handle with Care/ Jodi Picoult
Mudbound/Hillary Jordan
The Glass Room/Simon Mawer
Change of Heart/Jodi Picoult
The Calligrapher's Daughter/Eugenia Kim
Gardens of Water/Alan Drew
The Lacuna/Barbara Kingsolver
Shooting Stars/LeBron James /Buzz Bissinger
The Namesake/Jumpa LaHiri

June to October Reads 2009

The Good Thief/ Hannah Tinti -- LOVED THIS! Hope it becomes a movie.



The Air We Breathe/ Andrea Barrett
Dewey/ Vicki Myron
All for Love/Amanda Elyot
To Siberia/Per Petterson
The Girl with No Shadow/Joanne Harris
The Reader/Bernhard Schlink
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet/Jamie Ford
The Last Time We Met/Anita Shreve
Things Fall Apart/Chinua Achebe (Naples Book Club)
Embassy Falls/Richard Russo (Naples Book Club)
The Reliable Wife/Robert Goolrick
The Writing on My Forehead/Nafisa Haji
The Year of Wonders/Geraldine Brooks (Naples Book Club)
My Stroke of Insight/Jill Bolte Taylor
Scent of Sake/Joyce Zebra
The Commitments/Roddy Doyle (Naples Book Club)
The Art of Racing in the Rain/ Garth Stein
Street Fighters/Kate Kelly
The Book of Night Women/ Marlon James
Cutting for Stone/ Abraham Verghese
Provenance/Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo
The Night Birds/Thomas Maltman
South of Broad/Pat Conroy
The Outliers/Malcom Gladwell
The Blue Notebook/James A. Levine
Right of Thirst/Frank Huyler
The Clothes on Their Backs/Linda Grant
These is my Words/Nancy E. Turner

April and May Reads

The German Bride/ Joanna Hershon - interesting novel of frontier Santa Fe and cultural realities for women
A Mercy/Toni Morrison - this novel engages all your senses
Comfort Food/Kate Jacobs - quick, fun, read - take it to the beach
Shopping for Porcupine/Seth Kastner - couldn't put it down! nonfiction, conservation, wonder, photos supporting the narrative, family, community, READ IT
Digging to America/ Anne Tyler - two families, friendship, adoption, introspection
The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard/Erin McGraw - memorable, difficult early decision weaves its way toward a resolution that comes from character development, great book for book club discussion

Click on book titles to link to online reviews.

Well, she's done it!

Well, she's done it! Ella Gilman Conger has published her first novel for young teen girls.
Indian Summer, set in rural Aroostook County, Maine, during the 1930's, tells the story of a half Native American teen girl coming to terms with her identity. This is a charming story not only of a young girl on the cusp of independence, but of depression era rural Maine. The author captures those times with memories of annual potato harvests, schoolyard bullies, spiritual searches, social and racial class differences, and county fairs. It is an enduring story of family bonds and personal growth. For Mainers from the "County", it is a wonderful trip down memory lane.

Click on the title to read a sample - search for Indian Summer by Ella Gilman Conger.

Also, a children's story, Caty's Shoes, written by Ella and illustrated by her grandson, Nolan, will be available soon. Look for it in May.