June LibraryReads List

The LibraryReads list for June just came out and I will quickly go over them. This list to me is kind of mixed - there are entries that I totally agree with and others that leave me baffled. Basically, it is proof that librarians worldwide have different tastes when reading.

Number one on the list and one I voted for too is Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders. Horowitz also writes a fiction series for elementary aged boys but for adults, I consider his book literary mysteries. Here, Susan Ryeland, an editor for a London firm, receives the latest title from a popular mystery author. As she reads it, she feels that something else is going on. Then she realizes that the last 3 chapters are missing AND the author turns up dead. How can she not investigate.

The rest in no particular order:

Nalini Singh has Silver Silence on the list. Singh writes paranormal romance....passionate paranormal romance. This is the first in the series Psy-Changling Trinity. Silver Mercant is head of an aid organization reacting to terrorism. Valentin Nikolaev - from the Bear Clan - feels the need to protect her. Good thing, since someone or several someones are out to kill her.

Callie Bates had The Waking Land on the list. This fantasy is Bates first novel. Here Lady Elanna Voltai, who was kidnapped from her home and raised by the king in her adopted homeland, is accused of the kings murder and must flee. She returns to her birth country and realizes that the things she has been told about it are untrue. Since people are still after her, perhaps a rebellion is in store.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire is on the list. Another fantasy --- hum....McGuire also writes as Mira Grant. This work is the second in the Wayward Children series. Here two sisters 'fall down a rabbit hole' and disappear. They enter a world of fairy tale horror and magic and the Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children.This is what happened to them first.

Do Not Become Alarmed by Maile Meloy. This sounds frightening. Two families (the mothers are cousins) decide to take a family cruising vacation. There are 4 children altogether. They are having an enjoyable time - children included - when they decide to take an off ship adventure and the two moms and the children leave the ship in a Central American country. Then, through a series of misadventures, the children disappear. Told through the eyes of the parent and the children.

Kate Quinn has The Alice Network on the list. Quinn's work involves a young, pregnant socialite who has been exiled from her family who is looking for her cousin, Rose, who was a member of The Alice Network during WWI. To try to locate her, she contacts Eve Gardiner who had been a member of the Alice Network.

Fiona Barton has The Child on the list. A baby skeleton is unearthed at a construction site. Kate Waters, a reporter, investigates but finds more than she bargained for. She traces it back to a newborn stolen from a maternity ward but who? why? how? That is the story to be told.

The Little French Bistro by Nina George is on the list. Marianne, depressed after decades in a unhappy marriage, attempts suicide but is rescued. Then, her husband abandons her. She drops everything and head to Brittany where she works at a seaside bistro. Being in the company of a diverse community leads her to life, the way it is suppose to be.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is on the list. It is a tale of old Hollywood where Monique Grant interviews a powerful star, Evelyn Hugo, and learns all about her career and seven husbands. The mystery is why Hugo - a famous woman - chose Monique Grant, a close to broken journalist, for this task.

Lastly, Matthew Sullivan's Midnight At The Bright Ideas Bookstore is on the list. Sullivan is an award winning short story writer but this is his first novel. It centers on Lydia Smith - an employee at the Bright Ideas Bookstore. When one of the regulars commits suicide in the backroom of the bookstore and leaves all his possession to Lydia, she feels she must investigate WHY? By doing so, she opens up all sorts of trauma from her childhood. Really highly reviewed and declared a MUST READ by many.

OK - there you go. Perhaps there is something there for you. Even though I hadn't planned on it, I am going to read Matthew Sullivan's work. But then.....I love bookstores.