JCPLA members, if you have a passion for RA work and would like to be the next Reader's Advisory Roundtable moderator, please reach out to me! hwesley oneallibrary org
I hope you registered for the JCPLA Staff Development Day
on August 30th …the deadline for registration is Monday, August
19th!
The next Reader’s Advisory Roundtable will be Wednesday,
October 9th at 9:30am. This
meeting will be hybrid, so come to O’Neal Library OR join in on Zoom! Coffee
and pastries will be available. The
topic up for discussion will be mythology retellings 😊
I try to mention this whenever I can, simply because it has been such a game changer for me! Libro.fm has a librarian/educator Audiobook Advance Listening Copy program! Use your library email account and follow the steps to request access here: https://libro.fm/alc-program
Today, RART met to discuss large print for bookgroups. We tried to limit our discussion to titles with at least 7 large print copies and an ebook option but there will be a section at the end of this post for great titles to read that, unfortunately, do not have many copies in the system. The titles might be a great choice for groups that only occasionally need large print.
Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls (13 LP copies, Libby ebook)
Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small
town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a
life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who
died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years
old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s
daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and
cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father,
her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out. Nine years
later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot
more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and
lawlessness.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (19 LP copies, Libby ebook, Hoopla
ebook)
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the
family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their
mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she
shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom
Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and
relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and
everything they thought they knew.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (12 LP copies, Libby ebook,
Hoopla ebook)
Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is
a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past.
Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly
comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the
well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last
they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship
between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks (10 LP copies, Libby ebook)
A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic,
and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer
Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across
American history.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate (17 LP copies, Libby
ebook)
Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life
scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption
organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the
country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale
reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the
heart never forgets where we belong.
Surviving Savannah by Patti Henry (10 LP copies, Libby
ebook)
It was called "The Titanic of the
South." The luxury steamship sank in 1838 with Savannah's elite on board;
through time, their fates were forgotten--until the wreck was found, and now
their story is finally being told in this breathtaking novel.
The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Henry (11 LP copies,
Libby ebook)
When a woman discovers a rare book with connections to her
past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood in the
English countryside during World War II are revealed in this “beguiling blend
of hope, mystery, and true familial love” (Sadeqa Johnson, New York
Times bestselling author).
Marple: Twelve New Stories (8 LP copies, Hoopla ebook)
This collection of twelve original short stories, all
featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation.
Each author reimagines Agatha Christie's Marple through their own unique
perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery. Miss
Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Agatha Christie wrote for The
Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in
1930's The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie's
last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and
this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a
timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female
detective of all time.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (10 LP copies, Libby
ebook)
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a
library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of
another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another
book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice
at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been,
what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any
of these other lives truly be better?
All Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg (17
LP copies, Libby ebook)
Fabulous, fun-filled, spanning decades and generations, and
centered on a little-known aspect of America’s twentieth-century story, The
All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion is another irresistible novel
by the remarkable Fannie Flagg.
Murder on a Girl’s Night Out by Anne George (7 LP copies,
Hoopla ebook)
Patricia Anne -- "Mouse" -- is respectful,
respectable, and demure, a perfect example of genteel Southern womanhood. Mary
Alice -- "Sister" -- is big, brassy, flamboyant, and bold. Together
they have a knack for finding themselves in the center of some of Birmingham's
most unfortunate unpleasantness.
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle (7 LP copies, Libby
ebook)
When Katy's mother dies, she is left reeling. To make
matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to
Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met
Katy's father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she
is faced with embarking on the adventure alone. But as soon as she steps foot
on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother's spirit. Buoyed by the
stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course,
delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life. And then Carol
appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Over the
course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but
as the young woman before her.
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins (10 LP copies, Libby ebook)
When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies,
she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious.
The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled
the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in the
Blue Ridge Mountains. But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son,
Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with
the surviving McTavishes.
Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal
life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as
eager to escape her own messy past. Ten years later, his uncle's death pulls
Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Soon, Jules and Cam
realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what's written in a
will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon (12 LP copies, Libby ebook)
From the New York Times bestselling author comes a
gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha
Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system
and wrote herself into American history.
First Ladies by Marie Benedict (9 LP copies, Libby ebook)
The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod
Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work.
She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she
becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S.
Presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt herself is awestruck and eager to make her
acquaintance. Initially drawn together because of their shared belief in
women’s rights and the power of education, Mary and Eleanor become fast friends
confiding their secrets, hopes and dreams—and holding each other’s hands
through tragedy and triumph.
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict (8 LP copies, Libby
ebook)
A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian,
Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true
identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our
nation.
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano (8 LP copies, Libby ebook)
What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?
One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older
brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed
for Los Angeles. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the
sole survivor. Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he
struggles to find a place in a world without his family. Dear Edward is
at once a transcendent coming-of-age story, a multidimensional portrait of an
unforgettable cast of characters, and a breathtaking illustration of all the
ways a broken heart learns to love again.
POPULAR BOOKCLUB AUTHORS
For a unique option for book clubs that takes advantage
of low large print numbers, try an author study! Select an author and then book club members select
any book by that author to read and share with the group. These authors generally
have large print variety even when there are not many of each title available.
LOW NUMBER OF LARGE PRINT, BUT GREAT TITLES
March by Geraldine Brooks (1 LP copy, Libby ebook)
From Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic Little
Women, Geraldine Brooks has animated the character of the absent father,
March, and crafted a story "filled with the ache of love and marriage and
with the power of war upon the mind and heart of one unforgettable man"
(Sue Monk Kidd).
Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society by Judy Christie and
Lisa Wingate (1 LP copy, Libby ebook)
The compelling, poignant true stories of victims of a
notorious adoption scandal—some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate’s
bestselling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth
family members as a result of its wide reach.
Lexington: The Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America’s Legendary Racehorse by Kim Wickens (2 LP copies)
Kim Wickens, a lawyer and dressage rider, became fascinated
by this legendary horse when she learned that twelve of Thoroughbred racing's
thirteen Triple Crown winners descended from Lexington. Wickens spent years
meticulously researching the horse and his legacy—and with Lexington, she
presents an absorbing, exciting account that transports readers back to the
raucous beginning of American horse racing and introduces them to the stallion
at its heart.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (5 LP copies, Libby
ebook)
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet
weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call
themselves the Thursday Murder Club. When a local developer is found dead with
a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club
suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies
begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer,
before it's too late?
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of WWI by Douglas Brunt (no LP available, Libby
ebook)
This instant New York Times bestselling
“dynamic detective story” (The New York Times) reveals the hidden
history Rudolf Diesel, one of the world’s greatest inventors, and his
mysterious disappearance on the eve of World War I.
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep (10 LP copies, Libby ebook)
This “superbly written true-crime story” (The New York
Times Book Review) masterfully brings together the tales of a serial
killer in 1970s Alabama and of Harper Lee, the beloved author of To Kill a
Mockingbird, who tried to write his story.
Title descriptions pulled from Amazon.com.
