Adult Summer Reading Program 
Fairfield, Cordelia and Suisun Reviews

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Title: 8 Sandpiper Way

Author: Debbie Macomber

Rating: Good

Review: A followup of the folks of Cedar Cove. I like to catch up with these folks. They feel like family. What annoys me is that we have to rehash their lives each and every book. And does most everyone need to fall in love and get married each book? Can't we change it up a bit? Overall, it is a good read.

Name: Roberta

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Long Lost

Author: Harlan Coben

Rating: Excellent

Review: Myron Bolitar, ex-pro, is off on another journey, helped by Win & Esperanza. He is off to Paris to help Therese, whom he hasn't seen in 9 years. She has kept track of him, even when she was hiding. Can they all survive this? Harlan Coben has a great book on his hands. I hope for more to come.

Name: Roberta

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Look Again

Author: Lisa Scottoline

Rating: Excellent

Review: This book will keep you in your seat. Who's child is it? Ellen's or Carol's? Will Sarah get someone killed. Will Marcelo fire Ellen? Don't walk to far away. You might miss something.

Name: Roberta

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Everyone worth knowing

Author: Lauren Weisberger

Rating: Good

Review: Fun, easy, beach reading. I enjoyed her other books better but this one was good also.

Name: Katia

Branch: Fairfield

Title: The Shack

Author: William P. Young

Rating: Good

Review: I'm not very religious but this book had some very good points on the concept of trinity and faith. It expanded my own faith.

Name: Katia

Branch: Fairfield

Title: The Namesake

Author: Jhumpa Lahiri

Rating: Excellent

Review: As an immigrant, this book was very on point. The book was much better than the movie. Highly recommended.

Name: Katia

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Believe Me

Author: Nina Killham

Rating: Good

Review: This book is about a 13 year old boy and his atheist astrolomer mom. He is at the adolescent age with many questions about religion, sex, relationships etc. His mom has taught him so much science so he is very smart. He hooks up with a Christian group of kids and likes it because he has never had religion in his life. The book is written in his perspective and is full of his wonderings and experiences. There is no mystery or ending; it is a slice of his life where he finds God. Easy to read and well written. I was pleasantly surprised and could not put it down in the last 100 pages.

Name: Sally 

Branch: Fairfield

Title: The Sugar Queen

Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Rating: Good

Review: Looking for a gentle read? Josey Cirrini, daughter and live-in companion to her mother, is used to a small town Southern live. When an unexpected visitor takes up residence in her closet, family secrets are revealed and Josey must test the limits of her personal strength to find happiness. A wonderful tale of family relationships and love's first sting.

Name: Chris

Branch: Fairfield

Title: The Bones in the Attic

Author: Robert Barnard

Rating: Fair

Review: This is a mystery story set in England. A retired soccer player buys a home for his partner and her three children. He discovers the bones of a toddler in the attic. The mystery is trying to find who the toddler was and how it died and why it was in the attic. The bones are 30 years old so the story goes back to 1969 when a group of kids may be responsible for the death. The book is easy to read but lacks excitement making it easy to put down and get back to later.

Name: Sally

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Pieces for the Left Hand

Author:  J. Robert Lennon

Rating: Excellent

Review: I found this book very easy to read and wonderfully written. The short stories weave themselves together because they are written in the same voice and style. Loved it!

Name: Jenny

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Night World Book 1

Author: L.J. Smith

Rating: Excellent

Review: This was a great story about witches, vampires, and teenagers falling in love. It is a good summer read.

Name: Eloina

Branch: Fairfield

Title: The Appeal

Author: John Grisham

Rating:

Review: Mississippi politics, toxic chemical sites, manipulated people, people who give their all to try and make a change.

Name: Sylvia

 Branch: Fairfield

Title: The Pillars of the Earth

Author: Ken Follett

Rating: Good

Review: This is a long, long book set in England in the 1100's. It is a different book than what Mr. Follett usually writes. It follows a boy, Philip, who witnesses a family tragedy, becomes a novice, monk, prior, and finally a bishop. It follows Tom Builder who will take any job to feed his starving family, but would really like to build a cathedral. It follows Aliena through her late teens, first as a daughter of an earl, the downfall of her father, and of herself, and her rise above the never-ceasing problems. A good book, but very long.

Name: Roberta

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Mayhem in High Heels

Author: Gemma Halliday

Rating: Excellent

Review: If you like Janet Evanovich, you will enjoy this book. Maddie is getting married which involves crazy situations. In addition, Maddie thinks of herself and her friend as Cagney and Lacey (or Lucy and Ethel) to solve a crime. This book will have you laughing until the end.

Name: Alison

Branch: Suisun

Title: The Case of the Paranoid Patient

Author: Anna Clarke

Rating: Good

Review: A mystery set in an English clinic with predictable twists and turns.

Name: Sharon

Branch: Fairfield

Title: The Journey of Crazy Horse (AUDIO BOOK)

Author: Joseph M. Marshall III

Rating: Good

Review: A history of the Lakota Indians, focusing on Crazy Horse and his family. The author is Lakota and gives the history of the invasion of the white man from the perspective of the Lakota. I found the author's account of the Battle of Little Big Horn interesting as he focused on the events leading up to the battle.

Name: James

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Candide

Author: Voltaire

Rating: Good

Review: The sarcasm of this book is surprising when one realizes it was written 1759. Personally, I never had a concept of what life was like before cell phones and television and separation of church and state and all that. I can't imagine how different I would be if I lived in a culture where people's destinies were determined by who their parents were. Still, Candide has a very modern tone despite having come from a whole different world all together. I'm sure Voltaire's influence on American culture is great because Candide's tone and philosophy insinuates philosophies of free will and morality that mirror the ideals of American forefathers like Jefferson and Franklin. I can't imagine what it would be like to worry about getting beheaded for thinking differently and Candide's sarcastic tone exposes how ridiculous it was for governments to have such authority.

Name: Jason

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians

Author: Fanny Kelly

Rating: Good

Review: True story of a pioneer white woman held captive by Indians for 5months. For people who enjoy old West stories. I thought equal information was given about all the groups.

Name: Sylvia

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Just Breathe

Author: Susan Wiggs

Rating: Excellent

Review: I found a new great author. She is similar to Kristin Hannah. A woman is going through a divorce and moves back to her hometown. Of course, there is an someone there that she falls in love with. The book is nice because you know the predictable parts and keep reading to find out what happens.

Name: Alison

Branch: Suisun

Title: To Kill a Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Rating: Excellent

Review: Of course a classic. Reminded me of my youth in Kansas. The days of segregation. Someone in the book said the KKK will never return. Raceism may not be dressed in white sheets, but it is alive and well. Watch for it and stand against it.

Name: Sylvia

Branch: Fairfield

Title: High Noon

Author: Nora Roberts

Rating: Good

Review: I love the way Nora Roberts combines the suspense (or crime) novel and the romance novel with a healthy dollop of strong characterization (especially strong women characters). The complex nature of the main character, Phoebe McNamara, draws my interest and attention. As in all of her books that I’ve read, Roberts includes important issues such as family bonds, childhood experiences, and their hold on us as adults. I call books like this "brain candy" not to denigrate the writing, but to emphasize how much I enjoy reading them.

Name: Beth

Branch: Suisun

Title: The Harper Hall Trilogy (Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums)

Author: Anne McCaffrey

Rating: Excellent

Review: (young-adult fiction) The story of Menolly, a girl of great depth and sensitivity, who is denied the music she loves. The first two books focus on her story, and the third changes to the point of view of a young harper named Piemur. All of the Pern books are favorites of mine, and Anne McCaffrey respectfully requests that her works be read in the order they were published.

Name: Beth

Branch: Suisun

Title: The Dragonriders of Pern (trilogy)

Author: Anne McCaffrey

Rating: Excellent

Review: These young-adult books are some of my childhood favorites. I teach 7th grade English, and our literature anthology includes a "Pernese" short story by McCaffrey. One class found both story and setting fascinating, and I began reading the first book (Dragonflight) to them during our morning "home room" time. Unable to resist the pull of Pern and it’s people, and I re-read them (for the umpteenth time) and will continue my way through the entire library (including 18 novels as of 2005). McCaffrey respectfully requests that her works be read in the order they were published.

Name: Beth

Branch: Suisun

Title: Origin in Death

Author: Nora Roberts (writing as J.D. Robb)

Rating: Good

Review: Another "______ in Death" novel (crime drama meets romance novel set in the mid-21st century and features Lt. Eve Dallas of the New York Police and Security Department - Homicide Division). In this novel, Dallas searches for the killer of two world-famous doctors … and finds herself pulled into a puzzle of disturbing possibilities and ethical dilemmas.

Name: Beth

Branch: Suisun

Title: Divided in Death

Author: Nora Roberts (writing as J.D. Robb)

Rating: Good

Review: The "______ in Death" series (crime drama meets romance novel) is set in the mid-21st century and features Lt. Eve Dallas of the New York Police and Security Department (Homicide Division). I think what has me coming back for more of this series is Dallas’s ongoing struggle with the horror of her childhood and (despite her attempts to avoid them) the relationships she is able to build with those around her. For best results, read them in order of publication.

Name: Beth

Branch: Suisun

Title: Act of Treason

Author: Vince Flynn

Rating: Good

Review: Act of Treason is another in the Mitch Rapp series. Agent Rapp always does things his way, which is usually illegal for any other person. It starts with an attack, in the U.S., on two candidates for President/Vice President. From there, we fly to Cyprus, where the terrorist lives. The plot could be better. It is pretty predictable. And Mitch Rapp always gets his man, so you know from the start how it will end.

Name: Roberta

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Double Take

Author: Catherine Coulter

Rating: Excellent

Review: Double Take is a continuation of the Savich/Sherlock FBI series. You have to love Savich & Sherlock. The story starts out in Virginia, takes a turn in San Francisco, and ends in New York. Catherine Coulter keeps the story plausible and enjoyable, with enough twists to make you really wonder who-dunnit. I will gladly continue to read this series.

Name: Roberta

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Pilot’s Wife 

Author: Anita Shreve

Rating: Excellent

Review: How well do you know the person you have spent your adult life with and pledged your love to?  A late night knock on the door changes Kathryn Lyon’s life forever. Author, Anita Shreve, explores this concept with her novel that takes the reader on a journey of twists and turns only to end in the most unbelievable places.

Name: Linda

Branch: Fairfield

Title: Burn Out

Author: Marcia Muller

Rating: Good

Review: The latest in the Sharon McCone series. If you have followed Sharon, a PI with her own agency, you feel at home with her extended family. This book takes you to her and Hy's retreat in the Yosemite region, where Sharon is trying to decide if she wants to continue or sell her business. In order to do this series, you need her as the central piece, so you can predict the outcome. Through in a little murder and mayhem, and you have the book. Not the best I've read, but it was good to follow up on the latest in her life.

Name: Roberta

Branch: Fairfield