Anna has agoraphobia. She hasn’t left her house in ten months. Anything she needs, she has delivered: medications, wine, food, a therapist. She helps others with agoraphobia via an online forum and plays chess via a different forum. Stuck in her house, she spends ample time watching her neighbors. When a few new neighbors start coming by, she finds herself surprised, but also enjoying their company. Then one night, she witnesses something happen to one of those new neighbors – swears she saw it – but what did she really see?

This title is also available in ebook and eaudiobook formats.

With her children preparing to leave the nest, and her beloved running pal, Lucy, passed away, Cara Achterberg decides to take on a new challenge: foster dog mom. Fluctuating between humor and heartbreak, the reader may find herself cheering for a “foster fail.” (Meaning that the dog is kept by the author.) There is also quite a bit to learn about fostering animals, and the author occasionally references what makes a good rescue group.

Dog lovers are sure to enjoy this story about puppy antics! A center section includes a variety of color pictures from the many foster dogs that have stayed at the Achterberg home.

"He had come so far, but what struck me then and for many years afterward was how little I had done for him. I don’t mean this in the way of false modesty. I mean that it frightens me that so little was required for him to develop intellectually – a quiet room, a pile of books, and some adult guidance. And yet these things were rarely supplied."

Reading with Patrick is one teacher’s journey into the Delta, a poor, rural community, and the impact she hopes to make, the guilt she feels when leaving, and the pull she feels back to her previous students. Focusing on what becomes a friendship between herself and a former student, this non-fiction selection is a commentary on the social injustices and inequality found among US schools.

This title is available as both a print book and an audiobook on Overdrive: https://idm.overdrive.com/media/2830214

Every new mom wants to be perfect. It’s even harder when you surround yourself with other seemingly perfect moms every week. The May Mothers is a group of women whose babies were born in the same month. The new moms think they know each other- but do they really? What is supposed to be a much-needed girls’ night out turns into a media circus that exposes secrets and challenges these new friendships.

The Perfect Mother is a fast-paced thriller that keeps the reader guessing until the very end.

This book is also available in ebook and eaudiobook.

Wyatt has no idea what’s in store for him when he travels to Washington DC with his class. Typical kid hijinks as well as more unrealistic shenanigans ensue when Wyatt’s best friend immediately makes enemies with some suspicious characters on the airplane. A contemporary fiction selection that may have your younger ones asking, “Did that really happen?”

Dave Barry’s humorous style is one that the whole family will enjoy. This title is a perfect audiobook for a road trip.

Beautifully written, with an easy rhythm, this non-fiction picture book is great for reading aloud. The story takes the reader through the life of Dr. Patricia Bath, the inventor of the Laserphaco Probe, which is used in cataract treatment. As a woman of color, Dr. Bath broke through many barriers to become a doctor and was the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology. All of this information is written in fun, kid-friendly, and easy-to-understand language.

This YA fiction title is a twisted tale of a small child who murdered a baby. Allegedly. When the reader meets this child, she’s now a teen, stuck in a group home. Her mom visits, just like clockwork, every other Sunday at the exact same time after church. Life is fairly predictable; the chaos and violence of the group home is expected. And then an unexpected surprise causes Mary to finally search for her voice and fight for a different future.

A little dark, Allegedly is a fast-paced read. The reader slowly learns what happened the night Alyssa died: through Mary’s memories, interview transcripts, and newspaper clippings. Both teens and adults are sure to be enthralled by this suspenseful murder mystery.

This title is available in print and electronic formats.

“I will live to leave this place. I will walk out a free man. If there is a hell, I will see these murderers burn in it.” Such are the thoughts of Lale, the titular character.

Lale leaves his family behind, with the hopes that by proactively volunteering to work for the German government as requested, that the rest of his family would be left alone. Unfortunately, the reader knows that is not how history unfolded in the 1940s.
The bulk of the story takes place during Lale’s time in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps. His care-taking, risk-taking, potentially deadly choices rushes the reader through the story. The reader sees through Lale’s account the heartbreaking sights that are burned into his memory. And yet, a romance begins.
A fictional tale based on the true life of Lale Sokolov, this story was originally written as a screenplay. The author, Heather Morris, wonderfully handles the incongruences between the atrocities committed and the love that bloomed between Lale and Gita.