Contrary to popular belief, we don't sit around and read all day long. BUT we do our best to get through as many books as we can so that we can look for and find those great reads that you are looking for! We all have slightly different sensibilities so we made sure who to mark who was recommending what. Enjoy the list and feel free to let us know what you think, too!

Also, stay tuned to this page because we will be adding to it regularly. And I promise that we'll have pictures soon. Getting the staff to all gather for a photo is proving a little daunting. Apparently no one likes to have their pictures taken.

Order One Of These Books

THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin
Hardcover, published 6/10, $27.00
Every summer presents us with a big, fat must-read book and this summer that book is The Passage. Combining the epic good-versus-evil feel of The Stand by Stephen King and the end-of-days flavor of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Cronin has added vampires to the mix. Actually, not vampires in the true sense, but close enough. After a military experiment goes horribly wrong, 12 vampire-like virals are released to wreak havoc over the land. For every nine people killed, one is turned, and very quickly, the fate of humankind stands in the balance. The book then fast-forwards 100 years to an isolated human outpost. Here, they’ve managed to eke out an existence under the constant threat of attack.

The Passage is an addictive read, a stay-up-all-night-to-finish kind of read, and, I would even argue, a very thoughtful one. My only complaint: this is only part one of a trilogy. Even though the fate of the world is at risk, we can only wait.
Recommended by Laura

LIVE TO TELL by Lisa Gardner
Hardcover, published 7/10, $26.00
Ever since Lisa moved to the Valley, I have been a fan and I think this book is her best yet. Live to Tell had me riveted from the get go and I stayed that way through the last page. The book opens with three separate women, one of whom is D.D. Warren, the tough as nails Boston detective who readers have met in previous books. Then there’s Danielle, a nurse who works on the pediatric pysch ward of a local hospital. She’s caring and giving, but she has a tormented past that tends to catch up with her every so often. Victoria is the third character. A successful career woman, she is now mostly confined to her house and dreams of the days before. The three women are all connected – unbeknownst to them – and Lisa does a masterful job of pulling them together and unveiling the sinister link.
Recommended by Laura

HUSBAND AND WIFE by Leah Stewart
Hardcover, published 5/10, $24.99
Sarah Price had dreams of becoming a poet. But two small children later, her freelance writing gets traded for a steady job to support her husband, Nathan, a successful fiction writer. So, of course, the last thing she wants to discover one evening, while hurriedly getting ready for a wedding, is that nathan’s last novel about infidelity is anything but fiction.
What happens after his confession makes for a great story about love, fidelity, children, family and what it means to forgive. Sarah’s journey is funny, heartfelt and ultimately satisfying. I loved her children in all their “kid” moments. And Stewart has managed to perfectly portray all those difficult and joyous ups and downs of a marriage. This is a wonderful summer read.
Recommended by Barbara

STILL MISSING by Chevy Stevens
Hardcover, published 7/10, $24.99
I have been accused by the Mystery Book Club of having a dark side and, as far as fiction goes, I would agree. Every now and then, I like a gritty, scary mystery/thriller to get my blood pumping. Well, this summer, that book is Still Missing. I had the pleasure of meeting Chevy at an author dinner and she explained that her idea for the book came from thinking about what would happen if you were gone from your life for a long time – like six months or a year. What would it look like when you came back? From there, she couldn’t help but wonder why you would disappear for that length of time – and that’s where we get the story.
Annie O’Sullivan, a 32-year-old realtor, gets abducted from an open house and taken to a remote cabin in the wilderness by a sadistic psychopath. Many of the details about the year she spent there unfold during sessions with her therapist – and it was a harrowing, horrific time. The second narrative of the novel follows her as she tries to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor. Check your locks before you read this one – but definitely read it!
Recommended by Laura

THE SENATOR’S WIFE and THE LAKE SHORE LIMITED by Sue Miller
Paperback, published 1/09, $14.95 and Hardcover, published 4/10, $24.95
I had not read Sue Miller before these two novels and now I regret it. Both books offer a very interesting look into commitments, relationships and love. The Senator’s Wife is particularly interesting in this day and time because the senator in question is a consummate philanderer. His wife’s relationship with him is he backbone of the story and is incredibly interesting and complex. In The Lake Shore Limited, Miller has taken a playwright and her play to examine the aftermath of 9/11 for its characters. I found both books fascinating although they were quite different plot-wise. I particularly liked Miller’s writing style and how the stories played out. In both cases, Miller saved life-changing events for the very last pages. I’m still thinking about them even now.
Recommended by Laura

Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian
Hardcover, published 2/10, $25.00
Secrets of Eden opens with the death of Alice Hayward at the hands of her husband. Their murder suicide rocks their tight knit community and especially the life of Reverend Stephen Drew. Having just baptized Alice that morning, Drew feels that he missed something vital, something that should have saved her. The book blossoms from there. Chris tells the story in four separate voices, each bringing a new piece to the table. Having read many of Chris’s novels, I knew a twist was coming, but I was still unprepared for the events that unfolded.
Recommended by Laura

The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles
Paperback, published 8/09, $15.99
The Seamstress is an intricate tale about two sisters from the backcountry of Brazil in the 1920s and 30s. As seamstresses, Emilia and Luzia know how to cut, mend and conceal – very useful skills that they bring to bear when they both escape their quiet provincial lives. Luzia, tormented by a physical ailment that has marked her for life, dreams of escape and finds it when she is abducted by outlaws and falls for the charismatic Hawk. Emilia also dreams of escape, but she wants to go to the city and wear fashionable clothes. Her wish is granted when she stumbles into marriage with the son of a wealthy and politically connected doctor. Each sister got what they thought they wanted, and although their lives appear incredibly different, their experiences are remarkably similar.
Recommended by Laura

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Hardcover, published 3/10, $25.00
Set in a small English village filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family, we meet Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired). Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, the Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani village shopkeeper. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive?
Recommended by Karen

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Paperback, published 1/10, $15.95
Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, the twins come of age in Ethiopia as the country hovers on the brink of revolution. There is so much in this book, it’s kind of hard to describe. There is the story of Ethiopia, the story of a mission hospital doing its best to treat people in a land still full of witch doctors and cultural taboos. There is the story of twins and their incredible connection. There is also first love and first betrayal. Once Marion moves to New York City to become a doctor, there is also the story of being an immigrant in a strange country. Verghese has pulled so much material into the book, but his gift is that is does not feel packed. It is not until you finish Cutting for Stone that you realize what a wonderful journey it was.
Recommended by Barbara and Laura

Eternal on the Water by Joe Monninger
Paperback, published 2/10, $15.00
Jonathon Cobb and Mary Fury meet at a campground before heading out to paddle the Allagash River. They fall deeply, immediately and completely in love. Mary calls it yeti love, after the illusive yeti – it’s something you hear about and you want to experience, but the chances of it happening to you are slim. Mary is a corvid expert – crows, ravens, magpies – and Cobb is a teacher and Thoreau lover. Between them, they experience the natural world in a very unique way and I loved the folktales and fables that infuse this book, not to mention the occasional knock knock joke. Keep your tissues handy while reading Eternal on the Water because there is a lot of sadness, but the overwhelming experience is one of joy.
Recommended by Laura

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