Virtual Books @ Noon--July 2020 Picks

Author

Notes

Jane B kicked up off with this post Civil war historical novel about formerly enslaved people searching for their ancestors.

Formats:

Audiobook CD, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Hardback

Description

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"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a new novel inspired by little-known historical events: a dramatic story of three young women on a journey in search of family amidst the destruction of the post-Civil War South, and of a modern-day teacher who rediscovers their story and its vital connection to her own students' lives. In her distinctive voice, Lisa Wingate brings to life startling stories from actual "Lost...

2) The childhood of Jesus

Author

Coetzee, J. M

Series

Childhood of Jesus volume 1

Notes

Bill read this one (and the rest of this trilogy) because it had a lot of philosophy of math, which is right up his alley.

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

Description

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From the Nobel Prize–winning author of Waiting for the Barbarians, The Life & Times of Michael K and Disgrace.
Nobel laureate and two-time Booker Prize winner J. M. Coetzee returns with a haunting and surprising novel about childhood and destiny that is sure to rank with his classic novels.
Separated from his mother as a passenger on a boat bound for a new land, David is a boy who is quite literally...

3) Grace is gone: a novel

Author

Elgar, Emily

Notes

Jane read this recent psychological thriller about a woman with Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy and her daughter.

Formats:

Book, eBook

Description

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From the bestselling author of If You Knew Her comes this harrowing tale of suspense-a story ripped from today's headlines-of a tight-knit English community, who's rocked by the murder of a mother and the mysterious disappearance of her daughter, and the secrets that lie concealed beneath a carefully constructed facade. A small town's beloved family. A shocking, senseless crime-and the dark secret at the heart of it all. Everyone in Ashford,...

4) Island of the mad: a novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

Author

King, Laurie R

Series

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries volume 15

Notes

Bonnie enjoyed this historical fiction with a mystery that centered around women and mental illness (and the historical phenomenon whereby women were institutionalized by men in their lives even when they were not mentally ill). From England to Venice, with a guest appearance by Cole Porter, this had a lot of Bonnie's appeal factors built right in!

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

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"Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes untangle the slippery threads of insanity and deadly secrets as they investigate a disappearance in the New York Times bestselling series that Lee Child called "the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today." A June summer's evening, on the Sussex Downs, in 1925. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are strolling across their orchard when the telephone rings: an old friend's beloved aunt has failed to...

5) Russians among us: sleeper cells, ghost stories, and the hunt for Putin's spies

Author

Corera, Gordon

Notes

Nina is reading and processing this recent non-fiction about Russia.

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

Description

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With intrigue that rivals the best le Carré novels, Russians Among Us tells the explosive story of Russia's espionage efforts against the United States and the West—from the end of the Cold War to the present and the significant threat of hacking the 2020 election

Spies have long been a source of great fascination in the world of fiction, but sometimes the best spy stories happen in real life.

...

6) The splendid and the vile: a saga of Churchill, family, and defiance during the blitz

Author

Larson, Erik

Notes

Sandra loved how all these vignettes of Churchill's past lined up together to create a truly interesting look at his life.

Formats:

Book, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle, Large Print - Paperback

Description

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"The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake delivers a fresh and compelling portrait of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz On Winston Churchill's first day as prime minister, Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000...

7) The vanishing half

Author

Bennett, Brit

Notes

Carolyn read this novel about two light-skinned African American twins, one who chose to abandon her family and live as a white woman, the other who maintained her African American identity. At its core, this is a book about identity.

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD, Book - Hardback, eAudiobook, Large Print - Hardback

Description

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"The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and...