Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Title: Where the Crawdads Sing
Author: Delia Owens

Genre: Fiction

Kya Clark, the "Marsh Girl" of Barkley Cove, has communed with the nature around her family's small shack all her life. She is more in harmony with the wildlife than with people. When the town's favorite son/quarterback turns up dead, the police are looking at Kya as a possible suspect. 

Will the town's prejudices manifest in a conviction, or will Kya be freed to feed her gulls again? Read the Where the Crawdads Sing to find out.

I would especially recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Kristin Hannah's, The Great Alone.

- Sarah R.

Check out Where the Crawdads Sing @ the library.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

Title: Baby Teeth
Author: Zoje Stage

Genre: Horror

What would you do if your child was gaslighting you?

Suzette has battled through a rocky childhood and debilitating Crohn's Disease, but now she is facing a much fiercer foe: her seven-year-old daughter, Hanna. Home-schooling her hellion is pushing Suzette to the brink, but when no school will take Hanna, where is she to turn?

Suzette's husband, Alex, only sees Hanna's sweet side as her much-adored dad. Believing Hanna to be gifted and misunderstood, he finds it hard to believe Suzette's accounts of Hanna's outrageous behavior.

As Suzette and Hanna vie for Alex's affections, who will come out on top? 

This is a twisted tale of an Electra Complex gone amuk and told alternatively from Hanna's and Suzette's points of view. 

- Sarah R.

Check out Baby Teeth @ the library.

All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio

Title: All the Flowers in Paris
Author: Sarah Jio

Genre: Historical Fiction, World War II, Romantic Fiction, Memory Loss

In this captivating novel, we follow a story that spans both our present day as well as the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. In our times, Caroline, an American, wakes up from a coma in a Parisian hospital and has no memory of her past. She knows it is a sad life that she has forgotten and that Paris has been her escape from it. In her search for clues she looks through her apartment but it is barely decorated and does not offer up much about her past. She does discover a stash of love letters in her search and it leads her to connect with people she had little time for before her accident. Little does she know that she shares more in common with the occupants of her apartment during the Second World War than she would have ever imagined. During the dark history of Nazi-occupied France, Céline, a widow, and her daughter are barely surviving the rampant antisemitism, but its terrors are starting to be felt as their flower shop is vandalized and a Nazi officer preys on them. Céline finds herself in a very dangerous position and has to draw on strength and courage to help her through. Both women show resilience in the face of challenges and you will find yourself rooting for them both all the way.

- Elizabeth

Check out All the Flowers in Paris @ the library.

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Title: Fix Her Up
Author: Tessa Bailey

Genre: Romantic Comedy

If you're looking for a funny but steamy read, this book might be for you. 

Georgette Castle's family business is house renovations, but being the youngest, all the good jobs were taken. That's OK with Georgie, whose heart belongs to entertaining children as a party clown. Well, that and local baseball legend, Travis Ford. 

Travis is back in town after his professional ball career tanks and he's at loose ends. He was doing a pretty good job wallowing when his best friend's annoying little sister decides to give him a wake-up call. 

Can Georgie get her family to take her seriously while making a living doing face-painting? Can Travis get over his broken family to carve out a future for himself that doesn't involve fastballs and faster women? Grab your own sea salt caramel mocha and enjoy this fun and flirty read.

- Sarah R.

Check out Fix Her Up @ the library.

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch

Title: Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
Author: Gretchen McCulloch

Genre: Linguistics, Language, Internet Culture, Non-Fiction

Because Internet takes a fascinating look at language and internet culture. Author Gretchen McCulloch discusses everything from the various meanings of lol (such as the difference between LOL and lol - because yes, there is one), to how using emoji is our way of expressing gestures in online conversations, to the various "generations" of internet users and how when they first came online influences their internet use and online communication style. This last one was definitely my favorite chapter. It was so fascinating to me to see these generations of Internet People laid out and to not only be able to identify myself with one, but also to see the characteristics of other generations in my family, friends, and those I come in contact with on a daily basis. The author also answers questions like why young people use so many exclamation points, why older people use so many ellipses, and how sarcasm is expressed through text.

Side note: Gretchen McCulloch is one of the co-host of the podcast Lingthusiam, "a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics." I'd highly recommend it, especially if you are a language nerd like me!

- Sarah P.

Check out Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language @ the library.

Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey

Title: Waiting for Tom Hanks
Author: Kerry Winfrey

Genre: Contemporary Romance

If you are a fan of romantic comedies, this is the book for you! Hopeful romantic Annie Cassidy is waiting for her own Tom Hanks to come and sweep her off her feet. She knows that the road to love will be fraught with impediments, misunderstandings, and montages, but she feels confident that the right man will come along and invite her to join him on his houseboat where they can float off into the sunset.

Small problem(s): she lives in a landlocked area, her social circle is small (consisting primarily of her gamer uncle and her barista bestie), and she's a writer by trade, so that solitary work doesn't exactly throw her in contact with eligible men. All this changes when a rom-com starts filming in her small town and Annie gets a job helping the director. 

Spoiler Alert: If you're still meaning to get around to some of the older rom-com movies, watch them first. Winfrey has no problems dropping plots like they're hot so if you had any doubt as to how the movies end, you won't after reading this book.

- Sarah R.

Check out Waiting for Tom Hanks @ the library.

Simple Cake: All You Need to Keep Your Friends and Family in Cake by Odette Williams

Title: Simple Cake: All You Need to Keep Your Friends and Family in Cake
Author: Odette Williams

Genre: Cookbooks, Non-Fiction

Australian by birth, New Yorker by marriage, Odette Williams set out to create a cookbook for making cakes that would pay homage to one that every household seemed to have when she was growing up, the Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book. Williams was inspired by the simplicity of the book from her childhood and has produced one similarly streamlined in which there are just ten cake recipes and fifteen cake toppings. Using these building blocks, the baker can combine their favorite cake with their chosen topping, or choose to follow one of the recipe variations on either, to create their own masterpiece. Simple Cake encourages a return to baking simplicity and the author advocates for including children in the baking process and baking cakes to nurture important relationships in our lives. The well-tested recipes and the attention to making the baking process easy make this a solid start to any cake baking that you might try.

- Elizabeth

Check out Simple Cake: All You Need to Keep Your Friends and Family in Cake @ the library.