Summer Reading Program

Though Nancy Drew was just revamped for the big screen, you may be looking for some more modern young sleuths to follow.

Much like a kid’s version of the Da Vinci Code, Chasing Vermeer is a mystery surrounding a famous artist. The Wright 3 involves the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

For the slightly more seasoned reader, try Drawing a Blank; or, How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams by Daniel Ehrenhaft. If the title doesn’t tell you enough, I don’t know what will!

And for those not yet ready to solve the mystery that is reading, try these picture books: The 13th Clue by Ann Jonas, Detective LaRue by Mark Teague, and Jake Gander, Storyville Detective by George McClements.

The Lighthouse by P. D. James.  Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh is brought in when a major novelist is found dead on a secluded island off the coast of Cornwall reserved for VIPs.  Was it suicide or murder?  It’s not until another suspicious death that the motive becomes clear in this latest from a British master of suspense.

The Moon Tunnel by Jim Kelly.  Philip Dryden was a top London journalist, but everything changed when he and his wife were in a car crash that left his wife in a coma.  Now she is in a nursing home in the Fens, a flat and marshy area of England, and he has taken a job on the small local newspaper to be nearby.  He still has his nose for news and in this third in the series, investigates the finding of a murdered man at the site of a former WWII POW camp.  Very atmospheric setting and a wonderfully quirky detective.

The Shape of Sand by Marjorie Eccles.  While a country house in England is being renovated for office use just after World War II, a body of a woman is found.  It turns out to be the former lady of the house, who had gone missing in 1910.  Everyone at the time assumed that she had gone off with her lover, but now a murder investigation is launched.  Great characters and an interesting time period add up to a fascinating mystery.

Piece of My Heart by Peter Robinson.  Two murders may be connected: the murder of a young girl at a rock concert in 1969, and the present day murder of a music journalist doing a story about a band who performed at that concert.  This latest in the Inspector Alan Banks series provides an intriguing glimpse of the music scene.

Cypress Grove by James Sallis.  Turner is an ex-cop, ex-con, ex-psychiatrist, and a Vietnam vet.  Wanting to get away from everything, he leaves Memphis and moves to a cabin in the country outside of Cypress Grove, Tennessee, where the local sheriff asks for his help on a murder case.  Incredibly well written, with insights that make you stop and take note, this is a top-notch mystery. If you like it, you’ll want to read the sequel: Cripple Creek.

No Trace by Barry Maitland.  When a little girl names Tracey goes missing, her father, a well-known contemporary artist, uses it as the basis for a conceptual art piece that changes every day, called No Trace. Scotland Yard detectives Brock and Kolla investigate, providing an insider’s look at the London art world. 

Teens and tweens: Join us for Bookmania! Book Club tonight and discuss Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen by M.T. Anderson, or any of your other favorite mysteries. (Yes, even the universal mystery of why the dryer eats socks.)

Can’t make it tonight? You still have two more chances! We’re discussing Way Down Deep by Ruth White on July 24th and The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin on August 28th.

Check out what this week’s Summer Reading Program winners have been reading!

Cutwork by Monica Ferris

Sweet Ruin by Cathi Hanauer

Switched, Bothered and Bewildered by Suzanne MacPherson

French Silk by Sandra Brown

The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly

Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

Attention to those of you 17 and older (we don’t need to know how much older!): If you write reviews of books you’ve read within the next week and enter them into our Summer Reading drawings, you may win prizes from the following sponsors:

Healthy Outlook, Barnum & Tibbetts, City Barbecue, W. G. Grinders, Duke-Duchess Shoppe (gas station), Creative Stone

Can you solve the mystery of where this picture was taken?

Post a comment with your best guess!

Can you solve the mystery of where this picture was taken?

Post a comment with your best guess!

Watch her on reruns! Veronica Mars (Season 1 & 2) is a great series to marathon watch. I got through the first season in two days!

Thinking of other ways to stay invisible (or keep out of the sun?) Try Kyle X/Y or 4400.

Attention to those of you 17 and older (we don’t need to know how much older!): If you write reviews of books you’ve read within the next week and enter them into our Summer Reading drawings, you may win prizes from the following sponsors:

Damon’s, Michael David Salon, City Barbecue, W. G. Grinders, Mama Mimi’s Pizza, Duke-Duchess Shoppe (gas station)

And who wouldn’t love some free gas??? So, you ask, how do you enter your reviews? Check out the How It Works blog post for more info.