Welcome back to the show. We are so glad you are here, joining us for the book group discussion!.
Our full shown notes page, with links to information on the genre, with links to the books we share, and links to the beverages we enjoyed, is found right here.
This is a genre filled with all kinds of interesting books. Some are sad, some are scary, some are uplifting. We are not being pejorative about these families by grouping them into this week’s genre – we approach all these books with admiration for the lessons learned and the adventures we can share. Not everyone involved in an organization labeled as a cult is damaged by it, but the more exciting stories tend to be the ones made into books. And the line between “religion” and “cult” can be very fine, and may depend on the perspective of the person telling their own story.
We suggest all of the books we are sharing today, to read yourself or to recommend to people who want suggestions on interesting or unusual family stories!
Become a full book group member on Patreon! Click here to be part of the “inner circle” of this book group, and get access to behind-the-scenes info and photos. Support levels start at $1/month – and you get a postcard from Official Office Dog Lady Grey! More swag is available at higher levels of support; check it all out today.
We love doing this, but podcasts aren’t free to create; so thank you so much to our book group members who have joined us. We love having you as part of the team.
Welcome to Happiness in Libraries bonus episode! Each month we are looking at a few stories about happy things that happen in libraries, or happy things that libraries contribute to their communities.
You can get links to all of the stories we shared on our website.
And if you have happy library stories of your own, send them to us! We are at admin@cmle.org, and would like to hear from you.
Last year we had a monthly article about music books and you can find the archive here. We’re continuing the series this year, to bring you books about all sorts of music, aimed at a variety of ages and genres.
It’s October so we’ll share some mysteries and thrillers that feature music as part of the story. If you want more, check out this Goodreads list.
If you have ever heard an orchestra play, then you know that musicians are most certainly guilty of something. Where exactly were the violins on the night in question? Did anyone see the harp? Is the trumpet protesting a bit too boisterously? In this perplexing murder mystery, everyone seems to have a motive, everyone has an alibi, and nearly everyone is a musical instrument. But the composer is still dead.
Although he is a decorated officer of the Mounted Police, Madoc Rhys’s tin ear has long been an embarrassment to his musically fixated family. But when his father’s orchestra needs a policeman, the Mountie gets a chance to make daddy proud. It began as pranks among the brass instruments, but something is rotten inside the Wagstaffe Symphony, and is about to graduate to something criminal. Called in to look into the tensions within the group, Madoc arrives just in time to see the French horn player keel over. The death appears natural, and the orchestra boards the plane to its next engagement. But when a storm forces them to make an emergency landing and take shelter in an eerie old lodge, the extent of the danger becomes clear. Madoc may never understand music, but he has a good ear for murder, and is about to show off his chops.
1558. Kate Haywood, a simple musician in the employ of a princess, will find herself involved in games of crowns as she sets out to solve the murder of the queen’s envoy….
Heather Wells Rocks! Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two — and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather’s perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York’s top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather’s residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft. The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen — not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives — even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!
Murder on Music Row by Stuard Dill Twenty-three-year-old Judd Nix, an unpaid intern at the most prestigious personal management firm in country music, gets the opportunity of a lifetime when his boss and mentor, Simon Stills, offers him a temporary position—an opportunity that may just cost Judd his life.In a landscape where record companies are under siege, stuck in the old order of physical CDs and antiquated technologies, Simon’s young, electrifying star, Ripley Graham, has emerged as the best-selling digital artist in music history. Meanwhile, Ripley’s label, Galaxy Records, is preparing a secret merger agreement that would create the largest record conglomerate in the world. Trouble arises when rumors spread that Ripley and Simon are withholding Ripley’s new album in hopes of renegotiating his contract.When Simon and Judd are shot on the famed Grand Ole Opry stage during the filming of Ripley’s new music video, no one is more upset than Ripley—especially as everyone assumes the shots were meant for him. While Simon’s life hangs in the balance, Judd seeks help from Megan Olsen, Simon’s right hand and Ripley’s day-to-day manager. The two set off on a high-powered chase to disclose the real motive behind the shootings and spare Ripley from a second murder attempt.
Music Notes by Manning Wolfe In Book #2, Attorney Merit Bridges finds herself in danger again in Music Notes: Texas Lady Lawyer vs L.A. Baron. When client Liam Nolan is slain with his own guitar, Davey Ray Bell shows up claiming to be Nolan’s illegitimate son. L.A. Baron, Nolan’s former manager, makes a back-door music deal and tries to grab the estate for himself. When the probate court pushes Baron out of the power position, he pursues Merit with a vengeance. Using the dark web, he ruins her reputation, destroys her career, and finally attempts to take her life. Who will come out on top of the scales of music and the scales of justice?
Each week we assemble a collection – a bouquet, if you will – of books you can read for yourself, or use to build into a display in your library. As always, the books we link to have info from Amazon.com. If you click a link and then buy anything at all from Amazon, we get a small percent of their profits from your sale. Yay!!! Thanks!!! We really appreciate the assistance! 💕😊
Gemstones are a popular theme for book titles and we have a variety of genres for you to choose from! Definitely added a few of these to my own TBR list.
“It is to some extent a science fiction coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, and set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence.”
“After Ruby Valentine misses her favorite holiday of the year, her parrot, Lovebird, convinces her that every day is the perfect day to say “I love you.”
“Afghan-American Nadia Hashimi’s literary debut novel, The Pearl that Broke Its Shell is a searing tale of powerlessness, fate, and the freedom to control one’s own fate that combines the cultural flavor and emotional resonance of the works of Khaled Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Lisa See. In Kabul, 2007, with a drug-addicted father and no brothers, Rahima and her sisters can only sporadically attend school, and can rarely leave the house. Their only hope lies in the ancient custom of bacha posh, which allows young Rahima to dress and be treated as a boy until she is of marriageable age. As a son, she can attend school, go to the market, and chaperone her older sisters. But Rahima is not the first in her family to adopt this unusual custom. A century earlier, her great-aunt, Shekiba, left orphaned by an epidemic, saved herself and built a new life the same way. Crisscrossing in time, The Pearl the Broke Its Shell interweaves the tales of these two women separated by a century who share similar destinies. But what will happen once Rahima is of marriageable age? Will Shekiba always live as a man? And if Rahima cannot adapt to life as a bride, how will she survive?”
“A round, luminescent pearl is the simplest and most perfect gem. Columbus sought—and found—this precious jewel coveted by his Spanish sovereigns, sparking popularity throughout Europe. Fashion icons Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Grace, and Michelle Obama cherished them, making them iconic. And designer Coco Chanel raised them to new heights, bringing pearls— fake and real—to women everywhere. In Tears of Mermaids, Stephen G. Bloom travels 30,000 miles in an effort to trace a single pearl—from the moment a diver off the coast of Australia scoops an oyster containing a single luminescent pearl from the ocean floor to the instant a woman fastens the clasp of a strand containing the same orb. Bloom chronicles the never-before-told saga of the global pearl trade by gaining access to clandestine outposts in China, the Philippines, French Polynesia and Australia. He infiltrates high-tech pearl farms guarded by gun-toting sentries, farms for pearls in rural China, and even goes backstage at Christie’s for a fast and furious auction of the most expensive pearl ever sold. Teeming with rogue humor and uncanny intelligence, Tears of Mermaids weaves a nonstop detective story whose main character is the world’s most enduring jewel.”
“The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own. Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.”
“When Britain intercepted a French ship and its precious cargo–an unhatched dragon’s egg–Capt. Will Laurence of HMS Reliant unexpectedly became master and commander of the noble dragon he named Temeraire. As new recruits in Britain’s Aerial Corps, man and dragon soon proved their mettle in daring combat against Bonaparte’s invading forces. Now China has discovered that its rare gift, intended for Napoleon, has fallen into British hands–and an angry Chinese delegation vows to reclaim the remarkable beast. But Laurence refuses to cooperate. Facing the gallows for his defiance, Laurence has no choice but to accompany Temeraire back to the Far East–a long voyage fraught with peril, intrigue, and the untold terrors of the deep. Yet once the pair reaches the court of the Chinese emperor, even more shocking discoveries and darker dangers await. “
Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George “As debutantes in 1890s New York City, cousins Dacia and Lou knew little about their mysterious Romanian relatives, the Florescus. Now, upon turning seventeen, the girls must journey to Romania–a journey that seems to be both reward and punishment–to meet their cousins and their tyrant of a grandmother and to learn the secrets of their family. Secrets spoken of in whispers. Dangerous secrets known as the Claw, the Wing, and the Smoke.”
Welcome back to the show. We are so glad you are here, joining us for the book group discussion. This week we look at books on natural disasters.
Check out our show notes page, with links to the books we share, other resources for finding this genre, and the beverages we are enjoying!
Who is joining us this week? Our returning Guest Host is Ariel Kirst from the Great River Library System.
Natural disasters in books are kind of contradictory. On the one hand, it’s scary and potentially sad to read about terrible things happening. And on the other hand – it’s exciting and can be very inspirational to hear about the ways people banded together and overcame the disasters facing them.
When disaster happen around us, or the world feels like a huge dumpster fire of disaster, it can be comforting to read books about people who have had the worst happen – and have made it through. We can learn lessons, we can take comfort in their survival, we can be inspired by their struggle.
And if some days you are having a lousy life experience, and just want to check in on people who are having an even worse day – well, we’ve got suggestions for you!
Become a full book group member on Patreon! Click here to be part of the “inner circle” of this book group, and get access to behind-the-scenes info and photos. Support levels start at $1/month – and you get a postcard from Official Office Dog Lady Grey! More swag is available at higher levels of support; check it all out today.
We love doing this, but podcasts aren’t free to create; so thank you so much to our book group members who have joined us. We love having you as part of the team.
