Tag Archives: Book Bouquet series

Book Bouquet: Novels with Photography

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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. Thanks!! We really appreciate the assistance! 

While we social distance and work to stay healthy, it can be good to try a new hobby, and photography is fun on so many levels! So this week we share suggestions for books featuring photography or photographer characters!

Julia and the Art of Practical Travel by Lesley M. M. Blume
“When her grandmother dies and the once-majestic family estate is sold, eleven-year-old Julia Lancaster and her aunt Constance must take to the road to find Julia’s long-lost mother. They bring with them only the most practical travel things—silver candlestick holders, a few Oriental carpets, some steamer trunks, and Julia’s beloved Brownie camera, which she will use to document their journey across 1960s America. On the road, Julia and her aunt meet a cast of peculiar characters, including guitar-strumming hippies in Greenwich Village, a legendary voodoo queen in New Orleans, the honorable proprietor of the World’s End Cattle Ranch in Texas, and the colorful sheriff of Gold Point, Nevada (population: 1), who also happens to be the town’s mayor, fire chief, and reverend. But will they find Julia’s mother and a place to call home?”

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
“A unique and sweeping debut novel of an American female combat photographer in the Vietnam War, as she captures the wrenching chaos and finds herself torn between the love of two men. On a stifling day in 1975, the North Vietnamese army is poised to roll into Saigon. As the fall of the city begins, two lovers make their way through the streets to escape to a new life. Helen Adams, an American photojournalist, must take leave of a war she is addicted to and a devastated country she has come to love. Linh, the Vietnamese man who loves her, must grapple with his own conflicted loyalties of heart and homeland. As they race to leave, they play out a drama of devotion and betrayal that spins them back through twelve war-torn years, beginning in the splendor of Angkor Wat, with their mentor, larger-than-life war correspondent Sam Darrow, once Helen’s infuriating love and fiercest competitor, and Linh’s secret keeper, boss and truest friend.”

The Haunting of Windwood Farm by Rebecca Patrick-Howard
“The old, spooky farm house looked as though everyone just got up one day and walked away, leaving their belongings behind. Locals called it the “devil’s house” but artist Taryn Magill has never met an old, abandoned house she didn’t like. In fact, she’s made a career of painting them. She might have bitten off more than she can chew with her new job, however. Everyone is afraid of the house and can’t wait to see it torn down and, as it turns out, their fears may not be unfounded. Whose cries echo throughout the rooms? What force is SO powerful that it won’t even allow the upstairs bedroom to be touched? What, if anything, does the 93-year-old vanishing of the boy next door have to do with the house’s mysteries? Taryn might have the answers soon, for now she doesn’t have to imagine the past–she can see it through her camera! Can Taryn escape with her sanity AND solve the mystery of Windwood Farm before the house is demolished? And will she even live through this job? Because now someone is trying to kill her! Using her camera and her wits, she’ll try to find the answers and get out before it’s too late!”

Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers
“When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of whyWhy when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on…but are some questions better left unanswered?”

The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond
“Life changes in an instant. On a foggy beach. In the seconds when Abby Mason—photographer, fiancée soon-to-be-stepmother—looks into her camera and commits her greatest error. Heartbreaking, uplifting, and beautifully told, here is the riveting tale of a family torn apart, of the search for the truth behind a child’s disappearance, and of one woman’s unwavering faith in the redemptive power of love—all made startlingly fresh through Michelle Richmond’s incandescent sensitivity and extraordinary insight.”

Book Bouquet: Ice Cream

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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. Thanks!! We really appreciate the assistance! 

We understand it’s cold outside but is it really ever too cold to have ice cream? We don’t think so, but you could always just read about ice cream instead of eating it! Here are some fun suggestions:

Gorilla Loves Vanilla by Chae Strathie, illustrated by Nicola O’Byrne
“Sam’s Sundaes is far and away the best place on Jelly Bean Street to get your favorite ice cream flavor! One day, five animals dash through the door, hoping little Sam Sundae will whip up the ice cream treat of their dreams. Stinky blue cheese for mouse, fish finger ice cream for cat, squirmy wormy ice cream for chicken, muddy ice cream for hippo, and daisy/grass/dandelion ice cream for cow all seem like excellent choices for each ice cream dreamer. That is, until Gorilla walks in and asks for the most surprising choice of all!”

Rocky Road by Rose Kent
Ice cream warms the heart, no matter what the weather.
That’s the Dobson family motto. Whenever things get tough, they break out the special heart-shaped bowls and make sundaes. The road has been especially rocky lately for Tess and her deaf little brother, Jordan. Their plucky Texan mother talks big, but her get-rich-quick business schemes have only landed them in serious financial hot water.
Ma’s newest idea is drastic. She abruptly moves the family to snowy Schenectady, New York, where she will use the last of their savings to open her dream business: an ice cream shop. (Too bad the only place she could find an apartment is in a senior citizens’ complex.) Tess wants to be excited about this plan, but life in Schenectady is full of new worries. Who will buy ice cream in their shop’s run-down neighborhood? What will happen when their money runs out? Worst of all is Ma herself-she’s famous for her boundless energy and grandiose ideas, but only Tess and Jordan know about the dark days when she crashes and can’t get out of bed. And Tess can’t seem to find the right words to talk to Ma about it.
This moving story of family, community, and ice cream proves that with a little help from the people around us, life really can be sweet-and a little nutty-just like Rocky Road.”

Shug by Jenny Han
“Annemarie “Shug” Wilcox is clever and brave and true (on the inside anyway). And she’s about to become your new best friend in this enchanting middle grade novel from the New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (soon to be a major motion picture!), Jenny Han. Annemarie Wilcox, or Shug as her family calls her, is beginning to think there’s nothing worse than being twelve. She’s too tall, too freckled, and way too flat-chested. Shug is sure that there’s not one good or amazing thing about her. And now she has to start junior high, where the friends she counts most dear aren’t acting so dear anymore — especially Mark…”

Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
“Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home. But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father—and even herself. People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.”

Cure for the Common Breakup by Beth Kendrick
“Flight attendant Summer Benson lives by two rules: Don’t stay with the same man for too long and never stay in one place. She’s about to break rule number one by considering accepting her boyfriend’s proposal—then disaster strikes and her world is shattered in an instant. Summer heads to Black Dog Bay, where the locals welcome her. Even Hattie Huntington, the town’s oldest, richest, and meanest resident, likes her enough to give her a job. Then there’s Dutch Jansen, the rugged, stoic mayor, who’s the opposite of her type. She probably shouldn’t be kissing him. She definitely shouldn’t be falling in love. After a lifetime of globe-trotting, Summer has finally found a home. But Hattie has old scores to settle and a hidden agenda for her newest employee. Summer finds herself faced with an impossible choice: Leave Black Dog Bay behind forever, or stay with the ones she loves and cost them everything….”

Salt and Straw Ice Cream Cookbook by Tyler Malek and JJ Goode
“Based out of Portland, Oregon, Salt & Straw is the brainchild of two cousins, Tyler and Kim Malek, who had a vision but no recipes. They turned to their friends for advice—chefs, chocolatiers, brewers, and food experts of all kinds—and what came out is a super-simple base that takes five minutes to make, and an ice cream company that sees new flavors and inspiration everywhere they look. Using that base recipe, you can make dozens of Salt & Straw’s most beloved, unique (and a little controversial) flavors, including Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons, Roasted Strawberry and Toasted White Chocolate, and Buttered Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. But more importantly, this book reveals what they’ve learned, how to tap your own creativity, and how to invent flavors of your own, based on whatever you see around you. Because ice cream isn’t just a thing you eat, it’s a way to live.”

Ice Cream: A Global History by Laura B. Weiss
“Be it soft-serve, gelato, frozen custard, Indian kulfi or Israeli glida, some form of cold, sweet ice cream treat can found throughout the world in restaurants and home freezers. Though ice cream was once considered a food for the elite, it has evolved into one of the most successful mass-market products ever developed. In Ice Cream, food writer Laura B. Weiss takes the reader on a vibrant trip through the history of ice cream from ancient China to modern-day Tokyo in order to tell the lively story of how this delicious indulgence became a global sensation. Weiss tells of donkeys wooed with ice cream cones, Good Humor-loving World War II-era German diplomats, and sundaes with names such as “Over the Top” and “George Washington.” Her account is populated with Chinese emperors, English kings, former slaves, women inventors, shrewd entrepreneurs, Italian immigrant hokey-pokey ice cream vendors, and gourmand American First Ladies. Today American brands dominate the world ice cream market, but vibrant dessert cultures like Italy’s continue to thrive, and new ones, like Japan’s, flourish through unique variations. Weiss connects this much-loved food with its place in history, making this a book sure to be enjoyed by all who are beckoned by the siren song of the ice cream truck.”

Book Bouquet: Have Some Soup

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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. Thanks!! We really appreciate the assistance! 

We’re looking for ways to stay warm and cozy this winter, and soup is a great solution! So our bouquet this week is about soup: fiction stories and of course, nonfiction cookbooks!

Kallaloo: A Caribbean Tale by Phillis and David Gershator
“Can a shell really make soup? It might, if it s a brown-and-white West Indian shell, fresh from the sea. All it needs is a master soup-maker, like Granny, to stir the pot – and a little help from the folks in Market Square. Who wouldn t be willing to lend a hand to cook up some kallaloo, a soup famous from Jamaica to Trinidad? But there’s one final ingredient missing and even the magic shell forgot to mention it!”

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
“Deep in the woods in an old white cabin, three friends make their pumpkin soup the same way every day. The Cat slices up the pumpkin, the Squirrel stirs in the water, and the Duck tips in just enough salt. But one day the Duck wants to stir instead, and then there is a horrible squabble, and he leaves the cabin in a huff. It isn’t long before the Cat and the Squirrel start to worry about him and begin a search for their friend. Rendered in pictures richly evoking autumn, Helen Cooper’s delightful story will resonate for an child who has known the difficulties that come with friendship. Included at the end is a recipe for delicious pumpkin soup.”

Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt
“It has been a bad day for Horace. A very bad day. He’s come home feeling mean. But his mother knows just what to do! “For the book Mean Soup, the recipe is as follows: (1) clever text spiced with one or two outrageous bits; (2) a grand message about getting out anger instead of locking it inside; and (3) exciting artwork as full of life as the story.”

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
“Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick, in damp and lovely County Mayo, sits the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sisters, Ireland looks like a much-needed safe haven. It has been seven years since Marjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters, Bahar and Layla, and she hopes that in Ballinacroagh, a land of “crazed sheep and dizzying roads,” they might finally find a home.

From the kitchen of an old pastry shop on Main Mall, the sisters set about creating a Persian oasis. Soon sensuous wafts of cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron float through the streets–an exotic aroma that announces the opening of the Babylon Café, and a shock to a town that generally subsists on boiled cabbage and Guinness served at the local tavern. And it is an affront to the senses of Ballinacroagh’s uncrowned king, Thomas McGuire. After trying to buy the old pastry shop for years and failing, Thomas is enraged to find it occupied–and by foreigners, no less. But the mysterious, spicy fragrances work their magic on the townsfolk, and soon, business is booming. Marjan is thrilled with the demand for her red lentil soup, abgusht stew, and rosewater baklava–and with the transformation in her sisters. Young Layla finds first love, and even tense, haunted Bahar seems to be less nervous. And in the stand-up-comedian-turned-priest Father Fergal Mahoney, the gentle, lonely widow Estelle Delmonico, and the headstrong hairdresser Fiona Athey, the sisters find a merry band of supporters against the close-minded opposition of less welcoming villagers stuck in their ways. But the idyll is soon broken when the past rushes back to threaten the Amnipours once more, and the lives they left behind in revolution-era Iran bleed into the present.”

The Healing Soup Cookbook by Cara Harbstreet and Julie Harrington
“Move over apples―it’s a bowl of soup a day that can really keep the doctor away. The Healing Soup Cookbook is your complete guide to discovering the health (and flavor) benefits that a bowl of hearty, nourishing soup can bring to your life. Don’t wait until you’ve got a cold to stir up some delicious chicken noodle soup. The more than 90 recipes in this soup cookbook run the gamut from traditional classics to more exotic fare. Not only do these soups make perfect meals all on their own, they are also packed with healthy ingredients that combat inflammation, boost your immune system, warm you up, and help keep away colds.”

Twelve Months of Monastery Soups: A Cookbook by Victor D’Avila-Latourrette
“”Of soup and love, the first is best.” Brother Victor-Antoine makes a passionate  case for this Spanish proverb in Twelve Months of Monastery Soups, bringing easy, delicious, soul-satisfying soup recipes from the monastery to your kitchen. From simple, clear broths to thick, hearty soups, there’s a recipe to appeal to every taste. Arranged by month with an eye toward seasonal variety and at least one recipe for every vegetable native to North America, the 175 soups include classic favorites such as Cream of Corn and Tomato and more unique recipes such as Jerusalem Artichoke, Provenþal Rainbow, and Danish Onion-Champagne. With inspirational quotes proclaiming the goodness of soup sprinkled throughout and beautiful period block prints, Twelve Months of Monastery Soups is a celebration of the art of soup-making.”

Book Bouquet: It’s OK to Fail (Just Keep Trying)

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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. Thanks!! We really appreciate the assistance! 

We work with a lot of wonderful educators and something that many school library people tell us is they hope to help their students learn that failure is a necessary part of learning! It’s not the end of the world, just encouragement to keep trying. So here are some books for all ages about how failure can be OK!

It’s Okay to Make Mistakes by Todd Parr
“Todd Parr’s bestselling books have reminded kids to embrace differences, to be thankful, to love one another, and to be themselves. It’s Okay to Make Mistakes embraces life’s happy accidents, the mistakes and mess-ups that can lead to self discovery. Todd Parr brings a timely theme to life with his signature bold, kid-friendly illustrations and a passion for making readers feel good about themselves, encouraging them to try new things, experiment, and dare to explore new paths.
From coloring outside the lines and creating a unique piece of art to forgetting an umbrella but making a new friend, each page offers a kid-friendly take on the importance of taking chances, trying new things, and embracing life, mistakes and all.”

Lulu’s Party by Kit Chase
“The weather is stormy and Lulu is disappointed that she can’t play outside, so she makes a special Rainy Day Treat and plans the perfect party for her friends Oliver and Charlie. But when it’s time to taste the creamy hot chocolate, they quickly realize something went very wrong. Lulu is devastated that her party is ruined, but with some quick-thinking, Charlie and Oliver figure out a delicious solution to save the day!”

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephen Pastis
“He may be clueless, but the comically self-confident Timmy Failure is CEO of the best detective agency in town, perhaps even the nation.”

Fast Talk on a Slow Track by Rita Williams-Garcia
“Denzel Watson is a fast talker with a system, and it’s made him valedictorian. But when he goes to a summer program at Princeton, he takes a fall. How can he tell his proud family that he won’t be able to cut it in the Ivy League? Instead, he spends the rest of the summer selling candy, up against “Top Man” Mello, a drop-out with a police record. For the first time, Denzel is forced to take a hard look at himself — and how much further he could fall.”

Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning by Leslie Odom Jr.
“Leslie Odom Jr., burst on the scene in 2015, originating the role of Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical phenomenon Hamilton. Since then, he has performed for sold-out audiences, sung for the Obamas at the White House, and won a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. But before he landed the role of a lifetime in one of the biggest musicals of all time, Odom put in years of hard work as a singer and an actor. With personal stories from his life, Odom asks the questions that will help you unlock your true potential and achieve your goals even when they seem impossible. What work did you put in today that will help you improve tomorrow? How do you surround yourself with people who will care about your dreams as much as you do? How do you know when to play it safe and when to risk it all for something bigger and better?
These stories will inspire you, motivate you, and empower you for the greatness that lies ahead, whether you’re graduating from college, starting a new job, or just looking to live each day to the fullest.”

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams
“Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone you’ve ever met or anyone you’ve even heard of. So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator of Dilbert, one of the world’s most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years? In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams shares the game plan he’s followed since he was a teen: invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket.”

Book Bouquet: Creepy Houses

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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. Thanks!! We really appreciate the assistance! 

Fall is a great time for spooky reads and while some of the books on this list might be a little too terrifying for me, maybe you or your patrons will enjoy them!

Bliss House by Laura Benedict
“Amidst the lush farmland and orchards in Old Gate, Virginia, stands the magnificent Bliss House. Built in 1878 as a country retreat, Bliss House is impressive, historic, and inexplicably mysterious. Decades of strange occurrences, disappearances and deaths have plagued the house, yet it remains vibrant. And very much alive.
Rainey Bliss Adams desperately needed a new start when she and her daughter Ariel relocated from St. Louis to Old Gate and settled into the house where the Bliss family had lived for over a century. Rainey’s husband had been killed in a freak explosion that left her 14 year-old daughter Ariel scarred and disfigured.
At the grand housewarming party, Bliss House begins to reveal itself again. Ariel sees haunting visions: the ghost of her father, and the ghost of a woman being pushed to her death off of an upper floor balcony, beneath an exquisite dome of painted stars. And then there is a death the night of the party. Who is the murderer in the midst of this small town? And who killed the woman in Ariel’s visions? But Bliss House is loath to reveal its secrets, as are the good folks of Old Gate.”

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
“It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath.
For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
“In his highly acclaimed debut, A Pale View of Hills, Kazuo Ishiguro tells the story of Etsuko, a Japanese woman now living alone in England, dwelling on the recent suicide of her daughter. Retreating into the past, she finds herself reliving one particular hot summer in Nagasaki, when she and her friends struggled to rebuild their lives after the war. But then as she recalls her strange friendship with Sachiko – a wealthy woman reduced to vagrancy – the memories take on a disturbing cast.”

The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike
“This tale of a young married couple who harbor a dark secret is packed with dread and terror, as they and their daughter move into a brand new apartment building built next to a graveyard. As strange and terrifying occurrences begin to pile up, people in the building start to move out one by one, until the young family is left alone with someone… or something… lurking in the basement. The psychological horror builds moment after moment, scene after scene, culminating with a conclusion that will make you think twice before ever going into a basement again.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
“It was a cloudless summer day in the year nineteen hundred. Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three of the girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the scrub into the shadows of Hanging Rock. Further, higher, till at last they disappeared. They never returned.
Whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or fiction the reader must decide for themselves.”

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
“One postwar summer in his home of rural Warwickshire, Dr. Faraday, the son of a maid who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country physician, is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once impressive and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard permanently fixed at twenty to nine. Its owners—mother, son, and daughter—are struggling to keep pace with a changing society, as well as with conflicts of their own. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr. Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become intimately entwined with his.”