LIBRARY TALK – MARCH 30, 2021

The world lost two great authors this past week.  Beverly Cleary, known for her realistic portrayal of beloved child characters such as Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins, regular kids trying to figure out their world, filled with timeless issues of friendship, school, understanding adults (parents!), all with good humor.

Larry McMurtry, author of many bestsellers and literary masterpieces such as Lonesome Dove, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1986. Even if you hadn’t read anything by McMurtry, you probably watched a movie or two based on his works including the mini-series Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment, Hud (Horseman Pass By) and The Last Picture Show.

More local author T.M. Shivener books added to our collection (Thanks Tanji!)—we welcome you to read the reviews on Amazon, and we are the first library in our 200+ library consortium to have on our shelves. As Tanji says, think realistic, sometimes messy romances.

Not a bad week for popular fiction being released. Of course, James Patterson has one, this time Red Book, a sequel to Black Book. Anther ‘rapid writer’ would be Stuart Woods and his Stone Barrington character who gets in trouble in Double Jeopardy. Fern Michaels wrote No Way Out a stand-alone title with a bit of suspense in it, and Allison Brennen amps up the dark suspense in her Tell No Lies with Costa & Quinn trying to save the day.  Paula Munier is on her 3rd mystery featuring Mercy Carr and her canine sidekick Elvis in The Hiding Place.

Inspirational fiction titles include Leslie Gould’s next in Plain Patterns series titled A Patchwork Past, set in an Amish community in Indiana, and Irene Hannon is on her 7th title in the Hope Harbor series, this one called Blackberry Beach.
If you pick up the free monthly BookPage magazine that we have, the cover title is Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge, a historical novel that begins in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn as a young woman tries to figure out her place in the world, and what freedom really means.  Author RaeAnne Thayne is pretty widely known for her paperback contemporary romance series such as Haven Point or Hope’s Crossing. She’s moving up the ladder, with many of her books now coming out in hardback. Her latest is The Path to Sunshine Cove, with sisters reconnecting, past and present being figured out, and of course a dash of romance.

OK, one last book to be mentioned.  There always seems to be a fascination with the British royal family, so our latest addition is Andrew Morton’s Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters.