Here are the latest book recommendations from the “Staff Picks” display. This week, library assistant Alyce Edwards offers a variety of choices from several literary genres. Stop by the library to see which staff member’s choices are now on display.
Here’s what Alyce had to say:
*Phantom Waltz by Catherine Anderson–Anderson is my favorite romance writer. Her characters are flawed and face realistic yet challenging obstacles. This is the first one I read and I think it’s the best. The heroine is in a wheelchair and her hero is one of the sexiest men ever written! She writes the most fantastic men. She really knows romance.
*Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer–This is one of the first great epic novels I read. It’s the story of two immigrant men whose hatred of each other keeps their lives intertwined. I love the plot twists! The sequel, “Prodigal Daughter,” is a great read also.
*The Stand by Stephen King–This is my favorite King book. He makes the end of the world seem very possible. The final battle between good and evil is awesome. It’s scary on so many different levels.
*Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann–Susann is the queen of the “trashy novel,” and this is her first book. She stood Hollywood on its ear with this book–totally trashy and everyone wanted to know the “real” people she was writing about. All of her books are fantastic.
*Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels–Stephanie Plum is the funniest, craziest, dumbest, but most of all luckiest, bounty hunter ever! The character development through 14+ novels is amazing. The two men she is torn between are two of the best men ever written. Her books are sexy and funny and always leave you wanting more.
*Turning Angel by Greg Iles–The main character in this mystery, Penn Cage, is the last of a breed of Southern gentlemen hard to find today. The book looks at a lot of hard truths about young people, sex, and the electronic age we live in. It is a very provocative mystery and Cage is a unique character in it all.
*Rhett Butler’s People by Donald McCaig–Honestly, “Gone With the Wind” is my all-time favorite book! I wanted to be Scarlet. Finally the sequel I’ve been waiting for has arrived. It’s Rhett’s side of the story and it was everything I wanted and more. Finally, a great ending for the greatest love story and greatest lovers ever written.
*Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella–One of the best books in the new “chick lit” genre. This is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time. All the little secrets and lies we tell come out all at once. It’s hysterical!
*I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou–I really don’t know what to say about this book except it is amazing. It will take you through every emotion you can think of having! Every young woman should read it. Angelou bares her life and her soul in this autobiography. It will leave you breathless.
*One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey–I first read this book in high schol and at the time believed it was the perfect statement of everything wrong with America–the insane asylum a perfect metaphor of America! Kesey characterizations, humor, and irony make this book amazing.
*Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley–This is probably the most thought-provoking biography ever written. Alex Haley spent a lot of time with Malcolm X at the end of his life and witnessed the amazing changes and discoveries he made about himself and everything he believed in. This book was so much more than I ever expected.
McBook 