Blog Entries

Jack Quinlan has secrets. Lots of secrets. Upon returning to his hometown after a close relative suffers a serious accident, the reality Jack has created and shared with his wife, Sarah, for years quickly begins to unravel. What really happened to Jack’s parents all those years ago? Just how much is Jack hiding? Sarah Quinlan must find out. But will she be able to fill in all the missing pieces before it’s too late? Sarah enlists the help of locals to get to the bottom of Jack’s dark secrets, which all seem to lead to the cellar in Jack’s childhood home. 

To have a mental illness is frustrating - to the person who has one and very often to those around her.  Jenny Lawson has several, including OCD, ADD, depression and an anxiety disorder.  As bad as things can get at some times in her life, Lawson believes in seizing the moment and experiencing as many positive adventures as possible.  She calls this being “furiously happy”. 

 Lawson is a best-selling author and a well-known blogger and is often hilarious.  This book reads like a collection of blogs based on real episodes in her life; on the c...

In this, his first novel, Graeme Cameron takes the reader into the complex mind of a serial killer, a unique character who remains nameless, and whose undoing is built up, throughout the story. Prone to violence from his past, and frustrated by the disillusioned and complicated relationships with the women in his life, the character becomes more greatly understood as his demise unfolds, and the extremes that are “normal” to the character, become to the reader as well. Cameron’s ability to create a cast of such deeply conflicted characters whose complexities intertwine in d...

I listened to this book on an audiobook.  I love listening to books as I drive to and from work and out on errands.  It really makes the mundane tasks more tolerable especially if it is good book and reader.  This book gets a thumbs up on both accounts from me.  Okay, onward with my review.

Kimberly Rossi is a want-to-be author with some devastating heartbreaks in her past.  These heartbreaks have taken a toll on her and are especially hard at Christmas.  She hears about a writers retreat in Vermont at the Mistletoe Inn and is intrigued.  After all,...

Take a look at this list from USA Today ( Dec.30, 2015)!http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2015/12/30/10-books-we-loved-reading-in-2015/77972528/

Whether you're worrying about credit card debt, your kids' college tuition, your own retirement, or refinancing your home, this book frames the problem; then suggests a solution. The Money Answer Book gives an easy-to-read distillation of all of the key Ramsey commandments for financial success.

You can read the entire book in 90 minutes and get on your way to “financial freedom.”

Reviewed by Kim White, Head of Hoyt Library

Click here to find this book

Click to view or subscribe!    http://randomhouselibrary.com/

When I brought this book home, a teenager immediately noticed it.  The distinctive cover art and black edged pages make the book stand out.  I gave it to him to read since technically, it is a YA book, and I figured he could tell me if it was any good.  Then he passed it on to his sister.  They both liked it, so I thought it must be worth reading!  

A group of six teenagers plot to break a prisoner out of an impossible jail.  There is Kaz, the ruthless leader who whispers rumors to make sure that no one really knows him.  Inej is an acrobat tur...

A stand-up comedian probably wouldn’t be your first choice to write a study on the trials of dating in the new millennium, but Aziz Ansari (best known for his role on Parks and Recreation) joined forces with sociology professor Eric Klinenberg for this one-of-a-kind guide to dating, mating, cheating, and etiquette. The result is a book full of solid research andsnarky commentary.

Ansari and Klinenberg found out that there is a generational difference of opinion on whether it’s okay to break up with someone via text message, but romance is changing in other ways, too. Yea...

In a Dark, Dark Wood is a fast-paced psychological thriller that takes place in a creepy setting with creepy characters. Out of touch for years, Nora gets invited to her former best friend, Clare’s, hen party (bachelorette party for us Americans). The party, held in a glass house in the middle of a very dark, dark wood begins to take twists and turns that are even colder and darker than the setting. Waking up in the hospital, Nora begins to piece together what happened in the glass house. She must remember the final details in order to save herself and others. Together, Nora, Clare, F...

I have always been captivated by the Kennedy’s lives and enjoy reading about them.  Knowing what happened to Rosemary has saddened me at times and I wondered what her life would have been like had she not had a lobotomy.  This book is a two-fold story.  It takes you through Rosemary’s life both before and after her operation and it also walks you through the life of Sister Paulus, Rosemary’s caregiver.  I have always thought Joe Kennedy was a hard man, forbidding his family from seeing Rosemary, but I have softened that view a bit now.   The s...

This is the story of Kaitlin Roig, a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  On December 14, 2012 she crammed 16 children and herself into a small classroom bathroom, saving their lives when a shooter entered the school and killed 20 children and six adults.  

Kaitlin was an adopted child who grew up in a loving and supportive environment with strong values and unfailing belief in God.  From an early age she knew she wanted to become a teacher.  She was thrilled when she got her dream job as a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook.  

Gounded firmly in the darkly superstitious Welsh countryside, Brackston weaves a lovely romantic tale.  Never speaking a word and frightened by strange powers she does not fully understand or know how to control, Morgana Pritchard is beginning to arouse suspicions among the townspeople.  It is only after her fearful mother marries her off to Cai, a widow cattle drover from the far hills, that Morgana begins to realize the extent and the purpose of her gift. As Cai and Morgana’s love story unfolds and accusations of witchery begin to swirl about, Morgana learns to both h...

This is not just another diet/nutrition book that promises immediate and rapid weight loss and renewed vigor and health.   Gianni is a food blogger and internet celebrity, and this book really works best in those terms.  The time sequence jumps about from chapter to chapter and I found it somewhat hard to follow, but the book works well if you consider each chapter just an independent commentary.

In his search for the best diet, Gianni starts with vegan, vegetarian, paleo and raw foods diets, and rather than getting healthier he gets sicker.  This leads to a lot o...

I finished reading this book a few days after the American Cancer Society came out with new guidelines on women receiving mammograms.  They have raised the age to 45 and have also recommended women over the age of 55 only get this done every other year.  Amy Robach, an anchor for ABC’s Good Morning America, was 40 when she found out she had breast cancer.  She had no previous risks or family history that would make her a likely candidate for cancer. 

The fact that she even found out was a fluke as she was just “doing” her job by having a mammogra...