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Most Popular Summer Reading Books 2020

	Good grief : heal your soul, honor your loved ones, and learn to live again by Theresa Caputo The star of Long Island Medium shares inspiring, spirit-based lessons on how to work through and overcome grief in a guide that also offers example testimonies about the experiences of her clients.
	An Amish Kitchen by Kelly Long, Amy Clipston, and Beth Wiseman A taste of faith / by Kelly Long — A spoonful of love / by Amy Clipston — A recipe for hope / by Beth Wiseman.
	Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris A best-selling classic features six additional works on the joys and embarrassments of favorite holidays, in a volume that includes tales of tardy trick-or-treaters, the difficulties of explaining the Easter Bunny to another culture, and a barnyard Secret Santa scheme gone awry.
	Living dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris Living Dead in Dallas is the sequel to Dead Until Dark in the new Southern Vampire series from acclaimed mystery author Charlaine Harris. When a vampire asks Sookie Stackhouse to use her telepathic skills to find another missing vampire, she agrees under one condition: the bloodsuckers must promise to let the humans go unharmed. Easier said than done. Urban fantasy.
	Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemi Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She's not sure what she will find–her cousin's husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemi knows little about the region. Noemi is also an unlikely rescuer: She's a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she's also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin's new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemi; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi's dreams with visions of blood and doom. Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family's youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemi, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family's past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family's once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemi digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.
	The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist–and confidante–to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own … Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow–a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.
	The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren Carey Duncan has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and – more than anyone would suspect – has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There's only one problem: America's favorite couple can't stand each other. James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn't all he thought it'd be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus. Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses' secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along – and start playing for keeps – they may have the chance to build something beautiful together.
	The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star glass and cedar palace on an island in British Columbia. Jonathan Alkaitis works in finance and owns the hotel. When he passes Vincent his card with a tip, it's the beginning of their life together. That same day, Vincent's half-brother, Paul, scrawls a note on the windowed wall of the hotel: “Why don't you swallow broken glass.” Leon Prevant, a shipping executive for a company called Neptune-Avramidis, sees the note from the hotel bar and is shaken to his core. Thirteen years later Vincent mysteriously disappears from the deck of a Neptune-Avramidis ship. Weaving together the lives of these characters, the story moves between the ship, the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and the wilderness of northern Vancouver Island, painting a picture of greed and guilt, fantasy and delusion, art and the ghosts of the pasts.
	The Deep by Rivers Solomon Yetu holds the memories for her people — water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners — who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one — the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu. Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities — and discovers a world her people left behind long ago. Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past — and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they'll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity — and own who they really are. Inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping for the This American Life episode “We are In the future.”
	The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen After an unspeakable tragedy in Boston, Ava Collette flees to a remote village in Maine, where she rents an old house named Brodie's Watch. In that isolated seaside mansion, Ava finally feels at peace, until she glimpses the long-dead sea captain who still resides there. Rumor has it that Captain Jeremiah Brodie has haunted the house for more than a century. One night, Ava confronts the apparition, who feels all too real, and who welcomes her into his world–and into his arms. Even as Ava questions her own sanity, she eagerly looks forward to the captain's ghostly visits. But soon she learns that the house she loves comes with a terrible secret, a secret that those in the village don't want to reveal: Every woman who has ever lived in Brodie's Watch has also died there. Is the ghost of Captain Brodie responsible, or is a flesh-and-blood killer at work? A killer who is even now circling closer to Ava?
	The Night Fire by Michael Connelly Back when Harry Bosch was just a rookie homicide detective, he had an inspiring mentor who taught him to take the work personally and fight for for every case. Now that mentor, J.J. Thompson, is dead, but after his funeral his widow hands Bosch a murder book that Thompson took outlining the unsolved killing of a troubled young man. Bosch brings the murder book to Renee Ballard and asks her to help him find what about the case lit Thompson's fire all those years ago. That will be their starting point.
	The Inn by James Patterson When his seaside town is targeted by vicious criminals, former Boston police detective Bill Robinson, a novice owner and innkeeper, teams up with the local sheriff and two fearless inn residents to fight back.
	City of Glass by Cassandra Clare Still pursuing a cure for her mother's enchantment, Clary uses all her powers and ingenuity to get into Idris, the forbidden country of the secretive Shadowhunters, and to its capital, the City of Glass, where with the help of a newfound friend, Sebastian, she uncovers important truths about her family's past that will not only help save her mother but all those that she holds most dear.
	City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare Sixteen-year-old Clary continues trying to make sense of the swiftly changing events and relationships in her life as she becomes further involved with the Shadowhunters and their pursuit of demons and discovers some terrifying truths about her parents, her brother Jace, and her boyfriend Simon.
	Defending Jacob by William Landay His happy life and long-time respectability as a suburban Massachusetts assistant district attorney shattered when his 14-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student, Andy Barber faces a wrenching decision about family loyalty when the facts increasingly suggest that the boy is guilty.
	A Death-struck year by Makiia Lucier When the Spanish influenza epidemic reaches Portland, Oregon, in 1918, seventeen-year-old Cleo leaves behind the comfort of her boarding school to work for the Red Cross.





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