Karen's Picks: opened Beach Books after years spent first in advertising and television, then as a mom and faux finisher at my husband's business, Gearhart Ironwerks, where I still gets to paint every now and then. While I've always been a book lover, I guess you could say that Elizabeth George is the reason there is a Beach Books.
I am trying to expand my reading horizons, but primarily loves literary fiction and mysteries, even thrillers. Some of my current favorite writers are Erica Bauermeister, Kristin Hannah, Garth Stein, Chelsea Cain and Steig Larsson and, of course, Elizabeth Geroge. Oh, but the list could go on and on.
$26.95
ISBN-13: 9780385534635
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Doubleday, 9/2011
I can't remember a book I have loved this much since I fell in love with Water for Elephants. It's the story of two young magicians, used as surrogates in a competition to the death (unbeknownst to them) by two of the world's greatest illusionists. Their stage is the Night Circus which appears unannounced somewhere in the world, and only at night. Erin Morgenstern has created a world so captivating you won't want to leave.
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780312552701
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: St. Martin's Griffin, 11/2011
A delightful and deceptively casual story of what really makes a family. It's the tale of Janey, our narrator, Jill, her college friend, soon to be an unwed mother, and Katie, their Mormon classmate. When the father of Jill's yet-to-be-born child leaves, the three decide to raise the baby on their own. Along the way you'll meet a gay couple striving to adopt, a Jewish grandmother, Jill's also unwed mother and the dog, Uncle Claude.
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781439156896
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Gallery Books, 2/2011
While Amaryllis in Blueberry will make you think of The Poisonwood Bible, it is a very different story. The Slepys have four daughters, their four Marys, with very different personalities. And everyone in the family is keeping secrets. Some of which take them to Africa where you'll be fascinated by the rituals and customs. And you'll be on the edge of your seat.
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780307716521
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Broadway, 3/2012
When Beatrice's younger sister Tess goes missing, Bea returns to England to find and lecture her. But when Tess's body is found, Bea is the only one to believe that she had not committed suicide. As she hunts for the killer even her fiance believes she's losing her mind. With an intriguing device for telling Bea's story and an amazing ending, you will not soon forget Sister.
$15.95
ISBN-13: 9781936070718
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Akashic Books, 3/2011
This reminded me of the feeling I got from To Kill a Mockingbird. Michelle is the 9 year-old daughter of a Japanese mother and an American father, who is abandoned by her mother and left with her Wisconsin grandparents in their all-white community. She is subject to bullying by nearly everyone in town except for her grandfather who dotes on her. The fragile peace is threatened when a black couple comes to town and the tension grows when the hussband makes a controversial accusation against the best friend of Michelle's grandfather.
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781565129849
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1/2011
Even if you're not the basketball fan that
I am, you'll be cheering this ragtag high
school team from small town Montana.
Talk about Bad News Bears, this team
has a 0-93 record, and lots of sorrows
and broken dreams. But as they grow
together and bring the whole town to-
gether, your heart will soar.
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780316098328
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Back Bay Books, 6/2011
Room is a most unusual and haunting
story. Told by 5 year old Jack, held
captive with his mother for his entire
life in a 12' x 12' shed. It is the story of
the lengths a mother will go for the love
of her child. You will not soon forget
Room.
$12.00
ISBN-13: 9780446574457
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grand Central Publishing, 2/2012
It begins with the impossible - a white woman and a black man in love - in 1968. But the obstacles are even greater. They are both residents at the Pennsylvania State School for the Incurable and Feebleminded. And, she's pregnant. After they escape, she gives birth in widow Martha's barn, she is caught, he flees and Martha has a child to raise. What follows is the journey to repair what is broke. It is wonderful
Karen's Picks:
