Staff Picks & Book Suggestions
In preparing for Beach ‘n Books, the Adult Summer Reading Program, we asked library staff “What’s in your beach bag?” To get you started , here are reading suggestions from the Cabell County Public Library staff. Scroll to browse, or just click a subject below to jump to that portion of the list!
Check out these web sites for book lists and reading suggestions
Biography & Memoir
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The Prizewinner of |
Terry Ryan |
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Big Russ and Me |
Tim Russert |
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My Prison without Bars |
Pete Rose |
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A Mighty Heart |
Mariane Pearl |
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Joe Eszterhas |
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Savage Beauty: the Life of Edna |
Nancy Milford |
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General Fiction
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Now is the Time to Open Your Heart |
Alice Walker |
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A Hole in |
Herman Wouk |
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Bleachers |
John Grisham |
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Back to the Moon |
Homer Hickam |
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The Lady and the Unicorn |
Tracy Chevalier |
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A River Out of |
John Hockenberry |
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The Tyrant’s Novel |
Thomas Keneally |
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The Time of Our Singing |
Richard Powers |
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The Confirmation |
Thomas Powers |
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T.C. Boyle |
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Everyday People |
Stewart O’Nan |
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Digital Fortress |
Dan Brown |
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Young Wives |
Olivia Goldsmith |
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The Bee Season |
Myla Goldberg |
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Anna Karenina |
Leo Tolstoy |
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The Dwelling |
Susie Maloney |
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Emily Bronte |
Moby Dick |
Herman Melville |
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Lamb: the gospel according to Biff, Christ’s childhood
friend |
Christopher Moore |
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Tropic of Cancer |
Henry Miller |
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Suicide Club |
Robert Louis Stevenson |
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Jane Austen Book Club |
Karen Joy Fowler |
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Moby Dick |
Herman Melville |
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The Picture of Dorian Gray |
Oscar Wilde |
The Boy on the Bus |
Deborah Schupak |
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Daughter of a Legend |
Jesse Stuart |
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A Gild Like Che Guevera |
Teresa de la Caridad Doval |
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Sugar |
Bernice McFadden |
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A Change is Gonna Come |
Jacquelin Thomas |
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Prodigal Husband |
Jacquelin Thomas |
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The |
Brenda Jackson |
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All is Fair in Love, War, & High School |
Janette Rallison |
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Lovely Bones |
Alice Seabold |
Other suggestions include young adult books including works by author Ann Rinaldi as well as the award winning books on the Newberry Award list. Books by James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks were also frequently mentioned.
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General Nonfiction
Celebrity in Chief |
Alan Schroeder |
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Civil Wars: A |
David Moats |
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Sports Illustrated: 50 Years of Great Writing, 1954 –
2004 |
Rob Fleder |
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The Pecking Order: Which Siblings Succeed and Why |
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Brace Men, Gentle Heroes |
Michael Takiff |
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Middletown America: One Town’s Passage from Trauma to
Hope |
Gail Sheahy |
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Justice at Nuremburg |
Robert Conot |
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Nickel & Dimed |
Barbara Ehrenreich |
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The Greatest Generation Speaks |
Tom Brokaw |
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Dude, Where’s My Country? |
Michael Moore |
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An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A |
Ann Vanderhoof |
Other suggestions: jewelry-making, beading, gardening, knitting, pocketbook making, grilling cookbooks, water color painting, and sketching.
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Inspirational Fiction
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Left Behind Series |
Jerry Jenkins & Tim LaHaye |
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The Covenant |
Beverly Lewis |
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The Sacrifice |
Beverly Lewis |
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The Betrayal |
Beverly Lewis |
Beverly Lewis is a definite favorite among the staff who enjoy inspirational books. Also, check out books by Sheri Reynolds, Francine Rivers, Dee Henderson, Robin Lee Hatcher, and Lori Wick.
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Mystery
Those Who Trespass |
Bill O’Reilly |
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Ten Big Ones |
Janet Evanovich |
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Da Vinci Code |
Dan Brown |
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Ten Big Ones |
Janet Evanovich |
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Muletrain and Magsody: An Arly Hanks Mystery |
Joan Hess |
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Agatha Raisin mysteries |
M.C. Beaton |
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Full Cupboard of Life |
Alexander McCall Smith |
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Killer Smile |
Lisa Scottoline |
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Romance & Erotic Fiction
Carousel |
Belva Plain |
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Second Chance |
Danielle Steel |
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Caramba! A Tale Told in Turns of the Card |
Nina Marie Martinez |
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Blowout |
Catherine Coulter |
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The Summer I Dared |
Barbara Delinsky |
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Science Fiction & Fantasy
If On a Winter’s Night |
Italo Calvino |
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The Game of Thrones (trilogy – must read in order) |
George R. Martin |
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House of Leaves |
Mark Danielewski |
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Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire |
J. K Rowling |