TAB Recommends 

Here are some books our TAB members have read and loved recently. We’ve included the call number so you can come and get them at Reston Regional Library! All summaries taken from Novelist unless otherwise noted.

 

Devotions, Mary Oliver – 811 O 2017

Carefully curated, these 200 plus poems feature Oliver’s work from her very first book of poetry, No Voyage and Other Poems, published in 1963 at the age of 28, through her most recent collection, Felicity, published in 2015. This timeless volume, arranged by Oliver herself, showcases the beloved poet at her edifying best. Within these pages, she provides us with an extraordinary and invaluable collection of her passionate, perceptive, and much-treasured observations of the natural world. – goodreads

 

The Watch that Ends the Night, Allan Wolf – YFIC WOL

Recreates the 1912 sinking of the Titanic as observed by millionaire John Jacob Astor, a beautiful young Lebanese refugee finding first love, “Unsinkable” Molly Brown, Captain Smith, and others including the iceberg itself.

The Horse Diaries, book 1 – Elska, Cathy Hapka – JFIC HAP

Around the year 1000, the Icelandic horse named Elska is born and learns about life and her role in the herd, as well as love and friendship, when she rescues the girl to whom she originally belonged. Includes facts about Icelandic horses and Iceland.

 

Animorphs, book 1 – The Invasion, KA Applegate – JSF APP

Endowed by a dying alien with the power to morph into any animal they touch, friends Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Marco investigate the wonders of the world with their unusual powers.

Boston Jane: An Adventure, Jennifer L. Holm – JFIC HOL

Schooled in the lessons of etiquette for young ladies of 1854, Miss Jane Peck of Philadelphia finds little use for manners during her long sea voyage to the Pacific Northwest and while living among the American traders and Chinook Indians of Washington Territory.

 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, book 1 – The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan – JFIC RIO

After learning that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea, Percy Jackson is transferred from boarding school to Camp Half-Blood, a summer camp for demigods, and becomes involved in a quest to prevent a war between the gods.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, JK Rowling – JFIC ROW

Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 

Goldie Vance, Volume 1, Hope Larson – YMS LAR

When in-house detective Charlie comes up against a case he can’t crack, he calls upon sixteen-year-old Goldie, who uses her skills, smarts, and connections to solve the case.

Emma, Jane Austen – FIC AUS

Emma is young, rich and independent. She has decided not to get married and instead spends her time organising her acquaintances’ love affairs. Her plans for the matrimonial success of her new friend Harriet, however, lead her into complications that ultimately test her own detachment from the world of romance.

 

The Six, Mark Alpert – YSF ALP

Adam, crippled by muscular dystrophy, and five other terminally ill teenagers sacrifice their bodies and upload their minds into weaponized robots to battle a dangerously advanced artificial intelligence program bent on destroying humanity.

A Gathering of Shadows, Victoria Schwab – SF SCH

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, and into Black London. In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games-an extravagent international competition of magic, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned.

 

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte – FIC BRO

In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess and soon finds herself in love with her employer who has a terrible secret.

Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell – JFIC ODE

Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.

Medea, Euripedes – 882 E

Medea centers on the myth of Jason, leader of the Argonauts, who has won the dragon-guarded treasure of the Golden Fleece with the help of the sorceress Medea. Having married Medea and fathered her two children, Jason abandons her for a more favorable match, never suspecting the terrible revenge she will take.