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Handpicked by Dana August 2017 I'm an Adult Services Librarian at the River Forest Public Library. I absolutely adore historical and domestic fiction, romance, books about animals, and biographies on First Ladies. I also like to read police procedural mysteries, psychological thrillers, and women's fiction. I find reading most enjoyable when I'm curled up with my cat Timmy! One of my favorite things about my job is that I have the opportunity to connect readers with books, whether that be through our home delivery service or staffing the reference desk. Please contact me at djanisch@rflib.org if you're interested in receiving a custom book list from me.
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A Few of My Favorite Things...
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The Velveteen Rabbit, or, How toys become real by Margery Williams BiancoAt first a brand-new toy, now a threadbare and discarded nursery relic, the velveteen rabbit is saved from peril by a magic fairy who whisks him away to the idyllic world of Rabbitland. There, he becomes "Real," a cherished childhood companion who will be loved for eternity. PLAY TOYS WILLIAMS
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COOKING BAKING CAKES BYRN
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COOKING ENTERTAINING HOLIDAYS DRUMMOND
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Anne of Green Gables by L. M. MontgomeryAnne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her. MS FICTION MONTGOMERY
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Dewey : the small-town library cat who touched the world by Vicki MyronTraces the author's discovery of a half-frozen kitten in the drop-box of her small-community Iowa library and the feline's development into an affable library mascot whose intuitive nature prompted hundreds of abiding friendships. 636.8092 MYR
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Ladies of liberty : the women who shaped our nation by Cokie RobertsA sequel to Founding Mothers shares the stories of remarkable women who shaped American history between 1796 and 1828, including Dolley Madison, Theodosia Burr, and Sacajawea. By the author of We Are Our Mothers' Daughters. 400,000 first printing. 973.4 ROB
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You will know me : a novel by Megan E. AbbottWhen a violent death rocks her close-knit gymnastics community weeks before an important competition, the mother of an Olympic hopeful works frantically to hold her family together in spite of being irresistibly drawn to the crime. FICTION ABBOTT
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Watch me disappear : a novel by Janelle BrownWhen a woman goes missing during a hike in California's Desolation Wilderness, her devastated family is forced to come to terms with her secretive nature. By the best-selling author of All We Ever Wanted Was Everything. FICTION BROWN
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Siracusa by Delia EphronSecrets and relationships unravel for two couples vacationing in Sicily in a tale told from alternating points of view that gradually reveals an affair and a precocious ten-year-old's role in the group's psychological undoing. FICTION EPHRON
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My not so perfect life by Sophie KinsellaAfter being unexpectedly fired by Demeter Farlowe, her brilliant and creative boss, Katie Brenner retreats to her family's farm to help them set up a vacation business, but when Demeter shows up out of the blue, Katie has a new chance at re-evaluating—and resetting—her life. By a #1 New York Times best-selling author. (romance). Simultaneous. FICTION KINSELLA
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First star I see tonight by Susan Elizabeth PhillipsDiscovered by the former Chicago quarterback she was hired to tail, ambitious detective Piper Dove pretends to be the athlete's stalker and is subsequently hired as his bodyguard, an arrangement that is threatened by their growing chemistry and a portfolio of eccentric clients. By a New York Times best-selling author. (romance). Simultaneous. FICTION PHILLIPS
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins ReidWhen an aging and reclusive Hollywood icon selects an unknown magazine reporter to write her life story, the baffled journalist forges deep ties with the actress during a complicated interview process that exposes their tragic common history. FICTION REID
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Persons unknown : a novel by Susie SteinerEnduring cold-case work as the price she must pay for a transfer back to Cambridgeshire and a better work-life balance, pregnant detective Manon Bradshaw becomes unwittingly embroiled in the murder of her former brother-in-law when the case threatens her family and pits her against close colleagues. MYSTERY STEINER
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The knockoff : a novel by Lucy SykesDiscovering that her young former assistant is plotting to steal her job and transform their fashion magazine into an app, editor-in-chief Imogen Tate is challenged to find her inner geek to save her career and the magazine. AVAILABLE IN OVERDRIVE!
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The hating game by Sally ThorneResolving to achieve professional success without compromising her ethics, Lucy embarks on a ruthless game of one-upmanship against cold and efficient nemesis Joshua, a rivalry that is impossibly complicated by her growing attraction to him. Original. A first novel. FICTION THORNE
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Alias Grace by Margaret Eleanor AtwoodA finalist for the Booker Prize, a national best-seller by the author of The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of an enigmatic Victorian woman accused of a double murder and the psychologist who treats her. Reprint. FICTION ATWOOD
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The painted girls by Cathy Marie BuchananIn belle époque Paris, the van Goethem sisters struggle for survival after the sudden death of their father, a situation that prompts young Marie's ballet training and her introduction to a genius painter. FICTION BUCHANAN
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Homegoing by Yaa GyasiTwo half-sisters, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in 18th-century Ghana and experience profoundly different lives and legacies throughout subsequent generations marked by wealth, slavery, war, coal mining, the Great Migration and the realities of 20th-century Harlem. (historical fiction). Simultaneous. FICTION GYASI
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The marriage of opposites : a novel by Alice HoffmanDreaming of an exotic life in Paris while coming of age in a St. Thomas refugee community, young Rachel is forced to marry a widower before falling scandalously in love and becoming the mother of Impressionist master Camille Pissarro. By the author of Here on Earth. Reprint. A New York Times best-seller. FICTION HOFFMAN
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The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer RyanLetters and journals reveal the struggles, affairs, deceptions and triumphs of five members of a village choir during World War II as they band together to survive the upheavals of war and village intrigue on the English home front. A first novel. FICTION RYAN
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Golden Hill : A Novel of Old New York by Francis SpuffordWhen a mysterious man shows up at the countinghouse in 1746 New York with an order for a huge sum of money, the local colonial merchants can’t decide if they should trust him, befriend him, arrest him or seduce him. FICTION SPUFFORD
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The shoemaker's wife : a novel by Adriana TrigianiThis intricately woven tapestry of love and family, war and loss, risk and destiny follows star-crossed lovers Enza, a practical beauty, and Ciro, a strapping mountain boy, who, after their first meeting in the Italian Alps, find their destinies inexplicably entwined as they build their lives in America. 200,000 first printing. FICTION TRIGIANI
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Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto UrreaWorking in a Mexican taco shop while dreaming of the father who left their family to work in the United States, nineteen-year-old Nayeli struggles with a realization that most of the men in her village have left to pursue work in the north, a situation for which she endeavors to recruit seven men to repopulate her hometown and protect it from bandidos. Simultaneous. Book available. FICTION URREA
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Salt to the sea by Ruta SepetysWorld War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom. When their paths converge in route to the ship that promises salvation, Joana, Emilia, and Florian find their strength, courage, and trust in one another tested with each step closer toward safety. When tragedy strikes the Wilhelm Gustloff, they must fight for the same thing: survival. TEEN FICTION SEPETYS
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Pax by Sara PennypackerWhen his father enlists in the military and makes him return his beloved pet fox to the wild, Peter, who has been sent to live with his grandfather hundreds of miles away, embarks on a journey filled with astonishing discoveries in order to be reunited with his fox. By the award-winning author of the Clementine series. Simultaneous eBook. 250,000 first printing. MS FICTION PENNYPACKER
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The Raven Boys by Maggie StiefvaterDeveloping her mother's clairvoyant powers for seeing visions of people who are about to die, Blue is drawn into the life of rich private school boy, Gansey, who has involved three of his classmates in a quest that Blue believes will end with her involvement in Gansey's death. By the best-selling author of the Shiver trilogy. 150,000 first printing. TEEN FICTION STIEFVATER
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My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J. FreedmanBusily studying for her upcoming bat mitzvah, Tara Feinstein misses her maybe-boyfriend Ben-O and worries that her best friend has been spending too much time with a stuck-up classmate, a situation that is complicated by her efforts to bridge her Indian and Jewish identities. MS FICTION FREEDMAN
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Etiquette & espionage by Gail CarrigerIn an alternate England of 1851, spirited 14-year-old Sophronia is enrolled in a finishing school where, she is surprised to learn, lessons include not only the fine arts of dance, dress and etiquette, but also diversion, deceit and espionage. TEEN FICTION CARRIGER
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Lara's gift by Annemarie O'BrienIn 1914 Russia, Lara is being groomed by her father to be the next kennel steward for the Count's borzoi dogs, but her visions, although suppressed by her father, seem to suggest she has a special bond with the dogs. MS FICTION O'BRIEN
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Clockwork angel by Cassandra ClareTessa Gray's search for her missing brother leads her into Victorian London's supernatural underworld, where she must learn to trust the demon-killing Shadowhunters if she wants to learn to control her powers and find her brother. TEEN FICTION CLARE
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