Ready to dive into summer reading? Let the Winnefox Library System staff help! Check out one of these titles from your local library. Be sure to ask about the Summer Library Program while you're there.

 

For Adults

 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

The first book in the MurderBot Diaries series is called “All Systems Red” and is very short (the audiobook is only 3 hrs). Darkly funny and plenty adventurous, the Murderbot Diaries series follow a sarcastic, soul-searching, sentient security cyborg as it comes to terms with having hacked its programming to give itself free will. However, it is no longer quite sure what it should do with that free will now that it’s got it.  All it really knows that it wants to do is protect some people/things, kill other people/things, and binge watch space soap operas whenever the stress of life becomes too great.

*recommended by Karla, Integrated Library System Manager

The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead 

As a shy school librarian, Alexis Stone is comfortable keeping out of the spotlight. But when she’s dumped for being too meek—in bed!—she decides she needs to change. And what better way to kick-start her new more adventurous life than with her first one-night stand? Enter Logan, the gorgeous, foul-mouthed stranger she meets at a hotel bar. Audacious and filterless, Logan is Alexis’s opposite—and boy, do opposites attract! Just as she’s about to fulfill her hookup wish, the hotel catches fire in a freak lightning storm. In their rush to escape, Logan is discovered carrying her into the street, where people are waiting with cameras. Cameras Logan promptly—and shockingly—flees.

*recommended by Marcy, Administrative Specialist II

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises—especially to ourselves—by bestselling and beloved author of The Guncle. This story of four lifelong friends going through the challenges of middle age will make the  reader feel like they know each character intimately by the  end. And even when tragic events occur, there is still humor and a lot of heart.

*recommended by Angela, Public Library Development Consultant

Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The modern classic of space opera that began with Children of Time continues in this extraordinary novel of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.
Earth failed. In a desperate bid to escape, the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost. Then strangers appear. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling technology – and they've arrived from another world to help humanity’s colonies. But not all is as it seems, and the price of the strangers' help may be the colony itself.

*recommended by Pete, Network Manager/PC Support Specialist

Dog On It by Spencer Quinn

Everyone who likes dogs should read the Chet & Bernie series by Spencer Quinn. The first book is entitled “Dog On It” 
Told from the dog’s perspective with a dog’s attention span and priorities, it makes for quick, entertaining reading—with suspense, pathos, and occasional laugh-aloud humor. All NY Times Bestsellers, the Chet & Bernie series currently includes 14 novels, plus a few online short stories/novellas. 

*recommended by Karla, Integrated Library System Manager

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs - Clairellyn

Two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection--a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.
Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky

*recommended by Clairellyn, Winnefox Executive Director

Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp 

Daisy Ellery’s pies have a secret ingredient: The magical ability to avenge women done wrong by men. Now, it’s her calling. Daisy bakes sweet vengeance into her pastries, which she and her dog Zoe deliver to the men who’ve done dirty deeds to the town’s women. But if she can’t solve the one crime that’s not of her own baking, she’ll be out of the pie pan and into the oven.

*recommended by Marcy, Administrative Specialist II


My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Satire meets slasher in this short, darkly funny hand grenade of a novel about a Nigerian woman whose younger sister has a very inconvenient habit of killing her boyfriends.

*recommended by Marcy, Administrative Specialist II

Tidelands by Philippa Gregory

Tidelands is the first in the latest series by historical fiction writer Philippa Gregory. The Fairmile series tells the rags-to-riches story of Alinor Reekie, an English commoner who later established a successful shipping company in 17th-century England. Descriptive real-life historical details coupled with dramatic subplots of various characters bring to life an engaging story of a family's struggle to gain influence and riches during an inopportune period of religious and political upheaval.

*recommended by Tracie, Administrative Specialist

The Wager: a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder by David Grann

David Grann, author of the best seller—and Amazon Best Book of the Year—Killers of the Flower Moon, unfurls a story of mayhem and murder, adventure, and reckless ambition on the high seas. Drawing on “archival debris: the washed-out logbooks, the moldering correspondence, the half-truthful journals, the surviving records from the troubling court-martial,” Grann brilliantly retells the story of the Wager—a British boat bound for South America on a secret mission during the Imperial War with Spain. The fate of the captain and crew was not to be one of conquest or fortune, but frightening storms, shipwreck, savagery, and betrayal. While you can almost feel the salt spray on your skin and the creak and crashing of wood against rock, Grann also captures the pomp and circumstance of imperialism, the brazen bravado of power-hungry men, and the inhuman brutality that fear conjures. The personalities aboard this 18th century ship are made for the history books, as the saying goes, and Grann, once again, has written an epic narrative that is both shocking and utterly absorbing. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor

*recommended by Pete, Network Manager/PC Support Specialist

Witch King by Martha Wells 

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai's magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well. But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence? Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions. He's not going to like the answers.

*recommended by Clairellyn, Winnefox Executive Director & Pete, Network Manager/PC Support Specialist


 

For Kids

A Bed of Stars by Jessica Love

A reassuring picture book about finding one's place in the world follows a father as he takes his child on their first camping trip where he shows, under a blanket of stars, that the universe is a friendly place.

*recommended by Crystal, WCTS Program Coordinator

Little Blue Truck Makes a Friend by Alice Schertle

When a newcomer arrives at the farm, setting all the animals atwitter, Blue knows just what to do to help his friends, old and new, feel at home.

*recommended by Clairellyn, Winnefox Executive Director

 

Little Houses by Kevin Henkes

A young girl visiting her grandparents at the beach stays in a little house and walks along the shore gathering seashells, wondering about the creatures who used to live in each shell, about the hidden treasures of the sea--and about the world.

*recommended by Crystal, WCTS Program Coordinator

 

Spotty by Margret Rey

Tired of being treated differently by his family just because he is spotted and the other rabbits are white, Spotty sets out on his own to seek acceptance. 

*recommended by Keetra, Database-Application Developer