Bootleggers, Lobstermen, Lumberjacks, Poets, Teachers, and Military Men

Bootleggers, Lobstermen & Lumberjacks: Fifty of the Grittiest Moments in the History of Hanrdscrabble New England by Matthew P. Mayo
The story of New England is built on an endless armature of fascinating tales of Yankee ingenuity and intrepid characters, and this book brings together the top fifty wildest among them -- shipwreck victims surviving any way they could; Indian, pirate, and shark attacks; cougar and bear attacks; and, of course, rum runners and bootleggers doing what they do best.

Ticket to Ride: The Promise of America by Don Hussey
In this unflinchingly honest memoir, military man, public school teacher, successful entrepreneur and candidate for the U.S. Congress Don Hussey describes in rich detail how he outwitted the odds to bring home his "ticket to ride." Trapped in an unending spiral of poverty and abuse, Don left high school as a young teenager to support his mother and younger brother. With uncommon bravery and unyielding determination, he went on to set his own course time and time again. For every obstacle, for every setback, he found a solution and moved on... until one day in 1965 when he was stopped cold in his tracks, confronted by the one accident of fate that no one could ever be prepared for.

The Long Journey Home: A Memoir by Margaret Robinson
First introduced to the world as Augusten Burrough's mother in Running with Scissors, Margaret Robinson now tells her own haunting story, which she began working on long before her son began his memoir. A poet and teacher by profession, Robinson describes her Southern Gothic childhood, her marriage to a handsome, brilliant man who became a split-personality alcoholic and abusive husband, the challenges she faced raising two children while having psychotic breakdowns of her own, and her struggle to regain her sanity.

Vampire Hunters and Cops

Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton
A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect "monsters" are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, U.S. Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer. But some monsters are very real. The Harlequin have been the bogeyman of the vampire world for more than a thousand years; they are a secret so dark that even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. Now they are here in America, hunting weretigers... and human police.

County Line by Bill Cameron
When the steadfast Ruby Jane Whittaker drops out of sight, dogged ex-cop Skin Kadash sets out to discover what drove the woman he loves to leave her life behind so suddenly and without explanation. The discovery of a dead man in Ruby Jane's apartment and an attack by a mysterious stalker send Skin from Portland to California--and into a charged encounter with her one-time love Peter McKrall. As questions mount and answers grow increasingly out of reach, Skin and Peter cross the country on a desperate journey deep into Ruby Jane's haunted past.

Mysteries!

Murder of a Bookstore Babe by Denise Swanson
Dropping off some old books at Tales and Treats, Skye trips over a toppled bookcase, which has crushed a woman beneath its weight. While the police search for motives, Skye sees the messy aftermath of a half-baked plot to murder somebody else. Skye is juggling her own busy life, but when all clues lead to dead ends, she turns up the heat on her investigation...and stumbles upon the deadly secret that got this bookstore babe done in. And if Skye isn't careful, the killer might just make her the sequel...

Murder Past Due by Miranda James
Everyone in Athena, Mississippi, knows Charlie Harris, the good-natured librarian with a rescued Maine coon cat named Diesel that he walks on a leash. Charlie's returned to his hometown to immerse himself in books, but soon enough he's entangled in a real-life thriller...A famous author of gory bestsellers and a former classmate of Charlie's, Godfrey Priest may be the pride of Athena, but Charlie remembers him as an arrogant, manipulative jerk--and he's not the only one. Godfrey's homecoming couldn't possibly go worse: by lunch, he's put a man in the hospital. And by dinner, Godfrey's dead. Now it's up to Charlie, with some help from Diesel, to paw through the town's grudges and find the killer before an impatient deputy throws the book at the wrong person.

Mad Hatter's Holiday by Peter Lovesey
A keen student of human nature, Albert Moscrop concentrates his interest on one particular family of holidaymakers—the Protheros, and especially the beautiful Zena Prothero, whose husband appears to take her excessively for granted. Gradually Moscrop moves into the circle of the Prothero family, only to become involved in a sensational murder. All Brighton is horrified by the gruesome crime. The local police seek the help of Scotland Yard, which is provided in the persons of Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray. These indomitable detectives soon find themselves challenged by the strangest case of their careers, one that is as mystifying as it is macabre.

Happenstance

The Great Night by Chris Adrian
On Midsummer's Eve 2008, three people, each on the run from a failed relationship, become trapped in San Francisco's Buena Vista Park, the secret home of Titania, Oberon, and their court. On this night, something awful is happening in the faerie kingdom: in a fit of sadness over the end of her marriage, which broke up in the wake of the death of her adopted son, Titania has set loose an ancient menace, and the chaos that ensues threatens the lives of immortals and mortals alike.

Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner
Vaclav and Lena seem destined for each other. They meet as children in an ESL class in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Vaclav is precocious and verbal. Lena, struggling with English, takes comfort in the safety of his adoration, his noisy, loving home, and the care of Rasia, his big-hearted mother. Vaclav imagines their story unfolding like a fairy tale but among the many truths to be discovered in Haley Tanner's wondrous debut is that happily ever after is never a foregone conclusion.

The Way Things Look to Me by Roopa Farooki
The Murphy family has never tried to be different; they just are. When Yasmin, the youngest sibling, was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, her older siblings learned to adapt to less attention and more responsibility, to a sister with "special abilities" that no one, not even they, could ever truly understand. And then there's the way Yasmin sees it: She sees music in color, and her mind remembers every tiny detail of every day until sometimes she wishes she could just forget.

Sophie Kinsella readalikes

Do you just absolutely love Sophie Kinsella's works such as Remember Me? Are you looking for other authors like her? Check out these suggested titles below! If you're a member of an OCLN library then just click on the link to place it on hold.

Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin
Ellen and Andy’s first year of marriage doesn’t just seem perfect, it is perfect. There is no question how deep their devotion is, and how naturally they bring out the best in each other. But one fateful afternoon, Ellen runs into Leo for the first time in eight years. Leo, the one who brought out the worst in her. Leo, the one who left her heartbroken with no explanation. Leo, the one she could never quite forget. When his reappearance ignites long-dormant emotions, Ellen begins to question whether the life she’s living is the one she’s meant to live.

Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger
Chasing Harry Winston finds three glamorous Manhattan gal pals making a pact to positively refashion their lives--before hitting the big three-oh. Emmy, Leigh, and Adriana--who've been best friends for a decade--have some very personal issues. Just as Emmy is poised to receive the engagement righ she's longed for, her boyfriend drops her for his flirtatious, young personal trainer. Leigh, an up-and-coming publishing house star, is in danger of having her career derailed by the literary world's grandest snob. And as for Brazilian bombshell Adriana, she must come to terms with the inevitability of her beauty's eventual fading. It's time for all three girls to seriously reassess their futures.

Cocktails for Three by Madeleine Wickheim
At the first of every month, when the office has reached its pinnacle of hysteria, Maggie, Roxanne, and Candice meet at London's swankiest bar for an evening of cocktails and gossip. Here, they chat about what's new at The Londoner, the glossy fashion magazine where they all work, and everything else that's going on in their lives. Or almost everything. Beneath the girl talk and the laughter, each of the three has a secret. And when a chance encounter at the cocktail bar sets in motion an extraordinary chain of events, each one will find their biggest secret revealed.

Want more readalikes on different authors? Send your requests/suggestions/comments to me at aboivin@ocln.org

Evel and Bittersweet

Evel: The High-Flying Life of Evel Knievel: American Showman, Daredevil, and Legend by Leigh Montville
He was a cultural icon who defined an American era--a real-life action hero whose daredevil thrills and disastrous crashes dominated the talk in schoolyards, workshops, and water coolers. But beneath the red, white, and blue cape, who was the man? From three-time New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville, this riveting new biography explores the triumphs and catastrophes, the outward charisma and the hidden dark side, of the volatile man known to millions as Evel Knievel.

A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents--and Ourselves by Jane Gross
In telling the intimate story of caring for her aged and ailing mother, Jane Gross offers indispensable, and often surprising, advice for the rapidly increasing number of adult children responsible for aging parents. Gross deftly weaves the specifics of her personal experience--a widowed mother with mounting health problems, the attendant collision of fear and ignorance, the awkward role reversal of parent and child, unresolved family relationships with her mother and brother, the conflict between her day job and caregiving--with a comprehensive resource for effectively managing the lives of one's own parents while keeping sanity and strength intact.

Mourning Glory and Rainstone

Mourning Gloria by Susan Wittig Albert
China is relishing the scents, produce, and even the showers of spring. She's also busy manning her booth at the Pecan Springs Farmers' Market. It brings additional customers to her herb shop, Thyme and Seasons, and residents find rare ingredients they wouldn't otherwise find in the supermarket. Everybody wins. But as the town bustles back to life in the warmth of the season, one woman's life is tragically brought to an end. China happens upon a burning house trailer and hears a woman screaming for help. The evidence leaves no doubt that it's an arson-homicide-- but would commit such a ghastly crime?

Rainstone Fall by Peter Helton
For Chris Honeysett, artist and private investigator in the city of Bath, autumn threatens to bring down more than just the roof of his studio. An exceptionally stormy October forms the backdrop to Aqua Investigation's strangest case yet. When Chris downs brushes to take on what looks like a simple surveillance job he finds himself in a frenetic world of murder, abduction and blackmail. Dark problems sometimes require drastic solutions--why else would Honeysett suddenly find himself on the wrong side of the law?