Book Review: Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak (2nd review of this on BookGuide)

Hidden Pictures
by Jason Rekulak (Rekulak & Compact Disc Rekulak)

If you like thrillers and ghost stories, you will love this book! Mallory, a recovering addict, becomes a nanny for Teddy, a young boy with an imaginary friend named Anya. When Teddy begins to draw sinister scary pictures of a man dragging a woman’s body through a woods; Mallory becomes suspicious, especially when Anya begins to communicate with her. It turns out that Teddy’s family has some secrets of their own.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney.)

 

( official Hidden Pictures and Jason Rekulak web site )

 

See Charlotte M.’s earlier review of Hidden Pictures in the August 2022 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Susan S.
Eiseley Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Babel Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution by R.F. Kuang

Babel Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution

by R(ebecca).F. Kuang (Downloadable Audio Kuang)

I found this book interesting on many levels. It is an historical fantasy novel about the British Empire but also deals with language, magic and secret societies. It also deals with the problems of colonialism and power. I think it has something for everyone!

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo or Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.)

( official R.F. Kuang web site )

 

Recommended by Susan S.
Eiseley Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
by T. Kingfisher (a.k.a. Ursula Vernon) (available only in E-book and E-audiobook editions from the libraries — Susan listened to the downloadable audio)

If you enjoy humorous fantasy and baking, this is the story for you. Mona’s magic is limited to being good with dough, but when her city is threatened, she “rises” to the challenge.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the works of T.J. Klune or Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki.)

 

( publisher’s T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon web page )

 

Recommended by Susan S.
Eiseley Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

Out of Darkness
by Ashley Hope Perez (YA Perez)

This award-winning story will break your heart. A tragic love story set in East Texas against the backdrop of the 1937 explosion of the New London School.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Romeo and Juliette by William Shakespeare, and If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson.)

 

( official Out of Darkness page on the official Ashley Hope Perez web site )

 

Recommended by Susan S.
Eiseley and Williams Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Two New Booktalk Booklists from Susan S. at Eiseley Branch

In November and December 2021, Susan S., Teen Specialist at the Eiseley Branch Library, presented two book talks at the Bethany and South Branch BooksTalk series -- featuring some cross-over between them, but also some titles only presented to one or the other group. Susan's list contained items for both Adults and Young Adults, and both Fiction and Non-Fiction.

Check out Susan's lists of recommended reads, in these two new booktalk booklists on BookGuide at the following links:

Susan's Selections - Bethany - Fall 2021

Susan's Selections - South - Fall 2021

New BooksTalk Booklist: Susan's Selections - November 2020

  

The Bethany and Gere Branch BooksTalk series returned in a modified format for the Fall/Winter sessions of 2020 -- they were held as Library BooksTalks on Zoom, using the Zoom online meeting software.

Susan S., teen specialist at the Eiseley Branch Library, was the presenter on Zoom on November 20th, 2020. She discussed a number of works she's recently enjoyed, appropriate for adults and teens.

You can see a list of the items Susan discussed at:

Susan's Selections - November 2020

Interested in being added to an e-mail list for notifications about future In-Person or Online Book Talks? Visit our E-mail Groups Sign-Up page to sign up!

Book Review: Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

Home Before Dark
by Riley Sager (Sager)

 

Maggie’s parents bought a house that had a storied past when she was five. They spent a total of fifteen days in the house before the family left for good. Her father wrote a best selling book about the experience which as an adult Maggie has grown to despise. Upon her father’s death, Maggie finds out that he has left the house to her and she is determined to find out what really happened that summer.

 

[ official Home Before Dark page on the official Riley Sager web site ]

 

Recommended by Susan S.
Eiseley Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

The Sun Down Motel
by Simone St. James (St. James)

This story has both ghosts and serial killers. The story also goes back and forth in time so that the reader can meet both Carly and Vivian. The Sun Down Motel which is haunted due to a tragic accident that happened when it opened, it is also the place where Vivian, Carly’s aunt mysteriously disappeared without a trace; Carly comes to the Sun Down almost twenty years later to find out what happened to her aunt.

[ official Simone St. James web site ]

 

Recommended by Susan S.
Eiseley Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (as an audiobook)

Red, White and Royal Blue
by Casey McQuiston (downloadable audio)

I’m not usually a romance reader but this title came up in a newsletter I subscribe to for work. In some ways it was the classic romance trope, with the two disliking each other initially but growing to like each other as they get to know one another.Romance is difficult for everyone but especially Alex and Henry since not only are they young men but young men who are in the public eye. I loved how the characters were developed and the secondary characters also had lives.

[ official Red, White & Royal Blue page on the official Casey McQuiston web site ]

Recommended by Susan S.
Eiseley Branch Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!