The daytime book club kicked off 2024 with a ‘free month,’ where everyone was invited to bring the books they were currently reading or a list of favorites to share.

The result was a list of great books, as well as two TV series. Check out the list below and see what you might like to add to your reading and viewing pile!

If you like to read and enjoy talking about books, join the daytime book club or the evening book club for great reads and lively conversations. Some books are available to borrow when you sign up, and some months they’re are also available on Libby and/or Hoopla. Stop at the desk or email Lauri at eplcollection@cliu.org to get started.

Note: Items are listed in alphabetical order (skipping ‘a,’ ‘an,’ or ‘the’ at the beginning of titles). Links will take you to the printed book format in the online catalog when possible, and you may place holds on items there from your online account. In some cases, titles link to external websites when the item is not available through the library or LCLC (Lehigh Carbon Library Cooperative). We may be able to request the item from a non-LCLC library through interlibrary loan (with the exception of TV series that are not yet available on DVD); please ask at the desk.

FICTION

  • Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (2011). A Lithuanian family is sent to Siberia by Russian forces. The teen daughter writes her story and buries it—based on the true story of the author’s family.
  • The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (2023). An epic story by the author of Cutting for Stone. Three generations of an Indian family seek the truth. This one was recommended twice at our meeting!
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925). One of the most beloved classics of American literature. Always good for a read or re-read.
  • Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner (2022). Twisty and turny. Good reading.
  • The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (2023). The author of Good Lord Bird is back with another historical fiction novel set in Pottstown, PA. A terrible secret is unearthed that rocks the Black and Jewish communities of Pottstown. 
  • The Housekeeper by Joy Fielding (2022). This is a cautionary domestic fiction thriller about who you trust with your home and family.
  • Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (2017). A moving historical/paranormal fiction novel about the afterlife of Willie Lincoln and the grief of his father. One of my favorite novels, but may be too weird for some.
  • The Measure by Nikki Erlick (2022). Do you want to know exactly how long your life will be? What would you do with that knowledge? That’s the basis of this novel.
  • Morning and Evening by Jon Fosse (2015). An earlier novel from the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature winner. A beautifully written novel about the meaning of a person’s life.
  • Murder Most Royal by SJ Bennett (2022). Queen Elizabeth II helps solve mysteries.
  • No One is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts (2017). A Lehigh University professor wrote this novel inspired by (not a retelling of) The Great Gatsby. I think her language is just beautiful.
  • The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner (2023). Fast-paced thriller; a cut above other thrillers.
  • The Portrait by Iain Pears (2005). A compelling historical fiction novel that takes place during one of the most explosive periods in art history.
  • The Rent Collector by Camron Wright (2012). A novel about the joys and sorrows of a family living in Cambodia’s largest municipal dump.
  • The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (2014). A love story about an awkward professor and an independent bartender.
  • Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (2016). This highly recommended young adult historical fiction novel follows the story of a group of refugees fleeing World War II on a doomed cruise liner.
  • The Senator’s Wife by Liv Constantine (2023). Fast-paced thriller with tons of twists.
  • Squeeze Me by Carl Hiaasen (2020). What’s wrong with Florida? There are giant pythons loose.
  • Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent (2023). A mystery novel with an autistic-coded main character who takes her father too literally and tries to incinerate his body after death. Things get worse from there.
  • This Other Eden by Paul Harding (2023). Historical fiction about the community of Malaga Island by Pulitzer prize winning author Harding. 
  • The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman, four books to date (2020). Humorous mystery series following a group of bored retirees who decide to solve murders. My current favorite mysteries.
  • A Whisper in the Dark by Louisa May Alcott (1889). Short stories by a beloved author. 
  • Any book by John Irving … A Prayer for Owen Meaney, The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules, etc.

NONFICTION

  • The Book of Delights by Ross Gay (2019). The author spent a year writing about the things that delighted him, both big and small.
  • Cronkite by Douglas Brinkley (2012). The biography of an American media icon.
  • Grant by Ron Chernow (2017). Pulitzer prize winning author writes the definitive biography of Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War General and U.S. President.
  • Grant and Twain: The story of a friendship that changed America by Mark Perry (2005). Twain convinced Grant to write his memoirs. Grant counseled Twain through the writing of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
  • In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1965). This is a true crime book that stands up to the test of time. It is hard to put it down.
  • King Peggy by Peggielene Bartels (2013). The remarkable true story of American secretary who became king of a town in Ghana. She modernized and reformed the community.
  • Two Old Broads: Stuff you need to know that you didn’t know you needed to know by M.E. Hecht, MD and Whoopi Goldberg (2022). Most realistic and helpful book on aging including health and well-being. Tone is light and reassuring.

Television