- January 13, 2022
For Kids:
Rise Up! The Art of Protest by Jo Rippon
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higganbotham
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
For Teens:
The March Trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Accused! : the ...
Read more… - January 6, 2022
I am a fan of Miriam Toews, a Canadian writer whose characters and stories are often derived from her experiences growing up in a strict Mennonite community outside Toronto (a religion and life which she ultimately rejected). It clearly was not a joyous upbringing. Toews was also scarred by the suicide of her father and ...
Read more… - December 31, 2021
There are a lot of favorite reads list going around this time of year, but ours is the best! Below are the favorite books PFL staff read this year.
Mill Town: Reckoning with What Remains by Kerri Arsenault
Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty, Illustrated by David Roberts
Year Round Indoor Salad Gardening by Peter Burke
Parable of the ...
Read more… - December 16, 2021
Golden Arm by Carl Deuker
Here is sports fiction with a likeable underdog, swift action, short chapters, and epic play-by-play descriptions, that also doesn’t shy away from questions about poverty and affluence.
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
Lady Jane Grey’s history gets a wacky retelling involving animal shapeshifters. It’s funny and impossible ...
Read more… - December 9, 2021
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
Life, death, friendship, love (and the uncertain place in between), a cross country bicycle trip, Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad (the musical). A sad but funny coming of age novel.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Children are recruited to train as soldiers in the event ...
Read more… - December 2, 2021
We Were Liars by E Lockhart
Teenager Cadence tries to piece together what happened to her on her wealthy family’s private island two summers ago. Short, fast-paced, mysterious fiction with an ending you won’t see coming.
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater
Emotional true story of a 2013 assault in Oakland, California, when an African-American public school teen ...
Read more… - November 19, 2021
Patten Free Library staff love to read (it’s part of why we work here!). Here’s a selection of what we are reading and listening to this week:
Still Life by Louise Penny
China by Edward Rutherford
What I Carry by Jennifer Longo
Alone with the Horrors: The Great Short Fiction of Ramsey Campbell by Ramsey Campbell
Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Transient ...
Read more… - November 12, 2021
Sometimes you just need a really good mystery to sink your teeth into, and Tana French is the best of the best. Not only are her mysteries complex and rewarding, but her language is luminous and rich. It’s not often you find a series that appeals to readers of both thrillers and literary fiction, but ...
Read more… - November 5, 2021
This is the third book that Strout has created around the character Lucy Barton; I was eager to read Oh William! because I love the story and backstory that Strout has created around her in My Name Is Lucy Barton and Anything Is Possible. (She is nothing like Olive Kittredge!) I love Lucy’s simple, honest, ...
Read more… - October 22, 2021
I loved that this book incorporated history (with the usual liberties fiction takes), family history, romance, adventure, and other elements in a sort of epic story that spanned multiple time periods. This book made me want to visit Istanbul.
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