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Bookworms unite: Perkins’ Recommended Reads
Books take a star turn in this collection. If anything is better than getting a book from the library, it might be getting a library book about libraries! This month’s books cover a range of genres but all take place in libraries or bookstores.
Books take a star turn in this collection.
If anything is better than getting a book from the library, it might be getting a library book about libraries! This month’s books cover a range of genres but all take place in libraries or bookstores. Whether a librarian detective is on the case or a local bookshop is struggling to make ends meet, any of these titles can remind you just how enjoyable it can be to buy or borrow a book.
Digital book (DB), braille (BR), large print (LT), and audio described videos (DVD) copies of these titles are available from the Perkins Library or the Worcester Talking Book Library. Please contact the library to order any of these books.
Prepared by Leah Ellenbogen
Children’s Resource and Service Librarian
Perkins Library
Allison Hewitt Is Trapped
Madeleine Roux
After a sudden zombie-virus outbreak, Allison Hewitt and five others fight off an attack—only to end up trapped in the break room of Brooks and Peabody bookstore. Allison and her fellow survivors record the gruesome events on a blog as they struggle to stay alive. Violence and strong language. 2010.
Download Braille, Allison Hewitt Is Trapped, BR 20066
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts
Joshua Hammer
A journalist recounts the efforts of a small group of librarians and archivists in Mali to rescue thousands of rare manuscripts before they fell into the hands of the jihadists attacking the city of Timbuktu. Some strong language. 2016.
Download The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, DB 84705
Bibliomysteries: Crime in the World of Books and Bookstores
Otto Penzler
A collection of fifteen original mystery stories involving the world of books. Includes entries by Jeffery Deaver, C. J. Box, Reed Farrel Coleman, Thomas H. Cook, Loren D. Estleman, Laura Lippman, Anne Perry, John Connolly, and Nelson DeMille. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. 2017.
Download Bibliomysteries, DB 88745
BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More than Ever in the Age of Google
John G. Palfrey
Former law professor and founding chairman of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) examines the importance and role of public libraries in the twenty-first century and beyond. Examines lessons learned from the development period of the DPLA and argues for a reexamination of public libraries’ core strengths. 2015.
The Bookseller
Cynthia Swanson
Kitty runs a bookstore in 1960s Denver and lives a quiet, single life. At night, however, she experiences vivid dreams of a different life where she marries and has kids, a life that becomes almost more real to her than her own. Some descriptions of sex. 2015.
Download The Bookseller, DB 81380
The Bookshop on the Corner
Jenny Colgan
Downsizing has left English librarian Nina out of a job. But she is not willing to give up on her love of finding people their perfect book. While on vacation in a small village in Scotland, she impulsively buys a van and opens a mobile bookshop. 2016.
Download Braille, The Bookshop on the Corner, BR 21744
Download The Bookshop on the Corner, DB 86665
The Bridge
Karen Kingsbury
Tennessee college sweethearts Molly and Ryan eventually go their respective ways. But seven years later, bookstore owner Charlie Barton, who is facing financial ruin, has a near-fatal car accident. Molly and Ryan join the effort to save the shop and, with God’s help, witness a miracle. 2012.
The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza
Lawrence Block
Bernie Rhodenbarr, bookstore owner and part-time burglar, pays a noctural visit to a posh house, only to find that predecessors in crime have left him little to steal. The next day two people are found dead. 1980.
Download The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza, DB 84794
The Case of the Missing Books
Ian Sansom
Londoner Israel Armstrong arrives in Tumdrum, Northern Ireland, to begin his librarian job, only to learn the library closed—permanently. After being reassigned as driver of the decrepit bookmobile, Israel discovers that all of the books are missing and sets about finding them. 2005.
Download The Case of the Missing Books, DB 71841
The Cookbook Collector
Allegra Goodman
Two very different sisters—philosophy graduate student Jess and dot-com CEO Emily—pursue separate goals at the turn of the twenty-first century. Jess’s part-time job in a bookstore leads to its acquisition of a valuable, mysterious cookbook collection, while 9/11, the high-tech bubble, and news about their late mother rock Emily. 2010.
Download The Cookbook Collector, DB 72807
Carter and Lovecraft
Jonathan L. Howard
Private investigator Dan Carter receives the unexpected inheritance of a bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island, currently run by Emily Lovecraft. Dan and Emily team up when people start dying in strange ways, and a mathematician finds a way to access other dimensions. Violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 2015.
Download Carter and Lovecraft, DB 83426
Close Enough to Touch
Colleen Oakley
Jubilee Jenkins has lived her life as a recluse due to a rare, severe allergy to the touch of other people. After the death of her mother, she takes a job at the local library to earn money. There she meets single dad Eric. Some strong language. 2017.
Download Close Enough to Touch, DB 88042
Dead by Midnight
Carolyn G. Hart
After Pat Merridew is fired from her job at a law firm because the attorneys wanted a younger receptionist, she starts working for Annie Darling at the Death on Demand bookshop. When Pat is found dead from ingesting drugged coffee, the police say suicide, but Annie suspects murder. 2011.
Download Dead by Midnight, DB 78193
Dewey’s Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions
Vicki Myron
Author of Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World (BR 17821, DB 67516) recounts more memories of Dewey, who warmed the hearts of readers in Spencer, Iowa, and elsewhere. Also shares anecdotes received from correspondents around the country about other cats. 2010.
Ink and Bone
Rachel Caine
In a world where the personal ownership of a physical book is illegal, the Great Library controls content by using alchemy to deliver books via tablets. Black market smuggler Jess Brightwell is sent to the Great Library as a trainee and as a spy. Violence. For senior high and older readers. 2015.
Download Ink and Bone, DB 85432
The Library at the Edge of the World
Felicity Hayes-McCoy
Librarian Hanna Casey returns to her hometown on the west coast of Ireland after divorcing her cheating husband. She renovates a small cottage and takes over the route for the mobile library van, but there are developments afoot that could ruin the life she is trying to build. Some strong language. 2016.
Download The Library at the Edge of the World, DB 90357
Love Letters
Katie Fforde
When the London bookstore where she is employed closes, Laura takes a job organizing a literary festival and makes new friends. She secures reclusive, womanizing Irish author Dermot Flynn to headline the event and gets along famously with him—but also falls in love. Some strong language. 2009.
Download Love Letters, DB 74184
Mr. Penumbra’s Twenty-Four-Hour Bookstore
Robin Sloan
While hunting for a new job, Web designer Clay Jannon wanders across Mr. Penumbra’s Twenty-Four-Hour Bookstore, which sits next to a strip joint. Hired for the night shift, Clay is soon drawn into a world of mystery, intrigue, and kooky customers. 2012.
Download Mr. Penumbra’s Twenty-Four-Hour Bookstore, DB75599
Download Braille, Mr. Penumbra’s Twenty-Four-Hour Bookstore, BR 19723
Murder Is Binding
Lorna Barrett
Stoneham, New Hampshire. Newcomer Tricia Miles, owner of a mystery bookstore located along a corridor of Main Street devoted to specialty bookshops, discovers the body of murdered cookbook dealer and rival merchant Doris Gleason. When Tricia herself becomes a suspect, she sets out to clear her name. Includes recipes. 2008.
Download Murder Is Binding, DB 70453
No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Fictionalized biography traces the life of Lewis Michaux, who opened Harlem’s National Memorial African Bookstore in 1939. Includes news clippings, historical documents, and the imagined reminiscences—told in the style of an oral history—of Michaux’s family members, business associates, and friends. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2012.
Download No Crystal Stair, DB 76556
Download No Crystal Stair, BR 19995
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
Katarina Bivald
A Swedish woman who arrives in Iowa to learn that her pen pal has just died opens a bookstore in the woman’s honor and makes choices that threaten to bring secrets to light as she attempts to share her love of reading with the locals. 2016.
Download The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, DB 83448
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
Gabrielle Zevin
When his most prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, is stolen, bookstore owner A.J. Fikry begins isolating himself from his friends, family, and associates before receiving a mysterious package that compels him to remake his life. 2014.
Download The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, DB 78978
This Book Is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All
Marilyn Johnson
Author of The Dead Beat (DB 81116) and Lives in Ruins (DB 80738) explores the careers of librarians and other information professionals. Discusses professional realities, stereotypes, and popular culture representations, and profiles librarians working in a variety of roles. 2010.
Download This Book Is Overdue, DB 81214
Twenty Wishes
Debbie Macomber
Four widows—Anne Marie, Lillie, Barbie, and Elise—meet at Anne Marie’s bookstore, and each makes twenty wishes to improve her life. Anne Marie assists Ellen, an at-risk child; Barbie meets Mark, who uses a wheelchair; Elise starts a foundation in memory of her husband; and Lillie falls in love. Bestseller. 2008.
Download Twenty Wishes, DB 66637
Download Braille, Twenty Wishes, BR 17790
The Uncommon Reader
Alan Bennett
England. When the royal dogs stray into a mobile library parked near the palace, the Queen feels obligated to borrow a book. She soon develops an obsession with reading that changes her worldviews, distracts her from official duties, and prompts her to write her own masterpiece–with surprising consequences. Contains some strong language. Bestseller. 2007.
Download The Uncommon Reader, DB 66149
Download Braille, The Uncommon Reader, BR 17649
You
Caroline Kepnes
Clerk Joe Goldberg is immediately drawn to aspiring writer Beck when she enters his bookstore. He describes the increasingly dangerous steps he takes to get to know her, and to make her his own. Violence, strong language, and explicit descriptions of sex. 2014.
