1.23.2017

Small Great Things

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult Published by Ballantine on Oct. 11, 2016 Genre(s): Fiction, Social Issues, Contemporary, Adult, Drama, Race Format: Audiobook Pages: 470 Goodreads synopsis: Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene? Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a...

1.12.2017

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins Published by Riverhead on Jan. 13, 2015 Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Format: Paperback/Audiobook Pages: 325 Goodreads synopsis:  The #1 New York Times Bestseller, USA Today Book of the Year, now a major motion picture starring Emily Blunt. Don't miss Paula Hawkins' new novel, Into the Water, coming May 2017. EVERY DAY THE SAME Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not...

1.07.2017

Hillbilly Elegy

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance Published by Harper on Jun. 28, 2016 Genre(s): , Nonfiction, Memoir, Politics, Social Issues, Poverty, Format: Kindle/Audiobook Pages: 272 Goodreads synopsis:  From a former Marine and Yale Law School Graduate, a poignant account of growing up in a poor Appalachian town, that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class. Part memoir, part historical and social analysis, J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy is a fascinating consideration of class, culture, and the American dream. Vance’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love.” They got married and moved north from Kentucky to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. Their...