Shades of Love: An Assortment of Love Stories

loveThe love stories in these books run the gamut from sweet to sinister and everything in between!

Unlikely Love Stories:

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson

The Beginner’s Goodbye by Anne Tyler

The Devil In Winter by Lisa Kleypas

The Madness of Lord Ian by Jennifer Ashley

First Love:

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

First Love by James Patterson

Dangerous Love

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson

Love Overseas

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan Philipp Sendker

That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay

I Always Loved You by Robin Oliveira

Star Crossed Love

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Dark Witch by Nora Roberts

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

True Love

The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Love & War: Twenty Years, three presidents, two daughters & one Louisiana home by James Carville

Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the marriage of the centuryby Sam Kashner

Source: Amazon

New Year’s Resolutions: How Are You Doing?

new yearsWe’re three months into the New Year and those resolutions are looking a little old and tired.  Need some help to get back on track?  The Cheshire Library has a great selection of books on health and fitness.  Here are a few titles to get you motivated.

The Spark: The revolutionary 3-week fitness plan that changes everything you know about exercise by Glenn Gaesser

Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It by Gary Taubes

Eat Move Sleep:  How small choices lead to big changes by Tom Rath

Making habits, breaking habits: why we do things, why we don’t, and how to make any change stick by Jeremy Dean

Perfect Health Diet: regain health and lose weight by eating the way you were meant to by Paul Jaminet

Culinary Intelligence: the art of eating healthy by Peter Kaminsky

7 Years Younger: the revolutionary 7 week anti-aging plan 

Thinner This Year:  a younger next year book 

The 4-hour body: An uncommon guide to rapid fat-loss, incredible sex and becoming superhuman by Timothy Ferriss

20 Years Younger by Bob Greene

The 12 second sequence: shrink your waist in 2 weeks by Jorge Cruise

Core Performance Essentials by Mark Verstegen

Come visit the library and peruse our collection of health, fitness, exercise and diet books.

On Our Shelves: New Cozy Mysteries

Winter’s the perfect  time to curl up with a cozy mystery. Here are some of the newest additions to our collection:

Books, Cooks, and Crooks (A Novel Idea Mystery) by Lucy Arlington

A Fatal Slip (A Sweet Nothings Lingerie Mystery) by Meg London

Throw In The Trowel (A Flower Shop Mystery) by Kate Collins

Town In A Strawberry Swirl (A Candy Holliday Murder Mystery) by B.B. Haywood

Days of Wine and Roquefort (A Cheese Shop Mystery) by Avery Aames

Scandal In Skibbereen (A County Cork Mystery) by Sheila Connolly

Murder With Ganache (A Key West Food Critic Mystery) by Lucy Burdette

A Tale of Two Biddies (A League of Literary Ladies Mystery) by Kylie Logan

Beewitched (A Queen Bee Mystery) by Hannah Reed

A Tough Nut to Kill (A Nut House Mystery) by Elizabeth Lee

Poison at the PTA by Laura Alden

Book Club Picks – Humor

smileIs your book club looking for some titles to cheer them up during the dreary winter season?  Here are a few titles they might enjoy reading.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion – Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially challenged professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. And so, in the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.

Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple – Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Little Bitty Lies by Mary Kay Andrews –  A tantalizing tale about an abandoned Atlanta housewife and mother who tells one tiny white lie that sets her world spiraling outrageously out of control.

Very Valentineby Adriana Trigiani – The adventures of an extraordinary and unforgettable woman as she attempts to rescue her family’s struggling shoe business and find love at the same time.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boyby Helen Fielding –  Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of loss, single motherhood, tweeting, texting, technology, and rediscovering her sexuality in—Warning! Bad, outdated phrase approaching!—middle age.

The Good House by Ann Leary – Hildy Good is a lifelong resident of a small community on the rocky coast of Boston’s North Shore, she knows pretty much everything about everyone.  A successful real-estate broker, mother, and grandmother, her days are full. But her nights have become lonely ever since her daughters, convinced their mother was drinking too much, sent her off to rehab.  Now she’s in recovery—more or less.

Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen – A tale at once fiercely pointed and wickedly funny in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of what’s left of pristine Florida—now, of the Bahamas as well—get their comeuppance in mordantly ingenious, diabolically entertaining fashion.

Truth In Advertising by John Kennedy – Finbar Dolan is lost and lonely. Except he doesn’t know it. Despite escaping his blue-collar Boston upbringing to carve out a mildly successful career at a Madison Avenue ad agency, he’s a bit of a mess and closing in on forty. He’s recently called off his wedding. Now, a few days before Christmas, he’s forced to cancel a long-postponed vacation in order to write, produce, and edit a Superbowl commercial for his diaper account in record time.

Kind of Kin by Rilla Askew – A funny and poignant novel that explores what happens when upstanding people are pushed too far—and how an ad-hoc family, and ultimately, an entire town, will unite to protect its own.

This Is When I Leave You by Jonathon Tropper – A riotously funny, emotionally raw novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind-whether we like it or not.

Romance Books – Fall In Love With A Series

happyA little romance is just the ticket to get you through this winter.  Settle in with a romantic series and enjoy some  “happily ever after”.  (A great thing about all of these series is that you don’t have to read them in order.   They are great as stand alones!)

1.   Blackberry Island  by Susan Mallery.  A real place located near Olga, Washington.  On historic Blackberry Island, Washington, visitors discover what locals know: Life Is Sweet.  Book one – Barefoot Season Book two – Three Sisters.  Book three (due to be released in March) – Evening Stars 

2.  Bad Boys of Crystal Lake by Julianna Stone.  Realistic and edgy, with a large-world perspective as well as warm characters and an appealing small-town feeling.  Book one –  The Summer He Came Home.  Book two – The Christmas He Loved Her.  Book three (due to be released in April) The Day He Kissed Her.

3.  Black Knights, Inc. by Julie Ann Walker.  As tough and unique as their custom-made Harleys, the men of Black Knights Inc. will steal your breath and your heart.  Book one – Hell On Wheels. Book two – In Rides Trouble.  Book three – RevIt Up. Book four – Thrill Ride.  Book five – Born Wild.

4.  Whiskey Creek by Brenda Novak.  A small-town romance series with a twist – all the characters are significantly different from each other.  Engaging, full of heart and humor.    Book one – When Lightning Strikes Book two – When Snow Falls.  Book three – When Summer Comes.  Book four – Home to Whiskey Creek.  Book five – Take Me Home For Christmas.  

5.  Thunder Point by Robyn Carr.  Share the joys, heartbreaks, challenges and triumphs of the people who inhabit the small Oregon town of Thunder Point.  Book one The Wanderer Book two – The Newcomer Book three – The Hero.  Book four – (coming in March) The Chance.

6.  Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts.  Meet childhood friends Parker, Emma, Laurel, and Mac—the founders of Vows, one of Connecticut’s premier wedding planning companies.   Book one – Vision in White Book two – Bed of Roses.  Book three – Savor the Moment.  Book four – Happy Ever After.

7.  Bachelor Firemen by Jennifer Bernard – For the men and women of San Gabriel’s Station 1, the road to romance takes some wild and hilarious curves. But true love is always worth it.  Book one – The Fireman Who Loved Me.  Book two – Hot For Fireman. Book three – Sex and the Single Fireman.  Book four – How To Tame A Wild Fireman.  Book five – Four Weddings and A Fireman.

8.  The Destiny Series by Toni Blake – Welcome to Destiny, Ohio, a quaint small town brimming with heart-stopping romance, searing passion, good friends, laughter, a sense of community, and even a few dark secrets.  Book one – One Reckless Summer.  Book two – Sugar Creek.  Book three – Whisper FallsBook four – Holly Lane.  Book five – Willow Springs. Book six – Half Moon Hill.

9.  Ocean Breeze Trilogy by Sherryl Woods –  The stories of three sisters’ quests for love and family in a North Carolina beach community ravaged by a hurricane.   Book one – Sand Castle Bay.  Book two – Wind Chime Point. Book three – Sea Glass Island.

10.  Simply Quartet by Mary Balogh.  These are the stories of four teachers at Miss Martin’s School for Girls in Bath, England.  Book one – Simply Unforgettable.  Book two – Simply Love.  Book three – Simply Magic.  Book four – Simply Perfect.