Summer Left Behind- Top 20 Books Left Behind in Hotel Rooms

summerIt’s the last day of summer, your vacation’s  just a memory.  But did you leave something behind in your hotel room?

Travelodge has released its list of the top 20 books left behind in their rooms.

  1. Fifty Shades Freed by EL James
  2. Bared to You by Sylvia Day
  3. The Marriage Bargain by Jennifer Probst
  4. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  5. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
  6. Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James
  7. Reflected in You by Sylvia Day
  8. My Time by Bradley Wiggins
  9. Entwined with You by Sylvia Day
  10. Fifty Shades Darker by EL James
  11. Cheryl: My Story by Cheryl COle
  12. The Marriage Trap by Jennifer Probast
  13. Camp David by David Walliams
  14. The Midwife by Jennifer Worth
  15. Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
  16. The Marriage Mistake by Jennifer Probst
  17. The Racketeer by John Grisham
  18. The Carrier by Sophie Hannah
  19. Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French
  20. The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald

A total of 22,648 books were left behind – 1,209 were Fifty Shades Freed!  No surprise that many of the top 20 are sizzling romance novels!

What is ‘New Adult’ Fiction?

Every now and then the publishing industry trots out a new genre name for a particular type of book. Most of the time it is a title that can be applied to books that have been around for a long time as a tool to ramp up sales via marketing.”New Adult’ is the latest of these new genres, and very few people, including those in publishing or bookstores, seem to know just what to do with this new label. So, here are the basics about New Adult books.new adultIn general the ‘New Adult’ label is now applied to books with main characters between the ages of 18 and 25 as they face the challenges of leaving home, developing sexuality, and negotiating education and career choices. The books are typically about characters in the transition of becoming an adult while society still seems to consider them children. Some of the books in this category are still accessible and appropriate for teens, while others have more sexual content than most parents would be comfortable with their teens reading, and some have conflicts and situations have little interest to those that have not faced similar issues.  The majority of books currently being released under this  label seem to be contemporary romance, but this is not a requirement of the genre.newadultThis genre is typically said to be a small step up from young adult books, which I find belittling to some of the fantastic young adult books that are available. It is also insulting to some of the books shoved in this genre that are just as sophisticated as ‘adult’ fiction but happen to deal with protagonists in the 18-25 year old age range. Over all, I am not a big fan of genre labels as a rule, since readers often see a genre label and assume they will not like a book because it is fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, young adult or whatever while they only like another genre. Many books have cross over appeal but do not get the chance they deserve because of the labels or marketing that are attached to them.

Some of the books in our collection currently being released and marketed as ‘New Adult’ include:

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire-
Abby Abernathy is re-inventing herself as the Good Girl as she begins her freshman year at college, which is why she must resist lean, cut, and tattooed Travis Maddox, a classic Bad Boy.

Tempest by Julie Cross-
After his girlfriend Holly is fatally shot during a violent struggle, nineteen-year-old Jackson uses his supernatural abilities and travels back in time two years, where he falls in love with Holly all over again, learns that his father is a spy, and discovers powerful enemies of time who will stop at nothing to recruit him for their own purposes.

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry-
Rendered a subject of gossip after a traumatic night that left her with terrible scars on her arms, Echo is dumped by her boyfriend and bonds with bad-boy Noah, whose tough attitude hides an understanding nature and difficult secrets.

Hopeless by Colleen Hoover-
High school senior Sky meets Dean Holder, a guy with a promiscuous reputation that rivals her own. Only by courageously facing some stark revelations can Sky and Holder hope to heal their emotional scars and find a way to live and love without boundaries.

Other recent examples of this genre include: The Secret of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen,  Losing It by Cora Carmack, and Where She Went by Gayle Forman.

Some other books that fit the official description of ‘New Adult’ but were published prior to the label becoming into fashion, or simply escaped it in some manner include:

Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot, Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, Sunshine by Robin McKinley, Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride, The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen, The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger,  Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles, and  Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson.

[Cover][Cover][Cover]

Books we’re looking forward to in September

LibraryReads.org is a new online endeavor designed to let librarians spread the word about  books they’re most excited about.

One of the goals of LibraryReads is to highlight the important role public libraries play in building buzz for new books and new authors. So click through to read more about what upcoming books librarians consider buzzworthy…

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

Help for the Haunted by John Searles

The Returned by Jason Mott

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Margot by Jillian Cantor

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford

Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink

A House in the Sky  by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

On Our Shelves: New Fiction & Non-Fiction

New Fiction

 Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon – This is the story of the extraordinary journey of Yohan, who defects from his country at the end of the Korean War, leaving his friends and family behind to seek a new life on the coast of Brazil.

The Gravity of Birds by Tracy Guzeman – A family lake house, two sisters, and a young painter living next door – the decisions they make one summer will have lasting effects for all of them.

The Rathbones by Janice Clark – A gothic, literary adventure set in New England, Janice Clark’s haunting debut chronicles one hundred years of a once prosperous and now crumbling whaling family, told by its last surviving member.

The Queens Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle – A tale inspired by the life of Henry VIII’s sixth wife follows her reluctant marriage to the egotistical and powerful king in spite of her love for Thomas Seymour, a situation that compels her to make careful choices in a treacherous court.

Little Black Book of Murder by Nancy Martin – Nora Blackbird may have been to the manor borne, but these days money is so tight, she can’t afford to lose her job as a society columnist. So when her new boss at the Philadelphia Intelligencer—Australian tabloid editor Gus Hardwicke—tells her to work the celebrity gossip beat or start checking the want ads, the choice is easy.

New Non-Fiction

 Boy 30529 by Felix Weinberg – Born into a respectable Czech family, Felix’s early years were idyllic. But when Nazi persecution threatened in 1938, his father traveled to England, hoping to arrange for his family to emigrate there. His efforts came too late, and his wife and children fell into the hands of the Fascist occupiers.

Nine Years Under by Sheri Booker – “Six Feet Under” meets The Wire in a dazzling and darkly comic memoir about coming-of-age in a black funeral home in Baltimore.

The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli – This book by world-class thinker and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli is an eye-opening look at human psychology and reasoning — essential reading for anyone who wants to avoid “cognitive errors” and make better choices in all aspects of their lives.

Serving Victoria by Kate Hubbard – Serving Victoria follows the lives of six members of her household, from the governess to the royal children, from her maid of honor to her chaplain and her personal physician.

Stonehenge – A New Understanding by Mike Pearson – Despite its being one of prehistory’s most alluring landmarks, before the Stonehenge Riverside Project led by noted archeologist Mike Parker Pearson, only half of Stonehenge itself—and far less of its surroundings—had ever been investigated, and many records from previous digs are inaccurate or incomplete.

New Romance

 Castaway Cove by JoAnn Ross – Single dad Mac Culhane has traveled to some of the world’s most dangerous war zones, but now he and his young daughter have settled in Shelter Bay, where he’s become the late-night DJ for the local radio station. The last thing he expects is to connect over the airwaves with a caller….

Behind His Blue Eyes by Kaki Warner – The first in a brand-new Western trilogy set in Heartbreak, Colorado, starring an advance man for the railroad—and the woman whose trust (and heart) he longs to win.

Midnight Games by Elle Kennedy – A master of disguise, Isabel Roma spends her life pretending to be other women.  Normally, her emotions are reined in tight—but sexy mercenary Trevor Callaghan has a knack for getting under her skin. The elite operative’s quiet strength and raw magnetism are a distraction that can quickly turn deadly in their dangerous line of work…

Surrender to Sultry by Mary Beckett – How do you stay under the sheriff’s radar in a town that prides itself on knowing everyone’s business? Leah’s not sure it’s possible, but she’s determined to avoid Colton Bea for as long as she can. Seeing him again would be too heartbreaking-and she knows from experience his bone-melting kisses are way too tempting.

Cowboy Seeks Bride by Carolyn Brown – Rancher Dewar O’Donnell is just an old-fashioned cowboy at heart, and he can’t wait to reenact the historic Chisholm Trail ride with his buddies. The trial-run cattle drive for a reality TV show sounds like a great time—until H.B. McKay pulls up in her slick red sports car…

Jenn Reads: Slaughterhouse Five

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is our July pick for the Cheshire Cats Classics Club. It was chosen largely to appeal to men and to those who like more modern classics. This is not my typical fare, necessarily, and was not even on my to-read list. Far from it, actually.

I’m not sure what I thought Slaughterhouse Five was going to be, but whatever notions I had where quickly dispelled. I think I heard that it included a fictional planet, and time-travel and thought “Not for me…” First impressions are often wrong, prejudiced, and just down right stupid.

Slaughterhouse Five is a crisp 275 pages, easily read, and likely easily misunderstood. Some may find the scenes of Tralfamadore ridiculous, the war depictions brutal, the episodes of sex raunchy, but they unfortunately have missed the essence of the book. And don’t let the ease of reading the book fool you: Vonnegut is trying to send an important message on the destructiveness of war, finding happiness, and mental illness.

Slaughterhouse Five, to me, is an anti-war novel on the surface. The subtitle, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance With Death alludes to the fact that so many of the men who bravely fight our wars are merely boys. They are dancing with death in a way many of us will never experience.

What Billy Pilgrim experiences and views at the bombing of Dresden forever changes him and shapes the novel. Billy’s “strange” behavior of time traveling and episodes on Tralfamadore are manifestations of his PTSD. Knowing that Vonnegut himself saw the bombing of Dresden makes you wonder how much of this was truly Billy Pilgrim’s story and how much of it was autobiographical. Anyone who has seen actual warfare is never the same.

I listened to this book, as I try to do with all of the classics we read for the club. Ethan Hawk was the reader for this version, which included an interview with Vonnegut. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised with this book, having gone in with low expectations. Hawk’s reading of it was admirable, although the mixing on the recording was very low and he was often difficult to hear, and the story moved.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars (but it’s a hearty 3 stars)