Staff reviews - Winter 2022/2023

Crete Public Library

Launch the media gallery 1 player

Crete Public Library

Below are reviews of new books by Crete Public Library staff members. Snuggle up with one of these great novels this winter. Choose from Suspense, Historical, and Contemporary genres in these six recommendations. For more information, visit the library, or search the online library catalog.

• "Wrong Place Wrong Time," Gillian McAllister. What if you could go back in time in order to stop a murder? That is the central question in this time-travel/suspense hybrid of a novel. Every morning you wake up to find yourself further back in time from the day before. Ultimately, the familiar conundrum that is found in many novels – what lengths will a parent go in order to save their child?
• "Moth," Melody Razak. Unless you immersed yourself in the history of the collapse of the British Raj and the 1947 Partition of India, this story will provide a glimpse into the fallout through the eyes of a single Hindu family. It is heart wrenching what happens in the novel, but is a testament to survival. For fans of Hosseini’s The Kite Runner.
• "Mad Honey," Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. This novel is much more than a “whodunit”. Only these two authors could have come together to create this wonderful book and their partnership works well together as they explore the hot topics of gender and identity. Wonderful character development, not only of the start-crossed lovers (Asher and Lily) but their mothers’ stories as well. I found that Boylan’s contribution was central to the story and shed light on a topic I knew very little about.
• "A Quiet Life," Ethan Joella. If you will forgive the pun; but if one appreciates a “quiet” book where life moves slowly and deeply, then this book is for you. It follows the lives of three individuals who all have suffered a great lost and their attempts to move forward. These three lives eventually intersect in a manner that felt quite natural. This is not a depressing book and exemplifies that after all that Life throws at you, in the end, there is hope. 
• "The Sunshine Girls," Molly Fader. Imagine finding out your Iowan mother had a wild and crazy youth AND that a famous movie star shows up for your mother’s funeral. Sounds crazy, I know. This is a story about lifelong friendship and secrets. And it is a story about two sisters who have drifted apart but join forces in order to uncover not only the truth about their mother, but also about themselves.
• "The Night Travelers," Armando Lucas Correa. This is a story of strong women who happen to live in turbulent times and have to make extremely difficult and selfless life choices. From Nazi Germany to the fall of Batista in Cuba to modern day Germany, readers will admire these four women for their resilience and hope.