Looking for a Good Book?   Welcome to the Reading Page of the Cambridge Public Library. Here you'll find not only book recommendations but also many other reading resources.  Explore the links to the left for lists of award winners, best sellers, information on authors, and professional reviews of books.  You may even sign up for periodic email newsletters featuring interesting, new titles and other information.   What we're reading! Book suggestions by the staff of the CPL February 2012

The Snow Child By Ivey, Eowyn 2012-02 - Reagan Arthur Books 9780316175678 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead--and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. …More

Fraternity: In 1968, a Visionary Priest Recruited 20 Black Men to the College of the Holy Cross and Changed Their Lives and the Co By Brady, Diane 2012-01 - Spiegel & Grau 9780385524742 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title The inspiring true story of a group of young men whose lives were changed by a visionary mentor, "Fraternity" is also a testament to the power of education and mentorship, and a compelling argument for the difference one person can make in the lives of others. …More

1Q84 By Murakami, Haruki Translator Rubin, Jay Translator Gabriel, Philip 2011-10 - Knopf Publishing Group 9780307593313 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title The long-awaited magnum opus from Haruki Murakami, in which this revered and best-selling author gives us his hypnotically addictive, mind-bending ode to George Orwell's "1984." …More

State of Wonder By Patchett, Ann 2011-06 - Harper 9780062049803 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Award-winning "New York Times"-bestselling author Patchett ("Bel Canto, The Magician's Assistant") returns with a provocative novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest--a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love. …More

Believing the Lie By George, Elizabeth 2012-01 - Dutton Books 9780525952589 Check Our Catalog Inspector Thomas Lynley is mystified when he's sent undercover to investigate the death of Ian Cresswell at the request of the man's uncle, the wealthy and influential Bernard Fairclough. The death has been ruled an accidental drowning. But when Lynley enlists the help of his friends Simon and Deborah St. James, the trio's digging soon reveals that the Fairclough clan is awash in secrets, lies, and motives. …More

Bunheads By Flack, Sophie 2011-10 - Poppy Books 9780316126533 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Hannah Ward, nineteen, revels in the competition, intense rehearsals, and dazzling performances that come with being a member of Manhattan Ballet Company's corps de ballet, but after meeting handsome musician Jacob she begins to realize there could be more to her life. …More

Just My Type: A Book about Fonts By Garfield, Simon 2011-09 - Gotham Books 9781592406524 Check Our Catalog Typefaces have been around since about 1450, but most of us remained oblivious to their specifics until computers let us play with them. Here, Garfield not only relates the history of typefaces but examines their aesthetic and psychological power, considering what, for instance, our favorite typefaces say about us and how Gotham helped Barack Obama win the presidency. A surprise best seller in the UK that's been edited for U.S. consumption. …More

11/22/63 By King, Stephen 2011-11 - Scribner Book Company 9781451627282 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title King's heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination. Jake Epping is a 35-year-old high-school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. Jake's friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. 864 pp. 2,000,000 print. (General Fiction) …More

Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer By Jeal, Tim 2008-10 - Yale University Press 9780300142235 Check Our Catalog "There have been many biographies of Stanley, but Jeal's is the most felicitous, the best informed, the most complete and readable and exhaustive. . . In its progress from workhouse to mud hut to baronial mansion, it is like the most vivid sort of Victorian novel. . ." -- Paul Theroux "New York Times Book Review" …More

Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure: The True Story of a Great American Road Trip By Algeo, Matthew 2011-04 - Chicago Review Press 9781569767078 Check Our Catalog From Missouri to New York and back again, this work chronicles the amazing road trip of a former president and his wife and their amusing, failed attempts to keep a low profile. …More

The Satanic Verses By Rushdie, Salman 2008-03 - Random House Trade 9780812976717 Check Our Catalog A hijacked jetliner explodes above the English Channel. Through the falling debris, Gibreel Farishta, the biggest star in India, and Saladin Chamcha, an expatriate, plummet from the sky, and proceed through a series of metamorphoses, dreams, and revelations. …More

Lord of Misrule By Gordon, Jaimy 2011-03 - Vintage Books 9780307946737 Check Our Catalog 2010 National Book Award Winner-Fiction A brilliant novel that captures the dusty, dark, and beautiful world of small-time horse racing, where trainers, jockeys, grooms and grifters vie for what little luck is offered at a run-down West Virginia track . Tommy Hansel has a plan: run four horses, all better than they look on paper, at long odds at Indian Mound Downs, then grab the purse -- or cash a bet -- and run before anyone's the wiser. At his side is Maggie Koderer, who finds herself powerfully drawn to the gorgeous, used up animals of the cheap track. She also lands in the cross-hairs of leading trainer Joe Dale Bigg. But as news of Tommy's plan spreads, from veteran groom Medicine Ed, to loan shark Two-Tie, to Kidstuff the blacksmith, it's Maggie, not Tommy or the handlers of legendary stakes horse Lord of Misrule, who will find what's valuable in a world where everything has a price. …More

The Mutiny of the Elsinore By London, Jack 2008-08 - BiblioLife 9780554348063 Check Our Catalog This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. …More

How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer By Bakewell, Sarah 2010-10 - Other Press (NY) 9781590514252 Check Our Catalog 2010 National Book Critics Circle Award Winner: Biography …More

Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm By Murray, Erin Byers 2011-10 - St. Martin's Press 9780312681913 Check Our Catalog In March of 2009, Murray ditched her pampered city girl lifestyle and convinced the rowdy and mostly male crew at Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Massachusetts, to let a completely unprepared, aquaculture-illiterate food and lifestyle writer work for them for 12 months to learn the business of oysters. 256 pp. 25,0000 print. …More

The Future of Us By Asher, Jay Author Mackler, Carolyn 2011-11 - Razorbill 9781595144911 Check Our Catalog It's 1996, and less than half of all American high-school students have ever used the Internet. Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM. Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, 15 years in the future. Everybody wonders what their destiny will be; Josh and Emma are about to find out. 500,000 print. (Children's - Young Adult) …More

The New Encyclopedia of Knitting Techniques: A Comprehensive Visual Guide to Traditional and Contemporary Techniques By Stanfield, Lesley Author Griffiths, Melody 2011-03 - Running Press Book Publishers 9780762440863 Check Our Catalog Collects basic and advanced knitting techniques, designs, and styles in a full-color guide with step-by-step instructions, charts, and examples of completed pieces. …More

The Scorpio Races By Stiefvater, Maggie 2011-10 - Scholastic Press 9780545224901 Check Our Catalog From the #1 "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Shiver" and "Linger" comes a brand-new, heartstopping novel. With her trademark lyricism, Stiefvater turns to a new world, where a pair are swept up in a daring, dangerous race across a cliff--with more than just their lives at stake should they lose. …More

Swift as Desire By Esquivel, Laura 2002-08 - Anchor Books 9780385721516 Check Our Catalog As the millions of fans of "Like Water for Chocolate know, Laura Esquivel is a romanticist whose novels explore the power of love and the truths of the human heart. She returns to those themes in Swift as Desire, the story of a loving and passionate man who has the gift of bringing happiness to everyone except his own wife. The hero of this novel" is Jubilo Chi, a telegraph operator who is born with the ability to "hear" people's true feelings and respond to their most intimate, unspoken desires. His life changes forever the day he falls deeply and irrevocably in love with Lucha, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy family. She believes money is necessary to insure happiness, while for Jubilo, who is poor, love and desire are more important than possessions. But their passion for each other enables them to build a happy life together -- until their idyll is shattered by a terrible event that drives them bitterly apart. Only years later, as Jubilo lies dying, is his daughter able to unravel the mystery behind her parents' long estrangement and bring about a surprising reconciliation. …More

The Night Circus By Morgenstern, Erin 2011-09 - Doubleday Books 9780385534635 Check Our Catalog 2012 Alex Award Winner To enter the black-and-white-striped tents of Le Cirque des Reves is to enter a world where objects really do turn into birds and people really do disappear. Even though visitors believe the performances are all illusion, they are obsessively drawn to this extraordinary night circus. Those who run and perform in the circus are its lifeblood. Marco Alisdair runs the operation from London as assistant to the eccentric proprietor. Celia Bowen holds it all together from her role as illusionist. As magicians, Marco and Celia are bound to each other in a deadly competition of powers, creating ever more fantastical venues for circus goers to marvel at. But falling in love was never part of the game, and the players struggle to extricate themselves from this contest while keeping the circus afloat. …More

Antigones: How the Antigone Legend Has Endured in Western Literature, Art, and Thought By Steiner, George 1996-10 - Yale University Press 9780300069150 Check Our Catalog According to Greek legend, Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, secretly buried her brother in defiance of the order of Creon, king of Thebes. Sentenced to death by Creon, she forestalled him by committing suicide. The theme of the conflict between Antigone and Creon - between the state and the individual, between man and woman, between young and old - has captured the Western imagination for more than 2000 years. George Steiner here examines the far-reaching legacy of this great classical myth. He considers its treatment in Western art, literature, and thought - in drama, poetry, prose, philosophic discourse, political tracts, opera, ballet, film, and even the plastic arts. A study in poetics and in the philosophy of reading, Antigones leads us to look again at the influence the Greek myths exercise on twentieth-century culture. …More

The Very Picture of You By Wolff, Isabel 2011-10 - Bantam 9780553807844 Check Our Catalog From an internationally bestselling author comes a beguiling novel about artistic inspirations, family secrets, and the courage to turn one's life into a masterpiece. A picture is worth a thousand words, and in Wolff's vibrant and textured story, these words are brilliantly crafted to convey the humor, mystery, and beauty that exists within everyone. 320 pp. …More

Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted By Martin, Justin 2011-05 - Da Capo Press 9780306818813 Check Our Catalog This definitive, first full-scale biography of Olmsted--famed designer of New York's Central Park--reveals him also as a brilliant political and social reformer. …More

Gideon's Corpse By Preston, Douglas Author Child, Lincoln 2012-01 - Grand Central Publishing 9780446564373 Check Our Catalog A top nuclear scientist turns homicidal, taking an innocent family hostage at gunpoint. Gideon Crew, a colleague of the scientist at Los Alamos, is called in to talk the man down. But the standoff ends in an explosion of violence. When the authorities discover the scientist's body is intensely radioactive, and that he had recently embraced Islamic extremism, all hell breaks loose. …More