Catherine Coles
Coles Notes
The staff of the County of L&A Libraries are avid readers and always eager to share their favourite books. Here we bring you a list of some of the reads we’ve recently enjoyed. This month you’ll find a couple of beach reads, a YA graphic novel and a gritty mystery set in Kingston.
Patricia suggests The Friends We Keep by Jane Green
“Friends Evvie, Maggie and Topher meet in college and become best friends. As decades pass they drift apart but are reunited for a 30th reunion. Evvie is a derailed supermodel with a son whose paternity has been kept a secret from everyone. Topher has had a successful acting career but his childhood haunts him. Maggie never thought she would endure such heartache when she married Ben who she fell in love with at university. Reunited and living together in Maggie’s manor, the truth for all three friends is revealed and heartbreaks are mended. Fans of Jojo Moyes, Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner, Nancy Thayer and Elin Hilderbrand may enjoy this book.”
Andree suggests Turning Secrets by Brenda Chapman
“Kala Stonechild is an aboriginal police officer with the Kingston City Police. Bounced around from foster home to foster home as a child, she has developed a tough outer skin. She will need all of her toughness to help Rouleau’s major crimes team solve the murder, posed as suicide, death of Nadia Armstrong. Nadia was a new mother and former runaway who moved to Kingston to start a new life. So why did someone kill her? The main story and subplots are suspenseful and take several twists and turns.
The Kingston setting also makes the series familiar on one level but the criminal underbelly will be new to most readers. Turning Secrets is a dark, compelling mystery that grips one from beginning to satisfying end.”
Gillian suggests The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu.
“Five young girls, all from different walks of life, meet for the first time at Camp Forevermore. Grouped together for an ill-fated overnight kayak trip, they find themselves lost in the wilderness, with scarce resources and only each other to rely on. This is a traumatic experience, and while Canadian author, Kim Fu, slowly weaves their survival story throughout the pages of this novel, the book is more about what became of these lost girls. The novel is presented in sections: one for each of the girls, years later, as they cope with a range of challenges as adults. The incident itself barely comes up in each character’s story; instead the reader is left to ponder what implications this formative experience has had on shaping each of their adult selves.
This character-driven book deserves its nomination for the 2019 Evergreen Award.”
Kristin suggests A Story About Cancer (With A Happy Ending) by India Desjardins.
“This is the story of a teenage girl who was diagnosed with leukemia at age ten, and after five years of treatment is walking back down the familiar and unwelcoming corridors of a hospital to find out her prognosis. While she and her family wait on a bench outside the doctor’s office, the reader is given glimpses of the years preceding this moment including time spent in the hospital, a favourite nurse, a friendly face in the cancer ward, meeting a boy that becomes a boyfriend, but above all else, the constant pressure she has been under of disappointing her family if she doesn’t stay strong. While this graphic novel is a dreary, it’s gripping, heart-wrenching story told through profound artwork will both torment and inspire hope among all who read it.“
Karen S suggests Lighthouse Beach by Shelley Noble.
“Lillo and Jess were best friends as teenagers but haven’t spoken or seen each other in years. Lillo is therefore surprised to receive an invitation to Jess’s wedding, but decides to go, since they were so close. Not long after arriving Lillo and Jess, and Jess’s two friends from college Diana and Allie, find the groom cheating. All four women retreat to Lillo’s home, Lighthouse Beach, where they will lie low, avoiding Jess’s controlling parents while confronting their pasts and forging new friendships. I would suggest this to fans of Mary Kay Andrews, Elin Hilderbrand, and Barbara Delinsky.”
All of these books can be reserved from your local branch of the County of Lennox & Addington Libraries or online at www.CountyLibrary.ca.