The Library in August and September

by Anne Newins

Due to the interest in the current display featuring books about the Olympics and Paris (July in the Library: PARIS!), our next display won’t begin until mid-August and will run through September. As in previous years we are going to have summer reruns, featuring up to the top 200 most popular books of the past year. Whether we will be able to display all 200 depends on how quickly the books circulate.

It is highly likely that the five most popular books will fly off the table. These include:

#1 Resurrection Walk, by Michael Connelly
Connelly’s perpetual favorites, defense attorney Mickey Heller and retired LAPD
Detective Harry Bosch, get entangled in a case about a woman who may have been
wrongly convicted and imprisoned for murder.

#2 The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride
This book has been a big hit with RVM book groups. A richly written novel, it examines
the relationships and secrets of a neighborhood of Jews and African Americans living in
Chicken Hill, a dilapidated neighborhood in Pottstown, PA.

#3 Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett
This novel revolves around three daughters and their mother. Both a romance and an
examination of family relationships, it considers “what it means to be happy even
when the world is falling apart.”

#4 The Exchange, by John Grisham
Fans of The Firm may remember attorneys Mitch and Abby McDeere, now removed
from Memphis to Manhattan. In this thriller, Mitch becomes involved in a plot with
global implications. Mitch must stay on his toes to avoid endangering himself,
colleagues, friends and family.

#5 The Wager, by David Grann
This extraordinary non-fiction book is the history of The Wager, shipwrecked off the
coast of Patagonia in 1742. It vividly recounts the travails and dangers of maritime
exploration and the crew’s efforts to survive. Amazingly, some of the crew and the
captain make it back to England despite attacks on their lives, starvation, and being lost
in a remote and inhospitable part of the world. On top of it all, the captain may be
court martialed.

All of the books are available in both regular and large fiction formats. Thanks to Liz
Caldwell for compiling and calculating the list.