Death of a Dreamer

M.C. Beaton - Death of a Dreamer

Occasionally, the rugged landscape of Scotland attracts dreamers who move north, wrapped in fantasies of enjoying the simple life. They usually don+t last, defeated by the climate or by inhospitable locals. But it looks as if Effie Garrand has come to stay. When local constable Hamish Macbeth calls on her, he is amazed to find the small woman still in residence after a particularly hideous winter.

My Irresistible Earl

The Inferno Club: In public, this scandalous society of London aristocrats is notorious for pursuing all manner of debauchery. But in private, they are warriors who would do anything to protect king and country . . .   
 Once, she had vowed to marry the Earl of Falconridge. Now, she vows to forget him. After he abandoned her for a life shrouded in secrets, Mara, Lady Pierson, has succeeded in keeping him away, until he appears in London unexpectedly, making her fall in love all over again.  
 

A Red Herring Without Mustard

Alan Bradley’s third Flavia de Luce mystery, A Red Herring Without Mustard, exceeds in every way, if that’s even possible, his first two. Flavia uses her trademark cunning in scheming to get even with her older sisters who lay in wait to torment her. She saves a gypsy’s life, befriends Porcelain, the gypsy’s granddaughter, solves a puzzling and bizarre murder involving an ancient non-conformist cult, collects clues the police have missed and fearlessly ventures into danger. She is always feisty, always smart. I adore her. And while it is wonderful to read her as an adult I wish I’d had Flavia as a role model while growing up.

The Historian

The Historian is the 2005 debut novel of American author Elizabeth Kostova. The plot blends the history and folklore of Vlad Tepes and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula. Kostova's father told her stories about Dracula when she was a child, and later in life she was inspired to turn the experience into a novel.

The Story of Mankind

The Story of Mankind was written and illustrated by American journalist, professor, and author Hendrik Willem van Loon and published in 1921. In 1922, it was the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature.