Category: Uncategorized

The Wild, Wild West – westerns

	Butcher’s Crossing by John Williams  William Andrews, a young fresh-faced Harvard student with stars in his eyes and Emerson in his pocket, joins a bison-hunting expedition in his quest to explore the American West. What could possibly go wrong, right? The transcendental experience hoped for is instead replaced by a grueling journey into an unforgiving wilderness marked by violence, brutality, cabin fever, cold and hunger. In this intelligent, beautifully written western, Williams dismantles the myths of modern America.  Book   Audio eBook
	The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt  Forget the movie. Just forget it. The book is much, much better. It’s 1851, and Charlie and Eli Sisters are both brothers and assassins, boys grown to men in a savage and hostile world. You’ll come to appreciate the advent of modern dental hygiene and the efficacy of tooth powder in mid-19th century America. You’ll also escape with a deeper understanding of the deadly family ties that sometimes bind us.  Book eBook  Audio eBook
	The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hansen  A poetic, carefully researched meditation on early cult-celebrity, this historical novel details the final days of Jesse James. Robert Ford was a young upstart torn between dedicated worship and murderous jealousy, the “dirty little coward” who coveted Jesse’s legend. The powerful, strange, and unforgettable story of their interweaving paths—and twin destinies that would collide in a rain of blood and betrayal—is a story of America in all her rough, conflicted glory and the myths that made her. Oh, and like the book, the movie is excellent.  Book eBook  Audio eBook
	The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge by Michael Punke  Brrrr….if you saw the movie, you likely stumbled out of a pre-COVID theater (ah, remember those days?) in a frigid adrenaline rush with a taste for raw bison liver. Not. Like the movie, the book is the true story (with modest embellishments) of fur trapper Hugh Glass and his near supernatural powers of physical endurance in an epic battle first for his life and then for justice.  Book  Audio eBook
	Doc: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell  Born to the life of a Southern gentleman, Dr. John Henry Holliday arrives on the Texas frontier hoping that the dry air and sunshine of the West will restore him to health. Soon, with few job prospects, Doc Holliday is gambling professionally with his partner, Mária Katarina Harony. In search of high-stakes poker, the couple hits the saloons of Dodge City. And that is where the unlikely friendship of Doc Holliday and a fearless lawman named Wyatt Earp begins. A great follow-up to this title is Russell’s Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral.  Book  eBook
	Deadwood by Pete Dexter  Did the American TV producer David Milch read Pete Dexter’s Deadwood before creating the 2004 HBO drama of the same name? Milch claims he didn’t, but readers of Dexter’s 1986 novel might find that hard to believe. Legendary gunman Wild Bill Hickcock and his friend Charlie Utter have come to the Black Hills town of Deadwood fresh from Cheyenne, fleeing an ungrateful populace. Fueled by liquor, sex, and violence, this is the real wild west, unlike anything portrayed in the dime novels that first told its story.  eBook
	The Son by Phillip Meyer  Part epic of Texas, part classic coming-of-age story, part unflinching portrait of the bloody price of power, The Son is an utterly transporting novel that maps the legacy of violence in the American West through the lives of the McCulloughs, an ambitious family as resilient and dangerous as the land they claim.  Book  eBook  Audio eBook
	Horseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry  What Western booklist would be complete without a title by Larry McMurtry? This novel became the basis for the film Hud, starring Paul Newman. In classic Western style McMurtry illustrates the timeless conflict between modernity and the Old West through the eyes of Texas cattlemen. When first published in 1961, Horseman, Pass By caused a sensation in Texas literary circles for its stark, realistic portrayal of the struggles of a changing West in the years following World War II. Never before had a writer managed to encapsulate its environment with such unsentimental realism.  Book  Audio eBook
	The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter van Tilburg Clark  Set in 1885, The Ox-Bow Incident is a searing and realistic portrait of frontier life and mob violence in the American West. First published in 1940, it focuses on the lynching of three innocent men and the tragedy that ensues when law and order are abandoned. The result is an emotionally powerful, vivid, and unforgettable re-creation of the Western novel, which Clark transmuted into a universal story about good and evil, individual and community, justice and human nature.  Book
	Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy  An epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America’s westward expansion, Blood Meridian brilliantly subverts the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the “wild west.” Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennessean who stumbles into the nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving. Not for the squeamish, but it remains an unparalleled classic—you won’t soon forget the character of The Judge.  Book  eBook  Audio eBook

True Grit – frontier westerns

	True Grit by Charles Portis  Well, duh…what Western booklist focused on the theme of “true grit” would this be without this classic?  True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 cash. Filled with an unwavering urge to avenge her father’s blood, Mattie finds and, after some tenacious finagling, enlists one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, as her partner in pursuit, and they head off into Indian Territory after the killer.  True Grit is essential reading, an undeniable American classic as eccentric, cool, funny, and unflinching as Mattie Ross herself.  Book eBook   Audio eBook
	News of the World by Paulette Jiles  Five years after the end of the Civil War, Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd crosses paths with a 10-year-old girl taken by the Kiowa people. Forced to return to her aunt and uncle, Kidd agrees to escort the child across the harsh and unforgiving plains of Texas. However, the long journey soon turns into a fight for survival as the traveling companions encounter danger at every turn — both human and natural. Exquisitely rendered and morally complex, News of the World is a brilliant work of historical fiction that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust.  BONUS: the movie has just been released in theaters, soon to be streaming (hopefully).  Book  eBook
	The Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas  No one is more surprised than Mattie Spenser herself when Luke Spenser, considered the great catch of their small Iowa town, asks her to marry him. Less than a month later, they are off in a covered wagon to build a home on the Colorado frontier. Mattie’s only company is a slightly mysterious husband and her private journal, where she records the joys and frustrations not just of frontier life.  As she and Luke make life together on the harsh and beautiful plains, Mattie learns some bitter truths about her husband and the girl he left behind and finds love where she least expects it. This is an unforgettable story of hardship, friendship and survival.  Book  Audio eBook
	O Pioneers! by Willa Cather  No other work of fiction so vividly evokes the harsh beauty and epic sweep of the Nebraska prairies that Cather knew and loved. The heroine of O Pioneers!, Alexandra Bergson, is a young Swedish immigrant at the turn of the twentieth century who inherits her father’s windblasted land and, through years of hard work, turns it into a prosperous farm. Fiercely independent, Alexandra sacrifices love and companionship in her passionate devotion to the land, until tragedy strikes and brings with it the chance for a new life.   Book  eBook   Audio eBook
	Lean on Pete: A Novel by Willy Vlautin  Fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson wants a home, food on the table, and a high school he can attend for more than part of a year. But as the son of a single father working in warehouses across the Pacific Northwest, Charley’s been pretty much on his own. When tragic events leave him homeless weeks after their move to Portland, Oregon, Charley seeks refuge in the tack room of a run-down horse track. Charley’s only comforts are his friendship with a failing racehorse named Lean on Pete and a photograph of his only known relative. In an increasingly desperate circumstance, Charley will head east, hoping to find his aunt who had once lived a thousand miles away in Wyoming – but the journey to find her will be a perilous one.  Based on the book, the film is also outstanding.  Book  eBook   Audio eBook
	Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig  The central volume in Ivan Doig’s acclaimed Montana trilogy, Dancing at the Rascal Fair is an authentic saga of the American experience at the turn of this century and a passionate portrayal of the immigrants who dared to try new lives in the imposing Rocky Mountains.  Ivan Doig’s supple tale of landseekers unfolds into a fateful contest of the heart between Anna Ramsay and Angus McCaskill, walled apart by their obligations as they and their stormy kith and kin vie to tame the brutal, beautiful Two Medicine country.  Book  Audio eBook
	Plainsong by Kent Haruf  In the small town of Holt, Colorado, a high school teacher is confronted with raising his two boys alone after their mother retreats first to the bedroom, then altogether. A teenage girl—her father long since disappeared, her mother unwilling to have her in the house—is pregnant, alone herself, with nowhere to go. And out in the country, two brothers, elderly bachelors, work the family homestead, the only world they’ve ever known. From these unsettled lives emerges a vision of life, and of the town and landscape that bind them together—their fates somehow overcoming the powerful circumstances of place and station, their confusion, curiosity, dignity and humor intact and resonant.  Book  Audio eBook
	Half-Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeanette Walls  By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town—riding five hundred miles on her pony, alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car and fly a plane. And, with her husband, Jim, she ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one who is Jeannette’s memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle. A spectacular memoir.  Book
	The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie, Jr.  Originally published more than fifty years ago, The Big Sky is the first of A. B. Guthrie Jr.’s epic adventure novels set in the American West. Here he introduces Boone Caudill, Jim Deakins, and Dick Summers: traveling the Missouri River from St. Louis to the Rockies, these frontiersmen live as trappers, traders, guides, and explorers. The story centers on Caudill, a young Kentuckian driven by a raging hunger for life and a longing for the blue sky and brown earth of big, wild places. Caught up in the freedom and savagery of the wilderness, Caudill becomes an untamed mountain man, whom only the beautiful daughter of a Blackfoot chief dares to love.  Book
	Train Dreams: A Novella by Denis Johnson  This is the story of Robert Grainier, a day laborer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century—an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainer struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime. Suffused with the history and landscapes of the American West, this novella by the National Book Award–winning author of Tree of Smoke captures the disappearance of a distinctly American way of life.  Book  Audio eBook

Shaken, Not Stirred – espionage/spy thrillers

	A Spy in the Struggle by Aya de León  Aya de León takes on issues of climate justice, corporate corruption, and government surveillance of marginalized activists in an electrifying story about a high-powered attorney who goes undercover to infiltrate a Bay Area activist group.  Book  eBook
	Casino Royale by Ian Fleming  Of course, we gotta include James Bond, the original smooth operator, on this list.  In the novel that introduced James Bond to the world, Ian Fleming’s agent 007 is dispatched to a French casino in Royale-les-Eaux. His mission? Bankrupt a ruthless Russian agent who’s been on a bad luck streak at the baccarat table. Taut, tense, and effortlessly stylish, Ian Fleming’s inaugural James Bond adventure has all the hallmarks that made the series a touchstone for a generation of readers.  Book  Audio eBook
	Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery by Rosalie Knecht  When ex-CIA agent Vera Kelly loses her job and her girlfriend in a single day, she reluctantly goes into business as a private detective. Heartbroken and cash-strapped, she takes a case that dredges up dark memories and attracts dangerous characters from across the Cold War landscape. Before it’s over, she’ll chase a lost child through foster care and follow a trail of Dominican exiles to the Caribbean. Forever looking over her shoulder, she nearly misses what’s right in front of her: her own desire for home, connection, and a new romance at the local bar.  Book  Audio eBook
	Agent Running in the Field by John le Carré  Nat, a 47-year-old veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him – one that will take him down a path of political anger that will ensnare those closest to him.  Book
	The Last Tourist by Olen Steinhauer  In Olen Steinhauer’s bestseller An American Spy, reluctant CIA agent Milo Weaver thought he had finally put “Tourists”–CIA-trained assassins–to bed.  A decade later, Milo is hiding out in Western Sahara when a young CIA analyst arrives to question him about a series of suspicious deaths and terrorist chatter linked to him.  Their conversation is soon interrupted by a new breed of Tourists intent on killing them both, forcing them to run.  As he tells his story, Milo is joined by colleagues and enemies from his long history in the world of intelligence, and the young analyst wonders what to believe. He wonders, too, if he’ll survive this encounter.  Book  Audio eBook
	At Risk by Stella Rimington  An ‘invisible’ is a terrorist who is an ethnic native of the target country, who can cross its borders unchecked and move about unnoticed – the ultimate nightmare. By the time they’re identified, it may be too late.  The intelligence operation that follows will test Liz to the limit. Who or what is the target? Where and who is the invisible? With each passing hour the danger increases.  But as Liz desperately sifts through the incoming intelligence, she finally realizes a truth that could prove deadly: her ability to get inside her enemy’s head is the only hope of averting disaster…  Book
	The Russian Pink by Matthew Hart  When “The Russian Pink”—a stunningly large rose-hued diamond—makes a surprise appearance around the neck of Honey Li, the wife of surging presidential candidate Harry Nash, Alex Turner, an investigator for the Treasury Department’s diamond division and former C.I.A. agent, finds himself spiraling down a seemingly endless rabbit hole.  A diamond like that always carries secrets, but the web of mystery behind “The Pink” is more complex than Alex could ever imagine.  Book  eBook
	Opium Prince by Jasmine Aimaq  Born to an American mother and a late Afghan war hero, Daniel Sajadi has spent his life navigating a complex identity. After years in Los Angeles, he is returning home to Kabul at the helm of a US foreign aid agency dedicated to eradicating the poppy fields that feed the world’s opiate addiction.  But on the drive out of Kabul for an anniversary trip with his wife, Daniel accidentally hits and kills a young Kochi girl named Telaya. He is let off with a nominal fine, in part because nomad tribes are ignored in the eyes of the law, but also because a mysterious witness named Taj Maleki intercedes on his behalf. Wracked with guilt and visions of Telaya, Daniel begins to unravel, running from his crumbling marriage and escalating threats from Taj, who turns out to be a powerful opium khan willing to go to extremes to save his poppies.  Book
	The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsythe  It is 1963 and an anonymous Englishman has been hired by the Operations Chief of the O.A.S. to murder General de Gaulle. A failed attempt in the previous year means the target will be nearly impossible to get to. But this latest plot involves a lethal weapon: an assassin of legendary talent. Known only as The Jackal, this remorseless and deadly killer must be stopped, but how do you track a man who exists in name alone?  Audio eBook
	Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia  Viridiana spends her days watching the dead sharks piled beside the seashore, as the fishermen pull their nets. There is nothing else to do, nothing else to watch, under the harsh sun. Three wealthy American tourists arrive for the summer, and Viridiana is magnetized. She immediately becomes entwined in the glamorous foreigners’ lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from the promise of a humdrum future. When one of them dies, Viridiana lies to protect her friends. Soon enough, someone’s asking questions, and Viridiana has some of her own about the identity of her new acquaintances.  Book  eBook

Lethal Attraction – Read a romantic suspense

	Verity by Colleen Hoover Are you ready for a creepy romance experience you didn’t see coming? Check out this genre-bending romantic thriller. A handsome and mysterious man hires a struggling writer to finish his injured wife’s famous book series. As she learns more about the woman and starts developing feelings for her employer, she begins to discover that all is not as it seems. Don’t read this one before bed. Book
	A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones Get ready to turn up the heat with small town New Mexico Sheriff Sunshine Vicram and her fiery hot US Marshall old flame. A kidnapper is on the loose, drama and danger lurk around every corner…oh, and there is a rooster named Puff Daddy. Book eBook Audio eBook
	When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole This is a social thriller with a twist, about a woman who joins forces with her handsome neighbor to offer historic walking tours of their rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, only to begin investigating what’s really happening to her Black neighbors who are seemingly moving out of the neighborhood for the suburbs. Twisty and timely, this book will leave you sweating. Book eBook
	The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen Gothic, atmospheric, romantic, and suspenseful, this book has a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old sea captain ghost, the food writer who is renting his home, and a murder mystery. What is real? Book
	The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks When an Ex-Navy SEAL learns that his wife, whom he believed is dead, is actually being held hostage in the South American jungle, he has no choice but to find and rescue her. Kiss kiss, bang bang! Book Audio eBook
	Phantom Evil by Heather Graham We’re getting spooky up in here! The first book in the Krewe of Hunters series, this story is set in the perfectly atmospheric city of New Orleans. A renegade paranormal investigator and a police officer work together to solve a strange death, and maybe fall in love in the process? There is a lot of mystery, a hint of voodoo, a plethora of phantoms, and plenty of romance. Book eBook
	Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalo Jack the Ripper. A lady fascinated by forensic science. An arrogant young man, brilliant at deduction. Murder. Mayhem. Kissing? Read this YA romantic murder mystery to find out! Book
	Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier While not TECHNICALLY a romance, Rebecca is a classic with some elements of romantic suspense—and it’s super eerie, too. The unnamed narrator falls in love with a mysterious widower and soon finds herself living at Manderley, his beautiful estate in the countryside. What could go wrong? Maybe the fact that Manderley still resounds with the sinister echo of his late wife? Book Audio eBook
	Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard What do you do when the search for Mr. Right goes off the rails? When four best friends make a just-for-fun list of qualities they look for in the “perfect” man, they never expect it to go viral on the Internet (early 2000’s internet viral, anyway)…or result in one of their deaths. Linda Howard is a queen of romantic suspense, and this book does not disappoint. Book Audio eBook
	Say You’re Sorry by Karen Rose As the only woman to have encountered the serial killer and live to tell about it, a beautiful talk-radio host is exactly the person the handsome FBI Special Agent needs to help him find this monster. But as the two get closer to each other, the killer has found a new target: them. Book Audio eBook

Native Americans – Read a book about indigenous Americans

	Black Elk Speaks by John G Neihardt The transcribed tales of Nicholas Black Elk’s life among the Oglala Lakota in the late 19th century. Includes his personal history and stories of relationships with other Native American leaders.  Book
	Cheyenne Autumn by Mari Sandoz The heartbreaking true story of the Northern Cheyenne’s 1878 attempt to return to their original homeland near what’s now Yellowstone National Park. Book
	Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann In the 1920s, the Osage Indians of Oklahoma struck oil and became extremely wealthy as a consequence. Shortly thereafter, the Osage were systematically murdered by persons unknown, leading to the launch of an FBI investigation into the incidents. Book eBook
	The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer This modern history of Native Americans challenges the idea that their culture has been destroyed by exploring the resilience and accomplishments of Native American people. Book
	Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne The story of Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Comanche, and the 40-year struggle for the West. Book Audio eBook
	Encounters at the Heart of the World by Elizabeth A. Fenn A new, mostly archaeological interpretation of the semi-sedentary Mandan people of the northern plains, about whom little has previously been known.  Book Audio eBook
	The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History by Joseph Marshal III This biography of the famed strategist and leader Crazy Horse by Lakota author Joseph Marshall III peers behind the legends to find the man through research and oral history. Book Audio eBook
	Code Talker by Chester Nez Biography of Ned Begay, a Navajo man who, along with his Navajo companions, was recruited by the US military for the use of conveying military info in the largely unknown Navajo language. Book eBook
	Malinche, Pocahontas, and Sacagawea by Rebecca K. Jager Narratives of the ways in which three iconic Native American women from different parts of the continent negotiated relationships with white settlers, based on evidence from anthropology, oral history, and ethnohistory. Book
	Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid Stories of the missing and murdered Indigenous women of North America that focuses on Canada’s Highway 16, where a billboard reads “GIRLS, DON’T HITCHHIKE. KILLER ON THE LOOSE.” Book

Book ‘Em – Read a police procedural

	Still Life by Louise Penny Introduces Quebec’s Inspector Gamache as he investigates what at first appears to be a simple hunting accident. Upon a closer look, the brilliant Gamache begins to suspect something much more sinister. Book
	Darktown by Thomas Mullen Set in a segregated Atlanta, this gripping mystery focuses on the city’s first Black police officers as they investigate the case of a murdered woman who was last seen in the company of other officers. Book Audio eBook
	Naked in Death by JD Robb This futuristic series opener finds New York police officer Eve Dallas investigating a ruthless murder as she fights an attraction to the Irish billionaire who also happens to be one of her prime suspects. Book eBook Audio eBook
	Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis This darkly emotional mystery opens with the discovery of the murdered family of a popular college professor/bestselling author. Sergeant Ryan DeMarco is attempting to track down the missing author and reconcile his experience of the happy family man with the reality of the murders. Book eBook Audio eBook
	Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon Beautiful, historic Venice is generally light on crime. When an orchestra conductor is killed with cyanide during intermission, finding suspects isn’t Guido Brunetti’s problem. Narrowing them down is another matter. Book eBook
	The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty Detective Sean Duffy is a Catholic working in the overwhelmingly Protestant police department of Northern Ireland during the religious “Troubles” of the early 1980s. When two gay men are found murdered, one after the other, Duffy at first suspects a serial killer – but comes to believe the murders may have been politically motivated instead. Book eBook Audio eBook
	Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg When Eve Ronin arrests an abusive movie star during her off hours, she’s given a promotion to homicide detective as a reward for the positive press. Now she needs to prove herself with her first case – a blood-covered crime scene that can only have been the site of a murder, although the family is missing and no bodies are to be found. Book
	Raven Black by Ann Cleeves When a teenaged girl is left strangled in the snow in Scotland’s Shetland Islands, the locals are quick to point the finger at a man who drew suspicion years earlier when another girl went missing. Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez investigates this new murder and is drawn deeper into local secrets than he ever wanted to be. Book Audio eBook
	The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup A mysterious killer in Denmark has been leaving mutilated bodies and small figurines made of chestnuts in the suburbs of Copenhagen. The detectives investigating the case are soon led to a connection between an earlier crime involving a government minister’s daughter – but the killer in that case is supposed to be dead. Book eBook Audio eBook
	The Dime by Kathleen Kent Betty Rhyzyk is the Brooklyn-born police detective now living in Dallas, Texas, where her height, attitude, and flaming red hair have her standing out from the crowd. The first book in this gritty new crime series moves Betty from the world of New York City crime to one dominated by cartels and the drug trade. Book Audio eBook

Red Handed – Read a true crime book

	Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi The author served on the trial of Charles Manson in 1970, and details the investigation, arrest, and trial of Charles Manson and his followers for the murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, Sharon Tate, and several others. Book
	The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery by Bill James This compelling and suspenseful novel solves a 100-year-old case involving bludgeoning axe murders that happened from Iowa to Louisiana. Who solves this mystery? A baseball statistician who uses his analytical skills and unconventional sleuthing techniques. Book
	Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Occupied Paris by David King This book documents the efforts of a French chief detective to catch a doctor serial killer during World War II. In this engaging but disturbing book, you’ll discover the covert information network used to track this killer that was comprised of mobsters, resistance fighters, and nightclub owners. Book
	Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker This book details the lives and deaths of five women, prostitutes who advertised on Craigslist, who were victims of the Long Island Killer. With a lush writing style and haunting tone, the story will reveal how the most skillful psychopath since the Son of Sam went about his business. Book eBook
	I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara In this very accessible and well-researched book details the rapes and murders of dozens of victims of the Golden State Killer. Written by the late author of TrueCrimeDiary.com, it also details the author’s efforts to find the killer and bring him to justice. Book eBook Audio eBook
	We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper In this debut work, former staffer at the New Yorker, Becky Cooper, writes of the murder of a Harvard graduate student, Jane Britton, in 1969. She has insightful information on how the case was stymied by rumors and intuitional silence coupled with the realities of gender inequality during this period. True crime lovers will enjoy this suspenseful and intimate work. Book Audio eBook
	Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann This work presents the dozens of murders of wealthy Osage law enforcement officials, which at its roots uncovers the missteps of a fledgling FBI and one of the biggest conspiracies in American history. Readers will find this book disturbing in tone but rich in detail. Book eBook
	The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America by Karen Abbott This book details the life of George Remus, a German immigrant who quits practicing law and goes into the bootlegging business. Within two years, he becomes a multimillionaire and soon slips into Gatsby-esque lifestyle with his second wife Imogene. Not only will readers be swept up in the extravagance of Remus’ life, but also the murder that put him in the papers for different scandalous reasons. Book eBook
	Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy Ghettoside provides a gritty examination of the hundreds of murders that occur in Los Angeles each year, while also focusing on the killing of Bryant Tenelle and the dedicated detectives determined to bring his murderer to justice. Book
	Black Dahlia, Red Rose: The Crime, Corruption, and Cover-up of America’s Greatest Unsolved Murder by Piu Eatwell This book draws on evidence from declassified police archives and redacted FBI files to form a revisionist theory of the Black Dahlia murders in 1947. This theory draws upon the corrupt workings of the LAPD, ruthless media, and the predators who targeted aspiring actresses. Book Audio eBook

It’s Alive! – Read a horror story featuring monsters

	The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher In this creepy found-footage style novel, a young woman and her dog travel to North Carolina to clean out her deceased grandmother’s home. She quickly stumbles upon unsettling secrets and a strange colony of beings in the woods. Book
	The Ritual by Adam Nevill Three university buddies start to quarrel on their hike in the Scandinavian wilderness near the Arctic Circle. In this haunting creature feature, a member of the party, Luke, takes the group on a short cut that leads them to an ancient pagan sacrificial site and a beast that is ready to hunt. Book
	A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill This interesting coming-of-age cosmic horror story features a boy named Noah who has been shielded by his mother and sister from his father’s compulsive construction of a haunted house. He considers the ultimate sacrifice when he chooses to recognize a monster that his family has been trying to ignore. Book eBook
	Devolution by Max Brooks A modern retelling of the Bigfoot legend, this gruesome and action-packed novel takes place in a high-tech Pacific Northwest community and is told through a woman’s journal entries as the community becomes cut off from the rest of the world after a volcanic eruption. Book eBook
	The Twilight Pariah by Jeffrey Ford Three college students discover a vial of red liquid and the skeleton of a horned child in a mansion’s outhouse. With likable characters and descriptive writing, this novel details how these students’ lives are wrecked by a monster that will stop at nothing to retrieve its child. Book
	Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones In this “werewolf among us” story with a twist, a marginalized family exists on the outside of a society that doesn’t care about them. They watch as a young boy traverses the night to see if he will display the same features that have shaped their unusual lives. Book eBook Audio eBook
	A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal A pandemic virus has swept across the world in this intricately plotted, suspenseful novel, which transformed victims into beautiful, vampire-like beings. They begin to rise in all sectors of society, before one runs for political office. Book
	The Burning World by Isaac Marion In this reflective zombie apocalypse novel, Zombie R is learning new survival skills and contemplating a relationship with the woman who restarted his heart. Meanwhile, people are coming to fix his undead world. Book Audio eBook
	The Pandora Room by Christopher Golden When what appears to be Pandora’s box is found in an ancient city, the US Department of Defense sends Dr. Ben Walker to examine it. The neighboring countries fighting over its ownership is only one problem Dr. Walker faces, because jihadi forces are hot on his trail. This novel contains well-developed characters and plenty of suspense! Book Audio eBook
	Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant Victoria Stewart and her crew are setting sail for the Mariana trench to look for the wreckage of the Atargatis. This ship had Victoria’s sister on it when it was lost at sea filming a mockumentary about sea creatures of the deep. This novel is for those who are looking for something gruesome and fast-paced. Book eBook Audio eBook

Feast your ears – listen to an audiobook

	In Cold Blood by Truman Capote This audiobook presents Capote’s unconventional account of the gruesome 1959 murders of a farm family in Holcomb, Kansas, and the hunt for the killers. This account is well-researched, accessible, and sobering and generates both suspense and empathy. Audiobook Audio eBook
	Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, this audiobook breaks down everything you need to know about the cosmos. Recognizing that most have little time to contemplate this topic, Tyson makes this book succinct and clear with interesting chapters that are easily consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day. Audiobook Audio eBook
	In the Woods by Tana French Twenty years after a traumatic experience in which two of his companions go missing in the woods outside of his Dublin suburb, Rob Ryan is now a detective on the murder squad and keeps his past a secret. When a young girl is found murdered in the same wood, Ryan must unearth his memories of the past to help solve the case. With flawed and complex characters and a compelling style, this police procedural is sure to be a great listen! Audiobook
	World War Z by Max Brooks The Zombie War came close to eradicating humanity. Now that the war is over, Max Brooks, wanting to capture the stories of war, interviews survivors and details how the uprising started. This fast-paced, multiple-perspective, found-footage style novel is narrated by the author and a star-studded cast including Alan Alda, Mark Hamill, Martin Scorsese, and many others! Audiobook Audio eBook
	Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Beautiful Amy Dunne seems to have the perfect marriage, until she disappears from her Missouri home. Her husband Nick claims innocence, and while he might not be to blame it doesn’t seem like he’s telling the truth. With twisted characters and an intricately plotted story line, this audiobook offers an unsettling view into a souring marriage. Audiobook Audio eBook
	The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang 30-year-old Stella is a math whiz with Asperger’s Syndrome, and wants her love life to be as fulfilling as her career. To help, she does the unconventional and hires an escort to teach her about dating and everything that comes with it. Will sparks fly in this fake relationship? This contemporary romance is steamy, with well-developed characters and an engaging style. Audiobook Audio eBook Audio eBook with Booktrack
	To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Scout Finch likes to spend her summers swimming, catching bugs, and playing in her treehouse with her brother Jem. But one summer those days end, when a local black man is accused of raping a white woman. Scout will join her father, the town lawyer, in battling ignorance and prejudice. This classic coming-of-age story is atmospheric and lyrical. Audiobook Audio eBook
	Miles: The Autobiography by Miles Davis In this candid and leisurely paced autobiography, Davis reflects on the “cool” era of music and offers views on fellow musicians, promoters, producers, critics, and his personal life. Audio eBook
	Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim In this engaging and atmospheric novel, Natalie Tan has just inherited her grandmother’s restaurant in a run-down San Francisco neighborhood. Her seer advises her to cook three recipes out of her grandmother’s cookbook to save the struggling community. Audio eBook
	The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern A Vermont graduate student finds a book which has a story from his life, which leads him to follow clues to a magical underground library that is about to be destroyed. This lyrical piece of fantasy fiction has a lot to offer, from its unconventional storyline to its well-characterized full cast. Audiobook Audio eBook

Big Brother – Read a dystopia

	The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood A young woman struggles with day-to-day life in the Republic of Gilead, an authoritarian government that controls every aspect of a woman’s reproductive life and forces women into rigid, predetermined roles.  Book eBook
	1984 by George Orwell In a futuristic ‘Oceania,’ a young propaganda writer struggles to keep his personal thoughts in a journal, an act punishable by death by Big Brother, an overbearing government that watches and controls every aspect of individuals’ actions and speech. Book eBook Audio eBook
	Brave New World by Aldous Huxley In a futuristic England, children are bred and raised in labs to become predetermined types of workers, and personal feelings and relationships are prohibited. Book eBook Audio eBook
	Ready Player One by Ernest Cline In a chaotic world, Wade Watts finds respite in a competitive immersive online game where easter eggs hidden by a rich old man provide a means of escape, among the bleakness. Book eBook Audio eBook
	Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson Intrigue in a futuristic hacker world. When a new drug leaves people in a catatonic state by wiping their minds, Hiro works to uncover the conspiracy, save his friends, AND humanity.  eBook
	Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury A classic tale of a society that seeks to end suffering by getting rid of confusion caused by complicated thoughts, like those found in books. Book eBook Audio eBook
	A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess In a futuristic England, the State deals with thuggery in a novel way, by physically conditioning perpetrators to abhor violence. Book Audio eBook
	Animal Farm by George Orwell A group of sentient animals attempt to create a better society through social uprising.  Book eBook Audio eBook
	The Testaments by Margaret Atwood A sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, the story catches up with Offred and her struggle against Gilead. Book eBook
	The Hive by Barry Lyga & Morgan Baden Throwing a tantrum on social media has never been this dangerous. Book eBook Audio eBook