We have a great new bulletin board in the front entry of the library that reminds me about one of the best things this time of year. After I get all my yard work done, or when the weather is so crummy I can put it off for another day, I can read, guiltfree! See if you can guess my recent theme!

A few books I’ve gobbled up recently are:

The House of Night series by P. C. Cast is a great YA series about what it’s like to become Marked as a vampire and have to start all over at a new school. Some things get a lot easier, like getting to move out of your stepmonster’s house, and leaving your boyfriend-stealing best friend behind. Other things get a little more tricky, like learning that you may not actually complete the change from fledgling vampire to full vamp, but die instead, and your new mentor may not be all that she seems.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry is an intriguing story of a young woman returning home to Salem, Massachusetts after the death of her great-aunt. Her mother lives on an island with a community of women who create lace that has long been used to tell fortunes. As Towner tries to figure out what really happened to her great-aunt, she must come to grips with her past and the death of her twin sister.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe is a historical mystery spanning the life of a family from the early 1600s through the mid-1990s. Based around Harvard, and Salem, Massachusetts, Connie is looking for a primary source to base her thesis work on when she is left her grandmother’s house. She is charged with cleaning and clearing the house to get it ready to sell. Mysterious occurences and events postpone her progress to find the book that holds the answers to her academic future as well as her family’s past.