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Oh, Judy Blume, I am so glad you're back! In the Unlikely Event, Blume's new book for adults, takes us to 1951 and 1952, where there was a chain of airplane crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey. We meet many characters who are affected, directly and indirectly, by the crashes. Read more

I first thought this book was going to be a light, fluffy, beach read. While it would be a great beach read, it is not light and fluffy. Every summer the Herinton sisters spend time at their family beach house in Cape Cod, getting away from their everyday lives... Read more

Inspired by true events, many authors write beautiful historical fiction based on the lives of real people. Though somewhat controversial, these biographical novels bring history rousingly to life and give the reader a genuine taste of what the lives of famous artists, politicians, writers, explorers and other notable figures might really have been like. Here are six new biographical novels to try this summer. Read more

Are you loving the miniseries adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell? Already feeling like you need more historical fantasy novels in your life? Check out the novels below for similar twists on history and books filled with magicians - so much more than just Harry Potter here! Read more

Summer time -- vacations, road trips, floating in the pool, or sitting inside in the A/C because it’s too hot to go outside -- whatever your plans are this summer, you’re surely looking for a few good books. Maybe a quick read that you can grab and get through in a day or a weekend? You don’t want to be bogged down with The Goldfinch over the summer! You want light & fancy free or tense, page-turners. Here are a few great reads that I finished quickly because they were “unputdownable”. Read more

The latest batch of librarian favorites is here! Head to the LibraryReads website to see brief reviews submitted by librarians from across the country – including a review from one of CPL’s librarians! We'd love to hear what you think about the titles - let us know on Facebook or Twitter. Read more

Simon's life is on shaky ground, literally. His house is built on a cliff above the seashore, where weather and neglect have taken their toll and the house is slowly slipping over the edge. His job is at risk of being eliminated due to budget cuts, and now his sister - a temperamental circus performer whom he raised almost by himself after his mother's suicide - is back in town. It's an odd time to receive a book in the mail, an unexpected gift from a rare book dealer who happened to find the name of Simon's grandmother written inside, but soon the book becomes an obsession. Read more

Frances & Bernard by Carlene Bauer is a soulful, funny, intelligent novel about a poet and a novelist and their exuberant friendship. Set in the heady world of the New York literary scene in the 1950s, the story evolves as the characters write letters to each other across the years. If you like epistolary novels, here are some other excellent books structured in the form of letters, emails, journal entries or diary passages. Read more

Three generations of veterans struggle with the aftermath of war in Be Safe I Love You. The novel's central character is Lauren Clay, who returns from Iraq with gifts for her young brother, an impossible plan, and a story that doesn't match up with the one she reported on her discharge paperwork. PJ, her father's friend and a Vietnam vet, tries to help Lauren through her rocky adjustment even though he knows how monumental the task is. And Desert Storm veteran Patrick nurses his grudges against the world that doesn't understand him, dangerously close to an unimaginable outlash. Read more

Wilson Cleary has two daughters, but he doesn’t see it that way. He abandoned his older daughter Taisy when she was a young adult yet idolizes his younger, teen daughter Willow. Seventeen years after he left Taisy in the lurch he asks her to visit him. Read more