Mrs. O's Book Stack
I love a good story - especially a mystery, historical fiction, YA, romance, biography or memoir. I have been known to stay up all night reading a story that has me in its grip. I can get so lost in a story that I don't hear or see anyone or anything else. I have my favorites - books I will read over again to travel to favorite places or meet up with characters I loved. This page is to chronicle and share the books I have read and enjoyed. They are in no particular order. Most are available in the OV Library.
Before 2019
Harper Lee's Sequel to her book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Go home with an adult Scout where she finds everything is not as it seems
The first in the series - great distopian story that is so suspenseful
Who doesn't love vampires in love?
Dan Rather notes that there aren't really so much that divides us and shows the reader what unites Americans through stories from his life growing up
Spring/Summer 2019
A story at the end of WWII when people were trying to flee Germany in front of the Russian soldiers.
Junior is growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation but decides to attend the all-white farm school off the reservation. He struggles to find his place both among his family and his new school.
Graphic novel that shares the story of a young man raised by his grandparents. The novel shares a story of being different but also rising above circumstance.
What you put out into the world is what you get back but that doesn't mean you don't stand up for yourself and others when injustuce is done.
A graphic novel telling the story of the Civil Rights Movement told by John Lewis
**First book series**
This story reminds us all that we need to be active participants in our government. That to be complacent or think it can't happen here can lead to a loss of rights. **Mature content
This graphic novels tells the story of a boy who follows his brother on a journey across Africa to reunite with their sister in Europe. It shows why people choose to illegally immigrate and the dangers they face.
This is book is actually 3 stories about refugees in different time periods but links each with the similar events that made them refugees and how it impacted their lives.
**** Great Story! ***
Carver Briggs struggles with survivors guilt after he sent a text that ended in the deaths of his best friends.
Tyler Johnson's brother struggles to reconcile his world after his brothers death in an attempt to make his death have meaning.
The story of Mildred Harnack and the Red Orchestra as the work to defeat Hitler inside Germany. This is historical fiction but shows that not everyone was under Hitler's spell.
Historical Fiction about a woman in rural England during the War of the Roses
Fall/Winter 2019
This is a story looking at acceptance and the price we pay for our actions.
The sequel to the Handmaid's Tale - Women take their revenge.
A young Muslim refugee comes to America and tries to find where she belongs in America
This story looks at how culture, tradition, and the expectations of family can weigh on a person. We must all find our own path.
Spring/Summer 2020
Faith must be active. This is the true story of German resistance fighter Diertrich Bonhoeffer and the plot to kill Hitler. It is written in a graphic novel style and tells a story we don't often here.
Historical fiction about a spy during the Cold War in Africa. Told in a journal to her young sons it intertwines historical events into a mystery. **Mature content.
A history lesson of xenophobia in a "nation of immigrants."
A young girl commits suicide and explains her reason to 13 people who impacted her decision.
A dare gets a little out of hand but helps a new student to find himself and his friends to gain some empathy for others.
A thriller! Who can not read a book that starts, "I hear the crack of his skull before the spattering of blood reaches me." ?? ***Mature content
A mystery with lots of suspence and intrigue. Robert Langdon must dicipher clues in a race against time to solve the mystery.
A great bio on Eisenhower as he mentors JFK in foreign policy
Set in England during the English Civil War - sounds boring but its not! Rebels take over Wintercombe and the lady of the house must figure out how to keep her household safe.
The "real story" of Cinderella's stepsisters after the wedding. *First in a series
Loved this graphic novel that told the story of the Harlem Hellfighters. Men who fought valiently during World War I for a world that didn't accept them as men.
Fall /Winter 2020
The world seems like it is doomed. This book tells stories of hope people found while in the dark.
Mystery set in 1800s England. Highlights the limitations on women due to social class, education, and opportunity
I needed a break from the political books I had been reading so I picked up this series about a wedding planning company in Connecticut
A wonderful graphic novel about brothers who are refugees in Africa
A writer rents a home in Italy and learns what happened to the family during WWII
Two friends challenge either to get out of their routine with the friendship list challenge
Post WWII London - a husband and wife must learn to live together again after living their "war life"
A polish woman opens a bookstore in Berlin that specializes in French books. The book chronicles her life as she flees from the nazis.
Four college friends reunite for a week at the beach.
A young black woman is accused of kidnapping the child she is babysitting. The story deals with the aftermath.
A young woman working for the WPA in Tennessee to interview those enslaved before the Civil War and document their stories
JFKs story - the building and ending of Camelot
Spring 2021
Murder Mystery with a sprinkling of witchcraft and supernatural
Story of the Kent State the days prior and during the shooting from a variety of perspectives
The first in a new series set in Ireland with lots of supernatural offerings.
The story details the life of a slave living at the Devil's Half Acre in Charleston NC - it is a story of survival, love, and choices.
Cute story of finding your path and passions in an unlikely place.
Murder Mystery full of twists and turns. Will have you guessing until the end - and rereading the last chapter because you won't believe the ending!
READ THIS BOOK! Such a great story about Hollywood and society told through the eyes of Evelyn Hugo.
Murder Mystery Main character lives the lives of 7 guests at a weekend party at a country estate in England to try to solve the mystery of Evelyn Hugo's death.
The next in the Stephanie Plum series. She still has us guessing and laughing with this latest mystery.
Cute story about a women finding herself along with friends she meets in a cookbook club.
Mystery that will keep you guessing and wondering right up until the end.
WWII story told from the perspective of a Nazi soldier and a girl in occupied France. Two strangers who have a unique connection.
Summer 2021
The story that reminds us all to be careful what we wish for because we may just get it.
The first in a series. This dystopian novel tells the story of a girl who thought you life was planned for her but found an inner power the changed everything.
Great beach read. Story about relationships and what happens when we assume and don't communicate with those we care most about.
Fun summer read. Murder mystery, love story, and finding the life you love.
This book continues to the story of a mother and daughter as they try to escape the constraints of society in post Civil War England.
YA book set in Nazi Germany as a young Irish spy works for the Allies from inside the Hitler Youth.
Strangers become family as their lives connect at a beach house in Nantucket.
Autobiography about John Lewis and his lifelong quest for equality. Brings home the idea that history and life never really gives us a "happily ever after"
Graphic novel depicting the story of an immigrant family from Vietnam
Book 2
Resistance Series
WWII historical fiction about a young girl hiding from Nazis
Children's picture book that tells the story of a Jewish child hidden by neighbors in Viche France
Fall 2021
A suspenseful story about a young girl overcoming trauma and finding her true path
A dystopian novel where books are outlawed and firemen burn any that are found.
A mystery, a secret passageway, and drama of relationships reign in this story.
The story of a resistance fighter in Nazi-held France who creates forged papers that help children to escape. The Book of Lost Names contains their true identity.
The retelling of the story of Snow White
Flashbacks of a nurse when meeting a new patient, tell the story of a child of the Depression placed in an orphanage where she is the subject of medical experiments.
A retelling of the story of Achilles and the fall of Troy
An Irish indentured servant is placed in the House Kitchen on a southern plantation where she is caught in a world between the servants and plantation owners.
The mystery of her Aunt's life in Venice during WWII takes a young mother on a journey of discovery.
An author with a secret must deal with a stalker who threatens to expose him.
The story of France and its revolution is told from the Queen's perspective.
Winter 2021
Resistance fighters, Mildred Harnack and The Circle fight to resist the Nazis in the years before WWII.
A young girl uses magic to fight for her family's survival in prerevolution France
Story of a family and survival and one night that changed everything.