#MIDDLEBURY
This month the Middlebury Public Library article goes beyond its book club picks with read-alike books to compliment them. Read-alikes are a great way to find a new book that is similar to something you have already enjoyed. Whether it’s a similar author, subject or character, there are many options to choose from.
The November Brown Bag Book Group discussion will be about “Everything I Never Told You” by Celeste Ng. The story centers on a Chinese-American family living in a 1970s small town. Lydia is Marilyn and James Lee’s favorite child, and her parents are determined to give Lydia a life that will enable her to fulfill her dreams as well as theirs. When Lydia’s body is found at a local lake, the Lee family tumbles into a world of chaos. This book is a heartfelt portrait of a family and their secrets.
If you liked “Everything I Never Told You,” read “Arrowood” by Laura McHugh. Arden Arrowood inherits her family home in a small American town on the Mississippi River in Iowa. It is where she witnessed the kidnapping of her sisters some 20 years earlier. Upon returning, Arrowood deals with this childhood memory and the secrets that surround this small town.
The Mystery Book Group is reading “The Good Girl” by Mary Kubic for their November discussion. Mia Dennett, an inner-city art teacher, is from a wealthy family, her father a prominent Chicago judge and her mother a socialite. She goes to a bar one night to meet her on-again off-again boyfriend. When he doesn’t arrive, she leaves with a complete stranger, and he kidnaps her.
Her abductor takes her to a cabin in rural Minnesota. Mia’s mother and Detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find her. This is a psychological thriller that shows one’s family isn’t always what it appears to be.
If you liked “The Good Girl,” read “Little Mercies” by Heather Gudenkauf. In it, we learn that one small mistake can have life-altering consequences. The book tells a powerful and emotionally charged tale about motherhood and justice that occurs when the lives of a social worker, Ellen Moore, and a 10-year-old homeless girl, Jenny Briard, collide.
