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TAILS & TALES 

C.H. BOOTH LIBRARY’S SUMMER READING PROGRAM

June 14--August 20


How it Works

  • Register for an account. You can make accounts for yourself and your family.

  • Log in to your account and record your reading. See your age group below for more information regarding logging and prizes.

  • Visit us at the library for reading recommendations, and see our Event Calendar for more summer fun for the whole family. 


Frequently Asked Questions

  • Who can participate?

The whole family! We have a program for children, young adults, and adults. 


  • Can I count books that I read on my computer or e-reader?

Of course!


  • Can I count audiobooks?

You bet! 


  • Can I join the program before or after its official start date?  

Yes! You can register now and start recording your reading on the official start date (June 14th). Log your reading until August 20 for children, young adults, and adults.


  • What should I read?

Stop by the library to ask us for recommendations, view our book lists online, or follow us on social media, where we will post book recommendations all summer long. 


Facebook / Instagram / YA Instagram / Children’s Instagram


KIDS 

Ages 4 to Grade 5

Stop by the children’s department to pick up your summer reading kit. Each kit which includes  tickets for our prize raffle to be held on August 21.  All tickets must be received by August 20 to be eligible.



YOUNG ADULTS

Grades 6 to 12


Log your time spent reading to win points. Each week, participants will have the opportunity to use their reading points for the chance to win gift cards for local businesses and other fun stuff!


The summer’s top readers will have a chance to win a Kindle Fire tablet.


ADULTS


For every book review you submit, you will be entered into the Friday morning gift card raffle as well as the end-of-the-summer raffle of your choice.

All Participants
Points Earned

Book Reviews
Search All Book Reviews
The Good Sister
by Sally Hepworth
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book cover


This was so fun! I didn't want to put this one down. Told from the perspective's of twins Fern and Rose, the book alternates between Fern living her life and Rose writing in her diary. Fern has a sensory processing disorder, and she relies heavily on her twin sister to help her navigate the world. When Rose confesses that she has found out she has a rare disorder that is making it impossible for her to become pregnant, Fern decides on the perfect thank you present for her sister - she'll just have to get pregnant and have a baby for Rose! Enter Wally, named for his similar appearance to Where's Waldo, the perfect match for Fern. Unfortunately, he's maybe too perfect, and before long Fern finds herself in over her head. Everything about this was just so well done. I loved the different perspectives we got, and how I really felt like I was following along with Fern and putting the pieces of the puzzle together with her. It felt like it took a little bit for the mystery to come into focus, but when things started to become clearer I was enthralled. I'd have loved more time with Fern and Rose. Absolutely lovely!

Rolling Thunder
by Kate Messner
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book cover


I didn't love this book. I didn't really understand everything it was saying. I have been to the ride before where the Rolling Thunder is and I wanted to learn more about the ride and why it happens. Maybe when I'm older I will understand it more.

China Room
by Sunjeev Sahota
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book cover


This was a heartbreaking novel that was full of masterful writing, but for whatever reason it just didn't capture my attention. The story mostly centers around Mehar, a woman in 1929 who has just been married. In Mehar's case, however, her marriage ceremony was shared with two other woman who also married into the family, leaving her unsure which man she actually married. She meets her husband only when she is called upon at night, at which point it is so dark she is unable to see him. Though she tries her best to come to a conclusion, she is ultimately unable to determine which of the siblings she has been married off to - until one day when she overhears a conversation and becomes confident in her answer - however, whether she is right or not will have a huge impact on her. I think where the book didn't work for me was due to the inclusion of the other character's storyline. In addition to Mehar, every once in a while there is a chapter that follows a young man who travels to India in 1999 to live with family and try to overcome his heroin addition. These chapters - and the storyline itself - ultimately seemed completely unnecessary. I didn't care about him at all, nor did I really see what he added. I feel like I would have much rather stayed with Mehar the entire time.

Of Women And Salt
by Gabriela Garcia
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I usually love a good historical fiction read, but this one never caught my attention like others I have read. Took a while to get into this book. It was hard to follow for me. I liked that the theme was very relevant to the times we are living in.

Between Two Kingdoms
by Suleika Jaouad
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This is a memoir written by a young woman who was diagnosed with leukemia just as she graduated from college. It follows her progress through a long period of treatment and then her efforts to learn to live normally again once her treatment is over. Both parts were very enlightening and I particularly enjoyed the road trip section where she met many people who had contacted her whilst she was undergoing treatment.

Close To The Bone
by Kendra Elliot
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Its a novella, which means it is a shorter book. It's a quick read, not an in-depth story. I like the characters but it wasn't long enough to fully develop them. After reading the book, I did go see that there are a few more books in the series. So maybe that is a way to get to know more of the characters. I did like the setting and the background that the author set up for the books. I would recommend it.

The Final Girl Support Group
by Grady Hendrix
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Set in a world where Slasher films really did happen, Lynnette is a member of what's known as the "The Final Girls Club." The club is made up of women who meet a very specific criteria - they all were the only survivors of two massacres, and they all killed the person responsible. They meet once a month to support each other and work towards moving on with their lives - until one day one of the members doesn't show up on time. Her monster has come back to kill her. Now, Lynnette is on a race to not only keep herself alive, but to keep the members of her club alive as well. This probably would have worked pretty well as a movie, honestly, but as a book it didn't quite work for me. First, Lynnette as a narrator was awful. She's unreliable from the start, so I found myself utterly distracted the entire book because I was always trying to figure out if I should believe what was happening. I know a lot of books use the unreliable narrator trope now, but it was a difficult sell in this book. I would have much preferred if a different narrator (Heather?) was responsible for telling us what was going on. Or if Lynette's character was tweaked a little. Second, the plot twists were not really plot twists. It was really easy to figure out who was going to be responsible for the killings happening, so that was disappointing. The twists didn't leave me going "oh wow!" so much as "ugh, finally, we got there." My third issue is that it seems like Grad Hendrix either didn't keep track of everything, didn't want to explain everything, or thought that no one would pay attention. For example, at one point a character is mentioned to have a cell phone that they are going to use to keep track of Amber Alerts and to check in with every five hours. Three sentences later, they say that they're going to keep the phone turned off and only have it on for the check in times. How...how are you checking for Amber Alerts? Why did you make a big deal about checking for Amber Alerts, only to then say you're turning the phone off and not getting them anyway? In another scene, Lynnette is dictating a message for someone to send. She claims that it was a difficult process, and that she had to spell out a lot of the words. The example given is using "p as in Paul which is fascinating, because the only words with "p" in her message are purchased, photos, people, and peace. Am I really supposed to believe that someone couldn't spell one of those words without help? Really? I could go on and on, but honestly? I had high hopes for this book. The summary sounded great, and I was really excited to read it. I'm glad I didn't spend money on it. The writing is just not good.

Haven Of Swans
by Colleen Coble
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Fourth Book in the Rock Harbor Series. She doesn't remember who she is and why she is on the side of the road. She knows she needs to get rid of the car and protect her and her daughter. Bree comes along and picks her up and helps her. For the next several months she tries to remember who she is and her former life. Will she ever regain her memory? It's Rock Harbor!

When The Stars Go Dark
by Paula Mclain
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book cover


Although I read to the end, I disliked this book very much, and I'm surprised it has so many great reviews. The writing is stiff and cliched and the characters are the same. The narrator Anna is a missing persons detective with a troubled past that’s revealed bit by bit through flashbacks as she works on multiple cases in an "unofficial" capacity while on leave from her job. It's clear that we're expected to see Anna as compelling and sympathetic, but I found her to be unlikable and her backstory was so dragged out that it became boring. The plot jumps from one case to another without a coherent connection and there are so many characters and events jammed into the past and present scenes that it's easy to lose track of things. I was also put off by the way the author weaves the real life case of Polly Klaas into the story - this feels sensationalistic and inappropriate, and it does nothing to make the fictional part of the story seem more real.

Three Perfect Liars
by Heidi Perks
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book cover


This book was fairly repetitive. There are three storylines that it follows, so you can see everyone's perspective. It definitely kept me guessing until the end. The book did a good job with character development. I would recommend it if you are looking for a different type of thriller book.
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