Program Banner

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
Next Year In Havana
by Chanel Cleeton
View in Library Catalog
book cover


A multigenerational love story about a grandmother and granddaughter and the lives they shared and the secrets that were kept. When the grandmother dies, her granddaughter travels for the first time to her grandmother’s native land of Cuba. There she learns about Cuba’s past, Cuba’s current state, and family secrets. Great read. Is book #1 in the series!
When The Stars Go Dark
by Paula Mclain
View in Library Catalog
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.
Falling
by T. J. Newman
View in Library Catalog
book cover


This was fun. I'm sure if I spent more time thinking and analyzing it, I could find reasons to knock the stars down, but I don't really want to. It was tense and exciting and had excellent pacing, and was a book that I could not put down. Bill is a pilot who has just been asked to fill in on a shift. Unfortunately, the shift overlaps with his son's first baseball game, which already makes his wife upset with him. Even worse, after Bill leaves, his family is taken hostage. He's given a choice; his family, or the plane. If Bill wants his wife and two kids to survive, he needs to crash the plane and kill all the passengers on board. Right from the start the book is action-packed, and it never really lets up. I wasn't as thrilled with the FBI agent chapters (I didn't want to leave the plane!), but all in all everything was engaging. Did it have predictable moments? Sure. Do I think it'd make a good movie? Honestly, probably not. But as a quick suspense read, I don't think you'll go wrong here. I look forward to seeing what else Newman comes up with in the future.
The Duke And I
by Julia Quinn
View in Library Catalog
book cover


Love ignores rules! The build up for this romance was really well done. The characters had great chemistry when they were falling in love but the ending seemed to fall apart - rushed and jumbled a bit. The set-up to the end could have been expanded
The Darkest Child
by Delores Phillips
View in Library Catalog
book cover


This book is about a family in the Jim Crow south. It centers around the story of a mother and daughter and the generational trauma of slavery and how it is perpetuated. Mental illness, abuse, and racism are heavy themes. While the book is set in the 1950s in a different era, there are clear connections to the present day.
Summerwater
by Sarah Moss
View in Library Catalog
book cover


I really enjoyed this short, but intense, book! Summerwater presents a slice of life of several families vacationing at a remote Scottish lake: a variety of retirees and families, and a group that is labeled "foreign" by the others. The weather is terrible (even for Scotland!) and nerves are frayed. The chapters alternate point of view between the different characters and although it seems nothing much is happening, there is a sense of foreboding that propels you onward. I'd also recommend "Ghost Wall" by Moss, another slim, unsettling story.
The Secret Stealers By Jane Healey
by Jane Healey
View in Library Catalog
book cover


An in-depth (albeit a bit too much in parts) story of Anna who is looking for her purpose in war-torn France. She is hired by "Wild" Bill Donovan, head of the United State's OSS and eventually returns to France to help the Resistance. Factually based with a good deal of information and insight as to the lives of those sent beyond the frontline. Would recommend for anyone interested in the women of the OSS and SOE.
Close To The Bone
by Kendra Elliot
View in Library Catalog
book cover


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.
Finders Keepers
by Stephen King
View in Library Catalog
book cover


A little slower to start than Mr. Mercedes, but eventually Finders Keepers picks up and the suspense of finding out how the story unfolds does not disappoint. I enjoy how the book continues to weave back to the first story, then expands on the dark world King has create to keep us on edge.
The Sweetness Of Water
by Nathan Harris
View in Library Catalog
book cover


Amazing. Absolutely heartbreaking, but amazing. Set in Georgia shortly after the Civil War, George Walker is out for a walk in his woods one day when he happens upon two emancipated slaves. Having just heard his son was killed in combat, George is desperate to cling to anything, and so he invites the two to help him create a peanut farm on his land. Thus begins an emotional rollercoaster, as George and his family realizes that not all share their opinion about emancipation, and a fire of hatred spreads through the town. Few will remain standing in the ashes, and all will be scared by the outcome of George's actions. Everything about this book was mesmerizing, and it's easily one of the best books published this year.
Login
Don't have an account? Register now
Did you forget your password? Get it by email
Popular Books
book cover My Sisters Keeper
by: Jodi Picoult
ISBN: 9780340918623
Discover More Like This
Find it at the Library
book cover Caraval
by: Stephanie Garber
ISBN: 9781250095251
Discover More Like This
Find it at the Library
book cover The One And Only Ivan
by: Katherine Applegate
ISBN: 9780007455331
Discover More Like This
Find it at the Library
book cover War And Peace
by: Leo Tolstoy
ISBN: 9781400079988
Discover More Like This
Find it at the Library
book cover Winter
by: Marissa Meyer
ISBN: 9780312642983
Discover More Like This
Find it at the Library
Copyright (c) 2013-2026    ReadSquared