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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
Blossom The Flower Girl Fairy
by Daisy Meadows
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I liked this book - it was a good mystery story. It also had a lot of fairies

The Divines
by Ellie Eaton
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This was okay. Josephine has just gotten married. As a child, she was known as a "Divine" - she went to a very expensive school for entitled rich people, where the children were taught nothing academic and mostly just how to treat people they considered beneath them poorly. She hasn't thought about her years there much since she left, but when her husband starts asking questions about the box of mementos she's kept, she's forced to relive her past and confront some of the darker moments within - especially the tragic tale of her roommate, Gerry. The mystery part takes a bit to develop, and really isn't the focus of the story? It seems more like the struggle of a young girl to find her place in the world, and to deal with the pressure to conform to what her friends and family want her to be. The chapters alternated between her years at the school and her adult life, and I honestly didn't really care about her as an adult. Those chapters didn't really add anything to my experience. By the end I was left with this vague feeling like I'd missed something important, but I'm not sure what? This was the sort of book that seemed like my jam, because I love a good boarding school mystery, but something about it fell flat and I just didn't adore it like I expected to.

Diary Of An Awesome Friendly Kid
by Jeff Kinney
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This was a very funny book that was fun to read. As the pages are short and it was a graphic novel I wish it was a little more in depth but overall it is a good book.

The Sanitorium
by Sarah Pearse
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This book is absolutely terrifying. My heart raced all the way through. It is Stephen King meets Fairfield Hills. An old Sanitorium is converted into a chateaux, an avalanche or two traps everyone in and things get very frightening. It is a fast read!

Midnight In Chernobyl
by Adam Higginbotham
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This was rather a difficult book to read not only from the point of view of the subject but also because of my lack of Russian knowledge. The names were tricky too, however it was very interesting and well worth persevering. The subject is the world's worst nuclear disaster which took place in Chernobyl in April 1986. We are taken through the events as they happened as well as the subsequent efforts to contain and clear up the fallout both literally and within the Russian government. It is a tragic tale but an important and noteworthy piece of history.

The Good Sister
by Sally Hepworth
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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!

China Room
by Sunjeev Sahota
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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.

The Secret Stealers By Jane Healey
by Jane Healey
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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.

We Were Never Here
by Andrea Bartz
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I fee like I'm on a trend this month of books that just start out really slow. Emily and Kristen have been best friends since college, and they have a hobby of going on trips to random places together. Last year they went to Columbia, where their trip ended with a dead guy. This year they go to Chile, where their trip also ends with a dead guy. Now forced to deal with the trauma of two dead men, Emily is struggling to return to normalcy. And then all of a sudden Kristen appears in town, moving in and inserting herself in her life more fully than ever before. Could those two instances really have been just a fluke, or is something darker hiding under the surface of their relationship? The first chunk of this book was just so boring, because it felt like you were waiting for the shoe to drop and the action to begin. The world-building aspect here was not captivating at all. The book was also SUPER predictable. You could see every twist and turn coming on a mile away, and I felt like the author didn't trust me to put together anything subtle. There was one clue near the end of the book that I went "huh, I wonder what that will mean," only for it to be immediately explained a few pages later, like she was afraid I wouldn't remember it if she waited. Overall a little too much of a handhold while reading, and nothing really special. Probably closer to 2 and a half stars, but I'll give it three because I don't think I regret reading it, it just wasn't memorable.

The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict
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This historical fiction sheds a light on the lengths that folks will go to make a life for themselves in spite of society. At the turn of the 20th century, Belle da Costa Greene was able to hide her African American heritage by “passing for white” and went on to work for JP Morgan to curate the art and manuscript collection for the Pierpont Morgan Library.
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