aired the week of October 9, 2017

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald tells the story of Sara who works in a bookstore in Sweden.  She has been corresponding with Amy from Broken Wheel, Iowa for several years.  Both women share a mutual love of books and authors.  When Sara's bookstore closes she decides to visit Amy and arrives in Iowa just as Amy's funeral concludes.  What will Sara do now in this small town full of quirky individuals?  She will teach them the power of the written word!

aired the week of October 2, 2017

The Chilbury Ladies Choir by Jennifer Ryan is written in a series of letters and journal entries and follows the members of the ladies choir in Chilbury Kent during World War II. It gives us a picture of what life was like for those on the home front and how they made life bearable while their loved ones were away fighting.  Highly recommended for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

aired the week of September 25, 2017

Flamingo Road by Sasscer Hill follows Fia McKey a disgraced Baltimore police officer who has been hired by the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau to find out if horses at a Florida racetrack are being drugged to ensure victory.  It is Fia's job to infiltrate the track as an exercise rider and find out what is going on.

aired the week of September 18, 2017

World, Chase Me Down by Andrew Hillerman is the fictionalized account of Pat Crowe who along with his partner Billy Cavanaugh kidnapped 16-year-old Edward Cudahy Jr. heir to the Cudahy meat packing industry in December of 1900.  This first successful kidnapping for ransom captured the attention of the nation and was dubbed the crime of the century.  It is an interesting look at the rough and tumble world of Omaha and the colorful characters who made up the city at the turn of the century.

aired the week of September 11, 2017

Dead Certainty by Glenis Wilson is a mystery involving Harry Radcliffe a champion jump jockey.  While Harry is laid up after a nasty fall he starts working on a memoir for a local trainer.  It is obvious someone out there will stop at nothing to make sure this memoir is never published. This is the first in a series reminiscent of Dick Francis.

1. Dead Certainty
2. Dead on Course
3. Dead Reckoning

aired the week of September 4, 2017

Bottomland by Michelle Hoover is the 2017 All Iowa Reads title.  It tells the story of a German-American farm family living on the Iowa plains directly after the end of World War I.  The two youngest daughters run away and no one is willing to help the family in their search for the missing girls.

aired the week of August 28, 2017

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan introduces Laura who has worked as an assistant to author Anthony Peardew for many years.  When Anthony dies he leaves Laura his home and a big task.  Over the years Anthony has collected lost items he has found.  He has left Laura the job of reuniting the lost items with their owners.  However will she accomplish that task?

aired the week of August 21, 2017

The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva is the first in the Gabriel Allon series.  Gabriel is an art restorer but that job is really just a front for his job as a spy and assassin for Israeli Intelligence.  When an attack is carried out in France, Gabriel is called back from retirement to handle the delicate situation.  There are currently 17 titles in this series.

aired the week of August 14, 2017

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate tells the story of two families, the Foss family who lived on a houseboat on the Mississippi River in the 1930s and the Stafford family in modern day South Carolina who are a political power house.  Avery Stafford is surprised to see a picture that looks like her grandmother in a room at the local nursing home when she is there for an event.  What can the two families have in common?

aired the week of August 7, 2017

The Hideaway by Lauren K. Denton is a rundown former bed and breakfast in Sweet Bay, Alabama that Sara has just inherited from her grandmother Mags.  In her will Mags makes the stipulation that Sara must return the old house to its former glory before she sells it.  As she works on the house, Sara uncovers a whole other side to her eccentric grandmother.  Told in alternating viewpoints, The Hideaway is a nice summer beach read.

aired the week of July 31, 2017

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda is a suspenseful thriller with a twist.  It is told backward starting at Day 15 and working back to Day 1 when  Annaleise goes missing after leaving a message with the police asking about a 10-year-old cold case involving a teenage girl that disappeared after a night at the county fair.

aired the week of July 24, 2017

White Stallion of Lipizza by Marguerite Henry is a 1964 classic children's book about young Hans Hapt who dreams about being more than just a baker in Vienna, Austria.  He wants to ride one of the magnificent white Lipizzaner stallions he sees every day as he makes his bakery rounds.  Someday he will learn the secret to how they perform their airs above the ground. 

I challenge you to remember a beloved childhood classic and  pick it up for a read, or share it with a child or grandchild.

aired the week of July 17, 2017

The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick is the story of Anna Harris who finding her employer murdered takes off across country changing her name and finding a job as a reporter for a gossip rag in California.  But murder is following Anna as the source she is going to talk to is found dead in the swimming pool of a swanky California hotel.  Set in the 1930s this historical romance is filled with mystery and intrigue.

aired the week of July 10, 2017

All That's Left to Tell by Daniel Lowe is the story of mid-level PepsiCo executive Marc Laurent who gets himself sent to Pakistan for a while following his divorce.  While there he is abducted and held for ransom.  During his imprisonment he meets Josephine his interrogator and together they build a bond telling stories about Marc's daughter Claire.

aired the week of July 3, 2017

Karolina's Twins by Ronald H. Balson is the story of Lena Woodward, an elderly woman from Chicago who survived the Holocaust in Poland.  She is looking for the twin daughters of her best friend.  They were lost in the chaos of war.  But, Lena's son Arthur doesn't want his mother to continue what he considers a wild goose chase.

aired the week of June 26, 2017

The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall is an irreverent southern story with strong female characters fighting that mother daughter relationship.  Polly is 55 when her daughter Willow is born and Willow is very concerned that her mother will up and die leaving her all alone.  If only Willow can find out about Polly's past, maybe that will help her forge a future.

aired the week of June 19, 2017

A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton introduces Alex McKnight a former Detroit police officer who has moved to Paradise, Michigan to get away from a horrific past.  Unfortunately for Alex his past is about to track him down in the form of the man who almost killed him and did succeed in killing his partner.  It is up to Alex to figure out what is going on.

aired the week of June 12, 2017

The Thing About Love by Julie James is a romantic romp featuring FBI special agents Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd as they work together on a corruption case.  Never mind that they haven't gotten along since the academy, the sparks are flying.

aired the week of June 5, 2017

The Burning by Jane Casey is a British police procedural.  Detective Constable Maeve Kerrigan is working on tracking a killer the media has dubbed the burning man.  A new victim has just been discovered and  Maeve sees some differences between this and previous crime scenes.  She asks to investigate this case separately and so starts her race to find the killer before he can claim another victim.

aired the week of May 29, 2017

The Eighty-Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts tells the story of Snowman an unlikely champion with a huge heart.  Snowman and his owner Harry de Leyer a recent Dutch immigrant set their sights on winning the jumping division at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden. This is the story of an underdog who never gives up.

aired the week of May 22, 2017

Where it Hurts by Reed Farrel Coleman is a thriller that follows retired cop Gus Murphy.  Gus quit the force when his son died and now he is a driver for a hotel in New York.  When he is tracked down by a petty criminal who wants Gus to look into his son's death, Gus is unwittingly drawn into a web of deception that leads him right back to his old stomping grounds.