Kansas Talking Books staff share what they are reading or have read recently.
Amanda, Production Manager
A tale set in Victorian England on an alternate Earth. Young Lyra Belacqua and her daemon enjoy an idyllic life among the scholars at Jordan College. Then her friend Roger and other children are abducted by the Gobblers. Venturing north in pursuit, Lyra encounters an alien and sinister world. Violence. For junior and senior high readers
Three mysteries, written in 2018-19, featuring Lana Lee, who returned to her family's Cleveland restaurant after her relationship and job imploded. Includes Death by Dumpling, Dim Sum of All Fears, and Murder Lo Mein, in which a food critic dies after getting a threatening fortune cookie. 2019.
Brother Cadfael, an intrepid medieval monk of Shrewsbury Abbey, takes up the cause of two thwarted lovers. When the body of the prospective bridegroom is found mangled in a forest, the luckless lover is accused. Uncannily equipped by his knowledge of human nature to sniff out a villain, even Cadfael is shocked by a clue from an unexpected source.
Four paranormal romances set in the town of Nocturne Falls, where the supernatural residents celebrate Halloween all year. Includes The Vampire's Mail Order Bride, The Werewolf Meets His Match, The Gargoyle Gets His Girl, and The Professor Woos the Witch. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2015.
Life is sugar-sweet for Melanie and Angie, who bake extra love into their friend Rene's favorite pumpkin spice cupcakes, to cheer her up while she works on a massive art installation. Before Rene can debut, she's found poisoned, and police suspect cupcakes may have been the murder weapon. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
Dylan, Patron Services
The teenaged members of the Blyton Summer Detective Club last solved a case together in 1977. Thirteen years later, they return to where their adventures began, to confront their inner demons and the real monsters that are waiting for them. Strong language, violence, and some descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
Maggie, Lead Readers’ Advisor/Outreach Librarian
Yadriel, who is transgender, summons the angry spirit of his high school's bad boy, and agrees to help him learn how he died, thereby proving himself a brujo, not a bruja, to his conservative family. Strong language, some violence, and some descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2020.
Michael, Director
DB 76608 Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
Robert Grainier, born in 1886 and orphaned at a young age, is sent to live with relatives in Idaho. Once grown, Grainier finds work building railroads and logging trees. He marries later in life only to lose his family in a tragedy. Meanwhile, progress changes the frontier. 2002.