Book Chat May 20: World Bee Day

In North Carolina, during World War II, two girls—Lucy Brown and Allie Bert Tucker—decide to solve crimes just like Nancy Drew. Their chance comes when a man goes missing from town. Before they can solve the case, a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp opens, and more men go missing. Together the girls embark on a journey to discover if we ever really know who the enemy is.

"On 16 December, 1944, Hitler launched his 'last gamble' in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes. He believed he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp, then force the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were...

A chance meeting with a Sussex beekeeper turns into a pivotal, personal transformation when fifteen-year-old Mary Russell discovers that the beekeeper is the reclusive, retired detective Sherlock Holmes, who soon takes on the role of mentor and teacher.

Generation Z-- youth born after 1997-- seems to be made up of anxious overachievers, hounded by Tiger Moms and constantly tracked on social media. One would think that competitors in the National Spelling Bee, the most popular brain sport in America. would be the worst off. Shankar argues that, far from being simply overstressed and overscheduled, Gen Z spelling bee competitors are learning crucial twenty-first-century skills from their high-powered...

In the early 1930s, Karl and his sister Mary Adare, arrive by boxcar in Argus, a small off-reservation town in North Dakota. Orphaned, they look to their mother's sister Fritzie and her husband for refuge.

"It's 1924 South Carolina and the region is still recovering from the infamous boll weevil infestation that devastated the land and the economy. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters from starvation or die at the hands of an abusive husband. Retta is navigating a harsh world as a first-generation freed slave, still employed by the Coles, influential plantation proprietors who once owned her family....

"Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world. But menace skulks beneath the surface of this exclusive enclave, making its residents prone to outrage. When the Wilde family moves in, they trigger their neighbors’ worst fears. Dad Arlo’s a gruff has-been rock star with track marks. Mom Gertie’s got a thick...

"As Burlington grew into a city out of wilderness, more citizens meant more opportunities for crime. Horse thefts, murders and drunken brawls swamped the young and prosperous city. Those misdeeds inspired the first officers of what would become the Burlington Police Department to serve and protect. Step behind the scenes of the Griwold murder case, the Mad Riot of 1898 and the murder of Officer James McGrath. Glimpse the dangers of police work and...

"The story of a father and son separated by war and circumstance--and whose encounter with the legendary Holy Grail will change their lives forever-- an epic tale of love, loss, betrayal, vengeance, and retribution that follows Texas Ranger Hackberry Holland on his journey to reunite with his estranged son, Ishmael, a captain in the United States Army" -- "After a violent encounter that leaves four Mexican soldiers dead, Hackberry escapes the country...

Presents a revelatory exploration of the diverse emotional intelligence of animals as demonstrated in stories about loving pigs, cheating magpies, scheming roosters, and rats who regret bad choices. "Through vivid stories of devoted pigs, two-timing magpies, and scheming roosters, The Inner Life of Animals weaves Peter Wohlleben's wealth of personal experience observing nature in forests and fields with the latest scientific research into how animals...