Fall into a good book

Cozy up with these suggested reads this fall; compiled by AMANDA ANDERSON MATTHEWS

The Boston Globe calls well-known thriller author Riley Sager’s 2022 release, “The House Across the Lake,” “compulsively readable,” the perfect description for this impossible-to-put-down novel.

Casey Fletcher is a recently-widowed and disgraced actress who retreats to her family’s lake house in Vermont to dry out and recover from excessive tabloid coverage.

Instead of sobering up, Casey camps out on her deck with a bottle of bourbon and a pair of binoculars. She begins spying on the neighbors, the wealthy and fabulous Tom and Katherine Royce. Chaos follows.

The mystery and intrigue run deep in this book. Every time you think you have it figured out, I promise, you haven’t. Don’t miss this exciting thriller!

Barbara Kingsolver’s 2022 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel tells the story of “Demon Copperhead,” a moniker given to the novel’s lead character for his fiery hair and viper-like attitude.

At times tragic and in ways that only Kingsolver can, she carries the reader through the painful and difficult times of growing up unwanted and desperate in Appalachia.

You may need to put this book down because it can be gut-wrenching, but you will be compelled to pick it up again. As hard as it is to read, it’s also incredibly powerful. The characters are compelling and engaging. You simply must know how it ends.

This novel is a modern “David Copperfield,” examining how poverty affects children in the 21st century.

Follow orphaned twins Alex and Cleo as their swashbuckling adventures take them across the U.S. in the middle-grade graphic novel, “Compass South.”

It’s 1860 in New York City. When Alex and Cleo’s father disappears, they join the Black Hook Gang and are caught by the police pulling off a heist. They agree to reveal the identity of the gang in exchange for tickets to New Orleans.

But once there, Alex is kidnapped and made to work on a ship heading for San Francisco via Cape Horn. Cleo stows away on a steamer to New Granada, hoping to catch a train to San Francisco to find her brother.

Neither Alex nor Cleo realizes the real danger they are in—they are being followed by pirates who think they hold the key to treasure. How they outwit the pirates and find each other makes for a face-paced adventure.

According to 9-year-old Hazel, “I like this book because the illustrations were really good. I like the characters. The book was an exciting adventure story. I would recommend it to other people because it’s a good pirate story.”

This book is recommended for young readers aged 10 to 12, but avid readers and adults will also enjoy the adventure.

In “Katie the Catsitter,” Katie is dreading the boring summer ahead while her best friends are all away at camp—something that’s way out of Katie and her mom’s budget, unless Katie can figure out a way to earn the money for camp herself. But when Katie gets a job catsitting for her mysterious upstairs neighbor, life gets interesting.

First, Madeline has 217 cats (!) and they’re not exactly . . . normal cats. Also, why is Madeline always out exactly when the city’s most notorious villain commits crimes?! Is it possible Katie’s upstairs neighbor is really a super villain? Can Katie wrangle a whole lot of wayward cats, save a best friendship (why is Beth barely writing back? And who’s this boy she keeps talking about?!), and crack the biggest story in the city’s history? Some heroes have capes . . . Katie has cats!

Hazel recommends this series—“It’s good because it’s a superhero story. If you love cats, you will love these books. Or superheroes. The books have super villains, drama, and lots and lots of cats! I have read all these books about five times each in the past few weeks because they are so good!”

Owen County Public Library Staff Pick: “The Poacher’s Son” by Paul Doiron

Game warden Mike Bowditch returns home one evening to find an alarming voice from the past on his answering machine: his father, Jack, a hard-drinking womanizer who makes his living poaching illegal game. An even more frightening call comes the next morning from the police: they are searching for the man who killed a beloved local cop the night before—and his father is their prime suspect. Jack has escaped from police custody, and only Mike believes that his tormented father may not be guilty.