Linda Frenzel, MSLS

Camden Library Director

Linda's Picks:

When the Duke and Duchess of Kent and their daughter--the future Queen Victoria--rent neighboring Woolbrook Cottage for the winter, the Summers sisters are called upon to host three of the royal family's male staff in their seaside house. But they soon realize they've invited secrets and intrigue into their home.

Meanwhile, Emily Summers longs to become an author. A local publisher offers to consider her novel if she will first write a Sidmouth guidebook for him. Emily agrees and begins researching the area with help from the Duke of Kent's handsome private secretary. But a surprise visitor from her past shows up at Sea View, leaving Emily torn between the desires she's long held dear and her budding dreams for the future.

Return to the Devonshire coast with the Summers sisters, where loyalties are tested, secrets come to light, and new love emerges.    Amazon

Disgraced eldest sister Claire Summers has been living in exile as companion to a stern great-aunt in Scotland. About to lose her place and longing to be reconciled with her estranged family, Claire sees an advertisement from someone looking for a "respectable female partner" in a Sidmouth boarding house. Is it a sign? She answers the ad, hoping she has not made another reckless mistake. When she meets the handsome, secretive proprietor, she wonders what he's hiding and if he's any more trustworthy than the nobleman who betrayed her years ago. Claire is drawn to him even though she fears he will reject her when he discovers her genteel façade hides a less-than-respectable past.

Meanwhile, the Summers family learns their great-aunt has died and Claire has disappeared without a word. The sisters rally together to find their lost sibling, but will their unexpected reunion heal old wounds and rekindle their bonds . . . or deepen the divide?     Amazon

From the Publisher

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Following the journey to his "last date" we follow an unnamed "junkie" on his last legs of life. But what isn't expected, is the raw emotions you will feel reading this short book. It made me wonder how the author knew so much about addiction, afterlife and what we think about in our dying days. When I finished, I was speechless and spent hours after feeling as though I had just been told a true-life story from a ghost himself. 

In the (maybe not so far) future, AI has taken us to new discoveries and ways of life. One of these is "meta children" and how they differ from their real-life counterparts is slighter than you would expect. Taking place in a reality show setting, we follow different families as they navigate the world of AI children, the metaverse and the very dark and horrible secrets behind the scenes. 

A timeless classic that I read as a little girl and have now read to my youngest child. This is the first in many books to follow of the (close to non-fiction) life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. A great beginner book for children who have that adventurous side, and a helpful learning subject on how life back then was so different than now. Needless to say, this was a huge hit with my youngest and I will be re-reading the whole series to her!