Central Kansas Library System

Penelope Ruiz-Kar navigates the sometimes-rocky terrain in her marriage with husband Sanjay as well as in her relationship with best friend Jenny Sweet. Penelope Ruiz-Kar is barely keeping it together with her underemployed husband, their unruly brood, and the daily grind she calls a career. Her best friend, Jenny Sweet, is sailing through life with a passionate marriage, pristine house, and ultra-polite child. When a tragedy reveals that Jenny's...

While trekking across South America, first-time backpacker Ellie Bartlett finds a mysterious guidebook that changes the course of her journey--and her life. 'A gorgeously written story with wonderful characters and stunning scenery.' - Alli Sinclair, bestselling author of The Codebreakers. Ellie Bartlett dreams of a life away from the sharp edges of New York City. Away from her creepy boss, shoebox apartment, and nights spent alone eating ice-cream....

Sophie Winter lives in a self-imposed cocoon, a single, thirty-one year old translator who works from home in her one bedroom flat. This isn't really the life she dreamed of, but then Sophie stopped believing in happy endings a very long time ago, when she was fifteen years old and tragedy struck her family. Her grief has left her scared of commitment and completely risk averse, so she plays it safe and keeps everyone at arm's length. Sophie understands...

An ordinary man, reduced by years of oppressive office routine to a shadow existence, makes a supreme effort to turn his dull life into something wonderful after receiving a terminal diagnosis.

"A young mother struggles to get back on her feet after a devastating loss leaves her and her daughter alone and living on the street"--

Few writers can enter their characters so completely or evoke their lives as viscerally as Andre Dubus III. In this deeply compelling new novel, a father, estranged for the worst of reasons, is driven to seek out the daughter he has not seen in decades. Daniel Ahearn lives a quiet, solitary existence in a seaside New England town. Forty years ago, following a shocking act of impulsive violence on his part, his daughter, Susan, was ripped from his...

It's the last day of school and Frankie Jones is looking down the barrel of a long, hot, boring summer with only her guitar for company until [option 1]. She gets a surprise chance to go to London. She's dying to go except that it will mean seeing her heartbreakingly cute British friend Jack again. Will things take up where they left off? Or can Frankie finally prove she's over him? [option 2]. Her dad invites her on a beach holiday. But when she...

In the Missouri wilderness of 1855, woodcutter Salem Greene leaves his family alone for two days, then returns to find his wife and nine-year-old daughter brutally raped and murdered. His son is gone, presumed dead. Greene finds the perpetrators and exacts a horrific retribution. Feeling unfit to live with others, he goes into exile and tries to forget the past. Unbeknownst to Greene, his twelve-year-old son Martin escaped and lives in a cave two...

Life for Ethan and Zo used to be simple. Ethan co-founded a lucrative media start-up and Zo was well on her way to becoming a successful filmmaker. Then they moved to a rural community for a little more tranquility - or so they thought. When newfound political activism transforms Zo into a barely recognizable ball of outrage and #MeToo allegations rock his old firm, Ethan finds himself a misfit in his own life. Enter a houseguest who is young, fun...