Talking Book and Braille Library News

Are you looking for a new book to read in 2023? Our library staff have put together a list for you about fresh starts. Our list includes romance novels, non-fiction topics, bestsellers, mysteries and much more. 

Amish Outsider by Marta Perry

• Summary: Book 1 in River Haven series. In the wake of his estranged wife’s murder, widower Michael Forster returns to the Amish community he’d left as a teen. He wants a fresh start for himself and his daughter, Allie, away from those who still believe he’s guilty. In River Haven, a quieter life seems possible. If only Allie’s Amish schoolteacher, Catherine Brandt, were easier to ignore. Unrated. 2021.
• Amish Outsider, digital book DBC20696 on BARD courtesy of the Utah State Library Division

The Answer Is...: Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek

• Summary: Longtime host of the TV game show Jeopardy! shares stories of his life and career. Alongside anecdotes about the show and its contestants, he discusses marriage, parenthood, spirituality, education, philanthropy, and his own battle with cancer. 2020.
• The Answer Is, BR 23274, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 2 volumes
• The Answer Is, digital book DB 99678

The Best American Travel Writing 2021, edited by Padma Lakshmi and Jason Wilson

• Summary: Collection of twenty-five previously published essays on traveling and experiencing cultures around the world, selected by television personality and host of Top Chef. Includes work by Kiese Makeba Laymon, author of Heavy (DB 93279), and Meghan Daum, author of The Problem with Everything (DB 97694). Strong language and some violence. 2021.
• The Best American Travel Writing, digital book DB105607 on BARD

Braver Than You Think: Around the World on the Trip of My (Mother’s) Lifetime by Maggie Downs

• Summary: Journalist chronicles her journey around the world as she travels to the destinations her mother dreamed of visiting. Discusses managing and maintaining her relationship with her new husband as she travels alone, dealing with the death of a family member, and coming to an understanding of herself. Strong language. 2020.
• Braver Than You Think, BR 23311, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 4 volumes
• Braver Than You Think, digital book DB100268

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

• Summary:  When she moves to a new town after being dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. The charming Sophie takes an interest in Annie and teaches her how to take control of her life, but Annie is unsure why the townsfolk all seem to dislike Sophie so much. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
• Cackle, digital book, DB 107077 on BARD

Fly Girl: A Memoir by Ann Hood

• Summary: An entertaining and fascinating memoir of "gifted storyteller" Ann Hood’s adventurous years as a TWA flight attendant. In 1978, in the tailwind of the golden age of air travel, flight attendants were the epitome of glamor and sophistication. Fresh out of college and hungry to experience the world and maybe, one day, write about it, Ann Hood joined their ranks. After a grueling job search, Hood survived TWA’s rigorous Breech Training Academy and learned to evacuate seven kinds of aircraft, deliver a baby, mix proper cocktails, administer oxygen, and stay calm no matter what the situation. In the air, Hood found both the adventure she’d dreamt of and the unexpected realities of life on the job. She carved chateaubriand in the first-class cabin and dined in front of the pyramids in Cairo, fended off passengers’ advances and found romance on layovers in London and Lisbon, and walked more than a million miles in high heels. She flew through the start of deregulation, an oil crisis, massive furloughs, and a labor strike. As the airline industry changed around her, Hood began to write--even drafting snatches of her first novel--from the jump-seat. She reveals how the job empowered her, despite its roots in sexist standards. Packed with funny, moving, and shocking stories of life as a flight attendant, Fly Girl captures the nostalgia and magic of air travel at its height, and the thrill that remains with every takeoff. Summary provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
• Fly Girl: A Memoir, digital book DB108797 on BARD

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals by Laurie Zaleski

• Summary: An inspiring and moving memoir of the author’s turbulent life with 600 rescue animals. Laurie Zaleski never aspired to run an animal rescue; that was her mother Annie’s dream. But from girlhood, Laurie was determined to make the dream come true. Thirty years later as a successful businesswoman, she did it, buying a 15-acre farm deep in the Pinelands of South Jersey. She was planning to relocate Annie and her caravan of ragtag rescues--horses and goats, dogs and cats, chickens, and pigs--when Annie died, just two weeks before moving day. In her heartbreak, Laurie resolved to make her mother’s dream her own. In 2001, she established the Funny Farm Animal Rescue outside Mays Landing, New Jersey. Today, she carries on Annie’s mission to save abused and neglected animals. Funny Farm is Laurie’s story: of promises kept, dreams fulfilled, and animals lost and found. It’s the story of Annie McNulty, who fled a nightmarish marriage with few skills, no money and no resources, dragging three kids behind her, and accumulating hundreds of cast-off animals on the way. And lastly, it’s the story of the brave, incredible, and adorable animals that were rescued. Although there are some sad parts (as life always is), there are lots of laughs. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
• Funny Farm, BR 24212, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 3 volumes
• Funny Farm, digital book DB108537 on BARD

A Hope Remembered by Stacy Henrie

• Summary: Book 3 in Of Love and War series. Nora Lewis just wants an escape after losing her fiancé in the Great War. When she inherits property in England, she boldly packs up and leaves America for a fresh start. But, if not for her dashing new neighbor, Colin Ashby, she’d be lost. Even as their friendship deepens, Nora knows a British aristocrat would never be free to love an American orphan, no matter how much the war has changed the world. Unrated.
• A Hope Remembered, digital book, DBC2061 on BARD

New Native Kitchen: Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian by Chef Freddie Bitsoie and James O. Fraioli

• Summary: Chef Bitsoie and James Beard Award-winning author Fraioli present a collection of recipes celebrating Indigenous cuisine and food traditions of North America. Categories include soups, salads and vinaigrettes, vegetables and starches, land and sea, and puddings and sweets. Includes a list of pantry items typically found in Indigenous kitchens. 2021.
• New Native Kitchen, ebraille on BARD, BR24066 UEB Contracted Braille, 3 volumes
• New Native Kitchen, digital book, DB106243

The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love With Me by Keah Brown

• Summary: Essays from a disability rights advocate with cerebral palsy, discussing what it’s like to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied, white America. Examines her relationship with her able-bodied twin, navigating romance, her love of pop culture, and her viral hashtag #DisabledAndCute. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
• The Pretty One, digital book DB 96736

The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts

• Summary: The triumphant true story of a woman who rode her horse across America in the 1950s, fulfilling her dying wish to see the Pacific Ocean. The author recounts her adventure, which included crushing storms, celebrity encounters, and harrowing stretches of highways. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
• The Ride of Her Life, digital book, DB107346

Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes a Day by Becky Rapinchuk

• Summary: Blogger details her tips and tricks for keeping a tidy house and building the habits of a neat person. Includes advice on getting started, tutorials for hard-to-clean spaces, recipes for cleaning supplies, checklists, schedules, and more. 2017.
• Simply Clean, ebraille on BARD, BR 23678, UEB Contracted Braille, 3 volumes
• Simply Clean, digital book, DB102835

Stop Self-Sabotage: Six Steps to Unlock Your True Motivation, Harness Your Willpower, And Get Out of Your Own Way by Dr. Judy Ho, PhD., ABPP

• Summary: A clinical psychologist looks at why people do things that undermine their best interests and intentions. She gives advice on how to stop self-sabotaging, including how to identify your triggers, modify your thoughts and behaviors, find your true motivation, and unlock your willpower. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.
• Stop Self-Sabotage, digital book DB 104951 on BARD

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

• Summary: Author and motivational speaker believes that trusting one’s inner voice and ignoring the world’s expectations can lead to joy and peace. Speaks of her own experiences learning to listen to herself at key moments and reclaim her true, untamed self. Strong language. Bestseller, 2020.
• Untamed, BR 24067, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 3 volumes
• Untamed, digital book DB 98981 on BARD

Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson and Kwame Alexander

• Summary: A fictionalized account of boxing legend and activist Muhammad Ali’s youth. Describes how despite school struggles and dealing with racism, a very determined Cassius Clay overcame obstacles in his life—in and out of the ring. For grades 4–7. 2020.
• Becoming Muhammad Ali, digital book DB101045 on BARD
• Becoming Muhammad Ali, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 2 volumes

The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter

• Summary: Billy Plimpton wants to be a famous comedian, but his stutter gets in the way. He decides to avoid talking in his new school. However, Billy’s newfound silence manages to draw the attention of the school bully. For grades 4–7. 2021.
• The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 2 volumes
• The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh, digital book, DB 106275 on BARD

Bright Star by Yuyi

• Summary: A doe reassures her fawn during difficult times. Includes some Spanish. For preschool-grade 2. 2021.
• Bright Star, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 1 volume
• Bright Star, digital book, DB105410 on BARD

Butterflies on the First Day of School by Annie Silvestro and Dream Chen

• Summary: The night before the big day, Rosie’s excitement about starting school turns into a tummy ache. Rosie’s mom reassures her that it is just butterflies. Much to her surprise, one flies right out of her mouth when she makes a new friend on the bus! PRINT/BRAILLE. For preschool–grade 2. 2019.
• Butterflies on the First Day of School, Print Braille BR 23020, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 1 volume

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

• Summary: Seventeen-year-old Jani and her little sister Zosa secure jobs at a glamorous magical hotel. Soon, they learn that their staff contracts are unbreakable. Jani embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery of the magic at the heart of the hotel and free Zosa--and the other staff--from the cruelty of the ruthless maître d’hôtel. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2022.
• Hotel Magnifique, digital book, DB107829, on BARD

I Funny: A Middle School Story by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

• Summary: Middle school story series, book 1, Resolving to become the world’s greatest stand-up comedian despite less-than-funny challenges in his life, wheelchair-user middle-school student Jamie Grimm endures bullying from his mean-spirited cousin and hopes he will be fairly judged when he enters a local comedy contest. For grades 4-7. 2012.
• I Funny, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 2 volumes
• I Funny, digital book, DB 79367 on BARD

The Next Great Jane by K.L. Going

• Summary: Jane, a budding writer and Jane Austen fan, discovers the true secret to writing when a famous author and her cute, but annoying, son come to her small coastal town. They play seemingly unwitting roles in affecting the custody battle between Jane’s Hollywood mother and marine biologist father. For grades 5–8. 2020.
• The Next Great Jane, BR23359, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 2 volumes
• The Next Great Jane, digital book DB100745 on BARD

Normal: One Kid’s Extraordinary Journey by Magdalena and Nathaniel Newman with Hilary Liftin

• Summary: Memoir of Nathaniel, a teenage boy with craniofacial differences caused by Treacher Collins syndrome. His mother, the co-writer, discusses the family’s perspective. For grades 5–8. 2020.
• Normal, BR23313, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 2 volumes
• Normal, digital book, DB100281 on BARD

The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad with S. K. Ali; illustrated by Hatem Aly

• Summary: Young Faizah relates how she feels on the first day her sister, sixth-grader Asiya, wears a hijab to school. PRINT/BRAILLE. For grades K–3. 2019.
• The Proudest Blue, Print Braille BR23172, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 1 volume

When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff; illustrated by Kaylani Juanita

• Summary: Aidan, a transgender boy, experiences complicated emotions as he and his parents prepare for the arrival of a new baby. PRINT/BRAILLE. For grades K-3. 2019.
• When Aiden Became a Brother, Print Braille BR23022, ebraille on BARD, UEB Contracted Braille, 1 volume