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Book in a Bag Club
Join the Book Club Today!
Every month, we will be packing our monthly read into a bag, with some additional book swag and yummy treats, and delivering directly to our members. The book, as well as the swag and treats, are yours to keep. Mark the date on your calendar for our monthly Google Meet Book Talk and join our club members online for some unfeigned discourse.
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Week of March 29
A companion to the New York Times bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, now a major motion picture directed by Tim Burton.
Before Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales.
Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—the collection of fairy tales known to hide information about the peculiar world, including clues to the locations of time loops—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.
Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories in this deluxe volume of Tales of the Peculiar, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar. Featuring stunning illustrations from world-renowned woodcut artist Andrew Davidson this compelling and truly peculiar anthology is the perfect gift for not only fans, but for all booklovers.
Week of April 6
Philip Pullman returns to the parallel world of His Dark Materials--now an HBO original series--to expand on the story of Lyra, “one of fantasy’s most indelible heroines” (The New York Times Magazine).
Malcolm Polstead and his daemon, Asta, are used to overhearing news and the occasional scandal at the inn run by his family. But during a winter of unceasing rain, Malcolm finds a mysterious object—and finds himself in grave danger.
Inside the object is a cryptic message about something called Dust; and it’s not long before Malcolm is approached by the spy for whom this message was actually intended. When she asks Malcolm to keep his eyes open, he begins to notice suspicious characters everywhere: the explorer Lord Asriel, clearly on the run; enforcement agents from the Magisterium; a gyptian named Coram with warnings just for Malcolm; and a beautiful woman with an evil monkey for a daemon. All are asking about the same thing: a girl—just a baby—named Lyra.
“Too few things in our world are worth a seventeen-year wait: The Book of Dust is one of them.” —The Washington Post
Week of April 20
"Gossip Girl meets The Hunger Games." --Bustle " but British and deadly. . . . This book is great, from start to finish." --Hypable
Get ready for one deadly weekend in this twisting thriller for fans of Pretty Little Liars and One of Us is Lying that explores just how far the elite at an English boarding school will go.
In the opening line of this debut thriller, Manchester native Greer MacDonald reveals that she might be a murderer. She's excited to land a scholarship to elite S.T.A.G.S.—St. Aiden the Great School—until she's targeted by a clique of aristocratic bullies—the Medievals. When ringleader Henry de Warlencourt invites her and fellow outsiders Chanel and Shafeen to his palatial estate for the weekend, the "huntin' shootin' fishin' " trip quickly turns deadly. They're singled out because they don't fit in: Greer isn't rich, Chanel's money comes from her father's invention of a smartphone instead of inherited wealth, and Shafeen, although descended from Indian royalty, has the "wrong" skin color. The Medievals turn their guns on these three "savages" because they've dared to rise above their social station. Bennett creates a chilling atmosphere on every page. She describes the gorgeous grounds of Longcross, the de Warlencourt home, in rich detail, but never allows readers to relax for long. A threatening servant or an explosion of gunfire always lurks around the corner. The absence of modern technology at Longcross increases the sense that Greer is isolated and in danger. She frequently compares the weekend's bizarre incidents to scenes from classic movies that emphasize the drama. The book reads like a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or an Agatha Christie mystery for modern teens. VERDICT Hand this suspenseful study of British aristocracy to fans of spooky boarding school stories like Robin Talley's As I Descended.—Amy Duffy, Chicago Public Library
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Week of April 20
New York Times bestselling adult author of The Bear and the Nightingale makes her middle grade debut with a creepy, spellbinding ghost story destined to become a classic
After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think--she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man," a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price. Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn't have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver's warning. As the trio head out into the woods--bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them--the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small." And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.
Week of April 27
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is an epic star-crossed romance about a girl who might be able to save the world . . . if she lets go of the one thing she’s found to hold on to.
“Fast-paced, gripping, and romantic.”—Publishers Weekly
“Lightning-paced . . . like a cinematic blockbuster.”—Kirkus Reviews
Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.
The world Prenna James comes from is in ruins. She and the others who escaped are here to prevent humanity’s destruction. But if they don’t follow The Rules, everything that matters will be gone: Friends. Families. Dreams. Love.
Ethan Jarves can never know Prenna’s secret. That she’s not from another place.
She’s from another time.
"This gripping story is set in a world unlike any other and inhabited by beautifully imagined characters that stay with you long after the last page.” – Sara Shepard, bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars
Week of April 27
Before the Baudelaires became orphans, before he encountered A Series of Unfortunate Events, even before the invention of Netflix, Lemony Snicket was a boy discovering the mysteries of the world.
Is Lemony Snicket a detective or a smoke detector?
Do you smell smoke? Young apprentice Lemony Snicket is investigating a case of arson but soon finds himself enveloped in the ever-increasing mystery that haunts the town of Stain'd-by-the-Sea. Who is setting the fires? What secrets are hidden in the Department of Education? Why are so many schoolchildren in danger? Is it all the work of the notorious villain Hangfire? How could you even ask that? What kind of education have you had?
Maybe you should be in school?