Classics
Macbeth
William Shakespeare
822.33 /Macbeth
Classics
A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death. Macbeth is thought to have been first performed in 1606.
To kill a mockingbird
Harper Lee
FICTION Lee, Harper
Fiction, Classics
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee. Although it was written in 1960 it is set in the mid-1930s in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. It is narrated by Scout Finch, a six-year-old tomboy who lives with her lawyer father Atticus and her ten-year-old brother Jem. During the novel Scout, Jem and their friend Dill try to make their reclusive neighbor Boo Radley leave his house. Boo has not been seen in Maycomb since he was a teenager. Many residents of Maycomb are racists and during the novel Atticus is asked to defend Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Atticus takes on the case even though everyone knows he has little hope of winning. The reader sees the trial develop through the childlike eyes of Scout, as gradually both she and her brother learn some valuable life lessons from their father about tolerance, empathy and understanding.
Added by Beth
Charlotte's web
E. B. (Elwyn Brooks) White
jFICTION White, E. B.
Classics
"I don't understand it. But for that matter I don't understand how a spider learned to spin a web in the first place. When the words appeared, everyone said they were a miracle. But nobody pointed out that the web itself is a miracle." -Casey
A Christmas carol : in prose, being a ghost story of Christmas
Charles Dickens
FICTION Dickens, Charles
Classics, Literary Fiction
We are currently reading A Christmas Carol aloud for bedtime, and loving it! Plus, it's the perfect time of year to revisit this often adapted classic. -Casey
Rebecca
Daphne Du Maurier
FICTION DuMaurier, Daphne
Classics, Suspense
A young girl becomes the second Mrs. Max de Winter, only to find that she is not the mistress of Manderley. Instead the house and its occupants are dominated by the memory of Rebecca, her predecessor.
I saw that this book was getting adapted for the screen via Netflix and felt regret that I hadn't read it. Luckily it was available on Libby and I was done with it roughly 24 hours later. What a read! So much mystery and shroud with a couple good twists and wonderful descriptions. It's hard to believe this was written almost a century ago, it feels ahead of its time and contends with all of the suspense books written more recently. I am a firm believer in reading the book first and this was a great read, and while I am excited to watch it on screen, I doubt it will live up to it's expectations of the book. -Mari
Bud, not Buddy
Christopher Paul Curtis
eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Read Woke, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Classics
Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.
This won the Newbery Award when I was about the same age as Bud. It's just as meaningful now as I remember it being at 11. -Casey
The Watsons go to Birmingham-- 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
eBOOK
Black Lives Matter, Black History, Historical Fiction, Classics
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
Added by Casey
The mouse and the motorcycle
Beverly Cleary
eBOOK
Classics, Adventure, Fantasy, Animals
A reckless young mouse named Ralph makes friends with a boy in room 215 of the Mountain View Inn and discovers the joys of motorcycling.
This is the first Beverly Cleary novel I remember reading as a child, and I'm beyond excited to share it aloud at bedtime again! -Casey
Three tales of my father's dragon
Ruth Stiles Gannett
eBOOK
Fantasy, Adventure, Classics
A compilation of three tales which relate the fantastic adventures of Elmer Elevator and a baby flying dragon named Boris.
My Father's Dragon is a delight! A story as delectable as fresh tangerines, whimsical illustrations, and digestible chapters make this perfect family reading. -Casey
Added by Beth