The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice

It's 1950's London and everything is about to change for Penelope; well, let's hear her tell it herself:

It all started on a perfectly ordinary afternoon in November. Charlotte invited me home to tea with Aunt Clare and Harry, and from that moment on, everything changed. At first I don't think I knew it--after all, when I went to bed that night I was still living with my mother and brother in perpetual chaos in a crumbling estate we couldn't afford to keep, Magna--but the next day, I began to realize that for the first time ever, I had my own life. (from the book jacket for The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice)

From the very beginning of The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, Eva Rice pulls you into the lives of three upper class teenagers in postwar London and this charming book will keep you entertained as you are swept along with their parties, friendships, intrigues, crushes on pop stars, lost loves, found loves--in short, as they grow up and find their own way. Don't be put off by the teenaged characters; you'll love it as an adult for it's ability to convey a time and place as well as the way it will take you back to your own early twenties. Uneven in spots, the characters are nevertheless so well drawn that you will be sorry to leave them at book's end. It's no mistake that Eva Rice is the daughter of lyricist Tim Rice (The Lion King): she's obviously inherited the family gene for entertaining.

Find The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets at the Adrian Public Library.

Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

Summer reading is at its best in Marjorie Hart's memoir Summer at Tiffany. It is the summer of 1945 and Marjorie Jacobson and Marty Garrett arrive in the middle of New York City straight from the heartland--the heartland defined as the Kappa House at the University of Iowa, that is. The two twenty-somethings find jobs as the first female pages at the famous Tiffany & Co., share a studio apartment, pinch pennies in order to eat at the Automat (vowing not to write home for money), date handsome servicemen and in short, have the summer of their lives. Interwoven with her personal memories Marjorie gives us a wonderful portrait of New York City in the summer of 1945, including a first-hand description of celebrating VJ Day in Times Square, as well as a real sense of what it was like to be young and full of opportunity at the end of World War II. Marjorie went on to become the chairman of the Fine Arts Department at the University of San Diego and a professional cellist. Now eighty-three, she wrote this memoir as a project later in life, and it was worth the wait. A delightful, easy read, Summer at Tiffany is worth checking out in any season.

Find Summer at Tiffany at the Adrian Public Library.

Looking for a good mystery to read? Check out

Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts
Reena Hale, a Baltimore arson investigator, has been fascinated by fire and the world of firefighting since the destruction of her family’s pizzeria as a child. While investigating a series of seemingly unrelated crimes she realizes that someone has been pursuing her through the years. Random crimes that impacted her family and friends take on a new meaning as this story builds towards the searing climax. Now she is the target of an arsonist who taunts her with threatening phone calls and escalating crimes. While Reena struggles to uncover the killer she falls for local contractor Bo Goodnight. His need to protect Reena conflicts with her need for independence and goal of proving herself equal to her peers. Intertwined is Reena’s relationship with her close but complex Italian family and the role they play supporting her relationship and career.

You can find it in the library catalog by clicking on this link.