Flathead County Library

I’m Deidre—an avid book lover, Adult Programming Librarian for Flathead County Library, and Branch Manager of the Bigfork Library. I love when other people make monthly book plan lists, so I’d thought I’d share mine too!

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At our library, there will often be books that become highly checked out and requested as holds. Often certain titles will continue to be popular for years after they were published, and are rarely found just sitting on the shelf waiting for someone to find them while browsing. Thousands and thousands of books are checked out and in patron homes at any given time, which is why knowing what you like and placing holds is a really great strategy when using your library card. You can have up to 40 holds at a time! If you aren’t sure how to place a hold, any staff at any of our branches would be happy to help you.

This month there are so many new books written by authors whose older titles continue to be hot commodities in the valley. You might consider getting your name on the list now, you’ll likely be able to take them home just as the weather starts turning cooler and the days feel cozy in that autumn sort of way.

Here are some other books I’m excited about this month:

• The Birthing Tree by Amanda Peters – A Mi’kmaq woman raised by her grandmother. I like stories about traditional medicine and midwifery, and intergenerational family relationships. Flathead library patrons really loved Peters’ previous novel The Berry Pickers, so if you read that you might want this one too!
• Under Story by Chloe Benjamin – Once upon a time I considered taking a job in Antarctica, so the McMurdo Station setting of this story appeals to me. A scientist who studies fungi has moved to McMurdo to work as a dishwasher to get away from her past, but then interesting fungi related science things start happening.
• The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon – Historical fiction about a real life 16th century Irish sea captain named Grace O’Malley. The author’s previous book, The Frozen River, continues to show up in our most requested holds list, so this is probably one to get your name on the list too if you like long historical fiction based on real lives.
• Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel – The plot of this book sounds similar to Mandel’s previous dystopian books Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility. This one is set in 2031 Los Angeles, just after the end of a civil war. The characters are headed to their first party since a curfew was lifted.
• American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee – Another family saga from the author of the extremely beloved book Pachinko. Hagwon is a type of institution in Korea where students receive supplementary instruction outside of regular school hours. This is a multigenerational story of a Korean American family in southern California. If you like long family sagas with lots of characters, this might be for you!
• Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason – I noticed this book because one of my favorite authors, Ann Patchett, had said she was excited about reading it. It sounds like the writing style is similar to Patchett’s, maybe quiet and with a slower pace, and the plot touches on the power of books to save our lives.

Here are some more in different genres that I noticed and thought that readers with different tastes than mine might be interested!

• Historical Fiction: Agrippa by Robert Harris – A novel about ancient Rome’s descent into dictatorship.
• Spy Thrillers: The French Illusion by John Grisham – FBI, CIA and French Intelligence working together to figure out a puzzle. In Paris!
• Mystery: Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley – Agatha Christie’s estate approved this new Miss Marple story. Do you think Foley can match Christie’s writing?
• Romance: Trust Fall by Lynn Painter – Small town girl gets rich and moves to New York City and finds herself in an enemies-to-lovers plot.