Welcome to Check It Out! Your reviewers are members of the staff of the Plainfield Public Library. If you love books, movies, and music as much as we do, please share your favorites with us. If you have thoughts about a reviewed title, let us know.
The Writer’s Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives edited by Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager
Reviewed by Lisa K. Do you love chatting with friends about the books you've read? (Of course you do!) Are you always looking for reading recommendations? (Of course you are!) If you answer YES to these questions, then you need to pick up this book. It's full of interviews with 23 contemporary writers--all focused on… Read More
Lucy By the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
Reviewed by Lisa K. I almost didn't read this novel. Did I really want to read a story taking place during Covid? Haven't I already been dealing with Covid for over two years? For some reason I decided to give it a try and I'm SO GLAD I did. This is a quiet, character-based novel… Read More
The Appeal by Janice Hallett
Reviewed by Lisa K. This modern day epistolary novel is told entirely through emails, texts, and other documents. It's full of unreliable narrators, all with a connection to a local community theater group and all involved in a massive "appeal" to raise money for medical treatments for a sick child. Throw in a dead body,… Read More
On Animals by Susan Orlean
Reviewed by Lisa K. Whether you share your home with pets, enjoy watching animal documentaries, or just love beautifully crafted writing, you'll appreciate Susan Orleans' latest book. An unapologetic yet down to earth animal lover, Orlean writes humorously and realistically about show dogs, tigers, mules, homing pigeons, animal actors, whales, and many more in this… Read More
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz
Reviewed by Lisa K. They say that everyone, no matter how ordinary they seem, has a story to tell . . . After losing her factory job during the 2008 recession, Cara Romaro begins meeting with a vocational counselor for government assistance with finding a new job. Narrated in Cara's distinctive voice, this novel reveals… Read More
The Twelve Topsy-Turvy, Very Merry Days of Christmas by James Patterson & Tad Safran
Reviewed by Nichole. Will and Ella Sullivan’s mother passed away 5 years ago on Christmas. Since then, there has been no Christmas in Sullivan house and everything seems to have been neglected. Ella has become a recluse and germaphobe. Will is a tagalong to a group of troublemakers. Henry is a college professor who has… Read More
The Vicious Circle by Katherine St. John
Sveta is at a crossroads. She just found out her fiancé has pushed their wedding another two years because that's what his mom wants. She has been trying for years to fit in with his family but all they see is a gold digger. But all that changes when her uncle dies and leaves his… Read More
Pumpkin Pie Wars
Reviewed by Heather Y. Rivalry runs deep as two feuding bakeries in Emeryville, Ohio, face off in the local pumpkin pie contest. It's a personal and business feud that started at the same contest ten years before. Now the owners children - Casey and Sam - will go head-to-head in the same contest, keeping the… Read More
