What are you reading? Every month at our Open Book Hour at Mid-Manhattan Library at 42nd Street, readers meet to exchange fiction and nonfiction book recommendations. If you'd like to join us, Open Book Hour meets the second Friday of each month at 1 PM, at Mid-Manhattan Library, in the alcove outside the Program Room (room 78).

At our next gathering on Friday, January 10 at 1 PM,  the topic is From Page to Screen: books you'd love to see on the big screen, the best and worst movies made from books—come share your books and thoughts! 

At our November session, Open Book Hour readers celebrated the changing season and upcoming holidays by discussing books about eating, baking, and our favorite cookie recipes that paired with our favorite books. You can also check out our upcoming Open Book Hour themes and see our past reading lists.

Do you give books as presents? What are your top picks from this year? Do you have any go-to favorites to give as gifts? Here are the titles we discussed for the month of December:

 

Dating by the Book by Mary Ann Marlowe

Is love just something you find in books?

Six months ago, writer and bookstore owner Maddie Hanson was left at the altar. Since then, she’s had zero interest in romance—despite the fact that she runs a book club full of sexy eligible bachelors. But when her latest novel is panned by an anonymous blogger who goes by the name Silver Fox—and who accuses her of knowing nothing about passion—she decides to prove her nemesis wrong by seeking a romance hero in real life…

There’s the smoldering rock musician, the bookish college professor, and her competitive childhood friend who may want to steal her bookstore more than her heart. Even Silver Fox is getting in on the action, sending Maddie alarmingly—and intoxicatingly—flirtatious emails. And that’s not all. Her ex wants her back.

Now Maddie is about to discover that like any good story, life has twists and turns, and love can happen when you least expect it—with the person you least expect… 

 

The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees by Meredith May

An extraordinary story of a girl, her grandfather and one of nature's most mysterious and beguiling creatures: the honeybee.

Meredith May recalls the first time a honeybee crawled on her arm. She was five years old, her parents had recently split and suddenly she found herself in the care of her grandfather, an eccentric beekeeper who made honey in a rusty old military bus in the yard. That first close encounter was at once terrifying and exhilarating for May, and in that moment she discovered that everything she needed to know about life and family was right before her eyes, in the secret world of bees.

May turned to her grandfather and the art of beekeeping as an escape from her troubled reality. Her mother had receded into a volatile cycle of neurosis and despair and spent most days locked away in the bedroom. It was during this pivotal time in May's childhood that she learned to take care of herself, forged an unbreakable bond with her grandfather and opened her eyes to the magic and wisdom of nature.

The bees became a guiding force in May's life, teaching her about family and community, loyalty and survival and the unequivocal relationship between a mother and her child. Part memoir, part beekeeping odyssey, The Honey Bus is an unforgettable story about finding home in the most unusual of places, and how a tiny, little-understood insect could save a life.

 

The Fly Swatter: How My Grandfather Made His Way in the World by Nicholas Dawidoff

From the author of the bestselling Catcher Was a Spy comes the remarkable chronicle of his grandfather, Alexander Gerschenkron, a Russia-born, Viennese-trained economist who transformed himself into a singular American character.

 

 

 

 

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a thirteen-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.

As an adult, Theo moves silkily between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty labyrinth of an antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love—and at the center of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch combines vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and suspense, while plumbing with a philosopher's calm the deepest mysteries of love, identity, and art. It is an old-fashioned story of loss and obsession, survival and self-invention, and the ruthless machinations of fate.

 

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

In what may be Dickens's best novel, humble, orphaned Pip is apprenticed to the dirty work of the forge but dares to dream of becoming a gentleman—and one day, under sudden and enigmatic circumstances, he finds himself in possession of "great expectations." In this gripping tale of crime and guilt, revenge and reward, the compelling characters include Magwitch, the fearful and fearsome convict; Estella, whose beauty is excelled only by her haughtiness; and the embittered Miss Havisham, an eccentric jilted bride.

 

 

 

Plant-Based on a Budget: Delicious Vegan Recipes for Under $30 a Week, for Less Than 30 Minutes a Meal by Toni Okamoto

Eat vegan—for less!

Between low-paying jobs, car troubles, student loans, vet bills, and trying to pay down credit card debt, Toni Okamoto spent most of her early adult life living paycheck to paycheck. So when she became a vegan at age 20, she worried: How would she be able to afford that kind of lifestyle change?

Then she discovered how to be plant-based on a budget.

Through her popular website, Toni has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to eat a plant-strong diet while saving money in the process. With Plant-Based on a Budget, going vegan is not only an attainable goal, but the best choice for your health, the planet—and your wallet.

Toni’s guidance doesn’t just help you save money—it helps you save time, too. Every recipe in this book can be ready in around 30 minutes or less.

Through her imaginative and incredibly customizable recipes, Toni empowers readers to make their own substitutions based on the ingredients they have on hand, reducing food waste in the process.

 

Death by Café Mocha by Alex Erickson

Krissy Hancock and her pals are taking a coffee break—leaving their bookstore-cafe in Pine Hills, Ohio, and heading to a convention. But this road trip will be more dangerous than they expecte…

Coffee lovers are gathering from far and wide at the hotel, and Krissy, Rita, and Vicki are excited. But some of the attendees may need to switch to decaf, as a public argument breaks out soon after they check in and then a flavor competition leads to bitter feelings.

When the winner of the contest is beaned with a carafe full of cafe mocha, suspicions swirl—along with accusations of bribery. Was the dead man offering perks to the judges—or was something sinister going on in his personal life? This case is going to keep Krissy up all night long ...

 

St. Louis Noir by Scott Phillips 

Featuring a baker's dozen of original stories, plus one 'poetic interlude,' this new entry in Akashic's globetrotting anthology series explores, as editor Phillips, author of The Ice Harvest, tells us in his introduction, the 'collision of high and low' that makes St. Louis so interesting to crime writer. The stories here are uniformly strong. Regular readers of the Noir series (since its inception in 2004, there have been about 75 installments) know what to expect: tightly written, tightly plotted, mostly character-driven stories of murder and mayhem, death and despair, shadow and shock.

 

 

 

Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley

Alice Ellis is a Midwestern refugee living in Manhattan. Still recovering from a painful divorce, she depends on the companionship and camaraderie of a tightly knit circle of friends. At the center of this circle is a rock band struggling to navigate New York’s erratic music scene, and an apartment/practice space with approximately fifty key-holders. One sunny day, Alice enters the apartment and finds two of the band members shot dead. As the double-murder sends waves of shock through their lives, this group of friends begins to unravel, and dangerous secrets are revealed one by one. When Alice begins to notice things amiss in her own apartment, the tension breaks out as it occurs to her that she is not the only person with a key, and she may not get a chance to change the locks.

Jane Smiley applies her distinctive rendering of time, place, and the enigmatic intricacies of personal relationships to the twists and turns of suspense. The result is a brilliant literary thriller that will keep readers guessing up to its final, shocking conclusion.

 

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)

Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type.

All day long he hears

Click, clack, MOO.

Click, clack, MOO.

Clickety, clack, MOO.

But Farmer Brown's problems REALLY begin when his cows start leaving him notes…

Doreen Cronin's understated text and Betsy Lewin's expressive illustrations make the most of this hilarious situation. Come join the fun as a bunch of literate cows turn Farmer Brown's farm upside down.

 

What To Do With a Box by Jane Yolen, Chris Sheban (Illustrations)

If you give a child a box, who can tell what will happen next? It may become a library or a boat. It could set the scene for a fairy tale or a wild expedition. The most wonderful thing is its seemingly endless capacity for magical adventure, a feature imaginatively captured in cardboardesque art by Chris Sheban and rhythmically celebrated in this poetic tribute by renowned children's author Jane Yolen.

 

 

 

A Splendid Friend, Indeed by Suzanne Bloom

Bear wants to read and write and think. Goose wants to talk and talk and talk. Can Bear and Goose be friends? Suzanne Bloom's picture book says volumes about friendship with a few select words and charming illustrations in this Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book.

 

 

 

 

Book summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more. 

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.