Akron Public Library

Is there really such thing as a lucky charm? The hero of Nicholas Sparks's new novel believes he's found one in the form of a photograph of a smiling woman he's never met, but who he comes to believe holds the key to his destiny. The chain of events that leads to him possessing the photograph and finding the woman pictured in it is the stuff of love stories.

Episcopal priest Father Tim Kavanagh, recently retired from service at Lord's Chapel in Mitford, accepts a post as interim priest at a small parish on an island off the Atlantic Coast where he and his wife Cynthia quickly become involved in the lives of a whole new community of people.

Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now age eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective when the amnesiac, Colonel, owner of a cafe and co-parent of Mo with his cook Miss Lana, seems implicated in a murder.

Miss Julia's own home is not immune to shock waves--the arrival of Latisha, housekeeper Lillian's five-year-old pistol of a great-granddaughter, sets off sparks in Miss Julia's household. But what could shake them all up even more is if anyone finds out the most troubling gossip of all--more tall tales about Miss Julia's late husband. Can Miss Julia turn the town's attention away from herself before she becomes the center of scandal? Can her cool-as-a-cucumber...

With more than 2 million copies of the Mitford Years titles in print, the endearing and eccentric residents of the little town with the big heart have become like family members to hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic readers. Fans just can't get enough--they swarm to Jan Karon's author appearances and flock to Mitford events hosted by bookstores. Annotation. First time in Viking hardcover--the second book in the popular Mitford series. "After you've...

Ira Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, he finds himself stranded on an embankment after a car crash. Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: his beloved wife, Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. A few miles away, at a local bull-riding event, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which...

In 1899, a twelve-year-old rat catcher on North Carolina's Biltmore estate teams up with the estate owner's young nephew to battle a great evil and, in the process, unlocks the puzzle of her past.

"In the still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina, in 1976, Marian, Marva, and Lazarus Harmon-three enigmatic siblings-are found shot to death in their home. The people of West Mills- on both sides of the canal that serves as the town's color line-are in a frenzy of finger-pointing, gossip, and wonder. The crime is the first reported murder in the area in decades, but the white authorities don't seem to have any interest in solving the case....

While visiting the small town of Yonwood, North Carolina, eleven-year-old Nickie makes some decisions about how to identify both good and evil when she witnesses the townspeople's reactions to the apocalyptic visions of one of their neighbors.

Miss Julia ignores her husband Sam's request for her to mind her own business, and while figuring out who has been passing bad checks in her name and waiting for arrival of Hazel Marie's twins, she begins to investigate the possible murder of a person whose dead body is found in a tool shed six blocks from her house.