The Reading Circle (A Cherry Cola Book Club Novel) - Softcover

Lee, Ashton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0758273428 ISBN 13: 9780758273420

Publisher: Kensington, 2014

Synopsis

"This lighthearted, cozy read brought a smile to my face. Lovers of small town fiction are going to fall in love with The Reading Circle." --Marie Bostwick, author of Between Heaven and Texas

Welcome to the quirky town of Cherico, Mississippi, where potluck meetings at the local library provide a feast for mind and stomach alike. . .

If some folks had their way, the Cherico library would have shut down long ago. Councilman Durden Sparks aims to divert funding to a cause dear to his heart--and his wallet. With the aid of gumption and good friends, librarian Maura Beth Mayhew has finagled a one-year reprieve, and the burgeoning book club is raising the library's profile one mouthwatering meeting at a time. But more members mean more opinions. . .

While the Forrest Gump-themed shrimp dishes are a universal hit, meetings don't always go according to plan. Between spirited debate over book choices and surprising revelations and relationship hiccups--including Maura Beth's fledgling romance--there's a lot to discuss. And just when bad luck threatens to finish the library for good, the Cherry Cola Book Club may learn that the best stories have twists--and heroes--you never expected. . .

Praise for Ashton Lee's The Cherry Cola Book Club

"Lee's buoyant David-versus-Goliath tale zestfully illuminates a real problem confronting libraries and cities of all sizes." --Booklist

"Clever, sassy and as tasty as an icebox pie, The Cherry Cola Book Club is a rare treat." --Erika Marks, author of The Guest House

About this title

About the Author

Ashton Lee, author of The Cherry Cola Book Club, was born in historic Natchez, Mississippi, into a large, extended Southern family which gave him much fodder for his fiction later in life. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

From Booklist

Having dodged a bullet when Cherico’s city council granted her a one-year reprieve in which to prove that her library was a vital town institution, spunky librarian Maura Beth Mayhew is dismayed to learn that her nemesis, councilman Sparks, still has another round of ammo left in his chamber. Determined to divert library funds to pay for an industrial park that will bear his name, Sparks plants a ringer to spy on the regular meetings of the library’s burgeoning Cherry Cola Book Club. But Mayhew discovers she has an unimpeachable insider of her own when Sparks’ former secretary joins the group. While romantic entanglements otherwise distract most of the club members and prey upon Mayhew herself, it takes an act of God to bring the standoff between the librarian and the politician to a head. The challenges of keeping any library anywhere open and effectively serving its patrons is a problem facing most communities. Lee (The Cherry Cola Book Club, 2013) brings these salient topics to light in an unpredictably entertaining series. --Carol Haggas

About this edition

• Publisher: Kensington
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0758273428
• ISBN 13: 9780758273420
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256