Frank Carlson Library

Originally published in 1859, "Adam Bede" is the first novel by George Eliot, which was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans. Eliot was one of the leading British writers of the Victorian era, as well as a noted journalist, poet, and translator. "Adam Bede" concerns a small, tight-knit, and fictional rural community called Hayslope and the romantic drama that develops between four of its young residents: the title character Adam, a young carpenter, the...

"An interior designer learns to rebuild her love life from the ground up with zero blueprints in this new romantic comedy by Ashley Herring Blake, author of Delilah Green Doesn't Care. For Astrid Parker, failure is unacceptable. Ever since she broke up with her fiancé a year ago, she's been focused on her career-her friends might say she's obsessed, but she's just driven. When Pru Everwood asks her to be the designer for the Everwood Inn's renovation...

"A taciturn carpenter has been too busy putting the final details on others' homes to pay much attention to his own fixer-upper. But when his wife becomes pregnant with their first child, he realizes he'll need to apply his art closer to home. For Taz and Marnie, their dreams are coming into focus, sustained by their deep sense of love and now family. The blueprint for the perfect life eludes Taz, plummeting him head first in the new strange world...

"From star-crossed matches to unexpected love triangles, summer on Nantucket always holds the promise of romance in this sensational novel from New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer. Lisa Hudson feels more alive than she has in a long time after hiring hunky carpenter Mack Whitney to renovate her old Nantucket home. There's no denying the spark growing between them--despite the fact that Mack is ten years her junior. But her twentysomething...

"Discover along with Titus Fisher how life can begin anew in Christian County, Kentucky. Moving from Pennsylvania, finding rewarding work, and leaving a broken romance behind is the best decision Titus ever made. But is he ready to consider love again when he meets two women: one who seems perfectly suited for any Amish man and one who challenges long held ideas of the woman's role. Who will Titus choose, and will it be the right choice?"--P. [2]...

Destiny Jones is doing just fine on her own. From her thriving one-woman cabinetry business to the loving support of her small community, Destiny has constructed a good life for herself. Twenty years ago, when she was just 10-years-old, her world collapsed when her mother died and her father abandoned her to pursue a career on Broadway. Now, suddenly, he turns up at her door, begging for a second chance. Just as she's ready to give him the boot for...

Carlisle McMillan, a traveler and master carpenter seeking a place of quiet amid the grinding roar of progress. Near Wolf Butte, a strange and apparently haunted monolith, he finds his quiet, or so he believes, and begins rebuilding a decrepit house as a tribute to the gruff old man who taught him a carpenter's skills, rebuilding his life at the same time. He finds two very different, independent women: Gally Deveraux, who works at a diner in Salamander...

Liz Eckardt, owner of the Olde Mansion Inn, has a case of the January blahs. She's not the only one. The Material Girls can't seem to build much enthusiasm for their latest quilting projects. Even Beans, Liz's lazy bulldog, is sawing more logs than usual. But then someone thinks of a bang-up idea: a clearance sale at the Sew Welcome Shop, along with a fun fabric swap to turn everyone's moods. To spruce up the store, Sadie and Mary Ann hire Jacob Hochstetler,...