Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black

By Piper Kerman

Usually I like to read the book before I watch the show but in this case I went a little backwards. Orange is the New Black, the Netflix show, is one of my favourites, I had not even thought that it was a book first so when I saw it on our library shelves I snatched it up right away.
My favourite part of the book is that I get more details about Pipers past and readers get a deeper understanding into Piper's thought process. The reality of the situation that Piper found herself in is written out in dreadfully fine points.
For those who have not seen the show Orange is the New Black is the true story of a young woman who's past has caught up with her. When she was in her 20's Piper Kerman was looking for a little adventure after she graduated from college. She found this in a girlfriend who introduced her to international travel, fine dining and the world of drug smuggling. Piper escapes the world of drugs and makes a very different life for herself with a career, boyfriend, and comfortable home until, one day, a knock come to her door. Piper is arrested for a crime that happened a decade prior. This is the story of Piper Kerman and how she deals with life behind bars, the other woman that she meets and the reaction of her family and friends on the outside.
Richmond Public Library also has this book available in many forms, not just hard cover but also; audio book on Hoopla, audio book from Overdrive, Large type, and e-book.

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire

by Patrick Weekes

I'm perfectly happy to admit that I'm a gamer, so when I see that a whole series of books are based on a series that I enjoyed, I'll give it a go.  Dragon Age is a fantasy series set in a world very much like medieval Europe (as many fantasy series are), with French, British, Italian, and even Ottoman equivalents.  The world is full of magic, creatures, magical creatures, and religious and political intrigue. The books stand alone from the game series pretty well: they exist more to expand on the world's history and lore rather than just give more of the same that you'd find in the games, so you don't need to play the games to understand what's happening (though it helps).

Dragon Age: The Masked Empire is the story of the empress of Orlais.  They are a dominant empire, though still under threat from both internal rebellion from the underclass of elves, who are treated no better than slaves, and from external threats, a blight of demons set to overrun the world.  To make things worse, the court intrigue is particularly dangerous and complicated: Empress Celene's rule is threatened even more by her power-hungry rival Gaspard and by her devotion to her secret elven mistress.

There are several books in the run, but this one isn't directly tied to the others.