Staff Picks



In case you're interested  in what 'we' read, here is a sampling....... 

October 2011

Karen tells us about four books from her summer reading list;

Summer of the Bear by  Bella Pollen has a touch of atmosphere, a  touch of intrigue, a family of 4 grieving for the missing 5^th, , all in their separate desperate ways, and a touch of Outer Hebrides Scottish magic.  A quiet, yet compelling and satisfying stand-alone novel.  I loved it.

Once Upon  a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell is a modern day female survival story which makes it like every other survival story except that it could be happening down the road and you would never more than suspect what was happening.  How does a girl turn into a woman, all on her own, with no support she doesn’t earn through grit and stamina?  This is how.

Keep a dictionary handy when you read short, not so sweet, but rich, The Summer without Men by Siri Hustvedt.  Mia is betrayed by her husband of many years so she takes a summer job far from New York City to reassess her situation.  I loved the literary quotes, I loved the characters, I loved the words I didn’t know and how the writer talked to me!  Playful, loving, and tight!  Dawn and Marie also enjoyed this short novel.

From the sunset over the water on the cover to the bittersweet end , To be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal is beautiful, lyrical, and full of quiet revelations that unfold in the stories of two people whose lives converge and separate until they finally blend together.   Settle down and immerse yourself in the brilliant storytelling of this lovely and heartbreaking novel.

Sheila Dube

Sheila’s mid-western roots were showing with this go around of books she picked.  Michigan and Chicago were the setting for the following two gems.

Short Girls by Bich Nguyen –This 2009 debut novel is about 2 American-born Vietnamese sisters who are forced to confront their own fragile relationships, character flaws and strengths when they are called home to celebrate their widowed father’s citizenship ceremony.  The drama and humor results from their Mid-western environment colliding with their Vietnamese heritage and short stature.  It stayed with me days after.

Divergent by Veronica Roth-Fans of Hunger Games by Collins and Matched by Conley will want to read this new young adult novel.  This Dystopian thriller’s setting is Chicago where people are divided into 5 different groups based on their most likely character: Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice, a sixteen year old finds that who she is appears to be less cut and dry.  A page turner that promises to be a trilogy.

Dawn

Dawn adds to the list with the following titles:  The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka is a tiny book of only 129 pages but it packs a punch.  It’s about Japanese ‘picture brides’ and it follows them from their scary arrival in San Francisco to the internment camps during WWII.  Marie is looking forward to reading this as she read the author’s first book, When the Emperor Was Divine which she describes as a  powerful and simply written story also dealing with the Japanese-American interment of World War II.

Chevy Stevens follows the disturbing debut of Still Missing with another edge of your seat novel in Never Knowing.  How would you handle finding out that your birth mother is the only survivor of a serial killer still on the loose??  And now that killer is after you!! 

On Folly Beach by Karen White is a book that has so much to it….  A family mystery, a southern location,  an old book store, Nancy Drew references, a lost love and a love of family that is heart warming.  And this book inspired Dawn’s book group to create their own Bottle Tree!!  We all loved it and it was a great summer read!

Dawn also adds to her list another favorite Sister  by Rosamund Lupton.  This gripping novel explores the bonds between sisters.  I loved it and couldn’t wait to discuss this with others!!  Get ready for the spring release of her 2^nd novel Afterwards which is sure to create a buzz.

Marie

Marie’s list includes the very popular The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  Though it doesn’t go in depth with regard to characters, this is a gorgeous novel with a lot of dark imagery.  Another title that is described as ‘disturbing with a few dark twists thrown in’ is The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman.  It reads a bit like a fairy tale.

Also titles: 

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is an intricate and imaginative story about the effects 9/11 had on a family and a childhood. 

Claire DeWitt And The City Of The Dead (Sara Gran) “liked this novel for its quirky character of Claire DeWitt and sense of place in post-Katrina New Orleans”

This Life Is In Your Hands (Melissa Coleman) “memoir about growing up in a family homesteading in Maine.  A serious and sad look behind an ideal way of life.”

Flashback (Dan Simmons) and 2030 (Albert Brooks) “two books about the future in the U.S., both believable with a few similarities. Both are thought provoking, with Flashback having a stronger story”

A Visit From The Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan) “very readable mix of fun characters. 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction.”

Susie

Susie finishes up our list with The Race by Clive Cussler; an adventure in the early years of flying.  The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Spenser Quinn and Dragon’s Time by Anne McCaffrey. 

We love to hear what you’re reading so we may pass suggestions on to others!! 

June 2011

Karen ~ Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
                Shangri-la by Lisa Napoli
                Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Sheila ~  Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Jacobson
Dawn ~  State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Our summer reading programs began this week ...  the adult reading program is "Novel Destinations".  Ask at the main desk for information on this fun program!!

May 2011

It’s always interesting when the staff finds a book that sparks so much discussion and this time the book is Swamplandia! by Karen Russell.  The setting is a failing alligator theme park in the Everglades and hosts a tough young heroine with a dead mother, an ambitious brother, an absent father and a big problem: how to save her big sister from eloping with a ghost.  Sound strange? It is!!  Karen found this book so different but she loved Russell’s descriptions of the Florida Keys, the quirky characters and the dreamy way the plot was strung together. She passed the book along to her husband who thought the book was awful!  Marie agreed with Karen… and Dawn… thought it was TOO weird and found huge gaps in the story that just didn’t make sense to the overall plot. Still a satisfying read that should be considered.  We think it would be a great book club pick!

Karen enjoyed reading Slam by Nick Hornby.  Hornby is a British writer whose endearing and imperfect male characters stumble their way through some kind of crisis.  The movie About a Boy was based on his novel.

Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of the Captives by award winning journalist Thomas French is an intimate look at the people, animals, and politics of world-renowned Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa Florida.  Karen thought that this book read easily and it creates a thoughtful platform for thinking about all kinds of issues; from animal rights and endangered species to business management and exploitation.

Dawn and Marie both enjoyed The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown and The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard. Both of these explored family relationships in an easy-to-read way.  The Weird Sisters is about three sisters and their odd quirks based on ‘birth order’.  Rose, the oldest, is a faultfinding control freak.  Bean, the middle sister, is a promiscuous attention seeker and Cordy, the youngest, simply refuses to grow up.  Dawn was amused by this book as she has two older sisters… and the family’s nickname for the oldest is “The Colonel”.  Not sure if the characters of the other two sisters would fit.  : )   Does Dawn refuse to grow up??? Hmmmm  Very thought provoking.

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd  by Jim Fergus is an American western with a strange twist.  It is the fictional account of the participation of May Dodd and others in the controversial "Brides for Indians" program that was proposed but never put into effect.  This story is ‘what if’ if had been this had actually happened.  Dawn found it very interesting and a quick read. 

Other titles that Dawn enjoyed were The Immortal Live of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, Great House by Nicole Krauss, Honolulu by Alan Brennert and The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.

Marie has been busy reading and her list consists of a variety of topics.  She finally read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and comments that she discovered all the good things that she heard about this novel were true.  Radio Shangri-La by Lisa Napoli disappointed her somewhat as she described it as a bit incomplete although she did appreciate learning about the culture in Bhutan from a first person view. She thoroughly enjoyed T.C. Boyle’s When the Killing’s Done and will be reading more by this author.  She liked his writing style and exploration of two environmental issues that seem like they should go together but were actually at odds. 

Marie’s list continues with The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, City of Veils by Zoe Ferraris, The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly, River Marked by Patricia Briggs and The Night Season by Chelsea Cain.