JULY 29, 2010
Still Missing ~ Chevy Stevens
****CarolK
Still Missing I really liked the Chevy Stevens presented this debut. Sounds like a simple story. Real Estate Agent, Annie O'Sullivan is abducted at the closing of an open house. She coins this person "The Freak", though some of us may have other names for this type of predator. We learn of Annie's harrowing fight for survival through gut wrenching, often angry, therapy sessions. It's a good way to unfold Annie's story, a session at a time. The title summed it up for me.
A debut, Still Missing is a fast paced read, certain to appeal to thriller lovers but also those liking a psychological story told well. Annie, damaged though she is, is a great character. Curl those toes in the sand and be prepared for a good summer read.
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JULY 26, 2010
Crunch ~ Leslie Connor
***mercedes
Crunch by Leslie Connor
I was very excited to read this book because I had enjoyed Connor's first book, Waiting for Normal, so much. Crunch was interesting and the premise of the story was very believable, especially in this time of rising gas prices and oil spills, but I didn't enjoy the characters as much as in Waiting. While they were well-written, they annoyed me, in their decisions and the way they approached problems. I felt myself constantly rolling my eyes. Still, I wouldn't tell anyone to not read it. Characters can be a difficult thing to assess, what annoys me, might not annoy you, so I would say give Crunch a read for the answer to what if there were no gas....
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JULY 25, 2010
This is Dedicated
American Junk
Mary Randolph Carter
Penguin Group, C.1994
0140244050
For my mother and father,
who have always looked beyond appearances for true worth
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JULY 19, 2010
The 2010 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award
The Pritzker Military Library Literature Award was established to honor a living author for a body of work that has profoundly enriched the understanding of American military history
The 2010 recipient of the award is Rick Atkinson for his book
An army at dawn : the war in North Africa, 1942-1943
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JULY 18, 2010
This is Dedicated
The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy
Harper Perennial, C.1997, 0060977493
For Mary Roy,
who grew me up.
Who taught me to say "excuse me"
before interrupting her in Public.
Who loved me enought to let me go.
For LKC, who, like me, survived.
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JULY 14, 2010
Girl in Translation ~ Jean Kwok
posted for bas bleu...
I recently read one of the library's new novels,
Girl in Translation, by Jean Kwok, and really fell in love with it. I had intended to write a five-star review, but happened upon this youtube video of the author discussing the book and her motivation for writing it. She speaks so movingly and eloquently that I am certain other readers will want to read the book after watching the video.
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JULY 11, 2010
This is Dedicated
Given the subject it may seem strange to dedicate this book to my wife,
Judith, but I think she'll understand.
Wicked Conduct: the minister, the mill girl and the murder that captivated Old Rhode Island
Rory Raven
History Press, c2009,9781596298026
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JULY 9, 2010
Indies Choice Book Awards
The
American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced the Indies Choice Book Awards at Bookexpo America this past May. The winners:
Adult Fiction: Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese (Knopf)
Adult Nonfiction: The Lost City of Z, by David Grann (Doubleday)
Adult Debut: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam)
Young Adult: Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Middle Reader: When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books)
New Picture Book: The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney (Little, Brown)
Most Engaging Author: Kate DiCamillo
Picture Book Hall of Fame Inductees:
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst and Ray Cruz (Atheneum)
Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking)
The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson (Viking)
Perhaps you'll read one of these over the summer. 2009 winners and inductees can be viewed on the ABA webpage. Prior to 2009, the American Booksellers Association awarded the Book Sense Book of the Year.
Go to Book Sense Book of the Year.
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JULY 6, 2010
I Thought You Were Dead ~ Pete Nelson
****
reviewed by CarolK
I was reading The Passage by Justin Cronin and needed a break from it's intensity so I picked up I Thought You Were Dead by Pete Nelson. It's a one sitting read and really, just a nice story, great for a hot Sunday afternoon. If you're looking for something sweet and non-threatening this book will fill the bill. It's a love story, written by a male author, which in in itself is a bit unusual. Nelson competes well with his female competition and can be proud of his effort in this genre.
Paul Gustavson is a divorced writer, author of a series of books called "for morons". His father has suffered a stroke and Paul doesn't know how to deal with this. He still hasn't come to terms with family issues, particularly rivalry with his older brother. He's met a woman who is seeing him and another guy, not helping his ego. The only thing really going for him is his love and poignant relationship with his dog, Stella. She is his one true friend, loyal to a fault. Stella is a remarkable character and you can't help loving her too. This is a story of losing oneself and then finding that self once again. It's an easy read but not benign. I liked it.
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JULY 5, 2010
This is Dedicated...
For my sons, Jay and Ross
The best things that ever happened to me in Connecticut
It Happened in Connecticut
Diana Ross McCain
Mosrris Book Publishing, LLC, c2008,9780762746439
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JULY 1, 2010
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress ~ Rhoda Janzen
****reviewed by Mercedes
The title is what first caught my attention...
Mennonite in a black dress ? It sounded like an oxymoron. I told our librarian about it and she graciously purchased it for the library. I was the fabulous first to check it out and I zipped through it. I was sucked in by the premise - a woman who grew up as a mennonite, but as an adult had done her own thing (wasn't really religious at all), returns home after her husband of fifteen years leaves her for a man named Bob he met on gay.com. Crazy way to start a story, so I read on. The book vasillates between her sixth month stay with her parents and other siblings and reminiscences of her childhood. Much of it was hilarious, some was thought-provoking. I especially enjoyed her stories about her parents. She spent more time talking about her mother but she also discussed her father. It was fascinating to see how, though she disagrees with her parents theological beliefs, she can respect and appreciate them, and who they are. A wonderful book, my only complaint is that the ending sort of fizzled. There was no real conclusion, no neat little packing of an ending, mostly because the author is living this life and there can be no neat little endings to real life. But even if the ending isn't full of pizzazz, this book is definitely still worth a read.
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JUNE 28, 2010
In the Author's Own Words ~ Nancy Pickard
Please join me in welcoming
Nancy Pickard, author of the award winning Jenny Cain mystery series and several excellent standalone novels. The latest,
The Scent of Rain and Lightning. received a star review from both Booklist Magazine & Publisher's Weekly. Read Why Kansas? and share in Nancy's love of her home state.
______________________________________________________
Hi, everybody--
I'm writing to you from Very Warm Kansas, the state where I live and where I have mysteriously decided to set my novels. I say "mysteriously," because--let's be honest here--most people think of my state as flat and boring. What kind of foolish writer would try to lure readers to a state like that?
This one would, and I'll tell you why.
A few years ago--after having written books set in Mass., Ct., N.Y., Fla., Ala., Ariz., Colo., and just about everywhere but here--I was struck by a couple of things. One was, how very Midwestern I am from the soles of my feet to the gray roots of my hair. I have never lived anywhere but the Midwest. This part of the country is not only what I know best, it's what I love best.
Why do I stay? Because I love it, that's why. Because it's beautiful, and dramatic, and endlessly interesting in its history, its geography, and its dramatic contrasts in everything from scenery to politics. Because behind the stereotypes and misconceptions are real people doing their best in difficult economic times, and because I'd like to show readers that Kansas, the one I love. My own political ideas are 180 degrees different from the majority of folks here, but our hearts beat to the same desires to love and be loved, to do right by our families, to live good lives. That's the place I aim for when I write these books--the deeply-felt places where human beings have so much in common, even if we sometimes express it in contradictory, confrontational, confusing, foolish, or even violent ways.
A few years ago, I was swept by a desire to do nothing but write novels about Kansas for the rest of my life. I don't know if I will go to that extreme, but so far that desire has not ebbed at all. First there was The Virgin of Small Plains, and now there is The Scent of Rain and Lightning. I'm currently writing the--untitled--third one, with a fourth one already percolating in my brain. Each is or will be set in a different part of Kansas--places that call to my imagination so strongly that they will not let go of me until I write about them. In each case, the characters seem to reflect where they live, which makes them different from one another. But they are all the “same” in that heart place I mentioned earlier.
It's gratifying to me to hear readers say of my settings, "I never knew there were places like that in Kansas!" It's even more satisfying when they tell me they visited the settings of my books. It thrills me to know that people might be inspired to get off I-70 and go take a look at the beautiful Flint Hills or the amazing Monument Rocks (which I call Testament Rocks in "Scent.")
I've come home to Kansas, and I'm so grateful when you come with me!
Best regards,
Nancy
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JUNE 27, 2010
This is Dedicated
One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Quest to Preserve Quiet
Gordon Hempton
Free Press, NY, c2009., 978-1-4165-89108-8
To every contributor to the Jar of Quiet Thoughts.
our heartfelt writings helped me realize I was not
alone in my thirst for natural silence and helped
me muster the courage to leave my more preferred
reclusive existence and begin two journeys--
crossing America and writing this book.
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JUNE 24, 2010
Glee Season One
*****
reviewed by Mercedes
Glee Season One We don't have television service. Except for a brief time in Chicago, we have never had tv service in our 10 years of marriage. This has been a good thing but also sometimes bad...I never know what new movies are coming out, I miss all the really funny commercials, and we have no idea what shows are out there. When I began working at the library, I saw that we had the first season of LOST on DVD. We had heard lots of things about this show but had never watched it. I decided to give it a shot. Of course, we were completely sucked in at episode 1 and watched the whole season, then subscribed to Netflix so that we could watch seasons 2 and 3. After that we began watching the seasons on abc.com the day after they aired. So when LOST ended, we were glad to once again be a non-tv watching couple. THEN....a couple of weeks ago, I processed a new dvd for the library - Glee - season 1, volume 1. I had heard lots of good things about this show as well, and I wanted to see what all the buzz was about, so.... We are now firm fans of this fabulous show. We spent a little over a week, speed-watching Glee and, of course, are left wanting more. Season 1, volume 2 doesn't come out on dvd until September and you can only watch select episode on Fox's website, so I guess we have to wait to see what happens next. One other thought on Glee. It makes me feel old. The teacher character was in high school in 1993 (I was a junior). A lot of the music he gives the kids to perform, that he performed is called "old school" but it's my school. Talk about a walk down memory lane. All kinds of songs that we so popular when I was in middle school/high school. I don't feel this old, how can it be that I'm old school now? But since I just had a 16 year reunion with high school friends this weekend, I guess I really am old school. (And just for the record, my glee club never performed like this glee club!)
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JUNE 23, 2010
Okra Picks!
Time to read our veggies. Take a look at this list of summer reads chosen by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA). In brief the list is chosen by independent book store owners belonging to SIBA and should be southern in nature (story, author, etc). and can be either fiction or non-fiction. Looking over the list I only see one we own, On Folly Beach by Karen White, an author who has been adopted by one of our patrons. I've included a link to this.
Think we should purchase any others? Let me know and I'll consider adding them to our collection.
Fiction
Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson
By Accident by Susan Kelly
Countdown by Deborah Wiles
The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove by Susan Gregg Gilmore
On Folly Beach by Karen White
The Secret Child by Marti Healy
Nonfiction
Big Appetite: My Southern-Fried Search for the Meaning of Life by Sam McLeod
The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family by Jim Minick
The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking: A Celebration of the Foods, History, and Romance Handed Down from England, Africa, the Caribbean, France by Joseph Earl Dabney
Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy by Bruce Watson
Oraien Catledge: Photographs by Oraien E Catledge,
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JUNE 22, 2010
The Thrilling Days of Summer
To celebrate the first day of summer, June 21, 2010,
NPR presents "Thrilled to Death", a series inviting authors to talk about their favorite thriller. It kicked off last night on
All Things Considered with author Scott Turow recommending Graham Greene's
The Power and the Glory.
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JUNE 21, 2010
Devil's Feather ~ Minette Walters
*****reviewed by CarolK
Minette Walters seldom disappoints me and this read was no exception.
Devil’s Feather is psychological suspense at its best. What would it feel like to be a victim of a terrorist kidnapping, to be kept in a cage for several days, to be blindfolded and wonder if you will be raped, or beheaded? This is just what happens to Connie Burns, Reuter’s reporter. While working on a story in Sierra Leone about five women brutally murdered, she suspects a British mercenary. She has met this man before under different names and is certain he is using the backdrop of war as a cover for his sadistic murders. In a confrontation with him, he warns her not to cross him. Connie could not know to what lengths this man would go to make good on his threat.
What I really loved about this book was how well Walter’s portrays monsters that prey, their victims, and explores the role of what it takes to be a survivor. I learned a thing or two, also. I learned that the mastiffs in the Hounds of the Baskervilles were actually a mastiff/bloodhound cross and that they are scarier than the mastiffs belonging to a main character in Devil's Feather. Though Jess’s dogs are massive in size and look ferocious, they are less to be feared and less ferocious than expected.
I was intrigued by the definition of Devil's Feather coming from the Turkish and translating as "a woman who stirs a man's interest without realizing it; the unwitting cause of sexual arousal. This passage, at the beginning of the book drew me right in. Having read many of Walter's novels, I was right at home with her style of story told with use of emails, letters, newspaper stories and the like. She does this so well.
Characters you'll care about, a fast paced story; I couldn't put it down!
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JUNE 20, 2010
This is Dedicated...
"My particular thanks to Liz for giving me
The Devil's Feather as a title"
Devil's Feather
Minette Walters, Random House, 9780307264626, c.2006
I wondered where Walters got the idea for her opening to this excellent thriller. After reading the book, I read the dedication. I too, thank Liz.
Devil's feather (derivation Turkish)--a woman who stirs a man's interest without realizing it; the unwitting cause of sexual arousal
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JUNE 16, 2010
Bloodroot ~ Amy Greene
*****
CarolK
Bloodroot is a gut wrenching, raw, tense, exquisite debut. Bloodroot has been compared to The Color Purple or the Glass Castle. For me, it is more like She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb. It is the kind of book you need to read yourself, not easy to explain. Tense, taut; powerful storytelling. I wanted Bloodroot to end so I could breathe but when it was over I wanted to go back, to savor, to ponder, to enjoy the richness of the whole once again.
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JUNE 14, 2010
Oxygen's Pick It Kick It ~ Diane Hart
Oxygen's Pick It Kick It: Simple Choices, Huge Results ~ Diane Hart
If you've known me for most of the years I've worked at the library, you'll know that I once weighed quite a bit more than I do today (I'm not telling how much). Way back when I was inspired to lose some weight, I was inspired by
Dr. Dean Ornish's Eat more, weigh less. That sounded good to me, eat, eat, eat and still lose weight. It really came down to making food choice and portion size changes, at least for me. I was successful and have pretty much kept the weight off.
I am still always looking at ways to make better nutritional decisions so when I saw Oxygen's Pick It Kick It: Simple Choices, Huge Results by Diane Hart I decided to take a look see. There are lots of good food substitutions here, thus, the pick it, or kick it choices. You'll also find some inspirational weight loss stories in these pages, recipes and what to eat at the fast food chains. I found a delicious orange poppy seed dressing that should go good on a spinach salad, as well as some reinforcement for mindful eating. I wasn't too happy with the suggestion that I KICK IT, Rold Gold's Pretzels. These are a favorite of mine and I don't like the idea of giving them up. I can't remember what the book suggested in it's place so I guess for the time being I'll just keep eating them!
I feel motivated if not exactly full and hopefully, all this will help me to fit into that bathing suit this season. Another staff member looked the book over quickly and decided it was just making her/him hungry.
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JUNE 13, 2010
This is Dedicated...
Uptown / Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant
Touchstone,Simon & Schuster, c2010., 9781439137765
For all those who need to
open the box again
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SAXTON B. LITTLE FREE LIBRARY
