Mentor's Reader

Get ready for a memorable thrill ride

2012-01-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

A few months ago (or just a few entries down in the blog) I wrote about What Alice Forgot, a romantic comedy of a book about a woman who only truly realizes what she’s lost when she loses her memory. Moving on to perhaps more realistic repercussions of memory loss, we have Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson. Christine wakes up every day with no memory of the past few years. Her loyal husband Ben must live with the fact that she considers him a stranger every morning. He tries to give her as much comfort and information as he can before going to work and leaving Christine in her unknown house. She has no record of her past few years, or so she thinks. Soon she gets a call from a man saying he is her psychologist, and to trust him. He tells her she has been keeping a journal and where to find it. When she opens it she sees her handwriting and the words “DON’T TRUST BEN.” And so begins a book about short term memory on the far side of the genre spectrum from romantic comedy—thriller. This was another book I couldn’t put down. Through twists and turns, the reader doesn’t quite know what’s going to happen until it hits you with a big thrilling climax. Another book, like John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, that makes you appreciate your health, and the fact that you know you can trust the people in your life. Creepy and fun.

Modern Day Star Crossed Lovers

2012-01-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

Sigh. I guess every once in a while you need one of those cathartic books that use up an unbelievable amount of tissues, and then just lingers there in that place inside where all you can do is sigh when you think about it. The Time Traveler’s Wife is perhaps my ultimate example, but coming to mind second, partly because I just finished it and partly because it was written by one of my favorite authors, John Green, is The Fault in Our Stars. Sigh. And it’s not like I went into this one blind, either. It’s about Hazel Grace, a sixteen year-old who has been living with terminal cancer. She meets the love of her life, Augustus Waters, at a support group for teens with cancer. Augustus’s cancer is in remission. And so it starts. Although we know we’re headed for some seriously heavy and tragic stuff, it actually hits quite forcefully when it arrives. Through John Green’s wonderful character development and humor, we sink inevitably into the lives of the characters, until we are forced to confront their tragedy, and the reality within our own lives (even if that reality is cancer free). Life is a gift to be cherished. Alhough that’s a quaint cliché and would often seem trite for an author to remind the reader of such, John Green uses the adage skillfully, gently reminding us that cliché or no, it’s true. I can’t say I loved John Green’s latest novel, I’m much more into his intelligent and quirky protagonist out to win the heart of some hot smart chick, but I did appreciate the book’s beautiful resonance.

The first book of the year I could not put down

2012-01-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve read a few books since I’ve last been here. I’ve even read a book that wasn’t written for kids (it might have just been one, but I read it). But there has not been a book I’ve read that kept me as engaged and excited as Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It. Was. Amazing. Although I had a slew of chores on my list, I could not leave my seat until I had finished this original and fun book. Here’s the gist:
Wade Watts lives in the near future (2044) where the world has fallen on hard times, and most people escape to the virtual world, OASIS, to avoid facing it. OASIS was created by James Halliday who has become a recluse in recent years. When Halliday dies, it is revealed that he has left clues in OASIS, and whoever finds these clues will win Halliday’s giant fortune. And so the hunt begins. Along with the average Joe who dreams of finding the fortune, Halliday’s rival company, IOI wants to find the clues so it can take over OASIS and commercialize it. IOI is the quintessential evil corporation that will stop at nothing (not even murder) to win. So Wade, as his avatar Parzival, begins his quest. There are many references to late 20th century pop culture and video games, but you don’t have to be a trivia buff to appreciate it. Yes, many of the references went over my head, but I didn’t know a lot of the art Dan Brown was talking about in The Da Vinci Code, but I still loved the story of the hunt. Solving riddles and deciphering code makes for an exciting read, no matter if it’s a real hunt or one set in a virtual world. And because very few rules apply in OASIS, imagination takes over and anything is possible. You don’t have to be a gamer to like this book. The adventure aspect and storytelling is so strong, I promise Ready Player One will pull you in from the beginning.

Guest Blogger: Lyndsey G.

2012-01-18T06:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! As things settle down in the life of a Mentor's Reader, I thought I'd offer some guest bloggage. And new to Mentor's Reader we have Lyndsey G., who is sure to offer some interesting and worthy reads. Here we go:

Caitlin Horrocks This Is Not Your City
If you’re like most people, you’ll most likely say “pass” when offered a book of short stories. You were force-fed enough of those in high school, right? But this time – I’m telling you – don’t.
Caitlin Horrocks’ debut This Is Not Your City is an ambitious eleven-story collection about women “held hostage,” Horrocks says, “by the circumstances of their lives.” But don’t take that to mean the stories are depressing. Each story contains a measured dose of humor and familiarity – and an element of bizarre.
Take, for instance, the story “In the Gulf of Aden, Past the Cape of Guardafui.” Lucinda and her husband Wil take a “respite care” cruise to recover from the draining responsibility of parenting their severely mentally handicapped son. Sounds familiar, right? The humor comes in when the husband and wife, during dinner conversation, fabricate elaborate stories about their well-to-do, accomplished fictional children. The story takes a turn for the bizarre when the cruise ship is taken hostage by Somali pirates, forcing Lucinda to confront the reality that she too is held captive by the proverbial “hand” life dealt her.
Critics are impressed by the width and depth of 31-year-old Horrocks’ collection, which spans several generations, three continents and a wide range of scenarios. Horrocks dons the voice of a Russian mail order bride whose daughter has gone missing (“This Is Not Your City”) just as convincingly as she assumes the voice of an unnamed American 16-year-old caring for her house-bound mother with rheumatoid arthritis (“It Looks Like This”).

And though the characters do not live in “our city,” we might be surprised to recognize parts of ourselves in each one. We might resemble Renee, whose peaceful Grecian vacation is interrupted by a gnawing and desperate desire to be pregnant (“The Lion Gate”). We might see pieces of ourselves in Robin, a newlywed whose faith in her husband is shaken by the comments of a lonesome, slightly off-kilter elderly man (“World Champion Cow of the Insane”). We may find that we turn up in “Zolaria,” where a woman recalls her fifth-grade best friend, the imaginary world they created together, and how a sudden illness broke them both away from that imaginary place. From the kick-off of the collection to the close, Horrocks adeptly embodies women struggling to establish a sense of place and identity at all stages of life.

If you are looking for a light escape from reality, This is Not Your City probably won’t interest you. But collection of stories does promise to challenge, redefine and maybe even repair our sense of place and identity, should we be brave enough to pick it up.

Second opinion: http://word.emerson.edu/ploughshares/2011/10/27/this-is-not-your-city/
Reader’s guide: http://www.sarabandebooks.org/?page_id=5756

Christmas Shopping Checklist

2011-12-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, I basically promised radio silence until MENTOR'S READER 2012!!--which by the way is going to be amazing in its own right, but while browsing my own blog, I stumbled upon children's books I thought would make great gifts. And since you still have time to shop, I might as well give you a run down of some of my personal picture book favorites this year.
I Want My Hat Back by Klassen, J.
In this simple story, a bear is going around the forest asking other animals if any of them have seen his hat. I can't really say too much more without giving the entire thing away (I said it was simple). It made me giggle, and I love books that can do that, so I highly recommend it.

Are You Awake? by Blackall, Sophie
How can you refuse a book with an added flipbook? You can't. You just can't do it. The story is about a little boy who can't sleep, so he keeps his mom awake by asking questions. Adorable.

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Litwin, Eric
Oh No! Pete steps in seemingly unavoidable large piles of colored items that change his white shoes many colors. Does Pete Cry? Goodness No! He just goes along singing his adorable and catchy song--that you can hear online and sing to your little one. Perfect. Pictures by James Dean. No, the other James Dean.

11 Experiments that Failed by Offill, Jenny
The Scientific method was never so zany. This is for the older kid set, about a girl who tries, but fails at 11 experiments. Again, a giggle worthy book because who wants boring kids books when you and your child can enjoy reading fun engaging books together?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder! And more cliches (and exclamation points!!) within!

2011-12-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

MENTOR'S READER 2012!! COMING IN....2012!!!
With exciting new books to read about! And possibly a new guest blogger! And maybe even prizes awarded for those loyal readers out there who also check out the library's Facebook page! Or maybe just prizes for readers of Mentor's Reader! I'm feeling energized, are you feeling energized?! Okay, so don't go anywhere! Or go somewhere for December, but stop back here in January for MENTOR'S READER 2012!!

Coming up: The Art of the Mixed Tape!

A new one for the kid in all of us

2011-11-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

Next up in my queue is Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. If this name sounds familiar, it’s because he won a Caldecott for his previous novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret (“Of course!” you say). If this sounds familiar, it’s because they are making a movie out of it that’s due to be out in November and directed by Martin Scorsese. Both books combine pages of illustrations with a written story in a way that is unlike anything else. Although the book looks formidable, because of all the illustrations (and probably partly because it’s a book for kids), it reads really fast. And you can get a surprising amount of story from just illustrations. I think we forget sometimes how much we can get from pictures. In Wonderstruck, two stories are told simultaneously—one in pictures and one in text. Eventually they converge and we realize how the two were connected. It’s a light, quick read with heart, mystery, and a kid spending the night in a museum a la From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It’s worth checking out, even if it’s to just be amazed at how fast you read a 637 page book.

Concussions in the fictional world lead to great reading!

2011-10-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

I took a brief break from the Ranger’s Apprentice series to read a few new books. The first one I read is called What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. Although I was tempted to say something lame like, “it was unforgettable!” I’ll save you my Monday morning wit, and just say that it was really good. To be honest, I couldn’t put it down. The book starts with Alice coming to in a gym and not remembering how she got there. It turns out, she doesn’t remember ten whole years of her life. After hitting her head, she still thinks she’s 29 and pregnant with her first child, when really, she is turning 40 and has 3 kids. Her once blissfully happy marriage to Nick has somehow broken and she is on the verge of a divorce. Alice is a very relatable character, even though she’s starting to think she doesn’t like her 39-year-old self. The book could be titled What Alice Remembers, because she still thinks she’s in love with Nick, and remembers how close she and her sister used to be. She can’t believe things have changed so much, and gets the people around her to see how much things have changed. There were sections in the book in which her sister is writing journal-style to her psychologist, and another where their grandmother writes about her life. These help fill in blanks that Alice could not possibly do, but I also found them a bit distracting. I wanted to get on with the story, not have to stop to hear what Elizabeth is thinking. As I am a fan of stories with something that needs worked out, and also time travel, and seeing how this book has some quasi-time travel, I found myself very addicted. It’s definitely worth checking out, and it’s not even a young adult!

Speaking of series…

2011-09-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

Happy rainy fall! Hopefully this selection will help keep you busy!
I can’t believe I haven’t talked about this one yet. I think I read it right around the beginning of summer reading, so it must have gotten swept away in the rush. It’s the Bone series by Jeff Smith (an Ohio raised author, I might add). If you’re into graphic novels you’ve probably already heard or read this one, but for those of you who don’t read too many, I highly recommend it. It’s about the Bone cousins who get kicked out of their town, due to some shady financial dealings. They get lost in the desert, and end up in a wooded valley filled with “monsters, dragons, and princesses.” It’s a fantastical land that the Bone cousins aren’t used to, but therein lies the mystery and adventure of the story. The Bone cousins are these adorable big-nosed creatures who live in a world similar to ours. When they discover this new land with monsters and dragons, although there are people in this world, there is more fantasy than the cousins knew existed. It’s a fun paradox. The drawings are quite funny, and the dialogue is engaging too. It’s geared toward an older child/teen audience, but obviously is a fun option for adults as well. The original series is 10 books long, but there is a prequel called Rose (which I haven’t read yet, but it’s in the queue). There’s also some additional books, and a new series starring more Bone like creatures, but not the Bone cousins themselves. That series just started, so you’ll have to wait for the future installments. The original Bone is all finished, so if you’d like to get started on that (which I recommend you do), head over to your local public library today and check them out! Start with Out from Boneville.

A series you won't want to end

2011-09-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

The last time we met, I hinted that I started a series and was worried about committing myself to it. I must say though, I am on the sixth book and totally hooked on (wait for it) The Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan (start with the Ruins of Gorlan). This medieval adventure story takes place in a fictional kingdom where kids become apprentices for different groups. They can be knights, diplomats, lawyers or cooks. I feel bad for the girl who really wants to be a cook. We don’t really hear too much about her after she gets sent to the kitchens. Where was I? Ah yes, they can be knights or diplomats, and one orphan, Will, wants more than anything to be a knight. He grew up with stories that his father was a knight who fought bravely to his death. When it is time for the choosing, however, Will’s diminutive size hinders him from becoming a knight, but what he doesn’t know is a group of men in the kingdom have chosen him to join their group—the rangers. Will is at first hesitant about joining the secretive group. Many people think they dabble in magic, but really they are just skilled in not being seen and gathering intelligence for the kingdom. Will joins the ranger corps and the rest is history. Or rather a very engrossing series. The first novel must set the stage, but we still get an adventurous read. I thought the series would focus on defeating the “bad guy” of the mountains, but he gets wiped out pretty early. So instead we meet different groups and conflicts and that’s refreshing and more realistic. I am definitely glad I started it, though I do have some stand alone novels stacking up in my queue. So the question is, finish the series, or take a break? So far it’s been hard to stop. Thanks to Amy W., who, upon hearing I was into the Ranger’s Apprentice, recommended The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. She says their a mix between Neil Gaiman and John Flanagan. May have to move on to those next.

Guest Blogger Sarah B.

2011-09-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

So Sarah doesn't work here anymore. She's off doing cataloging things elsewhere. But I found a blog entry she sent me some time back, and think it's only fair to share. So here's to Sarah B. and all her great contributions to Mentor's Reader! Good luck Sarah!

The Long Run: A New York City Firefighter's Triumphant Comeback from Crash Victim to Elite Athlete
Matt Long with Charles Butler

The Long Run tells the story of happy-go-lucky New York City firefighter, Matt Long. Surrounded by a large loving family, plenty of friends, a fulfilling job, prosperous businesses, and an addiction to running after years of an unhealthy lifestyle (that’s put him in the best shape of his life!), life couldn’t get much better. And while he’s endured his fair share of pain before; running the New York City Marathon and qualifying for the prestigious Boston Marathon, saving lives during the heartbreaking events of 9/11, and competing in an eleven hour Ironman competition, nothing could compare to the events that unraveled one fateful morning and changed his life forever.

Just after qualifying for the Boston Marathon during the New York City transit strike of 2005, Long was struck down by a bus while trying to bike out to meet up with some friends to train. Given only a five percent chance of survival, Matt survived severe wounds, broken bones, and endured multiple operations. The Long Run chronicles Matt’s long road to recovery and his determination to run again despite slim odds of rehabilitation.

Oftentimes, we don’t realize how much we take for granted until it’s suddenly taken away from us. I know I’m definitely that way. Maybe it’s just because I’m a runner, but this story definitely struck a chord. The way Long describes the events surrounding his accident, from his vivid description of what happened (when emergency crew discovered him they couldn’t tell where his body ended and his bike started because the bike had actually gone straight through his abdomen), to what he was told was going on while he was unconscious in the hospital (family and friends camped out night and day to be there for any sign of good news), to his recovery (major obstacles threatened to hinder his chances of ever running again), I couldn’t help but tearing up over and over again. The story includes not only what happened that fateful day and onward, but also provides many flashbacks to background information that further explains how Matt’s attitudes and views on life came to be. If you’re a big athlete (and even if you’re not), I’d definitely recommend reading this book!

From the mouth of the narrator we get lies--who do we trust now?

2011-09-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Liar by Justine Larbalestier

I’m going to write today about a book I finished not too long ago. It was about a vampire growing up in New York City. No, I lied. Actually, there are no vampires in this book (I’m sure some of you are heaving a sigh of relief at that). The book is actually about a popular girl at a school in New York. Her secret boyfriend just died under unusual circumstances, and she’s left dealing with the loss. That’s another lie. She’s really not popular at all. You know why? Because she lies all the time. Is withholding the truth considered lying? If it is, Micah, the narrator of Liar, keeps a whopper from the reader. Of course, having an inquisitive mind, I read about the secret in a review before I read about it in the book. I think it would have been more fun to discover the secret while reading, so I won’t mention it here. But I tried to give you a sense of what it’s like to read Liar. The protagonist talks directly to the reader, then goes back and corrects herself when she lies. Unique? You bettcha! Disarming? A bit. The reviews mentioned how, if nothing else, this will get readers talking after they read it. I mean, I guess. I personally found Micah and her lying a bit annoying, so that by the end, when the reader is left speculating as to what really happened, I just had a “meh” sort of attitude. It’s important to like the narrator, because then the ending can affect us. With no connection to who we’re reading about, we walk away not very vested in the character’s life, and therefore the story itself. Don't you agree? Okay, okay, so if you haven’t figured out by now, this is a young adult novel. I guess I could have been more forthcoming with that. And maybe I didn’t connect because I’m not of the author’s intended audience. It’s just that the book jacket promised me a thriller, and all I came away with was an idea for a slightly offbeat blog. I’m just sayin’.

"Liar! Liar! Liar!" -3 Dog Night, "Liar." If you have never heard this song, you are probably the correct audience for this book.

Next up, how I became entangled in a series that is at least 10 books long. Will I feel the need to finish, or will I be able to stop myself? We'll just have to wait and see...

Oh the Mother and Child Reunion is Only a Motion Away

2011-08-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

Mother/daughter relationships, right? You can write whole books about them, and Sarah Bird took a slice from the familial angsty pie for The Gap Year. Cam and her daughter Aubrey were once very close. Cam’s husband left them when Aubrey was a baby to join a religious group similar to Scientology. And everything was going fine. Until it wasn’t. Now Aubrey barely speaks to Cam, and Cam has no idea how to get her baby back from her seemingly possessive jock boyfriend Tyler. And maybe we as readers would never know either, except we get a second story line from Aubrey’s perspective taking place about one year before Cam’s story starts. And although Aubrey’s distancing from her mom is nothing more dramatic than Aubrey becoming her own person, the story is no less interesting. The chapters go back and forth from the two women’s perspectives, and the small cliff hangers ending each chapter definitely kept the plot flowing. I kept thinking, okay, I’ll just finish Cam’s next chapter, and then I’ll stop. But then something interesting would happen to Aubrey and I wouldn’t want to stop. Bird’s writing is current, funny, and moving. We get an ending that is happy but still realistic. A fun read if you’re looking for a modern family story with humor and some great characters.

Bloggin' for Patch

2011-08-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Did I mention I'm splitting my (admittedly small) blog life between Mentor's Reader and the new MentorPatch site? Check it out if you want to be a true Mentor's Reader follower (I know you do).

What’s so “Serendipity” about it?

2011-08-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

for tk.

Serendipity by Louise Shaffer

When you spend more time looking at the amazing skirt in the cover art than you spent thinking about the book, something's wrong.

I just finished Louise Shaffer’s Serendipity, which is about 3 generations of women in the New York/Broadway scene. Carrie’s beautiful mother, Rose, has just died, leaving Carrie grieving for a mother she never really knew. When she tries to piece her mother’s life together, she realizes she can only truly understand her family if she finally meets her estranged grandmother, Lu, a Broadway star in the 1950’s. Of course there was a slight mystery element to this book that kept me reading, but there were a few things I found lacking. As Carrie meets different people in her mother’s and grandmother’s lives, that may help her understand her past, the characters begin telling Carrie stories. The narration is then sent back to the time when the story is taking place. Except the story the reader reads is full of perspectives from people who are not telling the story: perspectives the person telling the story would not be privy to. In other words, Shaffer attempts this storytelling device, but doesn’t quite succeed. I kept asking myself, how does he know that, he wasn’t there? Secondly, as far as I know, serendipity means something surprising and great happening through luck or chance. There’s nothing in the book that, to me, is really that serendipitous. I’m sure Shaffer could have thought of a more meaningful title. Combine all that with a protagonist who not even the author seems to favor when compared with her beautiful mother and talented grandmother, and we get a book that’s pretty much meh. I guess they can’t all be winners, but from the reviews, I was expecting a little more.

The beautiful blending of cheese whiz and coq au vin; Let’s discuss

2011-07-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know, it’s been too long. Life keeps me rolling, but somehow I manage to crawl my way to a keyboard for one more blog. And what a fun one I have for you! It’s about the harrowing adventure of reading two completely different books at the same time! In it I will mention a forgotten book, an analogy to Kurt Vonnegut, how the cheese whiz at one point won out, and me crying at the kitchen table. And, if you have read one of the two books, that last sentence may also have a double layer of meaning to you. And so it begins.

So, I was browsing the YA shelves one day when I noticed a copy of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief on the shelf. Now, this book has been on the radar for a while, and it always pops up in conversation, so when I saw it, I colored myself lucky and picked it up. The story is set in Germany during World War II, and the narrator is death, or the grim reaper, or some other sort of soul taking entity with an omniscient perspective and quite a bit of sass. Meaning, it wasn’t your average tell-the-story-the-way-it-is narrator. This guy gave you his opinions often, and added to the story in many ways. It kind of reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, in that the narrator becomes a piece of the story, not just a voice that tells the story. I loved that about both novels.

Meanwhile, as you’ve read in the past, I’m a sucker for the Pretty Little Liars series. And I was all set on it being over, when joy of joys, the author decided to continue the story after a pretty conclusive final book. So when a young patron mentioned that she wanted to read Sara Shepard’s new Pretty Little Liars installment, Twisted, I could barely contain my joy in front of said youngster. I put myself on hold for it and was excited to see Ms. Shepard even kept the same cover art theme for this one. Okay, so four hip rich girls are being stalked by someone claiming to be their dead ex-best friend. By the time the series supposedly ended, there was so much drama I don’t even want to spoil it for you. Needless to say, all was not wrapped up by the end, because now the girls are in their senior year of high school, and someone has started once again to stalk them via well timed texts. It’s all around good clean reading fun; a total escape from normal life and very enjoyable alongside something tasty that’s not quite good for you.

The Book Thief was enjoyable, just in a more lasting way. It dealt with friendship and hatred, love and injustice, and a girl in the middle of a war torn country, just trying to deal with life. When I first heard about the book, I thought the book thief was someone who was hoarding as many books as possible, to protect them against destruction, but it was more about a handful of books that were stolen, and what they meant to the book thief.

I got Twisted just as I was starting The Book Thief. And I can’t lie when I say that I was so excited to read it, that when I forgot The Book Thief at work, I started in on Twisted. I’m not usually a simultaneous reader, but I think the two books are just so different, that it was a pretty enjoyable experience. I finished Twisted first, and now must sadly wait for the next one. I just finished The Book Thief this morning while eating breakfast. My husband came in to the kitchen just as I was bawling over the last few pages. I’m just glad I didn’t finish it at work. Even though the narrator prepares you for the ending, it is nonetheless heartbreaking.

So there. A bit of a long blog for your months of waiting. I just grabbed some advanced readers, so hopefully I’ll be back soon with some “books from the future.”

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2011-07-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

One Day
David Nicholls

I don’t know if I find books that are going to be made into movies or they find me (okay, I often find them), but one of my most recent adventures to half-priced books landed me on One Day by David Nicholls. I’ve heard a lot of buzz behind this book, and I definitely know that a lot of book clubbers out there are reading this one, so I decided to give it a go. This one’s for you, guys!

One Day is the story of Emma and Dexter, newly graduates of University in England and blossoming friends after a one night stand on graduation night. As the title suggests, the story follows the two over a period of twenty years, beginning in 1988, and drops in on each character on the same day each progressing year. Sometimes Dexter and Emma are together, other times they are each doing their own thing. One Day looks at how each person deals with life, love, and the search for oneself. Non-apologetic playboy, Dexter, or Dex, spends a lot of his time partying and messing up his life, while ultra-serious Emma, or Em, contemplates why life has less than exceeded her expectations. Despite the seemingly polar opposite personalities of the two, Em and Dex find security and happiness most when they are together, but different their life paths often result in conflict between the two. One Day is ultimately a love story of how two peoples’ lives can be intertwined over a long period of time, whether knowingly or not, and the decisions and actions that can either bring them together, or tear them apart.

Before I endorse this book I need to throw in a disclaimer for those just beginning the book. While the book does get off to an extremely slow start it does get better. Let me repeat that: IT DOES GET BETTER!!! This was definitely one of those books that I had to put down and walk away from multiple times. Granted, I don’t like to give up on books easily, but I will give up on one if it completely (excuse my word-age), sucks! But let me say this, although One Day and I got off to a rough start, I found myself in tears by the end of the book. If I hadn’t of been reading in a very public place, I probably would have been bawling my eyes out. Call me highly emotional (I probably am), but this book was worth it to me in the end. The English slang does take some getting used to (it’s a little annoying and makes for a dry read in some places), but overall, I’d recommend picking up Nicholls’ One Day.

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2011-05-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Maze Runner
James Dashner

Have you ever intentionally not done something because someone recommended you do it? I’m talking about parents ordering you to clean your room or friends saying you should check out a certain movie, etc. Well, my discovery of The Maze Runner by James Dashner fell into this category. My little sister had been bugging me for months on end, telling me that I just had to read this little book called The Maze Runner despite my constant reluctance to read it simply because she was recommending it (I must add that this was exactly how it went with reading all the Harry Potter books, and of course once I picked up the first one I was hooked). Needless to say, my sister was right yet again, and within reading the first few pages of The Maze Runner I was dying to know how the book ended.

Amazon describes the book way better than I can so if you’ve followed me this far, keep reading (!):

“When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls. Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift. Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.” – Amazon.com book description

The Glade itself sounds pretty amazing: an agricultural type community completely run by the boys. They have plenty of food, a boy who turns out to be an awesome chef to cook it up, and an impressively set up council to run the Glade. Anything else they need is pretty much sent up to them upon request from the Creators. Unfortunately for them however, the Glade is right smack in the middle of a maze and the man-eating creatures that dwell inside it make it utterly impossible to escape. The boys who’ve volunteered to be maze runners have spent two years trying to figure out the exit to the maze, but the fact that its walls change every night has made it extremely difficult to solve. Thomas, despite having had his memory wiped, has the eerie feeling that he’s been in the maze before and may be the Gladers last hope for escape.

There are so many other little tidbits that make this book super interesting. For instance, the Gladers have their own slang and predisposed knack (implanted by the Creators?) for one of the jobs around the Glade. Even more weird, is the painful process the boys go through called The Change that results from a Glader being “stung” by one of the Grievers (maze monsters) and administered a “cure,” that in the process gives the boys part of their memories back.

I have had so many patrons come into the Lake Branch trying to find a cool YA book for guys. I can honestly, whole-heartedly say that this book is amazing, especially for boys (but definitely girls too… it’s got a little romance, ladies!) Yes, it has a little of the stereotypically guy-friendly Sci-Fi, a little Fantasy, but it’s also got something that I don’t think many other “guy-type” books have. I can’t put my finger on it, and maybe it’s just the general awesomeness of The Maze Runner, but I think anyone interested in dystopian fiction or the whole Hunger Games craze should check this series out. Even though it is technically YA, I think this book passes as Adult Fiction as well.

So who is the girl in the garden?

2011-05-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair
Most books that I fall in love with have some sort of mystery to them. Not that they are mysteries, but some aspect of the story does not get revealed until later in the story. It keeps me wanting more, reading at every possible minute, and entangled in the story. That’s what The Girl in the Garden did for me. Although the mysteries are hardly shattering in most stories, just the idea of not knowing exactly what’s going to happen is enough. As I mentioned in the last blog, The Girl in the Garden is full of such mysteries. The story starts as a letter written by the main character to her fiancé. She leaves him in the middle of night to go to India to decide if she wants to marry him. Then she begins telling the story of her mother, and why whenever he asks her about her, she changes the subject. It was a bit of a stretch that the narrator actually wrote this whole story for her fiancé in a letter, but that device is really only brought up in the beginning and end of the story, so it’s easy enough to ignore. This story focuses on family relationships, forgiveness and hope. It’s a coming of age story with mystery—who could ask for anything more?

Books to keep an eye out for.

2011-04-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

So when I first started this blog, I had this catchy series I called “books of the future.” I would find books that hadn’t been published yet, and write something witty about how when they would be published, we’d have flying cars and such. I was quite pleased with these, although they were much easier to write when I was actually ordering the fiction and had the opportunity to read about pre-published books. Not so much anymore, with the children’s responsibilities. But! Have no fear, faithful reader(s)! For behold, dreams can come true, as is apparent with my following blog, in which I write about two books to be published in the future! Let this be a lesson that anything is possible (maybe even flying cars), if we wait long enough (and have extra time in the morning to look over our advanced copy shelf!) Enjoy!

The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair. Likened to The Secret Garden and Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, this book also reminds me of Amy Tan’s works. In this story, we have a girl who goes back to her native India to uncover lost, deep, dark, secrets. Ok, so the description had me at “secrets,” but I’m also a sucker for coming of age stories, which this one promises to be.

Vaclav and Lena by Haley Tanner. So this one had me at “magic,” but it also sounds like a fun love story. Vaclav, a Russian immigrant boy, befriends orphan Lena. When Lena goes away under mysterious circumstances, Vaclav is left wondering why she left. Flash forward several years, and Lena comes back into the picture. This book had good reviews for its writing and likable characters, so give it a chance, won’t you, when it finally comes out? Go ahead and put them on hold, so you can be the first on your street to read them.

The Poisonwood Bible and its debatable worthiness in the staff break room

2011-04-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

Judy: What are you reading?

Me: The Poisonwood Bible

Judy: Is it for…why?

And so ends my foray into the depths of Barbara Kingsolver’s Africa; not with a bang, but a “…why?” But perhaps that is a bit too harsh. I did, after all, finish the 543 page bahemuth, which was also chosen for Oprah’s book club not too long ago. Nathan Price, an evangelical Baptist, brings his wife and four daughters with him on a mission to the Congo in 1959. The four daughters take turns telling the story of their time there, while Orleanna Price, Nathan’s wife, heads up the beginning of each section in the book. The writing is absorbing. Each daughter has her own personality and it’s quite interesting getting the different perspectives of their situation. Would I recommend this as a book for pleasure reading while vacationing on a yacht? No. But I suppose if you were in the mood for something meaty and passionate, this just might satisfy you.

Zip zip quick read

2011-03-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

So I had Rebecca Black's "Friday" stuck in my head literally all day yesterday. I even got my husband obsessed, which I truly feel bad about, but with lyrics like, "we we so excited," how could I not? But since yesterday was not in fact Thursday, and today is not Friday, but yesterday was Sunday, and Saturday came before, I just felt the need to blog today. Monday Monday. (oh, that reminds me of the Mamas and the Papas). So on with the books! And this one is so far from "Friday," even if you really couldn't care less about Ms. Black, you may just find this next book worth picking up. I can’t believe how fast Light on Snow by Anita Shreve went. If you want an author who writes emotionally charged dramas with a touch of nostalgia and beautiful prose, I would go with Anita Shreve. Okay, so here’s the story: It’s the 1970’s and a young girl and her father go out for a walk in their woods. As it gets dark and they are about to head home, they hear a noise and discover an abandoned baby in the snowy woods. Nicky and her father rush the baby to the hospital, where he is questioned by authorities in his involvement in the event. The plot thickens when the mother of the child visits their home in an attempt to move on. The story takes place in a matter of blistery days, but during this time, we get a pretty interesting psychological sketch of the characters. Nicky’s mom and sister were killed in a car accident several years earlier. Her father, in an attempt to run from the tragedy, moves himself and Nicky to an isolated New England town. Nicky forms a strong bond with the mother, even though her father is adamantly against the relationship. I know the characters grew and changed by the end of the story, but I think the point was more about them dealing with their past. Neither Nicky nor her father had moved passed their family’s death, but through this ordeal, they begin to. The experience for them is cathartic, if not dramatic, and we get a touching coming of age story as well. I browsed Anita Shreve’s collection with the intent of reading Sea Glass. I still may at some point, but I did enjoy and recommend Light on Snow.

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2011-03-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have
A Novel by Allen Zadorff

High School is hard enough without being a size 48 waist. For Andrew Zansky, High School is just one more place where he can be reminded that he doesn’t, and will never, fit in. As the second fattest kid in school, an average day for Andy means trying to squeeze into his pants, praying that he’ll fit into his desk at school, and hiding from a beating by the school bully. However, as much as being overweight sucks, Andy has grown to mostly accept it; it’s in his genes after all. His friendship with class clown Eytan and involvement in the model UN club at school almost makes up for the over-protectiveness of his caterer mother, absentee father, and over abundance of flab.

Of course all this changes once he meets geek chic April. Knowing he has zero chance with her, Andy can’t help but try to dream up a plan to make April his. So when a routine bully pummeling leads to a chance encounter with O. Douglass, captain of the football team and teen dream guy, Andy is presented with the opportunity to drastically change his fat nerd status: by joining the football team. All of a sudden Andy is embraced by the popular elite of his school. No longer a “nobody,” Andy finds himself hanging out and attending the popular crowd’s parties and other extracurricular activities. April, who’s joined the cheerleading squad, is now part of his everyday life. And best of all, as a football player, Andrew’s “fatness” has become an asset and not a detriment, helping him protect quarterback O. Douglass on the field.

The big question Allen Zadorff’s (notice any closeness between the names Allen Zadorff and Andrew Zansky? Could this novel be semi-autobiographical?) novel asks is “how far would you go to fit it?” Because while Andy is enjoying all the perks that come with his new life, it has meant giving up some of his old; like his previous friends and activities… even risking his life on the field because of his extreme asthma, all so he can maybe have a chance with April. But Andrew is finding out the hard way that fitting in and being popular may not really be all that it is cracked up to be.

I really enjoyed this novel. I feel like there’s not enough YA books out there that a lot of guys can relate to, and “Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can’t Have” is a book that anyone; guy, girl, fat, thin, young, and old can relate to. The story told from Andrew’s point of view is written so humorously, that while you feel bad for Andy’s situation, you can’t help but laugh at little at some of his comments. The best part of this novel though, I thought, came at the end when Andy (through the course of events) realized that being popular really was not all that great, and that some of the popular kids who he thought were his friends really were not so wonderful. I think this story is a great lesson in loving who you are and not trying to change yourself for the approval of others. So to all the jocks, the princesses, the loners, the basket cases, and the geeks (breakfast club reference anyone?!), go out and read this book!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mumford & Sons; Or, My Recent Serendipitous Music Moment

2011-03-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

So a lot of times I’ll hear a song on the radio and think it’s really great, only to not be able to remember it when I get home to look into it. But what happened to me one short week ago can only be described as serendipitous. It begins as follows:
I heard this song that I really liked and I had just pulled in to a parking lot, so I decided to write the lyrics down so I could later Google them to find the artist (hint: this is a very good way to find a song you have stuck in your head but don’t know the artist. Just think of a few lines and put them in quotation marks when you search for them online. Works every time—unless you’re one of those people who don’t sing the right words to songs). Am I aging myself? Can one do this easily with a jazzy new phone instead of taking all these extraneous steps? But I digress. As I was saying, I wrote some lyrics down to later find them online. When I got home and booted up my computer, I also decided to log on to my free Freegal account that I have compliments of my very favorite library. When I got on to Freegal, I saw a new artist they were featuring called Mumford & Sons. Right away I liked the art of the album, it looked a little folksy, and for some reason, which I will later refer to as serendipity, I decided to click on them to see what kind of music they played. Meanwhile, I also had a search going with my before mentioned lyric search. Quickly I realized the lyrics I was looking for were by the same artist I had just clicked on on Freegal. Serendipity, my friends, serendipity. And now I am in love with “Sigh No More,” Mumford & Son’s first album. And the song that started it all? Check out the video
And if you haven’t checked out Freegal yet, I highly, highly recommend it. 3 free DRM-free downloads onto your favorite device! Every week! Brilliant!

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2011-03-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

XVI
Julia Karr

“Some girls can’t wait to be sixteen, to be legal. Nina is not one of them. Even though she has no choice in the matter, she knows that so long as her life continues as normal, everything will be okay. Then, with one brutal strike, Nina’s normal is shattered; and she discovers that nothing that she once believed about her life is true. But there’s one boy who can help—and he just may hold the key to her past. But with the line between attraction and danger as thin as a whisper, one thing is for sure… for Nina, turning sixteen promises to be anything but sweet.” – Back cover, XVI

As the back cover of Julia Karr’s XVI states, Nina is not thrilled with the idea of turning sixteen. In this futuristic dystopian novel where the Governing Council and the Media control everything and citizens are bombarded with noise from advertisements and the like 24/7, sixteen is a very important age for females. Sixteen for a girl indicates adulthood, and the legal age for girls to have intimate relations with men. Schools show videos that instruct girls on how to make men happy and “verts,” (advertisements) tell girls, “how popular they’ll be if they dress and act so boys will want to have relations with them” – page 277. However, as exciting as that sounds for girls like Nina’s friend, Sandy ( who’s been studying up on XVI Ways learning about what guys like in a sixteen), Nina knows turning sixteen is more dangerous than liberating. Because at sixteen, girls are required to get a large XVI tattooed on their wrists, and most guys see that as fair game to do whatever they want with girls and in many cases, without their consent.

Nina and Sandy are considered lower tiered girls. In this version of the future, money is referred to as “credits,” and those with it are considered a tier 10 or higher. The government provides for everyone even those who have no money as long as they agree to government experiments. Nina and Sandy are at a tier 2, and for girls like them there are not many options. Nina can either hope to earn status as a Creative with her artwork, marry an upper tier guy, or enroll in the mandatory FeLS (Female Liaison) program that all lower tiered girls are required to sign up for. Sandy can’t wait to enroll in and hopefully be chosen for FeLS, and escape her lower status, but Nina has reservations as to what the program is actually about. Whereas Sandy’s mom encourages her daughter’s sixteen ways, Nina’s mom instructs her daughter on the dangers of life at sixteen. With Nina’s dad deceased, Ginnie is the only parent Nina has left.

Nina’s life is going ok until major events change everything. With the seemingly impossible prospect of her father being alive, and the threat of her mother’s boyfriend coming after her at every turn, Nina enrolls the help of her friends to discover the truth behind the Governing Council, the Media, and the FeLS program before it’s too late.

I thought this was a really great case study if you will, as to what could happen if society really took media portrayals seriously. It’s already enough that society itself sends girls one message on how to look and act; and movies, television, and magazines send girls a completely different message. I really enjoy stories that look at an extreme version of our future if current global practices continue; whether environmentally, socially, politically, etc. If you like dystopian books, or books that portray a very realistic future, I’d recommend (both guys and girls) checking out XVI. In a world where kids can’t wait to grow up, it’s refreshing to read a cautionary story about wanting too much too soon. Although the book mentions sex a lot, XVI is more about the dangers of teenage relations and attitudes towards it, as opposed to an endorsement. Nothing obscene happens, so parents of teenagers rest easy.

Midweek blog (preceded by a brief midweek rant)

2011-03-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

Is it just me, or have they been playing "Rock the Casbah" a lot lately? I'm kind of sick of it.

Not quite what I expected.

When Autumn Leaves by Amy Foster is a book that sets out to be just like any other book. The plot, though imbued with magical happenings, seems to start out like any other: Avening, a small town on the west coast, has its beloved town healer/witch, Autumn. Autumn has been with the town for many years, but has just learned she will be moving on, and has to find a replacement for when she leaves (thus the title, “When Autumn Leaves”—cute). She starts making up a list of who she thinks will be a good replacement, and the plot takes an unexpected turn. I assumed at this point the characters would weave their way through the story, maybe indicating to the reader who may just be the lucky candidate. Except it doesn’t. Instead, each chapter focuses on the magical happenings of a single candidate. When it ends, we barely hear or see them again. For example, the first character we meet, Ellie, is a shy reserved person when we first meet her. I assumed that throughout the novel we would see her character develop into a stronger person. Instead, in the next chapter we meet Stella who has problems of her own, and we don’t even hear about Ellie again. That was something to get used to. So instead of reading about developing characters, I had to switch my expectations of the book and just let each character paint part of the story. Once I realized this, the book was pretty fun, although riddled with inevitable loose ends. I found myself wondering what happened to several of the characters, only to be disappointed with no clear finality. The end tries to tie up the novel, and it wasn’t dissatisfying, it just wasn’t entirely enlightening. But despite my murky review, I would say this was a fun read. Just know what you’re getting yourself into before starting, and be prepared for some disappearing characters throughout (both literally disappearing—like going invisible, and disappearing within the story).

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2011-02-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

Infinite Days
Rebecca Maizel

If I had to quickly summarize the past decade in TV, movies, and literature it’d probably go something like this: girl falls in love with sparkly vampire but is torn between her feelings for her werewolf friend. Or how about this one: girl falls in love with vampire in southern town where vampires are well known of and even catered to with a drink called Tru Blood. Annnnd wash, rinse, repeat. There are so many vampire books out there it’s overwhelming. Well, get ready for one more. But before you close this page in disgust over this reviewers post, let me tell you that this story is a little bit different. Like Amanda’s post about The Radley’s, Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel tells a story unlike so much of the dribble out there. Instead of Maizel’s vampire character wishing she was human like every other vampire in recent storytelling Lenah Beaudonte, super evil vampire, actually wakes up one day completely human.

Okay. It’s a little more complicated than that. Throw in an ex-vampire soul mate, a ritual, and a little magic and you start to get the picture. Longing for a human life again, Lenah would give anything to change who she is. She’s grown tired of and almost crazy from her destructive vampire life. No longer proud of all the lives she’s taken to make her the most powerful female vampire, Lenah needs a way out. That’s where Rhode, her first vampire love (and the one who made her), fits in. He claims to have found a way to transform Lenah back to her human form. The only problem is the powerful coven of vampires Lenah has created to protect her and who will stop at nothing to find her. Coming up with a plan to hibernate for one hundred years and fool the coven, Lenah sees no danger down the line. And when she wakes up those one hundred years later, the last thing she needs to worry about is her coven coming to track her down because Lenah needs to be able to spend all her energy trying to fit into this new world of humans.

Having a little trouble at first, Lenah eventually begins to fit into human society. She’s made friends, is excelling at school, and even has a love interest in ultra-jock Justin. Of course, like any story, drama ensues. Lenah’s coven discovers her missing body from her crypt and after finding a charred clue (that Rhode failed to burn) as to her whereabouts, start to make their way toward the Wickham Boarding School where Lenah resides. Will Lenah lose her human life again before it’s really started? Can she protect those she loves from the vicious vampires she herself created?

I really liked this book. Sure, it’s not exactly an intellectual read by any means, but if you’re looking for something fun and different involving vampires, I’d definitely recommend you check out this book!

200 posts and going strong!

2011-02-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

While I think it took a longer time to get from 100-200 than from 1-100, we still made it! I hope this blog has been helpful in sorting through the loads of books out there. I hope to keep on reading, and letting you know what’s out there—with a little help from my friends. And speaking of my friends, thanks to everyone who’s ever guest blogged or wrote a comment, it’s always nice to know I’m not typing into the abyss. Please keep tuning in, I’ve got plenty more reading and blogging to do! Feel free to click on any of the links in this blog to get to some of my favorite reads.

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2011-02-14T06:41:00.000-08:00

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
Michael Scott

I know I reference Harry Potter entirely too much, but I’m going to do it one more time; remember when Harry, Ron, and Hermione are searching for the key to the Sorcerer’s Stone in the first movie and one of the characters stumbles upon the name Nicholas Flamel? In the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, this tidbit of information is in reference to the Philosopher’s Stone, a legendary object that holds the secret to immortality and Nicholas Flamel, the man who discovered it ensuring he lives forever.

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott (no not the Michael Scott from the Office!), is the story of twins Josh and Sophie Newman, fifteen year old siblings spending the summer in San Francisco while their archeologist parents are on a dig in the desert. The twins have the perfect jobs right across the street from one another; Sophie works at a coffee shop, while Josh works at the old bookstore for the hip Nicholas and Perry Fleming. Sophie and Josh’s lives are perfectly normal until one fateful day that changes everything. Witnessing supernatural beings attacking Nicholas and Perry, Josh and Sophie step in to help, and in turn set off a chain reaction that sends the twins and Nicholas on the run from the evil John Dee. Dee, who stole the Book of Abraham the Mage from Fleming, is holding Perry hostage in return for the two most important pages of the Codex that were ripped out of the book during the attack. These two pages hold the key to restoring the power of the Earth to the Dark Elders who once ruled it long before humans appeared. With no one else to turn to, it’s up to Nicholas, Sophie, and Josh to save Perry and keep the pages safety away from John Dee.

While in hiding, the twins discover that they may be the powerful magicians prophesized in the Book, and that Nicholas Fleming is in fact the legendary alchemist Nicholas Flamel. If the powers buried deep inside them are awakened, Sophie and Josh may be the difference between the survival or destruction of the planet. But with mythical Dark Elders like the Morrigan, the Scottish crow goddess, and Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess, after them, saving the planet seems far from easy. Lucky for them, Nicholas and the twins have the help of Scathach, an Irish warrior and vampire who is nearly as old as the evil Elders who wish harm on the group.

The Alchemyst is book one of the series, and so far I think it’s pretty good. Not knowing really any of the mythical creatures talked about in this book has made me want to research more into the different types of mythology around the world. I must say that I was very excited making the connection between The Alchemyst and Harry Potter because it was a pretty subtle thing in the HP movie. If you like fantasy and all things supernatural, I totally recommend this book.

And on to the Hunger Games

2011-01-31T07:59:00.000-08:00

I had a whole post written for The Hunger Games before I read the last two. So there it sat, waiting for me, and although I thought I could move on to other books, that wasn’t the case.
After reading The Hunger Games, I knew I would be on wait for the other two, so I started reading other things. Except after a while, I couldn’t shake this need to read something good and deep and engrossing. So I struggled, in vain, to find something that would satisfy my needs. That’s when Nancy S. started talking about the Hunger Games during lunch. Oh yes! I had totally forgotten that was the last great book I read in a while. But alas! I was on the wait list for the second one. That’s when Nancy gave me her copy to borrow (bless Nancy) and I was able to finally figure out why no other book was able to fill me. Because The Hunger Games trilogy is simply amazing. Drama, and romance, and action and characters that are real and complex and relatable. If you’re simply stumbling around in a world of uninspired books, and want something that can grab you like the last great series you read, please let me humbly recommend The Hunger Games. Now let me insert my original post with a brief description of the first novel, and I will summarize after:
So my mother in law was reading this book during the summer. She mentioned it to me, and I (more or less) stored it away for later. It took a lady requesting the book at the library several months later for me to actually put the book on hold for myself. And I’m glad I did, except now I have to wait for book two. If you’ve only heard about The Hunger Games in passing, here’s the story:
We get another dystopian society taking place in an unspecified time in the future in a place that was once the United States. Now America is broken down into 12 districts and a Capitol. The districts are forced to live in poverty due to their failed attempt at revolution. And since the Capitol has gained so much power over them, they decide to rub it in a little. Every year, a boy and girl are chosen from each district to fight to the death in an event called “The Hunger Games.” At this point, I’m thinking Battle Royale, a movie made in Japan about a very similar scenario. Except where Battle Royale is completely no holds barred violent, Suzanne Collins tones it down for her intended audience (young adults). Katniss, the protagonist, chooses to fight in the hunger games when her younger sister Prim is chosen. Her partner is Peeta, a baker’s boy who’s loved Katniss since they were small children. The story is a complete page turner, and I’m actually upset that I have to wait for the second book (it’s out, but I’m on hold for it). There’s actually three in the series; Catching Fire and Mockingjay are the next two. Although I’m not totally in love with Katniss (she’s a bit selfish and a little clueless when it comes to things that don’t involve her survival), she’s nonetheless a very realistic character, and I can see her growing on me.—Yes, Katniss totally grew on me and now it’s like I know her. This series is soooo good, and I don’t add extraneous “o’s” when talking about just any series. So you’re all going out to read The Hunger Games now, right? Excellent.

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2011-01-24T09:21:00.000-08:00

An Object of Beauty: A Novel
Steve Martin

Who knew that goofy Steve Martin of SNL fame was such a renaissance man? Not only can he claim comedy and acting to his repertoire, but he can also add musician, playwright, and author of both adult and children’s fiction to that list. When I first heard that Martin was an author I expected, much like other comedians who write books, that his work would be super funny. But I was very surprised to find out that his adult fiction is pretty serious and oftentimes somewhat tragic. For someone to be able to switch gears in such a way that Steve Martin can, it’s no wonder why he’s such a recognized individual.

Martin’s latest book An Object of Beauty, explores the world of the New York art scene as experienced by art reviewer Daniel Franks and his wild card female friend Lacey. The story is told as if written by Daniel himself, mostly chronicling the life of Lacey with little instances where Daniel and Lacey’s lives intersect. Known as first person omniscient, Wikipedia refers to this as “a rare form of first person in which the narrator is a character in the story, but also knows the thoughts and feelings of all the other characters.” Lacey, who can be a very manipulative and selfish character, is young, beautiful, carefree and knows how to use this to her advantage. Starting off at the very bottom of the totem pole, Lacey quickly works her way up in the art world by paying very close attention to the people, and art, she comes in contact with. As with any kind of story that has a tragic aspect to it, this may be what ultimately unravels her.

The author definitely did a good job researching for this story, for as a reader you are constantly bombarded with healthy doses of art history. The one thing I especially liked about this story was the connection between the art itself and Lacey as “beautiful objects.” If you hadn’t already guessed, the title of this book refers to art, but at some point while reading the story, one starts to wonder if art and Lacey are not paralleling one another. There’s even a line early on that really caught my attention. In it, Lacey is really starting to get a handle on the worth of certain art works and what draws people to one particular piece and not another of similar composition. As Lacey starts to factor in various characteristics, Martin writes, “her toe crossed ground from which it is difficult to return: she started converting objects of beauty into objects of value.” That line right there had a lot of weight to it that stayed with me throughout my reading of this novel.

My suggestion is, if you like anything art related or are a huge art history buff pick up this book. It definitely makes reading it a lot easier. This was not one of those books that I could finish in one sitting just because An Object of Beauty is definitely a lot more technical then some of his other works. But even so, Steve Martin’s descriptively flowing words, not to mention his departure from the funny man we know him as, make it worth checking out.

2011-01-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

The Handmaid’s Tale
If you haven’t noticed, my guest blogger Sarah B. has been posting a lot lately. I definitely want to check out some of her picks, and I did check out The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Atwood is a familiar name to me; I read Surfacing and The Blind Assassin in college. Atwood is a master of writing feminist works that are both engaging and creative. I’ve always heard good things about The Handmaid’s Tale, so with Sarah’s timely reminder, I picked it up. As we learned from Sarah, the story takes place in a dystopian society. The handmaid, whose only name we get is Offred (as in, belonging to Fred), lives in a future society where it has become hard to produce offspring. A religious group has taken over America, and forced women into slave like roles. Offred has become a handmaiden, a woman who in her previous life had children, so society is hoping she can do it again. She is not married to the man of the house, but rather spends a night with him a month trying to make a child. I should mention that the wife is there as well, sharing in the “experience.” Offred takes us through her daily life of memories, regret, and mindless chores. We get a sense of what her life was like before the takeover, which contributes to the tragedy of her situation. The ending is a bit mysterious, but also creative, in that we get a professor in the distant future talking about finding The Handmaid’s manuscripts, and discussing their significance at a seminar. Atwood’s typical poetic verse makes the story read quickly, but I could have done with a little more.

Comin’ atcha with another Sarah Addison Allen

2010-12-30T08:33:00.000-08:00

There’s a reason inspirational is our flavor of the month for December. It was so good to pick up a book and just know it was going to end sweetly. And Ms. Allen’s latest pulled no sugar-coated punches, basically ending the story with “and they lived happily ever after.” And why not? The snow and cold has us temporarily forgetting about the warmer aspects of the holiday season, and who hasn’t visualized themselves “curling up” with a good book? Well here ya go, a perfect book to curl up with. Add a dash of magic, a sprinkling of intrigue, and a southern town that is perfectly southern, and you have The Girl Who Chased the Moon. A girl who’s mother just died goes back to the town where her mother grew up to live with her only living relative—her 8-foot tall grandfather. She is not warmly welcomed by the town since, as she soon discovers, her mother left the town in shame. She meets her neighbor, who has troubles of her own dealing with the town, and the two plots weave among each other as we get to a pleasurable ending. Warm, sweet, and just what you need on a cold winter’s night. Enjoy!

Guest Blogger: Sarah B

2010-12-23T12:57:00.000-08:00

YOU
Charles Benoit

“This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. You’re just a typical fifteen-year-old sophomore, an average guy named Kyle Chase. This can’t be happening to you. But then, how do you explain all the blood? How do you explain how you got here in the first place? There had to be signs, had to have been some clues it was coming. Did you miss them, or ignore them?” – Front Flap of YOU

Kyle Chase is the perfect example of so many of the kids you’ve seen or heard about in school systems who have sort of slipped through the cracks somewhere along the line. Between middle school and high school Kyle made some poor choices that landed him at the school for underachievers, Midlands High School, instead of Odyssey High School. He knows the mistakes he’s made, but can’t begin to fathom how to change them: the grades, the deadbeat friends, most of all his relationship with his parents. YOU spends a large portion of the story lost in Kyle’s anxiety over his wanting to change, and being perfectly apathetic to everything. Then there’s the issue of Kyle’s uncontrollable anger in the midst of all his other roller coaster-esque emotions. As Kyle puts it, “Life would be so much easier if they just left you alone, let you do what you wanted. You wouldn’t’ cause them any grief, you’d take care of yourself make your own food and get yourself where you needed to go.” That statement right there reminded me so much of how I thought towards my own parents, adults, authority figures, etc. at one point during my teenage life, so in that regard, I think Benoit did a really great job of connecting with his inner teenager. And why shouldn’t he have, having been a former high school teacher dealing with teens day in and day out?

Getting back to the story, things for Kyle continue in the above manner until he meets the new kid, smooth-talking confident Zack McDade. For all the weirdness that is Zack, Kyle can’t help but notice that Zack seems to have his life together. And maybe that’s why Kyle begins to hang out with Zack, and things start to pick up in Kyle’s life. But maybe that was Kyle’s biggest mistake. YOU is a fast-paced read that ends where it starts, with a shocking conclusion. It was definitely an emotional read for me, that had me switching between anger at Kyle’s attitude and choices, sympathy in his desire to change all that, pissed off at the character of Zack, and horrified at what happens at the end. If you want a story that will take no time to read, and maybe give you a little inside look at that kid you kind of know at school who has no aspirations and seems to purposely screw things up for himself (but you know is a good kid), check out YOU by Charles Benoit.

A little gem for the kids at heart

2010-12-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

Oh wow. And may I add a tee hee? America Bowl by Don Steinberg. Bam! A book pitting the 44 presidents against the 44 Super Bowls. I’m pretty sure I haven’t been this giddy about a book since Stuff White People Like. Just the idea of comparing two things so logically dissimilar makes me believe that other things are possible as well. Like finding the lost city of Atlantis. Or Santa Claus. To give an example, Super Bowl XLII wins over Bill Clinton, because although “Clinton had a good run…he didn’t have the helmet catch.” You’ll just have to check this book out to see the rest of the scores.

And with a surprisingly interesting appendix.

An interesting premise, not much spark

2010-12-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

So perhaps this is why adults don’t always dig the YA selections. I finished Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan a couple weeks ago, and it’s been since sitting on my desk waiting for me to blog about it. So here’s the premise: two girls, Finn and Chloe, decide that the only way to get into a good college is to fake Chloe’s disappearance. Then when she miraculously comes back alive, she will be instantly famous and be accepted to any school of her choosing. Finn will be the one who actually finds her stumbling alone in the woods, so she’ll be famous too. So yeah, not the brightest of ideas. The book focuses on the time while Chloe is away, when Finn has to deal with the media and keeping the huge secret from her family. The pressure becomes too great for Finn, and as a result, the girls’ friendship suffers. The end of the book makes the rest of the book seem more like a reflection instead of a play by play. We learn that the protagonist, Finn, has grown apart from Chloe, and yet the experience still haunts her. I liked that the story took a reflective turn, but the story’s resolution lacked a certain spark. Even with her closing remarks, I was still left feeling that Finn could have grown more. Maybe if the author wrote to a more mature audience, the ending would have been different. It was an interesting read, I just wanted a little something more.

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2010-12-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

Tell Me a Secret
Holly Cupala

“It’s tough, living in the shadow of a dead girl. No one mentions my sister. If they do, it’s mentioning her by omission, relief that I am nothing like her. I am the good sister. Thank God.” – Tell Me a Secret pg. 1

It’s been five years since Miranda Mathison’s bad girl sister, Xanda, died, but the mystery surrounding her death and the secret Xanda took to her grave still haunts Miranda. Now seventeen, the age Xanda was when she died, Miranda, or Rand, is dealing with some issues of her own. Her perfect life: an awesome boyfriend, perfect best friend, and promising future at art school after graduation, are all shaken up when two little pink lines on a pregnancy test threaten to destroy everything Rand has worked so hard for. To top it all off, the shaky relationship she’s had with her mother all her life, especially after the death of her “failure” of a sister, feels like it’s been permanently derailed after the news of her pregnancy leaks.

But the truth is, Rand has always wanted to be like Xanda. Maybe that’s why she surrounds herself with bad girl Delaney, and had isolated herself from her once best friend, Essence. So while all these bad things keep happening to her, Rand can’t help but obsess over the vagueness of Xanda’s death, and the secret truth that her parents might be keeping from her surrounding the way her sister died. The only problem is that it seems everyone has turned against Rand, her best friend and boyfriend included. With no one to talk to, not even her parents, Rand is completely on her own in terms of her pregnancy.

Talk about capturing the essence of high school! True, I’ve been out of high school for quite awhile now, but it felt like I was sucked right back into the drama of it all whilst reading this book. I for one, know how hard high school can be; how mean, manipulative, clique-y, and backstabbing (even your good friends!) can be. Cupala was able to capture all of the emotional angst and hardships that many teens face while pursuing secondary education, even more so, when you’re a soon-to-be teenage mother. I would never wish what happened to Rand in this story on anyone. And if you thought your mother was bad, wait until you get a load of Rand’s mom. In a somewhat related note, I also thought Holly Cupala did a really awesome job of representing (no offense my teenage friends!), the kind of ignorance young people have at that age, whereas, instead of going and finding out the facts for sure yourself, making a judgment call and abandoning your friend(s), boyfriend, or girlfriend based on what someone else told you. There was so many times when I wanted to yell at certain characters in the book because things were so obvious to me as an adult reader, and so easy to fix, but understandably confusing to a teen.

The only downside, that I was able to think of when it came to this story, was Xanda’s “secret.” Either the author was really unclear about what it actually was, or I just assumed one part of the story was the secret, but I was a little let down by Rand’s discovery as it related to Xanda. However, when all is said and done, I thought this was a really great book. It wasn’t just one of those “oh hey, another teenage pregnancy” kind of stories. I’ve read a lot of YA books in my time, and this was one of the few that really did YA right: no crazy/complicated love triangles, too mature for their age characters, or Gossip Girl-esque storylines. Holly Cupala definitely knows her stuff and I’m positive that if I had read this book in high school, I would have related to it even more than I just did a handful of years later. Go out and read this book!

finding the equation of friendship

2010-12-14T14:39:00.000-08:00

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
Not that everything math related reminds me of my husband, but it kind of does. So every time an equation came into play in this touching story, I would think, I bet Ken can figure that out. But because this story was about way more than math, you don’t need a left brained husband to find this one interesting. The Housekeeper and the Professor is a story about a man who, due to an accident, has short term memory loss. So, just like Dory from “Finding Nemo,” the professor can only remember things in an 80 minute window. After that, he has no recollection of anything or anyone. A housekeeper was hired to care for him, and the two form a strong relationship. How, do you wonder, when the professor can’t even remember the conversation he had 2 hours ago? Well, he does keep little notes posted to his suit, but it goes beyond that. The professor, housekeeper, and housekeeper’s son, don’t worry about the past, but instead focus on the present. They spend time on the things they like (math problems and baseball), and enjoy each other’s company while they have it. Talk about learning to seize the day. This book was written in 2003 in Japanese, and recently translated to English, so the baseball teams and players aren’t as recognizable, but the story is completely universal. There are a few stories dealing with short term memory loss (“Memento,” “Finding Nemo,” “50 First Dates”), but this is the most realistic version, and the one with the most heart.

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2010-12-07T17:16:00.000-08:00

Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro

In the spirit of novels such as “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Unit,” comes a similar story that depicts the possibility of a not-too-distant-future, that while seeming hardly believable now, could actually come to conception when you really get right down to the root of the idea. An alumna of Hailsham, a mysterious school located in the English countryside, Kathy H. and her fellow classmates are not your ordinary human beings. Much of Ishiguro’s “Never Let Me Go” is spent reminding readers that Hailsham students are “special,” a characteristic that up until the last quarter of the story, we can only guess at as to why. The students’ caretakers, or guardians as they are called, instruct Hailsham students on the importance of taking care of themselves, “keeping yourselves very healthy inside, that’s much more important for each of you then it is for me,” as one guardian puts it. As Kathy H. reminisces, “even at that age – we were 9 or 10 – we knew just enough to make us wary of that whole territory. We certainly knew – though not in any deep sense – that we were different from our guardians, and also from the normal people outside; we perhaps even knew that a long way down the line there were donations waiting for us. But we didn’t really know what that meant.”

The little pieces Kazuo Ishiguro lets onto early on in “Never Let Me Go” deal with the Hailsham students and donations. We are told that “normal” people are overcome with revulsion and dread at the mention of Hailsham students, especially Madame, the strange woman who comes to the school from time to time to pick up art for her “gallery,” that students spend much of their time creating. If for nothing else, this story had me reading to find out the great mystery behind the Hailsham students and their donations and kept my attention with the beautiful writing. Truly a coming-of-age tragic story, the plot follows Kathy H. and her closest classmates, Tommy and Ruth, as they grow inside the walls of Hailsham and beyond, dealing not only with the hardships of day to day life and growing up, but also those that face them in their uncertain future. If you’ve recently seen the theatrical movie release starring Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley, or you’re looking for a pretty decent read, I’d recommend checking out Never Let Me Go.

Christmas shopping check list

2010-12-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

I’m a librarian, so of course I think books are a good idea for gifts. You’ve already found so many wonderful ideas from this blog already! But, oh! What about the children? Never fear, faithful reader(s)! I especially think books for kids is a wonderful idea (yes, I’m that aunt). So, to help with all your holiday shopping needs, I have compiled the following list of children’s books that would be great gifts. Happy Holidays!

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! By Moe Willems.
I’m not sure what I did with my life before I discovered Mo Willems. It was a whole lot sadder, I’ll say that much. This book is written from the perspective of a pigeon who really wants to drive a bus. He’s asking you, the reader, to allow him this one simple pleasure. Of course, you, the reader, have been asked by the bus driver to deny said pigeon of said pleasure. Delight ensues. Kids like saying no, so why don’t you give them a book that freely allows them to do it?

A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black.
Yes, that Michael Ian Black. The same guy who makes you laugh on I love the 80’s on VH1. The book is a silly essay about why a pig parade is a terrible idea. It’s contrary and wonderful, and the illustrations fit in nicely. I’d use your niece or nephew as an excuse to check this book out, just so you can read it before you send it their way.

Sometimes illustrations are more important than the story (or at least make more of an impact). If you’re of a more visual inclination, check out these titles.

In My Dreams I can Fly by Eveline Hasler, illustrated by Kathi Bhend
The intricate illustrations of these insects hiding under ground during winter kept this book in my mind long after I read it. It’s a very quiet, peaceful book about the changing seasons, and it’s a great book where the kids would want to make up their own story to go along with the pictures.

The Yellow Tutu by Kirsten Bramsen, illustrated by Carin Bramsen
This book about individuality is so adorable. Margo gets a yellow tutu for her birthday and is so excited with it that she decides to wear it to school on her head. She gets ridiculed by other children who point out that that’s not where tutus are supposed to be worn. I loved the colors and facial expressions of the characters.

Sure you can always go with Fancy Nancy or Sesame Street, but why not choose something special and unique?

Guest Blogger: Sarah B

2010-11-29T07:56:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness
Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

“This town owned us, that was the good and the bad of it. It knew every inch of us, every sin, every secret, every scab. Which was why most people never bothered to leave, and why the ones who did never came back. But while other folks were busy cutting back their rosebushes, Light and Dark Casters with unique and powerful gifts were locked in an eternal struggle—a supernatural civil war without any hope of a white flag waving. Lena’s Gatlin was home to Demons and danger and a curse that had marked her family for more than a hundred years. A few months ago, I believed nothing would ever change in this town. Now I knew better, and I only wished it was true” -- Beautiful Darkness pg.2 &3

For those of you sick of the Vampire craze but looking for something to fill the void as the Harry Potter franchise draws towards a dramatic close, I’d recommend the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Although the storyline is much different than that of “the boy who lived,” many of the aspects of Beautiful Creatures and its sequel, Beautiful Darkness, are similar.

Living in a small South Carolina town where everyone knows each other’s business and no one really ever leaves after High School, Ethan Wate was counting down the days until he could finally get out of the town of Gatlin. But then Ethan began having very real nightmares involving a girl, dreams he’d wake up from physically hurt and covered in mud. When Lena, the girl from these dreams, turns out to be real, Ethan finds his life changed in ways he could never imagine. Everything he thought he knew about Gatlin has changed; because as it turns out, Lena is a Caster, a sort of witch capable of some pretty heavy stuff and everyone he thought he knew; his own recently deceased mother, her best friend and town librarian, Marian, even his caretaker, Amma, are involved. Sort of like Harry Potter is to magic, except in different terminology, Lena can perform some serious magic; like controlling the weather and making things happen that no one else could even imagine.

Lena lives in her uncle’s mansion on the outskirts of town. The Ravenwood Mansion is the town ghost story, it being the only mansion to withstand the burning of the town during the Civil War. Like Muggles in J.K. Rowling’s world, the people of Gatlin, perhaps sensing the power surrounding it, stay away from the mansion and the supposed hermit who resides in its walls. Lena’s uncle, Macon (said hermit), is even comparable to Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black. However, in the Caster world, there are much different creatures abound with much different powers. But whether it’s sirens, incubuses, seers, thaumaturgies, or palimpsests, each Caster must choose whether to be Light or Dark, much like the wizards and witches of Hogwarts.

The trouble in the first book comes into play when on her sixteenth moon, Lena will be claimed as a Dark or Light Caster. Cursed by the “Book of Moons,” the Ravenwood family has no choice as to whether they become Dark or Light like other Casters. Lena’s own cousin Ridley, practically her sister, turned Dark and was banished from the family. Lena’s situation is a little different however, because Lena is a special type of Caster and her claiming could mean the end of either the Dark Casters, or the Light, the outcome of which means losing some of the ones she loves either way. All the action of the story plays up to the moment of the sixteenth moon, with the balance of The Order of Things at stake, but in the meantime, Lena and Ethan must figure out the connection behind the dreams that they both share before it’s too late.

The first book ends on a sort of cliffhanger, but at the same time I was surprised when I discovered the sequel, Beautiful Darkness. I don’t want to give too much away as far as either book goes, for those who have not read Beautiful Creatures, but for those who were fans of the first story, you will not be disappointed by Beautiful Darkness. The stories are a little long, so they’re not for those looking for a super quick read, however, I found the books took me no time at all to finish just because they were so hard to put down!

I loved it!

2010-11-23T15:03:00.000-08:00

I was so into The White Mary by Kira Salak that I felt I just needed to share my joy with as many people as possible. Luckily I have a blog that allows me to do just that. An adventure story set in the jungles of New Guinea, The White Mary is a story about Marika Vecera, international journalist. Her job has taken her to places all over the world where unspeakable suffering and violence have occurred. And although every time Marika escapes with her life, it is evident that she has been losing pieces of herself during each traumatic experience. Enter Seb, a psychologist and a perfect male character. I say perfect because he and Marika play off each other so well. His kindness and strength pulls out Marika’s belief in joy, but at the same time, her insecurities about the state of the world. She is so scared to face happiness (yes, happiness) that she rejects Seb’s love and sets off on a crazy journey to find her mentor, Robert Lewis. Marika knows Robert Lewis apparently committed suicide, but a note from a missionary in New Guinea leads her to believe Lewis faked his own death. Although it’s a long shot, Marika begins her journey through an unforgiving jungle. Throughout the story, we get flashbacks of her relationship with Seb, and the events in her career that changed her life. Does she find Lewis at the end of her journey? You seriously have to read it to find out, but I found that wasn’t the reason this book propelled me forward. Like with some books, where the plot description on the cover makes me want to see what happens, The White Mary itself did that for me. I wanted to see if Marika was alright in the end. I found her likable despite her stubbornness, and I don’t think that’s an easy thing to do. I totally loved in and will go so far as to say it was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

To that end, I must admit that MPL doesn’t own it. Alas, The White Mary was sitting on my shelf in my house. It was an advanced reader’s copy, and I must have picked it up a while ago because it’s two years old. But never fear, faithful readers, I have a solution!! Search Ohio!! Simply go to our catalog, and type in "The White Mary" into our catalog search box. When it shows that we don’t own it, click on the Search Ohio link. This will take you to another page where there will be multiple copies of this wonderful book for you to put on hold for yourself. Just follow the instructions (you’ll need your library card number handy). When the book comes in for you (yes, once you put the request in, we’ll have the book shipped to your local Mentor Public Library branch), come to the library to pick it up! Easy! Fun! Convenient! Try it out now!

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2010-11-17T12:16:00.000-08:00

Candor by Pam Bachorz

Oscar Banks is the town of Candor's number one model citizen. He's got the perfect grades, the perfect girlfriend, and the perfect life. Every kid in school wants to be like him, and every girl in town is dying to be his girlfriend. But Oscar Banks has a secret: he's not who anyone thinks he is, including his own father. Living in a town his father created to turn the most delinquent of teens into model kids and help even the most far from fixing marriages, Oscar has figured out the underlying truth behind the perfection of Candor. Using what he calls "Messages" (ie. subliminal messages embedded deep in music), Oscar knows that his father is controlling and shaping the town's minds' into whatever each citizen pays big bucks for: resulting in a new and improved family. It's no wonder that the waiting list to get an extremely expensive yet basic plot of land is so long, when as a parent, you're guaranteed to have your brat of a child whipped into shape in a matter of a couple weeks. Oscar uses all this information to his advantage, promising to help newly arrived teens out of Candor before they change, in exchange for a large fee. He prepares everything for them, including cd's of his own Messages the escapees will need for the rest of their lives outside of Candor; because once you've been exposed to the Messages, you can't ever go without them or the consequences in most cases are death by personal injury. Making his own counter Messages is the only way Oscar's been able to make it as long as he has without turning into a Candor clone himself. As Oscar himself says “Other people don’t notice when a Message fills their head. But I’ve been here longer than anyone. And I’ve found ways to train myself. I know when my brain is feeding me Messages. I know how to fight them.”

Everything is going fine for Oscar until he meets the new addition to Candor: Nia. So unlike any of the girls he's initially met, and definitely different than any of the Candor clones, Oscar is torn between saving Nia from Candor, or keeping her for himself with his own concoction of Messages. His plan of keeping Nia in the dark as to the truth of Candor, while slowly feeding her Messages to prolong her genuine self, proves to be beneficial in the beginning. The only problem is, when Oscar's own meddling with the Messages sets off a chain reaction, Nia, and others in Candor, are no longer safe.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a little bit older, having come out in 2009 but it fits nicely into one of my favorite genres known as dystopian fiction; which according to Wikipedia, means, “Fiction set in a futuristic society that has degraded into a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian.” If you’ve read the hugely popular Hunger Games series, another example of a dystopian society, it gives you an idea of the genre. I really liked that this story kind of ended with a twist, but not. I was surprised and upset by the end, but at the same time, could see the possible outcome from very early on in the book. I like stories that don’t necessarily end in a “happily ever after” sort of way, not to say there were not some elements of that present at the end. My advice: if you like The Giver by Lois Lowry or Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, try giving this story a read. And after reading Candor, if you haven’t read the other two novels I’ve mentioned, definitely give them a shot too.

Just your typical vampire family

2010-11-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

In the words of Stanley Hudson from "The Office," “How many freaking vampires am I supposed to care about these days?” The answer: well that’s a toughie, but can I add just one more to your radar? Actually, it’s a family of vampires. The Radleys by Matt Haig. *Add in your own “deep movie trailer voice:* In a world where vampires live among humans, two average teenagers are about to discover who they really are—intense, huh? Actually this book is coming out soon and is by the same British guy who wrote The Dead Father’s Club—a personal favorite for my Mentor’s Reader display. So the premise is the same but different: Two vampires fall in love and decide they want to live like regular people—meaning no killing people to drink their blood. Flash forward a few years, and you have a typical family living in a typical neighborhood. Except, for the Radley’s, husband Peter, wife Helen, son Rowan and daughter Clara, something just doesn’t feel so typical. That’s because it’s a bit difficult for vampires to go without blood. A dramatic misstep has the Radley’s questioning their decisions, and soon they are all on a journey of self discovery. Throw in sections from “The Abstainer’s Handbook” (abstaining from being a vampire), and you get a fun, funny, but also dark and probing novel. Yes, it seems like everyone is hopping on the vampire bandwagon these days, but that has to be because they’re so fun to read, right? I guess it’s fantasy that people who don’t like to say they like fantasy will read because it’s so accessible. And, well, they’re just freaking everywhere, so it’s hard not to stumble upon them every once in a while.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-11-13T07:19:00.000-08:00

Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson – Twenty-something readers Book Club
OK, first be warned, this is a slow read that builds to a creepy ending. It is well written in the classical horror sense of things that go bump in the night, not Michael Myers chopping heads off. The story centers around a group of four people brought together by Dr. Montague, to live in and observe Hill House , a house known for its haunted episodes and strange deaths. The center of the story’s focus is on Eleanor, the odd 30-something who for most of her life took care of her sick mother. She had been picked by the doctor because she had experienced a poltergeist when she was young. Theodora is another participant, picked for her telekinetic powers. The two girls have a love/hate relationship. The final character of the four is Luke, the future heir to the strange home. I found a large part of it a tough read to plow through, despite its short length, only about 180 pages. The reader is kept in a constant state of “when’s something going to happen,” and then “what just happened?” Jackson leaves the story ambiguous and the events unresolved. However, after completing the novel and letting it sink in, I found it was really a good book. I especially enjoyed the group’s discussion as it was a great chance for all of us to ask our questions and maybe resolve a few of them. Give this a try, but be patient with it, think of it like a dinner that is cooked in a crock pot, slowly stewing to perfection.

The Host vs. Peeps--let’s discuss

2010-11-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am talking about Stephenie Meyer’s non-Twilight novel; no, I am not talking about those delicious marshmallow treats. The reason? Although comparing sci-fi drama to sugared confections sounds wonderful and engrossing, Peeps is actually the name of a novel by Scott Westerfeld (can I get a group “Oh!”). I actually kind of liked Meyer’s The Host better than the Twilight saga. The plot was different and interesting, and it had everything a good book should—including knowing when to end. The plot goes a little something like this: a race from space invades earth by planting themselves into humans and inhabiting their bodies. The creatures take over the human host, and the host’s consciousness is lost. By the time the book starts, Earth has pretty much been taken over by these creatures. So here’s the twist: a group of humans have managed to escape and are living on the lamb, except on one of their runs for food, a woman is captured and becomes a host, except through some sci-fi plot device, the woman’s consciousness is not totally destroyed, thus making the new creature inside of her have to live with a rather annoyed and verbal host. The new parasite goes in search of the renegade humans, not to capture them, but because she hopes that in doing this, she can be free of the annoying host. Throw in some romance and some serious parasite/host conflicts, and you have yourself an enjoyable ride. Now on to Peeps (have you ever tried to microwave a peep? Ok, so I haven’t, but I hear it’s pretty cool). Peeps is the story of a world in which vampires exist because of a parasite that invades human bodies and makes the host want to drink blood and act mean (oh, see how the whole host-thing is coming together?). The even chapters in Westerfeld’s novel discuss real-life parasites and the gross things they do to the hosts they inhabit—thus making the idea of a parasite that controls humans and makes them want blood seem, if not totally probable, at least somewhat plausible. The thing with this certain parasite, however, is that it doesn’t do the same thing to everyone, so our protagonist is actually a carrier of the vampire parasite, but doesn’t suffer from the crazies--but he does get all the perks. It’s his job (Cal) to find vicious Peeps (parasite positive) and send them off to Montana where they get rehabilitated—kind of. The book reads like a noir with mysteries and damsels in distress. The first chapter is so exciting, and just kind of throws you in the action, I was hooked from the first paragraph. I read these two novels kind of far apart, but as soon as I started Peeps, I immediately thought of The Host. It may be in part to the covers—they both have eyes on them that sort of shine if you turn the book just right. But mostly, the host/parasite relationship in both books is the big similarity. It’s unsettling to think anything—alien or parasite—can invade our bodies and make us do things. But it’s just unsettling enough to want to see what happens. Both are good choices for some satisfying sci-fi, but for a quicker read, I’d go with Westerfeld’s Peeps, and save Meyer's The Host for when you have more time.

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2010-11-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary
David Sedaris
From the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, comes a collection of short stories chronicling the mishaps and ridiculous day-to-day happenings of animals. These stories, or more appropriately termed fables, are presented Aesop style with a normal enough beginning resulting in some sort of moral or insight type ending. The interesting part of these animal tales, is the fact that each animal personifies one person or another with whom we’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of interacting with at some point in our lives: the self-obsessed whiner who must be the center of attention at all times; the naïve acquaintance who will believe anything they are told, and oftentimes taken advantage of for it; or the group of guys who will poke fun (to the point of insinuating violence) at one section of the population and not even realize it, but make mention towards another and you’ve gone too far. Sedaris does an excellent job of pointing out many of the major and minor flaws that plague society.
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is a nice branching out in a new direction that departs from a lot of the autobiographical novels the author has written. The only downside to this story that I have found, is the fact that only a few of the stories on the audiobook are narrated by David Sedaris himself; Dylan Baker, Elaine Stritch, and Sian Phillips lend their vocals towards the other stories. Audiobook aside, each little story is a quick read, and the entire book could be read in one sitting if motivated.

Grab some sweets and relax

2010-10-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

In the similar vein of Francesca Lia Block’s magical realism, we get The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. The character’s in Ms. Allen’s books are all pretty normal, except when they’re not. Like when a woman will be in need of a book, and it will just appear. Or a man who is completely bound by any promise he makes. From this world we get Josey, a reserved woman who lives to make her mom forgive her for being a terrible child, and who hides an impressive candy stash in her room for escape. Then one day, Della Lee enters Josey’s world and turns it upside down. Della Lee finds Josey’s closet (where she hides her candy) the perfect place to crash for a while as she deals with her life. As she’s figuring things out, she’s also helping Josey with her problems. In the end we get a very satisfying character driven story with a little sprinkling of fairy dust thrown in. A perfect getaway read on a quiet weekend.

Guest Blogger: Sarah B.

2010-10-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

We have a new addition to our Mentor's Reader uviverse! Please welcome Sarah B. You'll find her at the Lake branch mostly, and she's here today to talk about a book she read.

Ape House: A Novel
Sara Gruen

If there’s ever been an author who will go above and beyond to research for a novel, Sara Gruen ranks high on that list. The newest book from the author of Water for Elephants explores the link between human-primate communication abilities, but on a deeper level, delves into the emotional link between the two and the similarities that exist no matter man or ape.

Isabel Duncan works for a college research facility studying the language and communication behaviors of bonobo apes. The closest things to family, her bonobos are her life. A reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, John Thigpen is assigned to report on the bonobo language facility. While Isabel and John are pretty much strangers to one another, leading two very different lives, when something major happens within the language lab, Isabel and John find themselves working side-by-side together.

Total romance novel-esque summary aside, Ape House is a very good read. Despite some bad reviews of the Water for Elephants follow-up, I think Gruen accomplishes a lot with this novel. I had no idea what this story was about besides apes, and even that gained tidbit from the title is not a fair presentation of the plot that follows. I really enjoyed the sort of split POV (point of view) that alternated between John and Isabel. The drama that occurs in each person’s life is a minor plotline that accentuates the overall theme of the story. John is constantly battling to keep his marriage afloat while economic, career, and mother-in-law troubles threaten to destroy his and his wife’s relationship. On top of that, his wife’s constant depression and yearning for a child leaves John anxious all the time. Isabel on the other hand, is dealing with her own personal demons; namely trust issues and an inability to fully open up to anybody, her fiancée included. Little is given to us as readers as far as Isabel’s family background, but it is enough information to discern that it has hugely affected Isabel’s current relationships.

Overall I’d say, if you liked Water for Elephants, try giving this novel a read. A lot of what happens in the story in relation to the bonobos are things that happened to Gruen herself when she was researching for the story at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa. A word of warning however for adults: the subject matter does get a little mature in some places, so have caution before adding this to your school collection or teen’s reading list.

Not as outdated as neon shorts, but close

2010-10-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I’m a few years behind on this one, but for anyone who’s not read the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich, here’s a review for you. I wanted a fun read while on a recent vacation, and while browsing the stacks for books that I always walk by but never pick up, I noticed that the first book in the Stephanie Plum series, One for the Money, was available, so I took this as a sign and checked it out. A few things I didn’t realize before reading: This first book was written in 1994, so when she talks about wearing spandex and high tops, I at first thought she was joking with me, but no; I vaguely remember spandex and high tops being all the rage in the early 90’s. Also, it was fun meeting Stephanie Plum because she doesn’t start out wanting to be a bounty hunter, she just really needs some cash; thus the title One for the Money. Oooooh, I thought to myself, I get it now, she wasn’t just trying to be cute with the title, she really did take on her first case for the money. I liked that she doesn't just start out kicking butt, she's got to work on it, struggle with it. Okay, I’ve said my piece. If you want to start a series about a likable female bounty hunter, look no further than the Stephanie Plum series. Action, adventure, humor and just a hint of romance. I like it. I also like that the titles are numbered, so you don't have to search hard to find the next one. Just count 'em on up.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-10-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do, by Tom Vanderbilt – Men’s Book Club
The group was divided on this title, with half thinking it was a wonderful and fascinating read, and the rest thinking it was a horribly tedious read. I happen to fall in the middle, in that it had plenty of fascinating facts, but since it was presented in a textbook manner, it fell flat. This material would have been well received by all, I would think, if it had been written as a series of long magazine articles or something like that. Vanderbilt mentions endless studies on traffic and driving patterns and reports from all over the world with his findings. On almost every other page I discovered an unusual or interesting tidbit, but it really took a lot of dedication to get through those pages. Some of the best discoveries: in Jakarta you can hire a “car jockey” to help you meet your passenger quota for car pool lanes; an Australian ad campaign persuades drivers to give the pinkie to aggressive drivers to suggest that the driver is overcompensating for deficient male anatomy; during the Oscars, the LA Department of Transportation’s Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control utilizes field engineers at intersections who relay requests for a change in traffic light status back to headquarters, in a huge effort to get the 800 or more limousines to the Kodak Theater for the event; there are 48 different modes of transportation in Delhi, all sharing the same roads; and in Finland traffic tickets are tied to a percentage of your income, which resulted in a $71,400 ticket for an Internet entrepreneur going 43 in a 25 mph zone. It’s all very interesting, but for me the book lacked flow, was too heavy on statistics and just wasn’t an enjoyable read, but give it a try and maybe you’ll find it is right up your alley, as half of our group found.

A brief glimpse into magic

2010-10-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

I’m sort of dolling Francesca Lia Block’s books out, because I will be really sad when there are no more to read. But she’s making this easy for me by coming out with new ones all the time. And she’s been quite varied lately, writing for both the children and young adult scene. I just finished The Waters and the Wild, a smaller novel for young adults published in 2009. It’s about a girl, Bee, who doesn’t quite feel like she fits in. So she makes friends with kooky Block-esque characters who also feel different. It’s a simple story about learning to love who you are, written as only Ms. Block can—with beauty, and grace, and heavy doses of nature and magic.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-09-29T07:13:00.000-07:00

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson – Twentysomething Readers Book Club
This spectacular nonfiction work reads like a first rate thriller, and Hollywood has taken notice, as the film rights have been sold, with Harrison Ford rumored to have a part as one of the man hunters. Most people probably know that John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln, but my guess is most would not realize that the plot also called for the assassination of the President’s two immediate successors, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward, apparently in hopes of throwing the Union into a state of chaos. The book is indeed about the chase for John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators, but it is much more than that as well. Swanson does a fine job of making you feel that you are there with Booth in the woods and swamps, evading capture by the massive manhunt of soldiers and civilians. But he also takes you back to the roots of the assassination plan that began with an idea to kidnap Lincoln. After the failed attempt at kidnapping, Booth and his group, consisting of Lewis Powell, David Harold, and George Atzerodt, become aware of Lincoln’s plans to attend the Good Friday Ford Theater production of Our American Cousin. Remarkably Booth is able to throw together the assassination plot in less than one day, execute it and elude capture for 12 more days. David Harold and Lewis Powell are unsuccessful in their ghastly attempt to murder Seward, and Atzerodt gets cold feet and does not follow through with his part of the plan, although all three are hanged for their involvement. The story intertwines Booth’s story with that of Lincoln’s death and funeral, the mourning nation, the organization in Washington of the manhunt and all the forces available to the search, and the last days of the Civil War. Yes it is a lot to recount, and the depth of research and the comprehensive reporting given to the story is astonishing, but the book still managed to clip along at a nice pace. The most difficult part was keeping the names straight. I highly recommend this book, and advise you to check out Swanson’s companion piece, Lincoln's Assassins : Their Trial and Execution : An Illustrated History. Be warned that there are some rather grim images of the actual hangings, but there are also a lot of pictures of the conspirators, allowing you to put a face with the name. And for those that really get entranced with this story, we also have two fine documentaries in our collection; The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth, and The Hunt for Lincoln’s Assassin.

a book about moving on and leaving things behind

2010-09-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

I’m at a point now where I won’t read a book unless it’s by an author I truly love, or it has many positive reviews. Or it was recommended by Nancy Pearl. You gotta love a lady who does the reviewing process for you (oh, that’s right, that’s why you read my blog, right?). So this next book does not fit the first two criteria for me, but was recommended by Ms. Pearl, so I gave it a go. Last Night in Montreal, by Emily St. John Mandel, is about a woman who is constantly moving locations. She started this as a child when her dad took her from her mother’s home in the middle of the night. Each time Lilia moves towns, she changes the people she left behind, so there are several characters in the book whose lives are forever changed. Lilia is a strong, creative, beautiful woman, so she leaves many broken hearts and many unanswered questions in her wake. The people who meet her become victims of Lilia and her constant need to move away, and it left me wondering if anyone benefited from meeting the passionate Lilia. And the answer is actually no, but it doesn’t take away from the story. Lilia is a girl struggling to survive, and the tragedy of this makes a solemn, delicately beautiful book. Oh, and I didn't mention that the writing is beautiful, and I think that's what makes this book so touching.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-09-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI, by Ronald Kessler – Book Club for Men
Kessler, known for his works on national security government agencies and the President, doesn’t disappoint with this thorough history of the FBI, from its beginning in 1908 through the start of Robert Mueller’s reign, just a week before the 9/11 attacks in 2001. A large chunk of the book details J. Edgar Hoover’s background and his HUGE influence on the FBI. On one hand Hoover made vast improvements to the law enforcement community with his advancements, but on the other hand used blackmail techniques to make sure he and the FBI stayed funded and in power with his gathering of all sorts of dirt on congressmen, the Presidents and others of national prominence for his secret files. The juiciest information includes audio surveillance from hotel rooms where Martin Luther King stayed, and reveals King’s participation in sex orgies. Kessler also explains the story behind the myth that Hoover was a transvestite, a story that came from a single source, a not very credible woman who served time for perjuring herself in an unrelated 1971 case. Kessler tells us that the Director Louis Freeh (served from 1993 – 2001) was so anti-computers that he never used email, had his computer removed from his office, and never upgraded the FBI’s systems. Agents routinely would have to use their own personal email to send documents and file reports since the FBI’s system was so slow and antiquated. Covered also are the tragedies of Waco and Ruby Ridge, and their behind the scenes decision making processes. He does a nice job of showing another side to these tragedies, which did involve a lot of FBI thought and planning and weighing of possibilities. I did not realize both of these events began with other agencies, the US Marshalls Service and the ATF, and it was through their bungled operations that the FBI inherited these fiascos. At times the book can get a little bogged down with too many names, but is easily remedied with a bit of skimming. It is an important work that sets the stage for many of the challenges we face today regarding terrorism and crime fighting. The Bureau does include an epilogue from 2003, but unfortunately the past 7 years is not covered. We were fortunate enough to have some email correspondence with the author, and the group asked him how he felt overall about the current direction of the FBI. Kessler replied that “The FBI has totally changed direction to become prevention oriented, meaning the first priority is stopping a plot by gathering intelligence. Gathering all the evidence for a prosecution is now secondary. That’s one reason we have not had a successful attack since 9/11.” If you are interested in current events and our country’s security, this is an excellent book to fill you in on our history in this area.

A story to move you

2010-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
I finished off my string of fiction with Beatrice and Virgil, the new book by Yann Martel (of Life of Pi fame). It is written as a sort of story within a story. Martel creates a character that seems to be in part autobiographical. Henry is an author who has just gained fame from writing a book about animals. Now he has moved on and is set to write a book about the holocaust like nothing that has been written before. Except his attempt is shot down by his publisher and editor. Enter a taxidermist with a play about a donkey and a monkey. He shows it to Henry and thus begins a complicated emotional journey for both Henry and the reader. Henry is both repulsed and drawn to the stoic taxidermist, as he begins to realize more and more that the taxidermist has done what Henry was unable to do. Beatrice the donkey and Virgil the monkey must live in a society that has rejected them and worse. While trying to survive, the two characters rationalize their situation and comfort each other. The reader feels for the tragic characters without first having to see them as holocaust victims, the idea that Henry was unable to accomplish in his attempt. The whole book flows with an urgent poignancy that grabs the reader. It was emotional and at times unbearable, especially the final pages that describe the “Games for Gustav,” an idea that Beatrice and Virgil create to cope with their lives. Although I liked Life of Pi better, this was just as affecting and worth the read.

A ghost and a talking dog walk into a bar...

2010-08-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll

The reviews made this book sound a lot funnier than it really was. Not that I didn’t enjoy reading it, it’s just that it’s a preposterous plot, and it could be easy to get stuck talking about it. Which I guess is important since I’m sure you would like to know about the book you are about to read. It’s just that this book is more about the essence than it is about the plot, you know? Like, the author uses the strangeness as a way to get his message across. It’s a very carpe diem message about loving and living the life you were given, but also taking control of your happiness. He does this by creating a story about a man who should have died, but because he didn’t he has a ghost trailing him to figure out why he didn’t die. The ghost falls for this man’s ex, which confuses things. There is also a talking dog. And situations like time travel. Stephen King is quoted on the back and found it quite delightful (I’m paraphrasing). And it makes sense that Stephen King liked it, because it reminds me of some of King’s works, like Lisey’s Story, in that he uses strangeness as a means to an end. It was a fun book to read, but because of its goal to have us experience an idea rather than purely a story, it was a little denser to read than your typical beach book. But that’s what separates literature from Danielle Steel, I guess.

...and so the ghost says, I thought that was my hot dog!

guest blogger: Steve H

2010-08-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

Lost City of Z, by David Grann - Men’s Book Club
We scored big again with this nonfiction read that took us on the trail of the search for the fabled city of El Dorado, or the City of Z. Author David Grann, while researching British adventurer Percy Fawcett’s failed 1925 Amazon jungle expedition, gets the exploration bug too and sets out to recreate the British gentleman’s journey. Percy, his son, and son’s best friend Raleigh had entered the Amazon and after a few letters back home and some sightings, they simply vanished. In this excellent story, Grann intertwines Percy’s story and his own, jumping with ease between the past and present. I especially liked this contrast as it showed just how much we take for granted now. Percy and his men worked during a time that encompassed extreme hardships, navigating a really unknown world, using what we would today certainly call primitive methods, such as piecemeal maps and machetes to hack through the jungle. In contrast to that, today we have GPS systems and an assortment of vehicles and tools to blaze through nature. Grann paints a vivid picture of the turmoil that the explorers of old went through. The descriptions of various bugs and parasites can be pretty disgusting, complete with details of the little monsters burrowing into unfortunate explorers skin and laying eggs. If you have ever seen animal Planet’s show “Monsters Inside Me,” you can fully appreciate the pain these men went through. Grann fills the reader in on Percy’s background and his drunk father that spend the family’s wealth, Percy’s stints in the British military, and how he falls in love with the adventures of exploration and goes to explorer’s school at the Royal Geographical Society. He actually begins his long exploration career with an assignment as a spy for the British government in 1901 Morocco. From there the story winds us through other fascinating journeys, his sympathetic dealings with the natives in the Amazon, his race against rivals to find the City of Z, and ultimately to his death on the final and failed Amazon trip. The story is packed with adventure and mystery, with Grann keeping up the suspense until the very end. You be the judge if this end meets your expectations.

From Amanda D: Rumor is there's a movie coming out in 2012 based on the book--with Brad Pitt. Read a copy today and know all about it before anyone else!

My Abandonment

2010-08-23T07:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve been on a run of adult books lately. As opposed to books for kids that I read for my job but secretly liked better for a while there. I’ll start with My Abandonment by Peter Rock since I guess it’s stuck with me the most. It reminded me of Asta in the Wings, a book I read a while ago and which you can read about here. The story is about a father and daughter who live an isolated life in a city park, and is based on true events that happened in Oregon. They get food from the city, but also spend and live most of their lives in nature. When I first read about this book for some reason it seemed like it would be fun and maybe whimsical. But, just like Asta in the Wings, I was surprised by its seriousness and thinly veiled wrongness. The story takes place in the perspective of the 13 year old girl who has spent much of her life with her father. She hints at the time she spent in a foster home, and it is only revealed very late in the book the full story of how she came to live with her father. The story goes along smoothly and interestingly, as we learn about how they get caught in the woods, but the press and city takes pity on them and takes care of them. The book relies on the narrator to show the reader that these two characters are actually quite grounded and normal, despite living an alternative lifestyle. That is until you get to the hum-dinger of a surprise on page 177. At this point I was totally floored and had to finish. I don’t want to give anything away, but it is a disturbing, quietly distressing book that is nonetheless touching.

guest blogger: Steve H

2010-08-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

Bad Cop, by Paul Bacon, Twentysomething Readers, and yes that’s his real last name
If you’re looking for a funny yet eye opening book, this is the read for you. This memoir chronicles the humorous 3 years Bacon spent in the academy and on the streets serving on the NYPD. It is very often hilarious, yet still retains some substance, giving the reader an inside look at the bureaucracy of the force. Insight is given to those cops who manipulate the system to their benefit, called “hairbags,” racking up overtime hours when the situations suit them, but letting other offenses go when they have a hot date or other plans and don’t want to get bogged down in a potentially time consuming situation, requiring them to put in extra hours to document the offense and book the perp. Bacon is a guy totally unsuited for a career as a cop, a fact that looking back he freely admits. After 9/11 he looks into joining the NYPD, (after finding he is too old to get onto the FDNY), and makes it through the academy and onto the force. He doesn’t have the street smarts and he ultimately resigns after locking himself in the backseat of a cruiser while napping during a particularly long and strenuous shift. Bacon’s a likeable guy who just doesn’t fit the cop mold, as he is just too trusting. When he gets his first arrest, he asks the suspect if he has anything sharp in his pockets and is about to plunge his hands in when a fellow officer asks Bacon if he is going to trust the guy, to which Bacon responds why would the suspect lie, only to find the suspect had a hypodermic needle and a dozen knives on him. Bacon also lets a lady double parked in front of a bar off without a ticket, and while basking in his good deed of letting the woman go, states “Then for some reason, the nice woman drove through the next traffic light. The light happened to be red at the time…”. So although Bacon does not have a real good sense of the streets, he does have a sense of humor and a knack for storytelling. And he uses it well to let us in on a lot of day to day things the public does not see. One of which is air mail, or the junk that people throw at cops from high up ledges when officers are responding to a call. Although Bacon is never hit by any, one of his colleagues is struck by a clock radio. He tells of many fake calls of “officer down” placed from anonymous phones to get all the police to one area, so muggings can then occur in unsecured areas elsewhere. He tells how truly difficult it is to get a crazed suspect under control, requiring special teams of highly trained respondents and a body sized bag that they toss the uncooperative person into. Bacon fills us in on a hilarious situation in which a fellow officer, if you can believe it more unfit than Bacon for the job, attempts to settle down a suspect. Bacon states: “As the man continued to rant about his taxes paying our salaries, the kindhearted Haldon reached out and gently stroked his upper arm... it’s okay. It’s okay, continuing to pet the man as though he was a cocker spaniel.” This is just one of the many hilarious scenes that Bacon recounts. And his insights really got me thinking about what the police go through. I was recently downtown and looked up at the surrounding buildings and had the thought of oh man, what if I were a cop responding to a call and people were throwing junk down at me, I just couldn’t imagine how rotten that would be. It’s this unique blend of Bacon’s humor with serious insight that he excels at and uses to get you thinking about the life of a cop in the city. And I must say Bacon’s a very gracious author, as he responded to both of Mentor Library’s book groups that wrote him with some questions, the Profilers and the Twentysomethings. He updated us that he is currently working on his second book while he is pursuing a career in law; he is less trusting of those who claim they have been wronged, based on his police experiences; he has given up his gun, which he had fallen in love with the moment he saw it; and he has kept his handcuffs so one day he can look at them and just laugh. Treat yourself to some laughter too and get this excellent book now!

Tired of fiction? Welcome to the world of Chelsea Handler

2010-08-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

I decided to read Chelsea Handler’s book, Are You There Vodka, It’s Me, Chelsea, after watching her late night show for a few nights and finding it rather entertaining. The book was so popular last year there was a waiting list for it at the library, and this summer it’s still going strong, although the wait is shorter. Each chapter of the book tells a different vignette about her life. Some of the sections were pretty humorous, although some were kind of dry, or at least I didn't find the need to, as the young folk text, lol. I think I like watching her show better. I haven’t read too many humorous books before, I mean the ones written by comedians that are basically their stand-up routines written down. It’s a light read and there are definitely funny moments, so if you want a change of pace, it’s something to consider. I should say that, as with most humor books (I’m assuming), there are some mature situations and language, so if that’s not your cup of vodka, I mean tea, I would head to some Erma Bombeck and call it a day.

Oh, and you can check out Handler's new book of witty prose, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang here.

What do you get when you combine Narnia, Harry Potter, and mature themes?

2010-07-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Wow. I literally just finished The Magicians by Lev Grossman, so I still have that dreamlike feeling of being between two worlds. What a fun read. Grossman took Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia, and smooshed them together. Just like that. No apologies, no excuses. He wrote a book about magic and included elements that we are all aware of to make it happen. And where with some authors it would just make the work seem contrived, with The Magicians it just made it sort of relatable and humorous. He even named a ship in the magical world that he travels to the Skywalker. Okay, so here’s how it goes: Quentin, a guy in his senior year of high school, finds himself magically transported to this school for magic. He takes a few tests and before long gets accepted to the school. There he meets other students entrenched in the study of magic. His life at the school goes on but pretty soon he has to face the real world. And just like most college graduates, once he’s done, he has no idea what he wants to do with his life. Until his friend discovers a way to the magical world Narnia—I mean Fillory (huh--Word accepts Narnia as a word, but underlines Fillory—go figure). Quentin has been a huge fan of the Fillory books since he was a kid, and finding out they are real just may be the thing he needs to carve out a destiny for himself. There’s so much more to the plot, as always, but I found the whole thing quite entertaining and engrossing. I quite liked his nods to major fantasy works, and the ending sentence actually reminded me of the end of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, which was neat. So if you liked the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter, but want something with a more grown up inclination (I must say there are mature scenes throughout), I highly recommend The Magicians. Oh, and I just read that he's coming out with a sequel, The Magician King, so stay tuned for that!

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-07-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Pompeii: a novel, by Robert Harris - Twentysomething Book Club
We venture back to Rome for this historical thriller, set on the eve of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and what a blast it is. The story begins with engineer Marcus Attilius, newly appointed charge of the Aqua Augusta, on a mission to find a spring in the midst of a drought. He fails in this assignment and heads home dejected, only to be pulled into a situation in which a slave is to be executed for the death of his master’s expensive fish. Attilius is summoned by the master’s daughter, Corelia, who believes there is something in the water that is killing the fish, perhaps having to do with the sulfur smell in the water, and thus the slave is not responsible. There begins the quest for the source of what may be polluting the water. Attilius soon discovers that the aqueducts in the local provinces are drying up too, and that there seems to be a much larger problem at hand. I am a fan of history and was pleased with this story, not only for its accurate depiction of the time period, but for the quick paced suspense. You have to hand it to Harris, keeping the story engaging despite the fact that the reader knows the ultimate outcome, the destruction of Pompeii, is a great feat. Harris also mixes together fictional characters with real historical characters, such as Pliny the Elder. Although the villain he created in the character of Numerius Popidius Ampliatus has a couple of excellent scenes, most of the characters fall somewhat flat, and the love story between Attilius and Corelia is quite thin. Various subplots though, like the one involving the missing aquarius, Exomnius, who Attilius replaced, add to the drama. And there is a nice amount of rich historical detail that I enjoyed, with Harris not going overboard on the history and burdening the story. We learn about the precision needed to create the great aqueducts and the mastery the Romans had with cement. One device Harris used which I simply glanced over was the volcanic information at the beginning of each chapter. These ranged from encyclopedic entries to formulas on the force of explosions. For me these were too scientific but I can see where some would enjoy these snippets. And at the beginning of the book, the similarity of Roman sounding names were a little hard to keep track of, but I found this to ease as the story evolved. Overall though this title was a fun and engaging read. It was a nice suspense thriller with some substance, and the right amount of historical accuracy. Give it a try for a quick summer read.

Valley of the Dolls and its deep, dark campiness

2010-07-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Now I don’t mean to imply that Valley of the Dolls has seen its day in the sun—it is still quite effective. It’s a tad dated, yes, but in the best possible way (and at times, not so much). And I learned a new term out of it: roman à clef. Wiki explains it as “a novel describing real life behind a façade of fiction.” So a fancy term for satire, I guess. The plot describes the lives of three women rising to the top of the celebrity scene in the 1950’s. “Dolls” are the sleeping pills they take at night to counteract the diet pills they take during the day to keep them awake. All three women are affected by the dolls in different, tragic ways. And that’s where the novel’s power lies. Neely, the uppity youngster is the quintessential movie star. She gets her start in Broadway, and through raw talent and determination, claws her way to the top. We see the effects of her addiction quite noticeably. Jennifer and Anne both seem to have a handle on their lives, even if they are a bit rocky, so their tragic declines are more subversive and so a bit more disturbing. I was very much surprised at what happens to Jennifer, and even more so by Anne’s ending. I don’t want to spoil it, because it is a fun read, but the last scene in the book is pretty amazing. It seems to leave off on a high note, but when you actually realize what’s happening, it’s the saddest realization of all. When I first started at Mentor, a librarian who was just leaving the library highly recommended it to me. It took me till now to actually get around to reading it, and I’m glad I did. If you’ve only seen the movie, I hear there are a couple big differences, so it’s worth getting to the book.

And of course the movie, with the tragic Sharon Tate.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-07-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner - Book Club for Men
This is Freakin good!
For those of you not familiar with Freakonomics, the book is written by economist Steven D. Levitt, who is known for his unique views on social problems, and his ability to use statistics and numbers to find patterns where none were thought to exist. Do yourself a favor and read this work, as it is an interesting read, and makes you not only think about everyday topics in a different light, but pairs seemingly unconnected topics together to explain otherwise unexplored phenomena, such as what a drug dealer and editorial assistant have in common. The writing is well done, reads smoothly, and although statistics are cited, for the most part they are not cumbersome. And don’t fret at the word economist, the book is not at all what you would expect from an economist, although I think Levitt would more accurately be called a sociologist. There’s a lot to ponder over, and much you may disagree with, but you will have a much sharper mind contemplating Levitt’s assertions. There are a few negatives, as I will say that it appeared Levitt was grasping for ideas in the last third of the book. I had listened to Freakonomics a few years ago on audio and recalled liking most of it, but also remembering that the last portion was suspect and quite honestly seemed like a bunch of bull. Upon a second read I still hold this thinking. His use of statistics and ability to identify patterns works quite well for most of the chapters, but wears thin when he tries to quantify the importance of a person’s name. His writing on the impact of parenting choices also seems a stretch, as he makes the case that parenting decisions do not matter all that much. Other than these two chapters though the book is a great read and opens your eyes to totally different viewpoints. In a couple of my favorite pieces, Levitt contemplates what we may learn about humanity’s honesty from a man that left his high paying Washington DC analyst job to sell bagels to corporate offices, on the honor system; and shows us how he extrapolated data in the Chicago schools’ student aptitude tests to uncover cheating teachers. His most controversial assertion is that legalized abortion is the main reason for a huge decrease in crime in the 1990’s, as many would be criminals would have come of age at this time. He takes a lot of criticism for this, but cites some appealing statistics based on other countries’ crime rates and abortion laws, and relates them to ours. And as you read earlier, I do not always agree with his ideas, but you will certainly be engaged.

Tag team writers

2010-07-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading John Green’s latest Will Grayson Will Grayson. He co-wrote it with David Levithan (of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Boy Meets Boy fame). I quite liked it. The character’s voices in the alternating chapters were unique and funny. Each author wrote from the perspective of a different Will Grayson. John Green maintained his realistic, flawed-but-in-the-best-way-possible protagonist, and strong, independent and beautiful girl who the protagonist falls for. I guess he kind of does this in every book, but for some reason it never gets old. The characters are so rich, it’s like falling in love for the first time every time. This is my first David Levithan read, and I found him enjoyable as well. Although his Will Grayson is written in all lower case letters, and I’m not a huge fan of that sort of thing (“that sort of thing” being altering basic grammar to show something. In this case it’s Will Grayson’s depression and poor feelings of himself, but Levithan does a fine job portraying that through his writing. He doesn’t need to get all fancy on us—but that’s just me). As we go through the story, we realize it’s not just about the two Will Graysons, but John Green’s Will Grayson’s friend Tiny. Tiny meets David Levithan’s Will Grayson and they start dating. Tiny, of course, is a very large man who happens to be writing a musical about his life. As we wind through the different relationships in the book, we get some coming of age drama/beauty (because aren’t all coming of age stories a little dramatic, but a little beautiful too?). We also get a peak at Tiny’s musical about himself, which turns out to be about love, and also turns out to be fabulous (or so we’re told). The ending, although quite monumental and satisfying, is also a bit of a stretch. I don’t want to ruin a minute of it, but it reminded me a bit about movies where the protagonist does something to stand up for himself, let’s say talk back to the school bully and have the head cheerleader admit that she loves him in the middle of the cafeteria, and then in a moment of Hollywood weakness, the entire cafeteria bursts into applause. I just don’t get those scenes. I’ve never seen spontaneous applause in anything other than an auditorium after a performance or particularly riveting speech, but never in a cafeteria. But I digress. The end of the book is a little spontaneous applause-y, but is still enjoyable. Just like watching the cheerleader hug the guy in the cafeteria is enjoyable. You know he deserves the applause, it’s just a little contrived. Wow, I had no idea this post was going there, but there you have it. The book is wonderful, as only John Green (and David Levithan by association) can be. I highly recommend it.
Plus the cover is fantastic—it’s like a throwback to the 70’s or something, I don’t know but it’s shiny and amazing. Not that it matters but it kind of does.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-06-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

We have a winner!
A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson
OK, based on my last couple of posts I know you are probably starting to think that I don’t like any books, but you would be quite wrong. Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods is a nice, funny, easy, educational read that might even have you lacing up your hiking boots. The author returns home to America after nearly 20 years overseas and, having moved into a quaint home in New England, very near the Appalachian Trail, decides to hike it. No matter that he is in his forties and completely inexperienced in this sort of grueling adventure. Bryson enlists his friend Stephen Katz, also in his forties, overweight and even more inexperienced, and the two begin their ill-conceived trek. Along the way we are treated to not only Bryson’s trademark wit, but also the memoir’s true star, Katz. Man is this Katz funny! You’ll love the part where he goes shopping for the trip and stuffs his grocery cart full of Little Debbie’s and any other junk food he can find. Later in a hilarious moment we witness Katz furiously discarding his sweets and other useless products along the trail, in an effort to lighten his load. And the part where Katz is being hunted by a jealous husband for his flirtations with the man’s wife is great. Although the narrative about their hiking is by far the most entertaining, there is a lot of other great historical and social information in this book. We learn about the Forest Service and their inefficiencies, and their offer to Disney to build a theme park in Sequoia National Park, I’m not making this up. We learn about cities that have been burning underground for years. We learn that a blind person hiked the trail with the help of his seeing-eye dog! And we unfortunately learn too much about the earth’s formation and shifting plates, as Bryson ventures too close to the cusp of text book writing. About half way through the hike my hero Katz disappears from the story, as he has to fulfill a job requirement for the summer. At this point Bryson also leaves the journey and returns to Maine and does some day hikes, but the story loses its energy. It was during the phase when Bryson was doing solitary day hikes that he seemed to be stretching the story and using some filler, thus the geology lesson. Katz does return, and with a grand old idea involving newspaper delivery bags in place of hiking backpacks, oh that Katz! The dynamic duo makes a noticeably less vibrant effort this time around. They end up getting separated and lost, and soon decide it’s best to head home while still in one piece. Bryson tallies up their progress, and finds he did a very admirable 39.5% of the trail, or 870 miles. Not too bad for a couple of inexperienced 40-somethings.
On a side-note, last month I was on vacation in the Smoky Mountains and had the chance to walk a portion of the Appalachian Trail, a minute portion at that, as in I didn’t even make it the 1.7 miles from Newfound Gap Road to Sweat Heifer Creek Trail. After driving through the gorgeous mountains for about 45 minutes, my girlfriend and I were greeted to more beautiful views and a ridiculously inadequate rest stop parking lot at Newfound Gap. We made 3 passes without success at finding an open spot, and upon heading out of the lot found an oh so precious roadside spot a ¼ mile down. We hiked it back up to Newfound Gap and drank in the magnificent views. Then we hit the trail. I must say it’s a bipolar set-up. To the left, where we began our journey, armed with just a bottle of water and our newly bought hiking sticks, we took our first steps onto what we think may be the fabled trail. There are no signs on this portion, just a grassy area with a dirt line running through it. We walk about 15 minutes but agree it’s not quite what we expected. We can hear cars passing just 10 feet above our heads, where the road parallels the trail. This is not exactly Davey Crocket country. Crystal advances onward while I, your fretting guide, stares at the sky, growing greyer and greyer by the minute. Rain is predicted, and I, freshly scared by Bryson’s brush with self-perceived hypothermia, am alarmed that at these altitudes the weather may turn for the worse. Did I mention that the temperature at the onset was a scorching 84 degrees? I mean what am I thinking, if the temperatures plummet more than 40 degrees in the few minutes we are out there, I would say the world may be coming to an end and we have much bigger problems than hypothermia. In my paranoia, I have worn long pants and a sweatshirt, whereas Crystal has worn just a ¾ length get-up, and I am incessantly warning her, pestering her to watch out for poison ivy, which I have no idea what it looks like, and to be careful of the pointy green plants that may transmit their itchy toxins. Yes, I really know how to narrow things down don’t I. After taking the wrong turn at a split, we decide to head back and check out the other side of the trail. This is more what we expected, a big sign pointing to the trail next to the huge man-made overlook. We snap some pics and decide to trek it the 1.7 miles to Sweat Heifer Creek, and maybe head up to the other stops as well if we have time. This seems entirely reasonable. The weather has cleared and I am ensured we are safe. But this is much different terrain than the last segment. This has a more built-up feel, whereas the other portion was unspoiled. This is akin to climbing stairs, only spaced three feet apart and seemingly put together by a workforce of blind builders. Each step seems to be made for Andre the Giant. It does however offer better views but an increased traffic pattern. There are tourists like us, but also real through hikers, complete with crazy hair and beards. Almost all smile nicely and quickly move on. There are some though that ruin a great walk. If you have ever played golf or putt-putt and had a group playing up your rear, you know what I mean. They come out of nowhere, at first just a gaggle of voices, trailing maybe a hundred feet back, but before you know it they are just steps away, racing through and then just a blur in the distance. The trail is all uphill and does give you a workout. At times I am sucking in air, and dumbfounded as I see young couples hand in hand meandering past me whispering sweet nothings to one another. How can this be? Was it the 4 course southern meal at the Dixieland Stampede the previous night, consisting of a whole mini-chicken, soup, biscuits and gravy and apple cobbler, that is anchoring me down? Crystal too though seems to be racing onward with ease, and she too delighted in the same hardy meal. I struggle onward, and after approximately 45 minutes of hiking, we finally ask another couple coming down from our destination how much closer it is, and they say we are about halfway there. At this point it actually is beginning to get late and we decide that a nice soak in the outdoor hot tub back at the cabin is a grand idea. We switch directions and head it back on down. The going is better, but my toes begin to hurt, as the Columbia shoes I am wearing, bought ten years ago, must have shrunk at some point in the last decade, as in my wisdom I never thought to retry them on after unearthing them from their dust covered grave under my bed. Ultimately we make it back to the car, remarkably with no blisters, free of hypothermia and without a patch of itchy skin, but with a sense of achievement that we have indeed hiked a portion of the legendary AT.

And you thought you were just forgetful

2010-06-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

Wow. How fun is a book about a comically endearing thief? Pretty fun. So you know how sometimes things at your house just go missing? Like, you’re searching the pantry for that can of cream of mushroom soup you could have sworn you bought a while ago, only to come up short. So naturally you think to yourself, huh, well I must have used it, because there’s no way someone snuck into my house to steal a can of cream of mushroom soup. But that’s where you’d be wrong. Because that’s exactly what Martin Railsback does in Something Missing by Matthew Dicks. He goes into “client’s” homes, and takes things from them that he knows they won’t miss. Or if they do, it will seem to them like they just forgot about using it. It’s so ridiculous and yet it kind of seems plausible. Martin spends months researching his clients, figuring out what could go missing and what can’t. He spends so much time researching, in fact, that he starts to grow attachments to the people. Then when things start going wrong in his client’s lives, Martin takes it upon himself to make things right. It’s a quirky feel good book with humor and (yes, I know it’s cliché) heart. So thank you, dear anonymous reader of my blog, it was nice to have my foray into adult fiction be so pleasant.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-06-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Truck: A love story, by Michael Perry
Although Perry is a fine wordsmith, his book reads more like a bunch of newspaper articles strung together in a loose chronology of his year spent restoring a 1951 International Harvester. Truck is supposed to be about this year spent restoring his truck, but there is a lack of focus and he bounces around on various topics, some worth reading, and some not so much. It’s not a real page turner, that’s for sure, but once I trudged through this work, I had a better understanding of small town life and a respect for the author’s wide array of talents and skills. He has been a nurse, volunteer fireman, ranch hand, author, gardener, art lover and musician, to name a few of his occupations and interests. He seems like the kind of guy you would love to have as a good friend or co-worker, but maybe not read 300 pages about. And although he has some real flashes of humor, they are not enough to carry the book. He needs a little more punch to his writing, as he comes across as pretty tame and just too gosh darn good. I will say that if you are looking for something different, pleasant, a bit light and good hearted, you may enjoy this. But be warned, he has a tendency to overdo it with his descriptions, as he goes on and on about cooking recipes, his gardening techniques and plants and vegetables, especially at the start of the story- dissecting his cookbooks and recipes is not an attention grabber. And “his” restoration of the Harvester is mostly done by his brother-in-law, with Perry stopping in now and then to help out, and of course write about the process. We also see his relationship with Anneliese, now his wife, unfold from first meeting to marriage. This helps pick up the pace of the book at the end, but I never felt I got a good feeling for Anneliese and who she is. But don’t fret, that’s not to say there were not some redeeming qualities to the book, as there is a very interesting segment on his quadriplegic friend Ozzie, and how Ozzie manages with disability, which was the outcome of a freak accident. And throughout the story he tells of his experiences as an author, traveling to book signings, and worrying about paying the bills and medical insurance. Truck is a change of pace from the usual big name memoirs and an honest look at small town life and the quirky characters that inhabit such towns. The reviewers loved it, and he has a following, as he has a handful of books to his name, as well as countless articles in Esquire, Men’s Health and the New York Times Magazine to name a few.

A long time ago we used to be friends

2010-06-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

I loved the show Veronica Mars. It’s completely awful that the show was cancelled, and we never got to see what happens in Veronica’s life. Although Kristen Bell seems to be doing just fine without playing the title role, I have this gaping hole in my television schedule (ok, so it’s been off the air for like 3 years now, but still, I’m scarred). The gist of the show is this: Veronica is a high school student in a fictional upper class neighborhood in California. Her dad is a private investigator, but used to be on the police force. Veronica also used to have a perfect life—best friend, boyfriend, popularity. That was before her best friend turns up murdered. The case spirals out of control, leaving Veronica boyfriendless, friendless, and her dad jobless. As Veronica uses her mad skills to try to solve her best friend’s murder, she also solves littler mysteries throughout the seasons. It was witty and engrossing and fun. After the show ended, I tried doing Google searches to find books that were like Veronica Mars. I liked the mystery of the show, and I liked the characters. They were strong and sympathetic and oh so spunky. I also liked the modern setting and swooned every time Logan Echolls saved Veronica. I must say I’m finding a bit satisfied in my quest thanks to Pretty Little Liars. Since it’s more teen appropriate, I blogged about it on Totally Tween (read it here). But I didn’t mention that the underlying mystery along with the modern setting and the reasonably likable, sympathetic characters sort of takes the edge off of my Veronica Mars withdrawal. Please excuse the melodrama, it comes with reading a series with a target audience of 15 year old girls. But so fun! I finished the series, and it came to a pretty satisfying conclusion. Plus it will keep you busy; with 8 books in the series, there’s enough drama and mystery to fill a whole summer of reading.

Dear anonymous reader of my blog,

2010-06-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

Twas a book waiting for me on the hold shelf today with a cryptic post it note attached: “Patron suggestion for Reader’s Blog.” Or not so cryptic. I assume you, dear anonymous reader of my blog, would like me to read, even comment on said book. Well, done and done. As soon as I’m over my obsession with those pretty little liars (blog and Veronica Mars comparison to follow) I’m going to give Something Missing by Matthew Dicks a try. I was actually quite tickled to get a suggestion, so please, anonymous reader of my blog, or anyone else out there in the great depths of the world wide web, let me have ‘em. I’ll read them and comment.

Abby Normal is back!! With a tail!!!

2010-05-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

So I guess Christopher Moore has become one of my favorite authors. It’s weird how some things just happen, but there it is. He’s really one of the only contemporary authors I keep an eye out for, to see if he’s published anything new (well, him and John Green who I adore). So needless to say I was super excited when I saw that Mr. Moore did in fact write a sequel to the much loved You Suck: A Love Story—Bite Me: A Love Story. All the great characters are back, including the much loved Abby Normal, who is just as feisty and hilarious (and yes, intimidating) as before. Abby is a goth-girl force to be reckoned with, and since she owned You Suck with her awesomeness, it only seems natural to write up a new book and put her front and center on the cover. The plot is entertaining and a bit surprising, and of course funny. So let’s just take a moment to be grateful that summer is almost here, and that we can once again sneak a peek into the lives of the characters of Christopher Moore.

Guest Blogger: Barb V.

2010-05-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

I am a romance novel addict. I have been voraciously “trash” reading romance since I was 12 years old and hiding Harlequin Romance novels in my school locker. I had a middle school “pusher” pass along to me her mother’s stash of Harlequins (a new set each week). It was imperative I kept our friendship going, or my supply would dry up. I read some Barbara Cartland novels (an English romance author who wrote about 723 novels and lived to be 98 years old). Cartland wrote about poor, virginal heroines and their arrogant, titled, lovers. This formulaic content of poor, innocent girl looking for the confident man of experience to take care of all her problems worked enough for me until my 20s. Then I was looking for spicier, stronger characters and found them in paranormal and historical romance genre.
There is one particular writer I would like to plug that I believe you will enjoy. Kresley Cole is a paranormal romance author fairly new to the scene. According to Cole’s web site biography, before she became a writer, Cole was a world-ranked athlete and Master's grad. Since her first novel was published in 2003, she has sold a total of fifteen books and two novellas in two different subgenres, and has seen her releases translated into ten foreign languages. In January 2009, Cole became a #1 New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller.
I just finished the latest novel in Cole’s “Immortal After Dark Series” Pleasure of a Dark Prince. Cole again proves she is a smart, imaginative writer who uses humorous banter between the protagonists to build up the romance. The stories are filled with action and drama played out by mythical players such as Greek gods and goddesses, vampires, lykae (werewolves), furies, shifters, feys, valkyries and demons. These immortals fight amongst themselves and other factions and every 500 years (the Accession) a battle for supremacy begins. This war does a good job in population control.
Pleasure of a Dark Prince is about Lucia the Huntress, an archer who never misses, is pursued by Garreth MacRieve, Prince of the Lykae (werewolf) the Highland warrior who recognizes her as his mate. She doesn’t feel the same however and the pursuit takes them from New Orleans to the Amazon. Lucia carries a secret…if she sleeps with a man she will lose her powers, given to her by the Goddess of the Hunt Skathi, so she can enact revenge against the Devil. She needs a magical arrow to end his evil existence. Garreth’s tenacious seduction, however, makes it very hard for Lucia to resist him.
These “hot” titles from Cole’s “Immortals After Dark Series” definitely advertise the sexy, humorous and exciting content readers will find inside the pages of these books.
*Hunger Like No Other
*No Rest for the Wicked
*Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
*Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
*Kiss of a Demon King
*Pleasure of a Dark Prince
* Demon from the Dark (coming in August)

I don’t think romance writers are given the respect they deserve for the tales they tell and they should be admired for brightening the day of women from 12-years-old to 98. Holding one of these books in your hand is a quick escape from the demands of the world and these smart women should be commended for making that possible.
Happy reading romance lovers!
Barb V.

…my response, Or, oh no you di’nt

2010-05-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

First, if you haven’t read Steve’s previous post, do that now for the context…
Ok, so I must say I’m in the “I like this book” camp. I did find it slow going at first, and it’s definitely not a light-hearted beach read for sure, but there’s a draw in its connection to Oz. And that’s what I’m here to discuss now.
Like most books set in fantastical lands, to enter a completely different world is a little discombobulating. It’s not just realizing and accepting that the characters are human or talking Animals, it’s feeling comfortable in the caveats that are this strange world. Which in this case happens to be Oz. But it ain’t your mother’s Oz, or no, this is an Oz in political turmoil and strife. So part of its appeal (or drawback) is the political thriller angle. And I love how this makes sense, being that (some speculate) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written by Baum as a political allegory. So we get our first tie with the original here.
Also, it’s great to read a story from an entirely different perspective. I mean, so yeah, if you only watch the movie the wicked witch seems pretty evil, but it’s cool to read about the reasons she did the things she did. How absurdly awesome is it that her sister doesn’t have any arms? Who comes up with this stuff? So I guess I’m fascinated with the story’s depth. We get glimpses, and realize there’s so much more than that to everything about Oz. We couldn’t possibly learn all about it from just one book (or one lost girl from Kansas), and that’s what makes it so realistic (in a fantasy sort of way), but also what makes it possibly have some loose ends. I say take those loose ends and throw them behind the curtain with the mysterious man. Wicked has to be one of the best back stories ever written about one of the most recognizable characters of all time.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-05-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire
I was really psyched about reading this one, but the excitement soon turned to weariness. Lately I seem to be cursed with these high potential, low payoff books. This is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West of Wizard of Oz fame, and how she came to be so “Wicked.” Maguire, who is a genius for creating a back story to the Oz classic and using it to create a fortune for himself, since it falls within the public domain, begins the story from the start with little Elphaba’s birth. She is born to a fervent minister father, and aristocrat-in-name-only mother who has a penchant for drinking and loose morals with men. Poor Elphaba is born with green skin and shark-like teeth, and is quite the humiliation for her parents. We watch Elphaba and the family grow up in the forests with little interaction with other children or people, until she enrolls in college. From here the story begins to jump around with no clear path, and we see characters and storylines that appear and disappear with no real reason. The atheist Elphaba gets involved in a terror group that is set on bringing down the corrupt Oz, has an affair, disappears into a convent, reappears to ask forgiveness of someone she has wronged, travels home, and lastly becomes obsessed with getting back her sister’s magic ruby slippers from our famous Dorothy. Along the way there is some old Yackle- witchlady- thing that seems to be driving Elphaba toward something with her life, but I couldn’t tell you what this “something” is. A run-in with a weird- troll- dwarf- thing, guardian of some magic book that Elphaba has, and which the Wizard of Oz desires, seems to be a pretty important part of the story, but again, lo and behold, there’s not much here for the reader to make sense of. For a short time the novel has shades of being a political thriller, with Elphaba set on taking down a Nazi type regime. This is really kind of cool, but again, to my dismay, this storyline is simply dropped with no follow-up.
Dorothy and the gang, besides making a quick appearance at the very beginning of the novel, don’t show up again until the last 50 pages or so. And that’s ok with me, I had been told and read reviews that Wicked is not really about the Wizard of Oz characters as we know them, and that’s fine, as long as the rest of the story works without them. The problem is the characters and the story jump around like a kangaroo and leave huge gaps. In previous posts I had some negative thoughts on Blindness and The World Without Us, but ultimately they had their redeeming qualities, and if read within the right mindset, were pretty good books. For instance, if you knew to skim over mind numbing sections of the World Without Us, it was really worth it to get to the cool parts. But if you were to skim along through Wicked, you would quickly end up at the end, and really not have a pay-off. Interestingly enough, if you were to be a sucker like me and read the whole thing and get to the end, you would also not have any sort of payoff either.
I have been told that Maguire’s other spin-offs, Son of a Witch, and A Lion Among Men, are much better written and the stories move along quite nicely, and fill in some of the story-lines, but I will leave that for others to try. If you have read Wicked let me know what you thought. I have heard some people say this is one of their favorite reads and was just wondering what they liked so much, and if they noticed a meandering story with enough holes to make swiss cheese jealous? Seriously though, I would like to know your thoughts, and I will say it worked well as a book club title, as it made for a good book discussion.

looking for a summer read?

2010-05-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Why read about the summer of two old friends dealing with cancer and divorce at their summer home, when you can read about what their kids are doing instead?
Okay, so I think this entry might appeal to the twenty-something’s more than the forty-something’s, but what are you going to do? I had the opportunity to go to Florida last week, and had an amazing time riding my bike and getting some sun. I’d say “and catching up on reading,” except I do that constantly anyways. But I did allow myself the gooiest brain candy I could find, in the form of the young adult novel The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. It’s a coming of age gem about a girl who visits her mother’s friend’s summer home every year, along with her brother, and her mother’s friend’s two sons (get all that?). Belly (Isabel) always had a crush on the oldest brother, Conrad, and although most summers he treated her like a kid sister, Belly’s 15 now, and this summer things are a little different—now he completely ignores her. But that’s progress, right? The first person perspective of a slightly awkward and endearingly whiney Belly makes this book so deliciously nostalgic, it’s like I remember being there—except I never was. But isn’t that what we want a book to do? The sun, angst, and likable characters make this an excellent beach read—trust me.
Now, on to my cryptic first sentence. While we have Belly doing her teen thing, we also get glimpses of the two moms also spending the summer at the beach home. But that’s all we get—glimpses. I feel like there could be an excellent companion book for the moms about how the two best friends spend their summer. There is a world of heartbreak and summer moments of their own—the reader of The Summer I Turned Pretty is only able to get a quick peek every few pages. But that just adds to the reality of the book—Belly is a teen who sometimes sees her mom having a memorable summer while Belly’s doing her own thing somewhere else. I would like to see Jane Green or Anita Shreve pick up the pieces of the mothers’ story in The Summer I Turned Pretty and do something fantastic with it.

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-04-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Amanda for plugging my book clubs and the space on her blog. And just to add, if you are a male and wish to join a book club, our Book Club for Men includes a free dinner, generally tied in with the theme of the book we are reading. The 20-Something Readers also get a freebie, either a coffee or small bagel/danish from Panera’s.

World Without Us, by Alan Weisman
We just finished reading and discussing The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman, for the Twenty-something Readers book club. Here’s a book with a fantastic idea, chock full of fascinating questions and observations, that unfortunately lacks organization and any semblance of what would be described as a smooth read, which is really too bad because it could have been a fine book. Although the book is a work of nonfiction, it is built on the premise that humans have simply vanished from the earth. It does not indicate, or matter, how we vanished, but we have. The question becomes, what will happen to the earth and everything that is left in our absence? This sounded really cool to me, and apparently to many television producers as well, as both National Geographic and History Channel have features on this topic, and the History Channel also has a whole series based on this idea.
The problem with the book is it reads more like a series of short essays on different aspects of the earth, be it certain animals, like birds, or certain geographical locations, like Chernobyl, or the Texas Oil Patch. Each one in itself is pretty cool, well most of them are, but there is no coherence in the order. They are not put together chronologically, as the History Channel video is organized- 1 year after humans, 10 yrs, 100 yrs, etc. - nor is the reader given a sense of why the author bounces around at will, despite the fact that there are four “sections” to the book. And the book needs a nice trimming, 350 pages (paperback version) is just too long for his writing style. If this had clocked in at 200 pages, we might have a real winner.
The writing is clunky, but not so much in a textbook sense or dry sense, but more of a sense of just bad structure and flow, probably much like my writing here, although I guess I would never pass myself off as a “writer,” more of a hack. I found myself rereading parts trying to understand what he was saying, again, probably like you may be doing now.
Now, despite all this whining, after finishing the book I found it to be a fascinating topic. When we selected this book, almost all the reviews hailed this as an excellent read, and none mentioned its awkwardness or lack of organization. If the reader were to go into the book with this in mind, and be ok with skimming over parts, they will be pleasantly surprised by the amount of things included in The World Without Us that we never ponder in our day to day lives, for we never realize they are going on. Some of the topics include: descriptions about nuclear waste and disposal, the building of the Panama Canal, wildlife in the DMZ between North and South Korea, the history of fertilizer in the US, theories of extinction of megafauna, how New York City and all its skyscrapers and subway systems would relatively quickly disappear without us, and how future civilizations or beings may judge us based on what remains of our civilization.
A couple more nuggets which may entice you: There is a part about how birds have magnetite particles in their heads which help to operate homing devises that keep them safe in inclement weather. In bad weather the device tells them to go towards light at night, like the moon. In today’s age a problem arises with electric towers. The lights on the towers wreak havoc on the birds’ homing system, drawing them into the towers and tangling them in the wires. I found this whole scenario of nature colliding with technology to be interesting, and I must admit while driving around I now look at the towers and birds quite differently.
Another mind blowing fact was that many former nuclear waste sites are now Natural Wildlife Refuges. One former site, Rocky Flats, near Denver, was such a site. It was eventually shut down by the FBI after it was discovered that numerous safety gaps were occurring. In one such example, drums of oil saturated with plutonium and uranium were leaking, and in an effort to cover this up, workers simply poured asphalt over the evidence! In a movie this would be pretty funny, but this was the U.S. government.
Some have said this work is a bleak look at the future. I would disagree, I thought it was an uplifting alternative to the doom and gloom environmentalists. Weiss speaks with tons of experts and most seem to indicate if we were to disappear then the earth would, in due time, and not without difficulty, manage to fix itself. They point to the Ice Ages that have started the earth anew, and the ability of plants and animals to adapt to new environments. Most of our man-made structures would disappear, although I did not realize Mount Rushmore may be one of the longest lasting remnants of our stay here. Even that pesky problem of plastic might just be ok. The book contends that the problem with plastic is that even if it becomes torn and weathered and exposed to the elements and disintegrates, it still stays around forever at the microscopic level. Although at some point it gets eaten by microbes, it is never totally broken down. Scientists seem to think that at some point in the future, be it millions of years, some microbe or organism will evolve that has the ability to eat and totally breakdown the plastic particles. And that is something to chew on.

Well I don't think I like that.

2010-04-03T13:23:00.000-07:00

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, by Steve Hockensmith

Before I go on a slight tirade (oh yes, dear reader, I've come back with a tirade), let me have Jessica Moyer from Booklist give you a description of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls:
Edgar winner Hockensmith turns to zombie lit in this prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009). Ever wondered how the Bennett sisters got to be such great zombie killers? Hockensmith explains all in the story of the return of the zombie plague and Mr. Bennett’s secret history. When a neighbor rises up out of his coffin in the middle of a funeral, Mr. Bennett shrugs off the lifestyle of a Regency England gentleman and returns to his old calling as a warrior dedicated to eradicating the Unentionables. Turning the greenhouse into a dojo, he trains all five Bennett girls, with the help of fellow warrior Master Hawksworth, to take up his quest—just in time, too, as a deadly incursion is under way. Read the rest here

Really, Mr. Hockensmith? Really? It’s just with the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies thing, Mr. Grahame-Smith already brought it. I didn’t even know there was another level to go. But, well, you proved me wrong. There is always another level, and a prequel is one of the best ways to get there, I guess. It’s just. *Sigh* Beating a dead horse comes to mind. Then I’d have to take that one, step further, wouldn’t I, and say that the dead horse became a zombie. And you thought I was done, didn’t you? But no, the horse became a zombie, and now I have to explain how the horse became a zombie. Do you see how convoluted that gets? Yes, I know, we all love Ms. Austen. Now let’s let her rest in peace, yeah? (Well, now you know how to get an infrequent blogger back on her keyboard).

Guest Blogger: Steve H.

2010-03-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

Steve leads two book discussions here at Mentor, the Men's book discussion group (free food!) and the 20-something book group (also free food I think!). Check our calendar for times and places.

Blindness by Jose Saramago
This is a book with a rather interesting premise. The people of an unnamed city begin inexplicably to go blind with a “white blindness.” The city officials attempt to quarantine those infected but the sickness spreads to all and the people are left without a government and on their own. The story centers around a particular cast of characters stricken with the blindness who are quarantined in an old asylum. There is one woman in this group who, for unknown reasons, can see and never loses her sight throughout the ordeal. In the asylum a group of blind thugs hoard the food and successfully make demands for the women, who give themselves over for the thugs’ enjoyment so everyone may be given food. At times a bleak and tough read to get through, it really relayed the many things we take for granted, and the choices we make in our interactions with others. It has shades of Lords of the Flies, but there is much more too. And the novel does have flaws, like the blindness is never explained, and in the end the blind suddenly have their vision back, yet the woman who never lost her vision goes blind with the sickness.
But the author was very successful in portraying how blindness, rather than some other incapacitating element on the human race, could destroy life as we know it. One of the most popular ends to the human race in fiction is nuclear war or a deadly disease that actually kills each individual. Blindness alone kills no one, but blindness for the human race, all at once, would be horrific. The novel enabled me to realize how vital our sight is and if no one had sight, what a different world it would be. Without sight, there is no one to run electric plants and water treatment plants, or food factories, or grow crops or a whole host of activities that we take for granted. In fact, even basic shelter would be almost impossible to create, for how can you choose a clearing in the land, find tools and supplies, and put them all together. Think about tasks like hammering a nail. We usually think of blindness as a disease that affects a small percentage of the population, and those with sight are able to guide those without, and create aids for them, so they may learn and then be self sufficient. But if just that one sense were taken from everyone it would be devastating. Of the five senses, a loss of any other one would allow the human race to still go on relatively unaltered. Think about losing our sense of touch, taste, smell or hearing; granted you might have some burned fingers, or initial difficulty in communicating, but humanity could adapt rather easily. If humanity as a whole loses its sight, there is no defense against predators, fires can’t be put out, hygiene becomes impossible and infection spreads, and food cannot be found and people starve to death.
Another aspect of the story that brings the reader to profound revelations is the character of the woman who can see. Although at first this may seem like an incredible gift she has, to the good person it is a heavy burden. And not to sound like a preacher, but to the decent person there is a deep sense of duty to use this gift to help others. On the other hand, she realizes that if she is to let everyone know her secret, she will quite literally be worked to death, as she simply can’t help everyone at once. So she finds a middle ground and helps her group as best as she can. Although this sounds sensible, she has to fight her conscience to agree to this limited solution. Also, there is the element of loneliness for the woman, in that she is the only one who can see how truly sad the situation is, and witnesses the fall of humanity, as the others lie in their own filth, while starving to death, migrating like animals searching for food. Although it may sound a bit preachy, it seems that Saramago was using the story as an allegory on how we live and what we decide to do with our lives, or how we decide to have impacts on others, for better or worse.
From an enjoyment standpoint, I would not really recommend this novel. And from a literary critique I would not say this is a great story in the traditional sense. A major flaw is that it unrealistically portrays the characters as too willing to give in to wretched demands of the thugs, with little initial resistance. The end is a cop out, in that it never explains the cause or dissipation of the blindness. Also, the author uses an unnamed city and all unnamed characters, which makes it hard to follow, and leaves out any storyline with a world picture. Questions that were never explored but could have been fascinating include aspects of how one nation faired in dealing with the blindness, say for example the Europeans vs. the United States, and did countries work together or work to destroy one another. What about top leadership, did they not use their secret bunkers, filled with stores of food. And the translation of the original text was dreadful, with no quotation marks, and commas and periods interchanged. The tenses change too, which is apparently a signature of Saramago. But I will say that judging this on a scale of originality, uniqueness and ability to engage the reader in thought, it was excellent.

A book I didn't like, but couldn't quite forget

2010-03-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

So here I am again, between really disliking a book and finding it impossible to forget about it. Well, finding the title of this one took some librarian-quality research skills (I used Novelist), but eventually I got it: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. A book I could not finish because I was so darn bored, and yet bored to wonder. When I started reading it, a friend of mine said, “oh yeah, I read that, it’s pretty good.” About 150 pages in, I asked my friend, “seriously, this book isn’t going anywhere, does it go somewhere?” To which she replied, “yes, it does, it’s good. The ending kind of fizzled, and I was a bit bored throughout too, but it was good.” To which I replied, “Oh.” I stopped reading after that. But doesn’t that just go to show how sometimes we get so caught up in a book, it doesn’t matter that it’s boring us, we just finish it? Anyone? I mean, The Historian had so much potential. A girl discovers a mysterious book and letters hinting that maybe there was an actual vampire in history, and that he may still be alive after hundreds of years. So she travels the globe trying to discover the truth. This has some hints of Dan Brown, no? Maybe a few horror elements and just enough fiction-could-be-truth to get you hooked. Or at least it worked on me. And it worked on pretty much every notable review (Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus). But I still didn’t finish it, and yet it’s been several years since I tried and I still remember it.
Here are some books that I haven’t read yet, but sound like they have a lot of potential. They are also currently on the Mentor’s Reader display at the Main Library. I got the descriptions from Novelist.
Show of Hands by Anthony McCarten
A struggling car salesman tries to save his business by hosting a contest, a publicity gimmick that introduces him to a colorful array of hopefuls including an elderly night watchman, a single mother, and a down-on-his-luck MENSA member.

Drood by Dan Simmons
A tale inspired by the mysterious final years of Charles Dickens finds the fifty-three-year-old literary master irrevocably changed when a train journey with his mistress ends in violence.

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
Suffering from pica, a malady that causes her to eat nonedible items, sixteen-year-old Miranda helps to run the family bed-and-breakfast while witnessing her community's hostilities toward outsiders, a malice that erupts in violent and destructive ways.

Book suggstions from author Rebecca Stead

2010-02-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

Rebecca Stead just won the Newberry award (the highest award for children’s writing) for her excellent book When You Reach Me. It’s about time travel, so of course I was hooked. You might want to check it out, but in the mean time, I will let Ms. Stead give you some grown-up book suggestions (click here for the article). This is from the blog Shelf Talk, which she guest wrote on, and now I’m referencing it in my blog, so it's kind of like Rebecca Stead is writing on my blog. Okay, not really, but one can dream. Have fun!

Will someone please get me a towel?

2010-02-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

On a road trip to Dayton a while ago, I listened to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, written and (awesomely enough) narrated by Douglas Adams. I have to say, they did a decent job with the movie. They took liberties, of course, but it seemed like they kept the humor and feel of the book intact. I’m thinking this is a pretty fast read because the unabridged audio version was only 6 hours. And if you don’t remember me mentioning this in the past, let me just say that audio books are an amazing thing. Especially if you’re planning on a long drive somewhere. Granted, they can be distracting, and I often have to turn mine off to get through high traffic areas, or if I’m navigating a new area, but they’re also the good kind of distracting. The kind that make a four hour car ride to Dayton seem easy. But anyways, back to the book. A sci-fi classic for people who don’t like sci-fi. It’s funny in the dry yet slapstick kind of way (don’t ask me, I just write a blog), as only British people can be. And the plot is fresh yet classic (and who knew this review was going to turn into a run of contradictions?) But there it is. Give it a try or at least watch the movie for a few laughs and a lot of entertaining British banter.

Angels as Demons--go figure

2010-02-02T16:43:00.000-08:00

I’ve been (contentedly) stuck in the land of children’s literature for a while now, but if there’s one thing to bring me out of it, it would have to be an exciting fantasy book. Angelology by Danielle Trussoni hits the market in March. And with a giant wing on the front cover attached to a conveniently shadowed body wrapping around to the back of the book, how could I not pick it up? Of course it’s a book about good and evil, but with a twist; the angels are actually the bad guys. Well, they’re not entirely angel, I guess they’re half human half angel, and apparently that’s a combination that produces evil powerful creatures set on conquering the world. And it’s up to a group of angelologists to find a way to stop them. This book has good reviews, and it’s meaty enough (about 450 pages) to satisfy anyone’s evil angel craving. Plus there’s an apparent sequel and movie rights, so you just might have heard it here first. Angelology. Danielle Trussoni. Read it.

The life of a library hamster.

2010-01-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

You would not believe the number of kids that come up to the children’s department for the hamster called Fuzzy. The little white ball of fur that, more often than not, hides and sleeps in his little green house, away from the leering eyes of his legions of fans. He’s been up here longer than I have, which is to say he’s old. For a hamster. In the summer he started looking a little, oh, sickly. His once wide eyes now squinting, his white fur now balding in places. Not to mention the fruit flies, like little vultures, hovering around his brightly colored tube-house. It was sad. But we nursed him back to health. We did. We changed his diet and he seems better now. Still squinty, but you know, alive and kickin’. But our little scare in the summer brought up some interesting questions: when he does die, how do we tell the kids? Do we tell the kids? Can we buy another and sneak it in? We don’t want to make people sad, but we don’t want to lie either, so it’s tough. People are already questioning his authenticity. It must be the people whose parents told them their dog Sparky was heading to the farm for a better life. They look at our geriatric hamster, then over at us, and say conspiratorially, “this isn’t the same hamster, is it?” (go on, you can tell me). And we have to say, “no, really, it’s the same hamster, he has diabetes.” Then they look in our eyes to see if we’re really telling the truth. We are. I swear. We diagnosed our hamster with diabetes, and after changing his diet to something with less sugar in it he is doing better. This is my life now. A squinty-eyed diabetic hamster whom the kids love and whom we’re using as the theme for our new children’s page, with the amazing illustrations of Jon Stommel (website coming soon--stay tuned!). Well, that and books. Here’s a fantasy book for adults; The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Think Harry Potter mixed with the One Tree Hill. Oh yeah, I went there.

Did I mention we also have a hermit crab?

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

2009-12-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

Although it’s nice to sit around a roaring fire snuggled on the couch with a mug of hot cocoa (note: I’ve never actually done this, but in my mind it’s amazing), Christmas isn’t quite as magical as it was when we were kids. I mean, come on, you wake up on Christmas morning to a load of presents stacked magically under your tree? How did that happen? Well by magic, of course. It’s so easy for children to take that leap of faith. To think that putting a hat on a snowman will bring him to life, that reindeer can fly, given just a bit of fairy dust. And we try to hold on to this wonder as adults, reminiscing about those days long ago when we believed. I hope you and yours have a magical holiday season, filled with hot cocoa, roaring fires, and just a sprinkle of fairy dust. Here’s a list of books that inspire me because I read them when I was a kid, when I truly believed that anything could happen, and they still make me feel that way when I read them now.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Of course I have to mention these, they were the books that helped me ease off the training wheels and actually get into some honest to goodness literature. And they made me believe.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. Why are kids so fascinated with the idea of running away? Well, because this book shows what a grand adventure it would be, what with the living in a museum, and getting money from the fountain for food. Great fun.

Bunnicula by James Howe. I read this book recently out of nostalgia, and I didn’t get the humor when I was little. But a rabbit that drains the juice out of vegetables seemed quite thrilling at the time, as did

The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright. I read this book as well a few months ago. I remembered it being so creepy, and in its defense it was. Reading it as a kid took days or weeks to finish. I think something is lost as a grown up though, when I can finish it off in a few hours. It loses some of its suspense, I think. But it was still a fun, nostalgic read.

Reconstructing Inspiration

2009-12-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

Reconstructing Natalie by Laura Jensen Walker
Although we all have different things that inspire us, I would say a story about a person overcoming a disease and becoming stronger because of it is pretty universally inspiring. Reconstructing Natalie is a book more for the female crowd, as it also falls under the chick-lit genre. But where most chick-lit stops at expensively delightful shoes, Reconstructing Natalie adds realistic drama in the form of breast cancer. Sure there are the typical chick-lit elements: the loyal humorous friends, the original boyfriend who is so not worth it, and the best guy friend who turns out to be the prince with a heart of gold. But it also transcends this when Natalie has to battle cancer. The plot seems realistic and is at times very hard to handle (emotionally), but the ending is nothing if not inspiring and heart-warming. Natalie grows in a very real way that anyone can relate to, and it’s a worthwhile read, if you’re the kind of person who likes a good cry with her inspiration.

And yes, the interesting cover may have been part of the reason I read it.

after time travel, a tale of twins

2009-12-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

I just read Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (of The Time Traveler’s Wife fame). Well she certainly picked an ideal time to come out with a new book, what with the TTTW movie out and all. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from HFS, but what I got was a classic American Gothic, which is of course set in England. I’m not the best for defining things, but generally, a gothic tale involves rolling estates that may or may not be haunted, characters who may or may not be what they seem, familial anxt, usually involving sisters, and twins (the more sets the better). And Niffenegger’s book has all of that, so the tone (I’d say impending doom) of the book is set right away, and gets carried rather effectively throughout. We have ghosts and an old apartment building overlooking an historic cemetery (rolling estate). The story is about twin sisters who inherit their aunt’s (mother’s twin) apartment in England. Little do they know in the beginning that the aunt is still haunting the apartment, unable to leave. The girls meet their aunt’s boyfriend and the plot thickens. Throw in a perfectly adorable white kitten, a neighbor with obsessive compulsive disorder, and my above mentioned tone of impending doom, and you get a haunting tale. As with all gothics, or at least the ones I’ve read, there are some slow parts, that I would have to say are intentional. They’re meant to get your guard down, relax in the moment before something truly creepy happens. Now I’m not talking 21st century sliced up bodies and blood everywhere creepy, I’m talking the psychological kind. The kind that Edgar Allen Poe is famous for, and the kind that innumerable authors have tried to emulate ever since. It’s a tale that propels you forward, albeit slowly at times, and keeps you thinking, no, she wouldn’t do that, she can’t, this is all going to work out. So yes, it’s different than The Time Traveler’s Wife, but of the same caliber. Granted, I liked TTTW more, but I’m a softy for time travel, as mentioned in my previous post.

Looking for more gothic tales of creepy estates and creepier twins? Check out:
The Thirteenth Tale by Dian Setterfield
The Sister by Poppy Adams

Let's get inspired!

2009-12-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

Well we’ve had quite a year, haven’t we? With the Horror and the Romance and the Thrills and Adventure. It’s been quite a ride. That’s why we want to give you some reflective time during the holiday season. And with that I bring you our latest and perhaps greatest (perhaps not) flavor: Inspirational. Take it or leave it, there’s something to be said about being inspired. Why, just the other night I went to see a movie and being previewed was an inspiring story starring Jeff Bridges. And how did I know it was inspiring? Well the music, of course. The music gave me visions of being great and doing something awesome. Here, check it out

See what I mean? Inspiring. Ok, there may have been bitter sweet nuances as well, I never said inspiring was comedy. Sometimes you have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and all that. So let’s get inspired this month, shall we? Let’s take some chances on some old country singer and find out just how much love we have to give (you didn’t watch the preview, did you? And you have no idea what I’m talking about, huh?). Because in the end, it’s all about having a crazy heart…or something like that. INSPIRATIONAL! Let’s get started! Here’s a list of non-fiction inspirational books, because there’s nothing more inspiring than a story about a old country singer down on his luck, except a true story about an old country singer down on his luck. Cheers!

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
"The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger," a villager tells Greg Mortenson. "The second time, you are an honored guest. The third time you become family." An inspirational story of one man's efforts to address poverty, educate girls, and overcome cultural divides, Three Cups, which won the 2007 Kiriyama Prize for nonfiction, reveals the enormous obstacles inherent in becoming such "family."

Life is Short Wear Your Party Pants
By Loretta La Roache
Loretta LaRoche is an internationally known stress-management consultant who advocates humor as a coping mechanism. She uses her wit and wisdom to help people learn how to take stress and turn it into strength, and how to see themselves as the survivors of their own lives—that is, to find the "bless in the mess."

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
Phaedrus, our narrator, takes a present-tense cross-country motorcycle trip with his son during which the maintenance of the motorcycle becomes an illustration of how we can unify the cold, rational realm of technology with the warm, imaginative realm of artistry. As in Zen, the trick is to become one with the activity, to engage in it fully, to see and appreciate all details--be it hiking in the woods, penning an essay, or tightening the chain on a motorcycle.

It’s a time waaaaarrrrp!

2009-11-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

At first I was going to write about The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch, then I thought maybe I should do The Long Wait for Tomorrow by Joaquin Dorfman instead. Then I realized I chose them both for the same reason—time travel. So let’s just explore them both, shall we?

Since I first witnessed the DeLorean ride back in time, I have enjoyed time travel fiction. I love the paradoxes and circular thought involved—I love how we’ll never know, so anyone can make up anything they want, and just have to be convincing enough on paper to make it work in my imagination. I love the what-ifs, and the moral dilemmas faced by any time traveler. Each time travel book is a little different, and yet certain aspects are the same, and I’ve never met a time travel book I didn’t like.

I read the young adult novel The Long Wait for Tomorrow a few months ago. Three high school friends have to figure out what’s going on when one of them, the popular jock Kelly, wakes up and says he’s actually a forty-year-old version of himself that just woke up in his 18-year-old body. Kelly tells his friend Patrick that before he woke up in the wrong-aged body, he was in an insane asylum—but he can’t remember why…and that’s where I say, “and the plot thickens.” Kelly doesn’t know why he’s back or what he’s supposed to do, but eventually he realizes he isn’t going to leave his younger body. It’s a fun story wrapped in a few mysteries. Dorfman explores some time traveling philosophies, and uses the technique that the past cannot be changed—or can it? He leaves the ending deliberately ambiguous, but satisfying all the same.

Now let’s jump a few years into the future, and talk about an adult book about a guy jumping back in time one hour at a time. It’s called The 13th Hour, and it’s a book of the future for you fine folks, as I read an advanced copy. In this book we follow the protagonist back through time as he tries to save his wife from a very brutal murder. In each hour he has to try to figure out what’s going on and how to stop it before the end of the hour, where (when?) he will be transported back in time 2 hours to relive the hour he just relived. Confusing? A little, at first, but it’s quickly explained and interesting after that. The book starts out on chapter 12, then goes backwards as we go backwards with him, but the plot is quite linear besides the fact that he’s reliving his day. Most chapters end with a surprising discovery, whether the protagonist discovers something, or the reader just gets a secret peek into someone else’s life. It was a fun read and definitely a quick one. It would be a good beach read as it’s pretty mindless and fun.
So there you have it. To make up for the fact that I have been neglecting my posts, I have written about two very fun books. They’re worth checking out. As are these other two time traveling books that just came to mind:
The Time Traveler’s Wife (I guess you’ve all heard about this one—but so good. Don’t read the ending first!!)
Time and Again by Jack Finney. I mention this one often because my husband read it and really enjoyed it, and recommended it, but I never got around to it, so maybe if I mention it enough I’ll feel obligated to read it.

Flavor of the Month! (Long overdue...)

2009-11-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

By now you all have been to the library and probably discovered, checked out, and completely fell in love with November’s Flavor of the Month. And I don’t blame you; with a flavor like this, no one should be disappointed. I mean, if the flavor were an ice cream flavor rather than a book genre, it would be swirly and chunked with wholesome exciting goodness (unless you’re the type that doesn’t like chunks, or swirls, or would rather just have all the fat because, well, you’re indulging, might as well indulge). You’ve been to the Reader’s Wall, explored our wide variety of themed bookmarks. You’ve browsed our front display and were completely consumed with happiness and satisfaction—I know. It’s a wonderful flavor. The only thing that’s missing is a blog about it, you determine. Yes. I am late. I’m sorry. But really, with a flavor like this, who needs explanation? I mean, just browse and enjoy, right? So, ok, I don’t feel too bad now about not telling you what the flavor is. And I apologize for not realizing you are such bright, assertive people. So just keep doing what you’re doing and enjoy the flavor. I know I will.

Oh right. For those of you who haven’t been to the library and are just dying to know the flavor, well here it is: Translated Fiction! That’s right, a world of brilliant minds right at your fingertips. Imagine the possibilities. Adventure! Horror! Mystery! All waiting for you at your local public library. Here is a list of books from Spain. Enjoy!

The Cavalier in the Yellow Doublet by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Capt. Diego Alariste is back in Madrid, where even the slightest personal affront can lead to a clash of blades. Accompanied, as usual, by his loyal young servant, Iñigo Balboa Aguirre, and his friend, the poet and playwright Francisco de Quevedo, Diego learns that both he and King Philip IV are rivals for the attentions of the married actress Maria de Costa, who has many other suitors lined up at her dressing room door. Not even a death threat can scare off the ardent captain, who becomes a pawn in an old enemy's dastardly plot to assassinate the king.

For a Sack of Bones by Lluis-Anton Baulenas
After his father, Juan, enlisted to fight Franco, Genís was raised in a religious charity ward. Years later, former POW Juan, near death, extracts a grim, quixotic promise from Genís. He is to recover Juan's friend's remains from the POW camp and give them a decent burial in Barcelona. After eight years in Franco's celebrated Spanish Foreign Legion, Genís travels to the POW camp turned military base to fulfill his promise. Despite his professed loyalty, Genís actually seethes with a hatred for Franco that's fueled by his obsession to avenge his father.

Field of Honour by Max Aub
Aub's powerful coming-of-age novel (originally published in 1943) is set during the years leading up to the Spanish Civil War and follows a young man's bewildering political enlightenment as he moves from the Spanish provinces to Barcelona and is caught up in mutinous antigovernment factions.

Lies: A Novel by Enrique De Heriz
After a boating accident in a Guatemalan backwater, Isabel, a Spanish anthropologist researching indigenous funeral rites, finds that one of the victims has been misidentified as her. She is strangely reluctant to return to her grieving children and husband in Barcelona, and her subterfuge turns out to be only the most recent instance of a family penchant for self-invention. De Hériz’s chapters cut between Isabel’s hallucinatory diary entries and her daughter’s account of how she and her two brothers go about the business of mourning.

The Book of God and Physics by Enrique Joven Father Hector, a science teacher in a Spanish Jesuit community, finds relief from indifferent students in an online group devoted to the real-life Voynich Manuscript. Written in an unknown language, the 500-year-old document has defied the best efforts of cryptographers and scholars to decipher it. Hector's research into an actual recent book, Joshua and Anne-Lee Gilder's Heavenly Intrigue, which accuses Johannes Kepler of poisoning his mentor and fellow astronomer, Tycho Brahe, eventually ties in with the mystery surrounding the Voynich Manuscript. Local politicians' efforts to evict the order from the monastery where Hector works complicate the plot.

Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
In an abandoned mansion at the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martín, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he has taken refuge in the world of books and spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city’s underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at the mysterious death of the previous owner. Like a slow poison, the history of the place seeps into his bones as he struggles with an impossible love. Close to despair, David receives a letter from a reclusive French editor, Andreas Corelli, who makes him the offer of a lifetime. He is to write a book unlike anything that has ever existed--a book with the power to change hearts and minds. In return, he will receive a fortune, and perhaps more. But as David begins the work, he realizes that there is a connection between his haunting book and the shadows that surround his home.

A bibliophile without a book is a scary thing.

2009-10-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

We can see this typical bibliophile pacing restlessly among the stacks. Notice her eyes darting hither and fro, not really allowing much time to even read the titles in front of her. This response is caused by too many previous unsatisfying reads. You would think not having a required book to pick up would be a relief to this fickle predator, but that is not the case. Setting her sights on a target is what the bibliophile craves, and without one we see this response time and time again. In her desperation, the bibliophile has just gone to the catalog station—to do what? Without a title in mind, the catalog becomes as useless to the bibliophile as her fruitless prowl through the stacks. Ah, but this is interesting. Observe her poised in mid-step; this notes a slight reprieve from her tireless meanderings. The bibliophile is actually thinking about books she’s been waiting to read. This is a breakthrough. Having a goal, even if it is just in the beginning stages, is a step toward victory for this bookish creature. Now she has picked up her pace and has made the catalog her clear target. Has the bibliophile chosen its prey? Watch her hands maneuver the mouse and keyboard with ease—this is a bibliophile well versed in the cataloging system indigenous to most libraries. The bibliophile is just a few clicks away from victory. But what is this? The bibliophile blows out angrily through her nostrils—a sign of frustration. Perhaps the book she has chosen is already checked out. We see a clear eye roll of defeat—but wait. She is putting the book on hold! Now all she has to do is be patient until the book is returned to the library and our bibliophile will have a definite choice to read. How inspiring! But what will she do in the meantime? We can almost see this question drawn on her face. No worries, her actions seem to reply, as we follow the bibliophile swinging around to the magazines. People and Cosmo will be there for some nourishment until the main course arrives.

Let me tell ya a little something about Twilight.

2009-10-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

Twilight by William Gay
So I started (not Stephenie Meyer’s) Twilight. The book is set in the 1950’s, and it starts good enough. A brother and sister have a suspicion that the local undertaker is doing perverse things with the bodies of the townsfolk. They decide to dig some up and find their suspicions were correct. The imagery was strong and morbid and interesting, for the most part. But after the prelude came the scariest part of the book: Mr. Gay chose not to include quotation marks in his dialog! Any author who is presumptuous enough to ignore a major grammatical tool better have some talent to back up his hubris (oh joy, I love using the word “hubris”). But instead I found myself in that mild vortex of reading a page and only at the end realizing I had not really grasped anything I just read. So in short, I did not find Twilight scary, just a tad boring. That kind of boring where you just can’t think of anything you want to do so instead just nap for a while and then when you wake up you’re all groggy and wish you hadn’t have slept. To be fair (which I haven’t really been up to this point) I didn’t finish it, nay, couldn’t finish it. It’s like what famed librarian and reader’s advisor Nancy Pearl says, if you aren’t finding yourself engaged by page 50, it’s not worth finishing. So maybe it gets better. I don’t know, but I don’t care to find out. I wish I had liked it, because then anybody who accidently stumbled upon this blog after thinking it was about Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight would have another book to read. But fear not, accidental reader, for I have scores of other titles on this blog for you to enjoy. Why don’t you click on many of my generous genre topics. You’ll be sure to find something of great interest.

A blog about (not Nirvana's) Heart Shaped Box and (not Stepenie Meyer's) Twilight

2009-10-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

So I just finished Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill and picked up Twilight by William Gay. Heart Shaped Box is about a guy who buys a ghost online. But it turns out the lady selling it worked it so he would buy it and actually the ghost is out for revenge. It started fast and scary, then wound its way to a pretty satisfying (and not really scary) conclusion. I must say there was a night there while reading the book when my cat pushed the bedroom door open and the shadows lurking in the darkness made me think of the very scary ghost in the book. He was all dressed in a suit and carried a chain (complete with razor blade) to hypnotize the protagonist into killing himself and his girlfriend. Oh, and he had creepy eyes that were covered in swirling black lines. His descriptions of the scary scenes made me think about those Japanese horror movies that all happen to be loved and redone by American directors. There were times when the ghost would move in still frames with each action being scarier than the last. Actually "The Grudge" was the scariest movie I’ve seen in a while. I’m talking the American version here. I had seen the Japanese version, but because I was reading the subtitles, I missed some of the action so I didn’t get what was going on, and I didn’t get that the movie had jumped back in time—yeah, I wasn’t as scared. But anyways, Heart Shaped Box was a good creepy read that had some graphic scenes, but definitely propelled me forward.

Next up is Twilight which doesn't seem to be about a love-sick vampire, but may involve the ever adored psycho mortician.

Attack of the killer tom-creepy vine thing

2009-10-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Ruins by Scott Smith

Plants are not scary. Sure, the potential creepy things that plants house may be scary (bugs, webs, man with a book), but living organisms that get nutrition from the sun and give us oxygen in return are actually pretty neat. Until you read The Ruins. And of course there is more than meets the eye to these creepy vines. They can mimic human speech or cell phone rings; they can move as fast as a person can run; they have acid that slowly digests its victims (and we ain’t talking about sunshine here); and they have a group of native villagers that protect them (you can visit them, but once you do, you can’t leave). Granted, this is one tough plant, and it sort of mimics animal characteristics, so I guess you can’t say they are entirely plant-like. There are a few scary/gross moments in the book, but none that kept me up at night. Still, if you’re looking for a gory alternative to human psychos, check out The Ruins, or the movie which came out last summer.

Oh, what pretty flowers you have.

The better to scare you with, my dear.

some scenes may be too intense for younger viewers

2009-10-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

When I was little, we had a Disney book that scared me. Maybe I should elaborate. Inside the book there was this picture that freaked me out. Still not enough? Okay, the full page picture depicted Bambi’s dad, his enraged face charging the viewer. I could never look at that picture too long without having to flip to milder pages with Cinderella dancing or Mickey Mouse doing what Mickey Mouse does. It’s funny the things that we as children find too intense to handle. I haven’t seen the picture in years, but it still carries some weight in my mind. We all have fear thresholds—points that we’re not willing to cross because we know it’s just too much for us. This is a great month to find your own. And here’s a book to start with:
Intensity by Dean Koontz.

Horror books always start by lulling you into a false sense of comfort, and Intensity is no exception. Chyna Shepherd has just been welcomed into her friend’s family’s Napa Valley Home. It is cozy and wonderful and she is looking forward to spending time relaxing with her friend. Then the horrifically awful happens, and Chyna becomes the only surviving person of a homicidal maniac. But she can’t just hide and wait it out, because she finds out that said homicidal maniac has set his sights on another victim, and she realizes she has to do something to stop him. The book takes place in just about 24 hours, making it quite (you guessed it) intense. The killer is very creepy (one scene that stuck with me since I read this book in high school is where the killer watches a spider descend from his web and eats it, to gain its power, if my memory serves me correctly), and the tension builds to a very satisfying conclusion. It’s just that somewhere between the beginning and end it was like staring straight into scary Bambi’s dad’s face for a moment too long, and having to see his face raging at me when I turned off the lights.

Flavor of the Month: Horror

2009-10-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

I’m not a coffee drinker, but when I do decide to drink some I decide to drink a lot of it, and get really caffeinated and crazy. It’s more fun than just sipping it (you coffee drinkers do realize it’s not good, right?), and for a few hours I have a memorably jittery experience. This is kind of how I want to tackle this month’s flavor—just horror coming out of my ears until I literally can’t sleep with the lights off, or realize horror is just glorified fluff (or maybe not so glorified—and I think “fluff” is a very poor word choice to describe horror). Horror! The fears we have as children of monsters lurking just out of sight, ready to pounce when we least expect it. Horror! Those same feelings morphed into adult anxieties then reverted back again to those scratchy inklings in the back of our brains. We know we aren’t going to get stabbed to death in the shower, but, just in case, I want to keep my eyes on the curtain as much as possible. What makes us scared? Well, we have 31 days to find out. Let’s go exploring—just don’t stray too far away, the ghosts of the library just may pull you into a chilling embrace.

They're waiting for you.

Catch the non-fiction bug!

2009-09-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Non-fiction month continues with a fury! Check out this list, taken from a bookmark from the famous Reader’s Wall at Main. This comes from the “True Crimes” list, because who can resist a true crime?

Black Mass: the Irish Mob, the FBI and a Devil’s Deal By Dick Lehr
Expertly details the twists and turns of this complex story, painting a vivid portrait of Boston's underbelly and its inclusive political machine, as well as exposing one of the worst scandals in FBI history.

Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America By Erik Larson
Not long after Jack the Ripper haunted the ill-lit streets of 1888 London, H.H. Holmes (born Herman Webster Mudgett) dispatched somewhere between 27 and 200 people, mostly single young women, in the churning new metropolis of Chicago; many of the murders occurred during (and exploited) the city's finest moment, the World's Fair of 1893.

Donnie Brasco My Undercover Life in the Mafia By Joseph D. Pistone
In Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone tells the story of working so deep undercover in the Mafia that the truth of his identity became blurry even for him. For six years, Pistone posed as jewel thief Donnie Brasco in order to pull off one of the most audacious sting operations ever.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
In Cold Blood was a groundbreaking work when released in 1966. Two two-time losers living in a lonely house in western Kansas are out to make the heist of their life, but when things don't go as planned, the robbery turns ugly. From there, the book is a real-life look into murder, prison, and the criminal mind.

Manhunt The 12- day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer By
James L. Swanson
For 12 days after his brazen assassination of Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth was at large, and in Manhunt, historian James L. Swanson tells the vivid, fully documented tale of his escape and the wild, massive pursuit.

The Night stalker By Philip Carlo
Carlo speculates on the psyche of this chilling killer and introduces an intriguing supporting cast.

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell
Jack the Ripper was renowned artist Walter Sickert (1860-1942) according to Cornwell. The evidence Cornwell accumulates toward that conclusion in this brilliant, personal, gripping book is very strong, and will persuade many.

The Stranger Beside Me By Ann Rule
Rule and Bundy were friends. They met in 1971 at a Seattle crisis clinic, where they shared the late shift answering a suicide hotline. Rule’s story as he evolved into one of the century's most notorious serial killers.

Under and Alone The true Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America’s Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang By William Queen
Queen risked his life when he joined the Mongols as bearded biker Billy St. John. His adventures with one of America’s most notorious bike gangs resulted in the convictions of more than 50 Mongols. Queen recounts these two years with a straightforward gruffness that captivated critics.

Hmmm. I don't know, these sound pretty interesting. Better hurry and check them out before they're all taken!

Never underestimate the power of the non-fiction section

2009-09-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Case in point: Stuff White People Like (SWPL). A tongue-in-cheek blog turned book that takes a trip through insulting land and comes right back to funny town. I rather enjoyed the sections on Cheese (“as with all things, white people are expected to have an extensive and deep knowledge of cheese”), Bad Memories of High School (“Virtually every white person you meet was a nerd in high school”), and Beards (“The popularity of beards with white people can fluctuate depending on the decade, but it always maintains a level of respectability regardless of current styles”). It’s definitely a book you skim through, and I found myself several times wanting to return the book only to realize I missed sections that I wanted to read. There are 150 sections, each giving the author, Christian Landers, ample opportunity to mock and ridicule “white people.” But it’s all in fun! I think. Give it a shot. And while you’re in the 818.602 section of your local library, browse the area. You’ll find David Sedaris there (also mocked in SWPL), and a lot of different humorous books you may find amusing.

Insulting or no, it's fun!!

Charlaine Harris everybody!

2009-09-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

Start with sweet protagonists that are involved in murders and/or vampires, talk about what they plan on wearing to dates/work, mix in a couple dudes she has the hots for (that’s right, there’s never one dude, always two and you never quite know who she’s going to end up with) and BAM! you have some mystery series that, if they’re not quite amazing, are at least somewhat readable. I have so far read the first book of three of Ms. Harris’ mystery series; the Sookie Stackhouse series (which was turned into the show “True Blood” starring Anna Paquin on HBO); the Lily Bard series (which was not turned into a show because it does not star an attractive vampire); and the Aurora Teagarden series (which should be my favorite, because Aurora is a librarian, but is not—the reason would take another blog entry). Yes, yes, I know, just as I upbraid them for being merely readable, I continue with how I’ve read all of the first books. Hypocritical, I know…but here’s why: they’re simple formulaic mysteries that build to a satisfying ending. It’s a mystery where I know for a fact the protagonist isn’t the murderer (which I have a habit of doing for some odd reason), and even though the outfits that the narrators are so gosh darn proud of wearing are somewhat dated, they still add a fun girly element to the story. I would say the Sookie Stackhouse was the least mysterious of the three, but I think that’s because Harris had to make room for the supernatural elements. But they're 3 mystery series to try, and they're all free to check out at your friendly neighborhood library!
Sookie Stackhouse Dead Until Dark
Lily Bard Shakespeare's Landlord
Aurora Teagarden Real Murders
And check out fantasticfiction to figure out which comes next in the series!

spell yourself with a light read

2009-09-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

To escape an abusive relationship, Sydney flees with her daughter Bay to the town she left as a girl. She moves back home with her sister Claire, the sister who loves her home and wants nothing more than to work in her garden and have a routine. The two sisters come from a long line of magically inclined people. This makes the people of the town respect them, but also keeps them at a distance. Toss in an apple tree with a mind of its own and a kooky aunt who always knows just what to give you, even if you don’t know yet why you need it, and you have a rather enjoyable book. Yes, there are parts that are a bit contrived and the romance leaves something to be desired, but it kept me reading, and it was short. For me, if I’m not reading a book I’ll just read whatever is around, which means I sometimes read the back of my cereal box a dozen times. If you don’t want anything heavy, but you still need something to keep you from reading the Publisher’s Clearing House mail, give Garden Spells a try.