Staff Picks - 2013
Anne (Adult Services)
Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
Geoffrey Cubbin disappears from the hospital after an emergency appendectomy. He’s accused of embezzling 5 million dollars from an assisted living facility. Vinnie posted the bond, so Stephanie checks out leads, but sends Grandma Mazur undercover at the assisted living facility. When another man goes missing from the same hospital, things get stranger. While all this is going on Stephanie has a side job working for Ranger who is being stalked by a Special Forces agent who is supposed to dead.
The Secret Mistress by Mary Balogh
Angeline is traveling to her brother’s home to make her comeout when she’s caught in an embarrassing situation. She is rescued by Edward Ailsbury, the new Earl of Heyward and falls immediately in love. She loves him for everything her brothers are not. He is serious, considerate and not a rake. Her brother considers him a “dry stick.” In Edward’s mind those are his flaws. Edward doesn’t believe in love and wants to marry his long-time friend Eunice. Of course the course of love is filled with twists and turns.
Bayneeta (Adult Services)
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
This is the first volume in Martin’s fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, and I’m hooked. Reads like really god historical fiction. Yes, there are giants and dragons and supernatural living dead, but mosty it’s just a wonderfully complex adventure story and history of an imaginary world: England in the time of knights, but not England at all. I particularly like the multiple interwoven story lines and Martin’s willingness to kill off characters Id grown fond of. If you’re a listener of audio books, Roy Dotrice does an amazing job reading this very, very long (28 discs) book. His recording holds (or held) the Guinness World Record for most character voices for an audio book.
Matterhorn: a novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlants
Not my typical reading choice, but this was both horrifying and engrossing. Marlantes manages to put you right in the middle of all the craziness that was Vietnam. Written over the course of thirty years, Marlantes tells the story of Lieutenant Waino Mellas and his comrades in Bravo Company. Intense, powerful, and compelling.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A novel covering five generations of the Buendia family who live in a fictional South American country. There is so much to this book that I love: a haunting family saga, revolutions, plagues, family disasters, unrequited love, magical realism galore, and beautiful, lyrical writing. For me, this is a book I can read again and again. I discover something new each time, and I know I am still missing so much.
Dianne (Circulation)
1493 : uncovering the new world Columbus created by Charles C. Mann
We talk today about the world becoming more homogeneous, with McDonald’s in India, Pizza Hut in Beijing, and people around the world wearing t-shirts advertising American or European products. As Charles Mann explains in his new book, 1493, such homogeneity is just one more step in a process that began when Europeans and Asians began circumnavigating the globe – or, as he puts it more poetically, when Columbus reached the New World. The continents had been separate and separated places for millions of years, with plants, animals, diseases, and people developing to fit their local environments. When people gained the ability to travel long distances across the water while also carrying large quantities of plants and animals, a shift began towards world-oneness, a shift we cannot ever undo.
Donna (Technical Services)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Although they were raised in the same household, Amir and Hassan are worlds apart. Amir is the son of a wealthy man and Hassan is part of a shunned minority. Although Amir calls Hassan a friend, he does nothing when Hassan is brutally raped and, because of his shame, Amir pushes Hassan away and accuses him of stealing. When the Soviets invade Afghanistan and Amir and his father escape to California, Amir thinks he has escaped the past. The past, however, has a way of coming back to haunt the present.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Hosseini presents intersecting stories of two Afgan women living in the same Kabul neighborhood. Illegitimate Mariam is forced into a marriage with Rasheed, a much older man. Well educated by her loving father, Laila is orphaned during the civil war, and taken in by Rasheed and Mariam. These two very different women gradually form a friendship and support each other through Rasheed's ever-increasing abuse.
Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay
Thomas is a savant in an unusual sense. He is able to memorize all streets that appear on Whirl 360, a fictional Google Earth. This remarkable ability allows him to witness a crime in progress and he and his brother then stumble into a political scheme which gets them marked for death.
Hannah (Circulation)
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior. When his family emigrates from India to North America with their zoo animals, the ship sinks and Pi finds himself alone with a hyena, orangutan, wounded zebra and Richard Parker, a 450 pound Bengal tiger. When the tiger dispatches all the animals, Pi must use his wits to coexist with him while lost at sea for 227 days. Finally rescued, he tells a story few believe. When he tells a second story, however, it is remains to be seen which story is true.
Jean (Adult Service)
The Far Side of the Sky by Daniel Kalla
Franz Adler is a Jewish doctor who flees the violence of pre- war Nazi Germany. Shanghai is accepting refugees and Franz and his daughter emigrate. In Shanghai, they face the threat of disease, poverty and possible internment by the Nazis with Japanese cooperation.
Joan (Circulation)
The Widow’s Adventures by Charles Dickinson
Recently widowed sisters Ina and Helene are disenchanted by their Chicago suburban neighborhood. Violence has been increasing and they decide to set off on a cross-country trip to Los Angeles. There’s just one problem. Only one of them knows how to drive . . . and she is blind!
Karen (Adult Services)
The Fish That Ate the Whale: the life and times of America's banana king by Rich Cohen
Arriving in America in 1891, Samuel Zemurray was 14 years old, penniless, and possessed of a nature to spot things others might miss. One day, he noticed bananas being unloaded off a ship and left on the dock as garbage because they were too ripe. Making a deal with the banana company, he takes the “ripes” off of their hands and manages to find a lucrative market for them. Thus begins one of the most fascinating stories of a man who would one day battle and conquer the most dominant company in the fruit industry, United Fruit. Along the way, the reader will meet the fruit peddlers, dockside workers, banana cowboys, millionaires and businessmen whose lives will all connect with Sam Zemurray. Governments will fall and blue bloods will shudder. This is truly a brilliant and immensely readable historical profile of a remarkable man and the era in which he lived.
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Now in her nineties, Grace Bentley lives in a nursing home. A filmmaker contacts her about a film she is making regarding long ago events at an English country house called Riverton. The film concerns the 1920s suicide of a young poet and the sisters at Riverton who knew him. As a young woman, Grace entered service and became involved with the family and saw how world and national events shaped and changed the class system and family and servant life at Riverton. She also knew the young poet and it is through her memories that the truth will emerge.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, a poor, Southern, African American woman. When she became ill, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and treated in the “colored” section of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her cells were harvested without her consent or knowledge and they became the immortal cells known as HeLa. Thousands of students, doctors, and scientists worked with HeLa and important medical breakthroughs were made because of them. HeLa cells were vital in developing the polio vaccine; new cancer treatments, the study of viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects, advanced the sciences of in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; however, few people knew the woman’s name from whom the cells were taken. This is her story brought to life by Science Journalist Rebecca Skloot and the people who knew her well. It is the story of her family’s quest to find out the truth about their mother, sister, and Aunt: Henrietta Lacks.
Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women's Literary Society by Amy Hearth
An unlikely group comes together in a small Florida town to form a Literary Society. Set in Naples, Florida, before the building boom, the Society is composed of a divorced woman, an “un-open” gay man, an elderly woman just released from a 30 year jail term for killing her husband, a librarian with hidden aspirations, a female writer who hides her real identity, and a young black woman who is a maid by day but who also has hidden dreams. Brought together by Jackie, a Northerner from Boston who has moved to Naples with her family, they are stunned by the changes which Jackie brings about even as Jackie herself has a secret; she is the sultry voice of Miss Dreamsville, the late-night radio voice that shocks and galvanizes the town.
Murder on Astor Placeby Victoria Thompson
Raised in the upper classes of society, Sarah Brandt is now a midwife in Old New York. While attending a birth, she sees a young girl who seems familiar. Sarah is shocked when the girl is found strangled the next day and she realizes that she was the daughter of a prominent New York family. Detective Sergeant Malloy informs Sarah that the girl was six months pregnant at the time of her death, which begins an investigation by Sarah and Malloy into the seamier side of New York society with all it's closed ranks and putrefying secrets.
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
Now in her nineties, Grace Bentley lives in a nursing home. A filmmaker contacts her about a film she is making regarding long ago events at an English country house called Riverton. The film concerns the 1920s suicide of a young poet and the sisters at Riverton who knew him. As a young woman, Grace entered service and became involved with the family and saw how world and national events shaped and changed the class system and family and servant life at Riverton. She also knew the young poet and it is through her memories that the truth will emerge.
Kathy (Circulation)
Bones Would Rain From the Sky: deepening our relationship with dogs by Suzanne Clothier
Not just a training manual, Clothier focuses on improving the relationship between dogs and their owners. Instead of simple behavioral training, the focus is on the dog’s connection to the owner and the bonds that already exist and that can be strengthened. Using anecdotes about her clients, Clothier creates a bond between her readers as well as the pets of which she writes.
Listening to Midlife by Mark Gerzon
Focusing on the trials and tribulations that come with midlife, Gerzon uses interviews with both famous and ordinary people, as well as his own experiences, to come to terms with what it means to be in “midlife.” Recognizing that each person’s journey is different, Gerzon demonstrates how the second half of life can truly be a time of personal growth and achievement.
Lee (Adult Services) & Trish (Adult Services)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Liesel Meminger arrives in Molching Germany at the home of her foster family with a book she has just stolen. Although she cannot read yet, her foster father uses it to lull her to sleep when she is roused by nightmares of her former life. Through the 1930s and 1940s, she collects more stolen books and a peculiar set of friends one of which has her own private library from which she allows Liesel to steal. With Death as the narrator, this is an extraordinary and satisfying novel.
Mary (Children’s Services)
Definitely Not Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos
Austen’s historical romance novel gets an amusing update in this debut novel. 39ish single mom Chloe Parker agrees to participate in a bachelor reality show set in Regency England. She soon realizes that her sewing, dancing and fan etiquette don’t measure up to the other contestants. What’s worse is a fellow competitor named Lady Grace seems out to get her even as her love life seems to spiral out of control.
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Major Pettigrew is a sixty-eight-year-old retired widower who enjoys his settled life in Edgecomb St. Mary, England. When the Major’s brother dies, and his adult son shows up with an American fiancée, and he strikes up a friendship with a Pakistani widow, his life becomes decidedly unsettled. Charming is the word used repeatedly in reviews for this domestic comedy that explores mature romance, family relationships, clashing cultures, and religious fundamentalism.
The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani
Ciro and Enza grew up in neighboring villages in Italy. They meet when Ciro is hired to dig a grave for Enza’s baby sister. Although they form an instant bond, they are separated when Ciro is banished from the village and sent to New York. What occurs next will encompass two world wars and stretch across two continents.
Mary (Technical Services)
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Motherby Amy Chua
Chua imparts what she believes to be the secret behind the stereotypical Asian child’s phenomenal success, namely the Chinese mother. Believing in Old World values and strict, uncompromising rules, she contends that these values cross all cultural lines. Indulgent and permissive parents who strive to teach individuality in their children vs. a parenting style that stresses respect for authority, drilling and practice, and never accepting a mediocre grade in school are the examined at length. Humor and honesty in discussing these very different styles leave the reader to decide for himself what approach is right for their family.
The Funny Thing is . . . by Ellen Degeneres
Along with her trademark “rambling” style, Degeneres contains hundreds of truly funny insights into her psyche. She supplements these with easy-to-understand charts, graphs and diagrams.
Mayuri (Adult Services)
Tiny Beautiful Things: advice on love and life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
Strayed is the author of the Oprah Book Club pick, Wild: from lost to found on the Pacific Coast Train. She is also the writer of the “Dear Sugar” column on therumpus.net. In this collection of questions from readers of her column, she tackles thought-provoking questions and offers personal and sometimes startling advice. Written with honesty and humor, this will reground you in what it means to be the flawed, but glorious, entity we call human.
Tina (Adult Services)
Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
“Wicked Lovely” introduces us to Aislinn, a human who can see into the invisible domain of Faery. The universe is separated into courts: the Summer Court, Winter Court, Dark Court, High Court, and various other lesser courts. Aislinn does whatever she can to avoid this realm, but destiny appears to be unavoidable as she reluctantly gets pulled into the Summer Court.
“Ink Exchange” (#2), is a continuation of the world of faerie from the Dark Court's perspective. Irial, king of the Dark Court, searches for a queen to strengthen the power of his dominion. Leslie, a human, struggles to salvage her life and self-confidence. When Leslie unknowingly tattoos Irial’s symbol onto her flesh, she becomes betrothed to Irial. However, it is Niall, the right hand man to the Summer Court, whom she truly loves.
“Fragile Eternity” (#3), the focus swings back to Aislinn and the Summer Court. She attempts to balance her human life with Seth alongside her faerie responsibilities with Keenan. While Aislinn is preoccupied with her own worries, the courts become more volatile by the day. It is this turmoil that fuels war herself (Bananach) to create the chaos she has been waiting centuries to inflict.
“Radiant Shadows” (#4), the Dark Court is showcased once more as Ani (a half human, half faerie) learns that she has more powers than she could have ever imagined. Meanwhile, Sorcha, queen of the High Court and sister to Bananach, falls into a sadness that causes reality to disassemble.
"Darkest Mercy” (#5), Bananach launches a full scale royal battle that threatens all of existence. All members of all courts choose either to fight with Bananach or with the resistance. Death and his sister are also in attendance to see who survives, and who is theirs for the taking.
Uma (Adult Services)
Layover in Dubai by Dan Fesperman
On his way to the Far East, Sam Keller has a layover in Dubai. Traveling with him is Charlie Hatcher, a fellow employee known as a good-time guy. Unknown to Charlie, Sam has been directed by Corporate Security to keep an eye on him and to keep him out of trouble. When Charlie is murdered in a notorious Night Club, Sam quickly becomes embroiled with Russian mobsters, crooked cops, prostitutes and politics. It seems that the corruption even reaches into the offices of his employer. As Sam is unsure of whom to trust, a most unlikely ally arises in Anwar Sharaf, a detective and former gold smuggler. With the help of Sharaf’s beautiful and rebellious daughter, they begin to investigate the infamous Dubai flesh trade.
Yabin (Information Technology)
The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham (This titles is currently unavailable at the Addison Library. Please ask about inter-library loan if you are interested in this item.)
Larry Darrell is a Young American in search of the absolute. His spiritual journey will leave him with choices between love and wealth will have lifelong repercussions. Maugham also wanders in and out of the story observing his characters struggles.
KD 2/13