Notes from the librarian's desk

suspense continues

2010-11-16T05:44:00.001-08:00

Sliver of Truth by Lisa Unger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Suspenseful continuation of Ridley and Jake's adventures. Where is her father and why is everyone looking for him? Who is telling the truth. The story unfolds beautifully

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Good title: beautiful lies

2010-11-16T05:39:00.001-08:00

Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Suspenseful with twists and turns. A good read. Ridley meets Jake and together they realize they have a stake in following the clues of a note that said "Are you my daughter". The note calls into question her life as she knows it and brings her to see the truth behind an orphange that rescues children from the streets.

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natural history

2010-11-16T05:35:00.001-08:00

Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

what a great book. So much natural and social history surrounding the attacks of one white shark in 1916.
In the end, I had a better understanding of sharks. The detail about the life of a shark reminded me a bit of Founding Fish, not quite as wordy though.

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new reads for the younger folk - Houdini

2010-11-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

Escape!: The Story of The Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great Biography. Story well told.

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2010-11-01T19:02:00.001-07:00

Poison! but Tasty.

2010-10-24T12:29:00.001-07:00

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love a new SF series, especially when it delivers such possibilities.

Yelena, saves her self from hanging by agreeing to be the food taster for the king. Her training starts with a meal, her first poisoning. She sharpens her wits, and begins to sense political intrigue and even a little romance. There is magic and promise in this new series. I can't wait to read the next one!

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another good mystery

2010-10-24T12:22:00.001-07:00

61 Hours by Lee Child

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was in the mood for a good mystery and found it here!

Jack Reacher, ex-military cop is on a bus when it skids off the road, landing him for a short action-packed stay in a small town in South Dakota. It is all here, suspense, action, a touch of romance, good guys and bad and twists. Loved it!

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Norwegean mystery- great read

2010-10-24T12:16:00.001-07:00

Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Superb mystery! A page turner! Eva Ringmar is found drowned and her husband cannot remember anything. The events and twists are driven by Van Vreeden, a curmudgeon of a police officer, who is sure of the husband's innocence. Great read.

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back for the fall season...Hotel

2010-10-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bitter and sweet in history. So little is known about the Japanese internment in WWII, yet Ford has brought that bitter time of discrimination to light in the midst of the sweetest Romeo-and-Luliet love story. Henry and Keiko become friends but Henry is Chinese with a father who dispises everything Japanese and Keiko is Japanese. Befriending them both and befriended by them is Sheldon, a wise Seattle street Jazz player. The characters are rich in detail, tender and human. Best book of the season!

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a classic-Stranger in a Strange Land

2010-08-15T23:39:00.001-07:00

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Michael Valentyne Smith, a human child raised by Martians is still a stunning look at our culture through the eyes of someone outside the culture. Heinline examines all our conventions, religion, sex, politics, corporations, death. Yet, the story isn't just philosopy, it is a page-turner to the end.

It was written in the 50s, not published till the 60's and is still relevant for the most part. Do you Grok it?

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2010-07-03T15:14:00.001-07:00

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Some stories are just feel good stories. Where the heart is is one of them. Novalee, a 17-year-old is pregnant and living in a Walmart off hours. She becomes friends with wonderful people in this small southwest town.

Billie Letts has written several novels, all with good plots and heart-warming characters.

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july recommendations-an incident-elephants and more elephants

2010-07-03T13:20:00.001-07:00

Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Modoc, a circus elephant ant Bram, the son of the elephant trainer were born in a small German circus town on the same day in 1896. The boy and animal grew up devoted to each other. When the czircus was sold to an American, with no provision to take along the human staff, Bram stowed away on the ship to prevent being separated from his beloved Modoc. A shipwreck off the Indian coast and a sojourn with a maharajah were only the beginning of the pair's incredible adventures. They battled bandits, armed revolutionaries, cruel animal trainers, and greedy circus owners in their quest to stay together.

The story was written by the man who owned Modoc for the last 20 years of her life. A wonderful, true story

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july recommendations-an incident-elephants

2010-07-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
jacob Jankowski is a 90-years-old curmudgeon residing in a nursing home. The story begins in his memory with a disaster in a Benzini circus tent. The novel then tells the story of Jacob' life as a circus vet in that circus during the Great Depression, up to and including the fire. The circus lore is described in fascinating detail and the human-animal bond is beautiful to watch.

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july recommendations-an incident-east of the mountains

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

East of the Mountains by David Guterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ben Givens is a retired surgeon with a terminal diagnosis of colon cancer. He decides to leave this earth on his own terms and skip the final months of pain. So he sets out across the Cascades in Washington state for a hunting trip, planning to take his own life once he reaches the high desert. A car crash en route puts an initial crimp in this suicide mission. But he presses onward--and begins a simultaneous journey into the past. Between present-tense episodes, which demonstrate Ben's cranky commitment to his own extinction, we learn about his boyhood in Washington's apple country, his traumatic war experience in the Italian Alps, and the beginning of his vocation. A coming of age novel for those of us who think we are already grown up.

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july recommendations-an incident

2010-07-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In the The Curious incident Mark Haddon leads us through a bizaare "crime" into the mind of an autistic child. EveWe close the book with a better understanding of the mind.

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july recommendations-cathedral epic

2010-07-03T12:55:00.001-07:00

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In depth look at the building of a cathedral in the 12th century. Characters and politics and setting are thoroughly described. A nice long read!

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Fool

2010-06-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Fool by Christopher Moore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thanks Bill for the recommendation. Fool started out with more bawdy humor than I thought I could stick with but soon there was bawdy humor AND a good story. I will go back and read King Lear soon.

Moore certainly brings the "ordinary bloke" insight into royal drama.

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Remarkable Listen

2010-06-16T07:38:00.001-07:00

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed listening to this new Chevalier work. It does not have a page turning plot, or great imaginative leaps of insight, but is a rewarding book to "read" nonetheless. The story is about, Mary Anning, a self-taught fossil hunter of Victorian England. Chevalier took the few facts known about Mary Anning, mixed them with names of people and the life and issues of the time added her own fiction and the result is a picture of Victorian England and the birth of the conflict between evolution and creationism.

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Cellist of Sarajevo

2010-06-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This novel brings insight into the Siege of Sarajevo and into all wars. The story focuses on the people involved in one event, a cellist pays tribute to 22 people killed while waiting in a breadline by playing Albinoni's Adagio on the street for 22 days honoring the 22 who were killed. The story is not about the cellist; it is about the woman who protects him from snipers, a man who must go out in fear to get water for his family and his neighbor, and an old man, a baker who stays in the city, brings bread to his sister's family and tries to imagine Sarajevo in better times. It is about ordinary people in tense and troubled times.

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Summer shelf......memories

2010-06-04T10:08:00.001-07:00

The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel by Debra Dean

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Marina's memory is fading. She cannot remember why she is standing at her sink in her kitchen on a sunny day; but she does remember her life as a tour guide in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia during the war. She remembers facing starvation and misery to preserve the art of the city. The art now returns the gift and offers her solace. A beautiful, art-filled story of war and remembrance.

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Summer shelf......a journey

2010-06-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Santiago, a Spanish youth, a shepherd, enters on a magical journey from the Andalusians in Spain to the pyramids in Egypt to find a treasure he saw in recurring dreams. He meets guides along the way, a gypsy woman, and alchemist and a king. The outward journey becomes a journey within.

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Summer shelf......check it out!

2010-06-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The power of One is the story of triumphant survival. In a time when Hitler was bullying the world into submission, Peekay was born in South Africa. He was the victim of bullies who humiliated and tormented him. Through the intervention of mentors he is introduced to the world of boxing. And he changes his life to find the power within himself. A strong compelling story, beautifully written.

Keene Valley Library also has the sequel, Tandia, not easily obtained in this country.

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Summer shelf......DeMille style!

2010-06-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The plot is not extraordinary. A former New York City police detective John Corey becomes aware of an American right-wing plot to nuke two U.S. cities. The idea is to provoke an existing government plan called Wild Fire that automatically responds to nuclear terrorism in the homeland with a nuclear attack that will wipe out most of the Middle East. Corey and his FBI agent wife, Kate Mayfield, set off to find antiterrorist agent Harry Muller, who has disappeared after being assigned surveillance duties at the Custer Hill Club. The story is well told in DeMille style but the most interesting part is that the setting for the story is the famous Saranac Lake Resort called "the Point", here named the "Custer Hill Club."

A fun, suspensful novel.

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Summer shelf.....Sand and Fog

2010-06-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Behrani is an Irani immigrant, living in California, working on the road crew who desperately wants to "keep up appearances" so his children can marry well. It is the tragic flaw that causes so much conflict in the book. The characters are beautifully drawn. They remind us of the American Dream and our memories of better times.

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Summer shelf......passion suspense

2010-06-04T08:58:00.001-07:00

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
"Last night I dreamed I went to Manderlay again." So begins the passion and romance of Rebecca by DeMaurier. The story is as dark and mysterious as the Cornwall estate itself. There is evil and tenderness and an urgency that does not allow the reader to put down the book till reading the last stunning paragraph.

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Summer shelf......a sequel

2010-06-04T08:29:00.001-07:00

Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A continuation of the saga of the Chilean familily, Aurora Somers recount her history from 1862 to 1910, remembering her grandmother Eliza Sommer's journey to San Fransisco. A powerful story told by a master storyteller.

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summer shelf------well worth the read!

2010-06-02T05:53:00.001-07:00

Shogun by James Clavell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Shogun is a multifaceted book; a deep look into Japan of the 16th century, a high adventure; a study into the complexity of character and politics. This is a sometimes harsh and sometimes tender story of Toranaga, the unifier of medieval Japan when he meets John Blackthorn, an English sailor and survivor of a shipwreck. The story is complex and fills more than 1200 pages, but it is a page-turner, an epic, multi-leveled pager turner!

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summer shelf------local author

2010-06-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

Mists of the Couchsacrage: Rescue from State Land by ALDEN L. DUMAS

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Local author, Alden Dumas, sets his adventure in the Adirondack adventure around a plane crash deep in the wilderness. A good read!

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summer shelf------check it out!

2010-06-02T04:44:00.001-07:00

Wish You Well by David Baldacci

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
David Baldacci is an compelling writer of suspense and thrillers, but not in Wish you Well. Here he applies his writing skills to a novel of life in rural Virginia in the early 1950's. His storytelling expertise introduces us to a family and a time period that we can almost remember.

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summer shelf------a classic

2010-06-02T04:26:00.000-07:00

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
If you have a classic on your summer to-read list, choose The Good Earth! Olan and Wang Lung journey through life in China under the last emperor.

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summer shelf------check it out!

2010-06-01T22:47:00.001-07:00

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Even after almost 25 years, the Handmaid's Tale is still a powerful story of what happens to a society when one group of people are subjugated to another. In the this speculative fiction, women are denied their power by a theocracy that has taken over the country. This book stands beside 1984 and Brave New World as it pushes commonly held beliefs to their logical conclusions. In doing so, Atwood exposes their terror.

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summer shelf------check it out!

2010-06-01T22:33:00.001-07:00

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Eliza Sommers, an orphan raised in Chili in the mid 1800s by a British spinster and her brother, falls in love and follows her beloved to California where he has gone to search for gold. The characters in this family saga are beautifully and richly drawn. The setting is colorful, and as in other Latino literature, magical. Allende weaves elements of history and character and setting in a multicultural adventure. The story is also well told in an audio version (cassetes only at KVLA but available elsewhere on CD).

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summer shelf------check it out!

2010-06-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Griffin & Sabine - An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fine example of Epistolary fiction! Griffin, a lonely Londoner and Sabine, a mysterious woman in the South Pacific exchange hand made postcards and letters in lovely envelops. Their story emerges through the correspondence. The intrigue of the story is heightened because each letter must be pulled out of the envelop to be read. It is like reading someone else's mail. A most unusual book, followed by equally delightful sequels.

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On the shelf....check it out!

2010-06-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Bohjalian, a writer from Vermont, mixes reality and fantasy in a great psychological insight into trauma. The Double Bind begins after Laura Estabrook is attacked while bicycling on a back road in Vermont; she begins work in a homeless shelter to regain her hold on her life. She finds photographs taken by a shelter resident and becomes obsessed with trying to discovery how a man with such talent became so lost. In her search she is lead into the life of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. The story is rich and complex with an ending that leaves the reader stunned.

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Away by Amy Bloom

2010-06-01T20:13:00.001-07:00

Away: A Novel by Amy Bloom

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Lillian Leyb flees Russia after losing her family in a pogrom. She comes to America thinking her daughter has survived. She begins an odyssey that takes her into the Yiddish theater of New York, through Chicago by train, into Seattle's African-American world of Jazz and across the Alaskan wilderness towards Siberia. This is a wonderful novel of strength and humor.

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On the shelf....check it out!

2010-06-01T19:47:00.001-07:00

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Geraldine Brooks is an author with many wonderful books to her credit. IN Year of Wonders, a tailor brings the plague to a village in Derbyshire, England in the sixteen hundreds. The town decides to isolate itself to prevent the spread of the disease. The story is about the humanity they find or do not find in each other as they face the disaster. Though it sounds distressing and depressing, it is not. It is a story of courage and strength based on an actual village.

Also consider People of the Book by Brooks, another story based on history. People of the Book The Sarajevo Haggadah had a chaotic journey through many generations. This is the story of that book and the many people who were touched by it.

Also by Brooks, is the story of Mr. March, father to the March sisters of Little Women. A Pulizer prizer winner.March

Check Out Geraldine Brooks.

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The Pact

2010-06-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jodi Picoult explores the forbidden and casts light on the darker side of issues that most people only whisper about. And she does it again in the Pact. The topic is teen suicide. The teens are struggling relationships and mistakes and love. The parents are caught up in the "perfect relationships of their offspring and do not recognize the dangers. I couldn't put it down.

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2010-02-27T15:31:00.000-08:00

Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Just now I finished a book that was the most spiritual moving I have read in a long time and the funniest! I am reeling with its images.

It is “Breakfast with the Buddha” by Roland Merullo. A novel.

“Otto Ringling is a food-book editor and a happily married father of two living in a New York suburb. After Otto's North Dakota parents are killed in a car crash, he plans to drive his ebulliently New Age sister, Cecilia, back home to sell the family farm. But when Otto arrives to pick up Cecilia in Paterson, N.J. (where she does tarot readings and past-life regressions), she declares her intention to give her half of the farm to her guru, Volvo Rinpoche, who will set up a retreat there. Cecilia asks Otto to take Rinpoche to North Dakota instead; after a fit of skeptical rage in which he rails internally against his sister's gullibility, he accepts, and the novel is off and running.” (Publisher’s weekly). But the book is not about a road trip, it is about a spiritual journey. As we read, Otto changes before our very eyes. It is funny and profound.

I don't want to write about the wisdom of the book for fear of diluting it. I could not put it down and yet, it was not suspensful nor was there a mystery in the genre sense to solve. It was about the life of good people.

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2010-02-26T13:18:00.000-08:00

Four Card Draw/Get Out of Town/One for the Pot by Louis L'Amour

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
An audiobook- Three short stories by Louis L'Amour, what a delight! Each one takes about an hour, just right for a drive to Plattsburgh. There is mystery and charm and a sense of the old fashion in each.

On the first CD, L'Amour elaborates on his research and fascination with the Old West. Give it a try. You will be pleasantly surprised. I think you would also be surprised by his books, especially the ones in the Sackett Saga.

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When You Reach Me - A winner!

2010-02-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Having just read Time Traveler's Wife, I was ready when this Newbery Award winner suddenly stepped into the complexities of time.
Miranda, a sixth grader moves through the relationships of her life trying to sort things out when she begins to get strange letters. She realizes they are from the future. But who is sending them?
The story is well written and cleverly constructed. If you have not read a Newbery winner in a long time, this one is well worth the read. It offers insight into the youthful mind.

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2010-02-25T02:10:00.000-08:00

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It is snowing, snowing heavily, so I spent the evening finishing Barbara Kingsolver's new book, The Lacuna. What a beautiful story! The book is about so many things, I find it hard to narrow it down to a simple book recommendation. Harrison Shepherd, the shy, articulate narrator holds the book together. When young, he goes to Mexico with his mother after she divorces his father. There he lives with Rivera and Kahlo, artists of the time and cooks for their friend Trotsky who was in hiding from Stalin. I love stories where history is made understandable and new insight emerges. Thus it was.

Later Shepherd fled to the US to write novels and was caught in the net of the House of Unamerican activities Hearings. The fear and frustration of the time is laid bare. The scenes are moving and I leave the book still wrapped in its story.

A great novel, well researched and steeped in the imagination and beauty of Kingsolver. it starts slowly, so don't give up in the beginning.

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2010-02-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

Hardball by Sara Paretsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Good story, perfect in fact for a cozy Sunday afternoon of reading. The book takes us to the race riots and civil rights marches of Chicago in the 1960s. At that time a young black man disappeared when a black woman was murdered. With a clear writing style and sympathetic characters, Paretsky weaves the story in and out and around till everything is connected in the end.

Passions and fears of the young men in the 60s are still with them as they wield power in the political world of 2010. Intesting and well written.

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2010-02-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GI by Ryan Smithson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I would like to recommend to you a book I finished in January, Ghosts of War by Ryan Smithson. It was the most moving book I had read in awhile. Smithson is a young man from Albany who returned from Iraq in 2004 or 5. The story has local appeal with many references to camping in the ADKS, etcs. The book is being used as a textbook in some Albany area high schools.

Smithson takes us from his enlistment at age 19, through basic training, a tour of Iraq and the healing he did when he returned. He marries before he leaves and takes about night terrors and PTSD when he returns. He fears for his wife's safety from himself. Smithson,an aspiring journalist, is a good storyteller. It is a fast, page-turning read offering insight into the troubling Iraqi war and into the mind of a soldier.

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2010-02-21T11:38:00.001-08:00

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Just because I cried at the end doesn't mean I thought the book was good! It did become more engaging in the last 100 pages but for the first two thirds of the book, I kept tossing it down, saying, "She is too whiny", "no one would make THAT decision!", or just "No way!" The story is predictable.

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a week of books for the young

2010-02-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

Fire by Kristin Cashore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An interesting week for reading.
My grand daughters voted on the Best books of the week. The winners: Olivia and Olivia Saves the Circus by Falconer. And we enjoyed Angelina Ballerina and The Mitten by Tressault and of course who can foret the memorable Pokey Litttle Puppy and Moses the Kitten. Everynight there was a new favorite. So serious reading, deep and profound, was laid aside. I read Fire by Cashore, part of the same series as Graceling by Cashores. Very enjoyable. I always like a fantasy novel with a new twist, in this case monsters.
The young adult novel is a companion novel to Graceling, neither prequel or sequel. It can be read independently but sheds light on one Graceling character.
Fire, a human monster, so beautiful that she has to hide her hair for fear of attack by both raptor monsters and human men, is able to enter other people's minds and exert power over them. Her talent is pivotal in saving her kingdom. Her character is complex; she struggles with inner conflict and accepting who she is. A strong coming of age story.

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2010-02-07T16:22:00.000-08:00

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time for a story with fantasy, romance, and adventure.

Katsa, a strong-willed warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye defies her king and refuses to be his thug and henchman. Instead She forms a council of justice to keep the people of the kingdom safe.

Katsa wrestles with questions of freedom and truth amid confusion and discovery of her true self. And she finds love.

This book has won much recognition and was named Publisher weekly's Best Book of the Year. The story is engaging, the characters strong and the fantasy well used.

This is the first in the series and I am about to start the second, Fire.

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2010-02-02T23:34:00.000-08:00

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I hesitate posting this review in a library blog. I like to recommend books, not caution the reader about them; but this has been said to be one of the five best books of 2009 and I have my doubts.

The initial story was interesting. Tassie, a college student becomes a nanny for a busy, mysterious couple. She accompanies the couple on their baby "shopping" journeys and then is totally commited to the biracial child experience. There are twists and surprises and the story has promise.

But I put the book down and when I picked it up again, it was a different story. And then another. What happened? The baby was gone. The "Brazilian" Muslim boyfriend came and went, and suddenly it was a story about Tassie's brother.

When the book ended, I still had questions. What happened to.....? and who was that? Maybe someone out there had a different experience; let me know. I might have missed something.

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Sarah's Key

2010-01-30T00:51:00.000-08:00

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A story told in the present and in 1942; the unifying element is an apartment in Paris. In 1942 the French police, directed by the Nazis, rounded up the Jews from this apartment and from others and sent them to camps. In the present an architect is remodeling the apartment for his wife and daughter. His wife unearths a secret in the apartment that changes their lives.

As the story unfolds, there are no surprises, yet it is not a predictable story. The story does show the cruelty and horror of that period of history and its reverberation into present times. In 1942, Sarah is taken with her family to the Veledrome d'Hiver with thousands of other Jews and hides her brother in a closet expecting to return for him later in the day. Her story of deportation and escape are uncovered in 2002 by Julia who is unexpectedly pregnant at the age of 45. Both stories are expertly interwoven in different voices.

The writing takes the reader in; the message is exposed-we must never forget.

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2010-01-27T07:49:00.001-08:00

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
At times, I said, "I can't believe I am reading all this pretentious philosophy. I can't believe it is a novel!" At other times the story was brilliant. Two hedgehogs, two people who are more than they seem, are hiding their intelligence and beauty. The first is Paloma, a 12-year-old girl who is searching for meaning in her posh, rich life, searching for a reason not to burn her building down; the second is the concierge, the super of Paloma's apartment building in Paris. The building is home not only to to Paloma and her family but to many other characters. Madam Michel, the concierge, has hidden her talents for 50 years, pretending to be dull and ugly because of her fear. Kakuro moves into the building and with patience, brings out the best in these two women.

So I recommend this novel to you with reservations. It is a look at the bougeoise and the proletariat. It is rich with strong characters and at times............. there are too many words.

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Cutting for Stone

2010-01-24T12:17:00.000-08:00

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes, I read a novel and even though I close the book, for a few seconds I am still in the world of the book. It is magical. I just closed the cover of Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, and I am still in Ethiopia. This is a stunning, multilayer novel.

Co-joined twins are born to a Carmelite nun from India working in a hospital outside of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia during the reign of Hailie Selassie. Their story unfolds like a flower through political intrigue, betrayal, abandonment and great gifts of courage and love. The narrator, Marion Stone, one of the twins, describes his boyhood days in the hospital of his birth, his painful coming of age and his forced exile from Ethiopia.

Though the book is over 500 pages, every passage is beautifully written. The characters are vibrant and the stories weave in and out; medicine, Politics, mystery, humor, strong women, noble men, heroes and villains. It is all there. I find it hard to write about this book without giving away parts of the story, but I will carry the images with me for a long time. Read it and let’s talk about it.

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2010-01-18T05:36:00.000-08:00

Am just starting Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. The prologue is intriguing. Till next week then.

Karen

Book of the week

2010-01-17T23:26:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Amy,

We sat around the kitchen table this evening drinking tea and cocoa and discussing books. Seems like everyone enjoys talking about what they are reading.

Amy also likes to write. She keeps a blog going. I was impressed! I have tried blogs before but the discipline of writing consistently eludes me. Yet...................I really would like to share book suggestions and ideas with libray patrons. So I will give this another try.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Just finished reading Time Travelers Wife, by Niffenegger. I give it 5 stars. It is a wonderful character study of two people, Clare who lives time consecutively, and Henry who has "Chrono Displacement Disorder" and disappears from the present while visiting the past or future. There are wonderful twists and turns and perspectives of events. Clare first meets Henry when she is six and he is in his 40s. But he meets her for the first time when he is 28. Then there are times when a six year old Henry meets his 30 year old self and the older Henry teaches the younger how to survive in the world. The voices of Clare and Henry alternate but the writing is clear and for all the flashback and travel scenes, there is no confusion and the story unfolds carefully and tenderly. The love that these characters have for each other makes the story sweet and romantic but not overly sentimental. Definitely a good read.