Lin Recommends: Left Neglected

Left Neglected
Lisa Genova

After a car crash leaves  successful, overachieving  Sarah Nickerson with a traumatic brain injury and an obscure neurological syndrome called Left Neglect , she faces a long and uncertain recovery. This story personalizes the struggles and insights of a rare and unusual brain condition and the redemptive power of family love and support. Author and neuroscientist, Lisa Genova, once again delves into the world of disabling brain disease and creates a book of moving fiction. Her first novel, Still Alice, dealt with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Brandy Recommends: Thursday’s Child

Thursday’s Child
by Sonia Hartnett

Tin was born on a Thursday, and so was fated to wandering.  His older sister, seven-year-old Harper, can hardly blame him for wanting to escape: the family is mired in poverty, their land is barren, the new baby cries all the time.  Tin burrows into the earth to get away from it all, digging elaborate subterranean tunnels, his eccentricity tolerated—even overshadowed—by his family’s larger problems.  In lyrical, heartbreaking prose, Harper weaves her family’s struggle and Tin’s surreal underground existence together into a dark and dreamy tale.

Lin Recommends: The Red Garden

The Red Garden
by Alice Hoffman

200 years of history of the small, rural town of Blackwell, Massachsetts, begins with the arrival of the first settlers and moves forward in linked stories following a wide range of characters. The red garden, a small plot of land that eventually takes on the air of the sacred becomes a connecting element for the town history along with the women who play a role in the growth and change of the town. Beautifully written with an ethereal realism – a novel that bridges both history and human connections beautifully.

Tina Recommends: Emily, Alone

Emily, Alone
by Stewart O’Nan

Emily Maxwell, is an 80 year old widow who is dealing with the emotional and physical issues of growing old and, “being alone.” Although the story consists primarily of Emily’s daily routine, the story is much more than that. As Emily reflects about her life with her husband, children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors and even her beloved aging dog Rufus, the reader is reminded how regrets, setbacks and hopes of an ordinary life are a part of everyone’s life. There are moments of humor and sadness throughout the book. The story begins with Emily and her sister-in-law Arlene driving to the Eat ‘n Park’s two-for-one breakfast buffet, a weekly tradition. After Arlene suffers a stroke at the buffet, Emily begins to become more independent but at the same time realizes that she needs to rely on others more and more. Emily, with her quirks and habits, may be someone you will recognize, a friend, an aunt, neighbor or even yourself. If you like books that are plot driven, this is not the book for you. If you liked books that are character driven, I think you would enjoy this book. I give it five stars.

Brandy Recommends: Going Bovine

Going Bovine
by Libba Bray

When Cameron is admitted to the hospital following his diagnosis of Mad Cow Disease, things start to get really weird for him. With the help of his roommate, Gonzo (a neurotic, asthmatic dwarf), they escape for Cameron’s final road trip. The comedy becomes more absurd as the miles click by, with the pair picking up an ancient Norse god (cursed to appear as a lawn gnome), staying with a smoothie-loving cult at the Church of Everlasting Satisfaction and Snack ‘N’ Bowl, and falling in love with an angel on the way to Disney World. Going Bovine won the 2010 Printz medal for excellence in teen literature.

Laurie Recommends: Talk to Girls About Duran Duran

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran
by Rob Sheffield

The title immediately grabbed my attention, having coming of age at the same time as the author and having been a big Duran Duran fan.  Although published after Love is a Mix Tape, the book could serve as a prequel as it chronicles the author’s life and coming of age experiences during the 80s. The book is not about Duran Duran, but they do serve as the ultimate example of the music of the times and what those songs, bands and videos meant as we came of age.  Extremely humorous, and I loved how the author cleverly wove lines of popular 80s songs into his prose in such a subtle manner that it would be very easy to miss for those who don’t know their 80s music. A wonderful trip down memory lane, I was sorry when it ended!

If you liked Talking to Girls About Duran Duran you will also enjoy the 80s nostalgia in But Enough About Me and Don’t You Forget About Me by Jancee Dunn, who like Sheffield is a former contributor to Rolling Stone.

Lin Recommends: Unbroken

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Laura Hillenbrand

Louis (Louie) Zamperini’s life reads like the most fantastical drama you’ve ever known and yet every word of this amazing life story is true and well documented in history. Louie went from being a troublemaking California youngster to an Olympic runner in the 1936 Olympics in Germany. Then WWII came along and sent him to the Pacific as an Army Air Corpsman only to end up with his plane crashed and clinging to a tiny raft with two other men floating for weeks fighting starvation, sharks, weather and attacks by Japanese bombers. Sounds like a challenge? That’s only the beginning of this incredible biography. Louis Zamperini is still alive today and reading this book inspired me to research further this man who seemed to have an almost limitless determination to survive whatever life could throw his way. One of the best biographies I have ever read – highly recommended.

Laurie Recommends: The Tudors

The Tudors

If you love English history, you will love Showtime’s The Tudors, if you can initially get past the fact that Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who portrays King Henry VIII, looks nothing like the King he was cast to portray. But Rhys Meyers was born to play a tyrannical king, and does so passionately and convincingly, and the acting is stellar across the board in this historical drama. I especially loved Jeremy Northam as Thomas More, Sam Neil as Cardinal Wolsey and Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn. The costumes, scenery and even the music is beautiful in this production. The end of each episode sent me to the Internet to look up the people and events of the time to see how much was accurate. Despite a few glaring inaccuracies, I was surprised to find how much was actually true, right down to the words spoken in the series, often gleaned from letters and accounts of the time. Both at times racy and exceedingly violent, make sure the kids are sound asleep before popping it into your DVD player.

Brandy Recommends: The Unnamed

The Unnamed
by Joshua Ferris

Tim walks. For no discernible reason, he walks. He’s taken by the compulsion to walk, to keep going, to not break stride for any reason–it doesn’t matter if he’s in conversation, if he’s tired, if he wants to stop to buy a sandwich. At the end of his walks, he calls his wife for a ride home from wherever his body took him this time. Doctors and psychologists are baffled by his condition and can find no evidence that it’s even happening. His wife tells him that it’s okay, that she’ll always come get him, but it still takes an incredible toll on her, on their daughter, on their whole family. It’s a novel of a thousand small betrayals of one’s own body and mind, starting with a straightforward presentation and then meandering, taking tangents and revisiting old topics seemingly at random, paralleling Tim’s worsening condition. _The Unnamed_ explores the impact of an inexplicable, incomprehensible illness on a family as a whole and a man in particular as his is pulled out from under him.

Tina Recommends: Loving Frank

Loving Frank
by Nancy Horan

This novel is a fictionalized account of the scandalous affair between Mamah Borthwick Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright. Mamah is an educated and independent woman who feels trapped in her marriage and constrained by social restrictions until she meets and falls in love with the vibrant and flamboyant Frank Lloyd Wright. Mamah struggles with making the choice to be true to herself and her maternal responsibility. I thought the author did a good job creating a compelling story about a famous historical figure while making Frank Lloyd Wright the secondary character and his mistress the center of the story. I also enjoyed reading about the personality of Frank Lloyd Wright and his creative genius which was part of his confident and self absorbed ego. The tragic ending to the novel confirms that truth is stranger than fiction.

Charlotte Recommends: Trade Secrets from Use What You Have Decorating

Trade Secrets from Use What You Have Decorating
by Lauri Ward

This book has lots of practical advice for someone looking for ideas on how to decorate and furnish a home.  Unlike many other decorating books, this one does not have glossy photos of finished rooms, instead sketches are used to demonstrate a decorating principle. This may seem like a drawback but actually it works well because one is not distracted by colorful photos of rooms of furniture one does not own. The spare drawings allow the reader to focus attention on the point being made. Most topics are covered in short, easy to read paragraphs. The book covers everything from decorating mistakes, furniture arrangement, floors, windows, and more.

Katie Recommends: Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte

Yet another film adaption of Jane Eyre will hit the theaters on March 11th.  If you have never taken the time to read this wonderful classic, now is the time.   The story, set in 19th century England, focuses on Jane, a quiet yet fierce young woman, and her search for a place in the world.  Readers who appreciate strong character development and scenery are sure to enjoy this dramatic coming of age novel.

Lin Recommends: Atlantic

Atlantic: great sea battles, heroic discoveries, titanic storms, and a vast ocean of a million stories
Simon Winchester

Just the title alone can be intimidating but the subject matter intrigued me — and the thought of how to write a history of an entire ocean hooked me. It did not disappoint! A blend of history, geography, science, personal anecdotes and explorations, bestselling author Simon Winchester tells the epic story of the origins of this great ocean. The Atlantic has been central to the story of explorers, scientists, sailors and poets and until a thousand years ago, no humans ventured to think it possible to cross it. If you have the desire (and time) to commit to an unusual biography, you will certainly come away enriched.

Carol Recommends: The Other Guys

The Other Guys with Will Farrell and Mark Wahlberg as a couple of NYPD detectives is full of laughs.  They hate their jobs and they hate each other.  Will Farrell is at his best and Mark Wahlberg is excellent as his over-the-edge partner.  Even Michael Keaton shines as the chief.  I gave it a definite thumbs up!

Brandy Recommends: House of Leaves

House of Leaves
by Mark Danielewski

“It’s about a house that’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside,” say some reviews, and the same can be said for the book itself. The story (stories) is (are) somehow bigger than the pages that contain it; depending how you read it, it’s a horror story, a haunted-ish house, a love story, a family struggling against the house–and the circumstances–that tries to devour them all. And it really is amazing. Because of its unusual, experimental style, this can be a challenge to read, but the challenge pays off for readers who will stick with the text that is almost literally knotted around themes of isolation, obsession, fear, love.

Laurie Recommends: Love is a Mix Tape

Love is a Mix Tape
by Rob Sheffield

A beautiful and touching memoir dedicated to his first wife Renee, who died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism in 1997, the author deftly weaves his love of music and the songs that provided the soundtrack to that time in his life, with the years he spent with Renee.  Ironically, the book is also very humorous in parts, with a good dose of 90s nostalgia.  I especially liked how at the beginning of each chapter, there was a picture of actual mix tapes he made with the date he made them and the list of songs on them, and often this corresponds with the story and time period referenced in that chapter, which was both clever and relevant to the story, and made me reminisce about the mix tapes in my own life.

Barbara Recommends: Hannah’s Dream

Hannah’s Dream
by Diane Hammond

This is a marvelous story about Hannah, an aging  elephant living in a small zoo in Washington State, and her relationship with her caregiver of 41 years, Samson Brown. Sam, with the help of zoo keeper Neva Wilson, has the dream of placing Hannah in a pachyderm reserve for her well deserved retirement. Sam is also close to retirement and feels the pressure of securing Hannah a good life before he leaves. Unfortunately Harriet Saul, the zoo’s director has other plans for the elephant. Hannah’s Dream is chock full of memorable characters and is a touching story of the love between Hannah and Sam.

Coming Soon

Home Free by Fern Michaels	Now You See Her by Joy Fielding	The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind
Family Storms by V.C. Andrews	Cold Wind by C.J. Box	Afraid of the Dark by James Grippando
Night Road by Kristin Hannah	Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by A. McCall Smith	Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear	Sixth Man   by David Baldacci	Once Upon a Time There was You by Elizabeth Berg
I’ll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark	The Bride’s House by Sandra Dallas	Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson
Southern Comfort by Fern Michaels	Quicksilver by Amanda Quick	Chasing Fire   by Nora Roberts
Save Me by Lisa Scottoline	One was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming	Bel Air Dead by Stuart Woods
Pulse: Stories by Julian Barnes	A Time for Patriots   by Dale Brown	Just Wanna Testify by Pearl Cleage
Faith   by Jennifer Haigh	The Devil’s Light by Richard North Patterson	Buried Prey   by John Sandford
The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara

Charlotte Recommends: Canyon Ranch Nourish

Canyon Ranch Nourish: indulgently healthy cuisine
by Scott Uehlein

This cookbook is full of wonderfully healthy recipes that will have your mouth watering just reading them. The color photographs accompanying many of the dishes are so well done, they could be framed and hung in the kitchen. Even if you don’t like to cook, you will enjoy looking at the dishes, wishing you could have them in front of you to eat! If you have been thinking of cooking healthier but lack motivation, this book will help get you started; if you have been cooking healthy for a while, this book will provide even more variety. Nutrition basics, ingredient conversions, gluten-free and dairy free recipes are offered as well as recipes covering beverages and snacks, meat dishes, vegetarian entrees, and desserts plus more.

Curtis Recommends: Best Coast “Crazy for You”

Best Coast – “Crazy for You”

After building substantial buzz over the past year, LA fuzzy-pop group Best Coast released their debut album “Crazy for You”. Guitarist and singer Bethany Cosentino combines 1950s pop melodies and nostalgic boy/girl lyrics with driving beats and reverberated guitars. Comparisons to Vivian Girls and Sleater Kinney are obvious, but fans of Liz Phair and The Breeders will find Best Coast’s familiar sound sweet, melodic, lovelorn, and fun. This is a “California” record; highly recommended to beat the winter blues.

Carol Recommends: The Girl Who Played with Fire (Film Version)

The Girl Who Played with Fire (Film Version)

Don’t miss this explosive follow-up to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Lisbeth Salander is a pint sized ball of dynamite who’s up against huge odds.  Fast moving and gritty, I was cheering for her the whole way.  This Swedish movie can be viewed with subtitles, and is also dubbed in English.

 

And if you haven’t yet read the books, Tina, Lin, and Katie definitely recommend that you check them out!

1.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

2.  The Girl who Played with Fire

3.  The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

 

Lin Recommends: The Summer Guest

The Summer Guest
Justin Cronin
Using history from World War II to Vietnam as a backdrop and a main character in this novel, Justin Cronin tells the story of a family’s rustic Maine fishing camp.  Harry Wainwright, a wealthy entrepreneur, returns to the camp he fell in love with as a young man before he dies from cancer.  Intent on going fishing out on the lake one last time, Harry is central to both the pace of the story and the meaningful camp characters who emerge to help him say his last goodbye.  It sounds slightly morbid but had a surprisingly uplifting effect on me.  Cronin has an amazing way with character development and setting description.  Very enjoyable!

Brandy Recommends: The Magicians

The Magicians
by Lev Grossman

Quentin is going through the motions–going to school, getting good grades, crushing on his best friend’s girlfriend—but he’s sure there’s something more.  He finds what it is when he’s accepted into Brakebills Academy for his education in magic, only to find that learning magic spells is remarkably dull, and Brakebills doesn’t hold a candle to the fictional world of Fillory from his childhood books. Except that Fillory is in trouble, and Quentin and his friends are the only ones with the power to stop it—assuming they make it that far.

Blending Harry Potter with Narnia with a magical coming-of-age, The Magicians is a grown-up fantasy you won’t soon forget.



Katie Recommends: Bel Canto

Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett

The novel begins with an elegant dinner party with entertainment by world-renowned soprano Roxane Coss that takes an unexpected turn when the house is overtaken by a group of South American terrorists.   What follows is an intimate story about our shared humanity, finding love in strange places, and the power of friendship.  Along the way, Patchett calls into question our notion of beauty and terror, right and wrong, and justice.

This book is a sure pick for anyone who enjoys well-developed characters and a soft, lyrical writing style.

Gloria Recommends: The Way I See It

The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger’s
by Temple Grandin

My daughter was working at a school with autistic children. There are many specters of autism. I became interested in her work so I came across Temple Grandin.

This is a book about her life. I was fascinated at how her mother took care of her when the doctor said she was probably autistic and should be institutionalized. Her mother, who herself had a degree, wouldn’t do that and began teaching her. She lived through the taunting of other school children, but with her mother’s help she preserved. Through many extraordinary other teachers, Temple was able to use her special abilities to visualize things that many cannot and become productive using these visual qualities. She became interested in cattle while living on her aunt’s farm one summer. The aunt has “squeeze machine” used on the cattle when they had to treat them for parasites, etc. This machine had calmed the cattle and seemed to calm Temple when she tried it herself. She eventually developed a “squeeze machine” for people with autism. Like she put it, it was like getting a hug.

She went on to college and earned her PhD and is an animal scientist. She developed a system that is used in many cattle slaughter houses. She does believe that we breed cattle to eat, so why not treat them in a calming way on their way to slaughter.

I found this book fascinating in how someone with autism could accomplish so much. She is also a speaker and explains what some autistic people may think and feel, such as being startled by too much light or too much stimulation in some situations. Fascinating.

Also check out the DVD by the same title. This gives visual to what Temple went through.

PS The movie has just won a couple of Emmy’s.

Lin Recommends: The Deserter: Murder at Gettysburg

The Deserter:  Murder at Gettysburg
by Jane Langton
Jane Langton has created a moving and realistic portrayal of life (and death) during the Civil War. Even if you are not a history or Civil War buff, this book brings to life a momentous and shattering time in our nation’s history. Harvard professor Homer Kelly and his wife, Mary, are doing research to clear her great-great grandfather of desertion charges at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. Suspense builds as the author shifts creatively between past and present. Combining vintage photos, letters, playbills and characters based on real people, the reader is immersed in the turmoil and excitement of Gettysburg, PA. in 1864. I highly recommend this story not so much as a mystery, which plays a minor role in the plot, but as a touching and intellectual picture of history.

Brandy Recommends: The Dead Fathers Club

The Dead Fathers Club
by Haig, Matt
Philip Noble is at his father funeral when his dad’s ghost visits him for the first time. He tells the boy that Philip’s Uncle Alan a tampered with the car and made it crash, and now will move in on Philip’s mom and the family’s business. He begs Philip to avenge his death so he can move on—and if Philip hasn’t killed Uncle Alan by his dad’s birthday, Dad will be stuck in The Terrors forever. But killing someone isn’t easy, and between his father’s ghost, Uncle Alan’s constant presence in Philip’s house, and Philip’s first girlfriend (Leah, and her penchant for shoplifting), Philip is in way over his head.
Yes, it’s Hamlet, only we’re not in seventeenth-century Denmark. We’re outside London, present-day, and the boy in question is twelve years old. Still, the plot pulls along, and the reader is just left hoping, hoping, something will be different from the source material.

Tina Recommends: Olive Kitteridge

Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout

Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize, Olive Kitteridge is a collection of short stories set in a small town in Maine that are tied together by the setting and by the character Olive Kitteridge, a retired school teacher. Olive appears in each story, sometimes as the main character and in other stories she is only mentioned briefly.  The reader gets to know other town inhabitants as they relate to or encounter Olive. Olive initially is not someone that you like. She is cranky and kind of a shrew to her husband and has a domineering relationship with her son. Despite these traits, Olives’ love for her husband and her son is apparent. There is a kindness, understanding and compassion that comes through as she relates to them and other characters in the book.   Strout does a wonderful job depicting ordinary lives with powerful poignancy and with Olive she demonstrates that that no one is perfect and that life always offers us another chance to do something good.

Carol Recommends: From Paris With Love

From Paris with Love
with John Travolta & Jonathan Rhys Myers
An International Nonstop Thriller

This movie features Travolta as hard-as-nails agent Charlie Wax, and Myers as the newbie trying to move up.  It hits the ground running and keeps on moving: plots, car chases, explosions, shoot outs, and a sexy girl in the middle of it all.  You guys are gonna luv it.

If you liked this, you might also like:

Travolta in:  Swordfish, Broken Arrow, Get Shorty

Myers in:  The Tutors

Coming Soon

The following books do not have covers yet, but can still be requested:

Mary Jane Clark – To Have and to Kill: A Wedding Cake Mystery

Jayne Ann Krentz – In Too Deep

Robert Crais – The Sentry

John Lescroart – Damage

Debbie Macomber – Family Affair

Lin Recommends: Little Chapel on the River

Little Chapel on the River: a pub, a town and the search for what matters most by Wendy Bounds

Life sometimes throws us a curve and we end up some place completely unexpected that feels very much like home. This is the true account of one woman’s flight from the chaos of Manhattan after 911 to a small town on the Hudson River. She becomes a “regular” at Guinan’s, the local store-pub where commuters get their morning coffee, paper and gossip and evenings sees them return for music and jokes and small-town kindnesses. Fortunately Wendy Bounds’ instincts as a journalist led her to keep notes and record her impressions. This is a story for those who might long for the simple life of a small town written with heart and soul.

Charlotte Recommends: Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Devil in the White City
by Erik Larson

This is a non-fiction account of the building of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and a parallel story of serial murderer, H. H. Holmes (Herman W. Mudgett), who moved to Chicago just before “fair fever” took hold.  The story toggles back and forth between the drama of building such a massive enterprise and the manipulative cold blooded killing of Holmes.  The author brings to life the interpersonal rivalries of the key architects of the fair, the drama that was provided by the short window of time to build the fair, the crushing setbacks of construction mishaps, and the daring of individuals that ensured the fair’s success. Holmes’ story is intertwined with that of a gritty city that is in the throes of change as well as a time when young women were experiencing more freedom than ever before, many of whom moved to the city to work and to lodge.  Some of these young women came under Holmes’ spell, never to be heard of again.  This book was a National Book Award Finalist.

Brandy Recommends: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer

9-year-old Oskar is on a quest for answers after his father dies in the World Trade Center. After finding a key labeled “Black” in his father’s belongings, Oskar tries to track down the owner (by visiting every person named Black in the New York City phone directory), in the hopes of understanding something more about his father. Oskar’s story is interwoven with another, about an old man who can’t speak and the life he’s had since leaving Dresden after the World War II bombings, and the two weave together beautifully.

Tina Recommends: Baker Towers

Baker Towers
by Jennifer Haigh

The book tells the story of the Novak family who live in Bakertown, a postwar Pennsylvania mining town dominated by the towers made of combusting piles of scrap coal.  The author captures many of the characteristics of the small coal mining town in Pennsylvania similar to the town where I grew up. Life revolves around family and friends, church, sports and the mines. The author tells the family story of the five children in each chapter from that child’s perspective beginning in the 1940’s to the 1960’s. If you like family sagas, you will enjoy this book.

Coming Soon – June Update

The Wilmington Memorial Library recently placed a large book order for this summer’s and fall’s hottest titles.  Click here to download the list and request the book(s) of your choice.

Carol Recommends: The Spy Next Door

The Spy Next Door

Jackie Chan plays Bob Ho, an undercover spy who is in love with his neighbor.  Unfortunately, her kids don’t like him.  When he volunteers to babysit the fun begins.  This movie is fun for the whole family and it’s all about the kids, with Jackie as the straight man.  Good fun laughs.

Katie Recommends: The March

The March
by E.L. Doctorow

In 1864, Union general William Tecumseh Sherman marched his 60,000 troops from the coast in Georgia up through the Carolinas.  The March is E.L. Doctorow’s vision of this journey.  Along the way readers get to know Pearl, daughter of a slave master and slave, and Emily, daughter of a southern judge, both of whom desert their homes and communities to join the Union army as part of the hospital unit.  Other characters include an obsessive Union surgeon, an insane southern spy, several northern foot soldiers, and a whole host of freed slaves.  Unlike many other war-based historical novels, The March does not emphasize the battles or stratagems of war; instead, it focuses on the personal connections of all those involved.  A combination of excellent writing and storytelling makes this book a sure pick for anyone who enjoys learning a little while being entertained.

Lin Recommends: Booked to Die

Booked to Die,
John Dunning

Cliff Janeway is a Denver cop who loves books and ends up owning Twice Told Books, a rare and used book store. He uses his policing skills in solving the murders of people in the book collecting business while giving you the nitty-gritty of finding and selling first editions of rare books. Characters abound and surprises come fast and furious. Mystery readers with a love for books will enjoy this intelligently written story and look forward to reading the second in the series, Bookman’s Wake.

Charlotte Recommends: Child of the Jungle

Child of the Jungle: the True Story of a Girl Caught between Two Worlds
by Sabine Kuegler

This title caught my attention a few years ago when I was browsing the new books. I was further intrigued after reading the flap, “Sabine Kuegler was five years old when her linguist-missionary parents took her, along with her brother and sister, to live in West Papua, Indonesia. Settling in a thatched hut, cut off from civilization except for a short-wave radio, they lived among the Fayu. A recently discovered Stone Age people, most of whose members had never seen a white person before”. Sabine grows up among the Fayu and her playground is the jungle. When Sabine enters adolescence, she attends boarding school in Switzerland, where everyday life seems daunting due to the cultural differences. As she navigates this new world, her heart aches for the tribe she left behind, and she learns that home is truly where the heart is, surrounded by the ones we love and who love us.

Brandy Recommends: Tender Morsels

Tender Morsels
by Margo Lanagan

Liga’s life before was not kind to her: an abusive father, hateful villagers, a handful of local boys who used her for sport one night.  Following the last of these abuses, Liga makes a deal with the Moon Baby to exchange her earthly life for a new life in her personal heaven, where pain and horror and ill will cannot touch her—or her two daughters.  But Liga’s heaven is no place for the gentle Branzer or impulsive, curious Urdda: the barrier is weakening, allowing bears and magic men to cross into their world and allowing Urdda to chase the bear back across into the real world.  This dark fairy tale explores what it is to be human, whether in one’s own heaven, or someone else’s, nowhere in particular.

Alicia Recommends: The Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel
Jasper Fforde

For anyone who has wished their favorite novel had a different ending, this story will be an entertaining read.  Set in 1980s England in an “alternate reality,” our heroine, Thursday Next, works for a branch of the British government that polices the literary world.  After her inventor uncle creates a machine that can transport people (and fictional characters!) in and out of books, he is kidnapped and forced to assist in an evil plot to kidnap and kill literary characters, including Jane Eyre.  Can Thursday save the day, save her uncle, and preserve our favorite works of fiction?  Read Fforde’s comical and cleverly-written debut novel to find out!

Coming Soon

The Wilmington Memorial Library recently placed a large book order for this summer’s and fall’s hottest titles.  Click here to download the list and request the book(s) of your choice.

Tina Recommends: Skeletons at the Feast

Skeletons at the Feast
Chris Bohjalian

Unlike his previous novels set in New England, Bohjalian sets this book in Europe at the end of World War II. The story is about a German family and a Scottish POW who are trying to flee westward to escape the approaching and ruthless Russian army. They meet up with a Jewish man who has escaped from an Auschwitz bound train. In a parallel storyline, two Jewish women who live the torture of a concentration camp have to walk with hundreds of women on a gruesome death march. Bohjalian does a good job of portraying the horrific experiences and devastation of war while creating characters with  strength, resilience, kindness and humanity.

Lin Recommends: The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain
Garth Stein

Is there such a thing as a Buddhist dog? Surely Enzo would qualify, if so. This novel brings together love, tragedy, danger and forgiveness told by an “old soul” canine named Enzo. The heart-warming  and philosophical story of a family with ambitious dreams who struggle to keep moving forward. A touching novel that will take you on an emotional roller coaster.

Katie Recommends: Moosewood Cooking for Health

Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health
by The Moosewood Collective.

The latest cookbook from the popular vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, NY, Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health, is by far my favorite.  Whether you’re a committed vegetarian or just looking for ways to eat more vegetables and whole grains, this book has something for everyone.  Try out the Greek Lentil Burgers on page 155 – they cook beautifully, have a fantastic flavor, and aren’t mushy like so many other veggie/lentil burgers.  Other must-trys include the Italian stew on page 247, the spicy chipotle chili on page 222, and the fresh mushroom soup on page 120.

Charlotte Recommends

Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression
by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

I first learned of Little Heathens in a New York Times book review in July 2007. Later on that year it was named one of the top five non-fiction books of 2007 by the paper. The author, Mildred Armstrong Kalish, writes about her growing-up years on her grandparent’s farm in the 1930s. Her grandparents, the Urmys, were of Puritan stock who found life to be a “serious challenge” and who “brooked few frivolities”. Some children would wither under such harsh conditions as Mildred endured, but she feels truly fortunate to have had an upbringing that taught her self-reliance, an appreciation of nature, and a waste not-want not mentality. It is a joy to read and a joy to remember that there is much to appreciate in this bygone way of life.

Brandy Recommends

Three Shadows
by Cyril Pedrosa

How far will a parent go to save his child, even when he knows the shadows will come for him in the end regardless? The love and desperation are palpable as father and son journey farther than either has gone before to escape the inescapable. The art varies between a cartoony style and scratchy pen-and-ink illustrations and the two styles blend perfectly in this emotionally powerful graphic novel.

Alicia Recommends

Forever
by Pete Hamill

Ever wonder what it would be like to live forever?  In this historical novel, Cormac O’Connor travels from Ireland to New York in 1741 to avenge the death of his parents at the hands of a corrupt Earl.  Once in New York, he fights in the Revolutionary War and escapes death with the help of a priestess who grants Cormac eternal life… as long as he remains on the island of Manhattan.  As the story proceeds, Cormac lives a multitude of lives spanning over two hundred years and culminating with the events of September 11, 2001.  His experiences with life, love, loss, and revenge are interlaced with historical fiction to create a compelling story that is hard to put down.

Tina Recommends

Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry

Despite the daunting length of this 1986 Pulitzer Prize novel, I could not put it down. The reader goes with two ex- Texas rangers and a cast of characters on a cattle drive to Montana experiencing the harsh western frontier as well as the ties and emotional bonds of interesting men and women.

Lin Recommends

Blue Highways
by William Least Heat-Moon

Meet some truly American characters with the author as he travels the small back roads across the country. A unique perspective on America written by Heat-Moon as a means of self-discovery during a time of stress and crisis in his life. In his van named Ghost Dancing he set out to “quit trying to get out of the way of life”. Humorous, touching and a good read.

Charlotte Recommends

Without a Map
by Meredith Hall

I first read about this book a few years ago in the University of New Hampshire magazine (the author is a lecturer in the UNH English Dept.).   I was so moved by the article that I knew one day I would read the book.  Without a Map is a memoir of the author’s experience of becoming pregnant at the age of 16 in the late 1960s. The setting is Hampton Beach, N. H. and although the world is beginning to change, the social mores of the 50s still dominate this New England beach community.  Once pregnant, the author finds herself sequestered in her father’s house, unable to leave for fear of being seen.  Her mother’s love, when it is most needed, is withheld.  The community that helped nourish her until her 16th year shuns her.   The baby boy is given up for adoption.  The author finds her way through life but this traumatic event is ever present.  All is not bleak: the author marries, has two sons, is accepted at Bowdoin College at the age of 40, and is reunited with her first son.  Sometimes there are small miracles.  This is a masterfully written book and one I highly recommend.

Barbara Recommends

The Little Giant of Aberdeen Country
by Tiffany Baker

Truly Plaice was born big and continued to grow bigger all her life. She was ridiculed by the town and especially by her brother in law Dr. Robert Morgan. Her sister Serena Jane, the complete opposite of Truly, marries Morgan when she becomes pregnant. Bobby is born and Serena Jane becomes unhappy and dissatisfied with her life. Truly takes over Bobby’s care and while living in her brother in law’s house discovers many of his hidden secrets and lies. The book is well written and the characters are very intriguing.

Brandy Recommends

Paper Towns
by John Green

Margo is a little different to everyone–the one person whose identity can’t be nailed down, the one about whom everyone has a different idea. Margo is the kind of girl a guy like Quentin will get obsessed over, after she plucked him from relative obscurity to help her execute a night of revenge-fueled pranks and then disappears the next day. The clues she left behind, the clues she wants–and maybe doesn’t want–him to find, it’s all part of who Margo is in Quentin’s mind. But who she is to Lacey, or Ben, or any of their other friends, is someone different. Everyone’s got their own canvas, their own projections, and in order to find her, everyone will have to put aside what they know of Margo to figure out who she actually is.

Alicia Recommends

Homer’s Odyssey
by Gwen Cooper

If you are a pet owner or general animal lover, this book is a must-read!  Cooper makes a life-altering decision when she adopts Homer, a kitten who has lost his eyes to a terrible infection.  The two form an instant bond, and as the years pass, Homer continues to amaze as he shows Cooper the meaning of “blindly” venturing into the unknown and trusting the people you love to show you the way.  His bravery and zeal for life are evident in Cooper’s recollections, which include Homer rescuing her from a home invader and surviving on his own for days after the September 11th attacks (Cooper lived only blocks from the World Trade Center).  Homer is anything but handicapped, and his life lessons ring true for humans and animals alike.

Tina Recommends

Serena
by Ron Rash

Serena is fascinating character who is as wicked as she is physically strong. As the new wife of a George Pemberton who is building a logging empire in North Carolina’s Smokey Mountains in 1929, she is ruthless business woman who becomes revengeful towards a young woman whose son is her husband’s child. Good read set an interesting time and place.

Lin Recommends

Strength in What Remains
by Tracy Kidder
This is an inspiring true story of an immigrant from Burundi who comes to America in search of a new life. Deo’s journey is scattered with chance meetings with ordinary people who do extraordinary things to help him survive genocide in his home country and reach his dream of becoming a doctor. Read it and appreciate the power of hope.

Katie Recommends

Paul Gayler’s Sauce Book: 300 World Sauces Made Simple by Paul Gayler

If you’re looking for a great sampling of simple, and scrumptious, sauces, this is a wonderful starter cookbook. It covers everything from French classics to Asian curries to dessert. Easy to follow directions and beautiful pictures make this book a delight to work with. Try the Romescu Sauce on page 89 with grilled fish – you won’t be disappointed!