For book lovers

This is what the book clubs are reading next:

The Adult Book Club will read and discuss Bleeding Kansas by Sara Paretsky on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 6:30 pm

The Mystery Book Club will read and discuss Manslaughter by Parnell Hall on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 1:30 pm

The Busy Moms will read and discuss Little Giants of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

New members are always welcome! Have fun!

July and August Book Clubs

The Adult Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom.

On July 14, 2010 the group will discuss Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

On August 11, 2010 the discussion will be about The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.

The Mystery Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 1:30 in Meeting Room B.

The group will discuss Darkest Fear by Harlan Coben on July 21, 2010. On August 18, 2010 the discussion will be on Vanishing Point by Marcia Muller.

May Adult Book Clubs

The Adult Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. On May 12, 2010, the club members will discuss Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. The story of a retired judge and his orphaned grandaughter living in the Himalaya.

The Mystery Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. The club members will discuss The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Counterfeiter by Jason Kersten on May 19th. 2010 . This true story begins when a poor Chicago boy is forced to provide for his family after his father abandons them.

March Book Clubs at the Library

The Adult Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room. On March 10, 2010, members will discuss Oxygen by Carol Cassella. In this novel, Dr. Marie Heaton, a dedicated anesthesiologist, faces disaster when something goes terribly wrong in the operating room during a routine surgery.

The Mystery Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B. On March 17, 2010, members will discuss Savage Run by C.J. Box. Set in Wyoming, Game Warden Joe Pickett must investigate the murders of an animal rights activist, a writer, a congressional representative, and an environmental activist and his new wife.

All are welcome!

Stop by to pick up your copy at the Adult Services Reference Desk on the second floor.

February Book Clubs at the Library

The Adult Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room. Members will discuss Howard's End, the classic tale of life in Edwardian England, by E.M. Foster on February 10, 2010.

The Mystery Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B. On February 17, 2010, members will discuss Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. Atwood reconstructs into fiction the true story of Grace Marks, the young Canadian housemaid accused of murdering her employer and his housekeeper/mistress in 1843.

All are welcome! Stop by to pick up your copy at the Adult Services Reference Desk on the second floor.

January Book Clubs at the Library

The Adult Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room. Members will discuss Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell on January 13, 2010. A 38-year-old Ohio spinster school teacher, along with her little dog, travels to Egypt where she meets T. E. Lawrence and Winston Churchill, and falls in love with a German spy.

The Mystery Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B. On January 20, 2010, members will discuss Envy the Night by Michael Koryta. In Koryta's latest thriller, a young man runs into serious trouble while going after the mobster he believes is responsible for his father's death.

New members are always welcome. Stop by to pick up your copy at the Adult Services Reference Desk on the second floor.

There is still time to read the December selections. The Adult Book Club is reading The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry, and the Mystery Book Club is reading Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer.

Push by Sapphire

Set for limited release in the U.S. in November, 2009, under the title "Precious" (with none other than Oprah and Tyler Perry behind it,) Push is the story of a young woman who lifts herself out of dire circumstances to go from feeling like "nuffin'" to loving herself and her accomplishments.

Claireece Precious Jones, who goes by "Precious" has not had an easy life. Poor, illiterate and obese, she gave birth to her first child at the age of 12 (after being consistently raped by her father since a very young child) and is pregnant with her second (also by her daddy) at the age of 16. Living with her mother who also verbally, physically and sexually abuses her daughter, Precious is a child who has fallen through the cracks of society.

When her junior high principal points her in the direction of an alternative school, (after suspending her over her pregnancy,) Precious begins to turn things around. Her teacher at the school, Blue Rain, challenges and nurtures Precious to overcome her past, deal with the present and look toward the future. Through her interactions with the other students and Blue, Precious learns to love herself and take care of herself and her baby.

Although this is a little book, it is anything but light reading. Written from Precious's perspective, this is a difficult book to read, due primarily to the graphic subject matter. Precious is an amazing character - just when it seems as if everything is going right for her, she receives news that would shatter most people. This is a unique work of urban fiction with an unforgettable heroine - I am looking forward to the movie, which won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Benny and Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti

This little book offers a quirky attempt at romance between two very unlikely people. Benny is a thirty-something dairy farmer, who, following the death of his mother, realizes what a lonely life he leads on the farm. Desiree, (or "Shrimp" as Benny calls her) is also in her thirties, a cultured and educated librarian, and recently widowed. They first meet at the cemetery - Benny is there tending his parents' garish grave, while Desiree routinely spends her lunch hour at her husband's grave - where both feel intense dislike for the other.

Once they recover from their initial dislike, both realize their physical attraction is mutual and they fall into a passionate affair. Both, however are set in their ways, and neither seems to be willing to give up their compartmentalized little lives in order to make their relationship work. While their physical need for each other grows, their values and interests work to drive them apart. Will the two of them ever be able to let go of their differences and build a life together?

Benny and Shrimp is the debut novel of author Mazetti and was first published in Sweden, where it was a bestseller. The writing is sparse yet lively, written from both of the main characters perspectives. While the story is set in Sweden and gives some lovely details of both rural and urban Swedish life, it could easily describe dating in any of the western cultures. It is a quick read, and the unorthodox ending guarantees the reader will be thinking about Benny and Shrimp long after finishing.

The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow

This non-fiction selection focuses on 11 women from the town of Ames, Iowa, who have maintained their friendship since at least high school. Now in their late forties, the women have spread all over the country, and their lives have all taken different directions, yet they remain bonded as a group.

Zaslow, who co-wrote The Last Lecture with Randy Pausch and also pens the Moving On column for the Wall Street Journal, selected this group of women and their friendship based on their, well, averageness. Representing the last wave of the baby boomers, growing up in the Midwest, Zaslow felt these women's experiences would connect with a large number of people.

While the book features this group of women, including more intimate portraits of 4 of them, it also includes some data and information on the very nature of friendships, particularly comparing women's friendships with men's friendships, and the tendency for women's relationships to stand the test of time. He also includes some studies on the benefits of maintaining friendships over long periods of time.

I have to say I did not really love this book. I did not really connect with any of the women, (although some of them seem like perfectly lovely people) and I think most of us already know that women stay more connected in their friendships than men. There were some interesting, poignant and humorous anecdotes, observations and dynamics from the group, but the whole work just did not resonate. This could be an interesting choice for book clubs, however. There is a reader's guide and other information at: http://www.girlsfromames.com/

Time to read some fiction!

The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax

This is a very interesting and ambitious concept for a book of fiction. Kendall Aims is a published author who does reasonably well; however, her agent has just informed her that she is going to be dropped from her publisher, but not before having to complete one last book to fulfill her contract. When she also loses out on a big award that she was counting on to revive her career, her downward spiral really takes off. Upon returning home, she also learns that her husband has left her for a younger, blonder woman. Unable to cope with the reality of her life, she retreats to her cabin in the mountains to hide out.

Fortunately for her, her 3 friends, also writers, will not let her go through this alone. Mallory, a best-selling fiction author whose marriage is also faltering comes to stay with Kendall and get her back on track. She persuades the others, Faye, an inspirational author married to a well-known pastor, and Tanya, a single mother who works two jobs and writes romances on the side, to come out for a weekend. When they witness how much help Kendall really needs, Tanya suggests that they all write the book together but do their part anonymously, in order for Kendall to meet her deadline.

The book is a smash - trouble is, the women based their characters on themselves, including some deep, dark secrets never guessing that they - and their secrets - might someday be revealed. It isn't long before family, agents and others decifer what is going on. Can the friendship survive the success of their book as well as the knowledge that the friends did not know each other so well after all?

This was an enjoyable read of friendship, trust and renewal. Each of the four main characters maintain their own separate voice and identity and the storyline definitely keeps the pages turning. Despite the fact there are really four separate story lines going on, the book does not get confusing at all. I have to say that one of the factors that make this a tad unbelievable is the fact that the four friends so closely resemble the characters they create, it seems fairly obvious that someone would figure out the true identity and put two and two together...but that might be taking this book a little too seriously. Overall, it's an interesting perspective into a writer's life and a good choice for a quiet weekend or getaway read.

True Colors by Kristin Hannah

The Grey family has always been an important fixture in the town of Oyster Shores, Washington, since their great-grandfather helped found the town in the 1800's. The three sisters, Winona, Aurora and Vivi Ann, are following in the footsteps of generations past, tied to the town by the family ranch and each other. They have learned to stick together through thick and thin.

Since the death of their mother when the girls were teens, their father has been distant and unflinching with high expectations of his daughters. Winona, who never took to life at the ranch, went on to become a lawyer, Aurora married and had twins, but the beautiful Vivi Ann loved the ranch and was a natural horse woman, earning the approval of her father, much to Winona's consternation. Adding to Win's jealousy is the fact that her childhood crush, Luke, comes back to town and is immediately smitten with Vivi Ann. When Vivi Ann's actions betray her lack of feelings for Luke, Winona takes the opportunity to betray her sister in the hopes of winning Luke's favor.

As the women grow older, rifts continue between Vivi Ann and Winona, while Aurora tries to keep everyone together. Eventually, Win has the opportunity to help her sister in a legal matter in which she had previously refused involvement. Will this bring the family back together? Will Win's father ever accept her for who she is? Will Win ever get over herself?

Hannah's talent is writing about women for women. This book immediately sucked me in, but then sort of dried up in the middle before picking up speed again. The ending was fairy tale quality, but it will leave readers happy. Kristin Hannah is a great choice for summer reading - if you like True Colors, try one of her many older titles, such as Firefly Lane, Distant Shores, or On Mystic Lake.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Winter in Wisconsin, 1907 is a stark, sometimes brutal sometimes beautiful season, words that can also be used to describe this novel. Catherine Land, a beautiful, but no longer young woman, has answered a newspaper ad for "a reliable wife." Ralph Truitt, aging, rich, and lonely has selected Catherine from dozens of replies, based on her description of herself as a simple and honest woman and the picture she sent, which is actually of her much plainer cousin India. Despite her obvious deceptions, Ralph goes forward with his plan to marry her.

The reader soon learns that both parties have ulterior motives in mind - Catherine to inherit Ralph's money and live in luxury with her much younger lover, and Ralph to use Catherine to bring his long-estranged son back home and quench his eternal loneliness. The novel quietly twists and turns along these plot lines while each of them realizes that fulfilling their deepest wishes may not be what brings them satisfaction after all.

Goolrick's writing is hypnotizing - his rich visual descriptions drew me in until I could hear, smell, feel and see through the character's eyes. The book quietly seethes with passion and teeters on madness, examining the human condition in all of its capablilities. While it is a book to be savored, it is suspenseful enough to keep the pages turning until the end. I highly recommend this book to fans of gothic or romantic novels, or anyone who is a lover of language. Some readalike suggestions are:

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier

My Antonia by Willa Cather

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

August Book Clubs at the Library

The Adult Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room. Members will discuss The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton on August 12, 2009. In this novel, cultures collide when an American librarian goes to Africa to start a traveling library.

The Mystery Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B. On August 19, 2009, members will discuss Brass Verdict by bestselling author Michael Connelly. This is Connelly's latest crime thriller featuring LAPD Detective Harry Bosch.

Stop by to pick up your copy at the Adult Services Reference Desk on the second floor.

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

Abby and Mitch, high school sweethearts devoted to one another, were about to take a very big step in their relationship when the fates intervened, altering their lives forever. While heading downstairs to Abby's father's medical office for some protection, Mitch witnesses Abby's father, a respected doctor, and his best friend's father, the sheriff, bring in the frozen young body of a beautiful young woman. Before he can recover from the shock of what he sees, he is further traumatized when he witnesses Abby's dad covering the girl's face with some plastic bags and battering it with a baseball bat. The next morning, Mitch has unexpectedly left town, leaving Abby and his best friend, Rex, hurt, confused and dealing with his unexplained absence.

Fast-forward 18 years: Abby is a small-business owner, still single, and still affected by Mitch's disappearance all those years ago. She is dating Rex's n'er-do-well brother, Patrick, who may be responsible for the Virgin's death. Rex has taken over as the sheriff of the county, his father's old job, and is also still at a loss over Mitch's absence. The body of the young girl whom Mitch had seen at Abby's house was never claimed, but the town raised enough money to bury her with a large headstone. Over the years, she became known as the "Virgin" around town, and was even rumored to perform miracles for people from beyond the grave. With the advent of the internet, the "Virgin's" reputation has grown, and people come from all over to ask the deceased woman for help.

After all the years of the mystery of the Virgin simmering just under the town's surface, Abby, Rex, and Mitch are about to be reunited to discover the truth of the crime once and for all. What they discover shocks and sickens them and the entire town of Small Plains. Will anyone else have to die in order to keep the secret of the Virgin safe?

Nancy Pickard tells an intriguing tale of suspense in this quick read. Although some of the plot seems a bit contrived and hard to fathom, I was still into the book enough to stick with it through the end. The story begs the question of how far one will go to protect a friendship, a family and a town. The use of miracles in the book illustrates how one person's miracle is another person's tragedy, and how, in the end, people will reap what they sow.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Do you like a little history with your fiction? Or a little fiction with your history? This book might just work for you.

Connie Goodwin has just completed her qualifying exam to enter the dissertation program at Harvard. Rather than spend the summer doing research for her PhD, she moves up to Marblehead, Massachusetts to clean up her grandmother's long-abandoned house. The house turns out to be straight out of the last century, with no electricity, no phone, and rudimentary running water. It's also full of antiques, strange substances in glass jars, and old books, one of which hides a key with a mysterious parchment on it.

Soon Connie is too busy researching the name on the parchment - Deliverance Dane - to devote much time to her studies, much to her advisor's displeasure. She discovers that Deliverance was tried for being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials, and has possibly left behind a book detailing all of her "spells." Throw in a brewing romance, and Connie has her hands full for the summer. When her new friend, Sam, becomes seriously ill, it is up to Connie to discover the whereabouts of Deliverance's book in order to help Sam recover - can she do it in time to save him?

This book has a little bit of everything - history, romance, suspense, magic, etc. I especially enjoyed the historical details of life in the colonies during different eras. If you enjoy reading about Deliverance Dane, give The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff a try, another book that features both contemporary and historical family stories. This book is great for beach reading or settling in for a long day on a lounge chair or hammock. Enjoy!

One You May Have Missed...

Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna Landvik, first published in 1995, is a story of friendship, family and endurance. It is at times funny, heartbreaking, joyous and inspiring. The story details how an unlikely family of women stick together through thick or thin, triumphing over the obstacles that life throws at them with humor and perseverance.

Patty Jane Rolvaag, proprietor of Patty Jane's House of Curl, has made it through some tough times in her life. Growing up in an alcoholic household, being apparently abandoned by her husband shortly before the birth of their daughter, and watching her sister struggle with alcoholism herself all contribute to Patty Jane's determination to build a better life for her and her daughter.

Thor Rolvaag was considered by many to be the most handsome man in Minneapolis when he and Patty Jane were married in the summer of 1953. He laughed off Patty Jane's assertions that she had conceived on their wedding night, until it became obvious that she indeed was pregnant. Thor's fear of loving someone that much led him astray, seemingly never to return. Two days after his disappearance, Patty Jane delivered a healthy baby girl, Nora. Thor's mother, Ione, and Patty Jane's sister, Harriet, took over caring for things while Patty Jane recovered from the loss of her husband, forming a tight-knit family. Over the years, Harriet endures her own tragic loss, Patty Jane attends beauty school and opens up her own place - the House of Curl. The shop becomes a neighborhood gathering spot, and Patty Jane branches out to offer edifying and empowering programs to the local women.

In an incredible plot twist, after several years of being absent, Thor is located and returned home, having suffered irreversible brain damage which kept him from returning home on his own. Although everyone's circumstances have changed, Thor is welcomed back into the family - he is still legally married to Patty Jane, after all. In the end, the family endures yet another loss, yet Patty Jane and the others once again come together and celebrate all the life and love in their world. This one is a tearjerker!

Book Clubs

The Adult Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room. Members will discuss My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult on June 10, 2009. In My Sister’s Keeper, a child is conceived through in vitro fertilization to be a donor for her sister who has leukemia. When Anna is 13 she sues her parents for the right to make her own decisions about her body.

The Mystery Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B. On June 17, 2009, members will discuss Mercedes Coffin by New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman. From the Decker & Rita Lazarus series.

Stop by to pick up your copy at the Adult Services Reference Desk on the second floor.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

This is a quiet but lovely little book. Translated from the Japanese, this novel brings together three unlikely people who form their own little family unit.

The Professor is a mathematical genius who, due to a brain injury suffered in a car accident many years earlier, cannot remember more than 80 minutes at a time. He lives a quiet life, content with his numbers as his steady companions in a small cottage. He does not like crowds, and wears dozens of little notes attached to his suits to help remind him of important things.

The Housekeeper is a young woman, a single parent, and an honest and conscientious worker. She is the tenth housekeeper to go to work for the Professor, so she does not expect to last long. Instead, she finds a brilliant hermit of a man who can remember everything up to 1975, when his accident occured, including his mathematical theorems and baseball statistics for his beloved Hanshin Tigers. The Housekeeper also discovers that the Professor has an unrestrained love of children, and when he discovers that she has a 10 year-old son, he insists that he come to his house after school. Her son, who the Professor nicknames, "Root" develops a special bond with the Professor, despite the fact that he must be reintroduced to him every day as if they had never met.

As time goes on, this unlikely trio forms a strong bond and settle into somewhat of a routine, despite the fact that the Professor must constantly remind himself who the Housekeeper and her son are. Spending time with Root, helping him with his homework brings some much-needed life into the Professor's world, and some stability and structure into Root's.

Ogawa's quiet book brings relationships to the forefront and begs the question, what is it that makes a family a family? Her sparse prose is a thing of beauty, even as she is writing about things beyond my ilk, such as mathematical theories. This is a story that does not take long to read, but will leave you thinking about it long after you've finished the book.

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

This is a book that I have wanted to read for a very long time, and it finally seemed the right time just after the holidays. This book is part memoir, part book discussion, and part intimate look inside the lives of Iranian women during the 1980's and 90's.

Nafisi, an Iran native who studied in the U.S. before returning home, is a professor at the University of Tehran, teaching Western Literature to her students. Through her unique perspective as an intellectual and academic, we see the changes that occur in Iranian life, where human rights are slowly being eroded, the western culture, particularly the Unites States is viewed as the epitamy of all things evil, and free thought is attempted to be regulated by the increasingly fundamentalist government. Nafisi's classes are popular, despite the fact a few students only enroll in them to challenge the literature being studied. Eventually, when she refuses to comply with the new rule that all women must wear veils in public, she is expelled from the university.

When she finds herself with extra time on her hands, she decides to hold a class out of her house, for a select few of her favorite and most promising students. As they meet weekly in her living room, the women begin to shed their veils, along with the constraints of life and open up to one another. As they study different works of great literature, each is able to apply what they read to their lives, and learn to share some of the hardships they have encountered as a result of the greater restrictions on their personal freedoms. As time goes on, Nafisi convinces her husband to leave Iran with their children and emigrate to the U.S., leaving the members of the group, all able and highly educated, to make their own mark on the world.

While I obviously wasn't expecting this book to a light and fluffy romp, it was heavier than I expected, and took me longer to read than I anticipated. I think part of the reason for my perception is that I, sadly, have not read most of the books that were being discussed (I know, I am a poor excuse for a librarian!) and the one I do remember reading (The Great Gatsby) I read well over 20 years ago. I would definitely recommend reading at least some of the works (Lolita, Daisy Miller, Pride and Prejudice) featured prior to reading this book, I believe it would greatly enhance the parallels being made. I really enjoyed this book because Nafisi successfully portrays how the arts enrich our lives, no matter who we are and where we live, and gives me a peek into a culture I do not know very much about. One point that was reinforced by reading this book is that despite all of our differences, at the heart of things, we are all human beings yearning for beauty and freedom in our lives.

If you enjoy Reading Lolita in Tehran, here are some additional titles that might appeal to you as well:

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This unique autobiography, told in the form of a graphic novel, covers Satrapi's life from the age of 10, when the Islamic Revolution in Iran began, until the age of 14, when her parents sent her to Europe for her own safety.

Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez. When Rodriguez volunteers to go to Afghanistan as a nurse's aid, she has no idea her skills as a hairdresser will be much more in demand. This book chronicles her experiences and struggles opening up a beauty school in this culture.

The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad. This is an extraordinary look at behind-the-scenes life in Kabul by Norwegian journalist Seierstad, who lived for 3 months with Sultan Khan, a bookseller, and his family.

My Forbidden Face by Latifa. This is an interesting perspective from the author, who was only 16 when the Taliban overtook Kabul and placed severe restrictions on women's rights. Located in our Teen section.

Heartfelt and Heartwarming

This is a little book with a great big title and an even bigger heart. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows is an unusual tale, told in the form of correspondence between numerous characters.

Juliet Ashton, who writes a human interest column in World War II London, is looking for a new project. The war is over, London is beginning to rebuild, and her column is played out. One day, out of the blue, she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams, a resident of the isle of Guernsey, who spotted Juliet's name in a book. Juliet becomes intrigued by Dawsey's mention of the "Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," which was formed in order to prevent the members (who were violating curfew) from being arrested by the German soldiers who had taken over the island. She asks Dawsey to have anyone interested from the society write to her as well, in the hopes of doing an article on them.

Well, write to her they did - enthralling Juliet with life on the island and tales of coexisting with the German soldiers. Eventually, Juliet decides to visit Guernsey, despite the fervent wishes of her current suitor, the rich and powerful Mark Reynolds, who is looking to solidify their relationship. Will Guernsey spell the end of Juliet and Mark's relationship? Will the island and its people be everything Juliet hoped it would be? Will Juliet's career plans pan out as she hoped? Read this lively little book to find out the answers - you won't be disappointed!

On a related note, one of our patrons reported that the audio version of this book is wonderfully done, so I'm going to listen to that next.