The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Grab this series this summer and read all three of the Millennium books by Steig Larrson, a Swede who died too soon. This book is on Lisbeth Salander's injury and arrest. Extremely limited as to what she can do from a hospital bed, she still manages to interrupt the investigation with her skills. As always, taut nail-biting thriller for the summer, that reads faster than you want. Check it out, at least put yourself on the list to reserve a copy.

Monday's Book Discussion

The book for June Booklovers Book Discussion at the Tipp City Library is Straight Man by Richard Russo. OMG it is funny, at least the first 1/4 of the book is. On my trip to the ALA Conference in Washington D.C. I had a plane delay and found to my delight that a last minute decision to include my copy of  Straight Man was a good one indeed. I kept putting my sticky note in to mark the pages of the quotes I wanted to remember. I even stopped to call a friend, because I thought she could relate to the information on marriages; it's so much better as we age and know what our spouse is going to say. Ah, the benefits of aging, finding one is a good sign. Anyway the book is about a tenured college professor and the relationships he has with his staff. Read it and LOL.

Tatania de Rosnay hits 1 million books sold in America

I read Sarah's Key in one sitting, riveted to my chair. It is a story I will never forget. Well written, I was easily drawn into the story of Sarah and her family in the summer of 1942, Paris. The Paris police arrive at their apartment early in the morning and tell them to come with the police. Sarah's young brother who is four, and too sleepy to cooperate, hides in a closet that the children have used for playing and hiding. Sarah thinks it is a good idea to keep him safe there and to tell their father to let him out later. Sarah and her mother follow the Paris police peacefully, thinking it will be well, then things suddenly appear to be all wrong, her mother panicks and calls for her husband to come out of hiding. This is a fiction story with an actual historical precedent which is hard to believe, especially since this was early in the war and should have prevented any future atrocities. There is a saying that I am reminded of saying "THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. THEN THEY CAME for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. THEN THEY CAME for me and by that time no one was left to speak up." Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) Niemoller I am also reminded of a quote that is on a blog I read: "I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us." Franz Kafka This is a book that will wound you if you have any heart at all, it will stay with me for a long time. Is there any connection between the Arizona law that allows the Arizona police to ask for identification and proof of American citizenship? Some people think so. And what about the children born in this country to illegal aliens? That is what this book is about, children born in France and abandoned by the French government in charge at the time. A very heavy book to discuss, and now on the best-seller list in America, not bad for a French author. Read it and weep.

Straight Man

We are reading Straight Man by Richard Russo for the Booklover's Book Discussion this month. The discussion is for Monday night, June  28 at 7 p.m. We have copies at the front desk, and a recorded copy on tape for those of you with tape players around. I still use the tape player in my kitchen. Anyways, this is a novel of an academia in New England. The protagonist, Hank Devereaux, is the middle-aged professor of English whom creates all the humor in this tender novel. Check it out this summer.

Another recommendation

Remakable Creatures was mentioned this week to me a a book that a patron could not put down. She said she recommended it to me because I had told her that I liked Jane Austen novels. Tracy Chevalier writes historical fiction by trying to recreate the lives of famous people and imagine their conversations, thoughts and feelings. That's a tall order, but her first novel, The Girl with a Pearl Earring was a masterpiece in itself. The story is about the famous Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. The author imagines a young servant girl working in the painter's studio, becoming his muse, and inspiring one of Vermeer's masterpieces. The painting became more popular, and when I visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam they told us as we bought our tickets that The Girls with the Pearl Earring painting was located at the Maurishuis in the Hague. I thought they must have been asked that question too many times.
This novel, Remarkable Creatures, is the recreation of the lives of English Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot, two spinsters interested in collecting fossils along the beaches near Lymes, England. I haven't read it yet, but it sound like a good summer read, walking along the beach is a must for me every summer.

Confessions of a Readaholic

As I was reading my copy of South of Broad, donated to me by Random House for my involvement in Book Groups, I was listening to Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. I know I picked that as just a fun read to listen to on my way to work, more of a summer read. I just want to say how different it was from my reading the novel, which I did last summer. The narrator of the Recorded Books version is Emily Gray. I always try to listen to the unabridged version, and this was a really good performance by the narrator. Every time she said, "In fact," she emphasised it so much that I could really feel the personality of poor Rebecca Bloomwood as she is stressing over the mess she has made of her finances. This book was written ten years ago, but it felt even more timely to me with the emphasis on personal finance that is airing on the TV so much these days. What would Clark Howard say to Rebecca? There's a scenario to think about. Anyway, I loved it even better to listen to, and if I didn't have so much to read right now, I'd just keep hanging out with Rebecca this summer to see how her life is going along. Oh yeah, I've gotta watch the movie again, too.

South of Broad

Pat Conroy's latest novel takes place in his own hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. His protagonist is Leo King whom we meet early in the book as a eighteen year old just beginning his senior year. The year is 1969, segregation has come to his school, the school where his mother is the principal and his father is a science teacher. His life has been troubled since his brother committed suicide, and he spent time in a mental ward. He also was arrested and on probation, and on top of all that he is ugly, and by eighteen all his friends are adults. His senior year changes all that, and the book is the story of the friends he makes in that critical time, and how he becomes the force behind the strangest mix of young people that Charleston has ever seen. A very likable novel, with poetic language, and memorable characters. Use the title of this post to link to Pat Conroy's website.