Getting ready for the New Year

I am looking to the New Year here at the Tipp City Public Library. Our staff of two adult service librarians, Carolyn Rector and Sue Hofer are trying their best to bring new programs to the Tipp City Library. Sue Hofer offers a Mystery Book Discussion on the second Monday evening of the month at 7 pm. For January their first meeting will be on January 9th. The book under discussion will be A Grave Denied by Dana Stabenow. This novel is from the series on Kate Shugak, an Aleut who live  on a National Park in Alaska. Beginning with the novel, A Cold Day for Murder, the series now has eighteen novels in the series, with number nineteen, Restless in the Grave coming out in February 2012. If you are interested in joining the discussion pick up the book at the front desk of the library. Carolyn Rector will lead the discussion of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, in the Classic Book Discussion group that meets on the second Thursday, January 12th of the month at 1 pm. Moving away from the Big Read novels of the National Endowment of the Arts, discussion will be about Pip and Estelle and Miss Havisham. Largely autobiographical, this is one of Charles Dickens most famous novels. Discussion questions can be found on Lit Lovers: a Well-Read Online Community.  Most of us have read this novel in school, or at least an abridged version, but what will this coming-of-age- story hold for the more mature reader. Continuing with our book discussion groups, Carolyn also hosts the Book Lovers Discussion on the fourth Monday night, January 23rd at 7 pm. This month we are reading The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan. Jon Foro wrote for Amazon.com, "It's another incredible--and incredibly compelling--feat of historical journalism." This book tells about the 1910 fire that consumed acres of National Park land in three different states and made a compelling case in Congress to support the small ineffective Forest Service. Copies of this book should be arriving in the library this week for patrons to pick up for the discussion group. Copies of the discussion questions can be found on Lit Lovers.com. My review of  The Big Burn can be found in the archives of this web site. It was a very interesting account of a time in American history that I knew little about, even though I had been a fan of Teddy Roosevelt when I was younger. Join one of our discussions at the Tipp City Library this coming New Year and I hope you find the experience worthwhile. 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I took the long weekend to read this book for Book Club. I have seen the movie, I was definitly motivated, but for some reason everytime I took this book home I couldn't start it. I think it was the dialect. So, I bought my copy from Amazon and kept it til I was ready to read it. Sunday was jam day and that's want I did, all day, and into Monday morning. It is an excellent book, everyone knows that by now. Kathryn's voice was so true. All of her characters are fully developed, showing their good side as well as the difficult parts of their personalities. A native daughter of Mississippi, the author used stories from home, stories from the help that lived with her family, and stories from her Grandaddy. Demetrie was the name of the domestic help that came into the family life when her dad was a boy, who brought the babies home from the hospital, and cared for them for many years. She told stories to the children and told Miss Kathryn that, "she was beautiful," even if she wasn't, just like Abileen tells dear poor little Mae Mobley, That part of the story really toched me, I want to be the fairy godmother who whispers into my grandchildren's ear as they fall off the sleep, "you is kind, you is smart, you is wonderful." As I read this book, I became more aware how very dangerous life in Mississippi was during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights movement. The author mentions in in an interview on a website that, "Skeeter was the hardest to write because she was constantly stepping across that line I was taught not to cross. Growing up, there was a hard and firm rule that you did not discuss issues of color. You changed the subject if someone brought it up, and you changed the channel when it was on television." At the end of the book the author tells someone in New York that, My hometown is number three in the nation for gang-related murders." Because that surprised me I had to google Jackson, Mississippi gang-related murder and found this story from August 2011. This disturbs me, but we are living in a hate filled society, and the race issues are as prevelant as ever. Another thing that was brought out in our discussion was the amount of attention that a white women receives for writing the black views of the domestic help, when clearly books have been written form the black point of view and have received less attention. From the back of the book, Telling Memories of Southern Women by Susan Tucker is mentioned by the author. Interviews with forty women from both races are recored in this book published by  Louisiana State University Press in 2002. I remember a book by Dori Saunders, Clover, that shares her farming life stories from South  Carolina. Maybe other readers can suggest books that have been written by African American authors on this subject.

Intimidated by Pie Crust? or Just Love Pie

I am writing to promote a Pie Crust Program for this Thursday at the library at 1 pm. Lois Anderson and I are going to demonstrtae 2 easy pie crust recipes, and we will bring fresh home baked pie for you to sample after the demonstration. This is for the "intimidated by pie crust folks", or for the folks who just love pie. Tell me you don't need a break this week. I hope to see some friends out there. Registration is requested so we have enough pie! Even Anthony is going to get into the pie making mode if we have a lot of people sign up.http://www.tippcitylibrary.org/

ah, the Kindle question

So much is about ebooks. I was noticing that certain patrons weren't showing up in the the library, and then they told me they had received a Nook, Kindle, or a ebook reader for Christmas, anniversary, or just because. Even my daughter told me after I gifted her with a beaded bookmark, "I don't read books any more, Mom, I have  a Nook. But, I'll put it in the Bible you gave me." She went on to tell me that me that she loved her Nook, to take on trips, instead of three or so books. She liked to read in bed, it was light weight, and  the size of the font could be changed. Of course we had the patrons who needed help with their ebook reader, we learned about them when they came into the library for tips on downloading. And they also asked, can I download a library ebook onto my new Kindle? Well, Amazon caught on pretty fast and yes, you can now download a ebook from the library catalog onto your Kindle. The procedure will take you back to  your Amazon account where you will log on the complete the download. If you buy your Kindle at Staples or the like, you will need to create an Amazon account. Just this morning on the blog, Everyday I Write the Book, Gayle Weiswasser wrote about receiving a Kindle and those were the typical comments I hear from many of the book lovers that I meet every day. I suggested a Kindle to an elderly man with a handicap that he would be the perfect candidate for a Kindle, because of the weight of the books he liked to read, but also because of his eyesight was going bad, and some of those books he likes to read don't come in Large Print. I hear from a Random House representative that they may be printing less Large Print in the future, because the Baby Boomers will most likely have the ebook readers. Do you want to weight in on this? What format do you use to read your books or newspapers with? Personally, I always have a book on audio in my car, and then a different book for my night reading. Some audio book readers are better than others and then I like to browse the library catalog for performer to find them and listen to that actor read. Now if I could only convince my husband to read to me at night, I'd be covered. Must be reverting back to my childhood, it was my Dad who read to us at night. I was blessed with parents who loved books, and they passed that on to their children, with reading to us, buying lots of books for us, and then discussing their favorites with us as we became adults. Wherever you find your books, I hope you are sharing your enjoyment of them with the next generation.

A Highland Christmas by M.C Beaton is a cozy mystery that is part of the Hamish Macbeth series. It is the first I've read of the series, and I was surprised by how enjoyable it was. It is the perfect Christmas cozy, as there is no murder, just a few mysteries to be solved by the local police. My introduction to Hamish finds him a caring copper, interested in people, what makes them tick, and what is really worrying them. There is a little history here of the Scottish traditions at Christmas. Who knew that there is this Calvinist influence up in the Highland so that people don't want to put out Christmas lights and celebrate the pagan aspects of Christmas, not me? This introduction to Hamish has encouraged me to try more of this delightful character. Okay, I know I'm a late convert to M.C. Beaton's charms, but better late than never. Similar to when I discovered Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, I had to read every Bill Slider mystery there was, and since she was still writing I had more to look forward to.I'm in the middle of a Bill Slider mystery right now, and it feels good to come home to a familiar character with all the charm of an English city including the fish and chips.Fell Purpose finds Inspector Bill Slider trying to understand his victim, beautiful Zellah Wilding, a young teenage strangled at the end of the woods. Who were her friends, and what was an intelligent and talented young girl doing out so late in defiance of her strict father? Zellah had a holiday and told  her parents she would be staying with her girl friends for the weekend. Her parents couldn't agree, father wants her home and protected and her mother wants her to meet young friends in rich neighborhoods and make the right connections. How could they have made such a terrible mistake? Join Bill Slider and his crew of detective in this London police procedural mystery series compared to Ian Rankin and John Harvey.

A Sip and a Sneak preview

I am trying to start another interest group at the Tipp City Public Library. A morning coffee group on every Friday at ten thirty am, to listen to the adult service staff present the new books that the library is just adding to their collection. Today we had a very interested group who enjoyed the donuts and the discussion of the reading interests. Patrons had a chance to look over the new books before they were sent off to other libraries in our consortium for patrons who have already put holds on the items. Now Tipp Library patrons can see the books before they go out. Patrons have a chance to post their name onto the book, I place the hold and then I check the books in. If a book belongs to the Tipp City Library, it will go to a Tipp City Library patron first. Here is the list of a few new presented books of non-fiction:
Better Angels of Our Natures: Why Violence Has Declined by Stephen Pinker, a study on the history of violence that purposes that we are not as violent as our predecessors.
Trust Me, I'm Dr. Ozzy: Advise From Rock's Ultimate Survivor by Ozzy Osbourne, a memoir with humor from the rock star who has a history of drug abuse and multiple near-death experiences.
A Thousand Lives: the Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival by Julia Scheeres, gets a starred review . It is the story of the ill-fated Jonestown. Julia Scheeres is the author of the memoir, Jesus Land.
Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age by microbiologist Nathan Wolfe. He has researched the global medical issues that ultimately have an effect on all of us.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

This was our first book for our new Classics Books Discussion group at the Library. Meeting on Thursdays, once a month at 1 pm, we are choosing the books from the Big Read sponsored by The National Endowment of the Arts. We had a small group for our first discussion, but there is promise there, as people have shown an interest. We talked most about our own insecurities, our competition with others, and the American dream of acquiring wealth and what it means. All the characters in the novel were flawed in their own way. We find out that Gatsby is driven to New York to acquire his dream girl, Mrs. Daisy Buchanan, married to Tom Buchanan. After going off to the first World War, when he comes back to Louisiana, he finds that Daisy and her husband are on their honeymoon. He has to win her back by acquiring wealth and social status. He buys or rents the house across the Long Island Sound, to stare at the green light at the end of the dock at the Buchanan home. We discussed whether Jay Gatsby would ever really fit into Daisy's world. Just as Myrtle would never really stay with Tom, or that he would even take her permanently. Nick decided that the Buchanans are just careless, running away to avoid the truth if it embarrassed them. Conspiring together over the kitchen table, Nick notices the intimate world they live in that Gatsby will never be able to separate them. Gatsby is stunned. He is so sure that Daisy will call, he is still not realistic at the end. Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald when he is just 29 years old, it seems so sad that the prominence this novel has achieved could not have been realized while he was still alive. Much of Nick is Fitzgerald, always the boy looking on, from early school to his Princeton years, he was socialising with the wealthy, but never quite meeting the mark. His whole dissolution with the wealthy types is portrayed in this novel extremely well. I think is is as great as everyone says, and his writing is poetry, and it is the type of novel I love to savor and revisit. Our next novel for November 17th will be The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, about the restrictions on the classes during the Gilded Age in New York.

Paiula McLain's Novel about the Ernest Hemingways in Paris in the early 1920's

I think this has been my favorite novel of 2011. Paula McLain does an excellent job of telling the love story between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. Even though she was seven years older than Ernest she was naive in many ways, and totally unprepared for the fast life in Paris in the 20's. Too much booze and too many egos clashing for attention. I like finding out that they meet up with the Fitzgeralds in Paris and follow them to a vacation spot. I had read Ernest Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast", published after his death, and sometimes referred to as a love letter to his first wife, or is it a tribute to his first wife. In my opinion, he was crazy to let her go, but that's what young men do, fall in love or lust so often and wreck their marriages. She was able to have success with her second husband and live a long life. "In 1933 Hadley married a second time, to journalist Paul Mowrer, whom she met in Paris." 
I am glad about that, I think she was a real trooper. Especially they way she adapted herself to so much of Hemingway's life style, so different than anything she could imagine on her own. I love the description of her skiing in Switzerland. Beautiful novel.

Reading another cozy mystery

 M. C. Beaton has been writing mysteries for a long time. She is Marion Chesney of the Cotswolds in England who writes romances under her own name. Born in 1936 in Scotland as Marion McChesney, she has more than one pseudonym. Before the Agatha Raison series she wrote the Hamish Macbeth mystery series that she started in 1985 with Death of a Gossip. I decided to start with the first of her Agatha Raisin series, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, written in 1992. Agatha Raisin is a divorced woman in her 50's about to retire from her London job who has always dreamed of living in a cottage in the Cotswolds. As she places herself in the perfect cottage, she immediately feels the coldness of her fellow neighbors. She decides to enter a cooking contest only to end up the suspect of a murder investigation, as the judge of the contest took her quiche home and ended up dying of poison. How could everything end up this badly. Because she is a woman of action, Agatha Raisin starts her own investigation of the murder. Murder with a little fun thrown together in a small village creates the perfect cozy mystery. If you haven't found these yet, you are in for a real treat because she has written 22 mysteries so far with a wide audience appeal. One appeal is that the reader knows that the mystery will be solved at the end of the book, and the main character may go through some dangerous and suspenseful events, she will be alive at the end. Not all mysteries can say that.  

A Victorian Mystery Series

The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries by Emily Brightwell is another one of those cozy mysteries that are popular with people who don't want too much real life and violence. There is a slower pace to the story, a little bit more character development, and more detail to give the readers a better sense of the place and the time. These mysteries are set in Victorian England, mostly at the home of the Inspector, and his sympathetic employees. They all want him to succeed in his investigations that they are willing to "help" him out. The main character, Mrs. Jeffries, is a widow housekeeper who was married to a police investigator. She is above intelligence, known to sit and have a quiet cuppa tea with her employer and let him open up about his case. He likes her to sit with him while he has his dinner and they have a good chat as she is an excellent listener. This leads to her gathering the help of the rest of the staff as they unknowingly get involved with the investigation at hand. A good first to a series that has been going strong since 1993 with 30 separate mysteries to date.

The Beginning of a New Book Discussion Group

This Thursday, September 15 at 1 p.m. I will be having a meeting of people who are interested in starting a Classics Book Discussion Group at the Tipp City Public Library. I am following the National Endowment of the Arts book selections for the first three books:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: October 13th , 1 p.m.
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton : November 17th, 1 p.m.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: December 15th, 1 p.m.
After these three the group could start selecting their own favorite classics to discuss. Get on board for the beginning of this great new discussion group and you can help create this group the way you would like it to be. If you are not sure check out this link on why being in a book group is interesting.

Cutting for Stone

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese was written in 2009, his first novel. It is a saga, a family story full of mystery and hidden symbolism. Twin boys are born in Addis Ababa, at the mission hospital of the Catholic Matron, called Missing Hospital due to the incorrect pronunciation of the title Mission. It is a small place, with a few doctors and a few nurses, trying to offer the people of Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia, what little nursing and doctor's care that can. The story begins in 1947 as Sister Mary Joseph Praise leaves her village in India with another nurse, Sister Anjali, nuns of the Carmelite Order of Madras who had taken the nursing courses at the Government General Hospital in Madras. On her voyage she loses her best friend to typhus and meets Thomas Stone, surgeon at Missing Hospital. She follows him there to do the Lord's work and stays for seven years. The mystery of Sister Mary Joseph Praise and her life story is slowly uncovered, and the story is told by one of the twin boys, Marion. The novel is written skillfully, dramatically, with much information about surgery and historical aspects of Ethiopia. Woven into the story of Missing Hospital are tales of a family's love for these twin brothers, and love and service to the hospital and it's mission. Told by an surgeon who is now living in California and teaching at Standford University School of Medicine, this book is an excellent example of American literature written gracefully by a citizen with a foreign background that makes this book all the more beautiful and rich.

An Amazon Adventure Story

I read State of Wonder by Ann Patchett this summer. I found it a great book that would be very interesting for discussion. Two research doctors are researching statins for control of cholesterol at a lab in Minnesota. One is sent to the Amazon to check up on the research of their colleague and primary research partner, Dr. Annick Swenson. When Marina Singh receives word that her partner, Anders Eckman, has died in the Amazon, her boss sends her to find out the details. The elusive primary research partner, Dr. Annick Swenson has been keeping a low profile and basically keeping the whole research team in the dark. Marina is ill equipped to deal with the strange world of Dr. Swenson and the way she runs her team. Frustrated and grief stricken she tries her best to find out the true story. Fascinating and full of details, we travel along with Marina and discover the mysteries of the Amazon. An adventure story of the first rate, I would recommend this to the reader who likes lots of detail in his books, especially of the scientific kind. Check the review by New York Times for more detail.

Cutting for Stone

I have been on vacation and have been reading the September book for the book discussion group and already I am so glad that it was recommended and that we chose it. Next Monday, the 29th at 7 pm we will be discussing the book, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I have written about that book earlier in my blog. I found it pure enjoyment. The humor was very British, and I believe that the author was poking fun at the British culture that is or always has been prejudice against the foreigners that live in Britain. It has been a long culture of discrimination, from the Jews back in the 1500's or earlier when the empire threw out all the Jews, and then when the immigrants from the Empire were coming into England, people were uppity. I don't know the whole picture as I haven't lived there, but I have watched enough British comedy that I have picked up on the prejudice. Think of South Africa, that was the worst, but it was the British and Germans who set the stage. This book is not a serious commendation on British prejudice. But it is a human book, and the reaction of the town people to the shop owners usually exposes the class distinction, but when the shop owner is Pakistani, there is the double prejudice, irregardless if people are born in this country or not. Is this that different in America? Do we believe that we are above personal prejudice? Come for an interesting discussion. The books are available at the front desk. Next month's book Cutting for Stone will be available after next Monday. It has everything in it. A saga of the birth of twin brothers in Ethiopia, orphaned at birth by an Indian mother who dies in childbirth with an unknown or abandoned disappearing father. They are raised by two Indian surgeons in Mission Hospital, run by the Matron and priest. The author, Abraham Verghese, is a surgeon with an Indian background. He lives in California and has written My Own Country and The Tennis Player. He is a gifted author Abraham Verghese's first novel, Cutting for Stone, remains #1 on the Independent Booksellers' paperback fiction bestseller list

Summer Reading Raffle

Titles include:




Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

Cowboys and Aliens by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank

The Griff by Christopher Moore

The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

The Legacy by Katherine Webb

The Sixes by Kate White



I am on vacation for a couple of day to read.

After Harry Potter

I have to admit I haven't seen the Harry Potter movies, although I have been told they are fun. I read the first four Harry Potter novels while attending graduate school, and I have to admit to listening to Jim Dale and his fantastic job of storytelling. Hey, I was going to graduate school, when did I have time to read for fun except in the car driving back and forth to Cincinnati and Columbus. Harry Potter kept me company. And I always like the point of the story where I was hooked and the drama picked up and I couldn't wait for the next part of the story. I read Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett in grade school, so as I child I can remember the fun witch story about a little girl whose mother turned her friends into flowers in pots. Children Like magic and imagination. I came across this article on NPR and just had to share it. What comes next for the Harry Potter readers who are ready for more grown up books? Check out the recommendations of Intern Annie Ropeik. 
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Secret history by Donna Tartt

Tracy Chevalier

Remarkable Creatures is the latest book by Tracy Chevalier. Known for her historial fiction, with good characterization, she takes the story of two women at the beginning of the 19th century and weaves their story together in believable sequences. Mary Anning was a resident of Lyme Regis, a costal town on the shore of the English Channel in West Dorset, England. Her special gift was her abilty to invision the hidden parts of fossils on the costal cliffs. She is known for her discovery of the first complete pterodactyl in Great Britian. The name is now changed to a pterosaur. She was a villager, with a poor background, and her family would collect the "curies", a name given to the fossils which stood for curiosities as people then called them. The story is about her friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a collector of fossils, a woman of a grander education and also a few years her senior. Both women lived in the Lyme Regis area, but this book is a work of fiction. Our Adult Book Discussion group at the the Tipp City Library will be diiscussing this book on Monday, June 27 at 7 pm. Feel free to join the discussion if you have read the book.  Lyme Regis today

Germany Under Hitler

Erik Larson is a great storyteller. His novel, The Devil in the White City tells an interesting tale of murder during the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. Not only are we treated to a detective story, but also a history lesson in what Chicago did to create their vision of a “White City” for the World’s Fair, trying hard to one-up the Eiffel Tower of the World’s Fair in Paris, 1889. His latest book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin takes the reader into the home of the American Ambassador called to Berlin by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Professor William E. Dodd. Dodd took his role seriously; he really believed he could influence the Germans away from their own destiny. He brought to Berlin his wife, daughter and son. Much of the story tells of the escapades of his daughter, Martha, a soon to be divorcée, who charmed many of the men she met in Berlin, including a Russian diplomat, Boris Winogradov. Naïve Martha didn’t curb her own eccentric tastes when she spent the years in Berlin bringing all sorts of interesting types to the home of the ambassador. At one point she was almost recruited to spy for Russia through her association with Boris. Dodd was ineffectual at collecting debts from the Germans, or curbing their interest in eliminating the Jews. He tried to influence the Germans when their police made attacks on Americans for not giving the Heil Hitler salute, but even that was difficult. He was eventually called back to America by December 1937, after Roosevelt was pressured to replace him. An interesting chapter in American history of a man with principles, willing to see Germany for the real threat that she was to world peace.

Ape House by Sara Gruen

The Ape House by Sara Gruen surprised me with information about animals kept in captivity for various human purposes. Bonobos in the story are kept in an enclosed but, freedom-enriching environment that is being used to study the effects of language between humans and the apes. Sign language has been taught to great apes since 1977, beginning with the famous gorilla, Koko. Similar to using sign language with human infants, the sign language helps to lessen stress as the animals can communicate their needs with their captors. Computers are instrumental helping the communication with the bonobos in the language lab. The writer, Sara Gruen, spent time with the real life language competent bonobos at the Great Ape Trust, earning her way in by studying linguistics. Sara was able to represent them accurately for her novel by studying the apes and interacting with them. This novel weaves reality and fiction, creating a suspenseful tale with strong characters and a compelling storyline.   

The Big Burn

Timothy Egan won the National Book Award for The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl written in 2005. His nonfiction narratives are interesting and they bring the history of our American heritage up front and close. Egan's 2009 nonfiction story, The Big Burn,  is about how Gifford Pinchot was first appointed 'confidential forest agent; a spy with a green eye' by President McKinley. Originally, just prior to leaving office, President Cleveland had used an act passed 1891 to put aside over  twenty-one million acres of forest reserves on February 22, 1897. However, President McKinley suspended Cleveland's order, and it was not until Teddy Roosevelt became President, after McKinley was assassinated, that Pinchot was given the power to create the Forest Service and hire forest rangers to man the National Parks. Initially, Congress gave little support, but it was the largest forest fire in American history that hit the Bitterroots Mountains of Montana and Idaho in 1910, that  created the need for an actual working Forest Service. Read this story to understand the personalities of the men and women who were active players, in this precious time in American History, in creating the National Parks. It is these parks that many Americans now take for granted, with some even proposing that they be converted back to private ownership. This story made me realize the frustrating work and the resolve required of these early forest rangers to make their dreams come true. This is a fascinating story, told well by a great writer of Natural History, that mixes the human interest story with the natural setting.   

Caleb's Crossing

Geraldine Brooks has done it again. She has created an imaginary character who lives in an authentic time, interacting with real people in a time that Brooks herself can only imagine. To do so, she must spend many hours of research to get the time and the characters just right. This time it is her own Martha Vineyard's area. She says in her introduction that she read about a Native American who attended Harvard and thought, probably 1960's, but is shocked to find out that this Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, a member of the Wôpanàak tribe of Noepe (Martha's Vineyard) graduated from Harvard in 1665. Her imaginary character is Bethia Mayfield, a minister's daughter, who grows up alongside Caleb. She finds in him the sympathetic brother and friend she did not have in her own brother, Makepeace Mayfield. She listens to her brother's lessons, learns to read and yearns for an education of her own. I cannot imagine the setting, the place of this young girl who is headstrong and intelligent, yet is being prepared to become the wife of a farmer and to be his helpmate. There are many twists in this story of early America, many of them based on true events. I found Geraldine Brooks' interpretation excellent and compelling.

Australian author, Geraldine Brooks won the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 2006 for her novel, March. Other works of fiction include Year of Wonders and People of the Book.

And Furthermore by Judi Dench

This is a delightful book attesting to Judi Dench's passion for her work, her friends and her choice of careers. Starting in theater, she is an accomplished Shakespearian actor. She tells of her escapades with her actor friends and her various adventures through the years. The episode of the black glove struck me as her real passion for practical jokes and having fun all the while she is working. I had seen her in the TV series A Fine Romance and later found that the co-star was her husband, actor Michael Williams. Together they were great. Later I became an avid fan watching her with Geoffrey Palmer in As Time Goes By. At times a little ridiculous, but I had fun watching her act. I look for movies, just to see her. Last night I watched for the first time Casino Royale with Daniel Craig just to see her play the famous "M" of British intelligence. We all have our passions, and mine is movies along with reading. Pure escape. The audio version on CD was read by Samantha Bond, daughter of actor Philip Bond and Pat Sandys, whom Judi has known also. Samantha Bond is an actor in her own right, appearing as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films starring Pierce Brosnan. I loved listening to her read, and actually felt it was Judi telling her own story as herself. So I'm easy to convince. The book is a who's who of British actors, many of them I have never heard of, plays I've never seen , but it's Judi's passion for life that rings true out of her memoir/biography.

To the left is a photo of Judi with her husband, Michael Williams, who passed away of cancer at home in 2001. To the right her famous co-star Geoffrey Palmer, a very serious actor in his own right, and very good looking in this younger picture of him. He appeared with her in the Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies and Mrs. Brown.

Kate Taylor writes on the Dreyfus Affair

A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor, 2010
This is an interesting book about the famous Alfred Dreyfus affair in Paris, France in the later 19th century. Apparently, a Jewish officer in the French military has been accused of spying for the Germans. He is being held on Devil's Island, a prison. Rumors are that he has tried to escape, and now he is shackled and imprisoned inside a walled shed that gives him no view or light. The protagonist in our story is a bourgeois lawyer who is visited by a beautiful woman who claims to be a friend of the Dreyfus family. She fears that his family is not defending him properly, and she wants the  lawyer François Dubon to find the right spy and have her friend, Dreyfus released. Poor Dubon is in a dilemma, he is not a criminal lawyer, but he is unwilling to give up this case, he is very attracted to this woman. He has a wife and a son whom he loves, but also a mistress that he is entertained by every evening. Now his life is more complicated, and he becomes a spy himself, working his way into the counter intelligence office of the military, wearing his brother-in-law's uniform as a disguise. This historical fiction tale is quite interesting to read, there is some suspense as the lawyer is going between his office and the military unit where he is reviewing the files of the Dreyfus case, unbeknownst by his "superiors" who take him for a mere clerk doing his duty. Kate Taylor has woven a particularily clever novel, adding to the drama of the Dreyfus case, this lawyer, his wife, her miltary family and it's entitlements, and this beautiful mysterious woman who beguiles the lawyer Dubon. I usually want to read more history of famous cases, to understand the events, to place the events in the context of the times. I had Ruth Harris' book, Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion and the Scandal of the Century, 2010, on my to-be-read list and I could never get to it, so this was the next best thing. Read the fiction first, then tackle the accurate account, like see the movie first, then read the book, that's the way I like to do it.

Suzan Colón and Food Memoirs

Listening to Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl read by Bernadette Dunne is truly a treat. I fell in love with Ruth and wish she was cooking for me. She always makes everything sound like so much fun just to be around her. This is her third memoir, the first being Tender at the Bones and then the second Comfort Me with Apples. All are real treats. This latest is about her job at the New York Times as their new food editor. She comes from New York City originally, but has been in the Los Angeles area since college days. She decides to disguise herself from the restaurant staff as she previews the restaurants she will be writing on in her food column. She likes to compare the service she gets as an unknown with all the attention she gets as "The Food Critic". Her husband is so ready to move to New York, after the L.A. riots and all the bad news in California, wanting to change his news job with CBS into the Big Apple news team. And he gets his wish, encouraging Ruth along. I love to read about those amazing husbands who want their wives to work, thrive and succeed. At least that is the way Ms. Reichl tells her story. Like Julia Child in My Life in France and Julie Powell in Julie and Julia. The husbands are the heroes. It must be the romance in me. I loved this book, absolutely loved this book.

Then I followed it with another great food memoir, Cherries in Winter: My Family's Recipes for Hope in Hard Times by Suzan Colón, also on audio, this time read by the author. Another New Yorker, Suzan has lost her great job in magazine publishing, and her 401K has hit rock bottom and it is hard to live on one salary. Luckily she is married and she has a Cobra medical insurance account. She looks back to her family for the inspiration for the book, and gets it perfect. All New Yorkers, all struggling, it's her Nana that is the hero in this book. She has saved her recipes from the depression and Suzan reads over the recipes and her diary entries and her essays and discovers the resolve of Nana to survive and to thrive. I think the opening line is about making soup for the family when times are hard. I think she likes cooking for her husband Nathan, and creating a warm home for him to come home to. Normally her schedule would have her getting home at eight, and who wants to cook then. It's a tender love story, of family, faith, and love, of course I want to share this with other people. Now, to get a copy for our library here. On the back of the book in the review, the writer said it is reminiscent of How to Cook a Wolf  by Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher. Now to get my hands on that.

Taylor Steven's debut novel

Taylor Steven’s first novel, thriller, The Informationist is being compared to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy. Steven’s protagonist, Vanessa Michael Monroe, has similar qualities that remind readers of Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. Both are good at collecting information for their employers and also show signs of fearlessness as they have a “take no prisoners’ attitude when it comes to the enemy who threatens and carries out physical violence against them. Michael’s territory in this first novel is the western coast of Africa, when she had once lived with missionary parents. Her unusual upbringing brought her into contact with unsavory people, and her past surprises and haunts her in this thrilling adventure hunt for a millionarire’s daughter who disappeared four years ago. Locals don’t want Michael snooping around, and she doesn’t know who her real friends are. We are drawn into the thriller as she is equipped with another friend of the missing woman, only to lose him in the attack on her life. She ventures back into the deep Africa of her youth and finds an old friend who had lost touch with her, only he is deeply in love with her and remains frustrated my her own disappearance from many years ago. Deeper into the mystery we find ourselves, like Michael Vanessa, unsure of who means her harm.  Even after I was done reading I wasn't clear of the whole mystery, oil millionaire, missing daughter connection. I hope her next novel is able to offer more clarity. A face-paced novel that is getting a lot of attention right now, and I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Key West by Stella Cameron

Romance with a suspense thriller, Stella Cameron has written a fast paced novel that draws the reader into the sweltering atmosphere of Key West Florida as a hurricane approaches. The sense of drama is highlighted by the description of Key West as a city with two sides, the playground of the rich and famous, and the local color of a smaller town where people take care of their own. Sonnie Giacano returns months after the night a terrible accident has claimed her unborn child and her tennis-star husband is kidnapped. Trying to make sense of that night, she returns to her home and takes a local job as a barmaid, hoping to find the missing link to her memory loss. Unfortunately for her, she has unwelcome guests that arrive in town, her sister and the brother to her husband, and they don’t want her to find out. She is shy and beautiful in wounded body, and makes friends easily with the owners of the bar. They connect her with Chris Talon, a retired NYCP detective and he unwilling falls for her and wants to protect her from anyone who would want to harm her. Both hurt in the past, they are not willing to trust each other too easily and the drama is created when the reader is unsure who Sonnie will eventually trust and let into her life again. This is a good first book to introduce readers to Stella Cameron’s contemporary thrillers.



The Color of Water: a Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

Check out James McBride's biography of his mother, a white Jewish woman from Maryland who ran away from an abusive family to start an all black church in her own living room in Harlem. Because she didn't talk much of her own beginning, after her death, Mcbride goes in search of her truth and what made her the wonderful mother she was to twelve children. Teaching her children to be strong and educated, her legacy is remarkable. I am remined of a saying, be remembered not by what you have, but what you gave away. This is the next book for the Booklover's Book Discussion group at the Tipp City Library. Copies are available at the front desk if you want to participate in this discussion on April 25th at 7 p.m.. "James McBride is an award-winning writer and composer. His critically acclaimed memoir, The Color of Water, won the 1997 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Literary Excellence, was an ALA Notable Book of the Year, and spent more than two years on The New York Times bestseller list. Chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the 25 books of 1996 to remember, The Color of Water has sold more than 1.3 million copies in the United States alone and is now required reading at numerous colleges and high schools across the country. It has also been published in 16 languages and more than 20 countries. McBride's new book, Miracle at St. Anna, was one of 2002's most anticipated releases and marks the author's debut as a novelist." http://www.rockbottomremainders.com/pages/bios/james.html

James McBride is a talented man, as composer and musician and writer, he shares his talents with the world. I was also interested to find that he studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and then received his Master's degree in Journalism at Columbia in New York at the age of 22.

Deanna Raybourn writes a Romantic Mystery

Silent in the Grave  by Deanna Raybourne was a long book, but it was well-written and kept me engaged. Lady Julia Grey is investigating the death of her husband, although the local doctor dismissed it as a natural death due to his poor heart condition. She gets more involved with the seedier side of London in the Victorian age, dressed in her widow weeds and rich enough to dismiss the rumors about her and her acquaintances. She meets Nicholas Brisbane on the night her husband dies, but he remains a mystery to her, private and sometimes volatile. Her attraction is understandable, but what is she to do about it since he remains aloof. This the the first of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries and is a good introduction. Deanna Raybourn is from Texas, graduated with a degree in English literature with a specialty in Shakespeare. "Silent in the Grave" won the 2008 RITA for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. I like the cover on the hardback book more than on the paperback book which emphasizes the romance

Alan Furst and Spies of World Ward II

Alan Furst is the official expert of the World War II spy novels that are being written currently. While he spent a long time living in Paris writing for The International Herald Tribune, he honed his expertise by traveling around Europe and getting the terrain accurate. Most of his novels contain the average male worker who becomes involved with espionage only as the force of evil makes it apparent he must. This hero is usually independent and courageous. In Spies of the Balkans, it is Constantine "Costa" Zannis, of the police force in Greece. Greece is facing the inevitable invasion of the German forces and he has clearly decided whose side he is on, and he will do anything to protect the innocent and the ones he loves. He meets a beautiful Jewish woman from Germany who recruits him to help her smuggle German Jews out through the Balkans and on to Turkey. The British spies know everything and soon they want, no demand, his help also. His work takes him to Paris where he once lived with his family. Danger lurks at every turn and he is forced to rely on ancient friends and family. The book is a fast paced thriller with romance and intrigue to spice it up. I am a long time fan of Alan Furst and I never tire of his novels. All are stand alone stories, similar in the style of Eric Ambler who wrote spy novels starting in the years prior to World War II, writing from 1937-1963.

A Beautiful Blue Death: A Mystery by Charles Finch
Set in Victorian London, Charles Lenox, a gentleman, has become involved
with a local murder of a servant girl at the request of his neighbor and
former employer of the girl, Lady Jane Grey. Lady Jane grew up with
Charles Lenox, and she is now widowed. They are close friends often having
their afternoon tea together for a chat. Atmospheric, good descriptions of
a bitterly cold winter in 1865, with small snips of fireside entertainment
and typical meals served. Slowly paced, well-described characters who all
make up for a good old-fashioned mystery that can be read on a chilly day
under a downy quilt.
I noticed some similarities to the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, but there is enough new characteristics that make the series unique. Yes, Charles' brother does hold an important role in politics, but not the political intrigue found in Doyle's books. The humor comes into the novel when his brother likes dressing the part of an up-to-no-good street man, trying to keep a watch on the traffic of characters going in and out of the large manor house where the murder occurred. His brother helps Charles, and gets his taste whet for sleuthing. I am looking forward to the next in the series, The September Society, with a glimpse of student life at Oxford.

First Family

Our book discussion group has been reading "First Family: Abigail and John" by Joseph J. Ellis. Ellis uses the correspondence between John Adams and his wife Abigail to tell their story of American Revolution and its affects on their family. One statistic that stood out to me was that they were more apart during their marriage than they were together, and not because they were uninterested in each other, but because he was devoted to his role in the revolution, and would sacrifice anything to making The United States of America survive, even though it wasn't called that yet. He sacrificed his own personal happiness, the security of his wife, and the emotional stability of his children. We are unable to imagine his conflicts today, and yes, he was an ambitious man, but he knew what was at stake. His moves in the political arena were unselfish, and courageous. This book made me more interested in John Adams and has made me curious to read an entire book of his correspondence.  

A Bitch in a Bonnet

Well, if you haven't had enough Jane Austen I was told to check out this blog by author Robert Rodi. A tongue-in-cheek chapter by chapter of the novels with new insights. Very funny. I am going to check this out and get back with you on it. Look over the link in the title to the blog and also to the author's personal website. It is amazing what writer's can do, that is what I am in awe of. I get totally involved with the writer's style, his sense of wording, all the unique writing that I come across, just when you think it can't get any better, it does. I like to read the New York Times just for that reason, some of the best authors, just how their minds work. If I read something more than once, which I do a lot it is because I am so impressed by the way its been written. I finished Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, and I have the audio book being read by Julie Retsina and now I am listening to it all over again after I read the book. There are 15 discs, so it is read slowly so it can be fully taken in. I do like to read books over again and savor the words, the thoughts and the actions of the characters. I wanted to read this book most because of all the awards the book was given. I have her next book on my to-be-read pile, The Man of My Dreams. I am expecting Ms. Sittenfeld to write about a more mature woman, early twenties as she searches for love. Although Prep's main character, Lee Fiona, seemed not to mature in her four years of high school, I thought the introspective, highly personal voice to be true to life for a girl from Indiana finding her way to the stage of a prep school in Massachusetts, with much more mature students, coming from lives with greater privileges and more world travel. I will see how I like her next novel. The film rights to the first novel have been sold, so I wonder when that will ever happen. Hopefully not too far in the future.

First Family by Joseph J. Ellis

For the next Booklover's Discussion at the Tipp City Library we will be discussing Pulitzer Prize winner Joseph J. Ellis' historical account of the lives of John and Abigail Adams based on the many letters that were saved from their correspondence. We learn from this book that theirs was a true partnership. Abigail Adams supported her husband through her letters of love and advice through the perilous Revolutionary times that the early American had to endure. They were separated for many years and as it was the custom of the day to keep in touch with letters, they certainly used this medium to have frequent contact with each other. I always remember the line attributed to Abigail Adams to her husband during the writing of the Constitution, "Remember the ladies," or at least that is the paraphrase I remember. She was a homemaker, but also a thinking, intelligent woman who carried her role in her husband's life with dignity and respect. I am looking forward to this examination of their life and their influence upon the fledgling county. Book discussion date is Monday, February 28th at 7 p.m. Pick up a copy of this book at the front desk if you would like to join the discussion.

Review of Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Curtis Sittenfeld has written a pager-turner about the four years of prep school in Massachusetts for Lee Fiona, a ninth grader from South Bend, Indiana. Coming into the boarding school scene, Lee is totally unprepared for the casual, unassuming wealth of the typical students at Ault, as she has been accepted on a scholarship and feels more awkward than her fellow peers, or so she thinks. She is very introspective, fixating on a particular boy for four years based on a random meeting off campus in her freshman year. This is understandable, he is one of the most popular boys, and he had paid attention to her for that one whole day. But would he realize she was interesting, and would she realize that she needed to take action to begin a real relationship? She meets a girl through a friend, and this new friendship "clicks" for her. For three years Lee and her new best friend, Martha Porter, room together, with Martha giving Lee the moral support that she needs. Lee learns about the students at Ault, she is shown to be compassionate with her friends; teaching Conchita how to ride a bike, working together with her younger student math tutor, and trying to show Sin-Jun that people do really care for her. Lee's impatience with her parents is understandable, too, what child isn't embarrassed by their parents at age sixteen, but given that the year and the drive to the school have been a great sacrifice on Lee's behalf, her parents are not willing to forgive her immaturity, at least not her father. I grow to love or at least care for this young girl, Lee, and like to think back on what high school was for me, especially that part that made me think it was my whole world and life wouldn't be better than high school, and how scared I was of the next step, but those next four years were truly greater, even with all the angst. I think reading this book helps me to see how hard decisions and relationships can be for young people, and shy students can learn a little about life from stories, "I feel that way , too, sometimes." The talk with Cross Sugarman in the basketball court had some very truthful statements, and it is good to read them, "That I bet things would be easier for you if you either realized you're not that weird, or decided that being weird isn't bad." This book also reminded me of another favorite of mine, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, 1959, about a prep school for boys in New Hampshire during the years of World War II.  

A First Mystery in a New Series by Christopher Fowler

Christopher Fowler is an accomplished author, sarting in 1984 with his collection of short stories, The Collection of Lost Souls. Even though this new book written as the first in a series, that first title of Fowler's could also work for his new first in the A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery with the characters, Arthur Bryant and John May, the first detectives who started the Peculiar Crimes Unit during the World War II years. There are many unique characters in the novel, Full Dark House. We immediately meet John May in the present London, as there has been a terrorist attack on the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and Arthur Bryant is found dead at the scene. John May decides it must be tied in with their first case, at the London Theatre where a series of murders took place during the London Blitz. We are taken back in time and retrace the steps of these two detectives who are just learning how to work together. The play and the theatre contain the actors, the producer, the dancers, the stage hands and all the people who could be tied up with the Palace. It does become confusing, but I was drawn into the story by the historical details. This first of the series was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel . With the success of this first in the series, Fowler has been continuing the series since 2003, his latest is the 2010 release of Bryant & May off the Rails: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery. .

Help for the bewildered parent

It is that time of year when parents come in for help with the choosing of books for their children, and the Accelerating Reading Quiz program that children have to work through to expand their reading. Showing them the website that is listed on the Tipp City Library website under the online resources is one place to start. Accelerating Reader Information This website give parents the names of books that are on the quiz list, the reading level points and the point value of the book. But where do parents go to help find great books that can engage their child in the love of reading. For a start check out a book by teacher and school librarian Esme Raji Codell of Chicago. Her enthusiasm for books and children's literature in particular will help the parent find titles to really engage her child, with extra ideas to make this joy a family affair. During these winter months, get in the habit of sharing books with your children. Find out what your child likes to read and then go to the accelerator list to see if that look is on the quiz list. How to Get Your Child to Love Reading

Revisiting a book from our Book Discussion Group

Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell was one of my favorite books that we read for discussion. It had it all: well-researched topic, a visit to the area in question by the author, unknown historical events and facts. Starting with the escape of the resistance over the mountains into the neutral, or now Allied Italian area of the war, we meet various characters thrown together in this wild escape. It is a survival story of the utmost. Where can anyone be safe in these mountains, and who can they trust? We meet all kinds of Italian resistors, from the country priest, to the peasant farmer, and who is willing to help hide the Jews. It  certainly makes one question his or her own faith and stamina to resist the enemy. I like to think that this historical fiction is based on some real life heroes. as close as fiction can write them. As there were many people who turned the other way when help was called for, let us not forget the brave souls who put their own lives on the line to give others a chance to live. Russell's other work of historical fiction, Dreamers of the Day is just as good and also give us a first hand look at history in 1918, this time only it is the Middle East and Cairo as the main city of the story. After you enjoy that part of the world in 1918, enjoy O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King, an interesting side trip of her famous character, Mary Russell with her mentor Sherlock Holmes that was started in the first of the series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice.