Homeland Security Tale

     Dave Eggers has written a powerful book about Katrina and New Orleans and the mess that can happen when all hell breaks lose. Dave Eggers, the writer of "A Heartbreaking Book of Staggering Genius" hears the tale of a Muslim man who was detained at the Hunt Correctional Center by the FEMA forces and decides to follow up with his whole story in the book, Zeitoun.
     Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian American citizen, is a painting contractor in New Orleans who own various properties that he rents. Staying behind after the hurricane hit, he is able to navigate the streets in his canoe, looking for people and dogs in distress. He and his friends draw the suspicion of FEMA authorities looking for terrorists and eventually they all end up in Camp Greyhound without a phone call or legal counsel. A sad look at what fear can drive authorities in this country to do when disaster strikes.
     The Zeitoun Foundation was created in 2009 with the funds coming from the sale of this book by Dave Eggers. This book has won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for nonfiction. I was astounded by the story and humbled by the man's goodness. I hope it is read by many.

BookBrowse added to Tipp Library's databases

Tipp City Library has added BookBrowse to their subscriptions and I am trying to see what BookBrowse has to offer readers. Check out the readalike offerings at the end of a book summary and review. I was introduced to Jonathan Tropper this past winter, and found his book, This is Where I Leave You, delightful. After immersing myself in dark novels, I need a little lighter fare. From the BookBrowse feature on Tropper's novel I find a list of readalikes at the end:
Read-Alikes:


A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

Interesting, now I have to read The Lonely Polygamist, I think Julie has made this the Tipp City read all my herself, she has recommended it to everyone. Now she has asked for my opinion. Since I am reading Freedom by Jonathan Frazen right now it might take a while to get to it. I like David Sedaris, but I like his performances the best. I caught a small introduction to Alexander McCall Smith's latest, Corduroy Mansions and found myself laughing out loud so I do want to get back to that when I can. Tell me what you like about BookBrowse.

Listening to Others

I love to get a good book  recommendation from a reader. Today's recommendation: You Remind Me of Me by Dan Chaon. The patron told me that he read it after he had read the new book by Frazen, Freedom, which is getting all the great reviews, and he said it is much better. I love to hear "the word on the street" if you will.

Sweetness in the Bottom of the Pie

Listed as a cozy title by Library Journal, I thought I'd post my reflection of the book. The main character is an eleven year girl, Flavia de Luce, worried about her father's innocence as he is taken off to jail. She becomes a sleuth extraordinarily precocious, fearless as she treks around the small English village trying to make sense out of disparate clues, like what does the town library know about her father's past? She goes to the library to look up old newspapers and the librarian sends her out into a boarded up place that holds old newspapers and a perfect trap. Our Booklovers Discussion group all loved this novel.

Cozy recommendations from Library Journal

I tried this once, to define cozy mystery . From the Library Journal the members of the Reading list have offered up this definition of cozies as an introduction to their list of the 22 Core Titles for libraries. "Cozies, frequently defined as mysteries where the violence occurs offstage, offer readers reliable pleasures. These books contain less violence, sex and gritty language than the norm, have an engaging tone (ranging from warm comfort to crabbily witty), and typically feature a sleuth who stumbles into his or her role--be that as a sideline to another job or as the presumptive village busy body."
From this list the Tipp City Library has copies of The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Witting Albert,  Burglars Can't be Choosers by Lawrence Black, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun, A Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley, The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth Duncan, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, and The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom. It looks like I have a nice little list to order from, as I know there are a lot of people who read mysteries. It seems like the fall is a good time to sit back with a nice cup of tea, a cozy sweater or afghan, and lose yourself in a mystery, preferably one that is not too scary.

Dayton Peace Prize

Today I found out that the Dayton Peace Prize 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award is being awarded to Geraldine Brooks. The Dayton Peace Prize in the "first and only U.S. literary award recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace." Geraldine Brooks is an Australian-born author who began her career as a journalist which took her to the Balkans during the war, and later into the Middle East. Her writing includes journalism, nonfiction and most recently, literary novels. She won the Pulitzer for her novel, The People of the Book. She and her husband, writer Tony Horowitz, live in Martha's Vineyard and Sidney, Australia with their two sons. I am so glad that her word is being recognized by this great group in Dayton. 

Agatha Christie

I have been mulling over my affection for Agatha Christie and her books. Years ago my mother shared her copy of Agatha Christie: an Autobiography with me and I devoured it. Mom said she had reread it every couple of years, and even bought her own copy of The Imitation of Christ to read. I was at my mother's house this weekend to see if I wanted any of my Mother's books, and I chose the autobiography, and all the paperback copies of Agatha Christie mysteries that Mom collected over the years. This is something my Mother gave me, her love of books and her devotion to Agatha Christie. It bonded us. We watched the movies together. Christie's novels made me love everything English even more than I already did. Somehow Mom knew me like no one ever did, "the girl who loved to read books." She predicted a career in English, which I abandoned, but slowly came back to after I hit 40. She shared a little of this with me in her later years, and I will always treasure her copy of the autobiography of Agatha Christie.

Caroline Graham

The Killings at Badger's Drift is the first novel by Caroline Graham in the Inspector Barnaby Mysteries. The plot is reminiscent of Agatha Christie, an elderly spinster sees something disturbing in the woods while searching for a wild orchid. Because she leaves the telltale sign, a ribbon on a pole by the flower, her close friend is sure she would have called her to gloat over the sighting of the "first" bloom. Her friend alerts the police to foul play when her friend's body is found and heart attack is listed as the cause of death. Inspector Barnaby has to sort through the villagers to determine the killer. This novel also brings to mind mysteries by Ruth Rendell, whose mysteries are a little darker and psychological in nature.

Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders is a British TV series that has been running since 1997, based on the novels of Caroline Graham. The series is available on DVD, of which I have seen about four seasons. I just noticed that John Nettles who plays the main character will be retiring at the end of the 2010 season. I thought I would read a couple of her novels in the Chief Inspector Barnaby series, and I just finished the last one that she wrote in 2004, A Ghost in the Machine. Tom Barnaby is a CID, Chief Inspector Detective, in the town of Causton. His office is responsible for investigating the murders in the surrounding country villages. This story takes place in Forbes Abbot, a small village where Mallory and his wife have moved since the death of his aunt. Many of Caroline Graham stories have a good introduction to the characters and the setting which gives it a sense of cosy mystery that is characteristic of Agatha Christie's mysteries. I would place it in the police procedural, with the police involvement about one fifth of the way into the story. I thought the book was well written, with a good plot. Plenty of mystery and suspense kept the action going.

Amish Grace

Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Doug Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and David Weaver-Zarcher is a book that was valuable to read for me. As a woman of faith who questions everything, it helped me to understand the Amish better, and to appreciate their faith walk. The authors were trying to impress upon the readers that it wasn't surprising that the community of Amish believers would forgive the man who murders their children, and that they even would go to his wife and family and forgive them also, meaning they would not hold a grudge against his family. The Amish community also reached out to this English (non-Amish) family in their time of need, financially and emotionally. This forgiveness offered so quickly was because this act of forgiving is a part of their everyday world, working on forgiving each other. One unique tradition of the Amish is to hold a meeting of members twice a year to iron out their grievances and to work on forgiving the members. The Amish know that it is unhealthy to hold grudges, and one other observance they honor is to refuse to take anyone to court. Although they do believe in letting the police and courts to carry out punishment for crimes, it is the duty of a community to forgive others if they are to expect forgiveness from God. The authors pointed out that it is not easy for the Amish to forgive, but something they believe in. This was an excellent book, easily read, and full of wisdom.

Big Read Dayton

It is that time again to vote for the Big Read Dayton Ohio for 2011. I have read two of the three. My recommendation for Still Alice is as follows:


I have read Still Alice by Lisa Genova. Although this is a book on
Alzheimer's, it is specifically early onset Alzheimer's, in a women who is
still working. I thought the book was excellent, and it addresses the
dilemma that many families are facing. We have not done a book like this.
It is very readable, a good choice to introduce Alzheimer's to the younger
crowd. I especially liked getting into the thoughts of the protagonist and
her fears and problem solving. The reactions of the different family
members was also very realistic. It is a difficult topic, but a timely
one. It is available in Large Print, paperback, and audio book on CD.
From her website:
http://www.lisagenova.com/
There is a list of awards for the book. The author is also listed as an
actress and speaker.
# 6 Top book group favorite of 2009 by Reading Group Choices
I think it is worth considering.

My recommendation for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is as follows:
 
This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The Author, Rebecca Skloot, took ten years to research her book, and her compassion and personal attachment to the family really made the book more interesting. I also posted my review this year.

Eat This Book

Erica Bauermeister has written a slow, mouth watering novel about a cooking school in California. Hidden in the back of Lillian's restaurant, a group of strangers learn about Lillian's philosophy of cooking. Beautifully written, with richly drawn characters, it is a slow-paced novel for the foodie. We learn about each participant, but to be honest, not much plot. Delicious for a hot summer evening on the porch. I hope to see more from this author, as this is her debut.

Read-a-Likes for Little Heathens

In preparing a list of read-a-likes, I have included books that are either about the Great Depression, or about rural families.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: a Memoirby Bill Bryson, the story of his childhood in the fifties, with all the humor and candid observations that have made him a popular author, a feel-good book
This Heavy Silence by Nicole Mazzarella, a slice of farm life in Ohio in the 60's
Starting Over by Robin Pilcher, farm life in Scotland, with familiar realtionships going under changes
The White Earth by Andrew McGahan, a serious study of Austrailia, especially of the farm tragedy that haunts the storyteller from his early years
Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles, a story of the Great Depression in Central Texas through the eyes of four women
A Student of Weather by Elizabeth Hay, farm life in Saskatchewan during the 30's, jealousy between two sisters, a first novel for this Canadian author
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, life in the circus in post-depression America, well-researched and fully engaging
The Painted House by John Grisham, a hard look at rural Arkansas in the 50's proves that Grisham's talent goes beyond the courthouse scene
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, gives us the inside story of one faily's attempt to eat only locally grown food all year long

April in Paris by Michael Wallner

Michael Wallner is a screen writer and a first time novelist from Germany. I especially enjoyed his afterword at the end of the book as he explains how he came to write this novel. While hiking along the cliffs on the Normandy coast the author comes across the remains of an old German bunker. He starts to imagine what a young German soldier would be thinking if he were a foreigner in a strange land. As I read the novel I am reminded at how infatuated this young man Roth is in everything French. He has learned to speak fluent French without a German accent and he enjoys his abilities to be taken as a Frenchman. This role that he has been assigned, the German who is hated on the streets of the one place he has always wanted to visit, joined with the temptation to disappear into the crowd and pass himself off as a native, is too much for him. Because he is young and naive he is unaware of the full danger he has exposed himself to. Because the novel takes place toward the end of the war, this is an unrealistic premise. He should have been more aware of the unrelenting brutality of the German soldiers against the traitors. Another good read about World War II.

I am reading a very fascinating book about World War II by Mary Lee Settle. Mary Lee Settle was an American author from West Virginia who won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, O Beulah Land in 1956. This book, All the Brave Promises: The Memories of Aircraft Woman 2nd Class 2146391 (1966), is the story of a young American girl who is living in New York and she meets up with young British women who convince her to join the war effort before America declares war. She joins the war in England, as an aircraft woman 2nd class, in the country side of England with anti-air attack radar devices. For a person like me who is infatuated with World War II, it was an excellent book. It allows me to live vicariously the dangerous and interesting life of the British women in 1940's. Women were conscripted for war work, either in factories or behind the scenes in the military. It was difficult to live in crowded quarters with very little freedom. I had heard of the Land Girls, women who were recruited for farm work to keep the British from starving during the war, but I had not known that this was not a volunteer effort by the women. Everyone was needed to win the war, and Ms. Settle does a good job in relating how she endured the war in Britiain as an American citizen. Her experience of the crossing of the Atlantic in a convoy was harrowing.

Southern Cross by Jim DeBrosse

I wanted to read one of Jim DeBrosse's fiction books after I heard such great things about his writing. He is a writer for the Dayton Daily News, and maybe soon to retire. He is also the author of the book, The Secret in Building 26: the untold story of America's ultra war against the U-boat Enigma codes. The book I finished this summer was Southern Cross, a Rick Derek mystery, written in 1994. Rick Derek is a journalist going undercover on the boat, Southern Cross, in the Caribbean to investigate the diappearance of a young heir to the wealth of a Cincinnati family. He and his photographer get involved as more murders take place. Taut writing, with page-turning plot. Surprise ending. Well-written. I'm always up for a good mystery.

crazy summer

I have been reading, honestly, I just haven't been posting. I have been traveling, and when I get back to work, I am playing catch up. I slept for four days this weekend, and then one half day back to normal undid all my relaxation and I came home dog tired and didn't read anything.
The book for Booklover's Book Discussion is Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald B Kraybill et.all. That is coming up on August 23 at 7 p.m. I like the quote by Bill Moyers, Public Affairs Television, "A story our polarized country needs to hear: It is still grace that saves." I hope that we will have a lively discussion. The discussion questions are from the home page of the book. "All author royalties are going to Mennonite Central Committee for their ministries to children." The Fetzer Institute is noted on the home page of the book. "The Fetzer Institute advances love and forgiveness as powerful forces that can transform the human condition." The connection to the home page of the book is linked in the title of this blog page. I hope that you will have a chance to look over the discussion material before coming to the library for our meeting. Anyone is welcome, as we are always growing and changing in our group.

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.

Review of book from Ohio history

Just heard a good review about a novel with some local history connection. Thought I'd pass it one. A patron just came in today and started talking about how good this books was. I'm attaching a review from a blog I follow in the title of the post. The Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is about black slavey in southwest Ohio. When a patron comes in raving about a book that she just read librarians have to sit up and take notice. It's just part of the job description. Listen to your patrons. I love it when they like a book so much that they have to talk about it. For me, the real deal when it comes to bibliophilia, it is a highlight of my day to receive a good recommendation from a patron. I also like to listen when the staff shares good reads with me too. Yesterday Julie was telling me about the Lonely Polygamist by Bradley Udall. She says I have to read it, it's really out loud funny in parts. That makes a story special to me. Another one of my patrons was telling me that I had brought the book Marley and Me by John Grogan to his wife as part of our homebound delivery here at the library. He is in the nursing home, and as I walked by his door, he was reading the book. His wife brought it to him because she had enjoyed it so much. He said he was chuckling in some parts and was glad to have it for a change from the newspaper. Later in the day, my friend recommended Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen, written in a child's point of view. She said it was the best book she's read all year. All of these have to be placed on my To-Be-Read pile. Right now I'm reading Pat Conroy's latest, South of Broad Street. It has grabbed me from the beginning, the description gives me the immediate feeling of being in his home town, Charleston, South Carolina. I want to be with him, and he is making me see this place through his eyes. As I read I am amassed by his poetic language. "I carry the delicate porcelain beauty of Charleston like a hinged shell of some soft-tissued mollusk. My soul is peninsula-shaped and sun-hardened and river-swollen." I could read language like that all day. I wonder how many book recommendations will come my way today.

Non-Fiction Scientific Writing reads as fiction

The Immortality of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a nonfiction book by a science writer. It is the story of an African American woman who died in the fifties of cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital. Her cancer cells were harvested for research and became the first human cells growing in a lab. Named HeLa, John Hopkins shared these cells with other research teams around the world and HeLa became the most widely used human cells used for research, eventually helping scientists develop the vaccine for polio as only the beginning of biomedical research. Skloot is revealing the woman behind the cells, her family and the medical practices of the fifties. The poor black family of Henrietta Lacks doesn't learn of the importance of her cells until the seventies. Rebecca Skloot brings the family to life in her book as she details the emotional trauma of hidden medical practices and their effect on the family. Excellent, engrossing, and remarkable reporting. Oprah has picked it up for a movie on HBO.

The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, his third Robert Langdon novel, is by far his best. True to his previous mysteries, Brown captures the hidden secrets found in a city, this time Washington D.C. Instead of the Catholic church he focused his attention on the Order of Masons, a secret society covering many centuries, with George Wahington being one of the most famous masons in American history. As I followed the mystery thriller I became interested in the truth of his work. This is part of the major appeal of Dan Brown's work. It is seeped in history and the occult. The occult stands for hidden, the secrets that behind the traditions. As any reader of historical fiction, I am drawn to the actual history. I want to know more about the undergound tunnels in our nation's capital. I timed my reading of the Lost Symbol to my actual visit to Washington, D.C. and that only added to my enjoyment of my trip. To learn more about the capital, try The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital: the Masons and the Building of Washington, D.C. by David Ovason, 2000.

I learned that I like the way Sebastian Barry writes. I am drawn to the Irish voice, the colloquial words, and the utter beauty of his original phrases. I kept wanting to write down the most beautiful words he used, he was writing in poetry, or lyrical terms. I did not know anything about the Irish civil war, and that seemed to me something too hard to bear, as any war is. I suppose our civil war was similar, neighbor against neighbor at times. Barry certainly did a good job interpreting the voices of the dead Irish and their own turmoils. I liked the reference to Fred Astaire, it reminded me of how much my own mother was drawn to his talents on screen. The protagonist, Rosanne thinks that Fred Astaire was a saint.

"On one of those days God created Fred Astaire. Saturday maybe, since that was the day for pictures. When you saw Fred you felt better about everything. He was a cure. He was bottled in the films and all around the earth from Castlebar to Cairo, he healed the halt and the blind. That's the gospel truth. St. Fred. Fred the Redeemer." Now isn't that a beautiful metaphor.

My Life in France by Julia Child



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a wonderful life Julia Child had, what a wonderful person she was in real life. I learned she had a wonderful husband who was behind her every move in writing and TV. This is a great book, full of wonderful stories of her marriage and career.



View all my reviews >>

Blueberry Muffin Murder

Joanne Fluke's mysteries are just good fun. If you're looking for something light, but still enough of a story then try one of Joanne Flukes mysteries in the Hannah Swensen series. Minnesota is the setting, and in the Blueberry Muffin Murder we are starting off in the middle of winter carnival. I know, I read a lot of cold books this winter, and this is aother one, just to remind me how serious cold can really get a person down. If you want a good look at Minnesota winters, check out the video, New in Town with Renee Zellweger. It's great fun and I especially liked the friendly neighbor ladies doing scrapbooking. With that in mind try a Hannah Swenson mystery and see if you don't enjoy the fun. Enjoy the recipes, too.

Steig Larsson's Millennium series

I am hooked. I am reading the second book in the Millennium series about Lisbeth Salander and I can't put the book down. It's unusual for me to read this type of book, but the book's characters are believable and the background that the author adds about his characters only makes it more interesting. The main characters have unique personalities, someone you wouldn't meet everyday. The vulnerabily of Lisbeth makes her more interesting. That most people are not drawn to her, that they find her 'weird' makes her character more sad. She is a loner, and not interested in what other people think of her, but we learn that she does care when she undergoes plastic surgery. The interesting mix of police, journalists, and detectives has the book standing on edge. The author has convincingly drawn the tension between the three entities well. What is being kept from each other, while the reader is privy to all three points of view, helps to create the tension. When will the police find out the real story, and what will they do with it? The story is well plotted. All three of Steig Larsson's books will make excellent movies, as proven by the release of the first. The videoes of the movie trailers can be viewed on utube.

Reviews of Snow by Pamuk

Pamuk has hitherto been an acquired taste in the West; but this sprawling, emotionally charged story, with its flashes of black comedy, could well secure him the readership he deserves. (...) To a Western reader, the logic of events will be as foreign as the cock-fights which seem to be the main after-dark entertainment in Kars. But in the excellent, sardonic Pamuk, they have a first-rate guide to the social tensions of provincial Turkey. - David Robson, Daily Telegraph

Snow in March

I finished Snow by Orhan Pamuk. The love story between Ka and Ipeck is fraught with self doubt and passion. It took me so long to read that I almost had a need to go back and re-read to understand all the relationships in the book. As beautiful as it was in places, better editing and perhaps a better job at translation could have perfected it. In translating, to perfect the beauty of the work, the essence of the word into English is better than word for word translating. Could it be that multiple meanings of the Turkish could have been better in a different translation? Some of the political story in the middle of the book was unnecessary, but the political realtionship between Blue and Turgut Bey's family was intregal to the story. Snow is what is keeping the city with its revolution cut off from the rest of the country, but it is the beauty of the snow that is also causing Ka to write his poetry again. The snow is actually hiding the poverty of the town. The small town of Kars, Turkey, is caught in its spiral of unemployment, poverty and general decay. Many of the buildings are in disrepair, empty and dark in the city being covered up with the snow. In the dark lonely city the reader is  shown the striking contrast between the old dark teahouses with few visitors and the homes with satellite dishes streaming television images to groups of family members as examples of life for the residents of Kars. Ka, once a political exile living in Germany, has returned to cover the story of the suicide girls. He is a poet who once had revolutionary ideas, is more interested in pursing his own idea of happiness now. His religion is unlike the radical Islam that the young Turks in Kars are interested in. This book could be compared to Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, the story of the poet looking for love in the Russian Revolution. "Where Pamuk really excels in this novel is in the deftness with which he allows these forces to tug at one another. Like Dostoevsky, the literary forebear whose spirit haunts this book most palpably, Pamuk appears to value politics, among other things, as a great opportunity to let his characters rant in all sorts of productive ways." - Christian Caryl, The New York Review of Books New York Review of Books"

Dreamers of the Day-Dayton's Big Read

To celebrate Dayton's Big Read at the Tipp City Library we will hold our discussion of the book on Monday, March 22nd at 7 p.m. Copies of the books can be picked up at the front desk. The setting of this book is the Cairo Peace Conference in 1921. In the book we are introduced to Agnes, a former Ohio school teacher, on her first major trip of her life. The war and influenza have left her alone in the world, without a job, and enough money to embark to the Middle East to recreate the trip her sister had once taken and had written home about. Mistaken for her sister by T.E. Lawrence, she is swept up into the drama surrounding the Peace Conference. Nonfiction books to read along side this novel are T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Georgina Howell's 2007 book, Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert and Shaper of Nations, and Malcolm Brown's 2005 book Lawrence of Arabia: The Life, The Legend. These books can also be picked up at the front desk or reserved. Also recommended is the PBS special Lawrence of Arabia: the Battle for the Arab World. As much as I loved Mary Doria Russell's novel, Dreamers of the Day, I was inspired to read more of the history background to the storyline. Even the title of the book is taken from T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom, "Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible."

Local Author visits Tipp City Library

Debra Gaskill attended our meeting of the Library Scribes at the Tipp City Library last Saturday. She came to promote her first novel, Barn Burner, and to share her experience with writing and getting published. She wrote her novel as part of her M.A. degree at Auntioch University McGregor. The meeting was productive, with many of the writers from Tipp City happy to interact with Debra. Ms. Gaskell is the Managing Editor of the Washington Court House Record Herald. Her novel is set in southwestern Ohio in the small fictional town of Jubilant Falls, home of a Christian college, and the setting of a kidnapping of a six year old little girl. Editor Addison McIntyr is beset with her own set of problems as she tries to take on the reporting of a story that hits her emotionally. The mother of the child is her close friend with child custody issues pending in her divorce proceedings. The mystery is a page-turner and well written. I am looking forward to her second novel.

Here if You Need Me by Kate Braestrup

Kate Braestrup loses her husband in a car accident. She has four children and she begins a new life, this time serving as a minister, something her husband had always wanted to do. She attends seminary, and begins serving as chaplain for search-and-rescue missions. This is the true story of Kate and her mssion to bring comfort to people she meets through her job as a chaplain to the Maine Warden Service. Join the Tipp City Library's book discussion on Monday, February 22nd, at 7 pm. Once again we will examine a woman's life choices and her continuing impact on her family and her world. Check our catalog

Challenger by another blogger, I am reading Snow by Orhan Pamuk, translated from the Turkish by Maureen Freely, 2004. It is a difficult book to read. The protagonist, Ka, visits his hometown Kars, in the middle of a snowstorm that cuts off the town from the rest of Turkey. He is only visiting; he has immigrated to Frankfurt, Germany. A poet, he returns to find a woman he remembers from his past as a schoolmate. Hearing she is single, he returns to ask her to marry him. As he travels through the city, he finds an inner happiness that brings forth his poems freely, writing them down in his notebook that he carries in his hip pocket. He is caught up in a revolution, with violent repercussions. The thoughts of the Islamic fundamentalists are told to him, a non-practicing Islamic. Halfway through the book, I am trying to stay with it.

The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo

A taunt mystery by a Swedish author is the first of a three-part series. Taking place outside Stockholm, the protagonist, journalist Mikael Blomqvist, has been asked to investigate the disappearance of a Vanger family member, Harriet Vanger. Harriet disappeared during a family get together on their island, cut off from the mainland by a unusual accident on the bridge. She was the sixteen year old niece of a rich and influencial industrialist, Henrik Vanger. Now almost forty years later, Henrick wants to try once again to have help with the investigation, and Mikael Blomqvist agrees, only because he faces a jail term for slander, and he needs time away from his magazine, Millenium, to give the magazine a chance to survive. Another one of my snow books for this winter, the book starts with the end of December, and the time is current. A good well-written novel. No gory stuff has appeared in the novel and I am half-way through. A link to the author's website is embedded in the title of this blog.

Then We Came to the End

Told in first person, Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris, is the story of an advertising agency's staff going through layoffs. We never know the main chacacter's name or sex, though it sounds more like a man than a woman. We voyeur through his eyes as he tells the boring details of everyday at the office, the games they play, and the "stress" they are under. Do they ever work? They love the creative part of their job, but he seems to point out that they do anything to avoid it. Ouch. He shares all the details of the lives of all the staff that is close to him, and some of what they are facing in real life. Midway through the book, the voice shifts to the boss, Lynn, and her own personal battle. Fairly interesting, but it is tough to get through in parts. I personally tried to start this book twice, but couldn't stay interested. I listened to the abridged audio version, and I enjoyed it better than reading.Check our catalog 

Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica by Sara Wheeler

Once Sara Wheeler become enchanted with the idea of traveling to Antarctica, she pursued it with a passion. It took two years to do it, but she went to Antarctica as writer in residence with the American National Science Foundation's artist program. That's no small feat, as she is a citizen of the UK. Pick this book for a good winter read, she will educate and entertain. Full of amazing facts about the Antarctic exploreres of long ago and science figures from today, well 1998, when this book was published. It also comes as a great audio book. Check our catalog:  http://seoipac.seo.lib.oh.us/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=12643NHU45290.3005&profile=tcp&uri=link=3100006~!165060~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=subtab6053&menu=search&ri=1&source=~!horizon&term=Terra+incognita+travels+in+Antarctica+%2F&index=PALLTI#focus

This is Where I Leave You

Jonathan Trooper has created a likeable, vulnerable, wounded character with his realistic family member, Judd Foxman. The family has just buried thier father and husband, and the father's dying wish was for his children to sit shiva for him.This ancient Jewish tradition gives a chance for the mourners to come to the home of the departed and offer their condolances to the family. This dysfunctional family hasn't seen much of each other, and putting them all in one house for a little more than a week is going to be more than anyone can really imagine, wrap their heads around, or just endure. But, life is funny, sometimes the impossible is really an answer to prayer, and this book gives us a week with the Foxmans, through Judd's eyes. Laugh out loud funny in parts, sensitive and sad in others, it is all about how life is messy, but hey, its the only one we've got. Reminisent of Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo, I give it a thumbs up, but be forewarned, there is a lot of foul language and plenty of sex.

A Fountain Filled With Blood

If you follow my blog, you know I am on the look out for a good intelligent mystery series, and I have found it with Julia Fleming-Spencer's Clare Fergusson. The first of the series, In a Bleak Midwinter was a good introduction. I especially liked the nail-biting drama toward the end. It kept me up turning the pages. Now this second in the series, In a Fountain Filled with Blood, I found a much more interesting character in Reverend Clare. She jumps off the page a full of action, and drawing the reader right along with her in all her daring attempts at half-killing herself. The friendship between her and the chief of police is heating up, but both of them are unable to admit it to each other. It is just an excellent mystery that kept me guessing up to the end.

Writer's Group host author visit

I am waiting for my copy of Barn Burner to arive. The author, Debra Gaskill is coming to the library on February 27 at 2 pm. She will be presenting on her novel, a mystery set in southwest Ohio. It is the first of a series with a reporter/sleuth, Addison MacIntyre, as the main character. Debra Gaskill is the managing editor for the Wahington Courthouse Record Herald, and has fifteen years in as a reporter. She uses her vast experience in Ohio to stimulate her imagination for her novel. She has also written for several newspapers in Ohio and national magazines. This is her first novel.

What are you reading on Monday?

I am reading Protecting Marie by Kevin Henkes. I did not know that he wrote Young Adult (YA) fiction. I know him from the Purple Purse queen, Lilly. He has a selection of Lilly the Mouse books for pre-kindergarten. Now I find a YA book, with a delightful girl, Fanny, who wants a dog. She begs her father for a dog. And he finds out how hard it is to grant her greatest wish. I love the part about Burger King. The father is almost sixty, a college professor, and artist and he cannot abide Burger King. He is rigid, but he loves his daughter. It's a wonderful study of a young teen's love-hate relationship with her father, something young girls might relate to. A good mother-daughter book to read together. Sometimes we just can't put our finger on where the relationship went bad, and Kevin Henkes does a good job of ferreting out those dark moments that hurt a child, especially when parents are so caught up in what they think is best for the child. Books help me to think more about relationships, that delicate balance we walk everyday.

http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/

Reading, reading, reading

I have way too many books being read at the same time. The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir to find out more about King Richard III. A Fountain Filled with Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming to continue with the series, A Reverend Clare Ferguson Mystery.
One Year to an Organized Work Life by Regina Leeds. I am taking her advise for January, to make my bed everyday for 21 days, and if I skip a day, I have to go back and start the count all over again. I have been trying to get organized for 40 years, is there any hope? Hey, I keep my address book and my checkbook and my ATM card in my purse every day. That's a pretty good start. Now, to just write out my bills as they come in. Oh yeah, I also am reading Real Simple, the magazine. I am listening to Terra Incognito: Travels in Antarctica by Sara Wheeler on CD in my car. Quiz me on my knowledge of Antarctica, I am amazed how much she puts into the ongoing diary of seven months in Antarctica as writer-in-residence. They just celebrated Christmas and New Year's. Love it. But Julie says that's no help, I love everything. And another book, I received this from my brother for Christmas, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux. Travel by books, that's my motto. And I read all of the Harper's Magazine, August 2009. Good stuff there, especially the novella, Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro, which was included in the book of short stories by the same name that came out in 2009. Alice Munro is the winner of the 2009 Man Booker International Prize. This novella is the story of Sophia Kovalevsky, and it makes me want to read the biography written by Don H. Kennedy, Little Sparrow: A Portrait of Sophia Kovalevsky (Ohio University Press, 1983). Awesome story.

a good read

I finished the novel , In the Bleak Midwinter, and I found it to be an excellent introduction to a new series, probably one I will visit again. The story was believable, the characters were likable, and the drama and suspense held my interest without making me afraid to sleep. I don't gravitate to suspense, but it was just enough for me to be interested in the story; and it takes place near Christmas, so it is timely. I am glad Sue Hofer presented this for the Mystery Book Group and I found another author to like.

reading

I am one of those people who read more than one book at a time, I don't know when I started it, but it just happens, I don't have my book with me, I pick up another, and pretty soon I have a book started in each room of the house and I drive my husband crazy with all my books all over. I like to read anything; magazine essays, short stories, or a chapter in a book I read two years ago. If I really like the way it is written, I'll read it over, maybe just in parts. Sometimes I'm in a mood, nostalgic is my main mood. To a gentler time, an older time in history, maybe it safe for me to go there because it is past and can't scare me with its terrors. I can sympathize with the characters, and think about what it was like, but it not my world. I don't want to read about people who commit mass murders in 2009 and their ilk, I don't want to frighten myself anymore than I already do by watching the news. I have an old book on my shelf that I am ashamed to say probably read four or five times, and still it draws me in and I like to visit the setting, the time, the winter snowy night, the blizzard feeling of closed roads and winds swirling at the windows and whistling through the grooves of the bricks or stone walls of the house. This book is "Murder at Hazelmoor" by Agatha Christie and is also known as "The Sittaford Mystery" and the date is 1931. Right smack in the middle of that wonderful time between the wars known as "the Golden age of Mystery novels" taken to be the period between 1913 and the start of World War II. Funny, I thought that it started after World War I, I stand corrected. Any way, Hazelmoor is a home I think, where murder has taken place, and it is perfect for a winter night, and I like to picture myself back in the sixties, on a chair close up to the blazing fire, in my home as a child. I loved those fires, back before we knew all the heat was going up the chimney, as the living room heated, and the back bedrooms got more chilly. My link in the title of this post is to the website Resources for School Libraries. You'll find a whole list of mystery authors.

In the Bleak Midwinter

The Mystery book discussion group at Tipp City Library will meet on January 11 at 7 pm. For January the book will be "In the Bleak Midwinter" by Julie Spencer-Fleming. This is her debut novel and it won more mystery awards than any debut mystery. Click onto the link in title of this blog to read more. The title along makes it an appropriate winter title, let's just hope we don't get snowed out on discussion night. Join the group for refreshments and informal conversation with others patrons who enjoy talking about good mysteries. Books can be picked up at the front desk of the library.

Julie and Romeo

Jeanne Ray is an author you don't want to miss if you like romantic comedies, especially for older couples. This is a twist on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The two main characters know that their families have always hated each other, but they don't know why. And they don't know why they should continue the family tradtion, but their families have other plans. It's cute, children trying to twart their parent's love plans.

The author, Jeanne Ray, is a nurse in Nashville, Tennessee, and mother of award winning Ann Patchett. This is her first novel, written after she has turned sixty herself, and doesn't feel over the hill. So she writes "a story about two vital, attractive individuals over sixty who fell in love."

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Annie Barrows helped to finish her aunt's novel after her aunt, Mary Ann Shaffer grew ill. Read more about the biographies of both authors on the link in the title of this blog.

Also mentioned in the biography of Mary Ann Shaffer is a book about the German occupation of Guernsey, Jersey under the Jack-Boot. That would be an interesting book to find and read. That's how I like my reading to evolve sometimes, fiction, nonfiction by subject.

Another English book I am reading right now is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Hailed as one of the best mystery novels written, it is about an investigation into the murder of the princes in the tower. I think there was a lot of research completed by Miss Tey for this novel, but I especially like the dialog. The author was also a playwright. Recommended for English history lovers.

Winter Storm

We are feeling the winter winds turning down our collars tonight, what a good excuse to just pull those covers up and turn off the TV and the bad news and read a good book. Okay I know, I always want to read, but I am trying to encourage you to read, too and to find a really delicious book to sink your teeth into. If you haven't read Mary Ann Shaffer's book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, you are in for a treat. Mary Ann had this idea for a book for a long time, as a librarian she had seen her share of books come across her desk, but she wanted to share to experience of the World War II fellow English men and women who had the unfortunate luck to be invaded by the Nazi army and hold up on their island for the duration of the war, Guernsey Island that is, and probably more of the Channel Islands. Hitler thought he was going to invade the rest of England but he never got the chance. Those poor islanders, they had no news of the war for over four maybe five years. And no word of their children that they had sent over to the mainland of England for their safe keeping. This is the setting of the story and how they managed to survive the war. Who ever heard of potato peel pie anyways? Guess it was pretty good if you were really hungry. This is a book of books, and a whole cast of interesting characters that are going to really steal you hearts. I have read it twice already, once quickly, and then savoring the story on the audio version. Try it either way. Sometimes I like to cook while I listen to a good book, I remember the year I baked all my Christmas cookies listening to Rosamunde Pilcher's Book, Winter Solstice. The snow blew all around my house and the characters in the story were snowed in their tiny town and they planned their own little celebration. A true cosy book that was perfect for the season. Rosamunde Pilcher has always been able to keep my attention and my warm feeling for her characters. The author has a wonderful ability to make you feel you are right there in the little English or Scottish town getting ready to sit down with friends and have a regular "cuppa" and let your worries drift away with the snow flurries. Enjoy your own little read this cold December night.

Links to reviews of The Plague of Doves

New York Times review
by Michiko Kakutani

Washington Post review by Ron Charles

USA Today review by Carol Memmott

The Plague of Doves by Louise Edrich

The next book discussion will be on November 23 at 7 pm at the Tipp City Library. This is an informal discussion open to anyone interested in sharing his impressions of the book. No formal discussion questions from the publisher are available, but I will list links to the reviews here. You may pick up a copy of the book at the front desk.

The People of the Book

The main voice of this book is an Australian art restoration professional. She is called to examine the Sarajevo Haggadah, taken from the library and hidden during the bombing. The year is 1996, she is Hanna Heath, fatherless daughter to a famous neurosuregon who has never understood her work. The story slowly unfolds, going back into the 14th century, as Geraldine Brooks imagines the beginnings of the book and its progress through the centuries to Sarajevo. Some of its history is known and some is only supposed, but Ms. Brooks has created a compelling story from the little know truth about the actual Sarajevo Haggadah. The author makes much of the saving of the book, once during the Nazi occuaption of Vienna by a Muslim, and once again it is a Muslim who saves it during the Bosnian war. This book is full of rich language, beautiful imagery, and historical settings. A book for artists, booklovers, and historians; and anyone who loves a good story. I am sorry I waited so long to read it.

The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

The People of the Book is the choice for the September book discussion. The story has its basis on fact, about a book that was hidden from destruction during the bombing of Sarejevo in 1995, surprizingly saved by a Muslim librarian. This a Jewish Haggaghad, that originated in the 1500's. Not any ordinary Haggaghad, the book of prayers said during the Passover in the Jewish home, this was an illuminated codex, precious to the library in Bosnia. This book had also been protected and hidden during the pillage of Bosnia during World War II, also saved by a Muslim. Geraldine Brooks has written a literary masterpiece, blending history and fiction, jumping through the centuries with her tale. Be prepared to be captivated by her storytelling abilities.

Booklover's Book Discussion Group

Our last summer book of 2009 is planned for discussion on Monday, August 24 at 7 pm. Reading young adult fiction is a nice change during the Summer Reading Program here at the library and this summer we read, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King in June, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brain Selznick in July; and now we will look at Sherman Alexie's first young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. This is truly a boy's book, about a young native American who decides to transfer to a school off the reservation. I hope that the adults give this book a chance, we have copies of the book available at the front desk and it's not too late pick up a copy and join us on August 24th. Click onto the title of this post and see Alexie Shermans' website.

Julie and Julia

The book by Julie Powell, Julie and Julia, 365 days, 524 recipes and a tiny apartment kitchen, how one girl risked her marriage, her job and her sanity to master the art of living has stayed with me for over a year, and now the movie has come out, with Meryl Streep as Julia Child. At first I was, this can't be, Julia Child has a tiny role in the book, and then I learned that Nora Ephron has melded two books into one movie; with Julia Child's last book, My Life in France to bounce scenes back and forth; Paris, 1954 to New York City, 2002. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I am looking forward to it. I am reading Julia Child's book now, and it is truly charming. How lucky she was to find her true calling, teaching cooking, and Julie Powell found her true calling also, from the above link learn about her new book that is coming out, about her turn learning butchering. I am sure it will be great, she has a unique way of expressing herself. The funny part in My Life in France is when Julia Child refers to Julie Powell and she can't get past the F** word, and she doesn't think Julie is in love with food as much as herself, maybe Julie just likes the humor in things more, although sometimes from the old TV versions of Julia she had a pretty good sense of humor herself.

Sharon McCone Mysteries

I like to start a mystery series at the beginning to get the whole picture of the character. Edwin of the Iron Shoes is the first of the Sharon McCone mysteries by Marcia Muller. Sharon is a private investigator, working in San Francisco for All Souls Cooperative, a legal services organization. Coming from a security background, she helps with the research and investigation for the lawyers, a laid back group of liberals helping the poor in San Francisco. I don't consider this a hard-boiled detective mystery. There is a little light hearted comedy there, with the easy going boss, Hank, who understands Sharon's desire to find the killer of the antiques dealer, whom Sharon had been trying to help earlier in the year. Prior to the murder there had been arson and break-ins. Trying to piece it all together keeps Sharon up late, eventually spending time with the police officer on the investigation, a Lieutenant Gregory Marcus, Homicide. This is a prickly relationship, and it carries over into the next book. A good start to a superb series, a fast read, just enough danger and suspense to keep the pages turning.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Janet Evanovich's lastest in the Stephanie Plum series is a good, fast read. Finger Lickin' Fifteen" has Stephanie at odds with Morelli and spending time at Ranger's business. Grandma Mazer has a chance to use her gun this time. Poor Lulu has her share of troubles and of course she and Stephanie get to "practice" bringing in the bail-bond jumpers. Another wacky mystery sure to please. Tuesday night at 7 pm, the Tipp City Library is hosting a Janet Evanovich Trivial Contest. Call the library at 667-3826 to sign up for the fun. The winner will be able to checkout the Finger Lickin' Fifteen novel on Tuesday night no matter how far down you are on the list of holds. We have an extra copy for just that purpose, and this extra copy makes everyone's hold come in all that much quicker. If you can't wait, buy your copy and donate it to the library as soon as you read it. That's what I like to do.

Follow up on Laurie R. King

Our discussion on "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" was one of our best. I am so glad we read this book. Not only because it is the beginning of a great series, but the fact that Laurie R. King is an excellent author and she writes another series and she also has stand alone novels. "Since 1945, the Mystery Writers of America have annually awarded ceramic statuettes of Edgar Allan Poe, known as "Edgars," for outstanding contributions to mystery, crime, and suspense writing." (Novelist Award Winners) Laurie R. King won an Edgar for her first in the Kate Martinelli mystery series, "A Grave Talent". I have "Folly", a stand alone, checked out and on my next book to read list, after I finish the lastest Bill Slider Mystery, "Dear Departed". If you have a chance check out Laurie R. King's style of writing. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

Sherlock Holmes is now retired and living in the county as a beekeeper. He meets a young girl of fifteen and immediately recognizes an intellectual match. Their friendship grows as she continues her schooling, but as a case presents itself to him, she convinces him to take her along. Caught up in the drama, they develop a partnership suitable to both.
Check out the Virtual Book Club on Laurie R. King's website that was held online in 2007 by clicking onto the title of this post. The discussion is closed but can be viewed.

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

This is timeless. Anyone who missed this book back in 1972 needs to pick up a copy today and travel back in time to 1937. Travel along with Jim in his new job as veterinary surgeon in Yorkshire, England. You will be rewarded.

Izzy and lenore

Izzy and Lenore

was an interesting book about Jon Katz's famous Bedlam Farm in upper state New York and some of the animals that inhabit the farm with him. The dogs Izzy and Lenore are new dogs to his farm and these are their stories on the contributions that they made to his life and the lives that he touches. Jon Katz does special work as a hospice volunteer and he takes his special dog, Izzy, who becomes a certified hospice volunteer as well.

Finished another Bill Slider

I am reading all the Bill Slider mysteries by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles in order. Just finished

Killing Time

I have decided that these are not cosy mysteries as I first thought. There has to be a female protagonist, and she cannot have a job in the police force, an amateur. Well, this is a typical police procedural. Bill Slider is the CID, Criminal Investigation Division. Because this is taking place in London, present day, I am unsure of many of the acronyms in the police department. Maybe that is why I like to read about different places, it stretches my imagination. Travel by osmosis, try to capture the flavor of the place by the books about the different locations. I had a friend once who like to read a novel about a place before her travels just to acquaint herself with the location before the trip, or during the trip. Not sure if I'll ever get to London, but I definitely want to see the country side, visit the place of my ancestors in Wales, or Liverpool. This has been the first mystery series besides the Janet Evanovich with Stephanie Plum that I am reading quickly from the beginning. I like the writing, from Novelist I am quoting this review statement:

Booklist Review: The British police procedural remains one of the richest subgenres in crime fiction, and Harrod-Eagles' Bill Slider series, through five installments, has quietly worked its way close to the top of the heap.

Check Novelist for more from the title of post.

Those Who Save Us

The book for discussion in May is about a mother's desperate attempt to save her own daughter from the Nazis during World War II in Berlin. Travel between today as the mother is losing touch with reality and the war years when the mother is trying to survive as a single mother. Try to understand her story and the story the daughter understands. Written by a young woman who has spent four years interviewing Holocaust survivors for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation. This is her first work of fiction.

Jodi Picoult

My Sister's Keeper is coming out in June at the movie theater. Look at the video of Jodi Picoult's intervies on NPR's Relgion and Ethics by clicking onto the title of this post.

Going Solo by Roald Dahl

This is a good book to read after you read "The Irregulars". It starts in 1938 when Roald Dahl begins his move to Africa to work for the Shell Oil Company as a 22 year old. It isn't long before he is caught up in the war and trains as a pilot in the Middle East. Good British Empire history included in the background.

Spies on American Soil

The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington
by Jennet Conant.
I finished this last weekend, first reading about one fourth and then picking up the audio version. It was very interesting. I think that the conclusion was that Britain and America were close because Churchill and Roosevelt trusted one another. Unfortunately, the Americans closed the door to the British after the war. I know they were facing food shortages after the war. I never really understood why the Americans didn't help. It will only want me to read more. A couple of years ago I read a very shocking book on American foreign policy, Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins, published 2004. It made me question all my long held beliefs about the good in the American government. I was at the bookstore last week and was surprised to see the book is now out in paperback and was located on a table for high school reading. So, someone is listening. Pick up the Irregulars if you like world war II spy stores, only this time it is in Washington and it is a true story.
Associate of Ian Fleming and William Stevenson, it an interesting book.

My Sister's Keeper

We are reading this Jodi Picoult book for our Book Lover's Discussion group, April 27 at 7 pm. This author's books are always jumping off the shelves here at the Tipp City Library. She writes about serious topics that are considered "ripped from the headlines". Difficult subjects that are hard to face for certain people who want their books to have a happy ending. Don't expect that from Jodi Picoult. Expect to be challanged in your thinking, what would you do in a certain dilemma, what would be the moral thing to do, what is the acceptable way of thinking? Her line of thinking stretches the readers mind around a different way of viewing the subject. After we read this book about a daughter and her parents and how they think, we are going to read, Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum. Two different points of view are presented in Blum's book, the daughter who never understood her own mother, and the mother who could never tell her own daughter what she had to endure to survive. We never will know how or what we would do in different circumstances.

Cozy British Mystery, Orchestrated Death

I have started the Bill Slider mysteries by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. What makes up the cozy British mystery? Police procedural was mentioned. This fits that well. Bill Slider is a middle age detective with homicide department. He faces some ugly crime scenes, but he meets his future lover as he starts to make inquiries. As a married man who has never cheated, he is not totally comfortable, but this new woman in his life has created something that has been lacking in his difficult marriage. Future books keep up with his romance. From the Kirkus review in 1991, I like the description of Slider: "a reserved, mild-mannered hero", they also mention "understatement." I have seen the wry humor also noted in other reviews when referring to cozy mysteries. This one is a little grisly, with also some suspense. More than one person has recommended this to me and I am glad I tried it out.

Book Discussion for March 23, 2009

Mildred Armstrong Kalish lived through the Great Depression in Iowa. She has written a warm, humorous book about her experiences. After a successful career as an English professor, we have been blessed by her decision to share her childhood memories with us. Since we passed out the books to our discussion group on February 26th, the buzz has been picked up around the Tipp City area that this is a book worth recommending. I am glad that I learned about this book, and happily I was able to get enough books in for our group. Not only are people reading this in the book group, but the book is disappearing off the reserve shelf so I know many others unknown to me are reading this book. Try to make it to the discussion on Monday night, March 23 at 7 pm, we always encourage new people to join us. Check our catalog
to reserve a copy or ask at the front desk for a copy.

Information too good to miss

Jill Bolte Taylor has written a book that few people could attempt. At 35 she survived a massive stroke to her left hemisphere with an uncanny ability to remember what happened and the ability to record it for others. She was a Neuroanatomist, brain researcher, who had the opportunity to reach the brain as her stoke was happening. Amazed as she was as it happened, she was unable to fully understand the stoke at first; then as her abilities dwindled away she was an extrememly lucky person as she tried to call for help; we are only more blessed because she did succeed and survived, and she chose to share her insights with us. Pick up a copy of this book and learn more about your own amazing brain.

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Read-a-Likes for Loving Frank

Loving Frank is a work of historial fiction, stressing the biographical fiction of the lives of Frank Llyod Wright and Mamah Cheney. Other novels of this type are now on display at the Tipp City Public Library:
Moon Rising by Ann Victoria Roberts- a novel of a love affair between Bram Stocker and a local photograph model
Sylvia and Ted by Emma Tennant- a novel about the courtship, marriage and separation of the poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.
The Photograph by Penelope Lively-explores a woman's beauty and its collision with her own happiness, sister's rivalry and lovers' cooling, a marriage in supreme crisis and the cost of professional "success"as life unfolds. (taken from the book jacket)
Pictures from an Expedition by Diane Smith-literary historical fiction set in 1876.
Wild Nights! Stories About the Last Days of Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James and Hemingway by Joyce Carol Oates-biographical fiction worked in the author's imagination.
Gatsby's Girl by Caroline Preston- imagines the life of F. Scott Fitzgerld's muse from his early attachment to Ginevra King whom he named Daisy in his great work of fiction.
Dewey Defeats Truman by Thomas Mallon-American fiction placed in the hometown of Dewey, Owosso, Michigan, with a love triangle that takes place on election night, 1948.