What
if your dead relatives suddenly showed up on your doorstep, perfectly
healthy and just as they were the day they died? What if it was your
child or your mother or the family next door? Would you joyously welcome them back? Would life go back to what it was? And if they just kept coming, is there a limit to what the world of the living can accept, emotionally and physically? A thought provoking question, and I enjoyed the personal aspects, even if the action part of the tale didn't appeal to me as much. This book has picked up a lot of steam, and the story has been optioned by Brad Pitt's Plan B for an upcoming television series. ~ Katherine
Harold and Lucille
Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades
since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday
party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life
without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time ... Until
one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood,
their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old.
All over
the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows
how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the
end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or
a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son.
As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family
finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse,
forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that
threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human. ~ from the Publisher
Silent Night Haunted Night - Nicki Styx, Bk 4
Author: Terri Garey
Another good installment of the Nicki Styx series.
~Suzanne
Joe
Bascombe is no stranger to desire, but when a sexy spirit begins
haunting his dreams, he finds himself ensnared by dark passions. What he
doesn't realize is that the devious demon and her two sisters,
otherwise known as the Three Fates, are out to teach the woman he loves a
lesson...
Unwilling psychic Nicki Styx survived a near-death
experience to find herself able to see and hear the dead, but she only
has eyes for Joe. Together they've conquered evil spirits, saved lost
souls, and beaten back the Devil himself, but they're about to learn
that there are more things in Heaven and Hell than they ever imagined.
As far as Nicki is concerned, Joe is the man of her dreams, but now
they're at the mercy of the creature who's invaded his.
Priceless - Rylee Adamson, Bk 1
Author: Shannon Mayer
This
is a new author for me and I just loved her writing. Ms. Mayer creates
an interesting world of magic. I'm looking forward to the rest of the
series. ~ Suzanne
"My name is Rylee, and I am a Tracker."
When
children go missing, and the Humans have no leads, I'm the one they
call. I am their last hope in bringing home the lost ones. I salvage
what they cannot.
I'm on the FBI's wanted list. I have a werewolf
for a pet, a Witch of a best friend, and I have no need for anyone else
in my life.
But when a salvage starts to spin out of control, help comes from a most unexpected direction.
Two very different novels with unconventional, loving, and supportive families at their core, THE KITCHEN HOUSE and FIN AND LADY are two novels you might want to put on your list to read. ~ Katherine
THE KITCHEN HOUSE by Kathleen Grissom
"When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she
unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she
has come to call her family.
Orphaned while on board a ship from
Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco
plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen
house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter,
Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set
apart from them by her white skin. Eventually, Lavinia is
accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and
the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously
straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a
choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid
bare, and lives are put at risk.
The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail." ~ from the Publisher
FIN & LADY by Cathleen Schine
"It’s 1964. Eleven-year-old Fin and his glamorous, worldly, older half
sister, Lady, have just been orphaned, and Lady, whom Fin hasn’t seen in
six years, is now his legal guardian and his only hope. That means Fin
is uprooted from a small dairy farm in rural Connecticut to Greenwich
Village, smack in the middle of the swinging ’60s. He soon learns that
Lady—giddy, careless, urgent, and obsessed with being free—is as much
his responsibility as he is hers.
So begins Fin & Lady, the lively, spirited new novel by Cathleen Schine, the author of the bestselling The Three Weissmanns of Westport.
Fin and Lady lead their lives against the background of the ’60s, the
civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War—Lady pursued by ardent,
dogged suitors, Fin determined to protect his impulsive sister from them
and from herself.
From a writer The New York Times has praised as “sparkling, crisp, clever, deft, hilarious, and deeply affecting,” Fin & Lady
is a comic, romantic love story: the story of a brother and sister who
must form their own unconventional family in increasingly unconventional
times." ~ from the Publisher
License to Pawn Deals Steals and My Life at the Gold Silver
Author: Rick Harrison
I
really enjoyed this look into the life of Pawn Stars Harrison family.
There is so much more to this family then what you see on television.
~ Suzanne
In
Las Vegas, there's a family-owned business called the Gold & Silver
Pawn Shop, run by three generations of the Harrison family: Rick; his
son, Big Hoss; and Rick's dad, the Old Man. Now License to Pawn takes
readers behind the scenes of the hit History show Pawn Stars and shares
the fascinating life story of its star, Rick Harrison, and the equally
intriguing story behind the shop, the customers, and the items for sale.
Rick
hasn't had it easy. He was a math whiz at an early age, but developed a
similarly uncanny ability to find ever-deepening trouble that nearly
ruined his life. With the birth of his son, he sobered up, reconnected
with his dad, and they started their booming business together.
License
to Pawn also offers an entertaining walk through the pawn shop's
history. It's a captivating look into how the Gold & Silver works,
with incredible stories about the crazy customers and the one-of-a-kind
items that the shop sells. Rick isn't only a businessman; he's also a
historian and keen observer of human nature. For instance, did you know
that pimps wear lots of jewelry for a reason? It's because if they're
arrested, jewelry doesn't get confiscated like cash does, and ready
money will be available for bail. Or that WWII bomber jackets and Zippo
lighters can sell for a freakishly high price in Japan? Have you ever
heard that the makers of Ormolu clocks, which Rick sells for as much as
$15,000 apiece, frequently died before forty thanks to the mercury in
the paint?
Rick also reveals the items he loves so much he'll
never sell. The shop has three Olympic bronze medals, a Patriots Super
Bowl ring, a Samurai sword from 1490, and an original Iwo Jima battle
plan. Each object has an incredible story behind it, of course. Rick
shares them all, and so much more--there's an irresistible treasure
trove of history behind both the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop and the
life of Rick Harrison
If you haven't joined a book discussion, or if you've been thinking about coming back, try one of our upcoming events. We love new members! Copies of books are available at the checkout desk for readers signing up for the discussion, or by request.
Tonight, at 6:30, there will be a discussion of
The Memory Palace , a nonfiction book by Mira Bartok. When piano prodigy Norma Herr was healthy, she was the most vibrant
personality in the room. But as her schizophrenic episodes became more
frequent and more dangerous, she withdrew into a world that neither of
her daughters could make any sense of. Next month's nonfiction book will be Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave by Adam Alter, on Tuesday, October 8, at 6:30 p.m.
Why are people named Kim, Kelly, and Ken more likely to donate to
Hurricane Katrina victims than to Hurricane Rita victims? Are you really
more likely to solve puzzles if you watch a light bulb illuminate? How
did installing blue lights along a Japanese railway line halt rising
crime and suicide rates? Drunk Tank Pink is the first detailed exploration of how our environment shapes what we think, how we feel, and the ways we behave.
Next week, our fiction group will meet and talk about the bestselling novel, The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, on Monday, September 16, at 1 p.m. When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society,
she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people
she has come to call her family.The Kitchen House is a tragic story of page-turning suspense, exploring the meaning of family, where love and loyalty prevail. In October, we'll travel to the world of Henry VIII and discuss Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel on Monday, October 21, at 1 p.m. Though he battled for seven years to marry her, Henry is disenchanted
with Anne Boleyn. She has failed to give him a son and her sharp
intelligence and audacious will alienate his old friends and the noble
families of England. When the discarded Katherine dies in exile from the
court, Anne stands starkly exposed, the focus of gossip and malice. Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies follows the dramatic trial of the
queen and her suitors for adultery and treason. To defeat the Boleyns,
Cromwell must ally with his natural enemies, the papist aristocracy.
What price will he pay for Anne’s head?
Love reading mysteries and thrillers? Join Book 'Em! Our next book is The Poacher’s Son by Paul Doiron, to be discussed on Monday, September 23, at 12:30 p.m. Set in the wilds of Maine, this is an explosive tale of an estranged
son thrust into the hunt for a murderous fugitive--his own father. This is the first in Doiron's award winning series featuring game warden Mike Bowditch. Next month we'll travel back in time and discuss Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, on Monday, October 28, at 12:30 p.m. Maisie Dobbs isn’t just any young housemaid. Through her own natural
intelligence and the patronage of her benevolent employers, she works her
way into college at Cambridge. When World War I breaks out, Maisie goes
to the front as a nurse. It is there that she learns that coincidences
are meaningful and the truth elusive. After the War, Maisie sets up on
her own as a private investigator. But her very first assignment,
seemingly an ordinary infidelity case, soon reveals a much deeper,
darker web of secrets, which will force Maisie to revisit the horrors of
the Great War and the love she left behind.
It is said that most librarians have a secret desire to be a writer. Not me--I'm happy just being a reader. But I've had a lot of fun reading two of Jincy Willet's books, The Writing Class and the just published sequel, Amy Falls Down, a witty satire of authors, wannabe authors, and the literary and publishing world. I just want to know how much of Amy Gallup is Jincy Willett? Her website says, "Who the #@%? is Jincy? An aging, bitter, unpleasant woman living in Escondido, California,
who spends her days parsing the sentences of total strangers and her
nights teaching and writing. Sometimes, late at night, in the dark, she
laughs inappropriately.." I
thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audio book, read by Amy McFadden.
~ Katherine
AMY FALLS DOWN by Jincy Willett.
"Willett's hilarious follow-up to The Writing Class pulls no punches when
it comes to current literary trends. Amy Gallup was once heralded as a
fresh voice in fiction, but with her novels now long out of print, she's
content with a quiet, anonymous life of leading workshops, keeping
lists of great-sounding titles for stories she'll never write, and
maintaining her sporadically updated blog. One afternoon, however, while
working in her garden, Amy trips and cold-cocks herself on a birdbath.
Still reeling from the head injury hours later, she gives a loopy
interview to a reporter working on a series of local author profiles.
The result goes viral, and suddenly Amy is a hot commodity on the
literary pundit trail. She couldn't care less about being relevant or
famous, which lends a refreshingly brutal honesty to her commentary on
the radio, television, and lecture circuit. But her newfound notoriety
also pushes Amy out of her comfort zone, forcing her to confront years
of neuroses and an unexamined postwriting life. Willett uses her
charmingly filterless heroine as a mouthpiece to slam a parade of thinly
veiled literati and media personalities with riotous accuracy, but she
balances the snark with moments of poignancy."
~ From a review in Publishers Weekly, May 6, 2013.
Elinor Lipman is always a pleasure to read. The author always delivers witty writing and great narrative, and her characters are lovable but usually a bit down trodden and uncomfortable with life changes that have come their way--but they generally manage to adjust and thrive. While THE VIEW FROM PENTHOUSE B might not be my favorite Lipman book, it still was an entertaining read. ~ Katherine
"Unexpectedly widowed Gwen-Laura Schmidt is still mourning her
husband, Edwin, when her older sister Margot invites her to join forces
as roommates in Margot's luxurious Village apartment. For Margot,
divorced amid scandal (hint: her husband was a fertility doctor) and
then made Ponzi-poor, it's a chance to shake Gwen out of her grief and
help make ends meet. To further this effort she enlists a third boarder,
the handsome, cupcake-baking Anthony.
As the three swap money-making schemes and timid Gwen ventures back
out into the dating world, the arrival of Margot's paroled ex in the
efficiency apartment downstairs creates not just complications but the
chance for all sorts of unexpected forgiveness. A sister story about
love, loneliness, and new life in middle age, this is a cracklingly
witty, deeply sweet novel from one of our finest comic writers." ~ from the Publisher
