Deb’s Comments (group member since Jul 12, 2011)

Deb’s comments from the Topeka & Shawnee Co. Public Library group.

We're glad to hear you found this list helpful!
(Deb and Miranda)

After finishing Emily St. John Mandel’s novel Station Eleven, I had a big-time book hangover–it was so good that it was hard to pick my next read and move on! If you haven’t read Station Eleven yet, check out my blog from October to see why I think that you should bump it up on your to-read list.

For those of you who are ready for the next great story, here’s a list of ten great titles from your library’s collection to read or watch during the cold months ahead.

A Thousand Acres
Station Eleven begins when an actor who is playing the role of King Lear dies during a performance, and the play is referenced a number of times in the novel. If you’re interested in reading another book inspired King Lear, check out by A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley, for a modern retelling of the tale. This powerful novel won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Larry Cook is an aging farmer with a thriving, successful farm. He decides that it’s time to retire and pass the land on to his daughters, so he incorporates the farm and bestows joint ownership on the three of them. The two oldest still live on the property, but the youngest objects, as she has established herself as a lawyer in the city, so her father cuts her out of the deal. Her dissent opens up long suppressed emotions and leads to the revelation of long hidden family secrets. After you’ve read the book, check out the film, featuring Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange.

Dog Star Cover
Did you savor the darkly beautiful poetic prose of Station Eleven? Check out The Dog Stars, by Peter Heller, for lovely passages that you’ll want to reread out loud for full effect. Like Station Eleven, part of the novel is set in an abandoned airport, and the narrator takes a journey in search of life. Sold!
Hig has survived a flu epidemic, but all of the people that he loved are gone. He lives in an abandoned airport with his blue heeler hound, Jasper, and his only human company is a gun nut who also lives in the airport. Hig sleeps under the stars and makes up constellations, reinventing the world that he’s lost. After he hears a voice through the radio of his plane, he follows his hope on a journey into the unknown, in search of a better life.

All the Light
Looking for another haunting, beautifully written award-winner that illuminates the innate goodness of humanity in alternating narrative perspectives? All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, has been hailed by critics as the work of a master, with striking metaphors and dazzling details that pull readers in and won’t let them go. This novel was a National Book Award Finalist and won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Doerr’s novel is set in France during the Nazi occupation of World War II. Marie-Laure Leblanc is a sightless girl from Paris who has fled to a walled citadel with her father to escape the Nazis. Werner Pfennig is an orphan who grew up in a German mining town, and earned a place at the Hitler Youth academy through his talent with building and fixing radios. In a narrative that moves back and forth from past to present, this novel explores the human struggle between war and life, truth and duty.

The Road
Want to read another award-winning post-apocalyptic work with a journey at the heart of the story? Reach for Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
In the grim world that remains after the fall, the man and his son are “each the other’s world entire.” They are the good guys, but the need to survive blurs the line between good and evil over and over. McCarthy’s use of language is striking and poetic, with passages that you’ll want to reread so that you can savor the words. The story is a dark vision, but it glimmers with hope. After you read the novel, check out the film.

Last night in montreal
Want to read another novel by author Emily St. John Mandel? Try her debut, Last Night in Montreal.
Lilia Albert doesn’t remember much about her early childhood, and she has traveled and changed names over and over throughout her life. It’s a habit that’s hard to break; she leaves people behind over and over. Then an abandoned lover follows her trail to Montreal, unable to let her go. The narrative alternates between the point of view of a private detective who has been tracking Lilia for years, the detective’s daughter, and Eli, so that readers unravel the mystery of Lilia’s life along with the characters. A powerful, haunting debut.

Scatter adapt and remember
How about some nonfiction about the survival of the human species after catastrophic events? Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans will Survive a Mass Extinction, by Annalee Newitz, tackles the topic with a firm foundation in science and history.
In Scatter, Adapt, and Remember, Newitz states that humanity is due for a catastrophic disaster that will greatly reduce the human population on Earth. It won’t be the first time. But this isn’t an entirely grim forecast, because humans are better prepared to survive a mass extinction than ever before. The book takes readers through the history of humanity’s narrow escapes, and gives explores ways that ingenuity and adaptability will carry us through the next disaster.

Voices from Chernobyl
Read a collection of accounts from people who survived one of the worst disasters in modern history in Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster, by Svetlana Alexievich.
In Voices from Chernobyl, Journalist Svetlana Alexievich shares the voices of the people who survived the worst nuclear disaster in history. On April 26, 1986, a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Ukraine, exploded. The disaster contaminated nearly three-quarters of Europe, and the clean-up involved 500,000 workers. Alexievich spoke to hundreds of people who were there, and presented their harrowing, honest accounts in this collection, which was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature.

Bill Bryson Shakespeare
In Station Eleven, people request that the Traveling Symphony perform the plays of Shakespeare more than anything else, to cling to what was best about the world that has been lost. Check out Bill Bryson’s very accessible biography of the Bard, Shakespeare: The World as Stage, to learn more about the playwright who has inspired artists, writers, and readers for hundreds of years.
There are many, many biographies of Shakespeare. So why should you read this one? Shakespeare: The World as Stage, is only 200 pages, because Bryson sticks to what is known of Shakespeare’s life, and resists speculating or drawing his own conclusions. It turns out that not much hard and fast information has survived, and Bryson presents pretty much all of it here, encapsulating the best of the life of the Bard in a highly readable volume.

Star Trek Voyager
In Station Eleven, the Traveling Symphony’s motto is a line from Star Trek: Voyager: “Survival is insufficient.” Check out the television series that inspired Mandel, and see how it moves you.
Star Trek: Voyager was the fifth Star Trek series, and ran for seven seasons. Kate Mulgrew stars as the first female captain featured as a main character in a Star Trek series. As the series begins, the USS Voyager is stranded on the far side of the galaxy. Throughout the run of the series, the crew must explore unknowns in a quest to return to humanity. Sound familiar?

Midsummer night's dream
Make it a movie night! In Station Eleven, one of the group’s favorite plays to perform is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Check out the 1999 film for a magical and enjoyable version of the story.
Michelle Pfeiffer and Kevin Kline star in this story of entangled love and misplaced attraction. Throw in mischievous forest fairies and feuding Faerie royalty for an enjoyable story of magic and love.

And you don’t have to stop there. After you read these titles, tell a librarian which ones you loved, and we’ll help you find even more. It’s one of our favorite things to do!

This reading (and viewing) list was created by TSCPL staffer Miranda. Check it out at http://tscpl.org/books-movies-music/i...

Here's what I thought about this book the first time I read it:

This tale of surviving the Pacific Crest Trail--and the self-destructive aspects of the author's own personality--held my interest well enough, though some fellow readers I know were put off by the personality of the author. Cheryl Strayed was a lost soul, if ever there was one, a lost soul who decided to "find herself" by taking off on a hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. With barely a plan, a guidebook, and an overloaded backpack filled with items from REI she sets off on a journey that turns out to involve skin rubbed raw, toenails falling off, unexpected detours, and brushes with predators--both animal and human.
The aspects of the book that I liked were learning about the Pacific Crest Trail and its natural wonders, seeing how Cheryl overcame the many difficulties she encountered (or forced upon herself), and reading about the other hikers and trail angels that she met along the way. The aspects I didn't like as much were Strayed's reflections upon her past and some of the incidents from it. It was just as much a story of her surviving despite her own self destructive tendencies as about her surviving the trail--however self destructive and self focused people are not always the most inspiring or appealing people to read about.

What are your first reads of 2016? Are there any books you're really excited about reading this year?

Right now I am listening to a book called Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper. I'm not sure about it yet, but I am wondering why Etta decided she needed to go sea the ocean and set off for it on foot.

I'm also reading Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington. I've never read this classic - it's high time I did!

Melanie wrote: "Is this books that were published this year or books you read this year? I usually don't read too many new books."

Books you read this year...I don't read many newly published books either. That reminds me, I need to look over my list of what I read in 2015 and pick my favorites!

Hello December is a busy month so you may not be reading much. So I thought instead of asking what you are reading I'd ask what your favorite reads of the (almost) past year have been.

Mine were Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas-- A detailed and comprehensive account of the life of a man with a brilliant mind and inspiring spirit. I also was blown away by A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker--An amazing and thought provoking depiction of an Arabian woman's life changing encounter with Yeshua.

How about you?

For those who like their trail narratives with a hefty dollop of introspection, Aspen Matis’s absorbing memoir Girl in the Woods is just the thing. Traumatized by a college rape and emotionally crippled by an overly-loving mother, the vulnerable 19-year-old decided that hiking the Pacific Crest Trail alone could be both healing and transformative. Strapping on her tiny lime-green backpack and calling herself “Wild Child,” Aspen began her 2,650 mile journey of empowerment.

Six million steps and countless mistakes later, a survivor of near hypothermia, dehydration, MRSA, and scary encounters with creepy men (alas, you’d think the wild and scenic PCT would bring out the best in people, and not their inner frat boy) Aspen emerged at the Canadian terminus whole, strong, and happy. From a passive young woman, distrustful of men and controlled by her mother, she learned to take control, be assertive, and just say no to both men and mom.

Her relationship with her mother is actually the most fascinating part of this memoir. Let’s face it, when someone confides that her mother physically dressed her until she was 16 and purchased 10 identical sweat suits for her to wear in the first grade, you want to lean in and say, “forget the hike, sister, let’s hear more about your mom!” Readers may want to pick up Dan White’s The Cactus Eaters for a more vicarious experience of the PCT (sorry, Wild fans, I just couldn’t get into Cheryl Strayed’s memoir), but those wanting an honest and intimate account of a young woman facing her fears and discovering her own strength have come to the right book.

Review written by TSCPL staff member Julie, posted at http://tscpl.org/books-movies-music/h...

Right now I'm listening to The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory and getting kind of obsessed with the War of the Roses. How do the British ever keep all of that history straight?
I'm also reading The Round House by Louise Erdich which we will be discussing in the So Many Books discussion group. I'm enjoying the main story, but I was also pleasantly surprised by all the references to Star Trek The Next Generation. Erdich certainly has done a good job of depicting this time period as experienced by a group of 13 year old boys.

At first it was thrilling to watch the gigantic swells transform the normally placid waters on the Galveston shore; it was novel and exciting to see the brown, sandy water running through the flat city streets. Red-and-black storm-warning flags snapped briskly in the northerly breeze but most Galvestonians felt only relief that the still, hot weather of early September 1900 had finally broken. Only a few people knew, or suspected, that the high swells, the rising water, the north wind portended a deadly hurricane that was aiming directly for Galveston Island.

Storm of the CenturyThere was no escape for the citizens of Galveston. Long before the full force of the hurricane struck in the evening of September 8, the rail and wagon bridges were already wrecked, phone and telegraph lines were already blown down, and “high ground” – a mere 8 feet above sea level – provided no safety as the rapidly rising water swamped the city streets. Houses built to withstand floods were as vulnerable against the shrieking wind and water as the flimsiest beach shack. Terrified islanders gathered in attics, singing, praying, dreading the moment when the walls of their refuge would be swept out to sea.

As dawn broke the next day, corpses floated in the bay, littered the beaches, rotted in the wreckage of the storm that almost completely destroyed Galveston. As many as 10,000 lost their lives making the Great Gulf Hurricane of 1900 the deadliest natural disaster in American history.

The tragic story of the Galveston hurricane has already been memorably told in Erik Larsen’s excellent Isaac’s Storm, and I had my doubts that Al Roker, beloved television personality and weather forecaster, could cover the same material in a meaningful way. But Roker brings his own gifts: Storm of the Century is a fast-paced, accessible popular history that excels at bringing the reader into the attics of the poor, terrified people waiting for their doom.

Review by TSCPL staff member Julie Nelson, posted at http://tscpl.org/books-movies-music/s...

Kelly wrote: "Currently reading The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared. The title pretty much sums up what the book is about! Pretty good so far!"

That is an intriguing title!

I just started The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. I love history so I can already tell I'm going to enjoy this look at the Dust Bowl Era. Already I can hardly believe some of the descriptions of how devastating the storms were.

I just finished listening to "Into the Darkest Corner" by Elizabeth Haynes. I was in suspense for days and spent several extra minutes in my car as I just had to hear what happened next, so I'd say it's definitely a good suspense/thriller pick. I has some rather harsh scenes of domestic abuse/rape (well warranted to support the plot line) so do be aware of that if you'd like to give it a try.
I just started listening to In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner and so far I'm enjoying being transported to Cambodia as I listen to it.
I'm in the middle of reading Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxes. I'm learning many things about Germany and the World War II period that I never knew before and I'm finding it all quite fascinating.

Tighten your corset. Slop out your chamber pot. Your life as a Victorian is about to begin. In her delightful and revealing book How to Be a Victorian, British social historian Ruth Goodman guides you through Victorian life from the moment chilled feet touched the rag rug in the morning until the sheep’s gut condom was tied on at night. In exhaustive, but never boring detail, the everyday lives of the British upper and lower classes during the roughly 60 years of the Victorian era unfold as Goodman describes Victorian hygiene, grooming, food, clothing, medicine, and so much more.

What makes this book particularly charming is Goodman’s offhand remarks that she’s worn a corset for months, or that she recommends soot for tooth powder, or that she’s, yes, actually made sheep’s gut condoms. Halfway through the book I started wondering why in the world this woman was wearing a corset and using a smelly early-model Victorian toilet. It turns out that Ruth Goodman hasn’t just studied the subject but truly lived the Victorian life in such BBC shows as Victorian Farm and Victorian Pharmacy. So you can believe her when she confides that wool is actually an excellent fabric for a bathing suit or that doing the laundry Victorian-style was enough to drive any woman to drink. Goodman’s intimate details not only lend credibility to an already fascinating topic but also bring the Victorian world to life for twenty-first century readers.

-Review by library staff member Julie Nelson, posted at http://tscpl.org/books-movies-music/v...

Two sisters and a horrific secret are the core around which this story revolves. One sister, Allison, has just been released from prison. She hopes to reconnect with the other sister, Brynn. However Brynn just wants to forget Allison and what happened between them 5 years ago. Allison's persistence, and the presence of a little boy who may hold the key to what really happened, move the story along as it is told from multiple points of view.
There is a lot of suspense to this novel, as it is one where secrets are gradually revealed. I could empathize with all of the women who faced such tough circumstances and were trying to survive. The ending took a turn that I thought was kind of bizarre though. A good pick if you complicated family dramas with a lot of interpersonal drama and suspense. Book clubs should enjoy discussing it as well.

September is here! What are you reading as we make the transition from summer to fall?

Wow, I didn't know KU had a book of the year, that's cool! I've heard good things about that book, might be one to consider reading with our book club.

It was the ultimate road trip. When writer Rinker Buck discovered that it was still possible for someone to follow almost the exact route the pioneers traveled on the Oregon Trail he heard the siren call of the West and longed to take his own two thousand mile journey from St. Joe, Missouri to Farewell Bend, Oregon. And oh yes, he wanted to do it in a covered wagon. Sure it was a “crazyass” idea to become a modern-day pioneer, especially without any motorized support, but a wagon trip would allow him to see, and savor, America slowly and experience trail life as the pioneers did. So with a restored wagon, his kind-hearted, salty-tongued, Jack of all Trades brother, three mules, a dog named Olive Oyl, innumerable cans of chili and an American flag he set out on a trip of a lifetime.

It didn’t take long for Rinker to experience the same rigors and challenges of the emigrants: there were terrifying storms, wagon breakdowns, the constant worry of the mules acting up or running away, long days with little water, and the very real danger of being lulled to sleep from the heat and the soporific clip-clop of the mules hooves — a snooze that could quickly turn deadly if one fell off the wagon. There were also obstacles the pioneers never dreamed of such as RVers in Kansas (“road geriatrics” Rinker snidely calls them), interstate highways, and miles and miles of fences. But no obstacles could diminish the stunning scenery, the adrenaline rush of the journey, and the heartwarming hospitality of so many people he met on the way.

This wonderfully entertaining travelogue also has a good dose of fascinating history. From spunky missionary Narcissa Whitman to the Mormon handcart disaster, Rinker Buck enlightens readers about this important migration in American history and uses snippets of trail diaries to enrich his narrative. Lively and opinionated, Rinker Buck’s The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey is an enjoyable read for both history and travel fans.

Review by Julie Nelson, posted at http://tscpl.org/books-movies-music/o...

Time to chime in with what you are reading this month!

At the moment my newest read is Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
I have been wanting to read this for a long time and it is well worth my time. Bonhoeffer lead an extraordinary life during momentous times.

A monstrous mile-wide tornado with shrieking winds over 210 mph grinded its way through Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013. In the path of the deadly twister were homes and businesses and schools, schools filled with terrified small children and no underground shelters to keep them safe. Fourteen years earlier a deadly F5 tornado demolished parts of the town, a town so unlucky to be known as “tornado alley in tornado alley”, but this time could be even worse.

News correspondent Holly Bailey, an Oklahoma native, tells the story of this tornado in The Mercy of the Sky. Weather geeks and armchair storm chasers will be caught up in the science of tornado prediction including a surprisingly interesting digression on the weather wars at the local news stations, but the real heart of the story lies in the personal stories of the residents of Moore.

Bailey sets the clock ticking at 4 am on May 20 when Gary England, a rock star local meteorologist (a blog once rated him the most powerful person in Oklahoma – beating out Jesus), steps outside and instantly realizes that the feel of the warm, moist air portends disaster. As the hours ominously pass the reader is introduced to all manner of people, from the city manager to a farm worker, but most of all to staff members at two local elementary schools, schools that were directly in the path of the monster.

In fact the most powerful and affecting scenes take place in these two schools: the rising terror of both staff and students, the desperate attempts to find better shelter than the hallways, the panicked cries of “it’s coming!” all put a jolt of real dread in the reader. If you ever doubted that teachers are heroes the indelible image of courageous teachers shielding their students with their own bodies, taking the brunt of the debris, will surely change your mind.

-Review by TSCPL staff member Julie Nelson, posted at http://tscpl.org/books-movies-music/i...

Cool idea Melanie! I know so little about most of the presidents, what a great way to expand your knowledge.

Here are some more suggestions from our website:

http://tscpl.org/books-movies-music/r...