Union County Library discussion
What I'm Reading Now
An Irish Country Girl – Patrick Taylor – 3***
On Christmas Eve, Mrs Kinky Kincaid, Dr O’Reilly’s unflappable housekeeper, welcomes a group of young carolers into the doctor’s house to warm up. While they enjoy a hot drink, Mrs Kincaid tells them a tale of her girlhood, and how she found her gift of “sight.” Taylor has written a very atmospheric book. I could practically feel the cold of a snowy day, smell the smoke of a welcoming fire, and hear the banshee’s wails or the eerie sounds of bagpipes.
LINK to my full review
Rules Of Prey – John Sandford – 4****
There’s a serial killer on the loose in the Twin Cities. This is the first book in the Lucas Davenport series. He’s a lieutenant with the Minneapolis Police, and also a creator of computer games which have made him very wealthy. The “maddog” may be a very smart killer, but Davenport is smarter. Sandford is really skilled at writing a taut, suspenseful, psychological thriller. We always know the identity of the killer, so it’s not a typical mystery. But, boy oh boy, is this an exciting ride!
LINK to my full review
The Opposite House – Helen Oyeyemi – 2.5*
I appreciated many of the passages of Oyeyemi’s writing, but the book as a whole didn’t really work for me. The story meandered too much for me to keep track of what was happening; I found myself re-reading sections to get a grasp on it. I am usually a fan of magical realism, but in this case the other-worldly aspect of much of the magical realism simply confused me.
LINK to my full review
A couple of middle-grade / YA books:
Echo Mountain – Lauren Wolk – 3.5***
Set during the Great Depression, Wolk’s novel shows the effects on one family when they lose their home in town and are forced to start over in a cabin on Echo Mountain. This is a lovely adventure story, focused on family, prejudice and discovery. Ellie is a great character – brave, tender, intelligent, resilient, eager to learn, open to new possibilities, and determined.
LINK to my full review
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Better Nate Than Ever – Tim Federle – 3.5***
This was a wonderful coming-of-age story with a great big heart. Nate is a great kid – funny, intelligent, resourceful, brave. He has a chance at his dream, and he is going to go after it with all he’s got. The scenes are sometimes tender and sometimes a bit frightening, but there is also plenty of humor, and a sense of hope. Nate is so easy to cheer for. The book ends on a cliffhanger, setting up a sequel. Normally, I hate this device, but it was really the perfect ending for the book.
LINK to my full review
All Aboard the Schooltrain – Glenda Armand – 4****
This picture book tells an important story of America’s 20th century history, when many Black families left the Southern states in response to restrictions imposed by Jim Crow laws and sought greater opportunity in the North, Midwest or West. Armand took inspiration from her mother’s own experiences growing up in, and later, leaving, Louisiana. Keisha Morris’s illustrations use vibrant colors. I loved the facial expressions; there was such joy and obvious love in this family!
LINK to my full review
Finding Nouf – Zoë Ferraris – 4****
This was a wonderful debut psychological thriller. I particularly appreciated the setting in Saudi Arabia, and the use of a female lab technician who has some decidedly “modern” sensibilities. While the central murder bears investigation, the push-pull partnership between Katya and devoutly Muslim desert guide, Nayir, is what really keeps the book interesting.
LINK to my full review
Just picked up The Woman in Me by Britney Spears (UC library waitlist coming through!) so that’ll take precedence over I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy. Obviously I’m in a female celebrity autobiography spiral. Also reading How to Murder Your Employer from Rupert Holmes.
Push – Sapphire – 5*****
Precious Jones is a young pregnant black teenager, who is functionally illiterate and the product of an abusive home. But Precious has a fierce determination to care for the baby growing inside her and to better her life. The issues raised are horrific and difficult to read about and process. Brava to Sapphire for highlighting the plight of young people such as her protagonist. The writing is raw and brutal; the story is gripping and inspiring. My heart broke for Precious, even as I cheered her on.
LINK to my full review
The Checklist Manifesto – Atul Gawande – 4****
Subtitle: How to Get Things Right. Gawande became well-known for his original book of essays Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science , in which he outlined some of the difficulties faced by modern-day surgeons. In this book he explains how a tool used in many industries to ensure that complex procedures are carried out in a “best practices” way consistently might be (and has been) applied to the complexities of modern medicine. It’s interesting but lacks the personal impact of Being Mortal .
LINK to my full review
Before the Ever After – Jacqueline Woodson – 4****
I love poetry and try to get at least one poetry read in April each year. This novel is verse is suitable for middle-school-aged children but deals with a serious issue – brain injury resulting from multiple concussions while participating in contact sports. I am in awe at how much information Woodson can convey in so few words. The poetry format allows the author to get straight to the emotion of the situation. But make no mistake, she paints some vivid pictures and fully realized characters.
LINK to my full review
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We can't wait to hear what you think of both books!
The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman – 4****
Four septuagenarian residents of a luxury retirement community form the Thursday Murder Club. Gosh but I loved this! It was NOT “cute” … the four friends are absolutely serious about this investigation, but they each have issues, and secrets, that impact their work. In addition to the four friends, there are some twenty other characters with significant contributions to the total novel. Osman gave us some thrilling scenes, as well as scenes of great tenderness, and some humor to lighten the mood every once in a while. A complete delight of a book!
LINK to my full review
No Land To Light On – Yara Zgheib – 4****
A young Syrian couple, expecting their first baby, is separated by the randomness of political decisions made by others. This hit close to home for me, as I know a couple in a similar situation. I am so sorry I had to miss my F2F book club discussion! This is a book that made me think, and I’ll be pondering it for some time.
LINK to my full review
The Painted Drum – Louise Erdrich – 3.5***
The significance of a particular, rare, drum is revealed in the novel. From the woman who discovers it in a dusty attic, to the current-day residents of the Ojibwe reservation, to the now-deceased grandfather who originally fashioned the drum, Erdrich gives us a story full of tradition, loss and love. I could have done without Faye’s storyline, however.
LINK to my full review
Murder In the Sentier – Cara Black – 3***
Book number three in the Aimée LeDuc Investigations mystery series. This time it’s personal, as Aimée tries to find out about her mother, an alleged former terrorist who served time in prison. I like Aimée as a lead character. I like that she is intelligent, independent, resilient, strong, and more than capable when it comes to defending herself. But I was not a great fan of this storyline.
LINK to my full review
Rilla Of Ingleside – L M Montgomery – 4****
Book eight in the “Anne of Green Gables” series focuses on Anne’s youngest child. Rilla is fifteen, starting to get interested in boys and dances, but needing to worry about her brothers and friends now that World War I has started. There are young women today, going through many of the issues that Rilla experiences: first love, worry about a brother sent to fight overseas, grief over friends or relatives who’ve died too young. I love how Rilla rises to the challenges imposed by the war; I see a lot of the young Anne in Rilla.
LINK to my full review
Boundary Waters – William Kent Krueger – 3***
This is book two in the series and I’m really enjoying getting to know Cork O’Connor, his family and his community. A woman is missing in the North Woods, and Cork is in a race against time, weather, the FBI, and mobsters to find her first. I really appreciate how Krueger writes about the North Woods. The landscape is practically a character – so vibrant and alive and sometimes menacing.
LINK to my full review
Back Of Beyond – C J Box – 3.5***
This is the first book in a new series by C J Box. Cody Hoyt is an alcoholic and a former big-city cop who is barely hanging on to his job as an investigator with the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Department. This is a fast-paced thriller with some twists and turns I didn’t see coming. Box moves back and forth from the perspective of Cody and his partner, Larry, to the perspective of the people on the “back of beyond” tour in Yellowstone National Park. I particularly liked the way Box wrote Gracie Sullivan; she’s a smart girl, a keen observer, and quick-thinking.
LINK to my full review
I finished Moon of the Turning Leaves
. 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...An excellent sequel to
.Moon of the Crusted Snow
When Dimple Met Rishi – Sandhya Menon – 3***
This is a cute YA romcom featuring two young Indian-American students who are trying to keep their parents happy while pursuing their own dreams. Things get off to a rocky start, but their friendship slowly builds to something more … or does it? Told in alternating viewpoints, Menon gives the reader a satisfying and balanced romance.
LINK to my full review
When Two Feathers Fell From the Sky – Margaret Verble – 3.5***
1920s Tennessee is the setting for this novel. What interesting characters! Verble weaves through elements of history not often covered in school from ancient bison tracks, to the forced expulsion of the Cherokee (Trail of Tears) to Jim Crow. She deftly incorporates magical realism, especially by using the ghost of Little Elk, a long-deceased warrior who longs to communicate with Two Feathers. I was captivated by this unique story.
LINK to my full review
Was in the mood (a bit early) for some holiday reading ...
Yule Be Dead – Lorraine Bartlett with Gayle Leeson – 2**
Book number five in the Victoria Square cozy mystery series. Usually in a cozy you have an amateur sleuth who is somehow implicated, and therefore feels compelled to investigate despite repeated warnings from the police to stay out of it. Here, I have no idea why Katie feels compelled to stick her nose into the mess. Also, not at all interested in the “crafty artisans” of Katie’s business. Art made from dryer lint? Really? Not likely to continue this series. I like the author’s Booktown Mysteries (written under pen name Lorna Barrett) better.
LINK to my full review
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane – Lisa See – 4****
This work of historical fiction focuses on the indigenous Akha people who make their living harvesting tea in the mountains near the borders with Laos and Myanmar. Li-yan is a young girl who follows her family tradition, but dreams of more. Lisa See has crafted a marvelous story of perseverance, cultural difference, and the enduring bonds of the mother-daughter relationship!
LINK to my full review
Nemesis – Agatha Christie – 3***
Miss Marple is up to her usual tricks. She is a keen observer and an astute judge of character. She fully understands that people underestimate her – or even completely ignore her. She is only an old woman, after all. HA!
LINK to my full review
Shadow Prey – John Sandford – 2.5**
Book number two in the Lucas Davenport series went a bit off the rails. Sandford wanted to include a social justice message, and the result was a disappointment. The message wasn’t all that clear or informative; the thriller plot was frequently derails by the message. Not his best effort.
LINK to my full review
The Innocent – Harlan Coben – 3.5***
Matt Hunter’s an ex-con working as a paralegal and making a go of it. He always maintained that the fight that led to his conviction for murder was really self-defense. Now a puzzling set of occurrences have the police suspecting Matt of another murder (or two). Coben knows how to craft a fast-paced thriller that kept me turning pages, though I nearly gave up in the first third, the plot was too convoluted. And I hated Matt’s wife, Olivia.
LINK to my full review
Across the River and Into the Trees – Ernest Hemingway – 3***
I’ve been a fan of Hemingway’s since I first read The Old Man and the Sea when I was about thirteen. This isn’t his best-known work, and I read it only to fulfill a challenge to read a book that was a bestseller the year I was born. Still, there is something about his writing that captures my attention. The short declarative sentences make the work immediate and bring this reader right into the story. But the older I get the more I’m disturbed by the way the women are portrayed … or more accurately, but the way Hemmingway writes the male/female relationships. Well, it fulfilled several reading challenges.
LINK to my full review
The Edge of the Earth – Christina Schwarz – 4****
The book jacket synopsis hints at danger in a remote location, not just from the elements but an unexpected presence hiding in the wilderness. But this is so much more than a thriller based on isolation and the fear of the unknown. Trudy is a wonderful character, but the character that most surprised me was Euphemia (Mrs. Crawley). While I saw the critical scene coming a mile off, I still enjoyed reading it and seeing how Schwarz would craft this denouement.
LINK to my full review
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong – 3.5***
A young Vietnamese man, now living in America, writes a letter to his mother who cannot read. Vuong uses a nonlinear storyline but weaves an intricate tapestry from Vietnam to Connecticut, incorporating his thoughts on war, racism, drugs, love, and culture. The author is a poet and this novel has the ethereal feel of poetry, with some passages so beautiful as to take my breath away, and others so raw with pain as to make me wince, even cringe.
LINK to my full review
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On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
– Ocean Vuong – 3.5***
A young Vietnamese man, now living in America, writes a letter to his mother who can..."
I (Betsy) felt the same way about this book - I gasped,, I cringed, I even cried. But it was so beautiful!
Infinite Country – Patricia Engle – 4****
Engle has crafted a story of immigration and emigration, of oppression and prejudice, of hopes and dreams, and of the bonds of family. The storyline moves back and forth in time from current-day adolescent Talia, to her young parents’ first meeting and falling in love, to their struggles in the USA, and how Talia, a US born citizen, wound up in Columbia with her father rather than in New Jersey with her mother and two siblings. We see the sacrifices made by parents for the sake of their children, but also the hurt and feelings of abandonment suffered by the children separated from a parent.
LINK to my full review
The Devil’s Highway – Luis Alberto Urrea – 5*****
In May 2001, twenty-six men tried to cross into the USA from Mexico along a stretch of desert known as “The Devil’s Highway.” Only twelve made it out alive. This was a horrifying episode and Urrea’s reporting of it in this book earned a nomination for a Pullitzer. He handles the details of the journey with competing emotions: hope, outrage, compassion, frustration, despair. He is honest about what happened and fair when reporting both the positions of “The 26” and of the Border Patrol agents.
LINK to my full review
I read The Women
. A well written story of the military nurses in Vietnam. 4.5 stars rounded up. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Solito – Javier Zamora – 5***** and a ❤
This is a memoir of the author’s own harrowing journey from El Salvador to the USA when he was only nine years old. He started out with joy and excitement, anticipating a couple of weeks of adventure ending in a reunion with his parents. But the reality was a months-long feat of endurance, deprivation and courage.
LINK to my full review
American Dirt – Jennine Cummins – 4****
Lydia runs a bookstore in Acapulco. When her journalist husband publishes a profile of the head of the local drug cartel, their family is in the crosshairs. Lydia has to flee with her son, and there is no one she can truly trust. This is a gripping story. Lydia is an intelligent woman, but she is not equipped with the street smarts for this journey. Luck and the kindness of a few strangers, plus her basic privilege (as a white, middle-class, educated woman with money in the bank), all serve her well. It was a gripping read, but I have some issues with the book.
LINK to my full review
Time Was Soft There – Jeremy Mercer – 3***
Several bad decision derailed Mercer’s journalism career in Canada, so he ran to Paris, where he stumbled upon Shakespeare & Co on a rainy afternoon and wound up being offered a bed in one of the many rooms of this crowded book shop. I found this very entertaining. I loved reading about his adventures scrounging for the cheapest food, picnics with friends along the Seine, the joys of free museums, and the eccentric residents of the shop, not least of which was the owner.
LINK to my full review
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams – 3.5***
”Some words are more important than others – I learned this, growing up in the Scriptorium. But it took me a long time to understand why.” Esme is a wonderful character, maturing from an innocent child to curious adolescent to determined young woman. And living at a time when the Women’s Suffrage Movement was very active in England, and World War I was looming. I like the way that Williams puts the focus on the “missing women” in history. She’s far from strident, but she is insistent and caused this reader to think about all the missing women is “HIS”tory.
LINK to my full review
Candy Cane Murder – Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine and Leslie Meier – 2.5***
Three short novels make up this anthology. Candy Cane Murder (Fluke), The Dangers of Candy Canes (Levine) and Candy Canes of Christmas Past (Meier).
The first is a typical Hannah Swenson cookie cozy. I didn’t like the second at all. The last was light on the mystery but still a charming holiday tale.
LINK to my full review
Her Christmas Cowboy – Jessica Clare – 3***
Caleb is painfully shy around women, and not all that open even around his brothers. But the moment he saw new local school teacher Amy, he knew she was the woman for him. Of course, there’s at least one jerk in the picture, and Amy, recovering from a bad divorce, is vulnerable. But Caleb is just so sweet and considerate and it’s inevitable that they’ll get together and the sex will be incredible for both of them. Well, what did you expect? It’s a Christmas Cowboy Romance … capital ‘C’ and capital ‘R’. Fun to read and a great escape.
LINK to my full review
The Haunting Season – Bridget Collins, et al – 3.5***
Subtitle: Eight Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights. I enjoy short stories. I marvel at how much a talented author can cram into them. No wasted words. No over-the-top exposition. No cast of thousands. In this case they are, as the title hints, “haunting” tales featuring ghosts, monsters, witches, and evil spirits. All are set during winter months, with several being set around Christmas. But there is no holiday cheer here. They are Spooky with a capital ‘S’!
LINK to my full review
Once Upon a December – Amy E Reichert – 3***
This is a delightful holiday rom-com set in a magical Julemarked in Milwaukee (my home town). Besides the wonderful fairytale at the heart of this story, I really enjoyed all the references to my city. Reichert is something of a foodie and an unabashed Milwaukee booster, so it’s no surprise that she takes her readers on a little culinary tour of Milwaukee. Good think I was out of state when reading it, or I would’ve been venturing forth to sample all those goodies she mentioned.
LINK to my full review
Aunty Lee’s Delights – Ovidia Yu – 2.5**
I had hopes for this first in a new cozy mystery series. I’ve visited Singapore and love the cuisine. And I love cozy mysteries with fun amateur sleuths. But this one just fell flat for me. I thought Yu was trying too hard to craft a complicated mystery and NOT doing enough to endear Aunty Lee and her trusty sidekick/maid, Nina, to the reader.
LINK to my full review
I read The Book of Fire
. Beautifully written , heartbreaking and realistic. 5 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Union County Library
Books mentioned in this topic
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness (other topics)The Legend of the Bluebonnet: An Old Tale of Texas (other topics)
The Lost Book of First Loves (other topics)
The Stand (other topics)
The Maid's Secret (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
S.K. Waters (other topics)Amanda Cassidy (other topics)
Emily St. John Mandel (other topics)
Red Knife – William Kent Krueger – 3.5***
This is book # 8 in the Cork O’Connor series. Cork is a marvelous central character, and I also like Sheriff Dross, a woman Cork originally hired back when HE was the sheriff. The plot deals with vigilantism, gun control, disaffected teens, drug cartels and family dynamics. Krueger writes a fast-paced, intricate mystery with plenty of suspects, and enough twists and turns to keep even the most diligent reader guessing.
LINK to my full review