Fiction
Nonfiction
Molly Wizenberg, creator of the popular blog, Orangette, has written an intriguing story of her life centered around the kitchen. No chapter is longer than 5 pages, followed by a recipe or two around which that chapter is written. I want to try them all - from Burg's (her father) Potato Salad to Fresh ginger cake with caramelized pears. I'm inclined to purchase this book .... for the recipes alone!
This book first interested me because the author's husband is still active duty Army, stationed here in Colorado Springs. The sub-title is "Irrevernt confessions of an Infantry wife." I wondered how she could get away with writing such a book, since military dependants are advised that anything said or done could reflect adversely on their sponsor's career. And yet, she writes candidly and humorously. I admired her insistence that she is an "Army brat," who grew up to become an "Army wife," not a "military spouse." The language gets rough in some chapters, but, as an "Air Force wife" myself, I had to keep reading, to see what she said next. Of course, all names have been changed to protect "the innocent, the not-so-innocent, and those who remain in The Fight." Ranger on!
This was a book club book. It wouldn't have been on my radar otherwise. That's what I love about my book club, I often get to read good books I would otherwise miss. Which makes me think of how many other great books there are out there that I'll never get the chance to read. Anyways, this book was very good. I definitely recommend it. It takes place in Denmark and Lithuania so I was a bit confused on the geographical aspect, but that's my fault, not the book's. The author crafts an engaging storyline with well defined characters. This book is translated, so I bet it's even better in the original language, read by someone who knows the culture and geography.
I laughed out loud a few times, so there's that. Sagat's dirty, of course, but he also has heart. It took me a little while to get into his mindset, but once I was there I thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend listening on audio because he reads it, which is great.
That something so important could come out of the holocaust is amazing. I can imagine Dr. Frankl studying and analyzing the psychology of survival in his head while a prisoner, and then finally writing and publishing his greatest achievement. Logotherapy is a sound explanation on the meaning of life. Great book.
A kitten delivered to a family after a horrible tragedy helps them heal in ways they never would have imagined. The beginning is very sad and yet Cleo is such a wonderful addition to the family. The middle of the story sagged a bit for me, but then picked up at the end. Reminiscent of a feline Marley & Me.
Very fun book about an unemployed father determined to keep his daughter's belief in Santa Claus alive. Through an increasingly complex (and expensive) scheme, we encounter wannabe directors, incontinent reindeer, and just a touch of magic. If you like zany but heartfelt holiday stories, pick this one up!
Thirteen-year-old Jenna Metcalf has lived with her grandmother, after her mother disappeared and her father is sent to a psychiatric ward a decade ago when a caretaker at their elephant sanctuary is trampled. Jenna keeps searching online and reading her mother's old journals in search of answers. Desperate, she turns to Serenity Jones, a psychic who had success in the past finding missing persons, and to Virgil Stanhope, a drunken private detective who had originally investigated Jenna's mother's disappearance. The ending caught me completely off guard. A great read!
I think what made this book so amazing to me was my originally misconceptions about it. All I knew about it was that it was "creepy and disturbing", and looking down at the plain orange and black cover with a not-very-interesting name, I thought, "Oh well, I have little to expect out of this book." I then realized that the characters had more personality than expected and that the storyline was, yes, disturbing in many aspects, but very compelling. It is a very philosophical book that is thought-provoking in every chapter. I will not spoil any of this wonderful book as I hope that you will read it yourself! It changed my life and is my favorite book! Audiences recommended are older teen to adult. The themes in this book are not suitable for those younger than high school, and it would be confusing and not as meaningful for those who are younger. Despite this, it is a moving and powerful story about the struggle of identity in man, and I highly recommend it to all in the range of the intended audience.
Serafina's Stories shares the folklore of the southwest through the story telling template of Scheherazade's One Thousand and One Nights. Rudolfo Anaya focuses on the time of the Pueblo revolt against the Spanish Conquistadores. The captured Serafina weaves tales from both Pueblo and Spanish tradition that illuminate the similarites and differences of the peoples struggling to coexist in the same land.
Set during World War II in France and Germany, this beautifully written novel tells story of a young blind French girl named Marie-Laure and a young German boy named Werner, whose paths cross only briefly in the story. For a time, we are caught up in the lives of these two sympathetic characters and the lives of those around them, caught up, like them, in the war itself.
Normally I don't read fantasy, but a book store owner and PPLD patron recommend A Discovery of Witches to me. I loved it and the other 2 in the trilogy. Although it has vampires, witches and demons, it isn't the usual blood-sucker massacre. Without giving away the plot, witches, vampires and demons are all looking for The Book of Life to discover what in their genetic makeup makes them different from humans. It is very well written. It's an adult book, but older teens would like it, too.
AMAZING book. They say "never judge a book by its cover" but that's exactly what I did. I randomly selected this book based on the cover and it did not disappoint. It has been a long time since I have read a book that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. A great psychological thriller with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. I finished the book in one day! Since then, it has been brought to life on the big screen and is currently playing in theaters. I have not gone to watch the film yet, but it has also gotten great reviews. Of course, read the book first and then go see the movie.
I am embarrassed to admit that I had not heard of this book, expedition, or the theory behind it all, but I am glad I corrected that. Basically, Norwegian anthropologist/botonist/zoologist/other-titles-ending-in-ists Thor Heyerdahl, after living in Polynesia conducting graduate level research, hypothesized that the islands were populated by Peruvians from traveling from the east -- and not from peoples of Asia, which was the widely-accepted belief. The main argument against Heyerdahl's theory was that ancient Peruvians did not have boats -- they had balsa wood rafts. It was not believed that rafts could make a journey of that magnitude. To prove his theory, Heyerdahl built a craft using materials exactly like the ancient Peruvians (no metal -- nails. wire,etc) and set off on the 4000 mile journey with 5 other explorers and a parrot. It was so exciting -- read like a novel more than a nonfiction memoir. The only thing preventing me from giving it 5 stars is that I thought it was a bit "too happy." I am sure these men suffered on this journey (sunburn, salt sores, homesick, hunger, tired of being trapped on a small raft for 100 days, etc...) yet other than a brief mention of someone getting seasick, it sounded more like a summer camp experience. Still, I really liked it!
Strayed's memoir of her hike from California to Oregon on the Pacific Coast Trail reads like a novel. She opens with a scene more than midway through the book and leaves the reader wondering how she'll overcome such a major obstacle, but that's pretty much how the whole book reads. Her younger self is unprepared for such a grueling hike, and makes mistakes and misjudgments the entire way, but that makes you root for her to make it (and makes you worry that something bad will happen before she does). She's a flawed character, struggling and imperfect, which makes the internal journey as fraught and interesting as the hike.
This is a great book for readers who enjoy biography and memoir, but fiction readers who enjoy stories of strong women in challenging situations will be drawn to the character. It is well-written by someone who knows how to draw the reader into their world.
Honestly, only read this book if you really really really like books about mountaineering and/or Mt. Everest and absolutely need to read his book because of who the author is. The first few pages are interesting as Beck tells about his extremely near death perspective, and then the rest of the book is filler about how he got into mountaineering and the toll it took on his marriage, with some at the end about after Everest. I was hoping for more story about his experience on the mountain and what it took to recover from it.
And to be honest, I don't much care for Beck as a person. Several sections throughout the book have made me stop and go "WHAT?!?," such as a comment about how Anatoli acted inappropriately as a guide during the 1996 storm that Beck almost died in, even though at the time the book was written, this was shown to be inaccurate information. He also doesn't seem to be particularly apologetic for everything he put his family through while he was pursuing his obsessions all around the world for most of his life.
So, in summary: it may be interesting for diehard Everest/mountaineering fans, probably will be terribly boring for everyone else
A lovely interwoven tapestry of human grief and reconciliation, this novel has a mystical lining and wonderful characters that capture the heart and the imagination. It is finely written, with well defined voices threaded together across time and circumstance.
A great read for those interested in Mt. Everest. While "Into Thin Air" is the classic book about the deadly 1996 climbing season on Mt. Everest, there are some factual inaccuracies that Jon Krakauer neglected to correct. In "The Climb," Anatoli Boukreev tells the story of the deadly storm from his perspective, correcting some mistaken views of his actions during the climb. With the recent deaths and rising controversy about guided tours on Everest, "The Climb" provides a unique perspective on the topic.
After reading all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, I decided to try another series by Charlaine Harris. Real Murders is the first book in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries and I am hooked. The writing is fun to read and easy to get involved in. Harris has a way of creating characters that come to life on the pages. I would recommend this for anyone who just wants an enjoyable read.
I would say I have a pretty large fascination/genuine interest in prison, the criminal justice system, and prison culture and I sincerely enjoyed reading Piper Kerman's book from cover to cover. Not only does she provide a detailed account of her experience in a federal women's prison, but she does so without catering exclusively to the gritty details and instead offers an in-depth experience for the reader.
Instead of feeling like you're reading a tragic soap opera of events, I finished this book feeling thoughtful and more than a little sad about America's prison system. One can't help but wonder about those still incarcerated, especially in the federal prison system, and wonder what we are really doing by warehousing humans the way we do.
While Piper doesn't attempt to guide the book into long diatribes against our prisons, she does make some very meaningful observations such as this one:
"Great institutions have leaders who are proud of what they do, and who engage with everyone who makes up those institutions, so each person understands their role. But our jailers are generally granted near-total anonymity, like the cartoon executioner who wears a hood to conceal his identity. What is the point, what is the reason, to lock people away for years, when it seems to mean so very little, even to the jailers who hold the key? How can a prisoner understand their punishment to have been worthwhile to anyone, when it's dealt in a way so offhand and indifferent?"
I hope this book can be more than a tastefully offensive miniseries and maybe a watershed to actual change.