Library Land

Getting ready for the New Year

2011-12-26T22:28:00.002-05:00

I am looking to the New Year here at the Tipp City Public Library. Our staff of two adult service librarians, Carolyn Rector and Sue Hofer are trying their best to bring new programs to the Tipp City Library. Sue Hofer offers a Mystery Book Discussion on the second Monday evening of the month at 7 pm. For January their first meeting will be on January 9th. The book under discussion will be A Grave Denied by Dana Stabenow. This novel is from the series on Kate Shugak, an Aleut who live on a National Park in Alaska. Beginning with the novel, A Cold Day for Murder, the series now has eighteen novels in the series, with number nineteen, Restless in the Grave coming out in February 2012. If you are interested in joining the discussion pick up the book at the front desk of the library. Carolyn Rector will lead the discussion of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, in the Classic Book Discussion group that meets on the second Thursday, January 12th of the month at 1 pm. Moving away from the Big Read novels of the National Endowment of the Arts, discussion will be about Pip and Estelle and Miss Havisham. Largely autobiographical, this is one of Charles Dickens most famous novels. Discussion questions can be found on Lit Lovers: a Well-Read Online Community. Most of us have read this novel in school, or at least an abridged version, but what will this coming-of-age- story hold for the more mature reader. Continuing with our book discussion groups, Carolyn also hosts the Book Lovers Discussion on the fourth Monday night, January 23rd at 7 pm. This month we are reading The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan. Jon Foro wrote for Amazon.com, "It's another incredible--and incredibly compelling--feat of historical journalism." This book tells about the 1910 fire that consumed acres of National Park land in three different states and made a compelling case in Congress to support the small ineffective Forest Service. Copies of this book should be arriving in the library this week for patrons to pick up for the discussion group. Copies of the discussion questions can be found on Lit Lovers.com. My review of The Big Burn can be found in the archives of this web site. It was a very interesting account of a time in American history that I knew little about, even though I had been a fan of Teddy Roosevelt when I was younger. Join one of our discussions at the Tipp City Library this coming New Year and I hope you find the experience worthwhile.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2011-11-29T13:05:00.000-05:00

I took the long weekend to read this book for Book Club. I have seen the movie, I was definitly motivated, but for some reason everytime I took this book home I couldn't start it. I think it was the dialect. So, I bought my copy from Amazon and kept it til I was ready to read it. Sunday was jam day and that's want I did, all day, and into Monday morning. It is an excellent book, everyone knows that by now. Kathryn's voice was so true. All of her characters are fully developed, showing their good side as well as the difficult parts of their personalities. A native daughter of Mississippi, the author used stories from home, stories from the help that lived with her family, and stories from her Grandaddy. Demetrie was the name of the domestic help that came into the family life when her dad was a boy, who brought the babies home from the hospital, and cared for them for many years. She told stories to the children and told Miss Kathryn that, "she was beautiful," even if she wasn't, just like Abileen tells dear poor little Mae Mobley, That part of the story really toched me, I want to be the fairy godmother who whispers into my grandchildren's ear as they fall off the sleep, "you is kind, you is smart, you is wonderful." As I read this book, I became more aware how very dangerous life in Mississippi was during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights movement. The author mentions in in an interview on a website that, "Skeeter was the hardest to write because she was constantly stepping across that line I was taught not to cross. Growing up, there was a hard and firm rule that you did not discuss issues of color. You changed the subject if someone brought it up, and you changed the channel when it was on television." At the end of the book the author tells someone in New York that, My hometown is number three in the nation for gang-related murders." Because that surprised me I had to google Jackson, Mississippi gang-related murder and found this story from August 2011. This disturbs me, but we are living in a hate filled society, and the race issues are as prevelant as ever. Another thing that was brought out in our discussion was the amount of attention that a white women receives for writing the black views of the domestic help, when clearly books have been written form the black point of view and have received less attention. From the back of the book, Telling Memories of Southern Women by Susan Tucker is mentioned by the author. Interviews with forty women from both races are recored in this book published by Louisiana State University Press in 2002. I remember a book by Dori Saunders, Clover, that shares her farming life stories from South Carolina. Maybe other readers can suggest books that have been written by African American authors on this subject.

Intimidated by Pie Crust? or Just Love Pie

2011-11-07T15:07:00.000-05:00

I am writing to promote a Pie Crust Program for this Thursday at the library at 1 pm. Lois Anderson and I are going to demonstrtae 2 easy pie crust recipes, and we will bring fresh home baked pie for you to sample after the demonstration. This is for the "intimidated by pie crust folks", or for the folks who just love pie. Tell me you don't need a break this week. I hope to see some friends out there. Registration is requested so we have enough pie! Even Anthony is going to get into the pie making mode if we have a lot of people sign up.http://www.tippcitylibrary.org/

ah, the Kindle question

2011-11-07T07:11:00.001-05:00

So much is about ebooks. I was noticing that certain patrons weren't showing up in the the library, and then they told me they had received a Nook, Kindle, or a ebook reader for Christmas, anniversary, or just because. Even my daughter told me after I gifted her with a beaded bookmark, "I don't read books any more, Mom, I have a Nook. But, I'll put it in the Bible you gave me." She went on to tell me that me that she loved her Nook, to take on trips, instead of three or so books. She liked to read in bed, it was light weight, and the size of the font could be changed. Of course we had the patrons who needed help with their ebook reader, we learned about them when they came into the library for tips on downloading. And they also asked, can I download a library ebook onto my new Kindle? Well, Amazon caught on pretty fast and yes, you can now download a ebook from the library catalog onto your Kindle. The procedure will take you back to your Amazon account where you will log on the complete the download. If you buy your Kindle at Staples or the like, you will need to create an Amazon account. Just this morning on the blog, Everyday I Write the Book, Gayle Weiswasser wrote about receiving a Kindle and those were the typical comments I hear from many of the book lovers that I meet every day. I suggested a Kindle to an elderly man with a handicap that he would be the perfect candidate for a Kindle, because of the weight of the books he liked to read, but also because of his eyesight was going bad, and some of those books he likes to read don't come in Large Print. I hear from a Random House representative that they may be printing less Large Print in the future, because the Baby Boomers will most likely have the ebook readers. Do you want to weight in on this? What format do you use to read your books or newspapers with? Personally, I always have a book on audio in my car, and then a different book for my night reading. Some audio book readers are better than others and then I like to browse the library catalog for performer to find them and listen to that actor read. Now if I could only convince my husband to read to me at night, I'd be covered. Must be reverting back to my childhood, it was my Dad who read to us at night. I was blessed with parents who loved books, and they passed that on to their children, with reading to us, buying lots of books for us, and then discussing their favorites with us as we became adults. Wherever you find your books, I hope you are sharing your enjoyment of them with the next generation.

2011-10-27T11:15:00.000-04:00

A Highland Christmas by M.C Beaton is a cozy mystery that is part of the Hamish Macbeth series. It is the first I've read of the series, and I was surprised by how enjoyable it was. It is the perfect Christmas cozy, as there is no murder, just a few mysteries to be solved by the local police. My introduction to Hamish finds him a caring copper, interested in people, what makes them tick, and what is really worrying them. There is a little history here of the Scottish traditions at Christmas. Who knew that there is this Calvinist influence up in the Highland so that people don't want to put out Christmas lights and celebrate the pagan aspects of Christmas, not me? This introduction to Hamish has encouraged me to try more of this delightful character. Okay, I know I'm a late convert to M.C. Beaton's charms, but better late than never. Similar to when I discovered Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, I had to read every Bill Slider mystery there was, and since she was still writing I had more to look forward to.I'm in the middle of a Bill Slider mystery right now, and it feels good to come home to a familiar character with all the charm of an English city including the fish and chips.Fell Purpose finds Inspector Bill Slider trying to understand his victim, beautiful Zellah Wilding, a young teenage strangled at the end of the woods. Who were her friends, and what was an intelligent and talented young girl doing out so late in defiance of her strict father? Zellah had a holiday and told her parents she would be staying with her girl friends for the weekend. Her parents couldn't agree, father wants her home and protected and her mother wants her to meet young friends in rich neighborhoods and make the right connections. How could they have made such a terrible mistake? Join Bill Slider and his crew of detective in this London police procedural mystery series compared to Ian Rankin and John Harvey.

A Sip and a Sneak preview

2011-10-27T10:40:00.001-04:00

I am trying to start another interest group at the Tipp City Public Library. A morning coffee group on every Friday at ten thirty am, to listen to the adult service staff present the new books that the library is just adding to their collection. Today we had a very interested group who enjoyed the donuts and the discussion of the reading interests. Patrons had a chance to look over the new books before they were sent off to other libraries in our consortium for patrons who have already put holds on the items. Now Tipp Library patrons can see the books before they go out. Patrons have a chance to post their name onto the book, I place the hold and then I check the books in. If a book belongs to the Tipp City Library, it will go to a Tipp City Library patron first. Here is the list of a few new presented books of non-fiction:
Better Angels of Our Natures: Why Violence Has Declined by Stephen Pinker, a study on the history of violence that purposes that we are not as violent as our predecessors.
Trust Me, I'm Dr. Ozzy: Advise From Rock's Ultimate Survivor by Ozzy Osbourne, a memoir with humor from the rock star who has a history of drug abuse and multiple near-death experiences.
A Thousand Lives: the Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival by Julia Scheeres, gets a starred review . It is the story of the ill-fated Jonestown. Julia Scheeres is the author of the memoir, Jesus Land.
Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age by microbiologist Nathan Wolfe. He has researched the global medical issues that ultimately have an effect on all of us.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2011-10-14T15:41:00.000-04:00

This was our first book for our new Classics Books Discussion group at the Library. Meeting on Thursdays, once a month at 1 pm, we are choosing the books from the Big Read sponsored by The National Endowment of the Arts. We had a small group for our first discussion, but there is promise there, as people have shown an interest. We talked most about our own insecurities, our competition with others, and the American dream of acquiring wealth and what it means. All the characters in the novel were flawed in their own way. We find out that Gatsby is driven to New York to acquire his dream girl, Mrs. Daisy Buchanan, married to Tom Buchanan. After going off to the first World War, when he comes back to Louisiana, he finds that Daisy and her husband are on their honeymoon. He has to win her back by acquiring wealth and social status. He buys or rents the house across the Long Island Sound, to stare at the green light at the end of the dock at the Buchanan home. We discussed whether Jay Gatsby would ever really fit into Daisy's world. Just as Myrtle would never really stay with Tom, or that he would even take her permanently. Nick decided that the Buchanans are just careless, running away to avoid the truth if it embarrassed them. Conspiring together over the kitchen table, Nick notices the intimate world they live in that Gatsby will never be able to separate them. Gatsby is stunned. He is so sure that Daisy will call, he is still not realistic at the end. Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald when he is just 29 years old, it seems so sad that the prominence this novel has achieved could not have been realized while he was still alive. Much of Nick is Fitzgerald, always the boy looking on, from early school to his Princeton years, he was socialising with the wealthy, but never quite meeting the mark. His whole dissolution with the wealthy types is portrayed in this novel extremely well. I think is is as great as everyone says, and his writing is poetry, and it is the type of novel I love to savor and revisit. Our next novel for November 17th will be The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, about the restrictions on the classes during the Gilded Age in New York.

Paiula McLain's Novel about the Ernest Hemingways in Paris in the early 1920's

2011-10-07T21:57:00.000-04:00

I think this has been my favorite novel of 2011. Paula McLain does an excellent job of telling the love story between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. Even though she was seven years older than Ernest she was naive in many ways, and totally unprepared for the fast life in Paris in the 20's. Too much booze and too many egos clashing for attention. I like finding out that they meet up with the Fitzgeralds in Paris and follow them to a vacation spot. I had read Ernest Hemingway's "A Moveable Feast", published after his death, and sometimes referred to as a love letter to his first wife, or is it a tribute to his first wife. In my opinion, he was crazy to let her go, but that's what young men do, fall in love or lust so often and wreck their marriages. She was able to have success with her second husband and live a long life. "In 1933 Hadley married a second time, to journalist Paul Mowrer, whom she met in Paris."
I am glad about that, I think she was a real trooper. Especially they way she adapted herself to so much of Hemingway's life style, so different than anything she could imagine on her own. I love the description of her skiing in Switzerland. Beautiful novel.

Reading another cozy mystery

2011-10-01T19:24:00.000-04:00

M. C. Beaton has been writing mysteries for a long time. She is Marion Chesney of the Cotswolds in England who writes romances under her own name. Born in 1936 in Scotland as Marion McChesney, she has more than one pseudonym. Before the Agatha Raison series she wrote the Hamish Macbeth mystery series that she started in 1985 with Death of a Gossip. I decided to start with the first of her Agatha Raisin series, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death, written in 1992. Agatha Raisin is a divorced woman in her 50's about to retire from her London job who has always dreamed of living in a cottage in the Cotswolds. As she places herself in the perfect cottage, she immediately feels the coldness of her fellow neighbors. She decides to enter a cooking contest only to end up the suspect of a murder investigation, as the judge of the contest took her quiche home and ended up dying of poison. How could everything end up this badly. Because she is a woman of action, Agatha Raisin starts her own investigation of the murder. Murder with a little fun thrown together in a small village creates the perfect cozy mystery. If you haven't found these yet, you are in for a real treat because she has written 22 mysteries so far with a wide audience appeal. One appeal is that the reader knows that the mystery will be solved at the end of the book, and the main character may go through some dangerous and suspenseful events, she will be alive at the end. Not all mysteries can say that.

A Victorian Mystery Series

2011-09-29T17:14:00.000-04:00

The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries by Emily Brightwell is another one of those cozy mysteries that are popular with people who don't want too much real life and violence. There is a slower pace to the story, a little bit more character development, and more detail to give the readers a better sense of the place and the time. These mysteries are set in Victorian England, mostly at the home of the Inspector, and his sympathetic employees. They all want him to succeed in his investigations that they are willing to "help" him out. The main character, Mrs. Jeffries, is a widow housekeeper who was married to a police investigator. She is above intelligence, known to sit and have a quiet cuppa tea with her employer and let him open up about his case. He likes her to sit with him while he has his dinner and they have a good chat as she is an excellent listener. This leads to her gathering the help of the rest of the staff as they unknowingly get involved with the investigation at hand. A good first to a series that has been going strong since 1993 with 30 separate mysteries to date.

The Beginning of a New Book Discussion Group

2011-09-10T17:27:00.000-04:00

This Thursday, September 15 at 1 p.m. I will be having a meeting of people who are interested in starting a Classics Book Discussion Group at the Tipp City Public Library. I am following the National Endowment of the Arts book selections for the first three books:
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: October 13th , 1 p.m.
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton : November 17th, 1 p.m.
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: December 15th, 1 p.m.
After these three the group could start selecting their own favorite classics to discuss. Get on board for the beginning of this great new discussion group and you can help create this group the way you would like it to be. If you are not sure check out this link on why being in a book group is interesting.

Cutting for Stone

2011-09-08T18:04:00.000-04:00

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese was written in 2009, his first novel. It is a saga, a family story full of mystery and hidden symbolism. Twin boys are born in Addis Ababa, at the mission hospital of the Catholic Matron, called Missing Hospital due to the incorrect pronunciation of the title Mission. It is a small place, with a few doctors and a few nurses, trying to offer the people of Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia, what little nursing and doctor's care that can. The story begins in 1947 as Sister Mary Joseph Praise leaves her village in India with another nurse, Sister Anjali, nuns of the Carmelite Order of Madras who had taken the nursing courses at the Government General Hospital in Madras. On her voyage she loses her best friend to typhus and meets Thomas Stone, surgeon at Missing Hospital. She follows him there to do the Lord's work and stays for seven years. The mystery of Sister Mary Joseph Praise and her life story is slowly uncovered, and the story is told by one of the twin boys, Marion. The novel is written skillfully, dramatically, with much information about surgery and historical aspects of Ethiopia. Woven into the story of Missing Hospital are tales of a family's love for these twin brothers, and love and service to the hospital and it's mission. Told by an surgeon who is now living in California and teaching at Standford University School of Medicine, this book is an excellent example of American literature written gracefully by a citizen with a foreign background that makes this book all the more beautiful and rich.

An Amazon Adventure Story

2011-08-23T14:03:00.000-04:00

I read State of Wonder by Ann Patchett this summer. I found it a great book that would be very interesting for discussion. Two research doctors are researching statins for control of cholesterol at a lab in Minnesota. One is sent to the Amazon to check up on the research of their colleague and primary research partner, Dr. Annick Swenson. When Marina Singh receives word that her partner, Anders Eckman, has died in the Amazon, her boss sends her to find out the details. The elusive primary research partner, Dr. Annick Swenson has been keeping a low profile and basically keeping the whole research team in the dark. Marina is ill equipped to deal with the strange world of Dr. Swenson and the way she runs her team. Frustrated and grief stricken she tries her best to find out the true story. Fascinating and full of details, we travel along with Marina and discover the mysteries of the Amazon. An adventure story of the first rate, I would recommend this to the reader who likes lots of detail in his books, especially of the scientific kind. Check the review by New York Times for more detail.

Cutting for Stone

2011-08-22T14:30:00.001-04:00

I have been on vacation and have been reading the September book for the book discussion group and already I am so glad that it was recommended and that we chose it. Next Monday, the 29th at 7 pm we will be discussing the book, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I have written about that book earlier in my blog. I found it pure enjoyment. The humor was very British, and I believe that the author was poking fun at the British culture that is or always has been prejudice against the foreigners that live in Britain. It has been a long culture of discrimination, from the Jews back in the 1500's or earlier when the empire threw out all the Jews, and then when the immigrants from the Empire were coming into England, people were uppity. I don't know the whole picture as I haven't lived there, but I have watched enough British comedy that I have picked up on the prejudice. Think of South Africa, that was the worst, but it was the British and Germans who set the stage. This book is not a serious commendation on British prejudice. But it is a human book, and the reaction of the town people to the shop owners usually exposes the class distinction, but when the shop owner is Pakistani, there is the double prejudice, irregardless if people are born in this country or not. Is this that different in America? Do we believe that we are above personal prejudice? Come for an interesting discussion. The books are available at the front desk. Next month's book Cutting for Stone will be available after next Monday. It has everything in it. A saga of the birth of twin brothers in Ethiopia, orphaned at birth by an Indian mother who dies in childbirth with an unknown or abandoned disappearing father. They are raised by two Indian surgeons in Mission Hospital, run by the Matron and priest. The author, Abraham Verghese, is a surgeon with an Indian background. He lives in California and has written My Own Country and The Tennis Player. He is a gifted author Abraham Verghese's first novel, Cutting for Stone, remains #1 on the Independent Booksellers' paperback fiction bestseller list

Summer Reading Raffle

2011-07-19T22:03:00.000-04:00

Titles include:

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

Cowboys and Aliens by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank

The Griff by Christopher Moore

The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

The Legacy by Katherine Webb

The Sixes by Kate White

I am on vacation for a couple of day to read.

After Harry Potter

2011-07-17T10:59:00.000-04:00

I have to admit I haven't seen the Harry Potter movies, although I have been told they are fun. I read the first four Harry Potter novels while attending graduate school, and I have to admit to listening to Jim Dale and his fantastic job of storytelling. Hey, I was going to graduate school, when did I have time to read for fun except in the car driving back and forth to Cincinnati and Columbus. Harry Potter kept me company. And I always like the point of the story where I was hooked and the drama picked up and I couldn't wait for the next part of the story. I read Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett in grade school, so as I child I can remember the fun witch story about a little girl whose mother turned her friends into flowers in pots. Children Like magic and imagination. I came across this article on NPR and just had to share it. What comes next for the Harry Potter readers who are ready for more grown up books? Check out the recommendations of Intern Annie Ropeik.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Secret history by Donna Tartt

Tracy Chevalier

2011-06-23T19:03:00.000-04:00

Remarkable Creatures is the latest book by Tracy Chevalier. Known for her historial fiction, with good characterization, she takes the story of two women at the beginning of the 19th century and weaves their story together in believable sequences. Mary Anning was a resident of Lyme Regis, a costal town on the shore of the English Channel in West Dorset, England. Her special gift was her abilty to invision the hidden parts of fossils on the costal cliffs. She is known for her discovery of the first complete pterodactyl in Great Britian. The name is now changed to a pterosaur. She was a villager, with a poor background, and her family would collect the "curies", a name given to the fossils which stood for curiosities as people then called them. The story is about her friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a collector of fossils, a woman of a grander education and also a few years her senior. Both women lived in the Lyme Regis area, but this book is a work of fiction. Our Adult Book Discussion group at the the Tipp City Library will be diiscussing this book on Monday, June 27 at 7 pm. Feel free to join the discussion if you have read the book. Lyme Regis today

Germany Under Hitler

2011-06-18T16:35:00.000-04:00

Erik Larson is a great storyteller. His novel, The Devil in the White City tells an interesting tale of murder during the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. Not only are we treated to a detective story, but also a history lesson in what Chicago did to create their vision of a “White City” for the World’s Fair, trying hard to one-up the Eiffel Tower of the World’s Fair in Paris, 1889. His latest book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin takes the reader into the home of the American Ambassador called to Berlin by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Professor William E. Dodd. Dodd took his role seriously; he really believed he could influence the Germans away from their own destiny. He brought to Berlin his wife, daughter and son. Much of the story tells of the escapades of his daughter, Martha, a soon to be divorcée, who charmed many of the men she met in Berlin, including a Russian diplomat, Boris Winogradov. Naïve Martha didn’t curb her own eccentric tastes when she spent the years in Berlin bringing all sorts of interesting types to the home of the ambassador. At one point she was almost recruited to spy for Russia through her association with Boris. Dodd was ineffectual at collecting debts from the Germans, or curbing their interest in eliminating the Jews. He tried to influence the Germans when their police made attacks on Americans for not giving the Heil Hitler salute, but even that was difficult. He was eventually called back to America by December 1937, after Roosevelt was pressured to replace him. An interesting chapter in American history of a man with principles, willing to see Germany for the real threat that she was to world peace.

Ape House by Sara Gruen

2011-06-18T15:44:00.000-04:00

The Ape House by Sara Gruen surprised me with information about animals kept in captivity for various human purposes. Bonobos in the story are kept in an enclosed but, freedom-enriching environment that is being used to study the effects of language between humans and the apes. Sign language has been taught to great apes since 1977, beginning with the famous gorilla, Koko. Similar to using sign language with human infants, the sign language helps to lessen stress as the animals can communicate their needs with their captors. Computers are instrumental helping the communication with the bonobos in the language lab. The writer, Sara Gruen, spent time with the real life language competent bonobos at the Great Ape Trust, earning her way in by studying linguistics. Sara was able to represent them accurately for her novel by studying the apes and interacting with them. This novel weaves reality and fiction, creating a suspenseful tale with strong characters and a compelling storyline.

The Big Burn

2011-06-03T19:42:00.000-04:00

Timothy Egan won the National Book Award for The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl written in 2005. His nonfiction narratives are interesting and they bring the history of our American heritage up front and close. Egan's 2009 nonfiction story, The Big Burn, is about how Gifford Pinchot was first appointed 'confidential forest agent; a spy with a green eye' by President McKinley. Originally, just prior to leaving office, President Cleveland had used an act passed 1891 to put aside over twenty-one million acres of forest reserves on February 22, 1897. However, President McKinley suspended Cleveland's order, and it was not until Teddy Roosevelt became President, after McKinley was assassinated, that Pinchot was given the power to create the Forest Service and hire forest rangers to man the National Parks. Initially, Congress gave little support, but it was the largest forest fire in American history that hit the Bitterroots Mountains of Montana and Idaho in 1910, that created the need for an actual working Forest Service. Read this story to understand the personalities of the men and women who were active players, in this precious time in American History, in creating the National Parks. It is these parks that many Americans now take for granted, with some even proposing that they be converted back to private ownership. This story made me realize the frustrating work and the resolve required of these early forest rangers to make their dreams come true. This is a fascinating story, told well by a great writer of Natural History, that mixes the human interest story with the natural setting.

Caleb's Crossing

2011-05-19T18:51:00.000-04:00

Geraldine Brooks has done it again. She has created an imaginary character who lives in an authentic time, interacting with real people in a time that Brooks herself can only imagine. To do so, she must spend many hours of research to get the time and the characters just right. This time it is her own Martha Vineyard's area. She says in her introduction that she read about a Native American who attended Harvard and thought, probably 1960's, but is shocked to find out that this Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, a member of the Wôpanàak tribe of Noepe (Martha's Vineyard) graduated from Harvard in 1665. Her imaginary character is Bethia Mayfield, a minister's daughter, who grows up alongside Caleb. She finds in him the sympathetic brother and friend she did not have in her own brother, Makepeace Mayfield. She listens to her brother's lessons, learns to read and yearns for an education of her own. I cannot imagine the setting, the place of this young girl who is headstrong and intelligent, yet is being prepared to become the wife of a farmer and to be his helpmate. There are many twists in this story of early America, many of them based on true events. I found Geraldine Brooks' interpretation excellent and compelling.

Australian author, Geraldine Brooks won the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 2006 for her novel, March. Other works of fiction include Year of Wonders and People of the Book.

And Furthermore by Judi Dench

2011-05-11T08:07:00.004-04:00

This is a delightful book attesting to Judi Dench's passion for her work, her friends and her choice of careers. Starting in theater, she is an accomplished Shakespearian actor. She tells of her escapades with her actor friends and her various adventures through the years. The episode of the black glove struck me as her real passion for practical jokes and having fun all the while she is working. I had seen her in the TV series A Fine Romance and later found that the co-star was her husband, actor Michael Williams. Together they were great. Later I became an avid fan watching her with Geoffrey Palmer in As Time Goes By. At times a little ridiculous, but I had fun watching her act. I look for movies, just to see her. Last night I watched for the first time Casino Royale with Daniel Craig just to see her play the famous "M" of British intelligence. We all have our passions, and mine is movies along with reading. Pure escape. The audio version on CD was read by Samantha Bond, daughter of actor Philip Bond and Pat Sandys, whom Judi has known also. Samantha Bond is an actor in her own right, appearing as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films starring Pierce Brosnan. I loved listening to her read, and actually felt it was Judi telling her own story as herself. So I'm easy to convince. The book is a who's who of British actors, many of them I have never heard of, plays I've never seen , but it's Judi's passion for life that rings true out of her memoir/biography.

To the left is a photo of Judi with her husband, Michael Williams, who passed away of cancer at home in 2001. To the right her famous co-star Geoffrey Palmer, a very serious actor in his own right, and very good looking in this younger picture of him. He appeared with her in the Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies and Mrs. Brown.

Kate Taylor writes on the Dreyfus Affair

2011-05-05T15:25:00.000-04:00

A Man in Uniform by Kate Taylor, 2010
This is an interesting book about the famous Alfred Dreyfus affair in Paris, France in the later 19th century. Apparently, a Jewish officer in the French military has been accused of spying for the Germans. He is being held on Devil's Island, a prison. Rumors are that he has tried to escape, and now he is shackled and imprisoned inside a walled shed that gives him no view or light. The protagonist in our story is a bourgeois lawyer who is visited by a beautiful woman who claims to be a friend of the Dreyfus family. She fears that his family is not defending him properly, and she wants the lawyer François Dubon to find the right spy and have her friend, Dreyfus released. Poor Dubon is in a dilemma, he is not a criminal lawyer, but he is unwilling to give up this case, he is very attracted to this woman. He has a wife and a son whom he loves, but also a mistress that he is entertained by every evening. Now his life is more complicated, and he becomes a spy himself, working his way into the counter intelligence office of the military, wearing his brother-in-law's uniform as a disguise. This historical fiction tale is quite interesting to read, there is some suspense as the lawyer is going between his office and the military unit where he is reviewing the files of the Dreyfus case, unbeknownst by his "superiors" who take him for a mere clerk doing his duty. Kate Taylor has woven a particularily clever novel, adding to the drama of the Dreyfus case, this lawyer, his wife, her miltary family and it's entitlements, and this beautiful mysterious woman who beguiles the lawyer Dubon. I usually want to read more history of famous cases, to understand the events, to place the events in the context of the times. I had Ruth Harris' book, Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion and the Scandal of the Century, 2010, on my to-be-read list and I could never get to it, so this was the next best thing. Read the fiction first, then tackle the accurate account, like see the movie first, then read the book, that's the way I like to do it.

Suzan Colón and Food Memoirs

2011-04-23T15:40:00.002-04:00

Listening to Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl read by Bernadette Dunne is truly a treat. I fell in love with Ruth and wish she was cooking for me. She always makes everything sound like so much fun just to be around her. This is her third memoir, the first being Tender at the Bones and then the second Comfort Me with Apples. All are real treats. This latest is about her job at the New York Times as their new food editor. She comes from New York City originally, but has been in the Los Angeles area since college days. She decides to disguise herself from the restaurant staff as she previews the restaurants she will be writing on in her food column. She likes to compare the service she gets as an unknown with all the attention she gets as "The Food Critic". Her husband is so ready to move to New York, after the L.A. riots and all the bad news in California, wanting to change his news job with CBS into the Big Apple news team. And he gets his wish, encouraging Ruth along. I love to read about those amazing husbands who want their wives to work, thrive and succeed. At least that is the way Ms. Reichl tells her story. Like Julia Child in My Life in France and Julie Powell in Julie and Julia. The husbands are the heroes. It must be the romance in me. I loved this book, absolutely loved this book.

Then I followed it with another great food memoir, Cherries in Winter: My Family's Recipes for Hope in Hard Times by Suzan Colón, also on audio, this time read by the author. Another New Yorker, Suzan has lost her great job in magazine publishing, and her 401K has hit rock bottom and it is hard to live on one salary. Luckily she is married and she has a Cobra medical insurance account. She looks back to her family for the inspiration for the book, and gets it perfect. All New Yorkers, all struggling, it's her Nana that is the hero in this book. She has saved her recipes from the depression and Suzan reads over the recipes and her diary entries and her essays and discovers the resolve of Nana to survive and to thrive. I think the opening line is about making soup for the family when times are hard. I think she likes cooking for her husband Nathan, and creating a warm home for him to come home to. Normally her schedule would have her getting home at eight, and who wants to cook then. It's a tender love story, of family, faith, and love, of course I want to share this with other people. Now, to get a copy for our library here. On the back of the book in the review, the writer said it is reminiscent of How to Cook a Wolf by Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher. Now to get my hands on that.

Taylor Steven's debut novel

2011-04-18T14:52:00.000-04:00

Taylor Steven’s first novel, thriller, The Informationist is being compared to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy. Steven’s protagonist, Vanessa Michael Monroe, has similar qualities that remind readers of Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander. Both are good at collecting information for their employers and also show signs of fearlessness as they have a “take no prisoners’ attitude when it comes to the enemy who threatens and carries out physical violence against them. Michael’s territory in this first novel is the western coast of Africa, when she had once lived with missionary parents. Her unusual upbringing brought her into contact with unsavory people, and her past surprises and haunts her in this thrilling adventure hunt for a millionarire’s daughter who disappeared four years ago. Locals don’t want Michael snooping around, and she doesn’t know who her real friends are. We are drawn into the thriller as she is equipped with another friend of the missing woman, only to lose him in the attack on her life. She ventures back into the deep Africa of her youth and finds an old friend who had lost touch with her, only he is deeply in love with her and remains frustrated my her own disappearance from many years ago. Deeper into the mystery we find ourselves, like Michael Vanessa, unsure of who means her harm. Even after I was done reading I wasn't clear of the whole mystery, oil millionaire, missing daughter connection. I hope her next novel is able to offer more clarity. A face-paced novel that is getting a lot of attention right now, and I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Key West by Stella Cameron

2011-04-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

Romance with a suspense thriller, Stella Cameron has written a fast paced novel that draws the reader into the sweltering atmosphere of Key West Florida as a hurricane approaches. The sense of drama is highlighted by the description of Key West as a city with two sides, the playground of the rich and famous, and the local color of a smaller town where people take care of their own. Sonnie Giacano returns months after the night a terrible accident has claimed her unborn child and her tennis-star husband is kidnapped. Trying to make sense of that night, she returns to her home and takes a local job as a barmaid, hoping to find the missing link to her memory loss. Unfortunately for her, she has unwelcome guests that arrive in town, her sister and the brother to her husband, and they don’t want her to find out. She is shy and beautiful in wounded body, and makes friends easily with the owners of the bar. They connect her with Chris Talon, a retired NYCP detective and he unwilling falls for her and wants to protect her from anyone who would want to harm her. Both hurt in the past, they are not willing to trust each other too easily and the drama is created when the reader is unsure who Sonnie will eventually trust and let into her life again. This is a good first book to introduce readers to Stella Cameron’s contemporary thrillers.

The Color of Water: a Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

2011-04-12T12:35:00.000-04:00

Check out James McBride's biography of his mother, a white Jewish woman from Maryland who ran away from an abusive family to start an all black church in her own living room in Harlem. Because she didn't talk much of her own beginning, after her death, Mcbride goes in search of her truth and what made her the wonderful mother she was to twelve children. Teaching her children to be strong and educated, her legacy is remarkable. I am remined of a saying, be remembered not by what you have, but what you gave away. This is the next book for the Booklover's Book Discussion group at the Tipp City Library. Copies are available at the front desk if you want to participate in this discussion on April 25th at 7 p.m.. "James McBride is an award-winning writer and composer. His critically acclaimed memoir, The Color of Water, won the 1997 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Literary Excellence, was an ALA Notable Book of the Year, and spent more than two years on The New York Times bestseller list. Chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the 25 books of 1996 to remember, The Color of Water has sold more than 1.3 million copies in the United States alone and is now required reading at numerous colleges and high schools across the country. It has also been published in 16 languages and more than 20 countries. McBride's new book, Miracle at St. Anna, was one of 2002's most anticipated releases and marks the author's debut as a novelist." http://www.rockbottomremainders.com/pages/bios/james.html

James McBride is a talented man, as composer and musician and writer, he shares his talents with the world. I was also interested to find that he studied composition at The Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and then received his Master's degree in Journalism at Columbia in New York at the age of 22.

Deanna Raybourn writes a Romantic Mystery

2011-03-16T14:54:00.002-04:00

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourne was a long book, but it was well-written and kept me engaged. Lady Julia Grey is investigating the death of her husband, although the local doctor dismissed it as a natural death due to his poor heart condition. She gets more involved with the seedier side of London in the Victorian age, dressed in her widow weeds and rich enough to dismiss the rumors about her and her acquaintances. She meets Nicholas Brisbane on the night her husband dies, but he remains a mystery to her, private and sometimes volatile. Her attraction is understandable, but what is she to do about it since he remains aloof. This the the first of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries and is a good introduction. Deanna Raybourn is from Texas, graduated with a degree in English literature with a specialty in Shakespeare. "Silent in the Grave" won the 2008 RITA for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements. I like the cover on the hardback book more than on the paperback book which emphasizes the romance

Alan Furst and Spies of World Ward II

2011-03-03T14:02:00.004-05:00

Alan Furst is the official expert of the World War II spy novels that are being written currently. While he spent a long time living in Paris writing for The International Herald Tribune, he honed his expertise by traveling around Europe and getting the terrain accurate. Most of his novels contain the average male worker who becomes involved with espionage only as the force of evil makes it apparent he must. This hero is usually independent and courageous. In Spies of the Balkans, it is Constantine "Costa" Zannis, of the police force in Greece. Greece is facing the inevitable invasion of the German forces and he has clearly decided whose side he is on, and he will do anything to protect the innocent and the ones he loves. He meets a beautiful Jewish woman from Germany who recruits him to help her smuggle German Jews out through the Balkans and on to Turkey. The British spies know everything and soon they want, no demand, his help also. His work takes him to Paris where he once lived with his family. Danger lurks at every turn and he is forced to rely on ancient friends and family. The book is a fast paced thriller with romance and intrigue to spice it up. I am a long time fan of Alan Furst and I never tire of his novels. All are stand alone stories, similar in the style of Eric Ambler who wrote spy novels starting in the years prior to World War II, writing from 1937-1963.

2011-03-02T17:22:00.000-05:00

A Beautiful Blue Death: A Mystery by Charles Finch
Set in Victorian London, Charles Lenox, a gentleman, has become involved
with a local murder of a servant girl at the request of his neighbor and
former employer of the girl, Lady Jane Grey. Lady Jane grew up with
Charles Lenox, and she is now widowed. They are close friends often having
their afternoon tea together for a chat. Atmospheric, good descriptions of
a bitterly cold winter in 1865, with small snips of fireside entertainment
and typical meals served. Slowly paced, well-described characters who all
make up for a good old-fashioned mystery that can be read on a chilly day
under a downy quilt.
I noticed some similarities to the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, but there is enough new characteristics that make the series unique. Yes, Charles' brother does hold an important role in politics, but not the political intrigue found in Doyle's books. The humor comes into the novel when his brother likes dressing the part of an up-to-no-good street man, trying to keep a watch on the traffic of characters going in and out of the large manor house where the murder occurred. His brother helps Charles, and gets his taste whet for sleuthing. I am looking forward to the next in the series, The September Society, with a glimpse of student life at Oxford.

First Family

2011-02-28T07:49:00.000-05:00

Our book discussion group has been reading "First Family: Abigail and John" by Joseph J. Ellis. Ellis uses the correspondence between John Adams and his wife Abigail to tell their story of American Revolution and its affects on their family. One statistic that stood out to me was that they were more apart during their marriage than they were together, and not because they were uninterested in each other, but because he was devoted to his role in the revolution, and would sacrifice anything to making The United States of America survive, even though it wasn't called that yet. He sacrificed his own personal happiness, the security of his wife, and the emotional stability of his children. We are unable to imagine his conflicts today, and yes, he was an ambitious man, but he knew what was at stake. His moves in the political arena were unselfish, and courageous. This book made me more interested in John Adams and has made me curious to read an entire book of his correspondence.

A Bitch in a Bonnet

2011-02-03T15:21:00.002-05:00

Well, if you haven't had enough Jane Austen I was told to check out this blog by author Robert Rodi. A tongue-in-cheek chapter by chapter of the novels with new insights. Very funny. I am going to check this out and get back with you on it. Look over the link in the title to the blog and also to the author's personal website. It is amazing what writer's can do, that is what I am in awe of. I get totally involved with the writer's style, his sense of wording, all the unique writing that I come across, just when you think it can't get any better, it does. I like to read the New York Times just for that reason, some of the best authors, just how their minds work. If I read something more than once, which I do a lot it is because I am so impressed by the way its been written. I finished Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, and I have the audio book being read by Julie Retsina and now I am listening to it all over again after I read the book. There are 15 discs, so it is read slowly so it can be fully taken in. I do like to read books over again and savor the words, the thoughts and the actions of the characters. I wanted to read this book most because of all the awards the book was given. I have her next book on my to-be-read pile, The Man of My Dreams. I am expecting Ms. Sittenfeld to write about a more mature woman, early twenties as she searches for love. Although Prep's main character, Lee Fiona, seemed not to mature in her four years of high school, I thought the introspective, highly personal voice to be true to life for a girl from Indiana finding her way to the stage of a prep school in Massachusetts, with much more mature students, coming from lives with greater privileges and more world travel. I will see how I like her next novel. The film rights to the first novel have been sold, so I wonder when that will ever happen. Hopefully not too far in the future.

First Family by Joseph J. Ellis

2011-01-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

For the next Booklover's Discussion at the Tipp City Library we will be discussing Pulitzer Prize winner Joseph J. Ellis' historical account of the lives of John and Abigail Adams based on the many letters that were saved from their correspondence. We learn from this book that theirs was a true partnership. Abigail Adams supported her husband through her letters of love and advice through the perilous Revolutionary times that the early American had to endure. They were separated for many years and as it was the custom of the day to keep in touch with letters, they certainly used this medium to have frequent contact with each other. I always remember the line attributed to Abigail Adams to her husband during the writing of the Constitution, "Remember the ladies," or at least that is the paraphrase I remember. She was a homemaker, but also a thinking, intelligent woman who carried her role in her husband's life with dignity and respect. I am looking forward to this examination of their life and their influence upon the fledgling county. Book discussion date is Monday, February 28th at 7 p.m. Pick up a copy of this book at the front desk if you would like to join the discussion.

Review of Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

2011-01-24T18:22:00.000-05:00

Curtis Sittenfeld has written a pager-turner about the four years of prep school in Massachusetts for Lee Fiona, a ninth grader from South Bend, Indiana. Coming into the boarding school scene, Lee is totally unprepared for the casual, unassuming wealth of the typical students at Ault, as she has been accepted on a scholarship and feels more awkward than her fellow peers, or so she thinks. She is very introspective, fixating on a particular boy for four years based on a random meeting off campus in her freshman year. This is understandable, he is one of the most popular boys, and he had paid attention to her for that one whole day. But would he realize she was interesting, and would she realize that she needed to take action to begin a real relationship? She meets a girl through a friend, and this new friendship "clicks" for her. For three years Lee and her new best friend, Martha Porter, room together, with Martha giving Lee the moral support that she needs. Lee learns about the students at Ault, she is shown to be compassionate with her friends; teaching Conchita how to ride a bike, working together with her younger student math tutor, and trying to show Sin-Jun that people do really care for her. Lee's impatience with her parents is understandable, too, what child isn't embarrassed by their parents at age sixteen, but given that the year and the drive to the school have been a great sacrifice on Lee's behalf, her parents are not willing to forgive her immaturity, at least not her father. I grow to love or at least care for this young girl, Lee, and like to think back on what high school was for me, especially that part that made me think it was my whole world and life wouldn't be better than high school, and how scared I was of the next step, but those next four years were truly greater, even with all the angst. I think reading this book helps me to see how hard decisions and relationships can be for young people, and shy students can learn a little about life from stories, "I feel that way , too, sometimes." The talk with Cross Sugarman in the basketball court had some very truthful statements, and it is good to read them, "That I bet things would be easier for you if you either realized you're not that weird, or decided that being weird isn't bad." This book also reminded me of another favorite of mine, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, 1959, about a prep school for boys in New Hampshire during the years of World War II.

A First Mystery in a New Series by Christopher Fowler

2011-01-24T17:15:00.002-05:00

Christopher Fowler is an accomplished author, sarting in 1984 with his collection of short stories, The Collection of Lost Souls. Even though this new book written as the first in a series, that first title of Fowler's could also work for his new first in the A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery with the characters, Arthur Bryant and John May, the first detectives who started the Peculiar Crimes Unit during the World War II years. There are many unique characters in the novel, Full Dark House. We immediately meet John May in the present London, as there has been a terrorist attack on the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and Arthur Bryant is found dead at the scene. John May decides it must be tied in with their first case, at the London Theatre where a series of murders took place during the London Blitz. We are taken back in time and retrace the steps of these two detectives who are just learning how to work together. The play and the theatre contain the actors, the producer, the dancers, the stage hands and all the people who could be tied up with the Palace. It does become confusing, but I was drawn into the story by the historical details. This first of the series was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel . With the success of this first in the series, Fowler has been continuing the series since 2003, his latest is the 2010 release of Bryant & May off the Rails: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery. .

Help for the bewildered parent

2011-01-12T08:19:00.001-05:00

It is that time of year when parents come in for help with the choosing of books for their children, and the Accelerating Reading Quiz program that children have to work through to expand their reading. Showing them the website that is listed on the Tipp City Library website under the online resources is one place to start. Accelerating Reader Information This website give parents the names of books that are on the quiz list, the reading level points and the point value of the book. But where do parents go to help find great books that can engage their child in the love of reading. For a start check out a book by teacher and school librarian Esme Raji Codell of Chicago. Her enthusiasm for books and children's literature in particular will help the parent find titles to really engage her child, with extra ideas to make this joy a family affair. During these winter months, get in the habit of sharing books with your children. Find out what your child likes to read and then go to the accelerator list to see if that look is on the quiz list. How to Get Your Child to Love Reading

Revisiting a book from our Book Discussion Group

2011-01-09T23:41:00.000-05:00

Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell was one of my favorite books that we read for discussion. It had it all: well-researched topic, a visit to the area in question by the author, unknown historical events and facts. Starting with the escape of the resistance over the mountains into the neutral, or now Allied Italian area of the war, we meet various characters thrown together in this wild escape. It is a survival story of the utmost. Where can anyone be safe in these mountains, and who can they trust? We meet all kinds of Italian resistors, from the country priest, to the peasant farmer, and who is willing to help hide the Jews. It certainly makes one question his or her own faith and stamina to resist the enemy. I like to think that this historical fiction is based on some real life heroes. as close as fiction can write them. As there were many people who turned the other way when help was called for, let us not forget the brave souls who put their own lives on the line to give others a chance to live. Russell's other work of historical fiction, Dreamers of the Day is just as good and also give us a first hand look at history in 1918, this time only it is the Middle East and Cairo as the main city of the story. After you enjoy that part of the world in 1918, enjoy O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King, an interesting side trip of her famous character, Mary Russell with her mentor Sherlock Holmes that was started in the first of the series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

2010-12-30T08:43:00.000-05:00

The Booklovers Discussion group at the Tipp City Library is reading the award- winning book, Prep, by first time novelist Curtis Sittenfeld. Picked by Amazon.com Editor's Choice as one of the top ten books of 2005 in Literature & Fiction, Prep is the story of a girls and boys boarding school located in Massachusetts. New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age announced that Prep was the award winner for 2006. Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/16/books/review/16SCHAPPE.html to read one of the many reviews of this book. I also like to include a list to other various reviews http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/prep/.

Christmas at the Old Bailey

2010-12-16T20:55:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed a little book the other day, A Rumpole Christmas by John Mortimer, who passed away in January 2009. Five short stories all based on a different way to spend Christmas. Living in London and wanting a change of scenery is usually what She who Must Be Obeyed is looking for in a holiday. One story that stands out is when they decide to spend the holidays at a health spa, poor Rumpole has to lose some weight. The defending barrister decides to do some of his own sleuthing and solve the murder of the hostess. You will find a sympathetic character in Rumpole, fighting for justice and for a soft touch, especially on the young. An easy read, and a comfortable one for the holidays.

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

2010-11-28T11:24:00.000-05:00

When I started this book, the first chapter made me think twice about continuing with this "over-the-top" entertainer/writer. Is she just going to dribble on about the same old disgusting habits that make her famous, and do I want to really spend my time reading this junk, but then as I sloughed through another chapter she caught me, and I stayed up all night reading this latest little book, laughing all the way. OMG! I haven't had the chance to see her on TV, but she really can write funny, and I am always looking for my next funny book. For the same reason I like David Sedaris or Seinfeld, I do enjoy finding the funny in things, and I admire the people who can do it, even if it is crass and embarrassing.

Great Movies

2010-11-18T16:00:00.001-05:00

I just watched two great movies back-to-back, mostly because I was home by myself this past weekend. The first, Young Victoria, is on DVD and available from our library system. The actors, Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend, play Queen Victoria and her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha so well. It is a beautiful film in exquisite accuracy to detail. One of the producers is Sarah Ferguson, and she is on the DVD featurettes explaining more about the Queen. After the film I reached up to find my copy of Queen Victoria: a Personal History by Christopher Hibbert, a gift from my brother, with more interest. I would like to dedicate a month of serious study of this fascinating woman.
The other great film is Bright Star with the actors Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw. This is the story of John Keats, one of the famous English Romantic poets, and his muse, Fanny Brawne. He meets her when he is only 23 and she is 18. They fall in love, but he is penniless and unable to marry. The scene beings in 1818, when Fanny and her family make the acquaintance of John Keats. She is frivolous, interested in dancing and fashion; he is the serious philosopher, tending to his dying brother. He lends her books, and tries to teach her about poetry, as she confesses she is unequipped to evaluate. He begins to write love poems and letters to her. Through the two years they are to know each other, his grief over his brother's death is assuaged by her attention and devotion. Like many Jane Austen film's, the story is between the few people they know, in a small English town, and their real depths of discussion take place in the English country side, or by the fire in each other's homes. I would recommend this for aficionados of the Jane Austen films. This is one of the best of this genre. These letters were unknown until after Fanny Brawne's death at the age of 65. The director of this rich film was Jane Campion, and I was astonished by the beauty and the acting. Released in 2009, the DVD came out in 2010. I believe it was Andrew Motion's biography of Keats, 1987, that Jane Campion alluded to in the featurette at the end of the film.

Mistress Shakespeare

2010-11-18T06:17:00.000-05:00

Karen Harper has written a first person account of Anne Whateley, lover of William Shakespeare, as historical fiction. Visit their collaboration in his world of theater and share in the passion the two of them had for each other and their work. Tipp City's Booklovers discussion group is Monday, November 22nd. at 7 pm. of this wonderful novel.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

2010-11-12T13:53:00.001-05:00

Jonathan Franzen first wowed his audience with the novel, The Corrections back in 2001. Oprah picked it for her book group, but Franzen was afraid that men wouldn't read it if it was labeled on the cover as an "Oprah" book. Well, it went on the best-seller list, and this new one was named by Oprah again. This new book, Freedom, had been heralded as a work by a literary genius. I did find it interesting, but more important, I didn't like any of the characters. His characterizations were well done, his expressions well-written and original, and his study of American culture was spot-on. Maybe I just don't read enough by men authors, maybe I didn't relate to his political agenda, maybe I missed the point, but I wouldn't rate this as A that reviews gave him. Maybe compared to the bestseller style, Franzen's is more genius than most, but I probably am not impressed enough. Picking up some of the words from the back cover reviews: "satirical, brutal, merciless," true enough. The book paints a pretty depressing view of a couple who fall in love and create a family in American in the 30 years this book takes place. In regarding the beginning of the Berglund marriage, the autobiographer says, "He may not have been exactly what she wanted in a man, but he was unsurpassable in providing the rabid fandom which, at the time, she needed even more than romance." And the rest of the book goes on to explain what happens to a marriage when one partner is more in love than the other. I am sure there will be mixed feelings about this book.

The Good Good Pig

2010-11-12T12:59:00.000-05:00

I read this book to a group of seniors. Christopher Hogwood was not only a good pig, but a very lucky pig. He was born the runt of a litter, rescued by Sy Montgomery, vegetarian and animal lover, and her husband, a Jewish writer who did not eat pork. He becomes famous in his rural town in New Hampshire as he learns to maneuver the gates and escape to the road. His home is so warm and inviting, but there are greener pastures and bigger gardens to explore. Soon he is enjoying spa treatment from the neighbor children, delicious slops from the gourmet restaurants, and photography sessions with the media outlets. Read this and find out what makes Christopher so good, and so good for Sy Montgomery.

Daphne by Justine Picardie

2010-11-05T20:05:00.000-04:00

I just finished this interesting book by the British author, Justine Picardie. Any bibliophile who loved reading Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca would find this an interesting read. Mapping out how I even found this novel shows me that even using the computer can incorporate the serendipitous discovery of gold among the dross. Looking for movies about Daphne du Maurier in the library catalog, I found one simply called Daphne, and that put me on the quest to find the book. This book is not the book in the film but some of the same events are alluded to. The author is imagining Daphne in 1950 as she tried to write her biography of Branwell Brontë, Charlotte and Emily's young brother. Ms. du Maurier is in contact with a former librarian who has access to some of the Brontë manuscripts. Letters between them have survived and make interesting reading. Superimposed on these two lives is the researcher in modern day with a obsessive fascination with Daphne du Maurier as she imagines her thesis and how to conduct the research. The author points out in the acknowledgements, "Like the contemporary narrator of my novel, I became utterly possessed by the story, and obsessed by the paper trail of Bronte manuscripts and what passed between Daphne du Maurier and John Alexander Symington; like her, I burrowed through the catacombs of library archives and second-hand bookshops to discover lost or forgotten letters..." This was an enjoyable, but disturbing novel, as we learn of some of Daphne du Marier's own demons. We also become acquainted with the tie between James Barrie and the du Maurier family. After reading this novel I am interested in her latest, Coco Chanel: the Legend and the Life, 2010.

Carring for the world, one school at a time

2010-10-18T11:02:00.000-04:00

September's Booklover's Book Discussion group at the Tipp City Library discussed Three Cups of Tea. This book has been on the bestseller list for what, 3 years now? "CARE, a humanitarian organization, operates 300 schools in Afghanistan, and not one has been burned by the Taliban." Greg Mortenson, of “Three Cups of Tea” fame, has overseen the building of 145 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan and operates dozens more in tents or rented buildings — and he says that not one has been destroyed by the Taliban either.

Wednesday Sisters

2010-10-18T08:39:00.000-04:00

Wednesday Sisters is the book for discussion in October for the Booklover's group. Next meeting is October 25 at 7 p.m. at the Tipp City Library. I would like to have some books at the meeting for preview of next year's list. Sign up for the Booklover's booklist on the library website to see the next year's ballot for the group.

Homeland Security Tale

2010-10-15T08:24:00.000-04:00

     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

2010-10-06T07:57:00.000-04:00

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

2010-09-30T00:26:00.002-04:00

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

2010-09-25T17:29:00.000-04:00

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

2010-09-23T14:27:00.003-04:00

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

2010-09-12T19:42:00.000-04:00

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

2010-09-08T18:55:00.003-04:00

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

2010-09-07T10:30:00.001-04:00

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

2010-09-01T16:37:00.001-04:00

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

2010-08-27T14:54:00.002-04:00

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

2010-08-21T10:28:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-21T09:36:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-17T10:24:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-17T10:22:00.000-04:00

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.

2010-08-17T10:20:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-17T10:04:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-17T09:47:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-27T16:54:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-27T16:50:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-17T11:15:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-11T16:50:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-11T15:53:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-11T08:04:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-10T15:58:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-27T10:42:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-26T14:08:00.001-04:00

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

2010-05-19T13:10:00.000-04:00

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.

2010-04-30T13:58:00.000-04:00

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.

2010-04-30T13:52:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-20T17:33:00.000-04:00

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

2010-04-16T16:12:00.000-04:00

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

2010-03-18T13:10:00.000-04:00

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

2010-03-18T13:03:00.000-04:00

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

2010-03-16T14:50:00.000-04:00

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

2010-03-14T10:59:00.000-04:00

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

2010-02-16T09:22:00.000-05:00

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

2010-02-09T05:24:00.000-05:00

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

2010-02-05T12:17:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-29T08:38:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-24T16:41:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-23T16:26:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-17T21:14:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-17T10:40:00.000-05:00

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?

2010-01-11T10:06:00.000-05:00

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

2010-01-11T09:07:00.000-05:00

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

2009-12-22T23:30:00.000-05:00

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

2009-12-15T18:59:00.000-05:00

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

2009-12-15T07:16:00.000-05:00

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

2009-12-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

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

2009-12-12T08:31:00.000-05:00

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

2009-12-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-09T08:39:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-09T08:22:00.000-05:00

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.