This is where you can read and/or listen to reviews of books that our library staff and patrons have read. If you’d like to write a review of a book you’ve read recently, click on the “Leave A Reply” section below and let us know what you think.
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Tuesday, February 9th 2010 at 9:15 am |
“City of Shadows,” by Ariana Franklin, is historical fiction at its apex. In Berlin, a woman bumps into a man on a bridge. They recognize one another, and he throws her into the river. Though she survives, she is so unhinged, she is committed to an institution. There she claims she is the Grand Duchess Anastasia, sole survivor of the massacre of the Russian royal family. But the murderer comes every six weeks to stare in the windows at her, waiting for his chance…
Con-man “Prince Nicholas” is a pre-WWII Berlin nightclub owner. Esther, a Russian Jew, though horribly injured and disfigured, survived a pogrom and fled to Berlin, where she finally found work as Prince Nick’s secretary. She reluctantly aids his scheme to take “Anastasia” out of the insane asylum and “help her to reclaim her royal heritage,” whereby he hopes to profit.
But the would-be murderer is still intent on killing his prey – torturing and killing people close to Anastasia to try to find her. By 1933, Hitler is coming to power, and for the first time, author Franklin made me understand how the Nazi take-over and subsequent murderous horrors could occur. Then there is the ethical police investigator, trying to do his job in spite of Hitler’s insidious police and infiltrators.
The Inspector and Esther must trace the clues to discover why that man is trying to murder Anastasia, and if possible, confirm her identity or discover who she really is. Three pages from the end, the author executes the most brilliant plot twist I’ve ever read to conclude a well-woven tapestry of history, mystery and terror.
Thursday, February 11th 2010 at 9:17 am |
“The Perfect Christmas” by Debbie Macomber, is a delightful light-hearted Christmas romp to romance.
Question is, what would make a “Perfect Christmas”? For Cassie Beaumont, it’s meeting her perfect match.
Cassie, a beautiful and accomplished scientist is finding the persuit of the “Perfect Christmas” and life, a long road to no-where, nothing’s worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet, not through friends or family and certainly not leaving love to chance.
What’s left? A professional matchmaker. Cassie finds Simon Dobson a dificult, acerbic know-it-all, and she’s astonished when he accepts her as a client.
Will Cassie find romance? Yes and along the way will bring a smile to your face.
Wednesday, April 14th 2010 at 7:08 pm |
Thursday, June 3rd 2010 at 7:35 am |
The Last Child by John Hart
“Asphalt cut the country like a scar, a long, hot burn of razor-black.” Besides the vivid word pictures, John Hart writes characters that you feel you know — even the ones whose evil impulses grasp for the vulnerable.
Thirteen, he looks ten, but his eyes are going on thirty. Johnny’s twin sister was kidnapped a year ago, and he’s the only one who believes she’s still alive. He looks for her week after week, house by house, neighborhood by neighborhood.
His father left them a few weeks after Alyssa’s disappearance, due to Johnny’s mother Katherine continually screaming that it was Spencer’s fault for forgetting to pick her up after school. Beautiful Katherine descended into prescription drugs and alcohol to make the pain of her loss go away. Johnny is left trying to care for her, trying to save her from the predatory rich guy Ken who comes to use her. Did Ken’s fixation on Katherine have anything to do with Alyssa’s disappearance?
Johnny’s best friend Jack, also thirteen, smoked and drank like a grown up. He helped Johnny search week after week. But Jack is not telling everything he knows, for the price is too high if he’s found out.
Detective Hunt had not been able to find Alyssa, but still he obsessively pored over her file, night after night at home – the rare times he came home. Now another girl has gone missing, and Hunt is desperate not to let this one down. A man on a dirt bike had been ridden down and killed, his last words, “I found her. The girl who was taken.” Alyssa? Today’s girl? Johnny’s year of hunting and surreptitious surveillance have given him the slices of clues that will solve the crimes, save the lives. But Johnny isn’t talking, having learned this past year he can trust no one.
Then there is Levi, a half-witted black giant who knows the last bits of truth that could help Johnny find Alyssa – if Levi doesn’t die of his injuries first.
Amidst these woven words are the many motivations, compassion and cruelty, and longing to achieve resolution. There are so many possibilities of who is guilty of what, I had to return to this book at every opportunity, because his writing pulled me inside the story. You’ll be sorry there’s a real world that interrupts this mystery that you feel you HAVE to solve.
Thursday, June 10th 2010 at 10:15 am |
Monday, June 14th 2010 at 11:31 am |
Author: Cory Doctorow Books: ‘For The Win’ and ‘Overclocked’
While I am logged in, I wanted to share with you guys my new favorite author. I just discovered this author’s work when I was searching for books about online gaming. I play World of Warcraft, a popular RPG game played by millions of people online, and I am fascinated by how Doctorow’s books compare with this game. Without violating any copywright laws, Doctorow spins tales in his new book “For The Win” about a few different youths from around the world who are somehow engrossed inside a world of online gaming, either for fun, or because it is thier job to work inside the game to earn money for the ‘real world’. He tells the kids’ stories with such reality and depth that you feel like you can relate somehow to each of them. If you love online gaming like I do, this book will seem like it was written just for you.
Doctorow’s older anthology book, “Overclocked”, contains several short stories by him that each have some kind of anchor in technology and the future. These tales are good for people who are intimidated by starting with the near-400-page ‘For The Win’, you can read one of these stories instead over lunch-break, and I recommend starting with ‘Anda’s Game’ or ‘Sys-Admins Rule The World’. Anyone who knows something about technology and computers will love these short fics and have fun reading them when you have half an hour to spare!
If you have something to say about this author, comment here!