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Monthly Archives: March 2015

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

30 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction

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brothers and sisters, children of murder victims, crime against families, juvenile homiciide, Kansas City (MO), suspense

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Born into a struggling Midwestern farming family, Libby Day is traumatized in childhood by horrendous acts of violence which she refers to as Darkplace. Decades later, alienated and adrift, she is contacted by a group of crime enthusiasts known as the Kill Club who offer money in exchange for information about her incarcerated brother Ben, from whom she is estranged. Cynical at first, Libby accepts out of financial need but soon her investigations become an urgent personal quest for truth as she uncovers misunderstandings and half-truths that challenge her long-held beliefs about Darkplace. This well-written psychological suspense story will keep you on edge to the explosive conclusion.  Author of the very popular book, Gone Girl.

“Flynn’s well-paced story deftly shows the fallibility of memory and the lies a child tells herself to get through a trauma.” The New Yorker

“Flynn’s second crime thriller tops her impressive debut, Sharp Objects…When the truth emerges, it’s so twisted that even the most astute readers won’t have predicted it.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

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Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

25 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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British customs, India, married women

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Heat and Dust was recently mentioned in a Boston Globe interview with Ha Jin, author of Waiting, which won the National Book Award in 1999 and his most recent novel, A Map of Betrayal.  Jin who teaches a course at Brandeis entitled “The Literature of the Migrant” describes Heat and Dust as “an exquisite novel, technically perfect.”  That was a challenge!  In less than two hundred pages, Jhabvala has created a penetrating and compassionate love story set in India in the 1920’s that leaves the reader wondering about the outcome.

“A superb book. A complex story line, handled with dazzling assurance … moving and profound. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala has not only written a love story, she has also exposed the soul and nerve ends of a fascinating and compelling country. This is a book of cool, controlled brilliance. It is a jewel to be treasured” — The Times

“A writer of genius … a writer of world class — a master storyteller’ — Sunday Times

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Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith

18 Wednesday Mar 2015

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Alaska, library, postcards, vintage fashion

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A small book that fits in the palm of your hand but carries a big message. Jane Mendelsohn, author of  “I Was Amelia Earhart”, describes Glaciers as “a delicate and piercing first novel that is like a vintage dress with a few sequins: charming, understated and glinting with memories of loneliness and love.”  Do set aside a rainy afternoon to read this charming book!

“Glaciers, Alexis Smith’s brilliant debut novel, is filled with kaleidoscopic pleasures. Using prose as clear as pure, cold air, Smith moves the narrative vertically as well as horizontally, each ticking minute yielding more insights into a young woman’s life revealed over one single day. The past, present, and imaginary future stream into beautifully unstable geometries: Isabel’s childhood snows from her youth in Alaska are juxtaposed against her adult trip to a vintage thrift store; her hopes for an evening party push against the echoes of war that haunt a young soldier whom she loves. Line by line, in and out of time, this is a haunted, joyful, beautiful book–a true gift.”—Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia!

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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

06 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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England, fairies, fantasy, London, magicians, students, teachers

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A great book to read during this long, cold winter. Set in the early 1800s, the story follows two magicians and their quest to bring magic back to England. With its many supporting characters and witty tone, the book has been compared to Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. Though not a quick read, this one is worth the time. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was also recently made into a TV series that will air on BBC America later this year.

“A smashing success…History and fantasy form a beautiful partnership in this detailed, authentic, and heartfelt novel.”—Booklist (starred review)
“An instant classic, one of the finest fantasies ever written.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“What kind of magic can make an 800-page novel seem too short? Whatever it is, debut author Susanna Clarke is possessed by it.”
—USA Today
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Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

02 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Non-fiction

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attitudes to death, doctors, older people, physiology of aging, prognosis, quality of life, terminal care

9780805095159_p0_v3_s114x166I have enjoyed every book that Dr. Gawande has written. This is his best yet.  Gawande is a MacArthur fellow, New Yorker staff writer, and surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  Here he tackles the shortcomings of his own profession when dealing with the old and frail, as well as those suddenly confronted with terminal decisions.  Doctors can offer hope almost at every turn, but when the number of days our loved ones have left are fewer than we ever imagine, medical decisions can often worsen one’s quality of life. A must-read for our loved ones and ourselves.

“Doctors don’t listen, Gawande suggests—or, more accurately, they don’t know what to listen for. (Gawande includes examples of his own failings in this area.) Besides, they’ve been trained to want to find cures, attack problems—to win. But victory doesn’t look the same to everyone, he asserts. Yes, “death is the enemy,” he writes. “But the enemy has superior forces. Eventually, it wins. And in a war that you cannot win, you don’t want a general who fights to the point of total annihilation. You don’t want Custer. You want Robert E. Lee… someone who knows how to fight for territory that can be won and how to surrender it when it can’t.” In his compassionate, learned way, Gawande shows all of us—doctors included—how mortality must be faced, with both heart and mind. – Sara Nelson

“I never expected that among the most meaningful experiences I’d have as a doctor—and, really, as a human being—would come from helping others deal with what medicine cannot do as well as what it can,” [Gawande] writes. Being Mortal uses a clear, illuminating style to describe the medical facts and cases that have brought him to that understanding. The New York Times – Janet Maslin

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