American Heiress: the Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

07 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by in 20th century, Biography, History, Non-fiction, United States

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I knew only the most basic facts about the kidnapping of Patty Hearst before reading this book, which provides many interesting details about the kidnapping as well as the people involved, the political and social climate of the time, and the Hearst family. Several moments in this story reminded me that sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction!

“Terrifically engrossing…Toobin uses his knowledge of the justice system and his examination of the evidence to pierce the veil of spectacle…As for Patty Hearst herself, Toobin treats her as a person, not a tabloid phantasm.—New York Times Book Review

“The abduction and subsequent radicalization of Patricia Hearst is one of the most bizarre but illuminating episodes of that tumultuous era of protest…and in American Heiress Jeffrey Toobin retells the story with a full-blown narrative treatment that may astonish readers too young to remember it themselves…Toobin spins this complex chapter of recent history into an absorbing and intelligent page-turner.”—The Washington Post 

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The Strangler Vine (a Blake and Avery novel) by M.J. Carter

01 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction, mystery

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“From the thrilling prolog to the satisfying conclusion, former journalist and nonfiction author Carter’s first foray into fiction hooks the reader into a ripping adventure ride, full of danger, conspiracy, and trickery. Young William Avery, a soldier in the service of the British East India Company in 1837 India, receives an unexpected assignment. He is to accompany Jeremiah Blake, a secret political agent with an astonishing talent for languages and Sherlock Holmesian disguises, on a mission to find the scandalous British writer Xavier Mountstuart, who is missing. Each twist and turn of the duo’s journey draws them deeper into the mystery of the sinister Thuggee cult and closer to uncovering the shocking truth at the heart of the puzzle of Mountstuart’s disappearance. VERDICT Carter’s clever historical thriller is a winner.–Barbara Clark-Greene (Reviewed November 15, 2014) (Library Journal, vol 139, issue 19, p76)

“Totally engrossing — the sort of story that makes you forget that there are other books stacked next to your bed, waiting to be read.”–Michael Lewis, The New York Times Book Review

“[A] yarn reminiscent of adventures by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”—The New York Post

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A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

25 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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As she did in her bestseller Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline interweaves fact and fiction in a powerful novel that brings to life the iconic painting by Andrew Wyeth entitled Christina’s World.   Kline, who is a summer resident of Maine, has done an exceptional job of creating a fictional memoir for both Christina Olson and Andrew Wyeth.

Of possible interest readers – the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine, will recognize the 100th anniversary of the birth of Andrew Wyeth with a series of exhibitions. The Olson House, the house on the hill in Christina’s World, will also be open to visitors. For information see http://www.farnsworthmuseum.org/current-exhibitions.

“Kline herself is an artist, drawing on the real history of Christina Olson and Andrew Wyeth to conjure up her own haunting portrait…. Kline’s deep research into characters, place, and time period provides the outlines of a compelling story, which she then expertly brings into three dimensions.” (Christian Science Monitor)

“With delicate palette, stark images, subtle tones, nuanced brushstrokes, and consummate craftsmanship, Christina Baker Kline has written this novel the way Andrew Wyeth painted the canvas. It is a masterpiece.” (Historical Novel Society)

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Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

18 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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It was the cover that grabbed me first.  But when I closed the book, I just had to know what really happened to this infamous Georgia Tann, director of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, South Carolina who made millions (in today’s dollars) kidnapping and selling children with fake papers so that families couldn’t ever find one another.  Was she caught?  Did she go to trial?

“Sure to be one of the most compelling books you pick up this year. . . . Wingate is a master-storyteller, and you’ll find yourself pulled along as she reveals the wake of terror and heartache that is Georgia Tann’s legacy.”—Parade

“One of the year’s best books . . . It is impossible not to get swept up in this near-perfect novel.”—The Huffington Post

“Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.”—Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author of Circling the Sun

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Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening by Manal al-Sharif

11 Wednesday Oct 2017

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This lady’s courage and incredible story knocked me over.  A memoir by a Saudi Arabian woman who became the unexpected leader of a movement to support women’s rights describes how fundamentalism influenced her radical religious beliefs until her education, a job, and legal contradictions changed her perspectives.

“Future generations will marvel at Manal al-Sharif, whose voice is laden with quiet dignity even at its most urgent. Her gripping account of homegrown courage will speak to the fighter in all of us.” (Deborah Feldman, New York Times bestselling author of Unorthodox)

“An astonishing, humble, truthful book, more illuminating than a hundred newspaper stories on Saudi Arabia. Manal is no Chanel-draped, chauffeur-driven Saudi princess. Her account of why a single working mother’s life compelled her to confront the kingdom’s fiercely patriarchal ways is touching and revealing in equal measure.” (Azadeh Moaveni, author of Lipstick Jihad)

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The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

03 Tuesday Oct 2017

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A group of contestants are filming a survival reality show when a disease strikes the real world. However, isolated in the wilderness, the contestants have no idea, and believe everything they encounter is part of the TV show. This is a gripping story that is hard to put down.

“The TV show Survivor meets Cormac McCarthy’s The Road in Oliva’s stellar debut. . . Fueled by brilliantly intimate and insightful writing as well as an endearing and fully realized female lead, this apocalyptic novel draws its power from Zoo’s realizations about society and herself as she struggles to survive long enough to somehow make it back to her home.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Part wilderness-survival thriller and part dystopian pandemic story . . . a gripping portrayal of an ordinary person’s evolving survival instincts as she realizes she can’t trust the reality she sees.”—Booklist

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Out of Line: A Life of Playing with Fire by Barbara Lynch

25 Monday Sep 2017

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Named one of Time‘s 100 Most Influential People in the World

Blood, Bones, & Butter meets A Devil in the Kitchen in this funny, fierce, and poignant memoir by world-renowned chef, restaurateur, and Top Chef judge Barbara Lynch, recounting her rise from a hard-knocks South Boston childhood to culinary stardom.

“If you have an appetite for culinary adventure, you’ll devour the feisty and fun memoir by James Beard award-winning chef and philanthropist Barbara Lynch.” —Elle

“Whenever she writes about food, her passion is evident, and she appends a number of recipes that will surely send some readers straight to the kitchen. A rugged tale of a self-made woman in a high-stress profession. ” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Lynch’s love of food and hard scrabble Southie upbringing are blended into a rich and engaging narrative that sheds light on the different influences that helped shape her career. The narrative is evocative of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential…Foodies will enjoy the vivid language used to describe Lynch’s food exploits, and old neighbors will be treated to a trip around south Boston through the eyes of a local.” (Library Journal)

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The Rules Do Not Apply: a Memoir by Ariel Levy

20 Wednesday Sep 2017

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When 38-year-old New Yorker writer Ariel Levy left for a reporting trip to Mongolia in 2012, she was pregnant, married, financially secure, and successful on her own terms. A month later, none of that was true.  Levy picks you up and hurls you through the story of how she built an unconventional life – reinventing work, marriage, family, pregnancy, sex and divorce for herself from the ground up and  then watched it fall apart with astonishing speed.

“Every deep feeling a human is capable of will be shaken loose by this profound book. Ariel Levy has taken grief and made art out of it.”—David Sedaris

“A great memoir is not a trip through someone else’s life but a series of long looks into your own.  Ariel Levy’s book – grieving, hopeful, painful, funny – is that.” – Amy Bloom

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Camino Island by John Grisham

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

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John Grisham has broken away from his classic legal storytelling and has written a lawyerless, bookish thriller set in a picturesque Florida beach resort town.

Camino Island, Grisham’s 30th book in 28 years, is a story filled with book lovers – from those who write them to those who steal them, in particular the manuscript copies of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s early works which are housed in the basement vault of the Rare Books and Special Collections Department in the Firestone Library at Princeton University.  Filled with insights on the book trade, Camino Island is a fun read for those who love books!

“Tasty . . . a fresh, fun departure . . . sheer catnip . . . a most agreeable summer destination.” —USA Today

“A theft of priceless books from a library, a book dealer who dabbles in the black market of stolen manuscripts, and a novelist who is recruited for a daring mission all add up to what sounds like the ideal beach read.” – Library Journal

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The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

08 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in Biography, nature, Non-fiction

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While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of her own confined place in the world.

“As I read Bailey’s description of how her snail moved, ate, slept, and reproduced, I felt myself shrinking and shrinking, like Alice in Wonderland, until I was snail-size myself.” – Anne Fadiman

A charming, delicate meditation on the meaning of life. — Kirkus Review

“Though illness may rob us of vitality, sometimes it can also help bring us understanding—-albeit in improbable disguises . . . Perhaps there’s something to be said for moving at a snail’s pace.” —NPR.org

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