October, 2017 Book Discussions
Posted: September 20, 2017 Filed under: Book Discussions Leave a comment
The Tuesday Morning Book Group will meet at 10 a.m. on October 17 to discuss The Japanese Lover, by Isabel Allende. Alma Belasco, an elderly textile artist, is looking back on her long and colorful life, especially her childhood in San Francisco and her friendships with her cousin Nathaniel and with Ichimei, the Japanese gardener’s son. My earlier review is here.
On October 24 at 7 p.m., the Tuesday Evening Book Group will be discussing Among the Living, by Jonathan 
Rabb. In 1947, Holocaust survivor Yitzhak Goldah moves to Savannah to live with his cousins and work in the family shoe store, and finds the thriving Jewish community virtually untouched by the war. Here’s my earlier review.
The Crime Readers will meet at Home Run Inn Pizza in Darien at 7 p.m. on October 19 to discuss Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? by Stephen Dobyns, with optional dinner at 6 p.m. The Crime Readers is co-sponsored by the Indian Prairie Public Library.
Copies of the books are available now at the Adult & Teen Services Reference Desk.
Brenda
The Garden of Small Beginnings
Posted: September 16, 2017 Filed under: Book Reviews | Tags: family life, gardening, grief, humor Leave a comment
The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman
I was not expecting a novel about a widow with two young girls to be laugh-out-loud funny. Lillian’s husband died suddenly three years ago. She fell apart, but her sister Rachel helped pick up the pieces. Lillian is a textbook illustrator, and her daughters Annabel and Clare are now five and seven. A new work assignment has the whole family taking a gardening class, led by a Dutch master gardener. The class bonds over pizza and gardening, and a couple of romances have potential. Though conversations are very frank, especially when Lillian’s sister-in-law comes to visit, there are no sex scenes. The characterization is top notch and the witty dialogue, both spoken and internal, is great. It will not surprise the reader to learn that the author has three kids and several pets, as Annabel, Clare, and their new friend Bash often steal the scene. This first novel was a delight to read. More, please!
Brenda
The Cuban Affair
Posted: September 13, 2017 Filed under: Book Reviews | Tags: adventure, Cuba, thriller Leave a comment
The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille
Adventure, treasure, and romance are in store for Daniel MacCormick when he meets Miami lawyer Carlos in a Key West bar. Mac and fellow veteran Jack run a charter fishing boat in the Florida Keys, and Carlos wants to charter the boat for a 10-day fishing tournament. After the destination is revealed as Cuba, Mac is not interested. But when a reward of millions of dollars is mentioned, he’s willing to hear more. Beautiful Cuban American Sara Ortega wants to retrieve her grandfather’s treasure. A banker, he stashed a fortune and property deeds in a remote cave, to which she has the map. The plan is for Sara and Mac to join a tour group of Yale alums in Havana, while Jack captains Mac’s boat in the fishing tournament, later picking them up along with the treasure. Mac and Sara’s tour guide seems suspicious of them, and is jealous when they begin a romance to cover their unexplained absences. The tour group sees all the sights in and around Havana, and hears a version of Cuban history. This part isn’t very exciting, nor is the romance, but the pace really picks up when the pair head out of Havana in an old Buick station wagon, trying to avoid the police as they head for the treasure. The risk of betrayal and arrest keeps increasing and Mac wonders if they’ll make it out of Cuba alive, with or without the treasure. A fun trip through Cuba, and a good readalike for Clive Cussler.
Brenda
The End of the World Running Club
Posted: September 10, 2017 Filed under: Book Reviews | Tags: dystopian fiction, England, thriller Leave a comment
The End of the World Running Club by Adrian Walker
Edgar’s not much of a father or husband. When news of the end-of-the-world crisis comes, he’s drunk. But he’s mentally prepared, and helps Beth and their two little kids survive. Later, the family gets separated and Ed is left behind in Edinburgh with a small group. He needs to get to Cornwall in a hurry to find his family again, but the roads are mostly impassable. Surprisingly, Ed won’t ever give up, and the group starts running southwest through the bleak landscape, where they have encounters alternately charming and malevolent. I found the completely ordinary Ed appealing and memorable, and the story very compelling reading.
Brenda
Behold the Dreamers
Posted: September 7, 2017 Filed under: Book Discussions, Book Reviews | Tags: immigrants, New York City Leave a comment
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
Jende and Neni Jonga, immigrants from Cameroon, pursue the American dream in New York City in 2007. Jende is fortunate to find a good job as chauffeur to Lehman Brothers executive Clark Edwards and his family. Neni is in college, their son Liomi is in elementary school, and they are happy together in their tiny Harlem apartment. Jende hears Clark’s phone calls in the limo, Neni spends time in the Hamptons helping Cindy Edwards with child care, and they both learn the family’s secrets. Neni is pregnant again, and Jende wants her to take time off from work and school, even though their legal status in the United States is uncertain. Then Lehman Brothers collapses, the Great Recession begins, and both families are in turmoil. Jende thinks that with their savings, they may be happier back in Cameroon, but Neni really wants to stay and get her degree. The Edwards, not as resilient as the Jonga family, are even unhappier. They are not as vividly drawn as the Jongas, and I didn’t care about their problems as much. I really enjoyed reading about life in Cameroon, and the Jongas’ interactions with their fellow immigrants. This debut novel is our September book discussion selection, and is also the latest book club selection by Oprah Winfrey. I look forward to hearing what everyone else thought about this compelling novel.
Brenda
The Bedlam Stacks
Posted: September 3, 2017 Filed under: Book Reviews | Tags: botany, fantasy, historical fiction Leave a comment
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
Beautiful storytelling makes this novel, set mostly in Cornwall and Peru in 1859, compelling reading. Adventure, magical secrets, betrayal, and a different sense of time are all part of the adventure. Readers of Pulley’s first book, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, may suspect that the large moving statues guarding the salt line of the forest in Peru are clockwork, especially as there are windup lanterns filled with glowing pollen. But Pulley’s imagination takes the story in a very different direction, in a village set on stacks of volcanic glass. Botanist Merrick Tremayne, whose father and grandfather spent time in Peru, is recruited for an expedition to Peru to smuggle cuttings of cinchona trees, the source of quinine, badly needed in India for a malaria epidemic. The risk is high, and Merrick’s leg was badly injured while working for the East India Company. Watchmaker Keita Mori of the first book makes a cameo appearance, but Merrick’s intriguing guide/priest Raphael takes center stage here, bridging the border of the Spanish and Quechua speaking worlds, and with a poignant connection to Merrick’s grandfather. Creative and unpredictable, I look forward to more from this enchanting author. For readers of historical fiction and fantasy.
Brenda
The Salt Line
Posted: August 30, 2017 Filed under: Book Reviews | Tags: dystopian fiction, post apocalyptic, thriller Leave a comment
The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones
A dystopian thriller set in the near future that’s sure to be popular. A group of residents of the southeast zone have paid a large fee to spend a few weeks enjoying nature beyond the salt line. The salt line is a ring of scorched earth and garbage dumps intended to protect the privileged zone residents from ticks carrying deadly diseases. The group’s guide, Andy, makes them practice using a cauterizing stamp that works to prevent disease if used right after a tick bite, and cautions them to stay close to their assigned stamp partner. Somehow the group, which includes tech entrepreneur Wes, middle-aged mom Marta, pop star Jesse and his girlfriend Edie, end up in Ruby City, where June and the other residents, including scarred Violet, no longer live in fear of ticks, though at a price. Adventure and danger follow the group, and they have to decide what kind of life they’ll choose in the future, if they survive. This is another September pick by Library Reads.
Brenda
