Bad Blood: Freedom and Death in the White Mountains

For those who enjoy reading true crime drama, Casey Sherman's Bad Blood: Freedom and Death in the White Mountains is a fair, but gritty account of events that took place in May 2007 here in New Hampshire.

When three very different men came together on a country road in Franconia a violent series of events played out leaving two men dead, one a policeman, the other a young man from a well known local family.  Both men knew each other and were part of the same community.

The third man involved in the violence, who was exonerated of charges by the Attorney General the following day, turned out to be a "loose cannon" by anyone's definition.  He often threatened to shoot people.  One of his favorite sayings was he'd give you a "third eye."  At the crime scene, he bragged about how many people he'd killed in his life, threatened early by-standers who came to see what was happening, and had to be told several times by the first police officer on the scene to drop the gun he held.  It was later learned he was taking over 20 prescription drugs at the time.

Sherman gives the reader all sides of the story as well as the reaction of the community.  The account of this unfortunate event is both disturbing and compelling in its insight into human nature.  Adult content and some inappropriate language in quotations.

-Jennifer

The Lexicographer's Dilemma

The Lexicographer's Dilemma by Jack Lynch is a readable and informative work on the evolution of the English language and the age-old feud between prescriptavist grammarians --  those who argue that there is a correct and proper form of the language that should be upheld as the standard -- and the descriptivist grammarians -- those who believe language is constantly shifting in form and style and thus reject the concept of a "proper" English. Lynch is squarely in the latter camp, and argues his case effectively. In the process, he takes the reader through a lively survey of the evolution of the English language and the history of lexicography.

I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in the history of the English language.

-Paul

206 Bones

I just finished Kathy Reichs's new book - 206 Bones.  I always enjoy her mysteries.  Kathy Reichs is one of the few forensic anthropologists in the country and she does a wonderful job of blending her actual work experience into the plots of her stories.  

When the novel's protagonist -- forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan -- regains consciousness she finds herself bound and confined in a tomb-like space. The novel then alternates between Brennan's current predicament and her recollection of the three murder cases that lead her there.

In addition to the murder mystery, the author addresses the issue of quality lab work. When justice depends on the forensic evidence, what happens when labs do inferior work?

Reich's books are so popular that the television show "Bones" is based on their main character.

-Natalie

The Greatest Show on Earth: Evidence for Evolution

Richard Dawkins' most recent work The Greatest Show on Earth: the Evidence for Evolution is an engaging and clearly written walk through the scientific evidence supporting evolution. Dawkins is an insightful scientist and a superbly entertaining writer -- a rare combination indeed. Highly recommended.

When the Game Was Ours

I am an occasional sports fan (think Olympics, World Series, and the Kentucky Derby if I am home and remember it).  However, I find stories about sportsmen (and women) very compelling.  I found When the Game Was Ours by Larry Bird, Earvin Magic Johnson, and Jackie MacMullan to be compulsive reading and a darn tootin' good story! 

Unlike even the most casual of basketball fans I did not know that Larry and Magic had their first battle not on the famous Boston parquet floor but in 1979 at the Finals of the NCAA tournament. Magic and his Michigan State team prevailed over Larry and Indiana State. In When the Game was Ours we really hear what Larry and Magic think about the glorious game of basketball, their teams, the rivalry they have had over the years, and the abiding friendship that did indeed develop between them. The important stuff is here. We hear about Larry's intense drive and his demands on his teammates. The devastating news that Magic had the HIV virus and how his fellow players reacted is touched on.

For me the pinnacle is the 1992 Olympic Dream Team experience, which were the last games Larry played.  There is (for the more sports-minded readers) descriptions of plays and games that both men found memorable. We are also given a glimpse of life for both of them after their playing days were over.  There are two sections of pictures that go through the years with the two players - the back cover picture of a grinning Magic decked out in a Celtics t-shirt at Bird's retirement event is my favorite.

We are reminded in this book that these two players were instrumental in raising public enthusiasm for NBA basketball, and creating the environment for Michael Jordan to come in and create the absolute frenzy that was basketball fever in the 1990's.  We are also reminded that Larry and Magic were something that does not seem to be as important to many players in the NBA in this era - team members, who were smart, talented, and driven always for their team to win, not just concerned with ratcheting up points for their personal statistics.

-Vicki

Where Men Win Glory

In Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, Jon Krakauer shows a great deal of respect for his subject, while exposing the heartbreaking mistakes of the U.S. military that led to Tillman’s death. The book is similar to Krakauer’s Into the Wild in its account of an idealistic young man who met a tragic end because he was inspired to make a huge life change motivated by pure intentions.  Krakauer is clearly intrigued by these men’s paths and therefore wants to probe their personalities.  As evidenced by Into the Wild, the author handles such a story exceptionally well.

Pat Tillman’s character is fully fleshed out here. Jolted by the events of 9-11, Tillman gave up a successful career in the NFL—walking away from millions of dollars—to help eradicate terrorism by serving in the Army Rangers.  This was not a decision that Tillman took lightly; he was a thoughtful, passionate, and intricate person.  The author’s sources include Tillman’s diary entries and interviews with family members.  Krakauer also spent time in Afghanistan amidst U.S. forces. The book is not a straight biography, since the narrative switches between the life of Tillman and the developments of the war in Afghanistan.  Krakauer covers the history of the conflict as well as military maneuvering prior to the incident that took Tillman’s life.

Readers who liked the author’s previous books will probably appreciate this one as well.  It should also appeal to those who are interested in history and current events.  This is a well-written book that educates the reader and evokes a range of emotions.

-Elizabeth

Remember Me?

If you're looking for something light, fun and fast, I just finished Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella.  It was a fun read. The main character wakes up with amnesia and discovers that she doesn't remember the past three years of her life. She can't imagine how her life has evolved the way it has. At first glance she thinks her life is wonderful, but after digging deeper she realizes how much she is missing and needs to rediscover herself.  I  enjoyed the author's sentiment "be true to yourself".

-Natalie

The Christmas List

Last week I listened to the unabridged audio book The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans. It has taken me a week to wrap my mind around it enough to be able write a review. I had my doubts about this book at first because after listening to the first couple of chapters, I had it written off as another spoof off of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, but I urged myself to read on.

The Christmas List begins with a man who is mistakenly listed as dead in the newspaper and online. Through comments made online he discovers -- much like Scrooge -- that he not well regarded, even by his so-called best friend of years. As the story moves on, he strives to change his ways and the negative perceptions that others have of him. He asks his assistant to compile a list of people he has wronged in his life. At first it is a means of making him feel better about himself, but it takes a turn that not even he expects.

This book can truly alter the way you think, act, and perceive things. In my opinion, everyone has a “Christmas List,” and maybe during the Holiday Season we should all compile such a list and act on it. It could make a difference in your life and the life of others you hold near and dear to your heart.

-Denika

Bone Garden

I just finished reading Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen. It has been a while since I picked up one of her books and I forgot how much I enjoy her writing.

Bone Garden is a suspense thriller.  The protagonist discovers buried bones on the old Boston farmhouse she has purchased to renovate. The mystery switches from the present day to 19th century. The historical details pulled me right in. Gerritsen blends true historical figures with her characters seamlessly.

The medical community of 1830s and 1840s knew so little and killed so many! (The authors note at the end discusses this. It gave me shivers.) As an illustration, the physician Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a paper in 1843 in which he suggested that physicians should wash their hands. This was viewed as a radical suggestion!

Her description of the medical community's need for bodies for autopsies is also accurate (and disturbing).  

-Natalie

Note: This book is also available in large print.

Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin

The title of Kathy Griffin’s new book, Official Book Club Selection, is an allusion to Oprah Winfrey’s popular book club. This book brings the laughs, but it also makes for a good memoir.  You’ll want to read it if you are a fan of Griffin’s brand of comedy.

The book is in the same shameless vein as Griffin’s comedy CD For Your Consideration, which lobbied for a Grammy award and did in fact receive a nomination.  This time Griffin entreats Oprah (a frequent target of hers) to make her book the official selection for Oprah’s book club.  There is a reading group guide in the back of the book, but as one might expect, it is sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek.

Through her stand-up comedy and reality show, My Life on the D-List, Griffin has already described a lot about her life and her encounters with celebrities.  In her book, she shares more about her struggle to make it as an actress and comedian and characterizes the famous people she meets along the way.

Alongside its humor, the book includes earnest insights.  Griffin covers the difficult topics of her troubled brother, failed marriage, and plastic surgery. She also talks about the challenge of being a female stand-up comedian in a male-dominated realm.  She has commendable loyalty to her parents, having roped them into her projects whenever possible because she finds them to be smart and funny.  Griffin is proud of her work ethic, calling it the “guiding force” of her life.  This theme comes across well and ties the book together.

-Elizabeth

Water’s Edge

Water’s Edge is another good mystery from the Norwegian author Karin Fossum. The novel finds the police investigating the death of one young boy and the disappearance of another.  The Norwegian setting makes a nice change from the standard American or English procedurals, but the book could have been set anywhere.  Similar to other Scandinavian mysteries, the mood is a bit melancholy, but not depressingly so.

Fossum’s style is reminiscent of Robert Parker and early Dick Francis.  The story is stripped down to its most important elements, with a spare use of words, description and little extraneous narrative.  People do what they have to do and move through life following a personal sense of right and wrong.  It has the basics I look for in a mystery – a good story, interesting characters, a focus on the mystery not on the backstory or the lives of the detectives, several narrative threads come together and the resolution was not easy to guess.

I liked and recommend this short, satisfying mystery.

-Alison

The Lost Symbol

I recently read Dan Brown's new thriller, The Lost Symbol. It was very enjoyable and exciting. The action moves rather fast, so I found it a relatively quick read -- although sometimes I had to flip back to reread a particular part when a twist in the action made me think, "Wait...what just happened?"

As in The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, this novel's hero is Robert Langdon. The conflict of the story surrounds the Masons, a group that has been a popular subject for mysteries in recent years (for example: National Treasure). As we have come to expect from Dan Brown, the story is full of turns and unforeseen events that make the book hard to put down, but which our hero Robert Langdon ultimately ties together brilliantly in the end.

I think what I enjoyed most about the story was its setting. Unlike the other Langdon books that take place in Europe, this book is set in Washington, D.C. I've been to D.C. several times, and, as a result, I found it easier to picture the action in The Lost Symbol than I did with his other books. I've been to the Smithsonian, I've seen the George Washington statue he talked about, and I've been in the rotunda of the Capitol. I could put myself in the story.

I highly recommend reading this book! And, I can't wait for his next one!

-Becki

Chosen by a Horse

Saturday a patron mentioned this book, so of course I had to snatch it up for a look. Chosen By a Horse: a Memoir by Susan Richards was amazing!  This memoir opens with a heart-breaking scene at the SPCA, where Susan has been called by a friend to foster one of the forty horses seized from a home. A specific horse, Lay Me Down (along with her foal) have been chosen for placement at her farm. Lay Me Down is an emaciated, abused bay mare with pneumonia who is too exhausted to put up an argument, but her foal is a different story, and his antics will make you giggle.

Richards brings the pair home to her three other "children," diva Georgia (a Morgan mare), Georgia's counterpart Tempo (a Quarter Horse gelding), and the old gentleman of the group HotShot (another Quarter Horse gelding).

This story of devotion, love and trial (both human and equine) will grip your heart. Bringing Lay Me Down back to good health (and beyond) often takes Susan back to her past where she endured the very early loss of her mother, an abusive husband, and an undecided lover. Chosen By a Horse is a perfect rainy-day, curl up on the sofa in a warm quilt with a hot cup of tea kind of book. Be prepared to laugh and cry, but mostly to be inspired by this true story of Lay Me Down and the woman she chose.

-Denika

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County is a remarkable and unforgettable first novel by Tiffany Baker. Anyone raised by a single parent, or familiar with the loneliness of losing a parent will certainly relate to the main character.

The plot of this novel draws the reader in quickly with the pain, disappointment and joy of a harsh life.

The second novel by Tiffany Baker cannot be published quickly enough.

-Anne

Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: the Story of an African Childhood

I just finished Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: the Story of an African Childhood by Robin Scott. I really enjoyed it. For someone like me with a typical middle class American upbringing, Scott's account of her childhood in Africa was quite fascinating. Scott's parents -- educated and loving, but eccentric -- moved their family to Botswana when she was 7 years old. Her father was a bush doctor who traveled to villages by plane. Her mother home schooled Scott and her siblings until high school.

Scott's stories are warm and funny and she skillfully weaves her insights on the local culture and attitudes into her accounts. Her adventures/misadventures are remarkable and fun. 

-Natalie

A Tiger’s Heart

Since I like to read books set in modern-day China, I picked up A Tiger’s Heart: The Story of a Modern Chinese Woman, an engrossing memoir by Aisling Juanjuan Shen.  She is not kidding when she says that she had already lived a few lifetimes by the time she reached her mid-20s.  She goes from dirt-poor villager to college student, teacher, secretary, and translator, moving around as the better-paying jobs take her, and finally leaving China altogether for the U.S. She is determined not to stay locked into the meager existence of a rice farmer.

She struggles emotionally to overcome her troubled childhood with parents who are hard on her and seem to have only enough love to give to her younger sister.  One of the best aspects of the book is the description of Shen’s complex and evolving relationships with her mother and sister.

Her numerous liaisons with men take up a lot of space in the book, part of her rocky road to eventual success and security.  She is not above using her relationships with men as a way into higher-paying jobs, a disturbing dimension to this story. Shen struggles with self-worth as it relates to cultural perceptions of women.  For all the men she takes up with, love is relatively elusive for her, although she is lucky enough to find it a couple of times.

The book is aptly titled:  Shen has a brazenly tough spirit.  I recommend her account for readers who enjoy memoirs and are interested in recent Chinese history and society. 

-Elizabeth

National Geographic Traveler

OK, so this is not precisely a book review, but it is close: it's a review of book reviews.

I was flipping through a copy of National Geographic Traveler and came across a link to a service they offer called The Ultimate Travel Library, an online review of books organized by the countries they are set in (or, in the case of non-fiction, by the countries described). So if you are planning a trip or simply interested in a particular place this web site might be a good starting point.

Another approach is to do a keyword search in our catalog using "any field" as the parameter with the appropriate keywords. For example "France Fiction", or "Paris Fiction".

-Paul

Kingdom of Silence (and Kingdom of Lies)

With a daily drive to and from work, I take great advantage of the audio book collection at Kelley Library. I just finished listening to Kingdom of Silence by British author Lee Wood. Another in the Kingdom series (along with Kingdom of Lies) of Detective Keen Dunliffe mysteries set in Yorkshire, England.

The crime procedural format of the books is realistic, and both plotlines and dialogue convincing, with well developed and likeable characters. Dunliffe is the classic divorced policeman, trying to reconcile a life separated from his boys, but still consumed by detective work. Living on a Yorkshire farm begrudging a fond affection for his cat Thomas, Dunliffe presents an interesting character; rural by first impression, but perceptive and persistent enough to be a respected detective.

In Kingdom of Silence, Dunliffe is charged with mentoring a fledgling female undercover officer in a surveillance operation aiming to infiltrate a radical animal rights group connected with several violent actions. Set against the backdrop of England’s Hoof & Mouth Disease outbreak of 2001, the author gives voice to his obvious dissatisfaction with the British government’s handling of the epidemic at the expense of the lives of thousands of uninfected livestock. A factual chronology of events during the outbreak introduces each section of the book, providing a backdrop to the action, along with a view of the extent of the devastation of the rural English culture at the time.

I was happy to find the second installment of the series again read by English actor Ralph Cosham. His authentic Yorkshire accent and measured tone compliment the story in a way some accented readings don’t.

-Andy

How I Became a Famous Novelist

Pete Tarslaw, the protagonist of How I Became a Famous Novelist, by Steve Hely, wants to ditch his job fabricating college entry essays for rich applicants. He also wants to upstage his ex-girlfriend at her wedding. In his endeavor to become a novelist, “my ambitions were simple: to learn the con, make money, impress women, and get out.” In writing his completely over-the-top novel, The Tornado Ashes Club, Pete splices together various elements common to literature that appeals to the masses.

The book skewers prototypes of popular authors and the formulas they follow. A fictional New York Times bestseller list is even contained in the book, which ridiculously amplifies popular taste.

How I Became a Famous Novelist is hilarious in a bitingly sarcastic way. In fact, despite quickly laughing my way through it, I sometimes required a break from the constant snarky humor (not a criticism). You need to appreciate the tone to like this book. In its last pages, the book gets earnest all of a sudden. It has, however, provided more than enough entertainment by that point to render it a worthwhile read.

-Elizabeth

Penny Pinchers' Club

The Penny Pinchers' Club by Sarah Strohmeyer is about a woman who spends quite freely, until she finds out that her husband is planning on leaving her. After discovering that they are several thousand dollars in debt, and afraid of being left destitute, she decides to take drastic measures and joins the Penny Pinchers' Club. The novel is a little bit funny, a little bit sad, with a few helpful money-saving tips thrown in. A nice light read. I enjoyed it.

Note: this book is available in large print.

-Cindy

Yes Man

I just finished reading Yes Man by Danny Wallace. The book inspired the movie by the same title. After reading our Director's recommendation on her blog, I decided to try it. I loved it and parts are laugh out loud funny. I've even been retelling bits to family. I highly recommend it.

The books describes (in hilarious fashion) what happens to its author when he decides to say "yes" to everything asked of him in the course of a year.

-Natalie

Provenance

If you like mysteries, police dramas, art history, and international intrigue, you will love Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo.

From the mid 1980s to 1990s a con man and pathological liar named John Drewe, together with the initially unsuspecting artist John Myatt, flooded the art market with hundreds of fake works of modern art. Drewe took his scams to a new level by seeding the archives of numerous museums with forged documents that provided Myatt’s forgeries with apparently solid records of ownership – a prerequisite for the successful sale of art work among collectors and museums. Drewe made a small fortune. His “friend” Myatt, less so. Then things started to unravel for them.

This book reads like a well paced work of suspense fiction, but is in fact the true account of one of the 20th century’s greatest art frauds. Apparently, there is a major motion picture in the works, so this should become a popular book!

If I had to come up with one criticism of the book, it would be that there are no photos (either of the forged work or of the forgers). Not a big deal, since Myatt has since found success as a legitimate painter of works in the style of the masters and has a web site!

-Paul

The Best Music You've Never Heard Of

The Best Music You've Never Heard Of by Nigel Williamson (and others) is not necessarily something you will want to sit down and read cover to cover, but if you are a music fan, you will be well rewarded by flipping through it. (Though now that I say that, I guess that I did read it cover to cover for the most part.)

Williamson arranges his entries by genre, then alphabetically by author within each genre. As the title suggests, The Best Music You've Never Heard Of focuses on musical artists who are (or were) extremely talented, but who never achieved the popularity they deserved. Each artist or group is given a thorough biography and discography, along with the authors' recommendations of the best tracks.

Some of the entries you may have heard of. Moby Grape anyone? But can you honestly say you have heard of the 13th Floor Elevators? I am embarrassed to say that I did not know who Karen Dalton was, but am now pleased that I do.

-Paul

Welcome

Welcome to our newest blog. Here we will be highlighting books the staff are reading. We hope you will visit for ideas and to make comments. We have pretty diverse reading preferences, so we hope you will find some useful suggestions.