Claire Dewitt and the City of the Dead

It is always exciting to find a new author. When I happened upon Sara Gran's newest novel, Claire Dewitt and the City of the Dead, I knew I would add to my list of favorite authors.

The detail in this provocative mystery is griping. Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, the author gives her protagonist a memorable role in solving an unsettling crime amidst the ravages of the hurricane damaged city. This is a fast paced novel and one not to be missed.

-Anne

History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life

Jill Bialosky writes a probing memoir about her younger sister’s short life and tragic suicide at the age of twenty-one. The loss of her sister took a profound toll on Bialosky and she felt the need to understand more about both her sister’s life and the mystery of suicide. Her sister Kim was abandoned by her father (Bialosky’s stepfather for a time), influenced by her mother’s bouts of depression, and involved in a relationship with an abusive boyfriend. Bialosky, also a poet, has a gift for words and makes this book, despite its heavy subject matter, easy to read. She infuses her book with ruminations from notable literary figures from Melville to Plath. History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life should appeal to fans of memoirs, particularly those involving the process of grief, such as Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking.

-Elizabeth

Love You More

I just finished reading  Love You More by Lisa Gardner.

The police are called to the home of State Trooper Tessa Leoni where they find her severely beaten, her husband shot dead, and her 6 year old daughter missing. She claims self defense from an abusive husband, and won't give any information as to where her daughter might be.

This book has alot of twists and turns, and some surprises. Some situations are a little graphic and disturbing, but overall a good, suspenseful read.

-Cindy

Jar City

"I don't read enough mysteries. I should read more." I say this to myself each time I read a good mystery. Then I go looking for more but cannot find any that live up to what I just read. Months later I stumble upon another good one and the process repeats itself. Fortunately, I think I have overcome this tedious cycle of reader's disappointment -- at least temporarily -- for I just read Arnaldur Indridason's first novel, Jar City. He has written many more in addition to this, and if they are only half as good as Jar City, I should have mysteries to keep me busy for some time.

Set in bleak, rainy Reykjavik, Iceland, Jar City follows police detective Erlendur as he and his team investigate the murder of a man found bludgeoned in his apartment. A cryptic note left on dead man's chest is initially all they have to work with. The trail leads eventually to the victim's violent past, his crimes and their repercussions for the living. Indridason's prose is elegant in its economy and is perfectly paired with the novel's quick pace and dark foreboding.

Fans of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo will enjoy Arnaldur Indridason.

-Paul

A Secret Gift: How One Man's Kindness -- and a Trove of Letters -- Reveal the Hidden History of the Great Depression

Ted Gup's A Secret Gift is a fascinating glimpse into depression era America. The author was given a suitcase that belonged to his grandfather. Inside he found letters written in response to an December 1933 newspaper advertisement promising a $5 cash gift to 75 families who wrote to describe their hardships. The letters were all addressed to a Mr. B. Verdot, a name unknown to Gup.

At first Gup, who is an investigative journalist, cannot imagine why his grandfather had these letters. He soon learns that B. Virdot was a pseudonym used by his grandfather (whose real name was Sam Stone). Gup tracks down the families of some of the letter writers and solves the biggest mystery -- just who was his grandfather and what prompted him to undertake this act of kindness?

Some of the letters are reprinted in the book. Because the ad promised anonymity, the letters are poignantly candid descriptions of economic despair.

-Natalie

Non-Fiction DVDs

Nothing worth watching on television tonight? Why not learn something while also being entertained?! Borrow some of the Kelley Library's many non-fiction DVDs and enjoy them with your family.

I recommend the History Channel series, How the Earth Was Made. (The series is comprised of twelve episodes on four disks.) Who knew Geology could be so fascinating?!

Improvements in technology and research over the past few decades have greatly advanced our understanding of how the Earth was formed, and how it continues to move and change today.  Many geological wonders are explained -- both here in the United States (the Great Lakes, San Andreas fault line, Hawaiian Islands) and around the world (the Swiss Alps, Loch Ness, Krakatoa).

Did you know that beneath Yellowstone National Park is a super volcano that feeds the many hot pools and geysers there?!

Other non-fiction DVD topics include history, travel, documentary, animals, music, comedy, sports; and for the more ambitious: exercise, dance, yoga, home-improvement, etc. Enjoy one tonight!

-Jennifer

The Red Garden

I loved The Red Garden. Once again, Alice Hoffman weaves a tale of small town existence and the deep ties among the people who live there as they struggle with their lives and loves.

As in her other novels, Hoffman gives the reader great consolation and inspiration and shows that we all carry our own powers of restraint and forgiveness -- as well as recklessness.

This is a compelling novel written in Hoffman's magical and sensual prose.

Not to be missed.

-Anne

If you enjoy books by Alice Hoffman, you may wish to consider these authors as well:

Laura Esquivel
Alice McDermott
Sandra Dallas