July 2010 Staff Book Reviews

Last Updated on Sunday, 01 August 2010 09:01

Frequently Asked Questions - Reader Services

July is hot hot hot! We can not make the heat go away, but we will try to provide some distraction. The Pioneer Library staff members have picked out some books to help you escape the heat.  Find a shady spot under a tree or in front of a fan and enjoy stories of mental and physical survival skills,  alternate universes, and funny little girls.  If one of these books does not interest you, visit one of the hometown libraries and browse the collection out of the heat. 

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Staff Reviewer: Caitlin Goddard, Moore Public Library

Margaret Atwood, is no question, one of the premier writers of her generation.  Many first discover Atwood with her dystopian The Handmaid's Tale.  However, with her 2000 release of The Blind Assassin, Atwood takes us back in time.  The novel is broken up into three parts: Iris, the elderly protagonists reminiscences about her past and current state of existence; her sister's novel which was itself call the Blind Assassin; and a series of newspaper articles, obituaries, and historical records which create a lovely verisimilitude.  Normally with novels broken up into parts, one finds oneself bored with one section, hoping to get back to the "good plot line" as soon as possible.  This novel, however, keeps the reader gripped on the edge of their seat.  The story interweaves scenes of Iris's enigmatic family, wealthy pre-war Canadians, against violence and turbulent characters within the novel.  Every character is completely drawn, every scent and sight felt as though it were your own - this book is beautiful and haunting.

The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen
Staff Reviewer: Cindy Stevens, Center for Reader's Services

A fast paced, science fiction urban fantasy, The Gardener is a real page turner AND a commentary on world hunger, ethics and biomedical technology, sustainability and relationships.  Mason and his mom live in a small town where everyone depends on the major employer, TroDyn.  Mason has never met his father.  He has a short videotape of him reading a children's book.  One day he is visiting his mother at the nursing home where she works.  She works on the secure 6th floor where there are 4 comatose kids just sitting and staring.  Mason accidentally "wakes up" one of the kids, a beautiful girl who doesn't know her name, where she is from, who her parents are or how she got there.  The one thing she knows is that she wants to get out and away from "The Gardener."  It doesn't take very long for Mason to figure out that all is not what it seems at TroDyn.  Would it ever be possible for people to develop the ability to sustain themselves - like plants?  Read The Gardener and find out!

This book is pretty light.  The themes are very sophisticated and in the hands of King or Koontz, an adult full length book could have been stunning.  None the less, I really liked The Gardener and think it's a great summer read for teens or adults.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Staff Reviewer: Alice Fielding, Pioneer Service Center

This book is about a teenage boy, Christopher, in contemporary England whose mind works differently from most people's minds.  (It is assumed that he has autism, but a diagnosis is not given anywhere in the text, so really, it could be anything.)  I was both fascinated and touched by the author's portrayal of the inner workings of this boy's mind, a boy who describes his teacher by the number of small round holes in his shoes, but is afraid to talk to his own neighbor; a boy who does algebra problems just for the fun of it, but cannot understand how to read people's emotions beyond basic happiness and sadness. In some ways the book is depressing, as the relationship between Christopher's parents shows that sometimes love isn't enough, even lots of love. In other ways the book is uplifting, showing that people can overcome their limitations and achieve their goals. I highly recommend this book.

A Test of Faith by Karen Ball
Staff Reviewer: Lori Ford, Newcastle Public Library

I just finished reading A Test of Faith by Karen Ball. I started out thinking it would be a really religious book of testimonies, but what I found was that it could have been my own autobiography! Faith is the answer to Anne and Jared's prayers, the child they had tried to conceive for many years despite Anne's battle with diabetes. Faith grows into a very trying child who refuses all those girly-girl things like dresses and hair-bows, nothing like what her mother had imagined. As the years go by, Faith and her mother disagree on just about anything and everything although she manages to maintain a healthy, loving relationship with her father. As Faith reaches her mid-teen years, she gives in to the peer pressure of her friends and begins living the not-so-Christian life her parents had hoped she would bypass. She trades in her "goody-two-shoes" friend, Winnie, for the rough and tumble Trista who leads her down a path of lies and destruction,to the point Faith leaves her parent's house for good. Months go by without a word from Faith until one day, something happens in Faith's life that changes her hardened heart and compels her to call home. Faith's parents spent many days (and nights) praying for her and now the tables have turned. This book takes you on a journey through the ups and downs of a mother-daughter relationships and shows how parents unconditionally love their children and how, in time, the children will do the same, hopefully, before it's too late.

Hattie the Bad by Jane Devlin
Staff Reviewer: Alice Fielding, Pioneer Service Center

This is a refreshingly original and hilarious book for children who can't quite understand why their parents want them to be good. What good is being good when it means you have to eat mushy food and go to bed when you aren't even tired? And what would YOU say if the famous TV lady asked you to say something on national television? Read this book to find out what Hattie does in these challenging situations!

Lit: a memoir by Mary Karr
Staff Reviewer: Susan Gregory, Pioneer Service Center

This book is evidence that in a master's hands, well-crafted writing can make even the most horrific experience mesmerizing. Mary Karr paid homage to her harsh Texas childhood in The Liar's Club, a scrappy yet beautiful book that spent over a year on the New Your Times bestseller list and landed on Entertainment Weekly's list of the top one hundred books for the past twenty-five years. Now, in Lit, Karr once more uses her trademark humor and raw honesty to throw light on another part of her life: her years, in her own words, when she was an active drunk.

How can someone manage to write award-winning poetry, give birth to and raise an accomplished son and achieve literary and academic stardom while battling a lifetime of not only her own addictions but her parents' alcoholism, too? With searing honesty, some tears and laugh-out-loud humor, Karr walks the reader through one cataclysmic, alcohol-infused disaster after another, until a moment of clarity leads her to finally check herself into Harvard's "Mental Marriott", the campus treatment center for faculty and families. On the brink of suicide, she discovers that her willingness to let go and accept help will lead her to a faith in God that she never wanted but now craves. Her road to serenity is dotted along the way with fellow drunks, a loving but overwhelmed husband, her AA family, lovers, a priest and a nun, and one person whose sobriety comes as the biggest shock of all: her mother.

Mary Karr is a writer of unusual power and grace. She draws the reader into her story with a light but sure hand, and narrates her journey with a poet's eye. Highly recommended.

The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood
Staff Reviewer: Cindy Stevens, Center for Readers Services

I listened to the audio edition of this book on a trip to Colorado with my husband. It started out an interesting book and half way through my husband declared that he was going to purchase it for his personal library! Sherwood introduces the reader to several survivors of calamities so extreme, conditions so harsh, situations so bleak that it seems no human could possibly survive. But these incredible people not only survive, but thrive after their ordeals - why? How do they find the courage, stamina, will to live? What secrets do they have that we, ordinary folk, could learn?

I grew up in Washington State near the Air Force base that houses the Air Force Survival School. As a girl scout I did a weekend survival camp with some trainers from the School. Not nearly as intense as the "real deal" but I remember making a shelter out of a "found" parachute and eating fern fronds and fish we caught in the creek. In The Survivors Club Sherwood talks about his survival training with the Air Force. Here is the take away - 98.6 - protect your core temp!! And the number 3. You can't survive more that 3 seconds without hope, 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food, or 3 months without companionship or love.

The other overwhelming theme throughout the book is a reliance, trust and faith in a higher power to hear and answer prayer. Not by any means a "preachy" book, not exactly a religious book, but definitely a book that speaks to peoples' reliance on their Faith, deep belief and enduring gratitude for all the assistance they received in times of dire need.

So, thanks to a long road trip and a husband that can't tolerate fiction (opposites attract!) I stumbled upon a book that I thoroughly enjoyed, learned a lot from, and feel enriched by the time spent listening/reading it.