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10-Lb. Penalty, Dick Francis, 1997
Circumstances and his father convince young Ben Juliard that he will never be able to make it big as a jockey. Ben agrees instead to help his father run for political office, and to enter college when the school year begins. Ben finds politics uninterersting, but repeated attempts on his father’s life, as well as a scandalmongering newspaper reporter, liven up the race. Ben is determined to keep his father safe. He solves the mystery of who was trying to kill his father only years later, when the older Juliard is standing for prime minister and someone again attempts murder.

This is an unusual mystery. Details of horse-racing, politics, and the lives of the characters take up more of the book than does the mystery. The lack of adherence to the usually tight mystery formula, however, makes for a pleasant reading experience.
Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet, by M. C. Beaton
This book is a delightful English "cozy," i.e., a mystery set in a quaint village. Agatha Raisin is not exactly the Miss Marple type, however. She has retired from her public relations company in London and settled down to the deceptively peaceful idyll of the Cotswolds.

She might be retired, but Agatha wouldn’t be averse to a little romance and excitement. When a handsome new vet arrives in town, Agatha—true to her charmingly self-centered, vaguely dishonest self—will try anything to get her claws into him. Whoops! He winds up dead!
At Risk, by Stella Rimington
Liz Carlyle is an intelligence officer with MI5 who has come up the ranks in a male-dominated world of espionage. After analyzing information from her agents, she realizes that there is an imminent terrorist threat. There may be an “invisible,” which is CIA-speak for a terrorist that is an ethnic native to the target country, as well as a second person of unknown nationality. Liz must use her intuitive skills and her ability to get inside the enemy’s head in order to track down the terrorists. At Risk is the debut thriller from the former head of Britain’s MI5.
Atonement, by Ian McEwan
In the years preceding World War II, aspiring atuhor, 13-year old Briony Tallis lets her imagination run away with her and, by so doing, commits a crime that has far-reaching implications for the older sister Cecilia, her boyfriend Robbie, and herself. Beautifully written by British author McEwan, this novel moves from the seemingly idyllic British countryside of 1935 to the horrors of Dunkirk and London during the Blitz.
Back Story, by Robert B. Parker
P. I. Spenser is back in top form in his 29th case. As a favor to his protégé Paul Giacomon, now a successful actor and director, Spenser is investigating the murder of an actress with whom Paul works. She was killed during a bank robbery for which a revolutionary group, the Dread Scott Brigade, claimed credit. As Spenser investigates, it becomes obvious that there was an FBI cover-up and some involvement on the part of the mob. While this mystery includes plenty of action and violence, Spenser's modern slant on his rather traditional beliefs offers both insight into the male mind and considerable dry humor.

Both men and women who like hard-boiled detective stories should savor this series.
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The Big Dig by Linda Barnes
P. I. Carlotta Carlyle appears for the ninth time in The Big Dig, the nickname for a gigantic road construction project in Boston. Carlotta has been hired by a security company to investigate the disappearance of equipment from the Big Dig’s Horgan Construction site. She also takes a side job looking for the missing lesbian lover of a well-known philanthropist. When the two cases connect, Carlotta has little time to foil a terrorist plot and rescue a kidnapped child!. There is a great deal of action and excitement as well as complex plotting in the book. Carlotta continues to develop as she mourns her lost love, the son of a mafia don, and comforts herself in a brief interlude with an FBI agent. Devotees of the harboiled detective story, particularly those who have read earlier adventures of Carlotta Carlyle, will be delighted.
Biting the Moon, by Martha Grimes
A teenager awakens one morning in a bed and breakfast. She has amnesia. The man she is with is absent for the moment. Sensing she is in danger, she steals money from his jacket and leaves. She hides out in a cabin she finds in a national forest. Going to town one day for supplies she meets a younger girl who offers to help her find out who she is. Using clues from information she remembers the two girls travel to different places gathering more and more information . . . none of it good.
The Body of Jonah Boyd, by David Leavitt
The year is 1969 in the small California town of Wellspring. Denny Denham, secretary and lover to Ernest Wright, a manipulative psychoanalyst, becomes friends with his neurotic wife Nancy and their children: the rebellious Daphne, draft dodger David and teenaged aspiring writer, Ben. Nancy’s best friend, Anne, and her new husband, Jonah Boyd, spend Thanksgiving weekend with the family. Jonah is working on a novel, but continually misplaces his copy, written in a set of Italian notebooks. During the course of the visit he loses the notebooks permanently, setting off a chain of events that changes the course of many lives. This is an entertaining read that surprises at the end with an unexpected twist.
Briar Rose, by Jane Yolen
Until Grandmother Gemma died, her family thought she and her only daughter came to the United States before the horrible war in Europe. The box that Gemma left in the nursing home gave them clues of another history, one that seemed to echo in the particularly chilling version of Sleeping Beauty that she used to tell. As youngest granddaughter Rebecca discovered, the real-life Sleeping Beauty who awakened with a kiss was her grandmother who had survived extermination and allowed her memories of that terrible time to emerge only in a story. Readers familiar with Yolen's skill as a writer of children's books might be surprised at her skill with more complex and sophisticated material. A quick and suspenseful read.
Brick Lane, by Monica Ali
Nazeen grew up in a poor Bangladeshi village with her pretty sister Hasina. At a young age Nazeen is subjected to an arranged marriage to a much older man. He moves her to London, where she can't speak the language and has little chance even to leave her apartment. She has three children in quick succession, keeps house and cares for her family, because that is her role in life. Hasina has married for love but to a violent man. Her only contact with her sister over the years is through her letters. Their dream is to be reunited and find the serenity they knew as children. Because her eldest daughter rebels at the rigidity of the traditions her father imposes, Nazeen begins to realize that she can choose another path for her life. She starts the road to self-realization by taking in sewing that she can do from home. She begins an affair with the man who delivers the garments and eventually breaks from the barriers her husband has constructed, to seek her own happiness.
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Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
British PI Jackson Brodie investigates three “cold” cases (unsolved crimes from the past): Case #1 – Three-year-old Olivia disappears while camping out in the backyard with her older sister. Case #2 – Eighteen-year-old Laura is murdered by an intruder while working at her father’s law office. Case #3 – Young mother Michelle murders her husband with an ax, and years later, her sister Shirley attempts to track down the child with whom she has lost contact. As Jackson works these cases, they intertwine and connect in fascinating and strangely humorous ways.
A Cold Day For Murder, by Dana Stabenow
When an irritating know-it-all park ranger disappears into the Alaskan wilderness, he is likely just a victim of carelessness and cold. When the ranger sent to find him disappears also, Kate Shugak is brought into the case. The former top investigator for the Anchorage DA's office, Kate has withdrawn into the Park that is also home to her Aleut family after surviving a throat-slashing at the hands of a child-abuser. Kate and her wolf emerge from her homestead at the request of her ex-boss and former lover and the FBI. The wild setting and background on it and the dilemma of modern-day Aleuts, as well as the complicated tensions among Kate, her grandmother, and her former lover make a fair mystery into an excellent one. This is the first in a series of Kate Shugak mysteries. It should appeal to fans of such female detectives as Kinsey Milhone and Anna Pigeon.
A Cold Treachery, by Charles Todd
Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard is sent to the Lake District to solve the killing of an entire family: father, mother, twin babies and two stepchildren. Rutledge, a shell-shocked veteran of WWI, thought he had finished with such savagery. While the villagers feel that the murderer must be a depraved stranger, Rutledge knows that a stranger couldn't have gotten into this very remote village without being seen. The 10-year old son of the family is missing, and the only strangers to arrive recently are the boy's aunt and biological father. The villagers, unsurprisingly, are less than helpful. Rutledge not only must find the child before he perishes from the cold, but also fight his own demons as he is haunted by a soldier-ghost from his own tortured past.
The Cranefly Orchid Murders, by Cynthia Riggs
Victoria Turnbull is a feisty ninety-two year old living on Martha’s Vineyard. She has great knowledge about the island’s history and ecology, and this has earned her an honorary position as "deputy" to the local police department. Another elderly resident, Phoebe Eldridge, has decided to sell her land in order to keep it from her shiftless children. Several groups are interested including a housing developer, a conservation group, a commune, and a group of local doctors who want to build a golf course. Phoebe sells to the developer causing the other groups to seek ways to prevent the development. The conservation group enlists Victoria to explore part of the property, hoping she will find rare or endangered plants. With the assistance of a charming eleven year old, Victoria takes daily walks on the land in question and is rewarded with the find of a rare cranefly orchid. She also finds a body. This is a fun, light mystery with description of Martha’s Vineyard that will be interesting to those familiar with the island.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
Christopher Boone is an exceptional 15 year-old. He is blessed with a genius for math and an exceptionally logical mind, but is autistic and has no understanding of human emotions. As the narrator of this story, his world begins to fall apart after finding the neighbor's dog impaled by a garden fork. He makes it his mission to find the murderer, modeling his investigation after his favorite character, Sherlock Holmes. Christopher embarks upon a journey that forces him to deal with his father's lies and his parents' divorce. The novel, told in the format of a murder mystery, is the honest and sometimes funny account of what might go on in the mind of an autistic child.
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Dangerous to Know, by Barbara Taylor Bradford
When her former guardian and ex-husband Sebastian Locke, industrialist and philanthropist, is found dead, Vivienne Trent is shocked. She is even more shocked when she learns that the autopsy shows he killed himself ---particularly since he was so happy when she'd had lunch with him the week before. She and his two children, Jack and Luciana, narrate the story as they see it, revealing a great deal about the character of each. While the story focuses on character rather than plot which develops slowly, near the end of the book the action quite suddenly takes over. This is definitely a book for women readers, and its strongest appeal will be to those who enjoy reading about the rich and famous.
Dead Time , by Eleanor Taylor Bland
This mystery introduces Marti MacAlister, an African-American police detective, widow of a Chicago cop, and mother of two. Marti lives and works in Lincoln Prairie, a Chicago suburb. The Cramer Hotel, home to many of the elderly, mentally ill, and substance abusers of this town, is the scene of the murder of Lauretta Dorsey. Dorsey was a schizophrenic whose history Marti must uncover while trying to protect the other Cramer residents as well as some throw-away children who might have witnessed the crime. Marti's relationships with her partner, other police officers, and her two children are also well-developed as she works on her case. Dead Time is a good start to a very appealing series of mysteries that will interest most readers, especially women and African-Americans.
Dearest Dorothy, Are We There Yet? by Charlene Baumbich
Glen Ellyn resident Baumbich has written a book that will appeal to readers of inspirational fiction, particularly older ones. Dorothy Westra is, at 87, trying to decide what to do with her farm. Her husband is dead, and she isnot in the best of health, so she wants to move in closer to friends in Partonville. A developer has offered Dorothy a deal , but she is not sure she knows what the Lord would have her do. Many minor characters, small-town rural folk from the northern part of southern Illinois, add humor to Dorothy's already fairly funny story. While the reader is not force-fed the religious beliefs of the author and her characters, adherents of religions other than Christianity might not be entirely comfortable with the book.
The Dearly Departed, by Elinor Lipman
Sunny’s single mom, Margaret Batten, has died with her lover, Miles Finn, in a tragic accident. Miles’ son Fletcher informs Sunny of the deaths. They plan to meet and arrange the funerals in their parents’ hometown of King George, New Hampshire. Sunny dreads going home as she sees King George as the embodiment of an unhappy childhood. Fletcher, who has been relieved of his duties as campaign manager for the clueless and anorexic Emily Ann Grandjean, also finds things not as he imagined. The fun begins and their lives change when Sunny and Fletcher discover they have a great deal more in common than they thought. The Dearly Departed is a charmingly goofy tale of untimely death, family secrets, and unlikely alliances.
Devil May Care, by Sheri McInnis
Sally Carpenter has not had an acting job in two years. She supports herself by working in a used bookstore in Greenwich Village. Sally is a lapsed Catholic, but one who always tries to do the right thing. One day after yet another disastrous audition, she meets Jack Weaver and her luck begins to change. Producers are after her, a rival actress succumbs to a mysterious illness and Sally gets her job. What is going on? Sally wonders if she has met Mr. Right or the Devil! This funny novel plays with the question: “Can the devil fall in love and what happens if he does?”
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The Dim Sum of All Things by Kim Wong Keltner
Lindsey Owyang lives precariously between the world of her Chinese grandmother and world of a modern young San Franciscan. She endures disastrous dates with grandsons of her grandmother’s friends while looking for the perfect boyfriend. She is often drawn to “white” men, but feels guilty about it. Her family feels she is wasting her education working at the Vegan Warrior, but Lindsey is clever and resourceful, often using outlandish tactics to keep the office on target. When her grandmother’s health requires live-in assistance, Lindsey is recruited. She loves her grandmother but is sometimes embarrassed by her adherence to Chinese customs. A trip to China awakens in Lindsey an appreciation for her heritage. This novel of being Eastern in a Western world is both endearing and hilarious.
Do Try to Speak as We Do: the Diary of an American Au Pair, By Marjorie Leet Ford
This is a sometimes hilarious always engaging story of a young American woman who falls into a job as an au pair in England. Much of the humor stems from the heroine’s misconceptions about British expressions and her boss’s prejudices about "Americanisms." The character of Melissa is very endearing. She is at a crossroads in her life, blowing hot and cold about her fiance in the U.S., enduring blatant abuse from her British employer, and growing fat unwillingly. By the end of this culture clash/coming of age novel, Melissa has found her way, and we have all enjoyed the ride.
Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
Empire Falls, Maine is a town that has seen better days. Miles Roby, nice guy entering middle age, lives there along with his daughter Tick, ex-wife Janine, and wealthy town matriarch Francine Whiting. Mrs. Whiting owns the Empire Grill where Miles is proprietor and the assumed inheritor of the eatery. The relationships run deep and the characters are fascinating. This book hooks you from the start and takes you on an entertaining ride you don’t want to end.
Empire Falls, by Richard Russo
This book is great. Events unfold in a small Maine mill town whose glory days are long past. Miles Roby, the manager of the Empire Grill, yearns to escape the confines of his job, his life, and the menacing control of Francine Whiting, the richest woman in Knox County. His wife is divorcing him, his daughter is loving, but distant, and his father relishes his role as the town derelict. Miles is a cautious, good-hearted, hard-working sort who gave up dreams of academia to tend to his dying mother. Now, twenty years later, he’s still behind the grill. The story is filled with events big and small, and characters so engaging and quirky that I wished this already long book would go on and on. The dialogue I would describe as quietly hilarious. The author, a Maine resident, knows hereof he speaks. His portrait of Empire Falls and the economic forces that assail it are dead on. Two thumbs up!
Eventide by Kent Haruf
As in Haruf's Plainsong, Harold and Raymond McPherson, two aging brothers who farm near the small town of Holt, Colorado, occupy the center of the novel. Victoria Roubideaux and her young daughter, whom they "adopted," live in Fort Collins where Victoria is going to college. The brothers miss them terribly, but support Victoria in her need for independence.Many other townspeople play roles in the brothers' lives. They meet a disabled couple trying to raise their two young girls without the capacity to understand the consequences of their decisions. There is also DJ, an eleven-year-old who lives with his grandfather and has to be ther person in charge of the house.Readers will find this page-turner rich in character and stories.
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A Farewell to Yarns, by Jill Churchill
Jane Jeffry, the single mom with three kids introduced in Grime and Punishment, is always busy. With Christmas and the church bazaar getting closer, she cannot think how she will cope when a very wealthy friend "drops in" for a visit. While the friend, Phyllis, is undemanding, the teenage son Phyllis has just acquired is obnoxious. Jane is determined to shorten this visit, but Phyllis, when murdered, shortens it more abruptly than Jane planned. The detective on the case is young, cute, and determined to protect both Jane from danger and the case from Jane. Jane’s story is full of household mishaps that are hilarious, at least when they happen to someone else! Jane will be appreciated, especially by the homemakers in us.
False Sense of Well Being, by Jeanne Braselton
At age 38, Jessie Maddox is having a mid-life crisis. Though she lives a comfortable life in a small southern town with a reliable and responsible husband, she wonders if her life would be different if her husband were dead. She attempts to find a new direction in her life. Her support system is her best friend and neighbor who is having an affair with a much younger man. Jessie returns home to visit her eccentric parents thinking she will find answers to her recurrent ennui. This event forces her to confront the tragedy that triggered the crisis. False Sense of Well Being is a dark comedy that underlines the eternal pull of family, as well as an engaging story of a woman at the crossroads.
Firestorm, by Nevada Barr
Park Ranger Anna Pigeon is working in California as an emergency medic to a crew fighting an enormous forest fire. In the process of carrying out a wounded man, the crew is caught by a sudden firestorm. They try to ride out the fire is specially insulated tents, called "shake’n’bakes." The injured man dies and another crew member is found with a knife between the ribs. With almost no food and in quickly dropping temperatures, the crew, some badly burned, must await rescue knowing one of them is a murderer. A tour de force, and my personal favorite in this series.
Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier
After her father is blinded in an accident, sixteen-year-old Griet becomes a maid in the house of the painter Vermeer, earning her keep and enough money to help feed her family. Griet is poor and uneducated but intelligent and thoughtful. The girl works long hours at exhausting tasks. She soon learns that there are tensions in the Vermeer family that she exacerbates, simply by being young and pretty, and by being allowed into Vermeer's studio to clean. When she proves an able assistant to Vermeer, Griet is delighted, but she must step very carefully to avoid disaster. Then, when a customer demands she sit for a portrait, Griet is forced to make life-changing decisions. This picture of life in 16th century Holland is almost as interesting as the portraits Vermeer paints. While plot is important, the story moves slowly and deliberately, reflecting Griet's careful and cautious thought processes. The focus here is on the characters and their motivations, particularly Griet's and Vermeer's. The reader who enjoys pondering these things will find much pleasure in Griet's story.
Grange House, by Sarah Blake
Though Maisie has always spent her summers in Maine at Grange House, the summer of 1898 when Maisie is seventeen is different. The girl's parents are pushing her toward marriage while Miss Grange, the owner of Grange House, the owner of Grange House, hopes Maisie will have the mysterious "gift." She tries to show Maisie some of the Grange family history, real and imagined. A terrible accident, however, takes the life of Maisie's father, prompting her to write about him after she returns home. On receiving Maisie’s biography of her father, Miss Grange sends Maisie her diaries. Only when Maisie and her mother return to Grange House can Maisie sort fact from fiction and learn who she herself is and who she wants to be. This very Victorian telling of Maisie’s story should appeal to women and girls who enjoy a Gothic atmosphere, beautiful, detailed writing, and complex characterization.
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Grasshopper, by Barbara Vine, aka Ruth Rendell
Another of Barbara Vine’s mesmerizing stories of psychologically troubled protagonists. Clodagh, a young girl with a tragic accident in her past, becomes involved with a group of young adults who have an unusual and dangerous hobby---roof-walking. This is the story of how their rooftop journeys and their youth lead to tragic consequences in 1980’s London.
Guilty Pleasures, by Laurell K. Hamilton
Anita Blake makes a living as an animator, raising the dead as zombies. Executing vampires is just a sideline. When the 1000 year-old Master Vampire of St. Louis, Anita's hometown, orders her to find the serial killer who is murdering vampires, Anita must obey. Anita's allies against the Master Vampire are a handsome young man trying to kick his vampire habit, a fellow vampire hunter who would happily torture Anita to find out where the Master Vampire sleeps, and Jean-Claude, the vampire second in line for the Master's job.

Even young readers who are not fond of horror will find appeal in the humor, particularly Anita's sharp wit, and in the undercurrent of sexuality in this amusing vampire tale.
The Heartsong of Charging Elk, by James Welch
Charging Elk is a South Dakota Sioux who, at the turn of the century, was selected to tour Europe in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. During a performance inMarseilles, France, Charging Elk becomes ill and is left in a hospital while the show travels on. He manages to escape the hospital but because of the language barrier is unable to communicate his intentions. Thereafter his existence is peppered with one life-altering event after another. This novel, based on historic fact, is powerful and well-written. Welch is a very gifted storyteller.
Hope Springs, by Lynne Hinton
In this second installment to the “Hope Springs” series, good friends and members of the North Carolina Hope Springs Community Church cookbook committee deal with various issues that test their friendship. Pastor Charlotte questions her faith while trying to help a young parishoner who is suicidal after the death of her daughter. Jessie worries that her husband James will leave her again even as she plans to move with him to another state. Margaret deals with breast cancer and the different reactions of her friends over the problem. Beatrice is happy in a new marriage and her cheerful upbeat nature sometimes clashes with the dilemmas her friends are facing. All of these issues are intertwined into a touching, sometimes melancholy, sometimes sweet story.
Housewrights, by Art Corriveau
This charming and challenging book takes place in the early part of the twentieth century in Vermont. Lily Willard is a preteen tomboy enjoying the pleasures of rural life and the prospect of her own room in a soon-to-be-built new homestead. Mr. Pritchard, the housewright, appears on the scene with his young twin sons, Oren and Ian, who have spent their lives on the road knowing only the comfort and familiarity of each other and none of the rudiments of what Lily considers normal life. Lily teaches them reading and riding. They move on. Ten years later Lily is the bored town librarian when Oren reappears and they marry. All three, Lily, Oren and Ian, live and cavort together as if they were still children, enjoying an innocent intimacy the small town cannot understand. And therein lies the problem.
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff
This novel depicts a futuristic wartime. When fifteen year-old Daisy's father sends her to England to live with cousins, she is more than happy to escape her nasty stepmother. While Daisy finds real family with her cousins, she bonds almost mystically with cousin Edmond, with whom she also begins a sexual relationship. Then, when enemy forces take over the country, the house is commandeered, and the boy and girl cousins are sent to different homes.

Survival is difficult, and the horror of war touches them all, but Edmond's experience is devastating. Reunited with him well after the conflict, and greatly changed in character and spirit, Daisy describes how she lives now.

Teens are this book's intended audience. Though Daisy and Edmond's relationship might be considered incestuous and some adults might be alarmed that a fifteen year-old is having sex at all, teen girls seem likely to devour Daisy's story.
In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden, by Kathleen Cambor
Even though early on you are aware of the tragic ending to this novel, Cambor hooks you into the lives and loves of her characters. The novel portrays many people of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania area---from coal miners, the local librarian and a college student to the wealthy owners of the South Fork Club (of which the Mellons and Carnegies are members). Their blatant disregard for the dam that provides the lake for their summer recreation causes it to collapse and costs the lives of 2200 people. This book will appeal to fans of history and romance alike.
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Jane Austen in Boca, by Paula Marantz Cohen
Boca Festa is a middle-class retirement community where we meet May Newman, a sweet mild-mannered woman in her 70s. May’s best friends are Lila Katz, a redhead who watches her pennies as she searches for a rich husband, and Flo Kliman, a widowed librarian from trhe University of Chicago. Flo, naturally, is the Elizabeth Bennett of the novel. The rituals of courting and flirting haven’t altered all that much from Regency England to the amenities of Boca. This plot roughly follows its model, though the language is Yiddish-influenced and thoroughly modern. Great fun!
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
This lengthy novel takes a historically correct England in the early 1800s and adds an interesting twist. This is an England in which magic was once practiced, but now is studied only as an academic subject. One Mr. Norrell, a rather fussy old bachelor, decides to become the first practical magician in many years. He has very definite opinions on magic, both in his time and earlier, and preaches them at every opportunity. He also goes to considerable length to prevent others from practicing magic. Jonathan Strange, a younger man, also becomes a magician--first Norell's apprentice, then his superior. The two split until a great tragedy in Strange's life reunites them in the practice of magic against a common foe.
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Killer Stuff, by Sharon Fiffer
Antiques "picker" Jane Wheel is trying to make ends meet by purchasing "killer stuff" at estate sales in suburban Chicago and reselling to dealers, all the while fighting her addiction to Bakelite buttons and McCoy flower pots. When she discovers the body of her neighbor Sandy, Jane becomes a prime suspect in the murder, and must forage for the true killer.
Kissed a Sad Good-bye, by Deborah Crombie
When an old man and his dog find the body of a strikingly beautiful young woman, Police Supt. Duncan Kincaid and his partner, Sgt. Gemma James find their personal lives once again disrupted. The woman, they learn, was Annabel Hammond. Adored and spoiled as a child, she had taken over her father’s tea business. Heedless of how many lives she destroyed, Annabel gratified herself with a string of sexual partners. Though this behavior created no shortage of suspects, Crombie manages to find a murderer that is not on the list. Electricity between Gemma and a suspect, and Duncan’s developing relationship with a son whose existence he has only recently discovered, add to this already excellent story. Mystery fans, Anglophiles, and readers who enjoy the exploration of relationships should find this a satisfying book.
Lamb in Love, by Carrie Brown
Norris Lamb is the postmaster in a small English village. He dispenses stamps and takes charge of all mailings in and out of the village. Vida Stephens lives in a mansion in the village and is the loving caretaker for the past twenty years of Manfred Perry, an autistic "child." Manfred lost his mother at birth and his father doesn’t know how to relate to his challenged, non-speaking son. Now after all these many years, Norris becomes aware of his love for Vida, but is too shy to express it. He sends her unsigned love letters postmarked from various part of the world. Vida of course is quite baffled by this. This story is all the more tender because the lovers are no longer young, and the author understands that love is disconcerting at any age.
Law of Gravity, by Stephen Horn
Federal attorney Philip Barkley has been released from a psychiatric hospital after the death of his young daughter. Philip had been a whistleblower in the past and now his career is going nowhere. His boss promises him a job in the Oregon State’s attorney’s Office if he will look into the disappearance of Martin Green, an aide to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a suspected spy. Philip’s investigation leads him to the conclusion that Green is not a spy and he refuses to report that he is. His pursuit of the truth leads him on a trail of deception that began with a woman’s fall from a Bronx rooftop almost fifty years earlier. The protagonist is a man of great integrity trying to pick up the pieces of his life. The reader will have great empathy for him as he tries to do the right thing and bring the truth to light.
The Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
Pi, a young Indian boy, and his family, who are immigrating to Canada along with the zoo they own, are shipwrecked. Pi is the sole survivor, in addition to a zebra, hyena, orangutan and tiger. Soon there is just Pi and the tiger alone on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific. This allegorical tale is entertaining and instructive.
Lost in the Forest, by Sue Miller
Set in the vineyards of northern California, Eva and her husband, John, live a harmonious life with Emily and Daisy, Eva's teenagers from her first marriage to Mark, and Theo, their own 3-year old. After John dies in a freak accident, Eva loses control of her life. Her children stay with Mark for a while. As Eva grieves, Mark finds himself falling back in love with her. Daily, devastated, begins a dangerous affair with her mother's best friend's husband. This relationship lasts because of Daisy's vulnerability and neediness. Eventually her father Mark saves her from destruction. An engrossing and powerful novel.
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A Loyal Character Dancer, by Qiu Xiaolong
Catherine Rohn of the U. S. Marshals Service is sent to Shanghai to escort Wen, a witness who is to testify at a trial of Chinese Triad members, to the United States. Catherine has been picked because she speaks Chinese. When she arrives in Shanghai she discovers that Wen has disappeared.
Police inspector Chen Cao, a poet and scholar of American Literature, is assigned to assist Catherine and to make a show of trying to find Wen to give the impression that they are cooperating with the United States. Chen is an honest cop who must decide whether to assist Catherine legitimately or to follow the orders of his superiors and save his career. While following clues to Wen’s location, Chen charms Catherine with his poetry and knowledge of literature. This suspenseful mystery gives wonderful descriptions of life in present day China.
Lucia, Lucia, by Adriana Trigiani
Lucia Sartori is an elderly woman living in an old apartment building in New York City. One day she decides to tell her young neighbor, Kit, the story of her life. In the early 50s Lucia was a beautiful 25-year old whose father was a successful grocer in Greenwich Village. Lucia was a seamstress working at B. Altman's; she was engaged, happy, content. Soon, however, she perceived inevitable conflicts between marriage and career and hesitated to proceed with the wedding. Her situation was further complicated when she met handsome and charming John Talbot. It appeared that Talbot would give her a life of uptown luxury, something she could never hope to achieve as a career girl. There was something mysterious about John, though, and all was not as it seemed. Everything in Lucia's personal and professional lives was shifting when a crisis occurred that jeopardized both her career and her family.
Magic Kingdom for Sale---Sold! By Terry Brooks
Ben Holiday is still grieving for his wife, dead two years, and is increasingly disenchanged with his life as a lawyer. When he sees an ad in Rosen’s Christmas catalog advertising a magic kingdom in need of a king and selling for a million dollars, he knows that this adventure will be just what he needs. Despite advice to the contrary from his few friends, Holiday gathers his invested money and buys the kingdom of Landover. What he finds is not what he expected. Landover is indeed a magic kingdom, with a dragon, fairies, a witch, and innumerable other creatures of myth and legend. However, since the last true king of Landover died and his son escaped into Holiday’s world, the kingdom has fallen into decay. There is no army and no system of taxation. The castle is tarnished, and only four retainers are left to the king. No one accepts Holiday’s rule, and a powerful demon, the Iron Mark, will probably make everything else a moot point by killing him. With this often humorous fantasy, Brooks begins a series that might appeal to readers of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.
A Memory of Love, by Beatrice Small
As the bastard daughter of the Prince of Wales, Rhonwyn is of little use to her father, so she is raised by his men as a boy, learning the skills of war. When she is a beautiful young woman, however, her father needs Rhonwyn to cement an alliance with England. A crash course in being a lady does not prepare her for marriage to Edward de Beaulieu. Her husband’s brutish behavior in the bedroom is no help. When Edward takes her along to the Crusades, and then takes fatally ill, Rhonwyn joins the soldiers. She is captured, only to become a prized member of the harem of the Emir of Cinnebar. The Emir teaches Rhonwyn the joys of sex. When she finally escapes the harem and needs a husband, it seems most men deem her new skills of love to be as unwomanly as those of war. Women readers who like their historical romance sizzling should find Rhonwyn’s story just the ticket.
Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
Calliope Stephanides narrates the story of her life, a fascinating tale of a person who discovers at the onset of puberty that she is not the awkward girl she always thought she was but a genetically, if not completely anatomically correct, boy. She slides into the voice of Cal, a 41-year old man, who takes the reader back in time to the lives of his grandparents. Lefty and Desdemona had lived in war-torn Greece but fled the terrors of the Ottoman army. Upon arriving in America they marry, few knowing that they are in reality brother and sister. After settling in Detroit, they begin a family and through the mystery of genetic mutation, Cal’s fate is sealed. Cal’s grandparents face a series of challenges including a stint at illegal rum-running, the destruction of the family restaurant during the Detroit race riots, and Desdemona’s first job at the nation of Islam. Cal’s childhood is more conventional. She receives a private school education and lives with her family in upper middle class Grosse Point. Innocence ends, however, when the realization of her dual sexuality cannot be ignored.
Morality for Beautiful Girls , by R. A. McCall Smith
This is the third outing in the charming Precious Ramotswe series. Precious, founder and owner of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, investigates the alleged poisoning of the brother of an important "government man." Before she tackles that task she sees that her fiance, the reliable M. J. L. B. Matekoni, owner of the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, is treated for depression. Her recently promoted assistant, Mma Makutsi, is left in charge of both the garage and the agency as Precious investigates the moral character of the four finalists of the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest. The winner will almost certainly be a contestant for the title of Miss Botswana. Precious is paid a lot for her quick and clever work. Likewise, the reader reaps the reward of finding a great new series.
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Mothertime, by Gillian White
Five children, living in London with their alcoholic monster of a mother, take dramatic action. After yet another ruined Christmas the children drag their inebriated,vomit-covered mom down to the cellar and lock her in the sauna! What is intended as a short-term solution turns into a long-term plan, as they quite literally dry her out. Mothertime is funny, ironic, scary and quite touching. I would compare Gillian White to a benign Ruth Rendell. Recommended!
My Name is Red, by Orhan Pamuk
In 16th century Istanbul an illuminated book is being produced as a top-secret project for the Sultan. Black, a young man recently returned to Istanbul, is charged by his uncle to find the murderer of the gilder, an artist named Elegant who applied the gold to the book's pages, as a condition of winning the hand of his beautiful daughter, Shekure. Was the killer on of the three master illuminators working on the book or was it Black himself? This is a timely book which also explores the roots of fundamentalist Islam vis-à-vis the West.
Murder of a small town Honey by Denise Swanson, 2000
In this first of series featuring psychologist Skye Denison, Skye has returned to her small hometown of Scumble River near Chicago. She has recently been dumped by her boyfriend and fired from her job, so Skye’s uncle has used his influence to get her a position at the local school system. When Uncle Charlie asks her to volunteer at the annual Chokeberry Days, she reluctantly agrees. Volunteering turns out to be even more unpleasant when she finds the body of a festival performer. Her brother is charged with the murder, and Skye determines to find the real killer. Cozy mystery readers, particularly those who like a small town setting, are the obvious audience for the Agatha Award nominee.
The Murder Room, by P. D. James
The DuPayne Museum, a fictional north London institution dedicated to theinterwar (1919-1939) years, is the focus of a series of murders in this engrossing mystery. Each murder appears to echo one of the murders featured in the museum's Murder Room. All of the characters are fascinating in their own right, and James's series character, Adam Dalgleish of Scotland Yard, has his own personal conflicts as well as the murders to resolve.
My Jim, by Nancy Rawles, 2005
A former slave, Sadie, tells the story of her life to her granddaughter Marianne while making a quilt incorporating many mementos of her life in the South. In first person dialect, Sadie talks about growing up on the plantation, her husband Jim and their two children. Sadie and her children were sold to a cruel owner after their Mas Watson died. Unfortunately Jim stays on to help Mrs. Watson. With the prospect of being sold, Jim escapes and travels the Mississippi with young Huck Finn. Sadie is separated from the children, neither of whom survives, and is emancipated after the Civil War. She and Jim are reunited several times and her love for him sustains her throughout her life.
New Mercies, by Sandra Dallas
Nora Bondurant, a resident of Denver, is divorced and at loose ends. She receives a telegram asking her to settle the estate of her Aunt Amalia, an aunt she hadn't known existed. Nora travels to Natchez, Mississippi to learn that her aunt had been murdered by a neighbor who had subsequently committed suicide. Nora finds the South both alluring and alien as she gets involved in the community. As she discovers secrets about the family she didn't know she had, she faces stark realities of her marriage as well. In time Nora comes to realize that her new situation has given her some new mercies to heal the pain of loss and love.
No Second Chance by Harlan Coben
Marc Seidman and his wife Monica are shot and left for dead. Marc wakes up in the ICU to find that his wife has died, his six-month-old daughter Tara has vanished, and he is the prime suspect.The kidnappers send him a chilling ransom note demanding two million dollars and warning that there will be no second chance. Marc is instructed not to contact police or FBI. In his agony and indecision Marc turns to his best friend Lenny and to Rachel, a former girlfriend and ex-FBI agent. The story reaches dramatic crescendo not once, but twice. The first attempt to rescue his daughter fails. When the second note comes--eighteen months later--Marc is caught between desperate hope and excruciating fear. What if he fails this time?Fast-flowing twists and turns make this a thrilling page-turner.
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Pay the Devil by Jack Higgins, 1999 As the Civil War is ending, Confederate Colonel Clay Fitzgerald learns he has inherited a fortune and estate from an Irish uncle. Weary of war, the Colonel and his black aide and friend, Josh set off to claim this inheritance. Despite his wish to remain neutral, Clay is shocked by the English government’s treatment of the Irish. He cannot help but become involved in the resistance. The colonel also falls in love with the sympathetic daughter of an English landlord. The tale of Colonel Fitzgerald’s adventures, while at times melodramatic, will appeal to those with an interest in history, particularly Irish history, and readers wanting action and a plot that moves briskly.
Rabbit-Proof Fence , by Doris Pilkington
This is the true story of one of the great escapes of all time. In the 1930s three half-caste Aboriginal girls were forcibly removed from their families and taken to the Moore River Settlement 1000 miles away where they were to be “civilized” and trained to be servants. Molly, Gracie and Daisy decided to leave the school and return home by following the rabbit-proof fence which extended from north to south across western Australia.
This fascinating account of the journey was written by the daughter of one of the girls.
A Restless Evil , by Ann Granger
Inspector Alan Markby and his partner, Meredith Mitchell, go house-hunting in the dead-end village of Lower Stovey, Meredith not realizing that the area holds a special significance for Alan. Twenty-odd years ago as a newly promoted inspector, Markby had been given the challenge of finding the serial rapist who'd been terrorizing the women of the town. To his chagrin, he hadn't unearthed a single suspect. As Markby and Meredith view the decrepit old vicarage, trying to imagine making a home together, old human bones are discovered in the adjoining woods. Soon thereafter a seemingly innocent woman is murdered, found slumped in a pew of the local church. This book is a prime example of the English village murder mystery because, as Markby intones, “Investigation into big crimes has a way of turning up a host of small sins.”
The Road to Wellville, by T. C. Boyle, 1994
This novel is set in Battle Creek, Michigan where many men, including W. C. Post and Will Kellogg, sought their fortunes in the turn of the century rage for breakfast cereals. Will's brother, John Harvey Kellogg, also lived in Battle Creek but his devotion was to his health spa, where interesting "beneficial" treatments were sought by the wealthy. Will Lightbody, a well-meaning businessman and his obsessive wife, Eleanor, arrive for treatment for their many maladies. They cross paths with Charlie Ossining whose goal is to make a killing with a new breakfast cereal. But in his naivete he loses all of his "aunt's" money and Will's as well. In the meantime Will's cure of milk and seaweed isn't producing the desired results and Eleanor is becoming addicted to the sanitarium's "special" attentions. A witty and entertaining novel.
A Salty Piece of Land, by Jimmy Buffett
Tully Mars, a Utah cowboy, decides he really belongs near the sea where he can become a saltwater fly fisherman, sailor, and lighthouse keeper. Tully escapes to the Caribbean with his horse Mr. Twain. They encounter an assortment of treasure hunters, rock stars, sailors, seaplane pilots, pirates, and a ghost or two. After meeting eccentric 101-year old Cleopatra Highbourne, the captain of a fabulous 142-foot two-mast schooner, he helps build a lighthouse on “a salty piece of land.” This novel with its wild characters and hilarious adventures is a fun read. The book is accompanied by a CD with a ballad about Tully and the lighthouse, sung by the author.
Shipwreck, by Louis Begley
John North, a semi-famous author who continually doubts his talent, tells an absorbing story to an anonymous listener he meets in a Parisian bar. North's confessional begins as he is interviewed by a French journalist upon the completion of his latest novel. The beautiful young woman, Lea, seduces him easily. North loves his wife, Lydia, a research physician part of a wealthy over-achieving New York family, and has never been unfaithful to her. He cannot resist the allure of his young lover and vows Lydia will never know of his betrayal. Lea becomes obsessed with North and plays intricate games to be with him and meet Lydia. Their affair ends in a destructive and catastrophic way that echoes the downward spiral of North's life.
The Songcatcher, by Sharyn McCrumb
This book is another of McCrumb’s wonderful ballad novels. Like those that preceded it, The Songcatcher weaves back and forth through time, in this case two hundred and fifty years, and a number of characters, past and present.
Lark McCourrie is a famous folksinger flying home to Appalachia to see her estranged and dying father and to unearth one authentic old ballad which has not yet been "discovered." She is aided by the familiar Hamlin characters we’ve encountered before, most notably Sheriff Arrowood and the redoubtable Nora Bonesteel. McCrumb entices us throughout with snatches of the sought-after song and the accompanying tale of Malcolm McCourrie, Lark’s Scottish ancestor and the bearer of the song from the old country. The Songcatcher is a truly wonderful book, made all the more interesting by the fact that McCrumb used her own family’s heritage for the tale’s underpinnings.
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Stanley Park, by Timothy Taylor
Jeremy Palimer is the chef and owner of The Monkey’s Paw Restaurant in Vancouver, B. C. He is proud that he prepares and serves only locally grown and raised foods. While his restaurant attracts customers, his business sense is so poor that he is deep in debt. Jeremy takes on a partner who pays the debts, then redesigns and renames The Monkey’s Paw. Jeremy’s eccentric father, an anthropoligist asks Jeremy to do some research for him in the local library. He begins spending time with his father and his homeless friends in Stanley Park and learns that they eat little park animals and some plants from the wooded section. Jeremy devises a plan to feed the "fooderati" who will be coming to the opening night of the new restaurant, food that is reaslly locally grown. This satire paints a wonderful picture of the frantic workings of a restaurant kitchen and people who consider themselves connoisseurs of fine dining.
Stars for a Light, by Lynn Morris & Gilbert Morris, 1994
Dr. Cheny Duvall has recently graduated from medical school. The year is 1865 and prejudice against women doctors is strong. She applies for a job as a ship’s physician and the ship’s owner is delighted. The ship will carry 100 marriageable women bound for Seattle via the Panama Isthmus. For the long journey Dr. Duvall needs to stock appropriate medication for malaria and other diseases. As she makes her way through the docks to the local pharmacy, a couple of rough-looking characters confront and menace her. The ship’s nurse rescues her. A reasonable task for the nurse, a Civil War veteran who will need both brawn and brain for the adventures and setbacks that await them on the long trip to Seattle.
Stealing Shadows, by Kay Hooper
A dark tale about a young woman who has a troubling gift: she is able to "connect" with murderers as they are planning to commit their crimes. In order to find relief from the images that play out in her mind, she leaves crime-ridden Los Angeles to live in a small town in North Carolina. Soon after her arrival, however, three women are murdered and mutilated. At first Cassie is a suspect, but when her psychic powers are discovered, the prosecutor decides to use her skill to capture the serial killer. This suspenseful and disturbing thriller is riveting, but not for the faint of heart.
The Summons, by John Grisham
Judge Atlee has called his two sons home to discuss his estate before he dies. Neither son has met with the Judge’s approval, so both are dreading the trip. In the Judge’s eyes, Ray is the ‘better son,’ as he is a law professor at the University of Virginia. Forrest Atlee, the younger son, has been in various drug rehab programs as well as in and out of prison. When Ray arrives home, he enters the Judge’s office and finds him sleeping on the sofa. Then he realizes his father is not breathing. As he looks about the office he opens a cabinet and finds three million dollars neatly stacked in shoe boxes. Where did a small town judge get this kind of cash and what should Ray do about it? Keep it or split it with his brother? An excellent read---especially if you like legal thrillers.
Talk before Sleep, by Elizabeth Berg
Ruth has cancer and she is dying. Ann and her other friends don’t know what to do.They stay with her and eat fattening foods and watch funny movies, but are ultimately powerless to change Ruth’s prognosis. Without bitterness or sentimentality this slim novel shows how five women bound by friendship find their way through a situation that is increasingly common. Recommended for friends who are experiencing similar passages in their lives.
To Say Nothing of the Dog, or, How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last, by Connie Willis
The horrible Lady Schrapnell is determined to recreate the historic Coventry Cathedral in 2057 Oxford. She has pressed into service all of Oxford's historians, sending them on far too many "drops" into the past to check on-not to retrieve-- artifacts of that time. Among them, the bishop's bird stump. One of the historians, the young and beautiful Verity Kindle, then accomplishes the impossible (and forbidden) by bringing back a live cat from Victorian England! The seriously time-lagged Ned Henry is sent back with Verity to retrieve the cat and take a much-needed vacation. Unfortunately, the space-time continuum might have sustained irreparable damage, and they get little rest attempting to keep the past unchanged. This delightful romp through Victorian society, punctuated with occasional visits to other British periods, combines humor, mystery, science fiction, history and romance in a perfect blend.
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The Usual Rules, by Joyce Maynard
Thirteen year-old Wendy is experiencing typical growing pains. Despite her love for them, she is often embarrassed and annoyed by her beautiful mother, the younger teddybear of a man who is her step-father, and even her beloved little step-brother Louis. Then Wendy's mother is killed in the attacks of September 11th and the usual rules don't apply. No longer certain what is best for any of them, Wendy's grief-stricken step-father allows her free-spirited and often irresponsible biological father to take Wendy to California. Despite her dad's bungling, Wendy finds help from a runaway teen boy and from a teenaged mother. These people help Wendy appreciate what makes her a survivor. Wendy can then return to New York and to the family that still needs her. Despite the sometimes harrowing subject matter, readers will find this book full of hope and encouragement.
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day, by Pearl Cleage
When Ava Johnson admits she is HIV positive on the first page, don’t assume this is going to be another "I’m dying, start crying" book. HIV hasn’t dimmed Ava’s sense of humor one bit. Having sold her business in Georgia, Ava plans to visit her sister in the little town in Michigan where they grew up. She intends ultimately to move to San Francisco where people are more matter-of-fact about AIDS. She doesn’t plan to get involved in the world of small town Michigan, helping her sister change the lives of the young black women who live there, or fall in love, or become auntie to a crack baby. Nor does she expect to discover that evil and not just narrow-mindedness flourishes in her hometown. For once, evil is overcome by good, though a sense of humor and a little blackmail helps. Ava doesn’t hesitate to call ‘em as she sees ‘em, so readers squeamish about four-letter words will want to pass on this one. They’ll miss a good story.
Who are You, Linda Condrick? by Patricia Carlon
This story takes place on a sheep station in the Australian outback. The residents of the station are a group of contentious relatives who are angry and suspicious of Linda Condrick, a nurse who has arrived to take care of the family matriarch. Upon the death of that matriarch the family is appalled to learn that Linda is engaged to Gregory Forst, the matriarch's only heir. Linda will become mistress of the station! Meanwhile, a bush fire is raging and everyone pitches in to help fight the fire. When the body of a swagman, i. e. drifter, is found in the charred bush, it seems that he might have been murdered and suspicion falls on Linda Condrick. This is a suspenseful story with some interesting twists and turns.
The Winds of Change by Martha Grimes
In this 19th novel featuring Richard Jury, the death of Jury's cousin generates emotions left over from childhood. His melancholy reaction provides a link to an old unsolved kidnapping and to the new murder of a child. In London, the autopsy of a 5-year old girl reveals sexual abuse and leads to a pedophile ring. The dead girl might be connected to Flora, the abducted daughter of a loathsome businessman, Viktor Baumann. Jury's friend Melrose Plant goes undercover as a gardener to ferret out information. Again Grimes writes an engaging novel about Jury and his friends.
Winner of the National Book Award, by Jincy Willett
Abigail and Dorcas Mather are born fraternal twins but are polar opposites in personality and life-style choices. Abigail has reveled in her promiscuity since she was a teenager. Her appetites are enormous and she enjoys fulfilling her every desire. Dorcas is a conservative librarian in the small Rhode Island town in which they grew up and still live. She possesses a wicked sense of humor and can quickly assess character.

Friends introduce them to a new man in town, Conrad Lowe. Though attracted to both sisters, he marries Abigail. His loathsome character is gradually revealed and his behavior threatens Abigail's health, both mental and physical. Dorcas is called upon to save her sister from the downward spiral her life has taken. This is a dark but humorous novel and is recommended.
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The World Below, by Sue Miller
Cath Hubbard, a new divorcee in her 50’s, returns to her grandparents’ house after inheriting it from an aunt. Cath finds her grandmother’s (Georgia) diary and reads about her early life and marriage. While Cath struggles with her own sorrows, she sorts through her memories of the grandmother, and finds to her surprise that events in Georgia’s life surprisingly affect her own. The basic story is interesting enough, though it suffers from leaving a few loose ends. The author introduces some characters, such as Cath’s aunt and her son, and implies that they play large roles in shaping Cath’s identity. These characters are disappointingly underdeveloped. Despite that, the story is engrossing and the author satisfyingly portrays Cath’s thoughts and emotions.
Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks
After losing her husband and two young children to the plague, Anna Frith assists the minister’s wife in the use of herbs in a futile attempt to stop the ravages of the disease. Loosely based on the true story of Eyam, an English village which in 1616 voluntarily isolated itself to prevent the spread of the disease, Year of Wonders is a tour de force.

Nonfiction

291.21 MCL
Finding Your Religion: When The Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaning by Scotty McLennan
McLennan, the pastor on whom the Doonesbury character, Reverend Scotty Sloan is based, has written this guide for seekers. He addresses both those who have outgrown their childhood beliefs and those who have no background in a religion. He sees faith as having various stages of development: Magic, Reality, Dependence, Independence, Interdependence, and Unity, though he cautions that one should not see this as meaning one stage is better than another. He pictures religion as a journey up a mountain, beginning with being open to the idea of faith, then thinking about the possibilities. Next, the seeker should try a path, experiencing its practice and actively serving others in it. Community support is important, so it is best to join a group. Meditative practice is recommended in the chapter entitled, "Sitting." Finally, the reader will experience suffering, and he must also be sure to celebrate or "rejoice."
291.44/BAR
Seeking Enlightenment --- Hat by Hat: A Skeptic’s Path to Religion, by Nevada Barr
Raised by parents with more belief in themselves than in God, Nevada Barr had no use for religion. After a painful divorce and subsequent depression, a lonely Barr sought the warmth of other human beings, and a nearby Episcopal church was open. Still unbelieving, but figuring that going through the motions couldn’t hurt, Barr became part of the church. Her gradual acceptance and understanding of church teachings are explained in this collection of essays. Barr’s low-key, no-nonsense style here is very like that of her bestselling Anna Pigeon mysteries. Readers of those mysteries will enjoy this glimpse into the thoughts and beliefs of the mind that gave birth to Anna, and both religious seekers and people of faith will find much to ponder.
YA 741.5973
Willingham, Bruce
Legends: Fables In Exile, by Bruce Willingham et al
The inhabitants of all the magical worlds of fairytale and fable live in exile, hiding among the mortals of New York City. Those who cannot take human form reside on a farm in the country. Though Fabletown's titular ruler is King Cole, Snow White really runs the show. The wolf, now in human form, is the police force. He is called in when Rose Red, Snow's estranged sister, disappears, apparently murdered. Though the mystery is fun, the adult take on the characters of familiar fairytale figures is what really entertains. Great graphic novel.
814.54 FAD
ExLibris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman
Anne Fadiman wrote a column for the magazine, "Civilization." Ex Libris is a collection of eighteen of these columns, all related to books. She begins withthe story of merging libraries with her husband, apparently a more difficult adjustment than learning to live with him. Other hilarious essays include such subjects as plagiarism, the discovery of unknown words when reading, compulsive proof-reading, and reading books in the places they describe. While Anne is not a common reader, she is certainly an entertaining one. Readers who share her addiction will enjoy laughing with her at themselves.
914.0455 BRY
Neither Here Nor There, by Bill BrysonBill Bryson was born in Iowa, but he lived in England from the time he married an Englishwoman until after the events in this book. He spent two summers in his twenties backpacking through Europe, but after his move to England visited Europe infrequently, despite its proximity. He determined to remedy this inattention to the European mainland with a thorough if somewhat disorganized tour. He began in January in the northernmost town in Europe, Hammerfest, to try to see the Northern Lights, then went home to wait for spring. He started again in France and toured Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Turkey.

His descriptions are always funny, often opinionated, and sometimes profane or vulgar. When Bryson ran into haughty hotel clerks, rude waiters, and miserable traveling conditions, he suffered silently and wrote all the witty things he would have said had he not feared getting spit (or worse) in his soup. Equally or even more entertaining are his descriptions of his travels nearly twenty years before, and comparisons between then and this later trip. Bryson's account should appeal both to readers who enjoy travel and to those who would rather stay home with a good book.

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929.2 SEE
On Gold Mountain, by Lisa See
Lisa See's great-grandfather emigrated to America from China as a 14-year old boy. Fong See hoped to find his father, who had emigrated years before, and to make money. As time went by, Fong See opened a business and employed some tailors. Ticey Pruitt , a Caucasian woman, came by and convinced Fong See that she could help his business. After a few years they were married. They had children and the whole family made many trips back to China to search for items in their store. In fact, on one trip to China, by himself, Fong See married again (wife number three). Ticey was never the same again, and their family took a critical turn. Ticey built her own business with her children, and Fong See developed his own business with his new wife and children. A very interesting family biography going back to the time when Chinese came to work on the transcontinental railroad to the present.
944.361 TUR
Almost French, by Sarah Turnbull
When Sarah Turnbull, a young Australian journalist on sabbatical in Europe meets Frederic, a Frenchman complete with ascot, little does she realize she is about to embark on a lifelong love affair with him and with his native city of Paris. Full of amusing anecdotes about her skirmishes with prickly Parisians, Turnbull sheds light on the French love of aesthetics and the countryside as well as their perplexing behavior at cocktail parties. By the time she and Frederic decide to marry, Turnbull has developed a real understanding of his country, so much so that she feels “almost French.”
996.81/TRO
The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific, by J. Maarten Troost, 2004,
When the seriously underemployed Maarten and his girlfriend Sylvia began looking for real jobs, Sylvia was the first to receive an offer. They agree she will take the job, while Maarten trails along as her “husband.” Thus Maarten finds himself a househusband on the island of Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati, a developing country in the South Pacific. His preconceptions of Tarawa as a “tropical paradise” are soon dispelled, as the heat, shortage of water, sewage-filled ocean, and life among the Kiribati take their toll. AND no beer! While the uninitiated might assume that Troost is exaggerating for the sake of humor, anyone who has lived in a developing country will know that life is indeed far stranger and a great deal funnier than fiction. Fans of Bill Bryson will love this one.
BIOG Fuller
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
Fuller’s memoir is a fascinating coming-of-age story set in war-torn Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the 1970s. The author grows up in a wacky, dysfunctional family that although beset by multiple tragedies, struggles to make a living by farming in southern Africa. Beautifully written, this unsentimental biography reflects Fuller’s love of her family and Africa despite the many hardships she endured during her childhood.
BIOG HOUSTON
Farewell To Manzanar by Jeanne Houston
Jeanne was only seven in 1942 when her family was forced to relocate to the Manzanar internment camp in California. Her father suffered physical hardship and indignity at the cold and miserable camp in Minnesota to which he was taken for interrogation. Jeanne describes it all as she saw it then, often explaining what further facts she has since learned as an adult. Discrimination continued after the war, and while Jeanne's story is often sad, her successes and those of her fellow interns relieved their grim circumstances and prevent the book from being deeply depressing.
BIOG Maynard
At Home in the World by Joyce Maynard
Joyce Maynard was a freshman at Yale when her picture appeared on the cover of the New York Times Magazine accompanied by her piece, "An Eighteen-Year-Old Looks Back at Life." Among the many responses she received was an admiring letter from the famously reclusive J. D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye. An intense correspondence followed in which Salinger stated that the two were "landsmen" i.e., soulmates. He warned her that the world would exploit and ruin her talent. Soon Maynard dropped out of Yale and moved in with the fifty-three year old Salinger. Their bizarre nine-month affair is the centerpiece of At Home in the World. Fasten your seatbelt: whatever one might think of literary tell-alls, this one is a corker.

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BIOG O'Faolain
Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman by Nuala O'Faolain
Nuala grew up in Ireland of the fifties where women had few choices. Her mother, married to a philanderer who gave her barely enough to live on and a new baby every year, turned to alcohol. Reading sustained young Nuala's life and nurtured her dreams. The pressures of puberty finally attracted her parents' attention, as Nuala's curiosity about sex shocked their sodden and provincial sensibilities. Off she went to a Catholic girls' school, and later, on scholarship, to Oxford. Despite her education and subsequent success as a journalist, Nuala couldn't shake off a dependence on selfish men, and her own reliance on alcohol. Not until the deaths of her parents was she able to begin the search for contentment in her private life and enjoy the fruits of her professional achievements.
BIOG SATRAPI
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
Marjane tells the story of her family's life in Iran, beginning when she was ten and through her fourteenth year, in black and white cartoons. The Islamic revolution deposed the Shah whose father had deposed Marjane's great-grandfather, the last emperor of Iran. At ten, Marjane, like her family, was glad to see the Shah go, and some of their relatives were released from prison. But the Ayatolla's regime was hard for her leftist and progressive family and her own adolescent rebellion at times endangered her life. Proud of their daughter's courage and independence, but fearing for her safety, her parents finally send Marjane to Austria. This fascinating glimpse into a distant real life will suit both adults and teens.