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August 2014

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Dear Book Lover, 
   There is still time to fit another book into your summer reading.  Below are the titles that Carol has been reading this summer.  We all have recommendations, but Carol is the best at writing hers up.

We'll try to keep you up to date this fall, and we will be posting more of our picks on our facebook page and on our website.  

Thanks for your ongoing support.   
  
 
Adult Hardcover Fiction Readers 
 

The Book of Life: All Souls Trilogy Book 3

by Deborah Harkness

In this, the delightful end to Harkness's All Souls Trilogy, witch/ historian Diana Bishop and her vampire/scientist husband Matthew Clairmont return to the present following their journey to Elizabethan England in Shadow of Night. They now find themselves faced with new challenges: still searching for the missing pages of Ashmole 782 (the manuscript known as the Book of Life); internal politic surrounding Matthew's family; the soon-to-be birth of Diana's and Matthew's twins; and most disturbing of all for the couple is the stalking and threats coming from Matthew's murderous son Benjamin. Can everyone be saved? Fans of the author's trilogy will find this filled with action in every chapter. The storytelling is at its extraordinary best.  (Viking, $28.95).  Reviewed by Carol


 

China Dolls

by Lisa See

The author brings readers this fascinating story of three young women set in San Francisco in 1938 as the Golden Gate International Exposition is preparing to open on Treasure Island and a war is escalating overseas. Grace, Helen and Ruby, American-born Oriental girls, meet by chance while auditioning as dancers at the glamorous Forbidden City nightclub and become fast friends in spite of their very different backgrounds. When dark secrets from their pasts are exposed, an invisible string of connections tie them even closer together. The story alternates between each woman's voice as they tell of their journey from where it began to where it comes together as the attack on Pearl Harbor affects their lives, how an act of betrayal changes everything, and how they find the strength to reach their dreams. A heart-warming story of loss and love.  (Random House,$27.00).  Reviewed by Carol

     
 
Everything to Lose
by Andrew Gross

Hilary Cantor is a mother down on her luck; divorced with a young handicapped son whose deadbeat dad lives a grand lifestyle with his new wife and no longer pays the alimony and child support he is responsible for. On top of her financial problems, Hilary has now lost her job with an advertising agency. While driving to confront her ex-husband to uphold his end of the divorce agreement, Hilary witnesses an accident causing a car to careen down a hill. She stops to help but finds the driver dead and a satchel containing half a million dollars on the passenger front seat. She realizes it's a crime to take the money, but it would also put an end to her problems. Or would it? Her decision finds her entangled in a conspiracy to keep a 20-year-old secret buried which could destroy the political ambitions of a powerful state senator. Hilary's action not only puts her life and that of her son in danger, but also extends to others in this cat-and-mouse thriller that is set during the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Fans of suspense fiction will enjoy this.  (William Morrow, $26.99) Reviewed by Carol

 

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden

by Jonas Jonasson

In the author's humorous satirical tale of a roguish heroine the reader is caught up in Nombeko Mayeki's adventure beginning in South Africa and spreading globally to Sweden. Nombeko's story begins with her birth in the poverty stricken township of Soweto in 1961. She was fated to die early, but takes a different path-- from a housecleaner to eventually securing the position as chief advisor at one of the world's top secret projects. When Nombeko gains knowledge about a South African missile, one  which was not voluntarily dismantled in 1994 along with six others, she goes on the run from the South African secret service and ends up in Sweden, now transformed into a nuclear nation, leaving the fate of the world in Nombeko's hands. In June 2007, Sweden's king and prime minister are reported missing from a gala event, supposedly from illness. But what is the real truth surrounding their disappearance? And how does Nombeko become involved? This is a wild romp-- a charming and hilarious story. The many fans of Jonasson's The 100-Year-Old-Man won't want to miss this rollicking tale.  (Ecco/HarperCollins,$25.99).  Reviewed by Carol


Keep Quiet
by Lisa Scottoline

When Jake Buckman makes a decision to let his 16-year-old son Ryan drive home one night on a deserted road after picking him up from an evening movie outing with his friends, it is a decision that turns into a nightmare and propels him into a world of guilt and lies. Jake and Ryan find themselves living with secrets that threaten to uncover past indiscretions within the family, which could have far reaching circumstances. Scottoline tells a powerful and dramatic story about what it means to be a parent and how far you are willing to go to protect a child for love.  (St. Martin Press, $27.99) Reviewed by Carol

 
 
The Sea Garden 
by Deborah Lawrenson

A romantic tale of a WWII mystery in three linked novellas: The Sea Garden, The Lavender Field, and A Shadow Life.

The Sea Garden is set on a Mediterranean island of the French Riviera. Ellie Brooke is a British garden designer hired to restore a war memorial landscape. Upon her arrival to start her commission she is thrown into unexpected circumstances; a family struggling with the power of the past.

The Lavender Field turns back the pages of time to 1944 near the end of WWII. Marthe Lincel is a young blind woman working in a perfume factory during the Nazi occupation in France. The wife of the distilling owner becomes Marthe's protector; but the blind girl senses changes occurring as the occupation comes closer to the farmhouse and to the quiet lavender fields surrounding the small family owned factory. Marthe's curiosity draws her into an active but dangerous role with a Resistance call, but her "rebirth" comes at the hands of her loyalty.

A Shadow Life brings full circle the three narratives that weave into a tale of war, love and mystery. Iris, the young British intelligence officer in London during the war, falls in love with a French agent who vanishes during covert activities. Was he the man Iris believed him to be?

Lawrenson's novel is a chronicle of love and loss in the darkness of war. This and the author's debut novel, The Lantern, are both highly recommended by me. (Harper,$26.99) Reviewed by Carol

 
 

That Night  
by Chevy Stevens

What really happened that night when Toni Murphy, her boyfriend Ryan Walker, and her younger sister Nicole drove to the lake woods near Campbell, Canada? It was supposed to be a casual "sneak-away" from home but turned into a nightmare for Toni and Ryan when Nicole was found brutally murdered. The two teenagers were found guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Life behind bars changed and hardened both Toni and Ryan who still claimed their innocence. Upon their parole release and trying to find the truth behind who murdered Nicole and destroyed the future they had planned, Toni and Ryan again find themselves in danger facing the lies and threats that originally convicted them for the crime. Stevens delivers a compelling thriller to suspense fans that enjoy a tense and twisting page-turning mystery. If you haven't read this author before, I highly recommend Still Missing, Never Knowing and Always Watching, stand-alone novels that are now available in paperback. (St. Martins Press, $25.99, paperbacks, $14.99 and up.)  Reviewed by Carol


 

Hardcover Non-Fiction

Travels with Casey: My Journey Through Our Dog-Crazy Country

by Benoit Denizet-Lewis

As the author quotes John Steinbeck from Travels with Charley,..."we do not take a trip; a trip takes us", it leads him to find what can be learned about modern American life by exploring our relationship to our dogs; do the ways we treat our pets help us understand our values? When a moody Labrador and his insecure human take a funny cross-country RV trip, you can ride along for the next four months through thirty-two states and 13,000 miles meeting a cast of dogs and their dog-obsessed humans. Thrown into the mix are pet psychics, dogs accompanying hitchhikers, and a court case involving dog poop. A delightful blend of memoir and travel adventure across dog-loving America. I highly recommend this charmingly humane book for anyone who has experienced a dog-human relationship. A dog book like no other.  (Simon and Schuster, $26.00).  Reviewed by Carol

 

 
 
Adult Paperback Fiction 
 
 

After Her

by Joyce Maynard

Set in California's Marin County during the summer of 1979. Inseparable sisters, Rachel and Patty, ages 13 and 11, love spending their school vacation time on the mountain near their home until a series of murders intrude on their fantasy mind games and bring danger and division into their young lives. As chief detective for the San Francisco homicide division, the girls' father is assigned the case to capture the serial killer. Months pass and the killings of young women continue. Rachel and Patty watch as the pressure of solving the case eventually destroys his career. Thirty years later Rachel is still trying to vindicate her father's failure. Can she make it happen? Loosely based on a true murder case in the late 1970's, part thriller, part love story, and part family narrative. Highly recommended.  (William Morrow,$14.99).  Reviewed by Carol



 

And the Mountain Echoed

by Khaled Hosseini

This bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns again proves himself to be a master storyteller.  From Kabul to the Greek island of Tinos, with detours to Paris and San Francisco, this is a multigenerational tale of an extended family and all of those it touched; an emotional retelling of love, honor, betrayal, and sacrifice.  The story follows the characters--their lives and choices--through their generations from the 1940's into the 21st century in a complex and powerful journey, one that the reader will also want to travel.  (Riverhead Books, $16.00) Reviewed by Carol


 

 
The Edge of the Earth
by Christine Schwarz
In 1897, 19-year-old Trudy Schroeder, inquisitive, opinionated and "her own woman", is a student at the Milwaukee College for Females. Although betrothed to the son of her family's closest friends, Trudy is restless for more than the banal life Milwaukee offers. When she falls in love with Oskar Swann, ambitious and possessing a mysterious nature, Trudy finds her escape. Alienating her family the couple marry and travel cross-country where Oskar takes a job tending a lighthouse at Point Lucia located on a desolate morro trapped between the ocean and the Big Sur wilderness off the central California coast. When the Swann's meet the Crawley's, the light stations sole inhabitants, Trudy finds this unfamiliar place holds nothing that is predictable, especially when she discovers what is hidden among the rocks. This is a magical story of self-transformation and the uncovering of longtime secrets. I recommend some enjoyable time reading this unforgettable tale.  (Washington Square Press, $15.00)  Reviewed by Carol


Emory's Gift 

by W. Bruce Cameron

When 13-year-old Charlie Hall's mother dies, the boy and his father become engulfed in a silent grief that won't allow them to communicate their feelings. But when Charlie is about to be attacked by a mountain lion, he is saved by a grizzly bear, an animal thought to be extinct in the northern Idaho mountains, and the boy's life is changed forever. As the story continues, this heartwarming coming-of-age tale tells how trust and love can heal a broken family. Deeply moving and insightful. A must read for animal lovers. (Forge, $14.99).  Reviewed by Carol

 


Flat Water Tuesday

by Ron Irwin

Rob Carrey is the son of a working class cabinet maker when he arrives at Fenton School as a postgraduate student on scholarship to row as a member of the "God Four" crew. Fenton is a boarding school which offers "second year seniors" the opportunity to compete for a place on the four-man team to race in an annual Tuesday event against their rival, Warwick. As Carrey faces months of grueling preparation pushed on him by the team's competitive captain, stakes rise and tempers are fueled and a horrible tragedy occurs. Fifteen years later Rob is an accomplished documentary filmmaker when he is invited to attend a Fenton reunion. If he accepts, will it provide him an opportunity to confront the past and steer his life in a new direction? A wonderful coming-of-age story, moving and often heartbreaking. I recommend this as a fictional parallel to the recent bestselling nonfiction biography The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. (St. Martin's Griffin, $15.99).  Reviewed by Carol



Freud's Mistress

by Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman 

In 1895 Vienna, 29-year-old Minna Bernays is a well-educated woman with limited options and employed as a lady's companion. Known for speaking her mind, she finds herself released from her job, out on the street without any source of income. Desperate, she turns to Martha, her older sister and wife of Sigmund Freud. Although a member of the family, she becomes a caregiver to the Freud's six unruly young children and sympathizer to her sister, who is burdened with physical ailments and insists on running her household with strict precision while also bending to Sigmund's disinterest, absence, and overworked ethic in his medical profession.  Minna becomes fascinated by Sigmund's work, and while she is everything her sister is not, she is drawn to what is first an intellectual attraction that soon becomes deeper with romantic feelings she is unable to set aside. The novel is based on the true-life love affair between Freud and his sister-in-law; a fascinating story about this renowned psychotherapist, himself insecure yet passionate, and his headstrong mistress. Don't pass up a chance to read this remarkable novel which I recommend as a book club choice.  (Amy Einhorn Books/ G.P. Putnam's Sons, $16.00).   Reviewed by Carol 

 


The Girl You Left Behind

by Jojo Moyes

France 1916 to London 2006. Sophie is the young wife of Eduard, an aspiring French artist, when he is sent to the front to fight the Germans in the Great War. Eduard's portrait of Sophie is admired by the Kommandant whose soldiers are occupying the small village. When Eduard is captured and taken prisoner, Sophie offers her painting in return for her husband's release, putting her life and her loved ones at risk. The story is then time-forwarded almost a century when the painting has made its way to London and sparks a battle over who is the legitimate owner. Love, loss, and sacrifice are told in this story that will capture the heart of the reader. (Penguin, $16.00)  Reviewed by Carol



Longbourn

by Jo Baker

This clever twist on Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice portrays the characters from the servants hall which Austen only hinted at or in some cases overlooked.  Baker's novel brings to light the "downstairs" members of  the Bennet's household as told through the eyes of those laundering clothes, cooking meals, scrubbing floors, and performing other duties required by the residents living at Longbourn during the England regency.  The story's heroine is Sarah, an orphaned housemaid who becomes annoyed by the limits of her class.  When Sarah draws the attention of a young former slave who is farming at the neighboring property, the Bennet's "downstairs" is upended.  Baker brings her characters vividly to life in a captivating work of fiction.  I highly recommend this for readers who enjoy novels set during the English Regency period, and book clubs may want to make it a future choice. (Alfred A. Knopf, $15.95).  Reviewed by Carol



Loss of Innocence 

by Richard North Patterson

The second in a projected trilogy, (actually a prequel to Fall of Grace, now in paperback), is a family drama set in 1968.  22-year-old Whitney Dane, a recent college graduate, is spending the summer at her family's vacation home in Martha's Vineyard planning her September wedding.  Her powerful and doting father has planned a future for Whitney and her fiance, plans which begin to unravel when she meets Ben Blaine.  Ben is ambitious but underprivileged, and their relationship stirs emotions within Whitney that raise doubts about the "perfect future" her family is planning for her.  The political and social unrest of the 60's sets the background for an engrossing story steeped in dark secrets and tensions that betray this picture-perfect family.  (Quercus, $14.99).  Reviewed by Carol



Maya's Notebook
by Isabel Allende
In this coming-of-age story, 19-year-old Maya Vidal uses the notebook given to her by her grandmother to record the truths of her life.  Abandoned as an infant by her parents, she is raised by her grandparents, Nini and Popo, in Berkley. Grandmother Nini, wise, friendly and protective, emigrated from Chile with her young son in 1974. Grandfather Popo, an Africa American astronomy professor with a love for music, becomes the center of Maya's life. But at 16, when her beloved Popo dies, Maya loses her direction and her life begins to crumble away and hate overcomes her. Maya's notebook tells the next three years of her life: drugs, alcohol, and crime. Nini becomes Maya's only chance of survival when she "exiles" her to a small island village in the archipelago chain off the coast of Chile to recover from her addiction and her criminal past. A wonderful story that will tug at your heartstrings.  (Harper Perennial, $15.99)  Reviewed by Carol

The Never List

by Koethi Zan

The story starts with a juvenile paranoia which becomes reality. When 12-year-olds Sarah and Jennifer are seriously injured in a car accident in which Jennifer's mother is killed, the girls begin keeping their "Never List", researching survival statistics and composing a list of situations to avoid in order to secure their safety. Six years later, as college students, they relax their instincts, which puts them in a situation where they are held captive by a sadistic abduction. Sarah manages to escape after three years being held in a dungeon-like cellar and her kidnapper is captured and convicted.  When he is seeking parole, Sarah goes on a crusade to uncover a mystery surrounding a secret cult that may be connected to the horror she had experienced. Recommended for fans that enjoy psychological thrillers.(Penguin, $16.00)  Reviewed by Carol

 

 

Orphan Train
by Christina Baker Kline
A little-known event in the time of our country's history is told in this moving story. Between 1854 and 1929, orphan trains took thousands of abandoned children from the east coast to midwestern towns to be placed with adopted families often to face hard labor or servitude. Vivian Daly was such a child, sent from New York City to Minnesota and into an uncertain future. However, luck was on her side and in later life she returns to Maine where she connects with 17 year-old Molly Ayer who must complete community service hours or be sent to juvenile hall. Molly is a Penobscot Indian who has spent her young years living in foster homes among strangers. While Molly has many questions about her past, she finds that Vivian, now 91 years-old and whose possessions hold many memories, may help her find the answers through secrets she carries. A gripping story of friendship and second chances. Highly recommended for book clubs.  (William Morrow, $14.99) Reviewed by Carol 

A Question of Honor

by Charles Todd

A thrilling continuation of the Bess Crawford murder series in which Bess is a nurse caring for British soldiers who have been wounded on the French front during the Great War. She becomes curious about a murder that occurred ten years earlier in India that put a mark of dishonor on her father's regiment and darkened his reputation. Bess begins looking into circumstances surrounding the decade-earlier incident when she stumbles onto facts that reveal evidence and long-buried secrets. As she hopes to restore her father's reputation, she finds herself risking her life and the safety of others while investigating what appears to be a mounting long-ago cover-up. Suspense fans will enjoy this series which begins with Duty to the Dead. (William Morrow, $14.99).  Reviewed by Carol 

 

 

The Rathbones
by Janice Clark
This is a "whale" of a novel, the best since Melville's classic Moby Dick and Sena Naslund's Ahab's Wife. Narrated by 15-year-old Mercy Rathbone who saw her father set off from the Connecticut coast in a whaling ship seven years ago, and who is now presumably lost at sea. As Mercy tries keeping the memories of her father alive, each day they grow dimmer. She spends much of her time with Mordecai, her reclusive uncle, who teaches her Greek history and nautical navigation by way of his specimen collection and crumbling books. But when a strange and violent visitor appears at their door, Mercy and Mordecai are forced to flee, setting sail on a journey to places they never thought possible to find: an odyssey in which they encounter danger, mysteries, friends, and enemies in hopes of unraveling the Rathbone family history... a history of the patriarch who built a legendary empire of ships. This is a courageous literary adventure.(Anchor Books, $15.95)  Reviewed by Carol 

The Rosie Project 

by Graeme Simsion

This romantic comedy drama will lighten-up your next reading experience as a perfect antidote to maybe that last "downer" book.  If you read The 100 Year Old Man by Jonas Jonasson or Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles (both I highly recommend), The Rosie Project will offer you a crazy relationship that is funny and farcical.  It's a must read!  Don Tillman, a brilliant professor of genetics, has a problem approaching social situations; he's never even had a second date.  He embarks on a hunt for a perfect partner using his Wife Project:  a 16-page questionaire.  His match must be punctual, logical, enjoy traveling by bicycle, a non-smoker, non-drinker, and doesn't read horoscopes.  Then he meets Rosie Jarman.  Rosie has her own agenda:  searching for her biological father.  Don feels his genetic expertise might just be the thing to help Rosie with her Father Project, so he puts his Wife Project on hold and an unlikely relationship blooms between the two.  Rosie, however, seems to be a most incompatible candidate for Don's standards and totally unsuitable for a life partner.  But Rosie has her way of disrupting Don's carefully organized world.  Don't miss this amazing story as you laugh and cheer on Don and Rosie.  Loved this book!  (Simon & Schuster, $15.99).  Reviewed by Carol

 



The Silver Star

by Jeannette Walls

12-and-15-year-old sisters, Bean and Liz Holladay live with their artistic mother Charlotte in southern California in 1970's. Charlotte moves her daughters from one place to another, having a fling with any man who offers her a chance to advance her singing career. Always the "tribe of three" until Mom leaves to "find herself" in New York City leaving the girls behind with enough money for two months. Bean and Liz decide not to wait for Mom's return, boarding a bus that takes them on a cross-country trip to visit their uncle Tinsley in a sleepy Virginia town that holds a lot of family history and brings about life changes with a turn for the unexpected. This is a story about rules, breaking them, or just ignoring them; a youthful experience of deceit and a girl who challenges the injustice of the adult world. Good storytelling.  (Scribner,$16.00).  Reviewed by Carol



Sisterland
by Curtis Sittenfeld

Violet and Kate, identical twins, grew up with "senses", feelings within them that soon became reality: a neighbor's home destroyed by a fire and a relative's death from a heart attack. As the girls' lives go down different paths, Vi embraces her gift of "senses" and pursues a career as a psychic. Kate settles in to marriage and devoting time to raising her two children in a suburb of St. Louis. When Vi shares her premonition with the media of a devastating occurrence she sees coming, Kate, who has long-tried to deny her early childhood "senses", is now forced to face the truth and reconcile a relationship with her sister and not live her life making decisions based on remote possibilities. In this novel of family identity, wrapped around loyalty and deception, the story draws a fine line between truth and the denial of belief. An engrossing tale you won't want to miss reading.(Random House, $15.00).  Reviewed by Carol


The Spymistress

by Jennifer Chiaverini

A work of fiction inspired by history, with the author taking literary freedom in her writing making this novel no less of an amazing story. In April 1861, Lincoln called for troops from the Virginia militia to help put down the southern rebellion in favor of its secession. But when Elizabeth "Lizzie" Van Lew's state legislative capital city of Richmond votes to have the state secede and join the Confederacy, she becomes a staunch supporter of the Union. 43-year-old Lizzie puts into action a plan that will seal her fate and divide her family: she becomes a spy for the Union and helps to construct the Richmond Underground while risking everything by stealing Confederate secrets and delivering them into the hands of Yankee supporters as she feigns sympathy for the Southern cause. For fans of historical novels, especially of the Civil War period, this is for you!  (Dutton, $16.00).  Reviewed by Carol



Tell the Wolves I'm Home

by Carol Rifka Brunt

In the author's deeply moving debut novel a 14-year-old girl is transformed, along with her family by the death of her uncle Finn from AIDS. In 1987 New York, June is very close to Finn, a famous and reclusive painter, who has become the center of her world. But, following Finn's death, June discovers his deep secret: Tony, his longtime partner who misses Finn as much as she does.  She enters into a friendship with Tony, a secret she keeps from her parents and adds more tension she has shared for years with her older sister, Greta. Brunt brings a moving story to readers that strikes difficult issues balancing June with her disarming candor as a young teen who becomes an unlikely friend to a lonely man who has lost his best companion and love. An emotionally charged coming-of-age novel and a tender story of love, lost and found. Recommended for book clubs.(Dial Press, $15.00).  Reviewed by Carol

 


Adult Paperback Non-Fiction Readers 

Boys in the Boat
by Daniel James Brown

In the early 1930's, nine young University of Washington students are part of the rowing crew striving to achieve the final pick to become the U.S. team to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.  The most impressive biography I've read since Unbroken.  Not to be missed.  (Penguin, $17.00)  Reviewed by Carol.  

 

 

 

 

Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery

by Robert Kolker

This is a riveting account of the true-crime unsolved deaths of five women whose bodies were found along a stretch of Long Island Beach between 2007 and 2010. During these years the young women vanished without a trace, sharing a common profile: age, body type, and prostitutes advertising on Craigslist who may have attracted a psychopathic serial killer. The author has worked closely with the victims' families to bring a story that focuses on these women, looking back at their lives and possible motives for their deaths. This is a portrait of the crimes and the circumstances that pierced the heart of America's recent years. An amazing account, often hard to read, but also written with the ease of a "fiction-read".(Harper Perennial, $15.99).  Reviewed by Carol


 

 

One Summer: America, 1927

by Bill Bryson 

"Whatever else it was, it was one hell of a summer". This is how Bryson describes the 1927 months from May through September in America:  Charles Lindbergh's solo flight in The Spirit of St. Louis from New York across the Atlantic to Paris; Babe Ruth's celebratory season with the New York Yankees; the weak Article XIII Prohibition Amendment which saw popular speakeasy clubs elevating mobster crime activity which encouraged political corruption. Then there was VP Calvin Coolidge taking over the presidency following the early death of Warren Harding and leaving the Teapot Dome scandal behind that "darkened" the administration; the Great Mississippi flood, the anarchist movement, the height of bigotry, and much more which Bryson's research digs deep to uncover.  This is one American summer of history in a lesson I couldn't have learned anywhere outside of reading this amazing chronicle.  (Doubleday, $16.95).  Reviewed by Carol 

 

 

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