Book Club Books 2019

Unanimous thumbs up for these two titles from out book club selections so far this year:

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas: This book delivers a powerful punch. Thomas GOES there! In this young adult novel, we live through a teenage girl watching her black friend get murdered by the police. He had his brush in his hand, not a gun. It was an instant best seller and turned into a movie. Thomas is a writer and rapper. She holds NOTHING back. Every human being should read this book about racism, police brutality, and black lives. I especially believe that every person in education, from the janitors to heads of colleges should read this book. IMPORTANT!

The Soul of an Octopus A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery. I love it when a non-fiction book reads like a novel. One of our members swore off calamari after reading this account of several octopus that she studied and fell in love with. These sea creatures live a short life, around three years and are highly intelligent, spirited, all with their unique personalities. You will love getting to know the three octopuses gentle Athena, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Scientists are realizing that not only are animals intelligent, but they can teach us humans a thing or two! And you will LOVE it!

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 5 Stars

Recommended to me over a year ago, I finally downloaded it from Audible. Its narrator is the award winning Nicholas Guy Smith. He's perfect for the quiet spoken Count Alexander Rostov, who in 1922 is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in the grand Metropol Hotel across the street from the Kremlin. He will be shot on sight if he leaves. Determined to make the best of his situation, he states, “if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them.”

I adored this book....laughing, sobbing, giggling...it hit every emotion. If it's not up for a bunch of awards I will be sad. Of course it is character driven from the people involved in the hotel. From guests to employees, then there are the Count's friends he knew before his "imprisonment". But it is the Count that makes this a GREAT book. 

His knowledge mixed with his ever present kindness teaches us lessons that we didnt' know we needed.  

Towels writing is filled with humor and much grace. I am a library rat and rarely purchase books that are not a gift. I loved this one so much I had to own it in my home library. High praise indeed! 

NPR Great 2018 Picture Book We Don't Eat Our Classmates

Penelope, the dinosaur, just can't resist eating her classmates. Don't worry...she coughs them back up. My grandloves and their classmates LOVED this read aloud! Be ready for raucous laughter! 5 out of 5 stars! Up there with my favorite picture books of all time!

Fabulous Recent Reads

 In case I haven't raved enough about this young, prolific, superb Swedish writer, I implore you to seek out his books. A Man Called Ove was his first and instant best seller. Can't wait for the American movie as Tom Hanks seems a good choice. There is a subtitled Swedish version. Bear Town and its sequel Us Against You are just brilliant. Georgie is about finished with Us and remarked, "I just love his writing". Yes....that is what we utter the entire time we are reading him.

Library Bag Faves 9-14-18

 


Two of my favorite books EVER! Have you walked into a room full of people and felt lost or too different? Jacqueline Woodson's amazing picture book THE DAY YOU BEGIN not only lets us know that we are not alone but to be proud of who we are and to tell OUR stories. It's also an homage to the power of books and how they can take us anywhere in the world.

Yuli Morales' Dreamers is the true story of her trek from Mexico to Texas with her baby son. Another book about the power of books. She knew no English but one day walked into the most magnificent place she had ever seen. A library! Her story is inspiring! BOOK LOVE!!

Someone took a book! WOOT!!

I Am the Messenger -Markus Zusak Young Adult-Amazon blurb: Meet Ed Kennedy--underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he's hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first Ace arrives. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. Zusak wrote The Book Thief a must read, best seller, and award winning classic set in WWII. Geo and I loved Messenger, a fun and poignant story of a teenage loser who is madly in love with his best friend, Audrey, but won't tell her. He accidentally stops a bank robbery and that's when he starts getting instructions to "help" others in his town. Sweet, heartfelt, and more times than not, pretty darn funny! 5 STARS

Heartless-Marissa Meyer, author of The Lunar Chronicles (Book 1 is Cinder...both Geo and I flew through the whole series and LOVED it). Heartless is a twist on Alice in Wonderland. Gr 8 and Up

Molokai by Alan Brennert Adult Fic About the days of the leper colonies on Molokai over one hundred years ago. About how the human spirit can survive....even leprosy. Unforgettable, moving, AMAZING! 5 Stars

Forgotten-Cat Patrick Another Young Adult Fantasy. Can you tell Geo and I LOVE young adult books? Amazon blurb: Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can "remember" are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. 5 Stars from both of us!

 Announcing the arrival of our Little Free Library! Thanks to our good friends Ron and Sue for building it for us! WE LOVE IT! BOOK LOVE!

These three books are being featured.

Our grandloves ADORE Shark vs. Train (Picture Book) by Chris Barton and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld!

Walk Two Moons (Elem & Middle Grade) by the award winning Sharon Creech! From Ms. Creech's website: In her own singularly beautiful style, Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.

Lady and the Unicorn (Adult Fic) by Tracy Chevalier is her fictional take on the mysterious tapestries hanging in the Cluny Museum in Paris.

Library Bag Faves 8-27-18

4 Stars! Funny & has sequels! 

4 Stars! Can't beat Jane Yolen! Beautiful! 

4 Stars! Hilarious! No one lets bear sleep! 

4 Stars! Pre-school, beautiful! 

5 Stars! LOVE the illustrations! Be Yourself!! 

4 Stars! Hilarious mistaken identity!

4 Stars! He's so ugly he's cute? FUNNY! 

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear and Joe Pickett by C.J. Box, Two Phenomenal Mystery Series

At one point in my life, the mystery genre was my book of choice. Most were good, some were great. Winspear and Box, in my opinion, have taken their mysteries up another notch. Two totally different mysteries in every way but one: excellent writing and story telling. And I almost passed them by.

Diane, my best friend and voracious reader, had told me numerous times about Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, set in London around The Great War. Finally, one day I had no other books in mind when I somehow remembered her recommendation. Maybe my eye caught a title on the library's shelf or something else, but I finally picked up the first one, titled Maisie Dobbs.

Maisie is thirteen when her mother dies, so she and her father are on their own. He continues to sell vegetables from his horse-drawn carriage daily. Maisie can tell he can hardly look at her because she reminds him so much of her mother. But he's kind and wants a better life for her, so he sets her up as a maid with a wealthy family on his delivery route. Maisie is a hard worker, but she is caught reading in the library at night instead of sleeping. She thinks she will be sacked for sure but instead the matriarch introduces her to a man who becomes her teacher and mentor. Eventually, after his tutoring, she is about to go to University, when she lies about her age and goes to France to be a nurse in the war. After the war she becomes a psychologist and detective. Scattered in her books, Winspear’s love of vintage clothing and cars is apparent. I Google every piece of clothing and old car she mentions so I can see what they look look like. Each book in the series has a theme, like the men who had to go into war zones to make maps for the military. So far, I have read all fourteen books and look forward in anticipation for the next.

C. J. Box's Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett had been buzzing around me for quite some time. The author had an appearance at a local indie bookstore and one could hardly ignore his ranking on the best sellers list. But really, a game warden in Wyoming? Mine was a polite "no thanks". Then an appointment with one of my favorite doctors changed my mind. She is a hoot and a half and a delightful woman who is opposite of the usual "no-social-skills" of doctors. When you meet her, it's as if you've known her forever. A fly fisherwoman herself, she told of her trip to Wales to be in a fly fishing competition. She and another lady from America were the only two contestants to snag fish! But her favorite thing was getting everyone in the group hooked on Box's Joe Pickett books. Hubby and I are officially addicted.

These two authors not only do extensive research, but they've lived their lives in the setting they write about. In each series I have learned so many things and am grateful. I also love how they grow their main and minor characters in each and every book. Whenever I finish their books, I feel as if it was serendipity...needing to read them and not knowing until I did! What could be better than that?

Beartown by Fredrik Backman (Titled The Scandal in Sweden) 5/5 Stars

Best selling author Fredrick Backman's best book yet. His debut book in 2015, A Man Called Ove, met with rave reviews and quickly became a best seller all over the world. Beartown is his fifth, with a sequel marked for June of 2018. It is his extraordinary writing that captures me, heart and soul. I feel like I am there living among his characters and their imperfect lives, but knowing each one's flaws, desires, and secrets. At its core is obsession, family, love, and scandal. Don't miss his books, each and every one is remarkable! 

Life by Cynthia Rylant and Illustrations by Brendan Wenzel

Five GIANT stars for this AMAZING picture book. Incredible, lovely story with fun AND beautiful illustrations! I LOVE the way he draws animals, especially their expressive eyes!! This is a keeper and I will be buying it for the grandloves!

Library Bag Faves 10-8-2017

OH! MY! GOSH! New books and a new author! Why am I always surprised when I don't know an author? Because I want to know them ALL! Ben Clanton's picture books are so fun. Email him at clantoonsben.gmail.com and Ben Clanton fort his website. Geo and I LOVE his Narwhal books. So funny, cute illustrations, and informative as well! He has also illustrated other authors' books. ENJOY!

Library Bag-The Youngest Marcher-The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks by Cynthia Levinson illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton

Audio Book Love

A recent minor eye surgery waylaid my reading for a while. Thank goodness for my audio book addiction. Here are just a few of my favorite audio books and narrators. AF-adult fic AF*-adult fic suitable for teens YA-Young Adult MG-middle grade  

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters read by Barbara Rosenblat *AF Mys

Award winning Barbara Rosenblat IS the voice of Amelia Peabody, the young headstrong archaeologist and feminist who is off to Egypt in the early nineteen hundreds. Barbara Mertz had a Phd in Egyptology and used the names of her children as her pen name. Not only are her books accurate and well written, they are hilarious mysteries. Rosenblat is just delightful! 

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith *AF Mys

Lisette Lecat's lovely lilting voice mesmerized me with her Botswana accent describing the beauty and gentle way of life in South Africa in McCall Smith's wonderful mystery series.

Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen Classic

I loved every movie based on Austen's books, but reading them was daunting. Just in the ten minute drive to work, my brain was connecting with the audio book. I could finally HEAR the cadence and the rhythm, and it MADE SENSE! If you have any reluctant, dyslexic, or struggling readers, get them audio books! 

Paperboy by Vince Vawter: 2014 Newbery Honor Book read by Lincoln Hoppe MG Realistic Fic

I wondered how in the world the narrator, Lincoln Hoppe, was going to handle the fact that the main character has a horrible stutter. But he is perfect, in every way. It's a hot July in 1959 Memphis. A friend asks Victor to take over his paper route for the summer. Being the best eleven year old pitcher in town, he gladly accepts, and is as much of a ringer with his deliveries as he is on the ball field. But it's the weekly collection from his customers that makes him sweat. Because he stutters so badly that he can't even say his own name. 

Harry Potter books by JK Rowling and read by Jim Dale Fantasy

If you haven't read them by now, or even if you have, Jim Dale is one of the best narrators EVER! 

Hard Magic - The Grimnoir Chronicles by Larry Correia read by Bronson Pinchot (Balki from Perfect Strangers 80's sitcom) Fantasy-Altered History 

Altered history, 1930's, fantasy, noir. The people with magic are asked by the government to help them defeat the ultimate evil. Pinchot is an award winning narrator and this is one of his best! 

Steelheart-First in the Rekoners trilogy by Brandon Sanderson and read by MacLeod Andrews YA Fantasy

Epics used to be good...not anymore, and Steelheart is the worst. Epics want to take over the world. They have scary super powers. The Rekoners do not. David wants to join the Rekoners because Steelheart killed his father.  

Bossy Pants written and narrated byTina Fey Bio

Hilarious! I used to listen to this book while on my walks and I laughed frequently and loudly. After a particularly funny part I noticed a couple on their porch smiling at me. I pointed to my earbuds and said, "Funny audio book," and just kept on walkin'. 

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline read by Wil Wheaton YA Fantasy

2044 and the world has gone to crap. People are crazy for anything from the 1980's.  A billionaire video game maker has died leaving his fortune to the person who beats the last game he made. This is the winner's story.  

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor read by Ray Porter Sci-fi/Fantasy AF* Available on Amazon

Bob was cryogenically frozen after his untimely death. One hundred years later, unfortunately for Bob, corpsicles have no rights. He's now working for the government looking for viable planets for humans to live on since most of Earth is toast. Unique, futuristic hilarity. Ray Porter makes this a must read...he will win awards for this if he hasn't already.  

More great titles from my Audible books: 

The Martian- Andy Weir read by R.C. Bray Realistic Sci-Fi

Beartown by Fredrik Backman read by Marin Ireland Realistic Fic

Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear read by Orlagh Cassidy Realistic Fic Mys

Winger by Andrew Smith read by Mark Boyett sequel Stand-Off by Andrew Smith read by Kirby Heyborne Realistic Fic

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman read by Mandy Williams & Justine Eyre Fantasy

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green read by MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl Realistic Fic

The Stoneheart Trilogy by Charlie Fletcher narrated by Jim Dale Fantasy

Books I've Recently Loved

I feel guilty...I've probably told you about these already. I've been on the iPad too much, not enough reading! =( I DO make myself listen to a book if I'm doing brain-dead stuff on the iPad. Sigh... Hope you find something you like. =)

Even if you don't subscribe to Audible, you can go to their site, plug in these books and listen to a sample. And look at other book recs! Also, I found out that the audio books I get from the library needs an auxiliary cord if I want to listen in the car. 

Books I've loved recently:

-We Are Legion by Dennis E. Taylor-SCIFI romp, hilarious...get the audio from the library if you can. Narrator Ray Porter is AMAZING, actor & award winning audio narrator. 

-CJ Box- Joe Pickett mystery series...if someone would have told me I'd give a hoot about a game warden in Wyoming...but WOW. Eating this mystery series up like candy. Incredible writing, LOVE the Wyoming scenery descriptions. 

-Maisie Dobbs mystery series by Jacqueline Winspear, just discovered this series, first one written in 2004, just means I have all of them to look forward to. Post WWI, England, young woman becomes a detective and psychologist. Haven't guessed any of the outcomes yet! Superior! 

-Fredrick Backman...have you read him yet? Young Swedish author, best selling already!! MAN CALLED OVE. MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE'S SORRY. Have his next one on hold BRIT-MARIE WAS HERE, read this one last, she's a character from the 2nd one. 

-Everyone..I mean EVERYONE should read Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. Movie was great, book is INCREDIBLE. Made me rethink everything I thought I knew about prejudice and race. WOW!!! 

-Julie Murphy YA author, DUMPLIN'. SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY...have her newest on hold, RAMONA BLUE.

-READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline...great sci-fi/dystopian/fantasy. Spielberg is directing movie. Will Wheaton audio narrator is superb. 

-Did you read the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer? LOVED her graphic novel WIRES AND NERVES.

-SCRAPPY LITTLE NOBODY by Anna Kendrick, autobio, HILARIOUS...she doesn't take shite from ANYONE!!! Amazingly honest, tells ALL! 

-I told you about Nicola Yoon's books already, right? EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING. THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR. Teenage romance at its best! Diverse characters, realistic! 

-Do you like Charlaine Harris's books...we love these series, Sookie Stackhouse, Harper Connely, and Midnight Texas. Fun fantasy at its best! 

-Andrew Smith's YA books...great realistic fiction. WINGER. Sequel is STAND-OFF. 

-INVISIBILITY by David Levithan and Andrea Creamer-YA about a teen who is invisible until a girl moves in next door...she can see him. 

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

I know, in my heart of hearts, that books have changed my life. My mother taught my brother and me that we were no better than anyone else. But no one was better than us. No matter what. To Kill a Mockingbird proved that to me in a way that she couldn't.
Books have let me experience things that I literally cannot. Or let me live through things I would never WANT to or should HAVE to. Books have shown me empathy, tolerance, compassion, kindness, and understanding. They've shown me that I am not the only one, and the "what ifs".
Some books make you feel EVERY single emotion possible. Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt is one of these.
Here's all you need to know about the story: A rural family fosters a 14 year old who almost killed a teacher. It's the "why's" you'll want to discover.
Don't read the book jacket....don't read reviews....they ALL give away too much! Just pick it up, start reading and you won't want to stop until it's finished.
I'm so glad that I've found another author who excels at putting words together in a way like no other. I WILL be reading more of his!

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

A parent is telling the story to its child about the witch who wants children. They don't know why she takes them. But the town is so fearful, so sorrowful, that each year the Elders take the youngest baby and leaves it at the edge of the forest so the witch will leave their town at peace. No one in the town ever refuses. It is just how it is, how it has always been. 

Unbeknowst to this town, the witch, Xan, is actually most kindhearted, living in the forest with her friends: a giant green bog beast, Glerk, and a tiny dragon, Fryian, whom she loves more than anything else in the world. As like every year, she knows not why, (she is not one to judge) a baby is left in the woods. And again. like every other year, she makes sure to find the baby, and takes it through the forest, across the road, to the Free Cities, to make sure it gets to a loving familly. But on the way she accidentally feeds her moonlight, instead of just starlight. Xan realizes she will have to raise her, not a family in the Free Cities. Because moonlight equals MAGIC. 

I am still verklempt, and my eyes are still red, but my heart is full. First of all, isn't the title just delicious? Oh, and the cover, created by Yuta Onoda...so entrancing. And the words, the sentences...so playful...so gorgeous. Even the chapter titles are divine. 

Another one of those books where I gasped, and cried, and laughed as I discovered the real truth, which of course involes evil, deceit, magic, and the unwavering love of family and friends. 5 stars and I predict many, many awards. I wouldn't be surprised if it is nominated for a Newbery. 

Voice of Freedom Fannie Lou Hamer by Carole Boston Weatherford andIllustrated by Ekua Holmes

Wow....just WOW! I rate a book on how it makes me feel....I wept through this book. Wept for the people, for Fanny and everything she went through, and everything she accomplished. But I also wept for my naïveté. Last Feb I visited Charleston, SC. We toured plantations. I came away with the feeling that I had never really known the depth of prejudice and racism until I heard the stories of the slaves and seeing their cemetery. My best friend has the kindest soul, and when she entered the cemetery she started coughing horribly. I know she was affected deeply by just the sight of the cemetery and the wrought iron archway at the entrance. The depressions in the ground where the rotting wooden coffins had sunk were the only indication that it was a cemetery, there were no markers of any kind. Of course now there is a sign explaining all of this. Injustice should affect people this way. In the children book world right now, talk of the need for diversity is strong, as it should be. It reminds me of when the picture book about George Washington's chef had smiling slaves on the cover. There are NO smiling slaves, and book people everywhere protested that cover. Scholastic pulled it from it's inventory after the criticism. Another book that makes me believe that reading and books can change your life. Please, please read this book, & then when you think your children are ready, read it to them.

THE SMELLS OF OTHER PEOPLE'S HOUSES by Bonnie-Sue Hicthcock.

I don't buy books...I'm a library rat. But if I love a book, I want a copy...and I usually buy copies for friends and family, too. So I lied...I DO buy books. I also buy books if I KNOW that I love the author and/or it's a series I love & have to have ALL of them! This author and her books will be THAT kind of buying I will be doing!!! 

I did the ugly but good cry SO many times in this book. (I tweeted Bonnie-Sue that I was crying so much I had to finally go take my eye make-up off.) I read it in a little over a day. I started it one night and finished it the next day.

I love a writer that makes me think, "how does she do this...how does she have this life experience that makes her so wise?"

Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock shows us what it is like to live in 1970 Alaska through the eyes of many characters, four in particular. It's a small fishing town where everyone is poor, just trying to survive. We weep and cheer for these people because Bonnie-Sue makes us feel like we know them, inside and out. And, boy, are we glad we do!

I judge a book on how quickly I start reading it aloud to my husband. "George...listen to this". Here's what I read to him, p. 13 & 14.

It was the tutu daddy had bought me Outside. You couldn't get a tutu like this in Fairbanks and I don't think Gran knew that it was special, or she never would've let me have something the other girls didn't. I was so excited, and as I came up to the studio, I remember another girl and her mom going inside, too. Alyce was wearing a black leotard and pink tights. I could tell she was jealous, eyeing my tutu as she held open the door let me in, and her mother said, "You have the prettiest long hair I've ever seen."
"I know. I'm pretty all over," I said to her without a second thought.
Alyce's mother smiled at me, but then her face changed quickly as Gran's fingers gripped me by the arm and yanked me inside. I didn't even have time to wonder what I'd said that was wrong. Gran marched me into the bathroom, and said through gritted teeth, "Oh, you think you're something special, do you?"
She pulled a huge pair of orange-handled scissors out of her bag, as if she carried them around waiting for moment just like this. They looked like a bird with a silver metal beak. And they were loud. I can still hear the sound of my hair being chopped off with just a few mad snaps of the bird's jaws.

More Book Recommendations, Mysteries and More

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith...that's the first title in the series, audio is wonderful. I love how Smith, a Scottish older white male, writes from a black Botswana                     woman's point of view...such great wisdom...always thoughtful and kind. 

Flavia deLuce series by Alan Bradley #1Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, English gifted girl who has inherited her Grandfather's science lab in the 1950's to solve crimes, I like the audio on this one, too.

Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George...I love books about books...main character is trying to heal after his girlfriend left....21 years ago...lives in a boarding house full of characters & he owns a bookshop on the river Seine. 

The Smells of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock- author grew up in Alaska on fishing boats so takes place in Alaska, coming of age, family doesn't always mean by blood, raised by a village...full of characters, each having their point of view per chapter. Such wisdom in these. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - WWII, much like ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, but more from the view of the German's who didn't want Hiltler. The narrator in the book is death. 

The Spellman Files #1...Lisa Lutz, dysfunctional family runs a detective agency in Cali. HILARIOUS! Crazy mother and father, oldest son is not in the business, oldest daughter late 20's is a former juvenile delinquent, and even the youngest 13 year old daughter does surveillance and such. LOVED this entire series, great audio, the last book in the series was so well done! 

If you liked Janet Evanovich at all, Sparkle Hayter's Robin Hudson's series is smarter and funnier...#1 What's a Girl Gotta Do? Sparkle worked for CNN back in the day and her protagonist works for a tv news outlet. Audio is fun, older series should be easy to get at library. 

John Dunning, from Denver, has a great little mystery series set in a book shop in Denver. #1 Booked to Die (Cliff Janeway #1) older but great series...used to email him and chat with him...such a nice man.