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.