Top Ten Classics For Book Clubs

July 16, 2013July 15, 2013 / Jenn / Leave a comment

Classics are classic for a reason. Whether it be because they have timeless stories, epic characters, or are just classically awful (and that does happen!), we continue to read the “classics”. They have something to tell us about ourselves, because really, we’re still the same people at heart that our ancestors were one hundred, two hundred, three hundred years ago.

I run the classics book club here at the Cheshire Public Library, and from the moment it started, it was an instant hit. To this day, almost three years later, it’s still my most popular book group. If you run a book club, consider adding in a classic once a year. Just about anyone can read Gone Girl (and let me tell you – they have, ad nauseum), but it’s more of a challenge to read classics. And you sound smarter, too.

So here’s a list of my top ten classics for book club:

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. See my post about why this is my favorite book – it explains everything!
Persuasion by Jane Austen. Some people will argue with me about this, but Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen book. Austen is at her best in her final completed
Persuasion by Jane Austen

novel with a story of love lost and love regained. Second chances are possible in this memorable book. And while you’re at it, watch the recent Masterpiece Classics movie they did several years back. All I can say is: yummy!
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. I read this book first in high school and thought it was *ok*. Both of my parents loved this book, and at the time, as a junior in high school, I couldn’t appreciate it. Having a little more life experience as a sophomore in college, re-reading it, I could finally see why they loved this book so much.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. During this 50th anniversary of Plath’s death, this book is especially appropriate for book clubs to entertain. I heard grumblings from some members about how “depressing” they thought this book was, but as a group we had excellent conversations on mental illness, gender roles, and the 1950’s Read my review of the book.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. I read this for the mystery book club I used to run here at the library and it
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

would definitely count as a classic. If you’re looking for something that’s full of ambiance, setting, and great characters, Maltese Falcon is perfect. Short, easy to read, and a good mystery to boot. Hammett set the standard for noir fiction and mysteries. And how can you think of Sam Spade without thinking of Humphrey Bogart???
My Antonia by Willa Cather. For everyone who has ever read or watched Little House on the Prairie before, you’ll love this book. My Antonia is beautiful in its descriptions of the people, the time, and especially the land. A majority of Americans can say that somewhere in their history is an immigrant story, and My Antonia speaks to our shared history on being newcomers in the “New World.”
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Now, this is an ambitious book for a book club, not meant to be read over a period of just one month. You’d have to
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

give this at least three months or meetings for everyone to get through this lengthy, but well worth-it epic. This is the ultimate read on revenge. Dumas weaves an intricate story that by the end, will leave you going, “Holy smokes!”. For being a book written in the 1800’s, The Count of Monte Cristo is readable, especially compared to some of his other works. Like the show Revenge? It’s the Count of Monte Cristo updated.
1984 by George Orwell. It’s been years (10!) since I read this for senior year summer reading in high school, and I can still remember the impact this book had on me. Who hasn’t heard of the term “Big Brother”? Yup, it came from 1984. Orwell was a man ahead of his time, correctly guessing how we as a society would develop, as well as the implications of Communism. This book has garnered a lot of press time recently with the whole Snowden/NSA episode, so if just for curiosity, this book is well worth your time.
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. Ok, so you’re probably wondering, “What about Wuthering Heights? Or Jane Eyre?”. Wuthering Heights, frankly, is terrible. And Jane Eyre is scores better, and would definitely make another “Top 10 Classics List” were I to write another. Agnes Grey is a gem, a diamond in the rough. So much time is spent reading her sister’s books, that Anne is often overlooked. And I would argue that she is the true heroine of the Bronte sisters. What takes Emily and Charlotte more than 400 pages to describe, Anne takes less than 300 hundred to tell a fabulous story of perseverance and responsibility.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Ok, so admittedly I’m not a Hemingway fan. He, along with so many other male writers of his time, writes women one dimensionally and usually with obvious disdain and dislike. However… of the three Hemingway books I’ve read is the most tolerable, and therefore, the only one I’d recommend. Some of the comments in classics club were that it was just a bunch of people sitting around, doing nothing with their lives. And in truth, yes, that’s what they were doing. However, I thought The Sun Also Rises had a lot more to say about the period and the consequences of World War I than anything else. With the 100th anniversary of WWI next year, The Sun Also Rises is a treatise on how war changes everything.

JK Rowling Secret Revealed!

July 15, 2013July 18, 2013 / Linda / Leave a comment

JK Rowling

JK Rowling had hoped to keep her secret for a little while longer, but over the weekend, after receiving a tip, The Sunday Times of London reported that Ms. Rowling had written an adult fiction crime novel under a pseudonym. The Cuckoo’s Calling, written under the guise of Robert Galbraith, was published in the United Kingdom back in April by Sphere – the same publisher as her first fiction novel after Harry Potter, The Casual Vacancy. Ms. Rowling is quoted as saying “It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name”.

The book is set in London and features a private detective named Cormoran Strike who lost a leg while serving in the military in Afghanistan. He is barely making ends meet, he has just broken up with his long time girlfriend and he is living in his office Then a client walks in the door with a story about his supermodel sister who fell to her death. It is ruled a suicide, but the brother doesn’t believe it. Strike wades into a world of multi-millionares, rock stars and designers to try to find answers about her death. The book received a rave review in Publishers Weekly when it was released and called it a “stellar debut”.

Before the news broke of who the author really was, the book had only sold 1,500 copies. Sales at Amazon have since soared 150,000% and is now number 1.

For the Harry Potter books, Ms. Rowling used her initials JK as her official published name because she was told books written by men sold better. With this new book, she was able to create a male persona and a fictional biography was supplied by the publisher. It states: ” Born in 1968, Robert Galbraith is married with two sons. After several years with the Royal Military Police, he was attached to the SIB (Special Investigation Branch), the plain-clothes branch of the RMP. He left the military in 2003 and has been working since then in the civilian security industry. The idea for protagonist Cormoran Strike grew directly out of his own experiences and those of his military friends who have returned to the civilian world.”

Rowling plans to continue writing the series with the next book due out next summer.

The Cuckoo’s Calling is available at the Cheshire Library.

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7/18/13 UPDATE – Today it was revealed that a partner at the British law firm, Russells, inadvertently revealed the information. Chris Gossage let the information slip to his wife’s best friend, Judith Callegari and she tweeted it. Her Twitter account has since been deleted. Russells said in a statement that “we apologize unreservedly” to Rowling. While Gossage is culpable, “the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly”.

Ms Rowling said: “To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I had assumed that I could expect total confidentiality from Russells, a reputable professional firm, and I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced.”

Sharon Reads: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

July 14, 2013July 11, 2013 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Grave Mercy

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers is the first book in a new young adult series, His Fair Assassin. The main character is seventeen-year-old Ismea, who has been feared and shamed her entire life because of scars she bears from her mothers attempt to abort her. She escapes an arranged marriage and dedicates her life to the god, or saint, Mortain who rules death. The convent that takes her in and trains her requires complete obedience, but her skills and safety of the convent help Ismae grow and thrive. During her third assignment, she discovers that the outside world is much more complicated than she had ever imagined. She finds herself under prepared as she tries to protect the duchess, and the country, amid traitors and plots that seem to become even more tangled as she loses her heart to her partner, and potential target for death.

Let’s start with the obviously fantastic reason everyone is interested by this book, assassin nuns. It could not be anything other than awesome. Ismea is saved from being further beaten, and most likely killed, by the man her father sold her to as a wife by a local priests and hedge witch that follow the old ways. She is taught to kill, to serve a dark god or saint and to protect her country. She learns to obey, and in turn to question the orders and plots that are driving her hands in death. Ismea becomes a strong, smart woman. Her partnership with Duval is far from insta-love, and develops slowly and will the appropriate amount of doubt and mistrust. However, I will say that I was occasionally annoyed with her jumping and being startled every time he touched her or looked at her a certain way. The court intrigue was well done, and held some surprises for me. I fully expected some of the players to be exactly who they turned out to be, but I was glad to find a couple unexpected twists and turns.

I recommend Grave Mercy to fans of historical fiction, court intrigue, and heroines that take charge of their destiny. There are some mystical elements and significant romance, but neither overwhelms the historical mystery that carries throughout the story. Some might be worried about the mystic elements or take on religion. I think most interested in the book, especially by the thought of assassin nuns, will be just fine. Those that are offended by the very idea of old gods and the way pagan religions were transformed to be part of Christianity through force, and the idea that the pagan community could have had (or still have) some things right, might want to skip it. It is a four star book in my opinion.

Dark Triumph

The sequel, Dark Triumph follows fellow assassin nun Sybella on her own heart wrenching journey.

This review was originally published on Sharon the Librarian.

Six Picks : Summer Thrillers

July 13, 2013July 11, 2013 / Louise / 1 Comment

With the new crop of mystery and suspense novels coming out, your summer reading could be extra thrilling this year! A few top picks:

Inferno by Dan Brown. In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces–Dante’s Inferno. Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science.

The Kill Room by Jeffrey Deaver. Renowned investigator and forensics expert, Lincoln Rhyme, is drafted to investigate the sniper-killing of a U.S. citizen in the Bahamas. While his partner, Amelia Sachs, traces the victim’s steps in Manhattan, Rhyme leaves the city to pursue the sniper himself.

Joyland by Stephen King. Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.

Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz. Odd Thomas journeys through California and Nevada after a vision about the murders of three children, an effort throughout which he befriends a series of eccentric helpers who become allies in a battle against a sociopath and a network of killers.

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo. Christmas shoppers stop to hear a Salvation Army concert on a crowded Oslo street. A gunshot cuts through the music and the bitter cold: one of the singers falls dead, shot in the head at point-blank range. Harry Hole–the Oslo Police Department’s best investigator and worst civil servant–has little to work with: no suspect, no weapon, and no motive.

Choke Point by Ridley Pearson. Hired to investigate allegations of a sweat-shop operation in Amsterdam that is enslaving young girls, John Knox and tech information expert Grace Chu embark on a rescue mission that is challenged by a crime organization that has seduced local neighborhoods with showy goodwill practices.

Amazon Names Their Best Books of 2013 So Far

July 11, 2013June 5, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

With 2013 half over, Amazon has chosen their top 10 books of the year so far (Jan-Jun). Their picks and brief summaries:

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson– What if you could be born again and again? This brilliant, multi-layered novel answers that question as Atkinson’s protagonist moves through multiple lives, each one an iteration on the last, flirting with the balance between choice and fate.
The Son by Phillipp Meyer – A multigenerational Western spanning the 1800s Comanche raids in Texas to the 20^th century oil boom, The Son is a towering achievement.
Frozen In Time by Mitchell Zuckoff – Two adventures in one …recounting the 1942 crash (and subsequent struggle to survive) of a U.S. cargo plane crew in Greenland, and describing the author’s own participation in a modern-day mission to uncover the mystery behind their disappearance.
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer – The characters in this novel pulse with life as Wolitzer follows a group of teenagers who meet at a summer camp for artsy teens in 1974 and work to maintain their friendship through the competitions and realities of growing up.
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini – Following The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini has written another masterwork, one that moves through war, separation, birth, death, deceit, and love – illustrating how people’s actions, even the seemingly selfless ones, are shrouded in ambiguity.
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell – This Young Adult novel about two kids who fall in love on a bus is sweet without being saccharine. And it’s a story adults can love, too.
Gulp by Mary Roach – Roach is about as entertaining a science writer as you’ll find, and this book about how we ingest food will make you think, laugh, and wince as she covers all things alimentary.
After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey – Unfolding like a novel, this nonfiction gem starts with journalist Hainey uncovering inconsistencies within his own journalist father’s obituary – and while the truth behind the death will eventually be uncovered, greater truths await for Hainey, ones that will change the way he views the past and the present.
Tenth of December by George Saunders – Saunders’ first collection of short stories in six years introduces his ironic, absurd, profound, and funny style to an army of new readers.
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker – This enchanting debut, set mostly in turn-of-the-century Manhattan, is both a well-researched historical novel and a spectacular work of fantasy.