Before I Go to Sleep

Imagine waking up every morning and not knowing where you are. Or who the person in bed next to you is. That is the case for Christine Lucas in S.J. Watson's Before I Go to Sleep.  A mysterious accident years before left Christine with few memories of her past, and no ability to form new memories. Every morning her husband must explain her life to her.  Secretly, Christine has been seeing a doctor, and he too calls daily to encourage her to read a journal she has been keeping in hopes of trying to jog her memory. Through this journal, Christine discovers that her husband has been lying to her.  But if she can't trust her husband, who can she trust? As Christine begins to see flashes of her past, the truth about the accident begins to emerge. But will Christine be able to regain her memories before it is too late? A suspenseful novel from beginning to end.

11/22/63

In 11/22/63, Stephen King's newest book, Jake Epping is an English teacher at the Lisbon Falls, Maine high school. He is 35 years old, divorced and childless. One day Al Templeton, owner of an old diner that Jake patronizes, asks him to come to the diner. Al has something very important to ask Jake. Al has terminal cancer and wants Jake to do something he can’t - stop Lee Harvey Oswald from killing John F. Kennedy.

 There’s a time portal in the storeroom of the diner. It leads to only one day in the past, September 9, 1958. You can go to the past and stay years, but when you come back to 2011 it’s always exactly two minutes later.

As Jake stumbles into the past he uses a different name, George Amberson. Before Jake/George alters the past he wants to make sure Oswald was the real assassin. Was there a conspiracy?

Once Jake arrives in Dallas, Texas he has five years to spy on Oswald. Jake takes a job as an English teacher in a small town. There in Jodie, Texas he meets the love of his life, Sadie, a school librarian.

 Author King evokes the year 1958 so well you feel you’re there. Cars with tailfins whizzing by, early rock on the juke box, rotary phones and cigarette smoke everywhere. This novel has science fiction, romance and characters you’ll remember. Even at 890 pages I read this in three sittings.

Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

The library's December book of the month, selected by John, is James M. McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. First published in 1988, it is widely considered the standard in the field of Civil War history. Although it is only one volume, McPherson is thorough and writes with a brisk style. Packed with drama and analytical insight, this fast-paced narrative is a must read for all Civil War buffs. Copies are available on display in the library

Mystery Book Club

The library's Mystery Book Club will meet Thursday, December 8 at 6:45 p.m. to discuss mysteries set in Wisconsin. Suggested reads are on display in the library. Choose from titles by Mary Logue, Marshall Cook, Victoria Houston, Kathleen Ernst or Sandra Balzo or select your own. New members are always welcome!

Delirium

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Lena’s mother suffered from “amor deliria nervosa”, or the disease known as love. After many failed attempts at the cure, love drove her mother to madness. But that won’t happen to Lena, not if she has a say. In 95 days, she will be completely cured and free from pain and suffering. That’s what love leads to. It is, “the deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.” Set in a future dystopian society, Delirium shows us the life of an ordinary teenage girl awaiting her coming-of-age lobotomy. Only months before the cure, everything is perfect, even with Lena’s family history haunting her every move. However, just as Lena sees her happy future within reach, a strange boy interferes. His sudden appearance and searing questions cause her to do the unimaginable… fall in love.

As with Oliver’s debut novel, Before I Fall, expect nothing less than raw, real emotion from this beautifully heartbreaking tale. The first book in a trilogy, this is one of those stories you can’t put down!

The Snowman

The Snowman is author Jo Nesbø's fifth novel featuring Dective Harry Hole, Norway's only detective to have ever caught a serial killer...and it looks like he may have to do it again. On the night of the first snow fall, Jonas Becker wakes and discovers his mother missing and a fresh snowman in the yard.  Harry suspects a link between this case and a mysterious letter he recieved. Despite his colleagues doubts he is convinced he is tracking a serial killer once again. Not much later another young, married,  mother goes missing and another snowman is discovered.  Going back through missing person's cases, Harry's team discovers a common thread: they went missing on the day of a first snowfall.  With twists that keep even Harry guessing, The Snowman, is a great choice for fans of detective novels.

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

Say you were taking a stroll through your most beloved bookstore when you come across the strangest sight: a bright red notebook tucked in near your favorite titles. If you’re like Dash, curiosity gets the best of you and you must pick it up. This tiny notebook, left by Lily for the right guy, sets forth a whirlwind of events that will make both Dash and Lily’s holiday season unforgettable. What begins as a playful scavenger hunt turns into a connection neither one could have ever imagined. But is Dash the right guy? Or is their friendship destined to remain only on the lined pages of Lily’s notebook?

From the authors of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist comes another hilarious romance. Dash and Lily are two offbeat, likable characters that will have you laughing on the edge of your seat! The dares, secrets and friendship traded between them will have you searching the library’s shelves for your own little red notebook.

Sorry

In the German thriller Sorry by Zoran Drvenkar, Kris, Tamara, Frauke and Wolf are four friends trying to scrape by in life, until one day a chance encounter just before losing his job gives Kris an idea: they can form an agency that apologizes. Unfair dismissals, the wrongly accused, every company has a price and Sorry is the place to turn. The agency proves to be a quick success and the four finally find happiness living and working together in a villa on the outskirts of Berlin, until they get a client that will rip their lives apart. He's no ordinary business man; he's a murderer. What he wants is for the agency to apologize to the woman he killed and to dispose of the body.  The four all deal with ethical dilemmas and the threats to the ones they love differently, but the one thing they have in common is that none of them will ever be the same.

Every time I put this book down, I thought about giving up on it. It was definitely one of the weirder things I have read and I was frequenlty confused.

Book of the Month

Instead of choosing one book for November, we are featuring cookbooks.  Browse the display to find some great new recipes for your hoidays! Some favorites include the Taste of Home series and Cake Pops.

Under the Skin

In Vicki Lane's Under the Skin, Elizabeth Goodweather of Full Circle Farm in the mountains of North Carolina is planning her wedding to detective Phillip Hawkins when her high maintenance sister informs her that she is coming for a visit. Gloria is convinced her husband Jerry is planning to kill her. Elizabeth and younger sister Gloria never got along when they were children. Gloria’s grown son Ben works for Elizabeth on her herb farm. Elizabeth tries to make peace with her sister by agreeing to attend a workshop in Hot springs with her. While at a séance Gloria believes she has found her long lost child.

Those familiar with this series know that author Lane interweaves the past into her books. Two story lines that are separate but complement each other. The past story is about two sisters who are crooked spiritualists at the same spa in Hot Springs in 1887.

Readers can enjoy a good mystery about the bond of sisterhood.   All six books in this series are interesting and enjoyable.

November Mystery Book Club

The Prairie du Sac Library's Mystery Book Club will meet Thursday, November 10 at 6:45 p.m. to discuss mysteries by Reginald Hill. Copies are available on display in the library. New members are always welcome!

Book Sale

The Friends of the Prairie du Sac Library are hosting a Fall Book Sale Friday, November 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday November 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  The sale will be held in the current library space.  Support the library and find some great books at the same time!

Bury Your Dead

Bury Your Dead, the sixth book in the Three Pines series by Louise Penny, brings us to Quebec City, the capital of Quebec, Canada. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is visiting his friend and former boss, Emile Comeau. Gamache is trying to deal with his sadness and guilt about those who died under his command
during his last case. Before long an amateur archeologist is found murdered in the basement of the English library of the Literary and Historical society. Inspector Gamache had been visiting the library to study 17th century Quebec history. The inspector has sent his second in command to Three Pines to look back into the case from the last book, The Brutal Telling.

Author Penny conveys the beauty and cold of Quebec City in the winter. Also revealing is the tension between the French and English speaking communities. This novel has people you'd like to meet, food you would love to experience and places you'll long to travel to. A compelling series.

Also in the series: Still Life; Fatal Grace; The Cruelest Month; A Rule Against Murder; and The Brutal Telling

Enrique's Journey

Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario is this year's Go Big Read selection. Nazario tells the story of Enrique's odyssey to find his mother, after she left him with family in Honduras to go to the U.S. to provide a better life for him. The story recounts Enrique journey as he heads north, as do thousands of immigrant children, clinging to the tops and sides of freight trains.

A discussion of this book will be held at the Prairie du Sac Village Hall Tuesday, November 15 at 6:30 p.m. The discussion will be moderated by UW-Madison graduate students Anna Merry and Alison O'Brien and is part of Go Big Read, UW-Madison's common reading program. Copies of the book are on display at the library. The event is funded in part by a Sauk County Good Idea Grant.

Anna and the French Kiss

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna Oliphant is not happy to be spending her senior year in Paris at an American boarding school. She is torn away from the plans she made with her best friend, Bridgette and her crush, Toph. Unable to speak a word of French, Anna quickly feels intimidated by the walls and the students at her new school. However, things certainly begin to look up when Anna meets Étienne St. Clair, a gorgeous and very much taken British-American student. Soon Étienne introduces Anna to the French food, French films, and all the joys of the fruitful French culture. Amidst the late night talks, the inside jokes, and the stolen glances, the two begin to realize how thin the line between love and friendship really is.

Don’t be fooled by the title, this debut novel is full of laughter, intrigue and excitement. Perkins’ description of the Parisian city lights and architecture allows for the readers to experience the romantic city as Anna does and all the excitement that goes with!

Keeper of Lost Causes

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen is the latest "Nordic Noir" on my reading (or listening)  list. This one is set in Denmark, and features chief detective Carl Mørk. After an investigation leaves Carl injured, one of his partners dead and the other paralyzed Carl returns to work, but the rest of the homicide department wants Carl gone. What better way to get him out of the way than to have him head up the newly created "Department Q" for investigating cold cases. Turns out this is a department of one, located in the basement. Carl plans to put his feet up and pass time doing anything but work, until one of the cases catches his eye.  Together with his office assisant/janitor Assad, Carl sets out to solve the case of Merete Lynggaard, a politician who disappeared without a trace 5 years before. Whether suicide or murder, everyone assumes Merete is long dead, but Carl is on the trail and if he gets there fast enough, he might just find her alive.

Full of suspense and gritty detail, The Keeper of Lost Causes kept my attention while driving, and I hated to turn my car off.  If I had read this book, I definitely would have skimmed sections that made me squeamish (such as a description of an abscessed tooth) and peaked at the end, but that's why listening was a better choice for me - I couldn't stop the suspense from building!

Funny Girls

Lately I have been reading and listening to a lot of humor memoirs by female authors. Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman, It's Not Me, It's You by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, and anything by Laurie Notaro.  I enjoy memoirs and essay formats are good for reading on lunch breaks because I don't get too involved in a story I can't put down.  Humor is also a nice break from the Scandinavian thrillers I seem to have an addiction to.  Still on my holds list: Bossypants by Tina Fey and Laurie Notaro's newest, It Looked Different on the Model. Any suggestions while I wait for them to come in?

The Leftovers

One day in the pleasant town of Mapleton U.S.A, and in fact all over the world, people simply disappear. Is this the rapture predicted in the bible prophecy? If so why are Buddhists, Hindus and Jews also missing? The Garvey family Laurie, Kevin and their almost grown children, Tim and Jill, are at the center of The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta. Its three years after the so-called “sudden departure.” Laurie Garvey has drifted into a cult named the “guilty remnant.” Son Tom has joined a group led by a guru who hugs everyone. Daughter Jill, deserted by her mother, is drifting aimlessly through high school. Father Kevin Garvey, always one to look on the bright side, has become the mayor of Mapleton.

The book poses the question “How do ordinary people react to extra-ordinary unexplained events?” The author implies that in times of real trouble extremisms wins over logic. The book can also be read as a metaphor for the social and political sundering of American society after 9/11.

Mystery Book Club

The library's Mystery Book Club will meet Thursday, October 13 at 6:45 p.m.  This month it's reader's choice - read a favorite or discover a new mystery! New members are always welcome.

The Centurion's Wife

Our October book of the month is The Centurion's Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke. When her family's wealth and power are lost forever, Leah is sent to Pontius Pilate in hopes that he might arrange a strategic marriage. But despite her betrothed's striking countenance and position, Leah deems life as a centurion's wife a fate worse than death.

Head of the garrison near Galilee, Alban has ambitions that could one day see him at the seat of power--in Rome itself. Eager to prove himself, he takes on the assignment of a lifetime, one that will put his career, his beliefs, and his very life at risk.

But when the death--and missing body--of an obscure rabbi find Leah and Alban searching for the same answers, what they discover changes everything. Summary from book description.

What Happened to Goodbye

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

After her parents’ shocking and very public divorce McIean has avoided her mother at all costs, leaving her to travel with her dad as he consults restaurants. With the tally of four schools in two years, McIean has learned how to be minimalistic. The key is to never get too attached to anyone or anything. As an easy solution to this task, McIean gives herself a new persona in each new town. However, when she and her dad move to Lakeview, McIean accidently introduces herself as… well, herself. With a simple introduction, her carefully constructed world begins to dissolve. This sudden change brings unplanned friends and unwanted confrontations. Without these barriers, can McIean learn how to let go of the past, adapt to the present, and place hope in the future?

In her tenth novel, Dessen charms us again with quirky, relatable characters in the most beloved fictional town of Lakeview. As you read watch for familiar faces from other Dessen novels lurking around every page.

eBooks for Kindles!

Kindle compatibility is now available for almost all eBooks in the WPLC Digital Download Center (Overdrive), a library database that lets you download FREE eBooks and audiobooks for use on your personal devices, including iPods, MP3 players, Nooks, iPads, and now Kindles. There are also apps that will allow you to use Overdrive with your iPhone, Android or Blackberry! Find out if your device is compatible with Overdrive. If you would like help getting started with Overdrive, please contact the library.

Red Herring

In Red Herring, the twenty-first Joe Gunther mystery by Archer Mayor, Vermont Bureau of Investigation head Gunther has to link three murders connected by one drop of blood. Gunther and his team are called to investigate a murdered rape victim who wasn't raped, an elderly suicide who didn't commit suicide and a nineteen-year-old accident victim who didn't have an accident.  The police are faced with more questions than answers. They must look closely into each murder victim's life and background. As each new murder occurs Gunther and his people utilize the Brookhaven National laboratory, a real facility utilizing cutting edge forensic technology. Red Herring is a complex mystery. The characters are well written and there's even a shocking twist at the end.

Matched

In Matched by Ally Condie, Cassia has always believed what the Society told her. They give her a long, healthy life (not like in the destructive world before), a caring family, and a bright looking future complete with her statistically perfect husband and career. Using her parents’ relationship as an example, Cassia trusts that her Match with her best friend Xander is meant to be. However, when Ky’s face appears on her microcard instead of Xander’s, her mind is filled with doubts. Although the Officials say it was some cruel joke—since Ky’s status prevents him from being Matched—she can’t seem to stop her mind from wandering. Is Xander really her Match? Why? Who is in charge? Why are they so blindly followed? Is her future really for them to decide?

This dystopian novel resembles the world found in The Giver by Lois Lowry and focuses on one girl’s journey to a freedom she never knew existed. Watch for book #2 -Crossed- this winter!

Blood, Bones & Butter

Selected by Amazon as one of the best books of the year so far, Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef is more than just a food memoir by New York City restaurant owner/chef Gabrielle Hamilton. At the start, Hamilton shares her idyllic childhood growing up in rural Pennsylvania with a creative father and French mother who threw lavish parties for family, friends, and neighbors. However, her parents divorce left Hamilton to fend for herself just as she entered her teenage years. She takes various odd jobs, waitresses, spends time abroad, cooks for a summer camp and spends years freelance catering before becoming the owner of her restaurant, Prune, which is something she seemed to fall into unexpectedly.

Also unexpectedly, she finds herself married to an Italian man she met while working at Prune and with whom she has two sons and a yearly month-long visit to his family in Italy. Far from a conventional relationship, Hamilton does not discuss much about her marriage, and I found myself wondering more about the situation. Overall I enjoyed the passion, and frankness with which Hamilton writes, especially when she writes about her vision for Prune. It was especially enjoyable because I listened to this book (downloaded for free from Overdrive!), and Hamilton reads it herself.

A Trick of the Light

In A Trick of the Light, the seventh book in the Three Pines series by author Louise Penny, local artist Clara Morrow is about to have her portraits shown at a prestigious art museum in Montreal, Quebec. Clara is very nervous but gets through the experience and returns home to her Three Pines friends, artists and gallery owners.

The next morning Clara is sitting in her garden waiting for her husband Peter to arrive with newspapers reviewing her art show. As Peter approaches the garden he sees something that was hidden from Clara’s view. A dead body! The body is identified as Lillian Dyson, a childhood friend of Clara’s who betrayed her while they were in art college. Clara says she hasn’t seen or heard from Lillian in twenty years.

The dead body in Clara’s garden overshadows everything she’s worked toward for twenty years. It begins an investigation by friend Chief Inspector Gamache and his second in command Beauvoir. Louise Penny creates a mix of murder, mystery and literary novel. She has written a world we can enter into and live in. Highly recommended.

Terrier

Our September book of the month, selected by Mollie, is Terrier by Tamora Pierce. Set in author Pierce's Tortall, Beka Cooper is a rookie with the law-enforcing Provost's Guard, and she's been assigned to the Lower City. It's a tough beat that's about to get tougher, as Beka's limited ability to communicate with the dead clues her in to an underworld conspiracy. Someone close to Beka is using dark magic to profit from the Lower City's criminal enterprises—and the result is a crime wave the likes of which the Provost's Guard has never seen before. --summary from bn.com

Terrier is the first book in the Beka Cooper trilogy. If you enjoy it, read Bloodhound next, followed by Mastiff, which will be released October 25.

September Mystery Book Club

The Prairie du Sac Library's Mystery Book Club will meet Thursday, September 8 at 6:45 p.m. to discuss mysteries by Michael Connelly. Known for his characters Police Detective Harry Bosch and lawyer Mickey Haller, Connelly writes gritty and suspenseful novels with intricate plots and a fast pace. Copies of Connelly's books are available on display in the library. New members are always welcome!

Meet Author Ellen Baker

Join the Prairie du Sac Library at the Blue Spoon Tuesday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m. as we host author Ellen Baker. Her newest book, I Gave My Heart to Know This, was released August 2. Set in Wisconsin during WWII, the novel mixes past and present through the story of three women who join the war effort in 1944 and the great-granddaughter who uncovers the secrets that shattered the family. Beautifully written and profoundly moving, I Gave My Heart to Know This is a riveting story of love, loss, and the lingering effects of war. Copies will be available for purchase and autograph.

Ellen Baker was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and grew up in Wisconsin, Illinois, and South Dakota. She has worked as a costumed living history interpreter, a curator of a World War II museum, and as a bookseller and event coordinator at an independent bookstore. She is also the author of Keeping the House, copies of which are available for checkout at the Prairie du Sac Library.

This event will be held in the Blue Spoon River Room. Contact the library at 643-8318 to reserve your spot. Special thanks to the Blue Spoon for providing space and to Nancy Maschman for arranging this event. Those interested are encouraged to show up early and have dinner on their own before the event.

For Teenage Boys

Looking for a book a teenage boy in your life might enjoy? Try one of these, recommended by one of the library's male teen readers, age 14.

Incarceron (series) by Catherine Fisher
Escape From Furnace (series) by Alexander Gordon Smith
The Enemy (series) by Charlie Higson
The Maze Runner (series) by James Dashner
The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan
Havoc by Chris Wooding
Malice by Chris Wooding

The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes

Imagine waking up naked and cold on an abandoned beach. You have no idea how you got there. In fact, you have no idea who you even are.  That is the situation at the start of Marcus Sakey's The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes.  When the man wakes, the only sign of life is an unlocked BMW with clothes that fit, money, a Rolex and papers identifying the car's owner as Daniel Hayes.  With nowhere else to turn, the man decides to try on life as Daniel Hayes. As he tries to figure out where he is, and if he is, in fact, Daniel Hayes the man finds himself compelled to watch a character in a popular TV show. As he is pulled across the country to this woman, is he going home? If so, what is waiting for him when he gets there?

This is Marcus Sakey's newest book and the first that I have read. I found it both suspenseful and unique and will have to add the author's older books to my "to read" list.

eReaders Available for Loan

Are you thinking about getting a Kindle or Nook? The library now has one of each that you can checkout for two weeks. What better way to decide which one you like? Ask the library staff if you would like to reserve one (or both!).

Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey isn’t your ordinary vampire book… Jessica Packwood was your average high school senior until one day a mysterious foreign exchange student showed up at her house. Lucius Vladescu knows her as Anastasia; the biological name that no one has called her since she was a baby. But it gets weirder, Lucius claims Jessica is a Romanian vampire princess and better yet, his fiancé. What a way to ruin her senior year. After much denial, Jessica’s curiosity gets to her. She questions about the family she’s never known, the land she is supposed to rule and her betrothed. As Jessica is searching, a popular girl at school sets her sights on Lucius and Jessica finds herself trying to win the arrogant, handsome man back. Can she find a way get Lucius to come back to her in time to save her Romanian family and perhaps Lucius himself?

Summer Reading

Don't forget Saturday, August 20 is the last day to turn in reading slips for all ages! We've had a great summer and have enjoyed seeing all of our GREAT readers. Special thanks to the Sauk Prairie Community Club, Pizza
Hut, Madison Mallards, Wisconsin Historical Society, Daniel M. Soref Planetarium, Knuckleheads, Mt. Olympus, Wisconsin Ducks/Dells Boats, Chula Vista, Concept Attractions, and Great Wolf Lodge for their donations to our summer program, and to all the local businesses that have supported our library throughout the year!

Flashback

What if you could relive the best days of your life? That's the premise of Flashback by Dan Simmons. Former Denver police detective Nick Bottom lives in a broken America. Set about twenty years in the future, America has only 44 states. Money is almost worthless and the government holds only limited powers. Sports stadiums are used as prisons. After Nick's wife died in a car accident he became addicted to "flashback" and lost his job. His teenage son Val lives in Los Angeles with his grandfather. Nick lives in 1/6 of a former Baby Gap store in what used to be Denver's Cherry Creek mall.

There are still obscenely wealthy people left in the world, however.  Hiroshi Nakamura is one of the nine regional advisors of the United States. He hires Nick to find out who killed his son, Keigo, six years before. Nakamura will pay Nick enough money to keep him in flashback for the rest of Nick's life. Between flashback trips and hunting down a killer, will Nick be able to locate Keigo Nakamura's killer? Will he see his son Val again and find out what really happened to his wife Dara?

Keeping the House

Our August book of the month is Keeping the House by Ellen Baker. When Dolly Magnuson moves to Pine Rapids, Wisconsin in 1950, she discovers all too soon that making marriage work is harder than it looks in the pages of the Ladies' Home Journal. Soon, her loneliness and restless imagination are seized by the beautiful abandoned house on the hill, and she begins to lose herself in piecing together the captivating story of three generations of the family that lived there. Rich in period atmosphere and in 1950s detail, Keeping the House is an unforgettable novel about small town life and big matters of the heart. --summary from www.ellenbakernovels.com.

If you enjoy this novel, don't miss Ellen Baker speaking at the Blue Spoon Tuesday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m.

August Mystery Book Club

The library's mystery book club will meet Thursday, August 11 at 6:45 p.m. to discuss mysteries by Kate Wilhelm. She is the author of the fast-paced and intricately plotted Barbara Holloway mysteries, and other legal thrillers and suspense novels set in the Pacific Northwest. Her first mystery was published in 1963, and she continues to write today. Copies of her books will be available on display in the library. New members are always welcome!

Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska by John Green is told from the narration of Miles or “Pudge”, a junior with no friends, no challenges, and no adventures. Ready for a change and on the lookout for his “Great Perhaps”, Pudge ventures to a school halfway across the country. Here he meets a load of interesting characters, from Chip, his genius roommate, to Lara, the Romanian foreign exchange student. But none is more mysterious than Alaska Young. Alaska is beautiful, outspoken and reckless. She helps introduce Pudge to rule breaking, friendship, and in essence, life. But Alaska’s recklessness holds a deeper meaning; one that Pudge is determined to uncover.

Many sensitive issues and a shocking twist will have you asking Alaska’s question, “Can we get out of this labyrinth of suffering?”

The Scent of Rain and Lightning

The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard is set in a fictional, small Kansas town in 1986 and 2009. At the center of the book is the Linder family, Mother Annabelle and father Hugh senior, their three grown sons and one daughter.

The Linders are influential, rich owners of a large cattle ranch. Granddaughter Jody is 26 in 2009 and planning to teach school in the fall. One pleasant summer afternoon she looks out her bedroom window to see her three uncles coming up her front walk. They've come to tell Jody that Billy Crosby, the man convicted of her father's murder in 1986 is being set free. Jody's mother Laurie disappeared the same night her father was killed.

Billy Crosby's son Collin became a lawyer and is sure of his father's innocence. He has worked for years to get him released. After making enquiries, Jody learns that more than a few people in town believed
Billy Crosby was not guilty. However, he was also a wife beater and a nasty drunk.

Author Pickard weaves together revenge, deception and romance. The first chapter, where you learn Jody's parents are gone and you return to 1986 as the mystery unfolds, pulls you in. The suspense then builds as you continue. Pickard was previously an Edgar award finalist for The Virgin of Small Plains.

The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head

Imagine coming face-to-face with a naked woman standing on her head, a man who wants to amputate his own arm, or a woman so desperate to have a baby her mind tricks her body into thinking she's pregnant.  Dr. Gary Small, respected psychiatrist and professor, has seen all this and more over the course of his career. He shares the most memorable and unique cases in The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head: a Psychiatrist's Stories of His Most Bizarre Cases, co-written with is wife, Gigi Vorgan.

Through the cases he shares, Dr. Small shows his growth and increasing confidence as a doctor. His diagnoses based on mysterious and bizarre physical symptoms are intriguing and the importance of good psychiatric care is well-illustrated. I enjoyed the balance of science and storytelling.

The Devil Amongst the Lawyers

Author McCrumb returns to the setting of the Blue Ridge Mountains in The Devil Amongst the Lawyers, her long-awaited new Ballad novel. The novel is set in a small coal town in southwestern Virginia in November 1935. A pretty, young schoolteacher named Erma Morton stands accused of killing her father. Journalists from the big newspapers in New York are converging by train on the small mountain town. Henry Jernigan
has already decided he will depict Erma as an innocent victim. He and Rose Hanelon, a so called sob sister write the story they feel their readers expect. Many other journalists plan to write of the backward hillbillies they expect to find in the small town. Carl Jennings, however, just wishes to write what really happened. He's just 18 and on his first assignment. Carl comes up with an excuse to invite his 12-year old cousin Nora Bonesteel to the mountain town. Nora, an old woman in the other Ballad novels, has the sight. Carl is hoping Nora can tell him something of the murder that the other reporters cannot know. McCrumb's Ballad series is quite interesting and as usual the author shows great detail and description of place.

Return of the Don't Miss Lists

If you’re one of the many patrons anticipating the return of the Don’t Miss Lists in LINKcat, some are now available! The lists for new material are still being developed. Until they are available, you can find a short list of upcoming book and DVD releases on our website and newsletter. If you’re looking for more extensive lists of upcoming releases, Barnes and Noble and Amazon both offer lists of book and DVD releases coming soon, many of which you can already place on hold.

Sisterhood Everlasting

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares is the first book in the hugely successful young adult series that first came out in 2001. It follows the lives of four girls who share a pair of jeans during summers they spend apart (hence the "traveling").  Now, 10 years later, Brashares returns to the girls in their adult lives. The jeans are long gone, lost at the end of the last book, and the girls have somewhat lost touch since their busy lives have taken over.  When Tibby sends the other three tickets for a reunion in Greece, where they have many shared memories, all are excited. However, a tragedy occurs as soon as they arrive and the rest of the book explores how the girls cope.

I had very mixed opinions about this book, partly because I had read an interview with the author first that contained a major spoiler.  While there were still surprises, I still seemed to be pretty angry with the author (and interviewer) while I was reading.  It was also a bit strange to read about characters familiar to you as being teenagers now acting as adults.  Overall, I found some parts a bit annoying (some things drag on too much for me) but the ending somewhat made up for the spoiler. If you were a fan of the original books, I would recommend this follow up.

Book of the Month

Our book of the month for July, selected by Dani, is Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman. Copies of this book, which Dani previously reviewed, are available on display in the library. Don't miss it!

Mystery Book Club

The Mystery Book Club will meet Thursday, July 14 at 6:45 p.m. to discuss mysteries by James Benn.  Benn is the author of the Billy Boyle mystery series set within the Allied High Command during the Second World War. Copies are available on display in the library. New members are always welcome!

My Dear I Wanted to Tell You

My Dear I Wanted to Tell You, the first novel by author Louisa Young, is set in London and France between 1907 and 1918. It shows the horrors of war and the impact on two sets of lovers.

Riley Purefoy, a working class boy meets Nadine Waveney, the daughter of a rich family at a skating rink when they are children. The children become friends and Riley is semi-adopted as a model and assistant by the Waveney’s friend Sir Albert, a famous painter. Riley is bright, attractive and learns much about art and the world. When Riley and Nadine are 18 they fall in love. Her family doesn’t approve. Riley impulsively joins the war effort to prove he’s a ‘man.’

Peter Locke is an upper middle class officer with a rather vapid wife called Julia. Peter becomes Riley’s commanding officer in the killing fields of France. The nightmare of World War I irrevocably changes the four main characters who stay with you long after you’ve finished this book.

Brightly Woven

Recommended by a patron, Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken is a fantasy tale of wizardry and magic. In Sydelle's small mountain village, it's hasn't rained since she was a small child, until young wizard Wayland North comes and ends the drought. As his payment, he requests Sydelle accompany him as he travels to the capital where he hopes to prevent a devastating war with neighboring countries. Sydelle has the rare ability to repair North's cloaks with out destroying their magic, but Sydelle suspects there are other reasons he took her. As they travel, Sydelle learns more about North's mysterious illness, the world of wizards, and her own great powers. Of course, there is also a developing romance between the two. While there is a nice ending, some things are left unanswered, leaving many hoping for a sequel. I personally like that it can stand alone.  A great choice for fans of Kristin Cashore and Tamora Pierce.

The Lady and the Poet

Lest the reader thinks The Lady and the Poet by Maeve Haran a slightly silly novel by the title, the Lady really was a titled Lady. The poet was John Donne, author of "no man is an island," etc.  Ann More was headed for a life at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and marriage to wealthy man. At age 14 Ann goes to live with her Aunt and Uncle. Her Uncle is high up in the government, the keeper of the Lord Privy seal. Donne was not considered a desirable suitor, being poor, Catholic and a poet. The couple does marry in defiance of her rich, influential family, who completely cut them off, financially and socially.

This enduring but unlikely love has given the world some of the most beautiful love poems ever written. Some
of Donne's poems are included in the novel. The Donnes remained married until Ann's passing. John Donne went on to become the Dean of Saint Paul's cathedral, London. He wrote a very short but clever phrase about their early marriage. "John Donne, Ann Donne, undone." Donne never remarried. The Lady and the Poet is British author Maeve Haran's first historical novel.

The 5th Witness

Michael Connelly is one of the authors whose books I place on hold as soon as I know they are coming out and The 5th Witness is his newest.  The economic downturn has put a dent in the practice of successful defense attorney Mickey Haller, known to readers for working from his Lincoln town car. To keep his practice in business Mickey turned to providing foreclosure defense. When his very first foreclosure client, Lisa Trammel, is arrested for the murder of her bank's mortgage broker, Mickey finds himself back in the courtroom working on a highly publicized case.

Much of the book takes place in the courtroom focusing on the strategies and tactics of both the defense and prosecution.  If you enjoy great legal thrillers, this is a great choice. If you've read Connelly's previous books featuring Mickey, you'll be intrigued by his potential change in career direction introduced at the end. I know I'm looking forward to the next book featuring Mickey Haller. But next up for Connelly is a return to Harry Bosch in The Drop due out in November 2011.

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Belly had always measured her life in summers. It seemed to her that winter was only a boring prologue to the magic and excitement that was to come when the weather got warmer. For years, she has spent summers on the beach with her family and two of her close guy friends. The two have always seen Belly as a sister figure. This summer, however, they realize that she is in fact a girl. It is a summer she’ll never forget, full of changes—expected and unexpected.

With The Summer I Turned Pretty author Jenny Han has given us another great novel about the changes that happen as we are growing up. The story is told through the thoughts of our main character Belly. We are able to feel her embarrassment, frustration and love. It is the perfect read as you wait for your own summer story to begin!

The Happiness Project

I have a habit of reading books about year-long personal experiments. The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by A.J. Jacobs, The Year of Yes by Maria Dahvana Headley, Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine. My list could go on. When I saw The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin come through the library for the tenth time, I decided I needed to read that one as well.

Gretchen Rubin was not an unhappy person, but she felt like she could be happier, so came up with her idea for a happiness project. Each month she plans to take on new resolutions in different areas of her life: parenting, marriage, work. By December she will try keep them all. Of course, she can't keep all the resolutions all of the time but through the process she finds out what works for her and develops 12 personal commandments and four "splendid truths" to maximize her happiness.  At the end of the year, Gretchen is, in fact, a happier person, and her friends and family have found themselves positively impacted as well.

The Happiness Project is an easy, interesting, and enjoyable read that includes bits of research, tips, advice, and feedback from readers of the author's blog. Those looking to start a happiness project of their own will find this a useful read. If you're like me and don't plan to start a project, there are still tips and ideas you can easily incorporate into your daily life.

Up Against It

Up Against It is the first book by author M.J. Locke. Set on an asteroid colony in the not too distant future, the novel is considered “hard science fiction,” meaning it includes scientific detail and scenarios that could logically occur.

On the colony, Phocaea, a low gee outpost, live many thousands of people, including Geoff Agre, a teenager who rides rocket bikes with his friends to salvage the methane ice crystals that power the colony. Earth has become a refugee camp after an ecological breakdown. Life in the colonies is televised by small mobile cameras that are everywhere. The resulting ‘reality show’ is then sold for vast amounts of money to support the colony.

Geoff’s brother Carl is killed in an act of sabotage that may have been caused by the Martian mafia. The mafia is trying to gain a monopoly of the colony’s business. Jane Navio is Phocaea’s resource manager, a 100-year-old who looks and acts about 50. Most people take medication to extend their lives. Jane has to investigate Carl’s death and the sabotage of the methane plant. This is a good science fiction read where the characters keep you interested.

Summer Reading Program

Registration for the Prairie du Sac Library's summer reading program begins at the library and online June 9. We have something for all ages!

One World, Many Stories
for pre-readers through 5th grade

READ...about New York, the mountains or Timbuktu, the Rainforest, jungle or Kalamazoo! Summer is the perfect time to see the world at your library! Prizes will be handed out as you complete each week's reading requirement of just 20 minutes per day! Read extra to enter the random prize drawings!

You Are Here

for grades 6-12

Choose a reward for every 2 hours you read, up to 12 hours and also be eligible to win great prizes (like water park passes) in our WEEKLY prize drawings! Every 2 hours you read earns you an entry - no limit on hours!


Novel Destinations
for Adults
Read 2 hours each week and be eligible to win prizes in our weekly prize drawings. There are no limits on number of entries! NEW this year: the first entry for ALL adults earns a pass to a Wisconsin "novel destination" (one of 11 participating historic sites or museums).

Thirteen Reasons Why

Our June book of the month, selected by Jenni, is Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why. High school student Clay Jensen finds a box of cassette tapes at his doorstep. What makes it even more mysterious is that the tapes were recorded by Hannah Baker, Clay's crush, who recently committed suicide. If Clay listens to the tapes he'll find out why Hannah killed herself, and what role he played. While listening to the tapes can't bring Hannah back, Clay learns that even small actions can have huge consequences.

June Mystery Book Club

The library's Mystery Book Club will meet Thursday, June 9 at 6:45 p.m to discuss mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert, writer of Cozy mysteries. She has three different series that are engaging and witty with a relaxed pace. Copies will be available on display in the library. New members are always welcome!

Damage

John Lescroart is the best-selling author of more than 20 books, but I had not read any of them until his most recent book, Damage. Published in January 2011, this novel kept coming up in my amazon recommendations, so I decided to give it a try.

Ro Curtlee is a dangerous convicted rapist/murderer but he comes from a powerful San Francisco family. He wins a retrial on a minor technicality and his family is able to use their connections and wealth to get him out on bail. When a witness from his first trial is killed in a house fire, the police immediately suspect Ro, and they and the DA's office are determined to get Ro back in jail. After another fire kills the wife of the original jury foreman, the police are even more convinced Ro is out to eliminate those connected to his case. But is their judgement clouded by anger and the desire to get Ro off the street?

A fast-paced and enjoyable thriller that keeps you guessing, unless you read the end first, which I have a bad habit of doing! John Lescroart is an author I will have to catch up on.

Once Was Lost

In Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr, the summer heat seems to be the only constant companion in Sam’s life. Her mother is in rehab and her father, big time pastor for a small town, is always busy. Everything has fallen apart, a fact that is cemented for Sam when fellow church member, 13-year-old Jody, goes missing. The whole town is under investigation, and Sam begins to find comfort and confusion in Nick, Jody’s older brother. Many lines and characters are tested and exposed throughout the disappearance; all of which come together brilliantly in the end.

For those of you, who loved Sara Zarr’s novel Sweethearts, get ready for another read with the same amazing depth. The story is full of questions about faith, family and life. This novel shows us a world shaken into awareness as weaknesses are revealed.

Faithful Place

In Faithful Place, the third book by Tana French, undercover policeman Frank Mackey finds out if you really can't go home again. In 1985 Frank prepares to the leave his lower middle class Dublin neighborhood
with his first love Rosie Daley. The two 19-year-olds were to meet after midnight and leave for London on the next ferry. Rosie never shows up.

Frank becomes a policeman and stays as far away from his dysfunctional family as possible. Then in 2007 he gets a phone call from his sister Jackie. An abandoned suitcase has been found in a derelict house. Frank  goes to investigate and finds the suitcase is Rosie's. Soon a body is found at the same location. Frank
begins to suspect one of his family was involved in Rosie's disappearance.

The character of Frank Mackey isn't likable. He's pushy and selfish. His redeeming feature is his love for his 9-year-old daughter Holly. Frank badly wants to find out what happened to Rosie Daly and he's willing to do whatever it takes to himself and anyone else to find out. The novel is a gripping, intelligent story of family trauma and lost love. Give it and the author's other two books a try.

Also by Tana French: In the Woods and The Likeness

Killer Pizza

Teen horror books have been a request at our library, so when I saw a review for Killer Pizza by Greg Taylor, I ordered it for our library. I happened upon it again recently when I was looking for a book to read on my breaks, so I decided to give it a shot.

Toby McGill is looking for a job to avoid the boredom of nothing to do all summer. The only place that will hire him is a new place called Killer Pizza, but that's perfect for Toby because his secret dream is to become a celebrity chef.  However, he gets more than he bargained for when he finds out Killer Pizza is actually a front for a secret monster-hunting organization and he has been hired to do much more than make pizzas...like save his town from a guttata attack.

This book was fun and suspenseful and the short chapters make it a good choice for reluctant readers. There's little gore and the "horror" is pretty tame.

Something Maybe

If you like Sarah Dessen novels, Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott is the book for you! She even says so herself, “The best love story I’ve read in ages.” Something, Maybe takes the reader into the life of the infamous Hannah Jackson, a girl who’s stuck in her parents’ legendary shadows. Hannah’s father, an aging reality TV show star, has little to do with her daily life, only calling on her when his show’s ratings are down. Her mother broadcasts a web show straight from her house; reliving days as an actress on the popular TV show Cowboy Dad. If that wasn’t enough, Hannah is also pinning after her longtime crush Josh, while trying to fend off goofball Finn. Elizabeth Scott creates a world that seems entirely believable. The problems Hannah struggles with are relatable even if both your parents are insanely normal.

The Girls of Murder City

In 1924 Chicago, "girl gunners" ruled newspaper headlines. Women were murdering men at alarming rates, and getting away with it. In The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago, Douglas Perry writes about two of these cases and the journalist turned playwright inspired by them. Beautiful Beulah Annan and stylish Belva Gaertner were the most popular inmates of Murderess' Row, and were both charged with shooting their lovers to death. New to the city, Maurine Watkins was a small town girl hoping to land a spot as a newspaperwoman covering the crime beat. She would later go on to write the play Chicago, based on Beulah, Belva, and the other women of Murderess' Row

This book sat on my pile a solid month before I finally started it, but it was worth the wait. Both entertaining and informative, The Girls of Murder City received starred reviews from several publications. If you like reading about crime in the Jazz Age, I would also recommend The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum.

Mystery Book Club/Book of the Month

The Library's Mystery Book Club will meet at 6:45 p.m. May 12 to discuss mysteries by Alan Bradley. Bradley writes the Flavia de Luce mysteries featuring an 11-year-old aspiring chemist with a passion for poison. Set in 1950s  England, this series is engaging and witty. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first in the series, is also our May Book of the Month. Copies are on display in the library so stop in and get one!

Started Early, Took My Dog

Started Early, Took My Dog is author Kate Atkinson’s fourth Jackson Brodie novel.    The semi-retired ex-policeman, part time private investigator  has come back to his old hometown of Leeds, England to search for the biological parents of a young Australian woman.  But Brodie can’t find the couple in any database, nor is the adoption on record.  While searching Jackson comes upon a man abusing a small dog in a park.  He punches the man in the stomach and takes the dog.

The second main character is Tracy Waterhouse, a retired policeman. She’s in her fifties and has taken a part time job as a security guard at a mall.   Tracy sees a young woman yelling at a small girl while dragging her through the mall to the bus station.  Following the pair outside Tracy impulsively asks “ How much for the kid?”  The woman takes the money and leaves Tracy with the little girl!    Soon Tracy is planning a life raising the four year old Courtney in France. 

The third portion of the book deals with Matilda “Tilly” Squires ,and elderly soap opera actress who works with Jackson’s ex-girlfriend.  Tilly is in the first stages of dementia and keeps forgetting her lines.    What do Jackson, Tracy and Tilly have to do with each other?  Their paths will cross before the book is finished.   Atkinson layers the storyline and time periods with skill and weaves it all together in the end.

Where She Went

In If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Mia was involved in a tragic car accident that killed both her parents and only brother and left her in a coma that she barely survived. It was a book that really stuck with me, which is unusual because I don't usually remember many details of what I've read for more than a month. When I saw that the author was coming out with a sequel, I quickly added my name to the waiting list.

Where She Went picks up three years later. Living separate lives on different coasts Mia and Adam, her high school boyfriend, have not seen each other since Mia left Oregon just months after the accident. Mia is a successful up-and-coming cellist and Adam is a rock star (the story is told from his point of view). Despite his current success, Adam is not happy and still struggles with the promise he made to Mia while she was in a coma: he would do anything if she stayed, even if it meant letting her go.  Adam is in New York for one night before he heads out on a lengthy European tour and it just happens to be the night that Mia is performing at Carnegie Hall. Adam attends, planning to sneak out, but Mia spots him. They spend the night visiting Mia's favorite parts of the city, and coming to terms with their past.

Sequels can frequently be disappointing for me, but not this one. Once I started reading, I didn't want to stop. Just like If I Stay, Where She Went is heartbreaking but the ending is satisfying and makes me smile thinking about it.

The Devotion of Suspect X

The Devotion of Suspect X is the American debut of Keigo Higashino, a best-selling Japanese crime novelist.  Yasuko Hanaoka is a single mother working hard to create a better life for her daughter after finally escaping her abusive ex-husband. That quickly changes when he tracks down Yasuko at her new place of employment. When he drops in on Yasuko at her apartment things quickly get worse and he ends up dead. Yasuko's neighbor Ishigami, a math genius, overhears the situation and steps in to help create the perfect alibi.

Faced with solving the apparent crime and not able to crack nor complete believe Yasuko's alibi, Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi turns to his friend, the brilliant physicist Manabu Yukawa. After hearing the details of the case, Yukawa discovers that Ishigami is a long-lost friend from school, and if not for this connection between two geniuses, the true details of the crime may never have been discovered.

While you know from the beginning that Yasuko Hanaoka killed her ex-husband, that doesn't prevent you from being shocked at the conclusion and the depth and detail of the alibi Ishigami worked so hard to create. I listened to this book, and while I found some parts to be a little slow in the beginning, I still find myself thinking about it and hope that more of the author's work is translated.

Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman is a modern teen book perfect for fans of Jane Austen. Julie Lefkowitz’s best friend Ashleigh is an Enthusiast. She has random obsessions that last a few months at best, ranging from the music group Wet Blankets to Harriet the Spy. Her latest is Julie’s favorite book Pride and Prejudice. Along with dressing in frocks and learning quadrille (a dance Elizabeth Bennet practiced), Ashleigh decides she and Julie need to find True Love. Suddenly Julie finds herself crashing a dance at the prestigious all boys academy. With little trouble, the girls bump into their very own Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Too bad they both have fallen for Mr. Darcy. Polly Shulman writes a dazzling story about loyalty, friendship and love. The book is full of fantastic characters that will have you laughing and swooning as you read!

Composed: a Memoir

Singer, songwriter, performer and eldest child of Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash has been a musician for over 30 years. In her memoir, Composed, she writes of her upbringing in southern California. She tells of growing
up with and without her father. When Cash became successful he purchased a mountain top in California. Unfortunately the property had rattlesnakes on it!

Rosanne and her sisters usually only saw their father when he wasn't touring. His well known battles with addictions not surprisingly caused her mother to become bitter and unhappy. Rosanne attended strict Catholic schools as a child and hated them. As a teen she spent summers with her sisters and father in Tennessee. 

Ms. Cash recounts her journey to becoming a successful songwriter and recording star and tells of how proud her father was of her success. She includes the loving eulogies she gave for her parents and stepmother. This memoir is candid and compelling and you may find yourself looking for certain passages again as they pertain to the universality of love and loss.

Nashville Chrome

When I read a book, I want more than information (altho’ I do love information!). I like a type of impartation…something that will change me, transform me, help me see something spectacular, or at least in a new way.

Nashville Chrome, a new historical novel, by Rick Bass, does all this.

If you love music, and especially “Older” country, you will delight in this book. The story is about Jim Ed Brown, and his sisters, Maxine and Connie. Much of the setting is in Arkansas, where their parents run a saw mill to keep food (and drink!) on the table. As the youngsters grew and continually harmonized the lights and “chrome” of Nashville, glitter, twinkle, and beckon. We delight in reading how their lives intertwined with the great musician Chet Atkins, and singers Jim Reeves, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, the Beatles and many, many more. There were several hit recordings, but the most famous was “The Three Bells” an old French song that had plaintiff lyrics about “Little Jimmy Brown”.

Overall, I would say the childhood chapters of this novel will mesmerize you.

Is it possible that Daddy Floyd, who runs the saw mill actually sharpens the blades by listening to the perfect pitched voices of his three singing children?

Is it true that the secret to the quality of Floyd’s lumber lies in the fact that his fully tempered saw is sharpened perfectly and only because his offspring can discern pitch?”

Is it a fact that Jim Ed, Maxine, and Bonnie not only have high caliber solo voices, they have a harmonic resonance that is unreachable by any other singing group and indescribable by most people?

Read more: their complexities of fame, the celebrity that did not last very long, where they are now.

Rick Bass writes a terrific, true and fictional book.

Oh yes, and if you really, really, listen, you may actually hear the song that starts, “Oh the chapel bells are ringing….”

Reviewed by Linda Ladd Messer

The Informationist

Who do companies turn to when they need detailed information about foreign countries? In the novel The Informationist by Taylor Stevens that person is Vanessa "Michael" Munroe. She always delivers accurate, and expensive, information and is the best at what she does. But her new client is looking for something different: his stepdaughter who has been missing in Africa for four years. Munroe hesitates to take the case. She is in need of a break, and she has never searched for a missing person before. Plus, having been born to missionaries in central Africa, Munroe hasn't been back to the country since she escaped nearly ten years ago.

However, the money Richard Burbank is offering is too much to turn down. Munroe takes the case and returns to Africa, and the personal demons she left behind so many years ago. A character reminiscent of Lisbeth Salander of the Millennium trilogy, Vanessa "Michael" Munroe is a prodigy with languages and another strong female character in a suspense novel that will not disappoint.

April Mystery Book Club

The Library's Mystery Book Club will meet at 6:45 p.m. April 14 to discuss mysteries by Donis Casey. Casey writes historical mysteries featuring Alafair Tucker, a pioneer woman raising ten children on an Oklahoma farm in the 1900s. Copies are on display in the library so stop in and get one!

Instruments of Darkness

“The instruments of darkness tell us truths” is a quote from Macbeth by Shakespeare and the title of this first book in a series by author Imogen Roberston. Set in England in the summer of 1780, the book’s lead characters are Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther. Harriet is the wife of a naval commander. She has given up sailing with her husband to make a home for her children and younger sister. When Harriet finds a man with his throat cut on her property she asks for help from Crowther, a recluse with an interest in anatomy. Harriet suspects there is a connection between the murdered man and nearby Thornleigh hall. Living at the hall are Lord Thornleigh, old and in failing health, his young, pretty wife and Captain Hugh who fought in the Revolutionary War in America and came home maimed.

There is also a second setting in London near Soho Square.  Living there are a music store owner, Alexander Adams, and his son Jonathan, age six, and daughter Susan, age nine. Adams is a widower who has broken off all contact with his birth family. How do all these characters fit together? Readers who are patient and enjoy forensic historical fiction should enjoy this novel.

A Corner of the Universe

Our April book of the month, selected by Beth, is A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin. Hattie Owens is content to spend her summers sticking to the same routine in Millerton, her small hometown. But the summer of 1960, the summer Hattie turns 12, is different. That is the summer she meets her uncle Adam, an uncle she has never heard of.  The school (really an institution for the mentally disabled) Adam has been living at closes and he must return home.  Hattie's life is forever changed. Adam teaches her what it is like to be different and that you can lift the corners of your universe.

Along for the Ride

Auden hasn’t been able to sleep at night for some time, ever since her parents began fighting. After a few years, her nocturnal habits haven’t changed. She decides the summer before she heads to college to visit her dad and step mom on the beach, away from the stresses of academia and her demanding mother. Here she finds herself immersed in the world of girls, friends, and fun. When she meets Eli, a fellow loner and night owl, she realizes that maybe it isn’t too late to live out her childhood. Together these two people help each other with individual quests, and embark on a summer neither one will ever forget…

With Along for the Ride, Sarah Dessen once again gives us a book full of characters to love. It is difficult not to get entranced by the colorful personalities written among the pages.

Three Seconds

Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström, authors of Box 21 which I previously reviewed, return with another suspenseful crime novel featuring veteran detective Ewert Grens. Grens is investigating an execution style murder that he suspects involves drugs and the Polish mafia.  Piet Hoffman is a former criminal  turned devoted husband, father, Polish mafia rising star, and undercover informant for the Swedish police. His current mission is to get himself arrested and sent to a maximum security prison where he is to help the Poles take control of the drug supply in Swedish prisons and gather enough information for the police to take them down.  When Grens's and Hoffman's paths threaten to cross, things go bad and a thrilling fight for the truth, and survival, ensues.

While I read Box 21 I decided to listen to Three Seconds on my commute and was not disappointed. It was a little slow for me to get into, but once I did I hated to get out of the car! This is another translation from Sweden that fans of Steig Larsson are sure to enjoy.

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

In The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag, the second novel in the Flavia de Luce series, author Alan Bradley again brings us the bright, precocious heroine. It s rural England in 1950 and Flavia is lying in the graveyard of St. Tancred's church thinking how sorry her family would be were she to die! While she is contemplating this she hears a woman crying. The tears are coming from Nialla, an assistant to Rupert Porson, a well-known puppeteer.

Since Porson's van has broken down, the local vicar suggests the pair give a performance while the vehicle is being repaired. However before the second show can begin someone is murdered with most of the village watching. Once again Flavia must put her sleuthing skills to use. As in book one, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Flavia performs experiments at her home laboratory at Buckshaw, the crumbling family mansion.  With a visit from her Aunt Felicity and a new character, Dieter, a former German POW working on a farm, and Mad Mag the local crone spouting cryptic remarks, there is plenty for Flavia to investigate. 

Flavia jumps on her trusty bicycle, Gladys, and begins asking pointed questions all over the county. If you like old fashioned mysteries the Flavia de Luce series brings 1950s England to life. The language is clean and amusing. This would be a good series to suggest to younger readers. 

**Book three in the series, A Red Herring Without Mustard, was released last month.

Hunger Games

Hunger Games is the first book in the popular trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Panem is a country divided into 12 districts. Located in what was once the United States, the people of Panem must fight to survive—in more ways than one. Each year, two teen representatives are picked from each district to compete in a grueling survival game for the Capitol’s (the government’s) entertainment. When Katniss’ 12-year-old sister is chosen to represent District 12, Katniss, without a second thought, volunteers to take her place. For some, being chosen is an honor, while others see it as a miserable end. In the dangerous arena, Katniss’ peers and the Capitol’s watchful eyes, await her. Can she make it out alive? Can she bring glory to her district, which they gravely need?

Collins writes a gripping, intense and dramatic trilogy full of uncertainty, trust, and yet, a believable future.

The Distant Hours

“The ancient walls sing the distant hours.” The quote is meant to refer to the secrets of the Blythe family. Raymond Blythe, the castle’s owner, has three daughters. Persephone and Serafina are twins in their thirties. Their younger sister, Juniper, is just seventeen. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton, which alternates between 1942 and 1992, is set mostly at a rundown castle in the county of Kent in England. In the 1940s Raymond Blythe is known worldwide for writing a classic children’s book called The True History of the Mud Man.

In 1992 London Edie Burchill is a thirty-year-old book publisher. She is at her parents’ home when her mother Meredith receives a letter fifty years late in arriving. Her mother gasps and cries out when she opens the letter but says there is nothing wrong. Over a period of time and by questioning her Aunt Louise, Edie learns her mother was evacuated from London during the “Blitz”. She stayed at the Blythe's castle, Milderhurst, for eighteen months.

Back in 1992 Edie decides to tour the castle and meet the now elderly trio of sisters. Juniper, the youngest, is not in her right mind and keeps looking for her fiancé of 1942 to show up.

So what was in the letter Meredith got fifty years late? Why is the parlor door of the castle always locked? And most of all, what was the real inspiration of the Mud Man? As secret after secret comes to light will Edie finally learn what happened in 1942?

Before I Fall

If you could relive the day you died, what would you do different? What would you say? Who would you spend it with? How far would you go to save yourself? In Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver  Sam Kingston has that chance. With the greatest friends, cutest boyfriend, and heightened popularity, Sam has it all… Or so she thought. As Sam gets the chance to relive her last day on earth, her intricately woven world begins to fall apart. Every new step she takes reveals secrets and people she hardly knew existed.

With colorful characters and raw emotion built into every page, Lauren Oliver’s debut novel will take you into a believable, loveable, and yet heartbreaking story. Recommended by authors such as Jay Asher, this book explores the power of one person’s actions and asks the enticing question--“What if?”

Miss Dimple Disappears

It’s 1942 in a cold November in Elderberry, Georgia. It’s almost a year since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and America entered the war. In this first entry in a new cozy mystery series by Mignon F. Ballard, Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, who has been a first grade teacher for almost 40 years, is taking her usual morning walk. But why is a car with its headlights off following her?

Soon after, the body of the school janitor shows up in a storage closet at the grade school. Did the janitor die of a heart attack or something more sinister? When someone abducts Miss Dimple, grade schooler Willie Elrod tells his mother he saw Miss Dimple kidnapped by spies! No one believes him because he’s known
for his wild imagination. Third grade teacher Charlie Carr is worried because she knows Miss Dimple would never vanish in the middle of the school year. Charlie convinces her best friend, fourth grade teacher Annie Gardner, to help her investigate.

Miss Dimple Disappears is a look at small town Georgia during the war with spirited townfolk working together to solve the mystery.

Mystery Book Club

Our Mystery Book Club will meet next Thursday (March 10) at 6:45 p.m. to discuss mysteries by Lee Child.
Child writes fast-paced suspense novels featuring Jack Reacher, a former Military Police Major turned drifter out to find justice for those who need it. The Killing Floor is the first book in the series, but they can be read in any order. Copies are on display in the library and new members are always welcome!

The Highly Sensitive Person

Our book of the month for March, selected by Barb,  is The Highly Sensitive Person by Dr. Elaine Aron. If you have a keen imagination and vivid dreams, people tell you you are "too shy" or "too sensitive" and time alone each day is essential to you, you may be a Highly Sensitive Person. For the HSP, feeling over-stimulated is a way of life, and in this book Dr. Aron shows you how to identify this trait in yourself, and understand it to make the most of it and lead and richer life. Copies of this book will be on display in the library for the month of March. Stop by to check one out today!

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

Science writer Mary Roach is known for tackling unusual subjects (her first book was Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers) but always does so in an accessible and entertaining manner.  Being somewhat skeptical of the subject, I hesitated to read Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife but did so (actually I listened to it) after enjoying her newest book, Packing for Mars: the Curious Science of Life in the Void, widely considered one of the best nonfiction titles of 2010.

There were parts where I found myself tuning out, but overall, Spook did not disappoint. Roach tells of reincarnation research in India, tries to record messages from the beyond and even goes to medium training. The research I found most interesting was that of Duncan MacDougall who, in 1907, weighed patients at the moment of death trying to determine the weight of the soul. And since Roach is skeptical herself, I didn't come away feeling that she was trying to persuade the reader one way or the other about any of the afterlife research she examines.

Fall for Anything

Courtney Summers's Fall for Anything has received starred reviews from several sources, and the summary  reminded me of the popular 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher.  Seventeen-year-old Eddie's father, a famous turned photographer turned recluse, has just committed suicide and her mother is left immobile with grief. Her mother's friend Beth moves in and and takes control to get Eddie's mother together, but no one takes care of Eddie who is struggling to understand why her father ended his life. She returns nightly to the abandoned warehouse where she found her father and ends up meeting Culler, her father's secret student, who shares Eddie's feelings of loss.  Culler has discovered a series of numbered photographs taken by Eddie's father and together Eddie and Culler follow the trail of clues hoping to find answers.

Fall for Anything has everything: tragedy, complex family relationships, romance, a love triangle and twists and turns that keep you guessing until the end. Luckily it was a quick read because once I started, I couldn't put this book down. I felt a little disappointed in the conclusion, but still worth the reading time.