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.