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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

War and other drugs

Cover of Cherry
A review of Cherry by Nico Walker

There is a long history -- from Marquis de Sade to Jean Genet to Iceberg Slim -- of the incarcerated writing great books inspired by what got them there. Nico Walker, a former war medic turned heroin-addicted bank robber now doing time in a Kentucky federal prison, has clearly mined his own biography for his debut novel, Cherry, a nasty blister of a book that shows a lot of promise but is ultimately hamstrung by its limited point-of-view.

Jun 2, 2020

The limits of forgiveness

Cover of Heaven, My Home
A review of Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke

It’s the fall of 2016 and Darren Mathews feels like a seismic change has happened. The African-American Texas Ranger isn’t just bracing for whatever changes will be coming to law enforcement following the election, but his personal life is equally posed on the brink of change. After the events of Bluebird, Bluebird, Attica Locke’s first book in the Highway 59 series, Mathews thought he had reached a precarious sense of peace. His marriage to lawyer Lisa ha

Jun 1, 2020

Backstage at the Palace

Cover of Lady in Waiting: My Extrao
A review of Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner

As the daughter of the Earl of Leicester the author has lived a life in a culture of social elites, in many ways a culture that has mostly vanished except for that of the British royal family. A great deal of the book looks at the author’s family, how things are done and not done in their tradition. Following a family tradition of directly working with the royal family, Anne Glenconner served as a Lady in Waiting for Princess Margaret from 1971-2002 and a good portion of the book details that period.

May 26, 2020

Thrilling is her game

Cover of The Split
A review of The Split by Sharon Bolton

Sharon Bolton is one of those writers who is always coming up with new ways to thrill. Her characters are always sharp and complicated and she doesn't ever seem to tell the same story twice. Thus we come to her newest, The Split, a thriller set at the remote Antarctic island of South Georgia where glaciologist Felicity Lloyd is too late to catch the last boat off the island before winter locks them in. And even worse, she's convinced her ex-husband (and stalker) has made it onto the island from that last ship and now she's trapped with him for possibly months to come.

May 19, 2020

Who's a Good Boy?

Cover of Hello Goodbye Dog
A review of Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari

Like Mary's Little Lamb, Moose the dog follows her favorite human, Zara, to school in search of love and stories. When attempts to help Moose say "Goodbye" become more madcap than her parents or teachers can handle, Zara thinks of a brilliant solution: "Hello," therapy dog Moose!

 

May 15, 2020

Minding Grandmama Queen

Cover of Queen Victoria’s Matchma
A review of Queen Victoria’s Matchmaking: The Royal Marriages That Shaped Europe by Deborah Cadbury

Many a bride or groom in history have been plagued by meddlesome relatives with opinions, solicited or otherwise, on the proper course a couple should—or shouldn’t—take in the path to wedded bliss. There is, after all, one’s happiness at stake. But let’s for a moment take a moment to feel for the offspring of that great matriarch, Queen Victoria. The queen and her beloved husband, Prince Albert, were graced with nine children, who in turn begat 42 grandchildren.

May 13, 2020

A force to be reckoned with

Cover of Chaos Reigning
A review of Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik

Catarina von Hasenberg is used to being underestimated. In fact, given the powerful world within which she operates, she encourages it. Her family is one of the most powerful ones in the universe and thus have some pretty powerful enemies. A fact that became all two clear in the first two books of this Consortium Rebellion trilogy. Cat's problem right now is that she may have done too good a job convincing people that she's just a flighty socialite. So much so that not even her family thinks she can help in waging the battles they face. 

May 6, 2020

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