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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

My best book of the year

Cover of Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murd
A review of Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

I can't imagine any book topping this one for me in 2019. The snappy and shocking title is one of the reasons I love it so much. It's funny, smart, and helpful in a cuddly way, despite the whopper of a title. The authors Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark are the true crime comedy podcast stars of My Favorite Murder and their podcast provides background for the book. True crime is what brought Karen and Georgia together and how and why they have a fabulous book deal.

Jul 31, 2019

A splendid little moon

Cover of The Revolution of the Moon
A review of The Revolution of the Moon by Andrea Camilleri

The news of the recent passing of Italian novelist Andrea Camilleri means a great loss to the mystery readers, as Camilleri was particularly known for his Inspector Montalbano series set in contemporary Sicily. Yet the late-blooming Camilleri (he wrote his first novel in his sixties) was remarkably prolific, writing close to a hundred novels in a variety of genres, notably historical fiction. Born in Sicily, Camilleri had a knack for mining the island’s rich history and culture.

Jul 24, 2019

That other sunken ship

Cover of Dead Wake: The Last Crossi
A review of Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

Ask anyone about a notorious shipwreck, and they will more than likely respond with the Titanic disaster of 1912. Yet a mere three years later, another grand ocean liner met an equally disastrous fate, the repercussions of which would be felt far beyond those immediately involved. The Lusitania was the giant Cunard liner that many felt could not, would not fall victim to Germany’s submarine warfare against British shipping. It’s an intriguing story, and when told by Erik Larson in Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, it becomes an intensely personal, vivid tale.

Jul 16, 2019

Spy ladies are the thing

Cover of The Lost Girls of Paris
A review of The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

It's 1946 and a young widow named Grace Healey stumbles upon a suitcase left under a bench in Grand Central Terminal in New York City. At the same moment, a former British special agent named Eleanor Trigg is hit by a car outside the station and killed instantly. What follows next is a tangled web of intrigue, espionage, heartbreak and heroism.

Jul 12, 2019

Once upon a dog

Cover of Fairy Tales for Mr. Barker
A review of Fairy Tales for Mr. Barker by Jessica Ahlberg

I grew up loving the work of Janet and Allan Ahlberg, so I was thrilled when I discovered Fairy Tales for Mr. Barker – a picture book written and illustrated by their daughter, Jessica Ahlberg. This cumulative story follows Lucy and her dog, Mr. Barker, through a series of fairy tales.

Jul 10, 2019

List from the lists

Cover of Recommended Summer Reading
Recommended Summer Reading
Are you looking for some good vacation reading? Having a hard time catching up on all the "best summer books lists"? Then check out The Ultimate Summer Books Preview of 2019 from Literary Hub. They've done the work for you. Their staff writer, Emily Temple, read a bunch of summer book preview lists and tallied the results. Below is a the list of titles that have been recommended 4 or more times. 
Happy reading!
 
Jul 3, 2019

Living the life of endless McDonald's

Cover of Born a Crime: Stories from
A review of Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

This is one of those books that I'm going to proclaim as universally beneficial. I can't imagine a person living on planet Earth who wouldn't be able to take away something from this book, starting with the shocking reality of the title Born a Crime. Trevor Noah, comedian, actor, and Jon Stewart's successor as host of The Daily Show was born in 1984 in South Africa to a black mother and a white father. His parent's interracial relationship was illegal under apartheid law, so therefore his birth was a crime.

Jul 1, 2019

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