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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

The talking cure

Cover of The Silent Patient
A review of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The Greek tragedy Alcestis by Euripides provides the backdrop for a painter named Alicia Berenson who has been institutionalized at The Grove after murdering her husband. Alicia shoots her husband five times in the face and never speaks another word. Her only communication after the murder is to paint a self-portrait entitled Alcestis. In the play, Alcestis sacrifices her life in order that her husband, King Admetus, may live. After a trip to Hades, Alcestis returns to the living and Admetus minus her voice.

May 23, 2019

The Boss

Cover of Born to Run
A review of Born to Run by Bruce Sprinsteen

I started out reading this book in the hardcover edition the year it was published but kept thinking how great it would be to actually hear the Boss tell his story in his own words and own voice.  So, when I discovered it was available as a downloadable audio, I decided to get it and then wait for a long car trip to listen to the book. I am glad I did it that way, because if ever a book was meant to be listened to, this was the one.

May 20, 2019

A Foiled Plot

Cover of The Eye That Never Sleeps
A review of The Eye That Never Sleeps by Marissa Moss

Based on a little known plot by secessionists to ambush and kill Abraham Lincoln on his way to Washington D.C. before he could be sworn in as president. This fantastically illustrated picture book tells the story of Allen Pinkerton, one of America’s greatest detectives. From humble beginnings to forming Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency (whose eyeball logo inspired the term “private eye.”) This book takes us on a historical journey using a graphic novel style.

May 16, 2019

A Fur-ever Family

Cover of Can I be your Dog?
A review of Can I be your Dog? by Troy Cummings

Arfy really wants his “fur-ever” home. He invites himself politely via mail to every resident on Butternut Street. Each invitee declines Arfy’s offer of being their dog.  Just when Arfy thinks he’s stuck in the leaky cardboard box at the end of the alley forever, he receives a letter. The mail carrier on Butternut Street is in need of a friend. Would Arfy be interested in having her as his person? Joy ensues as Arfy jubilantly accepts. The illustrations are the real treat of this story. They are large, bright and full of emotion. Kids will cheer with Arfy as his dream comes true.

May 10, 2019

Catching up with old friends and meeting new ones

Cover of New Mysteries
New Mysteries
A couple of times a year I share a list of mysteries that I am looking forward to reading. Sometimes it's a whole new character that I'm wanting to meet and sometimes it's an old friend that I'm looking forward to reconnecting with. Here are some that have caught my eye this spring.
 
May 9, 2019

In the blink of an eye

Cover of How to Walk Away
A review of How to Walk Away by Katheine Center

It’s not often that the best and worst day in your life is one and the same, but for Margaret Jacobsen the protagonist and narrator in this remarkable novel it is. To achieve your dream job and a proposal by the man you adore, makes her believe that a wonderful picture-perfect life is just around the corner. But in one moment all of that is shattered as she finds herself at the beginning of a very different reality.  All of which starts when Margaret wakes up in a hospital and slowly learns how much has changed.

May 8, 2019

Children in Chennai

Cover of The Bridge Home
A review of The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
Eleven year old Viji and her younger sister Rukku flee their abusive father and arrive in Chennai (India) all alone.  Life on the streets is harsh and dangerous.  The girls form a friendship with two boys living in similar circumstances.  With Muthu and Arul, they make a shelter on an abandoned bridge.  Together, the four children look for work, share resources, and become a family to each other.  They even adopt a stray dog - Kutti, the best dog ever.  One night they are forced from their bridge and take up shelter in a cemetery.  There Rukku and Muthu fall ill.
May 6, 2019

True crime?

Cover of Conviction
A review of Conviction by Denise Mina

Anna McDonald has no idea of the double whammy that's about to hit her as she starts her day in the normal fashion; getting the kids lunches and clothing ready for school while starting a new true crime podcast. The first blow comes as she listens to the opening segment of the podcast and realizes that the true crime that's being narrated features a former friend who she is now learning is dead and may have taken his family with him on a sunken yacht in the Mediterranean.

May 1, 2019

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