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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

Death and antiquities

Cover of Scandal Above Stairs
A review of Scandal Above Stairs by Jennifer Ashley

Resourceful cook Kat Holloway has a new mystery to solve in the second of this historical mystery series. Though Kat is still the cook for Lord Rankin's household in Victorian London, but the people she's cooking for have changed a bit (after the events of Death Below Stairs). Lord Rankin has departed for the country and Lady Cynthia, though nominally chaperoned by an aunt and uncle, is left mostly to her own devices.

Aug 3, 2018

Sex and the history

Cover of Sex and the City and Us: H
A review of Sex and the City and Us: How Four Single Women Changed the Way We Think, Live, and Love by Jennifer Armstrong

I’m a total Carrie.

How about you?

If you’re fan enough to get my meaning, especially if you dig behind-the-scenes showbiz nonfiction, you will probably love entertainment journalist Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s fresh look at the enduring zeitgeistiness of HBO’s landmark sitcom Sex and the City.   

Jul 31, 2018

A suggested arrangement

Cover of When Dimple Met Rishi
A review of When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
When Dimple Met Rishi was a fantastic book. It was very funny and will easily sweep you away into the lives of Dimple and Rishi. Both characters are amazing and the book shows their emotions really well. The book also includes a lot of culture, which helps to build the plot in a really nice way. The way that they build the romance is wonderful as it shows the progression of their feelings and how they change. This is a book I would definitely recommend.
 
Review by Victoria Lenius
Jul 26, 2018

Weird and wonderful and somewhat sinister

Cover of The Merry Spinster: Tales
A review of The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Daniel Mallory Ortberg

I picked this book up thinking it was a collection of darkly mischievous stories based on fairy tales. Perfect! That is just my cup of tea! But there's more to it than that. The Merry Spinster is a collection of stories representing classic children's literature, Grimms' Fairy Tales, Scottish folklore, the Book of Genesis, and more. That's a lot to take on!

Jul 24, 2018

In a perfect world...?

Cover of Scythe
A review of Scythe by Neal Shusterman

This book is an interesting view on immortality and complete harmony. Centuries into the future, anything that brought despair has been eliminated - government, war, illness, famine, etc. This leaves life almost limitless. The only people who can kill are in the Scythe Legion. Offending a Scythe leads to certain death. However, the main character, Citra, is taken to be an apprentice Scythe. This novel creates a very realistic world, if the world was a perfect, idealistic, utopia.

Jul 20, 2018

How does your garden grow?

Cover of Grow What You Love: 12 Foo
A review of Grow What You Love: 12 Food Plant Families to Change Your Life by Emily Murphy

The library owns about two billion gardening books. I’m pretty sure that is hardly an exaggeration. It can be a bit overwhelming.  

So let me recommend one as a librarian and a gardener: Emily Murphy’s Grow What You Love: 12 Food Plant Families to Change Your Life. It isn’t the only gardening book you’ll ever need, but it’s a darn good start.

Jul 10, 2018

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