Title: Mornings in Jenin
Title: Susan Abulhawa
Call #: ABU
The story of a Palestinian family’s struggle to survive after they are driven from their ancestral lands following the end of World War II and the formation of the modern state of Israel. Heart-wrenching.
Recommended by: Bobbie
Posted in General Fiction
Tagged Character-Centered, Historical, lyrical, Recommended by Bobbie
Title: Night Film
Author: Marisha Pessl
Call #: PESSL
This is the story of Scott McGrath, a journalist whose entire career was trashed when he falsely accused the [fictional] cult horror film maker, Cordova, of evil things. When Cordova’s daughter turns up dead, McGrath is drawn back into the filmmaker’s world. But when you are trying to solve the murder of the daughter of a highly secretive man, whose entire life has been spent creating dark, disturbing, movie masterpieces, things do not follow the straight line of a basic mystery novel. Night Film is part mystery, part psychological suspense, and part horror movie. In fact, I loved how the entire book was written in an uneasy and unsteady tone that never lets up. And, if you are looking for a closed ending, stop reading this recommendation right now because you aren’t getting one here.
Recommended by: Becky
Posted in General Fiction
Tagged atmospheric, haunting, intricate, psychological, Recommended by Becky
Title: The Virtures of War
Author: Steven Pressfield
Call #: PRE
This first-person memoir of Alexander the Great brings to the reader a highly-researched and historically accurate reckoning of the ancient past. Most enjoyable of all, is the impressive way in which the personal character and thinking of Alexander is presented. What kind of a person would think that he could conquer the world? What kind of a person would want to? Alexander was the best military thinker of his or any age. The charismatic arrogance and visionary brilliance of the man come across in wonderful battle scenes, colorful legends, and brutal facts of history. This is one of the best Alexander novels ever written.
Recommended by: John
Posted in General Fiction
Tagged Character-Centered, Explicitly Violent, Fast Paced, Historical, Recommended by John
Title: The Oracle of Stamboul
Author: Michael David Lukas
Call #: LUK
An eight-year old child prodigy travels to Istanbul as a stowaway and finds herself in a world of literature, knowledge and intrigue. She learns many languages, memorizes books at a glance and breaks codes with ease. She comes to the attention of powerful people who can use those talents. Her life, as she knows it, will change immeasurably.
Recommended by: Betty
Title: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Author: Katherine Howe
Call #: HOW
Its 1991 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Connie Goodwin finds a hidden key along with a piece of paper with the words ‘Deliverance Dane’ among her grandmothers possessions in her old abandon house in Salem. Working on her doctorate as a historian, Connie does some academic detective work researching the local archives and finds that Deliverance Dane was a local herbalist and wise woman who became a victim in the dark days of the Salem witch trials. This novel is slow-paced but engaging.
Recommended by: Connie
Posted in General Fiction
Tagged engaging, leisurely paced, Multiple Plot Lines, Recommended by Connie, richly detailed, witty
Title: Ines of My Soul
Author: Isabel Allende
Call#: ALLENDE
This historically accurate novel fictionalizes the story of the Spanish conquerors of Chile in the 1500s. Ines Suarez narrates the book in her old age looking back on her life that began as a seamstress in Spain, but wound up with her becoming the first Gobernadora of Chile. Ines relates the trials and jubilation, the hard times and the wonderful moments of establishing Santiago, Chile. Most of the novel is taken up with the story of Ines and her lover, Pedro Valdivia, the war hero, and their bloody struggles with the indigenous people of Chile. This is the story of Ines’ life, a chronicle of the founding of Chile, a comment on the price of “discovering” the New World, and a tale of the power of love.
Recommended by: Becky
Posted in General Fiction
Tagged Award Winner, Character-Centered, dramatic, Historical, lyrical, Recommended by Becky
Title: The Maid
Author: Kimberly Cutter
Call #: CUT
A novelization of the story of Joan of Arc, the illiterate French peasant who, guided by visions of saints, led an army and overthrew the English invaders – only to be betrayed, condemned as a heretic, and burned at the stake.
Recommended by: Bobbie
Posted in General Fiction
Tagged Character-Centered, Compelling, dramatic, Explicitly Violent, Historical
Title: The Killer Angels
Author: Michael Shaara
Call #: SHA
This book brings to life the men who fought the battle of Gettysburg – both confederate and union. The author gets inside their heads, exploring their motivations, strengths and their weaknesses. It’s a gripping story and paints a vivid picture of war. I couldn’t stop reading until I finished it, even though I knew how it ended.
Recommended by: Betty
Posted in General Fiction
Tagged Award Winner, Compelling, Historical, Recommended by Betty
Title: A Single Thread
Author: Marie Bostwick
Call #: BOSTWICK
When her husband of twenty-some years divorces her, Evelyn Dixon lands in the east coast town of New Bern and decides to pursue an abandoned dream. She opens Cobbled Court Quilts with a vision of fostering a gathering place for the surrounding community. But can a business that seems destined to fail before it has barely begun become her own strength and salvation when she needs it most? (Sequel: A Thread of Truth, 2009)
Recommended by: Briana
Title: The Leftovers
Author: Tom Perrotta
Call #: PER
Set in the suburbs of a world much like our own, only here it is 3 years after some sort of rapture like event where a significant percentage of the population disappeared into thin air. This is a thought provoking literary novel disguised as a genre departure.
Recommended by: Becky
Posted in General Fiction
Tagged Recommended by Becky, satiric, Thought Provoking, witty
Browser's Corner 