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: 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: 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: Death at the Fair
Author: Frances McNamara
Call #: M – MCN
A mystery set in 1893 Chicago during the World’s Columbian Exposition, with a cast of characters ranging from local thugs and corrupt politicians to Ida B. Wells – who can resist? Not this Chicago girl.
Recommended by: Bobbie
Title: A False Mirror
Author: Charles Todd
Call #: M – TOD
The tenth book in the Ian Rutledge series has the Scotland Yard detective deployed to a small harbor town to deal with the victim of a severe beating and a hostage situation. The complicated, fragile character of Ian Rutledge never fails to draw me into the story. He is a sort of “wounded healer” in his own way. If you like British mysteries with well developed characters and multiple plot twists, this is for you.
Recommended by: Betty
Title: The Cater Street Hangman
Author: Anne Perry
Call #: M – PER
Charlotte, Emily, and Sarah Ellison are leading the typical lives of proper Victorian ladies until five young women, including the family housemaid, are brutally murdered on Cater Street near the Ellison home. Their father, Edward, and Sarah’s husband, Dominic, try to shelter them from any details of the crimes, but Inspector Thomas Pitt draws Charlotte into the investigation, along with all its gruesome details. A romance begins developing between Charlotte and the socially unsuitable Pitt, as the list of suspects begins to include Ellison family and friends. This is the first in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries.
Recommended by: Sharon
Title: The Paris Wife
Author: Paula McLain
Call #: MCL
Hadley Richardson, a quiet, naïve young woman, met Ernest Hemingway and fell in love with him almost immediately. They married and moved to Paris where they quickly became part of the hard drinking, fast living “lost generation.” Hadley is a decent woman who found herself in a society where she really didn’t fit. For a more complete picture of this time period, I recommend also reading “A Moveable Feast,” by Ernest Hemingway.
Recommended by: Betty
Posted in General Fiction
Title: London
Author: Edward Rutherfurd
Call #: RUT
Great novel. Don’t be frightened by the size of the book (829 pages). It is a fascinating historical fiction novel exploring the beginnings of the city of London. The continuity of the book is created by the six families who interact throughout the book and history. The book begins in Roman times and concludes in the 20th century. If you liked Pillars of the Earth or World without End by Ken Follett you will enjoy this novel.
Recommended by: Borgia
Posted in General Fiction
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