Book Review: Liar Temptress Soldier Spy

A young Northern woman cuts her hair and dons a Union uniform. A seventeen-year old Southern woman aims a pistol at the Union soldier who breaks into her house. A notorious Confederate spy struggles to maintain her operations under scrutiny and in prison. And a Union sympathizer in Virginia begins operating an espionage ring out of her home.

Liar Temptress Soldier Spy tells the stories of these four historical figures, real women who defied the conventions of their time to join the fight for their countries during the Civil War. All of them went undercover at some point during the war, carrying intelligence that affected the outcome of numerous military operations. This fascinating historical account reads like fiction, alternating the stories of the four women with cliffhanger chapter breaks, and speculating on the thoughts and emotions that bring them to life. - Michelle (Sunset)

Book Review: Reunion

Sometimes in your reading life you just need first person narration. I needed all of Kate's "I's". Sometimes you also need a dysfunctional family... Reunion delivered that, too. And Pittard did a great job of pulling you in with the opening line:

"On June 16, at roughly eight thirty in the morning, I get the phone call that my father is dead."

Well, you have to keep reading after that. At least I did.

Kate's life is pretty well in shambles before she finds out about her father's suicide and before her siblings tell her she has to travel to Atlanta for the funeral -- which will also involve coming face-to-face with her four stepmothers and many half-siblings. As Kate haphazardly deals with her distastrous life, she also comes to terms with her relationship with her father.

This is a quick read and a good one for discussion. There's sibling relationships, adultery, childhood issues, and so much more. It's kind of the less-funny, more serious version of This is Where I Leave You. And check out Pittard's previous novel, The Fates Will Find Their Way. - Melissa (Downtown)

Staff Picks: Children's Picture Books

Miss Trish at the Sunset Library has rounded up some of her favorite picture books!

Oh No, George!
George wants to be a good dog, but when faced with temptation, what will he do? This is an all-too-human dilemma.

Odd Duck
What if you really like someone but they're different? Even a little odd? Theodora and Chad have to figure it out.

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild
Being prim and proper is so boring. Be who you are!

This Is Not My Hat
A little fish steals a big fish's hat. Consequences, anyone?

Cookie, the Walker
A dog gets famous walking on her hind legs. This book takes a jab at celebrity culture.

Book Review: Zac & Mia

Two teens find themselves in the hospital, on opposite sides of the same wall, communicating with knocks and taps. In the real world, they would never be friends - Zac is from a large farming family in rural Australia, and Mia is a popular city girl - but here they're the only people who understand what the other is going through. Both are in the hospital being treated for cancer.

 Zac & Mia tells the story of how young people face a terrible illness in different ways: optimistically or with embarrassment, hopefully or fearfully, with support from their families or with arguing and misunderstanding. An honest and unflinching novel about learning to accept and fight for life. - Michelle (Sunset)

Book Review: Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past..." -The Great Gatsby

In Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, Therese Anne Fowler gives us the engrossing story of the historically misunderstood Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, written in Zelda's own style and voice. The novel pulls you into a "beautiful and damned" past of Jazz-age parties, glamour, fame, wealth, debt, bootlegged booze, jealousy, and self-destruction.

This novel digs deep to tell the tale of the remarkable woman behind the famous author with the famous friends. Above all, it tells a tale of a dazzling, talented young woman who wanted - more than fame and publicity - to be loved and appreciated for who she really was.

Fowler's meticulous research into Zelda Fitzgerald's life has provided her with the ability to give Zelda a voice, to draw us back into the current of her haunting past. - Becca (Sunset)

Read more: search the library catalog for works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, books about him and his fiction, and adaptations of his stories. Or try Literature Resource Center for journal articles and reference works about this famous literary couple (free login with your library card & PIN).

Book Review: Queen of the Tearling

Queen of the Tearling opens with Kelsea Raleigh Glynn saying goodbye to her foster parents on her 19th birthday. She is being whisked away (in secret) to New London by the Queen's Guard to take her spot on the throne. Her husband has been hanging out there for about twenty years and he's really a terrible Regent.

Of course, Kelsea doesn't know much about the current situation in the Tearling and she knows nothing about her mother's reign. So as she heads to New London surrounded by the Queen's Guard, she learns bits and pieces, but still not everything -- of course, the Queen's Guard has been sworn to secrecy so they aren't telling her much. That's part of what drives this book: the secrets. I kept reading because I wanted to know what Kelsea didn't.

I found this book to be a mix of Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, and The Lunar Chronicles. It's got violence, a strong heroine, no love triangle, a magic queen, and lots of smart thoughts on censorship, responsibilities of those in power, and so much more. - Melissa (Downtown)

Book Review: Wild

Reeling from the sudden death of her mother and the crumbling of her marriage, Cheryl Strayed embarks on what she intends to be a journey of self-discovery: a three-month, 1100-mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. Wild is her account of this trek and the many unexpected things she discovers. At first, she doesn't even have the energy to come to terms with her mother's loss, instead finding herself burdened with a backpack that's almost too heavy to lift, an incredible amount of damage done to her body by the physical exertions of the trail, and the worst weather to hit the region in years. These hardships prove to be just what she needs, however, to untangle her feelings of grief, anger, guilt, and defensiveness. A fascinating account of undertaking a difficult journey in the wild, as well as a brutally honest memoir of one woman's attempt to deal with trauma. - Michelle (Sunset)

Remembering 9/11 in Fiction & Nonfiction

In Amy Waldman’s The Submission, a Muslim architect is chosen to design a memorial commemorating a tragic terrorist attack. The decision divides not only the country, but families, friends and neighbors. Should a Muslim be allowed to design the memorial to deaths that were caused by other Muslims? Told from the viewpoint of several different characters with a stake in the process – a juror, the wife of a victim, the architect himself – the novel boldly explores the different ways our society changed after 9/11 and encourages vigorous discussion.



Here are other fiction titles that examine the aftermath of 9/11:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweler, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet.

Falling Man by Don Delillo - Falling Man is a magnificent, essential novel about the event that defines turn-of-the-century America. It begins in the smoke and ash of the burning towers and tracks the aftermath of this global tremor in the intimate lives of a few people.

The Good Life by Jay McInerney - Clinging to a semi-precarious existence in TriBeCa, Corrine and Russell Calloway have survived a separation and are thoroughly wonder-struck by young twins whose provenance is nothing less than miraculous. But on a September morning, brightness falls horribly from the sky, and they suddenly find themselves working side by side at the devastated site, feeling lost anywhere else, yet battered still by memory and regret, by fresh disappointment and unimaginable shock. What happens, or should happen, when life stops us in our tracks, or our own choices do?

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid - Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with his girlfriend eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.

NONFICTION

Debunking 9/11 Myths by Popular Mechanics Magazine - Conspiracy theories about September 11, 2001 continue to spread. Now, in a meticulous, scientific and groundbreaking new book, Popular Mechanics puts these rumors to rest.

Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam by Giles Kepel - The late twentieth century has witnessed the emergence of an unexpected and extraordinary phenomenon: Islamist political movements. Jihad is the first extensive, in-depth attempt to follow the history and geography of this disturbing political-religious phenomenon.

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright - A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. 102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn - At 8:46 am on September 11, 2001, 14,000 people were inside the twin towers-reading e-mails, making trades, eating croissants at Windows on the World. Over the next 102 minutes, each would become part of a drama for the ages, one witnessed only by the people who lived it-until now.

Book Review: The Fortune Hunter

Set in 1870’s England, The Fortune Hunter weaves a tale of desire, duty, loneliness and love around the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, the charming and generous man she falls in love with, and the ordinary woman who competes with the Empress for his heart. Goodwin writes believable and sympathetic characters, wonderful dialogue and has a delicious wit that lightens the serious tone. Appearances by familiar historical figures such as Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales add to the period feel of the novel, along with interesting details about fox hunting, photography and the Empress’s unusual anti-aging efforts. This is historical fiction perfect for fans of Downton Abbey. The Fortune Hunter is a superb choice for stylish late summer reading. - Anbolyn (Sunset)

Book Review: 10% Happier

Dan Harris was an up-and-coming news correspondant for ABC when he had a nervous breakdown on camera. While he kept it together - and kept his job - he realized he needed to change his life. Influenced by his new assignments covering religion, he began to explore what some of these spiritual traditions have to say about the ways in which we make ourselves crazy, and found himself reading and interviewing the likes of Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, and the people behind The Secret. None of these sources seemed to have the answers he was looking for, though; he found some to be downright ridiculous. Reluctantly he was pointed in a slightly different direction, toward the Buddhist practice of meditation, and to his own surprise, he found a self-help approach that actually helped.

10% Happier is a skeptic's guide to meditation, a spirituality book for people who aren't spiritual. Harris describes how he learned to recognize the voice in his head that was constantly criticizing him, driving him to compulsive behaviors, and tormenting him with imagined castastrophes ("Flophouse in Duluth in six months, guaranteed"). He offers very practical suggestions to get this inner voice under control, while still keeping a skeptical eye on some of stranger aspects of the traditions he studies. Not only that, but Harris gives us an insider's view into the competitive world of network news, with fascinating stories about the shows and personalities that are so familiar to us - and things we might not have known about them. - Michelle (Sunset)

Book Review: Summer House with Swimming Pool

Marc Schlosser is a doctor whose patients number among celebrities and politicians, none of whom he likes very well. But does he just have a poor sense of medical ethics - or is there something more sinister to his character? Because one of his patients, the famous actor Ralph Meier, has died after a sudden illness, an assisted suicide administered by Dr. Schlosser. The medical board thinks Schlosser's actions were questionable. Meier's widow calls him a murderer outright. But what really happened?

Summer House with Swimming Pool unfolds the story by revisiting Schlosser's relationship with Meier, culminating in a vacation the doctor and his family spent at Meier's summer house and the mystery of what happened there. The novel is the second one by Dutch author Herman Koch to be translated into English, after the bestseller The Dinner. As in the earlier novel, Koch shows himself to be a master at creating characters who are both completely despicable and somehow compelling, motivated by selfish instincts in one moment and desperation to protect their loved ones in the next. Summer House with Swimming Pool is horrifying, fascinating, and hard to put down. - Michelle (Sunset)

Book Review: Legends in Exile

I'm not a reader of graphic novels, but I think it's just because I hadn't discovered the right one for me. FABLES is IT. It's a much grittier version of ABC's Once Upon a Time (and FABLES came first).

I love what Willingham & Co have done with twisting the characters we're all so familiar with (or maybe some we've forgotten -- I mean, who is Rose Red?). Snow White's discussion with Beauty & the Beast is a great introduction to how this world is turned upside down from what we know -- B&B have problems, Snow White & Charming are divorced -- because how ARE these characters supposed to make their love last for centuries?

The central mystery of Legends in Exile is about the disappearance/possible murder of Rose Red, Snow's estranged sister. I wasn't crazy about this aspect, but it's a great introduction into the world of Fabletown. - Melissa (Downtown)

Book Review: Don't Ever Get Old

Buck Schatz is a retired Memphis cop and a World War II veteran. He doesn't understand computers, he's annoyed by his chatterbox grandson, and he doesn't like the prospect of moving into a nursing home when his memory begins to fail and his wife sustains a fall. He certainly doesn't expect to be following the trail of a murderer at the age of 87. But when a fellow veteran makes a deathbed confession, revealing a treasure trove of Nazi gold, Buck starts getting a lot of attention from people expecting the former detective to track down the gold and give them a share. And he really starts getting attention when the bodies of some of those people start piling up.

Don't Ever Get Old is the first in a new mystery series featuring the crochety, foul-mouthed, and very funny Buck Schatz. He turns his caustic narrative to both crime and the aging process, and manages to struggle through both despite it all. The second title in the series, Don't Ever Look Back, came out earlier this summer. - Michelle (Sunset)

Books en Pointe

Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead is a sophisticated tale of desire, betrayal, secrets and artistic sacrifice set in the glamorous New York ballet world during the 1970’s. Joan is an undistinguished ballerina who’s defining moment comes when she helps a magnetic Baryshnikov-like Russian dancer defect to the US. The repercussions of her decision trickle down the years eventually affecting her marriage and family, her friendships and, most painfully, her career. With beautifully restrained prose and fascinating characters Astonish Me is a passionate ode to ballet and finding balance in a creative life.

If you like reading about ballet these following novels are also about dancers:

The Cranes Dance by Meg Howrey – This is the tale of Kate Crane, a soloist in a celebrated New York City ballet company who is struggling to keep her place in a very demanding world. At every turn she is haunted by her close relationship with her younger sister, Gwen, a fellow company dancer whose career quickly surpassed Kate’s, but who has recently suffered a breakdown and returned home.

Dancer by Colum McCann – Taking his inspiration from biographical facts, novelist Colum McCann tells the erotically charged story of the Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev through the cast of those who knew him.

Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner – An ambitious and enterprising farm girl, Alexandrie joins the prestigious Paris Opera ballet with hopes of securing not only her place in society but her family's financial future. Her plan is soon derailed, however, when she falls in love with the enigmatic Impressionist artist Edgar Degas.

The Master’s Muse by Varley O’Connor – A fictional account of the marriage of ballet master George Balanchine and Tanaquil Le Clercq describes how polio ended Tanny's dancing career, the rehabilitation that deepened their relationship, and how Balanchine's return to ballet tested their marriage.

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan – In belle époque Paris, the Van Goethem sisters struggle for survival after the sudden death of their father, a situation that prompts young Marie's ballet training and her introduction to a genius painter.

Book Review: Then and Always

Have you ever read a book and wondered what would happen if the character had made a different choice? That is what happens in Then and Always.

It starts out with our main character, Rachel Wiltshire, out with a group of friends and there is a devastating accident. As we follow along we see that Rachel’s life isn’t going so well. She then has another accident (not as serious as the first) and we realize that her life is now completely different, pretty much the opposite of what is was before. It makes one wonder, which life is real and is the other imagined or just a memory lapse?

I really enjoyed this book. I am a Sophie Kinsella fan and felt this book was similar to one of her books, just with a bit of a more serious tone. While it is a very quick read, don’t be fooled that it is a predictable story. It is interesting and will keep you interested through to the very end. - Rosanna (Downtown)

Book Review: The Black Count

Alexandre Dumas is known for great works of historical fiction featuring swashbuckling heroes like the Count of Monte Cristo. But few people know that there was a real Count of Monte Cristo - his father, Alex Dumas. The son of a disgraced nobleman and a Haitian slave, Alex Dumas arrived in France on the eve of the Revolution and rose to become a General in the Revolutionary Army, only to be betrayed by Napoleon and forgotten by history.

The Black Count tells the story of this tumultuous historical period - a time of democratic ideals and the guillotine, of unprecedented racial equality and the power to undo it overnight - with an engaging tone that makes this work of nonfiction as compulsively readable as fiction. Alex Dumas's amazing military victories are an edge-of-your-seat read, but the book is also a fascinating history of the French Revolution and its many social changes, the rise of Napoleon and the undoing of many Revolutionary ideals, and the transition to the difficult world where Dumas the novelist found himself - and where the author struggles to uncover long-buried facts about this remarkable figure. A compelling account of a history you might not have known. - Michelle (Sunset)

Novels on Vacation

The Vacationers by Emma Straub has been listed on several Best of Summer Reading lists this season. It is a funny, touching and, at times, painfully honest story of the Post family’s vacation and the truths and secrets that are exposed when they are crammed together in a rental house for two weeks in Mallorca. Each member of the family, which includes a couple who are close friends of the Posts, is facing adversity or tough decisions when they land in the warm Spanish paradise. The close quarters and language barrier forces the group to confront each other and their own inner demons while basking in the sun and feasting on Spanish delicacies. This is a humorous and character driven novel that will appeal to fans of Cathleen Schine.

While you’re waiting to get The Vacationers, you might try one of these five novels that also feature families on vacation:

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan - Three generations of women converge on the family beach house in this wickedly funny, emotionally resonant story of love and dysfunction.

The Red House by Mark Haddon - Richard, a wealthy doctor, invites his estranged sister Angela and her family to join his for a week at a vacation home in the English countryside, which results in a symphony of long-held grudges, fading dreams, and rising hopes.

Shorecliff by Ursula DeYoung - Spending the summer of 1928 in a big house on the Maine coast with his 10 older cousins and a gaggle of aunts and uncles seems like a dream come true to lonely 13-year-old Richard. But as he wanders through the bustling house, Richard witnesses scenes and conversations not meant for him and watches as the family he adores disintegrates into a tangle of lust, jealousy, and betrayal.

Swimming Home by Deborah Levy - A mysterious woman who suffers from mental illness suddenly appears at a vacation villa where two families are staying and her interactions with them reveal secret details about their past and tensions within their relationships with each other.

Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann - Nick and her cousin, Helena, grow up sharing sultry summer heat, sun-bleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House.  Years later, at the brink of the sixties, they have returned to Tiger House with Ed and Daisy, their respective children. While wandering on the island, Ed and Daisy discover the victim of a brutal murder. Soon everything starts to unravel as secrets come to light, and nothing about their lives will ever be the same.

Book Review: Bittersweet

Bittersweet is a novel that centers around Mabel, a college student who is befriended by her “old money” roommate and is invited to spend the summer at her family’s compound in Vermont. It took me a while to really get into this book. When I began reading it, I really couldn’t tell if the story took place in the past or the present.

The summer proves to be a magical experience as Mabel is accepted by the entire clan. However, when Mabel discovers that her friend’s family has quite a few secrets, she is faced with the decision to ignore them and keep her place with the family or to expose them and be banished forever.

Reading this book reinforced the fact that being rich makes everything easy. The rich have their own set of problems and having money may just make it easier to fix them. - Rosanna (Downtown)

Book Review: How They Choked

Marco Polo. George Custer. Amelia Earhart. What do they have in common? All of them - despite their fame and accomplishments - made some pretty big mistakes, and some of these mistakes were so big they got them killed.

How They Choked tells the story of fourteen famous people and their mistakes, flaws, and failures, all with the intention of knocking these big names off their pedestals. Isaac Newton was the greatest thinker of his time, but nearly poisoned himself dabbling in the illegal practice of alchemy. Thomas Edison invented lots of great things, but never learned how people are wired. Amelia Earhart was used to flying by the seat of her pants, when a little cautious preparation for her last flight might have saved her life. How They Choked is written for a grade school audience, but might be better for older and more sophisticated readers. It's also the kind of kids' book that even adults will enjoy - a concise, cleverly-written overview of history, and an irreverent takedown of some of its biggest names. - Michelle (Sunset)

Book Review: I Am Malala

I Am Malala is the incredible story of Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban at point blank range. A background of the politics and events leading up to the shooting, and the inspiring testimony of the power of education.

In a nation where education is freely provided to all children, regardless of their race, gender, or status, it is easy for students to take it for granted. Having taught in a public middle school, I witnessed this rejection of knowledge all too often. If we do not value education, we are supporting ignorance. It is ignorance that perpetuates discrimination and intolerance, and that makes people subject to manipulation and oppression. It is ignorance that tries to silence a girl who recognizes that knowledge is powerful.

Malala's story not only inspires me to raise my voice in support of education for all, but it also instills in me a greater personal desire to fight ignorance, and continually arm myself with knowledge and truth.

“Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons." -Malala Yousafzai

Review by Rebecca (Sunset). I Am Malala is a popular title with Chandler Library staff. Read our earlier review of the book here.