Skeletons at the Feast August 4, 2008

Marcia says:

Chris Bohjalian has done it again by taking us into the human responses and emotions from challenging events. In Skeletons at the Feast, we witness the end of WWII in Hitler’s Reich. A German family, a forced labor Scottish POW and an escaped Jew, who of all things is disguised as a Wehrmacht soldier, travel on foot across Germany. Hungry, cold, dirty and unable to understand the madness surrounding them, they are fleeing from the brutal Russian “liberators” into the hands of American and British solders. In spite of all the sad realities this book portrays, I was impressed by the fortitude of these characters and how they found friendship in one another.

Persepolis July 28, 2008

Jennifer says:

Yes, it’s a “graphic novel”. But don’t miss this intimate, searing autobiography just because it comes fully illustrated, panel cartoon style, with portrayals of the author and her family, friends, and relatives. Caricature is a skill Ms. Satrapi perfected in post-Islamic revolution Iran, while she sat in class in her hijab, silently lampooning her teachers in the margins of her notebooks. This book, like Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, offers a human perspective on Iran that is missing from most news stories. In Persepolis the perspective is that of a girl child. Satrapi grows up before our eyes as her life changes inexorably through the upheaval in her homeland. If you have never read a graphic novel, Persepolis should be your first, especially if you enjoy reading autobiographies.

A Pioneer’s Search for an Ideal Home: A Book of Personal Memoirs July 28, 2008

Deborah says:

After seeing this book in a display case at the Lynden Library, I decided to read it to become more acquainted with local history.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  The book is a memoir of Phoebe Judson, the founder of Lynden.  She was over seventy years of age when she wrote her story and ninety-five when it was published.  The history is indeed very interesting, but the strength, sense of humor and bravery of this woman was astonishing.  Her memoirs begin in Vermillion, Ohio where she began a trip across the country, with her family, in a wagon train to the Puget Sound area.   I read the book and enjoyed the photograph at the end of the book.  This week I read in the paper that a monument will be made of Phoebe Judson and her husband Holden Judson.  I am glad the monument will be made and I will appreciate it all the more after reading her memoirs.

A Pioneer’s Search for an Ideal Home: A Book of Personal Memoirs by Phoebe Goodell Judson

The Book Thief July 17, 2008

Lisa says:

We have been hearing quite the hoopla about The Book Thief written by
Markus Zusak.  My book group read it and all 5 of us overwhelmingly
enjoyed it and had no trouble at all staying focused on discussing the
book (which isn’t always the case).   Narrated by the character, Death,
during World War II in Germany, The Book Thief is full of warm
relationships, heartwrenching events, and the day to day activities of
varied residents of a small town. The reader slowly gets very deeply
attached to these people.  You find yourself crying, smiling, hoping and
cheering for them.  Extremely touching.  Highly recommended!

Apples, Gadget Nation, The Fairy Tale Detectives June 4, 2008

Philirya says:

This is going to be a long dark summer for me as my favorite television series ended in a cliff hanger. To distract myself, I’m taking off my floaties and jumping in the deep end of the reading pool, hoping to read books outside my comfort zone.

My first book is Apples are from Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins.
 If you are anything like me, the only things you know about Kazakhstan are the name, and that it is a former Soviet Republic.
What I didn’t know before reading this book is that wild apples originated in Kazakhstan and spread around the world from there. I also didn’t know that both Fyodor Dostoyevsky  and Alexandr Solzhenitsyn were exiled there.
The book covers a year’s stay by Mr. Robbins as he takes a tour and learns the history of Kazakhstan.

The second book is Gadget Nation by Steve Greenberg.
 Mr. Greenberg profiles American inventors and their strange and sometimes useful inventions. For instance, Clocky, the alarm clock on wheels. When you press the snooze button, Clocky rolls off your table and across the room, forcing you to get out of bed if you wish to shut if off when the alarm goes off again.
Also there are Mac and Cool bowls. You place Mac and Cool bowls in the freezer. After you make supper, you place it in a Mac and Cool bowl.  This way, your child can eat supper when it is the right temperature for them.

Last, I have The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley.
 It is the first in a series of books about Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, descendants of Wilhelm Grimm. They are surprised to find out that Grimm’s Fairy Tales are a chronology of actual events as experienced by Wilhelm.
They are sent to live with their grandmother Relda Grimm because their parents are dead and there is no one else to care for them. When they come to live with Granny Grimm and her lodger Mr. Canis, they meet Puck, Jack the Giant Killer, and Mayor Prince Charming.
At this point, either you get why Mr Canis living with Granny is clever, or you don’t. Look up ‘canis’ if you don’t. I’ll wait.

See, wasn’t that clever? Granny Grimm takes the girls to find out why a local farmhouse appears to be flattened, with an imprint of a foot surrounding the wreckage. When Granny and Mr. Canis are kidnapped, it’s up to Sabrina and Daphne to save the day.

The River Wife May 30, 2008

Kris says: 

 It’s the 1930’s along the humid Missouri river, and at the old family home Hedie Rails Ducharme hasn’t been married long before she realizes her handsome free-spending husband is also a gangster.  Pregnant and often alone, Hedie glimpses ghosts and begins reading journals written by the many “river wives” before her. 
 
The family saga begins in the 1830’s with a massive earthquake that buries the little Missouri river town of New Madrid and brings young Annie Lark’s roof down on her.  Abandoned and trapped beneath heavy beams, she’s eventually rescued by charming Jacques Ducharme, a French fur trapper who came to loot, but stays to nurse her to health and marry her.  From modest beginnings they build a river inn and prosper, and Annie forms a warm friendship with one particular guest, John J. Audubon.  Then Jacques’ piratical dealings destroy their future forever.  Time claims most of the lusty figures that began the venture, but a mysterious witchery sustains Jacques decades beyond a normal lifespan, while he nefariously accumulates and hoards immense wealth.  Suddenly he’s gone, leaving successive generations, including Hedie, to search fruitlessly for the treacherous river pirate’s legendary treasure, while the impassive and mighty Missouri rolls on.

Author:  Jonis Agee 

Touchstone May 22, 2008

Christine says:

I just finished Touchstone by Laurie R. King.  It’s a departure from her Mary Russell series (about Sherlock Holmes) and her stand-alone thrillers set in the San Juan islands.  It’s about Harris Stuyvesant, an American agent in the pre-cursor to the FBI, who heads to England on the trail of a terrorist who has planted bombs in the U.S.  His investigations lead him to Aldous Carstairs, a shady quasi-governmental figure with information about a prominent union activist who is Stuyvesant’s main suspect.  Carstairs has plans to quelch a General Strike and solidify his place in British history–and will to go any lengths to carry out his vision.  Stuyvesant must carefully outwit Carstairs, insinuate himself into British society and gain the sympathies of the union organizers before any bombs go off on British soil.  King does an excellent job sustaining tension and crafting complex, sympathetic characters.  It’s an interesting period in world
history and one that is not written about frequently.  Stuyvesant is a compelling hero and it’s very possible there will be a sequel.