Carole says:
Authorized prequel to the Anne of Green Gables series. It tells the story of Anne’s life from birth to age 11 when she is adopted by Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. The story fills in the gaps about this precocious child before she arrives on Prince Edward Island. Sure to be enjoyed by all who love visiting Green Gables.
Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
Marcia says:
I recently listened to Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult and enjoyed it just as much as her other novels. Once again I was captivated by Picoult’s choice of current hot topics that challenge the reader’s belief systems. In Change of Heart, Shay Bourne, a death row prisoner, is convicted of murdering a woman’s family and will soon be lethally injected. One challenge is convincing the woman to accept Shay’s final wish for atonement by donating his heart to her daughter who is dying of heart failure. Another challenge is convincing the court system to change the method of his death to enable the transplant to take place. Throughout it all, listeners/readers may be challenged by examining not only their beliefs in capital punishment, but also the separation of church and state. I always am intrigued by Picoult’s choice of themes and how she focuses on her character’s development while dealing with these issues.
Regan says:
While waiting to get your hands on Clyde Edgerton’s latest, The Bible Salesman, you might want to stop by Rosehaven where Aunt Lil will entertain you for an hour or two. Lunch at the Piccadilly is another sweet, funny and wise slice of pie novel by Edgerton. We can all learn so much from our elders—and if you don’t have your own, visiting with Edgerton’s will do just as well. There is some dangerous driving, a little song writing, and a glimpse of what is just down the road. You won’t be sorry if you stop for Lunch at the Piccadilly.
Suzanne says:
Mischa Berlinski’s novel evoked the best and the least appealing memories of my own adventure living in Thailand. He clearly understood both the physical and emotional landscape. In capturing the expat experience so beautifully, Mischa shares both the advantages and the loneliness of being “the other”. I would recommend this book of cultural immersion to anyone planning on living in a different culture for any extended period of time. Bonus plot element – there’s a mystery to solve, too!
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.
Nina from Ferndale says:
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy is a compelling book. I read it in a day but it will stay with me a long time. It is not a happy book even though it sort of has a happy ending. It is a beautiful story about familial love and the strength of the ties between parent and child. The determination to survive and just keep going is striking.
