Thrillers, cozies, historical sagas, contemporary explorations of character, and genre-bending award winners are just a few of the great books read and/or talked about by roundtable members. See how many you've read!
Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson
Fans of Patterson's serial-killer hunting detective, Alex Cross, expecting another cat-and-mouse thriller based on this book's title, will find Cross's appearance limited to a two-page preface in which the fictional character explains why he's written a book called
Trial. Abraham Cross, a great uncle who lived in Eudora, Miss., at the beginning of the 20th century, helps liberal lawyer Ben Corbett to expose the truth about a wave of lynchings near that town, an assignment undertaken at the request of Corbett's friend, President Theodore Roosevelt. When Corbett arrives in Eudora, where he was born and raised, he receives a frosty reception from many unhappy with his record of representing African-Americans accused of murder, including a cold shoulder from his father, a judge. Soon, Corbett finds evidence that racism is alive and well, and that brutal murders of blacks, often for the most trivial of reasons, are endemic. Ben aims to break the reign of terror--but the truth of who is really behind it could break his heart. Written in the fearless voice of Detective Alex Cross,
Alex Cross's Trial is a tale of murder, love, and, above all, bravery.
Leslie West, Vestavia Hills Library
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Michael Berg is 15 when he begins a long, obsessive affair with Hanna, an enigmatic older woman. He never learns very much about her, and when she disappears one day, he expects never to see her again. But, to his horror, he does. Hanna is a defendant in a trial related to Germany's Nazi past, and it soon becomes clear that she is guilty of an unspeakable crime. As Michael follows the trial, he struggles with an overwhelming question: What should his generation do with its knowledge of the Holocaust? What does it mean to love those people--parents, grandparents, even lovers--who committed the worst atrocities the world has ever known? And is any atonement possible through literature? Schlink has written an austerely beautiful narrative in the attempt to breach the gap between Germany's pre- and postwar generations, between those guilty and those innocent, and between words and silence.
Thought provoking. An excellent choice for books clubs.
Leslie West, Vestavia Hills Library
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
This dense, complex novel won the 2009 Man Book Prize, awarded to the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland.
Many books have chronicled the life and many loves of Henry VIII, and this one does as well, but from the viewpoint of Thomas Cromwell, who rose from obscurity to become one of the most powerful men of the day.
The perspective from which the book is written takes some time to get used to, the descriptive detail is exhausting, the cast of characters is a few rungs of the ladder above extensive, but this book is so worth the time and trouble.
This book is like the very darkest chocolate, not at all meant to be devoured in large portions, but to be savored in tiny nibbles.
I was sad when it was over and I greatly anticipate the next in the series.
Holley Wesley, Emmet O'Neal Library
Do you enjoy a good detective novel, but are sometimes overwhelmed with the superabundance of characters that writers like Agatha Christie can throw at you? The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler introduces Private Detective Philip Marlowe to readers. Marlowe is a cynical, hard-boiled character who sees himself as an average guy who just happens to solve crimes. Chandler’s lasting appeal can be attributed to his unmatched skill at describing his settings with rich textures and exacting detail. As you read Chandler, it is important to remember that his main interest was in human drama, character and emotion, not plotting.
Chris Roddy, East Ensley Library
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
Farewell, My Lovely has Marlowe ensnared in murder from the beginning.
As an ex-con thug proves that he is very willing to kill to find his old girlfriend, Velma.
The plot takes several twists and turns, with more than one false lead.
If the reader is able to sit back and enjoy the narrative, rather than the plot’s believability.
He or she should find that the novel’s conclusion, while far from perfect, is a reflection that real life crimes hardly ever end well.
Chris Roddy, East Ensley Library
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
In The Big Sleep, what starts out as a blackmail case quickly escalates to include sex and murder. The fast pacing and short chapters make this a hard book to put down, I found myself staying up late at night to find out what happens next. Put your sleuthing skills to the test and see if you can solve the case before it is revealed at the end of the novel. Chris Roddy, East Ensley Library
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith
As in most of McCall-Smith’s books the major activity is in the relationships between and among the characters as they go about their everyday activities. This fifth book in the 44 SCOTLAND STREET series brings the reader up to date on the lives of the characters from the address and the neighborhood. Matthew, owner of a small art gallery marries a young teacher. Narcissistic Bruce is engaged to a vacuous young beauty. Six year old Bertie’s parents wage a struggle over Bertie’s desire to join the cub scouts Angus Lordie’s Cyril fathers six pups who are dumped on his doorstep. Reading this series is like returning to one’s old neighborhood to catch up on the news and gossip. The reader can so easily identify with the feelings and dilemmas of this endearing set of quirky characters.
Mary Donlevy, Emmet O'Neal Library
La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith
A quiet story about a young woman, La (short for Lavender) Stone, whose philandering husband leaves her for another woman and then is killed in a freak accident. Trying to reassemble her life, she moves to a small cottage in the country near Suffolk. After the outbreak of WWII, she joins the Women’s Land Army and is assigned to work on a neighboring farm. Also assigned to the farm is an attractive young Polish aviator shot down over England. Despite suspicions about his past, she is attracted to him, and he becomes a member of an amateur local orchestra which La organizes to boost morale. This brings the members of the community together with each other and also with some of the soldiers from a nearby air base.
Mary Donlevy, Emmet O'Neal Library
Stone's Fall by Ian Pears
By the author of An Instance of the Fingerpost, Stone’s Fall is a murder mystery, as well as a love story. The cover of the audio edition summarizes the story well. “John Stone, financier and arms dealer, was a man so wealthy that in the years before World War I he was able to manipulate markets, industries and entire countries and continents. Stone’s Fall seeks to discover why John Stone died, falling out of a window at his London home. Chronologically the story moves backward—from London in 1909 to Paris in 1890and finally to Venice in 1867—and the attempts to uncover the truth play out against the backdrop of the evolution of high-stakes international finance, Europe’s first great age of espionage and the start of the twentieth century’s arms race."
Mary Donlevy, Emmet O'Neal Library
This is the first of the Lumby novels. As in the Jan Karon Mitford books, we get to know the inhabitants of a special place on earth and soon feel at home with them. Mark and Pam lived in Virginia but mainly just existed there with each other. When visiting Lumby on vacation they "met" Hank and others who lived in and around Lumby. They also discovered the long abandoned and burned Montis Abbey. As they walked over the grounds, which included seven buildings, orchards and bee hives, they decided they could restore all this and open it as an inn. So began their new lives doing what they wanted to be happy, not just to have the money to have things. After they bought the Abbey some of the former monks came by to help by answering questions about the buildings and the orchards, and even how to care for the bees. The owner of the local newspaper wrote an editorial soon after those East Coast outsiders bought the Abbey. For some reason he did not like these people he had never met. He was very definite in his opinion that they should not rebuild the Abbey or open it as an inn for tourists. Most of the people in Lumby were helpful and eventually accepting. Mostly, Pam and her husband found a new way of life for themselves and others in this little town just off the highway and overlooking a beautiful lake. Visit Lumby and meet Hank the flamingo. A moose might also cross your path. Or a drunk cow.
Beth Hutchinson, Homewood Library
Stealing Lumby by Gail Fraser
This is the sequel to Lumby Lines, Gail Fraser's book introducing us to a Northwest small town with quirky characters and seemingly normal people who sometimes enjoy peculiar behavior.
Such as the Midnight Moo Doo Iditarod.
This Lumby tradition involves a team of two people, a sled and two bovines pulling the sled.
The people of Lumby are proud of their town and traditions and care for each other.
Especially when someone has special need.
In this second book about Lumby the town experiences thievery.
At stake is not just the object stolen but also the town's collective pride.
When sickness, grief or financial troubles strike, the town pulls together to help and comfort their member or members involved.
In Stealing Lumby when Katie needs help, people volunteer their time, labor and resources.
As always Hank, the flamingo, stands ready to help, dressed appropriately for each occasion.
look at www.lumbybooks.com to learn more about these fun books, the characters and the author.
Beth Hutchinson, Homewood Library
Maid for Murder: A Squeaky Clean Charlotte LaRue Mystery by Barbara Colley
Charlotte LaRue has owned a cleaning business for thirty years serving the Garden District in New Orleans.
During this time she has acquired a reputation for excellent cleaning, punctuality and not sharing the family secrets of many of her wealthy clients.
One of those families is the Dubuissons who own an amazing mansion and have employed Charlotte for years.
She has seen their daughter, Anna-Maria, into a lovely young woman with a fiance and Jeanne Dubuisson's
mother, Clarice St. Martin, grow old and show signs of senility.
Needless to say, Charlotte was distressed when one evening Jeanne called Charlotte to come clean the room where her husband, Jackson, had been murdered.
Of course, Charlotte did as requested for such a good friend and client.
Then after she had done her usual excellent job of cleaning, the police informed her that they were not done with the crime scene and in fact had left crime scene tape around it.
The tape was gone when Charlotte arrived.
Why had Jeanne removed it and had the area cleaned?
Charlotte had conflicting emotions about helping the police, including her detective niece, find Jackson's killer.
Because the evidence might point at some of her clients.
Beth Hutchinson, Homewood Library
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
This is a lovely story about a young woman, Eilis Lacey, who leaves Ireland behind for a better life in America. Reading about life through the eyes of a newly immigrated person in the 1950s was very interesting. She has to deal with intense loneliness while working and establishing a new life in the US. The story moves along at a very slow pace but it is a good kind of slow - intriguing, not boring. It is a beautifully written story that feels very real with characters that you can relate to.
April Wallace, Irondale Library
I would categorize this novel as true-crimish fiction. Is this a real genre? Not really, but it describes this book perfectly. It is set in a small-town in Iowa where a seven year old selectively mute girl and her best friend go missing. Who took the girls? Is it the older brother? One of the fathers? Or a stranger? Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view which gives the reader a lot of insight as to what is going through their minds. It was easy to get sucked into the fast-paced plot and trying to figure out who was involved and if the girls will be found alive. This is a debut work by the author; I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
April Wallace, Irondale Library
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
So i read the hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet by jamie ford for our book group. the consensus - we loved it! it would be a great read for parent/child book groups or for teens as the tale is told both by a man in his 50s AND the same man
when he was 13 - we get the story from both perspectives. the main character is a chinese american growing up during the 2nd world war. his parents are very much patriots, but have strong ties to "the old country" and still consider themselves chinese. The problem for their son is that they want him to be both - he must speak english at home and go to an american (not all chinese) school. he is bullied there and teased and is, in general, miserable. the bright spots are his friend sheldon who is a30 something african american jazz musician and a girl named keiko okabe, who, although a 2nd generation american, is also of japanese descent, which leaves henry (our narrator) in a REALLLLLY bad situation. his father hates the japanese and basically disowns henry for befriending keiko. when keiko's family is rounded up with other japanese americans and sent to an internment camp, henry wonders if he will ever see her again.
our book group loved this book not only for the sweet friendship and love story between henry and keiko, but also for the relationship between henry and sheldon, the jazz musician. also? it was a GREAT way to find out more about this period in american history - the panama hotel DOES exist and many of the plot points are true. also? the chapters are brief and it was easy to breeze through this book. i would highly recommend this to someone looking for a book one step above a light read - maybe something nice for a long weekend at the beach or lake. it's not a tough story to read, there is a redemptive quality to the story, and it is basically free of angst.
also? you CAN recommend this to someone who likes a "clean" read.
i give at an A+++++++
Katie Moellering, Emmet O'Neal Library
The Exception by Christian Jungersen
here's the blurb from amazon: Starred Review. The slow burn of office politics can be just as riveting as international intrigue, as shown in Jungersen's second novel, his first to be translated into English. Iben, Malene and Camilla work in Copenhagen for the Danish Center for Information on Genocide. Even before Iben and Malene receive death threats with Nazi overtones, the three friends had been ostracizing the new librarian, Anne-Lise. Though evidence suggests Serbian war criminal Mirko Zigic has been sending the death threats, the paranoia and fear of the three friends converge to make Anne-Lise the target of rising suspicion. Victimizing is part of human nature, Anne-Lise's doctor tells her when she seeks advice, and the novel hauntingly pursues this idea to its deepest implications. Can people fighting genocide display the same traits as war criminals? What does it mean to be evil? Jungersen (Thickets) explores these questions and others on a very personal level. A complex understanding of people turns what could have been pace-slowing conversations and reproductions of essays on genocide into fuel for a sometimes cruel but always intense page-turner.
this book got a starred review for a reason - there are so many ambiguities in plot and character, so many places to wonder what really happened and what the characters are really thinking. i loved this one as well, it's a GREAT thriller. i would recommend this to patrons who like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo . also? it's another book that teaches you a lot about history (in this case genocide all over the world) without you even realizing it. i STRONGLY recommend this title!
Katie Moellering, Emmet O'Neal Library
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
This sad, yet exquisite, little novel chronicles the last few days of Virginia Woolf’s life before she committed suicide in 1941.
Juxtaposed with Woolf’s downward spiral are the lives of two more modern women, Mrs. Brown in 1949 and Clarissa in a contemporary setting described merely as “the end of the twentieth century (pg. 9).”
Cunningham draws these three women and their struggles with everyday life together in an effortless homage to Woolf’s novel, Mrs. Dalloway.
While sad and introspective, the writing is beautiful and evocative.
The Hours was
made into a movie in about 2002 starring
Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Julianne Moore.
Holley Wesley, Emmet O'Neal Library
It was another great Roundtable meeting and I hope you'll make plans to join us Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 9am in the Emmet O'Neal Library meeting room to discuss Young Adult Novels with Appeal for Adult Readers AND hear from guest speaker and young adult fiction author
Chandra Sparks Taylor! Visit her website at www.chandrasparkstaylor.com!
