Worth Dying For: A Reacher Novel by Lee Child

Jack Reacher fans: New book alert! My husband brought me a special gift late last week: I had put the new Lee Child book on reserve, and thought I would have a much longer wait. However, once it was in the house, I couldn't wait to start reading it!

This book picks up where the previous book left off (61 Hours), when Jack was stranded in a small town in South Dakota after a bus crash. After his adventures there, he hitches a ride and gets let out in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska. At first, he figures he will get some sleep at the little motel and then hitch a ride in the morning; however, he gets caught up in some local drama when he drives an intoxicated doctor to treat a patient and figures out why the whole small town seems so afraid of the powerful Duncan family. The Duncan family consists of three brothers in their 50s or 60s who own a trucking business and seem to run the whole area. They employ a crew of big, corn fed young men who act as enforcers, and are dubbed the cornhuskers by the locals.

Their handiwork is evident in the bruised faces of the motel owner and doctor, but Jack senses that there is more going on than anyone wants to admit. The Duncans are involved in something dangerous and illegal, but what--drugs? weapons? He isn't sure, but keeps asking questions and discovers that there is also a cold case at the heart of the bullying. A local child went missing 25 yeasrs earlier, and the mother accused the Duncans of kidnapping her, but no evidence was found. The Duncans have targeted her, and anyone who supported her cause.

One of the Duncan brothers has a grown son, Seth, who is married: Seth's hobby seems to be drinking and beating his wife, which Jack doesn't like. So after helping the doctor tend to the young wife's wounds, Jack decides to pay Seth a visit. Naturally, this stirs things up: the Duncans aren't used to having anyone stand up to them.

Jack has to decide if he is going to ride out of town and let the people fend for themselves or stay and help them fight the Duncans. It's a great read, but not one you can put down easily. Lee Child has created such a compelling character in Jack Reacher: he is a former military cop who is tough, solitary, and hypervigilant. His experience serves him well, and he manages to walk away, battered but not beaten.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even if I did wince a time or two at the description of some of the action. The characters, dialogue, and plot twists are excellent, and I recommend it to current and prospective fans of Lee Child alike.

You can find Worth Dying For on the New Fiction Shelf; I had Mike return it tonight, so if you put it on reserve, it could be your turn to read it.

c Waterloo Public Library 2010

Borderline by Nevada Barr

I just finished listening to this audio book: this is a very tense read, and one that I found especially compelling, since there has been so much attention focused on the dangerous conditions near the border with Mexico. I have missed one or two books in the series and need to go back and fill in the gaps. However, Anna is newly married and on a vacation with her husband, after undergoing some trauma in her last assignment.

Anna and Paul go on a river rafting trip, when something unexpected happens, and they get all get stranded, without their raft or supplies. As they are trying to regroup, they first find a stranded cow and try to rescue it: then, they encounter what they think is a dead woman trapped in some undergrowth. They then discover she is pregnant, and still barely alive. As they struggle to save her and her baby, and themselves, shots ring out and things become much more complicated.

Politics, border issues, and a fierce need to protect the dead woman's baby make for a very good story. I recommend it.

You can find Borderline in the Audio Books section of the Waterloo Public Library.


c Waterloo Public Library 2010

Clay Shirky's Cognitive Surplus

Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirky

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm only on page 9, but already very hooked. Shirky's previous book, Here Comes Everybody, talked about the power of the internet to connect people. He continues and expands on that theme in this book.....

I just finished this book yesterday: I read chunks of the last chapter out loud to Mike as we drove to Marshalltown. I have been reading it for several weeks, in between working on handouts for fall and finishing up other books. It is not a quick read: it is packed with information, examples, stories, and is a book that makes you stop and think.

Shirky argues very convincingly that with the abundance of free time we now enjoy (created by the idea of the 40 hour work week), our society now has "cognitive surplus," or the potential to do great things, working together. He points to things like the Apache Web server project, where thousands of programmers have worked on open source software, as well as Wikipedia, where thousands of people contribute to the site,whether it is adding content or editing it.

Early on, he talks about the way we used to watch TV--it was almost like our second jobs, with many in my generation knowing a little too much about the plotlines and characters of Gilligan's island. He also talks about the way that technology or progress disrupts society, and the impact of things like the printing press. Later, he gives numerous examples of how the internet, and social media, have been used to mobilize people to action.

In his closing pages he discusses what is needed to use social media with groups, and how we can learn how best to work with groups to accomplish great things. He reminds us that there is no such thing as a magical recipe: we can, however, learn from others' mistakes, and look at what has worked.

This is a good book for ANYONE working with people & using social media to accomplish their goals: I highly recommend it for teachers, librarians, political activists, and anyone else!

View all my reviews >>














c Waterloo Public Library 2010

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen



My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an incredible book -- one of those rare finds for me that is a memoir, but much more. Janzen shares her childhood memories of growing up in the Mennonite culture, with all of the wonderfully funny and strange tales of Sunday school, family trips, school lunches, and coping with parents who took thriftiness to the extreme. She also takes a very painful and honest look at her own journey in life--marrying a man struggling with depression and diagnosed as being bipolar. He was not only not Mennonite, he was not religious in any way and ultimately left her for a man he met online named Bob.

In a very wierd way, I could really relate with her life, having grown up in a fundamentalist home with a long list of "Thou shalt nots." I married a minister and had two children; I also became a licensed minister, and then my life fell apart. While my ex-husband did not leave me for a man named Bob, I was just as shattered as Rhoda sounds in this book. Like her, I was blessed with friends and family who helped me heal, and helped me raise my two beautiful children.

Janzen writes about teaching and writing, food and sex, grief and longing, childhood passions and terrors, truth and God and doubt and redemption. I may not make any of the recipes included at the end of the book, but I felt satisfied all the same.

You can find Mennonite in a Little Black Dress on the New Fiction shelf.

View all my reviews >>















c Waterloo Public Library 2010

Extracurricular Activities by Maggie Barbieri

I discovered Extracurricular Activities before reading the first book in the Alison Bergeron mystery series; however, you can certainly enjoy this book without reading the other one first (Murder 101). In the first book, we met Alison, an English professor at a private Catholic college in New York. She has divorced her perpetually unfaithful husband, Ray, and is moving on with her life. Her two best friends are Kevin, a priest at the college, and Max, her former college room mate.

When one of her students was found dead in Alison's stolen car, Alison and Max met two NY detectives, Bobby Crawford and Fred Wyatt, who were investigating the case. Fortunately, Alison was able to clear her name and she and Bobby became better acquainted. So did Max and Fred--as the second book opens, they are planning their wedding. In contrast, Alison is trying to figure out what to do about Bobby: while he is separated, he is still married and she tells him that she cannnot be in a relationship with him.

However, she comes home one day to find her ex-husband waiting for her in her kitchen. When she discovers that he's dead, she calls the police--and later, Bobby. It becomes clear that someone wanted to make her look guilty. As Alison and Bobby try to reach a compromise someone takes a shot at her outside a restaurant. Although her wound is not serious, it requires stitches and care; Bobby stays with her and helps to take care of her.

In the aftermath of his death, Alison finds out about yet more of Ray's affairs--including one with the next door neighbor and one with with his students named Julie. Suddenly there seems to be a whole list of suspects. When Peter Miceli, local mob boss, confronts her with yet another ugly story, it is almost more than she can bear--he is the father of Kathy, the girl found dead in Alison's car. Now Peter tells Alison that his daughter was also pregnant and he suspects that Ray was the father. Alison knows that this cannot be true: she had discovered that Ray had secretly gotten a vasectomy, knowing that she wanted children. But she cannot seem to convince Peter.

Max and Fred get married, with Alison and Bobby as witnesses. Bobby's wife tells him that she will give him a divorce--that it is time for them to each move on.

There are more twists and turns before the last page: I will let you enjoy them for yourself. This is a book that is at points funny, suspenseful, touching, and thoroughly enjoyable. However, the newly single Alison gains a roommate in this story: the next door neighbors leave town suddenly and leave behind their dog, Trixie.


c Waterloo Public Library 2010

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

My Hawkeye Book Club recently read the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. For clarification, Mary Ann wrote the book; when she became ill, Annie, her niece, did the rewrites at the very end. This book has a clever title but it is also wonderful writing: it consists of a series of letters written by a group of residents on Guernsey Island to a writer named Juliet. It takes place during the aftermath of World War II.

Juliet has written a book and started to do the book tour for it; she is already trying to come up with her next project when she gets the first letter from Guernsey. A man named Dawsey found a book by Charles Lamb that she had once owned; he wants her to know how much he enjoyed it, and could she help him find more by Mr. Lamb? When she supplies him with more books, their friendship is established. Soon, more residents are writing Juliet and telling her their stories of survival during the long period of occupation by the German soldiers. As each new writer tells his or her story, the reader is drawn further into the present day experience.

We also learn more about Juliet; she is an orphan and her two dearest friends are Sophie and Sidney (who are brother and sister). She met them as a young girl when she was sent off to a boarding school. Now, Sidney is her editor and Sophie has married and had a child.

Juliet becomes so intrigued that she soon plans a trip to the island; she wants to meet these wonderful people. She feels that she has already gotten to know them (and so has the reader). When she arrives, she stays in a little cottage owned by the absent Elizabeth--who was taken prisoner by the Nazis and sent off to a prison camp. Her friends --and young daughter, Kit--are waiting for her return. Juliet discovers that Kit's father was a German officer, a doctor, and that he, too, was sent off to a prison camp. Unfortunately, his ship sank and he drowned. Elizabeth's friends care for young Kit in her absence: they take turns taking her to one of their homes. However, Kit warms up to Juliet and they bond.

I did not expect to enjoy this book; however, I found it tremendously compelling. My husband and I were on a vacation, and I read chunks of it out loud to him while we were driving up to South Dakota. Not to sound trite, but I found myself laughing, crying, and re-reading a number of the letters. Not only was this an amazing read, it also made me realize how little I knew about the Nazi occupation of the islands so close to France and England. I want to read more and learn more about this almost forgotten aspect of the war.

Not only do I recommend the book, I urge you to read it. You can find it in the Adult Fiction, Large Type and CD Book collections.


c Waterloo Public Library 2010

Murder 101 by Maggie Barbieri (2006)

This spring I discovered yet another mystery series featuring an English teacher at a small college: Maggie Barbieri focuses on Alison Bergeron, who teaches at the same small Catholic college she once attended. I read her books out of order: Murder 101 is the first one. Alison has two best friends: Kevin is a priest and works at her college; Max is a very glamorous, worldly woman and her old college roommate.

She has recently gone through a divorce; her husband Ray teaches at the same college, and while he seems to be a handsome, friendly man he has a problem with monogamy. He has never been faithful and Alison can no longer tolerate it.

As the story begins, Alison's car gets stolen--which seems frustrating enough. Then, one of her Shakespeare class students is found dead in the trunk. She gets interrogated by a pair of police detectives and when one of them shows her the pictures of the dead girl, she throws up on his shoes. Detective Bobby Crawford is a smart man and decides she is probably innocent; however, his partner, Fred Wyatt, seems to be a little tougher. Alison soon decides that she has to find out who did this to clear herself, and her friend Max offers to help.

I liked the little details about the college, some of the description about Alison's relationships with her colleagues as well as the details about her classes. Of course, the developing friendship/romance with the very hunky Detective Crawford also adds to the storyline--as does her boss, Sister Mary, and Gianna, Alison's former classmate whose father is in the mob. If you like mysteries with an academic twist and great characters, and have a slightly twisted sense of humor, you will like this series. Alison is no Wonder Woman; she is flawed, stubborn, and really needs to eat more fruits and vegetables, and buy comfortable shoes. However, she cares about her college, her students, and her friends and as a character she grows on you!

You can find Murder 101 in the Mystery area of the Waterloo Public Library.

c Waterloo Public Library 2010

Murder Between the Covers by Elaine Viets

Imagine my delight when I discovered yet another book by Elaine Viets in the Dead End Job series. Murder Between the Covers picks up from where Shop Till You Drop leaves off; after leaving the job at the elite dress shop, Helen found a job as a clerk at a popular local bookstore, Page Turners. She makes friends with a few of her coworkers but cannot stand her boss, who drinks heavily, is a womanizer, and treats his employees poorly.

While the store where she works seems to be making lots of sales, several long time employees are upset by rumors that other stores are closing. It doesn't make a lot of sense to anyone. Then, the boss is found dead--and in Helen's friend Peggy's bed.
Soon, Peggy is in jail and Helen is determined to clear her friend's name.

I loved this book: the interactions with her coworkers is much more enjoyable in this book than the previous one. Helen has also gained more confidence in her abilities to take care of herself and help her friend. Having spent a lot of time in bookstores, I've seen a few people who look like the regulars described in the book, so that added to my enjoyment. Helen's friendships with Margery, Peggy, and Sarah also contribute to the book.

You can find Murder Between the Covers in the Mystery section of the Waterloo Public Library.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Shop Til You Drop by Elaine Viets

One of my favorite new series is the Dead End job series by Elaine Viets; she does a great job of describing the types of low paying jobs that so many people have done. Shop till you Drop (2003)is one of the earlier books in the series; Helen has only lived in Florida for a few weeks, and has not forged the close friendship with her landlord, Margery, as well as other tenants, but it begins to happen in this book.

Helen left behind her high paying job, nice house, expensive car and clothes--and cheating exhusband--when a judge ordered her to pay half her earnings to Rob at their divorce hearing. She fled St. Louis and ended up in Florida with a suitcase of cash, a few clothes, and settled into a quiet life of working minimum wage jobs. She found a modest furnished apartment at the Coronado, an old apartment building owned by Margery, a tough old woman with a keen eye, lots of brightly colored clothes, and a very big white cadillac.

Helen found a job as a sales clerk in a very exclusive shop: it is so elite that the door is locked to keep out the tourists and riff raff. Only the worthy--the thin and fashionable and wealthy--are admitted through that door by the thin and snobbish manager, Christina, who treats some of the customers as if they were her best girlfriends. She starts to notice some strange things at the shop, and isn't sure what is going on--she overhears some conversations suggesting that Christina is giving customers tips about plastic surgeons, illegal alien maids, and hit men for ex-boyfriends. Then Christina goes on a trip, leaving Helen in charge, and things get really strange....

Helen's budding friendships with her landlord Margery, one of her neighbors, Peggy, and Sarah--a former tenant, seem to be in sharp contrast with the relationships in her former life in St. Louis. She seems to have been a high achieving, hard working woman whose busy life left her little time for friendships, and kept her from seeing her husband's infidelity.

You'll like the series, and you will enjoy this book. You can find Shop Til You Drop in the Large Print area.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Crawlspace by Sarah Graves

(A Home Repair is Homicide Mystery).

Sarah Graves has created a very compelling set of characters in her series about Jake Tiptree, once a financial expert in New York, who then moved to Eastport, Maine to rebuild her life, along with her young son Sam. Jake occupies herself fixing up her old 1800s era house and has settled into the community, making friends and remarrying. Her best friend Ellie lives next door with her husband and daughter. Jake has married a wonderful man who works as a harbor pilot. Jake's father reappeared in her life several years ago and has recently married her housekeeper, Bella, who is a tough woman with a tender heart.

The most recent book, Crawlspace, focuses on Sam--who is now a young man. Jake is working on more home repair projects and begins to get strange threatening phone calls. In the meantime, a pair of visitors arrive in town: true crime writers who want to interview people about the recent murder of a wealthy woman. Carolyn is a beautiful, narcisstic young woman who has taken all of the credit for the hard work done by both herself and her assistant, Chip. They enjoy a meal at a restaurant and then have a drink at a bar. However, something goes wrong, and as they leave the bar, Chip goes ahead to get the car--and someone grabs Carolyn.

When she doesn't return to the hotel, Chip reports her missing to the police. Soon it becomes clear that Sam has also gone missing--he worked on the docks that night but never made it home. Chip sees Jake and the reader then learns of a connection in their past: Chip was sort of a big brother to Sam when they all lived in New York. Now Chip and Jake come to the same conclusion--Sam saw something down on the docks, and whoever kidnapped Carolyn probably also kidnapped Sam. It turns out that the writers had visited the bar owned by a man whose wife had just been murdered--the subject of their next book. Two local men (brothers) had married two wealthy sisters: now, both women were dead, and one of the brothers had mysteriously disappeared overboard on his lobster boat and was presumed dead. But was he dead?

Crawlspace, as many of her previous books, is tremendously difficult to put down; I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. You can find it on the New fiction shelf; I read the Large print version.



c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke

Joanne Fluke's series, A Hannah Swensen Mystery with Recipes, is one of those enjoyable treats that I don't let myself sample too often. The series focuses on Hannah Swensen, a young woman who lives in Lake Eden, a small town in Minnesota, where she runs a bakery famous for its sweet treats, especially cookies. She has a hardworking helper in Lisa, a younger Sister Andrea who is a real estate powerhouse and supermom; Hannah also has a well meaning but rather overpowering mother, Delores. Hannah has two special men in her life: Norman is a typical midwestern nice guy who is a dentist, while Mike is a police officer. Most recently, I enjoyed reading Cream Puff Murder (2009).

Each one of the books in the series features a special treat: in this one, Hannah gets a recipe for cream puffs that her mother wants her to bake for an important party coming up. Delores has written a romance novel and is celebrating its publication with a big party. Unfortunately, Hannah's mother also expects her two daughters to wear special dresses that night and she has already ordered Hannah's dress in a size too small.

Hannah's sister Andrea has the solution to her problem and drags her to the local health club, where they work out faithfully. Hannah resists all treats, eats lots of salads and chicken, and tries to think positively--while her aching muscles remind her that they aren't used to exercise. As they continue going to work out, there is one negative aspect--a rude woman named Ronni who is described as a man-eating bombshell. She fills in for one of the instructors and spends the first few minutes insulting the various people in the class. Hannah finds out later that Ronni is flirting with most of the police officers, including Mike.

When Hannah bakes her first batch of cream puffs to test the recipe, Mike stops by and samples them; he likes them so much that he begs her to give him some to take to share with others, so she wraps them up. However, when Hannah and her sister go back to the health club, and Hannah goes to use the hot tub, she has an unpleasant surprise--first she sees her plate of cream puffs tipped over and ruined, and then she sees the body of someone in the hot tub. When she realizes that it is Ronni, she is no longer tempted by either cream puffs or the idea of soaking in the hot tub.

Since several of the officers were involved in some way with Ronni, they are off the case and cannot investigate. They all assume that Hannah will investigate and they send others with messages of how to best proceed to solve the case. Suddenly, the whole town is crowding into the Cookie Jar for treats and "the scoop" on what it was like to find Ronni's body.

This was another good read: Joanne Fluke is a good writer and blends midwestern humor, description of life in a small town in Minnesota, wonderful plots and dialogue into a satisfying treat.

While I got hungry for cream puffs while reading the book, I tried to ignore the recipes--you may well want to check them out for yourself. You can find this book several places in the Waterloo library: the large type books, the Playaway books, and in the mystery area.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear

Maisie Dobbs is one of the freshest female characters I've discovered in the last decade, and ironically, her adventures are set in post World War I in England. Jacqueline Winspear has done painstaking research and created a rich, believeable world full of wonderful characters--with a few not so wonderful thrown in for good measure.

The latest story in the series, The Mapping of Love and Death (2010) is another outstanding read. I've remarked before on the substance behind each Maisie Dobbs tale: while they are set in a very different time span, there are remarkable parallels to our world today.

Maisie's world is coping with the aftermath of war, and the ravages of war in the lives of the soldiers who returned, the families of those who lost loved ones, and the overall sense of trying to return to normal while grieving. It is also a world filled with economic hard times, uncertainty, recession, and poverty.

As the story opens, it is 1932 and Maisie has now established herself as a private investigator--and more. She brings a deeply psychological approach to her work, and assisted by Billy, a WWI veteran who works with her, has had many successes. A wealthy American couple contact Maisie with a puzzle; the body of their son has just been uncovered in France, where he served with his Unit of mapmakers. Among his personal possessions were some love letters and documents; they want to find the person who wrote those letters. And so, the hunt begins.

This is another engrossing story, with several plot lines. Many of the characters introduced in earlier books are back: Maisie's dear friend Priscilla, her father, her mentor Maurice, and Lord and Lady Compton, once her employers and later her benefactors.

You can find The Mapping of Love and Death on the New Fiction bookshelf at the Waterloo Public Library.

You may also want to look at the author's website, which is fascinating and has more information about the series, the background/historical aspects, and the characters.

http://www.jacquelinewinspear.com/mapping-love-death.php






c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Can't Never Tell by Cathy Pickens

Cathy Picken's fans can cheer up -- just in time for summer, I found a new book in the Southern Fried mystery series, featuring small town lawyer Avery Andrews. Avery has gone home after experiencing a few set backs in her big city job; however, she seems to keep busy between cases and dealing with her family.

Can't Never Tell is the fourth book in the series, set in a small town in South Carolina. In this story, Avery attends a picnic with her sister's family; they are meeting a group of friends, mostly college teachers, at a local park by a waterfall. When one of the people at the picnic goes missing, and under mysterious circumstances, Avery finds herself enmeshed in the case. During the same week, she takes her seven year old niece to a carnival show that includes a haunted house--unfortunately, one of the exhibits turns out to be a very real dead man, and it is Avery and Emma, her niece, who make the discovery.

Soon Avery is hitting up her old high school friend for information; Rudy serves on the local police force and doesn't mind some companionship for lunch at the local diner.

The writing is funny, entertaining, and not too predictable. It was a good read for this teacher, weary from the end of the year grading and eager for some adventure.

You can find Can't Never Tell in the New Fiction bookshelf; I promise to return it shortly.

You may also want to check out the author's website, at http://www.cathypickens.com

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

The Professional by Robert Parker

Mike and I went to see a movie yesterday--and discovered that most of the Cedar Valley had the same idea. So, we headed to the WPL to pick up a few DVDs to enjoy together, and a few books on CD for me to listen to while I grade papers. However,
when I saw Robert Parker's latest novel on the Express Book Shelf, I had to grab it! The latest book in the Spenser series, The Professional offers many of the same characters and themes as in previous stories--Spenser's longtime girlfriend Susan Silverman, his good friend Hawk, and his former colleagues in the Boston P. D. Quirk and Belson. There is plenty of clever dialogue, good food, and debate about some of the big questions in life about love and respect, monogamy, motivation, and relationships.

In The Professional, Spenser gets hired by a group of women who are all being blackmailed by a scoundrel--all of them had affairs with a man named Gary. All of them are married to much older men and do not want their husbands to find out about their affairs. As usual, things are more complicated than they seem, and as Spenser investigates to find what the four women have in common, he discovers they are all members of an exclusive health club.

The Professional is a good read; Robert Parker has a way of hooking me into the story so effortlessly. He is a master of prose--funny, insightful, easy to read, enjoyable. I sat down to read a chapter last night and about a hundred and fifty pages later, realized that I needed to go to bed. Today I finished it off--and not to give anything anyway, it was worth it!

You can find The Professional on the Express Check out display: I promise to return it promptly. However, if you have not read any of the other Spenser novels, you can find many of them in the Mystery section as well as the large print area.

See Cherie's video Review of The Professional on YouTube!

c 2009, Waterloo Public Library

Reading Books on my new I-Phone

I was very skeptical, but curious about the Kindle, Amazon's hot device to read books electronically. Then, several weeks ago, I found myself downloading a hot new application for my I-Phone, when a friend recommended Stanza, a program for reading books on the I-Phone.

I read a book by one of my favorite authors--Lee Child, with his series of books about Jack Reacher, former military policeman. I was astonished at how easy it was to use, and how I quickly "forgot" I was reading a book on a small screen. When I came to end of the "page," I just tapped on the lower right hand screen and the "page" seemed to turn itself to the next one.

It was even possible to read at night in the car (while Mike was driving); I found that I could adjust the brightness of the screen or change the background altogether.
All in all, it was an enjoyable and disconcerting experience all at once.

However, how much easier was it that I had checked this book out from the WPL and read it some time last year? Would I have been as engaged if it were not one of my favorite authors and series?




c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Without Feathers by Woody Allen

My introduction to Woody Allen came several years ago in the form of Annie Hall… It’s hard to top that. When I came across Without Feathers, I eagerly began scanning the pages. Happily, it promised the same neurotic pessimism, wit, and sarcasm that you would expect from the author. Published in 1975, it made (and spent some time on) the New York Times Best Seller List, and has since become known as one of Allen’s best literary works.

Reading Without Feathers is as if you’ve the ability to thumb through Woody Allen’s personal notebook of scrawled thoughts, ramblings, and dissentions left abandoned on a coffee shop table in New York City. The title is the author’s fitting rebuttal to an Emily Dickenson’s quote, “Hope is the thing with feathers.” The perfection of this book is the fact that it is not one continuous thread, but rather a collection of works, musings, and humor in true Woody Allen style. The short sections, most of which had been previously published in his New York Times column (before it had become an avant-garde trend to be a Woody Allen fan) make the book great for reading in quick doses. The humorous vignettes are a great way to start or provide a much needed diversion from your day, as well as to serve as a refreshing literary break between more dense books. It’s a quick, light read, without having sacrificed intellect. Which can be a rarity.

Each chapter produces a smirk, at least, while The Whore of Mensa, and God (A Play) will defy you not to laugh out loud. Death (A Play) reads as having a Who’s-On-First approach, but hints at greater philosophical questions… not to be taken too seriously, to be sure. God (A Play) features Allen’s hallmark classic Greek references, notions of relationships with the opposite sex, and modern New York- all of which culminate in a grand ending (!) If you appreciate nothing else, it’s worthy of reading for the endless string of one liners and quotes that can be pulled from the pages. I can’t resist inserting a few here:

“Uh-oh… That’s footsteps- the maniac probably has feet… Oh, God, save me.”

“I’m used to the streets at night

“Oh?”

“Well, I’m a prostitute.”

“No kidding. Gee, I never met one before… I thought you’d be taller.”

“Kleinman, you have been judged and found guilty. You will hang. Do you have any final requests?”

“Yes, I’d prefer not to hang.”

“Still obsessed by thoughts of death, I brood constantly. I keep wondering if there is an afterlife, and if there is will they be able to break a twenty?"

Before stumbling across Annie Hall, I had been purposefully ambivalent toward Woody Allen. For two reasons: First, I didn’t want to join the trend- I enjoy having a mind of my own. Second, I had no interest in the ubiquitous tabloid fodder that surrounded his personal life. However, after simply considering the work for itself, I discovered that I really enjoy Allen’s sense of humor, writing style, and mixture of the profound and superficial. I encourage you to do the same, and consider it for yourself. If you're already a Woody Allen fan you're bound to love it.

You can find Without Feathers in the Adult Non-Fiction section, on the second floor of the Waterloo Public Library.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

I read Julie & Julia for my book club not that long ago: tonight, Mike and I went to see the movie, with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. It was wonderful and seemed very true to the book, complete with some of Julie's disasters, emotional melt downs, and cooking triumphs. You could almost taste the food -- smell the food -- as the movie switched back and forth from scenes of Julie cooking to Julia cooking. I enjoyed the contrasting settings, with Julia walking in the streets and market places and sitting in the restaurants of Paris and Julie in her cubicle, cooking in her tiny kitchen in an apartment over a pizza place, and entertaining on the roof.

I also liked the portrayal of the two very supportive men who were separated by decades, but strikingly similar in their love for their wives, appreciation of good cooking, and ability to enjoy (do I dare say savor?) life.

For those not familar with the story, Julie & Julia is about a young secretary who works at a job that might be difficult for many to do: she works for a company helping to coordinate efforts after 9/11 and takes phone calls from angry, grieving people all day. She likes to cook but doesn't really think she is all that good; after all, she is no Julia Child. Julie is also a self proclaimed failed writer, having invested several years in a novel that did not get finished and that no one wanted to publish anyway. As her 30th birthday approaches, however, she feels a need to do something significant; talking with her husband, Eric, she decides to cook her way through Julia Child's famous cook book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking--and then blog about it. So there are a number of scenes where she sits at her laptop and composes her blog entries; I was struck again by the way she found her voice online, and how she addressed an audience that didn't exist at first.

Back in 2002, blogging was not as common and the blogosphere was less crowded, so it may have been easier to get noticed. At first, she isn't sure anyone is reading her blog except for her coworker, her mom, who is not totally supportive, and Eric. But as she makes progress through the list of recipes, and continues to document her efforts, she becomes aware that people are reading her postings. At the end of the year she has accomplished her goal of cooking all 500+ recipes, but she has gained much more than the mastery of cooking techniques. She feels that she has truly taken back her own life. At the same time, she starts getting contacted by editors and agents and the rest is history!

I loved the book; I loved the movie. While Meryl Streep is an amazing actress, I was not prepared for how much she took on the role of Julia Child; she captures the loud, exuberant voice, gestures, and seems to channel JC. She is just the way I picture Julia in the book; Stanley Tucci plays her husband, Paul, and they are wonderful together. Likewise, this is a great role for Amy Adams: she has a lovely quality that is very authentic and likeable in spite of her emotional meltdowns. She is a real woman living in post 9/11 New York city.

If you're hungry for a good read, check out Julie and Julia; you can find it at the WPL in either the CDbook area or in the nonfiction section.

You might also be interested in the movie site, which you can find at www.julieandjulia.com/

You may also want to go to Julie Powell's current blog,
http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/


c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Big Boned by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot is the author of the popular Princess Diaries, so many people think of her as only a young adult writer. However, I just finished Big Boned and thoroughly enjoyed it. Big Boned is about Heather Wells, who is a plus sized former pop singer who is now the Assistant Dorm Director at a college in New York. She has a new boyfriend and currently lives with the brother of an old boyfriend: okay, it is a little complicated. Her boyfriend is her remedial Math teacher, Tad. He's into jogging and health food. Heather is more into walking, fancy coffee, and chocolate chip cookies. She lives with Cooper, whose brother Jordan was once Heather's teen boyfriend; Cooper is a private investigator who felt his brother treated Heather badly and offered her a room.

Heather has moved on from her teen singing career; her days are filled with dealing with emotional college students, demanding administrators, and she has made a number of friends at the Residence Hall. Her beloved former boss, Tom, recently got promoted and her new boss Owen is a rather humorless, bland person. So, imagine her surprise when Heather arrives at work one day to find that Owen has been shot in the head from the street, and is sitting at his desk with a cup of cold coffee in front of him. She calls the police and it becomes evident that she may be really well acquainted with one of them; Detective Canavan questions her and from the references to the "Death Dorm," it is clear that they have worked together before.

I loved the descriptions of the college meetings, the friendships with Pete the Security Guard and Magda the cafeteria lady, and the way Heather goes to bat for her assistant Sarah and the other students. Mix in a proposed strike by graduate students, the appearance of a well meaning but inept PR person named Muffy, a large orange cat named Garfield, and Owen's ex wife and the story is an engaging one. While many books proclaim themselves to be funny, this one REALLY IS funny; I liked the self deprecating way Heather has of describing her reaction to healthy eating and exercise, worrying that her uterus may have fallen out while running. As she tries to reach out to one of her students, Jamie, they share a dish of warm cobbler.

However, I liked the way the author developed the storylines and characters. Heather is not a perfect person; however, she handles the various crises with her graduate students with her heart, and it becomes evident that she gets a lot of satisfaction from doing her job. I also liked that each new chapter offers a stanza of song lyrics from her music. (For example, "You're not fat--though you could get toned--But it's not your fault--You're just big boned.")

Now, I can't wait for the people who checked out Cabot's other two books about the same character to be returned: Size 12 is Not Fat and Size 14 is Not Fat Either. In the meantime, if you're looking for something funny and satisfying, check out Big Boned. You can find it in the Mystery section of the Waterloo Public Library. You might also want to check out Meg Cabot's website at www.megcabot.com.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Listen to the Silence by Marcia Muller

I have long been a fan of Marcia Muller's series about Sharon McCone: recently, I got a chance to read one of the books that I had overlooked, Listen to the Silence (2000). When Sharon's father dies unexpectedly, she and her brother John are left with the task of going through his things.

She discovers a shocking secret when she finds her birth certificate with some other papers: she is adopted, but when she goes to her mother for more information, she is met with silence. Finally she gets some information from her aunt and uncle, and goes in search of her biological parents. One of the people she meets gives her a photo that includes her aunt--as well as a group of young Native American young people, including a young woman who looks startlingly familiar.

As Sharon unravels the story, she discovers the identity of her biological mother and a man she believes may be her father. He comes from a rich and powerful family, and his father obviously did not want his son to marry a "poor Indian girl." After she finds her mother, she also discovers that she now has a half sister and brother as well. However, her mother is struck down by a hit and run driver, and in a coma--not the best of circumstances for meeting a long lost daughter.

Muller is a master storyteller; this was a satisfying read, with plot twists, believeable characters, and a complex character at the heart of it all. Anyone who has ever stared at an old family portrait and wondered about the lives of the people in the photograph can relate to Sharon's fascination with the old photo. Of course, Sharon didn't even know who they were at first, other than her aunt.

Over the past two summers, having two surgeries, I've spent my days reading books and scanning in old family photos and putting together photo albums. When I read the wonderful description of the photograph in this book, it made me think of an old black and white photo that I found of my family. It is unusual because it is the only photograph that I have found that has all three of my grandmothers in it. Great Grandma Eva looks pensive, while Grandma Nellie is smiling; I am struck by how short she is, as my older sister Cathi stands in front of her. My grandmother Lillian was visiting from California; she stands next to my father, and I see that she is much taller than Nellie. Looking at the people in this picture helps me to understand better who I am; however, it also makes me wonder. What were their secrets, their joys, their fears? What stories did they not get a chance to share with us?

I am going back to check the online catalog to be sure that I haven't missed any other books in this series; you can find Listen to the Silence in the Mystery section of the Waterloo Public Library.



c Waterloo Public Library 2009

Bad Medicine by Aimee and David Thurlo

I just finished reading Bad Medicine, one of the earlier books (1997) in Aimee and David Thurlo's series about tribal police officer Ella Clah. As noted in my previous review of Wind Spirit (2004), this series blends good storytelling and mystery with an exploration of the Native American culture out west. The series is set on the Navajo reservation and this particular story focuses on the racial tensions between the Navajo and white workers at the local mine. Hate crimes occur on both sides, and there is talk of secret organizations. In the meantime, Ella investigates a mysterious car accident and death: the victim is Angela Yellowhair, the daughter of a powerful Navajo senator. Ella's friend, Dr. Roanhorse, the Medical Examiner, finds tainted peyote in Angela's system, but Senator Yellowhair does not want to accept this verdict.

Ella juggles the investigation, which turns into an ugly and personal attack against both her and Dr. Roanhorse with trying to figure out not only who killed Angela, but why the senator is so determined to reject the evidence found by the M. E. She also becomes acquainted with Kevin, a young lawyer who is building a home near her mother's; Kevin becomes her friend and takes on the task of getting Dr. Roanhorse reinstated at the hospital after the Senator pressures administrators to put her on suspension. The story also develops Ella's relationships with her mother, who is a very strong, wise woman and her brother, a respected medicine man who loves his sister but follows the traditional ways.

I have always enjoyed Tony Hillerman's novels for their windows into the culture of Native Americans. This series goes a step further, in a sense, because it features a woman who embraces both her own culture and that of the larger society. Ella has FBI training, has lived away from her family and culture for a number of years, and has absorbed the values of both; she is fiercely protective of her friends and family, works hard to discover the truth, and has a deep bond with her fellow police officers, including her younger cousin Justine, who assists her in the investigation. Ella also

For all of the cultural differences, however, Ella is a woman that many of us can relate to: she works hard but wonders if she will ever have a close relationship again. Her husband died some years before, and while Ella has had a few romances, she has resisted getting close to anyone else. She struggles with wanting to please her mother and family and still be her own person. She worries about her friend Dr. Roanhorse and is determined to clear her name. Ella pushes herself hard, but tries to shield her partner, Justine, from taking unnecessary risks. She is a very complex, likeable person.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series, but as the summer comes to a close, so does my free time. However, if you're looking for a good read, check out Bad Medicine; you can find it (and all of the Thurlo's books) in the Mystery section.

c Waterloo Public Library 2009