Saturday, January 12, 2013
Dale's Top 5 of 2012
Susan's Top 5 of 2012
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas
The Round House by Louise
Erdrich
Shadow of Night by Deborah
Harkness
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Cyndi's Top 5 of 2012
A couple of my favorite nonfiction books that I read in 2012:
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen.
An engrossing and slightly horrifying look at how different viruses have spread from animal to human populations and the adaptability some possess when jumping to their “new host”. As a result of reading this book I now periodically check the World Health Organization’s website.
The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins.
A fascinating look at the cut throat completion between New York City’s newspaper moguls Pulitzer and Hearst and the extreme measures they were willing to take to be the city’s top paper. Armed reporters investigating crimes, hiding evidence from the authorities, and creating false clues to insure they broke the story first. Anyone that questions the ethics of today’s journalists needs to read this book to understand just how far the profession has come.
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson.
A horrifying yet at times funny exploration of human behavior and why some people act like they do. This book will have you looking twice at the actions of the people around you. Just remember, if you are worried you might be a psychopath then you are not a psychopath.
And on the lighter side…
Took a side trip in the form of Keeping the castle : a tale of romance, riches, and real estate by Patrice Kindl and For darkness shows the stars by Diana Peterfreund. Both books give a strong nod to Austin classics.
Set in 19 century England, Keeping the Castle is Austen's Pride and Prejudice distorted by the strength, humor and sarcasm of 17 year old Althea Crawley. The story line follows Althea as she attempts to hold on to her impoverished family's crumbling castle by the only means available--marrying a wealth man. Anyone familiar with Austen's work will recognize Kindl's subtle spoof of the limitations imposed upon women during this time period. I enjoyed Althea's ingenuity as she continued to find ways of keeping up the appearance of wealth-- serving her neighbors reused tea bags as they sat on furniture that literally crumbed underneath them. This book was a quick, fun, slightly familiar read.
The setting of For Darkness Shows the Stars is an island cut off from whatever remains of a world destroyed by a genetically engineered DNA experiment gone horrible wrong. Elliot North is trying desperately to keep her family's farm running despite her father and older sister's selfish acts of cruelty and wastefulness. Four years ago she refused to leave the farm to travel with her best friend Kai, feeling honor bound to stay to protect the farm workers from her father. Now Kai is back and determined to make Elliot regret her decision. This book is Austen's Persuasion in a post-apocalyptic world that argues the benefits of scientific intervention verses allowing nature to take its course.
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen. An engrossing and slightly horrifying look at how different viruses have spread from animal to human populations and the adaptability some possess when jumping to their “new host”. As a result of reading this book I now periodically check the World Health Organization’s website.
The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime That Scandalized a City & Sparked the Tabloid Wars by Paul Collins. A fascinating look at the cut throat completion between New York City’s newspaper moguls Pulitzer and Hearst and the extreme measures they were willing to take to be the city’s top paper. Armed reporters investigating crimes, hiding evidence from the authorities, and creating false clues to insure they broke the story first. Anyone that questions the ethics of today’s journalists needs to read this book to understand just how far the profession has come.
A horrifying yet at times funny exploration of human behavior and why some people act like they do. This book will have you looking twice at the actions of the people around you. Just remember, if you are worried you might be a psychopath then you are not a psychopath.
And on the lighter side…Took a side trip in the form of Keeping the castle : a tale of romance, riches, and real estate by Patrice Kindl and For darkness shows the stars by Diana Peterfreund. Both books give a strong nod to Austin classics.
Set in 19 century England, Keeping the Castle is Austen's Pride and Prejudice distorted by the strength, humor and sarcasm of 17 year old Althea Crawley. The story line follows Althea as she attempts to hold on to her impoverished family's crumbling castle by the only means available--marrying a wealth man. Anyone familiar with Austen's work will recognize Kindl's subtle spoof of the limitations imposed upon women during this time period. I enjoyed Althea's ingenuity as she continued to find ways of keeping up the appearance of wealth-- serving her neighbors reused tea bags as they sat on furniture that literally crumbed underneath them. This book was a quick, fun, slightly familiar read.
The setting of For Darkness Shows the Stars is an island cut off from whatever remains of a world destroyed by a genetically engineered DNA experiment gone horrible wrong. Elliot North is trying desperately to keep her family's farm running despite her father and older sister's selfish acts of cruelty and wastefulness. Four years ago she refused to leave the farm to travel with her best friend Kai, feeling honor bound to stay to protect the farm workers from her father. Now Kai is back and determined to make Elliot regret her decision. This book is Austen's Persuasion in a post-apocalyptic world that argues the benefits of scientific intervention verses allowing nature to take its course.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Julie's Top 5 of 2012
Will Elliot
choose tradition or love?
Let's Pretend This Never Happened: a Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
Grampa's cheek is
touched by a dead raccoon to wake him up.
Just one of many very funny happenings in this memoir!
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Amazing story
about an African refugee and a British couple that meet on a beach in Africa.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
A story of love
and a magical circus!
Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
Karou and Akiva
return but seem to be fighting from opposite sides. Is there
hope for their dreams of peace and their love for each other?
Friday, January 4, 2013
Lynne's Top 5 of 2012
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Top 5 of 2012!
All this month the staff of TPL will be posting their top 5 picks of 2012. These will be books and movies that they read/watched in 2012. Keep checking on the blog for more top picks and check out the display in the library.
Emma’s
Top 5 Picks of 2012
1. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson – Darkly
hysterical, this memoir will provide plenty of belly-laughs, if your stomach is
strong enough.
2. The Fifty Year Sword by Mark
Z. Danielewski – This novella
started life as a live shadow play for Halloween. At the heart of this
experimental text is a good old-fashioned ghost story.
3. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey
Eugenides – Another strong novel from Pulitzer-winner, Eugenides, about
life after college for three students.
4. Girl of Nightmares by
Kendare Blake – The sequel to one of last year’s favorites, Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas decides that
he wants to get his ghost of a girlfriend, Anna, back…from hell.
5. Somewhere Beneath Those Waves by Sarah Monette – An unusual and haunting collection of short stories
from fantasy writer, Monette.
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