Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

- Ann Leave a comment

What do you do when, in an instant, your entire world changes? Your family, your planned future, your past all now belong in the “before” while you alone must move into the unknown “after”. And what is your duty to what is lost? How do you remember and honor them?  This is the dilemma that Edward Adler must face in Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano.

Twelve-year-old Eddie Adler and his beloved older brother Jordan are moving to Los Angeles with their parents for their Mom’s new job. The family boards a plane in Newark and, with the rest of the passengers, settle in for a six-hour flight. The trip is pretty ordinary with it’s random collection of personalities, each with their own unique stories – a soldier about to leave the service, a Wall Street whiz kid, a young woman who’s just found out that she’s pregnant, an exuberant woman leaving her husband to start a new life, a wealthy man seeking medical treatment in California. Casual connections are made between people on a shared journey,  but all thinking ahead to what awaits them in Los Angeles.

Then, somewhere over Colorado, something goes horribly wrong and all those futures come to an end. The plane crashes killing 191 people. There is only one survivor: Eddie Adler.

Edward (he now goes by Edward; Eddie belongs to the “before”) goes to live with his aunt and uncle when he has recovered from his injuries. Here he meets their neighbor Shay who becomes a rock of normalcy in his suddenly upside down world. It’s when, a couple years later they discover that Edward’s uncle has kept the hundreds of letters that were sent after the crash that Edward begins to first question and then put into action how to shape his life moving forward.

This is a moving, thoughtful book that explores that you shouldn’t take your life for granted and to live with purpose. It is often melancholy – sections alternate between the stories of the people on the plane and with Edward’s struggles after the crash – so many hopes and plans and dreams gone in an instant. But it is also restorative, that these lives weren’t wasted and that Edward is able to move on without abandoning the past, that you carry their memories and stories with you and their lives continue through you and your actions. A lovely, uplifting novel.

Long Range by C. J. Box

- Ann 1 Comment

Have you ever found a book series that was so immersive that when you finished one book, you immediately picked up the next in the series? Sometimes there’s a cliffhanger that needs resolution or you’ve become so invested in the characters you don’t want to let go. The Lord of the Ring series by J.R.R. Tolkien or the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon are good examples. For me it’s always been the Master and Commander series by Patrick O’Brian (and omg, don’t get me started on these books – I’ll talk your ear off!) Now I’ve added another to my favorites – the Joe Pickett series by C. J. Box.

Joe Picket is a game warden in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. He keeps an eye on the wildlife and makes sure hunting and fishing are done legally. He often teams up with his friend Nate Romanaski, a falconer who sometimes tiptoes the legal line. In Long Range, Joe is drawn into the investigation of a case where a local woman has been shot from a very long distance, a shot that would require specialized equipment and a particular set of skills. The woman is active in the community and liked by everyone, but her husband is a controversial local judge and has made more than one enemy. Was this a case of the wrong person being shot? If so, was the shooter going to try again? And who would have the skill and knowledge to make that kind of shot?

Because of Joe’s knowledge of the area and the locals, he is put on the sheriff’s task force. When Nate is falsely accused and arrested, Joe’s task becomes two-fold – finding the murderer and clearing his friend.

Long Range is number 20 in this series (I read the first 19 in the series last fall – I warned you, they’re addictive!) and the quality shows no signs of declining. The mystery is tight and suspenseful, the writing is sharp, crisp and evocative and the characters are multi-layered and interesting. Box touches on a wide range of topics from falconry, to marksmanship to environmental protection and responsibility. The rugged scenery of Wyoming serves as a stunning backdrop and Joe’s unwavering love of his family, loyalty to his friends and his unbending moral code act as the center of this series. Highly recommended.

 

Online Reading Challenge – March

- Ann Leave a comment

Fellow Readers! Welcome to the March edition of the Online Reading Challenge. This month our inspiration film is: The Silence of the Lambs!

Urk. What was I thinking when I choose this film? I am not a fan of serial killers, which, ok, is kind of a silly statement since I imagine most people don’t really want to meet one face-to-face. [Side note: There’s a fascinating anecdote in the excellent book The Library Book by Susan Orlean where she interviews a reference librarian who refers to a patron he had helped a few times. Turns out the patron was Richard Ramirez better known as The Night Stalker who terrorized Los Angeles in 1985. Way to close for comfort!] However, reading about serial killers is a bit safer and delving into the mind/motivations of a murderer can be fascinating.

For The Silence of the Lambs, a film about an especially notorious serial killer helping the FBI hunt down another notorious serial killer and starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, you can choose to read about serial killers, the FBI, even ordinary garden-variety murderers. If you’d really like to push the limits, you could even choose to read about cannibalism (such as Alive by Piers Paul Read or anything about the Donner Party) Just, no fava beans please!

If you’re interested in reading about actual serial killers, head for the 364.1523 Dewey area of the library. You’ll find lots of true crime books including The Devil in the White City by Eric Larsen about the hunt for a serial killer during the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 and Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi about the Charles Manson killings in California. For a look at the beginnings of the FBI reach for Killers of the Osage Moon by David Grann, the story of the murders of members of the Osage Tribe in 1920s Oklahoma.

Some fiction books worth considering include The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardener, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, The Alienist by Caleb Carr and, of course, The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.

Several mystery series deal with the FBI and/or serial killers including Catherine Coulter’s FBI Thrillers and Brit in the FBI series, Allison Brennan’s Lucy Kincaid series and Max Revere novels, P.J. Tracy’s Monkeewrench series and Jeffry Lindsay’s Dexter series (from the point-of-view of the serial killer)

As always, stop by any of the three Davenport Library locations for displays with lots more title suggestions!

I’m going to read a plain-old garden-variety murder mystery, Louise Penny’s A Better Man from her Chief Inspector Gamache series. I haven’t read any Louise Penny books, but know she has lots of fans and lots of excellent reviews. I’m looking forward to getting started!

Now, what about you? What will you be reading in March?

Online Reading Challenge – February Wrap-Up

- Ann 2 Comments

Greetings Readers!

What did you read for our Gone with the Wind themed reading month? Did you find something interesting?

February was a good month for me – I read The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. This was one of the books chosen by Oprah for her book club, so many of you may have read this already. I hadn’t and I’m glad I got the chance/encouragement to read it now.

Set in the early 1800s thru the 1830s, The Invention of Wings follows two main characters – Sarah Grimke, the daughter of a wealthy, Southern plantation owner and her slave Hetty “Handful” Grimke who was given to Sarah on her eleventh birthday. Sarah is horrified; she already has strong anti-slavery feelings and does not want to own a human being. Her parents force her to accept Handful and their stories are now set to be entwined for the rest of their lives.

At first the girls (Handful is the same age as Sarah) are almost friends. They share secrets and play together and Sarah teaches Handful how to read. However, the reality of their situation – slave and owner – forces distance between them. Both are trapped, Sarah by the dictates of her parents and the fact that she is female and her choices are restricted. Handful’s life is, of course, much harsher, filled with cruelty and unfairness. Both long to be free to pursue their own lives. Sarah eventually defies her parents and moves to Philadelphia and begins following the Quaker faith in part because of their anti-slavery stand. Handful remains behind, fighting to survive including a terrible punishment for a minor “crime” that will change her life. Sarah reaches out to her again and again but is limited in what she can do until Handful is finally ready to attempt to break free.

Sarah Grimke was a real person who became a vocal abolitionist and woman’s rights suffragist in the 1830s. She and her sister Nina (who also appears in the book) became famous – and notorious – for their unapologetic and outspoken views. Handful is not based on a real person, but her experiences are drawn from countless stories of slaves. This creates a very personal, very painful glimpse of slavery not only the physical pain but the emotional and mental toll – the loss of dignity, of autonomy, of control. A powerful and thoughtful book.

Now it’s your turn – what did you read for this month’s Challenge?

What’s New With RBdigital Magazines

- Valerie Leave a comment

We are exited to announce the addition of HELLO! magazine to our digital magazine offering, as well as Conde Nast Traveler and  Life & Style Weekly.   These are just three of the fifty-three titles we are subscribing to this year with RBdigital Magazines.    And when we subscribe, you subscribe!

That’s right, as a Davenport cardholder you can read magazines that are cover-to-cover identical to the paper issues.   Login with your RBdigital account to check out and download issues that are yours to keep.  If you don’t have an RBdigital account yet, sign up here, by following the Create New Account link (top, right corner).

And, yes, there’s an app for that.  Best to limit use to a tablet, though; it can be challenging to view the magazine files on a smartphone.

Here’s the full list.  Which titles interest you?

AppleMagazine                                   Men’s Health

Backpacker                                         MOTHER EARTH NEWS

Bicycling                                              Motor Trend

Bon Appetit                                         National Geographic

Car and Driver                                    Newsweek

Chicago Magazine                             O, The Oprah Magazine

Clean Eating                                       OK! Magazine

Conde Nast Traveler                         Outside

Cook’s Illustrated                              PC Magazine

Cosmopolitan                                    PCWorld

Country Living                                  Popular Mechanics

Discover                                             Popular Science

Esquire                                               Prevention

Family Handyman                             Reader’s Digest

First for Women                                Rolling Stone

Food Network Magazine                 Runner’s World

Games                                                Smithsonian Magazine

Good Housekeeping                        Star Magazine

HELLO! magazine                            Taste Of Home

HGTV Magazine                               TV Guide Magazine

House Beautiful                                Us Weekly

In Touch Weekly                               WIRED

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance          Woman’s Day

Life & Style Weekly                          Women’s Health

Macworld                                           Woodworker’s Journal

Marie Claire                                       Yoga Journal

Maxim

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

- Ann Leave a comment

A beautiful Victorian house situated in an upscale Philadelphia neighborhood becomes the focal point for a family broken by secrets and jealousy in Ann Patchett’s newest book The Dutch House.

Danny Conroy is just six when his mother leaves and never returns. His father is withdrawn and taciturn – not a model of warmth and caring. However, his sister Maeve, who is 12 when their mother leaves, steps in and becomes his greatest ally. The bond between the siblings is very strong and loving and only strengthens when, out of the blue, their father remarries.

The new stepmother, Andrea arrives with her two little girls. The kids all get along fairly well, but Andrea has no interest in Danny and Maeve and works diligently to exclude them from the family.  Maeve is moved from her favored large bedroom to an smaller room so that one of the little girls can have it and the housekeepers, who helped raise Danny and Maeve, are shunted aside. Their father becomes more and more distant, finding as many excuses as possible to be absent.

The Dutch house (as it is known in the neighborhood) stands central to all of these trials. Built by old money, their father purchased it with all of the furniture and family portraits of the former owners included. It was a symbol to Danny and Maeve’s father of his success, but it was also, with it’s overwhelming opulence and expensive furnishings, what drove their mother away. Andrea married their father because she wanted the house and the status that it gave her.  When Danny and Maeve are forced to leave the house it haunts them for years.

Now, this all sounds pretty glum and it’s true that the book is sometimes sad, but it is also about forgiveness, redemption and letting go of the past. I loved the relationship between Danny and Maeve, a brother-sister duo that rang true – great loyalty and love but they also aren’t afraid to poke at each other. Patchett’s writing style is lovely – smooth and graceful but never fussy. Her characters are like us – smart and funny and flawed, but never beyond saving. Read this for the intriguing story, the gorgeous writing and an ending that brings hope and recovery.

 

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Sophie Kinsella was one of my favorite authors in high school. I stopped reading her when I went away to college, but recently started reading her books again when I discovered her newest book, I Owe You One.

I Owe You One tells the story of Fixie Farr. For as long as she can remember, Fixie has felt the urgent need to put things right. If a friend needs help, if a shelf is stained, if a picture is crooked, Fixie has to fix it. She starts to fidget, bouncing and moving around until things are back to normal.

This trait is something that her friends and family members often take advantage of, but Fixie has trouble acknowledging this. Ever since her father died, Fixie started to take his motto: ‘Family First’ even more to heart. If any family member asks for help, she is always willing to help for anything.

Stopping at a coffee shop on her way home, a handsome stranger asks her to watch his laptop so he can step out to take a call. Fixie agrees and actually ends up saving the laptop from destruction. As a result, the grateful owner Sebastian writes an IOU on a coffee sleeve, attaches his business card to it, and tells Fixie that he owes her and to let him know how he can help her. Fixie does not believe that this was genuine and laughs off his offer. She would never accept an IOU from a complete stranger.

When she arrives back home, her childhood crush Ryan shows up unexpectedly. Ryan is having a hard time getting a job, believing that he deserves much more than a mediocre job since he used to work in Hollywood. Learning that Seb owes Fixie a favor, they decide to ask Seb to give Ryan a job.

Seb and Fixie begin to have a relationship as IOUs flow back and forth between the two. These range from small insignificant and life-changing ones. Throughout all of these interactions, Fixie finds herself wanting to leave her current ‘family first’ focused life to find a life that makes herself happier. As tensions come to a head and her mother’s return home from a long vacation looms closer, Fixie realizes that she must make a change if she wants her family to start taking her seriously.

I enjoyed listening to this book. Watching Fixie grow throughout this book and seeing her character develop had me rooting that she would get the life that she wanted. Give this a read and let me know what you think.

This book is also available in the following formats:

Stolen Justice: The Struggle for African American Voting Rights by Lawrence Goldstone

- Brenda Leave a comment

“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”              -Thomas Jefferson

An election year is an exciting time to be in Iowa. It is also a good time to take the opportunity to raise your awareness of the history of voting in our country.

Does it seem like a tall order to go out on a cold, dark night and spend several hours at a caucus when there is work to be done or family to look after at home?  Does it feel like a chore to remember to diverge from the usual daily route to go cast a vote on election day? I am reluctant to admit to you that it has, at times, been so for me.

We would do well to remember that so many before us have suffered mightily to secure such rights and bring us to where we are today. Let us pause this February -Black History Month- during this election year to reflect on the historical significance of African American voting rights in particular.

In his book Stolen Justice: The Struggle for African American Voting Rights, Lawrence Goldstone chronicles the struggles encountered and overcome by black Americans whose voting rights have been suppressed. Goldstone shows us many of the ways voter suppression and oppression has happened through violence, misinformation and even through the manipulation of laws.

Have you heard about the widely respected mid-19th century Harvard University professor by the name of Louis Agassiz who promoted a science called polygenism?  Polygenism purported that blacks and whites developed from different ancestors and that blacks were not even human. Agassiz and others like him imposed this idea as so-called proof that blacks were inferior and unsuited for anything but menial labor.  Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life was published in 1859 and changed that theory.  According to Goldstone, “Agassiz furiously condemned natural selection as ‘a crude and insolent challenge to the eternal verities, objectionable as science and abominable for is religious blasphemies.'” Though polygenism eventually died, racial inequity did not.

Learn more by checking this book out from the Learning Collection at The Library at Main.

Online Reading Challenge – Mid-Month Check

- Ann Leave a comment

Hey Readers! How’s your February reading? Need a few more suggestions? Here are some movies that would count for our month of Gone with the Wind.

Lincoln with a virtuoso, Oscar winning performance from Daniel Day Lewis, this movie follows an Abraham Lincoln worn down by the war as he works to ensure the passage of the 13th Amendment near the end of the Civil War.

Cold Mountain, another Oscar winning film (for Best Supporting Actress Rene Zellwinger), brings to life Charles Fraizer’s novel of a Confederate soldier who deserts and tries to return to his young wife. Also starring Jude Law and Nicole Kidman.

Mercy Street, a television series that originally aired on PBS, is set in 1862 in Alexandria, Virginia which is located near the border between North and South. The Union has taken over a hotel owned by Southern sympathizers and have made it into a Union Army hospital.

Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War brought visual storytelling to a whole new level when it aired on PBS. More than a recounting of battles, it delves into the lives of those involved, from the Generals to the ordinary soldier to those left at home.

And of course, there’s Gone with the Wind our inspiration for the month and well worth watching (or re-watching!)

 

The Hidden Half of Nature by David R. Montgomery and Anne Bikle

- Ann Leave a comment

guest post by Laura V

After reading Montgomery’s most recent book, Growing a Revolution followed by Josh Axe’s Eat Dirt, the parallels I had begun to see my separate explorations of regenerative agriculture and human gut health seemed to align beyond a shadow of doubt. Then I stumbled upon one of Montgomery’s earlier books, The Hidden Half of Nature, in which he explains the biological backgrounds and importance of the two similar systems.

Montgomery and Biklé go about transforming a backyard full of lifeless dirt into a thriving ecosystem, above and below ground. Through extreme composting, they mimic the natural buildup of soil via decaying matter on an accelerated time frame nature could never accomplish. It is when Biklé finds herself stricken with cancer that the couple decides to fortify their gut microbiome with specific foods just as they “fed” their soil to provide a hospitable environment for good microbes. Dietary changes ensue and we get a biology lesson on the digestive system that probably no one learns in school…yet.

The biology lesson was interesting but I admit to my mind wandering a bit during those parts. I’m not a scientist so I just need a broad picture of what I’m learning, not so much the details. It was fun to learn about Lynn Margulis, a rebel biologist who in 1970 first hypothesized chloroplasts and mitochondria originated from ancient bacteria. The segment on the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics was also amazing history.

What I found most fascinating and frustrating is throughout the industrial revolution and rise of synthetic chemical fertilizers, there have always been scientists or farmers who have sounded warnings that went unheeded. These scientists or citizen scientists showed tests crops in which fertilizing with compost, crop rotation, and no-tilling yielded heartier and more nutritious plants. I think the hubris of the scientific age along with chemical companies’ grip on agriculture has effectively buried all of these voices of reason under a field of increasingly useless dirt.

The study of both soil and human microbiology is relatively new and exciting. It is terrible to learn the percentage of nutrients plants have lost since the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides in the pursuit of greater yields. It’s no wonder people might have weight problems while eating large quantities of high calorie, low nutrient foods. On the flip side, people have lost their internal partners in nutrient absorption and natural defenders against bad germs due to the overuse of antibiotics.

Ever since men began to see hidden life under a microscope, we’ve been at war with pathogenic microbes, not understanding we’ve also been killing the allies that have been helping us thrive for millennia.

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