Book review: Artemis

And now for something completely different...Andy Weir's new book Artemis.
Jazz (Jasmine) Bashara has lived on the Moon since she was little.  Her father is a respected welder, but Jazz, by her own admission, makes poor life decisions so she works outside the law as a smuggler.  It isn't easy and she has no money so when one of her clients offers her a lot of money to do some sabotage she agrees.
And then the fun starts.
This book isn't as science/tech heavy as The Martian, but is still very enjoyable.  There is still a lot of information on the challenges to living on the Moon and using the Moon's resources, so fans of Weir's science angle will not be disappointed.
I liked the main character because she was spunky and vulnerable.  I also liked that the characters in the book were diverse.   The book was funny, had lots of science, a great female lead, suspense, action...  Lots of things to like.  It wouldn't be considered literary fiction, but for a light, fun read it hit the spot.

Book review-Little Fires Everywhere

OOH!  Celeste Ng has a new book out! Little Fires Everywhere  is about a town and the people who live there.  Shaker Heights is a planned community.  Houses can only be painted certain colors, duplexes have to look like single family homes.  Elena Richardson has lived there all her life.  She has 4 children, each a year apart, and a husband who is a lawyer.  Life for most of the Richardsons is pretty easy.  The youngest daughter, Izzie, finds it confining.  She is constantly at odds with her parents, siblings, and teachers.  Being only 14, she can't quite put her finger on what it is that irks her and she doesn't know how to deal with it. Into this comes Mia and Pearl Warren.  Mia is an artist who moves around as her muse calls to her, Pearl is her daughter.  Pearl has only known this nomadic life, so she is more or less ok with it.  She is now 16 and asks her mother if this can be their last move. Mia rents a duplex apartment from Elena.  For some reason Moody Richardson, Elena's 3rd child, is intrigued with Mia and Pearl and befriends Pearl.  One day he brings her home to meet the rest of the family, setting in motion events that will change everyone. I loved that everyone in the book seemed like a real person.  The problems they faced and their reactions to them seemed very true to life.  The writing is excellent, I didn't want to put the book down.  The ending was very thought provoking--I'm still a week later mulling it.  Excellent book.

Little Fires Everywhere By Ng, Celeste 2017-09 - Penguin Press 9780735224292 Check Our Catalog The instant New York Times bestseller Entertainment Weekly's #1 Must-Read Book for Fall * Reese Witherspoon's Book Club Selection * #1 Library Reads Pick * September IndieNext Pick "I am loving Little Fires Everywhere. Maybe my favorite novel I've read this year."--John Green "I read Little Fires …More

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Everything I Never Told You By Ng, Celeste 2014-06 - Penguin Press 9781594205712 Check Our Catalog Awards: Alex Awards (2015), Massachusetts Book Award (MassBook) (2015) Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet . . . So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they …More

The Almost Sisters By Jackson, Joshilyn 2017-07 - William Morrow & Company 9780062105714 Check Our Catalog With empathy, grace, humor, and piercing insight, the author of gods in Alabama pens a powerful, emotionally resonant novel of the South that confronts the truth about privilege, family, and the distinctions between perception and reality---the stories we tell ourselves about our origins and who we really are. Superheroes have always been Leia Birch …More

Seven Days of Us By Hornak, Francesca 2017-10 - Berkley Books 9780451488756 Check Our Catalog A family can't escape their secrets when they're forced to spend the Christmas holiday in quarantine in this "sharply funny" (People) novel--an Indie Next and #1 Library Reads Pick "Witty and deeply heartfelt."--Emily Giffin "Perfect for fans of cozy Christmas films like Love Actually and The Family …More

The Hundred-Year House By Makkai, Rebecca 2014-07 - Viking 9780525426684 Check Our Catalog The acclaimed author of The Borrower returns with a dazzlingly original, mordantly witty novel about the secrets of an old-money family and their turn-of-the-century estate, Laurelfield. Rebecca Makkai is a writer to watch, as sneakily ambitious as she is unpretentious." Richard Russo Meet the Devohrs: Zee, a Marxist literary scholar who …More

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Book review-Just One Damned Thing After Another

And now for something completely different... I read a long string of novels that took place during World War II.  When I heard about Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor I thought it would be fun to read something on the light side.  It fit the bill! Max (Madeleine Maxwell) is the newest "historian" at St. Mary's Institute of Historical Research.  These aren't your typical nose-in-a-book historians, though. They actually travel through history to observe first hand what is happening.  Sounds easy, but one wrong step and history will kill an outsider before they can change what is to come.  Max comes up with a great idea for funding the institute, which leads to more hijinx. This was a fun book to read.  Max is a great character-somewhat mysterious back story, strong, witty, and smart.  I enjoyed the fast pace and the suspense.  This is a great book for someone who wants a quick, light read with interesting characters and a suspenseful plot.  Oh, and there's a bit of romance thrown in for good measure.

Just One Damned Thing After Another: The Chronicles of St. Mary's Book One By Taylor, Jodi 2016-06 - Night Shade Books 9781597808682 Check Our Catalog The first book in the USA Today bestselling British madcap time-travelling series, served with a dash of wit that seems to be everyone's cup of tea. "History is just one damned thing after another." --Arnold Toynbee Behind the seemingly innocuous facade of St. Mary's Institute of Historical Research, a different kind of academic work is taking place. Just don't call it "time …More

Complimentary Reads

Out of Time: A Paranormal Romance By Martin, Monique 2011-09 - Createspace 9781466243439 Check Our Catalog Mystery, romance and adventure... Professor Simon Cross has spent his life searching for evidence of vampires and avoiding emotional entanglements. When a mysterious accident transports Simon and his assistant, Elizabeth West, back in time, Simon finally finds both the proof that he's been looking for, and the romance that he hasn't. Simon and Elizabeth's developing relationship is tested by …More

11/22/63 By King, Stephen 2011-11 - Scribner Book Company 9781451627282 Check Our Catalog Awards: L.A. Times Book Prize (2011), Locus Awards (2012), Thriller Awards (2012) King's heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination. Jake Epping is a 35-year-old high-school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. Jake's friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. 864 pp. 2,000,000 print. (General …More

A Discovery of Witches By Harkness, Deborah E. 2011-02 - Viking 9780670022410 Check Our Catalog Debut novelist Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense--a richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together. …More

Book review-At the Water's Edge

I picked up At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen because I liked Water for Elephants so much. This book takes place during World War II, from the perspective of rich New Yorkers.  They are only mildly aware of what is going on in Europe and only because it inconviences them.  Maddie and Ellis Hyde are living a sheltered and pampered life, pretty much living off Ellis' parents.  They, along with Ellis' best friend Hank, get very drunk at a New Year's Eve party and become the talk of high society.  Ellis' parents decide enough is enough and throw them out.  Ellis and Hank decide the only way to get back in their good graces is to travel to Scotland and find the Loch Ness monster, which Ellis' father tried to do years ago.  Maddie does not want to go, pointing out that there is a war on, but Hank is able to book passage to Scotland and off they go.  Once there, they are appalled that they are not waited on hand and foot in the small inn.  Maddie is embarrassed by Ellis and Hank but is not sure what to do.  The two men start looking for the monster, leaving Maddie to her own devices.  She makes friends with the innkeeper and the  women who work at the inn.  She realizes that her marriage is a sham and that she has been sheltered from the realities of life. As she learns more she realizes that she cannot stay with Ellis. I enjoyed seeing how Maddie grew from a whiny young woman to a strong individual.  I also enjoyed the Scottish setting, and seeing the war from yet another point of view.  I would recommend it to people who are interested in World War II from the point of view of "home front" and people who like fiction about personal growth.

At the Water's Edge By Gruen, Sara 2015-11 - Spiegel & Grau 9780385523240 Check Our Catalog NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - In this thrilling new novel from the author of Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen again demonstrates her talent for creating spellbinding period pieces. At the Water's Edge is a gripping and poignant love story about a privileged young woman's awakening as she experiences the devastation of World War II in a tiny village in the Scottish …More

Complimentary Reads

Skeletons at the Feast By Bohjalian, Chris 2008-05 - Shaye Areheart Books 9780307394958 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title Capturing both the power and poignancy of romance and the terror and tragedy of war, Bohjalian's latest work puts a moving face on one of the 20th century's greatest tragedies. …More

Letters from Skye By Brockmole, Jessica 2013-07 - Ballantine Books 9780345542601 Check Our Catalog In 1912, a chance letter from a young student to a reclusive poet sparks a trans-Atlantic romance spanning two wars. …More

Secrets of a Charmed Life By Meissner, Susan 2015-02 - Berkley Books 9780451419927 Check Our Catalog The author of A Bridge Across the Ocean journeys from the present day to World War II England, as two sisters are separated by the chaos of wartime... Current day, Oxford, England. Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about the …More

Book Review-The Rosie Effect

After reading a lot of serious books I was ready for something light and humorous, so I downloaded The Rosie Effect (or here for the eaudiobook).
What fun!  I was laughing before the first chapter ended.  Don is a professor of genetics from Australia who is currently working in NYC.  His wife, Rosie, also from Australia, is in school working on her MD and PhD.  Don is a little different-he most likely has Asperger's Syndrome-which gets him into some unusual situations.  He is fully aware of his social shortcomings and works hard to overcome them.  He and Rosie are quite happy.  Until...Rosie announces she is pregnant.  Don is shocked because he thought they would plan when to get pregnant.  His surprise sets in motion a complex chain of events.
I liked this book because of the humor, but also because of how Don is protrayed.  He is very analytical and a good problem solver, but he also is open to learning from his mistakes and didn't seem to take things personally.  I thought Rosie should have taken Don's quirks into account more than she did, but other than that, it was a fun book.

Book review-The Muralist

I have been able to find a lot of good fiction on Overdrive lately.  Recently I finished The Muralist (or here for the e-audio book) by B A Shapiro.  It is another book in a long line of recent fiction that is set during World War II. This book is set primarily in New York City and alternates between the early 1940s and current time.  The main character in the 1940s is Alizee Benoit, an Jewish American painter with French family, working with the WPA on public murals.  The main character in the current time is Alizee's grand niece Danielle Abrams, an artist working with Sotheby's.  Danielle comes across some paintings hidden behind other works that she is sure are Alizee's work.  No one believes her so she takes it upon herself to investigate.  Part of her difficulty is that there are not very many of Alizee's works to compare them to because she disappeared in late 1940. Alizee convinces Eleanor Roosevelt to encourage the WPA to include Abstract Impressionist art in some of the murals.  She learns that her family in France is struggling with the growing Nazi threat and she trys to get visas for them.  We learn about her difficulties as Danielle pieces things together. I enjoyed this book quite a bit.  It was interesting to read about the events leading up to the US's entry into World War II and how different people viewed it-especially after reading a number of novels that took place in Europe during the same time period.  The characters were very interesting and I learned a lot about Abstract Impressionism.

The Muralist By Shapiro, B. A. 2015-11 - Algonquin Books 9781616203573 Check Our Catalog When Alizee Benoit, a young American painter working for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), vanishes in New York City in 1940, no one knows what happened to her. Not her Jewish family living in German-occupied France. Not her arts patron and political compatriot, Eleanor Roosevelt. Not her close-knit group of friends and fellow WPA painters, including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee …More

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All the Light We Cannot See By Doerr, Anthony 2014-05 - Scribner Book Company 9781476746586 Check Our Catalog Awards: ALA Notable Books (2015), Alex Awards (2015), Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence (2015), Colorado Blue Spruce Award (2016), Dayton Literary Peace Prize (2015), Idaho Library Association Book Award (2014), Indies Choice Book Awards (2015), National Book Awards (2014), Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (2015), Pulitzer Prize (2015) From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. …More

Sarah's Key By De Rosnay, Tatiana 2007-06 - St. Martin's Press 9780312370831 Check Our Catalog Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about …More

The Nightingale By Hannah, Kristin 2015-02 - St. Martin's Press 9780312577223 Check Our Catalog Awards: National Jewish Book Award (2015), Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (2016) A #1 New York Times bestseller, Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year, and soon to be a major motion picture, this unforgettable novel of love and strength in the face of war has enthralled a generation. France, 1939 - In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She …More

Book review-Origin by Dan Brown

Dan Brown has a new book out featuring Robert Langdon!  Origin takes place in Spain this time and features some interesting architectural sites.  Robert is visiting the Guggenheim Museum in Balboa to see a presentation by a former student (Edward Kirsch) who claims to have discovered the answers to "Where did we come from" and "Where are we going."  Without giving too much away, something happens during the presentation which impels Robert and the beautiful, young museum director Ambra Vidal, to go on a hunt through Spain for answers. I enjoyed the book, it was fast paced and had challenging mental puzzles, but I found that Robert had less chances to deciper symbols than in previous books.  The characters were interesting, and the plot absorbing.  If you like fast paced adventures give it a read!

Origin By Brown, Dan 2017-10 - Doubleday Books 9780385514231 Check Our Catalog Whoever You Are. Whatever You Believe. Everything Is About To Change. The stunningly inventive new novel from the world's most popular thriller writer Bilbao, Spain Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend a …More

Complimentary Reads

The Alexander Cipher By Adams, Will 2009-03 - Grand Central Publishing 9780446404686 Check Our Catalog Daniel Knox's first love is archaeology, more specifically Alexander the Great. In this adventure, he competes with rival archaeologists, Egyptian officials, and Macedonian nationalists in the hunt for one of the greatest archaeological prizes in the world. …More

The Amber Shadows By Ribchester, Lucy 2017-08 - Pegasus Books 9781681774480 Check Our Catalog As reports begin filtering into Bletchley Park about the stolen loot, Honey receives a mysterious package, hand-delivered from a man that she has never seen before who claims that he works at the Park as well. The package is postmarked from Russia, and inside is a small piece of amber. It is just the first of several such packages, and when she examines them together she realizes that someone, …More

The Atlantis Code By Brokaw, Charles 2009-06 - Michael Joseph 9780141040806 Check Our Catalog A thrill-seeking Harvard linguistics professor and an ultrasecret branch of the Catholic Church go head-to-head in a race to uncover the secrets of the lost city of Atlantis. The ruins of the technologically-advanced, eerily-enigmatic ancient civilization promise their discoverer fame, fortune, and power but hold earth-shattering secrets about the origin of man. While world-famous linguist and …More

Book review-Sourdough by Robin Sloan

A few years ago I read Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore  by Robin Sloan.  It was a really fun book with a touch of magical realism, which I enjoy.  When I saw that Sloan had a second book out, I immediately placed a hold on it! Sourdough is the story of Lois Clary, a 20 something engineer.  She recently moved from Michigan (!) to the San Francisco area to work at a robotics company.  The hours are brutal so she hasn't had time to make new friends-she barely has time to eat!  One day she comes home to find a flyer for a delivery service.  They only have 2 or 3 things on the menu, but she decides to give it a go.  The food is the ultimate comfort food, so she orders everyday and gets to know the brothers who are the owners and only employees.  They suddenly have to leave due to visa issues, so they give her their sourdough starter and give her some basic instructions on how to keep it alive.  And alive it is!  There aren't many books that have a food item as a main character, but this one sure does. I enjoyed this book very much.  There's technology (the robots that Lois is working on), food, character growth, mystery, and that sourdough.  It is light on the surface, but looks at some heady issues as well, but overall a fun read.

Sourdough By Sloan, Robin 2017-09 - MCD/Farrar Straus and Giroux 9780374203108 Check Our Catalog In his much-anticipated new novel, Robin Sloan does for the world of food what he did for the world of books in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighborhood …More

Complimentary Reads

Kitchens of the Great Midwest By Stradal, J. Ryan 2015-07 - Pamela Dorman Books 9780525429142 Check Our Catalog "A sweet and savory treat." --People "An impressive feat of narrative jujitsu . . . that keeps readers turning the pages too fast to realize just how ingenious they are."--The New York Times Book Review, Editor's Pick Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a novel about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes…More

Chocolat By Harris, Joanne 2000-01 - Penguin Books 9780140282030 Check Our Catalog When beautiful, unmarried Vianne Rocher sweeps into the pinched little French town of Lansquenet on the heels of the carnival and opens a gem of a chocolate shop across the square from the church, she begins to wreak havoc with the town's Lenten vows. Her uncanny ability to perceive her customer's private discontents and alleviate them with just the right confection coaxes the villagers to abandon …More

The Night Circus By Morgenstern, Erin 2011-09 - Doubleday Books 9780385534635 Check Our Catalog Awards: Alex Awards (2012), Locus Awards (2012), Nutmeg Book Award (2014) To enter the black-and-white-striped tents of Le Cirque des Reves is to enter a world where objects really do turn into birds and people really do disappear. Even though visitors believe the performances are all illusion, they are obsessively drawn to this extraordinary night circus. Those who run and perform in the circus are its lifeblood. Marco Alisdair runs the operation from London as …More

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Book Review-Shadow Land

I absolutely loved Elizabeth Kostova's first book, The Historian.  I enjoyed her second book The Swan Thieves, but not as much.  Her third book Shadow Land stands between the two. Alexandra Boyd has traveled from the Blue Ridge area to Bulgaria to teach English in Sophia.  Shortly after arriving she helps an elderly couple and a middle aged man get into a taxi.  After she gets into her own taxi she realizes that she has one of the other people's bags.  She feels she must find them and return the bag, but this is a more complicated feat than she had expected it to be.  With the help of a friendly cab driver, she travels all around Bulgaria searching for the elderly couple and the other man.  She learns a lot about the history of the country and the personal history of the three people she is searching for. Kostova's writing style is very rich.  You feel like you are traveling around with Alexandra and seeing what she is seeing, feeling what she is feeling.  Just the act of reading this book is enjoyable. I would recommend this book to people who like literary fiction, historical fiction, or travel fiction.

The Shadow Land By Kostova, Elizabeth 2017-04 - Ballantine Books 9780345527868 Check Our Catalog From the #1 bestselling author of The Historian comes a mesmerizing novel that spans the past and the present--and unearths the troubled history of a gorgeous but haunted country. A young American woman, Alexandra Boyd, has traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria, hoping that life abroad will salve the wounds left by the loss of her beloved brother. Soon after arriving in this …More

Complimentary Reads

The Women in the Castle By Shattuck, Jessica 2017-03 - William Morrow & Company 9780062563668 Check Our Catalog INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Moving . . . surprises and devastates."--New York Times Book Review "A masterful epic."--People magazine "Mesmerizing . . . The Women in the Castle stands tall among the literature that reveals new truths about one of history's most tragic …More

A Piece of the World By Kline, Christina Baker 2017-02 - William Morrow & Company 9780062356260 Check Our Catalog INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Graceful, moving and powerful." --Michael Chabon, New York Times bestselling author of Moonglow From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the smash bestseller Orphan Train, a stunning and atmospheric novel of friendship, passion, and art, …More

Lincoln in the Bardo By Saunders, George 2017-02 - Random House 9780812995343 Check Our Catalog #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The long-awaited first novel from the author of Tenth of December a moving and original father-son story featuring none other than Abraham Lincoln, as well as an unforgettable cast of supporting characters, living and dead, historical and invented February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in …More

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