In His Sights by Kate Brennan 364.15

Kate Brennan is not the real name of the author. That is because she is being stalked and has been for over a decade. Make fun of people who watch Oprah and Dr. Phil (that would be me!), but we know what the warning signs are when it comes to control freak/stalker personalities! I can understand why a young, young woman might be taken in, but I am surprised that "Kate" who was in her 40's didn't see it. Truly love must be blind! This is a true and very, very scary story. There are no blood or knifings - this is all a psychological game - and it has continued for a dozen years. Her stalker is still at work. It was an interesting book to read. And if you don't know the warning signs, please read it!

Pope Joan by Donna Cross

Pope Joan tells the legend of Joan, a young woman who poses as her brother and makes her way up to the most powerful position in the Catholic Church--Pope. Set in the 800s, Joan grows up in the middle of the Dark Ages where few people know how to read or write and women are seen as mere property and worthless.

Joan, however, strives to be different, at a very young age. Her father is a canon and marries a pagon. As she grows, Joan's mother teaches her about her religion as her father instructs her and her brothers in the Catholic faith. Joan's thirst for knowledge increases as she grows along with her father's anger towards her. When tragedy strikes and Joan's brother is killed, she decides to take his place rather than become someone's prize or slave. Her thirst for knowledge and quick wits keep her alive and her secret hidden until the very end.

The novel itself questions whether Joan actually existed. The author explains in her afterword why she believes this legend, even with the arguments against it. A great historical fiction!

The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley 155.935

The subtitle of this book is "Who survives when disaster strikes - and why" Ms. Ripley takes us through many disasters to look at how people reacted to these situations. When possible she has interviewed survivors who tell how they reacted and sometimes are able to explain why. Besides the human stories in this book, she has also talked to brain specialists, psychologists who deal with traumas and other specialists in the field of disasters. You might pick up some information that saves your life one day. Very interesting book.

A Gift from Brittany by Marjorie Price 944.1 Pri

This isn't a book that would interest everyone, but I loved it. Being a former French teacher I have traveled many times to France and Brittany is one of my favorite areas. This book is a memoir of an American who, in the 1960's, takes off on her own for Paris. She is an artist and felt she had to visit Paris in order to be a "real" artist. She thought she had enough money to last a few months. Instead she met Yves, another painter, and married him. During the next decade she lived in France. They had a daughter, but the marriage didn't work out. All of this is important in the book, but the main theme is the friendship she developed with Jeanne. Jeanne is in her sixties, dresses in the traditional black garb of the region, cannot read or write and has never left the hamlet where she lives. Marjorie and Jeanne could not be any more different from one another. Yet they manage to develop a friendship that deepens over the years and changes both women. The descriptions of the area and the country people were wonderful.

House & Home by Kathleen McCleary

Ellen has been married to Sam for 18 years. Sam is a wonderful guy and a great father - but he is also an inventor. An unsuccessful inventor. She followed him around the country chasing his dreams until they finally landed in Portland Oregon. There they had two girls. Ellen was happy living in one place with her family and running her coffee/antique shop. Sam wasn't happy. He felt he couldn't sit in a cubicle and work for the rest of his life. So they mortgaged their house again so Sam could work on the baby beeper. Then they hit their savings. I bet you know where this is going! As the book begins we find out that Sam and Ellen have separated and the yellow clapboard Cape Cod she has loved has now been sold. The new owner to be has stopped by and Ellen can't stand her! If Ellen can't have the house she surely doesn't want "Jordan" to have it - the only solution is to burn it down.
I thought it was a great book.

Julie & Julia 641.5 Pow

Julie is almost thirty and happily married. She's ready to have a baby but that just isn't happening right now. Her going-nowhere job is not fulfilling. While visiting her mother in Texas she sees a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking on the shelf. Julie comes up with the idea of giving herself the assignment of cooking her way through book - recipe by recipe. (If memory serves me correctly, Martha Stewart also did this!) It doesn't sound like that great of read - but it was! I liked when she described the cooking (killing the lobsters made me cringe- as it did Julie) and it was interesting to read about their New York apartment and shopping in the big city. Not only would I not try to cook these recipes - I wouldn't want to look at them from some of the descriptions in the book!

The Year She Disappeared by Ann Harleman

Nan was 60. She is a widow now and enjoying her life after recovering from the grief of her husband's illness and death. She and her only child, Alex, have had a rocky relationship since Alex was young. But one morning Nan receives an urgent phone call from Alex. Nan changes her plans and goes to her daughter's house. Alex tells Nan that her husband Gabriel has been molesting her daughter, Jane. Alex begs Nan to take Jane the next day and to disappear. The plan is for Alex to go to court and get custody while Jane is safe. Their only communication will be through a personal ad in the local paper. Thinking it will only be for a month or so, Nan reluctantly leaves her life behind and boards a plane with her granddaughter. The book kept my attention but I was never that fond of any of the characters! It's worth the read.

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (973 Vow)

Obsessed doesn't begin to describe the author's fascination with presidential assassinations. To satisfy her obsession, she traveled to all the sites she could find that were associated with three presidential assassinations: Lincoln, McKinley, and Garfield. And I mean she traveled everywhere - as far away as the Dry Tortugas to see the fort where Dr. Samuel Mudd was imprisoned for helping John Wilkes Boothe. (Mudd said he was only performing his duties as a doctor. Others disagreed.)

I thought it would be a horribly boring book but it was one that I had to read for a book club. Imagine my surprise to find that I liked it a lot. The author is fairly cynical and has a sarcastic tone to her writing. She realizes how much she is imposing on family and friends (she doesn't drive so has to take them with her to get around) but is unapologetic about her interest in presidential deaths. I enjoyed all the history thrown in as well as all of the coincidences - did you know that Robert Todd Lincoln was connected to all three of these assassinations? Well worth the time spent reading it!

Erased by Marilee Strong 364.152 Str

If you don't like true-crime books you can quit reading right now! I love mystery books but sometimes I like to read about the real cases which are often more bizarre than fiction. Erased is the story of a new type of killer. Actually the type isn't new, just the vocabulary. One of the earliest examples was Chester Gillette. When his factory-working girlfriend became pregnant he made plans to "erase" her. Taking her out on the water for a boat ride (she thought he was probably going to propose), he suddenly hit her with the oars and left her to drown with the boat upturned and his own straw hat floating, as if he too had drowned. (When the police eventually catch up with him he swears that she committed suicide by jumping overboard). His story became famous when it became the inspiration for An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser.
This century's poster boys for eraser killings are Scott Peterson and Mark Hacking. The insight into these men is fascinating. They carefully plan the killings and carry them out with no emotion. In many, many cases the victims are pregnant. Seems these men feel a child doesn't fit in with their own plans.
This is not a gory book - it focuses on the psychological make-up of these killers.

Five Lessons I didn't learn from breast cancer by Shelley Lewis 616.994 LEW

I know - it's another breast cancer book! This one has a different spin on it. Most books in this genre are serious tearjerkers or inspirational stories about the lessons learned from cancer. This one is the opposite. It is written with a lot of humor. Shelly talks about coping strategies while throwing out lines such as "If you honestly think breast cancer is a gift, you can't come to my birthday party". It was an okay book, but if you are looking for insight into the disease and how to help loved ones, we have better ones to choose from.

Without a Backward Glance by Kate Veitch

This is a debut novel - I thought it was terrific and look forward to more by Ms. Veitch. She writes very much in the manner of Pilcher or Binchy. The story begins in Australia where Rosemarie is overwhelmed by her four children and underwhelmed by her husband, Alex. Rosemarie was from post-war England that she found gray, dirty and poor. She was easily taken in by an older man who was going to whisk her away to Australia. Four children later she is missing England terribly. Especially since it is Christmas and she is sweltering in the heat and she is longing for a white Christmas. A car pulls into the driveway and she goes to find out who it is. A few minutes later she comes back in and tells the children she is going to buy some lights for the Christmas tree. And with that she walks out of their lives.
The book takes place in present day and we are introduced to those children - who are by now
into middle-age. The desertion of Rosemarie had, of course, profound impact on them - and we get to read all about it!

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

I'm sure most of you have heard of this book. It's been a best-seller for a while. Randy was a professor at Carnegie Mellon. He was happy with his job, his wife and his kids. Then he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He was asked to give a "Last Lecture" - in his case it was literal, but usually it was a lecture given by professors to share what life had taught them. This is not a long book, but it is very powerful. Randy talks about many things that resonated with me. When you begin the book you know what is going to happen, but there are many, many funny and uplifting parts to this book and very few low parts. Sadly, Randy passed away last month. He left one heck of a legacy!

Twnety Wishes by Debbie Macomber

I listened to this book (courtesy of our new downloadable book system -Wilbor), but we do have the actual book here at the library. This is the fourth in a series of books that loosely take place along Blossom Street. This fourth book can easily be read out of order with no confusion. It is the same theme as the other books. Unhappy people (usually through no fault of their own) who eventually turn things around. This book starts with some widows sharing Valentine's Day dinner together. They come up with the idea of - surprise! - twenty wishes. Many seem out of reach and some seem rather silly. They end up embracing the idea of writing their wishes down and ...... well I won't tell you the rest. A nice book that's an easy read!

Cost by Roxana Robinson

Julia Lambert is one of the 'sandwich generation'. As the book opens she is spending the summer in her Maine farmhouse. Her parents are visiting. Her father, a retired neurosurgeon, has always been critical of everyone. Her sweet mother is losing her mind. It isn't going to be an easy visit. She had no idea how bad things were going to get. When her son Steven comes back from his year in the West, Julia finds out that her other son, Jack, is in trouble with drugs. Steven believes that it is a heroin addiction.
Julia will do anything to save him. She enlists the help of her parents, her (remarried) ex-husband, her distant sister and son Steven. The 'cost' of addiction to a family is told in a way that I felt angry and sorry for all of the characters. Well worth reading.

Comfort- A Journey through Grief by Ann Hood

I read "The Knitting Circle" by Ann Hood last year and I enjoyed it immensely. In that book there was a character whose young daughter had died. She begins to knit in an attempt to keep her sanity during those dark days. That character was based on Ann Hood and this book is her personal story. It is a powerful story compacted into a short book. I don't know to whom I should recommend this book. If you have children you probably don't want to read about a mother losing her child. If you've lost a child I doubt you want to relive the pain.
So that leaves me. "Comfort" is well-written. It makes you feel her pain. You won't forget it.

The Art of Keeping Secrets by Patti Callahan Henry

Annabelle Murphy was married to Knox, the love of her life. Together they had two children and a close group of friends. But two years ago Knox was killed in a plane accident and the wreck was never found. It hasn't been easy but she has managed to handle her grief. Then one day she receives a visit from the sheriff. He has come to inform her that when lost hikers were found, the wreckage of the plane was also found. And there is more. He tells her that a body of a female was also found in the plane. Annabelle's whole world has been turned upside down. All of their close friends swear they do not know who the woman could be. Annabelle decides to travel to the town where Knox had stopped to refuel on his trip and look for some explanation of why her husband was with another woman. And that's all I'm going to tell you! I enjoyed reading it and was drawn into the mystery. Check it out!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House 973.099 Fun

During this oh-so-long political year, this is a great book to pick up and read when you have some time. Beginning with the election of 1948 (Truman vs. Dewey) through the election of 2004 (Kerry vs. Bush), this book takes on a humorous journey guaranteed to bring many smiles to your face! No political party or candidate is exempt from criticism.
Goldwater said of Humphrey's long-windedness:
"Hubert has been clocked at 275 words a minute, with gusts up to 340."
The award for stating the obvious goes to Quayle, who said:
"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
Just two examples to whet your appetite.