Sweater Quest by Adrienne Martini 746.43 Mar

This book is not for everyone. To enjoy it I think you need to have a love of or an interest in knitting. I am a wannabe knitter but I am mired in making needlepoint Christmas stockings - so knitting is on hold. Martini found out how a craft that can be repetitive is very soothing to the soul. It saved her sanity - really! So after many scarves and hats she is ready for a challenge. The story behind the pattern is quite the story. The technique....well it was waaaaayy beyond my understanding and made me realize that I am too old to ever learn enough knitting to attempt something like that. Her goal was to finish the sweater in a year.
If you decide to read this book, I suggest you first go to Google and find the link to Mary Tudor Sweater and from there to the martinmade - and now the picture can be shown. You will see the picture of the finished project ( oops - I ruined the ending, didn't I). I didn't do this but I think you should! I had a hard time picturing this as I read and this would have been so much better.

Columbine by Dave Cullen

Ten years after the Columbine High School shooting, journalist Dave Cullen has written a comprehensive account of what happened that day, the aftermath, and, perhaps most telling, the events leading up to April 20, 1999.

This is not a sensational look at the tragedy - there are no gory photographs or descriptions. Nor is it an inspirational telling meant to memorialize the event, but is instead a journalistic look at what happened based on the basement tapes and journals created by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, police evidence, and interviews with eyewitnesses.

Cullen's account debunks some popular myths of the event and looks at how the media perpetuated these myths in an effort to produce a simple "answer" to why this happened. The books follows the families through the years to see the long-lasting effects and how they coped. It also analyzes how this tragedy affected the nation and how we deal with school shootings now.

What I liked best is that Cullen's account is a sympathetic but unsentimental view of the tragedy. I think it's an excellent example of good journalism which reads as well as some of the best fiction. What surprised me the most in reading it was how much sympathy I felt for the parents of Eric and Dylan. My only disappointment was that Cullen placed most of the blame on Eric, so much so that Dlyan seems almost absolved of responsibility.

Obviously, it's not a cheerful book to read, but now that the reports and evidence have been released to the public (except for some pages the police "accidentally" destroyed that detailed what they knew about Eric Harris before the shooting) the book is able to provide context to the tragedy.

Columbine is available at the Indianola Public Library in the nonfiction shelves under the number 371.782 Cul.

Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson

Every time I unpack a box of books there are vampire books - everyone is writing about them. Well I don't read that stuff - except I just did! But in this book there really isn't a true vampire - just a wanna be, and he's not in the middle of a Jane Austen story and there aren't young innocent girls drooling at his feet. So I feel that I am reading a much higher class of vampire literature!
Our heroine is Kristi Bentz. I think she might have been in an early book because she certainly had a harrowing adventure earlier in her life! As this book opens Kristi has recovered from her traumatic attack and is ready to leave her dad's home and get back to a real life. She want to be the next Ann Rule and write a true crime book. She also needs some more education to get the proper background in forensics and in writing. So she goes back to her former school called All Saints College - there seems to be some real crime there. Four girls have disappeared in the past two years and no one seems to care. It is presumed that they are dropouts.
Kristi does some sleuthing of her own. She also contends with her freshman roommate who is now a professor at the college. They weren't friends then and they aren't now either. And here is an even bigger coincidence - Jay is a former lover and is now filling in as a prof in a class that Kristi has just signed up for!
One can guess about the romantic involvement that is bound to happen, but I still enjoyed the mystery and the shadowy characters. Now that I too have read a vampire book, I think I'll move on to something else!

Someone Will Be With You Shortly by Lisa Kogan 070.92 Kog

Do you need a laugh? Do you want a book that you can pick up, read for a while and then come back to when you have another ten minutes to spare? Then check out this book! Reading it I was reminded of Nora Ephron's book I Feel Bad About My Neck and various books by Erma Bombeck and Jean Kerr (I may be wrong about the name of that author, but she wrote the book Please Don't Eat the Daisies).
Kogan writes about her life which is not an extraordinary one - she just makes it very entertaining. You will be able to identify with many of the situations in the book. Just the title alone makes me laugh.
It's summer - so take a break from all the bad news on the tv and entertain yourself with this lighthearted read.

Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas

I enjoyed listening to this audio book. The story takes place in Colorado in the 1920's. The lifeblood of the town is the mining industry. As the book begins there is an avalanche. A woman happens to be looking out the window when it happens and is horrified to see that children were swept away. School had just let out and the ones who left school quickly ended up in the deadly path of the avalanche. Then Ms. Dallas tells the background of each of the nine children who are missing. The end of the book goes back to the day of the avalanche and we learn the fate of the children.
It is well-written and the characters are interesting. I was particularly intrigued by the story of the Civil War veteran and the prostitute.

The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark

I was number 46 on the hold list but I got lucky because we received the large print copy and I was able to snag it! It's a typical Mary Higgins Clark book - I'm never bored and it reads quickly and easily. In this latest book and elderly woman, Olivia, has been given two weeks to live. You would think at 83 with that prognosis she wouldn't really be able to do anything. But she is tough and despite the fatigue she manages to makes several trips in a car (with a driver!). She is searching for some inspiration from the spirit of her dead cousin, Catherine. (This is figuratively not literally!). Catherine was a nun and is now being considered for beatification in the Church. Catherine was a good, good person but she did have a couple of secrets - like a child she bore. Olivia has evidence of who that child grew up to be and also the identity of the father.
So let me just say that there is an inheritance involved, some scams going on in a family charitable foundation and people who are willing to kill to keep secrets hidden. Plenty of characters to love and to hate!

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

If you're in the mood for a simple, feel-good story, watch Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side and steer clear Michael Lewis' book The Blind Side: Evolution of the Game. The book lets pesky little things like real life interfere with the Hollywood story.

Both the book and movie explore the relationship between Michael Oher, a black child born into poverty and a dysfunctional family (at one point Michael has a hard time remembering the names of all his siblings - most of whom have different fathers) and the Tuohys, the rich, white Republican family who takes him under their wings and help him reach success in the NFL.

The story of Micheal's ascent to the NFL is truly amazing and inspirational. But it's the complicated relationship between Michael and the Tuohys that make this story interesting. The Tuohy's are neither as innocent of ulterior motives as their fans assert nor as self-serving as their critics claim but are instead a natural combination of both.

[Although they truly love Michael, one has to wonder if their influence in steering him to sign with their alma mater, Ole Miss, was really in Michael's best interest. Clearly, playing for the University of Iowa would have been a much better choice - but maybe I'm biased].

My one complaint about The Blind Side is that Michael remains a mystery. His thoughts, motives, and personality are unknown even though the story is ostensibly about him. Still, it's a great book, and I really enjoyed it.

You can find The Blind Side at the Indianola Public Library in the nonfiction shelves under the number 796.332 Lew.