March 2009 Staff Book Reviews

Last Updated on Friday, 30 July 2010 15:08

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Action, adventure, romance, murder and spaceflight await readers in this month's staff book reviews.

The diligent staff of the Pioneer Library System have selected an amazing list of children, teen and adult titles that will have you rushing to check them out or to place a hold.

So take a look below and click Read more... to see the other recommended reads this month.

Oh! Be sure to check out the PLS Big Read events featuring Harper Lee's classic To Kill A Mockingbird, starting in March.

The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman
Genre: Children / Teen Fiction
Reviewer: Mary Lea Wallace, Norman Public Library  

From the first line, "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife," award-winning master of the macabre adventure, Neil Gaiman draws the reader irresistibly into an otherworldly existence where "It takes a graveyard to raise a child." The evil force that brought death to the child's family will find its goal blocked by the deathless force of love. But for how long? The memorable characters in this dark, often wry, fast-paced novel include all the types that inhabit nightmares. This adventure takes fans of Coraline to the most ancient depths of creepy existence.

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
Genre: Adult Fiction
Reviewer: Cindy Stevens, Center for Readers Services

In The Sugar Queen Josey Cirrini finds friends, love and family.  Allen weaves a an addictively sweet story with the perfect touch of magic.  Josey is 27 and still lives at home with her mother.  Her father was the most powerful man in town, founding the ski resort on Bald Mountain, North Carolina.  Josey's life revolves around her elderly, very southern, very strict mother.  Josey has a secret closet she keeps full of her favorite treats and romance novels.  One day she finds a woman, Della, sitting in her closet.  Della sends Josey to a little deli to purchase a sandwich for her.  Josey meets Chloe, who owns the deli.  Chloe was dating Jake, who's best friend is Adam, and Josey has loved Adam from afar for several years.  So blossoms the life of Josey Cirrini.  This is a great "chic-lit" book, with a slightly chubby, shy, self conscious, romantic-dreamer protagonist.  She was a terrible child, lots of sass and confidence.  After her father's death when she was 9, her mother has successfully reigned her in.   Seeing Josie grow and gain confidence is a  treat in itself and the reader cheers her on throughout the book.  Allen has a real talent for weaving the magical into the everyday.  If you enjoy The Sugan Queen, you will enjoy her first book Garden Spells. 

The January Dancer by Michael Flynn
Genre: Adult Science Fiction
Reviewer: Aaron Pence, Moore Public Library 

If you're up for an intellectual space opera - think of a hyperlinguistic, religious Dune, or a weird, future-world Tristan and Isolde - you'll love The January Dancer.  If you just like big, sweeping sci-fi, you're in luck; you're still holding an exciting, political, laser-shooting romp of a book.  Heinlin Award Winner Michael Flynn's latest effort is unique and rewarding.  Outside of the story - a tense plot about chasing down a mysterious, pre-human artifact - there are many smaller ideas to wrap your mind around: the mongrel language of the galaxy's inhabitants (who use words like pleetsya and pyatza); the druidic sont-forms that structure the book and the harpist who is trying to compose a song about the Dancer; the mulitlayered, hidden history of the peoples of the galaxy; and the curious position of the planet Jehovah, the transportation hub and, in curious ways, religious center of the book.   These are just a few reasons to read The January Dancer!

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Genre: Adult Fiction
Reviewer: Susan Gregory, Norman Public Library 

I was shocked by this book.  I was shocked because I thought it would be a light, frivolous read and found it to be instead a thoughtful, sensitive and beautifully written story.  American Wife is, of course, the thinly veiled fictional account of Laura Bush's life.  Names have been changed to protect the innocent and to allow the writer, Curtis Sittenfeld, a great deal of imaginative license.  The story is a familiar one: a young liberal children's librarian, an only child from modest means, meets and marries the rowdy, handsome son of wealthy and powerful parent who happen to be figureheads in the Republican party.  Over the course of her marriage, her husband moves haphazardly through the ranks to become President of the United States and serves the country with mixed results through the tragedy of 9/11 and an unpopular war.  How did a passionate Democrat create a successful marriage to the most visible Republican in the country, much less win over his family?  Thrust into a life of power and prestige, Alice Blackwell became the popular First Lady who somehow managed to hold onto some of her deepest convictions while facing the enormous contradictions inherent in her marriage.  Time and again, I found myself turning back the pages to study the author's photograph on the book jacket and wonder how such a young author could write a book that's so wise in the ways of the world.  This is an engaging, fascinating look at characters we area all familiar with but really don't know.  The reader will recognize some of the characters from the evening news.  Hopefully, you'll enjoy seeing how they reached notoriety - as imagined by Ms. Sittenfeld - as much as I did.

Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte
Genre: Adult Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Theresa Tittle, Norman Public Library 

What would you get if you melded C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower with Bernard Cornwell's Richard Sharpe and Dumas' Musketeers?  You would have Arturo Perez-Reverte's internationally best selling series starring Captain Diego Alatriste.  In this series Perez-Reverte, author of best sellers such as The Club Dumas and Queen of the South, follows the swashbuckling battles of Captain Alatriste a one time Spanish soldier turned swordsman-for-hire, and his teenage protégé Inigo Balboa.  They hale from Spain but the action takes place throughout Europe as Spain is embroiled in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648).  The tales are told by the now wiser and retire Balboa as he looks back at the adventures he and Alatriste shared during his teen years.  Balboa portrays Alatriste as an unparalleled swordsman, an introspective, loyal and yet politically astute soldier and a man with an unmatched mustache.  Over the course of the four books Alatriste and Balboa, in conjunction  with a handful of compatriots that reappear throughout the series, find themselves battling Dutch soldiers on the battlefields of Breda, fighting pirates attempting to hijack the king's gold, matching wits and blades in palace conspiracies and taking on church intrigue during the Spanish Inquisition.  And if this wasn't enough danger in his young life, the teenage Balboa falls for the beautiful but nefarious Angelica de Alquezar, lady-in-waiting to the queen.  If you like smart engaging plots, stories rich with details of a different culture and time, and well-mustachioed swashbuckling heroes - this series is for you!

Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Caroline Funke
Genre: Children Fantasy Fiction
Reviewer: Mary Lea Wallace, Norman Public Library  

How can one girl would-be squire save her castle from invaders while her parents recover from accidentally turning themselves into pigs? Cornelia Funke (the Dragon Rider) builds the excitement to an unexpected conclusion where courage and resourcefulness overcome evil power.

Down Cut Shin Creek: The Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky by Kathi Appelt
Genre: Teen / Adult Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Cindy Stevens, Center for Readers Services  

This was a happy find while searching the catalog for a customer on information about horses in Kentucky.  I saw it and had to put it on hold for myself!  Maybe you are familiar with the Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky, but I had never heard of them before.  In 1933, during the crippling poverty and suffering of the Great Depression, FDR instituted the WPA.  The early programs involved heavy labor by men and in fact built the infrastructure we enjoy today - road, parks, schools, power plants, etc.  By 1935 though, many families were headed by women and there was a need to create jobs for them.  One of the most successful projects, The Pack Horse Library Project, was in the most poverty stricken part of the country - Kentucky.  Local women were employed at $28 a month to deliver used/donated reading materials throughout the rural parts of Kentucky.  These women rode about 50 miles a week in all weather to very dangerous and remote areas.  They had to provide their own horse or mule.  It is a fascinating story and makes me very proud to be in this profession.

This is a very small Young Adult book and I read it in about a half an hour.  The story is inspiring, but the really magical part of the book is the pictures!  Every page has a photo from that period.  Oh, the crushing poverty!! The service that the "Book Ladies" gave is felt even today.  The Pack Horse Library Project was ended in 1943, but in 1956 Congressman Carl D. Perkins from Kentucky sponsored the Library Services Act.  This was the first act to make federal appropriations for library service. The school that Perkins taught at in the 1930s was serviced by a Pack Horse Librarian.  I highly recommend this little book - just to lift your spirits and fill you with the "Book Spirit!"  It is also a wonderful peek into our history with fabulous pictures, a few recipes, and the great story of our Pack Horse Librarians.