Whoa is my face red!

It has been so long since I updated this blog. I sure do apologize. And I apologize for not checking for comments. I will be more professional about this. . .I promise.

So, I've been reading like crazy in order to escape reality. Between working with da yout' all day and taking my online classes, I've been a little stressed out. (Huge horselaff).

For ya fans, I've just finished Sarah Dessen's "Lock and Key." It's great. The characters are so well developed and the plot is really slice-of-life. And I think her dialog is so real. What can I say? I ripped right through it and I highly recommend it. I also just finished Stephenie Meyer's "Host." I'm a big fan of Twilight-New Moon-Eclipse, and am awaiting Breaking Dawn with all the rest of the devotees. . ."Host" was impressive, though let's face it--it's no Edward Cullen. I recommend it to Meyer-a-holics who need a "fix" until Breaking Dawn comes along.


Now you adult fiction readers, if you haven't read "Madonnas of Leningrad," it's a must-read. It's the story of a woman who is slowly succumbing to alzheimers, and who--in the words of the late-great Kurt Vonnegut, is coming "unstuck in time." Is she a museum tour guide living through the shelling of Leningrad and trying to rescue priceless works of art from destruction? Or is she an aging American housewife with two adult children who don't understand her "issues" and know almost nothing of her former life? The descriptions of life in Leningrad during World War II are gripping. The descriptions of the works of art in the museum are enough to make you cry. This is a beautiful story, and I highly recommend it for anyone.

And then I really enjoyed "People of the Book," by Geraldine Brooks, in which a young Australian scholar restoring a priceless Haggadah wonders about its provenance. We readers are able to travel back in time, era by era, tracing the progress of this rare incunabula from its creation in the 1400s to its re-discovery in 20th century Kosovo.

Right now I'm reading Jhumpa Lahiri's "Unaccustomed Earth," a series of short stories. She is wonderful at describing the lives and experiences of Indians living in the United States, especially second-generation Indians who were born here and are completely assimilated into the culture of the US. But she also paints poignant pictures of the somewhat befuddled adults who immigrated to the states and have been trying to make sense of our culture, sometimes for many years. This is a great book.

I'll try to be more faithful about this blog. Look for an update to the Pittsboro Library Book Club reading list soon!

Cheers!

A few great new books

Lots has changed since April of 2007! I'm now the Youth Services Librarian at the Lee County Library, where I've been since June. Come visit me sometime.

A wonderful book to add to the list: don't miss this one!
The Whistling Season Ivan Doig

Pittsboro Library Book Club Book List

Greetings, readers! The Pittsboro Library Book Club has been meeting for nearly four years now. We've read a combination of fiction and nonfiction.

Weigh in with your comments on some of our past choices, or make suggestions for future selections.

Here's our list of fiction greats and the years we read them:
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2003)
Evidence of Things Unseen (2004)
The DaVinci Code (2004)
Big Fish (2004)
The Clearing (2004)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (2004)
Holidays on Ice (2004)
The Kite Runner (2005)
The Cloud Atlas (2005)
Souls Raised from the Dead (2005)
Gilead (2005)
The Bridge (2005)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005)
My Old True Love (2006)
When the Emperor Was Divine (2006)
Samurai's Garden (2006)
The Summer Guest (2006)
The Namesake (2006)
The Memory Keeper's Daughter (2006)
A History of Love (2006)
Water for Elephants (2007)
Five Quarters of the Orange (2007)
One Thousand White Women (2007)*
A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007)*
The Kitchen Boy (2007)
The Whistling Season (2007)
Suite Francaise (2007)
The Book Thief (2008)
The Uncommon Reader (2008)
Madonnas of Leningrad (2008)
The Mistress of the Art of Death (selected for August, 2008)
The Thirteenth Tale (selected for September, 2008)
The Camel Bookmobile (selected for November, 2008)
Olive Kittredge (selected for December, 2008)

And our nonfiction picks:
Nickel and Dimed (2003)
Small Wonders (2003)
The Professor and the Madman (2004)
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling (2004)
Mississippi Mud (2004)
Into Thin Air (2004)
Waiting for Snow in Havana (2004)
The Bookseller of Kabul (2004)
Other Powers (2005)
The Souls of Black Folk (2005)
Mapping Human History (2005)
Blood Done Sign My Name (2005)
The Beaches Are Moving (2005)
Proud Shoes (2006)
Salt: A World History (2006)
Mirror to America (2006)
Blue Blood (2006)
John James Audubon: The Making of an American (2006)
The Reluctant Tuscan (2007)
A Home on the Field (2007)
King Leopold's Ghost (2007)
My Life in France (2007)
The Glass Castle (2007)
Eat, Pray, Love (2008)
Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution (2008)
Three Cups of Tea (2008)
A Primate's Memoir (selected for July, 2008)
One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life (selected for October, 2008)