We love reading... staff picks July 2014.
Memoir of award winning Australian foreign correspondent, Irris Makler, based in Jerusalem since 2002. An intimate portrayal of life as a foreign correspondent, where the deadline is everything. Includes falling in love with a younger Israeli and with a mischievous, escape-artist dog. Very readable tribute to Jerusalem, with interesting descriptions of life there - the beauty, danger and hate and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Reviewed by Anne
The last days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter MosleyPtolemy Grey is a 91-year-old black man, suffering from dementia and living in fear as a recluse in his Los Angeles apartment. Then Robyn Small, a 17-year-old family friend, appears and helps clean up his apartment and straighten out his life. A reinvigorated Ptolemy volunteers for an experimental medical program that restores his mind, and he uses his last days (shortened now by the medical experiment) to delve into the mystery of the recent drive-by shooting death of his great-nephew, Reggie. Mosley again presents a view of black society in modern America, where the dream never quite materialises, and race is always prominent. His focus is on characters, and how they interact. In this book his hero is not an action figure, although violence plays its part in the story, but an old man who needs to find closure before his end. Cleverly written and hard to put down.
Reviewed by Glenn
Loved this book! As usual, Nora Roberts produced an easy to read story that I could not put down. A love story that happens in a picturesque setting with all the dramas that goes with a “little town” lifestyle, in addition to a murder plot. Each character becomes a suspect, which leads to an interesting read.
A book to read when you don’t want to think too much!
Reviewed by Tynelle
My Darling Cecilia
If you're reading this, then I've died . . .
Imagine that you found an envelop containing a letter written by someone that you loved revealing their deepest, darkest secret. This secret is so terrible that it would destroy the life that you had built together and also the lives of others. Celica finds such a letter while her husband is still alive.
When Cecilia’s husband suddenly returns home early from his business trip and begins frantically searching for the letter, she realizes there is much more to the letter than what he led her to believe. Celica opens the letter. The lives of three women who casually know one another are about to collide in ways none of them could have ever expected.
As the story unfolded, you find yourself asking questions like: What I would do? Is it better to know the truth? Should you always tell the truth? Can you live with a lie?
The Husband’s Secret tells the story of three women Celia, Tess and Rachael as they deal with unforeseen truths. The novel is written with alternating perspectives of all three women. It is one of those books that you have to read just a bit more. And just when you think it’s all over the epilogue begins and it is so powerful it blew me away! I highly recommend this book.
Reviewed by Angela
I'm not a dog person and what I know about race car driving could be written on a postage stamp, but this book was a great read. The narrator was actually the dog (Enzo) and the story was told from his perspective. Sounds absurd, but it actually worked very well which says a lot for Garth Stein's writing. Half way through the book I couldn't put it down (hence the late night), but I had to keep the sobs to a minimum so I wouldn't wake the household. That said, it was a pretty uplifting story even if it had it's tragic moments.
It has made me look at man's best friend in a different light and I almost understand why people get so attached to dogs. It also provided an interesting perspective on racing car drivers - not just who they are and what they do, but how they feel about the experience of racing. Garth Stein's bio doesn't say anything about his experience with racing cars, but the way the book is written you come to believe he must know what it is to be a formula one driver. Then again, he obviously doesn't know what it's like to be a dog either, but he has you believing they must feel and act just as he describes them.
Reviewed by Barb
