Good Reads & Views

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Fiction

1867 Ontario, Canada. Mrs. Ross, who narrates parts of the book, finds the murdered body of a trapper in his cabin. Her teenage son Francis, who was friends with the dead trapper, has disappeared and is assumed by some to have been the killer. She decides to go searching for Francis with the help of half-Indian trapper William Parker. Of this 2006 Costa Book of the Year winner, Booklist writes the following: “This atmospheric, multilayered first novel is part murder mystery, part historical saga, and part meditation on civilization versus wilderness. The sparsely settled, frozen landscape is vividly evoked, and each stage of the pursuit takes the characters deeper into the wild and deeper into him-or her-self.”

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Niki Jabbour’s Veggie Garden Remix by Niki Jabbour
Nonfiction

Looking to spice up your garden harvest? Learn about unusual garden varieties of lettuce, radishes, and other veggies to try as well as plants you might now have considered – like chickpeas, ground cherries, walking onions, and more. Organized by the kind of veggie, this book demystifies veggies beyond the typical lettuce and tomato gardens and gives growing tips and encouragement for adventurous gardeners.

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The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick
Fiction

Arthur Pepper lived a quiet and contented, if very ordinary, life with his wife Miriam. One year after her death, he discovers a charm bracelet among her things that he has never seen before. There is a telephone number on one charm and thus begins a most surprising odyssey to London, Paris, and India to discover who Miriam was before she met Arthur. Arthur’s journey of self-discovery is a story of optimism and healing.

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
YA Fiction

Texas town-treasure, Harper Price, is exactly what a proper southern belle should be: hard working, sweet, and pretty, but when she is suddenly the lone witness to the death of a sword wielding janitor on the night she is supposed to be crowned homecoming queen, everything is turned upside down. Now, she’s charged with protecting her high school nemesis—David Stark, rumor-starting school reporter—to the death as his sworn paladin. With new super powers in agility, strength, and fighting that seem to come out of nowhere, Harper must combat those who want David dead all while surviving cotillion and salvaging some semblance of her disintegrating social life. Rebel Belle, by Rachel Hawkins, is a quick but gentle stand in for a butt-kicking vampire slayer. It is missing the witty dialogue and timely teenage topics of its inspiration, but may serve as an appropriate introduction to the superior work that so obviously inspired it. A fine read on its own, it’s concluding pages make promises worth reading more about in its next installment: Miss Mayhem.

 

 

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
Fiction

Lisa Scottoline delivers another thriller about Ellen Gleeson, single mother of an adopted son and a reporter, who gets a flyer in the mail asking if she’s seen a missing child. As she looks closer she realizes it looks a lot like her own son and she can’t help shake the feeling that it could be. She thinks back to the legal adoption process of her son and tries to remember if there was anything unusual about it. The question keeps coming up if her son Will was really someone else’s child would she give him up. She begins to investigate and uncovers clues that help her get to the truth. The audiobook is wonderfully narrated by the actress Mary Stuart Masterson. Highly recommended on audio.

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The Memory Code by Lynne Kelly
Nonfiction

Australian Kelly became fascinated with songlines, which are still used by some elders. She learned that, instead of being a religious ritual, they help initiates remember the enormous amount of information their people need to survive in a harsh country. And then she broadened her scope, exploring ancient and modern methods of memorization, and looked for ways to apply them. Our ancestors went to an awful lot of trouble to build sites like Stonehenge and Easter Island, and draw enormous figures at Nasca, especially considering how hard their lives were already. What if there was a practical purpose for all of them in an oral culture? A fascinating and original look at pre-history, with practical applications.

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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Nonfiction

In this inspiring memoir about perseverance and self-sufficiency, William Kamkwamba describes his successful efforts to build a windmill to provide electricity to his small African village. Due to his family’s hardships following a devastating drought, they could not afford school tuition, so as a teenager Kamkwamba began teaching himself using library books… which is where he taught himself the science of building a windmill. By combining his technical aptitude with his curiosity and tenacity, he succeeded despite facing fear and mockery from others in his village. By turns sobering and triumphant, Kamkwamba’s narrative is a story of youthful exuberance, a love of learning, and hope in grim circumstances.  

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A Man Named Dave by David Pelzer
Nonfiction

This book is the conclusion to a trilogy that began with  A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy. It’s a very redeeming ending to the horrible true story of David Pelzer’s life-threatening childhood. Pelzer is the epitome of a self-made man, and for over twenty years he has been a catalyst for dramatic social change by promoting resilience. His passion to help others is inspiring and allows us to delve into the mind of the traumatized child and witness their emotional and mental journey into adulthood.

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Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Nonfiction

You’ll feel both angry and hopeful after reading this clear and concise narrative about the American legal system. Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and MacArthur Grant recipient Stevenson has been called “America’s young Nelson Mandela” by Bishop Desmond Tutu. His memoir is a searing indictment of the American justice system, and an inspiring story of one man's battle to right the wrongs embedded in the system. Stevenson tells his story the way a good lawyer builds his case, layering intensive research with pointed facts, bringing in points of law as well as details that pull on the heart. His work as an activist lawyer has spanned more than 30 years, and he describes this work defending “hopeless cases,” freeing people from excessive punishment or wrongful convictions. The overarching narrative is the story of Walter MacMillan, an African-American man on death row for killing a white woman despite credible evidence to the contrary, but numerous other cases are covered.

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Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll
Nonfiction

After she called the cops on a party, Melinda is shunned in school by almost everyone. She’s depressed and angry and won’t say why, but slowly she finds her voice through art and tells her side of the story. The original book Speak was a powerful semi-autobiographical novel about sexual assault. Emily Carroll’s images enhance the story and show Melinda’s unspoken emotions and her evolution through art.

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