Where We Belong
Author: Lynn Austin
The following book review was submitted by patron Janice Visser
Where We Belong by Lynn Austin brings the reader on a worldwide tour for much adventure with the sisters Rebecca and Flora based on Scottish sisters, Agnes and Margaret Smith born in 1843. The sisters live out their faith as they wrestle with questions that most women have regarding marriage, children or adoption, finances and finding out God’s purposes for their lives. The sisters have a favorite saying “God knows when the end of our days will be. We have nothing to fear.” Austin wove that motto into their worldwide adventures and causes the reader to think about how we spend our time on earth now and how to face the present and future. The book constantly had flashbacks to the past to explore the background of the sisters and 4 other main characters: Edmund Merriday, Kate Rafferty, Soren Petersen, and Professor Timothy Dyk. This novel wove in some important historical events such as the discovery by Constantin von Tischendorf of the Sinaiticus text, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the discovery of the “hidden Gospels.” As always, Austin does a beautiful job of describing her characters and making the reader yearn to find out more what happens to all of the characters and the relationship they have with one another. I highly recommend this book!
Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption
Author: Benjamin Rachlin
The following book review was submitted by patron Janice Gintzler:
I just finished Ghost of the Innocent Man, by Benjamin Rachlin. In 1988, Mr Willie Grimes, of Hickory, North Carolina, is imprisoned after the real culprit of a rape gets off free and eventually attacks a dozen others.
If there is a moral to the story, it is that any District Attorney, police district, or prosecutor who does not act with justice in mind, and sloppily does not test evidence in a national database, nor gives fingerprints in evidence may be putting the community at great risk, by taking the easy way out and summarily fingering an innocent person.
The trial is a sham, the defense attorney is not provided any evidence that police collected, which was not much at all. But two fingerprints are recovered. They match the real real culprit, but are never analyzed to figure out to whom they belong. The main “evidence” is an ID of Willie by the raped woman’s neighbor, who gets $1000 for IDing a person she thinks did the rape.
Willie has a watertight alibi, but the jury focuses instead on the paid ID, and convicts Willie.
A woman who was a juror at Willie’s trial later becomes a lawyer. Clerking for a judge, she sees evidence of injustice in the court system. So she begins the North Carolina Innocence project. It takes a while, but eventually, the commission she creates turns to those already in jail. Willie Grimes writes to any and all organizations he can to get help with his fake conviction. Chris Mumma, the innocence lawyer, finally hears about Willie. Meanwhile, in prison, Willie joins a Bible Study organized by Jehovah’s Witnesses. He is baptized into the religion. This helps him immensely to deal with his life in prison for a crime he never committed. Willie keeps getting penalized for never “coming clean” about his crime in prison.
After 25 years, an investigation begins by the Innocence Project. The investigation is thorough.
Please read this mesmerizing book.
Author: Cylin Busby
John Busby’s VW Beetle was infamous because of all the bullet holes it was riddled with after a life-changing incident. An off-duty copy, John was ambushed and shot in the face while in his car. The harrowing story of one family trying to hold it together, and seeking justice is told in alternating viewpoints.
John tells his story of recovery, and wanting revenge, while Cylin gives her perspective of a 9-year old on the situation. Fearing for their safety, we get a sense of a family on the verge of falling apart. We also see how strong they are together. Will John and his family get justice for what was done to them? Read this book and find out! It is a fast-paced story you won’t be able to put down.
Author: Kate Karyus Quinn
Lennie’s dad is an infamous robber who left her in a Chuck Cheese 11 years ago and then mysteriously disappeared. Now at 17, Lennie is dealing with the untimely death of her best friend. Throw in a couple of uncles who make a magic-wish-granting moonshine and a return from the dead of Lennie’s best friend and you have an interesting story. At first Lennie does not realize how special the moonshine is, so she makes a big “oops!” by supplying it at Michaela Gordon’s party of the year. Unfortunately, for these teens being drunk and making come-true wishes is pretty much a disaster! And let’s not forget to throw in a couple of bad guys/are they really that bad-bad guys?
It is a guarantee that you won’t want to put this book down and Quinn’s unique story-telling abilities will leave you begging for more. Quinn is a master at sarcasm. Lennie is a viable character, it’s hard not to feel for her. Quinn somehow masters humor, with some heartbreaking real life teen-angst. Of course, with any good YA novel, there is a super interesting love-interest subplot. Oh and a surprise ending that will leave you shaking your head but happy you read this book. The title suggests that either Lennie is “down” with Shine in a cool kind of way, or she’s over it. Read the book to find out!
5/5
Author: David Perlmutter and Kristin Loberg
David Perlmutter, MD has degrees in neurology and nutrition. He has put his learning into book form for the rest of us. I “read” the book in audio form in my car. What I learned!
Even if one does not have Celiac disease or manifestations of gluten intolerance, gluten in foods one might eat, that gluten goes straight to your blood stream and brain. Over time, gluten ingestion is likely to result in Alzheimer’s’ disease or dementia.
Perlmutter tells us that no matter how much cholesterol one might eat, that has nothing to do with the cholesterol that one’s body produces. The good news: the brain is 2/3 fat and our brains revel in saturated fat and cholesterol. The doctor states that elderly people with high cholesterol have healthy brains into old age.
But a word about saturated fat: it comes from animal ingestion. Most animals that Americans and the world eat are fed corn and soybeans. Ingestion of those animals fills one’s body with Omega 6, with which our bodies are bombarded in all the cake, cookies, sweets, chips, and junk food that one eats.
Instead, buy butter from cows that were pasture raised. Same for all animals that one eats; if the animal eats grass mostly, the meat will be healthy for us and fill us with Omega-3; same for eggs. No factory farmed chickens, please.
Get the audio book from your library and learn as I did!
Review by Patron, Janice Gintzler
He’s Just Not That Into You
Author: Ken Kwapis
This upbeat Romantic Comedy highlights the many struggles you can have, while being in a relationship. There are four different stories told about a failing marriage, a woman who can’t find her match, a woman who keeps falling for the wrong guy, and a guy who won’t propose to his girlfriend.
The different stories keep you guessing on what is going to happen to each of the characters next. This movie will make you laugh, cry, and gasp in shock about what happens. You will not want to stop watching this lighthearted story because of the playful suspense.
Author: Jessica Brody
Sixteen-year-old Ellison Sparks is having the worst Monday ever. She starts off her day by getting a red light ticket, taking the most horrible school yearbook photo, bombing varsity softball tryouts along with her class election speech, and at the end of the day, her boyfriend Tristan dumps her for no reason. Ellie knows that if she had a do-over she could make the day right. Ellie’s wish is granted but can she make it right no matter how many do-overs she gets? Is she stuck in the same horrible Monday forever?
The story is predictable but heartwarming and funny. If you love a light, cute, and contemporary young adult novel and like the movie Groundhog Day, then you will enjoy A Week of Mondays!
Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Three best friends, Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth, have known each other since they were little. They attended Hailsham, a private school, on the English countryside. Everything seems normal for the children, they go to class, attend church, eat lunch, and exercise, but they didn’t know that their teachers were hiding a huge secret: the children are clones that will start donating all of their organs, when are teenagers, until they complete.
Ishiguro brilliantly portrays the love and loss that the children go through in their everyday life. He gives the reader a false sense of hope that leads them to an end that they will never forget. Never Let Me Go is an extraordinary story that brings realization to the beauty of life, and the importance of living in the moment.
Author: Ransom Riggs
Jacob’s grandfather has always told him outlandish stories about the children he grew up with in Miss Peregrine’s orphanage. Tales of a girl who could only stay grounded when tethered, an invisible young man who couldn’t be identified but for his floating clothes. And he had photos to support his claims. As Jacob grows older, he stops giving credence to the old man’s anecdotes, until tragedy strikes and he finds himself in Wales exploring the remains of the building where his grandfather lived as a young man. Could he have been telling the truth about the children after all? Read the novel to find out!
The story is accompanied by vintage black and white photographs that add a sense of mystery and spookiness to the plot. The book is a little creepy, but not so scary that those of us that don’t like horror won’t be able to read it. It’s fast-paced and quick to get through. And if you’ve enjoyed it, there are several more books in the series! Overall, 4.5/5 stars.
Author: Kunal Nayyar
“This is not a memoir. I’m not a president, or an astronaut, or a Kardashian. This is a collection of stories from my life.” Kunal Nayyar, better known as Raj Koothrappali from the hit sit com The Big Bang Theory, begins his “biography” this way. Although his role as the nerdy astrophysicist afflicted with selective mutism launched him to fame, he recounts personal moments in his life with only a sprinkling of his experiences on set thrown in here and there.
In the first chapter, we discover Kunal’s love for Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years and his subsequent disappointing first kiss. We are then taken on a journey of family traditions experienced in India and life-lessons taught to him by his father, including the importance of choosing one’s battles. Then, the setting changes and we follow Kunal to the United States for his college adventure.
During his undergraduate studies, he meets people from all walks of life. He falls in and out of love and gets his heartbroken many times as he attempts to land roles in the acting world. Throughout the telling of all of his escapades, Kunal maintains an air of humor and self-deprecation that keeps the audience entertained.
Funny and light-hearted, this book brings to light the struggles and benefits of merging two cultures. It gives us a look at the man behind the character of Rajesh Koothrappali. A must-read.
Author: Peter Straub
“What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?” “I won’t tell you that, but I’ll tell you about the worst thing that ever happened to me…the most dreadful thing…” These are some of the opening lines from Peter Straub’s 1979 novel Ghost Story. Set in the fictional small town of Milburn, New York, Ghost Story is about a community besieged by dark forces bent on destroying the town. It possesses a great story, has loads of suspense, and is one of the finest horror novels I’ve read.
Reduced to its basic plot, Ghost Story is a tale of revenge. Five young friends (who call themselves the Chowder Society) accidentally murder a woman and cover up their crime. They begin telling ghost stories as a way of dealing with their guilt, only to be haunted by the woman’s ghost fifty years later. Desperate for help, they turn to a young horror author to help exorcise their demons.
But Ghost Story is about much more than this basic plot, although it is a difficult novel to summarize. That’s because Ghost Story is wrapped in ambiguity. Why the creatures (it’s ambiguous if they are, in fact, ghosts) have decided on Milburn is unclear. Presumably, it’s tied to the habit the main characters have of getting together and telling ghost stories in an attempt to bury their dark past. But it’s not made clear if the town’s danger is independently real or a product of the Chowder Society’s imagination. Likewise, the horror author can’t figure out if events in the town are influencing his new book or vice versa. Plus the event from their past tying them together may not have happened at all the way they remember. Even character identities are in flux; at one point a ghost tells a main character “I am you.”
Ghost Story contains numerous references to previous horror authors. It has characters named after Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry James (one of the Chowder Society tells a ghost story that is basically James’s The Turn of the Screw) and the plot is rather similar to Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. But the reader doesn’t have to be well versed in horror literature to understand, or be scared by, Ghost Story. It’s the kind of novel that slowly develops and draws the reader in with deliberate pacing and careful character building. Ghost Story is an overlooked horror classic, and anyone interested in digging a little deeper in the genre should check it out for Halloween.
Author: Elizabeth Kolbert
Elizabeth Kolbert’s latest book, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, is a great book about a tragic subject. As its title suggests, The Sixth Extinction is about the ongoing mass extinction event. Whereas other extinction events have been caused by passive environmental changes or sudden catastrophes like asteroid collisions, the sixth extinction’s cause is pretty clear-it’s us.
Kolbert devotes individual chapters to issues that are accelerating the extinction rate. These include ocean acidification, the rapidly increasing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, deforestation, global warming, and overexploitation. Kolbert also examines several species that are going extinct because of these changes, including golden frogs in Panama, trees in the Amazon, bats in New England, and corals in Australia. Kolbert is quick to point out that humans have been altering the environment for a long time; she has convincing evidence that the extinction of many of the mega fauna from the last ice age, along with Neanderthals, was caused by humans. What’s changed in the last one hundred years or so is the rate of extinction, not its actual occurrence.
The Sixth Extinction is incredibly well written and researched. It’s easy to see why it won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction in 2014, as it explains all of its concepts in a very straightforward manner. It’s intended for a general audience and it’s the best book on its subject I’ve read in a long time, maybe ever. The Sixth Extinction is equally profound and depressing, although it also has occasional moments of dark humor. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in environmental issues.
