Review Links
Main Links
What Our Staff is Reading
The following are fiction and non-fiction titles that have been read and recommended by members of our staff. The initials or pen name of the contributing staff member are noted after each review. The titles may include award winners, not-so-recent bestsellers or a new look at the classics.
November 2009
The Little Stranger
By Sarah Waters
Fiction 2009
This is a gripping combination of spooky ghost story, psychological drama, and social observation. Waters spends the first hundred or so pages building up layers of detail concerning social class and post-war decay in rural Warwickshire. The real story begins when the book’s narrator, Dr. Faraday, a country GP, is called to Hundreds Hall, the gloomy, dilapidated home of the widow Ayres and her two children, Roderick and Caroline. There he treats a young serving girl, diagnosing her vague stomach ailments as mere homesickness, and dismissing her sentiments of something-not-quite-right at Hundreds Hall.
Events move forward beginning with a social gathering in the saloon room which ends in tragedy, as Gyp, Caroline’s mild-mannered dog, is driven to attack a young child. Burn marks rise in the ancient plaster, writing appears on formerly pristine walls, Roderick’s room bursts into flames and characters descend into madness and suicide. Everyone, except Faraday, believes that Hundreds Hall is haunted, and that the ghost is not a friendly one.
In The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters has given us an intelligent ghost story with echoes of Henry James and Edgar Allen Poe. The writing is subtle, the novel builds steadily, and the reader is drawn into this ominous and atmospheric tale by a master storyteller.
Reviewed by Amy Christman
The Gerbil Farmer's Daughter
By Holly Robinson
Nonfiction 2009
This is a delightful memoir about the author's family life. Her father, a Naval officer, decides first to raise gerbils as a hobby that later turns into a successful business as the breeder of laboratory animals. Eventually he becomes an authority on gerbils, authoring several books on the topic. This family is very unconventional and the author chronicles their life with humor.
Reviewed by AJS
School of Essential Ingredients
By Erica Bauermeister
Fiction 2009
Lillian holds a series of cooking classes each Monday evening in her gourmet restaurant. The attendees are different ages, varying professions and all have personal reasons for taking the classes. As they come together to appreciate the love and skill required to make food extraordinary, each gives back to the group and in turn, gains from being part of the epicurean experience.
Reviewed by AJS
Zeitoun
By Dave Eggers
Nonfiction 2009
This is the story of a Muslim American family from New Orleans and the events of their lives due to Hurricane Katrina. It is a very readable story that speaks of our government’s actions and priorities in the wake of a catastrophe and leaves the reader to question the meaning of character and heroism.
Reviewed by sjc
Dispatches From the Edge: a Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival
By Anderson Cooper
Nonfiction 2006
This book is an interesting juxtaposition of CNN journalist Anderson Cooper's career choice and experiences, alongside his personal experiences dealing with the death of his father, and the suicide of his brother. This is a well-written and thought-provoking book.
Reviewed by sjc
If I Stay
By Gayle Forman
Y Fiction 2009
Get out the tissues! This book is about a seventeen year-old-girl named Mia who gets in a car crash with her family and has a decision to make . . . if she should live or die. While it is marketed toward a young adult audience, this book about the important things in life will appeal to all ages. What would you choose?
Reviewed by AP