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.

January 2008

The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
Fiction 2006
Karin leaves her life in Sioux City, Iowa to move back home to Kearney, Nebraska and care for her younger brother, Mark, after he is injured in an automobile accident. Mark experienced a traumatic brain injury that left him with Capgras Syndrome. This makes him believe that his sister is an imposter. Karin must cope with the fact that she has given up her old life to care for a brother that doesn't believe she is who she says she is. She enlists the assistance of Gerald Weber, a best selling author and neurologist. Together they try to work out the puzzle of Mark's disorder.
Reviewed by KLS

Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida
Fiction 2007
Clarissa's mother disappeared over a decade ago. When her father dies suddenly, she discovers that he was not her biological father. She embarks on a trip to Lapland to search for both of her parents. A stark contrast to her life in NYC, her travels take her to an isolated landscape full of short days, bitter cold, ice hotels and reindeer herds.
Reviewed by KLS

Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Fiction 2006
What if Alice in Wonderland really did exist in a parallel world? In this exciting fantasy Alyss Heart struggles to return to the kingdom of Wonderland to regain control of the throne over her wicked Aunt Redd. First book in a trilogy.
Reviewed by mab

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
Nonfiction 2007
The Nazi subjugation of Poland is brought to life in this nonfiction work based on the diaries of Antonina Zabinska. With her husband active in the resistance, Antonina is ideally suited for assuming responsibility for her family, the myriad animals and the "Guests" - resistance fighters and Jewish refugees. The Nazi obsession with Aryan plants and animals was not known to me and added a new dimension to the human drama.
Reviewed by PAS