Saturday, October 24, 2009

Gardens of Water by Alan Drew

Novel

Explores interactions of a Muslim and Christian family in an Istanbul suburb brought together during a massive earthquake in 1999.

Submitted by Mimi
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

Travel/History

Vowell takes readers to the sites of presidential assassinations and brings into focus the figures involved and the social and political backgrounds. Unusual tour makes for fascinating reading.

Submitted by J.G.
Amagansett by Mark Miller

Novel

A reclusive fisherman finds his life transformed when he pulls up the body of a beautiful young woman in his fishing nets. Literary thriller set on Long Island in 1947.

Submitted by J.G.
The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak

Novel

Linked short stories set up contemporary Japan that explore the need to be loved, understood, and accepted as characters deal with life's sorrows. Perceptively written.

Submitted by Mimi
Sonata for Miriam by Linda Olsson

Novel

Journeying from New Zealand to Poland and on to Sweden, composer Adam Anker uncovers the truth about his parents' fate during World War II and struggles to come to terms with the consequences of a life-altering choice he had made twenty years earlier.

Submitted by Mimi
The Lost City by Henry Shukman

Novel

Combines thrilling adventure and personal discovery in a page-turner set in the Peruvian Andes. Was a New York Times editor's pick in 2008.

Submitted by Mimi

Monday, June 22, 2009

The Dream by Harry Bernstein

Biography

A very interesting biography of the life of the 98 year old author as
his family moves from England to Chicago in the 1920s. Experiencing the
adjustment to a big city, the depression, and falling in love with his
wife of over sixty years, is a touching and good story of the immigrant
experience.

Submitted by The Queen of the Hop
Ten Degrees of Reckoning by Hester Rumberg

Memoir



A gripping story of the hit-and-run collision of a merchant ship and a 47 foot sailboat with a family aboard. The mother's survival and coping with her life make up most of the book. One of the worst cases of post-traumticstress she was able to sue the company who owned the ship and create a foundation to improve maritime safety. Reading it reminds one of the strength of the human spirit.

Submitted by Queen of the Hop
Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

Memoir


A touching memoir by the popular fiction writer about the stillborn baby she delivered in the ninth month. It's an honest moving story of her emotions dealing with the loss and the world as she faces the future. Very moving.


Submitted by Queen of the Hop

Friday, June 5, 2009

Deaf Sentence by David Lodge

Fiction

A retired linguistics professor faces the challenges of retirement, progressive hearing loss, and advising a flirtatious odd-ball graduate student on her thesis about suicide notes. A good book for those who like strong character development and nuanced, introspective, subtly satirical writing.

Submitted by Judith

Friday, May 1, 2009

Dark Tide: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo

history

The author places the molasses flood disaster - a compelling story in itself - in historical context: anti-immigration, terrorism, war efforts, economic problems - a lot that resonates today. It held my attention on a long plane ride and I learned a lot.

Submitted by Judith
Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India by Rory Maclean

travel

Having done the "backpacking trail" across Europe a few decades ago, I was particularly interested in reading about my more adventurous fellow hippies who went all the way to India.
The author retraces their steps, contrasting their world view and the situation then with present-day realities in some very challenged areas. He meets the locals, as well as aging hippies and people who remember the 60's. Quite an interesting look at then and now.

Submitted by Judith

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

"Hands of my father : a hearing boy, his deaf parents, and the language of love" by Myron Uhlberg.

Memoir


This wonderful book is more than just a memoir but a fascinating and moving insight into a loving family where the parents are deaf and the children are not. Reading this book is an education into the deaf culture and a moving tribute to the author's parents. It's also an amazing story of what life was like for the author. Very well written and difficult to put down.

Submitted by Queen of the Hop

Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein

Memoir


The author of this memoir is in his 90s but has written a very interesting book about his experience of growing up in England where the Jews lived on one side of the street and the Christians on the other. The experience itself is interesting and when affections of a young couple from opposite sides of the street become an issue, the story becomes much more complicated. Written by the author as he remembers it from his childhood, the story moves right along and opens the reader's eyes to a life that used to be.


Submitted by Queen of the Hop

Friday, February 6, 2009

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World by Tony Horwitz

History
Travel along with Tony Horwitz as he traces the lesser known history of America from the time of the Vikings upto the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. His informative and entertaining book is filled with stories of Vikings, Moorish slaves, conquistadors and others who roamed and rampaged their way across the continent, often leaving little trace behind. Horowitz travels to many of the locations visited by these early explorers, and you will look at our history in a different light after travelling along with him.

Submitted by PJ
The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian

Novel
An on-the-road story with a twist. John, suffering from Alzheimers, and Ella, who has terminal cancer, have been married for more than fifty years. Deciding that they want one last adventure, they leave Detriot and head for Disneyland in their aging RV. The novel is a blend of memories, personalities met on the road, difficulties faced and thoughts about the future. At times funny, at time poignent, John and Ella show that how one travels is as important as the final destination.

Submitted by PJ
Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

Fiction
This book is reminiscent of the novels of Alice Hoffman. Magic, mystery, family and love are woven together into this beautifully told story of a girl who couldn't stop growing.

Submitted by PJ

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Crashing Through by Robert Kurzon

Memoir

A remarkable story of a man who became blind at the age of three and had the opportunity to have his sight restored when he was forty-six. It would seem a miracle but this very interesting book shows how that is not really the case. What happens is that one's brain has not been seeing all those years and it's a huge adjustment and not completely resolved when you suddenly get your vision. A very insightful personal account and very well done.

Submitted by the Queen of the Hop

Monday, January 12, 2009

After the Fire: a true story of friendship and survival by Robin Gaby Fisher

This is an amazing true story of two young men seriously burnt in theSeton Hall University fire in 2000. They were new roommates who became best friends and provided great emotional support for each other through many months of heroic medical treatments. The author does a wonderful job of describing the emotions of everyone involved. It's a compassionate human story of real people surviving a horrific accident. It could be a sad book but you come away feeling uplifted.

Submitted by Queen of the Hop