Reviews

Staff Review

Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard

By Brad Mehldau Trio
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Scott S.
Nov 1, 2015

 It's a safe bet that I'll kick off every jazz review I write with some statement concerning the dense, cerebral nature of the idiom and its unique and demanding nature. The predictable, metronomic feel of pop (or even most rock, for that matter) makes for an easier, less obtrusive listen. And yet Mehldau and company's 're-telling' ('cover' sounds too simple for the trio's imaginative reinvention) of English rock band Radiohead's "Exit Music (for a Film)" closes out their album, Art of the Trio 4: Back At The Vanguard and is one of many highlights.

Staff Review

Primates of Park Avenue

By Wednesday Martin
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Diane H.
Oct 31, 2015

Seen through the lens of an anthropologist, the women who inhabit the Upper East Side of New York City appear to be a strange tribe with outrageous rituals, beliefs, and attitudes.

In this memoir by Wednesday Martin, we watch as she, along with her husband and young child, journey from lower to upper Manhattan – a trip that is negligible geography-wise and enormous socially and culturally.

Staff Review

From the Dust Returned

By Ray Bradbury
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Sam S.
Oct 30, 2015

The Elliott family is not exactly usual. They dwell in an ancient and very much haunted manor perched on the top of a lightning-struck hill. Not only do some of their members predate time, many are undying, undead, or some variation thereof. Their story is told in a series of chapters that read like vignettes of various extraordinary family members. Some of these stories are bitter, some sweet, most are a bit of both.

Teen Review

Crimson Bound

By Rosamund Hodge
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Oct 29, 2015

Young Rachelle was trained to protect her people from the dark creatures that surround them, which she has always been determined to do. But she hasn't wanted to simply defend, she wants to boldly attack them. She learned the hard way that, unfortunately, sometimes the only effective way to attack the darkness is to embrace it. Now she clings desperately to her soul as one of those creatures, trying to hold off the darkness within herself while still protecting the people. And her work has moved her from a woodland village to the court of the king.

Staff Review

Small Wars

By Lee Child
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Hilary S.
Oct 29, 2015

In this ebook exclusive, we go back to Georgia in 1989. An officer is shot on a deserted road, and while local police have a suspect in custody, MP Jack Reacher is assigned the case. Newly assigned to his post the same day, this case will be a test for Reacher. The murdered officer, Army Lt. Colonel Caroline Crawford, is an up-and-coming young woman, a hotshot in military circles. Reacher wonders how he'll accomplish anything with the staff he's tasked to oversee, so he calls in Frances Neagley to assist his investigation.

Teen Review

5 to 1

By Holly Bodger

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Oct 28, 2015

The year is 2054 and India has a ratio of 5 boys to 1 girl. Girls have now become valuable assets. To combat the selling of daughters to the highest bidder, a group of women have founded a closed country they named Koyanagar. In Koyanagar, young men are chosen to compete for a chance to marry a girl. It is now Sudasa's turn to witness the testing of five young men and then choose one to become her future husband. Sudasa does not want a husband, she does not want to marry and bear children.

Staff Review

The Heart Goes Last

By Margaret Atwood
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Heather B.
Oct 28, 2015

The Heart Goes Last takes place somewhere in the near future, after a catastrophic economic crash. Most people are unemployed. Many are homeless. Young married couple Stan and Charmaine are reduced to living in their car, barely surviving on the money Charmaine makes at her waitressing job.

Staff Review

Baltimore Blues

By Laura Lippman
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Heather B.
Oct 23, 2015

Baltimore Blues is the first in Laura Lippman's series featuring reporter turned private investigator Tess Monaghan. The novel begins with Tess a bit adrift--she has recently become unemployed when the newspaper she worked for went under. To pass the time, she spends her days running, rowing, and doing odd jobs for family members to earn some much-needed cash.