Reviews

Staff Review

Before I Go to Sleep

By Watson, S.J.
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Catherine G.
Mar 13, 2015

This thriller slowly unravels to reveal the fragile and desperate mind of a woman with amnesia. Christine's amnesia is so severe that she can't retain memories for more than a day. She wakes up each morning with no idea of who and where she is. She is surrounded by her husband Ben, a doctor, and a friend. She starts keeping a journal on what she learns about herself each day. As Christine begins to rereads previous entries, she finds inconsistencies in what Ben is telling her about her accident, their son, and how all of their family photos disappeared.

Staff Review

Love Me Back

By Merritt Tierce
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Melody K.
Mar 12, 2015

In this novel, Marie, a young mother, is a server at an upscale Dallas restaurant.  Some nights the tips border on phenomenal. Yet, she is slowly suffocating under a great, sorrowful blanket of depression. She exists, she suffers, she endures acts of degradation and abuse from men on the off chance that occasionally she will experience something other than sadness and pain. Her daughter is a buoy that she lets go of to sink back into the nasty muck.

Staff Review

Crazy Love (DVD)

By Dan Klores
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Heather B.
Mar 11, 2015

This is a rather mind-blowing documentary about the twisted "love" story of Burt and Linda Pugach. Maybe love is the wrong word. Obsession certainly fits. Darker descriptors may also apply. At the outset, their story seems like the kind of fairy tale love story cheesy romance movies and novels are made of. Burt was a successful young lawyer, and Linda a beautiful young woman. He sees her walking down the street and decides she's the one, and begins wining and dining her, and taking her for rides in his flashy cars and private planes.

Staff Review

Sea Swept

By Nora Roberts

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Mar 9, 2015

Sea Swept is vintage Nora Roberts. Told from the male perspective, this is the first in The Chesapeake Bay series. Three adult brothers are called home by a dying father’s wish, and they must band together to take care of Ray Quinn’s youngest “lost boy.” The Quinn brothers are not bound by blood but are indisputably family. Each boy had been saved by Ray and Stella Quinn in their teens.

Staff Review

Snowpiercer (DVD)

By Bong Joon Ho, Director
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Jed D.
Mar 7, 2015

Snowpiercer is South Korean director Joon-ho Bong’s over-the-top action movie that will leave few viewers without strong opinions.   Set in 2031, an environmental catastrophe has frozen Earth and the few surviving humans live on a train.  One percent of the train’s population lives in luxury near the engine, while the remaining humans are essentially slaves, working to ensure the survival of the entire train.

Staff Review

A Time to Dance

By Padma Venkatraman

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Mar 5, 2015

Veda lives in India and is a classical (Bharatanatyam) dancer. She lives and breathes dance, has for as long as she can remember. She plans to make dancing her career, despite her mother continually pushing her toward engineering. She is amazingly talented and has just won first place in a major competition. After the competition, the bus taking the competitors back home crashes. She wakes in the hospital with her right leg missing below the knee. Talk about a strong female protagonist! This girl simply will not give up!

Staff Review

Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

By Judy Melinek
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Mar 3, 2015

In Working Stiff, Judy Melinek provides a fascinating look into the work of a New York City medical examiner. Never sensational, Melinek describes some of the more interesting autopsies she’s performed, how she dealt with the families of the deceased, and cases that landed her at crime scenes and in courtrooms—all surprising aspects of this occupation that I had never considered.

Staff Review

The Martian

By Andy Weir
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Caitlin P
Mar 2, 2015

Have you ever felt like you were the only one on the planet to do something? For botanist astronaut Mark Watney, this is a reality for everything he does. Abandoned by the rest of his crew during an unforeseen dust storm, Watney is stranded on Mars after his team fled, thinking it too late to save him. Completely isolated from the rest of humanity, Watney has to figure out not only how to survive, but also how to get back home.