Reviews

Staff Review

Cold Magic


Rated by Josh N.
Jan 21, 2011

Cold Magic by Kate ElliottThis book should be a mess, with it's elaborate alternate history and mash-up of genre bits, but Elliott handles it all with incredible precision. There's Jane Austen-esque romance, swashbuckling adventure, sharp dialogue, weird magic, mystery, intrigue, and several stunning plot twists.

Staff Review

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 20, 2011

As a confirmed Anglophile who enjoys period pieces I find Kate Morton’s mix of modern day and “old England” to be very engaging. Her latest book story begins with Edie’s visit to Milderhurst Castle where the sisters Blythe have lived in seclusion all their long lives.

Staff Review

The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 19, 2011

Set in 1941, The Lost Garden is a beautifully written story about a thirty-five-year-old English woman who volunteers for the Women's Land Army, an organization devoted to growing crops for the war effort.

Staff Review

Shop Class as Soul Craft by Michael Crawford


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 19, 2011

The author chucked a lucrative professional career (he was head of an international NGO at the time) as he began to feel increasingly isolated from whatever it was his efforts were supposed to be producing.  He knew the organization was important, and he understood that it accomplished valuable goals.

Staff Review Jan 19, 2011

If you read any of the Bartimaeus books, be prepared for a whole different kind of story in Heroes of the Valley. It isn't entirely clear from the outset whether this book contains any myth or fantasy, or if it is just a straight up tale of a boy growing up in a small, isolated community.  There are plenty of tall tales in the story - it's just that they deal with person and events in the past.

Staff Review

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 18, 2011

This book meets my foremost criteria for a great book – I was very sorry when it ended. It is a long book and readers may feel they have become part of the story, therefore, making an ending for themselves as well as the story. Much has been written about this book by critics and experts in literature.

Staff Review

Faithful Place by Tana French


Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Jan 18, 2011

Frank Mackey and Rosie Daly were in love and planned to escape together to England. But Rosie didn’t show up for their rendezvous so Frank left home alone. Two decades later he returns to the Dublin neighborhood “Faithful Place” where he grew up and immediately becomes immersed in the family craziness and dysfunction he ran away from so long ago.