Reviews

Staff Review

The Many in One Writing Contest Winner

By Kent Moore
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Helen H.
May 10, 2017

The Readers Advisory committee is very pleased to announce that Kent Moore has won the Open Category of our The Many in One writing contest with his entry "Rooted and Grounded in Love". In it, our protagonist Grace, is caught between the conflicting identities of wife and mother. The complexity of those relationships adds layers to Grace that we, as readers, get to know, but her daughter may never understand.

Staff Review

Rules for a Knight: the Last Letter of Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke

By Ethan Hawke
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Octavia V.
May 7, 2017

Thomas Hawke is a troubled boy, whose mother died in childbirth. His father, tired of his bad behavior, tells him that his great-grandfather who was once a wise knight is still alive and lives on a hill. Thomas goes there to ask his great grandfather, "Everyone claims you are the wisest man in the realm.

Staff Review

New Releases - May 2017!

By Various
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Gregg W.
May 6, 2017

Welcome to yet another edition of our monthly look at new titles we think should be on your radar for the month of May. Obviously, we can’t read every single book that comes out – contrary to popular belief, librarians can’t sit around and read books all day. (We tried that once, but then we got yelled at.) But, we do hear things, and when we hear those things, we like to pass them along to you.

Staff Review

The Roanoke Girls

By Amy Engel
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Diane H.
May 1, 2017

The Roanoke Girls is a disturbing, compelling read. While the “big, dark secret” is revealed early on, the story still draws the reader in. I had to find out what happened to the Roanoke girls, the sisters, aunts, cousins. They seemed to be such studies in contrast: darkness and fire, guilt and defiance, innocence and desire.

Staff Review

Six Wakes

By Mur Lafferty
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Courtney S
Apr 27, 2017

Somewhere far away from earth, six crew members wake aboard a spaceship bound for a new colony. As clones, the crew members are accustomed to waking up in new bodies, usually with their memories intact. This time, though, decades of memories are missing. And worse, someone has murdered the old bodies of the crew members. Without any record of what happened and why, the crew must fight to solve a murder in which they are all prime suspects, even to themselves.

Teen Review

Court of Fives

By Kate Elliott
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Apr 26, 2017

This offers a complex, rigidly hierarchical society and a protagonist stuck right in the middle of it, with plenty of tense action resulting.

Staff Review

300 Arguments

By Sarah Manguso
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Helen H.
Apr 26, 2017

Here at Johnson County Library we're always on the lookout for insightful words about writing. Sarah Manguso's latest book, 300 Arguments, contains quite a few. At its most basic level, the book is a collection of aphorisms. And, since Manguso is a professional writer and writing teacher, some cover that topic. Here are a few to mull over: