How Do I
Terry's Picks
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O’Dell, Tawni Sister Mine Fiction |
| Western Pennsylvania author O’Dell weaves a haunting and original tale of a woman, her sister, and the coal mining life, set in the region she calls home. Shae-Lynn lives in Jolly Mount, PA, home of five miners who nearly lost their lives when trapped underground for several days. Her sister, thought to have died, returns to town, nine months pregnant and using a fake name. Several people follow her to Jolly Mount as her past begins to catch up with her. Shae-Lynn’s own past is looming as well, as the father her son doesn’t know decides to reveal his identity. Will she lose her son, the only part of her life that has remained constant?
In addition to the main storylines, several secondary threads run through the novel. Glimpses of Shae-Lynn’s coal mining relatives and neighbors include the details and dangers of their jobs, the emotional and financial struggles they face, and the affects of the mining culture on everyone in the town. O’Dell’s characters are colorful and amazingly realistic. The novel is suspenseful with plenty of drama, as well as O’Dell’s own brand of black humor.
Recommended September 2008 |
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Franks, Lucinda My Father's Secret War Nonfiction |
| FFrom a small child who felt safe and important in Daddy’s
arms, to the adolescent and young adult of the 1960s who protested
his conservative ways, Lucinda Franks always had strong emotions regarding
her father, Tom Franks. As a middle-aged woman and parent, Cindy becomes
a caregiver for Tom—something she tries to avoid for a period. When
sorting through her father's belongings, she learns that not only
was he overseas during the war, he was a secret agent sent to spy
on the Nazis—something he never talked about and continued to deny
after being confronted. In learning about some of his activities during
the war, including a visit to a newly discovered concentration camp,
she realizes why her father grew apart from her mother during the
first years of their marriage, and why he held certain beliefs. She
gathers information from research, as her father does not freely give
up the details of his service. Caring for him in his final years as
his mind begins to fail, she finds the love she felt for him as a
child. This poignant memoir is written straight from the heart. The
author was also the first female recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for
national reporting. Recommended by Terry, August 2008 |
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Miller, Sue The Senator’s Wife Fiction |
| Newlyweds Meri and Nathan buy the house on the other
side of the wall from Delia Naughton, wife of the former senator,
Tom Naughton. They soon learn that Tom doesn’t actually live there,
but he visits from time to time, sometimes spending the night. Delia,
on the other hand, goes to Paris alone for part of the year. Intrigued
by this seemingly odd marriage arrangement, Meri finds herself searching
through Delia’s personal items, including letters from Tom, while
she housesits for her. She feels a longing to know who Delia really
is inside, as she offers very little of the details of her life to
her new neighbors. What Meri learns about Tom and Delia’s marriage
from those letters shocks her. How could a woman keep forgiving a
man like Tom? During Delia’s next trip to Paris, Tom has a stroke,
and Delia agrees to come home and take care of him despite the protests
of their formidable daughter. Delia is happy now at finally having
Tom as she always wanted him--hers and hers alone--despite his compromised
state. But can this new arrangement really be what Delia wants? Recommended by Terry, May 2008 |
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Levy, Andrea Fruit of the Lemon Fiction |
| A young woman of Jamaican descent, Faith Jackson, grows
up in England. She has spent her entire life around white people,
even living with white friends, and never learned anything about her
heritage. Faith starts to become depressed about the racism she begins
to realize is all around her, although she never seemed to notice
it before. Hoping to bring her out of her depression by illuminating
the family’s past, her Jamaican-born parents send her to their homeland
to visit. Levy’s story about Faith and her family is heartfelt and
warm and she paints each character colorfully and lovingly. As Faith
learns to fit together the branches of her family tree, she sees how
rich her heritage is with ancestors from all over the globe and realizes
their hopes and desires are universal to all, regardless of ethnicity.
The storytelling is generous and detailed. I couldn’t wait for each
new character to be introduced. Recommended March 2008 |
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Shreve, Anita All He Ever Wanted Fiction |
| Nicholas Van Tassel sees Etna Bliss for the first time
by chance. At that moment he decides he wants to marry her. But does
she feel the same? This book is about a fateful meeting and how it
changes the course of two lives. The story is written from the point
of view of Nicholas, 15 years after they met, while riding on a train
to Florida. It is about love and obsession and secrets and desires.
I became so enamored with these two characters, their interactions,
and their private wants and needs, I couldn't wait to see what would
happen next. This story begins innocently, but many surprises are
in store. Recommended by Terry, November 2007 |
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Kellerman, Jesse Trouble Fiction |
| Jonah is just a medical student trying to get home in
New York, when he hears a woman scream. In an attempt to save the
woman from the man attacking her, Jonah inadvertently kills him. This
is only the start of Jonah's problems in this thriller involving murder,
sex, and deception. He ends up having a sexual affair with Eve, the
woman he saved, but she’s not the woman she appears to be. Complicating
matters further, Jonah also feels obligated to help take care of his
former girlfriend who is now mentally ill. From vivid descriptions
of operating room endeavors to the dark accounts of Eve’s sadistic
desires, this chilling novel of suspense is sure to make Jesse Kellerman
a novelist to watch-- a writer with his own bold, contemporary style.
Recommended by Terry, September 2007 |
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McCall Smith, Alexander The Good Husband of Zebra Drive Mysteries |
| This is the latest installment in the No. 1 Ladies Detective
Agency series. Precious finds herself investigating the mystery of
three suspicious deaths, her assistant resigns, and her husband decides
to do some investigating of his own. In addition, Charlie, the garage
assistant, embarks on his own taxi business. Finally, Mr. J. L. B.
Matekoni begins to wonder if he is exciting enough for his wife. For
those looking for the brand of humor and warmth in his characters
only McCall Smith can dream up, this addition to the series does not
disappoint. Recommended by Terry, June 2007 |
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Bayard, Louis The Pale Blue Eye Mysteries |
| Set at West Point in 1830, this unique mystery features
as one of its main characters, none other than Edgar Allan Poe. When
a murder and mutilation of a young cadet occurs, a retired police
officer, Gus Landor, is summoned from his cottage to do the detective
work. He drafts the young Poe, who is also a cadet, as his assistant,
and together they try to solve not one murder, but eventually two.
And who is stealing hearts from the bodies? Landor and Poe form a
bond of friendship because of their mutual intellect (and their love
of alcohol) but soon questions arise between them and distrust threatens
to destroy their alliance. Poe is a wonderful character and the best
part of this book, although the mystery itself is inventive and will
keep you guessing. But Poe's personality is just as you would imagine
a dark poet's to be. He continually mourns for his mother who died
when he was just a young child, and he falls in love with the sister
of a fellow cadet (this cadet, by the way, seems to be the prime suspect
in the case), lamenting that he'd rather die than live without her.
Bayard's beautiful language only adds to the Gothic quality of the
work. Recommended by Terry, April 2007 |
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Crichton, Michael Next Fiction |
| This was a frightening book. Imagine a world where a
university can own your cells, and, therefore, those of your offspring.
Also, ocean creatures are genetically engineered to have corporate
logos on them. There are transgenic creatures such as humanzees that
think and talk like humans, but are aggressive like chimpanzees. Parrots
can carry on a conversation and do math, and wild orangutans can curse
at observers in Dutch. Through several story-lines, Crichton presents
these and other possibilities, and the ethical questions that surround
them. He has done lots of research in the field of genetic engineering,
so his stories are not creepy because they are only science fiction,
but because they are real extrapolations of science today. Anyone
who reads this book will realize that we are just a stone's throw
away from such frightening realities, and that we must address such
topics now, before we really do find ourselves in such a world. Recommended by Terry, March 2007 |
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Nevada Barr Track of the Cat Mystery |
| Anna Pigeon, a Law Enforcement Ranger in national lands
near El Paso, stumbles upon the body of another ranger in a remote
area of the park. Evidence at the scene makes it appear the ranger
was killed by a mountain lion. After other "accidents" occur in the
park Anna realizes that not all the evidence in the death of the ranger
fits a cat attack. Anna begins to piece clues together and, because
of her investigation, soon finds that her world of peaceful tranquility
in the wilderness has become more violent than the old life she left
behind. Recommended by Terry, February 2006 |
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Koontz, Dean Velocity Horror |
| Bartender Billy Wiles leads a fairly reclusive life,
spending spare time only by himself and with his fiance who lies in
a nursing home in a coma. That is, until he finds a note on his windshield:
If you don't take this note to the police and get them involved, I
will kill a lovely blond schoolteacher somewhere in Napa County. If
you do take this note to the police, I will instead kill an elderly
woman active in charity work. You have six hours to decide. The choice
is yours. While not sure whether or not it is a joke, he does confide
in a friend. But the next day a schoolteacher is found murdered. Then
his friend is murdered. When Billy receives a second note, he realizes
he cannot go to the police because evidence of the murders has been
planted in his house. For the next few days, Billy finds himself doing
things he never imagined doing-- breaking into houses, hiding corpses,
destroying evidence, and stalking a killer that keeps souveneirs of
his murders in formaldehyde in glass jars. But can he find the killer
before the killer murders his fiance, the only person that makes him
want to be alive? Velocity is a fast-paced thriller that keeps the
reader guessing until the end. Recommended by Terry, November 2005 |
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Schlosser, Eric Fast Food Nation NonFiction |
| If the low wages of restaurant workers, anti-Union practices
of fast food corporations, dangerous slaughterhouse conditions, and
government lobbies for big business don't make you want to stop eating
fast food, certainly the descriptions of how dirty our meat supply
is will. Although the book begins with a brief history of the fast
food industry and a description of how it became such an integral
part of American culture, it then points out "the dark side of the
all-American meal". After reading this you will never look at McDonald's
the same way again, and you will understand the true "price" of a
fast food hamburger. Recommended by Terry, July 2005 |
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Evanovich, Janet Metro Girl Fiction |
| Alexandra Barnaby's life is hum-drum until her brother
calls her long-distance and a woman screams in the background. Then
he disappears and Alex's (Barney's) life becomes anything but ordinary.
She travels to the Florida Keys to find him and finds herself caught
up in a mystery of international intrigue. With Hooker, aka Nascar
guy, Barney sets offshore into Cuban territory to save her brother's
life, dodging angry Cuban gold seekers and cops along the way. The
novel is classic Evanovich with loads of mystery, laughs in the style
of sexual innuendo, and a bit of romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this
new set of characters even though I'm already addicted to the Stephanie
Plum crew of Evanovich's most popular previous books. Recommended by Terry, January 2005 |
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