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Staff Reads

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Jen's Read

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
by David Sedaris

I’m listening to Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls. Once again, Sedaris's wit and writing style have me laughing. Sedaris draws, as he often does, from family history and traveling. My daily dose of reading 1–2 essays is my not-at-all-guilty pleasure.

Note: I'm spending most of my "spare" time reading and reading and reading the script for The Dixie Swim Club, which will be running at the Long Lake Theater later this summer.

Sally's Reads

Wild
by Cheryl Strayed

Am I the last person to have read Wild? I held off, waiting to read it for a recent book group meeting. When Strayed was in her twenties, her mother died and her life quickly fell apart. After four years, she impulsively decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail as a way to regain her life. In turns, the book is funny, moving, and surprising as it chronicles Strayed’s travels. And by the way, it made for great discussion.

The Invisible Ones
by Stef Penney

A few years ago, one of the Sister Wolf groups read The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. It’s been a long wait for the next book, which is The Invisible Ones. In this book, private detective Ray Lovell has his hands full when he’s hired to find Rose Janko, who has mysteriously disappeared. Rose (and Ray) are part of the invisible ones—gypsies in England. Penney has written another gripping book!

ann's Reads

A Good American
by Alex George

The story begins in the early twentieth century as Frederick and Jette Meisenheimer leave Germany to begin a new life in America - Missouri as it turns out. We follow the family as through the generations the characters work to make a life for themselves and grapple with what it means to be a good American. An interesting aspect of the story is the prevalence of music. I found A Good American to be an engaging story with some surprising twists.

Ordinary Grace
by William Kent Krueger

The place is New Bremen, Minnesota. The year is 1961. The story is told by thirteen year old Frank Drum whose sister's murder is just one of the tragedies befalling the town that summer. Ordinary Grace is reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird. While it is a story of tragedy, it is also a story of integrity, strength, and hope. I've been recommending this book to everyone I know.

Gail's Reads

Winter Garden
by Kristin Hannah

Anya's daughters do not understand why she is so cold and distant. Only when she tells old Russion folk tales does she seem to warm up to them. When their father dies he says, "Make your mother tell the whole folk tale." In the telling they discover who their mother really is and also things about themselves. There is a suprise ending that one would not expect. A good summer read.

The Orchard
by Theresa Weir

The setting for this memoir is an apple farm. It's about the business of growing apples; profit versus environmental issues. Also it’s the story of family members trying to relate to each other. The author’s use of words makes the smells of the farm come alive-the earth, apples, hay and even the pesticides! A good read.

Yellow Bird
by Kevin Powers

This book contains very powerful descriptive writing. Several have said this story helped them to relate to veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hannah's Reads

The Wolf Gift
by Anne Rice

Rueben the Man Wolf is Lestat crossed with Jacob Black. It starts slow but builds, in classic Rice prose. The wolf phenomenon is presented not as a curse but as a gift, raising the “moral mystery” of violent revenge. The Wolf Gift ending clearly sets up a series. (The cover is odd: Rice’s Man Wolf has blue eyes!)

The Show Child
by Eowyn Ivey

It starts like an Alaskan Giants in the Earth, but once the mysterious child appears you are uncertain whether you’re reading a Russian fairy tale, a Jack London novel, or maybe a Robert Service story for the camp fire. Early 20th century life in the Alaskan wilderness is vividly described, and I’ve never had such a sensation of being in the head of a very quiet man. One of the several joys of this book is watching how he and his wife grow together and learn to love their frontier home.

In the back of the book Ivey extols her experiences working in a bookstore that sounds much like the way I picture Sister Wolf!

LuAnne's Read

Meander
by Jeremy Seal

I found the title appropriate for following a Turkish River whose name has come to mean slow progress. Meander follows Seal’s journey from the central Anatolia Plateau to the Mediterranean Sea. He shows his love of the Turkish people and explores Turkey’s experiences being a meeting place of West and East while discovering what happens to an ancient river in modern days. An interesting book!

Bury Your Dead
by Louise Penny

Get out your tea pot! This book is just right for slipping into your jammies and curling up under the blanket on a rainy evening of enjoying an old friend's company. Lovely mystery. Engaging characters. A little history (where was Samuel de Champlain buried?) with wonderful descriptions of Quebec City in Canada. Louise Penny continues to provide great escapes that make you think .

Mariah's Read

Deception Point
by Dan Brown

I loved this book! Dan Brown does a wonderful job weaving a fictional story from real facts, places, and agencies. This particular story revolves around a NASA discovery in the Arctic Circle. The author writes the plot in a way that keeps you guessing what is going to happen next!

And the Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini

This is the newest book by the author of The Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns. The story follows several generations of characters, focusing on their interactions and how the choices each one makes affects both themselves and those around them. Very interesting plot and a must read if you enjoyed the other two books by this author!

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