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Jen's Picks |
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The Interestings
by Meg Wolitzer
I’d heard of Wolitzer before but never read her work. I've also heard Wolitzer talking about books on public radio and liked what she had to say. The Interestings is about a group of six people who meet at a summer camp in the 1970s for young, gifted artists (ranging from dancing to acting to painting to animation). They return to the camp several summers in a row, keep in touch during the school year, and maintain their friendships as they graduate from high school and begin college (and beyond). Their lives unfold in various ways. Much of the story takes place in the 1980s in New York. The author does a good job of looking at the politics and problems of the time with "1980s vision.” Wolitzer goes back and forth in time throughout the book (don't worry, it's easy to keep track) and reveals more and more about each character as she goes. Occasionally we get to re-live scenes from different perspectives. The characters are becoming real to me—it’s one of those books where I catch myself wondering about the characters while not reading the book. I'm enjoying this book a lot and am making a mental list of the people I want to insist read it so we can talk about it! I also plan to read more Wolitzer!
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Triggering Town
by Richard Hugo
I'm reading Triggering Town for an online poetry class I'm taking with LouAnn Muhm through the Loft Literary Center. So far I like Hugo's style and I look forward to savoring this slim volume over the next 8 weeks.
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Little Wolves
by Thomas Maltman
I read half of Little Wolves in two days last fall, but when the women's book group picked it for February, I set it aside. That wasn’t easy, since I loved the first half, but I’ll return to it now and it will be fresh for book group. |
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David and Goliath
by Malcolm Gladwell
I’m listening to this one on audio. He’s one of my favorite authors, so it's a treat whenever he releases a new book! We had a chance to see Gladwell at a conference about a year ago, when he spoke publicly about the book for the first time. After that, it was hard to wait until the book came out to hear more of his analysis of the balance between underdogs and giants.
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Sally's Picks |
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Stillwater
by
Nicole Helget
February 4 is the release date for Stillwater, the latest novel by Minnesota writer Nicole Helget, who also wrote Turtle Catcher. The book is set in Stillwater Minnesota before statehood and through the Civil War. The main characters are fraternal twins, separated at birth. Through them, we have a fascinating look at the frontier past of our state—political machinations, the effects of logging on the environment, and the ways in which slavery and the Underground Railroad were part of our history. While the main characters aren’t as strong as I’d like, particularly their motivation at several points, the writing is beautiful and the minor characters are vividly drawn.
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Mary Coin
by Marisa Silver
Mary Coin will be released in paperback on February 25. Dorothea Lange’s iconic photograph from the Depression, “Migrant Mother” was the inspiration for this book. It imagines the lives of the photographer and subject of that picture, tied together by a contemporary professor of cultural history. It’s a great story! Silver is the author of God of War, which one of the book groups at Sister Wolf read a few years ago. |
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ann's Pick |
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Driftless
by David Rhodes
Driftless tells the stories of the residents of Words, a small town in the Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin, an area untouched by the glaciers. Readers become involved in the lives of the characters and their relationships with each other. I read Rhodes' most recent novel, Jewelweed, last summer and looked forward to reading Driftless over my Christmas vacation. I hated to see it end!
Editor’s note:
Jewelweed will be released in paperback on April 15.
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Gail's Picks |
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Shanghai Girls
by Lisa See
This is a great book for lovers of historical fiction. The story begins in Shanghai and ends in California. It's a good overview of the treatment of Chinese in our country and how they survived and prospered, plus a good story of two sisters and the choices they make.
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The World Without Us
by Alan Weisman
This nonfiction bestseller imagines what the world would be like if human beings disappeared. The author takes us to a number of different areas on our earth and talks about what has and might happen. It's a refreshing and oddly hopeful look at the fate of the environment written in an easy and understandable way. I really enjoyed it.
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Hannah's Picks |
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The Master Butchers Singing Club
by Louise Erdrich
This may be Erdrich’s masterpiece. At first I found the title weird: it’s a book about a woman. She’s a human table whose man balances on a bunch of chairs, all on her strong stomach. They leave vaudeville, staying in her tiny North Dakota home town with her drunk father. As the story unfolded I noticed that every word in the title refers to an underlying theme. By the end the title makes obvious sense. Be sure to read the Acknowledgments. Maybe read Acknowledgements first.
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Bury Your Dead
by Louise Penny
The Chief Inspector Gamache novels are centered around a tiny town about as far north as Park Rapids. I recommend the series to anyone who values fiction with excellent writing, strongly developed characters, and a sense of place. If you like mysteries this series is Must Read. Warning: you have to read the books in order as they build on each other. They get better and better. I’m up to Bury Your Dead: The Brutal Telling and Bury Your Dead are just wonderful.
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Iain's Pick |
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1984
by George Orwell
Winston is a man who lives in a world where nothing is private and everyone is watched. His job is to rewrite the past in accordance to the beliefs of the government, and he wishes to remember how things used to be. This book is a classic which relates to today's world more than it ever did in the past. |
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Mariah's Picks |
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Overseas
by Beatriz Williams
Overseas is a love story with a mysterious twist. Jumping back and forth between modern-day New York and World War I-torn France, it is a novel that is difficult to put down!
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The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us about Success
by Kevin Dutton
I read this book for a psychology class, and found it be very interesting! Dutton, a renowned research psychologist, weaves together entertaining stories and the latest neuroscience advancements to describe psychopaths and argue that there are "functional psychopaths" in today's society. This would be a wonderful read for anyone interested in human behavior and the study of psychology.
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