Finley Public Library

  Book Reviews   | |

October 30, 2015

Another week before us and what will we do with it?  We will read at least two books.  Yes.  We will go to the library on Thursday night or Friday afternoon or both.  We will check out several books on subjects we enjoy and be able to read them because there is such a wide selection of print available at our library.  We will return them the following week and check out a couple more.  We will continue this pattern through the cold days of winter.  By then we will be so used to reading books regularly that we will even continue this behavior through the summer--and on and on.  How's that working for you?  Not so much?  Drat!  And I was told that hypnotizing folks was easy! 

This one will be easier.  Remember that Friday we will be having little ghosties, goblins, monsters and princesses come by Finley Library for trick 'r' treating.  There will be picture--taking and goodies handed out by our librarians on duty.  Looking forward to that!

Another reminder--Last Sunday the newest in the Jesse Stone movies was on TV on the Hallmark channel.   Though the stories are not that similar to the books, the characters are, and I wanted to remind you that we have most of the Jesse Stone series at Finley Library.  We also have most of the House of Night series by P. C. Cast and her daughter Kristin.  Another series that has been receiving some good press is the Inspector Pekkala series by Sam Eastland.  We have the first three of those.  I  will be reading the first one this week--Eye of the Red Tsar.  It is historic and supposed to be humorous and interesting.  If you like books that are a bit on the humorous side, then the Andy Carpenter series by David Rosenfelt, is a good one.  The library has #'s 7, 8, and 9.  We have so many series as that seems to be the way that authors are tending to write these days. Generally, they have the series information in the front of the book on the check out card pocket--for our readers' convenience, and we try to keep them together and continue getting them.  However, if no interest is seen in them then we don't.    Come in and check a few out!
Here's a couple reviews:

The Fur Person by May Sarton.  (HC/LP) (1957, 1979)  The copy of this book that belongs to the library was reprinted in 1979 after being out of print for some time.  With this new printing the author, Sarton, wrote a new preface saying that this cat, Tom Jones, was a real and enjoyed his life with the author and her friend for many years, though is now deceased.  However, the novel is written from a fictional viewpoint because Ms. Sarton writes completely from the cat's viewpoint and it is fun.  Sarton writes of incidents that did indeed happen, but you read about how the cat felt about it rather than the "people".  Having had outside cats as a child on the farm and then having two different "give-away" cats two other times I found that the  viewpoint of this cat seems to be be very much like the words I used to put into the mouth of our house cat pets!  If you enjoy cats, you will certainly enjoy this "Gentleman Cat's" life--from being saved from a litter to living the life of a "Gentle Cat" as he calls himself after he was "altered".  It was a delightful rendition of a cat's life and so reminded me of ours--now both passed.  May Sarton, by the way, is a well-known writer of the 50's, 60's and 70's, particularly espousing the life of Lesbianism in her novels, poetry and memoirs.  (Not  in this one, however.)

Fear Nothing by Lisa Garner.  (HC/LP)  (D. D. Warren series #7)  (2014)  In the first pages of this novel Boston Detective D. D. Warren falls or is pushed down the stairs when she returns to a crime scene late at night, alone.  For the next six weeks she is completely incapacitated from pain and the fact that while falling down the stairs she discharged her weapon.  (Most of us know from watching TV that if a policeman discharges their weapon, they are put immediately on leave or on desk duty.)  So, while the investigation continues she is on the sidelines.  Fast forward a few more weeks and another murder takes place  with the same M.O.  Now D. D. has an appointment with a pain therapist who ultimately plays a large part in the story, but D. D. sees that she can manage the pain if she listens and complies with the instructions given by the doctor.  (Interesting to me is the fact that the author, Gardner, had suffered from back pain for years and uses the method advised by the therapist in the book--and that it works for her and has been for some time.)  Anyway, the murders continue and another new character is introduced--the sister of the pain therapist.  This sister is a devotee of giving pain and equates it with love as her father, a serial sadist and killer, treated her and taught her.  (The therapist was just a baby at the time and was adopted by a doctor/researcher who wanted to study her genetically because she felt no physical pain, but also taught her how to live normally.)  The sister has been locked in an isolation ward in a mental hospital/jail since the age of fourteen because she was found to have killed a boy of twelve--thirty years ago.  Yes, the story is very convoluted, but the reader knows everything except who the murderer is and why he/she is doing it.  Many of the characters in this novel have real problems, but there is a logical reason behind it--pathetic, but logical.  There is some talk about "nature" and "nurture" and which is the "right" method or whether one is stronger than the other or whether someone can really overcome a disastrous childhood.  It is an eye-opener, but also a page-turner.  Lisa Gardner is almost like a female Stephen King.  She can really scare  the reader...  

 
 
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