Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Summer Reading Picks

Looking for a good summer read? Check out the following suggestions from the library staff:

Stephanie B. suggests:
Walls, Jeannette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir.
HV 5132 .W35 2005

When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

Stephanie L. suggests:
Oz, Mehmet. Healing from the heart : a leading heart surgeon explores the power of complementary medicine.
R 733 .O95 1998

World-renowned doctor and surgeon, Dr. Mehmet Oz, explains the value of hypnosis, guided imagery, massage, reflexology, aromatherapy, music therapy, prayer, and yoga in relation to the body's healing process. He gives examples from his practice as to how these complementary therapies used along with surgery helped patients heal more quickly and get back to the business of life. Anyone struggling with an illness or who has loved ones with a medical problem will find encouragement and hope in knowing there are additional treatments available that medical doctors are willing to endorse.

Lisa suggests:
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner.
PS 3608 .O832 K58 2004

An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present. The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons-their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich . Selected stories.
PG 3456 .A19 D7x

One of the world’s great masters of the short story, Anton Chekhov wrote about everyday life as he saw it- with humor, insight and honesty. He portrayed the Russian people as they really were, not as he wanted them to be. His collection will expose you to not only some of the best short stories by Anton Chekhov, but some of the best stories ever written in any language. This book presents twenty Chekhov stories, such as: The confession, Peasants, In Exile and the Kiss.

Maureen suggests a few young adult selections:
Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories.
Children’s Literature PZ 7 .P338 L1 1998

A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.

Zusak, Markus. The Book Thief.
Children’s Literature PZ 7 .Z837 Boo 2006

Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

Fleischman, Paul. Whirligig.
Children’s Literature PZ 7 .F599233 Wh 1998

While traveling to each corner of the country to build a whirligig in memory of the girl whose death he causes, sixteen-year-old Brian finds forgiveness and atonement.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons go to Birmingham – 1963.
Children’s Literature PZ 7 .C94137 Wat 1998

The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.