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Book Recommendations

by Lauri Wilson
I am the Library Technician at the Mahony Family Library at South Arkansas College. Book recommendations are one of the best parts of my job, and I also wrote a book recommendation column for the El Dorado News-Times. Find the columns at the bottom of the page.

The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks
1/13/2025
I had honestly never seen this one in our library and decided to take it home before our non-snow days last week. It was a nice surprise and made me want to learn a lot more about “The Crime of the Century” - that’s what the Lindbergh kidnapping was called at the time it happened in 1932. Of course, this is a fictionalized account but is based on biographies, history and many other sources, according to the author. We have several other books about it and the major players including The Ghosts of Hopewell: Setting the record straight in the Lindbergh Case by Jim Fisher and Scapegoat: the lonesome death of Bruno Richard Hauptmann by Anthony Scaduto. Hauptmann was the man found guilty and eventually executed for the crime, although questions, rumors and theories persist even now. Lindbergh by A. Scott Berg is also available in our library. It's considered an excellent biography about the man who was celebrated as a hero but also had a dark side.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
1/06/2025
Meet Amy Wheeler, private security dynamo, whose everyday life is sort of like a Bond movie. But she likes it that way, in dangerous and sketchy situations, protecting the super-rich, always with her gun close by and hopefully with a chance to punch somebody in the near future. Although her job has a lot of perks, it can still sometimes get her in harm’s way. Like now, when Amy is afraid she’s being framed for a series of murders. Is there anyone she can trust to figure out what’s going on? An unlikely back up man is her father-in-law Steve Wheeler, a happily retired investigator who spends an occasional evening at trivia night with friends at his local pub. Mostly he’s content to stay home with his cat, but if Amy is in trouble, he can be dragged out of the country and maybe onto a plane, reluctantly. Just don’t say anything about his clothes. Honestly, some of the characters in this book are just as funny as the Murder Club crew. And you’ll never meet anyone like her client, best-selling author Rosie D’Antonio, a lady past her prime but who’s always on the lookout for a man or a party. It’s another winner from the Thursday Murder Club author!

My favorites of 2024
12/16/2024

Ok, since everybody is sharing their lists of the best books, I had a think about mine. Each of these books was a standout for me beyond just their genre. Here they are.

James by Percival Everett
(See the review below from last week)

The Three-Body Problem
by Cixin Liu
Sci-fi fans, fasten your seat belts and get ready to blast off! Starting with the Chinese cultural revolution in the 1960s and spanning centuries into the future, this epic journey answers humanity’s most intriguing question: what is out there? And even more compelling, how will mankind deal with an alien invasion? I've read the first two of the series, and they are a challenge, but full of big ideas that I never encountered before.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
by James McBride
What was so special about a dumpy little grocery store in the small town of Chicken Hill? Maybe the people who lived there, like Moshe, Fatty, Monkey Pants and others who formed a community and supported each other in a world of prejudice. People of all colors and from many countries, mostly different but all human. One important thing they shared was a secret they carried in their hearts, one that wouldn’t be revealed for many years. This one will make you laugh and might make you cry too, but it will definitely warm your heart.

The God of the Woods
by Liz Moore
Connections, from the present and the past, are everywhere in The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. I raced through this big book about a summer camp in the summer of 1975. It’s an ordinary morning when a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk in her cabin. But the missing girl is not just a regular camper. She’s Barbara Van Laar, whose family owns the summer camp and employs most of the locals. A frantic search begins and amid the chaos of searching for Barbara, questions arise about an earlier unsolved disappearance – Barbara’s brother, Bear, who went missing back in 1961. A coincidence or a connection? Moore keeps the reader in suspense as she takes us back and forth between 1961 and 1975, pulling in the various parts of the story and introducing characters with connections. This is one of the best books I’ve read all year, and all I could think at the ending was just “wow”.

All these are available in the Mahony Family Library.

What were your favorite books this year?

James by Percival Everett 12/09/2024

You may have seen lots of buzz about this book lately. James by Percival Everett has won several awards and after reading it, I think it's a book that everyone should read. If you’ve read its inspiration, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, you know the story. The new book is a modern retelling, with the focus on the character of Jim, the escaped slave who goes on the journey with Huck. This is a very different Jim - he’s literate, articulate, and knows how to read and write, skills that could be the death of a slave. In spite of having to be on guard with his secret knowledge, Jim trusts and becomes friends with Huckleberry Finn. Huck is in trouble as well, and runs away from his abusive father. After he's threatened with separation from his family, Jim escapes, and eventually teams up with Huck on a perilous journey down the Mississippi.
In spite of all the dangers and perils of life on the river, there are many funny moments in the book too. Some of the people that Huck and James run into are downright ridiculous. It’s an exciting story full of action, narrow escapes, dark humor and irony. But we never forget that James is always in danger of being captured because of his status – an escaped slave.

I really enjoyed this and recommend it for everyone.

The Disquieting Death of Emma Gill: Abortion, Death, and Concealment in Victorian New England /Marcia Biederman 12/02/2024

One of the many new non-fiction books that we’ve added, the story of Emma Gill is an eye-opener. You may be surprised to read about how prevalent the practice of abortion was back at the turn of the century. But it's no surprise to read how dangerous the procedure was in that era. Lacking qualifications and training, almost anyone could hang out a shingle and call themselves a “Dr.” for “Women’s problems”. The issue was shoved squarely in the public eye when a couple of boys found wrapped body parts in a river near Bridgeport Connecticut. The dismembered corpse was traced back to Nancy Guilford, who practiced “medicine" with her husband Henry, another dubious con artist. Soon afterward the trial and arrest of Nancy and Henry began, but they were released and moved on. It's a story you won't read in the history books, but one that deserves attention.

The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Sequel to The Plot) 12/02/2024
Over the Thanksgiving break I read The Sequel and it was convoluted to say the least. Sometimes I was unsure who was in the real story or the fictional story, because it’s a story about a story, or really many stories. It’s held together by one person whose identity is slowly revealed. See? But I really love that kind of crazy, so it was perfect holiday reading.
It was fun reading about what’s it’s like to be a published author and life on a book tour. Also there’s probably a lot of truth in the story of the internet harassment that plagues both authors in the books.
Will there be a sequel to The Sequel? I did read that these may be a TV series.

Re-read of The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz 11/26/2024

You would think I could remember every plot from every book. But that’s sadly not true. My memory is just not great about keeping up with all the books I read. So every now and then I have to do a re-read, especially if I’m reading a series. The Plot is one I just had to re-read, in order to read its sequel, conveniently called The Sequel. (Yes, the books are more original than their names).

I read The Plot about 3 years ago and remembered that I really liked it. Last month I heard someone at book club talking about it and it's sequel coming soon. I was anxious to read it but I had to re-read the first book to refresh my memory. So I listened to the audiobook while on vacation last week. It’s true, I don’t usually enjoy audiobooks, but this one worked out for me . It was entertaining in the car and I’m so glad I read/listened to it because I had forgotten the whole blessed thing. The premise of the story revolves around Jake Bonner, struggling novelist and writing teacher, who at last has a moderately successful first novel. After that he never achieves anything else with his later work. He’s resigned to teaching and running creative writing workshops. For the most part, his students are entirely ordinary until the day Evan Parker comes in with the introductory pages of an outrageous plot. An obnoxious blowhard, he’s convinced this novel (when it’s finished) will be a runaway bestseller and a blockbuster movie that breaks all records. Although Evan is over-the-top annoying, Jake has to admit he has a knack for writing. And the story is a knockout. Being in the middle of a writer’s block, Jake seethes with envy at this undeserving show-off, even while he smiles and makes like a professor giving suggestions and encouragement.

Time passes and a couple of years later, Jake is still in more or less the same situation. To his surprise, he discovers that Evan has died without publishing his novel. Although it's the end for Evan, it's just the beginning of Jake's story.
Anything else would be a spoiler!

Sleeping Beauties / Stephen King and Owen King
11/11/2024

I’m always ready to get recommendations from others, because I can't read everything! Somehow I missed a big book from one of my long-time favorites, Stephen King. A friend told me about Sleeping Beauties, a huge book by Stephen King and his son Owen King from back in 2017. After her enthusiastic review, I tried it and was instantly caught up in the fast-moving story. A sleeping sickness enters the world and infects only women, enveloping them in a cocoon: sleeping but still alive. If anyone tries to wake them up, the sleepers turn on their rescuer in a deadly rage. And no wonder: while they sleep, they’re living in another world, a better world of peace and harmony. However, there’s one woman who hasn’t been affected by the virus: Evie. No one knows who she is or where she came from, or even what she is, but she’s able to sleep and wake up in a normal way, unlike every other woman on earth. Witch, demon, goddess, or all three, Evie is the key to restoring normalcy to earth. Because without women keeping everything in order, you can imagine that things are not going well.

This super long book had its draggy moments, like the fighting scenes that I really kind of skipped. But it gave me a lot to think about anyway and otherwise I really enjoyed it.
Sleeping Beauties is available in the Mahony Family Library.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley 11/4/2024
After reading a bunch of different time travel novels, it’s nice to find something a bit different. Not the same old scenario where the characters stumble into the wrong rock (a magical or mystical rock) and BAM, they’re thrown back three centuries and they wind up in the middle of a gruesome battle, wearing totally inappropriate clothes. Seems like that happens in a lot of time travel stories.
Here it’s all very methodical and businesslike. The Ministry is a government agency overseeing portal movements and rescues. The goal is to investigate whether time travel is attainable, safe for humans, and doesn’t mess with history too much. The Ministry’s mission is extracting people from the past – people who would normally have died in their own timeline. How is it done? Don’t think too much about science. Let’s just say it involves going through some kind of portal or door to find the lucky/unlucky person and drag them back to our time. Now they must learn about cell phones, social media, fast food, washing machines and a thousand other things (depending on when they’re from) just to be able to make a new life. That’s the job of the “handlers” assigned to each person rescued – the enormous task of helping them assimilate into their new world.
Why are these people, the lucky souls who get rescued from disaster? It could be a victim of the great Plague of London, or the deadly battle of the Somme, or Commander Graham Gore, rescued from freezing to death while looking for the Northwest Passage in 1847. Are they glad to be out of their own time? It varies. Meanwhile, life goes on. Tempers fray, romances happen and as always with the government, spying and dishonesty are everywhere. It’s a thoroughly satisfying and sometimes sad mix of spy novel, speculative fiction, romance and humor.
The Ministry of Time is available in the Mahony Family Library.

The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan 10.28/24
Looking for something scary? There are plenty of frightfully good horror books out there, but I never expected to be haunted by this one. When I picked up The Cliffs by J. Courtney Sullivan, I expected it to be a big family saga with lots of drama and maybe a wedding. Not exactly what I would suggest when it’s time to recommend a creepy Halloween month book, but The Cliffs is haunting in many ways.
Sometimes it’s good to go into a book without knowing anything about it. I was totally absorbed by this story and all the rabbit holes it went down. It all began when a teenage Jane Flanagan wandered onto a deserted property and found an abandoned house full of everything but people. Local legends told some of the story and she became fascinated with “The Cliffs” and its legends. However, Jane is unaware of the fascinating, ghostly history of the home and the people who lived there through the centuries. Years later, when she returns after her mother’s death, Jane finds out the house has been purchased and renovated beyond recognition. Some traces of its eerie past still remain, and the new owner, Genevieve, insists on seeking help from a medium. Jane is eager to help, still enthralled by the house and its legends, but also to escape from her problems. Her coveted position as an archivist at Harvard is in jeopardy, and her marriage is probably on the rocks because of her ongoing issues with alcohol. Did Jane’s troubled past and her family history wreck her dream life?
The old, decrepit mansion overlooking the ocean was just the tip of the iceberg! After reading, I wanted to learn about the Fox sisters, the Spiritualism movement, the Shaker religion and the legends of indigenous people of Maine. There’s a lot going on in this book but she ties it all together in a wonderfully readable and not too scary way.
And, if you’re looking for something more traditionally spooky, we have lots of choices!
The Cliffs is available in the Mahony Family Library.

White Heat by M.J. McGrath 10/21/24
Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
After I read these two books, I couldn’t stop thinking about the women and their very different worlds. The highly secluded and protected life of Chinese nobility alongside the story of an Inuit woman struggling to survive above the Arctic circle.
So many people have recommended Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See that I was excited to read it. Her other books are Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love, but I think this one is my favorite. In this book, Lisa See steps inside the world of the Ming Dynasty period, and it’s a fascinating place to explore. It was hard for me to imagine the cloistered existence of women from an elite family in 15th century China. They might never leave the palace or see any man other than a family member until they were married.   For Lady Tan, life is for the most part was ruled by long-standing traditions. But not in every way: In a surprising break from the norm, her family allowed its women to be educated as physicians. Along with her friend, who’s trained as a midwife, they’re able to help women inside and outside of the palace walls with childbirth, illnesses and even death.
Another woman who’s just as interesting is Edie Kiglatuk of the novel White Heat by M.J. McGrath. Her world is the bleak, icy landscape of Ellesmere Island, near the Arctic Circle.
This happens to be a convoluted mystery that I love, but what I remember most is Edie, a tremendously gutsy, resourceful and determined Inuit woman seeking justice for a lost family member. She’s a part time teacher but spends most of her days as a hunting guide, taking visitors out to the wilderness, camping out, building snow houses, killing and cooking wild game, managing and driving sled dogs across the barren wilderness on her own. Somehow, she spends the nights in subzero temperatures and runs around in what she calls a “summer” parka.
Obviously you need a lot of energy to survive in that environment, and you have to get it by eating some very different foods. The descriptions of the Inuit cuisine really stuck in my memory. Blood soup, caribou tongue, fermented walrus gut and in one unforgettable instance Edie and a friend caught a fish, and after cooking it, cut off the head and each sucked out an eyeball. Just another day above the Arctic Circle.
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See is available in our library and White Heat by M.J. McGrath is a book that was loaned to me.