Staff Recommendations
Pages
-
Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me
by Goldberg, Whoopi
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionJune 10, 2024
Call Number: 812.092 G618
For all her candor, no-holds-barred way of expressing herself, we may think we know all there is to know about Whoopi Goldberg. How wrong could all of us be, as you will discover in this autobiographical memoir. This remembrance is primarily about Whoopi's immediate family (her mother Emma Johnson and her brother Clyde Johnson), and all they meant to each other. It is an homage, a paen, especially to her mother, definitely in charge of Whoopi and brother Clyde. She led by example, not putting up with any nonsense and doing all of it with an abundance of love, kindness, wisdom, and magic.... Read Full Review
-
The Twilight Garden
by Adams, Sara Nisha
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryJune 3, 2024
There are two residences on Eastbourne Road in Stoke Newington on the outskirts of London. Winston has lived in #79, with his boyfriend Lewis, for several years. Bernice, recently divorced, has just purchased #77 as a new home for herself and her young son, Sebastian. The two houses share a garden, which is increasingly becoming a point of contention between the two new neighbors. Just another bullet point on a growing list of grievances each has about the other.
One afternoon, Lewis finds an envelope in his mail. It is addressed to “the Young Man at Number 79”... Read Full Review
-
A Short Walk Through a Wide World
by Westerbeke, Douglas
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryMay 28, 2024
Three sisters gather at what they have decided is a wishing well near their home in Paris. The year is 1885. There are so many terrible things happening in the world that they decide they each will make a wish and sacrifice something important to them by casting it into the well, which they believe will ensure their wishes will be granted. The first two make their wishes (a stop to the bombing of public buildings and that Dr. Homais will find a cure for syphilis) and their sacrifices (a gold chain and a favorite doll, respectively). When it comes to Aubry, the youngest, her wish... Read Full Review
-
How to Solve Your Own Murder
by Perrin, Kristen
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryMay 20, 2024
Call Number: M
Annie’s Great Aunt Frances has always been a presence in Annie’s life. A rather nebulous, undefined presence, but a presence none the less. Great Aunt Frances owns the house in Chelsea where Annie has grown up with her mother. Communication from Great Aunt Frances has always been sporadic at best, and communication about her from her mother or grandparents has been equally limited. What Annie knows is this: Great Aunt Frances had her fortune told at a carnival when she was 16 years old. That fortune predicted that she was going to be murdered. That fortune so shook teenage Frances that she... Read Full Review
-
Waiting for the Waters to Rise
by Conde, Maryse
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionMay 20, 2024
"Babakar is a doctor living alone, with only the memories of his African childhood. In his dreams, he receives visits from his blue-eyed mother and ex-lover Azelia, both now gone, as are the hopes and aspirations he's carried with him since his arrival in Guadeloupe. Until, one day, the child Anais comes into his life, forcing him to abandon his solitude. Anais's Haitian mother died in childbirth, leaving her daughter destitute—now Babakar is all she has, and he wants to offer this little girl a future. Together, they fly to Haiti, a beautiful, mysterious island plagued by violence,... Read Full Review
-
The outsider : the life and work of Lafcadio Hearn : the man who introduced voodoo, Creole cooking,
by Kemme, Steve
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionMay 13, 2024
Call Number: 814 H436Ke
Lafcadio Hearn, a man with unusual origins and a complex life, whose early life gave no indication as to what he would later achieve, as he repeatedly overcame obstacles and controversies that became a part of his life until his death, and even after. The subtitle of the book is an enticing hint to Lafcadio Hearn’s achievements and to his fascinating life. His father was an Irish officer-surgeon and his mother was a noble-blooded Greek woman, and he was born in 1850 on the Greek island of Lefkada. Lafcadio is a variation on the place where he was born. Abandoned by both... Read Full Review
-
The Kamogawa food detectives
by Kashiwai, Hisashi, 1952-
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionMay 7, 2024
This is the first book, in a series, to be translated from Japanese into English. From the illustration on the book cover and the title of the book, this might seem to be a cozy mystery. And, in some ways it is. The Kamogawa Diner is located on an insignificant side street in Kyoto, and there is no signage outside. So, how do customers find this place, and how do the owners stay in business? First of all, there is a daily set menu for regulars who eat there. Other customers find the diner from a vaguely worded ad (“We find your food.”) in the Gourmet Monthly. ... Read Full Review
-
Sharks in the rivers
by Limón, Ada.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionApril 29, 2024
Call Number: 811 L734
“Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden appointed Ada Limón as the 24th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress on July 12, 2022 and reappointed her for a historic two-year second term on April 24, 2023. Limón’s second term will begin in September 2023 and conclude in April 2025."
In this collection of poems there are several themes that Limón’s poetry encompasses. Among them are recurring metaphors of water and aquatic life. There are long poems, one with... Read Full Review
-
Musical tables : poems
by Collins, Billy
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionApril 22, 2024
Call Number: 811 C7115-14
Billy Collins is a former U.S. Poet Laureate (2001 - 2003). Over the years he has become very well known for poems and for his poetry readings. "In 2002, as US poet laureate, Collins was asked to write a poem commemorating the first anniversary of the fall of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on September 11. The reading was in front of a joint session of Congress held outside of Washington, DC," and “One of Billy Collins’ most critically acclaimed works, “Fishing on the Susquehanna in July” has been added to the... Read Full Review
-
The Final Girl Support Group
by Hendrix, Grady
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryApril 17, 2024
Any fan of horror movies knows what the term “final girl” means. A final girl is the person left standing at the end of a horror movie. During the course of the film, she evades the threat, usually losing several friends and family members in the process, long enough to have a lethal confrontation that results in the killer’s death (who regularly defies all reason by returning in the sequel). Final girls rarely appear consecutively in these films and are regularly replaced by new characters in subsequent installments, because the main focus for the films, and their franchises, is... Read Full Review
-
A year of last things : poems
by Ondaatje, Michael, 1943-
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionApril 8, 2024
Call Number: 821 O575
Michael Ondaatje is first and foremost a poet whose insights, perceptions and writing style are evident, as well, in his prose. Generally he is well known for his historical novel, The English Patient, and the eponymous film. Even though the film differed, somewhat, from the novel, it was just as elegiacally beautiful and haunting in plot, photography and accompanying score.
As I have stated before, “Poetry is the most... Read Full Review
-
Camp Damascus
by Tingle, Chuck
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryApril 1, 2024
Rose Darling is a high school senior who has lived her entire life in the small town of Neverton, Montana. She’s also grown up attending Kingdom of the Pine church with her parents. Kingdom of the Pine is a smaller church, compared to some others, but it has an international reputation for operating Camp Damascus, a gay conversion therapy operation with an astounding 100% success rate.
As Rose has gotten older, she has experienced some things that have left her with questions. A lot of questions. Like the fact that when she spends time with some of her girl... Read Full Review