Staff Recommendations
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QB : my life behind the spiral
by Young, Steve, 1961-
Reviewed by: Janice Batzdorff, LibrarianJune 26, 2017
Call Number: 796.271 Y76
A facetious question posed by an NPR radio host lured me into reading Steve Young’s memoir, QB: My Life Behind the Spiral. Did the pro football Hall of Famer receive special treatment at Brigham Young University where he played quarterback because he is the great-great-great grandson of Brigham Young?
With outstanding high school achievements, Young was readily admitted to the university, but the football team listed him as number eight on the depth chart for the quarterback position (future Chicago Bears Super Bowl winner Jim McMahon was number one). The quarterback coach... Read Full Review
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The underground river : a novel
by Conway, Martha,
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryJune 19, 2017
The year is 1838. The tensions between the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery, which will ultimately culminate in the Civil War in 1861, are roiling. May Bedloe is a young, single woman working as a seamstress. She creates and repairs the costumes worn by her cousin, Comfort Virtue, an actress performing in theatres throughout the Northeastern United States. May and Comfort are travelling on the Moselle, a riverboat making its way along the Ohio River, the natural division between the North and the South. Comfort is performing in one of the riverboat shows. Over dinner... Read Full Review
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A Conjuring of Light
by Schwab, Victoria,
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryJune 5, 2017
In A conjuring of light, the third and final book in the Shades of Magic fantasy series, Victoria Schwab takes readers back to her world of four different Londons, that are filled with magic, adventure, and a threat from Black London which may destroy all four worlds.
At the end of A gathering of shadows (the second book in the trilogy), the situation was tense. Kell, the Antari from Red London who can travel between worlds, was in mortal danger. The threat to Kell was also a threat against the Arnesian Prince, Kell’s brother Rhy. There seemed to be no way to save... Read Full Review
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Seeds on Ice: Svalbard and the Global Seed Vault
by Fowler, Cary
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionMay 30, 2017
Call Number: 631.5211 F785
In the modern industrialized world we rarely give much thought about the future availability of food. Domestic and international world disasters remind us about famines and starvation. Wars, terrorism and natural disasters cause displacement of people and destroy their access to farmland. In addition there are global concerns about GMOs. A doomsday vision was the incentive for the creation of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault aka The Doomsday Vault, which is located on one of the islands in the Norwegian archipelago. Millions of seeds are stored in cold vaults deeply buried in rock... Read Full Review
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A Closed and Common Orbit
by Chambers, Becky,
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryMay 23, 2017
Call Number: SF
Published last year, A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is a breath of fresh air in the genre of science fiction. Sci-fi has long been languishing in multiple dystopian visions exploring just how wrong our world, and many others, could possibly go. A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is an unabashed space opera, a bit short on plot, but well outfitted with a wonderful world populated by interesting and relatable characters. The novel was nominated for the Kitschies Award for Best Debut, the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, the Tiptree Award, The... Read Full Review
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Bang : a novel
by Lyga, Barry,
Reviewed by: Llyr Heller, Librarian, Teen'ScapeMay 22, 2017
Call Number: YA
Barry Lyga once again has written a novel that pins one to the chair with anticipation, dread and release. He has captured an issue that is a true horror in our present day, prevalent throughout our country. When reading the daily news there are always far too many stories about accidental shootings involving children. All the statistics won’t make those hard-pressed to keep their firearms close to them change their mind, but sometimes a fictionalized account will change even the most cynical of citizens.
Often these horrific stories involve young children accidentally shooting a gun... Read Full Review
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High notes : selected writings of Gay Talese
by Talese, Gay,
Reviewed by: David B., Librarian, InfoNowMay 15, 2017
Call Number: 071.092 T143-2
Gay Talese, the nattily attired New York-based reporter, writes non-fiction pieces in the style of short stories, with omniscient third person narrators, vivid descriptions of the commonplace, and surprising, revelatory endings. High Notes collects many of the greatest works from his sixty-year career. His most famous act of reportage, “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” (Esquire) dwells on the private side of the man known as The Chairman of the Board, without interviewing the subject directly. Talese later revealed more details of the assignment with the essay “On Writing... Read Full Review
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Seven wonders
by Christopher, Adam, 1978-
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryMay 8, 2017
Call Number: SF
What if you woke up one morning with a super power? Super strength? Super speed? X-ray vision? Invulnerability? The ability to fly? What if, over the course of several weeks, you developed all of these powers and more? Does having these powers change who you are? More importantly, does having super powers automatically make you a superhero? These are just some of the questions explored in Adam Christopher’s novel, Seven Wonders.
Tony Prosdocimi is a regular guy. He works a dead-end job at Big Deal (think Wal-Mart) selling computers and computer equipment, and he lives in a... Read Full Review
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The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir
by Bui, Thi
Reviewed by: Vi Ha, Senior Librarian, International Languages DepartmentMay 1, 2017
Call Number: 740.9999 B932
Some books need to be written to allow people the ability to safely experience things that they would otherwise might not ever feel or experience. Reading books and experiencing the lives of well-developed characters help foster the mental calisthenics for the people you meet day-to-day. As an example, we have frequent conversations on immigration as a policy, but not as commonly do we have conversations about the emotional devastation and trauma that comes with choosing to leave for a new country. Thi Bui’s debut graphic novel memoir, The Best We Can Do, in its... Read Full Review
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This Savage Song
by Schwab, Victoria,
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryApril 24, 2017
Call Number: YA
What makes a monster a “MONSTER”? In This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab explores the varying shades of grey in a world where almost anyone could be a monster and how to protect yourself from one of them, and better yet how to avoid becoming one.
The Phenomenon plunged the world into chaos and the survivors became prey for the Corsai, mindless shadows with teeth and nails that strike from the darkness, and the Malchai, physical creatures in many respects similar to vampires.
Verity City is one of the largest remaining areas of civilization. It is a city divided: North-... Read Full Review
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The Woman Next Door
by Omotoso, Yewande,
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryApril 17, 2017
Imagine two women living in the upscale community of Katterijn in Cape Town, South Africa. Marion is the widowed mother of four and a former architect forced to leave her business when she started a family. Hortensia is originally from Barbados, and in the 1960s founded a very successful fabric design firm. Her husband is dying and they have no children. Hortensia is black and refers to Marion as “Marion the Vulture.” Marion is white and calls Hortensia “Hortensia the Horrible.” Both are now in their 80s and they have lived next door to each other for decades, nurturing a shared enmity... Read Full Review
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The just city
by Walton, Jo,
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabApril 10, 2017
I love the creation of worlds that is part of various types of science fiction. I love the way reading science fiction makes you pick up clues about extraordinary places and people, and how to use those clues to re-examine your own life. For example, there’s this moment in A Wrinkle in Time when travelers from Earth realize that children on an alien planet are bouncing balls, the way they do on Earth. But in the novel they are bouncing their balls in time with one another, “playing” with obsessive, rigid uniformity. When one child falls out of rhythm his mother reacts... Read Full Review