Staff Recommendations
Pages
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Tell the wolves I'm home : a novel
by Brunt, Carol Rifka
Reviewed by: Mary McCoy, Senior Librarian, Art, Music, & Recreation DepartmentNovember 26, 2012
Call Number: F
June Elbus is fourteen the year her life changes forever. It’s the winter of 1987, and in just a few short weeks, the FDA will approve AZT for AIDS patients; however, it doesn’t come soon enough for her beloved uncle and godfather, Finn, a well-known but reclusive artist.
Finn means everything to June, and he's the only person in her family who seems to understand her. He takes her to Renaissance Faires and Merchant Ivory films, while her accountant parents leave dinner simmering in the crockpot, and June and her sister, Greta, become tax season orphans. Finn... Read Full Review
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Shadow and Bone
by Bardugo, Leigh
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryNovember 19, 2012
Call Number: YA
What if you believed yourself to be completely and utterly ordinary, and you were afraid that this lack of “specialness” was going to cost you your best friend, who is charismatic and talented? And then, in a single moment, you became someone unique, valued, and even perceived as a threat. In the process, you are sent to live in a palace and presented to the king, but you also have been separated from your friend and now may never see him again. Can this be real or is everyone mistaken? How can you possibly be the person who will save your kingdom? And is it worth it if you... Read Full Review
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Blue Sky Metropolis: The Aerospace Century in Southern California
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionNovember 5, 2012
Call Number: 338.4A17 B6585
The aerospace industry, more than the entertainment industry, created a monumental population growth within a short period of time and changed the Southern California region in unimagined and unthought of ways which still have repercussions today. This unique collection of essays examines various aspects of the growth of that industry. The contributors are from different disciplines and therefore provide a spirited discussion in several subject areas: the human element, the work, the culture, the communities and the geography. This is not intended to be a complete history of the aerospace... Read Full Review
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Cemetery John : the undiscovered mastermind of the Lindbergh kidnapping
by Zorn, Robert E.
Reviewed by: Robyn Myers, Management Analyst, Branch Library ServicesOctober 29, 2012
Call Number: 364.92 H374Zo
In 1932, Charles A. Lindbergh was arguably the most famous man in the world. His solo transatlantic flight in 1927 made him the subject of public fascination and adulation. But fame was not something that Lindbergh craved. He took his family to live on a rambling, isolated estate in Englewood, New Jersey, believing that living in such a remote location would keep them safe. He was wrong.
On the night of March 1, 1932, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., called Charlie, was snatched from his crib in the upstairs nursery. Left behind were a ransom note and a handmade ladder. Contact with the... Read Full Review
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The map of the sky : a novel
by Palma, Felix J.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryOctober 8, 2012
Call Number: F
What if an author wrote and published a novel dealing with an extraordinary occurrence, and within a year the described event happened? Would the author have special insight into what had happened? Would the novel’s publication and the event be seen as coincidence? Or, would s/he be seen as being somehow complicit in bringing these circumstances to life? And what if the fate of Earth rested on the answers to these questions? These are just some of the intriguing ideas explored in Felix J. Palma’s The Map of the Sky.
On August 1, 1898, a large, strange metallic... Read Full Review
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Babylon : Mesopotamia and the birth of civilization
by Kriwaczek, Paul.
Reviewed by: Eileen Ybarra, Librarian III, Electronic ResourcesSeptember 24, 2012
Call Number: 935.8 K92 2012
For a sweeping, epic and vivid historical survey of ancient Mesopotamia, this book by Paul Kriwaczek is a great choice. Kriwaczek takes the reader through a deftly written overview of the various cultures, emperors and kings that swept through the Mesopotamian region over the course of centuries. Specifically, he covers the years 4000-700 BCE. This is not an academic or dry text, but rather a book that makes the daily lives of many people of that time come alive, not only in descriptions of the rulers and elite classes, but also in the descriptions of the average person. The author also... Read Full Review
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The keeper of lost causes
by Adler-Olsen, Jussi.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionSeptember 17, 2012
Call Number: F
The thrills of the tightly wrought suspense/mystery novels from Scandinavia continue with the first English translation of The Keeper of Lost Causes by Denmark’s top crime writer, Jussi Adler-Olsen. This is the first book in the Department Q series whose main protagonist is Detective Carl Mørck, selected to run the new department which investigates and dogs down cold cases. It is an outstanding thriller, and more than a match for the works of Stieg Larsson.
These are some of the events and themes that are tightly woven into the plot of this captivating book that cannot... Read Full Review
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This dark endeavor : the apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
by Oppel, Kenneth
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibrarySeptember 10, 2012
Call Number: YA
If you found out that a close member of your immediate family was ill, and the doctors treating your family member seemed incapable of curing him, what would you do? Would you seek out other types of treatment--even illegal ones? Would you consult with a person convicted of practicing “dark arts,” or even attempt to practice them yourself? What would you choose to do to save a family member at risk of dying? These are some of the questions explored in Kenneth Oppel’s This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein.
Twins Konrad and Victor... Read Full Review
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Mechanique : a tale of the Circus Tresaulti
by Valentine, Genevieve
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibrarySeptember 3, 2012
Call Number: F
Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would do anything to get it? Something that captivated you from the first moment you saw it--and you knew that this thing would either make you happier than you ever thought possible, or it would destroy you. Would you work and wait an unknown amount of time? Work and live with people you did not like, who did not like you either? Suffer? Die? What if you were the creator of something that affected the people around you like this? Would bestowing your creation be a blessing or a curse? And how would you choose the recipients? These are just... Read Full Review
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The house in France : a memoir
by Wells, Gully.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionAugust 27, 2012
Call Number: 071.092 W453We
In this sparkling, joyful family memoir, Gully Wells has created an homage to her mother, the irrepressible Dee Wells, not exactly a rock of stability, but who did create a vacation house that would become a solid lodestone in the lives of her children, grandchildren, husband, lovers, and friends. She bought a ramshackle farmhouse that was clinging to a hillside in southern France and made it into a vacation home that became a summer retreat, and respite for some, from a busy life in England.
Dee Wells was a femme fatale who at times unwittingly attracted men wherever she went.... Read Full Review
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The Yard
by Grecian, Alex
Reviewed by: Mary McCoy, Senior Librarian, Art, Music, & Recreation DepartmentAugust 20, 2012
Call Number: M
Alex Grecian’s debut novel is set during the aftermath of the Jack the Ripper murders in a London that’s been forever changed by them. “Saucy Jack” has, as one character notes, “opened a door to certain deranged possibilities... there will be more like him.” And from the first page of The Yard, there are.
In response to the public outcry at their failure to capture Jack the Ripper, London’s Metropolitan Police Force forms an elite Murder Squad of twelve detectives. After less than a week on the job, the Murder Squad’s newest member,... Read Full Review
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The piper's son
by Marchetta, Melina
Reviewed by: Vi Thục Hà, Senior Librarian, International Languages DepartmentAugust 13, 2012
Call Number: YA
After a night of heavy partying, Tom hits rock bottom. Strung out on drugs and suffering from a concussion, Tom wakes up in the hospital to hear the news from Francesca, a former close friend, that his flatmates have lost their jobs for stealing from the Union pub and his stuff has been tossed out on the street.
At this point, Tom’s life has already fallen apart — his favorite uncle died in a terrorist bomb attack on the subway in London, his father, broken from the news, has started drinking heavily, and his mother and his sister have left his father. Unable to cope, Tom... Read Full Review