December 2009 Staff Book Reviews

Last Updated on Thursday, 03 December 2009 13:51

Frequently Asked Questions - Reader Services

If you are looking for a break from all the holiday excitement, take a look at these books that the staff have recently read and reviewed just for you.  We have several types of mysteries, humor, true-life novels, and cute llamas that are sure to please everyone in the family.  So, check one out from your hometown library and find a quiet seat to enjoy the story.

And, in case you have some overdue books lying around the house, bring them back along with a can of food to clear your fines up to $20.  As part of our Food for Fines program, each can of food donated is worth $1 towards fines and will go to help those in need this winter.

The January Dancer by Michael Flynn
Staff Reviewer: Aaron Pence, Moore Public Library
Genre: Science Fiction

If you're up for an intellectual space opera - think of a hyper linguistic, religious Dune, or of a weird, future-world Tristan and Isolde - you'll love The January Dancer.  If you just like big, sweeping sci-fi, you're in luck; you're still holding an exciting, political, laser-shooting romp of a book: a true epic tale of adventure and mystery.

Heinlein Award Winner Michael Flynn's latest effort is unique and rewarding.  Outside of the story - a tense plot about chasing down a mysterious, pre-human artifact - there are many smaller ideas to wrap you mind around: the mongrel language of the galaxy's inhabitants (who use words like pleetsya and pyatsa); the druidic song-forms that structure the book and the harpist who is trying to compose a song about the Dancer; the multilayered, hidden history of the peoples of the galaxy; and the curious position of the planet Jehovah, the transportation hub and, in curious ways, religious center of the book.  Which is really just to name a few!

This multi-faceted story is a demanding read, but offers great rewards for the effort.

 Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
Staff Reviewer: Brenda Johnson, Moore Public Library
Genre: Adult Fiction

Readers of The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeannette Walls, have been anticipating the release of her second book for years.  It has finally arrived in Half Broke Horses, a true-life novel about her maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith.

Unlike The Glass Castle, a memoir based on her own life, Walls uses family photographs and stories from Lily's daughter, Rose Mary, to write a fast-paced novel about her grandmother, who was indeed a character.  Lily grew up on ranches in west Texas and New Mexico where she learned to break and train horses and saved her younger brother and sister from a raging flood by spending the night clinging to a tree.  She worked as a teacher in one-room schools in Arizona and even spent time as a housemaid in Chicago.

Lily was lucky that she always knew she wanted to be a teacher.  Her parents couldn't pay for her education, but Lily was the type who set a goal and would do anything to reach it.  She played poker, raced horses, drove a bus, sold moonshine, scrimped and saved, whatever it took.  There was no end to Lily's spunk and drive.  She stood up to everyone and never felt like she didn't' have what it took to be successful.  After a first failed marriage to a con-man, Lily met  Jeff Smith, the fifteenth child or a pioneering Mormon family.  Jim had given up his religion when the two met, married, and raised their two children, Rose Mary and Little Jim, on a big Arizona ranch.  Their life of finding a way to raise cattle in the inhospitable Arizona landscape is a true story of the West where hard work and creativity bring rewards. 

Readers of  The Glass Castle will find the story of her grandmother somewhat of an explanation for Wall's neglectful mother Rose Mary.  Rose Mary was raised on a ranch where she got to run free and do as she pleased; her mother Lily was not much of a cook and never did laundry.  Rose Mary always knows she wants to be an artist, but unfortunately, she doesn't have her mother's ability to focus her energies.  At the end of the book, when Rose Mary meets Rex Walls, both Lily and Glass Castle readers have a deep sense of foreboding, knowing that the couple's children will have a deeply unhappy life. 

Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
Staff Reviewer: Elaine Harrod, Moore Public Library
Genre: Children Picture Book

Llama Llama Red Pajama is one of  three books by Anna Dewdney about a little Llama and his Mama and all the important things that might have an impact on little llamas.  Any little person will be able to relate to the events in the life of this little llama as well.  Children and parents will take comfort in seeing little Llama and his Mama going through some of the same things they are experiencing.

After Baby Llama is tucked in with a story and sweet kisses, Mama leaves little Llama to deal with going to sleep on his own.  Baby Llama becomes more and more uncomfortable all alone and calls for Mama.  Mama  says she will be up soon and Baby tries to comfort himself.  After some more time goes by he can no longer deal with her absence and hollers loudly for him Mama!  Mama comes quickly and reassures Baby that "Mama Llama's always near, even if she's not right here," Baby Llama then drifts off to sleep.  The looks on the faces of the baby and mother in this story are very expressive and could tell the story even if there were no words. With repeating rhyme and bold simple illustrations parents will welcome the familiar scenario and children will enjoy this relatable story.  The other two titles about Baby Llama are Llama Llama Mad at Mama and Llama Llama Misses Mama.  These three books are wonderful additions to reading time for all young children as the themes are those with which every child can identify.

The Curse of the Ancient Mask and Other Case Files by Simon Cheshire
Staff Reviewer: Mary Lea Wallace, Norman Public Library
Genre: Children Fiction

Move over, Encyclopedia Brown. Make room for Saxby smart, famous kid detective. A trio of cases involving an ancient mask, a slobbery hound, and antique jewelry are soon solved by the brilliant observation and deduction of young detective Smart (with a little help from his friends). Stay alert readers! Your powers of observation and deduction will be tested along the way. Snappy dialogue, fast-paced plot, humor, and surprising twists quickly move these three short stories to thoroughly satisfying conclusions.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Staff Reviewer: Caroline Dulworth, Pioneer Service Center
Genre: Adult Mystery

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is not an easy read - lots of names to keep straight and a multi-dimensional plot - but like lots of things that aren't easy, it is a lot more fulfilling than the usual fictional fluff.  It is also hard to categorize - is it a murder mystery?  A suspense thriller? It's all of the above.  Mikaiel Blomkvist begins the book as a victim of politics, and ends up a sleuth-hero for solving a decades-old (and rather grizzly) case.  But that is not the whole story and it doesn't end with this book, which is part of a trilogy from the late Stieg Larsson.  It is worth the time investment - as you will find you can't put it down once the mystery gets going . . . .

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Staff Reviewer: Alice Fielding, Pioneer Service Center
Genre: Adult NonFiction

Sedaris' fourth book of creative nonfiction proves that he still has a knack for finding the ridiculous in everyday life.  Some stories are laugh-out-loud funny, such as the one where he ends up sitting a doctor's waiting room in nothing but his underpants, trying to look casual around the other patients, all of whom are fully dressed.  However, most of the really funny stories are stories from his past, especially his childhood but also his young adult hitchhiking days.  Currently he seems to be living a stable, settled life with his partner, where the most interesting thing that happens to him is flying first class to give a book reading.  This is no Me Talk Pretty One Day, but it's good enough to keep you chuckling on an airplane, even if your flying coach like everyone else.

Goodbye, Natalie, Goodbye Splendour by Marti Rulli
Staff Reviewer: Caroline Dulworth, Pioneer Service Center
Genre: Adult Nonfiction

It's been 28 years since Natalie Wood's death by drowning the weekend after Thanksgiving, so I was surprised to see a new book alluding to her murder. Goodbye, Natalie, Goodbye Splendour is the title of the latest, written by Marti Rulli and based on information provided by the Splendour's captain, Dennis Davern.  After reading Natasha, in 2001, I had already decided that Wood's husband, actor Robert Wagner, was at least guilty of instigating the situation that caused her death (a marital spat gone bad) and was more than guilty of not responding quickly enough when he discovered her missing to save her.  But this book includes a new revelation, forensics information, and interpretations that make her death look more like murder than a terribly sad accident.  It also offers a stark contrast to Wagner's own memoir published last year.  The book itself takes a little while to get going, trying to explain why the information took so long to get out.  Yet it stays with you long after you close it.