Keep Reading!

Last Updated on Thursday, 18 October 2012 15:56

Shawnee - Check this out!

My name is Nancy and I work at the Shawnee branch of the Pioneer Library System.  Always an avid reader, when I retired from teaching at Shawnee High School, I found the library to be the natural next stage of my life adventure.  I love to examine new books as they come across the information desk on their way to the shelves.  Books that I would have never known existed peak my interest and find their way onto my checkout list.

For this column I will share some of the more interesting titles I find.  You will see short synopses/reviews of teen and adult fiction and non-fiction.  Some of them will be new releases while others will be ones I have just "discovered." Check here every month for the latest finds.  Feel free to come in and visit with me about your own suggestion list or simply leave me a note.  I am interested in what you have to say.

Following are three books I read that I think you will enjoy and an author recommendation.  Keep Reading!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This is a heart wrenching story of teens trying to navigate the road of life while dealing with the complications of cancer and their own mortality.  Exhibiting a broad spectrum of emotions, the scenes are volatile and poignant.  Both a love story, and curiously, a story of hope, this is a book for mature teens and adults; but it would make for serious and rewarding discussion between peers or teens and their parents.

Zoo by James Patterson

I read a review that described this book as a cross between Stephen King and Dean Koontz.  It is certainly different from any James Patterson book I have ever read. Mankind has totally messed up the world and the animals are taking over.  I have just two words:  tense and scary.

Killing McVeigh: the death penalty and the myth of closure by Jody Lynee Madeira

While this book is about a specific Oklahoma event, it is also about the survivors and family and friends of any victims of violence.  The author takes a hard look at the idea that the death penalty serves to close for good the door into a room of pain and horror.  Not leisure reading, but I found this book informative and it certainly requires a thought-provoking examination of my own misconceptions.

I found a new author the other day while browsing the Sizzler shelves; at least she is new to me.  Karin Slaughter is a mystery/thriller writer in the vein of James Patterson and John Sandford.  Begin with her first novel:  Blinsighted.  I started with the newest release and it was a plot spoiler for her previous books, but she is so good I am reading them anyway.