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What We're Reading Now September 2014
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Written in my own heart's blood : a novel by Diana GabaldonIn this eighth Outlander installment, Gabaldon delivers more of what her fans anticipate: the time-traveling adventures of Claire and Jamie Fraser. They first met when Claire (then married to Frank Randall) wandered into a stone circle, inadvertently whirling back to the 1700s. The endearing couple has weathered lengthy separations, ocean voyages, wars, plots, grievous injuries, and the high-risk mode of transport that may not necessarily deliver them into the century, decade, and locale they seek. Not my favorite volume of the series (I’d prefer less Revolutionary War and more Roger and Brianna) Written… is nevertheless an absorbing, satisfying read, worth the wait. Those new to the series are strongly advised to start with Outlander. LS
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Personal injuries
by Scott Turow
A Kindle County novel, this book was first published in 1999 (Joe Mantegna narrated an earlier audio edition). Just out in July 2014, this audio features the assured performance of multiple Audiofile “Earphones” Award winner Mark Bramhall.
Over-the-top personal injury attorney Robert (Robbie) Feaver is the centerpiece, but Turow exhibits—along with his signature deep insider knowledge of legal procedures—sympathy for the back stories of other players, as well.
Eager to temporarily abandon her unresolved true identity, undercover FBI agent “Evon Miller” signs on to portray Feaver’s paralegal as an elaborate investigative scheme seeks to identify and snare figures in a long-established net of corruption within the Superior Court. It’s the most dangerous crime environment possible—local and VERY personal.
LS
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Section 60 : Arlington National Cemetery : where war comes home
by Robert M. Poole
Available October 21, 2014
Section 60 in Arlington National Cemetery Is the most active section in the cemetery—the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan account for most of the recent burials.
Poole has written a remarkable tribute to the fallen as he recounts the stories of what brought them to Arlington and how the survivors grapple with their shattered lives through graveside monuments and rituals.
Until a memorial is built to honor those lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts is built, Section 60 will be that memorial and Poole ably demonstrates why that should be so.
CS
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Friendswood : a novel
by Rene Steinke
Hurricane winds have pummeled the town, and the “Welcome to Friendswood” sign has been blown down—a fitting symbol for a Texas community that appears to have survived a catastrophe but is essentially destroyed from within.
A mother still mourns the daughter lost to disease caused by chemical waste in the Rosemont neighborhood, where shells of houses still stand. A sensitive teen is exploited by members of the all-powerful high school football team. It is a rare family that has not suffered the death or life-altering injury of a loved one due to toxins still in the ground—real estate now slated for development.
Steinke’s affecting characters and small-town Texas setting will resonate with literary fiction fans.
LS
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Bittersweet : a novel
by Colleen McCullough
More Pride and Prejudice than The Thorn Birds, McCullough’s latest doesn’t live up to “saga” billing.
Still, Bittersweet offers McCullough’s affectionately rendered Australian setting, along with late 1920s period flavor and glimpses into nurses’ training and hospital administration in an era when the modern view of the mission of hospitals—and the status of the nurse—is being challenged.
The four beautiful Latimer sisters (two sets of twins) embark upon registered nurse training with far different goals, ranging from true interest in medicine to marriage. Devoted, admired, charismatic, intelligent (and frequently unlikable), Edda, Grace, Tufts, and Kitty are ahead of their time not merely in education but also in their romantic pursuits.
LS
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Burqas, baseball, and apple pie : being Muslim in America
by Ranya Idliby
Idliby has written a passionate and powerful memoir of a woman examining the most difficult issues confronting her and her faith and what it means to be a Muslim in America today.
She discusses the hostility and suspicions of other Americans she comes into contact with at public speaking engagements, at her children’s school, or at home answering her email.
Idliby’s book answers the question often asked, ‘Where are the moderates?” And her answer is that they are around us everywhere, even if we have not discovered that fact yet.
CS
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The miniaturist
by Jessie Burton
Rich in period detail (17th-century Amsterdam), this atmospheric tale finds 18-year-old Nella glad to have achieved a prosperous marriage—a feat, with an ancient family name, beauty, and lute playing as her only assets.
Arriving at her new home, Nella is dismayed to find her much older husband away; he expresses nothing beyond kindness when he does appear.
This is only the first of many revelations about Nella’s new household, her husband’s highly profitable business, and the mysterious woman who knows more about Nella’s life than than she does.
Historical fiction fans will appreciate the mysterious elements of this engrossing tale.
LS
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The care and management of lies : a novel of the great war
by Jacqueline Winspear
Winspear’s fans (Maisie Dobbs series) will snap this book up, but the standalone novel is also perfect for historical fiction readers and particularly appropriate for World War I’s centennial.
When cultured, educated Kezia, a vicar’s daughter, marries her best friend’s brother Tom—a farmer—everyone is supportive but frankly doubtful that she is equal to the rigors of her new life.
But Kezia brings creativity and resourcefulness to the project. By the time war is declared and Tom enlists, she has already begun imparting her unique gifts to the farm and to Tom via her letters.
From different vantage points--the farm kitchen, life in the trenches, the suffragette movement, the village community—Winspear memorably conveys the sweeping effects of the Great War.
LS
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The fortune hunter : a novel
by Daisy Goodwin
Two not-to-be-underestimated women--both envied for their diamonds, both skilled in pursuits dominated by men—catch the eye of one decidedly not wealthy but extremely handsome bachelor.
Empress Elizabeth, “Sisi” of Austria (based on the real personage, frequently compared to Princess Diana) engages Bay Middleton as her “guide” in fox hunting. Sisi really requires no assistance, but hunting is on her agenda—wink, wink. Meanwhile, less-beautiful heiress (and aspiring photographer) Charlotte Baird has formed “an attachment” to Middleton. Genuine chemistry flourishes there, too.
Goodwin’s delightful read furnishes a beautifully textured historical backdrop—England in the late 1800s: country house society, Queen Victoria, a pioneering photography exhibition, stirrings of self-determination for women.
LS
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The trigger : hunting the assassin who brought the world to war
by Tim Butcher
Describes the story of the teenager who changed the world and history forever when he shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and started World War I and discusses the lasting repercussions this event has had on the Balkans over the last 100 years.
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Bridget Jones : mad about the boy
by Helen Fielding
Several years have passed since we last looked in on Bridget. She is older now and anxious about that—particularly as she is a single mother of two and considering a return to society AKA a relationship with a man.
Bridget is still prone to create her own misfortunes via irresponsible choices and to suffer empathy-inducing random ill luck.
But, as ever, her hilariously candid revelation of all the details and her warm, generous heart will inspire fans of previous Bridget books to cheer her on through it all.
LS
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The summer wind
by Mary Alice Monroe
This second installment of Monroe’s Lowcountry Summer Trilogy finds half-sisters Dora, Carson, and Harper still obliging their grandmother’s wish to spend the summer together, support one another, and store up memories of their ancestral home before it is sold. (Read Summer Girls first, if you possibly can).
Performing the audio version herself, Monroe infuses warmth and Carolina accents into the story that she knows better than anyone else.
Readers will relate to the young women’s issues—loveless marriage, special needs child, rootlessness, insecurity, guilt—and enjoy a summer sojourn among natural beauty and within this contemporary Southern clan.
LS
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We are not ourselves : a novel
by Matthew Thomas
If you’re not already participating in a book club, this novel will have you considering membership—you’ll have plenty to talk about.
Historical/period fiction fans will applaud Thomas’ depictions of changing neighborhoods, lifestyles, and expectations (1940s-2000s), but the dynamics of Eileen and Edward Leary’s marriage, influenced by their Irish-American roots and shaping their son’s character, dominate the story and are flavored by the evolving American culture.
Eileen doesn’t so much choose her career (nursing) as allow herself to be channeled into it while awaiting the right man--for whom she will abandon her job for the home and family long imagined.
The man of her dreams does appear—but life continues to deviate from her plans. Highly recommended.
LS
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The Nazis next door : how America became a safe haven for Hitler's men
by Eric Lichtblau
Available October 28, 2014 Until recently, public perception has been that only a small number of Nazis settled in the United States of America after World War Two. Lichtblau has written an excellent account detailing the how and why as many as 10,000 Nazis arrived postwar on America’s shores.
With World War Two over and the Cold War beginning, the military, the CIA, and the FBI turned former enemies into allies and deployed these assets to fight communism by scrubbing their wartime histories, assisting them in gaming the immigration system to gain residency and citizenship, harnessing their knowledge to fight the Soviet Union, and shielding them from investigations and war crimes trials.
Readers interested in World War Two, the Cold War, and 20th American century history will find this an essential read.
CS
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