The Sixties in the South

The Help takes readers back to the burgeoning civil rights era in Mississippi. It's hard to believe that this is the author's debut novel. It's a wonderful story full of women characters who are drawn so believably that you just cannot accept that they are fictional. Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss to find that her family's maid, Constantine, has disappeared. No one will tell her what happened. Like many well-to-do families in the South, the black maid spent more time raising the children than the parents did, and Skeeter feels a terrible loss in Constantine's absence. She starts to pay more attention to the black maids of her friends and begins seeing the world through their eyes as she tries to find out what happened to Constantine. Gradually she comes to see that the world she inhabits holds some terrible secrets and many injustices. She decides to interview black maids and write a book about their lives. It is a dangerous undertaking in 1962 Mississippi, especially for the black women she talks to, but they bravely decide that their stories need to be told. This is a poignant, fascinating book about this period in history. It does exactly what a great book should do: make you think, see, and feel like someone else entirely outside your own skin.

Debra Dean's debut novel, The Madonnas of Leningrad, takes readers back to a dark part of the world's history, World War II. Although many novels have focused on this pivotal moment in history, not so many have been written from the Russian citizens' point of view. Set during the siege of Leningrad, in which the residents were completely cut off from food and medical supplies and military assistance, The Madonnas of Leningrad focuses on the plight of the workers at the Hermitage Museum and their families. The main character, Marina, was a tour guide in the museum, and her memories of the Madonnas and other beautiful works of art that used to hang in the Hermitage and have been sent away for safekeeping help to keep her sane during the months of deprivation, fear, and sorrow. The families have been invited to stay in the basement of the museum for safety from bombing and looting, and Marina spends much of her time trying to look out for bombers, bailing out flooded areas, and other assigned tasks. With the rest of her time, she walks through the many rooms of the museum, remembering what was there and describing it in detail to herself. Her memory saves her. Ironically, in the present time, her memory is deserting her as she succumbs to the symptoms of Alzheimers. The novel moves from past to present effortlessly, as we see the world through Marina's eyes and learn about the power of memory and of a rich inner life, even during times of physical and mental decline.

Same kind of different!

Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, is a true story told by two guys who didn't know they were being set up by God.

I can't say enough good about this book. It is the best! Why? Because it touches you in a deep place and wakes you up to seeing what you probably missed.

This is a story about a homeless drifter who grew up in virtual slavery in the 50's. His name is Denver and you will fall in love with him and he will bless you with the wisdom from within a man who never went to school. It is also about a profitable art dealer accustomed to the good life. This is Ron. We grow along with Ron. And then it is about a gutsy lady...I like gutsy.....who is moved and inspired by God to see something unlikely happen with these two men.

A story of friendship, faith, homelessness and pain! Don't pass this one over because we are the same kind of different.

Laura Moriarty has once again built a great book. While I'm Falling is an appealing story about a young college student whose life is falling apart. Sound like a real downer? Well, it is, and yet it isn't. So many things begin to go wrong in Veronica's life that you may find yourself cringing or holding your breath to see what comes next. She's trying very hard but makes so many mistakes--the kind you as a reader can see coming a mile away. It's almost like watching a horror movie and wanting to yell at the female victim, "No, DON'T open that door! Or run, run as fast you can, RIGHT NOW!" There are no boogey men or monsters in Veronica's story, just a lot of normal people trying to make it through life. And in Veronica's defense, some of her problems are not her fault at all. Her parents are divorcing, she's struggling in her pre-med classes, she's not well suited to her RA job--any one of these situations would be enough to create a great deal of stress. And in the end, Veronica does OK. She finds out a lot about herself, and about her mother, who due to bad circumstances ends up spending a lot more time with her. I felt almost proud of Veronica after all was said and done. And I admired her mother greatly. Take a chance and read While I'm Falling.

Sailing the Open Sea

Sea of Poppies by Indian author Amitov Ghosh is a very weird and wonderful book--weird because this epic saga spends most of its pages building a cast of oddly interconnected characters, and wonderful because these numerous characters are the most colorful and intriguing ones I have ever met. I will admit that it is difficult to keep them all straight. There are many, and they have unusual names (to this American, English-speaking reader anyway) that simply do not roll off the tongue. But they are incredibly well drawn, unique, endearing (some), and appalling (others). The language had me laughing out loud at times--some of the characters speak a language that is a rough combination of English, shipboard slang, and probably some Farsi or Bengali or Bhurundi thrown in. Even if you don't understand the exact words, you know exactly what they meant to say by the context. This author is very skilled at dialogue and at helping you understand what is going on, even if the character is speaking nonsense. The story begins upriver from Calcutta, at the beginning of a journey of the sailing ship the Ibis and takes us down the Ganges and out to the open sea. The Opium Wars have begun, so the Ibis is substituting its normal load of opium with a different cargo this time--coolies to work the plantations on the Mauritius Islands, and convicts to be interred at the prison at Port Louis. I waited to read this book for a long time, because apparently the publisher could not keep up with the demand. The author intends this to be the first in a trilogy, the Ibis trilogy, and I simply can't wait for the next one. I won't give away the ending, but when it comes, you will slam the book shut and immediately call your local librarian to see when the second in the series is coming out. I'll save you that step and tell you: October 2010.

A FUNNY Walk in the Woods

Back in America after 20 years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacqauint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes--and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings. But this book is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike. Bryson's acute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail. An adventure, a comedy, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is also the Carroll County on the Same Page selection for 2009.

A Thriller with a Heart

You have got to read this book. Put everything else aside, find a comfortable chair, and start reading. Actually, you won't even need a comfortable chair, because once you start reading, you won't notice where you are or what you're sitting on. This book is that good. This was my first time to read John Hart, and after reading The Last Child, I intend to go back and read his two previous books as soon as possible. It is the perfect blend of page-turning suspense, intriguing plot, and characters that come alive on the page. Johnny Merriman is a 13-year-old boy who has had to grow up way too fast, and Clyde Hunt is the detective who always seems to be one or two steps behind Johnny. (That was my one and only complaint about this book--I was disappointed that it took Hunt so long to figure out what Johnny was up to!) Johnny's sister Alyssa disappeared a year ago, his father left shortly after that, and his mother totally fell apart. Johnny's life is devoted to trying to find Alyssa, escaping the wrath of his mother's cold and heartless "boyfriend" (more like drug supplier) Ken, and trying to watch out for his fragile mother as best as he can. Hunt, who was the lead detective on Alyssa's case, is obsessed with the case and tries to keep tabs on Johnny and his mother. Then another young girl is abducted, and the nightmare escalates. If you like a good crime novel, or a good character-driven novel, you will love this book. Read it.