Together for Christmas by Katherine Spencer

 
   Molly Harding and her partner Betty Bowman are owners of Willoughby's Fine Foods and Catering in the town of Cape Light.  Betty Bowman's husband is recovering from a serious injury, and Betty has to step back from the business and take care of her husband.  This puts more pressure on Molly during the holiday season, which is Willoughby's Fine Foods and Catering's busiest time of year.  Molly is not as good as Betty with the finances and soon finds herself in over her head and, thinking she can do it all, puts off asking others for help.  Finally she realizes if she doesn't ask for help from her husband and best friend, Betty, they will lose the business.
   Meanwhile, a single mother, Carrie Munro, and her son, Noah, have come to Cape Light to start a new life.  Carrie is out of work and looking for a new job, a new place for her and Noah to live.  Noah likes his new school, and he's especially happy with his new friend, who he calls Theo.  Noah insists his new friend is an angel.  At first Carrie is amused but later becomes concerned; she seeks out the help of Dr. Jeff Carlson, who is a child psychologist for help and guidance.
    Looking for a good Christmas story to read for Christmas?  Together for Christmas by Katherine Spencer would be a good choice.

Memory Wall

Author Anthony Doerr has received a great deal of attention in the last year--and deservedly so--for his outstanding, Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel All the Light We Cannot See. Although I had read and liked his previous novel About Grace, I had skipped Doerr's short stories, preferring to read meatier, lengthier tales. Until now. The first and title story in Memory Wall is almost 90 pages of pure, glistening prose, more of Afterworld, alternates between an elderly woman suffering from epilepsy in present-day Ohio and her childhood in WorldWar II in Hamburg, Germany. The story explores the connections among memories, dreams, and the physical and ailing brain. Fascinating food for thought.
a novella than a story. It is set in South Africa in a futuristic time in which your memories can be extracted and stored in memory cartridges that can then be replayed by you or others over and over. Used as a treatment for dementia patients, the cartridges are also sought by others for nefarious purposes. The story is suspenseful and builds to a page-turning climax, but it is much more than that. It is a study of the power of memory. All the stories in the book are connected in this way, looking at the wonder of mind and memory. The final story in the collection, Afterworld, alternates between an elderly woman in Ohio suffering from epilepsy, and her childhood in WWII era Hamburg, Germany. It explores the connections between memory, dreams, and the physical, ailing brain. Fascinating food for thought.

Review submitted by Kelly Currie

Wildflower

WILDFLOWER by DREW BARRYMORE


I really enjoyed reading "Wildflower" and it was a good read. However, I was very surprised to read about her sad childhood.  I also couldn't believe that any judge would give a fourteen year old child her emancipation, which means she would be living on her own.

Liked Drew's honesty and openness.   Her life went down many paths, but she made good choices after her "wild child" days.  She met many good people who supported her.  I liked the chapter "The Royal Hawaiian" about her grandfather, who loved Drew deeply and had a great love for education.

Drew shows that you can overcome anything, and not being perfect is okay.  I think this book would make a good movie.

Killing Reagan

...by Bill O'Reilly.  Definitely an interesting read or listen depending on your media. You will learn much - not only about Ronald Reagan, his career and family - but also about political elections and politics in general. Our nation's political history is an interesting one for sure and there is much, that at the time, the public is not privy to... you now can be privy to in this book.

And then, Hinckley, the would be assassin of the president, we get to see what made him tick.

O'Reilly and his co-writer, Martin Dugard, did their research and Reagan is not candy coated one bit. The book is honest and not political-party biased. Killing Reagan gives us the real man, our 40th president, Ronald Reagan.

Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

After the death of a family member and former pen pal, Delia and her family take a trip to renovate the house Aunt Cordelia left for Delia. This is no ordinary house and the family has no idea what horrors this former mental institute for unstable women holds beneath the surface.

Formerly the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females, known by locals as “Hysteria Hall”, is filled with spirits of former residents and employees who have been trapped for decades. This building also houses something dark and sinister that traps Delia on the property forever.

This horror story is filled with mystery and thrills. You get to know the history of “Hysteria Hall” and follow Delia’s journey in the afterlife. When family and former friends visit the house, she must fight the strong, dangerous force that is responsible for her untimely demise. Will she be able to save the ones she loves from an eternity at this asylum? What will become of the poor souls who have been trapped for decades? Why does Delia possess powers that nobody else does? To find the answers to these questions, pick up Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall from the Teen Room today.

-Lauren