A Tale of High School and Rugby - Winger by Andrew Smith

I profiled this book briefly in my Beach Reads post, but I thought that Winger by Andrew Smith deserved a closer look. This is the story of fourteen-year-old Ryan Dean West, an 11th grader who goes to a boarding school and rooms with a guy who hates him. To top things off, he is in love with his sixteen-year-old best friend who thinks of him as a little kid.

This novel is an emotional, funny coming-of-age story, but don't think it's like an after school special. It evokes the teenage boy psyche like nothing else I've read, especially with Ryan Dean's obsession with thinking about sex (even though there is no actual sex in the book) and a lot of swearing. However, Ryan Dean is very smart (smart enough to be a junior in high school at fourteen) and over the course of the novel he must mature and grow into a man. Like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, this book features comics drawn by Ryan Dean which are hilarious and silly.The novel also touches on themes of friendship and loyalty, authenticity, overcoming prejudices, and the trials of growing up.

Teens will identify with Ryan Dean's self-deprecating attitude and his many insecurities.  Adults might find the situations that Ryan Dean gets himself into a little ridiculous, but both teens and adults will love the tale of Ryan Dean's high school rite of passage.

The Measures Between Us- Connections Continued

I recently posted my review of The Illusion of Separateness and how it is a beautiful story on the effect of those seemingly minor connections between people.  Ethan Hauser does the same in his debut novel, The Measures Between Us.

There are several players in this powerful novel, but young Cynthia finds herself in the middle.  She is currently living in a mental facility, at the behest of her parents, but she has a very profound effect on others, whether directly or indirectly.  Her father, Vincent, is a high school shop teacher who struggles with the decision of what to do with his troubled daughter.  He seeks the help of pscyhologist, and former student, Henry, who is dealing with the trials of starting his own family.  Jack, Cynthia's on-again, off-again boyfriend, is interning on a project dealing with climate change and a major storm that is threatening the East Coast.  There are others involved here, but the connections between each person, which may seem minor at first, says a lot about the human experience and how we each affect one another in some way.

I really enjoyed the writing style and was not put off by the changes in narrating viewpoints.  The story flows very well, though the language is not as poetic as The Illusion of Separateness.  Still, if you are interested in how people who seem to have nothing in common are still connected, pick this one up.

Chris May- Manager of Adults Services

Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane

As our readers may have noticed, I was on vacation last week. For my fourteen hour drive to North Carolina, I picked up a few audiobooks and the one I was most excited about was Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane (click here for the audiobook version). Already a fan of Gaiman's, I was moved and delighted by his newest novel for adults since Anansi Boys in 2005.

This is the story of a middle-aged man who returns to his childhood home, and this journey awakens long-forgotten memories of one fateful summer. When he was seven, he met an uncannily wise eleven-year-old girl from the end of his lane who claimed the pond behind her house was an ocean. Their meeting sets off a chain reaction of fantastical events that will have enormous repercussions for them both. However, saying much else would give away too much of this enchanting story.

Gaiman reads his own work with confidence and command, and while he does not create distinctly different voices for the characters as some audiobook performers do, his rendition is emotional and powerful. The book breathes childhood with every word, evoking melancholy nostalgia. Gaiman perfectly captures the wonder, mystery, and magic of childhood and explores other themes such as friendship, loyalty, and learning from mistakes. However, he does not shy away from the terror of childhood, including one gut-twisting scene with a worm. The book is profound without pretension and youthful without saccharine naivety. Those who like their reads short will also like the novel, since it clocks in at around 6 hours or 192 pages. Pick this one up - The Ocean at the End of the Lane is not to be missed.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian

A Beautiful Book About Connections

There have been books about the small, seemingly insignificant moments in life that connect us to each other.  Sometimes those small connections help shape who we are in a profound way.  Perhaps Simon Van Booy does this better than anyone in his beautifully written book The Illusion of Separateness. 

What do an elderly caretaker at a retirement home, a man with a severe head injury from WWII, blind Amelia and her fiance John is a fighter pilot in the war, seven-year old Danny, and other characters have in common?  Did I mention the story takes place over a roughly 70 year period, so many of these people do not know each other at all?  Van Booy takes the reader into the life of each character, moving forward and backward through time.  Each little connection becomes more apparent as the story moves forward.  The writing style is very lyrical and I found myself rereading passages.

I simply could not put this one down!  It's an incredibly quick read, but Van Booy is able to pack an enormous punch into such a small work.  What it says about the human experience and how our actions can affect those we have not even met is beyond beautiful.  Pick this one up and set aside a few hours because you will not want to leave the lives Van Booy creates.

Chris May- Manager of Adult Services

Chevy Stevens Thrills Us Again

Chevy Stevens' latest thriller, Always Watching, lives up to the expectations set by her previous two novels.  I first encountered Stevens through her 2010 thriller, Still Missing, which tells the story of a young woman, Annie, speaking with her psychiatrist about a harrowing abduction that lasted a year.  The book was very well done as Annie's story was laid out well and made the reader very uncomfortable at times (think Emma Donoghue's Room).  Never Knowing came out the next year and fully established Stevens as a master of the genre.  The story centers on Sara, an adopted child now a young woman, who has always wondered about her birth parents.  What she finds out about her father not only shocks her, but may come back to bite her.

And that leads us to Always Watching.  As a psychiatrist, Nadine Lavoie is used to dealing with other people's problems.  But her own demons come back to haunt her after treating a young woman who has been living in a well-known commune.  Nadine soon finds that the commune is run by the same man, Aaron Quinn, who was running a smaller commune in which Nadine and her family lived for a few months when she was young.  She continues digging and finds parallels between her past life and those of the people living in the commune's current state.  Obsessively, Nadine tries to find the answers behind mysterious gaps in her memory from during the months she lived under Quinn's watchful eye.

This title sets the same tone as Still Missing and Never Knowing.  Even though the revelations throughout can be downright disturbing, I could not put this one down until the final revelation was revealed.  Quinn's character, and his demented brother who helps run the commune, is so well done and creepy that you will genuinely fear for Nadine's safety.  Stevens has established herself as a terrific writer who knows how to create an ominous atmosphere.

If that is not enough to whet your appetite, check out the book trailer below.



Chris May- Manager of Adult Services

A Look at WWII Italy in Bohjalian's New Thriller

Chris Bohjalian is quite the prolific author.  Not only does he churn out a new book every year like clockwork, he also writes on a variety of topics.  I first encountered him when I read The Night Strangers, which is about a family moving to New Hampshire and encountering "herbalists" who slowly take control of their lives.  This was followed by The Sandcastle Girls, set in Syria during the first World War.  These two books alone show how versatile Bohjalian can be, so just imagine going through all fifteen of his titles.

His latest, The Light in the Ruins, is set to be released later this month.  I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy and devoured it in a single day.  This one is set in Italy and takes place during two different years.

1943: The Rosatis, a noble Italian family, hide away in their villa in the hope that it will protect them from the war going on near their home.  Christina, the youngest daughter, falls in love with a young German lieutenant, though finds herself in a tough spot once other Nazi soldiers take over the villa.

1955:  Serafina Bettini, a Florence detective, investigates the murders of multiple members of the Rosatis family.  She must also face her own demons as she is a former soldier who made her way through Italy a dozen years earlier.

This one has a little bit of everything: romance, mystery, thriller, history, and even some art history.  I could not put it down as each chapter set in the past set up what would happen twelve years later.  I have to admit, I did not know much about the effects of WWII on Italy, but this book gave me plenty of reason to do some research.

Pick this one up soon and you won't regret it.

Chris May- Manager of Adult Services

Sizzling Summer Beach Reads

So you finally have enough time to read this summer, but you need some suggestions for what to read while you're lounging by the pool or relaxing in that beach chair. No worries! Check out T-SPL's list of new and upcoming titles that are sure to captivate you this summer:

Not sure what to read after Gone Girl? Check out debut novel Night Film by Marisha Pessl. This creepy thriller follows a journalist investigating the death of a young girl. As he digs deeper he is drawn into the world of her recluse father, a horror film director.This highly anticipated novel comes out August 20, so don't miss it!

Another entry in Scandinavian crime thrillers, The Fire Witness by Lars Kepler garnered a starred Kirkus review. After a murder at a home for wayward girls, a medium claims that she saw a ghost. One detective listens, digging deeper into the case until he is confronted with his own past.

Funny and heartbreaking, Winger by Andrew Smith is a sure bet for teens and adults alike. 14-year-old Ryan lives at a boarding school where he navigates growing up, aided by his sense of humor. This coming of age novel received starred review in Kirkus, Booklist, and Publisher's Weekly.

A true beach read, debut novel Big Girl Panties by
Stephanie Evanovich (not the author of the Plum series!) is a love story with an unconventional protagonist. Holly gained weight after her husband's death, and it is a chance meeting with Logan, a fitness instructor, that inspires her to get fit and perhaps even fall in love.

Lastly, the new novel Beautiful Day by the author of Summerland, Elin Hilderbrand, is another perfect read for a day at the beach. Jenna and Stuart are getting married, but as the day approaches, their relatives find that their own lives are taking a turn for the worse. Fans of chick lit will love this novel that explores the meanings of love, marriage, and fidelity.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian

The Suspense Builds in Suzanne Rindell's Debut, The Other Typist

You have probably noticed a trend here at the Readers' Corner that I gravitate towards debut novels.  I love to see new authors trying new things.  More importantly, I love connecting readers to new authors they may enjoy.  Granted, not all of them are gold, but there has been so many great debuts over the past three years or so.  Suzanne Rindell's debut, The Other Typist, is one of those solid works. This is a terrific debut for those who love a good suspense story with well developed characters.

Rose Baker works as a typist for the New York City Police Dept. in the 1920s.  She is certainly old-fashioned and, in her own opinion, quite dull, especially during the roaring '20s.  That changes when her department hires Odalie, a woman who is everything that Rose is not.  Odalie smokes, bobs her hair, wears the new fashions, and even goes to local speakeasies.  Talk about oil and water.  But Rose finds herself fascinated by Odalie and even does everything she can to win her favor.  But this involves entering Odalie's world, which is totally foreign territory.  Is Rose willing to give up who she is and, more importantly, pay the consequences?

Odalie and Rose are very well developed characters.  The reader gets a real sense of why Rose is so old fashioned, but also why she is trying to win over Odalie.  Rindell also does a fantastic job of creating 1920s New York and all that goes with it.  But the feeling that Rose is getting in way over her head is the real reason this book is a winner.  The feeling of suspense as she finds herself deeper and deeper into Odalie's world is very well done.

Chris May- Manager of Adult Services