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Literary roll in the hay
A review of Intercourse by Robert Olen Butler

 Oh, Robert Olen Butler, you've done it again.  You write stories that are so surprising their content still dazes me well after I’ve finished reading them.  The topics are provocative (tabloid headlines, decapitation, now sexual relations) personal and poetic.   Even with the sensitive topics, many ...read more

Reviewed by Molly - Central on November 4, 2008 | 0 comments

A rediscovered author
A review of The Worst Thing I've Done by Ursula Hegi

 For some reason I've avoided reading Ursula Hegi's books since her brilliant Stones From the River.  I don't know ...read more

Reviewed by Lisa - Central on November 3, 2008 | 0 comments

Suicide prevention by snail mail
A review of When No One Understands by Brad Sachs

 When No One Understands : Letters to a Teenager on Life, Loss, and the Hard Road to Adulthood presents psychologist Brad Sach's efforts to reach an uncommunicative teen who recently attempted suicide. ...read more

Reviewed by Dennis - Central on October 31, 2008 | 0 comments

Exchanging truth for fiction
A review of The Trophy Exchange by Diane Fanning

 Diane Fanning has been writing true-crime for a number of years. She has only recently begun novel writing and her sophomore effort, ...read more

Reviewed by Jane J - Central on October 30, 2008 | 0 comments

Laura Bush revealed
A review of American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

 The novel American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld just absolutely knocked my socks off.  Seriously, it is ...read more

Reviewed by Liz - Central Library on October 29, 2008 | 2 comments

Fairytale turned upside down
A review of Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale

I'm not generally a reader of graphic novels, though my associate at work is always trying to change that. However, I am a fan of the author Shannon Hale. So when a new book came across the desk by her ...read more

Reviewed by Liz - Alicia Ashman on October 28, 2008 | 0 comments

Ms. Hempel learns a lesson
A review of Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum

 Twenty-something Beatrice Hempel is just beginning to feel like "Ms. Hempel", but that isn't who she is all the time - it's who she is to her seventh-grade English class.  Throughout the eight connected stories in Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum's ...read more

Reviewed by Kylee on October 27, 2008 | 0 comments

Lazarus lives
A review of The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon

 I was happy to see that Aleksandar Hemon’s The Lazarus Project was nominated for the ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on October 24, 2008 | 1 comment

Great books for adults to read out loud to kids or read for fun for themselves because they are just so good
A review of A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond

 It is also not too early to start thinking about the holidays and these books make great gifts: Happy Fiftieth Anniversary, Paddington! I first read A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond when I was in third grade based on a friend’s recommendation. I remember enjoying it, but ...read more

Reviewed by Molly - Central on October 23, 2008 | 0 comments

This one, truly stranger than fiction
A review of Cris, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe by Mike O'Connor

 Crisis, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe: A Memoir of Life on the Run is quite the title. And, coincidentally, it is quite the book. The author, Mike O'Connor, is a journalist who has worked for NPR, CBS and ...read more

Reviewed by Lisa - Central on October 22, 2008 | 1 comment
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