Revival, by Stephen King

We finish our week of superb blog posts from the Outreach Services division with Tova’s take on the latest by the prolific and talented Stephen King:

Six-year-old Jamie Morton is playing in his front yard on a hot summer day when he meets Reverend Charles Jacobs for the first time. Jacobs has come to the small town of Harlow, Maine to preside over the local church, and Jamie is immediately intrigued by the enigmatic young preacher. After all, the Reverend is passionate about electricity and creates cool gadgets like a miniature landscape with a walking Jesus figurine. Reverend Jacobs peppers his sermons and youth group lectures with stories and metaphors drawn from electricity’s mysterious properties.

When a horrific tragedy befalls minister Charles Jacobs, Jacobs delivers a shocking sermon that leads to his banishment from Harlow. And, as Jamie gets on with the business of growing up, Jamie’s memory of his former minister fades. After discovering a talent for guitar-playing at the age of thirteen, Jamie eventually goes on to lead a nomadic life playing gigs across the country with a succession of rock and roll bands. Unexpectedly, Jamie meets up with Charles Jacobs again; this time Jamie is in his mid-thirties and drugged out, abandoned, and desperate. Jamie’s acceptance of Jacobs’ help, based on the former minister’s now full-blown obsession with electricity, sets both of them on a course with terrifying consequences for Jamie. The two will meet once more, but it is unclear whether Jamie will make it out alive this time.

Like so many of King’s works, this book has heart. It is just as much a story about growing up and growing old as it is a story about the consequences of one man’s dangerous obsession. The horrifying events that unfold really just serve as a backdrop for greater contemplations about the course of life. Coming of age, sex, romance, addiction, loss, faith–all of these facets of life make an appearance in Revival, and they often had me thinking about my own life’s journey. Score this book another home run for Stephen King.

I also highly recommend the audiobook, as David Morse does an excellent job of bringing the book’s characters to life.

Check the WRL catalog for Revival

Or try Revival as an audiobook on CD

Read Full Post »

Design Star: Lessons from the New York School of Flower Design, by Michael Gaffney

Eletha continues our week of diverse posts from the WRL Outreach Services division:

Floral design was on my bucket list. Flower arrangements? Why? I love making things—working with my hands keeps me from talking too much. I would spend hours making paper and silk flowers—only to have my flower arrangements look awful. I just could not get my arrangements to look resplendent, dazzling, or gorgeous.

I conquered floral design when I accepted the task of making flower arrangements, corsages, and boutonnieres for a banquet. “Since you make such beautiful flowers, this is the perfect job for you,” the banquet committee members said. However, they did not know floral arrangement was extremely challenging for me.

Design Star: Lessons from the New York School of Flower Design by Michael Gaffney was the solution to my dilemma. In this book, Gaffney demystified the art of arranging flowers. He states: “Putting flowers together in a beautiful way is much like working a Rubik’s Cube; it is a formula to be followed more than an artistic creation.”

This book has easy to understand instructions and formulas that anyone may use to make flawless floral designs. Gaffney teaches the rules of design and gives tricks and tips to make each piece unique. The “6-5-1”, wiring and taping, boutonnieres, corsages, and the triangle design lessons were lifesavers. These lessons allowed me to create everything with ease. If you want to make beautiful floral arrangements, read Gaffney’s book. This book has something for everyone from the novice to the professional florist.

Check the WRL catalog for Design Star

Read Full Post »

The Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn

Next  up in this week from our Outreach Division, is Chris:

“The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars” Isaiah 9:10

Although Jonathan Cahn’s The Harbinger is a work of fiction, it has real life connections. From 9/11 to the leading up of The Great Recession the author shows a connection between ancient Israel to a present day warning of coming destruction to America. The author stresses that before God judges a nation, He will send a warning. However, just like ancient Israel, America has not responded with repentance, but defiance which is the focus of the scripture that man has taken out of context (Isaiah 9:10)

In Cahn’s tale, a mysterious stranger who I can only assume is an angel gives a man nine harbingers.  These are the same harbingers or warnings that were given to ancient Israel before its final destruction by the Assyrians and makes a parallel between each and the events of 9/11. At some point you will put this book down and open the bible, visit your library or search the internet for more information. I still remember the first time I had to step away from this book for a day or two, when I saw numerous videos of our past and current politicians quoting a scripture with no understanding of its true meaning. After the attacks of 9/11 the politicians said, “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.” Fiction mirrors reality, forcing us to think about the possibility of Cahn’s story coming to pass.

Check the WRL catalog for The Harbinger

Read Full Post »

Big Data: A revolution that will transform how we live, work, and think, by Viktor Mayer-Schonburger and Kenneth Cukier

We are ending the week with this sobering view of technology from Connie of the library’s Outreach Services Division.

I was watching a TV show called Blacklist when the main character started talking about “Big Data” and how someone with the right skills can find out just about anything about anybody and track them. I had only a vague idea what this meant.

What is “Big Data” and why should we care? I turned to the library for answers.

The authors of Big Data interpret this to mean processing vast amounts of stored data very quickly in a way that can’t be done on a smaller scale. Algorithms applied to this data have a predictive capability that will “change markets, organizations, the relationship between citizens and governments and more.”

This book develops that concept in a very understandable way with interesting examples of how our world had already changed by the large amount of data stored.

A positive example of the way big data has already helped consumers is Farecast, which predicts when air fare will be cheapest to buy. And future ways big data may benefit humanity is by predicting where outbreaks of disease will occur.

The negative implications of the predictive quality of “Big Data” are thought provoking (think of the movie Minority Report). Not only does everything we do on the Internet never go away, but that information can be analyzed over and over again for different purposes without our knowledge or consent. Even if the data is anonymized, it can still be traced back to a single individual!

The authors state that the amount of data will continue to grow along with our ability to process it. It is “the dark side of big data” that I found most alarming – more surveillance of our lives, less protection of privacy, and loss of anonymity. I found myself marking sections in the book and going back to re-read it. It also sparked a lot of discussion in my book group. Technology is a part of all our lives whether we love it or hate it and this book was a fascinating peek into our future.

Check the WRL catalog for Big Data

Read Full Post »

Hinterland, Series 1

Ann Marie of the library’s Outreach Services Division shares this review of a television show.

A hinterland is defined as the often uncharted areas beyond a coastal district or a river’s banks, or an area lying beyond what is visible or known.  In the new Welsh detective series, Hinterland, the characters both literally and figuratively have to travel into the dramatic outlying areas of coastal Wales as well as into the outlying areas of Welsh society.

Hinterland is the first TV mystery series based entirely in Wales. The main detective is DCI Tom Mathias (Richard Harrington) who comes to the coastal town of Aberystwyth, Wales, after working for 10 years with the Metropolitan Police in London. His team consists of DI Mared Rhys (Mali Harries) a local woman who had wanted Mathias’ position, DS Sian Owens (Hannah Daniel) and DC Lloyd Ellis (Alex Harries).

The series begins with a murder of an elderly woman, and Mathias arrives at the scene where he first meets his team before he has a chance to even report to the police station. Mathias and the other detectives have to learn to trust each other and learn each other strengths and weaknesses while working the case.

Eventually the case leads the investigators to a former children’s home at the waterfall called Devil’s Bridge. Adding to the atmosphere of the dramatic waterfall, there’s also some intriguing folklore associated with the waterfall that involves an old woman, a loaf of bread, and Satan. Mathias discovers that the reasons for the murder lie in the past of the children’s home as he uncovers the home’s secrets.

The personal lives of the detectives are not explored, but there are intriguingly brief glimpses into their present and past. As the lead detective, the series spends the most time with DCI Mathias. The DCI is a loner who seems to have some issues in his personal life. The reasons for his transfer to Wales from London are not explained, at least in series one. The issues surrounding the cases often force the detectives to travel to their own personal hinterland as they deal with their own reactions.

Filmed entirely on location in the county of Ceredigion, Wales, the winter landscape provides a haunting backdrop to the gothic story lines. Whether it’s the stark rolling hills, the dense forests, or the crashing waves on the shoreline, the Welsh countryside is an important part of the series and helps to give the series an ominous and dark feeling. Each scene of the series was filmed in two languages—Welsh and English. The Welsh language version of the series aired in Wales in 2013 as Y Gwyll which means “The Dusk.” The BBC aired the English-language Hinterland this past winter, and series 2 is in production.

This Welsh crime noir drama will appeal to those who enjoy mysteries of the dark and complicated type. A different case is solved in each of the four episodes.

Check the WRL catalog for Hinterland, Series 1

Read Full Post »

The G Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide, by Elisabeth Hasslebeck

Take a look at today’s review from Eletha of the Outreach Services Division:

I have always had a complicated relationship with food. As of the latest count, I have nine food allergies. I am allergic to beef, pork, beets, grapes, mushrooms, chocolate, crab, lobster, and shrimp.

My relationship with food became even more difficult when I discovered that I am gluten sensitive. I dreaded any gathering where food was involved until I read The G Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide by Elisabeth Hasslebeck.

This book is a biographical self-help account of Hasslebeck’s journey to become gluten free. Hasslebeck states, “I learned about gluten the hard way. I wrote this book so you don’t have to.”

Hasslebeck provides educational information, gluten-free recipes, and practical tips on how to avoid gluten in many different aspects of life —especially in social situations. She provides strategies that gluten sensitive people can use to avoid gluten without offending the host and making others feel uncomfortable.

The G Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide is truly a survival guide for the gluten sensitive person.

Check the WRL catalog for The G Free Diet

Read Full Post »

Heaven is for Real

Today’s movie review is from Chris of the library’s Outreach Services Division.

I recently viewed Heaven is for Real over the weekend. Four-year-old Colton has a near death experience and describes with childlike innocence what it is like in heaven. The way Colton describes heaven and recounts family history that he should not know about brings skepticism and criticism not only from his parents, but also from their church.

Greg Kinnear gives a solid performance as the father who must find the courage and conviction to share his son’s story while dealing with his own personal issues. Connor Corum gives a good performance as Colton by capturing the innocence that so many children display.

The movie is rated PG.

Check the WRL catalog for Heaven is for Real

 

Read Full Post »

July’s People, by Nadine Gordimer

This week’s reviews are from the library’s Outreach Services Division.

World renowned, critically acclaimed, and prolific South African author Nadine Gordimer died in July 2014. In honor of her I share with you today one of her most famous works, July’s People, a story that asks the question “What happens to people when they experience a shift in power?”

July’s People is the story about the Smales family, Maureen, her husband, Bam, and their three children, who live a typical, middle class life in a suburban South African community, complete with their house servant, July. When the rumblings of anti-apartheid erupt into violence in their community the Smales family flee their comfortable life, with July in tow, and seek refuge in July’s village. Soon the tables are turned and the Smales are living in an unfamiliar environment, looking to July for his benevolence and guidance for their safety, sustenance, and survival.

Gordimer eloquently explores the challenges of racial divide in her native South Africa, putting a face to the complexities of life in an apartheid world. A thought provoking book that draws in the reader with strong characters and interesting relationships, July’s People should be included in your book group’s list of reads this year.

Check the WRL catalog for July’s People

Read Full Post »

River Cottage Veg: 200 Inspired Vegetable Recipes, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Today’s post is from Janet of the library’s Outreach Services Division:

Reviewing a new cookbook always starts in my kitchen. I read the author’s introduction, flip through the chapters, read through a selection of the recipes, and then zero in on one or two to try. This macro and micro hands-on approach usually gives me a better feel for what the author is offering and helps me compare the book to others of its kind.

In March I explored River Cottage Veg: 200 Inspired Vegetable Recipes. Written by Hugh Fearley-Whittingstall, an award-winning cookbook author, British TV chef, and farm-to-table food advocate, this newest River Cottage title is suitable for vegetarians. The purpose of this title was to encourage omnivores to eat more vegetables and to make vegetables a mainstay of our diet.

Fearley-Whittingstall offers an eclectic and creative range of recipes from appetizers, soups, and salads, to entrees and desserts that provide interesting and pleasant flavor combinations and textures. Most of the ingredients should be readily available in most grocery stores. The recipes and instructions, while a challenge for novice cooks are easily handled by the average home chef. The photos are warm and inviting.

I was impressed with the quality of the dishes and the ease of making them. This cookbook was a great match for me as I try to keep most of my meals plant-based. His recipes are so good I tested ten over the course of the month, and then bought the book.

Check the WRL catalog for River Cottage Veg

Read Full Post »

Far Far Away, by Tom McNeal

Christina from the library’s Outreach Services Division provides today’s review:

In the mood for a fairy tale? Far Far Away by Tom McNeal is YA fiction that fans of J.K. Rowling, Diana Wynne Jones, and Lemony Snicket will find familiar but entirely unique. From its spooky old style woodcut illustrations of baby-snatching skeletons, to its unusual narrator (the ghost of one of the brothers Grimm!) this fantasy adventure tale has light romance and clever humor mingled with a charming dark ambiance. Suitable for those who prefer their fantasy to be a pleasant dream, rather than a nightmare.

The eloquent and multilingual Grimm ghost haunts an oddball boy, nicknamed Moonbeam, who is the only one who can hear him. A bite of enchanted cake binds his feisty and beautiful classmate Ginger to their peculiar group. They are aided by the Grimm ghost to explore the ominous mysteries in their town, including disappearing persons, runaways and the rumored existence of an evil-minded power known as the Finder of Occasions.

Lovers of magical realism will enjoy this story of modern young people who deal with jerks, crushes, and school among otherworldly beings and a slew of riddles and puzzles.

If you long for the mood of a fairy tale, but want a novel you can sink your teeth into, this fantasy will take you there.

Check the WRL catalog for Far Far Away

Read Full Post »

The light, by D. J. MacHale

We end the week with a Young Adult review by Chris from the library’s Outreach Services Division:

The light by D.J. MacHale is the first young adult book that I have read where I became so immersed in the storyline that I could not put it down.

The story follows a 16-year-old boy named Marshall who is being haunted.  Marshall is sure of only one thing, and that is whatever is happening has something to do with his best friend Cooper who has been missing for over a week.

Marshall, along with the help of Cooper’s sister, search for clues and unravel something bigger than either one of them could have imagined.

The light is the first book in the Morpheus Road trilogy.  Next in the series is The black, followed by The blood.

Check the WRL catalog for The light

 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living, by Bailey White

 Today’s post is from Eletha  of the library’s Outreach Services Division:

Who can resist good family stories?  Anyone who knows me knows that I have plenty of family stories — many of which people wish I would keep to myself.  But, Bailey White’s collection of short stories, Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living, is an irresistible collection about family and daily living.  It is a great laugh aloud book – something that you would like to reread and share with others. The stories are quirky, funny, and most enjoyable.

The book features characters with plenty of personality, especially the mama stories.  White’s mother is featured in many of the stories, and mama’s quirkiness seeps through the pages. Mama is opinionated, stubborn, and very adorable. She enjoys life, and she gets what she wants, even if it puts everyone else in danger. Other characters in the stories are handfuls, just like mama, especially her aunt and uncle. White has plenty of personality, too — she can be very sassy.

Mama Makes Up Her Mind: And Other Dangers of Southern Living proves as we age, life gets more interesting, especially when we focus on what is most important — the family.

Check the WRL catalog for Mama Makes Up Her Mind

Read Full Post »

Dead Man’s Fancy, by Keith McCafferty

Ann Marie of the library’s Outreach Services Division provides today’s review:

Apparently the hand-tied bits of thread, feathers, and hooks that fly-fishermen use can have really colorful names, such Platte River Special, Vegas Showgirl, and Dead Man’s Fancy. You don’t have to be a fisherman, though, to enjoy the mystery Dead Man’s Fancy by Keith McCafferty. I found it to be an engaging, suspenseful story with colorful characters and a spectacular setting.

Set in the great outdoors of Madison Valley, Montana, the location is an integral part of this mystery series featuring Sean Stranahan. A former private detective from the East Coast, Sean now lives in Montana working as a fly-fishing guide and artist. Local Sheriff Martha Ettinger finds Sean’s skills very useful and occasionally employs him to assist the small sheriff’s department.

The book begins with a search for a missing woman who was called “the Fly-Fishing Venus.” Red-haired Nanika Martinelli worked as fly-fishing guide who seemed to attract fish and customers wherever she worked. Nanika fails to return from a trail ride, sending Sheriff Ettinger and her team on a search in the mountains for her. Ettinger doesn’t find Nanika but she does find a fellow ranch worker who had been searching for Nanika impaled on a dead bull elk’s antler. The dead elk had been claimed by a wolf pack so was the worker’s death caused by a human or by an animal? Where is Nanika and was she attacked by a wolf?

The politics of the wolf’s role in the West and the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park is the central theme of this mystery as Ettinger and Sean find themselves in the middle of the wolf-lovers and the wolf-haters. In her youth, Nanika had been part of an animal-rights group called the Clan of the Three-clawed Wolf and had been involved with the group’s charismatic leader, Fen Amorak. With the continued disappearance of Nanika, Sean is hired by Asena, Nanika’s Canadian sister to find her and to find out if Amorak was involved in Nanika’s disappearance.

As with many investigations, Sean and Ettinger have to start in the past to find out what happened in the present. Details of Nanika’s life with her trapper father start to come out as well as her eco-terrorist activities with the Clan of the Three-clawed Wolf. Sean also starts to question Asena’s motivation—is she really interested in finding her sister or is she more interested in seeking revenge against Amorak?

Sean gradually sifts through the clues figuring out which ones are pertinent and which are not. He uncovers the facts of Nanika’s life, finds Amorak, and of course, gets to do some fishing along the way. The case comes to a dramatic conclusion on the shore of a lake located high in the mountains of Yellowstone.

Dead Man’s Fancy is actually the third in this series. If you likes to start at the beginning of a series, try The Royal Wulff Murders.  Second in the series is The Grey Ghost Murders. (And yes, Royal Wulffs and Grey Ghosts are fishing flies, too.)

Check the WRL catalog for Dead Man’s Fancy

 

Read Full Post »

A Permanent Member of the Family, by Russell Banks

Babette from the library’s Outreach Services Division provides today’s review:

Russell Banks’ new collection of short stories, A Permanent Member of the Family, is one of the best books I have read recently. The characters and the moral dilemmas in which they find themselves entangled continue to simmer in my mind.

Intentional or not, as a reader, I noticed the theme of death emerge as I read this collection of short stories. That being said, I must report that reading this collection of stories is not depressing, but rather a thought-provoking experience. Whether we like to acknowledge this or not, death is a permanent member of every family. Death reveals itself in an array of forms: death of a person or animal, death of a relationship, an image, a dream, a fabricated life, and so on.

Banks’ writing engages the reader swiftly into the lives of the characters presented in each of the stories who find themselves in a variety of perplexing situations.

Here is a sample of some of the situations… In Former Marine, adult siblings realize their father has committed an outrageous crime and ask themselves, “Can this be my dad?” The story Blue presents a woman alone and inadvertently locked overnight in automobile sales lot with a ferocious pit bull dog… is she a criminal or victim, how will this situation end? Top Dog explores the effects of success bestowed on one member of a group and the repercussions to the dynamics of their longstanding friendship.

The twelve stories in this collection encompass a diverse selection of characters from a cross-section of society. A Permanent Member of the Family is a satisfying read. Be sure to add it to your reading list.

Check the WRL catalog for A Permanent Member of the Family

Read Full Post »

A Short Guide to a Long Life, by David B. Agus

This week’s reviews come to you from the library’s Outreach Services Division, starting with a recommendation from Connie:

If you are interested in trying to live a healthy life, but are confused about the abundance of medical information out there, this is the book for you!

Dr. David Agus, a cancer specialist, is often seen on TV commenting and interpreting medical studies for the masses. He is also the best selling author of The End of Illness.

Agus attempts to distill the medical research from that book down to a prescriptive list of his 65 health rules, hence the title – A Short Guide to a Long Life.

Some of the rules seemed obvious like #11 Practice Good Hygiene or #16 Get Off Your Butt More.  Some rules are not always practical like #7 Grow a Garden, #47 Have Children, or #49 Pick Up a Pooch. Some rules are expensive (#20 Consider DNA Testing).

The book is compact and concise. The author’s goal is to give the average person a set of health guidelines based on the science available today. He feels everyone should really think about their lifestyle and the choices we make every day. Each of us, according to the author, has the ability to take more control over the future of our health. Dr. Agus suggests examining his guidelines and implementing the choices that match our own individual values, ethics, and situations.

In addition to his “rules,” he offers a decade-by-decade list of preventative steps to consider and discuss with your doctor. The key to a healthy life is prevention. Of course, the younger you are, the more impact these guidelines will have. However, it’s never too late to take more control of your life.  I can’t think of a more useful general health book.

Check the WRL catalog for A Short Guide to a Long Life

Read Full Post »