Memphis Reads

To get readers in the Thanksgiving mood, a list of Thanksgiving novels with brief summaries of each are available on the blog, The Literary Life.

Labels: News and Notes

Fiction/Suspense

Andrea King reviews ROOM by Emma Donoghue (Little Brown and Company, 2010)

Jack loves his Ma, and Ma loves Jack. In fact, Ma is Jack’s entire world. He has never known a single day of his five years without her. Ma is there when Jack wakes up in the mornings, they spend all day, everyday together, and she is there when Jack goes to sleep at night.

Jack and Ma are the victims of a brutal kidnapping.

Ma was abducted by Old Nick seven years ago when she was a 19-year-old college student. She does not want either of the two males to ever see the other, so when Old Nick “visits” Ma, she hides Jack in the Wardrobe to sleep.

Ma is an amazing, faithful woman who uses what pitiful resources the 11 x 11 foot underground shed has to educate and amuse Jack every single day. Giving each inanimate object a name and personality, Ma makes sure Jack is learning new things daily.

Telling the story from five year old Jack’s point of view may seem like a gimmick to some, but this reviewer thought it was brilliant. When Ma begins to explain to Jack about Outside and how other people exist, not just on TV, readers will feel his confusion and heartache.

Readers will laugh at Jack’s precociousness, will cry at his and Ma’s desperate situation, but most important of all, they will keep reading to see what happens next.

This is one of the most amazing, powerful books I have EVER read!

Andrea King, Poplar-White Station

Labels: Fiction, Reviews by Andrea King, Suspense

The editors at amazon.com have compiled their selections for the best books of 2010.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, is ranked #1 by the editors at Amazon and 10th for the "Top 100 Customers Favorites." Skloot was previously a University of Memphis professor.

Visit Amazon's Best of 2010 page to view these lists and more.

Finished browsing the lists? Search the library catalog for book availability.

Thanks go to Beth for submitting this information.

Labels: News and Notes

Labels: Library Events and Programs

Fiction/Horror

Darletha reviews ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER by Seth Grahame-Smith (Grand Central Publishing, 2010)

I first discovered this book after reading an article about monster mashup novels. I had to read for myself how Smith depicted a renowned United States president as a vampire slayer. Judging from the bloody book cover, I initially thought this would be a ridiculous parody. What I found was a story that made me wonder if we’ve been kept in the dark about this nation’s REAL history.

Abraham Lincoln discovers the existence of the undead as a young boy, after his beloved mother becomes ill and dies. When Lincoln learns that a vampire contributed to his mother's death, he vows to kill all vampires. He reads all he can find about them and strengthens his tall physique with rigorous farm work, especially chopping wood. A sharpened ax becomes Abraham's signature weapon--later adding an arsenal of weapons hidden inside his long coat.

Not all blood suckers are evil in Lincoln’s story. A vampire ally named Henry helps Lincoln enhance his vampire-hunting skills. Henry also sends Lincoln on secret missions to kill the most ruthless of the undead, under the guise of travelling away for work. Lincoln’s secret diary reveals that vampires also chose sides in the Union-Confederacy conflict. As president, Lincoln makes decisions to guarantee the Union wins the Civil War--preventing full vampire domination of the United States.

I was pleasantly surprised with this story. Despite the gory violence, it is crafted as an authentic historical biography. Within the pages are sketches and Civil War photographs provided as evidence of vampires in America--some of which were funny to me. Historic figures like Edgar Allan Poe and Jefferson Davis make memorable appearances in the plot. Consider this story an adventure-filled mashup of historical, horror, and speculative fiction with an amusing twist at the end.

Darletha Matthews, South Branch

Labels: Fiction, Horror, Reviews by Darletha Matthews