Memphis Reads Archive

We have more summer reads to share from our enthusiastic library staff. One novel was so memorable we received two reviews for it. The titles are listed in alphabetical order.

The Best of Simple, by Langston Hughes

This book consists of selections from a series originally published by Hughes in the Chicago Defender. These stories center around Jesse B. Semple, "Harlem’s Everyman," who ponders the nuances of life while enjoying drinks with his unnamed friend. Whether he's talking about his job, his women, or the cruelties of Jim Crow, "Simple's" jazzy dialog and wit give a glimpse into black culture during the 1940s. I looked forward to picking up this book every day because of Simple’s homespun humor. These stories are funny, unpretentious, and timeless.
--Darletha Matthews, South Branch

Garden Spells, by Sarah Addison Allen

This slim book provides pure escape. Allen's characters are well-developed as is the small-town setting. The plot involves the slow healing of a strained relationship between two adult sisters. Restoration begins when the "free spirit" sister moves back to the family home which is now occupied by the "steady and sensible" sister. What makes this story stand out is the subtle theme of magic which runs through the plot. A fun, fast read.
--Jessie Marshall, Business/Sciences Department

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

This is the book to take with you if you only have room to pack one. In this absorbing book, the chapters rotate between three separate, main characters living in the same rural area. Each story is complete unto itself, but there are subtle connections between the characters. In each case, the character has suffered a major life-blow. As the story progresses, each person moves from a very low point to a position where bright hope is surfacing.
--Jessie Marshall, Business/Sciences

Prodigal Summer takes place on a beautiful North Carolina mountain and in the farmlands and village that surround it. Several stories are cleverly interwoven as the human, animal, insect and vegetative characters are developed. This invented geography became so real to me that by the end of the book I felt I could easily wander through it and never be lost. Prodigal Summer is a summer read for me because it is dense with life in all its forms.
--Barbara Wallace, Business/Sciences




Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, by John Barry

In the Spring of 1927, America witnessed what is still unarguably it's greatest natural disaster -- the flooding of the Mississippi River. John Barry's highly readable account of the impact of the flood and how it profoundly changed the mid-South and America is an epic historical account that will wash you away with its narrative power.
--Robert Bain, Randolph Branch



The Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage and illustrated by Mark Zug.

The series includes Book One: Magyk, Book Two: Flyte, Book Three: Physik, and Book Four: Queste. I’m about 20 pages from the end of the final book, Queste. It’s the perfect summer read for kids ages 8-13 and parents who enjoy fantasy.

The book follows the adventures of a Kingdom run by its highest Wizard and a Queen. At the beginning of the first book the young Queen has been murdered and the ExtraOrdinary Wizard has been murdered trying to protect her. The kingdom has been thrown into chaos because the newborn daughter of the queen has disappeared. At the same time, in the Heap family, young Septimus, the seventh son of a seventh, has been announced dead soon after his mother delivers him.

The book is full of adventure, funny, odd humans and creatures, both alive and dead. Rats are just as likely to be the hero in a given situation as a boggart or a dragon. Septimus Heap and Jenna Heap (actually the young princess rescued that terrible night) save their kingdom from the Darke Magyk that wants to control their world. They are assisted by various Heap relatives and friends, a scrawny orange cat who after dark transforms into a panther, and the ghost of that murdered ExtraOrdinary Wizard. Great adventure, great characters, great beach read!
--Janet Wyatt, Central Children’s Department



She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb

I took this book and other books that "had absolutely no academic merit" (as I told my husband/ travel companion, Neale) to Pensacola this summer. I especially liked this book, though, because I could pick it up at any place in the book and get a good laugh from the main character, Dolores Price. She didn't have it easy, but her sarcastic sense of humor made her life a little less jaded.
--Andrea King, Poplar-White Station Branch



Tigerlily’s Orchids, by Ruth Rendell

Rendell is an award-winning master of psychological mysteries! In Tigerlily, she draws a large cast of characters from one neighborhood, examines their foibles and obsessions – and creates a story that is definitely habit-forming. (Hint – there is a surprise at the very end!)
--Kay Due, Central Public Services

Labels: Quick Picks, Staff Recommendations

Fiction

Kay reviews CHANGE OF HEART by Jodi Picoult (Atria, 2008)

This is a disturbing story on many levels and yet so very uplifting! Shay Bourne, a convicted killer on death row, learns that the sister of his victim needs a heart transplant - and he sees this as his salvation. Unexpected allies – a priest and an attorney – determine that Shay should die on his own terms. The death penalty, the meaning of salvation, and the fate of the soul- all are probed in this moving story.

Kay Due, Public Services

Labels: Fiction, Reviews by Kay Due

Vacation season is in full swing, so we asked our library staff to share their favorite Beach Reads with Memphis Reads. This label includes any captivating works that help pass the time while sunning on the beach, on a extended airline flight, a road trip, or during a much-needed staycation. Titles below are listed in alphabetical order.


Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg

This is a light, funny story bursting with quirky characters all of whom live in the small town of Elmwood Springs, MO. The premise is a little like the film, It's a Wonderful Life. Reading the "Southernisms" might bring back childhood memories!
--Jessie Marshall, Business/Sciences Department



The Emperor’s Tomb, by Steve Berry

Maybe because they are so far removed from my pretty routine real life, I indulge myself in spy thrillers in the summertime. The Emperor’s Tomb takes place in exotic locations all over the world, including the Himalayas, and uses a fiction surrounding Emperor Qin's Terra-cotta Army as the motivating force for Cotton Malone to do all his retired-but-not-quite spy tricks. It’s a fast enough read to read quite a bit between planes or swim sessions, and interesting enough to make all the background noise fade out as you follow the plot to its exciting conclusion.
--Mary Seratt, Central Children’s Department



A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore

Acclaimed writer Lorrie Moore's 2010 fiction A Gate at the Stairs was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the United Kingdom's Orange Prize for Fiction. It was also chosen as a best book of the year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, Kansas City Star, Financial Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Real Simple; yet has resulted in reader reviews that range from "couldn't put it down," to "couldn't wait to put it down." Lorrie Moore, a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, having won honours from the Lannan Foundation, The Irish Times, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, as well as the Rea Award and the PEN/Malamud Award itself recommends the reading of A Gate at the Stairs if only to find out where on the "couldn't" or "couldn't wait" spectrum you might fall.
--Robert Bain, Randolph Branch

The Lacuna (Audiobook), by Barbara Kingsolver

I listened to this book in the car on my way to and from a family vacation. The narrator is a Mexican-American man, who reveals the story through his journals from childhood through adulthood. I love reading about other locales while I am on vacation, and most of this story is set in Mexico – on a tropical island, and in bustling Mexico City. Characters include artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and historical figures like Leon Trotsky. Kingsolver is a marvelous storyteller, and part of what makes this such a delightful “listen” is that Kingsolver herself reads the book, complete with Mexican and Russian accents. The writing is so filled with the color and music and food and politics of the setting that you feel that you are there, eating pollo mole as a guest at the table. --Audrey May, LINC/2-1-1 @ Central



One Day, by David Nicholls

The first chapter of One Day introduces Emma and Dexter on a particular date in 1988 - the day that they graduated from college and also the day that they met. Afterwards, each chapter revisits the two characters on the very same day a year later. At times very funny, at times very sad, this story takes you through a complex and dynamic relationship across the span of two decades. It's hard not to get caught up in their journey. (A movie based on this book will be coming out in August, so if you are like me and you prefer to read the book first, now is the time.)
--Sarah Frierson, History Department


Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

I couldn’t put it down. There was a little mystery, character development, great life story.
--Arlene Handerson, Frayser Branch

What do you like to read during the summer?

Labels: Quick Picks, Staff Recommendations

Labels: Library Events and Programs

Nonfiction/Sociology

Laura reviews ALONE TOGETHER: WHY WE EXPECT MORE FROM TECHNOLOGY AND LESS FROM EACH OTHER by Sherry Turkle (Basic Books, 2011)

Sherry Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauze’ professor of Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT, as well as the founder and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. This book is the third in a trilogy which includes The Second Self and Life on the Screen, but it can be enjoyed on its own.

The title caught my attention and appealed to a sense of apprehension about the evolution of technology and how it is affecting human civilization, including how some people seem to experience a detachment from other people and a lack of purpose in living their life. I wanted to better understand people’s attachment to technologies I don’t use and to obtain some persuasive arguments for others to use them less.

Several themes are examined, supported by Ms. Turkle’s interviews over about 15 years, of hundreds of children and adults about the use of robots, internet, email, cell phones, etc. I found the discussion of the following trends caused by technology most disturbing: changes in relationships and communication among friends and family, lack of privacy and community, and lack of sensitivity to (and understanding of) the wants and needs of others.

But all is not lost. Reading this book reminded me of how I felt when reading Future Shock by Alvin Toffler back in the 1970s. I reached the same conclusion then as now, that although one person usually has limited impact on changing the world, as individuals we have an incredible impact on how we choose to accept and use technologies to our best advantage to help us live a happy and fulfilling life.

Laura Salehi, Bartlett Branch

Labels: Nonfiction, Reviews by Laura Salehi

The winners of the 2011 Thriller Awards were announced July 9, 2011.

Bad Blood, by John Sandford won "Best Hard Cover Novel."


Still Missing by Chevy Stevens won "Best First Novel."

View the rest of the winners at The International Thriller Writers' website. Fans of thriller fiction can also view past nominees and winners by clicking here.

Labels: Awards, News and Notes

Join us at the Central Library for our next session of "What's Your Flavor?"

"Out of the Closet”: Gay and Lesbian Fiction
Presented by Conrad Pegues and Audrey May
Thursday, July 21, 2-4 p.m.
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, Room L-56

Labels: Library Events and Programs, What's Your Flavor

Fiction/Historical

North Branch Women’s Book Club recently discussed THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, 2009)

The Help was an interesting read, for it showed the dynamics of Southern relationships concerning "the lady of the house" and "the help." This fictional writing takes a look at Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960's. The injustices that went on let us know that the maids were true heroines. They worked under stressful conditions while trying to provide for their own families.

Some readers thought that there was too much dialog that bogged down an otherwise enjoyable read. We wondered if the movie (scheduled for release in August) will be better than the book?

Karen Hall, North Branch Women's Book Club

Labels: Book Club Reviews, Fiction, Reviews by Karen Hall