Favorite Books Read in 2009

Favorite books I read in 2009- Not necessarily published in 2009 but just that I read them this year.Happy New Year Everyone!
Adult Books:
The People of the Book by, Geraldine Brooks

The Help by, Kathryn Stockett- From State Library-Will be getting this for our Library

Nefertiti & The Heretic Queen by, Michelle Moran- From State Library-Will be getting this for our Library

An Echo in the Bone by, Diana Gabaldon

The Historian by, Elizabeth Kostova

The Shadow of the Wind by, Carlos Ruiz Zafon- From State Library-Will be getting this for our Library

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Woman in White by, Wilkie Collins- From State Library-Will be getting this for our Library

Earthly Pleasures by, Karen Neches

The Brutal Telling by, Louise Penny

Preying For Mercy 3-in 1 & Bone Crossed by, Patricia Briggs

One Thousand White Women by, Jim Fergus

Young Adult:

Waiting for Normal by, Leslie Connor

Wildwood Dancing by, Juliet Marillier

The Thirteenth Child by, Patricia Wrede

Into the Dark and Echo Falls Mystery by, Peter Abrahams

Beastly by, Alex Finn

The Body of Christopher Creed by, Carol Plum-Ucci

The Last Apprentice (Revenge of the Witch) by, Joseph Delaney

The Blue Bloods Series Books 1-4 by, Melissa De La Cruz

I Capture the Castle by, Dodie Smith

Mister B. Gone by, Clive Barker

Teaser Tuesday~~My Cousin Rachel by, Daphne duMaurier

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Well this is more than a sentence or two but its a classic and there's always more to say.
My Cousin Rachel by, Daphne duMaurierpg.91-"He was like someone sleeping who woke suddenly and found the world,"she said,"all the beauty of it,and the sadness too.The hunger and the thirst.Everything he had never thought about or known was there before him, and magnified into one person who by chance,or fate-call it what you will-happened to me.Rainaldi-whom he detested,by the way, as you probably did too-told me once that Ambrose had wakened to me just as some men wake to religion."

Special Holiday Hours

Special Holiday Hours this week The Library will be open regular hours Mon.-Wed. we will be Open Dec.31st from 10-3 and Closed Jan. 1st

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from The New Rockford Public Library.Hope Everyone has a Safe & Happy Holiday!The Library will reopen on Dec.28th.

Review Truly, Madly by, Heather Webber

Title: Truly, Madly by, Heather Webber ARC Copy From ER Program @ LibraryThing
Release Date: Feb.2,2009

Lucy hails from a long line of matchmakers known as Valentine Inc. According to family legend, the Valentines have been blessed by Cupid with psychic ability to help couples find true love. Trouble is, Lucy’s powers were zapped away by an electrical surge and now all she can do is find lost objects. What good is that in the matchmaking world?

The mix of Romance- Mystery & Humor was just the right blend.

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to after seeing the quote on the back saying "Romance with a little Mystery and whole lot of fun” I would say just the perfect blend of all three!
Lucy Valentine is a great character she’s funny & tough, yet sweet & sensitive. I’ve also noticed a trend in some recent books I’ve read and was happy to see a romance Without a love triangle and I hope this series continues this.
I enjoyed Lucy & Sean’s courtship and all of the supporting characters are a great addition to this series and I look forward to getting to know them better.
The Mystery kept me guessing and was happily surprised by an outcome I had not figured out. This book is a nice mix of cozy mystery with a splash of psychic ability thrown in. If you like Janet Evanovich, Diane Mott-Davidson etc. you’ll enjoy this new series.

I know this book doesn’t come out till Feb.2010 but I am already looking forward to the next book in series. Bring on more Lucy Valentine!
I received this from LT’s Early Reviewers Program.

Teaser Tuesday~~ Truly, Madly by, Heather Webber

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Truly, Madly by, Heather Webber -Release Date Feb.2,2009
Page 61-Not wanting to play her game, I turned my attention to the TV and the continuous coverage of the Little Boy Lost.Salty gusts of wind buffeted the cottage's windows. How long would the little boy last outside?

How to Ditch Your Fairy by, Justine Larbalestier

How to Ditch Your Fairy by, Justine Larbalestier

From Book Cover: Welcome to New Avalon, where everyone has a personal fairy. Though invisible to the naked eye, a personal fairy-like a specialized good luck charm- is vital to a person’s success. It might determine whether you make a sports team, pass a class, or that perfect outfit. But for fourteen-year-old Charlie, having a parking fairy is worse than having nothing at all- especially when the school bully carts her around like his private parking pass.
Enter: The Plan. At first, teaming up with her archenemy, Fiorenze (who has an all-the-boys-like-you-fairy), seems like a great idea. But when Charlie unexpectedly gets her hearts desire, it isn’t at all how she thought it would be, and she’ll have to resort to extraordinary measures to set things right.

This was a cute YA book. Its set in, as the author says “an imaginary country perhaps a little in the future.” It had some interesting slang and am glad she put a glossary in the back to explain what these words meant but she did use one of my favorite words “ discombobulated” and it was fun to see someone else use it.
This was a light fun read I liked the different fairies the “Parking Fairy”, ’The Shopping Fairy”, “The All-Boys-Will-Like-You Fairy”. It was cute to see how you can be jealous of someone and find out that what they have is not all it’s cracked up to be. If you have teenagers who like a light fun read I recommend this one!
3 ½ Stars

Teaser Tuesday~~ 9 Dragons by, Michael Connelly

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

From 9 Dragons by, Michael Connelly
Page 64-"By the way, why did your father buy a gun?He had been there for almost thirty years and then six months ago he buys a gun."

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

I do have to admit that I didn't really think much of this book after reading. However, I came away with a satisfied feelings towards it. It's difficult to explain, really. I harbor no ill will, nor do I feel any strong passion to lobby for it, but enough about my inner turmoil. I Capture the Castle tells the story of the Mortmains and the world they live in as told by Cassandra via her journal. It's an interesting perspective, and it gives the feeling that she is writing to the reader in particular. Whatever she knows, thinks, and feels is laid bare on the pages. The plot seemed basic at first, but managed to draw me in anyway. All of the characters were reasonably fleshed out, and I generally seemed to like them...or at least tolerate them. However, there is one aspect to any plot that I absolutely despise. To put it simply, it's any sort of "cheating" or infidelity. It irritates me to no end due to its cliched nature, and I see it as the "easy conflict" (a.k.a. when the writer has a romantic couple and can't think of any other type of conflict therefore he/she takes the easy way out with unfaithfulness). Unfortunately, this book is guilty of it. In its defense, I can't judge it too harshly since it was most likely the book that started the cliche in the first place (written in 1948). To sum it all up, I would say subtlety is its most prevalent strength (that's rather oxymoronic wording isn't it?). From its deliberate pacing to its tendency to completely absorb me into its inner workings, I can honestly say I enjoyed it, more so, after I'd finished it. It doesn't rely on shocking plot twists and doesn't try to wow and astound. The mundane fascinates until it no longer becomes mundane. I award I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith 3 stars.

***

Review by Alisa Heskin

Paula Winskye Book Signing and Reading

Dec.14 from 6-8 Join us as Paula Winskye Local Author does a reading from her latest novel.

The Probable Future by, Alice Hoffman

The Probable Future by, Alice Hoffman
From the back cover-Women of the Sparrow family have unusual gifts. Elinor can detect falsehood. Her daughter, jenny can see people’s dreams when they sleep. Granddaughter Stella has a mental window to the future-a future she might not want to see. When Stella’s premonitions puts her father in jail, wrongly accused of homicide.
This is a story of magical realism and 3 generations of women trying to handle the legacy of the Sparrow family and their own relationships with each other.
This is my first Alice Hoffman book after hearing so much about this author. I really enjoyed this story and the character development. This is a character driven book, yes, there is the whole dad in jail story line but it is not the main story.
The main story is about these generations of Sparrow women and how things that happened years ago to their ancestors can have an effect all those years later.
I did enjoy this book and plan on reading more by this author!
I would recommend this to anyone who likes magical realism or character driven storylines.
3 ½ Stars

Teaser Tuesday~~The Probable Future by, Alice Hoffman

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Probable Future by, Alice Hoffman
Page 55-But following the killing in Brighton,one of the officers who'd been on duty that night remembered the report, and he had dug up Will's file.There he found a description of the victim and the exact cause of death, six days before it had occurred.

Holiday Open House

Falling Angels by, Tracy Chevalier

Falling Angels by, Tracy Chevalier

This is the story of 2 girls growing up in the early 1900’s in London. Maude Coleman and Lavinia Waterhouse are unlikely friends they meet in a London cemetery, where their family plots are next to each other. Their families really have nothing in common and after their first meeting they don’t see each other for awhile till they become neighbors and renew their friendship. Maude and her mother don’t always see eye to eye on things since her mother has discovered the suffragette movement and ends up in jail to the embarrassment of her entire family.Lavinia and her mother get along well although they seem to look down at others especially Maude’s mother Kitty. Kitty and her “radical” friends are preparing for the march to Hyde Park to promote a woman’s right to vote and so much goes horribly wrong that day that changes both families and the girls’ friendship forever.


I always enjoy stories about suffragettes and this was no exception. I did listen to this on audio and there was one thing that bothered me about the audio version of this book is that it is set in England and the narrator did not have an English accent, but that doesn’t have anything to do with my enjoyment of the writing/storyline of this book.
This was a well written story with fully fleshed out characters, there are a lot more stories going on than just the story of these two girls there is Simon the gravedigger, Jenny the maid and of course the mothers of these two girls.
I enjoyed this story and would recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction, suffragettes, and stories about friendship.
4 stars

Teaser Tuesday~~ Falling Angels by, Tracy Chevalier

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Falling Angels by, Tracy Chevalier page 61-
"Reading," Grandmother said, her fish-bone look even stronger."That won't get a girl anywhere.It'll just put ideas in her head.Especially rubbish like those Alice books."
Mummy sat up straighter.She read all the time."What's the matter with a girl having ideas, Mother Coleman?"