Cavendish Library Blog

The Marriage Spell by Mary Jo Putney

This book was so bad that I’m on my third time reading it….or listening to it as the case may be. I love romance novels.  Who doesn’t? They’re adult fairy tales.  I picked this one up years ago and gave it a listen and couldn’t stop.  I dragged my CD players around with me, not to find out how it ended, because come on, it’s a romance novel, but because it was so unintentionally funny that I didn’t want to miss a bit of it.

The story takes place in regency era England and concerns a woman with healing powers named Abby who is in love from afar with Jack Langdon.  He is injured in a hunting accident and nearly dies before she performs a “healing circle” with other people of wizardly powers and heals him.  Her price for this is marriage.  The added piece to this is that Jack also has powers and he hates wizards.  As the story unfolds predictably Jack learns to accept Abby and her powers and his as well as he battles (I LOVE THIS PART) his evil stepfather.

 The dialogue is ridiculous and the plot twists are enhanced with Abby using her powers to heal everybody in sight.  Enhancing this mix are the vocals by Simon Prebble who puts an overwrought emphasis on such literary masterpieces as “I’m going to make love to you until all your bodily energy is restored”.  I can’t even type that line without giggling.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who finds bad dialogue and an overwrought reading style funny or who just loves grown up fairy tales.  This book may be checked out in the audio book section of the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library.

Never Shower in a Thunderstorm: Suprising facts and misleading myths about our health and the world we live in by Anahad O’Connor

Raise your hands if you have heard any of the following: Don’t swim until 45 minutes after you eat, soda causes cancer and yawning is contagious.  The truthfulness behind that and many other rumors is explored in this book.

O’Connor uses careful research and clever writing to determine that you shouldn’t shower during a thunderstorm, soda does not cause cancer, and you can go swimming right after you eat a meal.  As for yawning, it really depends if you are a Democrat or not.   Really.  I can’t make this one up!

This is an entertaining and light read, excellent for car trips.  I read bits of this aloud during a car ride to my husband and son to the delight and entertainment of us all.  I highly recommend it.

As for not reading a library book in the sauna: it makes the glue in the binding melt and the book will fall apart.  Please don’t do it.

This book is available for checkout at The Cavendish Fletcher Community Library.

While it is no surprise to you, dear reader that I love romance novels, my taste usually runs to the paranormal.  I was stuck under the hairdryer….again and picked up this book.  I was glad that I did.

Virgin River tells the story of Melina Monroe, a forty-something nurse who takes an assignment in a small town, called strangely enough, Virgin River and through a series of medical adventures becomes the town’s nurse and midwife and falls in love.  OK, the plot is rather predictable. 

This is what I like about the book, and what has drawn me to read the next five sequels: the characters are realistic.  The heroine is not some Barbie-doll ish twenty year old, but a woman in her early forties with a brain and real personality.  The townspeople are quirky and likeable and I cared about them.  Many of the supporting characters are featured in later books and you find Melinda and her hero in the later books as well. 

I recommended this book and the sequels to a library patron.  She took the first one out with some trepidation and came back a few days later and took out the rest of them, saying that she would like to live in Virgin River.

Some days so would I.  I wonder if they have an opening for a librarian, and a hunky ex-marine for me.

I highly recommend these books. All of the Virgin River books are available to be checked out at the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library.

Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies

Miep Gies died this week.  She was 100 years old.

That name probably means nothing to the majority of the people reading this book review.  It wouldn’t to me if I hadn’t been forced to read The Diary of Anne Frank in high school.  To be totally truthful, the diary isn’t that exciting.  Most of the pages are taken up with teenage angst and it serves more to put a face on the six million who lost their lives during the holocaust than to excite the reader.  Anne does mention, quite often, a woman named Miep Gies who worked in her father’s company and did the shopping for the family in hiding.  She is a peripheral character cast half in the shadow of Anne’s writing and personality.

This is true no longer.  Miep Gies wrote and published a biography some years ago.  It tells the story from her point of view, the struggles she went through to protect the Franks and the price she paid to do it.  The book is well written and interesting and shows clearly the type of person it takes to keep secrets like this and save or try to save families.  Miep repeats over and over that she only did what was right and what other people did.   It stands to reason then that if Anne is the face of the victims of the Holocaust, Miep is the face of the millions of people who risked their lives to save or try to save the victims of the Holocaust. 

It is said that all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.  Miep, and the other unknown heroes of the Holocaust are proof that there are good people willing to do something.

Anne Frank Remembered is available for check out at the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library.

Carrie by Stephen King

I recently listened to the audiobook version of this book as I am wont to do as I drive to and from work.  I had read this book before, several years ago and remembered some of it so I picked it from the library shelves on an impulse. I’m glad I did.  King’s book is a masterpiece and it rightly plucked him from obscurity and put him on the best sellers list.  I could go on and on about the writing (excellent), his use of an almost epistolary style (very cool) and his use of foreshadowing (clever), or for that much, the wonderful job Sissy Spacek does of reading the story. But that’s not what I want to write about.

            Carrie, for those who have never read the book or seen the movie, is a teenage girl who is the scapegoat of the school and of the town where she lives.  She is abused by everyone from her mother on up, she also has telekinetic powers.  On prom night she is pushed too far and uses her powers on the town. 

            What strikes me about this book is how timeless it is.  It was written more than 30 years ago, and with a few minor, non-related updates it could be taking place today.  Children still bully each other, and while schools try their best to stop it, it continues to happen.  As a child, I experienced it and as a teacher, I see it.  When I was a child, I remember wishing there was something I could do about it.  I would have loved to have Carrie’s powers then, and I’m sure I would have shared her fate.    I can certainly identify with her and whenever I read the book, or listen to it, I find myself wishing that the final humiliation at prom night never happened and she could have lived happily ever after, but it is not to be.

            This book is wonderful and should be required reading for anyone who has been bullied, or who has bullied someone….or someone who would just like a glimpse into that world.  I highly recommend it.  It is available in paperback or audiobook form at the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library.

Her Fearful Symmetry  by Audrey Niffenegger 416p. copyright 2009

As a rule I am not a ghost story person, but I am an Audrey Niffenegger fan, so I thought I’d pick this one up and give it a try.  I’m glad I did.  It is your usual ghost story, but more of a thought provoker on the relationships between sisters in general and twins in particular.

The story concerns two twins, Julie and Valentina who inherit a flat in London from their aunt whom they had never met. They move in and find it haunted by her ghost who eventually manages to communicate with them.    While the two girls live together, they begin to piece together the story of their aunt and, her twin, their mother, and the secrets they shared. They also each form a relationship with men in their building, one of which had had a relationship with their deceased aunt; the other is a married OCD sufferer and Valentine begins to realize the unhealthiness of her relationship with her own twin and plots of a way to change it.

The story is very well written and the characters are fascinating as are the thoughts it raises on the different types of ghosts in one’s life: memories as well as those who are dead and what is a twin, but a ghost of one’s self?  I was totally sucked into the story, for once I didn’t mind being under the hairdryer at the beauty parlor, it was an engrossing read and I strongly recommend it.

Her Fearful Symmetry can be found at the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library is both book and audiobook form.  

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl (Motion Picture) ,

Anne of the Thousand Days (Motion Picture), Mistress Anne by Carolly Erickson

I have been on somewhat of a Tudor kick lately, and one of the perks of working in a library is the ready access to multiple books and movies on the same subjects.   The interest was spawned by my desire to learn everything about Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s final wife.  This led me to down the long list of his wives to his most infamous and controversial- Anne Boleyn.  For those who don’t know what I’m talking about a brief recap- Henry the VIII was the second king of the Tudor line in 16^th century England.  He is best known today for his habit of marrying and discarding wives, going through six in his life.  He changed the religion of England to divorce, his first wife, Catherine of Aragon in order to marry his second wife, Anne Boleyn.

This was a momentous change in England.  What kind of woman is the catalyst behind such a change?    The answer to that is: it depends on what you read.

        In Gregory’s books, Anne is a clever courtier who is put forth by her family to garner rewards.  She withholds sex from Henry, apparently the first to ever do so, encouraging him to leave his wife and disown his daughter for her.  She does anything once she has him to keep him, including incest with her brother and a light dabbling in witchcraft.  She never loves him, having been forced to leave her first love by her family. We’ll call this version “Anne Dark”.  In the movie The Other Boleyn Girl Anne is a bit more sympathetic.  She is put forward by her family, along with her sister, Mary, to get Henry’s attention and forces him to ignore her sister whom Henry has impregnated.  She is not as devious as in the book and doesn’t commit incest with her brother.  She is also raped by Henry, which was not in the book.  We’ll call this version “Anne Beige”. The Anne in Carolly Erickson’s Mistress Anne is cast in the same mold.

        The Anne in Anne of the Thousand Days is most sympathetic yet. She doesn’t love Henry, he pursues her and she eventually gives in.  Once she does he stops loving her.  She then dies heroically to keep their daughter Elizabeth the heir to the throne, rather than give him an annulment allowing him to declare Elizabeth illegitimate. We will call this version “Saint Anne”.

        Who do I think she was?  Obviously there are some real differences in the three versions.  I find it hard to believe that Anne was guilty of everything of which she was accused: witchcraft, incest and treason (in those days treason was being unfaithful to the King of England).  She wasn’t “Anne Dark”. On the other hand, I don’t see her as quite as pure and heroic as she is in Anne of the Thousand Days.  I’m pretty sure “Anne Beige” is closest in character if not in detail to the real woman. I’m sure she fought and argued with Henry and alienated power players in the Tudor Court.  She didn’t give Henry the male heir she had promised him.  She made the mistake of teaching him that queens are disposable, so when she didn’t give him a prince, she was disposed of.

        Each of these books and movies are available at the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library.  Read or watch a few and decide for yourself.

        A bit of a postscript to this review- I found a dusty book in the stacks today called Anne Boleyn written in the 1950’s.  I wonder which “Anne” dark, beige or saint is in it?  I’m taking it home to read it and find out.

Henry’s Sisters by Cathy Lamb Copyright 2009 352 p.

This is an excellent book.  Heartbreaking and funny at the same time.  It is about three sisters, Cecilia, Isabelle and Janie and their domineering mother. Their mother, who is a holy terror, needs open heart surgery and so the two sisters who live away from their home town come home to help out and take care of Henry who is mentally challenged.  As the book unfolds we see that all of the family is damaged in different ways and all face their challenges as the book progresses, from a cheating husband, to a problem with alcohol and obsessive compulsive disorder.  Throughout the book, one gets the sense that Henry, while not the main character is the glue that holds the family together.

There is a note of humor with the grandmother who thinks she is Amelia Earhart.  The book is wonderful and heartbreaking.  I loved it.   The character of Henry reminded me of my brother, Matt, who is also mentally challenged, though not the degree Henry is. The things that happened to Henry remind me that they can also happen to Matt, which is terrifying.  

This is a wonderful book for fans of Jodi Picoult and anyone else who loves a gripping story with strong female characters.  I strongly recommend it. 

Young adult fiction is fiction that generally has adolescents and teens as protagonists dealing with the issues facing youths today; with many being “coming of age” stories. Young Adult fiction is targeted to adolescents age 12-18. 

          The main distinction between Juvenile Fiction (chapter books for children ages 6-11) and Young Adult Fiction is the challenges the protagonists face.  In Juvenile Fiction, protagonists face issues which confront elementary school aged children such as friendship, peer pressure, school and the occasional problems at home.  In Young Adult fiction, the protagonists face more complex problems including substance abuse, peer pressure, relationships, sexuality and bereavement.  Also, young adult fiction often includes graphic language.  In the Cavendish Fletcher Community Library, both Manga (Japanese comic books) and Graphic Novels (hardbound comic books) which include violence, language and some nudity, may be found in this section.

          Why is this in the library?  Not only is the Cavendish Fletcher Community library a school library, it is a town library.  As such we have a responsibility to serve the needs of all patrons, including young adults with as much quality reading materials as possible.  Young Adult fiction can be quality reading materials.

          Can my child check this stuff out?  At this time we actively discourage children under grade 6 from checking out the books.  If a young child is adamant about checking out an item from this section, we request a parent phone call or note before allowing the materials to go out.

No Way to Treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley  Audible Download

I chortled my way through Christopher Buckley’s audio book No Way to Treat a First Lady.  It is truly wonderful to look forward to driving to work simply because you want to hear what happens next in an audio book. Buckley whose books never fail to delight didn’t disappoint with this one.

It’s the story of First Lady, Beth McMann who is charged with assassination when her husband, the president is found dead in bed with her sporting a large bruise on his forehead.  She hires “Shamless” Boyce Baylor to defend her, even though the two of them had been an item in law school and she had dumped him for her late president.  Chaos ensues as the “trial of the millennium” goes underway.  What made this book irresistible to me are the many references and thinly disguised Washington characters who find their way into the book.  The character of District Attorney General Clintock can only be Marcia Clark.   The presiding judge, Judge Uman bears a distinct resemblance to Judge Ito.  The trial itself, complete with jury tampering, conspiracy theories and as much objecting as possible becomes an OJesque farce.   Add to this the first couple who strongly resemble the Clintons giving the whole listen a wonderful sense of the absurd.  And if you can’t tell who Babette van Anka is, well you’re just not trying!

This audio book is charming, funny, and full of puns.   Check it out for a listen soon.