What We’re Reading This Week

Robyn

Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver

“I can’t stop thinking about this book.  It has all of the classic fairy tale elements that never get old such as magic, a little girl locked in an attic (Liesl), a wicked stepmother, etc.  Only Oliver takes things a step further and adds in a ghost from the Other Side (Po) that becomes Liesl’s best friend, an almost post-apocalyptic setting where the sun hasn’t been seen in 1,728 days and a little girl setting out to honor the memory of her father.  I can’t wait to give this book to my best friend’s daughter for Christmas this year.”

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Clint

Smiling in Slow Motion by Derek Jarman

“Jarman was a director/painter/gardener/diarist, and this is the diary of his last four years before succumbing to AIDS. Beautiful and sad, but ultimately triumphant.”

 

 

 

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Scott

“I have two this week.”

Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr

“This is a collection of three books with PI Bernie Gunther, whose mean streets are Nazi Berlin. You can’t get any more noir than that. They’re beautifully written and the character of Gunther is really fun.”

The Hard Word Book Club is discussing Berlin Noir on Wednesday, November 30th, 7p. All are welcome!

A Quiet Vendetta: A Thriller by R. J. Ellory

“I just started this. It’s what I guess I’d call a mob thriller, that goes all the way from Cuba to New Orleans and spans about four years. There’s a great use of mood, which Ellory’s known for.

R. J. Ellory will be here on Friday, January 27, 7p to speak & sign his new book, A Quiet Belief in Angels.

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Nolan

There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in a Union by Philip Dray

“This is a history of labor unions, which is paralleling a lot of things going on right now with the whole Occupy movement. There are a lot of Scorsese Mafia tough guy dynamics going on, too. Occupiers can find influence, inspiration, and even instruction from this book.”

 

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Julie

Threats by Amelia Gray

“This book isn’t out for a while (March of 2012, I believe), but word’s already getting around to Gray fans about what an achievement this first novel is. I’ll throw one more accolade into the ring – this book is awesome. I’m about three-quarters of the way through it. Gray takes her incredible talent for telling short short stories and uses it to craft brief chapters full of tension, intrigue, and one of the most interesting characters I’ve met in literature in a long time. Did David do it? DID HE??!! I have to know. With its short, sharp chapters, I am gobbling this book up.”