What We’re Reading

~ COLLEEN
The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

“Wonderful! [Maile Meloy] has a way with words, an absolute master of creative writing description. Her character development is so intuitive. My favorite is Janie. She is so much like me. She loves to get her hand son information, books, learn more about science, and she’s just so curious. And, that often leads her into trouble.

It’s just so good because it’s about the adventure and not just your typical <insert fantasy element here> story. She just has a way with description and prose. I love her prose. I am just in love with the way she writes. She could write a book on dirt and I’d want to read it.”

We had Maile Meloy in the store last week, and she signed a ton of books for us! You can find signed copies of The Apothecarry and the latest in the series, The Apprentices,on our shelves or at bookpeople.com. If purchasing online, simply write “signed-copy” in the comments section.

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~ ABBY
Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne

“I wanted to read this book because I’m about to take a trip to West Texas out to Terlingua and Big Bend. I wanted an idea of the history of the land before I visit it.

The book goes into the history of the Comanche tribe that lived in [West Texas], and it’s a real true account of the back and forth that went on between the tribe and the settlers. Such brutality, but it’s just exactly how this tribe waged war. And, it is so easy to read and thoroughly engaging.

I just can’t wait to go out there and visualize the battle fields and get a feel for it.”

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~ WIL
True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt

“ADORABLE!  And, Appelt is a Newbery Winner.

There’s a young boy in love with a swamp and he’s trying to save it from land developers. Oh, and [the land developer]’s an alligator wrestler. The boy works with these two racoons brothers and they’re all powered by the sugar pies that come out of the swamp. And, yeah, they’re racoons. They end up eating so many of the pies that there ends up being only one left.

There’s so much that happens, you’ll just have to read it for yourself.”

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~ STEPHANYA
Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb

“When I saw that we had the novel on our shelves, I grabbed it and began reading immediately. The classic 1955 film of the same name starring Robert Mitchum has long been one of my favorite films, but I had no idea it began as a novel. This dark tale of an evil preacher that kills rich widows is an absolute masterpiece of the Southern Gothic tradition.

I’m discovering, as I read, that the film adaption is one of those rare occasions where the movie is just as good as the book!”

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~ KATHLEEN
Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink

“This book is about Hurricane Katrina and the doctor and nurses accused of homicide at Memorial [Medical Center in Uptown, New Orleans.]

The first half is like a diary and reads very much like fiction. The second half is all the fall out that occurred afterwards and gives you a lot to think about when it comes to the morality of euthanasia.”