Saxton Reads! & Reviews

Please join me in welcoming Nancy Pickard, author of the award winning Jenny Cain mystery series and several excellent standalone novels. The latest,  The Scent of Rain and Lightning. received a star review from both Booklist Magazine & Publisher's Weekly. Read  Why Kansas? and share in Nancy's love of her home state.

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Hi, everybody--
 
 I'm writing to you from Very Warm Kansas, the state where I live and where I have mysteriously decided to set my novels.  I say "mysteriously," because--let's be honest here--most people think of my state as flat and boring.  What kind of foolish writer would try to lure readers to a state like that?

This one would, and I'll tell you why.

A few years ago--after having written books set in Mass., Ct., N.Y., Fla., Ala., Ariz., Colo., and just about everywhere but here--I was struck by a couple of things.  One was, how very Midwestern I am from the soles of my feet to the gray roots of my hair.  I have never lived anywhere but the Midwest.  This part of the country is not only what I know best, it's what I love best. 

Why do I stay?  Because I love it, that's why.  Because it's beautiful, and dramatic, and endlessly interesting in its history, its geography, and its dramatic contrasts in everything from scenery to politics. Because behind the stereotypes and misconceptions are real people doing their best in difficult economic times, and because I'd like to show readers that Kansas, the one I love.  My own political ideas are 180 degrees different from the majority of folks here, but our hearts beat to the same desires to love and be loved, to do right by our families, to live good lives. That's the place I aim for when I write these books--the deeply-felt places where human beings have so much in common, even if we sometimes express it in contradictory, confrontational, confusing, foolish, or even violent ways.

A few years ago, I was swept by a desire to do nothing but write novels about Kansas for the rest of my life.  I don't know if I will go to that extreme, but so far that desire has not ebbed at all.  First there was The Virgin of Small Plains, and now there is The Scent of Rain and Lightning.  I'm currently writing the--untitled--third one, with a fourth one already percolating in my brain.  Each is or will be set in a different part of Kansas--places that call to my imagination so strongly that they will not let go of me until I write about them.  In each case, the characters seem to reflect where they live, which makes them different from one another.  But they are all the “same” in that heart place I mentioned earlier.

It's gratifying to me to hear readers say of my settings, "I never knew there were places like that in Kansas!"  It's even more satisfying when they tell me they visited the settings of my books.  It thrills me to know that people might be inspired to get off I-70 and go take a look at the beautiful Flint Hills or the amazing Monument Rocks (which I call Testament Rocks in "Scent.")

I've come home to Kansas, and I'm so grateful when you come with me!

Best regards,
Nancy

One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Quest to Preserve Quiet
Gordon Hempton
Free Press, NY, c2009., 978-1-4165-89108-8

To every contributor to the Jar of Quiet Thoughts.
our heartfelt writings helped me realize I was not
alone in my thirst for natural silence and helped
me muster the courage to leave my more preferred
reclusive existence and begin two journeys--
crossing America and writing this book.

*****
reviewed by Mercedes

Glee Season One We don't have television service. Except for a brief time in Chicago, we have never had tv service in our 10 years of marriage. This has been a good thing but also sometimes bad...I never know what new movies are coming out, I miss all the really funny commercials, and we have no idea what shows are out there. When I began working at the library, I saw that we had the first season of LOST on DVD. We had heard lots of things about this show but had never watched it. I decided to give it a shot. Of course, we were completely sucked in at episode 1 and watched the whole season, then subscribed to Netflix so that we could watch seasons 2 and 3. After that we began watching the seasons on abc.com the day after they aired. So when LOST ended, we were glad to once again be a non-tv watching couple. THEN....a couple of weeks ago, I processed a new dvd for the library - Glee - season 1, volume 1. I had heard lots of good things about this show as well, and I wanted to see what all the buzz was about, so.... We are now firm fans of this fabulous show. We spent a little over a week, speed-watching Glee and, of course, are left wanting more. Season 1, volume 2 doesn't come out on dvd until September and you can only watch select episode on Fox's website, so I guess we have to wait to see what happens next. One other thought on Glee. It makes me feel old. The teacher character was in high school in 1993 (I was a junior). A lot of the music he gives the kids to perform, that he performed is called "old school" but it's my school. Talk about a walk down memory lane. All kinds of songs that we so popular when I was in middle school/high school. I don't feel this old, how can it be that I'm old school now? But since I just had a 16 year reunion with high school friends this weekend, I guess I really am old school. (And just for the record, my glee club never performed like this glee club!)

Time to read our veggies. Take a look at this list of summer reads chosen by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA). In brief the list is chosen by independent book store owners belonging to SIBA and should be southern in nature (story, author, etc). and can be either fiction or non-fiction. Looking over the list I only see  one we own,  On Folly Beach by Karen White, an author who has been adopted by one of our patrons. I've included a link to this.

Think we should purchase any others? Let me know and I'll consider adding them to our collection.
 

Fiction

Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson
By Accident by Susan Kelly
Countdown by Deborah Wiles
The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller
The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove by Susan Gregg Gilmore
On Folly Beach by Karen White
The Secret Child by Marti Healy 

Nonfiction

Big Appetite: My Southern-Fried Search for the Meaning of Life by Sam McLeod
The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family by Jim Minick
The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking: A Celebration of the Foods, History,  and Romance Handed Down from England, Africa, the Caribbean, France by Joseph Earl Dabney
Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy by Bruce Watson
Oraien Catledge: Photographs by Oraien E Catledge,

To celebrate the first day of summer, June 21, 2010, NPR presents "Thrilled to Death", a series inviting authors to talk about their favorite thriller. It kicked off last night on All Things Considered with author Scott Turow recommending Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory.

*****reviewed by CarolK

Minette Walters seldom disappoints me and this read was no exception. Devil’s Feather is psychological suspense at its best.  What would it feel like to be a victim of a terrorist kidnapping, to be kept in a cage for several days, to be blindfolded and wonder if you will be raped, or beheaded? This is just what happens to Connie Burns, Reuter’s reporter. While working on a story in Sierra Leone about five women brutally murdered, she suspects a British mercenary. She has met this man before under different names and is certain he is using the backdrop of war as a cover for his sadistic murders. In a confrontation with him, he warns her not to cross him. Connie could not know to what lengths this man would go to make good on his threat.
 
What I really loved about this book was how well Walter’s portrays monsters that prey, their victims, and explores the role of what it takes to be a survivor. I learned a thing or two, also. I learned that the mastiffs in the Hounds of the Baskervilles were actually a mastiff/bloodhound cross and that they are scarier than the mastiffs belonging to a main character in Devil's Feather. Though Jess’s dogs are massive in size and look ferocious, they are less to be feared and less ferocious than expected.
 
I was intrigued by the definition of Devil's Feather coming from the Turkish and translating as "a woman who stirs a man's interest without realizing it; the unwitting cause of sexual arousal. This passage, at the beginning of the book drew me right in. Having read many of Walter's novels, I was right at home with her style of story told with use of emails, letters, newspaper stories and the like. She does this so well.

Characters you'll care about, a fast paced story; I couldn't put it down!

"My particular thanks to Liz for giving me
The Devil's Feather as a title"


Devil's Feather
Minette Walters, Random House, 9780307264626, c.2006

I wondered where Walters got the idea for her opening to this excellent thriller. After reading the book, I read the dedication. I too, thank Liz.

Devil's feather (derivation Turkish)--a woman who stirs a man's interest without realizing it; the unwitting cause of sexual arousal

 

*****
      CarolK

Bloodroot  is a gut wrenching, raw, tense, exquisite debut. Bloodroot has been compared to The Color Purple or the Glass Castle. For me, it is more like She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb. It is the kind of book you need to read yourself, not easy to explain. Tense, taut; powerful storytelling. I wanted Bloodroot to end so I could breathe but when it was over I wanted to go back, to savor, to ponder, to enjoy the richness of the whole once again.

Oxygen's Pick It Kick It: Simple Choices, Huge Results ~ Diane Hart

If you've known me for most of the years I've worked at the library, you'll know that I once weighed quite a bit more than I do today (I'm not telling how much). Way back when I was inspired to lose some weight, I was inspired by Dr. Dean Ornish's Eat more, weigh less. That sounded good to me, eat, eat, eat and still lose weight. It really came down to making food choice and portion size changes, at least for me. I was successful and have pretty much kept the weight off.

I am still always looking at ways to make better nutritional decisions so when I saw Oxygen's Pick It Kick It: Simple Choices, Huge Results by Diane Hart I decided to take a look see. There are lots of good food substitutions here, thus, the pick it, or kick it choices. You'll also find some inspirational weight loss stories in these pages, recipes and what to eat at the fast food chains. I found a delicious orange poppy seed dressing that should go good on a spinach salad, as well as some reinforcement for mindful eating. I wasn't too happy with the suggestion that I KICK IT, Rold Gold's Pretzels. These are a favorite of mine and I don't like the idea of giving them up. I can't remember what the book suggested in it's place so I guess for the time being I'll just keep eating them!

I feel motivated if not exactly full and hopefully, all this will help me to fit into that bathing suit this season. Another staff member looked the book over quickly and decided it was just making her/him hungry.

 Uptown / Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant
Touchstone,Simon & Schuster, c2010., 9781439137765

For all those who need to
open the box again

It was bound to happen. Evanovich's One for the Money is slated to hit the big screen. But wait! According to the article I'm reading at New York Daily News, One for the Money was snatched up by Columbia Tristar before the book even hit the shelves in 1994. More interesting may be who will play the leading lady, Stephanie Plum, the bounty hunter with attitude. The choice is bound to cause lots of talk amongst Plum fans. Reese Witherspoon was rumored for the role but it was not meant to be. See if you agree with the choice by reading this article at

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2010/02/09/2010-02-09_katherine_heigl_to_play_stephanie_plum_in_one_for_the_money_janet_evanovich_best.html

What do you think??? Good casting or not?

For Evanovich fans, the 20th Stephanie Plum book, Sizzling Sixteen hits the stands on June 22nd.

****CarolK

Money to Burn by James Grippando

I picked this one up after hearing an interview with Grippando on Library Love Fest, Blog Talk Radio on March 16th, 2010. He made the book sound too good to resist and I was not disappointed. As I rarely seem to have time to keep up with series fiction, Money to Burn appealed as it is a stand alone thriller by an author with a track record of telling a good story. Not only did I learn a bit about Ponzi schemes, Wall Street and the financial mess torn from recent headlines, I got whisked along in a fast paced read of greed and power. Grippando wrote this one in a year he called "My Least Favorite Year" after the death of his father. I read it in my own least favorite after my mom's death. She was a true Grippando fan. I know she would have loved this one and particularly would have been touched by the character Papa, the lead character's old fashioned dad, an ant among grasshoppers.

Somewhere inside : one sister's captivity in North Korea and the other's fight to bring her home / Laura Ling and Lisa Ling, William Morrow, c2010.,9780062000675

Dedicated in the hope that all people
will one day experience freedom

Last week one of my favorite award categories, The Audies,  2010 winners were  announced .  Chosen by The Audio Publishing Association, the awards recognize distinction in audio books and spoken word entertainment.,

You can view the entire list of winners by clicking here. You'll find some of these in our collection. I'll order a few others. If there is one you'd like to listen to, let us know and we'll see if we can get it for you.

While viewing the winners on the AudioFile website be certain to link to the Golden Voices. This is the audio book narrator hall of fame. The inductees into the Golden Voices are those actors who are exceptional in their craft. As many of us who listen know, the voice can make or break the story. You can't go wrong with any of the fine performances by these excellent readers.